Don't talk to me about food!

Here's what nausea during pregnancy for me is like:
Think of food, feel nauseous. Food commercials? Change the channel! Hubby wants to tell you about the great burger he had at a lunch meeting? Leave the room in mid sentence, leaving him wondering why you're being so rude. Try to come up with ideas for dinner... and end up making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when hubby gets home because the thought of anything else prompted queasiness.
Eat food without thinking about what you're doing, and I survive—but do you know how hard that is?
I also do a lot of frequent snacking. Of course, I'm not complaining, because throwing up is a rare thing for me and I'm thankful, but I will be happy when the nausea stage passes.
In fact, I have never in my life been so impatient for winter, my least favorite season, to be here! This comes in a combination of 95% joy for the new baby and 5% really, really wanting to lose every pound of baby weight. Shallow? Maybe. But I was doing pretty good on the weight-loss thing, and when we discovered that Baby No. 2 was on its way, it was put on pause.
Back to the nausea: At least when mine ends my husband will get regular dinners again. It seems quite unfair that he gets to put together scrap meals because I have a pregnancy-induced hatred of steak, hamburger and cooking, but then I remember it's partly his fault I'm like this, and I don't feel sorry any more!

:)

{On a side note, I just learned the hard way why trying to coax a tired toddler into a nap by putting her on the futon with the dog is dumb... You figure it out. Bad mommy.}

You know you're a parent (especially of a girl) when: Seeing teenagers at any store sends you into "I would never let my daughter wear that!" rampage.

Wake up!

I left my baby locked in my car while she slept.
Okay, not really. But that's what my nightmare was last night and it scared me so badly, I remembered it. For some strange reason I had left her sleeping in the car while I went into a rec center (it looked like a combo of Castle Rock Rec and Westy Rec). It was apparently quite cold because I was wearing a heavy coat, and when I remembered that my child was in my car it seemed like I was running for miles and everyone or everything was in my way.
The police were at my car and oddly enough, a manager from the store I work at now, and as I was screaming "Where's my baby?" they were asking me why I'd left and putting me under arrest.
How'd you like to wake up to that?!
I spent an hour just laying in bed (after checking on her) waiting for M to wake up so I could hold her. That dream nightmare was so intense that I actually felt guilty, as though I had really left her locked in a car!
You'd think that any rational parent would never do such a thing, but I unfortunately recall a story from a year ago or so that a mother really did leave her child in the car, during the summer, and the kicker is she did it so she could go tan. Really?!
That somehow reassures me that I am a good parent, because I wouldn't ever leave M locked in a car by herself. I've been the mom who cranks the a/c, leans her seat back and takes a nap in the car with her baby, just so she could sleep a little longer. Leave the baby in it alone, especially with it off? Not on your life!
Hopefully I'm not the only mother who judges herself occasionally on the (bad) exploits of other mothers. I'm not... Right?


You know you're a parent when: Your alarm clock is a baby, not an alarm.

Well, the refrigerator is still kaput and the landlord didn't have a good plan, so I'm still without a refrigerator. M and I ended up eating lunch out (something I've been trying to avoid!) and I will not go back there... $9.66 for a turkey sandwich?!
I could've gotten two footlongs at Subway for that!
But I digress. The biggest challenge in this situation is having food that is healthy for the baby without being perishable, other than the string cheese and yogurt I have in the cooler. Which, by the way, is behaving phenomenally considering it's just a cooler with a wall plug in. Hasn't failed us yet!
M had banana and toast with peanut butter this morning, that I cut into strips then had the pleasure of watching her get peanut butter all over her pudgy little hands. I don't know why I didn't have my camera out?! But even though the compulsive part of me cringed, the other part enjoyed watching her munch away. I appreciate that M is willing to try any food we offer, and as yet has not refused anything. I'm also thankful for a lack of allergies!
M also has a new swimsuit that I picked up on clearance, mistakenly misjudging her size. I thought it would be big enough for her to grow into (it's 18 months) but no, it fits about right. It's adorable:

And it was the only suit that was a one piece—does any other mom have an issue with putting a toddler in a bikini?! If you don't, just think on this: There are thousands upon thousands of child sex offenders in our prisons—they're at public pools, too.
I'll stop short of a hijab but you will never find my daughter in a two piece. /steppingoffpodium
I wish I could say that lacking a fridge has put me into clever-mom-mode, but it hasn't. Trying to cook anything save for canned food without milk, butter, mayo, etc. seems to be almost impossible for me, because I'm not that good of a cook anyway. My hubby is the {good} cook in our house, but on days that he works 12 hours, it's super easy for us both to pick a restaurant. Those Guadalajara waiters know our family way too well...
So if you do have foodie suggestions until I have a fridge back, comment! My frozens are at a dear friends and I have limited milk, no eggs,  and no butter. Get creative people—what's for breakfast?

My one-day swimmer had my goggles around her neck during her nap and woke up with the wildest hair ever. It was so cute! She's actually chewing on a grape, but I love the expression. It says, "You always take my picture when I'm eating!"

You know you're a parent when: You have to wash your hands before using the restroom because there's a bunch of your baby's food on you.

Be blessed, everyone.

When a refrigerator quits

I had a day that I fully believe God designed solely to remind me that I need to lean on Him and trust Him with all my heart.
We knew something was up with our refrigerator, but today it just quit completely. Or, it blows air out but isn't doing it right. Either way, I had a freezer full of just-barely-cold meat and a refrigerator that was quickly losing its cool (pun intended ;).
The worst part of the situation is the amount of money in that refrigerator. I think God is seeing exactly how much I will worry about money before I either lose my mind or turn to Him. But since I've walked this path before, I think it made it a little easier for me to choose to pray instead of panic.
At this point, I've thrown away approximately $60 worth of various groceries. What I truly was concerned about was the meat, so I cooked it and it's now in a friend's freezer (thank you Gina!). By tomorrow, I'll have to empty out the remainder of the fridge, and things like barbeque sauce, pickles and other perishables will have to meet the trash.
That's a stressful kind of situation for a family that has to budget every last penny. Especially when Baby No. 2 is on the way, we have an obscene medical bill (unrelated to the new baby, and when I say obscene, I mean "what good is insurance if it only covers 24% of a medical bill?!) and my car needs tires.
So, clearly this is a trial, and honestly, I'm excited that it didn't take more of a winding path for me to get to the part where I give it all to God. I'm frustrated with the landlord and I fleetingly worry about having to take money out of savings, but that's part of the road, isn't it? If I don't completely trust God, I might as well not trust him at all. I believe I've even touched on that in a previous post!
So I choose to trust Him. I know He will provide and I'm going to continue to ask God to keep me from stressing about how we're going to make everything, because this could've been a far worse day than it was!!

Trusting God is a lot like little M trusting her Daddy to keep her from falling off the fence. We have to just climb it, and believe that He will be there! Be blessed.

Things I've learned while pregnant with a second child

1. The first pregnancy was far, far easier, and I'm not talking less nausea or sickness, or any physical things. It was easier because when I was tired, I slept. When I wanted to, not when Child No. 1 was sleeping. Yea, I'll sleep when Baby M takes naps, and I quit staying up late so I sleet at the same time M is sleeping at night, but how I miss those days when sleeping in was an option!

2. Nausea is actually worse because if the smell of food is causing the nausea, and you still have to cook Child No. 1's lunch or dinner, you will be nauseated. I experience a lot of food aversions while pregnant. First on the list is hamburger and steak, which is typically our main dinner ingredient. So dinner the past month has been sketchy not only for M but for the hubby, too. It's too hard on the budget to eat out every night, but I do end up buying a lot of WalMart and Safeway chicken so that I'm not having to prep anything while green at the gills.

3. It's less stressful carrying a second child because now, I know what to expect. My first pregnancy was all that and a bag of chips, but I was still a bit stressed because I was, in fact, bringing a child into this world and I had no clue how to take care of her. What would I do when she cried? I didn't want to change dirty diapers, I'd rather scoop horse poop... How do you bathe an infant? How am I going to save enough money for her college education? (Yes, I worried about that. Still do, actually.)
But in the end, I have now made it an entire year with my first precious baby, and she is healthy and happy. We've made it through the formula, the changing, the crying, the screaming, the sleepless nights, the sickness. Now instead of not wanting to leave the hospital for fear of actually doing it on my own, I plan on being in that hospital as little as possible. I'm thinking a "Have baby in a.m., be discharged by p.m." type scenario.

It's been several weeks since my last post, but since M's first birthday party, I've pretty much been recuperating. M and I came down with a flu last Wednesday and that knocked me out the rest of last week, and as I mentioned, (except for Olympic action) I've been in bed the same time as M.
Thankfully, her party went well and she had fun! I am not a food photographer by any means, and I slipped into Mommy-with-a-camera mode, but I'm sure I'll love these photos from here to the end.

Meira's new 4-wheeler

So excited to eat cake, she didn't want to blow out the candle!

Happy birthday Meira!

Baby's cake

Pony rides! Sox taking Myla and Jayden for a spin.