Orlando at 31 weeks

Saturday night we went to Orlando to have dinner with our friends the Binns'. We met them at Downtown Disney and had dinner at Rainforest Cafe. It was great to catch up with them and see their son Byron! It is such a treat when people come to Orlando and we get to see them. Before dinner, we made a quick trip to Ikea. We got the last few things we needed for Drew's room. I am pretty sure Ikea is a requirement for us to move anywhere!

This picture was taken at Downtown Disney...as you can see Drew is growing! :) I am feeling great. Just battling a little swelling in my hands and feet, but nothing to bad. I have been so blessed to have friends loan me clothes! Thanks for this pink dress, Kim. :) My friend, Mary also sent me a lot of clothes that I wear often.

Cravings and other things from the week

I haven't really had too many random pregnancy cravings...but this week has brought about a few. I woke up in the middle of the night and wanted carmel corn. I don't even really like carmel corn. Sunday during the sermon at church, I turned to Hal and wanted Pringles. He got me some that afternoon. :) The next craving was a throw back to childhood. I wanted one of those ice cream bars shaped like Mickey Mouse. His ears are dipped in chocolate...yum! We are going to Orlando tomorrow to have dinner with our friends, the Binns'. Hopefully we can find an ice cream bar!!

This week I gave my first BSF lecture since I started serving as Substitute Teaching Leader. I taught on Exodus 2:1-10, the birth of Moses. What a great passage for me to teach right now! It was easy to come up with illustrations and it was a very timely lesson for me about faithful action. I had really dreaded doing a lecture from the first minute I accepted the position, but God was so faithful in helping me through this first lecture. I had great joy in presenting it on Wednesday!

I have ordered Drew's carseat and stroller. Thanks to the friends and family that gave us giftcards. :) They should both be here next week! Hal picked up Drew's "going home" outfit while he was in Starkville this week. It is a super cute MSU outfit. I will have to post some of the clothes we have bought for him. We have had fun hitting sales and picking out clothes for him. One great thing about living in Florida is that you don't have to worry about seasons! He will definitely be a Polo boy like his Dad from time to time!

Have a good weekend!

Almost There....

We are getting oh so close to having Drew's room finished! Tonight we got his verse on the wall over his crib. We still need to hang Hal's jersey over the changing table, get a small table and floor lamp to go beside the chair, and finish the curtain. We are so pleased with the way it is coming together! It is also surprising how fast a room can fill up!





Crib with football bedding. Bookshelf we painted with his growing collection of toys. Sarah L did the letters above the bookshelf for my shower centerpiece.




Psalm 27:1 is the verse we picked for him. and are praying for him. Andrew means strong and manly and we felt this verse went along.



I love these crib sheets...they have vintage football players on them. The bedding is green courdroy with denim.



Mom and I recovered this chair when she was in here in late July. We got the monogrammed Razorback blanket at our shower in Fayetteville.


We had Hal's jersey framed to go above the changing table. We loved the way it turned out.

Fayetteville Weekend

We had a great weekend in Fayetteville....it just always goes to fast! We were on the go from the moment we landed. Friday I spent time at the bank visiting and Hal went to the Cooper plant to visit. Friday afternoon we headed to Cassville to see my brother's team play as well as hang out with my nieces and sister in law, Suzy. Saturday morning Hal dropped us off at our shower and he had breakfast with a friend. The shower was so much fun!!! It was wonderful to get to see so many people that are important to us in one place. We were also amazed at people's generosity in helping us get ready for Drew. That afternoon we hung out at my parents house. Saturday night we had dinner with Donnie at Amy at Tim's pizza...yum. :) Sunday we went to UBC, out to lunch with friends at Noodles, visited with my grandparents, and then headed for dinner with friends again. Whew...I am exhausted just typing this! As tiring as it was, it was so worth it.

I had a doctor's appointment this morning. He said Drew's heartbeat sounded great at that I was measuring right at 29 weeks. I go back in 3 weeks and then will start going every 2 weeks after that. I can't believe we are only 2 1/2 months away from him being here! We are looking forward to this week. Hal's parents will be here tomorrow to spend a few days with us.

Enjoy the shower pictures below





My gift helpers...Kennedy and Landry.



Yummy food and so cute centerpice w/ Andrew's initials. I am going to hang these in his nursery.

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Opening gifts...this one happens to be a Hog blanket! :)


Super cute diapers w/his initials.





Dad and Hal came by at the end of the shower to help us pack up.

XNA-EWR-TPA

We are home after a wonderful weekend in Fayetteville. We had a long day of travel but feel very blessed to have had two on time flights with Continental today since they are dealing with the aftermath of Ike. We were originally scheduled to connect through Houston to get back to Tampa, but changed our flight yesterday to connect through Newark. If we had kept our original plans, we would have missed our connection in Houston. We left Fayetteville around 10:00 central this morning and landed in Tampa at 4:15 eastern. We only had 40ish minutes to make our connection at Newark and it seemed that our gates were at the opposite end of the airport, but we made it! Hal had my bag, our carry-on suitcase, and his backpack and we moved as fast as my pregnant body would allow us!

I will put up pictures and details of our weekend tomorrow.

Yummy Recipe

Mom is always asking me what I am cooking for dinner....so I thought I would share with you guys as well! I enjoy getting the free Kraft Foods magazine. It is hit and miss for me...sometimes there are several things I try and other times I don't find much. There were several recipes I wanted to try in the Fall 2008 magazine. Last night we had Foil Pack Chicken Fajita Dinner. It was great and super easy. The recipe is meant to serve 4 so I just adapted it to make 2 foil packets and used what I had. The recipe below is for 4.

Foil Pack Chicken Fajita Dinner

1 1/2 cups instant white rice, uncooked
1 1/2 cups hot water
1 Tbsp Taco Seasoning Mix
4 Small Boneless Skinless Chicken breast halves (I used two tenderloins per foil pack)
1 each: green and red pepper cut into strips
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Fold up all sides of each of four 18X12 inch sheets of heavy duty foil to form 1 inch rim; spray foil with cooking spray. Combine rice, water and taco seasoning; spoon onto centers of foil. Top with remaining ingredients.

Bring up foil sides. Double fold top and ends to seal each packet. Place on baking sheet.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Let stand 5 min. Cut slits in top to release steam before opening packets.

We added guacamole and sour cream on top and few tortilla chips on the side.

Enjoy! Let me know if you try it! You can sign up to receive the Kraft magazine at kraftfoods.com.

Busy Week

BSF(Bible Study Fellowship) kicks off this week so it will be a busy week trying to get back in my routine! I need to get some writing done this week as well........and the BEST part of the whole week is that we leave for Fayetteville on Thursday afternoon! We are excited to get to see family and friends. And this prego girl is for some reason overly excited about Fayetteville food this trip! I am ready for Rick's sausage rolls, Slim Chickens, Tim's Pizza, Penguin Ed's, and JD China. Not sure how I am going to get all of those things in while I am there, but I am going to try! Hal would also add Loafin Joe's to that list and take off Slim Chickens...he doesn't appreciate the Cayenne Ranch like I do. :) Ymm...my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Hospital Tour

We attended an information session and took a Hospital Tour last night. Our doctor's office is across the street from the hospital, but we had never been in the hospital itself. We both feel a little more at ease now that we know where we need to go! They walked us through every step of our visit starting with where we enter, labor triage (where they determine if you are truly in labor before they admit you), labor and delivery, and then the Mother Baby Unit. We learned about their security and the way we can allow visitors in, etc. We are praying that both of our parents will be able to be here! I think it was a little surreal for both of us as we stood in one of the labor and delivery rooms!

I have been feeling great! I had been having some rough pain in my ribs associated with costochondritis, but it has been much better this week. You may remember me mentioning costochondritis last October. Click here to see the old post that gives an explanation. It had been much better over the spring and summer until late July. My doctor said that as things starting shifting upward as the pregnancy progressed, I needed to expand which was causing the pain again. He warned it might not get better and would probably get worse, especially as Drew starts throwing punches to the ribs! :) I am grateful for the relief...even if it only lasts a few weeks!