10 Weeks

We went back to DC and Cumberland, MD for 10 days for the Thanksgiving holiday, and what a great trip. We didn't do anything spectacular, but it was great to be back in the old neighborhood and frequenting the old haunts. And so good to see family and friends. Honestly, it was a little harder on my emotions than I expected (because I miss it way too much), but my return to Austin was easier than I expected, too, so it all worked out.

Mainly, I love DC during this time of year, and was reminiscing about our old life there, one that would be hard to have with kids. Making the transition to Austin has been so much harder on me than I thought and so much easier on Erik than I expected. He is the one that is constantly convincing me that we did the right thing and that he definitely prefers working from home in Austin (and visiting DC) than commuting into DC everyday from the suburbs (which would have been the plan with kids if we had bought a place there). I just could not get that through my head until we landed back in Austin and took a cab to our neighborhood.

I was finally genuinely happy to be home, and the house finally felt like ours (for the first time to me). As we walked in, I was glad to see that no one had broken in, and I was relieved to finally lay my eyes (and my body) on our own bed. I was happy to wake-up to bright sunshine in the morning, and I was amazed that our trees were completely bare and had finally lost all of their leaves (Erik wasn't too thrilled about the raking...). I was glad to hop in the car and go to our favorite places to eat and to do some grocery shopping in amazing downtown Austin. I am not sure what finally clicked, but I am now embracing our move instead of constantly regretting it.

While I loved our apt and Dupont Circle, I was pretty tired of looking out the window and seeing parked cars above us! I also know that we could not have had there what we have here. As Erik says, we would either be renting an apt in a different (bad) neighborhood , and we wouldn't have been able to even qualify to buy an overpriced house in the burbs (barely qualified for what we got in Austin). All in all, I think our quality of life will be better here, and I am finally excited about embarking on our Austin adventure!

Now that I am 10 weeks pregnant, I am fully embracing the quiet comfort of our new home. Just the convenience of a not so cramped kitchen (like counter and storage space) can make a big difference when you're roaming the kitchen for an easy meal and trying not to yak on yourself. Our kitchen in Dupont was so big compared to other Dupont kitchens, but it had it's issues. For instance, you had to back-in ass-first between the fridge and the cabinets to get pots out of the cupboard. There was a huge pipe that ran through the entire house that was our heat source, but its existence in the kitchen made it almost unbearable to be in there in the winter (and you can forget about baking...anytime of year). The linoleum (yes, linoleum) had turned to a pee color and looked like I had already yacked on it. And while we were sooooo lucky to have windows at all, the view was tires and tailpipes.

Our new kitchen is pretty dated and ugly (blue Formica counter tops with a pink Formica backslash that is somehow all one piece...?), but it is so nice and open, and we no longer dread cooking since we don't have to prepare an entire meal on a cutting board-sized counter top. Honestly, Erik has been doing all of the cooking lately. I was in there quite a bit when we first moved in, but with my latest food aversions, I can barely stand the site of most food unless it suddenly appears in front of me somehow and then is suddenly eaten. The smell of the dishes (no matter how bad or few) makes me turn green, and I often spray the entire sink with a natural cleaning product that smells like basil (I've wanted to spray Erik with it a couple of times, but he prefers showers). He was basically dismissed from cooking those wonderfully elaborate home cooked meals he was making because my appetite has been reduced to wanting canned tomato soup, oatmeal, grilled cheese with mayo and pickles, pimento cheese sandwiches and Popsicles. Refried beans and rice make it to the list sometimes - oh, and Thai food of all things - but mainly the kindergartner in me comes out for mealtime (did I mention that I searched the entire Whole Foods for an authentic can of Spaghettios?).

Erik has been so amazingly supportive during this rough "morning sickness" stage. Early on I learned that I cannot get out of the bed without eating first or I'll be sick for hours. So he leaps up every morning to refill my water and to make whatever crazy thing I feel that I can stomach (oatmeal, cornflakes, breakfast tacos, whatever). Thanks to a nice package that his dad sent us, we even have a white wooden tray for eating breakfast in bed! Too bad my only feeling is to throw-up or it would be like staying in a B&B for 3 months! He never complains, he never suggests that maybe I might be ok to get it myself this time. He never assumes that the nausea is anything less than the worst case. I am so lucky to have this support right now. And I still can't believe that Erik is my partner for life - makes me cry every time I realize it.

During the rest of the day, the nausea comes and goes without reason or warning. Doing too much in one day or at one time definitely contributes to my susceptibility to it, so I've learned to chill WAY out. I used to run circles around myself, and now I'm like a 2-errands-at-a-time kind of girl.

I would say the biggest challenge right now is sticking to a workout routine (oh, and not throwing-up in general). I started one up when we got here, but then I got pregnant and sick. I started it up again despite the sickness (forcing myself to walk), but then we traveled for 10 days and it all went out the window. So I'm hoping that I may be able to get back on track this week. It's not only important for my body, but it's great for my mental health and it's so important for pregnancy (as is throwing up apparently).

Clothes have been challenging, too. With all of the craziness around moving and staying with other people when we gave our apt up, we both got out of our exercise routines, and I was not in great shape when I got pregnant. So my regular clothes were already a little tight, and now they're just a thing of the past. The books are all about embracing your new body and accepting that the creation of life is the focus and that it's beautiful. But it doesn't make it any less frustrating when it's your thighs and butt growing more than your belly, especially after only being able to eat white things (my middle name is now "Rice cake"). The economic times prevent me from being able to adjust my wardrobe to my "beautiful body", so don't be too alarmed when I literally start turning old sheets into MC Hammer pants (in floral)!

But being pregnant is an amazing experience overall, and we are very excited! Sharing the big news with our family and friends has been really great. While I complain and make jokes about the overall challenges of this time (moving, buying our first house and getting pregnant all in like 3 months), it is an incredibly joyful time and I am so grateful that this is my life. We are looking forward to sharing this time with you and staying connected to our friends and relatives. Having children is a humbling experience, and it's good to have you all interested and involved!