Wish you were here...

Greetings from Cape Town, South Africa!

 

After an awesome and very warm Christmas on the East Coast, we have headed to South Africa's "Mother City" for the last few days of our vacation. 

 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful, yet safe holiday time and I will see you in the New Year.

Bon Voyage!

This morning we are off to the airport and catching our flight to South Africa.

To say that I am excited to be flying home for the Holidays is an understatement.

This is my first trip home in 3 years and the first time in 7 years that I will be celebrating Christmas with my family.

I'm going to be taking a bit of a blog break, but hopefully I'll still be able to make a few sporadic blog post attempts until the New Year.

I wish you all the happiest and safest of Holidays.

Packing

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Most of the time I enjoy packing because it usually means that I'm going on a trip. After living in a bazillion (that's a real number) different places all over the globe, I'm pretty much a packing expert by now.

But, when you realise 3 days before you fly that the international baggage rules have changed and now only allow for 1 checked suitcase and you've already promised your friend that you would bring over a whole suitcase of theirs that got left behind when they left the country, well, that is a bit of a challenge.

So I've managed to squeeze 3 weeks worth of clothes, shoes and accessories for both Mike and myself into 1 small shared suitcase that is already 3/4 full of Christmas gifts and hoping that the seams hold out for the 16 hour journey.

Here goes nothing!

21 weeks

How far along? 21 weeks, 4 days 

Maternity clothes? Nothing new. Just wearing maternity jeans or leggings with my regular shirts.

Stretch marks? Still nothing

Sleep: Its impossible to sleep without a pillow supporting my belly. Also, if I sleep on one side for too long my hips hurt so I'm constantly tossing and turning.

Best moment this week: The arrival of our mattress! Even though the bed frame we ordered was out of stock, its so nice to be sleeping on a real mattress after being on a pull out couch for so long.

Miss Anything? My core strength, I feel like I have absolutely NO abs muscles left. Also, its getting colder and at this time I would usually be planning all my snowboarding trips for the Winter.

Movement: She is definitely moving in there!

Food cravings: Fruit Loops

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing. I've noticed a big change in my body this week and I'm finally feeling pregnant.

Have you started to show yet: Yes.

Gender: ITS A GIRL!!!!!

Labour Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? In. That thing runs deep, so I'm guessing it's not going to pop.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, unless I'm at the mall Christmas shopping!

Looking forward to: Flying to South Africa on Friday to spend the holidays with my family.

Ooooooh! We're halfway there.

The weeks are diminishing and as I enter the second half of my pregnancy I can hardly believe that in 4 short months I'll be a mommy. 

Besides the occasional heartburn, painful lower back, an emotional outbreak (or two) and having to refuse that glass of wine at dinner, I've hardly felt pregnant up until this week.

All of a sudden the belly is getting bigger, my core strength has disappeared (nothing makes you feel more pregnant then having your husband pull you out of bed) and a grocery shopping trip leaves me feeling like I have just run the comrades marathon.  

Since finding out that we are having a baby girl, it has all of a sudden become a lot more real. We have had a girl name picked out for a few months (which we are keeping secret until she arrives) so it's been fun practicing saying it out loud and thinking of all the times we'll be yelling calling that name out it in the future. Another factor that adds to the reality of this whole 'baby in the belly' thing is that I've started feeling her move more and more. At first I had no idea what I was feeling because it felt like a very faint muscle twitch. A week later I felt stronger movement which made me burst out laughing because it was so ticklish. At the 20 week scan I was looking at the monitor when I felt a "twitch" and saw her move her arm at the same time which reassured me that I wasn't just making it all up, this little human being was squirming and very much active in there. After that, I started feeling both the legs and arms moving about on both sides of my belly, lets hope that with all this activity she loves swimming like her Mama or is a tennis star like her Dad. Sometimes I prod back and talk to her which makes her move more and makes my heart sing! I can't wait for Mike to start feeling his daughter too.

With 19 weeks left until baby Llambok arrives I feel ready, yet so unprepared. 

To be done

Move to bigger apartment with a room for the nursery

Paint nursery

Decorate

Purchase crib and mattress (on sale for Black Friday, woop!)

Buy baby's 1st stuffed animal (a big grey elephant)

Begin baby registry

Find out sex

Choose a name

Pick a middle name

Make space for baby's clothes in the closet/drawers

Pick out bedding

Make sure we have receiving blankets, burp clothes etc.

Set up changing table

Get all the big stuff like car seats and strollers

Get as much sleep as possible before baby arrives

Research and book hospital classes (birthing/breast feeding/parenting)

Tour the hospital

Stock up on diapers

Pack hospital bag

Make a plan for someone to feed our fur-son while we're in the hospital

Get calling card to call South Africa on D-day

Choose pediatrician

Is there anything I'm missing?

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas (in New York)

Its December in New York which means tourists, traffic gridlocks and slushy streets. A little bit more exciting though is the sparkling decorations, holiday window displays down 5th Ave and the world famous Rockefeller Christmas Tree.

It's a magical time to be in New York City and after spending the whole day soaking up the atmosphere, I am well and truly in the Christmas spirit.

20 weeks

How far along? 20 weeks, 5 days 

Maternity clothes? Loving the maternity jeans this week since my regular leggings are too tight.

Stretch marks? None yet (knock on wood!)

Sleep: Waking up around midnight every night and then it takes forever to get back to sleep.

Best moment this week: We found out the gender!

Miss Anything? Blue cheese and smoked ham.

Movement: More this week. :) Such a funny feeling! At the scan I felt her move and then saw it at the same time.

Food cravings: Clementines. I eat them 5 at a time!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing too bad this week. 

Have you started to show yet: Yes.

Gender: ITS A GIRL!!!!!

Labour Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Sometimes I can get a little irritated too quickly, but generally happy.

Looking forward to: Our trip to South Africa in less then 2 weeks!!!

Its a ...

Yip! No frogs, nails or puppy dog tails here.

Baby A cooperated yesterday and we found out that we are expecting a

BABY GIRL!

Allow me to introduce you to my beautiful daughter

This whole time I had a hunch that the little bambino was a boy.

I guess that motherly instinct hasn't quite kicked in yet.

But I'm excited for all things pink, flowery and sparkly!

Then and Now

12.04.10                                                                                                   12.04.11

One Year Ago...

Our Wedding Day

As if I haven't reminded you enough, this weekend is my 1 year wedding anniversary.

I was not a blogger back then, so to mark this special date I am recapping the day here and now.

Like many other girls, I have dreamt of my wedding day for years and years. I used to love paging through wedding magazines and picking out my dream dress, flowers, ring, table settings etc.

The funny thing is that when it came down to actually planning my "big day", none of that material stuff even mattered. All I wanted was to be with Mike and to seal our bond forever.

I have never been too traditional and I knew that my wedding wouldn't be either.

After our plan to elope in Vegas failed, we came up with the most perfect location:

Central Park, New York!

Sure, some might call me crazy for having an outdoor wedding in Winter; but at least it kept most of the tourists away and even though the temperature was close to freezing, I never felt a thing in my strapless dress thanks to the adrenalin pumping through my body at 100 miles per hour.

That morning I got dressed at the B&B that my parents were staying at. I did all of my own hair and makeup with some help from my mom and sister of course.

My family and I all piled into my parents rented minivan and with my Dad driving in New York City for the first time in his life (with me leaning over him shouting directions and telling him to use the horn more) we sped down Central Park West to arrive at the entrance of the park only a few minutes late for my own wedding!

My dad walked me down the "isle" to the Ladies Pavilion where my very handsome husband-to-be was waiting for me with a smile on his face that was completely priceless.

Our ceremony was short and sweet and both my mom and Mike's dad read passages out of the Bible before we exchanged vows which left very few dry eyes.

All that was running through my head was "I cannot believe this is happening!" and before I even knew it we had said our "I do's" and were declared husband and wife.

The time we almost eloped in Vegas!

Almost 1 year ago, Mike and I got married in what I feel was the most perfect way possible.

But just 1 month prior to that, we were still planning  on flying to Vegas to elope!

We thought we would do a "quick" Vegas wedding and then perhaps a year later renew our vows in a bigger ceremony in front of family and friends.

I had purchased my "Vegas" wedding dress and statement red shoes.

We had reviewed all the legal gargin and located the Nevada wedding registry.

We had chosen the cheesy chapel where we were going to get hitched.

I'd picked out the all-in-one flowers, suit rental, limo ride and photo package that we were going with,

and the plane tickets were almost booked.

But then at the very last minute (exactly 1 month before our wedding date) we changed our minds.

Ha ha!

I was on the phone with the wedding coordinator in Vegas and something made me hesitate when the exact "wedding package" wasn't available for the exact date that we really wanted as our wedding day.
Also, after hearing news of our plans, the guest list seemed to be growing and growing; so we decided to spare everyone a trip all the way across the country (especially my parents after already travelling halfway across the world) and tie the knot a little bit closer to home, in The Big Apple.

So, although a Vegas wedding would have been fun, adventurous and would make one heck of a great story (and I STILL have my short, sassy Vegas wedding dress) I am so happy that things turned out the way that they did.

So how did the big day go down? And where did we eventually get hitched?

Well, that's a story for another day. (Tomorrow to be exact. Stay tuned!)