15 Weeks

I have been sooooooo excited for Chip lately!! Being pregnant for 9 months is too long. It's a big tease. You get to see pictures of the baby and eventually feel the baby kicking inside (I read that's around 25 weeks- so mid March for me) and the baby is like a huge present that you've been praying for all year and get excited for and think about all the time, but know you can't open for a long time! Since I have 25 weeks left (maybe 24 if I'm extra lucky), I made these little countdown sheets to rip off as each 3 or 4 days pass. Doing it by days would be too many and that number is too high and kind of makes me sad. 25 weeks doesn't sound as far away as 173 (?) days. I was surprised to learn that the baby doesn't even weigh one pound until 22 weeks. Seems like since 20 weeks is the halfway mark, that's when the baby should weigh at least three pounds, or half of what they will weigh when they're born. Also it's hard to judge how many months pregnant I am (Michael hates when I just say it in weeks.. you know, 'cause math..) but dividing the number by four doesn't always seem to match up. Like next week I would be 4 months, but if I still have almost 6 months to go, that equals 10, which isn't right. I told him I'll try to switch to saying how old Chip is only in months after the birth because then I'll go off of the 2nd of each month (or whichever numbered day Chip is born).

  I really like having things to look forward to, hence my countdowns, which is why I often try to make plans to do fun things. The next big thing is on Saturday when we go see WICKED!!!! Michael says he is looking forward to it since he saw Phantom of the Opera on stage when he was younger and really liked it. And then hopefully we're going to Animal Kingdom on Sunday. No big plans after that though, until my birthday in June, but I have no idea what I'd like to do for that. And it will be the big 3-0!! So we should plan 30 fun "things to do before you have a baby". I'll be 37 weeks on my birthday. =)  I would really like to visit Mia and Jay in Denver around March (if it's not still "too cold" for me then), but Michael doesn't get any time off between this class graduating and the next class that starts February 27th at VAMP.

  I have begun looking further into day cares around our area since we'll have to put him or her in one when I go back to work after maternity leave in October. Michael says thinking about touring places and meeting the teachers already stresses him out and says it's "too soon" to worry about that. Lindsey said a lot of babies get put on a waiting list since a lot of moms have to work, so day cares are in high demand for young babies and getting on the list early is a smart idea! 

  I just called and confirmed with the receptionist at our doctor's office that the next appointment on the 19th is to find out Chip's gender. I'll be 16 weeks and 3 days then. Lindsey was able to find out early today (she's about 5 days ahead of me, I think) so she may be 16 weeks tomorrow. But she told me her results after she told her family... it's a boy!! I have already been thinking about how I want to do the reveal on Instagram and Facebook using pictures, after we tell our families on the phone. I like the idea of having a box of colorful balloons and we open the box the a video. Then do it again using the Canon to take still frames that I would post on here. I was looking on Pinterest and saw a Harry Potter one where the parents were dressed up in a woodsy area, making a potion, and their potion was blue, meaning they were having a boy. That's a fun reveal! The anatomy scan will be when I'm 19 weeks, so I'll have to hold off on buying specifically boy or girl clothes until they double check all of the parts. On my 15 week app, it says now is when the outer sex organs begin to develop. I'd feel bad if they say Chip is a girl and then later find out he was being shy about it and have to exchange all the flowery tops for fire engines. I'll just keep the receipts. ;)

The Year of Chip!

  I had another doctor appointment today and I thought it was just going to be a quick conversation with my doctor, but they did another ultrasound which made me so happy because I had really been wanting to see our Chippy again. Plus Michael said he originally wasn't going to come, but then yesterday he said he was! I told him that I was so happy how involved he wants to be in this process. He was already talking about wanting to throw a baby shower with his friends and my Orlando friends since the deck is basically done and will be completely finished before April or May.

  This ultrasound was done over my "stomach", so I was surprised when the pictures turned out as detailed as they did a month ago. Chip is 14 weeks and 3 days today (according to the last sonogram). I didn't think to ask if he was growing at the same rate, but the ultrasound nurse and my doctor didn't mention any different dates, so we're still aiming for July 2nd! I really liked when she would hold the wand thing in one place for a few seconds and we got to watch Chip "moving and grooving". Also we got to hear the heartbeat for a few seconds and it was even stronger than last time- 156 BPM!

  Luckily for now the bad dreams I was having last week have stopped and I even had a dream a few days ago that Michael and I were planning our vow renewal and decided that April 3rd would be a nice date to honor Shrimp. I have a new symptom that they say is normal, and hopefully it will force me to eat (or drink) more greens and go for walks on my days off. I walk around outside at work on my breaks, but that's only 30 minutes those days and I don't walk very fast. I need to kick it up!!

  Today they also took blood to check for my blood count, confirm my blood type, and any infections I could have. She said both of the ultrasound nurses did not mention anything about me having ovarian cysts like I did in March, but she says they could have gone away already once the placenta takes over around 12 weeks. We have our next appointment in two weeks and she said about 3 weeks after that, we can find out the gender. When looking at the pictures we noticed that there was a small appendage in the lower region that we were wondering if it was a "boy part" but after looking at it more, Michael thinks it's too high and might be part of the umbilical cord. Guess we'll find out next month!!

New Years Eve

   For New Years Eve weekend this year, my BFF/ Full Sail roommate Ryan was in town again with the Ringling Circus. She had some extra Christmas days off and then went back to work today, with the show performing two weeks later. We didn't get to see her husband Ben because he already switched to the Ice Show and was touring in Providence, Rhode Island. Ryan and I joked that she lived with us for two years since she stayed with us the last day of 2016 and the first day of 2017! On Saturday I picked her up at 11am and showed her the house that was our second choice (on W Illiana St). We decided it would have been a cooler place to live if we just finished Full Sail and weren't having kids for a while. But since we already waited 5 years to "be ready", the house we bought seemed better suited for a family. We still mention often to each other that we really like our house! 

   I brought Ryan back to our house and Brian (the other teacher Michael works with at VAMP) came over to help him with the deck. They just got it finished tonight!! Ryan and I went to Target so I could look for maternity jeans and I got Chip some little plush toys for 90 cents each- they were actually considered Christmas ornaments, 70% off. 4 of the 5 I got were animals (fox, lion, giraffe, wooly mammoth) so those can definitely be played with year-round. So can the pink Santa gnome. 

   Later we went to the store to get Michael and Brian some alcohol as requested, and picked up two pizzas. Ryan let me "force her" to watch the first four episodes of Season 4 of Glee, since she hadn't seen any of the episodes after all the main characters graduated from high school. Then Michael and Brian watched Rat Race with us, and then we just talked the last 45 minutes of the year. I was surprised that I was able to stay up until midnight since 9pm has been my average bedtime for the past two months. At 11:45 I found the New York channel where they sing and do the countdown, so we streamed that on my phone (we don't have cable) being able to watch it on the television screen using Apple TV. The countdown was uneventful as I feel like all of the holidays have been forced upon as lately and we're all going along with one big prank and it's really still just the end September. 

   But it beats 2014 when Michael and I watched "Guardians of the Galaxy" and both went to sleep at 10:30. Last year we celebrated with our friend Amber (and Brian again). Michael played a Star Wars video game as Boba Fett then we watched "Fanboys", and threw pretty smoke bombs in the road that were all different colors. Here's an Instagram picture from that night at her house: 

   The other night Michael gave me a few good kisses at midnight then we went outside to watch the fireworks that people were setting off around in neighboring areas. Yesterday Ryan and I saw the movie "Passengers" at the AMC. We both liked it and I was interested by the twist at the beginning! We ate leftover pizza and hung out at the Artegon mall for a while until I had to take her back. 

I hope everyone else had a great holiday and are enjoying 2017 so far!!

Christmas at Full Sail: 2010 ☆

  Well not at Full Sail, but our second one during. We were engaged at this point and had our wedding planned for the following May 7th 2011! I have a handful of pictures of us in Atlanta with Jessica, but don't remember that trip at all. (Sorry.) Jordyn was 2 & 1/2 in this picture and Jessica was only a couple weeks away from having her second baby (James). I didn't have any good pictures of her to post though. I have a lot of blurry pictures in my Full Sail stash.

  While we were in pro-production for our Final Project, Gruff's Bridge (Michael as costume designer and me as 2nd AD), he surprised me with Disney tickets! I even remember where we were sitting on those steps for a lab and Rebecca asked me if I could have a meeting with her on a certain day. I said, "Yeah I'm free that day." Then Michael said, "Wait, no. We're busy that day!" Um, okay... That was a wonderful surprise. He took me to Animal Kingdom during the day, then we drove to Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Christmas Party. They had free milk and cookies in each restaurant place!

 We went to Birmingham for a few days - or a week? - and I was very excited to have my parents there too! It was very important to both Michael and I that our parents meet before our wedding. We took them to Peavine Falls and did some climbing.

 I remember one morning around 11am, Michael grabbed by attention by exclaiming, "Hurry! Meet me outside! And bring your camera!" Then we saw Santa riding around on a fire truck and he was throwing candy at the people he saw. There were not many people outside. More candy for us!

Here is a ginger bread house I watching Michael make.

So many presents just from his family (and Santa)!! What did I get that year? Good question.

Another day Michael brought some camera equipment that he borrowed from Full Sail back to Peavine Falls so he could shoot part of a film. I don't remember getting many shots done before the sun started setting and I didn't want to walk on the rocky trail when I couldn't see very well. 

   I was very excited when it started to "flurry" one day and took a lot of pictures jumping and dancing in the "snow". Michael laughed that I was over reacting when there was barely anything coming down and was sure it would be all melted in the morning. I was very happy that he was wrong!

 The rest of the pictures are from December in Gainesville:

Tonia and Mia stopping by!

And they continued to live happily ever after!! ;)

Last month of 2009! ☆

  One of the cool things about meeting and dating the person you know you're going to spend the rest of your life with is that you get to experience a world that you didn't grow up really knowing. My family always used an artificial Christmas tree and colorful lights, but I soon found out that every year Michael's family always bought a real tree and used white lights. I didn't mind the change, so that's what we have always done since 2009. This was after he tied "our first tree" onto the Lexus that he used to have.

  He also told me that he likes to use plain bubbles and ribbon rather, but over the years I have collected ones my mom gave me and bought our own "regular/fun" ornaments and added them to the tree too. Also I told him we needed to switch the huge bow on top for an angel. Over the weekend (2016) when my mom and I were at Hobby Lobby I got an ornament that was of a Santa with a Hobby Lobby shopping cart! Haha- too cute.

 We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my family. I've posted before on my Full Sail blog about when Mia, Tonia and Michael joined me for fancy Twilight and New Moon "movie premieres" pictures. (I forgot to resize those pictures before posting them so those pages might take longer to load.) Michael even came to church with us that night!!

 ♡ Grandma Re!!!!! ♡

 My Miaskee!! Her parent's noticed and praised my 15 pound weightloss since they hadn't seen 

me since before I left for Full Sail in July. ;)  At some point during our Winter Break, I went with 

my parents and other family on my dad's side and spent the day (or a night?) 

we visited Grandma Belva and got to meet her boyfriend, Deane.

 Then at the end of the month we flew to Birmingham (the picture below was taken in the airport). 

We celebrated a late Christmas and stayed a few more days to attend Christopher and Meredith's rehearsal dinner and wedding on January 2nd, 2010!! We caught the flowers and garter!

 I also went with Michael to his dentist appointment, haha! Then he took me to the Summit, which is a big outlet mall area with fancy/ expensive stores. I liked all the decorations and Michael was sweet about taking lots of pictures. Later I helped Mrs. Patty, NaNa, and Meredith put together bags of walnuts. (I don't remember that, but there is a picture!!) I do remember that the cream colored jacket I'm wearing in these pictures was my super favorite, but it got lost during this trip. Blast!

Ye Ol' Christmas

   This is to show pictures that I never posted during Full Sail (before I had my blog), plus 2011 since I never posted those few Canon Christmas pictures. For 2012 you can see refresher pictures here (Christopher picking out a tree while he stayed with us for a month) -- and here (cookies and lights in Birmingham)-- also here (opening presents in Birmingham). Click on this next link for a post of me meeting baby Luke in 2013 and us decorating a little tree at Alana's house. Although I know I was in Gainesville for 19 days that Christmas while Michael finished working Grinchmas in Orlando, I don't have any pictures already on my blog or on my hard drive that I can find.

   I'm debating whether or not to post all the pictures I have in two seperate posts during our 2009 and 2010 Christmas outings. I probably should so they are all here together and it's showing how we celebrated during the whole month rather than just of us opening presents. It's more fun that way. However, tomorrow being the last day of the year I feel like I waited to long and might as well just wait until next year to post them! But if I at least take a super fast shower then run to the bank real quick (we unexpectedly got money back from our escrow, wooo!!), I'll have enough time to edit and post all those before Michael gets home since he needs me to help him with the deck around 2pm.

  Right now I'll just post the pictures from 2011 since there are just a few from celebrating at our apartment at Millenia:

 Miriam gave me the rest of her fake snow that she bought for a couple Christmas photo shoots 

that I did for her. Also, I'm pretty sure Michael photo shopped my eyes open later, haha!

Below the ornament reads "Our First Christmas" (being married).

   And these are the ones I have from the last two years (2014 and 2015) -- just the ones I had on my Instagram page: I stopped using the Canon as much once I got my iPhone in August 2014. Lame.

2015:

Cute hay bale snowman that we saw after breakfast one morning & getting our yearly picture 

with Santa at Bass Pro Shop in Birmingham when we visited mid-December!

With Donna, Austin, and Jeff. Donna and Jeff were our Phase 2 trainees at work in December, 

while Austin and I were their trainers. I really like that they decorate the office at work.

 This picture was taken in our one bedroom apartment at Bala Sands. 

We spent two years there before buying our house!

 The Lavins and Kellys came to Gainesville, but we only got to see them for about two hours since Michael and I both had to work the next day. I had to get my skinny picture with my cousin, Jessica. My goal is to get back to this point ^^ by next Christmas, which will give me almost 6 months to kick up the health extremities after Chip is born. This was taken almost 6 months after Jessica's baby Jeremy was born. So we'll both have early July babies, although her fourth baby is due in May!!