If I were a dwarf, my name would be Sleepy . . .

My poor husband. Over the past week and a half . . . two weeks . . . I've been asleep for most of it so I don't remember for certain . . . my morning sickness has kicked in. To the point where I have nearly projectile-vomited across the jewelry store at work. When I haven't been losing the few foods that I can tolerate, I have been asleep. Or wanting to be asleep. Randy is pretty much going out of his mind. It is just starting to get warm and have the kind of weather here where you want to go for a bike ride, or throw a football around . . . and sadly all of those things sound completely horrific to me right now. So most of our activities have been late-night runs to the store to gather a variety of ingredients that happen to sound okay for me to eat at the moment.

So far the weird cravings have been for pretty random things. One night I really wanted Sushi rice (white rice cooled off by being mixed with a rice vinegar/sugar/salt sauce) with avocado and olives on the side. Sunday I really wanted a Soy milk smoothy with banana, peanut butter and cocoa. Sadly we had no banana and nobody we knew had a banana, so that craving had to wait. Instead, Randy was very sweet and made me a cornmeal waffle with chocolate chips sprinkled in it, topped with peanut butter and fresh homemade syrup. One night pickles actually did sound good, so I had some of those. My friend Leith suggested oranges helped her, so I've had a couple of those. Mostly I've lived on Orange gatorade, Ginger ale, and a few bites of bland food here and there. I've been trying to put as much food down as I can because I'm afraid I'm losing weight, but it is hard when pretty much even the thought of most food sends me gagging to the toilet.

Speaking of eating well, I've had quite a few people worried that my veganism is going to affect the health of my baby. To put some fears to rest, as well as satisfy curiosity, this is what I have found through my reading.
"Got a beef with beef (and chicken, and fish, and eggs, and dairy) — but your mother-in-law's got a beef with you not eating it ("Babies need meat to grow," she's fond of chiding)? Tell her not to worry (and to quit chiding). Vegan mamas-to-be can grow babies with the best of the meat eaters (and in some ways, even better — since you'll be getting so many notable nutrients from the fruits, vegetables, and whole grains you're probably already enjoying in copious quantities). You'll just need to be a little extra conscientious about scoring your quota of the following vital nutrients."
I take my prenatal vitamin every day, drink fortified soy milk where I get my vitamin B12, some extra protein, Vitamin D, calcium, as well as other random things. I eat legumes and whole grains where I get protein and vitamins. So I am doing my best to take care of both me and baby, and so far--other than all the funny, normal, sometimes annoying symptoms of pregnancy--we are feeling fantastic. Some articles I found helpful: http://goveg.com/lettuce.asp and http://whattoexpect.com/index.aspx?puid=0d153601-21ca-43c2-a71f-708c48429b9b&p=1

Snuggle Bunny

I've been feeling the effects of baby more and more over the past week or so--aka certain smells or even visual descriptions have me running to the bathroom to throw up--and I pretty much sleep all the time. Randy has been great for the most part (although he did call me a Level 27 Progesterone Knight the other day--I may or may not have been a little cranky) but I know it has been hard on him that I take so many naps. Luckily we have a funny little squirrel who will gladly cuddle up in a blanket with me, either for a nap or for some knitting time.



Speaking of knitting, I finally finished my last little project: fuzzy socks. I was just using left over yarn from other projects, so that is why they don't exactly match. But they are warm and comfy nonetheless! Plus most of my use for fuzzy socks is either around the house in my pajamas, or hidden underneath boots in the winter, so I'm not too worried about making a fashion statement. It was fun to learn how to use four double pointed needles to knit in the round. I think I am going to take advantage of this time before I know what gender the baby is and knit a bunch of socks for next winter!! Plus I have some Christmas projects that I want to get started on early . . .

Pretty Darn Exciting

So if you haven't already heard, there is another little Johnson on the way!! Randy and I are so thrilled. As you can tell from the little alien/bean widget, I am very early in the pregnancy. If I have it calculated correctly, I am due December 4, but we'll let you know if the doctor tells me otherwise. I am feeling great so far, but people have been telling me that I probably have about two more weeks of feeling okay before I start throwing up when I smell pretty much anything. We are so grateful that this little miracle happened for us, and can't wait to meet little baby girl/boy!

Last month when I was at Walmart picking up some flannel for a blanket for baby Sam, I saw the cutest little girl flannel and I had to buy it--just in case I have a girl sometime. It has little moneys on a pink background, and is pretty much the most adorable thing ever. So when we found out that we were expecting, Mandy and Mallory surprised us with a present for our little one: the cutest stuffed monkey from build-a-bear. It even has a cute little squeak when you squeeze his arm! I'm pretty sure it's going to be a big hit when our little one comes. :o)




The other thing that has been going on at our house, is a lot of jewelry making. One of the services that we provide at Sakora is restringing pearls, and so we are all trained to do that. Randy discovered that he really, really likes to string pearls, so he has been going a little crazy. He helped me make a necklace for my friend for her birthday, and then he went and bought four strands of different colored cultured pearls and strung them in a three-strand necklace for me. Then he still wanted to do more so he made me a matching bracelet. So if any of you want a cool necklace--let Randy know. He'll do it for you for the cost of the materials :o). Like I said, he has found a new passion. I don't mind--I get lots of pretty jewelry!!