Fat girl little dress

My zipper is screaming right now... The picture doesn't do justice. Hopefully it will hold out through the night but I might end up with a funny story. Note to self: when you are six months pregnant it might be time to invest in maternity clothes!!

Tchau,
Sara

Black Gold Run/Walk

I am about a week behind on posting so here are the photos from the previous Saturday. My parents church is raising money to go on a mission trip to Honduras to build a school. They held a 5K run and a 1 mile fun run to help the cause. It was a pretty small turn out since they didn't really advertise too much. We all decided to do the 1 mile fun walk. Nate doesn't run and I haven't ran since the marathon I did three years ago. My 83, almost 84, year old grandmother did the walk with us! Here are the photos.

My mom and grandma! Love them both so much. I am so glad that I got to spend so good quality time with both of them. 

 The crew- My best friend from high school who is 4 months pregnant, Nate, me and my dad. Smile dad.

The entire group together. Gotta love family.

 Belly shot! This is Lindsay's third kid and my first. I remember the days of talking about having kids together and now we are both pregnant at the same time. We are both having girls so maybe we are continuing the friendship for generations. 

 The four girls. Grandma, mom, me and Belle! 

 They wanted a picture with the bellies framing them. Ahh what a photo.

The walk went great and it was actually just a really nice day all together. Moments like this really make me miss living at home and being accessible to so many people who love you. I would love to see Belle have the same great experience that Nate and I had for high school but then we would have to move home. Who knows when that will be. Right now she will be getting so many other opportunities that we didn't have growing up. As long as she is healthy and happy then we are both happy! 

More to come from the past week.

Tchau,

Sara

Houston

We leave tomorrow to Houston and stay for the week for a friends wedding, Nate's training and one more baby shower. I can't believe how much time has flown by while we have been here. I even missed turning 23 weeks pregnant! Gosh it's going to be hard to leave.

Allergies, thank you Northern hemisphere spring, and heartburn have kept me sleepy. That's the reason you get for no new photos yet! Above is a photo of Belle's clothing suitcase compared to my clothing suitcase. It begins the days where my child has more clothes than I do :) Thank you to everyone who has donated to her fashion (haha) thank you cards are in the process of being written. We are both so lucky to have such great loving family and friends.

Tchau,
Sara

Role Call

Well all ten chickens have survived the past week despite the heat lamp incident and a day in the yard. Now they look like teenagers in their awkward stage so they have nothing going for them. They are not smart and now they are ugly... They even poop in their water!

Good luck mom :) your doing great. Sometime today I will gather all the photos from the weekend and post them.

Tchau,
Sara

PC Moments

I just have to post this video because I laugh all the time when I see it. Mostly I laugh because Brazil is actually allowed to show this commercial on TV. I can only imagine the outrage if this video was played in the US. It would probably be the top story on CNN and then the top law suit of the year.





Happy Saturday :)

Tchau,
Sara

Preservatives your killing me!

As much as I love coming home to see family and eat tons of food there is always a transitional period my stomach endures. To spare you the details lets just say that my stomach does not like all the preservatives. Nate and I both agree that we have never been sick from food in Brazil but the minute we get home we have problems.

I blame it on the fact that nothing is fresh here. Nothing. Yes, you can eat whatever you want and everything is in 'season' but there is quite a bit of food traveling involved when that happens. Fruits in Brazil are available when they are in season... period. I have even personally seen the farms when are food is grown. It's about four hours drive from our home. When all the flooding was happening in Brazil we had shortages of lettuce until things got under control.

The little market by our house sells fruits and veggies for pennies. Most of the eggs I buy have feathers stuck to them and probably other stuff I don't want to know about. I don't really like the food in Brazil from restaurants but the fresh stuff can't be beat. Both of us are so much healthier now than we ever have been before.

By the time I get used to the food here I will be heading home. I guess just in time for a detox! Nate arrives today so wish him luck. I am already a week into the US food initiation so I get to sit by and watch him suffer. Life is great huh!

Tchau,
Sara

PS- fresh food and sun I miss you!

Loving and Missing

I am loving being back in the US but at the same time I am missing a few things from Brazil.... here's the list :)

Loving
1. Family and friends being so close. This is something that I missed even when I lived in Houston. I would have dreams of coming home and working close to family. Now that we have a little one on the way I feel the tug to be close more than ever. I know that I will be crying at the airport this time around!

2. Driving a car around. I feel so free. If I want to visit a friend then I can go and not have to plan my day around walking and what the weather might be.

3. Good pedicures. I try and try to like them in Brazil but I can't. Even though they are cheap nothing compares to what you get in the US. In Brazil they cut off all your cuticle to the point where you are bleeding then paint your entire nail including the surrounding skin then dig a green stick dipped in nail polish remover around the nail and into your bleeding freshly cut cuticles. Of course I have told them before to cut only a little but somehow I always end up bleeding. Then they don't take the calluses off which is the main thing I love about pedicures. Basically I just don't go because I cringe each time. Plus I don't see the tools coming out of an autoclave so who know how many other people have been bleeding on them....

4. Understanding everything everyone says. It always takes me a few attempts to respond to someone in English at the Rio airport. It's like I am so surprised to be spoken to that I don't understand my own language! There are only a few people in Brazil that I speak English to so if your not that person then I get confused. A guy in my building asked me and the Aussie a question in English and we both just stood there unable to speak. Eventually non-English/Portuguese sounds came out of my mouth but I am sure the guy was really confused! I still haven't run into him again to say I am sorry.

5. Good roads. I am really going to get a speeding ticket this trip home. I found myself going 80mph in a 65 and I didn't even feel like I was going fast. I have had to put the car in cruise control just to manage my lead foot. First I am not used to driving and second to see open roads feels like a dream. I can't even imagine how Nate feels when he comes home. I bet not one spout of road rage comes out of his mouth.

6. Thick Yogurt. In Brazil I cannot find any for the life of me. The watery stuff will just have to do which make a great addition to the smoothies I make but not to eat by itself. When I went to the grocery store with my mom that's one of the first things I bought.

Now for the missing stuff.
1. Warm weather! I miss getting up and not having to worry about jackets, slippers, and a blanket. These days I have to psych myself up to take a shower because I am so afraid to take off my warm clothes!

2. Fresh fruit. I miss my mango, passion fruit and papaya. Not to mention all the watermelon and pineapple that are making my mouth water right now. I know that this 'miss' will never go away. Of course when we move back I will get used to the weather but the fruit I will also long for. I almost bought a small papaya at the grocery store the other day for $3.15 and I couldn't. Maybe if I wasn't returning to Brazil in a few weeks I would have but I can hold out and all that fruit will taste so much better!

3. Walking everywhere. I know that I complain about not having a car in Brazil but I really think I would still walk a ton. I miss my morning walk along the beach and the peace it brings. I could walk here but let's be honest I am sorta lazy so it's not going to happen. Kind of like my study Portuguese while I am away.

4. Not Understanding everything everyone says. I know that I put the same thing as love but I think it's a love/hate relationship. I enjoying hearing what people say when they are talking to me but I don't love overhearing someone's phone conversation. Do I really need to hear that you are getting bunions taken off tomorrow? Plus in Brazil I feel that every conversation I have in Portuguese helps me. My brain is always working which can also be a bad thing! I tire easily :)

5. The calming sound of the ocean. I didn't realize that it help me sleep. The sound took me awhile to get used to when I would wake up in the middle of the night and think that someone kicked down the door. Now I find myself tossing and turning longer than usual. I downloaded an app for my iTouch but it doesn't run all night long so I wake up when the sound stops. Weird. I hope that Belle won't get this attached because we will be toting around a sound machine everywhere!



Of course the list's on both sides could be dragged out to the point boredom but I won't do that to you all.  Enjoy the life you have and try not to take for granted the good things. If you let negative thoughts run your life then you miss out on so much.

Tchau,
Sara

Chicken Farm

I come home to find my mom is trying to raise chickens again. The first attempt ended tragically with total destruction of all chickens by various factors. This time around she bought a heat lamp and made an amazing chicken palace for the back yard. They are still to small now to go outside in the palace so they reside in a water trough lined with wood chips and a heat lamp in the barn. Eventually these hens will produce eggs and some will make it too the slaughter house. Good idea if it works and for 2$ a chicken it's worth a try!

Good luck mom :) I still think we should number them... Number 4 and 5 are down while 6 is trying to escape!

Tchau,
Sara

Flying and 1st Baby Shower

This past Saturday was a whirlwind of traveling and waiting. The flying didn't bother me at all but I couldn't get comfortable. Each person wouldn't let me do anything, from taking my bag down from the overhead compartment to get them off the conveyor belt. I heard the phrase, "in your condition you shouldn't be....". Cracked me up a few times because I am not dead just pregnant! By the time I made it to Tulsa I almost starting crying in line to rent a car because the country boy in front of me ask the lady how small a compact was and I knew it would be a long wait. It was noon at that point and I had two to three non-consecutive hours of sleep under my belt so I just wanted to get home. 

That night I had my first baby shower to go to thrown by a couple of my sorority sisters that I have now know for 11 years. Wow. I really can't believe that we have all been friends for that long! There were about 15 of us and some flew in from Dallas and others drove from OKC to be there. I really couldn't have asked for more. It honestly was just amazing to see everyone together. 

Here are a few pictures from the shower.

Look at the name above the mantle!! Can I be in love already?

 You can really see them great in the picture but to the right my are cake balls. Sounds terrible but tastes so good! From what I hear they are super hard to make so thanks Emily!

Random shot from around the room. 

 Just with some of the girls :) You can sorta see my belly in this photo. I need to get better at it. Notice I am wearing a dress. The temperature decided to drop to the 40's and I froze but it's all I had that would fit and work so I suffered through. 

 With the hostesses! Thanks girls you are amazing and I miss you everyday I am away.

 Now all the loot back at home. I have to catalog it all too make sure that we get everything that we need before our return. I cannot believe how much stuff there is and we still need so much more! I sent Nate the picture and he was overwhelmed. 

Well off to write the much need thank you cards to all the girls and I am probably going to get a pedicure too. Hey, the babycenter calendar said I should treat myself :)

Tchau, 

Sara

City Life

This week I have spent my time in Rio. Seeing the ultrasound guy, a little bit of Nate, hanging out with friends I haven't seen in awhile and walking around the city. I have to say that I might have a little crush on Rio. There is so much more to do here than in Macae. It's a real city with real stores and real restaurants.

I find myself dreaming of moving here and taking all my friends from Macae here too. I just don't get it though. Macae is the oil capital of the state of Rio. The National oil company Petrobras is stationed in Macae as well as every other major oil producer and supporter. So why does the city have nothing? Maybe it's because our mayor has a castle in Europe....

The point is that Rio is a city that I could really like and enjoy. A city where life doesn't get put on hold until  we get transferred back to the states. The possibilities are endless! Who knows. Maybe we will never get the chance to transfer to Rio and that's ok too. If we do then I will put a big smile on my face because things will be looking up!

I get ahead of myself. Even though I have friends here in Rio we wouldn't be able to live close to them because of Nate's office. In Macae a short walk and I have so many wonderful people to have lunch with, walk, workout, grocery shop and have girls nights! I guess it's a catch-22. Close to friends or live in a great city.

Good thing I don't have to make that decision now or ever. The company will tell us when and where we move. For now I will focus on enjoying my time here and losing sleep over my upcoming trip home :)

Tchau,
Sara