Third Trimester Here We Are!!!

"Welcome to the third trimester-the period of leg cramps, hemorroids, varicose veins, itchy skin, aches and pains, swelling, heartburn, idigestion, and....the arrival of your baby!" :)

This is the saying they had posted on my pregnancy week by week page for this week. Well, I already get the leg cramps in the middle of the night(really not fun at all) I can attest to the itchy skin syndrom and a few aches and pains in my lower back but the rest I have yet to experience. Not really saying I am looking foward to the other items listed except of course the arrival of my baby!! Most people ask if I am getting nervous, my response is, no I am more excited for her arrival! I can't wait to meet the little bugger who lets me know she is in my belly all day long by exercising her freedom to move about. Sometimes I wonder if I am not incubating a little gymnast inside my belly:) It is fun though to feel her move about.

Well the picture above is me at 28 weeks in the nursery. We did a lady bug/butter fly theme. I hope she likes her room:)

We are Having Aaaa.....

... a little girl:) here she is all cuddled up in my tummy:)

She is a very active little girl in mommy's tummy,

always turning and kicking and movin' around!

This is her picture at 23weeks.

Register for This Not That!!

So my husband and I took a gander at the whole baby registering thing and well lets just say we had no clue what we were doing in the baby basics section. How do you know which bottle to use, will you really need a wipe warmer, what a about a bottle warmer, and a nuke holder....really?!!? how do you know what items you need to first start out with? do you register for items for when they get older? do you go with pampers or huggies? These were just a few of the tons of questions/thoughts we stumbled upon. They really should hire an experienced mom to have on hand to go through the store with you so you know which items you will for sure use and which ones you will be like "why did I register for this" :) So like any other rookie parents we just started clicking! We did have fun but it was overwhelming to say the least. I should almost have my "mom" friends go look at our registry when it is done and tell me which items to keep on and which items to let go.

Cruisin' the Caribbean

We boarded the Celebrity Century a few weeks ago to cruise around the Caribbean! It was one of the best trips ever. We didn't even get sea sick!!! We ported from Miami and then headed over to Ochios Rios Jamaica. The we set sail on a catamaran ride to go snorkeling along one of the coral reefs and then sailed over to Dunns River Falls(when I get the water camera pictures back I will post them) We climbed up through the 600ft waterfall!! Pretty crazy stuff, and yes we did make it up to the top of the waterfall. It was way cool. The next day we headed over to Grand Cayman. We were able to take a tour of the island in 3 hours. It was a pretty neat little island. We toured a pirates cave, stopped at the Tortuga Rum factory and tried out some tasty rum cake, we stopped off to see what they call "blow holes" on the ocean line...

You can see in the picture how the water comes up through a hole that was made by the ocean on the shore line. We were lucky that the waves were rushing in that day to come up through the holes to get some cool pictures. After touring the island we headed into the main part of the island where there were shops and shops galore of watches and jewelry. You would probably see one or two tourist shops literally. Grand Cayman is a tax free island, so I guess they are big on their watches/jewelry shops. After Grand Cayman it was back to sea. We spent over all 2 days at sea and had great weather both days to hang out by the pool all day! They had other activities for you to do as well. We saw a show every night after dinner. Some were boardway shoes, and a few were comedians. Which were both very funny and clean to say the least(except one had an "adult only" show which wasn't very clean) Each night we had a sit down dinner with a group of people from the ship. We had a fun table and our server was a blast!! The last night we had dinner on our own and watched the sun go down...

For our first time crusin' we were very impressed and had a great time!!

160 Beats

I got to hear my heartbeat today and then... I heard our little baby's heartbeat! It was the funnest thing to hear ever!! So yes my husband and I will be parents come this September:) It has been fun journey so far. We have this book called Pregnancy Week by Week(I forget author) but each week it tells you how your baby is growing and what parts it is developing. And all along I thought when the sperm met the egg a little baby was formed already....who knew the baby started out as a blob per say and formed day by day to become little one, the things you learn:) I haven't had much of the morning sickness thing, just a little nautious in the morning but goes away. But I do know when I get hungry...I am HUNGRY!! lets just say we have had a few incidents with not feeding me in a timely manner:) I did go out with my mom last weekend and bought my first pair of prego pants and a few shirts. I do have to say I am not to excited about the style of pregnancy lines. the outfits I have seen makes you look like you are back in the 80's or 70's at times...so any suggestions of good places to find cute prego summer shirts is welcomed!! Well here is a picture of our little one at 8 weeks(our dr is great she figured she wouldn't hear the heartbeat then so she did an ultra sound for us) **if you look close enough you can see it's one arm and little eyes**

Cancer is SEW DONE! block 1

Well, here is my first try at making a block for a quilt. I joined one of the groups called black w/ a pop of bright and this is what I came up with for my first block. You can't tell by the picture but a few of the seams are off centered and if it wasn't for my dear friend Drea my block probably would've looked more like a triangle or something!! I have a few more to do so we will see how I do on those ones. Here is Drea and I with our first blocks for SEW Done.

Sew Done & Book Club for 2010

Well 2010 is bring new adventures for me. My friend Drea got me started on this new project (anyone who likes to try their hand at sewing can join) it is called Cancer is Sew Done http://cancersewdone.ning.com/ This group sews together all these different blocks to come up with one quilt to go towards rasing funds in the fight of cancer. I am not a huge quilter by the way so this means any rookie sewer could do this. I have yet to make a block yet for this but am looking foward to trying my hand at this block making for the quilts. I will try and post pictures when I get blocks done:) I can't say mine will look like the above but I can sure try:) I not only joined this group to try my hand at block making but with recent family members finding out that they have a form of cancer, it has really hit home a little more for me.




Another adventure I am trying out is a new book club I just joined. We call ourselves the Lovely Ladies Book Club:) We have already made it through our first book called the "Lovely Bones" Overall it was a very good book(I wont go into detail incase you want to read this one), if you can make it through the first chapter or so it is a real inspiring story. I guess they are coming out with a movie on it, so that would be fun to see. I have always wanted to join a book club so we will see how this year goes with it.

One Very Hot Pan+Cooking Wine=No Good For Shorty:0

Last night, I was cooking my usual italian chicken , I dip the chicken in italian spices and after the chicken is cooked almost all the way through I pour some white wine over it to make a nummy sauce...well this time around, I almost burnt our entire kitchen to the ground!! yes my first kitchen fire:( I didn't realize the pan/stove was soooo hot and as the wine went into the pan... the flames went up!! kinda like, ok exactly like when you see on the cooking shows how the pan flames up when they add wine to it, only my flame kept going and going. so I quickly pulled the pan from the stove and the fire in the air kept going...and yes LUCKILY it died out and no damage was done to the kitchen, except for the poor door that hangs above microwave...just "slightly" singed on the bottom of the door...

Fun Picking Apples

I visited the Apple Orchard a few times this month, once on a trip with my sister,and the other time was with the in-laws. I do have to say there is a story to tell in the picture with me in the tree but ... lets just say I don't think we were suppose to be picking from that tree!!! I do wish though we had a longer fall this year, and luckily we were able to enjoy the few days we did have of it. I made a few apple pies with the apples we picked, and attempted to make apple butter, but if you ask me, it tastes like applesauce. Oh well, here is to the few days of Fall that we actaully had here in Minnesota...

2nd Hand Smoke

Frustrated, Upset, Sad, Scared, Not Understanding, Compassion, Forgiveness.

These are feelings I have been going through this week with the finding of my grandma being diagnosed with lung cancer yet she has never smoked a day in her life. I want to be frustrated and upset with my family for continuely smoking in her house for years and years, and wonder does it even phase them that they were a factor in my grandma (their mom) getting this disease? Sad to know that this had to happen to her, scared in wondering or knowing this could happen to me even. How long does she have to live, How much suffering will she have to go through before it completely takes over her? Not to be able to be there for her and hear about how much pain she is in, and how sad she is about all of this. Finding forgiveness towards my aunts, uncles who didn't have a care in the world where they lit up.

You see those commercials about second hand smoke and how it can take one's life so easily, but it doesn't truly set in on what they are talking about it until it happens to someone so close to you. I love you grandma, and I pray that God will give you peace and fill you with His comfort during this time.

FuelPerks

Ok, I just have to say how much of a fan I am of the Rainbow Foods Fuel Perks deal they have going on...I just saved over .50cents a gallon on gas last night!! I was pretty excited about that, only having to pay $2.06 for gas. I know alot of us drive around family cars so they can take a pretty penny on filling up, but if you are dorky like me and after swiping your rewards card to see how much they are taking off the price, filling up my Acadia isn't so bad after all:)

Our 1 Year!

"The One I laugh With, Live For, Dream With, love."

-author unknown

Wow, we made it to the big ONE Year mark of our marriage. I honestly have to say it has been one of the funnest years. I know you hear "the first year is always the hardest" and for some it might be, but we must've been blessed cause this last year was pretty fun and exciting! Exciting in the fact to see how God continues to mold us to be the husband and wife that he designed us to be for each other. It has been fun in the sense of learning every little thing about each other, whether is what discovering new habits, working with each other on house projects, being lazy on a Saturday morning having our coffee and playing the Wii ever so often(Mario Kart is our favorite so far), and getting into the word and discussing the meaning of verses and learning from each other. I have to admit, we continue to learn how to push each others buttons a time or two or three or maybe quite a few times:)...but those were the times that we grew that much closer to one another, learning quite quickly not to push that particular button again:) but always remembering to say "I am sorry" and then to let the other know "I forgive you."

Over all this has been a good year, and look foward to the many years that are to come. Thank you to all of our friends and family who we have to look to for encouragment, you all are a true blessing to us.

2 miles and Still nothing

my husband and I have been on this running kick for over a month now...we are running up to 2 miles every day, along with a tummy crunches, and I still haven't seen one inkling of a pound drop off!! I don't get it...we have even changed our diets to be on the more nutritious side, eating more fruits, vegies, salads, etc. Grrrr...I mean I know the weight just doesn't drop like that, but you would think I would start to see some type of results. It is just so hard to continue to work out when no results are in sight...maybe I need to do something more than run my 2 miles and 3 sets of crunches...who knows!! any ideas out there my fellow bloggers?

A Little Dessert in the Morning

I haven't really been one to drink black coffee, I have always been the "fufu" type drinker, like a medium latte with 3 pumps vanilla/3 pumps hazelnut with a little cinnamon sprinkled on top(mmmmm, that first sip tastes like heaven) but then my husband introduced me to flavored creamer! So I thought ok, I'll give it a try....and I love it(not all the flavors but a there are a few)!! The flavor is called Chocolate Eau Claire, just poor a little or a lot of it into your coffee and sip away, it truly tastes devine!

8 Things (past due)

So I started this a few weeks ago and finally had some time to finish:) I know I am a procrastinator!! Enjoy:)


8 things I am looking forward to:

1. going to New York to visit my sister

2. building our new deck.

3. hosting a house warming party.

4. being able to eat the yummy vegitabels from my garden.

5. going camping.

6. drinking Cherry Limeades all summer long.

7. floating out on the water with friends.

8. my one year anniversary this year



8 things I did yesterday:

1. had the Best Cherry Limeade with cheddar bites of course

2. went running with my husband.

3. cleaned the house

4. worked

5. sat by the garden and enjoyed the weather.

6. watered the flowers and yard.

7. texted my sister.

8. watched the begining of the NBA finals...is Kobe Bryant really that cool??



8 things I wish I could do:

1. Learn how to brew my own beer/wine.

2. attend a wine stomping event.

3. be on the Amazing Race.

4. travel across the world.

5. read my boss's mind

6. be able to name a song and who sang it at the same time:)

7. never have to work again.

8. be able to support my "entire" family in these hard times.



8 shows I watch:

1. House

2. CSI-New York

3. Ugle Betty

4. 24

5. Lost

6. Here Comes the Newley Wes

7. Wipe Out

8. The Mentalist



8 favorite fruits:

1. Strawberries

2. Blueberries

3. Raspberries

4. Kiwi

5. Cherries

6. Watermelon

7. Bananas

8. Pineapple(I really could list more)



8 places I'd like to travel to:

1. Spain

2. Upper East Side of the US

3. England

4. Germany

5. Italy (again!)

6. Ireland

7. Greece

8. all of Upper MI



8 places I've lived:

1. Oklahoma

2. Georgia

3. California

4. Wisconsin

5. Missouri

6. Apple Lane

7. Turquoise Trail

8. Blackhawk Rd.



8 people I'm tagging: not sure how to Tag people, but if I could it would be:
Holly/Becky/Jessica(1)/Jackie/Sherri/John/Jessica(2)/Lisa

Timberrrrrr

It is officially the start of Summer Projects to begin! First on the list take down trees in back yard:) I have posted a little video for your entertainment! We still have one more to go, but it was a start. I must say watching your husband up a really tall tree while it is swaying in the end all the while trying to cut it down is just a bit nerve racking. Boyz will be boyz!

We also got our sliding glass door put in a few weeks ago, it makes the dining room look soooo much bigger, it is nice:)

Next on the list is buidling a deck, plant the garden, redo the drive, paint MORE trim for the inside of the house, and replace the steps infront of the house:) Let the Good Times Roll!!

"Can You Keep a Secret"

Secrets from her boyfriend:

I've always thought Connor looks alot like Ken. As in Ken and Barbie.

Secrets she wouldn't share with anyone in the world:

I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is.

Until she spills them to a handsome stranger on the plane.

At least, she thought he was a stranger....

I won't tell you anymore, but this book is absolutely hillarious!!! This book is by the author Sophie Kinsella, she also wrote the "Confessions of a Shopaholic" Series. I find myself laughing out loud at the coffee shop not realizing where I am while reading this book. If you need a good summer read I would check this out.

I have been doing pretty good lately about getting back into reading books. I have come accross a few that had way toooo much drama, the series "Something Borrowed/Something Blue/Baby Proof", I wouldn't suggest them really, I found myself more irriatated than anything after reading them. But I am the type of reader that wants to knows what happens, so this time I just skipped to the last chapter and found out what happens. I couldn't handle all the drama:)

Don't worry I am not becoming a book critic or anything, so I wont be filling my blogs with book commentaries:) just thought I would share this book with you all!!

Moving Up to 4 Doors...

Well, we did it!! Rich and I purchased our first vehicle together:) with 4 doors!! We have been looking for few months now going back and forth over vehicles and after endless hours of researching and going to different dealerships for test drives, it all came down to a new Silver Green Metalic AWD Acadia(I know the picture shows a sliver vehicle, but it is the only one I could find). I have to say its not often you run into a really good salesman. He was very honest with us and helped us find a vehicle within our budget, all the while making sure it had the things we wanted in a vehicle. He also made sure we got every possible rebate and incentive to making the vehicle worth our money.
This will be the first 4 door vehicle either one of us will have owned, we are very excited for it and can't wait to go pick it up tonite!!

Greetings From the Future

I finally got to see what the huge big round golf ball looking like thing was at Epcot last week. It was a lot of fun, oh to be a kig again:)

T-2 days and Counting

In two days I will be laying out on the beaches of Florida:) I have never vacationed there before so I am super excited. There is even a shuttle launch the night we get in, that will be fun to see. I think I am more excited to be in the warm sun and leaving this cold weather behind!! I will post pictures of the trip when I return. Stay warm my friends, and I will be thinking of you all!!