Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Rice/Root Beer Belly

I brought home a little souvenir from the Philippines.

Right away we figured out that if we were going to stay on budget we were going to have to eat like the locals. We had easy access to a lot of familiar foods from the US and Australia but they were much more expensive than other foods. So we ended up eating a lot of rice. Probably not a lot compared to what most Filipinos eat but we ate it 3 or 4 times a week. To someone like me who grew up eating rice 2 or 3 times a month that was A LOT! After a while I noticed that I was developing a rice belly. I tried and tried to work it off but nothing seemed to help.

I can't blame only the rice. We also had a lot more soda than we are used to drinking. There was Taco Bell, TGIF, Chilis, Pizza Hut and lots of other restaurants. Since we've been without some of these American chains for the last year and half we were so excited we had to go to them at least once (some of them a few more times). With eating out comes drinking soda. We could (and did) get bottled water sometimes but it was pretty much the same price as getting a cup of root beer! Sometimes it was too tempting to pass up. In the grocery stores we could buy root beer for $1 for a 1.5 liter bottle. Compared to $1.50 a can in Australia that was a bargain. Drinking lots of root beer = root beer belly.

Its been over a month now since we've been back in Australia and I still haven't been able to get rid of this rice/root beer belly!

Probably because I brought back another little souvenir as well...

Baby blank #3 at 13 weeks, 6 days. (I'm due July 21)

Rice/Root Beer/Baby belly

18 comments:

Jamie said...

yay! congrats!

Christy said...

No kidding!! Awesome, congratulations!!!

:)

Eden said...

Congratulations!

So did you know you were pregnant or was it a surprise?

Eden said...

And what's the deal with all your kids having birthdays close to each other. Liam is July, Jonas is August (?) if I remember correctly. And Baby #3 is July.

Vanessa said...

Eden - we knew. About the birthday thing, Nate has issues with having kids late in the year (his birthday was in November and he didn't like it). It usually takes us a few months to get pregnant so we didn't really plan for Liam to have a sibling for his birthday but he's getting one! :)

Kyra said...

yea!! so exciting! that would explain the cute little rice belly. congratulations!

Carol Joy said...

Hehe, love the pictures!! You look so cute as always. :)

The Foys said...

Oh my yay!!!!!!! So so excited for you!! Maybe you'll have the baby on Kade's birthday...July 18th :0) I'm so happy!

Michelle C said...

OHHHH Vanessa! I'm so excited for you! Congrats. How are you feeling? I can't remember, will Jonas and the baby be 4 yrs apart? Are we keeping our fingers crossed that it's a girl?

Rednight55 said...

Congrats! Hope you're feeling well!

Michelle C said...

OH and I love how creative you were with the post about it being a rice belly and root beer belly

Alicia said...

Congrats! Hope it's a girl :)

Vanessa said...

Thanks everyone! I didn't have really terrible sickness but I did find it hard to eat most things for a while - even chocolate! Crazy for me! I am starting to feel much better and only have real problems with breakfast these days. You are right Michelle, Jonas will be 4 the month after the baby is born. I hope having older kids will mean I'll get more help...we'll see. Do you think 6 is old enough to change diapers? :) And yes, we are hoping for a girl but will also be happy with another little boy.

Joella said...

Congratulations. What a cute way to make the annoucement.

MO Sisty said...

Oh, Vanessa, what awesome news. Congratulations! As I was reading about your rice/root beer belly and the fast food, I had to smile. Two evenings ago, Steve and I watched the documentary SUPERSIZE ME, about the guy who went on a 30-day, McD-only diet. YIKES! It was truly a "horror film." Your reasons for gain are so much better, and what a blessed child to come to YOUR home. Big HUG

Carrie Allen said...

Oh here's the news...Yay!!

The Lorenc Family said...

You are so cute Vanessa! I love the belly. I am so excited for you!!!!

Unknown said...

Congratulations!