Latin Festival and Easter Baskets

I always hear advertisements on the radio for food festivals, but I have never gone to any of them. Now that I'm willing to eat just about anything and have really expanded the things I'm willing to try, we decided to go to the Latin Festival at Town Square with Liz and CJ this past weekend.

When we walked in we were immediately greeted by clouds of smoke from the cooking meats. I was hesitant about trying these "mystery meats" so I stuck to my typical American ways - PIZZA!! I guess I'm not quite ready to expand my taste buds into Latin food so Eddie and I split a slice of pepperoni pizza then filled up on something sweet. I got a funnel cake, while Ed got a deep fried twinkie:

While walking around Liz found a 

COX Cable stand and finally decided to get cable:

(If you know Liz this moment was very funny and I swear she wasn't even drunk yet!)

Then we headed over to the carnival area to be kiddos:

We had lots of fun and I am so excited to go to the San Gennaro Feast in May to taste all the Italian awesomeness, since after all - Italian is my FAV!


This past weekend was also Easter. Eddie had to work from 10am-6pm so I went to the park to hang out with some friends. Before I went to the park I made Ed an Easter basket for when he came home from work and also made one for Liz's niece who was going to be at the park:

After the baskets were made,

I headed to the park with Natalie's 

basket and my homemade deviled eggs:

I had lots of fun at the park and enjoyed watching the kids during their Easter Egg Hunt. When I picked Ed up from work, he spoiled me by taking me to dinner at Memphis Barbeque. It was thee perfect ending to a great day!


Easter Sunday made me think of when my brothers, cousins and I competed in my aunts Easter Egg Hunt to win Bunny Big Ears. Next year I plan on having an Easter party and a Easter Egg Hunt with my own Bunny Big Ears. I can't wait to carry on my family's Easter tradition when our little one comes.

Hope everyone had a blessed Easter!

Cherry Sparkle Laffy Taffy

I am officially 13 weeks pregnant and can't believe my first trimester flew by so quickly. I must say I have been very blessed during my first trimester - three words:

NO MORNING SICKNESS.

My thoughts are that I haven't had morning sickness because of how well I treated my body before I found out I was pregnant and continued to be healthy and active after I found out; which ultimately gives me a ton of energy (this is my moto: healthy mommy, healthy baby). I keep telling myself that I'm going to be the cute mommy-to-be in spin class that is all belly, but this week I'm feeling like I'm going to be the mommy-to-be that looks like the spin bike is going to crumble underneath her. All of a sudden at 13 weeks I've got this belly and I totally look pregnant... like BOOM here I am Mommy! It seems like I'm the only one who notices it though, maybe because I'm my worst critic. The sudden bulge could be from me smelling the bathroom air freshener at work and all of a sudden craving Laffy Taffys. Of course, I call my husband and tell him that I must be crazzzzy because every time I go to the bathroom at work (every 20 minutes) I want a Laffy Taffy and what does my awesome hubby do?! He has a Cherry Sparkle Laffy Taffy ready for me on the dining room table! 

(Do you remember these? 

If you didn't eat these as a child than I apologize because you've been robbed.)

What an a-hole right?! Here he is eating one and doesn't gain a pound, but I stray from my "no sweets" and the next day I have my first noticeable baby bulge (thanks, Ed). I still can't believe that I'm pregnant so looking at my belly and seeing a bulge shocks me every time. I'll get used to it soon, I think... 

Here is a picture of what is going on in that little baby bulge of mine:

That little bean right there is actually the size of a peach:

How crazy, right?! Luckily, this little peach of mine hasn't given me too many cravings. I'll handle a Cherry Sparkle Laffy Taffy every now and then if it puts a smile on my little peach. Pretty soon that little peach will be out of my belly screaming, crying and pooping up a storm! Believe it or not, but I'm actually excited for the screams, cries and poopies. But now that my first trimester flew by I am starting to worry about how quickly the next two trimesters will go (probably a concern that many preggers face). Luckily I've had a lot of support from my friends Lisa (who has a two year old) and my friend Amanda (who is also pregnant). Lisa specializes in prenatal and postnatal so she has been giving me a lot of information and really has me thinking about my birthing plan. I know that every many women say they want to have a natural birth with no epidural if it is possible for them. However, I feel very strongly about wanting to have a natural birth with no drugs (I know, I'm crazy, but I'll blame it on the hormones). Lisa suggested I check out a place called 'Well Rounded Momma' and says that they have amazing doulas. I wasn't really sure that they did so I had to do some research. Here are some amazing benefits of hiring a doula:

25% shorter labor

50% fewer c-sections

40% reduction in forceps use

30% reduction in analgesia use

60% reduction in epidural requests

Now don't get me wrong, I will have whatever type of birth my baby needs, but I'd love to have someone there to help advocate for what I want without having my husband do all of that for me, after all he's going to be busy with me clenching his hands and screaming at him. Lisa said that pregnancy is like a journey and she felt her pregnancy journey was like ice skating and not being able to stand on her feet. She said that once she hired the doula at 36 weeks she wishes she did it sooner because her journey changed from not being able to stand on her feet to walking in a meadow full of flowers with all the support in the world. I don't know about you, but I'm a fan of flowery meadows! So I'm going to at least go by and check it out and see what is best for us. Being pregnant makes you think of things you never thought of before and it seems like every day there is something new for us to consider, but I'll tell you what...

I AM SO EXCITEDDDD!!

Pearl's Prediction

Eddie and I have been going back and forth about the sex of the baby... I think I'm having a boy. He thinks I'm having a girl. When we had our last ultrasound at 10 weeks 5 days it was too soon to tell the sex of the baby, but they did their best at guessing anyways. The tech asked if we wanted to know what she thought we were having and we said yes. She said that since the sac between the babies legs was sticking straight up (and not slanted) that she predicts we were having a boy. Thoughts began to run through my head like, "a sweet baby boy", "my little man" and "my little rambuntious crazy man". Before I knew it I fell in love with the idea of having a boy, but again it was too early to be sure. Then my doctor came in and asked if we had any idea or thoughts about what we were having and I began to say, "Well the tech just said she would say it was a..." and he cut me off and said "A GIRL!" We told him that she guessed boy and he wiggled around the goo on my belly to get a different angle and said "Well that might be a little weiner right there". So at this point we're 50% sure it's a boy and 50% sure it's a girl! So now what do we do besides wait until 15 weeks?!...

To break the 50/50 debate,

We decided to let Pearl have a say in the baby's sex too!

I picked a blue toy and a pink toy:

I threw the two toys and explained to Pearl, "Ok, blue means mommies having a boy and pink means mommies having a girl... pick one!" and this is what she ended up picking:

Okay, so Pearl predicts I'm having a boy too...

I guess we will find out soon enough!!

Mother's Intuition

Hello, My Name is Kelli and I am 12 weeks pregnant!

(ahhhhhhhh that feels so good to say)

Shocked? Me too.

I'm officially headed to mommywood.

Full of pacifiers, bottles, boo-boos, snack packs and juice boxes.

Ay yi yi... what did we get ourselves into?!

Eddie and I knew that we wanted to have a baby in the future and planned on trying for a little one once we felt "stable" enough. Some people would tell us, "You can't have a baby yet because you need to save money", while others would say "Oh, you'll never think you have enough money". We were in a pickle and decided to wait. Then, along came February and I began to have what some women call "mother's intuition" and knew I was pregnant.

I cried. And cried. 

So I called my mom to tell her how I was feeling... irresponsible and like I was total Teen Mom status (even though I'm 24). She calmed me down and was sooo thrilled (even before I took the test). I told her that Eddie and I decided it was time to take a pregnancy test to be sure. After being nervous ALL day at work, I rushed home and peed on the little stick that would determine the rest of our lives together while Ed watched with a blank stare.

Sure enough the Clearblue Easy read: Pregnant.

(We both cried and cried some more... tears of joy this time.)

We are going to be parents!!

This is me at 5 weeks:

And this is me at 12 weeks:

(Isn't it CRAZY how quickly pregnancy transforms your body?!)

Everything happens for a reason, right?!

We decided not to tell the "world" (as my mother wished I had because she's the worst secret keeper - EVER); which was okay with us because we were totally nervous since we've never experienced this before. It was a good idea to wait as we had a rough first trimester due to the fact that I'm O negative and the baby is a different blood type (info on Rh Factor). After a visit to the ER and emergency doctor visits, I had to get a GIGANTIC big shot in my butt and wasn't allowed to do anything strenuous; which was hard for me as I'm an avid spinner, but anything for the baby.

I am now 12 weeks pregnant (WOW!!). After 3 ultrasounds of watching my little peanut grow and grow, the baby and I are doing great. The little one is being very kind to me by not giving me morning sickness and making me feel totally normal (as normal as I can be for being preggers, I guess). At 10 weeks and 5 days the baby has a loud, strong and harmonious heart beat that I wish I could hear all day long.

Heart rate of 161 bpm:

And has thee longest little baby legs I've ever seen:

My grandma says this means the baby has dancing legs already.

The next polka king or queen, perhaps.

And the baby's little profile just melts my heart:

I couldn't be happier to carry this little bun in my oven and can NOT wait to meet baby Ditata. I never pictured myself being 24 years old and "with child". Now by my 25th birthday I will be this little nugget's mommy. I am overjoyed with the love this little baby has given us.

God works in mysterious ways and I thank him daily for this blessing.

Diamonds Make Babies

It's no secret that I'm not the biggest country music fan; however I have been listening to it more. The nail salon I frequent always has the top 10 country music countdown on when I go there (how random) and oddly enough I've been diggin' every song they play. So I'm currently into Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, Sugarland, and more... who would have thought right?!

So this past Saturday Dierks Bently was having a concert at Mandalay Bay's Beach so Ed and I went with some friends to enjoy some good ol' country music:

(I may be biased, but I think I have thee most handsome hubby!)

(and thee most gorgeous twinny!)

I was impressed with myself because I knew three of the songs he sang. He even previewed some songs on his next album and my favorite is going to be 'Diamonds Make Babies' - very funny and somewhat true!

All 'n all it was a great night and we had lots of fun dancing and singing in the sand!

I guess I've got a lil' country in me, ya'll! ;)