the bump

I've been getting over a nasty upper respiratory tract infection for the past few weeks and the other day I had had enough of laying around the house coughing and dealing with an empty fridge. So when Wilson walked in the door after work he got an earful of "Look! Look at me! I'm not wearing yoga pants and a T-shirt, I put on make up and I'm wearing earrings. I'm pretty, so you should take me to dinner!" He was only too happy to comply, on the condition that between the front door and getting in the car, he got to take a few baby bump pictures. So here is me and baby at 32 weeks!

the house that we built

A few weeks back Wilson and I got to participate in a home build for Extreme Home Makeover. In order to keep the surprise of who the family was, we had to sign up several months ago, wait until the week of the build to find out if we had been selected, and then get the location of the site. Wilson absolutely loves this show, but I was nervous that they might send me away because under special considerations I had mentioned that I would be 6 months pregnant and unable to do any heavy work. Fortunately when we got there they were looking for someone to work the volunteer registration tent. Even though I knew I wouldn't get to see a lot of the action, it seemed like the smartest decision for me. So Wilson got his hard hat and took off for the house while I got to stay in a tent, a few feet away from craft services and my own private porta potty. I would say that it worked out well for both of us.

The house was being built for a wounded soldier whose truck had been struck by an IED while in Iraq. He suffered life threatening burns including having the majority of his face melted, but refused treatment until he knew that his fellow troops were out of harm's way. Now he and his wife travel the world speaking and supporting the Army Wounded Warrior Project. The episode is not set to air until next December as it was the Christmas episode. Seriously. Everyone had red or green hard hats, they put Christmas lights and a wreath on the house, and here is a picture of Wilson decorating the EM:HE bus with tinsel and Christmas lights:

We didn't go back for the big reveal because it seemed that only VIPs got decent spots for the big "Move that bus" moment. Wilson's big goal was to see Ty and give him a high five. Throughout the day Wilson tore down a barbed wire fence, helped to fill a rock garden in the shape of the American Flag and handed out water. While Ty didn't come out to the build until after we left, one of the other members of the design team, Michael, filmed a segment about the rock garden that Wilson was working on; and he gave Wilson a high five. :)

yep, still pregnant

It's been a while since I posted, but the gist of our life is this: I'm still pregnant. "Hey Desi, what have you been up to these days?" "Gestating." Really, that's about it. This pregnancy has been complication free so far, and I don't seem to have so many of the scary stories that so many other women are constantly sharing, so I really am OK with life. We count our blessings that so far baby just seems to be enjoying life and growing right on time. Just a few recent updates:

1. At my last visit, my doctor asked me if I had noticed any swelling at my feet or ankles. I told her "No, not really!" She says "That's great, lets just check it out." and proceeds to press her thumb into my ankle area and the result is super eerie. Her thumb imprint stayed as if my skin was made out of memory foam. That's right, an indentation to last for the rest of the appointment. I was both equally disgusted and in awe and the same time. I told myself that the reason that I hadn't noticed that my ankle is now analogous to my mom's Tempur-pedic mattress is because I don't see much of my ankles anymore (Wilson helps me put on any shoes that require more than one step to slip them on). Of course none of this prevented me from running out to the waiting room, putting my feet up on Wilson's lap and telling him to try it.

2. I have to go to the restroom more than anyone ever should. The other day I realized that I peed in every building that I entered that day, including but not limited to: my home, four different elementary schools, Jo-Ann's, Target, and Hobby Lobby. It reminds me of the nights that I used to take my step dad's dog Zippy on walks and he would stop at every stupid tree to mark it. They were never long stops, but man, if that dog wasn't thorough. So yeah, that Target on TPC Parkway? It's mine.

3. This is where I apologize for the lack of "baby bump" pictures. The reasons are two-fold. #1 we have been moving into a house and the camera is MIA and #2 I don't have a baby bump, I have a baby planet. You know the animated version of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum from Disney's Alice and Wonderland, two legs and a big ball on top? I think you know where I am going with this....

But I will indeed try to get some pictures taken sometime in the near future.

4. I have missed a huge window of acceptance at the grocery store. Remember the parking spaces reserved for expectant mothers? Well I have never taken that space no matter how empty the lot was or how late at night it was. I knew that if I waited patiently my turn would come and I would be pretty upset if some undeserving person took my spot. So imagine how upset I was when my turn finally comes and I pull up to see this instead:

What the heck!!? I now have to wait until my child is born before I can take that spot!? Maybe you haven't seen my ankles, but this is serious business. And I can only imagine that after Baby shows up I will pull up and see a sign that says "Customer with multiple children" Well, forget you H-E-B, I'm not going to pressure myself to try and keep up with your fast moving expectations.

5. For those who keep asking about Baby's name, I will tell you that we are leaning toward Lucy. Lucy Lu, if you please. However, nothing is in stone and we don't even refer to her by name. Mostly, because she still feels like a fetus to me. I call her Baby or Babylu because it sounds nicer than fetus, but I just don't think I am one of those women that maternally bonds with her child until she actually meets her child. I also don't want to start monogramming things and then meet her and say "Wait a sec, you're not Lucy." or "Surprise! It's a boy!"

So there are a few snippets into life over here. I will try to update more often and with non-pregnancy things, but that seems to have been the most recent request from friends and family. Just under three months to go and we have child birth classes and lots of doctor visits in that time so here's praying for more of the complication-free months that we have experienced so far. She's almost here!!

sugar and spice and everything nice

That's what BabyLu is made of! That's right, it's a girl! Our first gender revealing sonogram was unsuccessful because our incredibly modest baby refused to uncross her legs so we could get a glimpse. So we went back this week and got a definite answer. Wilson is over the moon about the news. He immediately said that he wanted to be the one to buy BabyLu her first dress. We went to three stores before he picked out his favorite

I would have also been excited for a boy, because how cute would a little Wilson be? But let's face facts, I grew up in a family of 3 sisters and no brothers so I'm definitely in my comfort zone here. My incredibly talented mama and I are already dreaming up dresses, headbands, tutus, and clothes for cute curly haired little girls.

Speaking of Mama, with Thanksgiving today and the family getting together, we had to think of a cute way to reveal the big news. Getting the idea from the show "Amazing Wedding Cakes" I baked a cake, brought it over to dinner and told the family that the inside was either blue or pink. Then we watched as everyone gave their guess and eyed the white frosted cake on the table during the delicious meal. Finally one of the guests told Mama that it was just time to cut the cake already!

My Marathon Journey

Earlier this year, I met somebody who has set out to change the world by inspiring one person at a time.

When I first met Joseph, it was for selfish reasons, I was trying to make a sale for work, and now as I look back I realize what an inspiring friend he truly is.

Joseph told me of his current goal to run the entire series across the nation in the Rock & Roll Marathons. My first thought was, "You're a Crazy!" Then he suggested that I should run one of them. And I thought again, "you really are a Crazy!" Six months ago, I was finshing up my internship, preparing for graduation and packing up my house and family to move to the great state of Texas. The last thing on my mind was how I could or even wanted to run in a half marathon.

But then one day while at work I received the following link in my email: www.josephhattrick.com.

It told of how Joseph started his journey to transform his body, mind, and spirit. How running has seen him through some pretty tough times. It was then I realized maybe I could run 13.1 miles straight through. And told him I would consider running the San Antonio 1/2 marathon with him in 6 months. Even after moving to Texas joining a gym and running here and there, I wasn't sure I could do, and whenever I would talk to Joseph, I would have to admit that I still hadn't registered. It wasn't until my beautiful inspiring wife told me she and her dad was going to register me for my birthday. That I realized the only person who didn't believe in me, was myself. And from that point fully committed to accept Joseph's challenge and step beyond my comfort zone and try something new.

On November 13, 2011, Joseph & I took to the streets of Downtown San Antonio to stand with 1,000's of other runners waiting for the race to start.

And 2 hours 19 minutes and 53 seconds later Joseph & I crossed the Finish line together, and I can now say I am among the few people who said I wish I could run in a marathon and then actually did it.

Now as I reflect on the past weekend, I can't help but be grateful for all the great people in my life who inspire me to be a better person.

My Wife - Thank you so much for your love and support and time it took to map out my running trails around town!

My Family - Thank you for your words of encouragement, and the sweet running gear you provided!

And to you Joseph, for lighting the flame and being with me every step of the way.

Now as we quickly come to the end of another year, and you prepare to set new goals for yourselves, I hope you all are inspired to step out of your comfort zone and try the impossible.

And a final thought from Joseph's website, "being inspired by me is one thing; but pairing your inspiration with action is what I am asking for. Let's change this world together by changing ourselves!" - if you get some time take a look for yourself, to see what the "average joe" is inspiring people to do. www.josephhattrick.com.

BabyLu!

Big news in the Luong family, we will soon be three! Wilson and I are expecting our first baby on April 16! This is a really overdue post, I'm now in my second trimester and have been asked for pregnancy stories so I thought I would share some things I've learned so far:

1. Babies must be a huge pay off. I can't imagine anyone willingly going into this more than once unless babies were amazing. In fact I'm banking on it, because I don't really like this pregnancy stuff and I've heard the big finale at the end of pregnancy is kind of a drag/incredibly painful so I need the end product to be fantastic. I always said that I wanted 4 kids, but right now the number 3 isn't looking so bad.....

2. Being pregnant gives you psychotic dreams. For one whole week I dreamed about nothing but pizza. Pizza buffets, pizza friends, you name it. One night I dreamt that I took a slice of pepperoni pizza, dipped it in blended egg yolk and butter, coated it with a coffee cake crumb topping and baked it until golden bubbly. And it was the most delicious thing I ever ate in my life. Every morning I woke up and told these dreams to my husband. Ask me how long it took him to get the hint and finally get me a pizza. . . it was weeks.

3. Shopping while pregnant is a mistake. At least without someone there to monitor your purchases. I spent a few hours at Target, got to the register and while in line looked down at my cart and thought " what the heck is all this stuff and who put it in my cart?!" But I bought it anyway because it looked good. Stuff like Pumpkin Pie flavored pop tarts, frozen waffles, and Stove Top stuffing.

4. There aren't a whole lot of maternity costumes for Halloween unless you are willing to paint your belly like this chick:

Painted belly costumes offend me, so a friend gave me the instructions to make a skeleton shirt:

In case you're wondering, Wilson's shirt has a taco on the stomach because he didn't want to feel left out.

5. Not all sonograms are cute. Exhibit A:

Yes, that fetus that looks like the spawn of a skeleton and the aliens from Independence Day is my unborn child. But thankfully, so that our baby's first picture wasn't something that would cause us to have nightmares for weeks, they also gave us this snapshot:

I only shared the first one so that all of my friends without children would be prepared when they go in and their first sonogram produces something so scary. I was not so prepared.

6. When the baby is hungry, it will let you know in a way that is in no way subtle. Seriously, I've never gotten so hungry, so fast. When he was still learning, Wilson would come home from work at 11 and give his sleeping wife a kiss to say hello. Sweet, right? Wrong, because you see the wife was asleep and now that she is awake, the baby is awake and the baby is HUNGRY. So I finally had to tell Wilson not to kiss me hello while I'm sleeping unless he was coming up the stairs with a sandwich or something. He has since learned and is very good about feeding us both.

Generally speaking, Wilson and I are doing well. We find out in a few weeks if the baby is a boy or girl. (No, I don't feel one or the other about it) While I cant say that I have made nothing but good choices since finding out that we were expecting (my diet is not 100% healthy or organic and I don't exercise nearly as much as I should) I know for certain that I will always be able to say that the best choice I ever made for my child before it was born was to give him/her the most amazing man I could find as a father. Don't tell my mom, but I'm pretty sure he's read way more of the "What to Expect" book than I have; he's my reference.

So, am I happy that there is a baby on the way? Yes. But when you ask me if I'm "excited" while I have raging heartburn, want to do nothing but sleep and feel like camping out at an all-you-can-eat buffet, I don't really have a good answer. But I think when I feel the best is when my friends and family are excited. I've had so many lovely friends write lovely things about our big news and it just makes me forget about all the uncomfortableness and just want to give them a big hug and say "Thank you for being excited about my baby." Today I had a knock on the door and the Fed Ex guy gave me a box that had an unexpected surprise from just such friends in Arizona.

It was such a wonderful sweet surprise and I will give you one guess as to which sonogram picture we put in it :)

summer sewing

For a few weeks now I've been going over to my mama's house to get some sewing lessons in before she has to go back to teaching school in the fall. It's been so much fun and my friend Liz started joining us a while back so it's just become one of my favorite parts of the week! I finished my first project the other day; I took a pile of fabric and turned it into this:

It's one of those jersey knit drape-y vests that you can layer. I don't know what I was thinking starting with a knit project because that is a type of beast that you should wait until your sewing frustration tolerance is at a certain threshold before attempting, but it certainly is making the cotton dress that I am working on now seem a lot easier in comparison!