After a very long day of traveling (total travel time from leaving our house to arriving at our condo = 18 hours), we awakened this morning to this view from our bedroom window:
Aloha!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Halfway Mark!
It has been an exciting month! April brought with it our 4-year anniversary, a fun-filled girls' trip through the Texas Hill Country, and our 20-week appointment!
On April 16th, Alex and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary. Unfortunately I was in the throes of battling a nasty cold, so we couldn't follow through with our plans for a night out dancing. Instead, we treated ourselves to dinner out followed by a game of glow-in-the-dark putt-putt golf. It was a throw-back to our young, carefree high school dates and so much fun! We then came home and watched our wedding video, a tradition on our anniversary. It was great to get to relive that day again, and we were once again reminded just how wonderful the celebration was. Alex got me a gorgeous diamond and sapphire ring to commemorate not only our relationship but also the upcoming birth of our sweet baby girl (sapphire is the birthstone for September). It was a wonderful day!
Unfortunately Alex had to leave for his yearly spring trip to Germany the next day, so my mom came into town and we had a great girls' weekend! After lunch with my brother and sister-in-law (who were in town for a friend's wedding), mani/pedis, and a chick flick in Austin on Friday, we got up bright and early on Saturday and headed down to Fredricksburg, an adorable German town tucked into the Texas Hill Country. We spent the day walking up and down Main St. and buying things here and there for Alina...and ourselves. It was the first time I'd really been shopping for Ali, and it was so much fun!! I have to wonder if shopping for a little boy would have been nearly so exciting. We went to a local play that night--Love, Sex, and the IRS. It didn't really have much to do with love...or sex...but it was a nice way to spend the evening. In the morning we went to the Peddler's Fair craft show and bought some tasty dips, and then made a pit stop in Luckenbach on our way back into town. Here are some pictures from our great weekend!
Here we are enjoying slices of pie at a cute house-turned-pie-shop in Fredricksburg.
At the entrance to the Peddler's Show.
Here I am milling amongst the bikers in Luckenbach. They were all drinking long necks (heck, it's what you DO in Luckenbach), but I think I fit in nicely with my bottle of water.
Everybody's somebody in Luckenbach!
On Monday we had our 20-week appointment. 20 weeks! Halfway!! I won't go so far as to say that it has flown by, but it is awesome (and crazy) to say that we will get to meet our daughter in 20 weeks or less!! The appointment was great, as all her appointments have been. She is growing like a weed--she's measuring in the 91st percentile (this means that she's bigger than 91% of all other babies her age), and her head is measuring more than a week ahead! We have already talked to her about having mercy on her mommy and slowing that growth a bit before it's time to deliver. Before we left, the doctor showed us where her bottom and feet are...they are so much higher than I was imagining! I guess that goes along with the whole "91%" thing.
I've been feeling her consistently for about a week now--it's not "bubbles" like some people say, or "flutters" or "tickles," and it's definitely not kicks and punches yet. The best was I can describe it is that it feels squirmy, like she's wiggling around in there. It's so fun to feel her react to what I eat, how I sit, etc. She always makes sure to wiggle around a little to say goodnight and good morning! The doctors said that Alex probably won't be able to feel her for a couple of more weeks, but that doesn't keep him from patiently trying all the time.
Here's the great profile shot we missed last time. I told Alex I think she's going to have my nose!
And finally, here's a shot of me from the same day--20 weeks! Halfway!
On April 16th, Alex and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary. Unfortunately I was in the throes of battling a nasty cold, so we couldn't follow through with our plans for a night out dancing. Instead, we treated ourselves to dinner out followed by a game of glow-in-the-dark putt-putt golf. It was a throw-back to our young, carefree high school dates and so much fun! We then came home and watched our wedding video, a tradition on our anniversary. It was great to get to relive that day again, and we were once again reminded just how wonderful the celebration was. Alex got me a gorgeous diamond and sapphire ring to commemorate not only our relationship but also the upcoming birth of our sweet baby girl (sapphire is the birthstone for September). It was a wonderful day!
Unfortunately Alex had to leave for his yearly spring trip to Germany the next day, so my mom came into town and we had a great girls' weekend! After lunch with my brother and sister-in-law (who were in town for a friend's wedding), mani/pedis, and a chick flick in Austin on Friday, we got up bright and early on Saturday and headed down to Fredricksburg, an adorable German town tucked into the Texas Hill Country. We spent the day walking up and down Main St. and buying things here and there for Alina...and ourselves. It was the first time I'd really been shopping for Ali, and it was so much fun!! I have to wonder if shopping for a little boy would have been nearly so exciting. We went to a local play that night--Love, Sex, and the IRS. It didn't really have much to do with love...or sex...but it was a nice way to spend the evening. In the morning we went to the Peddler's Fair craft show and bought some tasty dips, and then made a pit stop in Luckenbach on our way back into town. Here are some pictures from our great weekend!
Here we are enjoying slices of pie at a cute house-turned-pie-shop in Fredricksburg.
At the entrance to the Peddler's Show.
Here I am milling amongst the bikers in Luckenbach. They were all drinking long necks (heck, it's what you DO in Luckenbach), but I think I fit in nicely with my bottle of water.
Everybody's somebody in Luckenbach!
On Monday we had our 20-week appointment. 20 weeks! Halfway!! I won't go so far as to say that it has flown by, but it is awesome (and crazy) to say that we will get to meet our daughter in 20 weeks or less!! The appointment was great, as all her appointments have been. She is growing like a weed--she's measuring in the 91st percentile (this means that she's bigger than 91% of all other babies her age), and her head is measuring more than a week ahead! We have already talked to her about having mercy on her mommy and slowing that growth a bit before it's time to deliver. Before we left, the doctor showed us where her bottom and feet are...they are so much higher than I was imagining! I guess that goes along with the whole "91%" thing.
I've been feeling her consistently for about a week now--it's not "bubbles" like some people say, or "flutters" or "tickles," and it's definitely not kicks and punches yet. The best was I can describe it is that it feels squirmy, like she's wiggling around in there. It's so fun to feel her react to what I eat, how I sit, etc. She always makes sure to wiggle around a little to say goodnight and good morning! The doctors said that Alex probably won't be able to feel her for a couple of more weeks, but that doesn't keep him from patiently trying all the time.
Here's the great profile shot we missed last time. I told Alex I think she's going to have my nose!
And finally, here's a shot of me from the same day--20 weeks! Halfway!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Our Beauty Queen and My Belly
Sorry it took me so long to get the latest ultrasound pictures scanned! As mentioned in the last post, Ali thwarted our doc's attempt to get her cute profile, so all we have are front-of-the-face shots. Alex doesn't like when I call her Skeletor, so I've switched to "the beauty queen" (and you can read as much into any inherent sarcasm that you want).
Here's a recent belly shot--as you can see, it's pretty obvious now that this is a baby belly, not a beer belly! This shot was taken at 16 weeks, 3 days.
In other news, our crib is in! We found the crib we loved at Babies R Us, and then ordered it instead from Walmart, saving mucho $ and getting free shipping in the process. Alex wants to set it up now, but I'm thinking we may want to wait until the chair rails are installed. He tried to work on those last weekend, but this is how that went:
Attempt 1: cut chair rails to appropriate lengths with cheap-o miter saw kit we picked up from Home Depot.
Fail 1: Cheap-O miter saw kit was worth every penny we paid and couldn't do the job.
Attempt 2: paint chair rails now so that we won't have to do it when they're on the wall.
Fail 2: No paint brushes.
Attempt 3: mark studs in wall so that when we do acquire an adequate miter saw AND paint brushes, we will know where to nail.
Fail 3: Our stud finder was broken.
Sooo...as you can probably guess, we struck out with the chair rail project last weekend. Not a big deal, though, because we still have lots of time. I keep saying that.......
Alex is in California this weekend visiting an old friend of his whose fiance is also pregnant (due in May). They figured this was probably one of their last chances for some carefree guy time. I plan on spending all this free time hanging out with my sister and my friends, and hopefully getting in a little shopping (that belly looks more and more ridiculous in my "normal" clothes with every passing day).
Hope you are all doing well, and fingers are crossed that the next post will show progress on the chair rails, the crib, or both!
Here's a recent belly shot--as you can see, it's pretty obvious now that this is a baby belly, not a beer belly! This shot was taken at 16 weeks, 3 days.
In other news, our crib is in! We found the crib we loved at Babies R Us, and then ordered it instead from Walmart, saving mucho $ and getting free shipping in the process. Alex wants to set it up now, but I'm thinking we may want to wait until the chair rails are installed. He tried to work on those last weekend, but this is how that went:
Attempt 1: cut chair rails to appropriate lengths with cheap-o miter saw kit we picked up from Home Depot.
Fail 1: Cheap-O miter saw kit was worth every penny we paid and couldn't do the job.
Attempt 2: paint chair rails now so that we won't have to do it when they're on the wall.
Fail 2: No paint brushes.
Attempt 3: mark studs in wall so that when we do acquire an adequate miter saw AND paint brushes, we will know where to nail.
Fail 3: Our stud finder was broken.
Sooo...as you can probably guess, we struck out with the chair rail project last weekend. Not a big deal, though, because we still have lots of time. I keep saying that.......
Alex is in California this weekend visiting an old friend of his whose fiance is also pregnant (due in May). They figured this was probably one of their last chances for some carefree guy time. I plan on spending all this free time hanging out with my sister and my friends, and hopefully getting in a little shopping (that belly looks more and more ridiculous in my "normal" clothes with every passing day).
Hope you are all doing well, and fingers are crossed that the next post will show progress on the chair rails, the crib, or both!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The Results are In...
That's right folks. According to my doctor there is a "200% chance" we are having a girl!! We couldn't be more excited. In addition to her "goods," we also got to see the two sides of her brain and the four chambers of her beating heart, and the doc measured her head, stomach, and thigh bones...her legs and head are measuring about 4 days ahead of the rest of her! Overall she is in the 51%, meaning she is exactly dead on target for her "age" development wise. We didn't get as many cute pictures from this appointment as we did from our last one...a few face shots that look mostly like Skeletor from the old 80's He-Man series (I'll post pics when I get them scanned into our computer!). The doc tried to get a good profile but just couldn't get the right angle...I think he was irked that she trumped his ultrasound skills, so he wrote a note in our file to give us a freebie ultrasound at our next appointment, just so that we can get our cute profile! Yay!And we already have a named all picked out (in fact, it's been picked out for a while...it was the boy name we were having trouble with, and now we don't have to worry about it!)...
Alina May
Besides sounding really pretty, Alina is a mixture of Alex and Kalina (my "Russian name"). We'll call her Ali for short (a mixture of Alex and Kelly), and May is after my maternal grandmother. We are very excited that we have picked a name with a little bit of Russian flair to honor Ali's dad's side of the family, and a little bit of Southern charm to honor her mom's side.I've been slowly but surely acquiring baby gear, sale by sale. My latest score was a cute sling that will help me keep my hands free while wearing Ali around. Here's a pic of me trying it out with a very patient kitty.
And finally, in some non-baby-related news, we had our first good spring-time Texas storm! True to form, the clouds blew in and out in about 45 minutes, but not before giving us a solid hail storm. Check out the footage!
Hope this finds you all well! I'll post updated belly and ultrasound pics soon!
KC
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
2nd Tri
Well, I've officially made it into the second trimester! General opinion on when exactly that transition takes place varies. Some say it's the 12 week mark...I think because that's three months, which is 1/3 of the traditional "nine months" of pregnancy. Others say 13 weeks because that's closer to 1/3 of the actual 40 weeks of pregnancy (with an extra "bonus week" as my cousin put it). So, I waited until 13 weeks, 2 days...as close to actually 1/3 of the 40 weeks as I could get!
I can already tell that I am a prime candidate for the return to "normal" that all the books talk about. I stayed up past 11 three nights out of the last five! I've been able to go back to eating pretty much whatever sounds good to my husband (instead of the other way around). And I've started to long for exercise again.
I have also realized that I am NOT one of those women who will be at 20 weeks and you won't even be able to tell they are pregnant. (Seriously. I had a friend like that. NO bump at 20 weeks!) For your viewing pleasure, a shot of my beginning-of-second-trimester bump (sorry it's kind of fuzzy):
...and I love it! So far (ask me again in the middle of the Texas-summer-third-trimester), I am loving being pregnant! And I have a feeling I will LOVE my 2nd tri.
It's so hard to wait four weeks between every appointment...I'm halfway there. Two more weeks and we'll get to see Cosmo again...and MAYBE find out if Cosmo's a he or a she. Yay! Oh, and in other Cosmo news, he/she already has distinct fingerprints! That kid is amazing!!
Hope all is well with all of you!
I can already tell that I am a prime candidate for the return to "normal" that all the books talk about. I stayed up past 11 three nights out of the last five! I've been able to go back to eating pretty much whatever sounds good to my husband (instead of the other way around). And I've started to long for exercise again.
I have also realized that I am NOT one of those women who will be at 20 weeks and you won't even be able to tell they are pregnant. (Seriously. I had a friend like that. NO bump at 20 weeks!) For your viewing pleasure, a shot of my beginning-of-second-trimester bump (sorry it's kind of fuzzy):
...and I love it! So far (ask me again in the middle of the Texas-summer-third-trimester), I am loving being pregnant! And I have a feeling I will LOVE my 2nd tri.It's so hard to wait four weeks between every appointment...I'm halfway there. Two more weeks and we'll get to see Cosmo again...and MAYBE find out if Cosmo's a he or a she. Yay! Oh, and in other Cosmo news, he/she already has distinct fingerprints! That kid is amazing!!
Hope all is well with all of you!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
#7: I'm 30! (and I love it!)
That's right. Last Wednesday I turned the big 3-0. After hearing so many horror stories about the angst and drama that accompanies this big day, I was determined not to let myself fall prey to those feelings of "I'm soooo old!" In all actuality, I am delighted to be 30!
Don't get me wrong, I loved my 20s. I earned 2 degrees, had 2 fulfilling careers, got married, traveled to exotic locations, bought a house, and became the proud momma of two adorable cats and the proud momma-to-be of one adorable baby. But in my mind, 30 marks the turning point into actual adulthood. I think people will take me more seriously now that I'm a 30-something.
Alex was traveling the day before my birthday and was not scheduled to land back home until after midnight. But, being the amazing man that he is, he finagled his way onto an earlier flight, and made it home at 11:56, just in time to spend the last four minutes of my 20s with me and to see me into the official start of my 30s. I love that man.
He then took me out to breakfast (kolaches--yum!), my team took me out to lunch, and we met our good friends for dinner at P.F. Chang's before meeting our softball team at the bowling alley. What a great day! The "big" party was this Saturday. Alex planned the entire thing, and it was awesome! We (a group of about 25) took a tour of Lake Austin on a cute little party boat, complete with multiple deck levels, a great stereo system, and a kitchen for all the snacks. The weather was perfect for the outdoor festivities (gotta love early March in Texas)--a breezy, slightly cloudy 80 degrees. We ended the evening with dinner at Waterloo Icehouse.
It was a GREAT birthday week, and I am so blessed to have all these wonderful people in my life to celebrate it with!!
Here are some party-goers on one of the boat levels with a shot of the 360 bridge in the background.
Here's a very happy birthday girl snuggled up to the mastermind behind the event:
And finally, the always fun group shot:
For more pics of the evening, check out the link in the photo albums section on the right. Enjoy!
Don't get me wrong, I loved my 20s. I earned 2 degrees, had 2 fulfilling careers, got married, traveled to exotic locations, bought a house, and became the proud momma of two adorable cats and the proud momma-to-be of one adorable baby. But in my mind, 30 marks the turning point into actual adulthood. I think people will take me more seriously now that I'm a 30-something.
Alex was traveling the day before my birthday and was not scheduled to land back home until after midnight. But, being the amazing man that he is, he finagled his way onto an earlier flight, and made it home at 11:56, just in time to spend the last four minutes of my 20s with me and to see me into the official start of my 30s. I love that man.
He then took me out to breakfast (kolaches--yum!), my team took me out to lunch, and we met our good friends for dinner at P.F. Chang's before meeting our softball team at the bowling alley. What a great day! The "big" party was this Saturday. Alex planned the entire thing, and it was awesome! We (a group of about 25) took a tour of Lake Austin on a cute little party boat, complete with multiple deck levels, a great stereo system, and a kitchen for all the snacks. The weather was perfect for the outdoor festivities (gotta love early March in Texas)--a breezy, slightly cloudy 80 degrees. We ended the evening with dinner at Waterloo Icehouse.
It was a GREAT birthday week, and I am so blessed to have all these wonderful people in my life to celebrate it with!!
Here are some party-goers on one of the boat levels with a shot of the 360 bridge in the background.
Here's a very happy birthday girl snuggled up to the mastermind behind the event:
And finally, the always fun group shot:
For more pics of the evening, check out the link in the photo albums section on the right. Enjoy!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Big News!
We're having a baby!
Alex and I started off the year in the best way possible, finding out on New Year's Day, January 1, that we are expecting our first child, and we couldn't be more excited!
I am just shy of the 2nd trimester. We had our second doctor's appointment last week and he gave us the official ok that everything is looking fantastic and that we could feel free to share our news. It has been so difficult keeping it a secret for so long...and hopefully that explains my lack of blogging lately--I really haven't had anything else on my mind for a while!
Here is a picture of our tiny little bundle of crazy joy, taken at 11 weeks, 3 days:
Isn't that amazing?! He/she already looks like a little person! And yes, we WILL be finding out as soon as possible if it's a "he" or a "she." I've added a little poll to the right side of the page--cast your vote! There's a chance we'll find something out at our next appointment, so you've got about 4 weeks to form an opinion and put something on record.
I mentioned a while back we were painting a room--that room is the nursery, and it's almost done. Well, the painting is totally done--we are going to add a chair rail, and then we'll definitely post pictures! Obviously we painted before we found out the sex of the baby...in fact, we started painting before we even found out we were pregnant! The color is blue-grey (Alex says it's like my eyes), and we think it will work great for either a girl or a boy.
In other news (which all suddenly seems secondary in our lives), work is going well. My company is struggling with layoffs and reorganizations, but my immediate group seems to be the island of safety, so I am counting my blessings daily that I got hired on with them when I did. Alex's company has remained largely unaffected, although the current economic environment has made his forecasting more challenging to say the least. He just finished his last report and we are both looking forward to a period of normal work hours and stress levels. He still has a busy travel year ahead of him, with a trip to Florida to present at a conference, his two annual trips to Germany, and a possible trip to Japan sometime this summer! (He's already been informed that his trips will need to be trimmed to one week max when the baby gets here.)
And I know you're wondering if we will slide in one last trip together, too, and the answer is yes! While our original plan for our yearly trip was to visit Machu Picchu, Peru, we quickly realized we'd have to rethink that...vaccines, rural South America, and hiking up a mountain aren't the best when you're pregnant. So the new plan for our babymoon is Hawaii! We have never been and are really looking forward to relaxing on the beach, snorkling, and swimming with sea turtles.
So check back often for pictures and stories about all the joys of pregnancy in Texas. I am due September 14th--just the right timing for me to be in my third trimester through June, July, and August. Yay!
Hope all is well with all of you!
With love,
Kelly, Alex, and Cosmo*
*Cosmo is what we're calling the baby--I had a dream before our first doctor's appointment that the ultrasound showed the baby as a little astronaut floating around in space. Russian astronauts are Cosmonauts...and there you have it. Cosmo!
Alex and I started off the year in the best way possible, finding out on New Year's Day, January 1, that we are expecting our first child, and we couldn't be more excited!
I am just shy of the 2nd trimester. We had our second doctor's appointment last week and he gave us the official ok that everything is looking fantastic and that we could feel free to share our news. It has been so difficult keeping it a secret for so long...and hopefully that explains my lack of blogging lately--I really haven't had anything else on my mind for a while!
Here is a picture of our tiny little bundle of crazy joy, taken at 11 weeks, 3 days:
Isn't that amazing?! He/she already looks like a little person! And yes, we WILL be finding out as soon as possible if it's a "he" or a "she." I've added a little poll to the right side of the page--cast your vote! There's a chance we'll find something out at our next appointment, so you've got about 4 weeks to form an opinion and put something on record.I mentioned a while back we were painting a room--that room is the nursery, and it's almost done. Well, the painting is totally done--we are going to add a chair rail, and then we'll definitely post pictures! Obviously we painted before we found out the sex of the baby...in fact, we started painting before we even found out we were pregnant! The color is blue-grey (Alex says it's like my eyes), and we think it will work great for either a girl or a boy.
In other news (which all suddenly seems secondary in our lives), work is going well. My company is struggling with layoffs and reorganizations, but my immediate group seems to be the island of safety, so I am counting my blessings daily that I got hired on with them when I did. Alex's company has remained largely unaffected, although the current economic environment has made his forecasting more challenging to say the least. He just finished his last report and we are both looking forward to a period of normal work hours and stress levels. He still has a busy travel year ahead of him, with a trip to Florida to present at a conference, his two annual trips to Germany, and a possible trip to Japan sometime this summer! (He's already been informed that his trips will need to be trimmed to one week max when the baby gets here.)
And I know you're wondering if we will slide in one last trip together, too, and the answer is yes! While our original plan for our yearly trip was to visit Machu Picchu, Peru, we quickly realized we'd have to rethink that...vaccines, rural South America, and hiking up a mountain aren't the best when you're pregnant. So the new plan for our babymoon is Hawaii! We have never been and are really looking forward to relaxing on the beach, snorkling, and swimming with sea turtles.
So check back often for pictures and stories about all the joys of pregnancy in Texas. I am due September 14th--just the right timing for me to be in my third trimester through June, July, and August. Yay!
Hope all is well with all of you!
With love,
Kelly, Alex, and Cosmo*
*Cosmo is what we're calling the baby--I had a dream before our first doctor's appointment that the ultrasound showed the baby as a little astronaut floating around in space. Russian astronauts are Cosmonauts...and there you have it. Cosmo!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
