Thursday, December 31, 2009
100
Ummm I couldn't end the year with 99 posts, I had to make it an even hundred! DH and I are celebrating the new year with a nice quiet evening of games and maybe a movie. Hope everyone has a great new year!!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
15 Weeks
I'm having a frumpy day, but I had to do a belly pic for posterity, you know. I do believe I'm getting bigger, as I stepped onto my scale today and I heard it laugh at me. I can't believe I'm 3/8ths of the way there! :-D
Also to be noted: This pic was taken in the baby's room! Notice the stark white walls begging to be painted. I sort of want to paint them blue! But of course everyone scoffs at me for suggesting a blue girl's room. Sheesh.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Is this movement?
Am I really feeling movement or am I nuts? Last night as I was falling asleep I felt my belly sort of twitch. And again just now, I felt a twitch! I'm not sure if this is anything, or that I just happen to have a belly twitch the same way one's thigh or eye would twitch. But I'm going to lean towards the idea that our baby girl is saying hi!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Merry Christmas!
And as my gift to you, here's the 14 week belly (ha)!
And as a definitive act of bravery, a bare belly shot (of course hubby had to capture me making a face at it!)
My pre-pregnancy jeans are staying up via a handy rubber band trick (try this one even if you're not knocked up, after a trip to the all-you-can-eat buffet). Loop a rubber band in half through the loop in your jeans, and then around the button. Voila!
Also to be noted, my hair IS getting longer! :-) Maybe it's the prenatal vitamins coupled with all the water I've been downing.
As to how I'm feeling, the nausea has started inching away (hooray!) but last night I began feeling some heartburn (boo). My mom said she had wicked heartburn with me so I sort of have been expecting it. She said they kept telling her I'd come out with lots of hair, but the old wives tale didn't work with me... I came out as bald as a button! (is that an expression?!)
I'm really anxiously waiting to start feeling her move around in there. For a little while now I could swear I feel "something" but I really couldn't be sure if it wasn't just gas bubbles. I can't wait until I actually know it's my little one kicking and bouncing around in there! We are nowhere near picking a name yet, so if anyone has a fabulous suggestion, we're all ears! Settling on a name is just so nerve-wracking. What if she ends up hating it, or having to be one of 2 or 3 of the same name in her class? Ugh. So much to think about!
Now it's time to head over to my parents' house for the Christmas festivities (we open presents on X-mas eve). DH and I aren't really going crazy with presents this year. In fact, we made our gifts for family. I hope they like! Have a good one, friends!
Monday, December 21, 2009
We're having a GIRL!
Ahh we're so thrilled! We went in today for the quick gender check and I can now 100% announce SHE'S A SHE! I still can't believe we got to find out so early. I absolutely love this dr.'s office. I was a little worried after they gave us the 80% guess at the NT scan, because since then Adam's been calling her a she and I got attached to the idea of our little girl. I was half expecting them to announce she'd grown a little something something, but nope, she's definitely a girl. :-) I kept asking ok, so this is 100%, and she reassured me YES. It looks like 52% of you were wrong! :-P
Now on to the shopping!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Well, it happened. I puked. For the first time this whole pregnancy, last night I puked. Two days away from being 13 weeks, and I puke. Ughhhh, I thought this whole morning sickness thing was supposed to be getting better by now, not worse! What a milestone!
Tonight the darling husband took me to my favorite Italian restaurant for dinner. It was soo delicious. I did in fact devour two baskets of bread and most of my ravioli arrabiata. Don't despair; I polished off the rest shortly after getting home. I'm not ashamed. This was the most fantastic meal I've had in a long time. After dinner we stopped by Bath and Body Works to pick up a bubble bath. I've quite taken to enjoying a soak every evening (warm, not hot of course!). You may be wondering why I deserved such a lovely little treat of an evening midweek. Here's why:
Hubs decided to ruin my life on Monday by leaving the house with MY car key, thus rendering me unable to get to work. Naturally I begin bawling hysterically at my plight, and call him at work screaming like a madwoman. He calmly called his mom, who lives 2 minutes away, and she came and let me take her car to work (I dropped her off at home). Simple solution, right? I was about 10 minutes late nonetheless, yet my boss never even noticed. But my god, I acted as though Adam ate my firstborn. I guess these pregnancy hormones are the real deal, eh? ;-)
I'm such a lucky girl, because he felt so bad he wrote me the most lovely of lovely emails and promised me a yummy little midweek date. And I'm just a crazy madwoman. Hopefully we can endure the next 28ish weeks!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
12 Weeks
Total weight gain: 5lbs.
How big is baby?: Plum sized!
Maternity clothes?: I wore my new maternity jeans this week and they were too big! I'm most comfy in leggings and my one pair of fat jeans.
Stretch marks?: None so far!
Sleep?: Interrupted nightly.
Best moment this week?: The NT scan. I watch the DVD from it almost every day.
Movement?: Can't wait for it!
Food cravings?: More cheese.
Gender? We got an 80% guess at the NT scan! But I'm not posting til I know 100%.
Labor signs?: No no no!
Belly button in or out?: Innie.
What I miss: Not feeling nauseated every evening.
What I'm looking forward to: Feeling the baby move for the first time.
Milestone: Finally announcing to everyone that we're expecting! It feels so good!
I'm Coming Out
Finally! I've been hiding it from you for so long... I'm finally coming out to the world today... Here I go, posting all my little posts from the last two months that I've kept hidden from the public. You see, naturally I wanted to be sure everything was great and perfect before doing so. Now the question remains, should I just hit publish and let them publish in the order I wrote them (interspersed with other nonsense posts :-)) or publish them all as of today? I think I'll choose the first one... Let it be known, that no information was leaked prior to December 13, 2009. Wait. That's an odd number. Should I wait for tomorrow?
Saturday, December 12, 2009
The Belly Pics
I thought I would begin tracking the growth of my gut on a weekly basis. I started with 7 weeks, and then I did 9 weeks. And then I lost track of time and I'm now 12 weeks! I mean it's not like you missed much, the super exciting growth spurt is coming soon.
So here we are at 7 weeks. I feel like I started showing early! Or I may have just inhaled 5 slices of pizza that day.
9 weeks - Boobs are starting to get out of control. I'm already up two sizes!
The 12 week shot is coming soon. Oh, and here are the pics we got from the NT Scan:
One of the images clearly looks a little wrinkled because the stupid u/s tech wrinkled it. Poo. Note how large our little one's brain looks. It's so amazing that they're starting to look like an actual baby in there!
9 weeks - Boobs are starting to get out of control. I'm already up two sizes!The 12 week shot is coming soon. Oh, and here are the pics we got from the NT Scan:
One of the images clearly looks a little wrinkled because the stupid u/s tech wrinkled it. Poo. Note how large our little one's brain looks. It's so amazing that they're starting to look like an actual baby in there!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
NT Scan
December 9, 2009
Tomorrow is the big day! The NT scan. Naturally I'm worried and pray that everything is great and healthy and perfect. By the time this posts, I'll be secure and happy knowing that everything is in fact perfection with the little bean! I'm also very excited. I can't stop thinking about it!!
December 12, 2009
Everything WAS perfect with our little one! It was seriously the most amazing appointment ever. They had us bring in a blank DVD and they even put the whole ultrasound on video for us. We saw our little baby moving around and even putting its little hands up by its face.
God it feels weird referring to the child as it. We won't have to for much longer because they gave us an 80% accurate guess as to the sex, and as a courtesy we are going back on the 21st so they can give us a 100% answer! How fabulous is that?! I mean I was expecting to find out at 18 weeks, definitely NOT 12-13. But I can't wait to start buying things for IT! I'm going to hold off on announcing until we get that 100% answer, but for fun I think I'll post a poll to see what other people think. To be completely honest, I yo-yoed every day with what I thought the sex was. My mom said girl from day one, my best friend said boy from day one.
I did some old wives' tale tricks and here are the answers to them:
The ring dangled over my belly - girl
I do not like the heel of a loaf of bread - girl
I pick up a mug by the handle - boy
As bad as my nausea is, I never puked, so I'm thinking that means - boy
I don't feel pretty - girl (ha!)
I've been craving cheese, but have an aversion to meat - totally split
Chinese gender predictor - boy
Anyway, all the measurements, the heart, the brain, the everything looked great. The u/s tech and the doctor were so incredibly nice. I'll post the u/s pic as soon as I can get that hubby of mine to scan it!
December 12, 2009
Everything WAS perfect with our little one! It was seriously the most amazing appointment ever. They had us bring in a blank DVD and they even put the whole ultrasound on video for us. We saw our little baby moving around and even putting its little hands up by its face.
God it feels weird referring to the child as it. We won't have to for much longer because they gave us an 80% accurate guess as to the sex, and as a courtesy we are going back on the 21st so they can give us a 100% answer! How fabulous is that?! I mean I was expecting to find out at 18 weeks, definitely NOT 12-13. But I can't wait to start buying things for IT! I'm going to hold off on announcing until we get that 100% answer, but for fun I think I'll post a poll to see what other people think. To be completely honest, I yo-yoed every day with what I thought the sex was. My mom said girl from day one, my best friend said boy from day one.
I did some old wives' tale tricks and here are the answers to them:
The ring dangled over my belly - girl
I do not like the heel of a loaf of bread - girl
I pick up a mug by the handle - boy
As bad as my nausea is, I never puked, so I'm thinking that means - boy
I don't feel pretty - girl (ha!)
I've been craving cheese, but have an aversion to meat - totally split
Chinese gender predictor - boy
Anyway, all the measurements, the heart, the brain, the everything looked great. The u/s tech and the doctor were so incredibly nice. I'll post the u/s pic as soon as I can get that hubby of mine to scan it!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Things I dislike:
I thought I'd get into the spirit of the season by listing things I dislike. This is always fun.
1. Sneezing on the freeway. Or just sneezing while driving in general. Now, here's the problem with this. Because I love sneezing. I find it to be refreshing, and calming afterwards. But while driving, I fear I will steer into another car, or the center divider. It's just a split second, but for that moment in time, I am struck by fear.
2. Hardcover books. Not the pretty ones you use to display on your coffee table, or to expand your "library" (you know, that pitiful collection of books intended to make you seem smart to whoever should pop by your house). I don't like it how at first, a book is released in hardcover, for like $26, and then 7 months later, the paperback for $6.95 becomes available. Yes, I buy on amazon, which saves a bundle, but that's still not the point. They're harder to read. They lack malleability and I find it hard to curl up in bed with a hardcover. It just doesn't work.
3. The second to last hour of work. Not the last hour, because you can start mentally and actually packing up for the day and preparing to leave. But that second to last hour drags the longest, and fills you with despair that the day will in fact, never end.
4. Discovering someone's nail clippings at work. Horrifying.
5. People who invite me to clubs on facebook. I don't mean clubs like groups, like "I eat strombolis after 5" or "Honk if you leave the stove on". You guys are assholes too. I'll join whatever group I like in my own time, thanks. I mean like get down to club twenty deuce before ten and ladies are free, with dj boogie beatz breath on the turntables. I don't want to go to your party. I don't even like you that much. I accepted you as a facebook friend because once upon a time you were a nice acquaintance, and now you've turned into a club-promoting schmuck. If I wanted to go to the club, I would bust out my fake i.d. and be 19 again. *memories*
6. Negative people. They always seem to bring you down. ;-)
1. Sneezing on the freeway. Or just sneezing while driving in general. Now, here's the problem with this. Because I love sneezing. I find it to be refreshing, and calming afterwards. But while driving, I fear I will steer into another car, or the center divider. It's just a split second, but for that moment in time, I am struck by fear.
2. Hardcover books. Not the pretty ones you use to display on your coffee table, or to expand your "library" (you know, that pitiful collection of books intended to make you seem smart to whoever should pop by your house). I don't like it how at first, a book is released in hardcover, for like $26, and then 7 months later, the paperback for $6.95 becomes available. Yes, I buy on amazon, which saves a bundle, but that's still not the point. They're harder to read. They lack malleability and I find it hard to curl up in bed with a hardcover. It just doesn't work.
3. The second to last hour of work. Not the last hour, because you can start mentally and actually packing up for the day and preparing to leave. But that second to last hour drags the longest, and fills you with despair that the day will in fact, never end.
4. Discovering someone's nail clippings at work. Horrifying.
5. People who invite me to clubs on facebook. I don't mean clubs like groups, like "I eat strombolis after 5" or "Honk if you leave the stove on". You guys are assholes too. I'll join whatever group I like in my own time, thanks. I mean like get down to club twenty deuce before ten and ladies are free, with dj boogie beatz breath on the turntables. I don't want to go to your party. I don't even like you that much. I accepted you as a facebook friend because once upon a time you were a nice acquaintance, and now you've turned into a club-promoting schmuck. If I wanted to go to the club, I would bust out my fake i.d. and be 19 again. *memories*
6. Negative people. They always seem to bring you down. ;-)
Sunday, December 6, 2009
I love December
December is such a great month. I mean sure, it doesn't have my birthday in it, but it has Christmas, Hannukah, New Years, the smells of winter... can't really go wrong with any of those. This year we are not really "doing" Christmas. Sure, we'll celebrate and all, but we've made a little pact to not spend money this holiday season so we can save up. This clearly means homemade gifts for friends and family! Try not to read this if you're one of those people. So I'm thinking nice tins filled with homemade cookies - so nice and heartfelt, yes?
Now I just have to decide what kind of cookies. Snickerdoodles are a no-brainer. They're my fave. So I may just end up eating them all myself. I want to do 3 kinds. So perhaps a chocolate chip, and then something more exotic. Any ideas friends?
Oh and I need to get started on our holiday cards, but naturally, I can't find my address book since we moved. And I really don't want to skimp out on doing that this year. We're also going to host a little Hannukah party next weekend for Adam's family. I need to figure out what to make for that. AND I need to get to that DIY upholstered headboard I've been meaning to make for, oh, say over one year! I've got work to do...
Friday, December 4, 2009
My first little survey!
Friday, December 4, 2009
- How far along?: 11 weeks.
- Total weight gain: I'm not sure. Or I'm a liar.
- How big is baby?: Lime sized! I love citrus.
- Maternity clothes?: Not quite. I'm living in leggings or using the bella band with my jeans.
- Stretch marks?: None so far!
- Sleep?: I require a nap daily.
- Best moment this week?: Seeing people's reactions as we tell them. It's so fun and I can't wait until everyone knows!
- Movement?: Do gas bubbles count? Because I'm sure that's what that is at this point.
- Food cravings?: I need french onion dip.
- Gender? Changes daily! Well, not mine, but what it think he/she is!
- Labor signs?: No no no!
- Belly button in or out?: Innie.
- What I miss: Not feeling nauseated every evening.
- What I'm looking forward to: Seeing the little one next Thursday at the NT scan.
- Milestone: I bought my first couple pairs of maternity jeans over the weekend. Of course I had to have a couple pairs of my designer jeans.
Friday, November 20, 2009
November 20, 2009
I don't believe I've updated in a while! Well, today the lil one is finally a fetus! I'm 9 weeks! We had our first dr appt. on Monday and it was absolutely amazing. I was so nervous, afraid that there wouldn't be anything to see. Adam reassured me that there had to be something there since I'd been feeling so nauseated. And there was! We saw the little heartbeat going and both of us just melted. It was so cliche: there we were, holding hands and tearing up at the sight of our baby on the monitor. Until my ob realized she didn't have any paper in the printer, and instructed me to hold on to the dildo-cam while she went to get some. The image of what that sounds like, I imagine, is quite clear. At least we got to take home a pic of the lil bean/panda/turtle/can you tell we don't know what to nickname the waby?! There's time for that. I'm paralyzed in fear at the thought of naming my child, let alone nicknaming it for a couple months!
As far as how I've been feeling... blech! My nausea is mostly in the evenings, and while I have yet to actually vomit (I try my hardest not to), I constantly feel like I'm on the brink of it. Of course now I feel somewhat relieved when I feel it, knowing that it means my body's working hard to grow our little one. Oh and my boobs are out of control. Let's not even go there. I feel like I'm a walking giveaway that I'm knocked up, but hopefully no one suspects yet. I'm just not ready to tell everyone until 2nd tri, when I feel more relieved that things are going smoothly.
We're planning on telling the rest of the family at Thanksgiving (my parents, Adam's mom and brother know now) and we're so excited to do it.
Let's see as far as any other updates:
My next appointment is Dec. 10 for the NT scan (where they'll check for down syndrome and other genetic abnormalities). I'm trying not to think about the scary things involved with that, but rather the fact that I get to see LO again. My ob said the place that does it is an amazing u/s and they record it for you, so that's something to really look forward to.
I've already packed on about 5 pounds of pudge (half of that's got to be my boobs!) because I can't stop noshing throughout the day! I used to be a lunch and dinner kind of girl, but now I need 3 square meals and a few other snacks throughout the day.
I think I now have an aversion to poultry.
Oh and there's this little gem: The guy working the Burger King drive-thru made me cry last night. Not because he was an asshole. But because he gave us such great service and was so upbeat. Adam couldn't stop laughing at me, which in turn made me crack up, mid-tears. You just don't see such great service anymore, and the guy makes nothing an hour! OK OK, I guess I've been a tad emotional too.
I need to walk away from the comp monitor now to dry heave into the toilet. Ughhhhh.
Oh! And here's a glimpse of our little one...
As far as how I've been feeling... blech! My nausea is mostly in the evenings, and while I have yet to actually vomit (I try my hardest not to), I constantly feel like I'm on the brink of it. Of course now I feel somewhat relieved when I feel it, knowing that it means my body's working hard to grow our little one. Oh and my boobs are out of control. Let's not even go there. I feel like I'm a walking giveaway that I'm knocked up, but hopefully no one suspects yet. I'm just not ready to tell everyone until 2nd tri, when I feel more relieved that things are going smoothly.
We're planning on telling the rest of the family at Thanksgiving (my parents, Adam's mom and brother know now) and we're so excited to do it.
Let's see as far as any other updates:
My next appointment is Dec. 10 for the NT scan (where they'll check for down syndrome and other genetic abnormalities). I'm trying not to think about the scary things involved with that, but rather the fact that I get to see LO again. My ob said the place that does it is an amazing u/s and they record it for you, so that's something to really look forward to.
I've already packed on about 5 pounds of pudge (half of that's got to be my boobs!) because I can't stop noshing throughout the day! I used to be a lunch and dinner kind of girl, but now I need 3 square meals and a few other snacks throughout the day.
I think I now have an aversion to poultry.
Oh and there's this little gem: The guy working the Burger King drive-thru made me cry last night. Not because he was an asshole. But because he gave us such great service and was so upbeat. Adam couldn't stop laughing at me, which in turn made me crack up, mid-tears. You just don't see such great service anymore, and the guy makes nothing an hour! OK OK, I guess I've been a tad emotional too.
I need to walk away from the comp monitor now to dry heave into the toilet. Ughhhhh.
Oh! And here's a glimpse of our little one...
Friday, November 13, 2009
Internet at last!
We moved on Halloween. AND today, November 13, we finally have ourselves some internet action in the house. I'm so thrilled I don't know what to do with myself. I thought in the very least I should pop in and say hello. More updates and fun things to come!!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Our new house
Yay it's official, we're moving! Into a house house. One that has more toilets in it than bedrooms! I've never had such luxury! I was so bummed that we missed out on that one house with the pee carpet. And the good Lord smiled down upon us and threw another house with beautiful 20 inch tile floors that don't smell of pee pee at us!!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Morning Sickness? Is that you?
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
5 weeks and 4 days today, and I think, we have the beginnings of morning sickness. Which of course is bittersweet, because on the one hand, there is an argument out there that says the sicker you are, the better your baby is doing. But on the other hand, I feel like shit!
I don't want to succumb to the stereotypical always sick pregnant chick thing, but I'm heading that way quick. And I'm afraid that being such a sissy this early on is a sign that I'm just going to implode later on, when it gets really bad.
What's wrong with me? I can do this. I mean I had fucking cancer for pete's sake. What's a little morning sickness?
5 weeks and 4 days today, and I think, we have the beginnings of morning sickness. Which of course is bittersweet, because on the one hand, there is an argument out there that says the sicker you are, the better your baby is doing. But on the other hand, I feel like shit!
I don't want to succumb to the stereotypical always sick pregnant chick thing, but I'm heading that way quick. And I'm afraid that being such a sissy this early on is a sign that I'm just going to implode later on, when it gets really bad.
What's wrong with me? I can do this. I mean I had fucking cancer for pete's sake. What's a little morning sickness?
Friday, October 23, 2009
Housing
Well apparently, people want money in life. And they scoff when you offer them less than what they're asking, particularly if it's quite a bit less.
Yeah, we're moving again. This home simply will not do for us any longer, for various reasons. We found the perfect house. It was splendid. It went to someone else.
So after weeks of searching we found another perfect house. Perhaps more perfect than the last. It was but 4 years old. It had beautiful arches throughout. It was in a gated community. Ok, well it had carpet that smelled distinctly of dog urine. But I was fairly certain we could remedy that with a Rug Doctor and a few hours of (Adam's) elbow grease. So we offered a bit less than the asking rental price. Like a couple hundred dollars less. And they said no. And gave it to someone else! MY HOUSE they give away to someone else.
Whatever, the carpet smelled. But I'm majorly bummed because I want to find something already. The place we live in now gets awfully cold at night. And I just can't bear another Southern California winter in this icebox. ;-)
Yeah, we're moving again. This home simply will not do for us any longer, for various reasons. We found the perfect house. It was splendid. It went to someone else.
So after weeks of searching we found another perfect house. Perhaps more perfect than the last. It was but 4 years old. It had beautiful arches throughout. It was in a gated community. Ok, well it had carpet that smelled distinctly of dog urine. But I was fairly certain we could remedy that with a Rug Doctor and a few hours of (Adam's) elbow grease. So we offered a bit less than the asking rental price. Like a couple hundred dollars less. And they said no. And gave it to someone else! MY HOUSE they give away to someone else.
Whatever, the carpet smelled. But I'm majorly bummed because I want to find something already. The place we live in now gets awfully cold at night. And I just can't bear another Southern California winter in this icebox. ;-)
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
We had broccoli.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
And it wasn't so bad! I mean it wasn't anything amazing, but mixed with cheese and rice, the broccoli goes down no problem. :-)
I got my second beta back today. The first one was Friday (13dpo) - 101. Monday (16dpo) was 461! I'm thinking those are great numbers.
No nausea yet, knock on all wood in the house, but I know it's still early. Boobs feel a little heavy and dense. We'll see what fun symptoms I get in the weeks to come! :-D
And it wasn't so bad! I mean it wasn't anything amazing, but mixed with cheese and rice, the broccoli goes down no problem. :-)
I got my second beta back today. The first one was Friday (13dpo) - 101. Monday (16dpo) was 461! I'm thinking those are great numbers.
No nausea yet, knock on all wood in the house, but I know it's still early. Boobs feel a little heavy and dense. We'll see what fun symptoms I get in the weeks to come! :-D
Saturday, October 17, 2009
How I told him.
October 17, 2009
So I woke up the morning of October 14th and took a pregnancy test. I felt like I saw the slightest of somethings, but also thought I may be delusional. I hadn't missed a period yet or anything, but I knew I was pregnant. I just knew. I had that feeling. I had a voracious appetite (more so than my usual hearty one), my sense of smell was superhuman, and damnit, I just knew. That evening I decided to test again on a whim, and this time, that second pink line came right up. I couldn't contain my excitement, so I just started jumping up and down squealing. I couldn't believe it was true!
As much as I "knew" before, I hadn't planned out how exactly I would tell the hubby. I always wanted to do something clever and magical. But it was 7:45 and he was going to be home in about half an hour. I quickly decided to go with the "bun in the oven" approach. I'd heard about it before, and thought it could be cute (plus cinnamon buns sounded delish). The plan was to go as follows: Adam comes home from work, takes a whiff of the intoxicating aroma of deliciousness baking in the oven, and says, "what's that, darling?" To which I knowingly smile and gently touch my hand to my belly and say, "I have a bun in the oven." Afterwards he would proceed to lifting me in the air and showering me with affection, with misty eyes and an assured sense of pride.
Here's how it really went down:
I was so flustered to get to the store and back home in time, I kept fumbling through the supermarket, trying to find the pregnancy tests (so I could take a fancy digital one as well). I finally gave up on that and waited in quite possibly the longest line at the grocery store. The man in front of me was buying 6 bottles of wine and two tv dinners. I naturally assumed he was an alcoholic and wanted to club him over the head when he took over a minute to find his stupid credit card. I race home and throw the buns in the oven, not wasting time to preheat (so I compensated by setting the oven to 475 degrees). Hubbs comes home a mere 5 minutes later and I'm sweating like a hog.
"Hi honey, what's up?"
"Darling, I have a bun in the oven."
"Huh?"
"Bun. In the oven."
"I don't get it. How come you're all sweaty?"
"Because it's freaking hot. Honey, I have a BUN in the OVEN..." (nods toward stomach)
"What do you mean?"
"You've never heard that freaking expression?! I'm pregnant!"
"Shut up."
(grabs test and shoves in husband's face) "See!"
"I see something! Are you serious?"
(eyes well up with tears and saying the following indignantly)"Of course I'm serious!"
(finally getting it and begins to tear up) "Really?!"
(blubbering at this point) "YES!"
"Oh my god, we're having a baby! Really???"
*both embrace and stand in shock at the revelation, kissing occasionally and crying*
AND I burned my buns.
So it wasn't the perfect reveal, but I love it much more this way. ;-)
We ran out to Target to buy the fancy digitals and a few other tests just to confirm, and they came up positive when I tested the next morning.
We're so incredibly excited and feel so blessed.
Silly Adam...
So I woke up the morning of October 14th and took a pregnancy test. I felt like I saw the slightest of somethings, but also thought I may be delusional. I hadn't missed a period yet or anything, but I knew I was pregnant. I just knew. I had that feeling. I had a voracious appetite (more so than my usual hearty one), my sense of smell was superhuman, and damnit, I just knew. That evening I decided to test again on a whim, and this time, that second pink line came right up. I couldn't contain my excitement, so I just started jumping up and down squealing. I couldn't believe it was true!
As much as I "knew" before, I hadn't planned out how exactly I would tell the hubby. I always wanted to do something clever and magical. But it was 7:45 and he was going to be home in about half an hour. I quickly decided to go with the "bun in the oven" approach. I'd heard about it before, and thought it could be cute (plus cinnamon buns sounded delish). The plan was to go as follows: Adam comes home from work, takes a whiff of the intoxicating aroma of deliciousness baking in the oven, and says, "what's that, darling?" To which I knowingly smile and gently touch my hand to my belly and say, "I have a bun in the oven." Afterwards he would proceed to lifting me in the air and showering me with affection, with misty eyes and an assured sense of pride.
Here's how it really went down:
I was so flustered to get to the store and back home in time, I kept fumbling through the supermarket, trying to find the pregnancy tests (so I could take a fancy digital one as well). I finally gave up on that and waited in quite possibly the longest line at the grocery store. The man in front of me was buying 6 bottles of wine and two tv dinners. I naturally assumed he was an alcoholic and wanted to club him over the head when he took over a minute to find his stupid credit card. I race home and throw the buns in the oven, not wasting time to preheat (so I compensated by setting the oven to 475 degrees). Hubbs comes home a mere 5 minutes later and I'm sweating like a hog.
"Hi honey, what's up?"
"Darling, I have a bun in the oven."
"Huh?"
"Bun. In the oven."
"I don't get it. How come you're all sweaty?"
"Because it's freaking hot. Honey, I have a BUN in the OVEN..." (nods toward stomach)
"What do you mean?"
"You've never heard that freaking expression?! I'm pregnant!"
"Shut up."
(grabs test and shoves in husband's face) "See!"
"I see something! Are you serious?"
(eyes well up with tears and saying the following indignantly)"Of course I'm serious!"
(finally getting it and begins to tear up) "Really?!"
(blubbering at this point) "YES!"
"Oh my god, we're having a baby! Really???"
*both embrace and stand in shock at the revelation, kissing occasionally and crying*
AND I burned my buns.
So it wasn't the perfect reveal, but I love it much more this way. ;-)
We ran out to Target to buy the fancy digitals and a few other tests just to confirm, and they came up positive when I tested the next morning.
We're so incredibly excited and feel so blessed.
Silly Adam...
We already love you so much...
Saturday, October 17, 2009
We've only known about you for a couple days now and yet it feels like a lifetime. I love to sit and think about what you will look like, what your personality will be like, what your laugh will sound like. I want to show you all the things I've seen, and see the look on your face when you experience them for the first time. I want to give you more than I ever had. I want you to be able to dream and do and become anything you could possibly conceive. I want the world for you, and I've only known you for 3 days.
Sure when I found out I was a little freaked out. I mean, it's the ultimate responsibility: take care of a human for the rest of your life. The minute that second little pink line came up, I just got the biggest grin on my face and jumped up and down for about 10 minutes. I couldn't believe it. We were going to be parents. Words can't begin to describe the emotion I felt, and I can only imagine that emotion exploding when I finally get to see/hear your heartbeat, or feel your kicks, or see your face for the first time.
I promise to do everything I can to take the best care of us, not only these next 9 months, but the rest of my life. I will even try to eat broccoli. That's huge. I promise to love you unconditionally, and listen to you, and adore you. I'm sure years down the line I will embarrass you. I apologize in advance for this.
I want you to be healthy, to grow strong, and to be happy. It's a tall order that I believe in my heart you can fill. We love you so much baby, and we are waiting to meet you.
We've only known about you for a couple days now and yet it feels like a lifetime. I love to sit and think about what you will look like, what your personality will be like, what your laugh will sound like. I want to show you all the things I've seen, and see the look on your face when you experience them for the first time. I want to give you more than I ever had. I want you to be able to dream and do and become anything you could possibly conceive. I want the world for you, and I've only known you for 3 days.
Sure when I found out I was a little freaked out. I mean, it's the ultimate responsibility: take care of a human for the rest of your life. The minute that second little pink line came up, I just got the biggest grin on my face and jumped up and down for about 10 minutes. I couldn't believe it. We were going to be parents. Words can't begin to describe the emotion I felt, and I can only imagine that emotion exploding when I finally get to see/hear your heartbeat, or feel your kicks, or see your face for the first time.
I promise to do everything I can to take the best care of us, not only these next 9 months, but the rest of my life. I will even try to eat broccoli. That's huge. I promise to love you unconditionally, and listen to you, and adore you. I'm sure years down the line I will embarrass you. I apologize in advance for this.
I want you to be healthy, to grow strong, and to be happy. It's a tall order that I believe in my heart you can fill. We love you so much baby, and we are waiting to meet you.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Sometimes you need a little moist-ness.
Oh dear. Well tonight as I was moisturizing my legs, and Adam was playing Madden '10, I made the following remark:
"Wow, this lotion's the best I've ever used."
And Adam gasped. Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration, but it is quite the statement for me to make. I mean, I love my beauty products. I'm constantly on the quest for better, prettier, more efficient products. And I have to say, I strongly recommend Dove's Cream Oil. I enjoy its light scent, and just how easily it blends into the skin (I just hate it when lotion just keeps spreading around in its white schloppy consistency).
You may want to check it out.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Maui Trip Report... Finally.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Arrived in Maui around noon. Picked up baggage (everything made it, thankfully)and hopped on the Budget shuttle to pick up our rental car. After a brief scuffle with two Budget employees regarding Adam being allowed to drive (he’s 24, they said you need to be 25 to drive or else pay a $27 daily fee), we were off to our resort with our spiffy white Mustang convertible (they waived the fee in the end). As we drove we were quickly awestruck by the beautiful scenery in Maui. The lush mountains and the bright blue of the ocean kept us antsy to get to check-in and to that beach as soon as possible!
At last we arrived at the Westin and checked in. The hotel desk clerk was a bit on the rude side. We asked if there was a possibility of an upgrade and she said there was nothing else available. I asked if even a partial ocean view room was available, and she just said no. I mean, I understand if they don’t want to give us a freebie upgrade, fine, whatever, but we could have been willing, paying customers. I sincerely doubt that there were absolutely no rooms available. It’s low season on Maui. Eh. Slightly miffed, we headed to our mountain view room on the 3rd floor. It actually turned out favorable for us, as we didn’t have to spend a ton of time in the elevator, and the mountains were in fact beautiful. The room was nice and clean, the bed was white and fluffy; we were pleased.
At this point we were starving so we changed into our swimwear and traipsed down to the poolside restaurant, ‘Ono. We noshed on nachos and a chicken wrap, fully prepared to spend an exorbitant amount of money on food. The check wasn’t that bad. Perhaps we’re a bit jaded, what with all the fine, expensive dining we do. Ha!
The time to frolick beachside finally came and, holding hands, we ran into the ocean. Amazingly glorious does not begin to describe that water. The clarity, the blue-ness, the temeperature… perfection. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the ocean and the fantastic pool at the Westin. We caught our first Maui sunset and afterwards decided to eat a little something at their nicer restaurant, Tropica. Adam had the crap cakes (lol) and I had some sort of flatbread pizza-like item. Very good. For desert we had lilikoi cheesecake made with goat’s milk. Divine.
Exhausted, we fell asleep around 9pm that evening, exuberant from our first day in paradise.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
We easily awoke around 5:30 am and sauntered off to Black Rock for some snorkeling fun. On the way we picked up a couple sticky buns for breakfast (along with two sodas, $20). We rented a snorkel belt for me since I’m not the best swimmer, and plopped ourselves into the water. Almost immediately we saw some colorful fish and after a few minutes, even a manta ray! We swam out a bit further, and after a while I began to tire. I had a little difficulty battling the current to get back to shore, and once I was back I began to feel nauseated so I laid out for a bit. The sun had a calming effect on me, and I felt better quickly.
We decided to venture out for some more snorkeling at a place called Honolua Bay. Beautiful forest-like entrance. The snorkeling was decent, though not nearly as clear and varied as at Black Rock. Maui Revealed, our travel guide indeed advised that snorkeling here could be hit or miss. I enjoyed seeing the beautiful coral here though. I didn’t get sick at all this time from snorkeling, and I discovered my swimming skills were quite good without the snorkel belt, which was favorable, since we had only had that other one for a two hour rental.
We took the road up a bit further north to see the Nakele blowhole, which was blowing about 15 feet in the air while we were there. At the blowhole Adam picked up some banana bread and coconut at a stand, to tide us over. Still starved on the way back we drove through McDonald’s for a happy meal and returned to the hotel to relax.
That evening we had reservations for a sunset dinner at Leilani’s on the Beach. We cannot say enough wonderful things about this place. The service was fantastic. The ambience cannot be beat. We shared the fried zucchini appetizer, I had the chicken with risotto and Adam had mahi mahi. We loved every single bite. As a treat they brought us a free dessert, Kimo’s hula pie. It looked like a large ice cream cookie slice, promising enough. It tasted completely ordinary and unimpressive. Naturally, I won’t be arguing with free, so no problem there. Overall, one of, if not the best dining experience of our trip.
Friday, September 4, 2009
The day began very early as we had planned a snorkeling trip to Molokini with Trilogy, based on their excellent reputation and reviews. The boat ride to the crater was pleasant, and the cinnamon buns they served were delicious. The highlight of this trip for me was when Adam went to the bathroom. After a couple minutes I turn around and see that my husband was driving the boat! Truly hysterical. I have never seen him so happy. He was grinning ear to ear and had taken his shirt off. He informed me he was going for a “Captain Ron” look. I began questioning the tour operators’ judgment at this point, but they pointed out that there wasn’t anything nearby for him to run into or anything, so we should be alright. Should.
The snorkeling at Molokini was nice for a short period of time. Amazing coral, but very little variety of fish. Then Adam said he was feeling nauseated so we headed back into the boat. Naturally, I began to feel nauseated as well. The Trilogy team decided to take us to a second location, a so-called Turtle Town. On the way there, a fat Asian woman decided to puke her brains out on the boat. Two feet from the side of the boat, and she couldn’t get up and puke over the edge. I saw it. Every bit of it. I want to puke now even thinking about it. But at that time, the nausea worsened after seeing all that nonsense.
I spent a little time in the water at the second location, and was delighted to see a turtle swimming from the boat, and under water saw plenty of beautiful yellow fish. Adam had taken ginger root and this worked miracles on him, so he was able to venture a little farther out. This is where one of his main trip highlights took place. He was up close and personal with two turtles, and one even swam alongside him! He also saw a manta ray in the water doing backflips. I was laying curled up in the fetal position on one of the trampolines on the boat. They served lunch, and I tentatively picked at it. Caesar salad, grilled chicken, rice and a roll. I ate the roll and a few bites of salad, thinking that not eating anything would make my nausea worse. Then I heard someone remark about how tasty the rice was, and, well, I had to try it. It was so delicious! I couldn’t help myself so I got seconds. Insert blushing face here.
They couldn’t sail back to the dock fast enough for me. After they put up the sails on the way back, though, the wind blowing in my face helped immensely and I felt better. We rushed back to the hotel to shower and rest. I think we napped for a bit and then relaxed at the hotel. For dinner that evening we went to the highly recommended Kimo’s in Lahaina. We shared a pulled pork appetizer, and I had the chicken and ribs. Adam tried the Ono and was pleased with the results. They gave us another beautiful ocean-view table and we watched the sun set over the water. We enjoyed the meal, yet concluded that Leilani’s, the sister restaurant to Kimo’s, was much better.
Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention the horror: If you’ll note, we were given the Kimo’s hula pie for dessert at Leilani’s the other night. We sat there at dinner in nervous anticipation that we’d be presented with another one of these lousy pies as a honeymooner’s gift. We tried everything imaginable to discourage our server from bringing us one. I loudly mentioned how full we were. Adam asked about the cheesecake. I believe at one point I made mention of distaste for chocolate. And lo and behold, we were given no pie. We somehow left a bit ruffled that we didn’t get a free pie, lousy and all.
We explored Lahaina for a while and went to bed early that night because we had Hana the next morning!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
We woke up bright and early (4:45) to drive the famed road to Hana. So much happened that day that it’s all a blur. I’ll just make a list of notable sights we saw:
Twin Falls – Nice, our first stop along the road. Adam had to use the bathroom here. Overrated and glad we didn’t spend much time here, per the suggestions from Maui Revealed (seriously, this book gave us excellent advice).
Fruit Stands along the Road - I mean, not like I eat fruit or anything, but these were so fun and colorful. And Adam had a thing for lilikoi, which is passionfruit.
Ching’s Pond – Jumped into the water in this somewhat murky waterfall pond. Adam jumped in with our small digital camera. Bad, bad. The water was cold, but I’m so glad I did it. It was quite a rush!
Waianapapa State Park, aka Black Sand Beach – Awesome! This was one of the things I was looking forward to the most of the trip. The sand was really black! And the water so blue. And the greenery around so… alright, you get the point! Stunning. The signs in front warning of Man of War stings served to freak me out from spending too much time in the water, but I did get to do a little frolicking.
Pocket Red Sand Beach – Maui Revealed showed us how to get to a little pocket red sand beach, versus going to the actual large one. The road around the larger one was blocked off so we ventured to this one and were so glad we did. We had it practically to ourselves, and again, so stunned by the color of the sand and water here. Beautiful.
Hamoa Beach – Salt and pepper sand here and a bit of a messy beach, but the water here was awesome. Very shallow for a long portion, and great waves for boogie boarding. Unfortunately, we had no boogie board with us!
Seven Sacred Pools – Really cool spot. Adam even jumped off a rock into the larger pool! Had to climb over and negotiate several slimy rocks to get there, but totally worth it.
And various other amazing views, of course.
We ended up paying for our last stop in the end, because the time we finally left to head back home was around 4:30. We didn’t get back until nearly 8 pm. It began pouring rain and that served to make the already nerve-wracking road even more insane. We made it back safely, and entirely exhausted. We ended up ordering room service for dinner which was completely mediocre, with my Maui onion soup appetizer being completely inedible. We didn’t care much as we passed out promptly after chewing our last bite.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
We decided to take Sunday easy because of all the running around we did the previous days. The weather was a bit cloudy in the morning, but that didn’t keep us from taking our snorkel gear to the other side of Black Rock, called Kahekili Beach . Best. Snorkel. Spot. Ever. We saw tons of different fish here: big, small, yellow, spotted, neon colored with stripes… you name it. Loved this little gem.
Played back at our beach and pool in the afternoon and noshed on some delicious onion rings poolside. Really great with their coconut ranch dipping sauce. Late in the afternoon we went to check out Banyan Tree in Lahaina, where we bought some souveniers.
That evening we went to our planned luau, the Feast at Lele. I would so highly recommend this experience and especially this particular luau. And we didn’t even much like the food! The dancing and environment is so festive and I would argue should be compulsory for the true Hawaiian experience.
We had the best seats in the house, front and center, too! Which actually was a bit frightening during the fire-dancing portion of the show. The dude dropped his fire baton like twice! I was sitting there anticipating having my eyebrows singed off the whole time. Thankfully, they remained intact! Oh, and at one point Adam was chosen to receive a peace offering of a palm frond, which I just knew would happen. Adam always gets chosen for stuff like this! Very memorable indeed, and worth every penny.
Monday, September 7, 2009
This day was designated as our South Maui day. We drove down early and went to Wailea Beach first. Really great beach for frolicking (what can I say, I love me some frolicking). The water was calm, shallow, warm… fun! I will note that the water wasn’t nearly as clear as further up north where we were staying in the Kaanapali area, nor as the beaches on the road to Hana. Fun for kids for sure. We decided to be super sneaky and check out the Grand Wailea’s swimming pool. Nobody checks or anything, and it was still quite early and empty. We went for a swim in their pool and concluded that we loved our hotel much more.
We headed a bit farther south to see some other beaches but weren’t finding anything fantastic. Snorkeling at the spots recommended in Maui Revealed wasn’t turning up much, and by this time we developed an appetite for an early lunch. We went to Ferraro’s at the Four Seasons because 1. It’s the Four Seasons, and we had to take a peek at the grounds, and 2. It’s the Four Seasons and we like to be hoity toidy. Great bread. Somewhat unresponsive service. At least for something of the Four Seasons echelon, that is. At this point we determined that we had seen enough of South Maui and were much more impressed with West Maui. We made a stop at the shops at Wailea and left with a nice new pair of polarized Ray Bans for Adam.
At this point we both began feeling pangs of sadness that our trip was going to be ending soon. We’d just been having the time of our lives and it was going to have to come to an end eventually. Boo.
Dinner reservations were made at Sonz at Swan Court at the Hyatt per our concierge's recommendations. Very beautiful and romantic environment. As an appetizer we shared Surfin’ Goat Cheese Ravioli, per many guide books’ rave reviews, and we were pleased. I had the Spaghetti with Filet Mignon meatballs, and Adam tried the Opaka fish, which he loved. My pasta was absolutely amazing; best spaghetti and meatballs I’ve ever had. And I got the small portion for $15 and I couldn’t even finish that (and if you’ve gathered anything about us, you’d clearly deduce that we’re big eaters). A great deal! Naturally with savings like this, dessert is naturally in order. Crème brulee, my fave. And hello, you can’t go wrong with that. Unless you dump a bunch of fruit schmutz on it, which some places manically insist upon doing. But this, my friends, was not one of those places. Yummy!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Ah, our last full day on Maui. We knew we had to hit up our new favorite snorkel spot, Kaheliki Beach Park. We enjoyed this and said our goodbyes to it (until next time!).
Adam Really wanted to try jet skiing on Maui so we gave it a go. I was in fear that the thing would throw us right off, so I begged Adam to let me drive after a while. And would you believe that the first thing I did when driving was turn too abruptly and hurl us into the water. It was fun either way!
At some point we also said goodbye to the onion rings by the pool. So good, I had to have them one last time! We strolled Lahaina and did a little shopping in the afternoon.
We had a late lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise, since we made reservations for a late dinner. We did this so we could catch the sunset on our own, quietly on the beach. I had chili cheese fries, which Adam remarked were the best he’s ever tried, and I would have to agree they’re quite delicious (I don’t want to throw that best card out yet). Adam had the fried shrimp and liked them just fine. Perhaps a bit more than fine!
Our last sunset was just lovely. We took it all in and vowed to return again to this wonderful place. It was such a romantic moment, and we ended up laying there until it was dark out. We got to hear the drums from a nearby luau, and became completely entranced by our surroundings. At some point music from a nearby restaurant started playing and we danced for a bit under the stars. We nearly lost track of time, and realized we needed to head to our last dinner in Maui, at Lahaina Grill.
At first I was ambivalent about the place because we had to wait an additional 15 minutes past our reservation time. Perhaps we were spoiled since we didn’t have to wait at a restaurant the entire time we were there. And then we were seated, and the seats were beyond uncomfortable.
But then. Then they brought out the bread and their heavenly herby butter. The best bread and butter I’ve ever had at a restaurant. That’s saying a lot. I’ve eaten a fair share of bread and butter in my time. I decided to try their Maui onion soup, a little hesitant because of the nasty experience I had back at the hotel. This was just splendid. It really gave my all-time favorite, Ruth Chris’ French onion soup a run for its money. Adam started with the Seared Ahi sashimi and he was in heaven as well. For our entrees I had a chicken dish and he had the Kona roasted lamb. I didn’t particularly go gaga for the chicken, though it wasn’t bad or anything. Perhaps I was full from the loaf and a half of bread I’d just devoured. Adam didn’t go nuts for the lamb either, but I loved the mashed potatoes that accompanied his dish. We were much too full to even consider dessert. This was perhaps the priciest meal we had during our trip if you don’t count the luau, and at that it only came to $140 (alright, that’s relative. And we didn’t get alcohol). Very delicious and we would definitely return.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
We woke up bright and early to pack and hit the beach one last time before flying home. Grabbed a ham, egg and cheese wrap from the little stand at the Westin and spent some time on our beach. We almost considered not going in the water, but we had to, just one last time. The water was beautiful and we really enjoyed our last dip.
And seriously, this had to be the last picture of us swimming in Maui? I look like I'm about to drown for realsies.
Anyhow, we picked up our luggage from the room, checked out and returned the rental car. Hopped on the flight back home, where I typed up this trip report. Looking forward to sleeping in our bed tonight (but not as much as we’re looking forward to returning to Maui soon).
I finally got this copied and pasted on here from Adam's laptop. I don't even have the energy to go back and revise, so hopefully everything I wrote up there is accurate!
If you really read through that entire post, I commend you. You must truly not have anything better to do with your day. Smooches!
Arrived in Maui around noon. Picked up baggage (everything made it, thankfully)and hopped on the Budget shuttle to pick up our rental car. After a brief scuffle with two Budget employees regarding Adam being allowed to drive (he’s 24, they said you need to be 25 to drive or else pay a $27 daily fee), we were off to our resort with our spiffy white Mustang convertible (they waived the fee in the end). As we drove we were quickly awestruck by the beautiful scenery in Maui. The lush mountains and the bright blue of the ocean kept us antsy to get to check-in and to that beach as soon as possible!
At last we arrived at the Westin and checked in. The hotel desk clerk was a bit on the rude side. We asked if there was a possibility of an upgrade and she said there was nothing else available. I asked if even a partial ocean view room was available, and she just said no. I mean, I understand if they don’t want to give us a freebie upgrade, fine, whatever, but we could have been willing, paying customers. I sincerely doubt that there were absolutely no rooms available. It’s low season on Maui. Eh. Slightly miffed, we headed to our mountain view room on the 3rd floor. It actually turned out favorable for us, as we didn’t have to spend a ton of time in the elevator, and the mountains were in fact beautiful. The room was nice and clean, the bed was white and fluffy; we were pleased.
At this point we were starving so we changed into our swimwear and traipsed down to the poolside restaurant, ‘Ono. We noshed on nachos and a chicken wrap, fully prepared to spend an exorbitant amount of money on food. The check wasn’t that bad. Perhaps we’re a bit jaded, what with all the fine, expensive dining we do. Ha!
The time to frolick beachside finally came and, holding hands, we ran into the ocean. Amazingly glorious does not begin to describe that water. The clarity, the blue-ness, the temeperature… perfection. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the ocean and the fantastic pool at the Westin. We caught our first Maui sunset and afterwards decided to eat a little something at their nicer restaurant, Tropica. Adam had the crap cakes (lol) and I had some sort of flatbread pizza-like item. Very good. For desert we had lilikoi cheesecake made with goat’s milk. Divine.
Exhausted, we fell asleep around 9pm that evening, exuberant from our first day in paradise.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
We easily awoke around 5:30 am and sauntered off to Black Rock for some snorkeling fun. On the way we picked up a couple sticky buns for breakfast (along with two sodas, $20). We rented a snorkel belt for me since I’m not the best swimmer, and plopped ourselves into the water. Almost immediately we saw some colorful fish and after a few minutes, even a manta ray! We swam out a bit further, and after a while I began to tire. I had a little difficulty battling the current to get back to shore, and once I was back I began to feel nauseated so I laid out for a bit. The sun had a calming effect on me, and I felt better quickly.
We decided to venture out for some more snorkeling at a place called Honolua Bay. Beautiful forest-like entrance. The snorkeling was decent, though not nearly as clear and varied as at Black Rock. Maui Revealed, our travel guide indeed advised that snorkeling here could be hit or miss. I enjoyed seeing the beautiful coral here though. I didn’t get sick at all this time from snorkeling, and I discovered my swimming skills were quite good without the snorkel belt, which was favorable, since we had only had that other one for a two hour rental.
We took the road up a bit further north to see the Nakele blowhole, which was blowing about 15 feet in the air while we were there. At the blowhole Adam picked up some banana bread and coconut at a stand, to tide us over. Still starved on the way back we drove through McDonald’s for a happy meal and returned to the hotel to relax.
That evening we had reservations for a sunset dinner at Leilani’s on the Beach. We cannot say enough wonderful things about this place. The service was fantastic. The ambience cannot be beat. We shared the fried zucchini appetizer, I had the chicken with risotto and Adam had mahi mahi. We loved every single bite. As a treat they brought us a free dessert, Kimo’s hula pie. It looked like a large ice cream cookie slice, promising enough. It tasted completely ordinary and unimpressive. Naturally, I won’t be arguing with free, so no problem there. Overall, one of, if not the best dining experience of our trip.
Friday, September 4, 2009
The day began very early as we had planned a snorkeling trip to Molokini with Trilogy, based on their excellent reputation and reviews. The boat ride to the crater was pleasant, and the cinnamon buns they served were delicious. The highlight of this trip for me was when Adam went to the bathroom. After a couple minutes I turn around and see that my husband was driving the boat! Truly hysterical. I have never seen him so happy. He was grinning ear to ear and had taken his shirt off. He informed me he was going for a “Captain Ron” look. I began questioning the tour operators’ judgment at this point, but they pointed out that there wasn’t anything nearby for him to run into or anything, so we should be alright. Should.
The snorkeling at Molokini was nice for a short period of time. Amazing coral, but very little variety of fish. Then Adam said he was feeling nauseated so we headed back into the boat. Naturally, I began to feel nauseated as well. The Trilogy team decided to take us to a second location, a so-called Turtle Town. On the way there, a fat Asian woman decided to puke her brains out on the boat. Two feet from the side of the boat, and she couldn’t get up and puke over the edge. I saw it. Every bit of it. I want to puke now even thinking about it. But at that time, the nausea worsened after seeing all that nonsense.
I spent a little time in the water at the second location, and was delighted to see a turtle swimming from the boat, and under water saw plenty of beautiful yellow fish. Adam had taken ginger root and this worked miracles on him, so he was able to venture a little farther out. This is where one of his main trip highlights took place. He was up close and personal with two turtles, and one even swam alongside him! He also saw a manta ray in the water doing backflips. I was laying curled up in the fetal position on one of the trampolines on the boat. They served lunch, and I tentatively picked at it. Caesar salad, grilled chicken, rice and a roll. I ate the roll and a few bites of salad, thinking that not eating anything would make my nausea worse. Then I heard someone remark about how tasty the rice was, and, well, I had to try it. It was so delicious! I couldn’t help myself so I got seconds. Insert blushing face here.
They couldn’t sail back to the dock fast enough for me. After they put up the sails on the way back, though, the wind blowing in my face helped immensely and I felt better. We rushed back to the hotel to shower and rest. I think we napped for a bit and then relaxed at the hotel. For dinner that evening we went to the highly recommended Kimo’s in Lahaina. We shared a pulled pork appetizer, and I had the chicken and ribs. Adam tried the Ono and was pleased with the results. They gave us another beautiful ocean-view table and we watched the sun set over the water. We enjoyed the meal, yet concluded that Leilani’s, the sister restaurant to Kimo’s, was much better.
Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention the horror: If you’ll note, we were given the Kimo’s hula pie for dessert at Leilani’s the other night. We sat there at dinner in nervous anticipation that we’d be presented with another one of these lousy pies as a honeymooner’s gift. We tried everything imaginable to discourage our server from bringing us one. I loudly mentioned how full we were. Adam asked about the cheesecake. I believe at one point I made mention of distaste for chocolate. And lo and behold, we were given no pie. We somehow left a bit ruffled that we didn’t get a free pie, lousy and all.
We explored Lahaina for a while and went to bed early that night because we had Hana the next morning!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
We woke up bright and early (4:45) to drive the famed road to Hana. So much happened that day that it’s all a blur. I’ll just make a list of notable sights we saw:
Twin Falls – Nice, our first stop along the road. Adam had to use the bathroom here. Overrated and glad we didn’t spend much time here, per the suggestions from Maui Revealed (seriously, this book gave us excellent advice).
Fruit Stands along the Road - I mean, not like I eat fruit or anything, but these were so fun and colorful. And Adam had a thing for lilikoi, which is passionfruit.
Ching’s Pond – Jumped into the water in this somewhat murky waterfall pond. Adam jumped in with our small digital camera. Bad, bad. The water was cold, but I’m so glad I did it. It was quite a rush!
Waianapapa State Park, aka Black Sand Beach – Awesome! This was one of the things I was looking forward to the most of the trip. The sand was really black! And the water so blue. And the greenery around so… alright, you get the point! Stunning. The signs in front warning of Man of War stings served to freak me out from spending too much time in the water, but I did get to do a little frolicking.
Pocket Red Sand Beach – Maui Revealed showed us how to get to a little pocket red sand beach, versus going to the actual large one. The road around the larger one was blocked off so we ventured to this one and were so glad we did. We had it practically to ourselves, and again, so stunned by the color of the sand and water here. Beautiful.
Hamoa Beach – Salt and pepper sand here and a bit of a messy beach, but the water here was awesome. Very shallow for a long portion, and great waves for boogie boarding. Unfortunately, we had no boogie board with us!
Seven Sacred Pools – Really cool spot. Adam even jumped off a rock into the larger pool! Had to climb over and negotiate several slimy rocks to get there, but totally worth it.
And various other amazing views, of course.
We ended up paying for our last stop in the end, because the time we finally left to head back home was around 4:30. We didn’t get back until nearly 8 pm. It began pouring rain and that served to make the already nerve-wracking road even more insane. We made it back safely, and entirely exhausted. We ended up ordering room service for dinner which was completely mediocre, with my Maui onion soup appetizer being completely inedible. We didn’t care much as we passed out promptly after chewing our last bite.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
We decided to take Sunday easy because of all the running around we did the previous days. The weather was a bit cloudy in the morning, but that didn’t keep us from taking our snorkel gear to the other side of Black Rock, called Kahekili Beach . Best. Snorkel. Spot. Ever. We saw tons of different fish here: big, small, yellow, spotted, neon colored with stripes… you name it. Loved this little gem.
Played back at our beach and pool in the afternoon and noshed on some delicious onion rings poolside. Really great with their coconut ranch dipping sauce. Late in the afternoon we went to check out Banyan Tree in Lahaina, where we bought some souveniers.
That evening we went to our planned luau, the Feast at Lele. I would so highly recommend this experience and especially this particular luau. And we didn’t even much like the food! The dancing and environment is so festive and I would argue should be compulsory for the true Hawaiian experience.
We had the best seats in the house, front and center, too! Which actually was a bit frightening during the fire-dancing portion of the show. The dude dropped his fire baton like twice! I was sitting there anticipating having my eyebrows singed off the whole time. Thankfully, they remained intact! Oh, and at one point Adam was chosen to receive a peace offering of a palm frond, which I just knew would happen. Adam always gets chosen for stuff like this! Very memorable indeed, and worth every penny.
Monday, September 7, 2009
This day was designated as our South Maui day. We drove down early and went to Wailea Beach first. Really great beach for frolicking (what can I say, I love me some frolicking). The water was calm, shallow, warm… fun! I will note that the water wasn’t nearly as clear as further up north where we were staying in the Kaanapali area, nor as the beaches on the road to Hana. Fun for kids for sure. We decided to be super sneaky and check out the Grand Wailea’s swimming pool. Nobody checks or anything, and it was still quite early and empty. We went for a swim in their pool and concluded that we loved our hotel much more.
We headed a bit farther south to see some other beaches but weren’t finding anything fantastic. Snorkeling at the spots recommended in Maui Revealed wasn’t turning up much, and by this time we developed an appetite for an early lunch. We went to Ferraro’s at the Four Seasons because 1. It’s the Four Seasons, and we had to take a peek at the grounds, and 2. It’s the Four Seasons and we like to be hoity toidy. Great bread. Somewhat unresponsive service. At least for something of the Four Seasons echelon, that is. At this point we determined that we had seen enough of South Maui and were much more impressed with West Maui. We made a stop at the shops at Wailea and left with a nice new pair of polarized Ray Bans for Adam.
At this point we both began feeling pangs of sadness that our trip was going to be ending soon. We’d just been having the time of our lives and it was going to have to come to an end eventually. Boo.
Dinner reservations were made at Sonz at Swan Court at the Hyatt per our concierge's recommendations. Very beautiful and romantic environment. As an appetizer we shared Surfin’ Goat Cheese Ravioli, per many guide books’ rave reviews, and we were pleased. I had the Spaghetti with Filet Mignon meatballs, and Adam tried the Opaka fish, which he loved. My pasta was absolutely amazing; best spaghetti and meatballs I’ve ever had. And I got the small portion for $15 and I couldn’t even finish that (and if you’ve gathered anything about us, you’d clearly deduce that we’re big eaters). A great deal! Naturally with savings like this, dessert is naturally in order. Crème brulee, my fave. And hello, you can’t go wrong with that. Unless you dump a bunch of fruit schmutz on it, which some places manically insist upon doing. But this, my friends, was not one of those places. Yummy!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Ah, our last full day on Maui. We knew we had to hit up our new favorite snorkel spot, Kaheliki Beach Park. We enjoyed this and said our goodbyes to it (until next time!).
Adam Really wanted to try jet skiing on Maui so we gave it a go. I was in fear that the thing would throw us right off, so I begged Adam to let me drive after a while. And would you believe that the first thing I did when driving was turn too abruptly and hurl us into the water. It was fun either way!
At some point we also said goodbye to the onion rings by the pool. So good, I had to have them one last time! We strolled Lahaina and did a little shopping in the afternoon.
We had a late lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise, since we made reservations for a late dinner. We did this so we could catch the sunset on our own, quietly on the beach. I had chili cheese fries, which Adam remarked were the best he’s ever tried, and I would have to agree they’re quite delicious (I don’t want to throw that best card out yet). Adam had the fried shrimp and liked them just fine. Perhaps a bit more than fine!
Our last sunset was just lovely. We took it all in and vowed to return again to this wonderful place. It was such a romantic moment, and we ended up laying there until it was dark out. We got to hear the drums from a nearby luau, and became completely entranced by our surroundings. At some point music from a nearby restaurant started playing and we danced for a bit under the stars. We nearly lost track of time, and realized we needed to head to our last dinner in Maui, at Lahaina Grill.
At first I was ambivalent about the place because we had to wait an additional 15 minutes past our reservation time. Perhaps we were spoiled since we didn’t have to wait at a restaurant the entire time we were there. And then we were seated, and the seats were beyond uncomfortable.
But then. Then they brought out the bread and their heavenly herby butter. The best bread and butter I’ve ever had at a restaurant. That’s saying a lot. I’ve eaten a fair share of bread and butter in my time. I decided to try their Maui onion soup, a little hesitant because of the nasty experience I had back at the hotel. This was just splendid. It really gave my all-time favorite, Ruth Chris’ French onion soup a run for its money. Adam started with the Seared Ahi sashimi and he was in heaven as well. For our entrees I had a chicken dish and he had the Kona roasted lamb. I didn’t particularly go gaga for the chicken, though it wasn’t bad or anything. Perhaps I was full from the loaf and a half of bread I’d just devoured. Adam didn’t go nuts for the lamb either, but I loved the mashed potatoes that accompanied his dish. We were much too full to even consider dessert. This was perhaps the priciest meal we had during our trip if you don’t count the luau, and at that it only came to $140 (alright, that’s relative. And we didn’t get alcohol). Very delicious and we would definitely return.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
We woke up bright and early to pack and hit the beach one last time before flying home. Grabbed a ham, egg and cheese wrap from the little stand at the Westin and spent some time on our beach. We almost considered not going in the water, but we had to, just one last time. The water was beautiful and we really enjoyed our last dip.
And seriously, this had to be the last picture of us swimming in Maui? I look like I'm about to drown for realsies.Anyhow, we picked up our luggage from the room, checked out and returned the rental car. Hopped on the flight back home, where I typed up this trip report. Looking forward to sleeping in our bed tonight (but not as much as we’re looking forward to returning to Maui soon).
I finally got this copied and pasted on here from Adam's laptop. I don't even have the energy to go back and revise, so hopefully everything I wrote up there is accurate!
If you really read through that entire post, I commend you. You must truly not have anything better to do with your day. Smooches!
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