20 Weeks

I can't believe I have hit the half way mark. Twenty down, twenty to go. This was a BIG week for us. We had the 20 week ultrasound and gender reveal. We are happy to announce that everything went well and we have a healthy mom and 12 ounce baby. 

How I'm Feeling:

I have been great these past few weeks. I still find myself exhausted at the end of the day but have no trouble getting through day to day activities. I actually took a pre-baby trip to visit my friend C (6 petals) up in VA this weekend. The trip included long walks, shopping, pampering, eating, friendly croquet competition, kayaking, a little wedding planning and relaxing. It was great to get away and see a good friend because who knows when I will be able to sneak away on the weekend like that again. 

How I'm Changing: 

Maternity clothes are my best friend. I am still able to fit in a small percentage of my clothes but I don't know why I bother. Thanks to Cyber Monday sales and many upcoming holiday parties, I finally invested in some maternity basics. They are comfortable and make me look pregnant instead of a few pounds over weight. 

At my 20 week appointment I was the same weight as my 8 week appointment and the nurse showed some concern. At the time I just listened to her suggestions and we moved ahead with the appointment. A few hours later, I began to stress the situation. HOW have I not gained weight when very few of my clothes fit and there is an obvious baby bump?! I know I have been eating well and not over doing my exercise program. THEN it hit me.  Pre-pregnancy I was doing Crossfit and building muscle, muscle weighs more than fat. I have loss some muscle mass and everything weight wise has balanced out.  It may have taken a piece of chocolate cake to figure this out. I now feel better and plan on continuing with an active, healthy plant based pregnancy. 

What I'm Eating:

I am back to my normal eating ways and my appetite has returned. There have been a few days that I have over done it with massive salads of raw vegetables and beans and paid for the fiber overdoes later in the day but it will return to normal soon. Anything roasted and salted is my favorite and baked sweet potatoes occur a few times a week.   We have bowls of tomatoes that I need to figure out multiple ways to eat them. The timing is good. 

Anything Else:

I have made two baby purchases that I will share. Both clothing related and both have stripes. I find my self not a big fan of the "typical" baby boys clothes and prefer the solids, plaids and stripes. 

I have also made my design decision on the nursery. I am so excited to share the progress and our "theme". Geoff is VERY excited about the direction I am going. I have promised that I will clean out the room prior to beginning the project if he finishes our kitchen before the end of the year.... 

Marriage is all about compromise. 

Boy or Girl?

Yesterday was a big day in the Roe household. We had our 20 week appointment and found out the gender of our baby. 

We decided to host a gender reveal party to share the great news with our family and friends. 

Instead of the cutting a cake or popping a balloon ideas I found on Pinterest we decided to embrace the season. We kept score on a dry erase board and had pink and green boys for our guests to wear their vote. Geoff and I wrapped about a dozen clear ornaments in small boxes with a festive paper. In one of the boxes we had wrapped an ornament that represented the gender. It was so much fun to watch everyone open the boxes. 

Our friend, Holly, had to "winning" box! A green ornament. We are having  BOY! We are so excited. I always wanted a big brother and can't wait to meet the little guy. 

We celebrated the rest of the night with a chili bar that contained a black bean chili with multiple ways to prepare your bowl. There were tortilla chips for nachos, Fritos for Frito boats, baby potatoes for loaded potatoes and corn muffins plus all of the needed chili toppings. I wish I would have taken a picture. Geoff's sister, who was informed of the gender earlier in the day, brought cupcakes with blue frosting to finish the night. 

We were both so grateful to have so many friends come over on a Thursday night to celebrate with us. Now they all need to start having babies themselves.....

Farmers Market Finds: The Guacamole Guy

This weekend was our town's Carols in the Park as well as our First Saturday Farmers Market. Vendors, music and Christmas Festivities with 80 degree weather? Count me in. 

I was on a mission: guacamole for my Sunday dinner. 

Mexican food ranks at the top of Geoff's favorite food list and is easy to make vegan (if desired). Being Geoff's birthday month, I thought it would be appropriate to make a new Mexican inspired dish that combined Mexican food with his second favorite home made dish: pizza. 

There are times where we will have buckets of avocados but this year that has not been the case and I knew that The Guacamole Guy would fill the gap perfectly. 

Here is a rundown of how I put dinner together: 

Excuse the iPhone pictures. My camera was dead.... 

I started with a quick salsa of diced cherry tomatoes, onion, lime juice, and salt and pepper.

I then made a cornmeal pizza dough recipe that I found from Martha Stewart. You could buy pizza dough or even use tortillas. Pizza dough is so easy to make and takes very little effort if you have a stand mixer or food processor. 

Once the dough had gone through the rising process, I stretched it and pierced a few holes with a fork. Instead of pizza sauce I used the Mild Tangy Tomatillo Salsa. 

I topped the pizzas with Diaya Pepper Jack cheese, black beans, and sliced cherry tomatoes. 

The pizzas were then baked at 425 for about 25 minutes. Typically we will make pizzas on the grill or using a grill pan to get them crispy but I wanted to cook all four at once. 

Once the cooking was complete, I let them sit for a few minutes and topped the one he was eating for dinner with guacamole. 

On top of the guacamole went the fresh salsa I prepared earlier. I did not top the remaining pizzas so that they could be stored, reheated and topped when ready to eat. 

Geoff was rather impressed and looking forward to leftovers.  It was the perfect Sunday dinner. 

Thank you Guacamole Guy! 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was relaxing and peaceful, neither terms that I typically use to describe holidays. My parents made the trip down which eliminated the need to drive through the night or deal with traffic and packing. I was so grateful. Days off are few and far between and I prefer to not spend them in the car or in an airport. The ten hour drive could have turned into 12+ hours with my pregnancy bladder and that doesn't include holiday traffic. 

The weekend prior I spent baking and decorating my Thanksgiving sugar cookies. I was rather impressed with how they turned out but know that next time I need to increase my collection of squeeze bottles and food coloring. I chose to do a chocolate royal icing and I was a little nervous to how it would turn out but everyone seemed to enjoy it. I didn't want everyone to finish their turkey's with a brown, food coloring stained mouth. 

We divided and conquered for food this year. My parents supplied the wine as always. Geoff was on turkey duty. Very rarely do we cook meat in the house and he took full advantage of the opportunity. I did a roasted brussel sprout dish with pecans and maple syrup as well as a butternut squash mac and cheese that I found on Manifest Vegan. It called for smoked paprika which I didn't have. This eliminated the smokey factor but it was delicious. I savored the left overs and really want to make it again. One thing I love about a majority of vegan "cheese" sauces is that they can be made in the blender and combined with the cooked pasta. Only suggestion was to clean out the blender prior to dinner and going to bed. My dad tackled the cleaning the next morning and it took effort.  

I am so grateful that Geoff's and my parents get along so well. They can talk for hours and have plenty in common. Being able to spend holidays with our families together eliminates so much stress as well as guilt. The six of us even attended the musical Elf the next day followed by a great dinner. 

Thanksgiving decorations have been put away and the pumpkins have taken their traditional spot behind the garage until I have the heart to throw them away. I almost wish they could be part of Christmas when they still look so great and Geoff took all that time to grow them but on to the next holiday. Our trees are up and decorated and just in need of a few finishing touches. My goal is to have the house 100% decorated by the end of this weekend. Wish me luck!

18 Weeks

I have heard people say how you forget how awful portions of pregnancy were when you hold your baby for the first time. I will say that I have found myself already forgetting how awful a majority of the first trimester was. I caught myself saying how great pregnancy has been except for a persistant headache and wanting to call it a night at 7:30pm. I guess we can call this a blessing? 

Progress:

How I'm Feeling

When I have energy, I have energy but as soon as it fades I am done for the day or even a few. Weekend 17 I felt great. I painted, I baked and decorated sugar cookies, I made a veggie stew with home made biscuits and I cleaned and organized to an extent I had yet to reach in our home. I was so proud. Monday and Tuesday I was worthless. I worked remotely and caught up on computer work but that was all I could do. This taught me that I have limits no matter how great I think I feel. 

Headaches are my true battle now. Almost daily a headache will strike for a few hours. I am not one prone to migraines and have only had a few in college but they feel like the first few hours of a migraine. Loud noises, bright lights and intense concentration hurt. I am really trying to avoid having to take anything and keeping with my pre-pregnancy mindset of if something hurts that means something is wrong so fix it. Intense hydration and a dark place to lay down seems to help. 

I have started back working out again. I am taking boot camp style classes a few days a week. Between not working out for the entire first trimester and being pregnant, I am not nearly in as good of shape as I was. This was REALLY hard to accept at first but I know I have to modify a few things and not over exert myself. Its nice to have sore muscles again. 

How I'm Changing

There is a bump! The picture above shows it slightly. It is very noticeable to me and those that know my pre-pregnancy body, others may thing that I am just a few pounds over weight. Its there and it is growing. The past few days I have had growing pains in the lower sides of my belly and apparently that is the ligaments stretching. My dear friend Nicole is a few weeks ahead of me and she said that it was only a matter of days after the pains that she popped out.

I am currently still in most of my clothes but I have accepted that this will not last too much longer. Shirts are getting tight in the chest, jeans need to be unbuttoned by the end of the day and my workout clothes are a little too clingy. I made a few maternity clothes purchases thanks to Cyber Monday last night. Gap was having a 60% off selected items and I purchased a few t-shirts, a dress, and jeans and I also splurged on a pair of Joe's jeans that were on sale with an additional 30% off. Having to complete Christmas shopping and buying a new wardrobe at the same time isn't going to fare well on the credit card this month. 

What I'm Eating

My mentality has switched from what I can eat to what I still can't eat and I am grateful. I was able to eat four dishes at Thanksgiving plus dessert. If Thanksgiving was a month ago, I would have had dessert if I was lucky. I am still avoiding the garlic/onion combination when I am cooking at home as well as green beans. I started eating marinara sauce again and everything else that I would previously eat. I have had a strong craving for cream cheese and bagels which I haven't eaten in 8 years and I did eat way too many Jelly Belly's this weekend. I used to not eat any white sugar or corn syrup and I will continue this but there was no turning them down. Sour Blueberry was amazing. 

Anything Else

My mom surprised me with a box of items that were both mine and hers from childhood. 

Everyone is anxiously awaiting the gender. I REALLY want to get started on the nursery but have to wait another week and a half. 

Planning has begun for our gender reveal party. I want to wait and find out with everyone that night but Geoff wants to find out at the doctor. We have a week to decide. 

Like a Polaroid Picture

By far my favorite purchase for our wedding reception was our Fuji instant camera. We toyed around with the idea of a photo booth but decided against the structure of it. With the instant camera aka Polaroid our guest could take pictures and either keep the pictures or leave them for us to enjoy. 

For less than $100 we were left with even more memories. 

Only 2 days until Thanksgiving! 

16 Weeks

Thursday was our 16 week appointment and today I am 16 weeks. It feels like last week I posted about our big announcement and how we decided to tell family and friends. It has been such a relief to be in the open about all of this and be able to celebrate with everyone.

Progress: 

How I'm Feeling

Better. I seem to use that word a lot lately. Trimester #1 was rough. Whoever named the nausea associated with pregnancy "morning sickness" has never experienced it. It is "after lunch sickness", "driving down the road sickness", "run as fast as you can out of the grocery store sickness" and "it's finally time to go to bed sickness". I was nauseous on average 24 hours a day. Eating made me nauseous but allowing myself to get hungry made me nauseous. It was a loosing battle. I used far too much under eye concealer to attempt to hide all of the broken blood vessels. I was a mess. 

Have you ever had mono? That was how I felt all day. I would wake up from 12 hours of sleep needing a nap. I would fall asleep mid email at my desk. I would have to pull over to power nap before driving for longer than an hour. Bedtime was around 7:30pm. Nightly. The need to nap daily has disappeared. I am still tired and fall asleep on the couch prior to prime time television but I can manage it. With a nap. 

Taking the dog for a walk around the neighborhood is my form of cardio and folding laundry is my version of strength training. Argos likes to walk slow and we manage about 2 miles a few times a week. I have included some almost daily stretches as well. My goal is to start back at the gym next week. I need to sweat. 

How I'm Changing 

My naive self thought that the biggest change at this point would be the number on the scale.  I feel like I have gained 10lbs but somehow I am still a few pounds under the weight I was when I found out I was pregnant. I blame the "morning sickness" and loss of some muscle definition. I am in most of my clothes but they are starting to get a little tight. Mostly in the chest. 

The past few days there has been a bump. I know its a baby bump and those that know I am pregnant would know its a baby bump but everyone else may think I over indulged on pizza and doughnuts. 

I think that a maternity clothes shopping trip will need to happen in the next few weeks. 

What I'm Eating

Food and I have not been the best of friends lately. I have always prided myself on eating a well balanced, vegan diet. My diet is still vegan but instead of balanced I have been focused on being able to keep it down. For the first few months, salty starches and juice were a staple to daily caloric intake. It was the best I could do. Slowly more and more vegetables, fruit and beans are appearing. I can't handle garlic or onions yet. The smell puts me over the edge but salad, broccoli and brussel sprouts have been alright. I hope that in the next few weeks I am back to eating the appropriate foods.  

Anything Else 

Baby Roe was gifted his/her first gift this week from Grandma Roe. The softest blue elephant from Anthropology. 

Tomorrow we are picking up a desk we ordered for the laundry room. This will allow us to move the computer and supplies out of the future nursery. I am looking forward to getting everything organized. Let the nesting begin. 

Next Appointment

December 6th. We find out if Baby Roe is a girl or a boy!

Our Past & a Look Into Our Future

Geoff's sister put together a great video comprised of pictures from each of our childhoods and our lives together. We got to watch it at our rehearsal dinner. It brought tears to both of our eyes. Watching it now has a whole new meaning because in a few months we will have a little one of our own. Will he/she have Geoff's hair and my eyes? I hope he/she has Geoff's temperament...  

Thank you April! 

The Details

It was such a relief being able to share our big news with everyone the past few weeks. I have never been good with telling lies and have felt rather guilty not to mention a bad friend. Bailing on plans, not answering phone calls, pouring the occasional "mocktail" was not easy for me. Now I just want the baby bump to start showing so I can have an excuse for the excessive wearing of sweat pants.

Until my posts become about pregnancy, babies and everything associated with the two, I would like to share a few more wedding posts.

Our ceremony and reception would not have been what they were without all of the details. I will admit that I planned for months, learned how to sew, and had a dining room table and guest room that was unusable for months. This doesn't count the tornado that I left upstairs at Geoff's parents house. We wanted it done our way. Blood, sweat, tears and champagne. Lots of champagne.

Geoff and I touched every detail and because of that were extremely proud how everything turned out. 

The hours spent driving from one thrift store to another, sewing yards of fabric, being covered in glue and counting down to our big day were 100% worth it. People will see your hard work and know the love that went into every single detail. 

I wish I had even more pictures. 

How We Went About It

As I am typing the title of this post, I realized it could be read two ways. 

This post is about how we told the ones we loved that we couldn't tell in person not the birds and the bees :) 

We were hoping to be able to tell my parents in person but that just wasn't feasible. Living a few states away, we get to see each other more often than when we lived across the country but not within the time frame we would have hoped. 

Our dog, Argos, has been their "grandpup" for the past 5 1/2 years and we knew that he had to be included. This lead to an rather frustrating photo shoot....

The first few dozen were blurry, the next 30 his eyes were closed, and then he decided to fall asleep. It is a good thing I never tried to go the celebrity route.

An embarrassing 100 pictures later, we had a "winner". 

Add a little Photoshop  and a frame and to the mail it went. We sat anxiously, expecting phone calls. It ended up arriving two days after the post office said but needless to say they were surprised. 

We gave the same framed picture to Geoff's parents as well but were able to do it in person.

For my sister, I took a slightly different approach. 

I bought a classic children's book and wrote a simple note:

Aunt Kelle,
Will you read this to me in April? I can't wait to meet you.
Love,
Baby Roe

I should have included a note on the front that said to open the book because she saw the book and called me hysterical yet slightly confused. It was the classic response. 

For my long distance friends, I wanted to do a play off of Geoff's job as well as the size of Baby Roe. 

I boxed up a tangerine and included a note printed on a paper leaf:

We wanted to let you know that our family tree is growing. 

April 2013

Love Geoff & Nicole

I just loved the reactions we received from our friends. We only have a few friends that have kids and a few that are expecting as well. No one knew that we had decided to try so we were able to catch everyone off guard with the great news. 

It was perfect. 

Now I can't wait for our gender reveal: What is Baby Roe going to Bee?