When facebook goes wrong.

I woke up this morning and did the first thing anybody does these days, check Facebook.
In the midst of many ecards and TGIFs there was a post with some animal abuse. Thank you jerk for completely taking away any joy I had.
While its your page and you can post whatever you want, I think people are taking things to a new level now days.

Please take my guide of things to post and not to post, lets elaborate:

Cute cats- Thats easy, cats own the internet, there can never be too many cute cats.
Pets- all other form of pets are also acceptable, unless they have no legs or too many legs. (My rule for being okay with animals, 2 legs 4 legs ok, no legs and too many legs no)
Kids- It be babies, toddlers, your kids graduation. It is ok. Unless you're posting birthing videos and pictures then no, please keep those to yourself, locked up, your kid will never want to see that. In fact I dont really know why people take videos of their birth.....not doing it.
E-cards- They're hilarious. And sarcastic. Two wonderful things
Cute cat videos- Again, cats, moving, go google frankenstein cat. Its priceless.
Funny ish- Now this one is a little vague. But if it makes me laugh, if its a quote, a picture, a video, we are okay.
Family pics- This includes "my and my boo". and any form of family together. and #tbt's.
Vacation-  I want to see where you went on vacation since I cant afford a vacation of my own. Also applies for road trips and hikes to the mountains.
Food- I love food. #foodporn right? Does not apply to weird green shakes and kale. I personally dont care much for any diet food really, I want to see the good stuff. But if it makes you feel better about sharing your diet food that is okay.
Transformation pix/stories- Adding this one on. Motivation!!! Do not take that as I want pictures of you constantly at the gym though, no. Nobody should take pictures at the gym. It makes you look like a douche.

Things not to post
Constant political- Keep that to yourself. The only thing I want to see about political is IM VOTING or a I voted little sticker. The President sucks posts are getting old. Please go to an online forum to discuss politics if you must.
Constant religious- I believe in God. Do I need to read 50 posts about religion a day? No. Facebook is not a church. And I'm sure I have friends of all different religions who some may not appreciate constant posts about religion. One here one there alright, but again why not share it with people who would appreciate it more.
Dead animals- Why? Seriously, why do you think it was a good idea to post that?!!! No I'm not gonna watch the pitbull getting beat up video. The "Im spreading awareness through facebook" is lazy. Please go help out at an animal shelter. If I wanted to cry with animal videos I would turn on the tv in the middle of the night and watch the ASPCA commercials.
Abused humans- Again another one I don't understand why you would spread that. I'm pregnant and very sensitive right now, I don't need to see that!!! And honestly most of the time those stories are fake. Oh this also implies the please donate to such and such microsoft will donate....surgery....no. its fake.
The drunk/high pics-  If you don't want your mother to see it don't post it. I don't want to see you more than half naked. Look those pictures will be up forever. Good luck getting a job thats not at McDs. While on the topic, could really care less about your weed, remember while its legal in WA its not federally legal so I'd keep those to text your homies.
My life is so horrible-  Please get off the internet and go make friends. That is your problem.
Pics asking for assurance-  Come on writing "Im so ugly" on a pic should be illegal. If you thought you looked so ugly you wouldnt have posted it. This also refers to those annoying vague posts. Just stop with the annoying "SO mad" "Why?" "I dont want to talk about it" Please delete your facebook.
Pretending a reddit post is yours-  One of the worst offenders. I like reading it on reddit, when you try to pass it off as your own it just ruins it. Didn't you learn in school that plagiarism is illegal? You should all be reported!!!!!

I'd like to think that with these guidelines my newsfeed would be completely cleared of stupid things, but I know better. But hopefully if I can at least reach a few people and change their ways.....
And I know someones going to say why don't you just delete so and so or unsubscribe them. Yeah what if they write something really good one day?!!? I hope nobodys excluded me or theyll be missing out on this epic blog post.
And it had nothing to do with being pregnant....eh

So next time you post something, think about the guidelines. They may save a life.

Why is it called a babyshower?

Charlie had his first baby shower yesterday. It was a great afternoon filled with games, great food, friends and stories.
We're very thankful for everyone who came and spent the day with us. Especially for the greatest hostesses around, Viktoria and Miranda. The decorations were beautiful and the cake was the cutest thing. I think Viktoria might have a future in baking cakes.

The night before the shower Miranda and I went to the brazilian store for some things, and of course to cure my craving of empadas and cheese bread. Somehow in the midst we decided to make coxinhas and empadas for the baby shower. Something we had never done, so I enlisted the help of my mom through Skype. She was watching the Rock in Rio concert and David Guetta and Beyonce were playing that night.
Empadas are like chicken pot pies, and coxinhas are little fried balls with chicken inside of them.
Not knowing what we were up against we set off on an adventure. Making the empada dough was pretty easy, its salt butter and flour. The coxinha dough was a task. You have to cook the dough, constantly adding flour in to it and stirring until it becomes like a pizza dough. Great arm work out!!!
We didnt get done with cooking until late but things turned out good, thankfully.

The next day when leaving VIktorias house for the party, as we were running late already I ended up dismentling the diaper cake...we arrived a little late but all was well and we got down to it on the decorations, well Vik and Tina did haha. I needed food.
After everyone arrived we played a couple of games. One was guess how many candies were in the "jar", jar being a big baby bottle, and the other one which turned into quite a hoot was finish the sentence how you think Giulia would react.
Questions were things like "What would Giulia do if she went to check on Bean and he had pooped himself all over?" and " What book will be CHarlies first book"
Harry Potter obviously!! We even Skyped my mom in Brasil, who was very excited to be included into the baby shower.
We opened presents for Bean and I have to say, hes got some pretty awesome gifts :)

When all gifts were opened it was time for dessert. Mel finally made her wonderful amazing raspberry cobbler and we also had the cake, which I was a little sad to cut into...

Both were delicious!!!!

After a lot of food and sugar it was just time to hang out catch up and relax. By 9 we were all pretty beat and it was time to go home.
We got everything downstairs and I fell onto my bed and asleep.
When Dom got home he went to look through the presents, and he comes into the bedroom wakes me up, holds up the shark robe and says very excitedly "This is the coolest thing I've ever seen!"
Not to be mushy but it had to be the cutest thing I had seen.
He had gone to check out the gifts by himself and had fallen in love with something.
I like this side of him, I know hes gonna be a good dad.
:)

Less than two months!!!

Quinoa spinach brown rice grain of wonder

I always see people posting pictures of their healthy meals online.
My thoughts are always the same.
Nope, not eating that!!!

As wonderful as that may be for my body. It was probably way out of my budget and the way I see if once I'm old and frail all that I will be eating will be liquified or pureed, so might as well enjoy my teeth and eating what I want.

I understand that while pregnant your diet has to be a very healthy one. But its insane the amount of things you can't eat while pregnant.
*Hot dogs and deli meats (Have to be cooked thoroughly)
*Larger fish (swordfish, shark...) (Also I would never eat a poor defenseless shark)
*Sprouts (Bean sprouts count??)
*Unpasteurized juices (Seriously?)
*Excess caffeine (Meh)
*Herbal tea and supplements (But I like tea!)
*Soft cheeses (Why fetaaaaaa?)
*Raw or undercooked meats and fish (Sushi Land, Nijos...Ill miss you guys)

 Honestly though, you'd rather me go and buy some fake juice instead of a nice fresh squeezed orange juice? Sometimes it doesn't make sense. Also I may or may not be following that very thoroughly...
I still wonder how they come up with all of these do not do while pregnant things.
I know for a fact my mom smoked probably a pack a day while pregnant with me and drank gallons of espresso. I think, and correct me if I'm wrong but I think I came out alright.

I really dislike warm sandwiches, so the first few times going to Subway I had to get my meat heated up...I thought it would be more of a Quizno's hot sandwich and it was nowhere near that....The ham was lukewarm...I dont think that made much of a difference on whether I got listeria or not so I have decided not to heat it anymore. Not that I get Subway very often, I tend to somehow always get sick from different stores...
I have a very sensitive stomach okay?!

I've unfortunately become lactose intolerant with this pregnancy. Not that I was ever much of a milk drinker..but really its summer and I like milkshakes!!
So its been coconut/almond milk for pregnita. I went to get froyo yesterday with my friend and sat there trying out all of the froyos...ooops.
I'm really hoping that this goes away after pregnancy.

I cant live off of fruit and vegetables, I have to dip my toes into some sort of bad food right? I have the right to!! I have been sick for the past 4 months I think I deserve some good fun. While I've never been someone who likes sweets I have found myself with quite the sweet tooth I can't get rid of.
So when I felt that need of sweet goodness after dinner the other day everyone seemed happy that Bean wanted something sweet. We trekked to Whole Foods where they sell pie slices so everyone was able to pick their own. Grandma got a very nice lemon meringue, Grandpa and Carol both got decadent chocolate cream pies, Dom got a very nice Kahlua creme (what an alcoholic) and I came back with a Hazelnut Fudge cake...I didnt just eat it, I devoured it.

Dom's had a few cravings himself. Blue Cheese. Which to me not only smells like feet but also tastes like what his feet would taste like.
Speaking of feet, our last ultrasound we got to see that Bean might become a gymnast. He had his feet up to his face and Im quite sure he was sucking on them.
I wonder if I can find my picture of me doing that, I used to do it all the time when I was young.

Lastly a great thing about pregnancy is all the heartburn. If I had any doubt before whether he'd be hairy I don't now. Say it is a old wives tale? I think it's quite true. Please don't let my baby come out a werewolf. But if anyone has a good cure for heartburn please, share.

Oh and one last update, I'd like to thank my girl Liz for helping me with a job. I will be working with the "oldies" as an activity coordinator. I may even create a new activity once Bean's born. "Take care of baby time". Old people love babies. That's a fact.

What's in a name?

Naming a kid is different than naming say a pet or a doll.
That individual will have that name to be with for the rest of his life.
Through kindergarten where they may make fun of them for their name, through elementary school where they will try to find their own nickname, in high school when they may want to take more of an adult style nickname or use their real name and in college where that name will be used in a piece of paper that will determine their career path.

I have chosen the name Charles Robert Kramer.

Baby Charles will have many nicknames to chose from. Charlie, Chuck, Chuckie, if he wants to use his middle name then, Rob, Robbie, Bobby, Bob....

I chose Charles because it is a name that's not very common. It's a timeless name. I believe that a name gives you personality. If you have a strong name you are bound to become something powerful.
Also I don't want my kid to be racially profiled when he's older and trying to apply for a job. There are many names that may get stereotyped. As wrong as it is, it happens, and no I don't agree with it.

The middle name Robert is from Dominic's Grandfather. We agreed that if I chose the first name he could have the middle name. I think its a great middle name and both first and middle name mesh very well.

It doesn't bother me if you don't like it. You're not the one raising my kid. I was going to keep it hush hush to keep the bad juju off of him but why should I? I'm proud and happy of the name I chose.

Charles means free man, it is the name of the first Holy Roman Emperor and a name which many royal families use. There have been many intelligent individuals in history with the name Charles. Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, Charlie Chaplin...Chuck Bass...

While you may ask why I didn't pick anything from my own family's past I will say I didn't have many choices. I did like the name William who was also my step grandfather it is also the name of my sisters adorable fluffy cat. I couldn't let him live thinking I named him after my sisters cat. (Even though Will is the most amazing cat I've ever met, besides Leo obviously.)
In a conversation with my sisters mom she kept throwing out names and I kept deflecting them with the fact that well they've all been used on one pet in the family. Leo's name is retired, may he rest in kitty heaven. Jackson is also longer name for Jack....She said I used all the good names on my animals.

Then there's the fact that well...my family's from Brasil. My mom's side of the family was from a small little town and you know how those names work out. My grandpas name was Geneval and what a great man he was from stories I've heard. But say that out loud, what does it sound like?? ......Yeah not going to work out. And even though I have rekindled a relationship with my own father I don't think that I will carry on his names to my own child. I think the many years I gave him the first piece of cake on my birthdays should be plenty.

Even though Kramer isn't the best last name  (Seinfeld anyone??) I wont subject my kid to having a hyphenated last name to include both my name and Dominic's. We aren't married (yet....) but I think 5 years with someone is enough to pass on his name to our offpsring.

But who knows? Maybe he won't like his name and will think its horrible and will change it after turning 18. At least he'll have it for 18 years of his life. As long as he doesn't change it to something weird like Meta World Peace  it's up to him. But to me, he will always be Bean.

Welcome Home!

As a few of you have experienced our surprise already it is now safe to say we are back in the Northwest.
No more cockroaches, no more humidity, no more Texas!

My last day at work Ms.Flor my mother figure at work bought two delicious cakes to celebrate my going away. Veronica my wine expert bought Bean his first outfit. That was when it became real that 1)We were going home and 2)Oh I'm having a baby!
Dom's front office team threw us a baby shower, unfortunately I had already left work so he had to step in for momma duty. Bean got so many cool presents I'm excited for him!!!

7 States in 3 days with 2 cats and 1 dog. We left Sunday morning and drove all the way to Albuquerque, NM. 12 and a half hours of driving but we were out of Texas. We hit a horrible thunderstorm in New Mexico our windshield wipers couldn't keep up with the amount of rain, it was bucket fulls. Of course there was no way to pull over because what if there was a flash flood?? We stayed the night at a Motel 6. They're not terrible, but if I ever hear someone compare the Hyatt to a Motel 6 again I might kick that individual.
The second day we drove to Twin Falls, ID.  We drove through all of Utah and some Colorado. I must say out of all of the states we went through Utah was the most beautiful. That second day was another 12 and a half hours drive. Lots of fast food on the way.
On our last day we drove all the way through Washington and Oregon. It was the best feeling getting into Washington, I had missed the nature and trees and beauty.

 

The start

 

My favorite picture of Jack

 

Tigger found a comfortable spot

 

Utah

 

My chauffeur 

 

Twin falls
 

Bored on the last day

 

Are those trees?!

We dropped off the cats at my friends mom's house, who loves cats and says its been a great thing having them around. My sister and I contemplated giving her a cat once we get a place and have to take mine back...I think it might happen ;)

We are staying with Dominic's grandparents until we find a place. Kobe is in love with the new found freedom of a ginormous backyard. And he has a new roomie, Piper. His grandparents little westie. We're still getting acclimated as Kobe likes to use his paws a lot and pipey is a smaller dog.



Like every year for the past 5 years the tradition is to go over to Kingston and go to Bobby's cabin. We surprised everyone when we showed up and they were walking the boat to the dock and we started honking. I thought there were going to be tears....The shock and confusion on everyone's face was priceless. It was great to be reunited with friends! The boys set out crab pots that day and we caught a ton of crabs. Tina and Emily were really excited to crack crabs and the boys had no problem with that haha.

 

 

So now were back to real life. Dom will be working at the Edgewater as an Assistant Front Office Manager and I'm waiting to hear back from the Hyatt.

I need to find a new OBGYN or a Midwife now. If anyone knows of a place they liked I'd love to hear about it.

A napkin and ice

To most it is just a cloth napkin, ice and some paper towels.
To me, it meant the world.

I'm 18 weeks tomorrow and still the morning sickness has not left me. The past two weeks have been especially hard at work as one of the managers has been out because of surgery. I've been opening the restaurant every day at 5am. On my Saturday I was extremely sick. I did my opening duties and went into the office to work on the rotation sheet. I couldn't keep anything down and the trash can and I became best friends. At one point one of my servers came in the back with a bowl of ice a napkin and some paper towels. He said "Here you go momma I know you get hot and it makes you feel sick." (The back office has a no form of ventilation, we have a fan but it basically blows hot air in your face). I looked back at him and had no words to explain how much I appreciated his gesture.

I'm not someone who likes to ask for help. It's hard for me to do that, I feel weak, and I know asking for help isn't weak its quite the opposite of that, it takes strength to ask for help. While pregnant I've encountered a lot of ignorance from people, people who see pregnancy as a disease, people who think you can't do anything because you're pregnant, the list is ridiculously long. So showing one sign of being under the weather has really been something I'm trying not to show.

Many of the people at work have had kids (none of the managers). One of my server's assistants had 8 of them!! They understand that some of their pregnancies might have been easy, but mine wasn't a trip to Disneyland. As a Supervisor I am the person always checking on them making sure they're okay and not overwhelmed, but they became that to me also. "How are you feeling?" "Hows the baby" "Its definitely a boy". That connection made me the person that they went to if they had an issue. One day I had taxi issues and didn't get to work until about 5:40, I was crying and freaking out about what was going to happen. When I got in, they had already done their side work, opened the silverware cage, opened the office and everything was set. They could have came up with excuses, slacked off, or only done their job but they chose to go above and beyond and help me out.

Compassion isn't something that you teach someone, it comes from within. I can "coach" my associates how to properly serve a table, how to clear a table, to carry trays correctly. But I can't teach them compassion, that is all on their own. If I've learned anything from this experience its that you get what you put out into the world. I could have gone into this job and quit after finding out I was pregnant, I could have gone to work done my job and went home every day. I chose to stay, to build relationships and have a connection with them.

These 5 months of work haven't been easy. I'm not someone who boasts and throws things in other people's faces. But if you think that you can make it working at 5am every day with a full buffet (eggs, cant ever eat them again). While "feeling hungover" and smelling every European's cologne/perfume within a mile of them. I give you my most respect.
 But the days where nobody will get a break and I get them some pizza from room service and I walk into the room to see everyone sitting next to each other on the bench and smiling and thanking me, it makes it all worth it.

I just want people to know that being pregnant or not, the smallest things you do to someone else can change the world to that person. Have you ever had a day where you wish someone would have just given you a smile? Too often we are so caught up in our own problems and issues that we don't take the time to reach out to others. The thing is, nobody knows what someone else is going through. As a society we've learned to hold our pain inside. Many people walk around with a smile on their face to hide their pain. If someone were to reach out and help another with their pain they may realize that they're helping themselves as well.

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."
—Leo Buscaglia


I promise you, as silly as a napkin and some ice sounds, I will never forget that.

Eating in Public

My friend Jenni posted something up on facebook today about some breast feeding nonsense. I'm from Brazil where there is no prejudice against breast feeding in public. So I'm going to go on a little bit of a controversial rant....
We all eat, just because I don't like the guy at table 12 chewing with his mouth open or slurping his soup doesn't mean I'm going to be going up to him and telling him off for bad habits.
The problem with breast feeding in public isn't that it's a bad habit, it just makes people uncomfortable.
The question is why??!

You were breast fed when you were a baby, I was breastfed when I was a baby. When did it become such an "ugly" thing to feed your baby in public?
I haven't breast fed yet so I don't know how it is, but I imagine it would be uncomfortable having to cover yourself up and your baby in 90 degree weather just so Mary Sue over there doesn't get offended by your boob showing a little Also It cant be comfortable being smothered underneath a shawl to eat as a baby..
Am I flashing you? Am I going out of my way to make you feel uncomfortable? No. I am merely thinking about feeding my baby, I could care less about you and your ideals. I think its a lot more offensive to see a 17 year old girl working at a bikini coffee stand than seeing a woman breast feeding...
Should you really change something thats not necessarily offensive just perceived as offensive because society has become so sensitive in the past 20 years?
I personally have never seen a mother who's breastfeeding sit next to me and shove it in my face, most of the time all they want is a little peace and quiet and for their baby to eat and relax. They're not doing it because they want to show you their boobs, they're doing it because they have to, their baby is hungry. Once the baby is done eating that boob is going back inside her shirt and she's going on with her day. Is that mother thinking about whether she offended you? She probably feels insecure about that nasty glare you're sending her way, but what is she to do? Stop feeding her baby, tell her baby that they aren't allowed to eat unless they are at home in the comfort of their privacy?



You want to tell me that feeding a small baby is sexual? Because my breast is out? How does a baby eating even become sexual? It's a breast, yes, is that mother fondling or shaking it in your face?
Are her boobs just out in plain view? No, there is a baby in front of it. I have seen so much worse walking through the mall now days, side boob everywhere, outrageous cleavage shirts, see through tops and bras showing. None of that is scandalous though?

It's not offensive because her nipple isnt showing?

The way I see it, is if you don't like it don't look. It's easy. I don't like guys with soul patches but do I march up to every  one of them and bitch and moan about how douchie a soul patch makes you look?

Look I'm not a hippie or that crazy all natural mother who's going to use cloth diapers, but I will stand for not giving into what the public sees as offensive when it's merely a natural act of nature. Why is it that an animal drinking milk from an udder is okay and "cute" but a baby human isn't?

At the end of the day you gotta remove yourself from the situation and think, "Is this woman doing this to make me uncomfortable?" No. She's got so much on her mind trying to take care of a crying baby its the last thing on her mind whether you're upset.


I will be that lady breastfeeding wherever my baby decides he wants to eat. If you have an issue with it, don't look. It's simple, I'm not going to suffocate my kid so you can feel comfortable, I'm not going to go to the bathroom to feed my kid....I'm just not. I'm not flashing you or doing anything sexual, I'm merely feeding my baby, like you were fed and others before you.


Until the day that a 17 year old girl can wear scantly clad outfits and not be berated for walking around like a complete hooker and a mother who's silently feeding her baby gets judged for it our society will never evolve.



I will however buy this awesome beenie!!

 

Dom wins

For the past 24 hours I have battled a horrible case of food poisoning, or at least it's what I'm going to blame it on. Good thing I had today off, so I'm laying in bed with some gatorade, water, crackers, and Harry Potter.

Yesterday as I was leaving for work I spotted a little kitten next to our side door. Before I could get out and take him though Dom was driving away, so of course I was bummed, but he told me he would go and check on him when he got back. I got a text later saying there were 4 kittens and a momma. Of course I was excited, so when I got home I went out there and Zoey (Momma cat) came out, I left her some food and figured out that they were making the upstairs neighbors porch a home, (Good thing they got rid of their husky german sheppard mix). A guy from the gas company had came to turn on the new neighbors gas on and she ran away, which gave me time to go see the kittens! They are adorable, there is one black one with orange eyes, and two gray tabbies. Unfortunately they got scared and ran away, I didn't think they would be back since I now knew of their hiding spot, but I hoped that since she had gotten some food that she would remember. Dom came home and I took a nap while he made some food, for himself and the dog mostly I was deathly ill. While I was napping with Jack we heard some kitty cries, both him and Tigger got very agitated and ran to the window, I found a kitten on the fence, I went outside to see if everything was ok and Dom was already doing that, we left some more food for Zoey and I came back to bed. I opened my blinds so the cats could look outside and I could keep an eye out for them, when I looked up and she was standing on the fence looking me straight in the eyes. It wasn't a I hate you glare but a thank you appreciative look. Throughout the night I heard a couple random kitten meows and saw them all playing outside my window. I'm glad I'm gaining her trust and that she can have some food to be able to feed her babies.























It's been a very eventful couple of weeks, last week we also bought a car. A 2010 Mercury Milan. It's our first real family car, as our old cars have been more commuter cars. We must have looked for hours at CarMax. Let me explain to those of you who aren't familiar with Carmax. Think of Best Buy for cars, all cars of different sizes, makes, and colors. The sales guy was really pushing us for
a 2012 Nissan Altima, which I was okay with, but it was a bit of  money for a very basic model. It started pouring while we were in the middle of the parking lot so we had to go for cover, which was when I saw it, this beautiful white car, keypad on the outside (Dom tends to lock keys inside the car) and a sunroof. That was the one! As we were looking at it another couple and a salesman came over also, I shook my head at them saying back off its mine, and asked my sales guy to put a sold sign on it, I was taking it home. A couple of hours later I was driving Snow off the lot and on our way home. All the hassle of having to get a cab in the morning gone, all the hassle of having to get a cab for Dom to come home gone also... And now we can go to an actual grocery store instead of the 1950's limited one by our place. Which I did, and I bought fresh OJ and guavas.

Now for baby news! I've been feeling very dizzy the past week, and I had gone to the doctors already for it, my blood pressure was 100/60 which is pretty low considering it was fried chicken friday at work. The PA had told me it was fine to not eat bananas anymore and to eat more often and eat more protein. A week doing what she had told me and nothing had changed. Its very frustrating to be standing at work and randomly want to pass out, have to get off the floor and go sit. So I made an appointment for Thursday, the only time they had open was at noon and luckily Dom had the day off! I picked him up after work and we went. No Botox Brandi, Kathleen would be seeing me. We get my vitals, 104/62 not too bad... check babies heartbeat 150. Kathleen is very young compared to BB, and she looks like she might have been a cheerleader. She listened and gave me advice, then she said she thought that maybe we should get some more blood tests done, the blood tests I had done in my first visit showed nothing wrong but maybe things had changed. Alright, we're getting somewhere finally, and I had expressed how I was feeling a sharp pain on my left side, the last doctor thought it was kidney stones and I cancelled that idea out within seconds. I know kidney stone pain, I had them when I was 15. I don't have kidney stones (thank goodness). Kathleen said that she would check with the ultrasound tech and see if they could get me in. I went to get my blood drawn, something I hate, I dislike needles with a passion but this woman was a miracle worker. No pain no anxiety lots of blood. If I could bake her cookies I would.
 I sit back waiting for the ultrasound with Dom. 20-30 minutes go by and we're confused, finally someone gets out, and her whole family. There must have been 10 people in there! Wow, thats a close family! I like the ultrasound tech, I think her name is Melissa? She's a sweetheart and she remembered me, even though my last ultrasound was at 7 weeks and it looked like a lizard. She tells me the gel is actually warm which I'm perfectly fine with, were not probing me anymore! I have now decided to call Bean Skeletor, the first time seeing Bean with bones and all it was the only thing that came out of my mouth. Bean now looks like a human though! She asks me if I knew the sex yet and I said no, then she asks if I'd like to know. I said well if we can I guess. I didn't want to give off the impression that I was super excited to know! I was super ready I was going to name her Amelia Rose Kramer. Until she moved it to she side and I instantly knew that was out the door. Melissa didn't even have to tell me I knew the moment I saw a little peanut in between his legs that it was a BOY. Dom had an instant grin on his face of course. I guess I'm destined for all boys in my life. We got to see Bean more around a little more, he started out looking up and ended on his stomach and laying on his hand.

*

I thought for a while of how to tell everyone, I wanted something a little interesting. So I came up with the idea of posing with a soccer ball. Unfortunately nobody understood....Eventually everyone got it. Or they got it when I posted a picture of his little winky. I'm excited to be able to call Bean a him instead of an it now. He's finally getting his identity. Grandma Anja has already bought him Superman onsies.

That's it for now friends. Bean and I are ready for a nice little nap.

Sick as a dog...

Warning: Somewhat graphic information about pregnancy nausea. I warned you!


For anyone who's drank in their life they have probably at said "I will never drink again" at least once. Hangovers. Never fun, you feel dizzy, nauseous, head achy, lethargic...the list goes on.
But whats the real worst about it? The nausea and vomiting. Which brings me to my topic today. Pregnancy nausea. (Even though all those other symptoms are also found during pregnancy)
My best friend and I would always go out, drink and mix, and I would feel just fine and dandy the next day,  but I would always wake up to her staring me down and saying "I'm nauseous".
And while everyone has a "cure" for a hangover; greasy food, lots of water, pedialyte, more drinks, and tylenol, it usually goes away as the day goes on.

The problem with pregnancy nausea is as the day goes on, the nausea doesn't ease up. It's not even just in the mornings that it comes. It hits you out of nowhere. I was at work the other day making the board when the night cleaners were finishing and cleaning the stainless steel doors, the fake citrus smell of the cleaner sent me over the edge, from that moment on I felt sick.
And let me tell you there are times you think oh its probably going to be just a quick vomit, or easy, and all the sudden it's like you're in the Exorcist and cant quite even figure out what it is you're puking.
I have two bathrooms at work to chose from; the upstairs kitchen and the lobby bathroom,, the upstairs bathroom is vile, it smells of sewage and food and even if you are not sick you will be once you start walking up the stairs. But there's a nice little chair in there to take a mini break. The one in the lobby really shouldn't be used by employees...even though most front desk, managers and supervisors all use it. Neither bathroom is close enough though...I usually have to do some old lady jogging 7
Lots of people say your second trimester you aren't sick as much, but that's not a for sure thing. My friend Natalie is well into her 2nd if not 3rd now and the poor girl has to run to a trash can or toilet constantly. I feel this will be what's in stores for me. I have become accustomed to having a little bag in my purse just in case.

How do you fix pregnancy nausea? You really cant... There are pills the doctor can give you, and they can work pretty well, but here's the thing. It stops things from leaving....completely. So now you're not puking, but you're not getting rid of anything else as well. I'd rather puke.
There are a few foods I find better to eat if I know that its going to be one of those days where nothing stays down, I don't know if I've uncovered anything new women just don't talk much about puke....
I find that crackers help a lot with the acidity, bananas, soda, drinking water with lime
And then there are things I stay away on those days, anything oily, olives, oatmeal, rice, spicy and acidic things.

And I know this plays no part in nausea I have had some weird cravings, I don't like cantaloupe, in fact I don't fancy any melons, but yesterday I found myself putting salt on it at lunch and having quite the delicious little salty fruit. In fact I keep putting salt in everything, and if you know my parents thats what they do, salt in everything, including pizza. Although I do like salty food I'm not one to just pour salt into my food. I'm trying to ween away from salt and limes but they're just so darn delicious!!!

So that's my take on pregnancy nausea, if you want to put yourself in my shoes please go outside get as many different colored drinks and don't eat and see how your day plays out.

End of Tape 1....trimester 1

I know if I don't start writing more blogs I'm going to end up kicking myself for it. I'm just so tired all the time!!! No more excuses. And since pizza seems to take about an hour to get places here I should make use of my time.

I feel like I'm listening to a very long audio book. Let's say Twilight just for the heck of it. I despise twilight. but you can think of it as any book you disliked...A book you read in HS?. I read Twilight in high school because everyone was reading it, mistake one. I read 4 books in record time, but it was because I kept thinking it was going to get better. It didn't, and now I have a book I left in Brazil for whoever gets really bored at the beach house. So incorporating this feeling of a terrible book into pregnancy, I keep thinking its going to get better. So for now we're putting in tape two of the book. Trimester number 2. Everyone's favorite apparently. And just because it's their favorite doesn't mean it isn't going to suck, because guys, I'm sorry pregnancy isn't for me. While you may have had birthed 6 or more children and love the pregnancy feeling I'm so happy for you, I don't. I'm ready to buy a time machine and fast forward to the good part
                              
                                             This is Leo and I napping while reading Twilight

So as of yesterday I am now 13 weeks, we're in the safe zone!! Not that I was afraid anyways, Last year, while at zombie prom there was a crazy card reading woman, and while she got almost everything wrong she pointed out that I'm very fertile and that I would move somewhere sunny (ding ding its 90+ degrees today, Ive barricaded myself in my bedroom with the AC) . But maybe there was more in those cards and I didn't pay much attention. Anyways Bean, now a lemon (maybe not as sour as a lemon) has finger prints! I don't know why I find it so fascinating. Maybe its because now Bean has his/her own identity that nobody else has. Fingerprints and your tongue are each different from everyone else (I wonder if Bean has a little tongue already?). But as much as I know and am feeling pregnant I don't think it has particularly hit me really that I'm going to be a mom. Even writing that sentence felt weird. It's not that I see Bean in my future already, I keep daydreaming on the bus about a wedding and having Bean there which would be totally awesome!! But I feel like I'm going to go through this whole pregnancy and not really realize it until I'm holding a baby. And then it's going to be a moment "Oh **** I'm a mom." In a good way by the way, I just tend to have a little bit of a sailor's mouth. No need to blame me folks that's all my dad who was in the Navy.
Maybe things change once I get to see an actual ultrasound of a human inside me, and knowing whether its a boy or girl. Next month we'll know. Or once Bean will have an actual name. Sorry Kurt Cobain I can't name my child Bean.

We have picked out middle names. If it's a girl Rose, for my grandmother, and Robert for his grandfather, which also happens to be his best friend's name. Speaking of names it's a little complicated having to go bilingual with them. I couldn't pick a cool name like Riley (unisex name :)), Riley just wouldn't sound good coming out of a Brazilian's mouth, it sounds like angry German. And I wouldn't feel right naming my kid Rodolfo because all I keep seeing is Jennifer Aniston in Along Came Polly and her ferret.                                                        

I think it's time for some tv. I recently just purchased Netflix, I had it before the big changes and it just wasn't worth it. I have been glued to my TV. I have found a pretty fun little show called The Pretty Little Liars and its been entertaining. If you don't have Netflix, I highly suggest getting it,  but I think I might have been the only one now days without it.....

And while I finish this my pizza should be here, is it? Of course it isn't....Texas....I'm counting down the days until I leave.
Maybe this is a test of my patience, I'm sorry, I came out of the womb early. What makes you think I will learn now?!

 

And the beat goes on

First let me start out by saying Happy Mother's Day yall!!
A mother doesn't have to give birth to someone to be a mother, there are many types of mothers out there, grandmother, step mother, mother to be, pet mother, adopted mother, your best friends mother who you have taken on as your own mother ( I have a few of those). She is someone who loves you unconditionally and is always there to listen to your worries.

My mother hasn't been around for the past few years, but I've had the pleasure of having great mother figures to turn to in the mean time. I have a great grandmother in law who has been such a great support for Dom and I throughout our relationship. Dom's step mom Anja even though his dad's no longer married to her (and lucky you lady!) has been a great friend/motherly figure. She's german and we're always VERY excited to go hang out with her and her family, her parents also have the most beautiful place in Stanwood. Then there is my sister, who although not a mother (a pet mother of many actually) has been a mother/sister/best friend so many times. Then theres my Brazilian mothers, mt friend Claudia's mom has always been a great second mom, I would sometimes go over to their place and end up talking for hours with both of them or sometimes just her mom. Dom didn't understand why I said I was almost leaving and ended up getting home 2 hours later. And Jenni's mom who is always saying if I need anything I can always go to her and willing to share her recipe of cheesy potato casserole (it's beyond delicious).

                                                      But this is my mom!!! And shes not replaceable

I spoke with my parents today on my way home from work. My sister was there and they were all enjoying the nice Sunday. I didn't have much time to talk because they live on the beach and the connection is always terrible. Dad said that mom was going to try to come up for Bean's birth. I'm very excited. I mean its sort of a right of passage right? Grandma always helps out with baby once it's born! Also, my mom's birthday is November 24th, two days after Bean is supposed to come out, with any luck I can hold onto two days and give her a good present. This will be her second grandchild, my sister has a son who's 8 so it's about time for another one.

Moving on to Bean, Bean is now 12 weeks old, and Bean is no longer a bean, its a plum!!

 Almost done with the first trimester, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Its dim....a bit dim....I'm no longer having much morning sickness but now I have dizziness. It seems I'm destined to have everything in the books huh? I'm starting to show also..My work pants are no longer zipping and I've started to use the second button thats technically only there to make sure it looks good. I see lots of dresses in my near future. The weather is starting to get really hot also. I know I'm from a tropical place but no I'm not a fan of heat, I hate heat, no, I hate humidity. Its a constant sauna outside. And then there's the thunderstorms....and flash flooding...
Why Houston? Why must you make us suffer?

I went to the doctors on the 1st for a check up, Dom didn't go because we had to change the appointment day. I trekked all the way there by myself, without headphones because I forgot them at home, and knew by the time I got back the dog would have eaten them already (he also ate my brand new inhaler took it out of the box and ate it fastest way to lose $50).

I finally got to the building after sweating a good bucket because for some reason, the 30 minutes from my house to downtown the temperature went up 500 degrees. The moment I walk into the building I was instantly calmer, I think they have pheromones in the air, I mean its a women's only place and there's a LOT of hormones, so I can understand it, and I appreciate it really. I checked in and I decided to try out the 4th different type of chair in the waiting room. I think this is the one for me, its white and fluffy and squishy. I get called back and we check my vitals I've always had lower blood pressure, which isn't fun when you go in a sauna, or hot tub, it usually ends with passing out. So not to my surprise 104/60, could this be why I'm so dizzy?!
I go in the exam room and she pulls our the doppelganger to listen to babys heart. Of course before she even puts it on my stomach I have my phone out and asking, well telling her mostly that I was going to record it. After a couple of minutes we hear the heartbeat 158bpm, somebody was just as excited as I was!?

Botox Brandi finally came in, after an eternity. She asks the usual, "How are you feeling, any questions?" Yes, I've been dizzy, she tells me that there are two reasons dizziness happens; blood sugar is low and blood pressure is low. Well B.B you saw my bp is low and she decides to tell me it's my diet. I told her I drank juice in the morning along with a banana. Apparently that's not okay, its too much sugar and I crash from the sugar. So instead she tells me to add crystal light or use mio in my water, so you'd like me to not have any natural sugars but its okay to have fake sugar? Lady all that botox has gotten to your brain. I have decided that I no longer wish to have her as a doctor, I will switch her out with someone else. Dont worry Dr Briger you're safe, for now.


Speaking of work Dom finished his training in record speed, what was supposed to go on until June is done. He is now an Assistant Front Office Manager. Woohoo! Unfortunately that means well be working opposite shifts, I work mornings like crack of dawn early and hell be going into work when I get done. Lame. But its a good thing, hes moving up fast. In my mind that means we'll end up home sooner.

Thats pretty much whats going on with us though. I think its about time for another Galveston trip? Last time we went puppy had a blast covering us with sand.  

                                                                       Week 10 with Kobe waving

                                                                   Week 12

                 Heres a picture of an update of the cats and dog, it may look like they are all getting along very well but Tigger and Kobe are going at it. At least theyre all able to lay on the bed together.

7 Weeks later...

So it looks like we're 7 weeks as of today. I worked 10 straight days at work in order to get today off so I could go to the doctors. And let me tell you, working 10 straight days isn't easy, now try doing that with morning sickness and a constant tiredness.

My birthday was on the 27th, and while I wanted to go out and have dinner or do anything I worked at 5am and came home and puked the rest of the night. And this wasn't my 21st birthday, so you can imagine my joy. Dom got me a puppy for my birthday so I didnt expect much, he did come home with the most beautiful flower arrangement a couple of days before my birthday which smelled wonderful. I also received a lot of love from friends and family,  which I read in between trips to the bathroom =p

I have been working morning shifts at work for the past two weeks. I arrive at work between 5am and 7am, Im not much of a morning person if you know me. I like to take my time waking up, maybe watch some tv then get on with my day. I think working this early has played a big part in my morning sickness, don't let the "morning" part fool you,  that stuff follows you around all day, all night even haunts you in your dreams. Apparently I wasnt one of the lucky ones that doesn't get morning sickness...sigh..
I had a prescription for anti nausea meds but I was too lazy to go get it, and I dont like taking pills, especially when you tell me things like oh you're gonna be constipated...Oh that sounds great, I wont puke but I also wont poo....Well 3 days ago I finally gave in and got the pills. I took one and it probably took a couple hours for it to kick in, (I had just eaten a subway sandwich, and it probably had to get through that to start working) Also Fun fact: When you're pregnant you have to heat/cook your deli meats.I didnt know that. Back to the little pill of wonderfulness, I felt like I had woken up from a coma. I was finally able to enjoy life again, for the first time in 2 weeks I was able to come home and do something besides lay down in the bed and stay there until the next morning.

Anyways we had our second visit to the doctors today, we rented a car as puppy had a vet appointment also, and figured payday friday, lets do some shopping for things we need. Our grocery store by our house isnt very big. Let me give you an idea, the types of fish they sell is Catfish and Catfish. Dom swore he saw salmon there one day, I still dont believe him.
Im starting to build up my little mommy to be things, I recently bought the preggie pops, which are supposed to help with nausea, theyre pretty yummy and theyre sour! And I also bought the book What to expect when you're expecting. I shall go start buying baby diapers tomorrow and will continue with every paycheck as everyone Ive spoken with said to start buying things early on.
Our appointment was at 9:20 for the ultrasound and the other appointments would follow, well the car rental place took their sweet time in getting us a car so I had to call and let the doctor know I would be late. We got there 15 minutes late. The receptionist checked me in and I sat in a very nice little blue recliner, its going to be my goal to try out all of the different chairs and couches in there I have decided. We waited 15, 30, 35 minutes and finally I hear my name called. Elizabeth takes us into the ultrasound room, a spacious room with a 40in tv on the wall a cute little seat and the exam table and ultrasound. She leaves the room while I get settled in, a minute later there is a knock on the door and shes back. The stirrups, have pink fuzzies on them, nice try, they still freak me out. I have to get another inside ultrasound again. She must be a genius because all I see is black and weird shapes in there. She finds little bean and I see some pumping motions, the heartbeat!!! My little alien has a heartbeat of 130 beats per minute. She then checks my ovaries and tells me that bean came from my left ovary. It was bound to happen I am a leftie. After shes done with my ovaries we go back to bean. It is the oddest and most surreal moment to see this little line and a tiny little heart beating. Theres a yolk sac next to it and she tells me that its only temporarily there until the placenta grows.
I'm still thinking about the little heartbeats. Theres a blueberry inside of me and it has a beating heart. Limbs will start growing next week, and then fingernails come sis.

                        It looks a little long....could I possibly have a little basketball player on the way?

When we get done we go back outside and wait to go and talk to the doctor. After an eternity she finally comes in, this is the actual doctor, Dr. Brigger. She looks familiar, and has a genuine smile, she glowed. Well I later found out why she has a glow, shes also pregnant!  Shes due in July so I should be fine to see her in November. She tells me everything looked great in the ultrasound, and that all of my bloodwork came back normal, no stds, no cat litter disease, and Im O+ which I already knew, feel free though to keep that blood and use it for future reference on things. I did however have imbalanced bacteria so Im taking antibiotics for it, it apparently happens to a lot of pregnant women.
 We have an appointment for the 3rd and an ultrasound at 20 weeks to find out the sex. I could pay $100 extra and find out at 16-18 weeks but I think Ill wait.

                                     Brandi is the PA on the left, Dr. Brigger is on the right.

We talked to the financial coordinator after everything, all I owe the clinic is less than $200. I knew my 90/10 insurance would come in handy one day.. I have to register at the hospital which is across the way from them, and then figure out how much hospital costs will be. Oh dear. They say it can cost up to $18,000 in hospital fees to have a baby, thats insane!!! Please oh please health insurance this is your time to help me.

It had been a very long day already and what was supposed to be a 1 hour appointment turned longer, we didnt get out of there until almost 12pm and we were both starving. I or maybe bean was craving country fried steak, unfortunately theres no pattys eggnest or leenas here. So we went to Cracker Barrel for the first time, for $10 I got my country fried steak and 3 sides, no wonder everyones so fat down here!! Dom got a chicken club sandwich which he finished in 30 seconds....poor guys eating for two since I havent been eating much.
Tomorrow were going to go see Jurassic Park 3D. Yes, bean will be taught only the best movies.

November 22, 2013 little bean will come into the world. Give or take a couple of days.

First visit to the doctors

Its been exactly one week since I found out I had an unexplained visitor residing within me. There wasn't much sleep last night, in between cats walking on my face, puppy whining, and the gosh awful humidity I was kept up and wrapped up in my mind and thoughts.Not to mention I accidentally forgot to turn off the sound system for the tv last night and around 2am we heard a screeching noise and a warning about thunderstorms...I never heard that thunderstorm the crazy man was talking about.


This week hasnt been all that blissful, Ive been nauseated, I had my first pregnancy puke yesterday, I have cramps and these prenatal vitamins are horse pills!!....But nothing makes me feel better than seeing how Dominic is reacting to the news. It's as if hes on daddy mode already, somehow hes turned into a great chef, and has been cooking. Ive been doing the dishes mostly.

                                        One night we had beef and broccoli rice and lumpia.
                                   The next day we had some amazing sliders and curly fries.

So at 6:30 am we finally get up to get ready, my appointment wasnt until 9:15. But he needed to shower and get ready, I stayed and slept a little longer. I got up walked puppy outside came back and it started a torrential downpour so Dom went to the little corner store and bought a couple umbrellas, I dont know why we got rid of ours when we moved, did I think that it wouldnt rain in Texas??
As we start walking I manage to break the umbrella with my endless fidgeting, Im such a brute!
We caught the 7:26 bus to downtown and had to change to get the light rail. This is such a journey!
We get off at the stop and have to walk a little bit to the building, while on the walk we managed to escape being drenched by cars passing by puddles. We had a systematic thing going on, walk on grass, walk on pavement. At some point I end up walking on what Im pretty sure is wet cement, but it felt so squishy and fun to walk on...Bad idea, we get to the building and I still have a ton of it on my shoes...

We get to the doctors office and of course their carpet is some light color, go figure. This office is just amazing, there are pictures of babies on the walls, not the babies that you just go oh ew, but artistically done and quite beautiful, there are fresh beautiful flowers, the chairs and couches and sofas are like what you find in the cutest fanciest houses, and there are chandeliers, Chandeliers!!! Ok so I make my way up to the desk and tell them that Im fashionably early for my 9:15 appointment. By fashionably early I mean an hour. The receptionist asks me to fill out some other paperwork and I ask for a pen, she point to the pen holder, ok...so I grab what happens to be the worlds prettiest pens. Its got some jewels on it, its a light silver and has the name of the clinic engraved on it. I wanted to take that pen home.....Why is everything so delicate and feminine in here!!
Well I fill out my paperwork return it and she takes a picture of me. Why? If I knew there were gonna be pictures I would have showered this morning not last night ok?!

I sit back down and after however long MaryAnne the super adorable MA calls me back. She didnt call me Goolia or Guy-ulia. She called me the correct name. Kudos MaryAnne I already like you!
We got my weight,blood pressure and I peed in a cup, good cuz I had to really go. 
She asks lots of questions, one even being are there any jewish, italian (a few other choices) in you? Why? I finally get into one of the uncomfortable pink gowns they put you in and stare at the ultrasound probe.
My PA comes in, Brandi, shes very smiley. Blonde, bob, I think she has had some botox done....
She introduces herself and is a very nice woman. She does my boob check Ouch it hurts ok! And then goes in for the kill, I gotta get a pap smear. Oh hooray!! Shes talking me though everything and Maryannes right there in eyesight of my hoohah...Sorry I guess there goes our chances of ever becoming friends.
She finally finishes the dreaded pap, no seriously there isnt a single woman who can actually leave after one and go on with her day as if she didnt just get molested by a Qtip.
Brandi then says its time for the ultrasound, yes! Finally, ok Im ready, Im not intimidated at all  by the ultrasound, since its too early to be able to see though an outside ultrasound they have to do it though inside.
As it turns out though, were only 5 weeks in, meaning tadpoles actually only a black blip on the ultrasound. But its there!!! Theres a little human growing inside me. Im like a clam turning a grain of sand into a beautiful pearl!

                                                    The little black dot in the middle left


After the ultrasound Brandi tells me that I have to now go get some blood work done. They were also gonna test me for Toxoplasmosis, since I have cats and litter boxes may contain it? Im not quite sure about it. And NO I will not get rid of my cats! I go and get my blood done, I hate needles, despise them. And I only have one good vein, I sure hope they wont have to keep drawing blood, I dont want flashbacks of my Pima days!
After all was done we set up another appointment for the 5th, well be around 7 weeks and hopefully be able to hear a little heartbeat and see something.

We left in happy spirits, everything is going well so far. I have a lot of positive energy coming from everyone. At least everyone that knows. Dom still hadn't told his family or friends. On the ride back I kept thinking well, its 3 months before they say its safe. Gosh thats an awful long time to not say anything to his family.
We get home and Im clearly quite uncomfortable after everything so I lay down on the couch, he makes us some food before heading to work.
About 15 minutes later I got tagged in a status that he had posted.

Well thats one way to put it!! Since, I have been showered with such positivity and so much great enforcement, I am truly lucky to have all the people I have in my life.
Thank you all even though I'm not near most, I still feel as if they're all here with me, doing this.

Oh and also my sister posted this up and I thought it was pretty cute!!
I hope we can have one for every week or every few weeks when it starts changing sizes?? eh? ehh!!!