A Father and Son Go Fishing During covid-19: the next one hit wonder country song

Times are strange. I feel like I’m watching a movie. When I check the news feed before closing my eyes at night—which, let me just stress, that’s a bad idea—nothing feels real. With every article, every update, thousands more cases have been confirmed with hundreds more deaths right behind. Story after story, photo after photo reveals a world that seems so distant to me as I shelter with my family tucked away in the mountains. I don’t take for granted where we are amidst what feels like the world falling apart around us, things that seemed so permanent and stable are crashing to pieces. We decided the best thing for our family and to help stop the spread of the covid-19 virus during this time is to "shelter-in-place" in a secluded home that our extremely generous friends have offered to us. This house we’ve retreated to sits in a valley. It’s as if the rolling peaks are the walls of our fortress, protecting us from the disease that is slowly yet steadily infiltrating the rest of the world. 

We’ve been here for almost two weeks but it feels much longer. It's becoming our home away from home. We’ve gotten into a rhythm of school and play and family time that has been sweet and precious. We’ve hiked and explored, witnessed wildlife wake up after its winter sleep, found spring in the trees blooming the prettiest of flowers, I’ve drank way too much Coke and coffee and the kids have eaten way too much popcorn and ice cream (because apparently a global pandemic calls for over-caffeinating and sugar highs), and Travis and Theo went fishing one night.

Ruta-whata? and Father's Day Surprises

Have I mentioned that my sister, Emily, will be attending college at UNC-Charlotte come this fall, which is less than 20 minutes away from us?! This is such exciting news! Besides the fact that she'll be so close to us while the rest of my family lives 7 hours away, I now get to have another sister live by me while she attends college--Stefanie lived less than a mile from me while she attended Anderson University in Indiana. This makes my heart so happy! And having a very special aunt who will love her and spoil her makes Juice Drop very happy too :) I'm so excited that my family is here in Charlotte this week while Emily attends orientation! On Thursday we'll all head down to our old vacation spot in Ft. Myers, Florida for some much needed family time and sprucing up Grandma's house to rent out. Here's to hoping 11 hours in a car will all be worth it!

How far along? 27 weeks 

Total weight gain: last week's appointment was 19 lbs but I'm SURE I've gained a few more pounds since then

Maternity clothes? Most of the time

Stretch marks? No :)

Sleep: Good, not great 

Best moment this week: Celebrating Father's Day with my baby's Daddy :) even though it led to major Braxton Hicks--see below, and my family getting into town and being able to feel Juice Drop!

Miss Anything? Being able to hike 5 miles with ease

Movement: Yep! And she did this crazy move the other day where I felt like my stomach was having a seizure--read that it was hiccups :)

Food cravings: Junk, junk, and more junk!

Anything making you queasy or sick: No

Gender: GIRL!!!

Labor Signs: Crazy Braxton Hicks! see below

Symptoms: Rib pain after eating and when sitting too long, heartburn, back pain started up this week and it's not fun at all, have I mentioned Braxton Hicks? 

Belly Button in or out? Outie 

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Very Happy! 

Looking forward to: Spending the week with my family in Florida! This will be the first time I've visited where I grew up going on vacation in 8 years and I'm so happy Travis gets to go and experience the Vinsel family traditions :)

Father's Day was very special this year. Even though our Juice Drop isn't here just yet, we still celebrated Travis being a first time Daddy. I planned out the whole day full of surprises complete with a french toast breakfast, a hike at Crowders Mountain State Park, and finally a fancy dinner at Basil Thai Cuisine--Travis' new love is pad thai :)

Eye spy with my little eye something camouflaged with the branch! Do you see it?

Let me just say, going on a 5 mile hike at 6 1/2 months pregnant is probably not the best idea. I thought I would be fine, you know, drink plenty of water, take my time, stop to pee if I had to--there was no chance of that with all the traffic along the trails, so I ended up having to hold my pee for 4 hours!

About half way through we took another trail back because we heard it was about a mile shorter--thank God!

Above: this is my face when I had to go to pee within the first mile of the hike
Below: this is my face when I thought about all the steps I was going to have to climb at our half way point--about 3 hours in

Can we just talk for a minute about Braxton Hicks and the fact that I thought I was going to go into pre-term labor right there in the middle of the forest? So after researching I learned that I pretty much did everything I could to bring on these wonderful false labor contractions. This is what I found from thebump.com:

How did I get Braxton Hicks contractions?

They’re just a normal part of pregnancy. The tightness you feel in your uterus during a Braxton Hicks contraction comes from the tensing of the muscles in your uterus. Being really active, a full bladder, sex and dehydration can all trigger Braxton Hicks contractions.

Ok, so check, check, check, and uh, yep, check...I wasn't too concerned until I was still having these quite frequently on Monday as well. I thought about calling my doctor but after I took a chill pill, put my feet up, and drank about a gallon of water the contractions started to mellow out. I would have to say I learned my lesson and will not be taking any strenuous hikes until after Juice Drop arrives! Phew!

We were almost too pooped after the hike to go to dinner. Travis later told me if it wouldn't have been a surprise he would've rather stayed home but after finding out where we were going and that this restaurant offered his new favorite delicacy he was all in. What a great ending to a perfect rousing day!  

Next week I venture into the 3rd Trimester!!!

P.S. What's a rutabega?! ;)

Mountains and Onions

What's more relaxing than being secluded in the mountains with some good friends, a log cabin with an amazing view, a hot tub (even though I can only put my feet in), and peep s'mores? Nothing comes to my mind at the moment! We've headed to the mountains (a little west of Asheville) with some great friends (the Auyers--who graciously opened their home to us for the first 6 months we were here, the Turners, and the Resslers; not to mention 3 dogs including a great dane!) On the agenda for the next day and a half: chillaxin' and a little hike through the Appalachian mountains!

So onions aren't quite like avocados in my opinion but being a little bigger in size just means Juice Drop is getting bigger and smarter and I'm completely fine with that! So it's ok, Juice Drop, be an onion and grow, baby, grow! 


If the background of the picture looks a little different than usual it's just because we were in the mountains (no big deal ;)

How far along? 17 Weeks

Total weight gain: 4 pounds still (surprised I didn't really gain any weight in the last week)

Maternity clothes? Still just the leggings

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: sleeping on my side is getting better... progress!! woo hoo!

Best moment this week: relaxing in the mountains with good company 

Miss Anything? being able to fully emerge myself in a hot tub, had to just stick my feet in :(

Movement: I think I've felt some bubbles which I've read is the baby moving :)

Food cravings: wheat and grains

Anything making you queasy or sick: nope

Gender: still don't know! and the next 3 weeks are going to be a killer!

Labor Signs: No

Symptoms: get tired easily, loss of breath, cramping in my obliques if I sit for too long (experienced this yesterday during a 4 hour car ride--gets me excited for the 11 hour car ride in August for Lindsey Marler's wedding! I'll be 34 weeks!)

Belly Button in or out? half way in, half way out!

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy until I get hungry or tired lol

Looking forward to: our 3rd appointment tomorrow!! Can't wait to hear the beautiful sound of Juice Drop's heartbeat <3

Maya, Maggie, and Echo sitting so nicely 

Travis is a little jealous of the guy fly fishing 

We were following the Deep Creek Trail

Taking a hike to Juney Whonk Falls (what a name!)

And here it is: Juney Whonk Falls

Enjoy the rest of your week! 

Orange you glad I posted again?!

Ok, a little lame but how could I not resist having the title be something that involved the Knock, Knock joke when my little Juice Drop is the size of an orange this week?! 

How far along? 15 Weeks 

Total weight gain: still don't have a scale so I have no idea...mission this week: to buy a scale!

Maternity clothes? just my leggings so far, hopefully I can get started on those dresses soon though, with these 80 degree days the leggings are not going to cut it for much longer

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: crazy dreams--they're either half awake/half asleep dreams or dreams within a dream...Inception!

Best moment this week: getting to have Stef and Zak (sis and bro) visit before Stef takes off for her 6 month excursion and mission work with YWAM--hopefully she'll be back just in time to see Juice Drop come 

Miss Anything? my other sister Emily not being able to visit this time around :(

Movement: not yet, hopefully soon though!

Food cravings: candy...Easter's killing me! Travis and I agree Easter is better than Halloween for us with the Starburst jelly beans, Reese's eggs, Robin's Eggs, and PEEPS! 

Anything making you queasy or sick: nope

Gender: don’t know yet--everyone thinks it's a girl, but Travis and I really believe it's a boy

Labor Signs: No

Symptoms: super tired! I feel like I've done a trimester reversal--I had all the energy in the world my first trimester and since last week I can't keep my eyes open by the afternoon! 

Belly Button in or out? In--it's starting to stretch though :)

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: HAPPY! 
Looking forward to: spending the rest of the week with Stef and Zak :) 

Nothing's better than spending time with family with a beautiful scenery as your backdrop! When we have family visit we love taking them to see the sights of the Carolinas especially since us mid-westerns are only used to seeing cornfields and cows. While Travis finished his last day on the men's retreat for the Charlotte Eagles soccer team I took Stef and Zak to the closest mountain to Charlotte and surprisingly it was an amazing hike and had a beautiful look out! Check out our Wednesday at Crowder's Mountain State Park!

Stef decided it was the perfect setting to do yoga

Beautiful sister, beautiful view

He has found his throne :)

Oh sisters! We're missing one more, we love you Emi! 

Zak being the gentleman and standing at the bottom to catch me

Triple decker Peanut Butter Sangie

Plain Jane PBJ :)

Have a great week everybody! We sure will!