Babymoon and 6 Months Preggo

Tim and I just got back from a wonderful weekend in New Orleans. We wanted to get away, just the two of us, one last time before our baby boy arrives. Saturday morning we woke up and headed down to Cafe Du Monde to enjoy some coffee and beignets...so yummy! After that, we took our time walking around the french quarter looking at shops and enjoying the jazz music in the background. We even got to see a little street show by some talented local guys. For lunch, we went to a tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant and filled up on poboys and cooled down a bit. We walked around a bunch more and then headed back to the hotel for dinner. We shared chargrilled oysters at Drago's Seafood and had a relaxing and romantic evening together.

On Sunday we went to our favorite New Orleans brunch spot - Dante's Kitchen. It was as delicious as we remembered and we always love the atmosphere. We headed to the WWII museaum after that to pay a little homage for Memorial Day Weekend. It was very interesting and we even got to see a really cool 4D show.

We headed back to the quarter and sat on a patio and enjoyed some jazz music with a beer (for Tim) and a virgin pina colada for me :). For dinner we went to Port of Call to try out there delicious burgers--and boy were they worth it! Their wine marinated mushrooms were oh so good. To enjoy our last night on the town, we headed over to Frenchman Street and listened to more live jazz music and really enjoyed ourselves.

Needless to say we had an awesome weekend and our baby boy is now 6 months along!

Lots of moving!

My baby boy has been moving lots and lots. I can definately feel him from the outside now and it is SO NEAT! Tim has felt him too and it is so special. For the most part he moves at unpredictable times, but after I eat and when I'm laying in bed at night he seems to be more active. It is really a comforting feeling and it brings me so much joy. Tim and I are anticipating the moment when Molly is laying against my belly and she gets startled by a kick...we will see!

P.S. Tim (and Molly) put the baby bed together and I love it! It is hard to believe it is for OUR baby!

Making room for baby

This past weekend, while Tim was away for his Pike Annual Golf Tournament, I took full advantage of working on clearing out the office to make it a nursery. Do you know how difficult it is to find new homes for things that fill an entire room? Let me tell you...it's challenging! I was able to make a nice pile of things to donate and throw away a bunch of unneeded things, but I managed to fit the rest nicely into new spaces.

One fun part about this organization was going through boxes of items from my past. My parents had given me a few boxes of things they had thoughtfully saved throughout my childhood. I looked through all of it with smiles and tears. It brought back all kinds of memories. As a mom-to-be, I realized that I now have a better appreciation for all of the things they had saved of mine. Even little pieces of paper with finger painted gibberish (have you ever seen Arkansas spelled RKINSOL?- Ha!) and hand-written notes from middle school. This new appreciation gives me yet another reason to be excited to save special items for my baby boy. Molly even got a new toy!

How far did I get? Let's just say there is still more to do, but I DEFINATELY got a good 75% start! I am very relieved to have accomplished so much. The exciting news is that Tim now has room to set up our little one's baby bed! YAY!

Last night I cooked dinner and finally got to relax with my hubby. We cuddled on the couch, shared fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, and watched a movie. My favorite!

Louisiana Dinner

Last night we had the family over for a Louisiana/Shreveport Dinner. Sarah and Chad are moving to Boston and begin their voyage today. We wanted to have a little sending off with foods that won't be as common in the North. Everybody brought something and the meal was complete with:

Crawfish dip

Chips, Salsa, & Guacamole (Tex-Mex, but southern nonetheless!)

Shrimp Poboys

Muffalettas

Strawn's Strawberry pie

Louisiana Mud / Dirt Cake (basically cookies and cream goodness!)

Tim and I really enjoyed having everyone over and we wish Chad & Sarah lots of luck and all the best on their adventure in Boston!

Movement!

I have felt our baby boy moving around in my belly for the past couple of weeks. It is so exciting! It is still just occasional, but I really enjoy the surprise. Right before I finally felt him, I would just lay there and concentrate on my belly in hopes that it would happen. It is amazing to feel a little person inside of me. It is like he is reminding me that he is in there and I LOVE it!

For those who have not experienced it, to me it feels like light thumps against my skin. He tickles me and I can't stay still sometimes. He just brings a smile to my face. :)

While laying in bed last night, I felt him kick from the outside!!! Another milestone for our little boy and my pregnancy! It was really neat. I didn't see it happen, but I felt him against my hand. I woke Tim up (he wasn't the happiest about that, because he had to wake up at about 4am). I placed his hand on my belly and we just waited for a couple of minutes. Unfortunately, that was a one time thing. But soon enough Tim will get to feel him too and I can't wait!

On another note, we had another doctor's visit this week. We got to see another ultrasound and he looks great! His tiny heart was beating at 136 bpm (looking good) and he was wiggling around. The doc said he is about 8 oz. at this point. Pics to follow soon!

Almost 18 weeks!

Today I am 17 weeks and 5 days pregnant. It seems to be going by pretty quickly so far. Tim and I have been really excited to prepare for our baby boy's arrival. Last week we decided on the bedding we like! I had spring break off from school, so I took advantage of a little free time. We spent last Easter weekend and Monday evening going to several different stores and even stepped into the Osh-Kosh-B'gosh store. Tim and I both have memories of wearing their cute little overalls. We even made our first clothing purchase for him. :)

Our main shopping goal was to see what they had to offer as far as cribs and bedding. We (I) have spent lots of time online looking at hundreds of different styles. I came across one I really liked and found out that Tim had seen it and liked it too...so that was a good sign! We went to the store to see it in person and fell in love. It is very simple and sweet and we cannot wait for our little boy to see it. I am not ready to show pics of it yet because I want to have a reveal later.

We have seen many sweet nurseries that have the baby's name displayed above the crib. Tim and I decided on a cute idea (to be revealed later also). I made a purchase and it came in the mail yesterday and it looks great! Tim's Papaw also gave us a vintage toy to go with it, which makes it even more special.

We have decided not to go with a theme, but are incorporating things that we feel are inspiring to little boys. With simple bedding, we will include sports, planes-trains-and-automobiles, puppy dogs, teddy bears and other animals. We have decided what furniture we will use and are currently working to clear out the office and find new homes for all of our stuff so we can transform it into our little baby's nursery.

We are having lots of fun! I'm looking forward to another break from school so I can get more done!

Good Friday

Let us remember the reason for Good Friday today and everyone have a wonderful Easter weekend!

"Be not overcome with evil, But overcome evil with good."

Romans 12:21