Check out that Fish!

My husband went fishing in Oceanside today with his cousin Lance. This is a picture of Lance holding the first of many fish my hubby caught. Anyone who know's my husband knows that he loves loves loves to fish. When he was very little his family would got to Catalina and he would stay all day on the pier with the old men and fish. He has not had a whole lot of luck in the past couple years so this is incredibly fun for him. Tonight's dinner sure is going to be tasty!

Memorial Day Weekend BBQ @ The Smith's

On Monday we had a Smith Family BBQ. It was so fun to be with family and enjoy the sun.





Boche Ball in the Orchard
Grandma and Zachary feeding the neighbors horse
Sisters - Sara, Sally, Julie and Dianne
Sally and Eric (my brother)
Cousins Rubi and ZacharyHannah was in town for two days and was able to stop by for a quick burger and a chat. What a treat!

22 weeks

So here are my pictures of me at 22 weeks. From pictures I have seen of other people I think I am already pretty big. It's amazing how much I have grow in the past couple of weeks. My stomach is super tight and I can tell things are really stretching out. She is sitting super low and moving and kicking all day long. I cannot believe in less than four months I will have a baby to call my own and care for.

Belly Pics

Coming Tomorrow
New Prego Belly Pics!

Went to see the OB

So yesterday I could not take the pain in my ribs any longer and I decided to move my appointment with my OB up two days. He said that one of the reasons why everything is hurting is because of the large amount of progesterone in my body. I told him about my cold and also my allergies. He suggested I try some allergy medicine to see if it will stop the post nasal drip and therefore stop me from coughing. I am hoping it works. While we were there he wanted to do a sonogram so he could take some measurements of our little girl. Here are a couple of pics. I wanted one pictured that showed that she was a girl for her baby book. The whole time she just kept looking away from the light. I think she likes it good and dark when she sleeps like I do:) We also got a DVD of the sonogram but it's too big to load or maybe I just don’t know how. Tonight I will try and take some belly shots and then post them tomorrow. Things have changed significantly since the last time I posted pictures. I am very pregnant looking now.

ACHY ACHY RIBS

For the last 6 days I have not felt very good. Every night by the time I get home my stomach muscles are achy and sore. I think my stomach might have really grown a lot last week I feel like since I hit week 20 things have changed again. I was finally getting to the stage where things were working well, I had figured out my gluten free diet and I was feeling pretty good. Then over three weeks ago I got a cold. Since that time I have continued to have a mild cough and now my ribs on the right are incredibly sore. It hurts when I take a deep breath, sneeze or cough. I don't write this to complain I am acutally wondering if anyone else has had the same experience. If so do you have any suggestions? I would appreciate all feedback whether we know each other or not.

FYI

JUST AS A HEADS UP I AM NO LONGER GOING TO MENTION MY HUSBANDS NAME ON THIS BLOG. I HAVE ALREADY MADE CHANGES TO PREVIOUS POSTS. BECAUSE OF HIS PROFESSION HE HAS BEEN ADVISED TO REMOVE ALL POSSIBLE LINKS TO HIS PERSONAL LIFE. SO IF MY BLOGS SEEM A BIT WEIRD BECAUSE I DON'T USE HIS NAME NOW YOU WILL KNOW WHY.

Consumerism and Recycling

Consumerism - is the equating of personal happiness with the purchasing of material possessions and consumption.

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about consumerism. One of the reasons this has been at the forefront of my mind is because we are trying to figure out how much I will need to work once the baby is born. I have been racking my brain trying to think of ways we can reduce our expenses only to realize that we live a fairly simple life. It has made me think though about how I can not participate in the consumerism that has overtaken society.

My best friend Hannah and I were talking last night about the pressure there is to buy in America. She and her husband just moved back to the states from Eastern Europe and she is experiencing reverse culture shock. One of the things that has been affecting her lately is the amount of consumption in America. Since coming back to the states they have had to purchase the necessities such as furniture, kitchen supplies and so on. Doing all this shopping has made he face the ugliness of our consumer society. She was telling me how as a mom you will hear from other mom's about the things you must have. She told me it was nice being in Romania because she was not faced with those pressures. Also, although her kids did not have the latest and greatest toys it was a non-issue because they found plenty of things to play with. As a new mom I can already feel the pressure of making sure I have the best stuff.

In 2003 when I went to visit Diane Davis in Kenya we went to an orphanage. It was an very memorable experience for me. The picture that has stayed with me was of this adorable little boy, probably about 15 months old, who was having the best time playing with a bag. It just makes you think?

TAKING CARE OF THE EARTH
For the past 2.5 years we have been working very hard to recycle, use non-toxic cleaners and be mindful of how our life affects the earth. Lately, I have also been thinking about the water crisis. In CA we are eventually going to run out of water. Farmers are being told they have to limit their water use and so in an effort to do so they are reducing their crops. My questions is what is my part in this crisis? I have decided that when I shower I will turn off the water to shave my legs. Also, when I am waiting for the water to warm up before I do dishes I am going to try and collect the water and use it to water our lawn. This may seem silly to some but for me it weighs heavy on conscience. I feel like often times Christians just figure that eventually when Christ returns this earth will perish so why should we take care of it. I think this is sad and that we need to be good stewards of what God has given us.

I am also going to try and start composting. I want to plant a garden so it will reduce the waste we contribute to the landfill and it will also provide nutrients for my garden.

So ya I am pretty green! But in my mind what I do is very minor in the grand scheme. What are you doing to protect this beautiful earth? Are you using the recycling bin the city gives you? Would it really be that much more work for you to do so?

My First Baby Outfits

This weekend my sister gave me my birthday gift which included these two very cute little girl outfits. It is becoming more real each day that in 4 months I will have a little girl to dress:) I also love that she got these from a second hand store. I will be buying a lot of my daughters clothing this way.

Tummy Honey Butter

So this is the newest thing in my life. One of my friends swears by this product. She says if it had not been for this stuff she knows she would have gotten stretch marks on her stomach. It's been 9 months since her son was born and she is back in a bikini and does not have one stretch mark. I have also read about other people online who had the same experience. It's pretty greasy so I bought some tank tops to wear under my clothes so I don't ruin them. But we will see how it works. Anyone else tried it? It's a bit pricey but can you really put a price on not getting stretch marks?