A Bahamian Babymoon!

(Originally written 10/08/12)

What an amazing feeling to take a completely spontaneous vacation!  I mean, I think I was just as excited about the spontaneity of the trip as I was about actually going ON the trip.  I've been trying to convince my husband to take me on a spontaneous trip to Great Wolf Lodge since it was built.  (I'm a dork, I know) But this trip blew my idea out of the water!  This was our conversation.

Husband:  "Ya want to go on a cruise next week?"
Me:  "Uh pfff, shhaaa whhaaa......UM YEAH!!!!"

Four days later, we left for vacation.  Neither of us had ever been on a cruise before so we didn't know what to expect.  To say the least, it was interesting.....And it took some getting used to, but after we got settled and into the groove of "cruising" we really enjoyed ourselves.

Sunday - Fly to Miami

Monday - We flew all night and couldn't board the ship until the afternoon.  So what else do you do when you're running on no sleep and in an unfamiliar city?  You take a nap in your rental car, in a Denny's parking lot, under a sketchy overpass, of course.  Since it was Miami it was hot and muggy and the car ended up getting to 100+ degrees but the nap was sooo worth it.  Once we woke up, all sweaty and gross, we headed to the port to board our ship (Then we cruised all afternoon and night to our first destination).

Downtown Miami

Tuesday - Grand Bahama - We woke up to a complete down pour so all excursions were cancelled.  We're no stranger to rain so we decided to walk around anyways.  By noon, it was sunny so we chilled by the pool for the afternoon with tropical drinks in hand (virgin for me).  It was nice to relax all day.

A rainy day but we had to get off the boat because we aren't lame

This was the extent of what we saw on the first island.  Kind of a bust. 

Ian pretending to ignore my picture taking

Wednesday - Nausauu at The Atlantis Resort.  SO. MUCH. FUN!  We couldn't do any of the water rides so we explored the aquariums and hung out on the beach.  I would love to go back and stay there sometime.  The resort is huge so we didn't get to see everything.

Notice anything strange here?

Check out Ian's face.  He HATES when I take pictures of just him.  HAHA

Our buddy "Pete".   He was so friendly!

This thing was the size of a car!  He reminded me of the giant Stingray in Finding Nemo that gives all of the other fish a ride. 

Such a beautiful resort!  

Food was free so why not order every dessert on the menu?

Thursday - Great Stirrup Key.  We sat in a water chair for most of the day.  It was heavenly!  Then we swam with Stingrays.  It totally scared the snot out of me at first but it ended up being the highlight of the trip.  It was an amazing experience and one that I would highly recommend!

So relaxed!

The following picture is the least flattering picture of me ever!  But it clearly represents what I was feeling in that exact moment.........

  

Holy Chins! 

Ian wasn't too sure either.........

Then it got better.....This is my buddy "Rigsby".  He kept finding me and swimming right into my arms.  The trainers were amazed and said that the Stingrays don't usually search people out.   Usually you have to lure them in with food.  He must have known I don't like to touch shrimp. 

Our ship

"cruising"....Not sure why my eyes are so squinty....

Friday - Dock in Miami.  As we deboarded the ship, the customs dog showed a great interest in my husband.   The cop got all stiff and let the dog follow him.  For a split second I honestly thought my husband was going to be detained and subject to a cavity search.  Yikes!  That would've been quite the ending to our trip.   Luckily, the dog lost interest and we went on our merry way.  We Spent the day exploring Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.  We road in our first water taxi and took in all the sights.  It was a great way to see the city.

Palm Beach (I think) in Miami.  Right after we got booted from the comfy chairs since we weren't guests of a hotel.  Boo!  What I would have given to have a big pregnant belly.  I totally would have played the "pregnant card" to keep my chair. 

Water Taxi tour of Ft. Lauderdale Inter Coastal Waterways

Not our taxi but our's looked just like it!

Saturday - Headed home.  What a great trip!

Bump Bound - Week 15

(Originally written 10/06/12)

My belly popped out!  I finally have a baby bump!  It happened over night….Literally!  (Pic to come week 16, I promise!) We had a wedding to attend so I grabbed the one and only dress that still zips (that I wore last week to the reunion) and it barely zipped this week.  I showed up at the wedding and my best friend was like “Is that the same dress that you wore last week?”  When I said yes, she was like “Whoa, I couldn’t tell last week but you’re totally showing now!”  Yay!!!!!

Sick?  Its been getting better but the occasional smell still triggers the nausea and gagging.  Mainly, cigarettes and perfume….And stinky bum pee on the sidewalks downtown but luckily I don’t have to smell that very often.

Cravings?  I still can’t get enough apples.  Aside from those, nothing I can think of.  I’m starting to get my appetite back though.  I even wanted chicken this week.  Dah, that reminds me.  I forgot my KFC in the fridge at home.  I was totally going to have that for lunch today.  I digress…..But yeah, I wanted chicken and mashed potatoes twice this week.  Once homemade and once from KFC.  They both count right?

Maternity Clothes?  Not yet, but its about time.  Unless I’m in stretchy pants and a sweatshirt I’m so uncomfortable in my clothes.  I’ve been rocking the BellaBands but those only do so much.  No one has ever mentioned this but they have a serious design flaw.  They work great….until.....you bend over!  Then the band slides up and the pants slide down.  I’ve mooned several unsuspecting people.  If anyone has some extra maternity clothes that you want to loan out I’d be very appreciative!  Oh I did break down and bought some new undies.  They’re a size bigger than I normally wear….SAD….and full-butts…Double SAD.  But they are SO comfortable so I don’t even care!

Movement?  I don't know.  I think I might have felt a little flutter but I can't be sure.  It only happened once so I'm guessing not yet.

You guys…..I totally scored a new pillow this week!  My migraines have been getting a little better but they are still hanging around.  I tried using one of those contoured neck pillows and it seemed to help.  The problem is that it was a knock-off of a Tempurpedic pillow and it was too big for my neck.  The other problem is that Tempurpedic pillows are like $100 dollars and I wasn’t about to spend that on a pillow that I wasn’t even sure would work for me……So, randomly I asked one of my brokers if he knew of a place to get discounted T-Pillows.  He knows weird/random things so I thought it was worth a shot.  Sure enough, he had one that he bought but didn’t like.   It was just collecting dust in his room so he gave it me!  He GAVE me a Tempurpedic neck pillow and saved me $100 dollars!   That totally made my week!

Bump Bound - Week 14

(Originally written 09/29/12)

Second Trimester!!!

Weight gain?  I thought I had gained a lot of weight up until this point.   My scale at home had put me at about 5 extra lbs since we found out.  I was just sure that at our appointment a few weeks ago the doctor was going to tell me to stop eating.  I mean, nothing fits!  And not just around my stomach.  However, I was pleasantly surprised when the doctor told me I’d only put on 1 pound.  Holler!!!!  Our scale at home is a lot meaner than the doctor’s scale.  I’m supposed to gain a pound a week from here on out though……Yikes!  Secretly, I'm looking forward to it because that means I 'm closer to having a bump!

Sleep?  When I first started typing I was going to say that I’ve been sleeping great, but then I remembered.  I sleep great until about 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning and then BAM!  I wake up with that stupid Chris Brown “Don’t Wake Me Up” song in my head.  WTH?!?! It happens EVERY night!  I haven’t even heard that song in over a month.  It’s totally annoying but I can’t help but laugh at the irony of the song lyrics as I sit there wide awake bee-bopping to the music in my head.   Once I finally fall back to sleep, I sleep great the rest of the night.  Until…..I wake up with daily migraines.   Its awful!  I’ve had three massages and two adjustments in the past three weeks and they help for about a day or so and then the headaches are back.  I sure hope these go away soon!  Maybe a new pillow will help?  Its worth a shot!

Stretch marks?  Not yet, thankfully!  I’m still actually waiting for my belly to pop out.  I’m still in that stage where I look thick and not pregnant.  That’s a fun stage! (insert sarcasm). But wow, talk about itching!  My stomach and chest itch so badly.  And of course, they itch the most when I’m out in public and can’t shouldn't scratch them.  I wish I could say that has stopped me from scratching.

We had our 10 year high school reunion this week. Where did the time go?  It was a lot of fun and we got some great pictures.  It turns out that I only have one dress that still zips.  Its almost time to go shopping.

Just as I thought, we hung out with the people we always hang out with!  Some of the best peeps around!

Someone's had some juice to get loose

Where was I when this was taken?  Oh yeah, I was going pee for the trillionth time. 

What's going on here?  I'll have to ask....

No. Words.

Eagles for Life!

Two VERY exciting things happened this week!  My husband got a great new job and got to tell the Richard  of a boss to shove it!  Bahahaha!  It was fantastic!  Then, since he didn’t start his new job until 10/8, he decided on a whim to book us a cruise to the Bahamas.  So he booked our cruise on Thursday and we headed out on Sunday.  What a great Babymoon!!! Pics and details to come in a separate post.

Bump Bound - Week 13

(Originally written 09/22/12)

The oddest side effect/symptom of pregnancy has to be……..Eye goobers!   At first I thought it was a fluke and that I was just having a few extra eye goobers here and there due to the weather changes.  Now I’ve come to realize that it’s got to be from the pregnancy.  I am an eye goober factory!  Literally, every time I look in the mirror I have eye goobers and mascara goop in the corner of my eyes.  SO. Weird!  It makes me think of that Friends episode where Chandler is dating Rachel’s boss and breaks up with her because she always has mascara goop in the corner of her eyes.  I’m totally that girl! LOL!

We told our dinner club friends this week!  Most everyone in the group has had a baby so they decided to line up all of the babies on the couch for a group picture.   We thought this would be the perfect opportunity to tell everyone.  My husband ran up and set our ultrasound picture in the midst of the babies and said “do you guys mind if our kid is in the picture too?”  Everyone was really caught off guard and it took a minute for people to realize what was happening.  It was great!  Like usual, I started crying. 

I made a big change this week.  I am now brunette again!  With the pregnancy I decided that I wanted something lower maintenance and I think overall, it was a good change.  If nothing else, it will be nice not to have to do my hair every two months. 

Highlight of the week?  (Actually everything has been a highlight this week.  This has been a great week) We received our first baby gifts!  It was SO exciting!  I love getting presents but its amazing how excited I am for presents that aren’t even for me.  Its actually better than getting presents for myself.

Auntie Meg sent the little grasshopper his/her first book – “Goodnight Moon” along with the stuffed bunny that is the star of the book.  So cute!  And Jessica gave him/her first PJ sleep sacks.  Again, so cute!  Hopefully the baby will like to sleep and get a lot of use out of them.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed since I’m a professional sleeper. 

Random thought of the week:  Don’t you hate opening yogurt?  Every time I pull the top off a yogurt, the pressure sends a yogurt bubble blurping out the side and onto my pants.  Ugh! I need to invent a new yogurt lid.  

A Weekend in San Fran & Sonoma

(Originally written 09/20/12)

Last weekend, my husband was in one of his best friends' weddings in Sonoma.  That meant a weekend trip to California for this couple.  Dang it!  Since the wedding wasn't until Sunday we decided to take an extra day and spend Friday tooling around San Francisco.  Neither of us had ever been there before so we were ready for an adventure.  Once we checked into our hotel our first stop was IN-N-OUT Burger.  As we sat in the restaurant enjoying our burgers and milkshakes (mmmm) a girl walked in and started dumpster diving right next to us.....IN THE RESTAURANT.  This was a first for us!  My husband had his back to her so he couldn't see what was going on.  Of course, this was something he must see so I urged him to turn around and gawk with me.  Right as he turns to look, the girl turns so her backside is facing us.  "GASP!!!"  His mouth drops to the floor and says "why'd you have me look at that?  That's disgusting!"  I sat there frozen, looking onward at the train wreck that was in front of me.  The girl had a giant hole in the ass of her pants and wasn't wearing underwear.  We thought we were just getting burgers.  Not burgers and a show.  It was hilarious!

We were both pleasantly surprised by San Francisco.  We didn't really know what to expect and we both thought it would be like a glorified Portland, but it sooo wasn't.  It was such a neat city!  Since we were only there for a day, we'd love to go back someday and do more exploring.

Oh and Sonoma was cool too but we were there for a wedding so we didn't do much exploring.  Plus, its all about wine and I couldn't drink so......We'll definitely have to go again! 

Although it looks like it was in a parking garage, it wasn't

We had to go to the store of giant candy! So exciting!

I was in heaven!

The Golden Gate Bridge in all its glory!

The view from Hyde Pier

Ghirardelli Square - Mmmm such great hot cocoa!

Alcatraz

He hates when I make him take solo pictures. Lol

When in San Fran, do as they do on Full House...You know you just started singing the theme song

Posing for the caricature I made him get - He's such a good sport!

My turn

It took the guy 10 minutes.  Pretty accurate depiction I'd say

Genius idea!

The creative sourdough store

Darci - They actually have an entire store for you!

More of the bridge

Headed to Sonoma

A beautiful winery in Sonoma..........But they were cooking ham in the gift shop that didn't smell so good........sooooo.....I may have left them a souvenir

Ian and the Groom

Deer at the rehearsal dinner

The groom and his groomsmen