A New Trimester of Sorts...

Ah, the second trimester...where you gain more energy, feel less nauseated, and gain your sex drive back. Did I mention that today is my first day of the second trimester?

During my last appointment, my mom was here, so she ventured with us to hear baby Whitehead's heartbeat. At 11 weeks, little baby was chugging along at 160 or 162..I can't remember anymore. I addressed the gaining weight issue with the Nurse Practitioner and she said it might be good for me to see a dietician. I haven't moved in this direction yet, as I wanted to see if I would start gaining any weight on my own.

At my last doctor's appointment, I weighed a whopping 101.something pounds. Today at the gym, I weighed in at 104 pounds! Super exciting. That means baby Whitehead is growing..which to me is obvious by the way my pants fit and the little stomach pooch I have going on. Gaining weight while eating gluten and dairy free is going to be tough, but I am praying that God will help me with this challenge. (Did I mention that I went crazy on Wednesday and bought 2, yes, 2 cake doughnuts from Duncan Donuts..little by little, I polished them off before the night was over...EEK).

Next Thursday, I am headed to Atlanta for a weekend of fitness..Fri, Sat, and Sun I will be participating in group fit classes that begin at 7:30 am. I am not an early riser (esp, since we are one hour behind Atlanta), so Lord help me get through this next weekend!! I am excited about seeing my brothers and sis in law and her 18 week baby bump!  I'll top of the weekend with a 3 night stay in Augusta, and hopefully my mom and I will be able to register for some baby items.

Now for what you've all been waiting for: Alicia's little baby bump

14 week baby bump

yes, I am in my pajamas!

Adventures in Gardening

I love having a beautiful backyard, but it sure takes a lot of work to make that happen! Every time I go outside to pull weeds, they just seem to multiply even more! Where do these darn things come from?

Some of the areas of the yard have been growing really well. Back in April when mom and I started planting, we had no idea how the plants would do. Randy and I have found that some of them are thriving..some, not so much. There are plenty of reasons why: too much sun, not enough water (oh the joys of drip irrigation), and mysterious bugs? that eat them. 

I am really into this growing my own food thing... I began with herbs and then made the decision to try tomatoes. There's not anything better than a fresh from the vine in your own backyard tomato. Recently, something has been eating my tomatoes, and I'm not kidding about that. The crazy thing is, I can't find any hint of worms or bugs on any of my tomato plants. It's killing me b/c I am having to throw away half of my tomato crop. 
Anyone have any ideas??

My tomato plants

We have what??

As you may know, in April, we decided to feed the birds. The initial cost of feeding birds is ridiculous. Not only is bird seed expensive, but bird feeders are outrageous. The cost of 3 shepherds hooks + feed+ feeders = a fortune. 

However, we decided that we're old and wanted to watch the birds eat in the morning and evening. We've noticed that our bird feed declines by a significant amount during the night. We figured we had a large population of birds eating when it was dark (which seemed strange, but that the only way to explain it).

Last night, I was out of town for work, and when I called Randy to tell him I was coming home, he said he had solved the night feeding problem. He said he would tell me the story when I got home. Well, I got home around 9:30 and by the time we fell into bed, he said he would tell me the story in the morning.

awww!

they like the feeders and the hooks!

This morning, I asked him what he had found....RATS! Seriously, he said that huge rats are coming from the vacant lot next to us and eating our bird seed. SCARY!! I am so glad I haven't seen them, but we have heard them and that freaks me out. Randy went out and bought rat poison while I was gone last night, and his plan is to set the kill tonight. The poor birds!!

Ya Mon!

Randy and I just returned last night from a 7 night cruise to the Western Caribbean. When I mentioned to Randy a few months ago that I needed to go on a vacation, he told me that he would take a few days off so we could work on the yard/house. Obviously, working on our yard/house was what I was trying to escape, so I quickly moved him in a different direction. 

It was actually R's idea to go on a cruise. Neither of us had been before, and since snorkeling is Randy's thing, hitting Grand Cayman and Cozumel, along with Jamaica and Royal Caribbean's private island on Haiti, it seemed like the best way for us to get away. 


The only thing we were really concerned about was my eating. Since I eat gluten and dairy free, we weren't sure what we would find on the ship's menus. I have been trying to gain weight for the past 3 months, but when you are forced to eat healthy, it's really hard to gain weight!


We found that a majority of the food on the ship had either gluten or dairy (of course, right?) and that made for a somewhat frustrating time for me. I basically ate the same thing each day for breakfast and lunch, and then the chefs created gluten and dairy free dinners for me. They even made a  dairy and gluten free dessert for me each night. 


Royal Caribbean boasts some of the world's best shows, and we were not disappointed. We watched a magician who was formerly on America's Got Talent (he rivaled David Copperfield), and listened to the Nelson twins (that's Ozzie and Harriet's grandsons) sing a tribute performance to their dad, Ricky Nelson. 


We ice skated, played some mean ping pong, worked out, learned how to play Craps, hopped in the jacuzzi, got our picture with King Julian (DreamWorks characters were on our ship), visited 4 different countries, and had some great conversations with people from all around the world. 
Did I mention that R tried his hand, or should I say his legs at surfing on the ship? We didn't even make it to the rock climbing wall...


We enjoyed ourselves and no work for a week, but are thankful to be home (I guess we are anyway). Here are a few pics of our trip:  As they kept telling us in Jamaica. "It's all good mon".

The Chef's did beautiful fruit and veggy artistry

First formal night

R attempting to surf on the Flow Rider

View from our private island in Haiti

The beautiful water in Jamaica

Second formal night: Lobster tails

After snorkeling in Cozumel

Our hanging monkey

The peacock was made by our waiter, Aries

Last Day at Sea: Beautiful Ice Sculptures

On the coast of Florida before dinner on night 7

This needs no caption!

With our waiters, Aries and Julianna

Time Sure Does Fly By

I looked at the last time I had written a blog and it's been 3 weeks. My first thought was, "Where have the past few weeks gone?" Then I remembered what we've been doing...adding a sprinkler system to our yard (front and back) and then my mom came down last week to help me plant garden plants before the sod goes down in May. 

You just don't realize how long it takes to make your yard look decent until you start the process. It took us a whole day just to pick out the plants, and then we had to work the soil and get them in the ground. Needless to say, it took much longer than I thought it would.  We planted between 40-50 plants last week! 
I also planted some tomatoes and I already have a little baby one on one of the plants. Here is just a taste of what we did last week:

Closest to the House...before planting

One of my planters...planted in March

second planter..planted in March

Lampost area..it now has mulch

Some planters in the back with herbs and pretty flowers

Fuego Verbena and a Rose of Sharon

My pink lemon tree..can't wait to see it grow

RJ Junior who we found out is really a girl squirrel! haha

Malachi enjoyed boating on Saturday

 

overwheming

I have to be honest; some days I am overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with what? It's been close to two months now since my official Chrohn's diagnosis and this new lifestyle is still tough to get used to. 

Often times, I find myself dreading going into the kitchen. That's where I spend half of my day, b/c I have to cook everything I make from scratch. There are days that I just want to be able to make a sandwich or pop a frozen meal into the microwave, but I know that it won't be beneficial.

On a positive note, I am finally starting to eliminate more things from my diet. How can that be positive? I'd rather eliminate things that make me feel worse than continue eating them b/c they are healthy. Cauliflower is a great vegetable, but it's on my elimination list now. I think brussel sprouts may end up on that list too. I may try them again in the near future. 

Today, I wanted something a bit sweet, so I took a recipe for peanut butter brownies, and made the dough into cookies. They are pretty decent and super easy to make.

• 1 1/4 cups natural peanut butter (we grind our own at Fresh Market)

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup honey (or agave..I used less than 1/2 cup of honey and they weren't very sweet)
• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

 Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and mix all ingredients together in a bowl. I just mixed them together with a spoon and it worked fine.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and then roll cookies into balls and place on cookie sheet

Bake for 15 minutes and then enjoy!!

My favorite time of the year

You probably think I'm going to say spring, but I'm not. It's Masters Week, and I'm paying my tribute to the most wonderful event that happens in Augusta. 

1995: I was hired for my first job; working in the main concessions area at the Masters. For me, that meant being there at 6 am, and leaving around 6 pm or later. Keep in mind, this is my spring break. Was I crazy, YES. I worked my tail end off that week, but I also made a whopping $350 and was introduced to the Masters golf tournament. I fell in love with this place.

1996: I did it again; I decided to work my butt off during my spring break. This time, I worked near the 11th and 17th (I think) holes. A little less hectic than the previous year, but this time, I could hear the sounds of the clubs and crowds from my tent. 

What I failed to mention are the passes. The managers could give out 30 minute passes while we were on our breaks, so if we got caught without a badge, we could show our pass and prove that we were on our break. Those passes were my freedom to enjoy the course. And boy, did I.

1997: My senior year of high school and this time, I moved up in the world. I became a bagger for the gift shop. Some of you might think, so what. You've obviously never seen the gift shop at the Masters. I've never seen so many foreign people with so much cash at any other time in my life. I met some really neat people, but the best thing that happened that year was meeting a guy named Jake. Jake was a stock boy for the gift shop, and like me, was spending his spring break waking up early, and going home dog tired.  During the course of the week, we set the ground work for becoming friends for life. We spent some our of breaks together  walking around the golf course, and I believe we even watched Tiger win his first coveted Green Jacket together.

We went to different colleges, but somehow we still managed to keep our Masters bond alive. I even talked him into taking me to the course a few times. After we graduated from college in 2001 and he moved back to Augusta, I conned him into taking me out for our "anniversary" each  year during Masters Week. He always complained, but he always took me wherever I wanted to go.

Jake and Alicia on the course in 2005

Jake scared the mess out of  me a few years ago. I got a call from our friend Christel saying Jake didn't show up for work and he had been in a car accident. It was Easter Sunday 2007 (the final day of the tournament that year) and I couldn't get hold of him or his parents. Finally, after church, I called the hospitals in Augusta and found him. The poor guy spent a few painful days in a room, but thankfully recovered. I wouldn't know what to do if something had happened to my Masters buddy.

Of course I made him take a picture with me!!

 Thanks to my Masters buddy (who practically knows everyone), at the Mayors Reception of 2006, I was introduced to an amazing lady who became a great confidante and friend. The Mayor's Reception is always the first day of the practice rounds (Monday), and many restaurants from Augusta would hand out free food to hungry visitors and residents of the city. The Mayor was always on hand to award one of the beloved golfers with a key to the city of Augusta. 

Jake had told me about his friend Julie, and from what I knew about her, I couldn't wait to get a glimpse of her. It was just my luck that they  happened to attend the Mayor's Reception together that year, and we were properly introduced. In fact, I believe I spent at least 30 minutes talking to her, and don't believe that Jake and I said much to one another! From that day on, Julie and Jake and I had many a lunch/coffee date together and Julie and I attempted to pencil one another in every so often. In 2007, Julie and I attended the Mayor's Reception together sans Jake, and captured this picture below:

So, in conclusion, I am grateful to the Lord and to the Masters golf tournament. It provided me the opportunity to meet 2 of the most amazing people I know! Happy Anniversary friends!!