Picnic at Foxborrow Park!

This afternoon we met several couples from our ABF for a Picnic at Foxborrow Park. Thank you to our good friends the Ogles for setting up an afternoon of pizza and sweet desserts (Kristin the brownies were delicious), a few rounds of bocce ball, and cuddles with the babies.

 

It is so fun to see how this group has multiplied with all of the sweet little faces crawling (almost walking) around. And I do have to say... they have some pretty great parents too:) The attendees included the Ogles, Goodings, Kennedy's, Zoutendams, Hjertsteds, Cooks, Davis', and a visit from the Crumley's and of course us.

 

But we cannot forget about this sweet face, Miss Alice. What a sweet girl and perfectly mannered with the babes. Myla, our only lady of the group (3 more are on the way) enjoyed watching and playing with the sweet boys of our group. Her pink ball was sure a hit with the gents! I love that the kiddos are all around the same age. They will have so much fun as they grow.

The afternoon could not have been more perfect! The weather was fantastic and I actually got a little sun.

The guys enjoyed a few games of bocce ball as well as got some frisbee and football throwing in as well. It was definitely a  fun afternoon with sweet friends. I sure look forward to our next picnic in the park!

Fant Dinner and Birthday Fun!

Saturday night we had an opportunity to get together with our sweet Fant friends for dinner and a belated birthday celebration. It is always so much fun to see these friends as they are just like family to us. Plus I do love getting to love on their 3 little ones and spend time with our friends.

 

For dinner the boys made grilled steak, green beans, rice, and a homemade bean and avacado salsa. It was delicious as always. As I've told them many a time, they are more than welcome to cook for me anytime;) While the boys and this little cutie spent their time at the grill...

 



 

I spent my time cuddling with this little lady, Miss Madelynn, and her twin sister as well as talking baby and catching up with this fabulous mama. Kristin thank you for your wonderful advice and goodies. We sure know our little one is already so loved!!

 



During dinner, Ray was given his birthday gift. Bryson was beyond excited to help participate. As Michael handed over the bag, Bryson yells, "Ray, we got you ties!" Michael's words... "This is why you don't tell a 3 year old what you bought." The whole moment was pretty perfect and priceless. Oh how I love that kid.

After dinner we dinned on dessert pie.

 

From hungry hungry hippo, to baby cuddles, catching up with friends, a delicious dinner, and chatting about all things baby, it was a great Saturday night with our sweet fant Friends.

 

How did you spend your Satuday night? 





17 Week Baby Bump

Number of weeks: 17 weeks

Measurement: right around 17 weeks
Baby Size: According to the Bump, our baby is the size of an onion and weighs approximately 5.9 ounces and is 5.1 inches long.
Interesting Fact: The baby is turning cartilage into bone and growing some extra fat on its bones. My favorite part is feeling our little one move and groove and knowing our sweet baby can hear and start to recognize our voices.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: +4.8
Pregnancy Clothes: I have been absolutely blessed this week and have received several friend's maternity clothes to borrow. This has been wonderful as I am 100% in maternity pants and long skirts these days. I love maternity shirts as they are extra stretchy and longer than my usual ones. I still do wear my shirts from time to time, but oh how I love nice but comfy clothes as my body is sure stretching.
Tiger Stripes: Not due to pregnancy. Not that I have noticed at this time. I'm sure they will be on their way. Thank you Kristin for sending me your extra coco butter. I do have a rather silly story about stretch marks this week though. Ray was talking to baby and noticed three small red stripes on my hips. He was like "Wow those are new." I quickly looked and realized that was where Toby had jumped on me to say hello. I told him it was the dog and he said, "yes probably not the best way to say that next time." It was pretty priceless:)
Sleep: This week I am starting to go to the bathroom between 2-3 times a night. I sleep pretty well. I sleep mostly on my side as tummy sleeping has gotten pretty uncomfortable. I do sleep on two pillows to help with elevation of my head.
How I feel: I have felt pretty good this week. I had only one nosebleed on Monday and pretty good energy throughout the week. This past weekend however, I was out. I probably slept a good 12-14 hours on Friday night alone and napped throughout the day on Saturday.
Most Memorable Moment: This week I spent some really great time with friends that are mamas or soon to be mamas this week. It was great to share stories and receive advice.
Cravings: I don't think my cravings are all that weird if you can really call them cravings. Things that I really enjoy eating right now are pie, cheese, and queso which is cheese but should be in its own food group.
Gender Predictions: Ok, I've decided I need your suggestions. Here are the signs and you can send me your guess:)
- Heart beat between 166-155bpm, nausea in first trimester, sugar and sweet cravings, a nurse friend suggested potential boy parts at 10 weeks, dry skin, ok emotional status (may be different if you ask my husband;) What are you gender predictions?!?!
What I Miss: This week I sure missed some raw cookie dough.
Emotional Moment: It was all about broccoli this week. My husband who was seriously only trying to make a deliciously healthy meal, made broccoli as my veggetable side. Sadly for those who know me I hate broccoli as I really am not a fan of the taste or texture. I had a small meltdown to say the least.
What I look forward to: I cannot wait to find out the gender, set up the nursery, and get some things checked off of our to do lists. This summer will be a perfect time to get ready for baby!

I See Stars!

This past Thursday we were invited to a Stars game by our sweet Duke friends. The Stars took on the Coloumbus Blue Jackets at 7:30 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. It was great to catch up with our friends and enjoy a night of sports and excitement. I will say I did feel so much like an adult when we stayed up until 11:00 on a school/work night. Wow that might actually have made me sound ridiculously sad. Oh well. This preggo lady is happy to make it up past 9 these days. Sadly our Stars lost 1-3, but it was definitely full of good times.

 Thank you to Adam and Stephanie for letting us tag along. We had a blast!

Thanks to my handsome and amazing husband who ended up meeting my craving of Sprite and nachos. Baby knows what it wants.

16 Week Baby Bump

 

Number of weeks: 16

Measurement: right around 16 weeks
Baby Size: According to the Bump, our baby is the size of an avacado. The baby is about 4.6 inches long and weighs approximately 3.5 ounces.
Interesting Fact: The baby is listening to our voice, growing hair, lashes, eye brows, and taste buds.
Heartbeat: 155 bpm
Total Weight Gain/Loss: +3.2
Pregnancy Clothes: I am officially too wide for any of my pants minus one pair of skinny jeans (that happen to be stretchy) I have no clue how this works, but thank goodness for those pair as well as long, stretchy skirts. I can easily wear my tops. I did go out and purchase my first pair of maternity shorts.
Tiger Stripes: Not due to pregnancy. No current stretch marks.
Sleep: This week I am starting to go to the bathroom between 2-3 times a night. I sleep pretty well. I sleep mostly on my side as tummy sleeping has gotten pretty uncomfortable.
Most Memorable Moment: This week, Ray and I enjoyed our 16 week appointment. I always love hearing good news about the baby. Next appointment will be our gender reveal and sonogram at 20 weeks. I cannot wait to find out if our sweet baby will be a little Mr. and Miss.
Cravings: The strangest craving this week was during our salad school lunch and all I wanted was cheese, ranch, and croutons.
Gender Predictions: I have no clue what our sweet baby is. This week, I'll guess girl just to mix things up:)
What I Miss: As always, I miss sweet tea and cherry coke. This was my first week to miss a glass of wine.
Emotional Moment: I was a bit moody this week. The next few weeks of school we have a field trip to the Perot Science Museum, 2 weeks of testing, and conferences. I'm hoping to work on my preggo moodiness;)
What I look forward to: I cannot wait to find out the gender, set up the nursery, and get some things checked off of our to do lists. This summer will be a perfect time to get ready for baby!

11 Year Date-iversary at Tanglewood Resort!

This past weekend, Ray and I celebrated eleven amazing years together at Tanglewood Resort at Lake Texoma. It was a perfect weekend to get away and enjoy two days of exploration and relaxation. 

Friday night we made our way into the town of Pottsboro and ate dinner at Napoli's Italian restaurant, a town favorite. They had delicious homemade rolls with marinara and lots of homemade specialties. I enjoyed a plate of fetticini alfredo and Ray dinned on lobster ravioli. The food was delicioius and a great deal for two.

 

 

After dinner, we were told that the tower at the resort was a must see as it over looked Lake Texoma. On our way to the tower, we had to take a few photos of this beautiful old timey car. One of my least favorite things was that you had to pass the Yacht club, or smokers room. Man did that turn this preggo lady's tummy a time or two. But more importantly... The tower had beautiful sunset views of the lake and was surrounded by wall to wall windows. This was definitely one of my favorite experiences of the trip.

 



We ended our night with a delicious dessert at Barnicles.

The next morning, we explored the resort. We definitely came on a hopping weekend as the Fort Worth Lion's club had also chosen the resort for a meeting. It was definitely a full house, but still lots of fun times.

For breakfast we had enjoyed a buffet in the dinning hall. Talk about cravings, I think I grabbed everything I saw. Don't worries, I didn't eat exactly everything, but baby was sure happy after. I love that I am getting my tastebuds and joy for eating back.  



 

After breakfast, we went for a small walk to explore the resort. At the end we made our way to the pool to relax. A good morning lemonade was delicious! The water was a bit too cool to swim in but the weather was perfect. It was mid 60s and absolutely sunny.

 



 

For lunch we dinned at Barnicles. I had a secret Spa Day and a couples massage planned for later that afternoon. We enjoyed a chicken alfredo pizza and house salads. Yes, I enjoyed relaxing and eating on this trip for sure. After our day at the spa.. can I say absolute perfection, we spent our afternoon relaxing by the pool. It was a perfect afternoon until we had decided to change around our chairs and I smashed my toe I guess if that was the worse thing that happened, I could deal. 

 

prior to toe smashing

 

On our final night, we decided to get some snacks and stay in. Sadly I had been fighting a not so fun cold/cough which quickly turned ugly.  All in all, it was a fun trip filled with good food and good fun. I am thankful for my sweet friend at work who gave us this wonderful opportunity as they are members of Tanglewood and let us come as their guests. I am thankful for my husband and best friend. We have been through a lot these past eleven years, but am thankful for our journey and all that God has blessed us with. I am excited for our next journey as parents and for our next eleven years together.

15 Week Baby Bump

Number of weeks: 15

Measurement: right around 15 weeks
Baby Size: According to the Bump, our baby is the size of a navel orange.The baby is about 4 inches long and weighs approximately 2.5 ounces.
Interesting Fact: The baby is making lots of progress as her joints and limbs are moving now. The baby may even be hiccuping.
Heartbeat: ? bpm
Total Weight Gain/Loss: 2.6 lbs
Pregnancy Clothes: I am officially too wide for any of my pants minus one pair of skinny jeans (that happen to be stretchy) I have no clue how this works, but thank goodness for those pair as well as long, stretchy skirts. I can easily wear my tops. I did go out and purchase my first pair of maternity shorts.
Tiger Stripes: Not due to pregnancy. No current stretch marks.
Sleep: This week I am starting to go to the bathroom about twice a night. I am still currently able to
sleep on my tummy; however, sleeping on my back has made me a bit uncomfortable at times.
How are you feeling: This week I have done surprisingly better. Monday I experienced my first round of dizziness and was overall nauseous most of the day, but all and all, it's been a great week.
Most Memorable Moment: While this has little to do with the baby, it was the most memorable moment that I cannot wait for our baby to be apart of. This Thursday, Ray and I met up with our Heights in Spanish representative, ENGAGE coordinator at the church, and the Perspective ABF ENGAGE representative and did a site visit of the apartment complex we will be serving in late April. As the ENGAGE representatives for our ABF, we are so excited to be serving La Mirada apartment in the Park Central Area. What a perfect reflection of serving our neighbors.
Cravings: I am currently craving lots of sugar filled treats from chocolate milk shakes and other non healthy options.
Gender Predictions: I have had several dreams of little boys lately. Again, I am so thankful for this opportunity to carry our little baby and am excited for either. I just can't wait until the end of May to find out if we are decorating with blue or pink:)
What I Miss: As always, I miss sweet tea and cherry coke.
Emotional Moment: Monday I sent a congratulatory text to my friend, Kristin, and her family
about her sister Stephanie's amazing completion of the Boston Marathon. It wasn't until that late afternoon that I heard about the bombings that went off about 10 minutes after her finish. Thinking of her family and all of those effected by such a terrible and ignorant act of violence. This hit way too close to home. I am so incredibly proud of her amazing accomplishment and so thankful for God's amazing hand of protection.
What I look forward to: I am excited about our 16 week appointment on Wednesday to hear our sweet baby's heart beat. This will be our final appointment before we find out the baby's gender at the end of May.