I’ve been putting off sharing this blog post because it doesn’t feel right to announce the wonderful things that are happening with my family when there are families in our country being ripped apart.

How do we celebrate that we’re expecting another baby and bought a house for the four of us to live in when children Baby V’s age are being separated from their parents and forced to stay in unfathomable conditions? Like many other mothers, what’s going on at the border hits closer to home than any of the horrible things that have happened in our country in the last year and half because having Baby V taken away from me is the absolute worst thing I can imagine.

So, I’m prefacing this blog post with a few ways we can take action against the separation of these families who came to this country to give their children a better life. Use this link to call your senators and donate here or here to help provide legal representation for these families.

It really feels like just yesterday that I was announcing my first pregnancy, but now Baby V is almost 22-months-old, and I’m 13 weeks along with Baby #2. Yep, I’m pregnant!

Let me tell you, things have been quite hectic in my house recently. We’ve had a few major transitions happen in the past few months, and while they’re all really great, amazing things, it’s been a little crazy over here!

The Book

I found out that I was pregnant one week after I signed on to write my second cookbook. My manuscript is due December 1st and my baby is due December 27th! I’m slightly terrified about the timeline, but I wrote my first book while I was pregnant with Baby V so I know I can do it again. I don’t think there’s a better job to have than recipe testing when you’re pregnant and hungry all day.

????We’ve got big news to share! I’m so excited to announce that I just signed on to write my second cookbook!! ???? Baby V is extra excited because this one’s all about our favorite family recipes! The book will be organized by season, with an emphasis on easy, colorful (of course!), and healthful plant-based dishes that everyone in the family will love. I’m so excited to start digging into the spring chapter, but I’m most looking forward to fall since it’s my very favorite food season. And speaking of- the book will be available fall 2019!! Hello pumpkin-spice-themed book release! . I’m so grateful to all of you for making my dream of writing a cookbook come true a second time! I absolutely cannot wait to share my family’s favorite recipes with you! Thank you thank you thank you! ???? . Ps- the second photo is Baby V checking herself out in the acknowledgements section of my first book- something she does almost daily and still gets such a kick out of!

A post shared by Ilene Godofsky Moreno (@thecolorfulkitchen) on May 4, 2018 at 9:32am PDT

The House

In other news, we bought a house! After 7 years and almost as many apartments in Brooklyn, we’re leaving our beloved borough for a small town in New Jersey. Ross and I never thought we were suburb people, and we always assumed we’d move upstate to the Hudson Valley and grow tomatoes when we tired of the city, but in reality we’re not cut out for farm life either, and now that I’m in my 30’s, having easy access to spin class and Whole Foods are major priorities.

The town we picked is only 30 minutes away from Manhattan by train, so Ross can still commute to work and I can continue to enjoy my favorite thing about NYC: the ever-growing plethora of vegan restaurants!

I’m most excited to finally have a kitchen that I can truly make my own. I cannot wait to share more about my dream kitchen with you, but until then, if you need me, I’ll be on Pinterest researching spice racks and cutlery organizers.

The First Trimester, The Second Time Around

Just like my first pregnancy, the first trimester was ROUGH. From weeks 7-11, I had 24/7 morning sickness, which consisted of non-stop nausea, feeling dizzy and weak all the time, and many, many food aversions.

I’m going to write up a more detailed account of how I dealt with morning sickness, which I’ll share later on for all the mamas-to-be out there, but for now, I’ll just say even though it seemed like feeling ill-at-all-times would never end, it did! Now that I’m at week 13, my morning sickness is about 90% gone (I still feel a little nauseous at night), but my energy hasn’t fully returned. My doctor said that most women start feeling dramatically better around week 14, so I’m hoping my energy will continue to come back in the coming weeks.

There were two major differences I noticed between this pregnancy and when I pregnant with Baby V. The first is that I started showing SO much sooner. Like practically right away. With Baby V, I started seeing hints of a bump around week 16 and didn’t start wearing maternity pants until week 20 or so. This time around, by week 10 my regular pants felt tight, and by week 11 I was back in my maternity gear. Even though it feels like I already have a huge bump, it’s still at the “did she gain some weight?” phase where it looks less like I’m pregnant, and more like I’ve been having too much pizza and beer.

The second major difference is that I’ve been seriously hungry from the get-go. When I had morning sickness during my first pregnancy, I could hardly stomach anything other than dry toast, and I ended up losing weight during those first months. This time, even though I felt sick to my stomach, my appetite never went away. Even though the sight of most foods (basically all fruit and vegetables) made me feel extra ill, I craved all the plain and salty (especially plain + salty) things. Waffles, pancakes, vegetable broth, avocados, hummus, vegan cream cheese, plain tofu scramble and plain pasta with olive oil were all foods that didn’t make me feel worse. As you can see- not a color in sight!

This very, very boring combination was often dinner for me. A plain veggie burger, a pickle and a scoop of hummus. Oy vey!

Going Forward

Now that I’m feeling more like functional person, I’ve been working really hard to make up for missed time and testing tons of recipes for book #2. I’ve also been trying to get out of the house and do special activities with Baby V since we spent so many days hanging out at home when I didn’t feel well enough to go out. And we’re moving this weekend! Packing with a toddler on the team is a new kind of challenge, but we’re really excited to get settled in the new house this weekend.

I’ll continue to keep you updated on all the food-related matters of pregnancy, and will be sharing a more detailed post about dealing with morning sickness soon. Thanks for sharing this journey with us!