A busy weekend

2 weekends ago was a busy weekend!  Here, I'll walk you through it.  :)

Friday:
- Had dinner at Brittany's place.  She makes YUMMY food and it was fun to see her and the boys (Joe was at work).

Saturday:
- Finally deposited into the bank the last of our Euro's from the trip to Europe.  Sad. :(
- Had breakfast at Einstein's bagels.
- Went back to the bank to try and see if we could get pre-approved for a home loan.  We aren't absolutely sure that we want to buy a house before the baby comes but did want to see if it was possible (thanks to the short sell of our condo in California).  Not possible now according to Bank of America, at least.
- We then headed to Babies R Us to register for baby stuff.  We were there for like 3 hours and it was not fun.  So much stuff, so many decisions, etc.  By the end we were just scanning stuff in order to get it done.  There was no way I was going to spend the time figuring out which features which strollers had and which stroller met our needs the best.  Can you imagine how much time we would have spent if we DID do that with strollers,bouncy seats,baby monitors, high chairs, car seats, etc?!  Let's just say that it certainly wasn't as fun as registering for our wedding.
- Late lunch with Brittany and her boys at BJ's Restaurant.
- Surprise party!  My friend Tida, who now lives in Vegas, threw a surprise 40th birthday party for her husband, Jason.  It was great because he had no idea about the party OR that Tida was in Dallas!  We also watched the Mavericks game.  It was a fun party.  (Also, there were 2 other women at the party that were pregnant but not as far along as I was.  Listening to what they were going through sure made me grateful to be in my second trimester and feeling relatively good right now!)

Here's Tida hiding behind the birthday sign.

Sunday:
- We didn't celebrate our 8th anniversary the previous week because I had meetings/dinners for work.  We decided not to do anything big because of our trip to Europe.  I still wanted to do something even if it was small.  So, I gave Peter a stand for his guitar on our anniversary (it was really a present for me because I'm hoping if the guitar is displayed in the front room, he'll pick it up and play it more often).  I also planned something we hadn't done before - a picnic lunch at a "resort" with a scavenger hunt.  The resort was more like a ranch than a resort.  The picnic lunch was in nice basket but the food was pretty pathetic.  The weather was HOT and HUMID with barely a breeze to discourage the bugs from harassing us.  The scavenger hunt was cheesy (a four leaf clover, write a love poem, etc.)  :)  So it was a fun idea but the execution just fell short.

Here's Peter on our blanket, in the grove of pecan trees.

Me feeding Peter a chocolate dipped graham cracker.

 Peter returning the favor.  This picture was taken AFTER he lovingly shoved the graham cracker with quickly melting chocolate onto my nose.  Aren't we romantic? :)

After we ate, I was pretty much done.  It was way to hot and humid for a pregnant lady to wander around the grounds doing a scavenger hunt so we called it quits and drove back home.  I was so wiped out after just an hour outside that I ended up sleeping the whole way home.  This pregnancy is affecting my endurance for being outside and dealing with the heat. 

So, my fun anniversary activity may not have turned out exactly like planned but we still had a good time, laughed a bunch about how silly it was, and reconfirmed how much we love each other.

- After I recovered from our outing we headed to a nice air conditioned movie theater and watched Thor.

- We wrapped up our busy weekend by heading to Dallas to watch the musical "9 to 5".  Peter bought me season tickets to Dallas Summer Musicals for Christmas.  (We've already been to 1 musical this year - Burn the Floor.)  It was a fun musical but when it was over, I was happy to head home and go to bed...it had been a busy weekend!

Let's Go Mavs!

The Dallas Mavericks were in the Western Conference Finals!  I had the opportunity to go watch the game, along with Peter, in the CROSSMARK suite at the American Airlines center.  The woman I work with, who is our VP of Walgreens, called and said I'd been doing a great job and would I be interested in going?  OF COURSE!!!  I felt pretty lucky considering this was the playoffs and the demand for tickets in the suite was high.

It was an incredibly fun game.  Note the sea of royal blue...  Each person in the arena had a Mavs shirt waiting for them on their seat!  The Mavericks were playing the Oklahoma Thunder.  The game was entertaining, a good match up, but in the end the Mavs did a good job of staying ahead so I didn't have to feel that incredible nail-biting anxiety that can accompany sporting events.  I really hate that part - I get so invested so quickly.

Peter having a good time.

It's hard to tell in this picture but the final score was Dallas - 121 and Oklahoma - 112.  WHEW!

Happy fans.  It was crazy fun!
(Ugh.  Notice how round my face looks? 
The days where I'm happy with how I look are apparently gone.  I'm plumping right up.)

The Mavericks ended up winning that series and as I type this are currently playing Game 1 in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat.  Go Mavs!

In-N-Out Burger - My Wait is Over

There are very few chains whether restaurant, fast food, grocery, apparel, etc that can't be found in Dallas.  It is chain heaven!  However, one of the major ones (at least in my world) that was missing was In-N-Out.  When a learned last year through my inside source (Joe) that In-N-Out was coming to Texas - I was thrilled.  It was a long tortuous wait but at long last, on May 11th, Dallas got a little more bearable.  In-N-Out opened!!!  And the crazy/lucky/can-you-believe-it thing is that the first location in ALL OF TEXAS is 2 streetlights away from our home!

Here's at the early stages of construction:

 All Done!

 And we even get the palm trees!

 Here's me enjoying my first burger.  (Technically this is the Allen, TX location that opened on the same day and not the Frisco, TX location.  Joe works at the Allen location so we went there to say hi.  Hi was all we were able to say because it was CRAZY busy.  They were selling around 8,000 burgers per store per day that first week.  They also opened an hour and a 1/2 early and were still cooking more than an hour after they should have closed in order to deal with the lines.  People waited in line for more than 2 hours!)

 Peter and our food.  I sure love In-N-Out!

  So even though my wait for In-N-Out in Texas is over, my wait isn't technically over.  The lines are still long nearly 3 weeks later (when we've gone we've waiting anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes) but worth it - at least right now while I am still quenching my thirst.  :)  I know, I might be a little nuts but it's good to be passionate about something.  For some Texans, it's football.  For me, it's In-N-Out. 

Another job relocation to Dallas!

I don't think any of us Nelson kids would have EVER thought we'd live in Texas.  Now, 2 of us live here!  In-N-Out Burger has expanded into Texas (more on that later) and brought my sister and her family with them.  Brittany and Joe met when they were both working at In-N-Out and that was the start of their love story.  Joe still works for In-N-Out as a manager and when he heard they were expanding, he put his name in the hat and was selected to move to Dallas and get In-N-Out off the ground!  At the end of April they moved from Vegas to Frisco, TX.  It's great because they only live 5 minutes away.  So now I have a sister, brother-in-law, and 2 nephews that I can see every day if I want.  It is so much fun!  Peter and I haven't lived by family since we got married and I haven't lived in the same state with Brittany for 13 years.

In Vegas, Brittany and her family lived with Kimberly and hers.  So, I figured there might be some sadness mixed in with this move for her (I know it was hard for me to leave family behind in Utah when I left).  Peter and I decided to throw them a "party" and celebrate their new lives as Texans.  They ended up getting here a day earlier than we had planned on so the "party" actually happened on their second day here.  We decorated our apartment with streamers and balloons. 

We had bought each of them a shirt for a different sports team here - Dallas Cowboys (football), Dallas Stars (hockey), Dallas Rangers (baseball) and University of Texas Longhorns (college football).  Hayden was soooo excited about his baseball shirt - it was so cute!

Brittany, Landen, Joe, and Hayden 

We went and visited the park next to our apartment.  There are some impressive statues of Longhorns that we introduced Hayden to.

Hayden practicing his Texas bull riding skills.

 Kallie, Hayden, and Peter

We finished out the party with a visit to Babes Chicken House for some good southern chicken.  (We tried to introduce them to the best of Texas - sports, food, and cattle.  HA)  Of course the food was amazing at Babes and they loved it.  We all left completely stuffed!

Last week of the second trimester

Wahoo!  Nearly 2/3 done.

Not much in the mood to blog today.

I'm tired of "pregnancy" brain.  I get so irritated when I can't think of certain words or I lose my train of thought midsentence.  So frustrating.

Got a leg cramp in the middle of the night one night this past week.  Holy pain!  Seriously not fun.  I hope that doesn't happen very frequently.

I've lost the bottom part of my belly button - totally weird.

We registered at Babies R' Us this past weekend.  Took forever, by the time we were done I just didn't care anymore.  I was tired.  I don't have the patience to figure out exactly which stroller, car seat, blanket, bottle, etc that I want nor do I really care all that much right now.

Other than that just stressed.  I'm tired of trying to think of names, worrying about where to put all the baby stuff, thinking about how our lives are going to change, always having to answer the question "are you excited?", thinking about whether going back to work after the baby is the right decision or not, trying to make others happy.  I've felt extra emotional today.  Sucks.

26th week

Not much new to add this week.  I still have my belly button however it's getting much shallower.  Baby is moving a lot and Peter gets a chance to feel him nearly every day.  I'm sure that Peter doesn't alway feel like it's a life changing experience to feel our baby moving but it makes me feel good when he'll take the time to sit there with his hand on my belly.  I feel like he's getting a chance to be a part of this thing which at this point is unfortunately nearly completely a Kallie-only-experience.  (I'll make sure he gets over-compensated on participation points when we have a newborn baby crying in the middle of the night or dirty diapers to deal with!!!)  I try to listen to some Mozart when I shower in the morning sometimes.  I'm sure that alone won't make him a genius but it can't hurt right?  and I enjoy Mozart.  :)

The hospital where I will deliver offers a free variety of women's classes on Childbirth preparation, Breastfeeding, Infant care/safety/CPR, Car Seat Classes, etc.  They apparently fill up fast so we need to sign up soon but man, thinking about going to these classes creeps me out if I'm being honest.  Makes it feel a little too real to have to do things like watch a video on what I am going to have to do to get this baby out of me or to talk about how to successfully feed a baby on a part of my body.  Quite sure I'm not ready to face all of that yet.

Done with week 24

I'm now officially in my 25th week.  Whew.  It's kinda of weird to think that I've been pregnancy that long!  It's gone by so quickly. 

This past week I got sick with a cold.  Oh my goodness...being sick WHILE being pregnant???  Hardly seems fair.  I was so sneezy and coughy (which is really annoying when pregnant thanks to some of the other bodily functions that are affected).  One day, I sneezed so much, my poor already-not-normal-because-they've-been-stretched abs just ached.  I've already been dealing with some minor congestion for about the last month mainly evidenced by being able to heart my heartbeat in my right ear sometimes (don't worry - my doctor says it's nothing to be concerned about).  This cold kicked up the congestion to new levels which ended up bring back some of the earlier pregnancy fun with early morning throwing up and some nighttime nausea.  Plus I was even more tired than I usually am.  Thank goodness I am now on the tail end of the cold.

I had my monthly Dr's visit on Monday.  I had to drink the super sweet orange glucose drink before the visit so that they could test my blood and make sure I don't have gestational diabetes.  So there was that fun and then when the nurse was trying to listen to the heartbeat, she couldn't find it.  I thought I might have heard it for a nanosecond but certainly nothing obvious.  So the nurse is like "I heard it a little bit.  Have you felt him move today?" I said that I had felt him.  She said she'd just have the doctor listen for the heartbeat when she came in.  She's trying to make it no big deal but inside I'm thinking, we found the heartbeat just fine last time and he's bigger this time so why can't she find his heartbeat easily???  This is just torture for a pregnant woman (or at least for me)!  So here I am, left alone in the room, hoping everything is okay with the baby.  I am trying not to worry...reassuring myself that I HAVE felt him move today and silently begging him to move again so I know he's okay.  TORTURE.  It's almost like, "lady - just keep trying...I don't care how long you have to move that Doppler over my belly but keep going until you clearly hear his heartbeat.  Don't give up and leave me hanging here."  This same thing happened a few visits ago where the nurse couldn't find the heartbeat and left it up to the doctor when she finally got in there.  I DON'T LIKE IT.  But anyway, so there I waited and the baby eventually moved around so I felt better.  The doctor found his heartbeat just fine and everything is good.  I just don't enjoy moments like that where I worry that everything is okay.  I worry enough when I'm at home.  I don't want to have to worry in a doctor's office where I feel like it should be easy and quick to determine everything is okay.

Today my doctor called and said I passed my test and my blood work looked good so YEAH for that!

I've been in meetings at work for the last couple days and sitting in a chair listening to speakers for hours is not as comfortable as it used to be.  :) 

I love how I look.  Not so much the belly thing but it is nice to be able to wear clothes that might show my belly versus trying to hide my chubby belly.  Mainly what I am talking about is my face and hair.  It's not that I can see a major change but for some reason, I'm happy with how I look in most pictures and normally that's not the case.  I'm happy when I look in the mirror.  Maybe it's the "pregnancy glow" although I don't see a "glow" but I have had a couple compliments on my skin. As I am thinking about how to describe it, I think that acceptance is the best word.  It's not like I can do anything about being pregnant and it's not going to go away anytime soon so I think I am more accepting of what is me, all of it, instead of critiquing.  I like this part.

Other mini-updates:

• The thought of eating big pieces of chicken/meat still isn't appealing to me.
• I am still happiest with fruit and try to take strawberries or grapes to work to snack on during the day.
• Bending over to put my socks on or buckle up sandals is a pain not to mention shaving my legs or putting lotion on them.
• Belly seems to be getting rounder however I get comments more on how large my boobs are before I get comments on my belly (seriously, people?!).
• I have a headache nearly everyday however they aren't bad enough to take any Tylenol.
• Have had some small heartburn episodes a few times when laying down to bed but again nothing too bad.
• I notice the baby moving most in the later evening between like 9 - 11:30 pm when I'm hanging out on the couch watching tv/being on the computer or laying in bed reading.
• Peter is still a fantastic support and will do sweet things like bend down in the kitchen to grab the one piece of corn that fell off my pizza and rolled into the corner so I don't have to.  It's a small silly thing but in that moment, I'm crazy grateful that I don't have to bend down to look for where it went, get myself down far enough to pick it up, and then get back up again.  :)

There you go.

Finally!

Today, finally, Peter got to feel the baby.  This little boy hasn't cooperated so far and when Peter's been trying to feel him move, he either barely lightly moves or is still.  That, or Peter gives up and isn't patient enough.  But today, the stars aligned and Peter felt him move!  YEAH!  Now the pressure's off... whew.

Week 23

I do not like to blog in a non-chronological order.  It doesn't sit right with my logical, organized, linear way of thinking.  However, I am in blog overwhelm.  I know that I have a couple of blogs that need to be written and then I need to tackle our fantastic trip to Europe which, while I can't wait to have it all documented, is going to be a serious task.  I have over a 1,000 pictures to sort through.  Ugh.  So I have been avoiding blogging.  Which just puts me further and further behind. So, I am going against my grain and writing this blog because I don't want to get further and further behind.

When I first learned I was pregnant, I thought, "wouldn't it be neat if I blogged every week so I would have a written journal of this journey?"  Yeah, it would be neat.  But see above paragraph for why that hasn't happened.  No more delay.  I am going to start blogging now otherwise it will never happen.  I may not blog every week.  Maybe I won't have anything to say every week.  I certainly don't expect you, as a reader, to care to read my pregnant thoughts once a week.  But, maybe someday I will want to look back and remember so I will do it for me and you can feel free to skip this for the more fun and interesting blogs about such things as gelato, extinct volcanoes, and ruins that are thousands of years old!

Week 23 -
In the past two weeks a few things have changed.  To start with, I have gotten nearly all of my appetite back.  I still don't think meat sounds particularly good however, if prepared as part of a meal I will eat it.  I feel hungry AND I can't seem to stop myself when eating.  I have eaten to the point of stuffed more in the last 2 weeks than in the last 5 months.  Gotta get some self control back.  :)  As a direct result, the scale has finally moved past the point it was when I got pregnant.  I was so excited for the first 22 weeks to have lost weight, then gained some back but still be under what I weighed when I got pregnant.  Since I was already overweight when I got pregnant, my doctor and I set a goal for me to not gain any weight during pregnancy.  I felt like it was doable based on the first 22 weeks.  Once I hit 20 weeks I figured it may be harder to keep from gaining weight so I thought, if I can gain just 1/2 lb a week then when I deliver I would only be up 10 lbs - awesome, right?!  Sure.  Until the last 2 weeks.  It's like I've gone off the deep end. I have gained 6 lbs in the last 2 weeks.  GRRRRRR.  This is so not the plan. 

So now I've got to #1 - Get back to focusing on either healthy vs. eating what sounds good #2 - practice some self control and #3 - start exercising.  I really don't want to go out of control with my weight and gain 20 - 25 lbs by the time I am done.  Don't get me wrong - I am committed to giving my baby the nutrition it needs and am not talking about starving him.  However, I can be healthier about what I am doing, now that it's showing in my results.

Another thing thing that has happened in the past 2 weeks (and maybe, fingers crossed, the weight is a result of this- at least partly) my belly has really popped out.  There's no denying it anymore, unless I wear big, baggy, non pregnancy clothes.  I have a pregnant belly.  My belly button is getting shallower - weird!

Lastly, the baby is making his presence more known.  His movements have grown from the kind of rolling sensation I felt early on.  I now feel what I will call, points of impact.  He must have grown big enough for me to feel him kicking and punching.  It's not extreme yet but it's definitely different.  Also, I have been able to feel those movements from outside my belly as well.  Peter hasn't quite had that "I certainly felt that one" moment but he's got a short attention span when it comes to waiting with his hand on my belly.  Also, in the last week, if I watch my belly when he's kicking/punching (?! will I ever know which one he's doing?) a bunch I can see my belly move.  This is a WEIRD thing for me.  Seeing my belly move independently from something I'm doing is an odd thing.  Don't know if I'll get used to that.

Sleep has become a problem.  Not only do I not sleep through the night because of at least 2 nightly trips to the bathroom, but it's become difficult to get comfortable.  Either my back hurts or my belly isn't supported or my bosoms are squished... Seriously, it's a joke.  I have a pregnancy pillow but it causes me more stress than helps.  I've seen a different version that some women swear by but it's so BIG (look it up - it's called the Snoogle).  How would I ever feel like I could cuddle with Peter if I'm sleeping with that thing?  Plus it's so large it would take up most of the bed!  And, lastly, I'm cheap.  I hate that we spent 50.00 on a special pillow I'm not crazy about but it would kill me to spend another 50.00 just to try another kind that may not work either.  So instead, I torture myself every night and wake up tired.  I am tired all the time.

There's the update for the week.  No, we haven't picked out a name.  No, we haven't bought furniture.  No, we haven't made space in the office for it to become a nursery.  No, we haven't signed up for birthing classes.  I'm still in avoidance on all of those.