Food! Glorious Food! Or in other words...I'm pregnant.

I have been a crap blogger lately. Sorry. I am pregnant, and that's my excuse for, well, everything. A lot of fun things have happened around here, and maybe I'll get around to blogging about all of that later. But for now, I have more important matters to discuss. Like food. And how delicious it is. And how no matter how much I eat, I just cannot seem to get enough. I'm thinking about making Bug's Life into a food blog, since that's really the only thing I care about these days.

The weird thing about pregnancy, at least during the first trimester, is that I feel completely nauseated and ravenous at the same time. The last few months the nausea has been winning, and I have been spending most of my time hanging around the toilet. This has been my sickest pregnancy, but I think we have turned the corner in that department. I am feeling much better these days. As my first trimester is coming to a close, the nausea is waning, and the ravenous feeling is taking over. Taking over my life.

So let's talk about food. Specifically, BLT's. With avocado. Wow. Their goodness is just beyond words. I don't want to tell you how many BLT's I've eaten in the last few days. Let's just say this: I've had more BLTs in the last week than I have in the 5 years prior. Bacon sandwich!! Yum. And potato salad! I don't even really like potato salad (mayonnaise skeeves me out), but I had it for breakfast this morning. What? There were eggs in it. That makes it a great breakfast food. Oooh, and pickles. It's such a cliche, but I think I ate an entire jar last week.

Jake told me last night that he is on a diet. "Why??" I asked. "Because I always gain weight when you are pregnant," he replied. "All the usual healthy eating goes out the window, and you eat like..." I could see he couldn't think of a good comparison so I helped him out, "A trucker." "Yes. You eat like a trucker." Jake is both repulsed and fascinated by my pregnancy appetite. As am I. I really don't understand how it happens. Science says you need an extra 300 calories a day to support a healthy pregnancy. I feel like I eat an extra 3000. I never feel full. I usually stop eating when the food is gone or I start thinking "Erin, time to call it quits. This is more than any one person should ever eat. So let's stop. Stop. No seriously. Put the food down! STOP!"

All I think about is food. I'm thinking about what I just ate, what I am going to eat next, WHEN I am going to eat next, how I am going to get around having to cook what I am going to eat next (I HATE cooking when I am pregnant. It makes me sick. Go figure.), as well as all the other things I could be eating, or have eaten in the past, or things that I like to eat. It grosses me out how much I think about food.

The other thing is that I crave food that you couldn't pay me to eat if I wasn't pregnant. In my non-pregnant life, I don't really like meat, other than seafood. Now? I dream about meatball subs and bacon cheeseburgers. Fast food? Never touch the stuff. Yet I've had McDonalds three times in the last two weeks. And I think I had Taco Bell bean burritos twice a week through the entire first trimester. Oh, and the aforementioned BLTs and potato salad.

And no, there is no good reason why I don't gain 100 pounds during my pregnancies. Its a medical marvel. I just gain a normal amount of weight. It really amazes me. Our bodies are going to do what they want to do. This being my third pregnancy, I'm just enjoying the food, and not worrying about the weight gain. No sense stressing and panicking about it.

So there you go. That's why I haven't been blogging. I've been too busy. Between the planning, the eating, and the watching of Man vs. Food marathons (Adam Richman is going to be my next husband. I love a man who loves food...that's how I picked my first husband.), I just don't have time for much else. Now if you'll excuse me, I hear some Krispy Kremes calling my name...

Vanity Fare

I need some opinions. Or maybe inspiration. Or motivation. As you know, I'm easily bored with my hair. I've been growing it out for some time, and now I am SICK. OF. IT. Plus, it is just taking wa-haaaaaay to long to style...so I want to cut it off. But not too short. I absolutely have to be able to pull most of it into a ponytail. So what should I do? I'm thinking long bob. Thoughts?

I love this Gywneth look (yes, I realize that our hairs have nothing in common, just like our lives, but these are the lines along which I am thinking):

What do you think? Any other ideas? Comments please! Gracias in advance!

BIIIIIIIIG Basin

We headed down to see the redwoods at Big Basin State Park. It was only an hour and a half drive, but it was super windy (like curvy, not blowing wind). We had to pull over for THIS car-sick girl, but mostly I felt horrible for poor little Wyatt. It turns out he got the Hart/Sonners (which side can claim credit for this?) car-sick gene. I passed all my best genes on to him. It was pretty pathetic. He had no idea what was wrong, he just kept whimpering quietly, "No! I don't like it Mama! No...!" I felt horrible. I had so many flashbacks of driving in our Volkswagen Vanagon in the mountains, feeling the puke rising up in my throat, knowing the end was nowhere near. I also have memories of getting puked on by my brother, because he didn't stick his head out the window far enough, but that's another post, another day. But actually, I do have one thing to say: Mom and Dad, would it have killed you to pull over so your kid could puke?? It seems a little insensitive that your response to "Mom, I'm gonna throw up!!" was, "OK, just stick your head out the window..." I also remember being embarrassed whenever we would get out of the car, because the sides were always covered in barf. That's how we would ride. Anyway, I vow here and now to PULL OVER when my kids tell me they are sick, and not tell them to barf out the window. But moving on....

So we all got sick, but we made it. We ate our "picnic," and then got to walk around and see the tall trees. Wyatt was in heaven. He jumped out of the stroller, ran around, climbing in and out of trees looking for monsters, hitting things with sticks, throwing pinecones...it was little boy heaven.

But all good things must come to an end. We drugged the boy with some dramamine, put Erin in the driver's seat, and drove home.

I love that the "Mother of the Forest" is the biggest tree in the park. Not the Father.

Wyatt was excited to climb on this "big stick."

Inside a tree, a little house for Wyatt.

Wyatt looked everywhere for monsters. He didn't find any, just a lot of spiders and cobwebs. Yuck.

On a mossy log...

Wyatt has had these sunglasses for over a year and never showed any interest in them. But he put them on that morning before we left, and didn't take them off for hours. He was "cool." Yes, along with the car-sick gene, I also gave him my "cool" gene. Anyway, he liked standing on this post because it made him tall.

We had a great trip!

9 Months

Micah is 9 months! I can't believe he has been out of my belly now longer than he was in my belly.
Micah cracks me up. And he drives me insane. He is the most dramatic little thing I have ever met. When Micah is happy, the world is happy, but when he's not...watch out! Micah loves people. He smiles at everyone and won't stop until they smile back. He even makes grumpy people in line at Target smile at him. Who can resist? But...Micah is also extremely temperamental. If something is amiss in his world, he throws fits and screams and cries and weeps and wails and gnashes his (two) teeth. He makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes. He is so lucky he is cute! :)
Micah is sweaty. His internal thermostat is set 15 degrees higher than everyone else. He is usually naked, because he is hot, and because he is almost always covered in barf. He's a puker. Barf is apparently my destiny.
Micah started crawling a while ago. Bad mom....I think at 7 or 8 months? Its hard to tell, because he doesn't actually crawl, its more of a slither. An army crawl. I kept thinking he would transition to a normal crawl, but I don't think its going to happen. We have wood floors and its hard to get up on his knees without them slipping out from underneath him. So he slithers instead. Which adds to his general filthiness. Sweat, barf, dirt from the floors. And dog spit. Lucy can't resist licking him. The aforementioned combo is doggy dessert.
He likes to pull up and stand. All the time. He talks all day long. He doesn't want to be fed, he only wants to feed himself.
And he is just all cute, fat, round babyness. Wyatt was (is) a stringbean, and Micah is just chubby. Everything on him is round and soft and pudgy. Which is why I overlook his constant filthiness and kiss him so much. He adds much needed spice to our lives. Life is never dull or quiet with Micah around. We love this baby!

Stats at the 9 month check-up:

Height: 20 pounds, 5 ounces (48th percentile) This is how much Wyatt weighed at his 15 month check-up.

Weight: 28 3/4 inches (70th percentile)

Head: I can't remember the number, but it was the 95% percentile. We can thank Jake for that.

Quotes from the doctor and nurse at the check-up:

"Wow! He sure keeps you on your toes, right?"
"Well, I'm not worried about his language development. He certainly knows how to use his voice!"
"I'll bet your house is never quiet with him around!"
"Does he ever hold still?"
"You must really have your hands full with this one!"
"He's a strong little guy, isn't he?" (asked as Micah kept grabbing every examination instrument and shoving it in his mouth, rendering the doctor unable to to actually examine him)

Pictures from the last few months:






I love you Micah Bean!

Easter

Decorating Easter eggs the night before. Some kind of chocolate smeared on his cheeks. Why doesn't his mother at least wipe his cheeks before taking a picture?? Also pictured is Wyatt's snake, "Nakey." It's one of those soft, kind of sticky and stretchy ones, that collect dirt and hair and anything that comes within 5 feet of it. Totally grosses me out, but Wyatt loves his new friend. The worst part is Wyatt likes to pretend Nakey is lunging at me ready to bite my face off, so I have to get up close and personal with all the dust and dog hair.

Cute Easter outfits? Not for my kids. Pajama-jama-jams all day long at this house. We didn't have church because of conference, so I really saw no point in getting dressed. Judge not.

These lilies grow here like, well, I was going to say weeds, but I don't want to call them weeds, because they are so beautiful. I guess I could say they grow like wildflowers. I love seeing them everywhere I go!

Sausalito

We took the ferry from San Francisco across the bay to Sausalito. Did you know it is the 2nd most beautiful ferry ride in the world? Well, it is. Not by my ranking. I have only been on maybe two ferry rides in my life total, and I am pretty sure I threw up on the other ride, so that would make this ferry #1 in my book. Some travel person/writer gave it that designation. And it is spectacularly beautiful. We went on a sunny day and the views were so amazing. It was also a little windy.


You can't tell from this picture, but Wyatt LOVED the ferry.I mean he really, really LOVED IT. That's the Golden Gate Bridge in background.
The Rock. I desperately want to tour Alcatraz, but I have been warned by a lot of people to not attempt it with kids, so maybe I will just have to do it by myself some day. And boatloads of European tourists.
These pictures are from Sausalito. Isn't it such a cute town?

We only feed him ice cream.

Beach Bums

Low tide + sunshine =