How far along?: 31 weeks and 1 day
Total weight gain: 16 pounds total. I gained 3 more pounds since my last checkup on January 18, which puts me at 147 pounds.
How big is baby?: The size of a pineapple. Weighing in at about three-plus pounds and measuring about 16 inches long.
Sleep?: So far so good! I sleep best on my left side and wake up just once to use the restroom.
Best moment this week?: Being told at our OB appointment today that baby is measuring right on track! Yay! Getting to read a bedtime story and feeling the baby kick right afterwards!
Worst moment this week?: Not fitting into anything cute. Feeling really fat instead of feeling preggo…thanks boobies…grrrr!
Movement?: Plenty! Baby moves around ALL of the time. It is the best feeling ever, and I find myself stopping everything to just really soak it in. Every movement, every little kick and hiccup, they tell me that everything is going to be okay.
Labor signs: Nope! Thankfully!
Food cravings?: Grapefruit, peanut butter sandwich, & ice honey green tea
Symptoms: A general ‘full’ feeling in my upper stomach. Low back pain, fatigue and shortness of breath has also gotten a lot worse as my lungs are all squished up now…ahh!
Stretch marks?: Belly is still stretch mark free
Belly button in or out?: Still an innie
What I miss: Being able to go bowling
What I’m looking forward to: If we’re having a little boy or a little girl!!! I think there are so few genuine surprises left in life I couldn’t think of anything better than letting this baby be one of them. I can’t wait for Andre to be the one who reveals to me what we’ve had (as tears stream down his face)!
28 WEEKS BUMP UPDATE
Hello, Third Trimester!!!
3 more months to go!
I’m ‘sorta kinda’ showing…if I wear really tight clothing, otherwise according to people I don’t even look pregnant….let alone be ‘only 28 weeks’ pregnant.
I had an OBGYN visit today as well as the big glucose test (which I passed..YAY!). We got to hear the baby’s heartbeat which was in the 150s.
I don’t have any weird cravings that most pregnant women talk about. I think it’s just their way of wanting to eat something pickled without feeling to guilty about eating it. The only maternity things that I’ve purchased are 2 pairs of Paige maternity jeans that I absolutely love!!! I wear them ALL the time.
Not only is the belly growing..but my boobs have become massive. And gross. And annoying. And FULL. And uncomfortable. I cannot stand to wear a regular bra for very long and I hate that sports bra gives me a uni-boob.
I have lower back pain and shoulder pain that easily goes away thanks to pregnancy massages! I still continue to take my prenatal pills that makes me feel nauseous but as long I take them before going to bed then it’s not so bad!
Absolutely LOVED the tumbling feelings in my belly. It’s weird and sometimes it hurts, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I also cannot seem to stop touching/rubbing my belly these days. I’m not sure what that’s all about, but it’s oddly soothing to me!
With 12 weeks to go:
- I’ve gained 13 pounds which puts me at 144. I’ve read weight can either continue increasing by a pound a week, or slow down to stall out completely as you get closer to term, so will see how that goes!
- No stretch marks (knock on wood). I don’t use any oil or cocoa butter.
- I am tired. No matter how exhausted I am I cannot fall asleep before midnight. I’ll start dozing off sitting up multiple times throughout the day, but when I lay down in bed I just can’t fall asleep.
- I walk. A lot. Everyday. To and from work so that’s has become my daily exercise.
MY ADVENTURE BOOK
There are a few things that I collect when I travel:
Snow Globes. Magnets. Site Pennies. and Postcards!
I stop collecting snow globes cause I don’t have space to display them, currently they are in storage bins (tear). I recently started collecting magnets and site pennies. Site pennies are the machines usually found in souvenirs shops and they usually cost only $.51 cents. I’ve always collected postcards cause they seem the easiest to store and put away since they don’t take up to much space!
So while clearing out the storage room, I came across my box of postcards and started to reminisce about all the wonderful places I’ve been to. I didn’t like that the postcards was just sitting in a box and wanted to find a way to show them off! So I did some research on ways to display postcards and nothing seems to catch my attention…until I came across ‘My Adventure Book’ the exact same book from the cartoon movie UP. I thought what if I place a postcard on each page with a picture from that place!
I bought new colorful paper to replace the poop brown color which was totally worth the extra time of cutting and hole punching each sheet of paper! I used my ever growing collection of washi tapes to place the photos on the pages.
And Whad’ya Know, My Adventure Book turned out amazing! Here are a few pages from some of my favorite locations!
Would love to hear how you guys displays items that you bring back from your travels!
THIRTY-FOUR
I personally love reading these types of posts, so I hope you enjoy finding out some new facts about yours truly! Let’s get started, shall we? To celebrate turning 34 today – here are 34 things you probably don’t know about me!
1. I’m horrible at giving driving directions!
2. I HATE PEAS!!! Always have!
3. Every time Resident Evil, Lord of the Rings, or Friends is showing on cable t.v., I will (pretty much) always watch it!
4. I can’t stand wearing socks. It’s annoying how they always tend to slip right off my shoes and then makes walking quite uncomfortable.
5. Collector of snow globes, pencils, and postcards!
6. I use to have a boxer name Casey and she was the best dog EVEEEEEER!!!!
7. I steam ALL my clothes – hardly ever iron, I can’t stand wrinkles.
8. I’ve been to 13 States and 10 Countries
9. While trying to get my driver license in Seattle, I failed the written test 3 times before passing. I never really studied and figure it was similar to driving in Guam! Boy was I wrong!
10. I’m a nail-biter, the only way I stop is when I have nail polish on!
11. Born in Philippines, raised in Guam, and became an adult in Seattle!
12. I don’t like cooking!!!! As well as baking!!! Annnnd cleaning the bathroom!!!!
13. I never learned how to do laundry till I moved to Seattle and I still get confused on which settings I should use!
14. I can never figure out how to spell February or definitely
15. I’ve once lied on my resume to get a job (which I got) only to get fired a few month later because I couldn’t figure out how to do my job! Oooops!
16. I don’t really have a favorite color. If shoved into the corner and manhandled until I came up with one, I might say grey … or dark green. But I might also change my mind as you walked away and say pink!
17. When I first moved to Seattle and started to attend Seattle Central Community College, I was placed in an ESL class cause I failed the English portion of the computer test. I retook the test cause come on now…people from Guam speak English!
18. I think of my favorite foods in terms of the texture they have. I love crunchy things!
19. The more excited I get, the louder I talk (which can make swearing all the more inappropriate)
20. I’m still scared of the dark and if I’m sleeping by myself I HAVE to HAVE the t.v. turned on!
21. Love bowling! I was in a bowling club back in Middle School and continue to bowl as least once a week after 10 p.m. at the Garage cause it’s happy hour!
22. My favorite shows growing up were Saved by the Bell and Beverly Hills, 90210. I am pretty sure I have seen every single episode. Zack Morris and Dylan Mckay were my crushes.
23. Counting this past election, I’ve only voted once in my life and that person didn’t even win! Pretty lame!
24. I once bought an essay paper online cause I just had too many things going or maybe I just forgot about it but whatever the case was I passed the class!!
25. I have no tattoos and the only piercing I have is on my ears! I’m a BIG wussy when it comes to pain!
26. The first car that I ever bought is a 2007 blue Honda Civic, which I’m still driving by the way!!! F car payments!
27. I can’t eat a banana because I hate the taste and texture but I don’t mind them in smoothies or made as ice-cream!
28. I didn’t like reading until 8 years ago. I hated it actually and couldn’t read more than a couple of pages before falling asleep. Now I read a couple of books a month.
29. I once got my hair burned off from a backyard 4th of July firework show!
30. I always wanted to be a flight attendant growing up!
31. My first concert was Dr. Dre at Showbox Seattle! Yep, I was a gansta at one point!
32. I borrowed my friends car and drove it to my last school day college only to come back out and realize it was stolen! The car was found 2 days later, a block from where I worked and for over 5 months I was driving the car using a screwdriver! Classic!
33. My gamer name is Camster and I enjoy playing Call of Duty Zombie.
34. I started blogging over 3 years ago when I was diagnosed with Leiomayoscarcoma (soft tissue cancer) and wanted a way to document my experiences so friends&family were kept up-to-date with any progresses made. Fast forward….I’m healthy and happy as ever and the reason why I continue to blog is because I enjoy documenting my day to day life experiences as well as my travel adventures!
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to greet me whether it was on social media, phone calls or texts, or just taking the time to come visit me! Thank you!!! Love you guys!
xo,
cams
CELEBRATING NEW YEAR 2017 (SAN FRANCISCO STYLE)
We started off our NYE evening with an all-you-can eat/drink dinner at Prubechu located on Mission street! A Guam restaurant that serves Chamorro food with a twist! Their main course – the roasted pig – was indeed, the BEST! The skin was deliciously crispy and the meat was very tasty without the need for Mang Tomas (Filipino gravy).
Afterwards we headed back into the city to a Jazz nightclub called Biscuit and Blues to listen to Cafe R&B! The lead singer ‘Roach’ was phenomenal and very hilarious!
On New Year’s Day we sported our green and blue gear and made our way to Levi’s Stadium to enjoy the San Francisco 49ers lose to Seattle Seahawks 25-23!!!
As we move froward to the New Year, we look back on all the warm memories, feel proud of our achievements and take a lesson from our previous mistakes. Hope you all have a year filled with endless fun and laugher.
xo,
cammy
TAKING STOCK 15
Making: furikake chex mix
Cooking: Korean bulgogi
Drinking: Shirley Temples
Reading: Finders Keepers by Stephen King
Wanting: a baby girl
Looking: pretty pregnant now that I’ve reach 24 weeks!
Playing: slot machines
Wasting: chap sticks…I keep losing those suckers!
Wishing: everyday that the baby is healthy and that deliver will be a piece of cake
Enjoying: all sorts of face masks
Waiting: to see if ThredUp bought any of my clothes
Liking: the Baby Pics app, such a great app to see the belly transition growth
Wondering: how my belly will shape with the scar and all
Loving: our lit up pine smelling Christmas tree and coming home to it
Hoping: to start weaving looms
Marveling: at how lucky I am to have such an amazing guy by my side!
Needing: a new winter jacket, it is so damn cold right now!
Smelling: fried chicken!!! the bf makes them so damn perfect!
Wearing: Paige maternity jeans
Following: the Seahawks to San Francisco
Noticing: that my dreams are more vivid and crazy since the pregnancy
Knowing: that I did a pretty good job with picking Christmas presents for friends & family
Watching: all sorts of movies on Kodi
Listening: to Moth Podcast, I even got a chance to attend a live showing! It was great!
Thinking: of baby names…won’t know the sex of the babe till April 2017!
Feeling: pain in my lower back…thank goodness for those pregnancy massages!
Bookmarking: everything that deals with baby stuffs! I’m so excited!
Opening: Christmas presents!
Giggling: at the baby movements and loving every minute of it!
Feeling: extremely grateful to be surrounded with wonderful people this holiday season
Merry Christmas everyone!!!!! I hope you all get to relax and enjoy quality time with your friends and family.
DEAR SANTA:
I told myself that once I had a family, I would start the holiday tradition of Christmas cards!
My friend is an avid Christmas card giver and she has used all sort of sites and recommended that Minted was the best one. So I tried it for our first family card and I absolutely loved it! Minted takes 90% of the stress out of the holiday cards. You can customize every aspect including back of the cards, addresses, return address and even stamps with pictures. The uploading of images and appearing on every card design, having a personal designer at your fingertips and their FREE address assistant makes addressing holiday cards so freaken’ easy. Talk about a time saver!
Have the best weekend everyone!!! Merry Christmas Eve!
xoxo
TEA FOR TWO!!!
This has to be one of the most fabulous, emotional, wonderful posts I have EVER written and I am SO happy to share this news with you.
I never thought this day would come…I have dreamed for years of being a mama … thought about how I would tell people … how I would feel … what kind of mom I would be … and here we are … Andre and I couldn’t be MORE STOKED to grow our little family!!
I am currently 22 weeks pregnant which translates to a little over 4 months! I feel GREAT and so far we are all very healthy and SO excited! We are going to keep the gender a surprise, so we don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl till April 2017!
Being pregnant has been the WEIRDEST thing I have ever experienced. Maybe I will call it beautiful once the baby is here but for now, it’s just WEIRD. I am literally growing a tiny person. I still can’t get over that.
I have put off this post and telling people for a while, mostly because … I wanted to make sure that I was doing good. Since dealing with cancer, surgeries, and routine scans I had to make sure that I was able to do this without any hiccups. Both my oncologist and OBGYN have been really AMAZING in answering all my questions relating to pregnancy, giving medical advice, and just overall being very supportive!
Special thanks to my sidekick Nancy for dolling me, taking amazing photos, and sharing a delicious cup of tea with me!
ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE
For Black Friday we ventured out to my usual u-Cut tree farm over at Mountain Creek Christmas Tree Farm in Snoqualmie and chopped ourselves a 6ft Noble Fir Tree!
The place is simply magical and there’s no better way to get excited for the holidays than bundling up, hopping in the car, cranking some Christmas tunes, sipping on cider, strolling through the farm, and picking out the perfect Christmas tree.
Have a safe Black Friday shopping everyone!
DIY: E.T. & ELLIOT COSTUME
I got this idea from the 1982 film E.T.! It was VERY easy to put together and it turned out better than expected! I got so many compliments, high fives, and everyone wanted to take a picture with E.T.!
Here’s how it all came together!
Materials for E.T. Basket:
grey spray paint
basket (I got mine thanks to Fred Meyer)
string
duct tape
2 paint rollers
Directions for E.T. Basket:
-spray paint basket grey
-saw off the paint rollers to create the bike handles
-use duct tape to attached the handles onto the basket
-add string to the basket so you can wrap it around your neck for support
Materials for E.T. Face:
cotton balls
printer
needle & thread
transfer paper
white blanket
white t-shirt
glue gun
Directions for E.T. Face:
-find a picture on E.T.’s face online
-when you find the right one, print it out on the transfer paper
-from the transfer paper follow instructions to iron it onto the white shirt
-once it cools, cut about an inch around E.T.’s face
-cut out another shape of E.T.’s face so it has a backing
-turn it inside out and start sewing on the 1 inch (leave a small opening so you can stuff it with cotton balls)
-once you’re done sewing, flip it back so that E.T.’s face is up front and now you can start filling it with cotton balls
-now that E.T. is all stuff, grab the white blanket and start wrapping and gluing around the head to the neck
Complete the look by wearing a red hoodie and you’re off to bring E.T. home!!!
Let me know if you have any questions and have a Spooktacular Halloween!
Happy Birthday Mom!
THIS IS HALLOWEEN
The spooktacular This is Halloween showcases a live orchestra, cabaret, burlesque and visual art installations that provide entertainment with every lively move at the Triple Door. Inspired by Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, this seasonal spectacular is a ridiculously fun time.
We got great seating and enjoyed a fantastic menu from The Wild Ginger Kitchen along with delightful cocktails & desserts! It’s a def. must when Halloween season rolls around!
HIDDEN GEMS OF FLORENCE
Visiting the Uffizi Gallery museum is like taking a journey into the Renaissance. It holds some of the most important masterpieces of all time from Italian artists like Gioto, Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and Caravaggio.
Duke and Duchess of Urbino, from Piero della Francesca
The Sleeping Ariadne
Tondo Doni, from Michelangelo
The Birth of Venus, from Sandro Botticelli
Annunciation, from Leonardo da Vinci
Medusa, from Caravaggio
The museum is organized in theme rooms about artistic periods or specific artists. So we made a plan to see certain rooms that house famous art pieces!
This is obviously the GO-TO museum if you only have a day in Florence!
Next up is one of Florence’s oldest landmarks, the Ponte Vecchio. This special bridge runs through the Arno River that contains shops physically built into its structure, most of which sell jewelry and gold. However, artisanal goods of all sorts have been sold here since it was first constructed as far back as the 12th century.
As we continue to make our way around the city, we stumble upon Piazza della Signoria which has been the center of political life in Florence since the 14th century. We got to see amazing statues of Hercules and Cacus, Loffia dei Lanzi is a free open air museum that had sculptures like The Rape of the Sabine Women or Perseus with the Head of Medusa.
Since we didn’t have time to make it to the real David from Michelangelo (located in the Academy Gallery), this replica will have to do.
We found this shop, Bartolucci by accident, while walking through various streets in Florence. I’ve always been a fan of Pinocchio and its many characters. This shop is overloaded with the guy, toys, figures and gift items, but all made from wood. The shop is really small, but magical!
Since our hotel is right next door to The Church of Santa Maria Novella; there was no excuse not to visit one of the most important Gothic churches in Florence. The exterior is the work of Fra Jacopo Talenti and Leon Battista Alberti. The interior holds extraordinary works of art including Masaccio’s Trinità, Ghirlandaio’s fresco cycle in the Tornabuoni Chapel and Giotto’s Crucifix, among others.
