Leaf Peeping on Tioga Pass

For the first time in a while, Mike and I had a day off together!  We agreed to sleep in and then figure out what we wanted to do for the day.  Over a leisurely breakfast and hot cup of coffee, he suggested taking a road trip down to Tioga Pass and Yosemite - just for the day.  The fall foliage is peaking down there now so we decided to go for it!  

We knew it would be a LONG day in the car so we loaded up the dog and some snacks and off we went.  

PERFECT, CLOUDY, COOL FALL DAY

FAMILY PHOTO 

25 WEEKS PREGNANT

I HATE THAT I'M BLOCKING MY FACE BUT IT WAS SUCH
A CUTE PIC OF ZEPHYR THAT I HAD TO INCLUDE IT. 

STOPPED FOR LUNCH AT WHOA NELLI DELI.
THE BEST FISH TACOS AND CARNITAS TACOS YOU WILL
EVER GET AT A GAS STATION! 
AND LUNCH HAD A VIEW OF MONO LAKE!

WE STOPPED TO PLAY IN TUOLUMNE MEADOWS. 
DOGGY SWAM IN THE FREEZING COLD WATER!

HE WAS SO HAPPY TO GET OUT OF THE TRUCK TO
STRETCH HIS LEGS A BIT. 

THE PICTURES REALLY DON'T DO THIS PLACE
JUSTICE.  IT'S BEAUTIFUL. 

THE BABY BUMP IN FRONT OF BRIDAL VEIL
FALLS IN YOSEMITE VALLEY

BRIDAL VEIL FALLS AND THE MERCED RIVER. 

EL CAPITAN

TREES GROW OUT OF THE ROCKS AROUND HERE

VIEW OF HALF DOME IN THE DISTANCE

A STORM IS MOVING IN. 

QUICK PICTURE BEFORE THE RAIN/SNOW.
LUCKILY WE HAD MADE A QUICK PIT STOP JUST BEFORE THIS
 AND HAD CUPS OF HOT COFFEE WAITING FOR US IN THE TRUCK. 

WE STOPPED AT A LITTLE UNMARKED PULL OUT ON OUR WAY
OUT OF THE PARK AND THIS WAS THE VIEW.
IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! 

WHAT A HANDSOME BOY!
ZEPHYR'S FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON! 

SO REGAL. 

We stopped for a quick bite to eat in Minden on our way home at our favorite little deli... followed by a Blizzard from Dairy Queen (husband's suggestion but the baby couldn't deny it).  

We were home by 8:30 and in bed by 9:00 probably.  

It was a wonderful, scenic fall day as a family!  

Quick Update

JUST GETTING COMFY

23 WEEKS PREGNANT...
BABY IS THE SIZE OF A GRAPEFRUIT.
AND YOU GET A LITTLE
AT WHAT WILL BE THE BABY'S ROOM!

PICKED UP SOME HAND-ME-DOWN BABY
CLOTHES FROM A FRIEND

ZEPHYR IS PRETTY BORED WITH ALL THIS
BABY PREP

24 WEEKS PREGNANT...
... BABY IS THE SIZE OF A CANTELOUPE.

HAD A SHORT SLUMBER PARTY WITH
THE NEIGHBOR PUP...
THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH. 

AND I'VE BEEN GETTING SOME SWEET
SNUGGLES ON THE COUCH LATELY! 

September Shenanigans

September is one of my favorite times of the year in Tahoe because after Labor Day, the town and beaches quiet down a bit and we get this amazing place to ourselves.  

The weather is still GORGEOUS... cool in the mornings, hot in the afternoons, cool again in the evenings.  Just perfect.  

We've spent a lot of time at the beach.  

SHAKING THE WATER OFF.... WHILE STILL IN THE WATER.  

  We actually had one day of  rain here.  And when I say rain, I mean JUST BARELY enough to make the deck wet.  Definitely not a lot of rain.  

WHEN IT RAINS IN TAHOE, WE LAY OUTSIDE IN IT. 

We've had mostly sunny, dry days.  But occasionally you get a nice cloudy sunset.  

BEAUTIFUL SUNSET AS PER THE USUAL

LOOK AT THIS HANDSOME LION.  

THAT FACE IS SO INNOCENT.  

 We've been fortunate to have lots of playdates with friends!  

Our neighbor pup, Rey, got to spend the week with us!  Zephyr LOVES her.  They play really well together.  

GETTING ENERGY OUT AT THE BEACH. 

PRETTY REY

AND TALLY WAS THERE TOO!!! 
SHE'S ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL GOLDEN WHO
WE DON'T GET TO SEE NEARLY ENOUGH! 

POST BEACH NAPS ARE THE BEST!

 Our friends have a house just down the street from us (Tally's parents) and they were in town for a week.  In addition to beach days, we also hiked Castle Rock with all the pups.  

THIS VIEW WILL NEVER GET OLD.
LOOK AT THAT WATER!!! 

THE TONGUE SAYS "I'M TIRED." 
MADE IT TO THE TOP!

ZEPHYR WAS THERE TOO!
AND TALLY BUT I DIDN'T GET A PIC OF HER!
SORRY TALLY! 

ZEPHYR, LAYING IN THE TRAIL ON THE HIKE
BACK DOWN.  HE WAS TIRED.  

POST HIKE NAPS AND SNUGGLES. 

A CAR FULL OF SWEET PUPS!
I THINK I NEED A TALLER CAR... ZEPHYR'S HEAD TOUCHES THE
CEILING WHEN HE SITS. 

"LET ME OUT... I WANNA GO TO THE BEACH."  

We've had such a great time playing with friends.  Now, we are taking it easy.  Zephyr broke a toe nail while running on pavement and they actually had to amputate the nail.  It split all the way to the nail bed leaving the entire quick exposed.  We could've done nothing BUT then it bleeds when he walks on it and it takes forever to heal.  So, he's in a bandage for a few days but then he should be good as new.  Hopefully in a few weeks he will have a nice new nail.  

Meanwhile in NC, Florence was happening.  

We live streamed the news from Wilmington during the storm so we could keep up with what was going on.  With our families all living east of Raleigh, we were pretty nervous.  Luckily, everyone is ok and there was minimal damage which is truly miraculous!  

It's hard to sit back helplessly watching your places you LOVE get devastated by the slowest moving hurricane in the history of the world.  

(I mean you could literally WALK faster than that hurricane moved - ridiculous). 

MY BROTHER'S BOAT IN NEW BERN. 
IT'S PRETTY MIRACULOUS THAT IT'S STILL TIED UP
AND FLOATING!!! 
SO MANY OTHERS SANK OR WASHED ASHORE.  

I feel truly grateful that my friends and family are ok, with only minor damage.  But my heart goes out to all of those who were less fortunate.  It's the worst of times but sadly, that seems to bring out the best in people.  Focus on the good... the positive.  Focus on the people who are there to help (I wish I was one of them).  And know that people from all over the country are praying for the great state of North Carolina!  

Old Wives Tales

You've probably heard about several of the old wives tales for baby gender prediction.  Well, here are the ones that we tried and our results:

1) Craving Salty Vs. Sweet.
Supposedly if you are carrying a boy you crave salty things and if it's a girl you crave sweets.  This one was totally TRUE for me.  I'm craving salty and I'm having a boy.

I myself prefer sweets.  Cookies.  Donuts.  Ice cream.  It's hard for me to say no. But during this pregnancy so far, I have much preferred french fries, potato chips, and pickles.  That doesn't mean that if someone put a donut in front of me, I wouldn't eat it.  I am human.



2) Pregnancy Glow.
If your skin is glowing and radiant and your hair feels silky and soft, you are likely carrying a boy.  If you are breaking out with acne and feel like your beauty has been stolen, you are likely carrying a boy.

Ok, I am having a hard time judging myself on this one.  But, I will say this: I have always been prone to acne and I actually do think I notice a small difference.  I haven't been without ANY breakouts during this pregnancy but it has been rare.  I am going to say that I'm having less than average breakouts and therefore that would lead me to say this old wives tale is TRUE.



3) The Ring Test.
There are a lot of variations on this old wives tale.  Here's how we did it: I plucked a single strand of hair from my head and then strung my wedding ring on it.  You hold this suspended ring over your palm or over your belly (I tried it both ways) and if it moves in a line (side to side) it's a boy.  If it moves in a circle, it's a girl.

I tried this a couple of times and every. single. time. it was a very obvious line that slowly turned into a very obvious circle.  Weird, right?  But, in the beginning it was always a line so overall I'm going to say this one is TRUE (at least for me).



4) Morning Sickness.
The tale is that if you're having a lot of morning sickness, you're pregnant with a girl.  If you aren't having morning sickness, you're having a boy.

TRUE for me!!!  Thank goodness.  I haven't had ANY morning sickness.  I would get a few episodes of nausea in the late evenings in the first trimester but even that wasn't too bad.



5) Sleeping Position.
If you sleep on your left side... it's a boy.  If you sleep on the right... it's a girl.

TRUE for me again.  I can ONLY sleep on my left side for some reason.  I get a weird, uncomfortable feeling when I lay on my right side.



6) Headaches.
Getting frequent headaches is a sign of a boy.  I'm going to say this one is TRUE for me but hasn't been as true in the second trimester.  During the first trimester though, I definitely got some headaches.



7) Feeling Moody.
Feeling more moody than usual is a sign of a girl.  Less moody means boy.
Ok I'm going to have to defer to Mike for a judgment call on this one.  I feel like I wouldn't recognize and fairly judge my moodiness.  But, at least so far in this pregnancy, he reports that I am less moody or about the same as usual.  So, I'm going to say this one is TRUE for me.



8) Dry vs. Oily Skin.
Dry skin indicates a boy.  Oily skin means girl.
Ok so I've had oily skin for most of my life.  But, then we moved to the desert.  The legitimate desert.  Single digit humidity!!!  It's so dry here!  And since we've lived here I have notoriously dry skin.  I cover myself from head to toe in lotion as soon as I get out of the shower.  I do think that I have pretty dry skin.  And I am having a boy.  So, maybe it is true???  Or maybe I just live in the desert.

Ok, so there are a LOT of old wives tales out there.  

These were just a few of the ones that were true for me.  A lot of them are pretty subjective and I think you could argue either way.  

Regardless, we are having a baby BOY

 (a fact NOT based on old wives tales, but on seeing a little something between his legs on an ultrasound)

 in a few months and I LITERALLY COULD NOT BE MORE EXCITED!!!!!!!!!  

Our Lives Are About to Change...

... in a dramatic way!  At least that's what everyone tells us.  We are beginning to experience some changes but we definitely haven't felt the magnitude of it yet.  We won't truly understand what these expert parents are talking about until our little boy arrives.

But, here's what I do know for sure so far:

We couldn't possibly be more excited for these changes in our lives!

We absolutely love our adventurous lifestyle.  We love traveling to new places.  We love camping and mountain biking and skiing and paddle boarding and we LOVE living in Tahoe!  But, all of those things are about to become a little more difficult.  Not impossible.  Just more difficult.

Nevertheless, this is the new season in our lives and we will embrace it.  We will still attempt to do all the things we enjoy... just with a baby.  And yes, we will still live in Tahoe.  At least for now.  Only God knows what the future holds for us at this point.

I am already anticipating how difficult it will be to raise our son without our families close by.  Again, I know that I won't truly understand HOW difficult until we are "in" the situation (meaning baby is here and we are overwhelmed and need help and we have only friends to call on).  But I do know that it won't be impossible.  We WILL make it work.  Because we HAVE to.

Mike and I have had only each other for the past 5 years and 9 months since moving to Tahoe.  We've had to rely on each other to make this life work and I'm proud that we've been successful.  We've made a beautiful life that we love... and now we get to share that with another human being.

So, I thought I would share a little bit of our pregnancy so far so that our close friends and family can still feel involved even though we are far away (and so that I can look back and read all these memories one day). 

We found out that we were pregnant on the day before Mother's day.  We didn't tell our families just yet because it was VERY new information that we were still processing and we wanted to have some time to think about HOW we would tell them... did we just want to call them?  Skype or FaceTime?  Or plan some grand announcement?  So, we waited a few more weeks.

The moment I found out, I immediately felt SO nervous about morning sickness!  I will openly admit that I am a baby when it comes to nausea.  I do not tolerate it well.  I was worried that I would be working with a student when I suddenly needed to vomit!  How embarrassing?!  I feel incredibly blessed that I haven't had ANY morning sickness at all!  HALLELUJAH!!!! 

I did have some nausea every night for a month or two (right around 9:30 every. single. night) but I would just go to sleep and I would wake up in the morning feeling fine. 

In the first trimester, I had the craziest cravings.  For several weeks I craved LEMON!  Anything lemon flavored: water, candy, Chic-fil-a lemonade (it was the best liquid I had ever put in my body... truly God sent).  I also craved salty/savory things: pickles (yep, that craving is real), salt and vinegar chips dipped in Chic-fil-a polynesian sauce (don't knock it 'til you've tried it... it's amazing).

I love sweets.  Baked goods especially.  It felt very strange to crave french fries more than donuts!   

My ONLY food aversion: broccoli!  Ugh, I couldn't stand the sight or smell of it for months!  It's gotten better now (at 21 weeks) but for a while I thought I would never eat it again in my life. 

The other noticeable thing about 1st trimester: FATIGUE!  I couldn't make it through the day without a nap. As soon as I got home from work, after walking the dog, I would nap on the couch until Mike got home.  This has improved greatly in the second trimester and I am so thankful. 

We had our first doctor's appointment right after Father's day.  I was so excited to see the tiny heartbeat but even better than seeing it, is hearing it!  That is the coolest sound in the world!

OUR FIRST GLIMPSE AT OUR BABY! 
THIS WAS AT 10 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS PREGNANT.
BABY IS ABOUT THE SIZE OF A STRAWBERRY. 

WE DIDN'T KNOW IF BABY WAS A BOY OR GIRL YET. 

THE BUMP AT 18 WEEKS. 

OUR NEXT ULTRASOUND WAS AT 19 WEEKS 2 DAYS.
AND... IT'S A BOY!!!  

GLIMPSE OF HIS FACE!

IT WAS SMOKEY AND WINDY BUT...

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!

ZEPHYR HAS BEEN VERY SNUGGLY. 
AND THE BUMP IS BECOMING VERY NOTICEABLE AT 21 WEEKS!

SWEET SNUGGLE BUDDY. 

So far, the second trimester has been awesome.  I've had more energy.  New, exciting things are happening like feeling baby move.  We've been very productive around the house to make room for baby.  I'm transitioning into maternity clothes which are pretty comfy.  It's all very exciting. 

I have been HORRIBLE about taking pictures of my belly along the way.  In fact, I've only taken one (the one above).  I am going to try to get better at that and I will post updates here.  

Baby boy is moving a lot now!  I can feel his kicks inside, but only a few have been big enough to feel from the outside.  Last week I saw my stomach move with one of his kicks.  I know it will get much stronger in the weeks to come and I'm excited for Mike to be able to feel it.  I don't feel much when I'm up/active but as soon as I sit down and get still I feel him moving around and I LOVE it!  

I can honestly say that I've enjoyed being pregnant so far.  I am 21 weeks now... officially over half way done with the pregnancy!  It's crazy how fast it's going.  Really hoping to do more updates during the second half of this pregnancy! 

Quick shout out to my amazing husband who has been phenomenal during the first half of this pregnancy.  He has made it to every doctor's appointment.  He frequently asks if there's anything he can do for me, or do around the house.  He's been making dinner almost every night.  He is taking care of Zephyr.  And yesterday he booked me a prenatal massage (which was AMAZING).  Mike, thank you! You are THE best!  I am so lucky!