I Heart Long Island

Last weekend we ventured up to Long Island, New York with Casey's parents to visit family. We must have brought the Texas heat with us because it was H-O-T up there. Here's a run down of the week:

Baby Page's first flight, Thursday, July 21st:


Dinner at the Snapper Inn on the bay on Thursday evening:


Putting our feet in the icy cold water at Jones Beach on Friday (which was also my birthday):


Fishing with the family on Saturday:



which was Baby Page's first boat ride


Thursday night we went to The Beachtree Cafe for dinner followed by a walk around East Islip to get some Italian Ice:


On Sunday there was a BBQ at Aunt Lorie and Uncle Ed's house which wouldn't have been complete without an all out Badminton Battle and some Bocce:



Can't wait to take Baby Page up to Long Island next year!

Photoshop

I really love photography. I really want to learn Photoshop so I can really edit photos, but darn is it expensive! This is something I want to save up for and work toward. This is my way of keeping myself accountable. :)

Week 18

Oops just realized I never posted this one!

Pregnancy Stats:

How Far Along: 18 weeks (and a couple of days)

Size of baby: Baby Page is the size of a sweet potato. Meanwhile my uterus is the size of a cantaloupe - GOO!!!!

Total Weight Gain: 2 lbs

Gender: Hopefully will be our Christmas surprise!

Movement: Oh yeah! Loving the fluttery feelings. I keep telling people it feels like when you take a goldfish out of the fish bowl and it flops around in your hand. Awesome, but kind of creepy too!

Sleep: I've been having AWFUL nightmares... I mean awful. Nothing seriously scary, just always stressful. I wake up stressed and upset about them all night long and every time I go back to sleep it's the same dream, I just pick up where I left off. UGH!! I just want a peaceful night of sleep like old times. I don't even mind getting up to go pee all the time, just want to have better dreams.

What I miss: Beer. Yep.... beer.

Cravings: Chocolate milk (speaking of... haven't had a glass in a few hours...) & Chile Limon Lay's Chips.

Symptoms: Trouble breathing lately, everything feels all squished up in my abdomen and my normal daily hiccups are in overdrive! I'm talking 8-10 times a day.

Maternity Clothes: Just got two new maternity dresses and a cute short sleeve wrap cardi. Love!

Best Moment this week: Finally feeling like I'm expecting a baby. I've felt pregnant the entire time (trust me, I've had like EVERY symptom possible), but just this week with the consistent movement in my belly and finally wanting to nest I feel like a mama. Yay!

Reason #4,827

Why I love my husband:

Resolution Check In

Remember those New Year's Resolutions we all SWORE we would really do this year? Well as I was looking back on my blog entries this year I came upon my NYE post and decided to check in with my 2011 Resolutions. So how am I doing? Let's see...

1. I will run my first half marathon. I am already working toward this - I signed up for the Austin Zooma half!

I actually did this! Despite a few challenges that I had to overcome (last minute planning, friend cancelling on me and me having to run it alone, being PREGNANT and not knowing it while running the race) I actually did this. Am I proud of myself? HELL YEAH! I actually can't wait to start running again and training for my next race after this baby is born. Something I look forward to being selfish about - getting my run back.

2. I will be more diligent.... in everything!

Actually, yeah I have been more diligent. Thanks to my handy dandy notebook that I have open constantly, I have really done a good job in writing stuff down and following through.

3. I will paint more, draw more, take more photos, dress up more, cook more, bake more, read more, and generally DO more with my life. A

Paint: A little.
Draw: Not so much.
Take more photos: Trying!
Dress up More: Sometimes, still working on this.
Cooking & Baking: Eek... I've been slacking. Can't wait for Fall - I always cook more in the Fall.
Read more: Getting there... since I found out I was pregnant my main reading material has been (you guessed it) pregnancy/baby books.

4. This year, we WILL travel more.

• St. Lucia (maybe) for our honeymoon in March - make that Hawaii and CHECK!
• New York (again) to visit family - Just got back from Long Island - CHECK!
  
• California (for Casey's work) - This trip has been postponed indefinitely (not our choice)
  
• Colorado for a family vacation - Was scheduled for the weekend before December 6th (Casey's 30th Birthday Bash). Baby due December 26th. Yep... this one will have to wait.
  
• New Mexico to visit Christy and Nick - Nope - Christy is pregnant too! They are also in the process of moving to Wisconsin, so this won't be happening.
  
• On a cruise for Leigh Anne's bachelorette party - Does me cruising to her Galveston Bachelorette party in my SUV count?
  
• Possibly Indiana or Missouri to check out campuses if Casey decides to go to Seminary. - Casey decided that Seminary wasn't right for him so this is a no as well.

All I can say is ... well... life happens! This pregnancy has changed eeeeeverything. Including our travel schedule.

5. I will get back into shape.

I get a free pass on this one - I WAS getting into much better shape (training, etc) and then BOOM! Pregnant. I will just carry this one over to next year since I will be working off baby weight then. The good news? I've only gained 1 lb with this pregnancy so far (according to the doctor) and I'm almost halfway through the pregnancy. Whoo hoo!


So... maybe I should get back to work on these resolutions?

Mommy's Sweet Little Baby

Am I talking about this beautiful life that I'm carrying inside my body right now?

Not this time...

This time I'm talking about my "sweet little baby Riley". Casey's and my first pup and first love. Right now I am sitting on the couch waiting for my mom to wake up so we can go run errands and get lunch and Mr. Riley is curled up on me sleeping and making the sweetest little sounds.



If a dog is making my heart smile this much, how on Earth am I going to deal with the incredible amount of love we will surely have for our new baby? So far in life I've said, "Nothing feels better than a warm puppy snuggling on you". I hope after the baby comes there will still be time for some of this sweet snuggling. I love this puppy so much!

Girls Week!

Last week was full of fun lunches and dinners with my girls and ended with the perfect bachelorette party weekend for my best friend Leigh Anne. Here's the run down:

Monday: Lunch with my favorite K-team girls!

On Monday Jackie, Megan, Megan's daughter Finley, Liz, and I met up at Cheeburger Cheeburger. I am slightly addicted to that place now. It was so fun to catch up with these girls and although I'm SUPER excited about teaching 3rd grade next year I will definitely miss getting to spend so much time with them. Megan had to leave early to pick up Avery from VBS but here's a picture of the remaining three of us.
Monday night was Girls Night at my house! I made one of my favorite dishes- fish and shrimp tacos! Here are all the girls after a riveting game of Cranium.


Tuesday: Lunch with my old work buddies from Elliott Electric.

Oh how I miss these girls! Megan, Adriane, and I because great friends when we all three worked at Elliott. At first we weren't super close, but I wore them down and we've been close ever since. We try to get together for lunch or dinner every couple of months and they make me laugh so much. I love spending time with them! Bonus: Megan is also pregnant and 2 months ahead of me. In fact, it was at her wedding when I first got the "I think I might really be pregnant" feeling. The next day I had a positive pregnancy test! Sadly, we forgot to get a picture of the three of us! :( Next time...

Wednesday: Sara Baker comes in town!

Somehow we got no pictures of this either. BUT - we did watch some Harry Potter and hang out. I love me some Sara Baker - aka: the other Sara, aka: my imaginary friend, aka: my other personality. :)

Thursday: Preparing for Galveston!

Thursday Sara Baker and I spent the day getting ready for Galveston and finally Leigh Anne and Morgan arrived so we could head downtown to go to Costco with Krystin, Kristyn, and Katie Mayes!

After an eventful trip to Costco we finally headed to the beach house. We hung out and played the Game of Things and went to bed sometime around 3am <--- waaaaaaay past my bedtime as a pregnant lady. Little did I know that this would be a trend for the next 3 days.


Friday: Spa Day!

On Friday morning we got up and headed to the Spa at the Hotel Galvez where we relaxed, got pedicures, massages, and facials. It was so nice to relax with friends and get pampered. No pictures from the spa though because nobody wanted to be seen without makeup lol.

Friday night girls started trickling in from Dallas, Nacogdoches, and Houston and we headed to the Sand Bar, a little restaurant and bar in the neighborhood where the beach house was. I guess I'm not used to the bar scene (especially sober) because it's quite different when you're pregnant. We had a good time none the less and headed back to the house to hang out on the porch until 3am again.

Saturday: Beach Day!

On Saturday a few of us girls got up early and went to get groceries so I could make breakfast tacos for everyone. My friends have been calling me "Mommy Sarah" long before I got pregnant because I'm always the one cooking for everyone. I guess it's my nurturing nature? Breakfast tacos were a hit! After eating we headed to the beach to hang out in the sand. Kristen Keal and I were the only ones who took advantage of the boogie boards and we both caught a wave!

Here are some more pictures from hanging out on the beach:

Why am I wearing lipstick on the beach you might ask? Well I used my favorite Mac lipstain the night before and frankly after scrubbing my lips for 10 minutes I gave up and just applied more so I wouldn't look diseased.

Saturday night we went out in the Strand and had a blast dancing the night away with each other. What a fun group of girls! I am thinking this beach trip thing needs to become a yearly event. So thankful for great friends and good times!

16 weeks!

I'm already 4 months pregnant? Whaaaaaaaaat? The baby bump is growing and I'm feeling better and better each day. I am, on the other hand, having some crazy stuff happen to my body. Normally I get the hiccups every day. Yes, every day for my entire life (according to my parents even before I was born) I have got at least one hiccup every day. Now, I get them about 10 times a day. Sometimes it's just a single hiccup, sometimes they are the really deep ones that hurt and last for an hour or so. On the list of other weird things, I have to burp a million times a day (ewww gross!), I get headaches all the time, I'm either super sleepy or super hyper (no in between), and I have to move positions constantly when I'm laying down or my back hurts like crazy. Still having crazy cravings and super picky about what I want to eat. Currently on a cereal binge and also peanut butter sandwiches on wheat bread. Unfortunately also on my cravings list: every fast food restaurant known to man. Normally I never eat fast food (unless you consider Subway fast food) so this has been a change for me. We have an appointment with Dr. DenHartog on Thursday morning so hopefully another sonogram picture coming soon. For now, here's me and Baby P at 16 weeks. :)

A little bigger than last time.

There's a baby in there!

Pool Puppies

This afternoon I took sweet Riley and Zac to my friend's house to go swimming. Riley absolutely loves to swim and hardly gets to go swimming now because we don't live near the big dog park with the bone shaped pool he so dearly loved anymore. I was hoping Zac would be interested in swimming too since he's never been, but alas... he just sat in the shade behind the bushes the entire time.
My friend Krystal and I spent about an hour straight throwing the ball in the pool for Riley so he could run and jump in and bring the ball back. I swear this dog could do this for hours. Unfortunately, Riley was having so much fun that he really hurt his paws and didn't even seem to notice. Krystal finally noticed that his back foot was bleeding a little and upon further inspection I saw that he had worn ALL of his back nails down to the quick (a couple were bleeding) and he had rubbed his toe pads raw on a few of his toes as well. Poor puppy!! I made him sit out the rest of the time and rest but he was not happy. He kept pacing the fence and barking for me to let him back in the pool. When we finally left he limped to the car and I had to lift him so he could get in. He has been passed out in the same spot since we got home. Zac on the other hand is of course fine and seems to be worried about his big brother. He keeps nuzzling Riley and laying near him. Our dogs are so flipping adorable. Here are some pictures from Dog's Day Out.

Krystal and I

4th of July & Pancakes

Happy Independence Day!!

Yesterday was Independence Day and I woke up with one thing and one thing only on my mind. Not America, not my freedom... no.... that one thing was.....Pancakes. I had to have them. I never want pancakes, but yesterday morning I could not stop thinking about them. I got up and looked in the pantry and *GASP* there was no Bisquik. This is probably because I make pancakes about once a year. Luckily the internet is my BFF and I quickly found an easy recipe and my first time pancakes from scratch turned out wonderfully! The batter made way to much so I made the dogs some extras and made one "MEGA pancake" for Casey to use as a frisbee for the dogs.

Behold MEGA PANCAKE!!!!

BOW to MEGA PANCAKE!!

After "Pancake Mania" we rearranged the guest rooms to consolidate into one room so we will have room in the nursery.

Yesterday afternoon we headed to Chris & Jessica's for their 4th of July block party. Normally we have a 4th of July party at our house, but this year it was nice to have a break. Here is a pic of Casey, myself, and the bump. :)

Nursery: Phase 1

And the color for the nursery is.......... GREY!

I know what you are thinking. Grey/Gray??? For a nursery?? WHY?!!? Aren't nurseries supposed to be painted pastel colors and have cartoon characters in them? For me... no. I want something chic, functional, and a color on which bright colors will pop. Grey is my favorite "color" so it makes perfect sense to me. (Cue Counting Crows jokes... and yes I do feel so symbolic)

On Saturday we had our wonderful friends over to help paint the nursery and to hang out and BBQ. I am SO thankful that everyone helped us out and it's such a relief to have such a major part of the nursery finished this early. Here are some pictures:

Casey already annoyed at me taking pictures.

Chris working hard.

Graham, Amanda, and Mike taking an ice cream cake break.

Nursery: Before

Here are some before pictures of what will be Baby P's nursery. Excuse the mess, it's a mixture of teaching stuff, extra comforters, art supplies, and me cleaning a closet out to start organizing.