Golden Ticket

Hey everyone!

I just had the best morning EVER! Parker, our pal Phil and I had the opportunity to finally check out the DeBrande Chocolatier tour. It was magical.

They started by showing us a video introducing the company and showing us wonderful photos of their beautiful products. We were then given a tour of the 3 kitchens and were given samples a few of DeBrande's seriously delicious fillings. 

We then proceeded to spend WAY to much money on their chocolates they had available for purchase. I couldn't talk Parker into the gellato BUT we did get sea salt caramels, among some other wonderful flavors. 

On another happy note, our little baby was over the moon about all the samples. Judging by the tap dancing he was doing in my belly, he loved the raspberry creme. The chocolate was great. The factory was beautiful. My pregnant belly is happy. So triple win, yeah?

Much Love,

Sydney L

Watermelon Seed

So folks, I'm starting to look like I've eaten a watermelon seed.
It was bound to happen and I'm more than okay with it. Being pregnant is not what I expected at all. I expected to not be sick (my mom was never sick, my grandma was never sick...) I expected to be fat but to be pretty much the same. I imagined a little human growing and moving inside of me and would shudder at the thought. I assumed that eventually the hormones would be rough to manage and I'd never look at tiny shoes and squeal with delight. I was mostly wrong.
1) I had 3 full months of sick. It was not fun but for some reason I didn't mind to much. Parker hated it. He looked at me so sad and at a loss of what to do. Thankfully that portion of pregnancy is finished.
2) A little human moving around is so neat! He's gotten big enough that you can see my tummy move when he moves. It's amazing to feel him wiggle when certain music is on, or when Parker talks to him. I never thought I'd be so enthralled by looking at and touching my own tummy.
3) The hormones are rough. I cry and yell at nothing. It's pretty ridiculous. Thankfully my sweet husband is good at laughing at me and holding me until I calm down. I can't decide if it's hormones or the trouble sleeping but I also didn't expect my dreams to get so coo-coo. But they definitely did.
The thing that has mostly surprised me is how full of hope I am for this tiny life inside of me. I think about him all the time. What's he going to look like? Will he be creative like me or strategic and smart like his daddy? Will he have as much energy out of the womb as he does in? I just can't wait to get to know him. I feel so incredibly blessed to be in this situation. Am I terrified to be a mom? Pretty much. But I know that this is going to be a wonderful adventure.
Thanks for listening!
-Sydney L