Flashback Friday

A year ago, I was in Dillon, Colorado, celebrating my mom's birthday and our wedding weekend on a pontoon boat in the middle of Lake Dillon in a chilly 40 degrees. Looking back, it probably wasn't a good idea, but it was memorable! It was a great way to kick off the wedding weekend and catch up with family who had come from far and near for the most memorable weekend of my life (so far).

I had a sad moment last night, unable to believe it has been an entire year since that wedding weekend. It has gone by so fast that I am actually sad that an entire year of my marriage has come and gone. And what adventure it has brought!

So, in honor of my first anniversary with Kyle, this weekend I'll be featuring a retrospective of "One year ago today" pictures, juxtaposed with "and where we are now" baby bumps! We are celebrating our wedding weekend in the woods, hills, and cool air of Prescott, AZ and the vicinity.

One year ago today:

Lake Dillon when the sun was still shining

No baby bump here...

And today!

34 weeks! Less than 6 to go!!

Well, we might as well just say it...

I know that I've been withholding the information that everyone asks to know--our baby's gender--from this blog for a long time now. It is really quite silly, because all our close friends, family, coworkers, and even my students all know the gender. I was hoping for some divine inspiration for a creative way of announcing it, but alas all my creativity has been channeled into creating a cute nursery, keeping the interest of my students, or one of the other various outlets of my brain and time that consume my daily existence.

It's a... BOY!

Phew, now that I've gotten that out of the way, let me address one more thing that is now annoying the crap out of me.

NO, I will NOT tell you the name. 

 Half of the reason for this is that we can't really be sure we know it. Half the reason is that I've already told you everything else about this baby (and if I haven't yet, it will be coming in a blog post at some point), and I want to keep something to myself! Surprises are so rare in life, relish them.

Names have a lot of meaning, in my opinion. I deal daily with a litany of characters, both fictional and real, and many of their names have been ingrained in my mind for both good and bad reasons. That being said, every other teacher out there has the same issue and experience. Therefore, if my name was "ruined" forever by an insubordinate student, I don't want to know about it. All those names that have been ruined for me have already been eliminated. Relatives and close-friends' (who all beat us to the chase) names have been eliminated in round 1. The next challenge is finding a name that suits both the parents, which is a whole new challenge. Kyle will fight to the death to name our son "Jedi" if I let him. He's been throwing "Eduardo" out there for months. If he ever takes this task 100% seriously, I will be suspicious and that he is crying wolf. But somehow, we made an agreement (I think) and I feel like we've accomplished one more thing on our ever-lengthening list of "prepare for the baby to-dos".

So, in case you wanted the proof, here is the original gender revealing ultrasound of our little man, growing larger and more active every day.

This was taken during spirit week for Homecoming on Nerd Day with my coworker Elizabeth.

This was Farmer Day this past week. I did what I had to do with the belly getting in the way!

Flashback to San Diego Saturday!

Back in June, Kyle and I went to San Diego for a weekend to get out of the heat, to see his sister, and for me to attend a bachelorette party for my good friend Lindsay. This trip meant that Blueberry got to get his first taste of BOTH the "Atlantic" (Gulf of Mexico) and the Pacific oceans within the span of 1 week.

Little Blue will probably be a water lover because of Kyle's genes to begin with, but then I am sure that I only added to it with 2 beach trips, a lot of pool time, and plenty of sun during this pregnancy.

I did learn, the hard way, that "laying out" on the beach is not nearly as comfortable pregnant. I cannot imagine how cumbersome I'd be on the sand now that I can't get off a couch without assistance some days.

The bachelorette weekend was actually really fun. Great girl time, great food, some sun, and some dancing! I made it out until almost 2:00 a.m. both Friday and Saturday evening, but I did make everyone stop to get some ice-cream cookie sandwiches in Pacific Beach. There was a snafu about not being allowed in the Speakeasy because I didn't wear heels (what pregnant woman in her right mind would wear them for an evening of walking around the Gaslamp district downtown), but I still enjoyed the evening!

Here are some pictures that make me really appreciate how truly little the baby bump was (see prior post for the more recent bump size!)

The ladies in the harbor

I was a trooper I guess!

On Pacific Beach

Blue was not that big at all yet!

32 is my Lucky Number!

Here I am, in week 32. I have always had 32 as my lucky number. I am not even sure the origin of this becoming my lucky number, but I have referred to it for as long as I can remember as my favorite!

So, it only seems natural that this week is one of the best weeks of my pregnancy thus far, right?

Well, sure enough, as luck would have it, I lost something on Saturday night, but I have already found it!

My ankles.

You heard me correctly. It happened. My ankles went away. I came home from a 4-bar, I-am-the-coolest-pregnant-wife-on-the planet evening with great friends and family and sat on the couch when I noticed it.

My ankles no longer had ankle bones.

My calves continued right into my puffy little insoles.

Kyle tried to help assuage my shock by giving me a quick foot rub, but considering it was a 4-bar evening, this was an ineffective treatment.

So I sat with my feet WAY up on the back of the couch and downed some water.

Was it the super over-salted popcorn at bar #4?

Was it dancing to the blues band?

Was it simply drinking a ton of water, a tea, and a root beer over the course of the evening?

Or would my ankles be gone for good?

This story has a happy ending.

THEY ARE BACK!!! That is exactly why I am sure that 32 IS my lucky number!

Other positives of the week to further support my claim:
-Another clean bill of health at the doctor this week
-A great evaluation at school
-My sorority kick-off party is Thursday, which is always fun
-We got the baby's room painted!

Overall, I'd say that it would be hard to argue against the fact that this is a great week to be pregnant.

32 weeks (almost) in front of our newly-painted nursery wall!

A New Meaning to Labor Day

As a teacher, I just got my first day off of the school year (6 full weeks without a break!), with Labor Day. But I can't help but contemplate that "labor" will mean so much more to me in just 9 shorts weeks. That is right, only 2 months from today is my due date. I usually feel like 2 months is a long time, but when it comes to waiting on a baby to arrive, 2 months does not seem like nearly enough time to feel ready.

We spent our Labor Day weekend busy as usual. From bridal showers to pool parties, to dinners with friends and some catch up on TV, we sure know how to fill up a weekend. We even spent some time doing manual labor as we finally started to paint the baby's room!

Sneak peak picture for you...

Sorry for the finger glare... one of these is the color we chose for the accent wall!!

And it is hard to tell, but this is the gray base!

Hope you all had a relaxing and safe Labor Day weekend!