Taro Flavored Boba Smoothies

Okay, if you're reading this blog and you have an opportunity, YOU MUST TRY ONE! I received my boba supplies the second night Sarah and Bekah were visiting. Of course, I opened it all right away (took pics for the blog) and got started making the boba so we could have smoothies that night. The boba takes awhile to cook. You need about 2 hours or so total for boiling, sitting in the pot, and sitting in the sugar water. When we had them, it was sooooo wonderful!!! I'm definitely glad I made this purchase. We had boba twice while Sarah was here and she liked it both times. I gave her some to take home for her and Chris. We'll see if Chris is brave enough to try it! If not, and you know Sarah, maybe you can convince her to share it with YOU...or at least let you smell it. :)

The second night we had boba I wasn't feeling super well so I only had a small amount of boba. There was a good amount left over after I had scooped Phil and Sarah generous portions. Phil and Sarah didn't want it to go to waste so they LOADED their cups with the rest of the boba and I daresay they had enough in their drink. The boba tends to make you much more full than just a regular smoothie. Enjoy the pics.

Since Sarah left, I haven't had the time/energy to make the actual boba but I have enjoyed a couple boba smoothies with Phil. Can I just say that I LOVE my Vitamix blender and that it was a great purchase! It makes the best smoothies.










The boba before it is cooked. It's dry and crumbles if you pinch it.




























Boba supplies. The purple powder is the taro flavor. I have two bags of fat straws and a HUGE bag of boba.
















The boba in the middle of cooking. It turns black and jellyish. It's not quite done here. You can see they're getting darker though.






















Sarah drinking her boba and playing Settlers.






















Me with my small amount of boba.




















Phil's drink LOADED with boba!

20 Week Baby Belly

I am officially 1/2 way through my pregnancy!!! I am very excited about reaching this milestone. This past week I was able to actually see the baby kicks on my tummy. Last night, Phil saw the kicks and felt them for the first time as well. I have a very active little one who certainly likes to dance around in my belly. I still think I'm going to have a girl. We'll know officially in 9 more days!!! I took these belly shots in the mirror today so most of them are a bit blurry. My boss at work says I don't look pregnant yet, just a little fat. :) People still can't actually tell I'm pregnant unless I tell them. That's okay though...I know I will be looking very pregnant very soon. Enjoy the pics. I'll be posting more about Sarah & Bekah's visit as well as pics of my super yummy taro boba smoothies later this week, hopefully.

Family Visit

Sarah & Bekah came to visit Colorado for 5 1/2 days. During that time, my dad also came by for two days on his way back from Arizona. I had the best time with all of them. My sweet little niece is SO precious even while teething. She had so many giggles and hugs to share. Sarah and I were able to spend a lot of quality time together. All in all, it was great seeing family again after being so far away from everyone I love (other than Phil and Baby). Here are a few pictures...more to come later.

Ultrasound

18 weeks 4 days! I LOVE this video. Enjoy!

Since I have a moment, I thought I'd add a few comments. My sister and niece were able to come to my appointment with me. I was going to ask my doctor if we could get a quick ultrasound so Sarah could see the baby, however, when we went into the room I noticed the ultrasound machine already in there. I asked the nurse if I was getting an ultrasound and she said that the doppler was misplaced so they were using the ultrasound instead. I was so excited! I absolutely love the video and have watched it NUMEROUS times already. I wish I had been more careful when taking it but I was far more interested in looking at the actual screen than the camera screen. I have been feeling Baby move quite a bit this week. Both Sarah and I think I'm having a girl. We could have found out during this ultrasound but I chose not to because I want Phil to be there with me. We should be able to find out Sept. 4!!! Baby measured exactly on target at 18 weeks 4 days for this ultrasound. Hope you enjoy the video as much as I have!

Exciting News

Last night, as I was laying in bed, I felt my baby kick about 5 times with my hand resting on my tummy! I was so excited to actually be able to feel the little kicks on the outside! I'm hoping I'll get to see this little one in an ultrasound this week as well. I'm not scheduled for one, but I'm going to ask at my appointment on Thursday if I can get a quick one so Sarah & Dad can see the baby. We shall see!

Ready and Waiting!!!

My sister and niece are coming tomorrow! I can't wait. Sarah and I have been planning this for about 2 months and I have just been getting more and more excited to see her and Bekah. I've only seen Bekah 2 times since she was born. So sad. I saw her at Thanksgiving and right after Christmas. I'm thrilled to be able to see how much she's changed and to get to play with her out here in Colorado. My dad's been visiting relatives down in Arizona and he's ALSO coming sometime this week...possibly tomorrow night. I'm so excited to see my family out here and get the opportunity to show them around beautiful Western Colorado. We're going to have tons of fun! I'll keep you posted and share pictures at some point I'm sure.

Ticker

Yeah, my ticker moved to the middle! Baby is still making me sick nearly every day. I don't think it's going away anytime soon. I've been feeling Baby's movements getting a little stronger each day.

California Cravings

The other night Phil asked me when I was going to get pregnant cravings. I asked him what he meant and he was like, "you know, where I have to drive out in the middle of the night to buy you something." I have had foods that I've wanted at certain times but no desperate cravings on which I've sent him out to make purchases on my behalf. Frankly, almost everything I would "crave" has to do with food/restaurants that are in California and NOT anywhere near us in Colorado. One of the things I have been wanting since moving to CO is a good taro boba smoothie.

Since moving to rural Colorado, there are many comforts of the LA area that I miss. Most have to do with either food or shopping. One craving that I have decided to satisfy by Internet is my love for boba. Boba? you may ask. If you're not familiar with it, boba is made of large balls of sweet, chewy, black tapioca that sit at the bottom of a smoothie. Phil's and my favorite flavor of smoothie is taro. It makes a delicious pretty purple drink that's hard to describe but tastes incredible. If you ever come across boba at a Chinese restaurant or anywhere else, you should try it! It's great! Most people whom we introduced to boba enjoyed it. You drink it through a fat straw that the boba are able to fit through.

Well, tonight, I ordered some taro smoothie powder and boba online and I'm soooooo excited to get it! I haven't met anyone in CO who has even heard of boba, let alone who sells it. Fairly soon I will be able to satisfy my desire for this delicious drink in the comfort of my own home.

17 week baby belly

Well, as my Uncle Dan would say, I should warn people that this is a rated blog. :) JK. Here are pictures of my baby belly taken at 17 weeks 1 day. Getting a bit rounder and bigger.



I've also included some pics of a beautiful Colorado sunset we saw as we drove home the other night.

Lack of Pictures

Well, I've been procrastinating on posting as I still don't have those baby belly pics I promised. I've tried...just haven't had any good photo op times.

On Friday, my co-workers told me that I actually LOOKED pregnant. It all depends on what shirt I'm wearing. The tighter pre-pregnancy shirts show the belly whereas my maternity shirts make it look like I'm not pregnant. :)

So, I've been dying to wear jeans again. I stopped wearing mine a number of weeks ago as they were too snug when I sat down. I have been searching the stores here but to no avail. One of the drawbacks I'm finding of living in a more rural area is that you can't often buy what you're looking for! I can't find maternity jeans ANYWHERE. Well, this week, I tried my pre-pregnancy jeans on just to see if they'd still fit. I was amazed that I could still button and zip them all the way up! Still too uncomfortable when sitting so I tried the hairtie over the buttonhole. It worked. I've been wanting to buy a "bella band" to be able to wear my jeans with the hairtie fix. That way it covers the open zipper. Well, that's yet another thing I'm unable to find out here. So, I figured out a way to create my own using a stretchy undershirt that I don't really wear. So now, I can finally wear jeans again!! And, thanks to my lovely sister, she's shopping for me in CA and will bring me some real maternity jeans when she comes to visit in ONE AND A HALF WEEKS WITH BEKAH!

Other than trying to find/create clothes that fit, not too much else going on here. Finished the last Harry Potter book on Saturday. I borrowed it from a co-worker as I am to thrifty to buy it.

I'll try to post more pics when I can. Oh, and baby has been dancing around quite a bit lately. Most of the time I feel consistant little kicks about 5-10 in a row throughout the day. Baby's getting bigger!!!