Goodbye January, Ezzy Pics, & My Kauai Wishlist

Goodbye January!

Ezzy at 26 weeks

This week we had our last appointment with "the good doctor" - aka, the specialist with the good ultrasound machine. For once, Ezzy wasn't shy about showing off his face, so we got a few 3D shots at different angles. Doctor says he looks like Dad. It's hard for me to tell, but it looks like Ezzy is singing in the top pic, and that's definitely a Dad trait.

In other exciting news, only three days to go til Kauai! Here's a list of things I'd like to do while there, though this may change once we're actually there.

1) The Beach (obviously) - I'd like to visit as many beaches as possible while there.

2) Hiking - preferably somewhere where I can see a waterfall. Though it will probably be a slow hike, because I get winded just walking from my car to my apartment.

3) Hopefully we'll see some rainbows! (Double rainbows would be even better):

4) I'd like to hit up a local Farmer's Market and Hanelei is supposed to have a good one:

5)  Limahuli Gardens and Preserve looks gorgeous based on the photos I've seen. I'd like to check it out with my own eyes:

6) Snorkeling would be fun. We want an underwater camera so we can take cool pics like this:

7) I'm sure we'll see plenty of beach sunsets, and I can't wait:

8) Food! Some desserts I want to try:

Coconut Cake - for you mom!

Malasadas - Basically Sugary Donut Holes

Fried Ice Cream

The odds of me blogging while there are slim to none (probably closer to none), so I'll be back with TONS of pics in a week and a half.

Weekend Recap & Cravings of the Week

La Brea Tarpits, Round 2

This past weekend we went back to the La Brea Tar Pits with Joe's mom. This was my first time actually going inside the museum. It's amazing how many skeletons they've recovered from that area, and they're still finding more. We also went to a short, informative show that had a life-size animatronic Saber Tooth Cat (lesson #1: they are not called Saber Tooth Tigers). Lesson #2: the edges of the cat's Saber Teeth were serrated - so they theorize the cats would saw at their prey, not stab them. Personally, I disagree. My cat has much smaller teeth and he's punctured my arm with them. Maybe the teeth were multifunctional - good for stabbing or sawing?

 

Water on Leaves by Joe

Cravings of the Week

1) For Thursday's Date Night, we had Mexican food for dinner, watched Silver Linings Playbook, and for dessert we went to Merengue in Monrovia. Joe got a "Carrot Cake Ball" - which looked like a really tall carrot cupcake, but after dissecting it, we decided it looked like two cupcakes stuck together with frosting. Whatever it was, it was yummy. I got bread pudding and it was delish.

 

2) A Friday night shopping date turned into another reason to stop by Cinnabon. Apparently we weren't the only ones with that idea, because their line was loooong. (But so worth it!)

3) We bought a Groupon for Pita Jungle, a place I've been wanting to try for awhile. Joe got a veggie burger with roasted potatoes and I got a falafel wrap (my second falafel wrap this month). The wrap was good, but I couldn't finish it because we started off with the 4-bean nachos on blue corn chips. Just looking at all that melty cheese is making me hungry!

4) You can never go wrong with Violet's cupcakes. We got four mini ones to share: Vanilla, Carrot Cake, German Chocolate, and Peach Cobbler. My fave was the Peach Cobbler, followed by the Vanilla.

5) Pre-Tar Pits we stopped by Veggie Grill. It was our second time there in under a month, and I went with the same as last time: Santa Fe Chick'n Sandwich (bottom right corner) and Chili Cheese Sweet Potato Fries (to share). Joe branched out and tried the Crab Cake Sandwich (top right corner), and Joe's mom got the Chick'n Plate (top left corner).

26 Weeks Bump Update

26 Weeks Bump Update

Total Weight Gain: I didn't even weigh myself this week. I did compare pics from end of summer to now, and wow... (see below).
Maternity Clothes: Payday = shopping! I got another long, non-maternity H&M tank top (pictured above). Love those things!
Symptoms: Mild back achiness, and sometimes I think Ezzy's sitting directly on my bladder while other times it feels like he's pressed against my lungs. Fun.
Best Moment of the Week: Catching up with Christian. The last time I saw him I wasn't showing at all!
What We're Reading & Watching this Week: I started reading The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory. I'm only a few chapters in, but I love historical fiction.
Food Cravings: I was really craving a Costco blueberry muffin. Still haven't had one though.
Exercise: Just a lot of walking. I walked some hills around our house, and wow, that was so much harder than I remember it.
What I Miss: My waist, my clothes, wine, sushi...
Happy or Moody? Happy :)
Movement: We can actually see him moving from the outside, which is pretty cool :)
Looking Forward to: Only 5 work days till Kauai!

7 weeks vs. 26 weeks - Wow!

Hospital Tour

This week we toured the maternity wing at the San Gabriel Valley Medical Center and I was really happy with a lot of the things we learned during the orientation. For one thing, breast feeding is becoming a big deal in hospitals, so there are new regulations that will soon be in place that don't allow nurses to give formula, bottles, or pacifiers to newborns unless medically necessary or with the mother's consent. SGVMC is among the first batch of hospitals adopting these regulations, and along with the no bottle/pacifier thing, they also do skin on skin time for the first hour after the baby's born. And they promote keeping the baby in your room with you at all times, unless you want a break. Another nice thing is that almost all patients get their own room, unless there are more than twenty-two moms recovering at once, and they encourage the dad or a family member to stay with you overnight.

A few other nice things about the place:

1) Free cake:

2) You get one room for labor and delivery (unless you need a C section). There's a shower with a chair for pain relief (not pictured). And the rooms are HUGE:

TV & DVD player

This doesn't really do justice to how huge the room is

Plenty of seating options

3) We actually heard a baby's first cries after being born. Apparently the mom gave birth without an epidural, but luckily we didn't hear her at all.

4) The lady giving the tour was really nice and straight forward and will be also be the teacher for our birthing classes in March.

A Week's Worth of Cravings

Because we love to take pictures of food, and just in case I'm wondering why I'm a hundred pounds heavier in May, here's a photo-journal of our top cravings of the week. And yes, I said "our top cravings" - sympathy cravings do exist, and Joe definitely has them.

Vegetarian Soups:

Vegan Wonton Noodle Soup from Green Earth Cafe

Vegetarian Soup from Thai Restaurant in Pomona

Taco Bell (I only have one picture, but I actually ate there several times):

Falafel:

Falafel Wrap & Street Cart Fries from Spitz

Sweets:

Pastries in Solvang

Coconut Cupcake from Crumbs Bakeshop

Taro, Vanilla, & Dulce de Leche Fro Yo with Reese's Puffs Cereal

Fruity Cake at the SGVMC Maternity Open House

Cinnabon - drooling...

Three Kinds of Brownies: Zucchini, Gingerbread, & Original (missing a bite)

I feel like I was caught red-handed

Weekend Recap: Solvang & Santa Barbara

A few weeks ago the weather was in the 40s, and suddenly we're enjoying 80 degree weather in January, so we decided to take advantage of it and head to Solvang and Santa Barbara for the day. The drive there was absolutely gorgeous:

Our first order of business was breakfast. Solvang is known for their aebleskivers, which I've never tried before, so we sampled a combo platter with french toast, a danish pancake (not sure what makes it different than an ordinary pancake - maybe larger and thinner??), and an aebleskiver, all covered in a mound of powdered sugar:

Aebleskiver in Solvang

And, while we're on the topic of food, you really can't leave Solvang without at least one Danish pastry:

You Can't Go Wrong with the Danish Mill Bakery

Too Many Delicious Options

We Finally Settled on a Pecan Roll (for Joe) and a Raspberry Cheese Danish (for me)

Once our bellies were satisfied we did some sightseeing.

Danish Royal Lineage

And of course, we did a little shopping. Although the only place we actually bought anything from was the Humane Society Thrift shop, where I bought two purses (including the red quilted one below - approximately $100 new and I paid just $15!) and Joe got a pair of Nike gym shorts for $1.50.

Happy With my New Purse

Next stop: Santa Barbara. We got there in time to do a little window shopping, eat again (Chipotle veggie burrito for Joe, vegetarian taco salad for me) and then enjoy the sunset from the pier.

The Animals We Encountered Along the Way

Santa Barbara Water Taxi at Sunset

The Pelicans Put on Quite a Show for Us - Dive Bombing for Food Right in Front of the Pier