21 and 22 Weeks

Well, not much in the news these days except the weather. We are under a Winter Weather Advisory and my school is cancelled. Gotta love it! So I figure I'd take advantage and post this QUICK update. I had my last doctor's appointment this past Wednesday. It was a really quick general check up. Dr. Draughn said that everything from my ultrasound looked great and how it's supposed to be. We were curious because the tech who did the ultrasound said there is a chance if the radiologist that looks at the ultrasounds is unable to see something he needs to that I would be called back in. But fortunately that wasn't the case. Between my first and third appointments (8 weeks to 15 weeks) I had lost 3 pounds from my start weight. So really I've only gained 3 lbs. from my start weight and 6 lbs. total. But man do I feel like it's more than that. I don't understand how I can be growing and have a human inside of me and only gain a few pounds. But I know it will start to catch up with me during this next "phase". We also heard baby girlie's heart beating away loud and proud. Love it! This is actually the first time I didn't even think to ask what her heart rate was. I just laid there and enjoyed it. I guess I'm getting used to the going to the doctor thing and now I know the gender, so I wasn't as curious. But after the fact I wish I had asked just for my own record keeping. Oh well. There's always my next appointment and the many more to follow. I was just glad to hear a good strong heart beat! Also, it was time for the Dr. to bring up that we should start thinking about which hospital we want to deliver at (which we already know) and who we want to use as a pediatrician (which we already have a general idea of...thanks to friends who have already had to go through all of this!). But it was just crazy that we are starting to talk about those details. My next appointment is the dreaded Gestational Diabetes test. Blah! But that just means we are 4 weeks closer to meeting our baby. Below are pics from the past couple of weeks. I'm actually 23 weeks tomorrow, so those will come later (of course). Well, that's really about it. I'm glad I have the day off so I can meet up with my Mom to help her go over all of Michael's/Emily's wedding stuff and make sure everything is coming together and nothing has been overlooked. Only 2 more weeks till the "Big Day". Will have a lot more to post about within the next couple of weeks. Until then...

21 Weeks

22 Weeks

Bath time is fun!

I took these pictures a little while ago and never got around to posting them until now! Keep scrolling down...Ainsley's 9 month post is below!

Half Way

So, of course this post was not posted on time! Oh well, that's the way it goes with me. I figure better late than never, right? We are officially half way to meeting our baby girl! I remember when a couple of my friends, who are pregnant, posted the same thing on their blogs when I was still in my first trimester. I commented that I could not believe they are already half way there and I could not imagine being at that point. Well, here I am! I have a feeling this half of the pregnancy will (hopefully in some ways) feel as if it goes by faster than the first half. The first half seemed to mostly involve keeping the pregnancy a secret for 12 weeks, exciting doctors appointments, being worried all of the time that there's something wrong, not actually feeling pregnant, getting the flu, not wanting to eat ANYTHING, ultrasounds, and wondering for 4 and 1/2 months what the gender is. Things continue to get better, but then again I haven't gotten into the 3rd trimester yet and I've been told things about that part of pregnancy that I would not mind skipping. This is an exciting time because now that we actually know what we are having I can start working on the nursery and buying things (which is not good and is very difficult not to do when there are SO many adorable baby girl clothes that I just cannot resist!)

I finally felt baby girl move/kick for the first time on Jan. 4th. B and I were laying in bed watching a movie and I had been determined to feel her move all weekend! So I was laying with my hand on my stomach and after a while felt her move a couple of times. I had Brantley put his hand where I had felt her and wait and a couple of minutes later he felt her too! This lasted a few more minutes. It was small movements, but it was such an amazing thing to experience together. I have been feeling her every couple of days now (mainly at night when I have gotten settled down), but it still hasn't been anything major. I'm ready to be able to feel her move/kick more often and a little stronger which could be anytime now. This is one of the most wonderful things about being pregnant! Also, this past week people have started saying, "Congratulations!" and asking when I'm due without having been told I'm pregnant. That is a good feeling and, to me, a big milestone. I actually look pregnant now!

Here is my 20 week baby bump. Tomorrow I will be 21 weeks, so maybe someday I will get around to posting again. At the rate I've been going you can expect most of my posts to be about a week behind. Until next time...

20 weeks (and a few days)

Celebrating 5 Years in San Antonio

The hubby and I celebrated 5 years of marriage this past New Years day! I cannot believe it has been 5 years. We decided it was a good time to go on a anniversary/"babymoon" trip. We have been wanting to go to San Antonio for a while. As a matter of fact, we had planned on going this past July with two of our best friends, but things didn't work out so we went to Chicago instead. Brantley has always told me I would really like S.A. and seeing the Riverwalk. So this is where we decided to go! We asked our friends again if they would like to join us and they were able to! We were so excited because we have been saying for 4 years (they have been married 4 years now) that we wanted to go on a vacation together. Until a couple of weeks ago it still hadn't happened. It worked out well because they live in Fort Worth and were able to drive up to meet us, pick us up from the airport, and drive us around when we needed a car. Thanks guys! Also, we were so glad they were able to go because they've been there with B and I since the beginning of our relationship, we enjoy being with them so much and miss getting to see them as often as we have in the past, and also it was our last chance pre-baby to get to finally go on a trip together. Plus, it's always fun to bring in the New Year with close friends!

After picking us up from the airport Thursday afternoon, Neal and Cindy already had a place picked out that they wanted us to go for lunch. It was yummy!

First of many picture stops. This is my first walk down the Riverwalk after we checked into the hotel. Our hotel was on the Riverwalk but not in the "busy" restaurant/shops section of it. But it was nice because it was a short walk to all of those things.

Neal and Cindy

More views of the river and its surroundings...

Is that the mall??? (Mine and Cindy's favorite place to go.)

Middle of the Rivercenter Mall

Tex-Mex!!! (enough said)

Eating at Casa Rio for dinner on New Year's Eve. We expected it to be really busy and have a long wait, but it wasn't. I think we were just part of the early bird/old people crowd. It was delicious no matter what time it was! We love us some Tex-Mex.

They do Riverwalk boat tours and we thought it would be fun to go on one. My pictures from the actual tour did not turn out very well b/c it was dark. Boy was it cold! Luckily Cindy had an extra sweater with her that we both attempted to bundle up under.

The boys also think it's cold.

1 out of the 10 picture attempts where they actually smiled normal.

There's a stage on the river with stadium type seating on the other side of the water. There was some type of talent show going on (we think) that night and these girls were dancing as we floated by.

New Years Eve

San Antonio puts on a "Celebrate San Antonio" festival every New Years Eve. We decided to go check it out since our hotel was only 2 blocks away and we knew there would be fireworks. Boy was that somewhat of a mistake! One of those been there done that and won't do it again things.

A picture of the park during the day before the festival when it was so much more peaceful.

The park (above) New Years Eve night...not so peaceful.

Happy 2010!!!
The top of the tower below had 2009 lit up at the top and when it turned midnight it started flashing 2010 as the fireworks began. The four of us started heading back towards our hotel before the fireworks ended. It seemed to be that the other 200,00 people were wanting to walk in the opposite direction. We ended up getting separated from Neal and Cindy. A minute later Brantley noticed a circle clearing out around us and instantly we were in the midst of a girl fight that broke out! Brantley turned me away as fast as he could and turned his back to the girls (who were at his feet on the ground punching each other) and he got nudged in the back by one of the girls in the process. It didn't do any good to attempt to get out of there and go the opposite direction (as I was trying to do) because all the other crazy people were trying to see the fight. Anyways, we FINALLY made it back to the hotel where Neal and Cindy were waiting on us in the lobby. It ends up they were on the other side of the circle and didn't see the girl fight by us. They said there was a guy fight going on next to them. All of this to say, we are officially celebrating like old folks on New Years Eve from now on...meaning a quiet night at home with friends. I guess that's what we will do anyways considering we will have a baby to take care of in the years to come!

Happy Anniversary and midnight kiss!

On Friday we headed to see Shamu at Sea World.
(My 19 week pic)

Shamu is so talented! Haha

The boys love their roller coasters! Cindy isn't a huge fan of roller coasters, so I had someone to hang out with while the boys rode them.

The Sea Lion Show
This was my favorite! It was actually pretty funny and really cute.

The adorable otter that would run out really fast to pick up any props they needed to get off of the stage.

Fat Walrus

Cindy, Shamu Santa, and Me

Ewww!!! (I would not touch these)

Feeding the dolphins

The boys riding the coaster

The Polar Express in 3-D (or a 15 minute nap)

We sat and watched these little guys forever! They are so entertaining yet do absolutely nothing all at the same time.

A really fabulous Italian dinner Friday night

The Alamo

This is something you have to see if you go to San Antonio just to say you've been. Nothing too exciting (especially considering what I saw on my trip to Italy last March), but it's just one of those things you do as a tourist here. Also, I kinda felt like I should go check it out because I am related to Davy Crockett who fought and died here. So that was really the only interesting thing about it to me. It's so much smaller than I had imagined.

Daaavy...Daaavy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier...

Overall it was a great trip! I cannot believe it's over. It's weird to think that was our last trip as a family of 2! I told Brantley on the plane ride home that we probably would not be going on a flight again for atleast a year. That's weird to both of us because we are used to going somewhere where we have to fly at least once a year if not more. But I'm kinda glad because I have gotten tired of the whole airport/flying thing. It was also nice to get to enjoy being with close friends! After a two week break of being busy and traveling it's back to the "real world." I love having breaks to look forward to because it makes the work weeks go by faster, but now I don't have another break until the BIG break in May! I hope I can make it that long! Haha. Check back soon for my 20 week update (late of course).