Hairy Situation

Do you all remember my Aveda Spa post back in April? You know the one where I said that I was investing my future child's college education in my hair. Well, funny thing is I never would have thought that I would have a baby a year later, and I certainly didn't think I'd be writing this post almost 7 months later to tell you that I haven't had my hair cut since. Yeah, that's right, it's been almost 7 months since I last had a hair cut.

It all started because I was going to get my hair cut and dyed before we went on our road trip to Oregon. When I found out that I was pregnant and couldn't dye my hair and decided not to cut it either. I then decided to postpone the hair cut until I could dye it in August, after my 1st trimester. After some careful consideration I changed my mind again and decided that I didn't want to dye my hair at all. My roots had already begun to look more natural growing out and I didn't want to expose the baby to any unneeded chemicals, even though they say that it's okay after the 1st tri.

So here I am with 7 month old split ends, desperately needing a cut. I made an appt. for this Tuesday and now I have no idea what to do with it. I want something low maintenance so I can still look decent every day once our little princess is born.

I was thinking about going to back to this hairstyle, from Summer of '08.


It was cute down and still long enough to put up:


I'm still not sure and I'm not sure about what to do with my bangs. Do I want long bangs like the picture, shorter side-sweeping bangs, or just keep it all one length (with layers). Seriously, being a girl is SO much work!

Genius Website

Mealbaby.com is an absolutely genius website. Basically, it's a meal registry where people can sign up to bring meals to new moms or people who are recovering from surgery, illness, etc. I know it's always so stressful on somebody's part to get meals lined up for people in need. It usually takes a lot of phone calls and repeating yourself over and over, sharing the family's likes and dislikes, etc. Mealbaby.com not only lets you set up the family's likes and dislikes but also allows you to select restaurants that they like to eat at so that you can purchase gift cards. It does seem a little awkward that someone would set one up for their own family but what a genius idea to help out a family in need. If you know someone who is in a difficult situation this would be an awesome way to bless their family.

I'm Fat

http://pregnancy.baby-gaga.com/cartoons/cartoon24

For those of you that have been pregnant you know that pregnancies come with a lot of highs and lows. Today is a low day for me. I recently had a doctor's appointment where the doctor basically told me I'm fat. Yeah, that was fun. I gained 7 pounds in 5 weeks which is apparently way too much. I'm so frustrated.

There have been so many cravings that I could have given into but never did because I am so weight conscious. We don't eat out very often and I try to plan my meals for the day so that I get all the nutrients I need. The doctor told me the foods I'm eating are too high in calories like peanut butter and jelly for lunch once or twice a week. When I told her that for snack I have granola and a banana she told me that I shouldn't be eating both of those for a snack that they both have a lot of calories. Okay, great! Thanks for telling me what I'm NOT supposed to be doing, then WHAT IS IT I SHOULD BE DOING???? I'll admit I don't exercise like I should so I suppose that should change, it's just so hard because I come home from working with 36 kids all day and the last thing I want to do is exercise!

It's such a frustrating battle. I honestly felt like I was doing good. I can still wear some of my regular clothes and when I buy maternity clothes I'm still fitting in a size 2 with room to grow, even in the "non-pregnant" areas of my body. I guess it's time to get out a pencil and paper and figure out what I should be eating for every meal and snack every day. Like I have time for this. Any tips mommies out there?

Feeling Crafty

Regardless of what the hot Riverside has been like, the nights have been cool and cinnamon pine cones are creating an amazing aroma in the air. I've been working on the baby's scrapbook but I've really wanted to do some sort of craft. Problem is I need something that doesn't take up a lot of time and can be completed in "chunks." I saw a link on Decor8 to make these yarn wreaths. They seem easy enough and very festive. I'm hoping to start making one this weekend.

Picture taken from the original post here

Almost A Decade

October 30th, 2000. I was 17, he was 18 and after 5 months of being just friends we were going to Starbucks to talk about our goals and desires and to see what the Lord had for us, together. I still to this day remember what I was wearing. I remember the excitement that I felt and the nervousness deep inside. He picked me up while it was almost dark and he drove me to the Starbucks near my house, the same Starbucks that 7 years later we would stop off at to grab a drink before he proposed to me. We stood in line, I ordered a caramel apple cider and he called his friend David to see what drink it was that he liked, we weren't exactly Starbucks connoisseurs at this point .

We sat in cushy chairs with a table in between us, sipping our drinks, Bible in hand. We chatted for a little while and then his face went blank. His best friend, Jon, and a girl who had a crush on Dirk, walked into Starbucks. You could see the horror on poor Jon's face as he had no idea that this was the Starbucks we'd be at. We made a quick recovery and got back to spending time together. Dirk shared that, since we were both in our senior years of high school, he wasn't ready to make a commitment to officially date but that he wanted us to seek the Lord and find what the Lord had for us. That we would remain "just friends." While, we both knew we were more than that, he emphasized that the title of boyfriend and girlfriend are for other people, we knew where we stood with each other and we were to wait on the Lord to show us His direction. I remember being completely baffled. I couldn't believe that I was sitting with an incredibly attractive guy who was so focused on what God wanted. He shared with me a verse that would later be printed on our wedding invitations, Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

It was such an amazing beginning to our relationship. We surely had A LOT of hills, mountains and valleys in our relationship over the next 6 1/2 years before we got married but 9 years later here we are. I love him more today than I did yesterday. We are truly best friends. We have more inside jokes than can be remembered. Sometimes we're corny and sometimes we're serious. When one of us is down the other one feels it. We are connected in a way that is unreal to me. Life doesn't always bring us smiles but as long as we're with each other and focusing on the Lord, we make it through.

I am so blessed to be married to the most amazing husband. He encourages me to keep up the fight, he comforts me when I'm down and puts me back together when I'm falling apart. I am so thankful that Lord has brought us through so many trials, only to make us stronger. I am abundantly blessed.

That's What I Was Thinking

Obviously, this mommy thing is totally new to me. If you know me, you know that I like things planned and I like to know what to expect out of everything I do. Of course, everything with baby is spontaneous and I have no idea what to REALLY expect. Dirk and I are trying our best to prepare ourselves by reading books, attending Bradley Birth classes and discussing anything and everything that comes to mind.

I recently bought "The Baby Book" by Dr. Sears. So far I really like it but of course there are things that I'm just not too sure about. Now I know this might ruffle a few feathers but I'm just not so sure about the whole baby wearing thing. I'm totally excited about wearing my baby but it sounds to me that Dr. Sears is suggesting that baby is in arms (or sling) at almost all times. Now, I know I don't have a baby and I have no idea what it's really like but this video that Dirk showed me completely sums up what I was thinking.



Please know I'm not knocking baby wearing, I'm just skeptical of how it's going to work. Only time will tell...about 19 weeks to be exact.

Too Cute

Look at these amazing maternity dresses from Shabby Apple.


"Finding Out"


"Green with Envy"

They also sell "regular" clothes which are also absolutely gorgeous.



"Carnival"

And best of all are these gorgeous, little girl dresses.

"Hibiscus"


"Jardin"


"Queen Hearts"

Too bad they're all so expensive!

Happy Fall Day

I grew up in a family that is big on traditions. From big traditions like our Portuguese Christmas breakfast to smaller traditions like my mom dying our mashed potatoes and milk green for St. Patty's day. Although Dirk didn't grow up with many family traditions he has excitedly joined most of my family's traditions. As my our little girl continues to grow we have been discussing the importance of family traditions, both big and small and decided that we would start a new tradition for our family. Fall Day!

So today was the first official Dallas Family Fall Day. The day started off by going to church. After church we headed over to Starbucks where I picked up a Pumpkin Spice Latte (half-caf. of course). We then headed over to Live Oak Canyon Pumpkin Patch. Dirk first went to this pumpkin patch with the design department last Fall. I keep seeing pictures of all of the amazing pumpkins and have been dying to go there.

Dirk found some pumpkins that looked like a boa constrictor (or so he said)


He also decided to take a bite out of some abnormally large, deformed pumpkin.


Here's our first family picture at the pumpkin patch:


We ended up with a pretty good assortment of pumpkins


Dirk pushed them around in the wheel barrel like he does this every day.


After we finished our time at the pumpkin patch. We headed home and I cooked a "Fall" meal. Apple braised turkey thighs. It was a new recipe and they turned out REALLY yummy. Here's the finished product, it doesn't look so pretty on the plate but it was really good. I'll post the recipe another day this week.



And to finish the night off, we had caramel apples that we bought from the pumpkin patch. We had a great day and kept talking about how much fun it will be to celebrate Fall with our baby girl next year.

Next year at this time she'll be around 7 months but for now here she is at almost 20 weeks. Yes, my belly is getting ginormous!

Baby's First Bear

A few weeks after we found out we were pregnant I got this idea that Dirk and I would go make the baby a Build-a-Bear once we found out the gender. We finally did it last night. I thought Dirk was going to think it was totally cheesy but he was a trooper and totally participated (it's amazing what a new daddy will do for his new princess, seriously). My hope is that she will fall in love with the bear and carry it around with her everywhere. I'm thinking it might be a little big for her to really love in the beginning but we'll see.

Here are a couple pictures from our trip.

Dirk filled the bear with stuffing


We both took a heart, held it over our own heart, kissed it and placed it inside the bear. Yeah, I know it's cheesy but they asked us to do it so we did :)

And here's the finished bear


Isn't it cute? I hope she loves it.

Dolls and ribbons and bows

If you haven't yet heard IT'S A GIRL! I was 90% sure it was a boy but it is absolutely, 100% certain that it's a little girl. Dirk and I are both elated, although I think Dirk is a little more excited than I am. Finding out the sex has really made it "real" for him. He is so super excited to have his little princess and is already being the best daddy ever. It's too cute.

Of course our family's are super excited. I am the only girl in my immediate family and there hasn't been a girl born into the Dallas family in over 60 years. I totally had a boy's nursery all planned out in my head but now I'm so excited to get started on planning our little girl's nursery.

The first thing I wanted to do was go shopping. Unfortunately, our week has been crazy so we didnt' get to go shopping. BUT I did go to Target today and bought this adorable dress by Dwell Studio. It looks red in the picture but really it's a bright pink.


I was searching Etsy today and found this amazing seller: bitOwhimsy





Are those not the cutest beanies ever? I am so buying one (or more). They are just too cute. I'm so excited to buy girly things :)

Thank you to all of you who voted on our poll. I am going to put it in the baby's scrapbook.