Sunday, July 25, 2010

9 Weeks left!!!!!

We have had a busy couple of weeks, but very exciting. Since the last post I've had a doctors appointment and a shower and we are definitely in nesting mode... BOTH of us.
First the doctors appointment. I am now seeing Motley every 2 weeks. When I went in to see her she was a little shocked by how much I had grown in 2 weeks. I was actually measuring about a week bigger than I have been, so Porter MAY be here a little earlier than we thought, but we will have to see how he's grown over the past couple of weeks and what he continues to do. I would be lying if I said I am not the tiniest bit hopeful that he comes a little early. I am ready to have him in my arms!
Our shower yesterday was AMAZING! I cannot thank the ladies that hosted it enough. I had an amazing time and really enjoyed spending time with everyone that came (and Porter loved all the yummy food). I would also like to thank everyone that traveled in from out of town for the shower. I hope you all had as good of a time as I did. Not to mention we got some great stuff. The clothes... oh the clothes... they are so adorable. Jeff and I are so incredibly blessed to have so many people that care for us and take an active part in our lives. God has and continues to bless us daily. I'll post pictures when I get some of them.
I thought for sure it would take us days to get everything organized, but we tackled it this morning and were able to get most of it done today. We went shopping and bought a few things to help us get organized. Now I just have to figure out how to reorganize some things in the kitchen to fit bottles and all the sippy cups and bowls and spoons. That should be interesting... we have a full kitchen already.
The good news is that I am about to have a lot more time to work on everything. I have worked out a deal with XTO to work 3 days a week starting the first week of August. So this is my last week of full time work. Scary and exciting and weird all at once. I have been very lucky to work with a wonderful group of people over the last 4 years and I will miss them a lot once Porter is born and I'm not working there any longer. Leaving will all be worth it once our 'little man' is here.
Finally... I leave you all with a picture from today. I would like to point out that it seems like every inch of my belly is filled with Porter... side to side and front to back.
I hope everyone has a great week.


Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Back to Reality

We're finally back from a very relaxing vacation. Who knew 9 days of traveling from Texas to Arkansas to Tennessee and back would be so much fun and exactly what we needed.
We went to Lake Greeson in Arkansas on July 2nd with a big group of our friends and spent the 4th of July on the lake and at the cabins we rented on the Little Missouri River. It was nice to spend the weekend catching up with everyone and hanging out.
From Lake Greeson we drove to Nashville, TN and spent the night. We went to a nice dinner and hung out in downtown Nashville. As we were walking through downtown we passed a boot shop that had a sign outside stating "Buy 1, Get 2 Free". Anyone that knows me knows what a shoe person I am... and Jeff is just as bad with boots. Of course we went in and were really suprised at how nice the boots were. So we bought 1 and got 2 free. Woohoo! The next day we went to the Country music hall of fame. We didn't do the tour but we did get some pretty cool pictures. I've decided that at some point (more than likely when we build a new house) I would like to do a collage like this on one of our walls. I think it would be awesome to do with family photos and names and such.
From Nashville we drove to Lynchburg, TN... Home of the Jack Daniels Distillery. And I must say, it was one of the most interesting things we did the whole week. Jeff and I went to a couple of distilleries in Europe, but none of them were like this. The JD Distillery in Lynchburg is the original distillery and is still the working distillery today. We took a tour and were able to see the grounds and walk through the different buildings. Jeff bought a bottle of single barrel whiskey that you can only get from the distillery, which is pretty cool. I told him he can't open it until I am able to drink again! This is Jeff and I with a bronze statue of Jack himself.
Next we headed to Chattanooga, TN. Again we went to a nice dinner and found a bar that I could go into and hung out until about 10:30 and then we headed back to our hotel, kicked our feet up in bed and watched a movie. Wednesday we slept until about 10am and had breakfast and did a little shopping, and let me tell you something, IT WAS HOT! We decided that it would be nice to do what we never do at home and go back to the hotel and lay in bed and do nothing. And that is exactly what we did. Laid in bed and watched the World Cup. Jeff's parents met up with us that afternoon and the 4 of us went to the Tennessee Aquarium. Jeff and I had never been to any aquariums before so it was really neat for us. From what Keith and JoEllen said it is one of the better aquariums they have been to. So I'm glad that we were able to experience. Jeff was facinated with the sharks. I'm pretty sure we have about 100 pictures just of the sharks in the tanks. Here is one of the many. Jeff did a great job of capturing the entire trip to the aquarium and I was glad to be on the other side of the camera for once.
Jeff did a great job of capturing the entire trip to the aquarium and I was glad to be on the other side of the camera for once. I can promise you there would be no joking for me if I were actually inside a cage underwater surrounded by sharks. YIKES! This is the closest you'll ever get me.

Thursday Jeff and Keith played golf and JoEllen and I had a spa morning. I got a prenatal massage and JoEllen got a facial. I would like to point out that a prenatal massage might be one of the most amazing things on the planet. I could not have been more relaxed if I had tried.
After our spa morning and the guys golf game we drove to Knoxville for the beginning of Brad and Katie's wedding festivities. We had dinner on Thursday night with some of Jeff's family and headed back to our hotel to... you guessed it... just relax. Friday Jeff and Keith played golf with Brad and all of his buddies. I had to go shopping because the dresses that I took with me didn't fit. I kept putting off trying them on and waited until the last minute. Fortunately for me there was an outlet mall about 30 minutes from Knoxville. I love outlets and I could have had a lot of fun at some of the stores in there if I were not pregnant. Banana Republic, Gap, J.Crew, etc. I refrained from going crazy and only bought 2 dresses (for the rehearsal dinner and the wedding) and a new purse since I only took one with me.
Friday night we enjoyed an awesome rehearsal dinner with Brad and Katie and family members and their friends. After dinner Jeff and I went with them to a local microbrewery and hung out for a couple of hours. We had a great time with them. Saturday we were able to go to Brad and Katie's house, which is too cute. It sits in the greatest neighborhood that looks like a forest. Then Brad took us to this great local BBQ joint. Jeff finally got the pulled pork sandwich he had been waiting for all week. Jeff and I walked around in the Knoxville square and then headed back to hotel and... you guessed it... relaxed until the wedding.
Their wedding was beautiful and everything was just perfect. Jeff and I are so happy for cousin Brad. He found himself an awesome woman and we wish them all the best in the future.
Sunday we woke up bright and early and hit the road at 6am (central time). Jeff drove me the entire way home and we made it back to our house and our doggies about 7:30 Sunday night. We were so happy to be home and thankful for the relaxing 9 day trip that we took.
For those of you who have not heard our little man's name is... Porter Kirk Anderson. He is getting big and I'm not sure what he does in there, but I can tell you one thing, he's a pusher and a mover. Not a puncher or kicker. He just rolls around and pushes my skin to it's limits. Jeff was finally able to really feel him moving. Anytime before, when Jeff put his hand on my belly, Porter would stop immediately and not move again until Jeff took his hand off. I have my next appointment on Friday and I'll update you guys again on Sunday. I'll leave you with my 29 week picture. I know I have a while to go, but there are some moments that I don't feel like I can get any bigger.



Sorry for such a long post, but I wanted to fill everyone in on our trip. I hope you all have a great week.
Love ya!