Week 17

Baby Alexander is about the size of an onion, and is approximately 5 in. long and weighs close to 6 oz. Baby's skeleton is hardening, changing from rubbery cartilage to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. The umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger, and those little fingers and toes are now topped by one-of-a-kind prints.

Pregnancy Highlights:
How far along: 17 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 10 lbs
Maternity Clothes: Yes & I love them!
Best moment this week: Going to see Dr. Wilson!! The sono this week was amazing! The baby is a thumb sucker! We were able to see all of the vital organs-whew-& we heard the heartbeat for the first time.
Gender: ???
Movement: I cannot feel any movement, but we know the baby is moving bc we could see it on the sono!
Food Cravings: I'm over the jalapeno thing & do not have any new cravings yet...
What I miss: Sleeping on my back, Coffee & Diet Coke...but it is totally worth it
Sleep: I am definitely looking forward to the 3 day weekend coming up... I didn't sleep much this week or weekend... I am SO exhausted!!
What I am looking forward to: SLEEP
Symptoms: I have not been sleeping well...

Week 16

I am really excited about starting my weekly pregnancy posts! This has been the greatest experience so far-I feel so blessed to have a pregnancy that is free of any complications up to this point! & I couldn't think of anyone better to share it with than Deke. He is such a great husband-I love him so much!

Baby Alexander is growing & developing so fast!
The baby is approximately 4 1/2 inches long & weighs approximately 3 1/2 ounces-about the size of an avocado!

Pregnancy Highlights:
How far along: 16 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 8-10 lbs...too much...starting pregnancy yoga soon
Maternity Clothes: Yes & I love them!
Best moment this week: I was getting ready this morning & Deke came up behind me & put his arms around me....I looked in the mirror & his hands were in the shape of a heart on my stomach....AWWW!!!
Gender: ??...Anxiously awaiting!
Movement: None yet
Food Cravings: Jalapenos-weird bc I do not like spicy food
What I miss: Coffee & Diet Coke, but it is totally worth it
Sleep: I sleep on my back, so I am trying to get used to sleeping on my side...I usually wake up at about 3 am to potty
What I am looking forward to: We have a Dr. appt on Wednesday!! :)
Symptoms: Some indigestion, but I can handle it

Stay tuned... I may post an update after the appt on Wednesday... Have a great week!!!

No News is Good News, Right?!?!

Ok.... so once again, I've fallen off of the Blogger bandwagon.... I know... I pretty much stink at life... Hmmm-where to start? So much to catch up on... My last post was in January, so I will recap on 2010... (since the year is more than 1/2 way over, seems like a great place to begin!) It has been a FABULOUS year so far!!! (with the exception of 1 thing which I will elaborate on later) In late January, Dr. Wilson referred us to a fertility specialist. We scheduled 3 appts & they all had to be rescheduled. (due to the Dr being in meetings, surgery, out of town, etc) It drug on over the course of a couple of months so in March, we decided that we would just wait to reschedule any additional appointments. We had a few financial obligations that we needed to tend to before seeing the specialist. That was a blessing bc our insurance does not cover any type of fertility treatment, so it would have been a very expensive journey... Our financial obligations were: 1) a trip to Cancun for some of our very best friends-Dustin & Jessica's wedding-would not have missed it for the world & 2) a new house. At the beginning of March, Deke & I decided that Debbie should move closer. She also liked the idea, so she bought our house & we bought a new house in Providence-approx 1 mile from our old house. It took a while for Deke & I to get our house bc it was bank owned & they were BOOGERS, but we were finally able to close at the end of March!! Didn't move in until mid April, bc of the Cancun trip...1st week of April. Debbie loves her house & has it fixed so cute & we love our house!!

Our trip to Cancun was way too short, but I am so happy that we were able to share that special time with Dustin & Jess!!! Deke & I really had a great time & will def be going back someday-OH MY GOODNESS...it was SO pretty & the people were so hospitable! We were goofs & did not get many pics, but here are some that we were able to get...

The Mayan Sunrise-I was still in bed when I took this pic-I think it was around 4:30-5 am...

The view from our Balcony...

RaNDoM Beach Pic....

Deke & I after the wedding

We LOVED Cancun & cannot wait to go back!!!!

In June, Deke & I found out that we were EXPECTING!!!!!! We tried for so long & our prayers were finally answered!!!

I am 15 weeks and 3 days. It has been the best experience! No morning sickness & no major symptoms! I was tired the 1st trimester, but about a week before the start of the 2nd trimester, I got a much needed BURST of energy! :) I will be doing weekly posts to keep you updated on my pregnancy progress... My 1st post will be this Sunday! It will include a pic & more details!

Remember that exception I was talking about?? Collin, Lauren & Alex moved to Houston. We miss him like CrAZy, but we are so happy for Collin bc it will be an exciting chapter to add to his "book"! He is going to meet so many new friends to add to his friend bank! He is a blogger now, too...so hopefully he will do a better job at keeping up with his Blog than his Aunt Samantha! LOL! Love you Kiddo!!

I LOVE ROCK N ROLL.......

So put another dime in the jukebox baby!! What is this? Don't forget the Lyrics?? Ha! Ha! ....Gotta love Joan Jett!!! Tuesday night we had our quarterly "Hoopla Celebration" for the bank. During the Hoopla Celebration, they present awards for outstanding performance & awards in which you are nominated by your co-workers.... Each branch has to dress to the theme of the Hoopla Celebration.... Tuesday's theme was 80's Rock n Roll bands.... My branch did Joan Jett & the Blackhearts & Deke's branch did the Beastie Boys... My manager, Zeke (a guy) dressed up as Joan Jett (a girl) & we were the Blackhearts!! It was a lot of fun!! Deke received the Pinnacle Award!! There are 2 Pinnacle awards. One is awarded to operations staff & one is awarded to front line staff. It signifies the employees dedication to the bank & overall performance!! Ray mentioned when he was presenting the award that Deke was the "PointBank poster child"... which he is!! He is such a hard worker & I am so proud of him!! He was awarded something else, but neither one of us can remember what it was?!?!? I received 2 awards too...one for a MOT (Moment of Truth) for giving customer's the "PointBank Experience".... which is basically great customer service-there were so many of us on stage for that award that we almost didn't fit! The 2nd award I received was "Overall Highest Cross-Sells".... so, for every account I opened-I made sure that the customer also signed up for online banking, paperless statements, debit cards, direct deposit, etc... It's easier for the bank & the customer, so everybody wins! Here are some pictures of past Hoopla Celebrations & then a picture of Tuesday night....

PointBank Pep-Rally (My FAVE)

Academy Awards (The Wizard of Oz)

80's Rock n Roll (Joan Jett & the Blackhearts)

The Stars at Night......

.....Are BIG & BRIGHT, clap, clap, clap, clap....Deep in the Heart of Dallas!! Monday, Deke & I went to the Stars game to celebrate Martin Luther King Day!! Thank goodness Deke found the camera... It was in his truck all along!! Here's the scoop.... We were shopping with Debbie on Monday & when we were at lunch Deke told me to check StubHub (that's an AWESOME place to get tickets to almost anything) to see if there were any decent tickets. I found GREAT tickets for CHEAP so we bought them. We sat a row or 2 back at a game last season, but this time we were on the 4th row!!! They played the Minnesota Wild. It was SO much fun!!! We pretty much dominated the whole game!! Steve Ott (my favorite player - he is aggressive) got in a fight with the goalie & another player from the Wild... so at the end of the 2nd period, he had to leave the game for the penalty.... The crowd went CrAzY bc the goalie started the fight in the 1st place... Anyway - we won - 4-3!!!! Go Stars.... finally broke that losing streak!!

Steve Ott skated by & looked right at us!! :)

FIGHT... I love how the big guy is just sitting back watching... Steve Ott was talking smak to that big guy all night.... It was HILARIOUS!!!

Modano... One of Deke's favorite players!

OUCH...That hurt!!

GO STARS!!!!!

Oysters are WHAT?????

Friday night we went to Pappadeaux with Jonathan & Nicole. Nicole tried oysters for the 1st time. Our food was delicious. After we ate, we went to Pete's Piano Bar... That is my favorite bar in the entire world!!! It is so much fun!! Our camera is MIA, but at least I had my phone to take some pics... I couldn't take any at Pete's bc it was too dark... I am going to have to find a flash app for the camera on my phone....

Ice Skating @ The Galleria

Sunday we went ice skating at The Galleria...We had SO much fun!!