Our artificial Thanksgiving #2

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving, which basically means that we ate our backs out. It was great! I totally outdid myself, I must admit, and chances are I'll sleep like a big baby tonight. I am SOO exhausted and my feet are killing me. And yeah, while I was busting butt in the kitchen, here's what H was busy doing:

I know, it's ridiculous right. Well, he did work nights for the last two weeks, so I'll let him off the hook ;). Our menu was really great, and it included the following things: Turkey, ham, collard greens, cornbread stuffing, green-bean casserole, macaroni and cheese, and gravy. And yes, I made all those things myself. Here's the photo to prove it:My original plan was to make a bunch of "mini" dishes that we could finish in one sitting, but I clearly had no luck with that. Of course, we celebrated in the traditional fashion and ate ourselves sick, which I'm sure I'll regret next time I go to the doctor's office, but oh well, that's what Thanksgiving is for. I also made two yummy desserts: blueberry pecan pie and pumpkin praline cheesecake (which I did succesfully turn into a "mini"). Here's the photo of those two, which we haven't even put a dent in yet:
Overall, it was a great day and I think little H is happy and fully in my belly...which, combined with me being so full, is making it rather hard to breathe. H also took a picture of me with all of the food that I cooked (ALONE), and it shows how really big little H is getting (and as a result, me). Even I can't believe that my stomach has actually grown to the size it has...and just think, I have 2.5 months left to go!!

All in all, it was a very good day, and we'll be eating leftovers for the next week...or two maybe! I love Thanksgiving so much, and today was the perfect day for us to take some time out and be thankful for all of the blessings we have, especially little H and his imminent arrival. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! :)

Some encouraging words

Yesterday I visited the gym again, which was awesome, and I had two very lovely encounters that I want to share. First of all, I have to say that my definition of what it means to go to the gym has changed dramatically since I've been pregnant. Before I got pregnant, going to the gym consisted of one hour of hardcore aerobics (step class, running, spinning, etc.) followed by 30 - 40 minutes of weight lifting and toning. That was great. Now, that's all changed. When I go the gym now I can only walk "briskly" (between 3 - 3.5 miles an hour), making sure my heart rate doesn't go above 140 bpm, and swim some laps. I am allowed to lift up to 25 pounds, but I don't feel comfortable doing that since it uses some auxiliary muscles that I'm afraid to strain. Either way, it's A LOT less intense than it used to be...and that's taken some getting used to. In any case, I was walking on the treadmill yesterday, at a steady 3 miles an hour, and there was this skinny little something running her tail off on the treadmill next to me. I was trying not to look at her, but I couldn't help it because she was running really fast IN JEAN SHORTS with her LONG HAIR HANGING DOWN. Yeah, it wasn't even pulled back...anyway, about 2/3 of the way through my workout, the woman started waving at me and tapping my shoulder. I took out my headphones and she said, "How long do you walk for?" I told her that I'm limited in what I can do, but I try to get in at least 30 minutes or 2 miles. She smiled and said, "That's so great! I know so many pregnant women and they don't do any exercise. Heck, I know people who aren't pregnant that won't walk 30 minutes a day! Good for you!" I was SOO happy. I know you all know about the issues I've been having with my weight lately, and it felt nice to have someone encourage me in my efforts to stay healthy. I finished that part of my workout feeling invigorated.
Then...as I was heading to the pool, I ran into one of the trainers from the gym (Brandon) who I've always talked to. After being out of the country for the summer, and after not going to the gym for so long, it's literally been months since I've seen him. Actually, the last time I saw him was probably around May. He works weird hours so I rarely run into him. Anyhow, I saw him yesterday and he came running over to me and said, "Wow! Look at you!". I felt a bit embarrased, I'll admit, because I could remember how thin I was the last time he saw me, so I launched into this sob story about why he hasn't seen me in so long and how I wish I could work out more. He just laughed and said, "Stop worrying! It doesn't matter, it's not about you, it's about the baby! And anyway, once he's born you'll get back in here and lose all the weight you want! I'm so happy for you!". It was SOO nice. I left the gym feeling so refreshed, not just physically from the workout, but emotionally from those nice comments. Brandon is right, it is about little H. Claudia made that comment on here last week after I posted about my weight issues, and she was right too. I guess in the end if it means that little H is growing and healthy, who cares, right?
That's the real point: it's not just about me anymore. I guess I'm just learning lesson #1 in motherhood.

Our artificial Thanksgiving

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! H and I didn't really get to celebrate today because he is currently working "mole" (AKA nights only), and he basically slept all day. I woke up around 8:30 to meet him when he came in from working last night, we ate breakfast together, and then he went to sleep. I watched the Thanksgiving Day Parade, which I totally love, and was especially happy this year because it included David Archuleta. Love him!! Anyway, our "real" Thanksgiving celebration will be on Saturday, for which I have a lovely and extensive menu planned, but today we had a sort of prelude celebration. We told each other what we're thankful for and then went for a buffet dinner at Shoney's. Yeah, not your traditional Thanksgiving, but at least we got some ham and stuffing (the turkey was TERRIBLE!). I also forced H to take a family picture so I could post one on here, which also pretty much counts for my weekly picture this week since, once again, we've forgotten to take one. I'm looking pretty big, but trying to be positive after my freak out last week, thanks in large part to many of your kind and thoughtful comments about how great I look. That was really nice! Here's the picture:Soon we'll get to take our yearly Christmas picture as well, and I'm really excited about that. Anyway, even though we didn't have a real Thanksgiving today, I did spend a good amount of time reflecting on the things I'm thankful for this year. First, I'm thankful for my amazing husband who makes so many sacrifices and works so hard to show me how much he loves me. I'm such a lucky girl! I'm also thankful for my amazing family (and family-in-law), who has given me SO MUCH love and support during this pregnancy and before (during the miscarriages), and who has always been there for H and I whenever we needed. Finally, I'm SOO thankful for this precious new life that we're adding to our family. Last year on Thanksgiving I had my first miscarriage, and I never thought I could see things the same way again. I thought I would be stuck under that dark cloud for the rest of my life, but God has given us such a gift in little H, and brought us, especially me, safely through all of that sadness. What an incredible blessing! Oh, and speaking of little H, I've been promising some of you that I would put up a picture of the crib, even though it's not in it's final position yet. It's pretty much just pushed into a corner because we haven't moved H's desk to the new office yet, but it's still very beautiful and you should all get to see it. I especially love the finish on it, it looks great with those Shamrock Shake walls! Check it out, from two different angles:

It's pretty much unmade for now--I mean, it doesn't even have a mattress--but I couldn't contain myself once the box was in the house. I had to put it together, and I'm glad I did because it looks amazing. And, it's HUGE, by the way. I think I could sleep in there. :)

I also took a picture of the bookcases that we have in the nursery, just because I love them and I think they are so pretty. They are shelves that I built with my granfather a few years back, and I'm so excited that they get to be passed on to little H. Also, my grandfather is graciously making us some surprise art for the nursery, so that will go well with the bookshelves, I'm sure. Just a few other things I love: the adorable stuffed animal collection and the "Buenas Noches, Luna" book on the top, my favorite so far. It's precious in Spanish.

I love you all so much, and can't wait to share the miracle of little H's birth with you. You've been such a strength and support for us, even from far, and the only thing that makes me sad this Thanksgiving is the fact that we can't be with you all in person. For everything else, I'm eternally grateful.

I hope you all have a blessed, blessed day. :)