7 Quick Takes Friday

I've decided that quick takes are definitely the best way to share a bit about our busy life! Plus I love the number 7 (it was one of my dad's favorites...I can still hear him saying "Guess 7! The number from heaven!).

1. We had a great time in Disneyland, but unfortunately I'm still so tired from all the traveling (& fun!) that I can't really even muster the energy to describe it all in a post. I mean seriously...we've been home since Sunday and we still haven't unpacked any of our bags (we have a lot of clothes! which makes closet organization a difficult task but enables this sort of laziness...wahoo.) Anyway, back to Disneyland. We found Jack a future wife!!! Just kidding, but seriously, he and Aubrey were way too cute together. I mean melt-your-heart-every-moment cute. Both so chubby and happy and we all just had a blast.

I mean how adorable are they?! We tried unsuccessfully to get a picture of both kiddos smiling, but this one's cute anyway because Aubrey is looking adoringly at her future husband, ya know? (You may also notice the baby bump making an appearance in this photo...they are both so little that we were paranoid one or both of them would take a nose-dive off Dumbo so I was dutifully standing guard, ready to pounce as needed.)

2. I posted a few weeks ago (I think?) about Jack's new word, "Whoaw." You can see it in action here as we were leaving It's A Small World (best ride ever for a young family...music, slow/relaxing pace, bright colors, and AIR CONDITIONING!). I just die every time I watch it! He is growing up so fast. 

3. Another thing Jack learned during our trip is how to use a utensil to actually put food in his mouth! YAY! All it took was a small container of refried beans from TACO BELL (yes, that's right, I said it. If you were expecting a homemade/organic version, you've got a lot to learn about The Bacon Mama) and a spork! How funny is that?! He loved the spork! We got a kick out of it too.

Getting ready to experience refried beans for the first
 time....oh boy.

After many months, successful delivery of food to
mouth, via spork. I'm so proud. 

The whole Taco Bell experience was fantastic. We stopped off the I-5 in The Lost Hills (quite the garden variety vacation spot, if you've never been...no... I can't even joke about this, if you've never been I don't want you to plan a day trip and hate me forever!). I got in line to order food and Jack shouted, at the top of his little baby boy lungs, 50 times in a row, and quite emphatically, "MAMA! MA-MA! MAAAA MAAA! MAMA!" Everyone was smiling at how cute he was and it warmed my heart but it really made it difficult to remember what I was supposed to be ordering (everything has the same name at Taco Bell anyway...it's all crunchy/supreme/beef/cheesy blah blah blah).

4. This whole blog post is about Jack. Are you surprised? We adore him. I mean he is just the most wonderful child in the world! I am not lying when I say that two nights this week, because he goes to sleep at 7pm and we miss him so much by 9 or 10 pm, we crept into his room, picked up our sweet, sleeping (yes, I said sleeping) boy, and fought over who got to hold/snuggle/rock him. Don't feel bad for Jack, he's a great sleeper and he doesn't even notice these little interruptions, which is surprising since John and I are literally racing to his room, yelling "I get to hold him! He's mine!" We're quite the pair.

5. I know I haven't mentioned him yet, so here's some more on Jack. John taught him to give hugs this week! I wish I had a video but we are too distracted by how much we love him to capture the moment and share it. Anyway, when you say, "Give me a hug, Jack!" he sort of leans into you, with one chubby arm across your body, and snuggles in to let you hug him. It should be noted, that he thinks this also includes the phrase "hugga hugga hugga!" because that's what John does. So sweet but very confusing because when I came home from work and John said, "Jack, give Mama a hug!" Jack did, but then John started yelling about how I needed to say "hugga hugga hugga" and I didn't know what was up and what was down. Now I know the program so we're good to go, don't worry.

6. I can't keep writing about Jack, so let's hear about baby #2, in a more positive description than "the little banana sized baby who inflicted 20 lbs. of weight gain, in 20 weeks, upon my poor, helpless body." Baby #2 (Tommy or Camila, still to be determined!) has been kicking up a storm. We went to an event for work last night and after a delicious meal of filet mignon, potatoes, a few bites of green beans, as well as this delicious layered chocolate & caramel torte dessert, baby was awake and kicking! Which was very exciting because we were also there for a show (excerpts from The Phantom of the Opera) and the sporadic movement inside of my body really matched what was going on on stage. 

7. I'm making a bacon & baby bella mushroom stuffed pork tenderloin for dinner tonight. I'm excited! When I say "I'm making" what I really mean is that I will help dice/chop a bit, but John will do all the hard work of butterflying the tenderloin, stuffing & rolling it, grilling it, etc. Like I said, I'm excited! I would share the recipe but it's something I found via my amazing friend, google.com, so if you want to make it yourself, just google "mushroom stuffed pork tenderloin" and then buy the ingredients, find a husband to help you, and dive in. And then let me know how it goes for ya! :)

Vulnerability and crab sandwiches...not a bad combination

Last night, laying in bed, after a long (but great) family day, my husband and I were discussing how tough it is for me to be pregnant. I thank God daily for the joy and love that I have in my heart for this sweet growing baby…because this sweet growing baby makes me feel like DIRT 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And no, in case you are already solving my problem for me (thanks for trying!), my morning (correction: all day) sickness will probably not go away at the end of the first trimester, because it certainly did not with Jack. (I’m not trying to be pessimistic, just realistic. If it does go away in a week or two, I will be the happiest pregnant woman in the world! Until then…I’m not holding my breath & counting the days.) 


Anyway, I am grateful for the joy and love that I already have when I think about this little life growing inside me, because it helps me get through the constant nausea and fatigue. In addition to the love and joy, food really helps. For the past two weeks, crab specifically is the food that helps. No, no, don’t judge me, and start thinking (or worse, saying!) things like “Pregnant women should be careful about their mercury intake! Fish should be limited to one 4 oz. serving a week!” Etc. etc. etc. I discovered today, after enjoying a delicious crab sandwich at lunch (think loads of crab, avocado, swiss cheese and cream cheese, BACON, on sourdough bread) that crab is chock full of folic acid, B6 (which supposedly helps with morning sickness…yeah…okay….sure) and Omega-3. Wahooo! I need all of those things because don't forget, I am growing a baby. Okay, so back to the purpose of this post, which is that although my heart is full of joy and love, my body feels like dirt while I am pregnant and it is rather discouraging. 

But last night my husband told me that he loves me even more when I am pregnant because I LET HIM TAKE CARE OF ME. (Yup, he really is amazing and oh so sweet and supportive and I am pretty sure I am one of the luckiest women on the planet). He mentioned that I am more vulnerable when I am pregnant and that he appreciates it because I allow him to be a servant, and, that as my husband, he wants to take care of me and to love me by serving me. Seriously. So here I am feeling like dirt, realizing that all the times in the past 6  weeks when I have been laying on the floor (trying not to vomit), or rolling down the window while he’s driving (does fresh air help you not vomit? I always think so), or asking him to bring me ice waters and wheat thins and more watermelon (definitely helps you NOT vomit!) he has been happy to help me. Happy to take care of me. Happy to love me in my vulnerable (also crazy) pregnant state. And that is just an amazing feeling that makes my heart even more full of joy and love (and that will definitely help me survive the unknown number of weeks of nausea ahead of me).  

Brené Brown, author of Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead definitely understands the necessity of vulnerability in our life (at home, in business, in relationships). Maybe in the coming weeks as I lie on the couch, growing larger each day (believe me, I definitely jump on the “I’m eating for two!!!” bandwagon) I’ll read her entire book and see if it helps me embrace the vulnerability that I ordinarily avoid at all costs. Until I read it, I think I’ll contemplate this quote that I love (and see what I can accomplish in the meantime): “Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren't always comfortable, but they're never weakness.” (Brené Brown) How do you feel about vulnerability? Let me guess. You don't like it either. Brené definitely figured that one out during her decades of research, concluding, "the difficult thing is that vulnerability is the first thing I look for in you and the last thing I'm willing to show you. In you, it's courage and daring. In me, it's weakness." 


But today (or tomorrow, or the next day) consider giving vulnerability a shot. Dare greatly as you do something, and see what you accomplish, create, experience, or innovate. And then let me know how it goes for you! Remember, that according to Brené, I will see it as courage and daring, not weakness, regardless of the result. 

Inspiration

Well here it goes! I've been reading quite a few blogs lately and am finding them so valuable. It's a wonderful thing that we can share our thoughts, ideas, learnings, and emotions so quickly, with people we know well, and others we don't know at all. This morning I woke up and made my son french toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon and enjoyed breakfast with him. (He enjoyed everything but the bacon...apparently I have a vegetarian baby lately as he decided that instead of eating his bacon bits, he would throw them over the high chair into our dog's waiting mouth, laughing the entire time.) I love bacon (and eat it literally 4 mornings a week, even when I'm not pregnant) and I am also the one to bring it home. My husband works part-time, and I could not survive even one day without his support (emotional, physical, mental, and financial) but I'm proud of the hard work that I do to bring home the bacon and provide a great life for us. He is there by my side every step of the way, and we love the life we are building as we grow in love for one another, and as we literally grow  with the addition of a second child. We feel very blessed but there are also those days when we are just trying to figure it all out! And on those days, he's laughing, I'm crying, and then he's making me chocolate chip cookies. :)

I plan to blog about my life as Bacon Mama (I think it's a pretty great title, but then again, remember how much I love bacon, and how much I LOVE being a mama). If you love bacon, or babies, and/or trying to be the best at what you do, this is a blog you'll enjoy! 

I'm learning to live on a budget, cook in a crock pot (don't worry, I rarely use bacon for dinner. I shoot for healthy and nutrious meals! Oh what a learning experience this will be!), balance my time between my career and my family, and get enough sleep so that I can survive the next day (I have the world's most wonderful child, who sleeps 12 hours every night, so don't feel too sorry for me...most of the time my lack of sleep stems from the fact that I am doing too much because I tend to forget that I am Bacon Mama, not Superwoman.) Although I love design & fashion, I probably won't blog too much about those topics, because as I mentioned, I'm learning to live on a budget, and I don't have the creative juices or energy to making something out of nothing. Maybe someday I will!

That's all for today, so here's to the weekend! I would close this first blog post with "Cheers!" because I ordinarily love wine, beer, and cocktails of any kind, and it's the weekend so we should all be enjoying the glass of our choice after a hard week of work, but since I'm pregnant and not even allowed to have three sips of red wine with dinner (according to my loving & diligent husband,) alcohol is not my favorite topic lately. :)