Friday, November 7, 2008

Catching Y'all Up

Whew! I have not stopped all week! I'm off today (have to work on Sunday) and I'm in the midst of my 5th load of laundry while watching the Baby Story on DVR (I cry every time a baby is born). We are heading to dinner tonight at a French restaurant with my Aunt and Uncle from Newport Beach. Tomorrow we are watching the LSU/Bama game at Brother Jimmys with a group of friends. ROLL TIDE!



I'm 26 weeks now (and 5 days) and Baby U is the length of an English cucumber. The nerves in his ears are developing and he can hear A and I talk! I better watch my language-ha, ha! He's practicing breathing movements and packing on the baby fat. He weighs around a pound and two-thirds and measures around 14 inches. I don't think he liked the take off and landing of the planes, but I know he enjoyed some of the good Southern food I ate! I'm starting to get a little more uncomfortable as I near my 3rd trimester. I have had a lot of back pain and the heartburn has kicked in full force! My few nights in the South without my Snoogle were not very comfy. Gosh, I love that pillow!

A and I had a WONDERFUL trip back to Alabama. I spent Wednesday and Thursday in South Alabama and then headed to Birmingham on Friday afternoon. I got to see my friend A at Mary Ann's and enjoy my favorite French Dip sandwich (with a side of ranch). I finally met my friend A's baby girl, Scarlett, and if it was even possible, she is cuter in person. I checked out a few baby stores in Fairhope with my Mom and she treated me to my favorite, a Fairhope float from Mr. Gene's Beans. It was great to see my parents, although bitter sweet as well because we were all dealing with the loss of our sweet chocolate lab Scarlet. My younger brother arrived on Thursday evening in route to his 6th Widespread Panic show (in two months) in New Orleans. It was great to catch up and see him.

Mom and I headed north on 65 (with a quick stop at Bates House of Turkey) to Birmingham on Friday. We had a great time catching up with A's parents and we went to one of my favorite restaurants in the ham, Bottega, for dinner with my old boss and his wife (the man that introduced A and I and was our 70 year old ring bearer). The S boys came by to Trick or Treat and I finally got to meet baby Sam and see Charlie in his fancy fireman's outfit.

Saturday morning was my 1st baby shower at a cute local Bham restaurant! It was absolutely perfect and I was overwhelmed having so many of my Southern friends that I had not seen in so long in one room. I wish it could have lasted all day so I would have had more time with each of them. One of my favorite parts of the shower was that 6 of my friends in attendance are also expecting. We even took a picture together! My younger sister said we made her feel quite skinny. =)

Baby U and I were completely spoiled by my sweet friends. The hostesses gave us his infant car seat and a swing. My Mom gave us his bouncy seat and a monogrammed outfit and diaper cover. A's Mom gave us a baby spoon (in my silver pattern), some hand sewn outfits and even some of A's old baby clothes! My sister gave us a Baby Bjorn and a Bama pacifier. My grandmother gave us a whole collection of baby books that I can't wait to read to him. He also received a ton of precious blue outfits, a boppy pillow, books, a bath towel and supplies, blankets and more! A and I are so grateful for all of the gifts to help get us started with our 1st baby!

I gave my 14 fabulous hostesses monogrammed soaps from The Palm Gifts as their hostess gifts. I think they really liked them.




After the shower, my sister and I headed to Tuscaloosa to meet up with A and watch the Crimson Tide play Arkansas State. We won 35 to 0 and it was a blast actually being in the stands! Did you notice we are number 1 in the nation right now? It may not last for long since we have a few very tough games left (including LSU tomorrow), but we are enjoying it this week! RTR!

Here are a few pictures from the game:

(to be posted tonight)

A few of our friends mentioned grabbing a quick bite to eat on Saturday night and without any planning a group of 4 turned somehow into 14 of our nearest and dearest! I definitely miss our friends and family the most in NYC. It was great for A to get to see a lot of his buddies and I continued the visiting with my friends at Cocina Superior. I was even able to get some yummy cheese dip (remember it does not exist in NYC)!

Sunday we did not leave until late afternoon so we continued our eat-fest at our favorite locations by meeting a group of my friends at Jim and Nicks. BBQ tastes MUCH better in the South! Sunday afternoon we also caught up with a few more of our friends and their kids. E and A came by and brought their precious little girl, Mary Cate. MC was the star of the show and impressed A and I by singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and her ABCs in an impressive medley format. We stopped by A and M's new house to visit baby Elisabeth and pick up a puffy maternity coat! Elisabeth is beyond cute and the A's new place is fabulous step up from our apartment (that they used to live in it before us).

Our trip was a whirlwind and we missed seeing a few people that we really wanted to see, but overall we fit quite a bit into a short period of time! We can't wait to be back in the South for Thanksgiving and hopefully Christmas too.

On a side note, thank you all for your prayers for Bonnie. Sadly, her twin babies are now in heaven. She delivered them on Halloween morning. Please keep her family in your prayers as they deal with the loss of their first two children. I trust and know God has an amazing plan for them.

8 comments:

Leila said...

I CANNOT wait to tailgate! just a few weeks :)

Sweet Simplicity said...

Those soaps are so pretty! What a fun hostess gift!

Katrina said...

I cry everytime I see a baby born too. =)

Some Like it Southern said...

I am so happy to hear that you had a great time in the South with your family and friends. And I love the soaps- great gift.
With that being said, I am so very sorry to hear the news of your friend's twins! I will be praying for her and her family!

Courtney said...

Oh my gosh....I use to watch the Baby Story when I was pregnant and used to cry everytime too. Then as my delivery date creeped up I had to stop watching.
Sounds like you had a blast back home and at your baby shower. It's always fun to see friends and family!
We're ready for the game today. I hope its a good one. Go tigers! I have a feeling though that it might not be good day for the tigers, but my fingers are crossed.
Have a good weekend.

Gwen said...

Births make me cry too but when my little one was born I was too exhausted to cry. Sad isn't it.

I have left you an award on my blog. :) You deserve it!!!

Midnight Madras said...

When I was having babies I used to watch A Baby Story every day!!!! I will admit that the traditionalist in me would get very annoyed by some of the wacky "alternative" births, but I always cried too!!!!!

Lauren @ Adventures of a Southern Newlywed said...

I am glad you had a fun time visiting friends and family in Alabama! It is so much fun to have a packed weekend with your loved ones.

I am so sorry to hear about your friend Bonnie's twins. That is heartbreaking and I am praying for God to give her comfort.

Have a nice week!

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