The Tummies

This is me, Mama Tummy, the author of this blog. I’m not much of a health nut. I prefer to call it health-conscious. I do love good healthy food, but not as much as the not-so-healthy Southern food I grew up on. I’ve never been into exercising all that much and I’m not very outdoorsy either. I’m not against these things, they just aren’t for me. I tend to be the shy, introvert type around crowds. Get me alone and I will talk your ear off! I am a passionate, driven soul. I don’t let anything get in my way (except maybe myself).

My birth home is the wonderful city of San Antonio, TX. I moved to Colorado in 2009 at the ripe age of 23 in an attempt to find myself and leave my past behind. I felt my life was going nowhere fast and I desperately needed a fresh start. That will probably be the best decision I ever made.

Before making the move I hopped onto eHarmony to see who could possibly keep my company in the unknown city I planned to inhabit. Within the first weekend of signing up I messaged a few contenders. Out of those one particular guy replied. There was something about him that made me say, “This is it.” I closed my account and got a refund and continued emailing him and eventually exchanged numbers. Then we became that annoying couple that text each other 24/7.

Once my feet touched the ground in Colorado this lucky guy and I had our first date and we became inseparable. From then on life seemed to have jumped into hyper-speed. We moved in together, we got married, we bought a house, and we had a baby.

It all happened because of one split-second-tear-filled call to my brother asking if I could move in with them in Colorado Springs until I got on my feet. I stayed with him and his family for 6 months before moving to the great land of Denver. The rest is history and I can’t wait to find out what else lies ahead.

This handsome man is Papa Tummy, my cheerleader (or as he puts it idea facilitator) and food taster extraordinaire. He gives all recipes the okay before I post them. In a completely unbiased statement he is a better husband and father than any woman could dream up. He is just the right height (for a girl that’s not me) and he is far too skinny for the amount of food he eats (nothing will increase his waistline, believe me I’ve tried).

He is your average geeky guy. He has a love for video games and books that made me aggravatingly jealous in the beginning. To be fair his relationship with video games was a bit toxic since it kept him from graduating high school on time. Hey, don’t judge. Everyone has an unhealthy obsession over something, don’t they? He also enjoys anime, sci-fi, and fantasy. So obviously he can’t get enough Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Doctor Who.

He graduated the December we found out I was pregnant with a B.S. in Biology. He had to put off furthering his education in order to get a better job to support our family. His next goal is to get a B.S. in Nursing to eventually earn a Ph.D. and become a Nurse Practitioner. Before all that he got licensed as a Massage Therapist to work his way through college. Currently he is a massage therapist on the weekends with the same massage studio he’s been at for six and a half years (I could never keep a job that long so it fascinates me).

He will have you believe that he is as uncomplicated a human being as you can get, but there’s more to him than that. I’m sure he will continue to surprise me as our lives get fuller.

This adorable girl is Little Tummy, my main motivation and inspiration for anything I do these days. Even though we planned to have children someday she was a complete surprise. A result of having way too much fun during our first ever (and definitely not the last) visit to NYC. She was born on the 13th of August 2013.

She takes after papa tummy with the whole height thing. I’m sure she’ll surpass me in that department. She has consistently remained wearing three to six months ahead of her size for as long as I can remember. She’s a girl ever on the go and a happy one at that. Little tummy is definitely doing well in the growth and development department.

She was born with a somewhat common birth defect in her bladder and kidneys. We found out about this the hard way, but it’s under control now and doesn’t prevent her from being the bubbly quirky girl she is. We’ve also discovered that she has a few food allergies which has changed the way we eat. Despite these issues she continues to thrive.

This sweet chubster is Tiny Tummy (ironic, I know). She was born at almost a pound and a half more than her older sister (ouch for me!). She entered this world on July 9th, 2015 in the middle of the day after 30 hours of labor. She was a bit more of a struggle to get out than Little Tummy. We had a rough start the first month with our breastfeeding journey, but it’s been fun times since we got that sorted out. I like to call her our happy girl. She’s always smiling and giggling, way more than big sis ever did, and she is so easy-going. It is going to be a joy watching these two grow up together.

This gorgeous girl is Furry Tummy. Unfortunately, Longhorn is no longer with us. I still miss her to this day. She lost the battle to Lymphoma in February 2014 when we decided to free her from suffering. She was born October 5th, 2005 and I got her about a month later. I raised her myself. Being a young, poor college student with several jobs I tried to do the best I could with her. I’m sure I could have done better in certain moments. Nevertheless, she was my first baby girl. She taught me a lot, comforted me when I was sad, and put up with all the unexpected moving and drama of boys. I am happy she finally got a good daddy that stuck around until the end.