Total Pageviews

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Spring Break + 3rd Trimester = Babymoon?

Tomorrow starts spring break.  Ahhh, just saying it makes me take a deep breath and feel a surge of happiness.

We thought about taking a trip, doing the whole "babymoon" thing.  But exhaustion, coupled with guilt over leaving our dog (when she's going to have a long kennel stay this summer) made us realize that staying home is really the best thing for us right now.  And I'm so freaking excited about it. In fact in the car last night coming home from a Dr. appointment in Maadi, Ryan and I spent about 20 minutes talking about how happy we are that we're not traveling anywhere over the break.  How excited we are to be staying home.

It's funny how things change huh?  When we first started this expat lifestyle, every time there was even the slightest break we were traveling. Exotic locations, beautiful landmarks, the world is so big and there's so much to see, let's go!  Now it's kinda like... hmmm, yeah there are some really cool places to see... but you know what sounds amazing?  Sleeping in and hanging out in my pajamas all day!

It's partly the pregnancy and Ryan's workload, which have deflated our energy levels quite a bit this year.  But it's also partially the fact that the travel bug isn't as strong anymore.  We have a lot more conversations about our future dream home, which state we want to live in, where we might move to next year.  I'm not sure if we're growing up or becoming boring.  Probably a little bit of both, but it's really nice and makes me so grateful for the man I married and the life we're building together.

So this spring break, Ryan and I will make our own babymoon in Cairo.  We'll have lazy mornings in bed, take Cleo to the park, watch movies and try to get our home a little more prepared for its' newest member.



And I'm pretty damn happy thinking about it.  :)

To all our friends and family traveling around the world, hope your flights are quick and painless and you have a wonderful time on your journeys!  We'll hold the fort down here till you get back.


Sunday, March 24, 2013

Houston, we have a stretch mark

I had a bit of pregnancy depression yesterday.  The first stretch mark has appeared on my belly.  And I would swear it appeared instantaneously, because I didn't see it there the day before.

I know stretch marks are very common, some would say unavoidable in pregnancy.  And to be honest if that little red line had appeared a month ago it probably wouldn't have bothered me, because I was expecting them!  I already know my skin is not the most flexible.  After two growth spurts in middle and high school, my body has many silver battle scars.

I expected pregnancy to turn my still pristine belly into a railroad track.  But it didn't, up until yesterday.  And that's why finding that mark made me sad. I was lulled into a sense of false hope that this might be the one area of my body where I would get lucky.  Which was promptly dashed to bits when I saw the red line in the mirror.

I know it's not really a big deal, and it's all a part of the process.  Blah blah, symbol of motherhood.  And this baby boy is definitely worth it... but man!  I won't lie, I'm disappointed.

So let the belly lubrication increase tenfold, and I'll cling to the fact that my weirdo of a husband thinks stretch marks are beautiful and interesting.

P.S.  Lord Voldemort, I'm pretty sure it was your acrobatics over the weekend that pushed my tired skin into this, so feel free to move a little more gently so Momma doesn't lose her mind and smooth stomach tissue.  :)

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

My dog is so much cooler than yours

No really she is...

She's always happy and smiling, even when she looks completely ridiculous.





She loves her toys (and I use the term toy here very loosely, as an empty water bottle makes her just as happy as a store bought toy). She loves to "hold" them in her mouth and paws.  A lot of times she just walks around the house holding them in her mouth, not even chewing or playing with them.  She's the only dog I've ever seen use a water bottle as a security blanket.






She's obsessed with the miracle that is our bath tub and practically climbs in whenever I take a bath or shower.





She watches T.V. with us.




She looks you deep in the eyes and you can feel what she's thinking.  Which is usually something along the lines of "You're awesome, I love you" or "Please don't leave me".



She likes to snuggle on the bed, couch, chair.  Wherever we are, she wants to be there too, all 60lbs of her, even if there's no room.



She loves kids and babies.  Every time Audrey is at the house she can barely contain her excitement and spends the entire time wriggling and trying to lick her face.



In fact, every time we come back from being around Audrey she goes crazy smelling us.  This weekend we brought home a carseat from Matt and Tessa's house and every 5 minutes she's in the room.  Hoping the baby will suddenly appear I guess.  




That's our little girl.  Our first child, the one who will soon become an older sister.  She drives us crazy sometimes when she hogs the bed, or makes us late for work.  But in the end she's a pretty incredible dog who we are lucky to have in our lives. We can't wait to see her with her little brother.  Pretty sure she'll want to smother him with love, and steal all his toys, but she's also watch over him, be patient when he accidentally hurts her, and even let him ride her around like a pony if he wants to.  Because she's just that good of a dog.  And possibly also a ninja.