Peter Piper Pizza

The other night Steve was so kind to take me to my favorite pizza place - Peter Piper Pizza! To kill some time, we played some games and spotted a cute little boy eying the prizes who we gave our tickets to. He was probably the most thankful kid we've ever given tickets to. :)

On our way out, his mom thanked us as well and said that soon we'll be keeping those tickets for our little one. That was the first person to mention something about my pregnant belly! I was wondering how long it would take before people no longer wondered if I was fat or pregnant, ha ha. But I was super excited!

Then she asked our due date and about had a heart attack when she found out, because her boy we gave tickets to was born on April 1st!

Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We spent Thanksgiving in Flagstaff with all of Steve's extended family. It's always so fun to head to the pines and cold weather for a few days and catch up with the fam. We saw a movie Thanksgiving night - 2012. I'll admit, I slept through almost the whole thing! It wasn't the best movie, but I was also sooo tired from the day. :)

Ginger was such a good little girl and got lots of attention from everyone. She loved it! My family took it easy this year - dad, Julie, and Laurie headed out this morning for a weekend hiking the Grand Canyon. That's the one thing that I'll be anxious to do after my pregnancy is hike the Grand Canyon. I'm a native of AZ and have never hiked it! Definitely on the To Do list.

For the remaining of the weekend I have plans to put up the Christmas decorations, cook my first turkey, and of course go to the ASU vs UofA game! I steered clear of any Black Friday shopping - I must be getting old because fighting the crowd to save a few bucks doesn't sound appealing at all!

I hope everyone had a moment to think about all that they're thankful for. For me, it came easy, which is a blessing in itself!

Doctor's Appointment

Yesterday I had another doctor's appointment and all is well! She actually started measuring my uterus with a measuring tape and I was right on track. His heartbeat sounded great! I was given a registration form to fill out for the hospital and a big book of info. Exciting to start getting that stuff! After I asked my millions of questions, I was on my way!

Birthday Celebrations!

This weekend we celebrated Steve's Aunt Terri's birthday in Flagstaff and his cousin Katie's 30th in Los Angeles... all in one weekend! We were on the road a lot, but it was worth it.

Friday late afternoon Steve, Dennis, Joan, & I arrived into Flagstaff and went to Terri's surprise, all-girls birthday party! Boy was she surprised! Props to Uncle Gregg and Megan for putting together such a fun party.

Then, early Saturday morning we hit the road and arrived in LA just in time for Katie's 30th birthday party. Her boyfriend hosted at his beautiful house in West Hollywood. That was a fun time! (Unfortunately I didn't get any pics.) That night after dinner, Joan felt the baby kick for her first time! She was so excited and as always, I was ecstatic that Baby O performed for Grandma. :)

That next morning we met up with the Knight's for brunch, then headed home. Happy birthday to Aunt Terri and Katie!! And thanks to Dennis and Joan for a wonderful weekend away!

Girls Weekend in Palm Springs!

This past weekend we had a girls weekend in Palm Springs, CA! My mom, sisters, and I had the best time together and I believe it was the first time the 4 of us have ever spent a weekend away with only each other.

We stayed at the Desert Springs Marriott, which was lovely and we had plenty to do there. We took a boat ride through the resort, walked around the grounds, spent some time at the Starbucks (moms fav) and had a steak and crab dinner. There was an Ernst & Young conference that weekend, so it was very busy, but that also made it lots of fun. Jay Leno was there Saturday night to talk at the Ernst & Young gala. Too bad we didn't run into him!

Friday night after we got back from dinner, the baby started kicking and my mom & sisters got to feel him kick for the first time! I think I was just as excited as they were!

We spent Saturday shopping at the Cabazon outlets and walked around downtown Palm Springs. We also worked in a pedicure before heading home on Sunday. It was a fun time for sure!

When I got back home, Baby O started kicking a ton and Steve got to feel him for quite awhile. Ever since then, he's been kicking and turning pretty constantly. Nothing in the world seems to matter during the moments I'm feeling him kick. Sometimes I just sit back, close my eyes, and imagine what he's doing inside my womb. I get the biggest,

uncontrollable smile on my face and an overall feeling of peace and calmness. :)

On a side note, Steve was at Dick's Sporting Goods in Gilbert on Friday night when he noticed Chester Bennington, singer of Linkin Park, sitting right next to him trying shoes on! Steve got a picture with him (unfortunately it's blurry) and called me up right away, he was so excited! Glad Steve had some fun this weekend too :)

20 Down, 20 to Go!

Today I'm 20 weeks, which means I'm officially halfway through my pregnancy! As I feel more and more kicks, I'm that much more anxious to meet our little guy. It has become so real compared to the first trimester, when I often wondered if I was really pregnant. :)

We've got lots to do in preparation, and with the holiday's, I'm thinking we won't get started until after the new year.

I've been going to prenatal yoga, which has been amazing! Just talking with other pregnant women during class time has taught me more than any doctor's visit or book I've read (well, almost). And of course, the stretching and strengthening had helped my body and very achy back.

Here's a tidbit about 20 weeks:

Your baby has grown as big as a banana. (Length: about 6 1/2 inches from head to bottom, and 10 inches from head to heel.)

November 5, 2009 Ultrasound

Here's a few pictures from our most recent ultrasound on Nov 5th. The first is showing his two legs and what's in between... a boy! ;) The other is a profile shot - you can see his head, belly, legs, and his right hand waiving near his head. That's our boy!!

Catch up & Milestones

I stopped blogging for a while since I wasn't sure if I was going to continue with this site or not. BUT I am :)

Catch Up:

We had the first trimester screening test done on Sept 18th and the results came back great! What a piece of mind. We got a 25 minute ultrasound and a DVD of the whole thing, along with amazing 4D pictures. The tech also asked if we wanted to know the sex... we said, "yeah... you can tell already?!" TOTALLY not expecting to find out until 18 weeks but excited to find out NOW, she said, "It's a Boy!" WAHOO! Steve wanted a boy more than anything, I wanted a boy because of how bad he did. We shared the news with our friends and on facebook that night.

A few weeks later, I got a nasty cold. After a few days, Steve got it. This was really hard since I didn't take anything for the symptoms. But I toughed it out and within a week I was better and 2 weeks later I was completely back to normal.

Luckily we were both better in time for our PEARL JAM extravaganza!! We went to Hollywood and

saw them 2 nights in a row, then headed to San Diego for another show. It was a great trip and we did all sorts of other fun things on our week vacay. :)

While we were there, I started feeling the baby kick!!!!!! At the time I was unsure, but was almost sure it was quickening. In

hindsight, I'm positive it was him kicking!

A few days after we got home, Rachel & Jansen flew in from NC and stayed with us for 11 days! Kevin flew in a few days after them. We had a great time!

I had my first annual pumpkin carving party on Oct 23rd. That was so fun! I made caramel apples, cookies, cupcakes, and just spent an evening with great friends carving away.

On Oct 25 while we were laying in bed, the baby started kicking really hard! It took me by surprise that I literally jumped. I grabbed Steve's hand in hopes he'd feel it and indeed he did - he felt the baby kick 2 times!!!! It was SO EXCITING!!

2 days later we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary! We went to dinner at Sapporo where we sat next to another couple celebrating 2 years AND the wife was 18 weeks preggers (same as me) and next to them was a couple celebrating 3 years. Weird!

We spent Halloween day at the ASU football game (we won't talk about that loss, ha) and the night handing out candy, imagining how next year we'll have our own little pumpkin. :)

A fews days later I turned 28, and had yet another fun birthday! My mother-in-law took me to Destination Maternity and really spoiled me :) Got TONS of maternity clothes. We

went to dinner at my mom's house where I got more gifts and a yummy homemade lasagna dinner! On my actual bday we took the day off and went shopping - got a Coach baby bag and a prenatal massage. Steve made me breakfast and gave me beautiful flowers. 28 is great so far!

We had another doctor's appointment not too long ago and all was well! We heard the heartbeat (that NEVER gets old) which was nice and strong.

Today we had our 19 week ultrasound where we were supposed to find out the sex of the baby ;) Again, all was well and we got a firm confirmation that indeed, It's a Boy!! I'm measuring a week ahead, which makes me think I'll either be having a big baby, or a baby in March. Either way works for me! Healthy and strong is all I'm hoping for :)

That sums up the past month or so. I'll be better at blogging now that I'm back in the groove. Check back often! XoXo!!!