It's That Time of Year Again...

....the time of year I complain about how bad it sucks to live in the desert during the fall.





I'm officially depressed.


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17 & 18 Weeks

I've had a couple of people from home ask about the "baby bump" so I am going to try to post "the bump" as often as I can remember.  We are trying to take a picture every week.  We started at 17 weeks so we will see how it goes.  Also, just for my documentation, I felt the baby move for the first time on Sept. 2, 2010!  I wasn't sure if it was the baby or gas but it kept happening and has definitely gotten stronger in the past weeks! :)  And as you will see I started "poking out" A LOT between 17 weeks and 18 weeks!

17 Weeks!!

18 Weeks!!

Austria - Part II

After our Saturday day trip to Salzburg we were pretty worn out (especially me)!  So Sunday we slept in and did a little more city exploring on Sunday afternoon.   We ate at a cute little pizza bistro for lunch and then toured St. Stephen's Cathedral.

Katie and I eating pizza al fresco.

St. Stephen's Cathedral.  The architecture was unbelievable!!!

Unbelievable detail in St. Stephen's.

Just an extra little tidbit about St. Stephen's Cathedral:  For forty years, many years ago, any person that died in Vienna was buried in St. Stephen's catacombs.  Katie and I didn't see the catacombs (it cost extra) but we heard about "rooms of bones."  It so happens that I found this picture on the internet, which looks unbelievably similar to the picture that Travis (mentioned in previous post) took with his cell phone.  Evidently the stench got so bad that they had to quit holding church there for a while.  The church still holds services there today and it just blows my mind that people attend a church that has dead people in it..... A LOT of dead of people.

After St. Stephen's we wandered around Vienna even more and came across an awesome shopping center.  Unfortunately, because it was Sunday, everything was closed so we decided to go back on Tuesday.  Late Sunday we walked through a tunnel, then through an archway and stumble upon this:

We learned from our tour book that this where the president lives and this building also houses the Austrian National Library.

Sunday evening I was, again, pretty pooped so I decided to go to bed relatively early and Katie went out with several other State Farm agents.

Monday, the travel agency that planned the trip for all of the State Farm agents organized trip to a small town outside of Vienna called Melk.   In Melk we took a tour of a HUGE monastery that is still active.

Monastery in Melk.  Again, the architecture was breathtaking!

After the tour of the monastery we went on a dinner cruise on the Danube River.  I have to say that this was probably the highlight of the trip for me....just floating down the river and coming across castle ruins, tiny towns with vineyards and even a palace!  

A view of the Danube from the monastery.

Castle ruins.

A quaint little town with vineyards on the hill.

Katie and I cruising on the top of the boat.

A huge palace on top of the hill.

Tuesday was our last day in Austria.  We got up fairly early and went back to the shopping area that was closed on Sunday.  We hadn't done much souvenir shopping so that was our main goal for Tuesday morning.  I am not much a souvenir person so I decided I wanted a Christmas ornament....something that I knew I would use and would be a reminder, every year, of my trip.  Katie and I found a cute little Christmas shop and I picked out a "Christopher Radko-esque" ornament of St. Stephen's Cathedral, which is very much a symbol of Vienna.  I also found a wooden wind-up carousel that played "The Blue Danube" for the baby's room since the baby traveled with me to Austria! :)

After shopping we went to The Belvedere.  It was at one time a palace in Vienna but they have since turned it into an art gallery.  This was also a highlight for me because I had know idea we would get to see original paintings by Rembrandt, Renoir and Van Gogh!  It was awesome.  The main attraction of the Belvedere is the Klimt display.  Klimt was famous for the painting called "The Kiss".  Klimt's art is very much representative of Austria.

I found this picture on the internet.  I didn't get many good shots of The Belvedere because it was just SO big!

I did take this picture.  This is a picture of the grounds on the opposite side of The Belvedere that is pictured above.  The grounds were gorgeous!

Unique statue on the front of The Belvedere.

Tuesday evening we went out to a nice dinner with Stephanie, Kirk, Travis and Pat.  It was a great way to end a fabulous trip!

Wednesday morning we were up early to catch our bus to the airport and thus began a VERY long day of traveling.  I think after all was said and done with traveling home, I was up for over 24 hours and I had to get up and go to work the next day....NOT FUN!  And I think I cried when I saw Preston in the airport because I was just so. tired.

Like I said before, this trip was absolutely amazing....definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me and I will never be able to truly thank Katie for her generosity!  Katie - maybe when we are old and retired we can do this again! :)

Austria - Part I

I'm not sure really how to start this post.  There is so much to write about, so many pictures and so little time and space.  So I have decided to split it up into two posts so hopefully it won't be so overwhelming for you and me!

I had an awesome time in Austria with Katie.  I will never be able to fully express how appreciative I am that Katie invited me on this trip.  Not only was it a unbelievable just being in Europe, but getting to spend a week of quality time with Katie was great.

After an extremely cold, 10 hour flight, with a several hour layover in Houston.  Katie and I finally made it to Vienna around 8:00pm Thursday evening Austria time.  We were very tired with greasy hair so we checked in, unpacked, took showers, ordered room service and went to bed.

Friday morning we were suppose to go on a bus tour of the city but due to a slight case of jet lag we opted to sleep in and explore the city ourselves that afternoon.  We had a blast getting familiar with the area surrounding our hotel.  We shopped, tried our first Austrian cuisine and walked through beautiful parks.

This was the park that was right across the street from our hotel.  It was gorgeous!!

That gold statue is a statue of Mozart as a young child.

This guy was playing as we strolled through the park....it was very picturesque!

Friday evening we met up for dinner with Katie's friend Travis and his friend Pat.  Travis is also a State Farm agent.  Let me just say that dinner with Travis and Pat was a real treat....I don't think I stopped laughing the entire time!

Katie and Travis on our way to dinner.

On Saturday we got up early and took a bus trip to Salzburg.  We were both still pretty tired/jet lagged so we slept a good a bit of the bus ride but it was very cool getting to see the Austrian countryside.  It is absolutely beautiful!!  Once we arrived in Salzburg, our tour guide pointed us in the direction of some tourist hotspots and we took off walking.  We ate at one of the oldest restaurants in Salzburg.  At the restaurant we met up with Katie's good friend Stephanie and her husband Kirk.  Here are some highlights of what we saw in Salzburg:

The garden where "Do Re Mi" from The Sound of Music was filmed.

A fountain from the same garden.  I believe the Von Trapp children skipped around this fountain in the movie.

We breezed by Mozart's home.

This is "The Fortress."  It was built into the mountain and was really a city within the city.  You could easily get lost in this place!

Katie and I at the top of "The Fortress" with a hint  of the Swiss Alps in the background.

After touring through "The Fortress" it was time for us to head back to the bus.  The bus ride back to Austria was HOT and we were all very tired from walking all over Salzburg.  Plus our tour guide played the entire soundtrack of The Sound of Music on the ride back.   That was fun at first but others thought it necessary to show off their singing abilities and me, Katie, Stephanie and Kirk got slightly annoyed.  Needless to say, we were happy to get back to the hotel.  I took a nap the minute we got back (don't forget....I was just 8 weeks pregnant so not only was I "first trimester tired" but I just walked ALL OVER Salzburg).  Katie and I decided that this was another good night for a shower and room service, followed by a movie on my laptop since only two channels on the television were in English.  Stay tuned for Part II!!

Widget Alert!

I added a pregnancy countdown to the blog!  So now my plethora of readers can keep up with the pregnancy progress!  It's going to be fun to watch the ticker countdown!

Don't miss the pregnancy post below!!

And I love exclamation points!! :)

Itty Bitty Wumpydump

So, as promised, here is the pregnancy post!

As I mentioned in the previous post, we found out in June that I was pregnant.  I guess you could say we were sort of trying.  I had been off birth control for a month because I had a skin condition come up called melasma, which is a side effect of birth control.  I had even gone to a lower dosage of estrogen in hopes that my skin would clear up but that didn't help.  So I decided just to be done with birth control all together.  Once I made the decision to get off birth control Preston and I decided to officially start trying to get pregnant once I got back from Austria and that we would just "be careful" until then.  As Mrs. Libby would say, "famous last words."  I had one period off of birth control and was pregnant the next month.

The day I missed my period I honestly didn't think much about it.  I knew that I was suppose to start but since I had just gotten off birth control I knew there was a possibility that everything wouldn't be like clockwork as before.  Saturday, Sunday and Monday came and went...nothing.  I remember telling Preston Monday morning that if I was pregnant I would be surprised because I didn't have any other symptons, besides the missed period, that pointed to pregnancy.  I told him I felt normal, no sickness...nothing.  Again, famous last words.  Monday afternoon I started feeling strange.  My tune changed completely.  The rest of week I told Preston, "If I'm not pregnant then something weird is going on."

Preston was out of town that week.  He was in Tempe from Sunday until Thursday evening for work and he pretty much demanded that I was not to take a pregnancy test until he was there.  So Thursday, on my way home from work, I stopped at Target and picked up two pregnancy tests.  The minute he got home I went straight to the bathroom, followed all of the instructions and as Preston and I stood in our powder room, me checking the test every few seconds, I watched as a "yes" popped up on the digital screen.  I turned and grinned at Preston and he said, "What does it say?!!"  I told him it said yes and in true Preston form, being completely silly in such a surreal moment he asked me, "'Yes' we are pregnant or 'yes' we aren't pregnant?!?!"  We both started laughing!  I guess that is a pretty valid question!  I took one more test for good measure (which was positive) and then we went back to our regular evening routine of dinner and watching tv.  That night, whenever there was a pause in our conversation or a commercial came on, we would grin at each other and say things like, "We're gonna have a baby" or he would say to me "You're pregnant."

The following week the morning sickness set it. I never actually got sick but was just nauseous all the time.  Looking back on it, I had it easy but during the thick of it, it sucked and I was a total wuss about the whole thing.  I also had some anxiety that accompanied the morning sickness.  Mainly I was anxious about my trip to Austria with Katie.  I am a worrier by nature so I was going through all of the "what ifs" in head.  Thankfully the morning sickness eased up and was pretty much nonexistant by the time I left for Austria.

I had my first doctor's appointment with a nurse practitioner before I left for Austria to verify that I was indeed pregnant.  My second doctor's appointment was after I returned from Austria.  I had a sonogram at this appointment and we got to see Itty Bitty Wumpydump.  I will never forget looking over at Preston when the nurse first brought the image up of the baby.  As he looked at the screen he had, what I like to call, his "sh$t eatin' grin" on and for those of you that know Preston well...you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about!  The third and fourth appointments we just met with the doctor and got to hear the heartbeat.  The heartbeat was much stronger at the second appointment and we could hear little sounds that were actually the baby moving.  Our next appointment is in about three weeks and we will get to find out the sex of the baby!  We both can't wait!  We have been sort of taking a poll and the majority thinks that it is going to be a girl.  Preston, Mr. Markel and Nana are the only ones, so far, that think it is going to be a boy. 

People keep asking me how I am feeling and honestly I am just feeling fat.  I am fifteen weeks pregnant (sixteen weeks on Saturday), through the first trimester and down to one pair of pants and one pair of shorts.  I am pretty sure there is a bit of a baby bump there but I have never had a flat stomach and there has been a pooch there since about sixth grade!  I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks though....finding out what the baby is and starting to feel the first flutters of movement.  And of course registering and decorating a nursery! :)

So that brings us up-to-date on the baby front.  Sorry for such the long post but I really want to try to document all of this as much as possible so just bear with me!  For those of you interested, stay tuned because I am sure there are going to many baby posts to come! :)

Ketchup and Cornbread

Well I know I have been a VERY bad blogger. Needless to say, I have a lot of catching up to do especially since the last time I posted which was in May. So I am just going to cut to the chase so we can get to the good stuff.

In May:
Mr. Markel came to visit for Memorial Day weekend.  He and Preston had a blast playing golf two days in a row at a VERY nice resort.  I worked the days that they played golf but I did grace them with my presence for lunch at the resort.....somebody has to earn the money to feed Preston's golfing habit! :)  We missed Mrs. Libby though.  She was suppose to come out with Mr. Markel but was recovering from a "fun" trip to Belize. :)  Fortunately, we are getting to make up for lost time right now!  As I type this (at work...shhhhh don't tell anybody), she is out our house giving Preston a cooking lesson in cornbread.  I can't wait to go home!! :)

We also said goodbye to the Bulmer family at the end of May.  I can't even begin describe how much Preston and I both love this family!  Before they moved, it had gotten to the point where it was just a given that we were going to eat pizza with them on Sunday evening.  Oh the amount of pizza we consumed with the Bulmers.....!  They moved to Florida, which is not too far from home so I know, before too long, that a "meet in the middle" trip will HAVE to occur! 

In June:
Oh sweet June!  This was the month that I found out I was pregnant!  Do you like how I just threw that into the mix?  Don't worry....I have a post solely dedicated to that entire subject matter in the pipeline.  That is all I am going to say about that right now.  Yep, I'm just going to leave you hanging like that.

In July:
Katie Bell invited me to go on a once-in-a-liftime trip (for me) to Austria.  We left June 30th and arrived back in the states on July 7th.  We had a full week in Austria and it seriously was an amazing trip.  Again, I am working on an Austria post because, let's be honest, a trip to Europe definitely deserves it's own post accompanied by pictures.  And if you are putting two and two together, I did travel to Europe in my first trimester.  So again, that's all I'm going to say about that right now.  Aren't you loving the cliff hangers?

After my trip to Austria, my mom and grandmother came out to visit the following week.  I wasn't able to take off from work, seeing how I had just returned from Austria so it felt like a very quick trip but we had a blast!  I LOVED having Nana here and I felt so blessed that she made the long journey out here.  Because of her trip out here, I officially gained and still hold the title of "favorite grandchild."  And yes, this was acknowledged by the other cousins!  Not only did she make the long trek just to see ME but this was the first time she had flown since my grandfather passed away three years ago.  Seriously, who can argue with that cold, hard evidence!

At the end of July I took a quick, two day trip to Holland, Michigan for work.  It definitely was a work trip with a little fun thrown in but I was VERY glad to get home. 

Phew!!  July was a busy month!

So that pretty much brings us up to date.  Things in August have slowed down a bit and we are back to our daily grind....well...as "daily" as it can be with the whole pregnancy thing thrown into the mix.

Ok, I have officially wasted enough time at work.  Time to go home and eat some cornbread!