Category Archives: family

Baby bump and preparations…

Baby bump and preparations…

We still have just under eleven weeks to go until Baby Boothe Arrival Day. Already, this baby is already creating her own gravitational pull. Even though I was never the most graceful person in the world, I find myself tripping and bumping into things more than ever.

High heels have been retired; flat shoes, sneakers, and tennis shoes only need apply.

(Please excuse the poor photography. I was working with the mirror, my cell phone camera, and myself in a small space.)

AND you can see it from the front now!

Oh! Let’s cut to semi-relevant movie quotes from a classic, “So I Married an Axe Murderer”:

Stuart Mackenzie: Look at the size of that boy’s heed.
Tony Giardino: Shhh!
Stuart Mackenzie: I’m not kidding, it’s like an orange on a toothpick.
Tony Giardino: Shhh, you’re going to give the boy a complex.
Stuart Mackenzie: Well, that’s a huge noggin. That’s a virtual planetoid.
Tony Giardino: Shh!
Stuart Mackenzie: Has it’s own weather system.
Tony Giardino: Sh, sh, shh.
Stuart Mackenzie: HEAD! MOVE!

What? Can’t that be relevant to the growing size of my stomach? No? Okay. Hopefully somebody other than me found that reference funny.

Most of the time, eleven weeks feels so far away. Consider: the big belly, just getting bigger (eek!). Or the fun pregnancy symptoms, like body ache, swollen hands/feet, endless fatigue and attempts to get comfortable… Or just with trying to finish the school year as well as I possibly can with the many limitations placed in front of me.

BUT- we are starting to get down to the wire. Things to get, rooms to clean, plans to make.

We even went to a childbirth class offered through the hospital yesterday. It was a beautiful day, perfect temperature, and we were stuck inside from 8:30 am – 5:00 pm practicing breathing exercises, learning to swaddle, watching videos about various birthing situations, medicine/surgery options, and breastfeeding. Woohoo. I think the highlight of the day was the end when we got to tour the maternity wing of the hospital.

By the way, if you can choose between having an eight hour class in one day, or having it split two hours over four days, CHOOSE THE FOUR DAYS! You just can’t absorb it all in one sitting. It’s too much and too long.  I’ve read multiple books about pregnancy, delivery, and infant care in the last several months, and I was still overwhelmed, tired, and muddled by the end of the day. (For Jared, it was a complete crash course of what to expect, other than what I’ve regurgitated to him from my books that he only halfheartedly was listening to anyways…)

As the deadline approaches, there’s just more and more to do before we can welcome this little one into our family. Really, we are more excited than ever. (Except for those moments that we go, “What the heck were/are we thinking?! We are going to be in charge of an actual living, breathing baby in less than three months!?”)

Let’s hope we get it all done before she gets here.

Stephen, This One’s for You

Stephen, This One’s for You

My “little” brother, Stephen, has a favorite favorite color. He loves this color so much that he wears it pretty much every day. Some find him weird for this behavior, but he would just retaliate by saying said persons were weird for NOT loving the green.

Knowing this, it should come as no surprise that today, St. Patrick’s Day, is his favorite holiday. And even though I am far away, I can’t forget that. (I personally like St. Patrick’s because it’s all about the beautiful Emerald Isle, and I would love to go there again and visit some day, but each to their own!)

Anyway, so I am wearing my green. Are you?

End of another visit

End of another visit

So, the past several days, we had my parents visit us here. Why anybody would want to visit Texas in the middle of summer, especially a Texas experiencing its third worst drought on record, is beyond me. We must just be worth it. Or perhaps it was just the lure of some cute grandpuppies.

Sleepy Stevie

Dorky Bonz

Yes, Bonnie can and does sleep like that for long periods of time. But I digress.

Anyways, there was a lot of chillin’ around the house, but we did go out and do things, too.

The Parents arrived quite early Saturday morning (2:30 AM, to be precise). That meant we spent a lot of time recuperating. from a late night (and I cleaned most of the entire day Friday because I’m overly paranoid about people showing up and my house not looking nice, so I was tired too) and Saturday was a chill day.

Other things that occurred with the Parents here:

1. Went to church

2. Went to the spa

3. Went to the outlet mall

4. Went to the normal mall

5. Visited Jared’s work’s annual convention downtown and admired all the cool machinery and software wizardry that his work affects

6. Was given a balloon, card, and a cake as a pre-birthday present

7. Ate at some of the good restaurants around here that didn’t follow my diet

Honestly, it was just too hot to do much during the day here to do a lot of meaningful activities. Even with the air conditioning on full blast, traveling in the car is still miserably hot in 105+ degree temps. That plus the fact that the back to school deadline is looming over me, I was rather moody, cranky, and unpleasant to be around. Fortunately, I think the dogs’ cuteness made up for all of that, too.

Despite all of that, it was a good visit. Times like that make me sad that we live so far from all our family and old friends, even though we have new friends here.

Good thing I have these goofs to keep me company during those lonely moments!

Bonnie Sweetie Sweater

I can see clearly now the rain is gone…

I can see clearly now the rain is gone…

All right, well, it came back today in FULL FORCE, but the rest of the weekend while our in-laws were here was lovely!

Saturday we had an outing to San Antonio to check out the Alamo and the San Antonio Riverwalk. We took a risk because there was still a chance of rain, but it paid off! It was a beautiful day, despite the crowds that had the same ideas.

J and E Riverwalk

There was supposed to be a craft fair around the riverwalk (hence being there on the weekend), but I think many of the people were scared away by the rainstorm issues, so that was a bit of a let down. The scenery was beautiful, and it was a fun experience to have with the family!

Monday: Bonnie got spayed. Yes… She had to wear The Cone of Shame and all that stuff. I hate having to put her through this, but it is for the best for her. She was pretty out of it on Monday, but she was back to her peppy self Tuesday.

Today she’s putting ME through the paces- I have to constantly stop her from running around because she’s forgotten that she went through MAJOR ABDOMINAL SURGERY Monday. Really? How is that possible?

Since most of my summer is full of training and other things, I am going to enjoy the remaining week and a half of my vacation now.  Maybe I’ll go cuddle with my dogs.

Rain, Rain, Go Away…

Rain, Rain, Go Away…

I can’t believe I’m even saying that.

This time last year, we were in full-on drought mode, and making a run for the summer with the most 100 + degree days.  We were PRAYING for rain.

The reason that I am more unhappy about the weather is probably because my in-laws are here and we had some awesome plans that have now been washed away with the rain. We were able to check out The Hula Hut down town yesterday and walk around before the rain got too bad.

By the way, The Hula Hut and Mozarts are both at a very cool location- right on the riverfront, with some beautiful views. And the food was pretty awesome too.

Hula Hut

Today it has been raining NONSTOP, ALL DAY. Bad because

1) The dogs are wimps about going outside in the rain for bathroom breaks, meaning more accidents to clean up inside the house.

2) The dogs are wimps about going out in the rain,  meaning we can’t get some of their crazy ADHD energy out through a walk (which Bonnie desperately wants).

3) Today we were gonna hit up San Antonio: The Alamo and River Walk.

But no. It has to be all wet and stormy thanks to has-been Hurricane/Tropical Storm Alex. Thanks Alex. Now I get to watch Jared set up his SURROUND SOUND STEREO SYSTEM.

Despite our weather woes, it’s been fun having David and Phyllis here. We went to see the movie “Knight and Day” today to escape the gloomy weather, and for an action-comedy-romance movie (think along the lines of “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”) it was pretty good. Even though I don’t really care for Tom Cruise or Cameron Diaz.

I’m just hoping the weather clears up soon so I don’t get cabin fever! There’s a lot I’d like to do while Jared’s parents are here… if the weather and my health allow it.

Because if it’s not one, it’s the other. So it goes…