Our big boy!

I haven't scanned the pics yet, but we had a great appointment today! 21 weeks, are are officially on the downward slide to having this baby! :-) Our little man looked great today and all things looked as they should. And confirmed again, he is DEFINITELY a boy! He is also very very active (and stubborn like his folks...he didn't want to roll over to show us his spine). He would roll halfway and then go back the way we didn't need him to go, HA! But he finally flipped and got what we needed to see. The constant moving does explain a lot of what I have been feeling as well as why I haven't slept through the night in months! But it is worth every sleepless night already!

Doc said he is in the 80th percentile of the normal range for size so looks like this guy is going to be a biggun like his parents are. She said his size wasn't a concern, just that he is going to most likely be medium to large when he gets here. I go next Wednesday, Oct 3rd for my regular OB appointment so we will see if she agrees. Hopefully I haven't gained too much weight or I may get a lecture. I feel like I am doing okay. All of my clothes still "fit" just not as comfortable. The body is just shaped differently now! So, I got to buy my first maternity pants, JEANS! I am beyond excited. They regular ones still fit but after a meal or sitting in them all day, the buttons were DIGGING. So, welcome to the world of panel pants! WOOHOO, what a difference some elastic makes!

So anyway, all in all a great day. Seeing the little man makes me smile bigger than I knew I could. The pics are good so I will get them scanned in soon to share. Cant wait to meet this guy!! Well....I can wait a few months yet, we have much to do still! :-)

Also, a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my one of my bestest gal pals, the Ginster! She turned 30 today! Hope you and Jeff are having a fantabulous time in Seattle!

And a HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Mike and Roxanne who celebrate 5 years today!

Happy Birthday Matthew!

Today my sweet hubby turned 31 years old!! I am so blessed to have met him and am happy to be sharing another year together! Exciting to think that at each of our next birthdays...we will have our little man with us!! Tomorrow is our 20 week ultrascan, I will report back and hopefully get some good pics to post!

Esther Day!!!

3 years ago today......our precious Esther girl came to stay in our lives for good! We adopted our little princess, Esther, on Sept 26, 2004. She, along with her older brother Max (my first) are our original babies (even if fur babies!) and have seen us through some hard times!! We know they are going to make great siblings for Zach!! So....for today's post, you shall see some pics through the years of the kids! We are so happy we could be your forever home Esther & Max!

Our Esther Girl (in the Hawkinson backyard)


The Day we Met


The Ride Home


Mister Max






Play Time at the Park


All Smiles!


Bath Time is Fun!


Bed Time...


Sibling Love

Family Fun!

We had a great weekend with the fam at my Aunt's ranch in Palestine. As always, it was good to see all the cousins and their kiddos too! The kids had gotten since the wedding...they are now 7, 5, 4 and 2! I cant believe it the wedding was the last time I had seen Laura, Megan, Kelly and Courtney! Where does the time go??

Jane and Ken have built an awesome boat dock/deck and bought a fabulous pontoon boat, so we spent a lot of the weekend fishing, sunning, eating, and just generally chilling on the boat or deck. Good times were had by all! So anyway, it was fun...I need to get some pics from Jane to show off the crew!! My Dad and Jane's cousin Gary and his wife and daughter were there too...they had not seen each other in almost 30 years! We left with the plan to do this more often, its halfway between Dallas and Houston so works well for us all!

Well, we have a busy week ahead. Book Club tomorrow night, painter coming to give a quote and hopefully start soon, Matt's b-day on Thursday, BIG 20 week scan on Friday (cant wait to see our little man again!!!), Saturday-hair appt (FINALLY) and shopping with mom....whew, I am tired already. At least Monday is over, for that I am thankful!

Some Pics

Just a few from the trip that I really liked. I must say I was happy with the pics. A lot of times I get them back and think, is that all we took or we only have pics with one of us but I think we did pretty good!

Decisions, Decisions...

Wow, I am actually at a point where I am discussing Baby Shower dates and Bedding! I have been surfing bedding for probably about 2 years now...and now I finally know and I am having a little boy in February who needs a room decorated!!

So...........now the hard part, which is "The One"??

I have been eyeing this one at Pottery Barn Kids for awhile now. I am usually not a huge PBK person because I'm not a huge "quilt" person, but this is so cute! It's on sale so I went to check it out at lunch today at the Galleria. Had a great sales lady named Lisa help me out too. It's called Animals on Parade. I went ahead and bought the quilt, sham, bumpers, and valance. I just really like the way it looks all put together, so sweet! And looks good with white furniture which I like! I can return it within 60 days...I think that works cause surely I will have decided by shower time!

I also like this one by bebe star. It called Monkeying Around. Quite similar with the gingham but all monkeys. This one has a 90 day return policy so I may just order it and compare.

Mom really likes this one...and I have seen it in person and it's cute too! It's a much brighter and bolder nursery though! But I can imagine it being a little boy's room after the crib too. It's called Paradise. It also has a giraffe in it which Matt really likes.

If you can't tell, I like jungle/animal themes! Allows for me to incorporate the hippos and giraffes and such! Mom and I are going shopping the weekend of the 29th so we will see what else we find out there! YIPPEE!

BOO!

Ugh, so "The Denatos" are the final 2 of BB8. Blah. Who even wants to watch the final episode now? Oh well, I guess they actually did play the best. I knew when it was down to the final 6 (Eric, Jess, Jamika, Zach, Dani and Evil) and people were still pairing up with the Denatos in alliance that this was the most obvious outcome. There were so many opportunities to break them up and no one had the guts to try until it was too late. Duh people, if you actually even made it to the final 3 with them, the odds are totally against you! Annoying. Maybe one day I will be a BB contestant and show people how to really play ;-) J/K...I want to be on the Amazing Race first! :-)

When it Rains, it Pours!

Ah well, just when we came back from a fabulous vaca....we get smacked with the realities of life!! Sunday we come home to a leak in our front entry closet and plumbing and a little water damage to deal with. Plumbers cant come out til Thursday which is annoying. Thankfully, my dad is great and is going to come over and be here when Matt and I cant since we just got back from a week off work. I am just hoping it is not something SUPER serious and we can get back in the swing of getting the house ready for sale soon. Then to top it all off today.........I got in a wreck on the way to dinner with my DZ girls! I wasn't on the phone, wasn't doing make-up, wasn't doing anything wrong at all...just wanted to get around a car and totally misjudged the distance. I dented in her bumper and scratched her car but nothing MAJOR I guess. Of course Blue Bessie fared just fine! I think I should rename her Blue Bessie the Invincible! She survives everything!

So anyway...........such is life I guess, right? ARGH!!!!!

We're Home!

We had a great time in Boston and NYC and definitely look forward to going back again some day. My feet still ache though, even mom noticed how PUFFY my feet and ankles are! Thanks to all the pals out there who were able to give us some tips and recommendations. We actually used a lot of them and were pleased with all we tried!

Yesterday was a fun day. We did the NBC studio tour and sat where they film Conan O'Brian and SNL, as well as a mock make-up room and news room. I got the be the volunteer and tried my hand as the weather woman. It's harder than it looks as everything is backwards! It was a good laugh though. We followed that up with a harbor cruise which was great and some awesome views of the Statue of Liberty. Since you still cannot go up her, this was a good enough view as we pulled in as close as can be. By the time we headed back to the hotel, it was about 5:30pm NYC time and the Aggies were winning 19-nothing at half time. By the time we actually got back and ready to go to dinner around 8pm, the Ags barely squeaked out a win in triple overtime. Hardly anything to get excited about, should have been a blow out. But I digress.......so we hopped in a cabbie for a wonderful Italian dinner at Nanni's! It was delish and Matt and I felt like we were in the know. There were only about 10 tables and the chef and owner would come out to check on you. Very authentic and very tasty! We ended our night by heading up to the top of the Empire State building which was beautiful and romantic! The lights of NYC are amazing. They seem to go on for miles and miles! What a sight!

So, all in all a fabulous time! We got a few cute outfits for the little one and a Steiff Giraffe stuffed animal to add to the nursery collection. Mom picked us up with Esther in tow and when we finally got home, it was good to have both the furkids with us!

I'll add some pics tomorrow or later tonight of the highlights! Hope you all had a great labor day weekend and the short week following!

Swollen Feet and Fingers!!

Hello friends!

Wireless is actually working so Ill take a quick crack at it. We are having a fab time on our "babymoon"! Boston was awesome. Tons of history, good food, cool people, good beer (so I hear) and just fun! We stayed at the Millenium Bostonian which I would highly recommend too if you go. Smack dab in the middle of everything and across from Faniel Hall which is basically the midpoint of the Freedom Trail. We walked tons and my feet hurt and my Aggie ring is getting too tight. It's the first time I havent worn it in consecutive days since I got it. Weird. But the food, YUM! We went over to the "north end" which is nothing but lines and lines of Italian restaurants and ate there 2 nights. DELISH! The smell of garlic will make you hungry even if you werent before! The Freedom Trail was fun and interesting but we also did a Fenway tour which was "wicked cool". Old stadium but filled with history and pretty neat. If only we could have gone to a game but they sell out in FEBRUARY! They DO have day of game tickets but we didnt want to wait for five hours in line (for real, that what our tour guide told us the average was). So anyway...we really loved Boston and look forward to taking the fam back one day :-)

On to NYC...we arrive to the Yellow Cabs being on strike! DOH! Anywhere from 50-75% were off the streets so that means....more walking!! Hotel Elysee is very cute and boutiquey...plus it includes free breakfast and wine & cheese HH daily! Pretty good stuff. Quick run down of what we have been up to here:
1- Saw "Curtains"on Broadway with David Hyde Pierce (Niles from"Frasier") and it was GREAT! We were on Row F, center orchastra. Great seats, great sets, great everything. Highly recommend it and even Matt liked it! It was just fun!!
2- Red Bus tour to cover all the big sights; Central Park; ate at Bobby Flay's Mesa Restaurant. Yummy but a long subway to get there with no cabbies to help us out!
3- Top of the Rock, more wandering, and night at Shea Stadium watching the Astros get their butts kicked. We had the same # of hits, but game ended Astros 3- Mets 11! We had fun though. Sat next to a family of Brits visiting from London and this was their first baseball game ever so enjoyed explaining the game to them. Shea Stadium feels HUGE too. But they are tearing it down and building a new fancier stadium next door, kinda sad.

Whew, that was long. Tomorrow is our last day. Doing an NBC Studio tour, Habour Cruise, and visiting Ground Zero and then thats NYC!

Hope everyone is doing well. Thanks to the Agnews for watching Mister Max and the rents for the Pester. I miss my fur babies!

Baby Wittliff is good. Pants decided to get tight this week but Im not sure if its from growing baby or the FOOD! ;-) We have been trying out Zach this week so I will keep you updated!

Ill post pics when we get home on Sunday. Time for beddy-bye, we have a long day ahead of us!

Ciao!!
(PS- spell check isnt working and I wrote this late so pardon any boo-boos!!)