Nicaragua

We are back from a wonderfully, relaxing, 5 year anniversary, babymoon vacation. The all inclusive deal was reminiscent of our honeymoon. Not typically the type of vacation we usually take since we really enjoy exploring, but it was a nice change of pace and forced us to really relax. Getting there was interesting. The flights were fine but once we got to the Nicaragua airport in Managua we had to take a taxi to the resort. It was after dark and no one hardly spoke English. Someone got us in a cab and told the drivers where we were going and then we just had to trust we would get where we were going. The drivers spoke no English at all and it turned out to be about an hour and a half drive. I ended up being so tired from the trip I didn't even worry that much and we got there safe and sound.

We spent most of the week doing this:

Of course going to Central America and a tropical place always have some adventure. I wasn't real fond of the nighttime darkness. Once dusk came at all the creepy crawlies came out, some we saw some we just heard. Like the multitude of bats we could hear in our ceiling thumping and fluttering for about an hour each evening. There was one night we were leaving our bungalow at dusk and bats were swooping right in front of our faces. And of course all the lizards came out, one night there was one running around in the bathroom. It freaked me out a bit, but it was way better than encountering a giant spider! Really the place was very clean and they did a great job of maintenance. The last night we were there I hardly slept at all because I knew we had to get up at 3 am and I kept hearing loud chirping, which I swear was in the bed beside us, and I just know it had to be a lizard. Andy however disagrees, but I think he was just trying to make me feel better.

One of the food adventures

We spent a lot of time at the pool or the beach or just walking around the 200 acre resort. It was nice, no clocks anywhere that we could find, not even in our rooms. For some excitement Andy and I each rescued a kid from drowning in the pool. Andy was in the pool one afternoon and I had gone to get something while I was gone he said some kid jump in right behind him and a little annoyed he was wondering what kid would jump that close him when there was an entire pool. He turned around and it was a little 3 or 4 year old shirt shoes and all, flailing around. So he lifted him up to the side, and shortly after the grandma came running over. Later that afternoon, I was sitting at the edge of the pool relaxing and cooling off and some kid maybe a few inches too short for the pool was bobbing up and down sputtering and frantically waving at me. So I jumped in and pulled him out. He would have probably made it on his own if I hadn't seen him but was pretty freaked out and crying.

Part way through our stay we did make a day trip and tour of the Mombacho volcano and city of Granada. The drive there in the taxi was was a little rough. Never in my life have I been motion sick and that did it, probably because I was pregnant, and I got past it pretty quick, but it was really bad for Andy. I think he was glad when our taxi got a flat so we could stop for a few minutes and have a longer break.

Once we got to the base for the volcano hike we boarded a straight truck sized vehicle with bench seats for a half hour drive up a very steep, bouncy road with many tight corners.

Monkey in the trees

We were relieved to realize were were sitting behind some people from Oregon who had hired a native tour guide who spoke very good English. They offered to let us tag a long and Daniel was able to interpret everything for us so we knew what was going on so we gained some history and knowledge of the culture. We were a little disappointed that the volcano crater we saw was inactive but still with a beautiful view. We would have had to do a 4 hour hike to see the craters that were still active, and we didn't have time planned out for that.We then went into the historical town of Granada to see a few ruins and some quick shopping. One thing we have noticed since living in ABQ is that Latinos really know how to stack things high on there vehicles. Think cartoon style, big jumble, 3 times higher than the vehicle, things look like they could fall off at any moment. One thing I wanted a picture of but never got a good photo op moment was the family transportation via bicycle. Dad pedaling, mom side saddle on the bar holding baby, making there way to town. I saw this at least 4 times but never long enough to get a picture. Here are a few pics of Granada, it was hotter than you know where and my pregnant belly was really feeling it so we didn't stay long.

*re-covering old ground*

Thanks to my sister, I now have a few pictures to illustrate the dress up and photo sessions I was referring to in an earlier post. We didn't find the midget picture though.

20 weeks

I made it to the half way point! I am so excited about that. I have a feeling time is going to fly and baby will be here before we know it! So if you couldn't tell I am experimenting with these scanned photos. I fixed them up on Google Picasa, but getting them into the blog is a different story. I couldn't figure out how to get more than one in a post so a multiple post day it is!

The Dr's appointment and ultrasound went good, everything measures fine and sounds good. Baby wiggled a lot for the ultrasound but made it easy to get all the pictures but was really fighting the profile picture. I guess I really do have a baby in there and now I have proof! I should probably start thinking a little more about the nursery. That will be the next project after vacation. Speaking of vacation, we leave tomorrow whoohoo!! Hopefully our house doesn't float away while we are gone. The rivers in the area are supposed to flood over the levees in the next couple of days.

Flexible

If you look close you can see the little foot up by the forehead.

Peek-a-boo

It's is hard to tell but here is the nose and mouth and the hands are up covering the eyes.

baby foot

follow up to last post

So that low sodium business actually works, ever the skeptic I didn’t know if I would actually be able to tell a difference. Well, my leg and ankle went back to ‘normal’ this weekend and it hasn’t been normal for a few weeks!! And I actually felt healthier since in order to avoid sodium you need to stay away from processed foods, Mrs Dash is all salt free so all my food still had flavor, and we found some yummy new meals!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

So I decided to put myself on a low sodium diet hoping that it will help my leg/ankle swelling to go down. It's more like a try to eat less sodium diet. I figured I would beat the Dr to it and maybe it won't become a huge problem. I found this delicious recipe on the American Heart Association web site, at least sugar and chocolate don't have sodium in them :o) I made this tonight and it was delicious!

1 3/4 cups all-purpose four

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips ( I am pretty sure I almost doubled this)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup mashed banana

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 large egg

1 tablespoon canola or corn oil

6 reduced-fat vanilla wafer cookies crushed (about 1/4 cup)

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch loaf pan with vegetable oil spray.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, chocolate chips, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Make a well in the center.

Add the remaining ingredients except the cookie crumbs, stirring until just moistened. Don't over mix; the batter should be lumpy. Pour into the loaf pan. Sprinkle with cookie crumbs.

(next time I may press the crumbs in a little so they don't fall off when it's done)

Bake for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Invert the bread onto a cooling rack and let cool before slicing.

per serving:

Calories 129

Total Fat 2.0 g

Sodium 64 mg

not sure where I lost the rest of the nutritional facts.

**tornado sirens, probably better go**

Happy Birthday Sis!

Well for your birthday I was planning on having a picture of your new niece and nephew but it looks like things got postponed, until next week.

I was nine years old when you were born, I don't remember much about the baby stage, but I do remember when you were a toddler and my friend and I would dress you up in a million different outfits or just make you look silly, or pretend we were photographers and you were the subject. I think mom has tons of random pictures that I took, I wish I had a few so I could post them. I remember one picture you were supposed to look gangsta but you ended up just looking like a midget, that, was a funny picture. It was so much fun to play with you. A real live doll, every nine year old girls dream :o) The best part was if we made you cry on accident then we could just take you to mom and she would fix everything. Thanks for being such a good sport!! I love all the chats we have now and the days you keep me from getting bored at work with our email conversations. Love you.

P.S. Since I couldn't get a picture of baby today, this was the best I could get. Complete with a 'deer in the headlights' look and some shaggy hair.

Is it a Boy?

Something I wonder often, do I have a sweet little girl in my belly or a cute little boy? But I have always wanted it to be a surprise, so that’s just what I am going to do. For the most part I like not knowing. It’s amazing how many times I get asked that question, and really I haven’t even had “THE ultrasound” yet. It really is amusing, some people almost seem disappointed and others think it’s really cool and fun. The stubborn side of me thinks it’s funny when they are disappointed and helps me dig my heels and strengthen my resolve to not find out. I‘m not saying I don’t care because I am very curious and I know if make it past the ultrasound then, I will just have to wait. I think they will be that much more excited when they hear the news since there will be more news to tell. Don’t get me wrong if you are dying of curiosity with your own baby then by all means find out. I may even find out next time :o)

I was bored one day and looked up the Chinese Lunar Calendar gender predictor thing, and it said I was going to have a boy. There were actually 2 possible spots on the graph that I could fall under and they were both boy. I don’t put much stock in that, so we will see in October if it’s right. All I have to do is make it past the temptation during the ultrasound tomorrow.

Record high

If you notice in my archives the month of May was an all time high for number of posts! Go me! So I am going to challenge myself to write more often and beat my PR and set a new one for this month. It's going to be hard since we will be gone for a week, but a good challege since writing is not something that comes easy. As long as I don't become obsessed or addicted to blog life it will be ok.

chocolate chip muffin, Yum!

Chocolate chip muffin with sugar on top, that is what I had for 2nd breakfast this morning and it was worth every calorie! We had a fun weekend, we worked in the yard some more and after 4 years we are finally getting to know our neighbors a little bit. I guess we neglected our yard the past few years while we worked on the inside. We planted 3 shrubs and I transplanted about 8 daylilies from our neighbor's yard- I have no idea what I am doing so I hope they grow big and pretty. I will post some pictures later when we are closer to being done.
Saturday we spent the evening with our friends Sneaky and P.M. and their husbands, in honor of Peter Marie and her husband’s 5th anniversary. We had a marathon of stops, out to eat at Chef's Kitchen, then walked over to Snookie’s ice cream shop for dessert. From there we went over to a cool coffee shop and hung out until late, late for old married people:o) It was a ton of fun to hang out and catch up with each other. Happy Anniversary!!!
Sorry no pictures, I am really bad at remembering my camera.