Last Big Trip...for a While!

Last Wednesday Joey and I headed out on our last big trip before the baby is born.  My best friend Alex got married in Galveston so we drove the 7-8 hours to get there, stopping overnight along the way.  We decided to take the scenic route and drove along the Gulf Coast, it was beautiful, can't tell all that much from the picture though!  We also got to ride on a ferry which was very exciting especially for Joey.  The only ferry  he had ever been on was the one you take to get to a restaurant he took me to on our 4th date, you are on the ferry for all of 5 minutes and most of that is loading and unloading.  This ferry was HUGE and took a ton of cars, it was super fun, but I did get slightly sea-sick!

Once in Galveston we had a little bit of free time before meeting up with our friends so we decided to go grab some lunch.  We passed the Rainforest Cafe and since neither of us had ever been we decided to go.  It was really really neat inside, we really felt like we were in a rainforest, but after we sat for a few minutes something weird started happening to me.  All I can contribute it to is that my senses got overloaded.  We were sitting next to the waterfall with monkeys hanging over our head and elephants against the wall going off every few minutes and fishtanks all around us while we were sitting under a canopy of all kinds of leaves and trees.  As the baby has gotten bigger I keep saying it just feels a little "crowded!" So I guess feeling crowded and then being overloaded with all that activity, I finally looked at Joey and said, "I want to leave."  We got up and walked out and I burst into tears!  It was very strange and I felt bad that Joey had to miss out, but we found a nice quiet little restaurant and enjoyed our lunch!  

We had a wonderful time hanging out with our friends, and Joey even got to go fishing for the first time in salt-water and caught his first salt-water fish.  I asked him to hold it up so that I could take a better picture and he responded, "I'm not holding it up, that joker has teeth!"  So this is the best shot I could get!

After the wedding we hit the road right away again so we could make it Mississippi before too late.  We did get to stop and eat at one of my favorite restaurants...Pei Wei!  We got to my parents house and crashed, we had been in 4 different beds in 4 different nights and then to top it off, I got some kind of cold and was not feeling all that well.  We rested on Sunday and then Monday Joey, my dad and I went for an adventure.  Joey had never been to New Orleans and since we were only a little over an hour away we went into the city for a little sight seeing tour. 

My dad lived in New Orleans a few different times in his life so he knows his way around pretty good, though he did manage to get us lost in one particular area where I was not sure we would make it out alive!  We went to the French Quarter to enjoy some beignets and coffee at Cafe Du Monde (I think I spelled that right???)  Here is Joey and my dad, I had warned Joey not to wear black because he would be wearing the remnants of powdered sugar all day!

On our way home from New Orleans we had to make a stop.  The last time we were home in MS Joey begged me to take him to the new space center exhibit.  I would have taken him except we were getting ready for a baby shower and didn't have time.  I promised the next time we were there we would go and so we did.  Joey was just like a little kid he was so excited, as is obvious from these pictures!

My Little Astronaut!

My Big Astronaut!

Obviously we had a lot of fun, and it was really informative too.  Plus we got a tour of the NASA site where they test the engines for the space shuttles, it was HUGE!!

And I got some space ice cream, I love that stuff! 

After that we had another day off before hitting the road again.  We drove to Alabama to pick up my little sister to head to our family's annual Thanksgiving in the woods.  My mom's side of the family all gets together for 5 days and rents cabins at a State Park.  This year was a little hard for me because I was already so tired from our travels, the beds aren't all that great and that whole "crowded" feeling is a bit magnified when 30-40 people get together in one place to eat a meal together.  Plus Joey left early to go be with his family for a few days and I missed him!  The longer we are together the more I want to be with him, and the more I miss him when we are apart.  I'm threatening to start going with him when he has his school classes that require him to spend a night away each month! 

On the Road Again

Wow, these last few weeks have been jammed packed!  We had a house guest for a week and then went home to Mississippi for a shower and then had another guest staying with us for a few days and then we left for Texas because my best friend was getting married and then to Mississippi for Thanksgiving.  But we have had a great time being with friends and family.

It was so special to be there at my best friend's wedding in Galveston this past weekend.  Alex has a very special place in my life.  We were roommates for a semester at Bible school a few years ago.  However, we weren't that close then, friends, but not that close.  It wouldn't be until a few years later that we would really connect much deeper and form what I know will be a life long friendship.  We found ourselves both back in Dallas, me working at the Bible school and her pursuing further education at another university.  Our friendship quickly grew as we locked arms and walked together as we both sought to live whole-hearted lives for our Savior. 

Even after I got married and moved to Louisiana, we remained close and she came to see me and Joey a few times a year.   I have watched her give herself, her life and her future completely into the Lord's hands and have watched as she has waited for Him to bring the man that God would have for her.  Last New Year's she came for a visit and I told Joey the night that she left that it would not be long until the Lord brought Alex's husband into her life.  It was obvious God was working in her life and preparing her for that special one.  That very next month, there he was!   It is obvious to all who know them that the Lord is the one who brought Mario and Alex together.  Their lives as single adults, as a dating couple and now as married adults shines brightly for the Lord.  I know the Lord has great things in store for them and I can't wait to see!  Here are a few pictures from the wedding and just of me and Alex.  I forgot my camera so I don't have many...ok I had several fun pictures to put up, but these are the only 3 I could get to load so that's it for now!

This was us at Alex's 25th Birthday.  She loves Mexican food so we made a taco cake, it was so fun, it's all cake/cookie/candy!

                                                          Me and Joey at the wedding!

                                                          Me and the beautiful bride!

Seeing Lina

Who is Lina????  Well the story goes like this....Joey's family is huge on nicknames, we nicknamed the baby Figlet until we had a name, when we found it was a girl the name was changed to Figlina, and so Joey just shortened it to Lina.  He calls her that exclusively right now, I have asked him several times if that is what wants to name the baby (Lina, not Figlina) because he seems to really like it.  He told me no, but that is what he is gonna call her no matter what we name her.  That will of course morph untold number of other nicknames.  One day I'll do a whole post on Nacho's nicknames....there are TONS! 

Anyway, yesterday I had a follow up ultrasound because when we had the first one my placenta was not in a good spot and so they wanted to see if it had moved, and indeed it had!  Now we just need Lina to move, the hard spot I have been feeling low that I thought was her head, is apparently her booty!  This is not a good way to have a baby, so we are praying she will move before delivery, which the Dr. said is a 97% chance. 

The ultrasound wasn't as easy to see this time as last time because she has grown so much and she doesn't have as much room to move around and apparently she really didn't want to wake up!  We had a hard time getting some good shots of her, though the tech was able to get the measurements she needed in order to see her growth.  She is doing well, she is a 59% on the growth scale, which means she's 9% bigger than average.  She is weighing in 10 days heavy!  None of that is any reason to be concerned, but then they said something no mother who is getting herself ready for labor wants to hear...her head is a little big!   Not abnormally big or again anything to be concerned about.  We also asked the lady if she could check and make sure she was still a girl, because we have heard numerous stories of people finding out then being wrong and well, I have A LOT of pink stuff!!

It's neat getting to see her and everything, but I can't wait til she is here, sometimes it still just doesn't seem real, even as I was lying on the table getting the ultrasound and I knew it was my belly she was taking pictures of inside, it still didn't seem possible that it was OUR child we were looking at.  I don't think the reality will hit me until she is in my arms. 

Here are some of the pictures we got, like I said, it was hard to get a good face shot.  She was pretty content to just hang out with her face smooshed up against my insides!

My mom in law says that this one she is lifting her hand to praise the Lord!

Some of My Favorite People

When I was growing up my sister and I did not get along all that well.  In our old house there was a hole in each of our doors, one from being kicked and one from being hit.  It's not so much that we were violent, because we weren't really, but it was more about us being dramatic.  Sometimes our drama just got a little excessive!  However, as time went on and we became teenagers, our relationship changed and we became a lot closer.  And so for more than a decade we have been great friends and super close.  We have a wonderful mother and enjoy spending sister/mom time together whenever we can get in the same state.  I just wanted to share a few pictures of us from the shower.  (I totally meant to take the red-eye out, but forgot!)

                                 Listening to baby!  My sister is one of the funniest people I know!

     
My sister was upset that in all the pictures we were taking her pink pants were never displayed, so we took one of just the pants!

Mom and oldest daughter ( I most definitely have inherited her platinum silver hair, it began long ago!)

                                                       Isn't my sister sooo pretty!!!

                                                         We couldn't leave Nacho out!

My sister has always been the animal lover, so I got major points when we finally decided to get a dog and extra bonus points for rescuing one!  She loves Nacho too!

                                                           Two of my favorite people!

Finally a Chance to Update!

If I didn't have a counter on here, then I wouldn't think that anyone is actually reading this blog, but the numbers indicate that some of you find my life interesting enough to come visit!  And I must say that I am glad that you do, because I really enjoy writing on here.  I like being able to share what is going on with other people in my life who aren't around day to to day, but I also like having an archive of this journey through pregnancy.  When Joey and I were dating we lived 300 miles apart for the entire relationship and so we did A LOT of emailing back and forth.  I bound the emails into a book for our one year dating anniversary and it's something we will always have to look back on and remember the journey we took.  This is something I can one day show my daughter and show her how excited her mom, dad and others were about her arrival.

This past weekend I got to go home to Mississippi for my first baby shower.  Since there is a possibility that I will not be home again until after the baby is born, we had to schedule it kind of early.  My mom and sister and I got together a few days before to make some fun stuff for the shower. I was soooo excited about some of the fun stuff I was seeing on Pinterest and wanted to try!!!

Here are some of the projects we made:

This is a diaper motorcycle.  The wheels are Pampers, the handlebars and wheel connectors are supposed to be receiving blankets (but we improvised and used material we already had) the headlight is a baby bottle covered in a baby washcloth and the handles are baby socks.  It was super easy and super fun to make, and turned out super cute with Minnie sitting on top!

Sitting in front of Minnie are some diaper babies in one of my cloth diapers.  The diaper babies are just rolled up Pampers with baby washcloths wrapped around them and baby socks on the top for hats.  Then we either glued eyes on them or drew them on.  Again, super easy and super cute.  Both of these would make great gifts for a shower because they are not only cute, but all the pieces are functional too!

We also made a diaper cake out of Pampers and I made a tutu for the bottom.

For the food table I saw this idea on Pinterest and really wanted to try it, it was a little difficult to find a watermelon in November though!

Isn't that soooo cute!  My mom packed me a to go box when we were leaving to come back to LA and I found the orange with the pacifier in the box, it was just too cute to throw away! 

I am working on a rag rug and decided I wanted to make a wreath to go with it.  The wreath was much easier than the rug and that is why it is finished already!  (in case you weren't sure, the babies colors are black and white with hot pink!)  My friend who was visiting from New Hampshire helped me make this!

Yet another idea I got off of Pinterest: Hershey's

We decided on cupcakes instead of doing a regular cake, much easier to serve and a lot more fun to make.  I bought a kit that had all those fun tips you use for decorating.  My mom and my sister made the cupcakes, the filling for the inside and the icing.  I helped a little with the decorating, this was SO much fun and I am looking forward to my next chance to bake some cute cupcakes!

Can you tell we had a lot of fun?!?!?!  Like I have said before, having a daughter has brought out the craftiness in me even more!

Here are a few more pictures of the decorations and just the shower:

This tree has become our Christmas tree for the last several years, so it just made sense to decorate it once again for this special occasion.

We used my cloth diapers as decorations too!  They were quite the topic of conversation!

This is me, my sister and our childhood friend trying out one of my gifts: the Moby wrap.

 Let's just say, it was hilarious and that I will be needing to practice this a good bit before I get the hang of it down!

 All my gifts!

I have a few more pictures to share, but I think that is enough for tonight, I'll add some more soon!

It's Been a While

Sorry for the lack of posts the last few weeks.  We have had a busy week at work putting on a 5k and then now I'm home in Mississippi for a baby shower.  My mom, sister and I have been busy making all kinds of super cute shower things!  I promise to post some pictures soon and some other posts of what's been going on.  Thanks for all of you who have been reading and checking in!