Baby J

Come December, Adam and I will have a new leader of our club... our BABY!  It's crazy!!  Crazy to know there is a living, heart beating, breathing little fetus in my body.  It's crazy to watch my body slowly change shapes.  I am woman, hear me roar.  I never looked so... so... female?   It's been crazy to share the news with everyone, some reveals didn't work out the way I had wanted them too, but overall everyone seems to be excited... a lot of people had seemingly given up on the thought or idea of children in our future... so to see some surprised faces was fun.  It's funny to hear things like "I thought you didn't like kids." or "Are you sure you are pregnant?" "I didn't know you were trying." or "It's about time."  As if you can choose when a life will be started within you.  People say the darndest things, and think they should be privy to decisions we have made and hardships we have endured.  And in pregnancy, it still rings true.

The funniest thing that someone has said to me...  "You'll be a wonderful, and a bit wacky, mommy."  I couldn't be more pleased with this statement.  While a lot of my ideas and thoughts are unconventional about all things in life... and you may roll your eyes or shake your head at what I think or what I do or what I get mad about or what I love.  I can't change a thing about it.  And I have never quite cared.  People who accept it have stayed, and I have lost a few to my wackiness.   I am certainly going to try my best to give this baby a great life in a world full of maddness.  And to do what I think is right.  I will accept advice... but I will not feel bad if I choose not to follow it.  I will try to lead by example.  I will understand that everyone does it differently.  I will have a few things on my registry that are mostly for me and not baby.  I look forward to all the unknown ways a baby will change your life and your heart about things, things you didn't even know it would.  But in the end it's super scary to think about a future with baby.  I don't want to mess him or her up too bad. 

"A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for." -unknown.

Boston

One of my bucket list wishes for many years has been to go to Boston.  Why?  I have no idea.  I just feel like it's a smart, educational city, with smart people walking around with books in their hands.  I imagine dressing in white shorts, and a navy blue and white striped shirt to go sailing.  I imagined a lot of seafood.  Good, fresh seafood.  I imagined a baseball game, a game I understand and makes sense to me, in one of the oldest stadiums around.

While in Boston, I learned that we were going to have friends there from Orlando!  So we met up with Amie (Adam and I's old boss from Splash Mountain!) and her fam along the Freedom Trail, right in front of Paul Revere here.

Here ya got some clam chowda and a lobsta roll... nevermind the fact Adam dropped this lobsta roll walking it to our table... our 22 dollar lobsta roll mind you... but don't worry... the good people of James Hook and Company replaced it, telling me "the next one is on you!"

The seafood was quite abundant and here is a amazing platter for two.  I did not eat this all myself.  Next time I am visiting to Boston, I am staying in the North end, and never leaving it...Little Italy.

The place to go was Mike's Pastry... however we heard from the locals that Modern Pastry beats Mike's Pastry hands down.  We tried them both and we agree.  

It was a hot one at Fenway... and the Red Sox won!!!  Fenway is no Wrigley, but I still felt super privileged to be there.  

Bean Town was very good to us... next stop.... Seattle???

Hawaii

We had a planned trip to Mexico at the end of May and were looking forward to it.  I found out that I was pregnant at the end of April... called to make that first appointment with the doctor... mentioned that I had a scheduled trip south of the border, and doctor strictly forbid, 100% no'd, and put the kibosh on me going due to the threat of Zika virus.  Naturally, I looked up cases found of Zika in Hawaii... and BOOM... with a few fees here and there, and not much headache,,, we were going to HAWAII!!!!!!!!  It's good to be young, and childless (at least for the moment!)

We spent 4 nights in Maui and 3 nights in Oahu.  It was really a wonderful time and I can finally see what all the buzz is about.  It's just beautiful there and there is so much to do... that even a month wouldn't be enough to visit all the islands and really enjoy it all.  One of our highlights was reconnecting with an old friend, Beth, who Adam met in Washington D.C.  Beth is now a Maui resident and was able to show us all the ins and outs and local spots.

We celebrated 7 years of marriage on Memorial Day in Hawaii.  Starting the day at 2:45 am leaving our hotel to make it for sunrise at the top of Haleakala.  It was worth the early start and was so amazing to see.

After which we headed back to the bottom, stopped for food, and then back to the hotel to lounge the rest of the day at the pool and beach.

Our anniversary ended at The Feast of Lele Luau.  It rained some of the time, but it provided this excellent very real rainbow in the background of this photo.

The next day we ended up snorkeling.  It was either that or do the Road to Hana.   Weather conditions were just rainy.  And I was nauseated basically the whole trip.  So it didn't make sense to be driving on a 2 lane windy, curvy road all day, where we were told had 600 turns.  We opted to snorkel.  I was a little worried with the bad weather, and bobbing of the boat.  But what really did me in with the "sickness" was the smell of the bathrooms.  That mix of mold and bleach to cover the mold was horrible.  After jumping in and exploring a bit, I finally saw 2 sea turtles.  They were magnificent and so gentle and graceful, it was worth the trip.  After that, I quickly got back on the boat and watched Adam snorkel around.  

We flew back to Honolulu... and drove around one day.  The coast line in North Beach is just amazing, and clearly you can see the weather was amazing.

After a beach day, we met up with my friend Shamim who I worked with at SAMC and just so turns out she had been living in Oahu for exactly a year that day.  We also met up with Vicki and her little lady Frances.  All together we enjoyed dinner at Dukes, with a great view of Diamond Head in the back.

  

   

Vicki met us again the next night and we ate at our hotel in this fancy Italian restaurant.  So I got to see her 2 nights in a row!

     

Hawaii really was a dream... and worth every penny we spent.  I would love to go back.  There was really not much not to love... except my 6 dollar cup of coffee... but even then... I can't wait to return.