Tuesday Topics with Tiffany & Lauren!

Today is my 1st time to link up with one of my blogger BFF's, Tiffany @ Austin Family Diary (our boys were born on the same day!) and Lauren @ Life Love Lauren for Tuesday Topics.  I am a pretty bad blogger these days so having link ups help make it easy and more fun!

Today's topic-  Eight photographs of nature!


1.  Dos Ojos Cenote outside of Playa del Carmen 
This is the entrance to the cenote (underground river) and from here you can go hundreds of feet back in underwater caves.  Yep, we did a 195 feet cave dive here.  It was insane.  Craziest, scariest experience of my life.  Never, ever again....
It is beautiful though!!

2.  The Arch in Cabo
One of my favorite places in the world!!

3.  Breckenridge, CO
Skiing with my brother in law in 2010

4.  Nassau, Bahamas
My husband and I were taking a walk on the beach and came across this pretty palm tree all alone

5.  Camelback Mountain in Phoenix
I was in Phoenix for a work trip and one evening my boss and I hiked Camelback Mntn and saw this amazing sunset!

6.  Thunder Hole in Acadia National Park on the coast of Maine

 

 

 

 

7.  Molokai, HI
Amazing views of the mountains and waterfalls from a helicopter on our honeymoon

8.  The Blue Ridge Mountains- North Carolina

And now I want a vacation after looking thru all of these old pictures.....
;)

     

Connor's Newborns!

We had Connor's newborn photos taken back when he was just 1 week old but I am just getting around to posting them!  If you are looking for a photographer in the Houston area, you should definitely look up my friend Kaleigh!  She is a good friend of mine and an amazing photographer.  She did our pregnancy announcement, gender reveal, maternity and newborns and will be taking other pictures for us throughout the first year.  She is the best!! Visit her website here or her Facebook page here. 

Here are several of my favorites from our newborn shoot with her :)

 

 

 

   

Maternity Pics Reveal & 32 Week Bump Update!

This past Sunday we had our maternity session with Kaleigh Karin Photography and I am so excited to share a few of our pictures with you! =)   Kaleigh is a good friend from high school and she has been with us thru my entire pregnancy....she did our bump announcement, gender reveal and after Connor is born, she will do his newborns.  If you are looking for a photographer in the Spring/Woodlands area (Texas) I highly recommend you contact her!  All pictures are taken at Old Town Spring in Spring, TX and a field that Kaleigh found in Spring.   Here are the pictures we have seen so far!  She is still working on editing the others so I will share more eventually =)   

(All pictures taken on 3/17/13 at 31 weeks, 5 days)        And now for my 32 week bump update!     How far along?  32 weeks and 2 days.  54 days to go!!      How big is baby?  Approximately 18-19 inches and about 4.5 lbs....the size of a honeydew    Total weight gain/loss?  11 lbs    Maternity Clothes?  Everyday!     Stretch Marks?  Still on my sides and boobs.  Boo.      Sleep?   Not so great.  I toss and turn all night long and get up to use the bathroom at least 4-5 times.  I have started taking a nap mid afternoon so that helps me not feel quite so exhausted all the time.   I have to take a warm bath before bed every night or there is no chance I will fall asleep.      Miss anything?  I miss moving around easily....everything is difficult these days...standing up, bending over, getting dressed, shaving (nearly impossible), you name it.      Movement?  All the time!         Food Cravings?  Macaroni & Cheese, strawberries, Chick-Fil-A sweet tea    Anything making you queasy or sick?  Red meat = gross.   Have you started to show yet?  Um yes, my stomach is huge.         Gender?  Baby Boy!  Connor Christopher :)    Labor Signs?  Strong braxton hicks some days, terrible, terrible pubic bone pain. We had a scare on Saturday morning and had to go to the hospital but I will get more into that below.   Belly Button in or out?  Almost completely flat.   Mood?  Happy and excited!! I just can't believe that he will be here in 7-8 weeks or less! Time is flying by!      Symptoms?   You name it and I am dealing with it probably ;)  The worst is the tailbone, lower back and pubic bone pain.  Still dealing with heartburn, hip pain, exhaustion, queasiness in the mornings and just overall a feeling of being uncomfortable all day every day...unless I am in the bathtub.  The best I feel is when I take a bath...which sometimes happens 3-4 times a day.  I can't wait until our pool is warm enough to swim in.  I will probably stay in it several hours every day!!     Wedding rings still on?  Yes, still on!  I guess since I have every other symptom in the world, God decided to give me a break and not give me any swelling ;)  YET, at least....           Best moments of the week?  Our maternity pictures!! They were so fun and we absolutely loved how they turned out.  Can't believe the next pictures we take will be the newborns.    Looking forward to? Our couples shower in Dallas this weekend   Crazy moment of the week: Well, my MIL had to be admitted to the hospital on Thursday night for some stomach issues so from Thursday night-Saturday afternoon, my husband and I were in and out of the hospital several times a day.   On top of that.....Saturday morning I felt great and headed out to run some errands.  I got home late morning and went to use the bathroom when I noticed something different.  (Sorry if this is TMI!! I will try to leave out all of the gross details).  Basically, I thought my water broke....things were not normal down there so I decided to call my doctor just to let them know what was going on and see if I needed to do anything.  The on call doctor immediately called me back and said to go to the hospital and check in to the triage.  She said based on the description of what I saw, it could definitely be leaking amniotic fluid.  EEEK!  I felt perfectly fine and felt a little silly going to the hospital but I figured it was better to be safe.  I called my husband who was already at the hospital with his Mom.  I tell him "hey, I am on my way to the hospital."  And he is like "Ok, see you when you get here."  Poor guy...thought I was just coming to see him and his mom.  Nope.... now it was my turn.   Anyways, I get there and he meets me in the family birth center and we get checked in and put in a room right away.  The nurse has me change into a gown and hooks me up to all the monitors.  They use a test strip and take a sample of the "fluid" and put it in this solution that will turn a color if it is amniotic fluid.  Thank goodness it came back negative!  But the monitors were showing I was having fairly regular contractions...they were not big or painful but they were continuous. And it appeared the baby was being "irritable" they said. So, we ended up having to stay for a couple hours to monitor me and the baby.  They sent me home and told me to drink more water and rest.  What I was thinking could be my water breaking was actually just more of the mucus plug shedding (way more than normal).   So, everything is fine, praise the Lord!      

    We had our 3rd Preparing for Childbirth class Tuesday night and got to tour the hospital and maternity area (my husband and I got real familiar with that area and the rest of the hospital over the weekend though..haha)   It was fun seeing a room we would be in when Connor comes and learning where the nursery, NICU and waiting rooms are.  We also learned all about c-sections and medications that are available for pain during labor.  I know some people think these classes are useless and a waste of time and I have to wonder if the classes they took were completely different than ours?  Our is AWESOME and we have learned so much.  No, we won't remember everything and a lot of it we don't really need to know but it has made me feel so much less nervous about the whole process and I feel much more "educated" on every possible situation that we could be faced with.  Our classes have definitely been worth it!        

Birthday Weekend Recap!

Happy Monday & August 1st! Wow...where has this year gone?! I can not believe football season is here, the holidays are just around the corner, one of my best friends is very close to having her first baby, school starts and hopefully some cooler weather in the next couple of months (I live in Houston..wishful thinking)! This year has flown by.

Well, this weekend I turned 29. Whohoo! It was such a fun weekend! Friday night hubby and I went with his brother, Andrew and his GF, Hannah and my old roomies Hayden & Brendan to see Katy Perry in concert. SHE WAS AAAAAWESOME!!!!!! She changed costumes at least 10 times, has tons of dancers and acrobats and did some really cool "extras". Here are a few pictures. ( They are kinda grainy...something was up with my little point & shoot that night )






Saturday morning I skipped my run with my group (bad Leslie...I made it up on Sunday though! ) and Chris took me to my favorite brunch place in Houston- Backstreet Cafe. And he gave me my gift!! Ta-da....

It is a Nikkor 55-300 lens and I am OBSESSED with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It goes to my Nikon D60 I have. I have desperately wanted a new lens for awhile now so I am really excited about this! He definitely won "Husband of the Year" award for this one :)
Saturday night my parents came to our house and we went to dinner at Brenner's on the Bayou. Love this restaurant! It is right on the Bayou and so beautiful. You do not even feel like you are in Houston when you are here. It was such a fun day :)

Yesterday we went up to Lake Conroe and took the boat out for a few hours, just the 2of us, but it was SO hot we just could not stay out there very long. I got a really bad headache from the heat...it was miserable. And last night I ran 3 miserable miles and grilled shrimp for dinner.

It was a fun and relaxing weekend that went way too fast...
Hope you all had a great weekend!!