two sips of coffee: April 2013

this may not be for the faint of heart.

or for any person who has not been pregnant before.

i should start with the fact

i have never "enjoyed" being pregnant.

i am not one of those people that "glows" when she is with child.

i like to be busy and active.

i like my naturally thinnish body.

i like being a wee bit athletic.

but this time has been a doozy.

i am l.a.r.g.e.

people make comments about it daily.

even women. who have been pregnant before.

don't they know better?

my belly button popped out at nine weeks.

seriously.

and my belly looks like snoopy's nose.

seriously.

the pregnancy rash that i had so bad is gradually dissipating.

thank the lord.

please don't come back.

but i am still itchy. all over.

my back hurts.

my underwear are too tight.

and have i mentioned that i am tired?

like exhausted.

almost narcoleptic.

it could be that i chase three little kids all day,

along with doing all the laundry, cleaning a 3500 sq. foot house,

cooking every meal, packing every lunch box, volunteering in two different classrooms, potty training, soccer, broadway bound, mommy/baby music class...

or it could be just pregnancy.

what happened to the second trimester energy?

maybe you just don't get it the fourth time around.

but,

every time i look around and see a baby

i can't help but feel teary.

i get one of those again.

(and it WILL be the last)

but one last time i get to have a teeny person in my house.

one that snuggles all day

and loves me all the time.

i know it is all worth it.

i never dreamed at 35 i would be the mother of four children.

i never though we would have four children.

but you know what?

i can't wait.

this is long winded, i have to warn you.

but it is my journal, and i want to remember the days of our first "biggish" trip as a "biggish" family.

i will not glamorize it,

the pictures do that.

we made lots of memories,

some good,

some bad,

some down-right ugly.

here is a list of our daily outings

- the flight there completely successful, no tears and little complaining!

-easter sunday it rained the entire day. luckily the easter bunny found us and provided some indoor activities to enjoy.

-monday we went to old san juan. it was certainly a beautiful european-esque city. unfortunately ada got food poisoning after a lunch of native puerto rican food. she vomited all over the streets of old san juan. then we found a splash fountain to play in (and bathe in) and an icee vendor. el morro fort was a hit with the kids, but ada couldn't last long so we weren't there very long. the speedy tram ride back to the car was the highlight!

-tuesday we headed on the early ferry to the island of culebra. we arrived at 7am to buy tickets to the 9am ferry since they tend to sell out. hanna puked directly on me about 10 times during the 45 minute ride. i proceeded to puke about 10 more after sitting, covered in throw up, with no bag, change of clothes, etc. puke and pregnancy is not very awesome.

-culebra was beautiful. reza booked a boutique hotel with a pool for a night. we spent time at the pool and on flamenco beach. hanna was knocked down by a massive wave at the beach and was terrified of going in the water the rest of the trip. the hotel was nice, and i am sure we would have enjoyed it, but reza and i spent the night trying to keep hanna quiet enough so that the other kids could sleep. she was up all night long!

-wednesday we spent the day on the beach and then took a much smoother ferry ride back to the main island. have i mentioned how much my kids loooove being on the beach. elias and ada are wave fighting ninja's for hours upon hours!

-thursday we ventured into the rainforest after a morning on our quiet beach. we chose a shorter hike, about 2 miles, but was very steep down and very steep up. the kids were wonderful and all loved the adventure of walking on narrow paths along the waterfalls. they didn't even complain about walking! seriously, it was pretty amazing.

-after a long night thursday, we decided to spend our last day just chilling out on the beach. the kids were super cranky and it got worse and worse through the day. that is what lack of sleep does to you!

needless to say, saturday morning, we were all excited to hop on a series of planes to get home.

over all the trip was a success.

we did ALOT.

too much to consider it a vacation. we were busy. we got tired.

the biggest downer of the whole trip was that the kids did not sleep well. like, not well AT ALL. some nights we were up for hours and hours, particularly with our elias. lack of sleep had a serious effect on everyone.

as for puerto rico,

it has the natural beauty of the rest of the caribbean

beautiful beaches

flora and

fauna.

it is pretty amazing.

we stayed in an area filled with locals, there was culture.

and the beach was filled with hermit crabs, sea urchins, coral reef and starfish.

but it is dirty.

graffiti is everywhere.

abandoned buildings are abundant,

wild dogs, cats, chicken are even on the beach.