To Show or Not To Show

It's that awkward stage of pregnancy. People don't know that you are pregnant, but it's definitely not the "flat" stomach it used to be.

Now, it may have been the 15,000 calories I ate over the weekend, but I did get a few maternity tops out from my stash. Pants are starting to fit very snug, so clothes that fit loosely are a preference for the time being.

I am almost 13-weeks. I sense a growth spurt coming, and am anticipating the first "kick" here in the next several weeks. I think with both the boys I felt it around 14-15 weeks. I'm hoping the morning sickness goes away soon-I'm thinking any day. Slight energy pick-up, but not much. Maybe I really am just lazy?

The second trimester is an exciting time! I very much welcome it!

It's Detox Time!

Yes-after 4.5 days of massive chocolate consumption, it's time to begin detox!

I think I did pretty good accomplishing my chocolate list goals. Here's how it panned out:

Friday: Chocolate milk, 3Muskateers Mint and chocolate chip cookies

Saturday: Chocolate cake, 3Muskateers, dessert at The Melting Pot

Sunday: Chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, 3Muskateers Mint

Monday: Sprinkles chocolate cupcake, chocolate milkshake

Tuesday: Hot chocolate from Starbucks

Don't get me wrong, I had some regular meals with at least some sort of nutritional value over the course of those days, but it was all driven around chocolate.

I'll have to slowly purify again or my body might go into shock. I'll start tomorrow.

Review: Mirrors

I'm no good at writing movie reviews, and this one isn't going to be any different. Steph (my aunt) and I went to the "Mirrors" on Tuesday night, and it was "pretty good". It was a horror flick, and throughout the movie there were a lot of ups and downs. Some parts were really good, and some were boring. I thought it was going to end a certain way (which would have been a horrible ending), but something else came afterwards and it redeemed itself. Overall, slightly confusing, but scary enough at parts to make up for it.

Here's the best part!!

When we bought the tickets, the girl asked if it was for an adult or a STUDENT DISCOUNT! WHAT? I haven't been asked that in years and years. It made my whole day! I think I thanked her 14 times afterwards.

Studio Movie Grill in Lewisville-awesome!

Keith & Kolbe: Disneyworld Trip

Yes, it's been a month now since Keith and Kolbe went to Disneyworld, but better late than never! (Picture link at the end of this post)

Keith said Kolbe did great for his first time there. They did 2 parks-Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. Kolbe rode a few rollercoasters and he really loved "It's a Small World" (lucky for Keith)! They did a character dinner one night and spent lots of time walking around and seeing everything in the parks. Kolbe got worn out, but it was long days. So I think for his age and the amount of time they were there, he did really good!

Oh, and he loved riding on the airplane! Maybe we'll go again when he is about 6 or 7 and Nickolas is 4! Disneyworld is exhausting, but worth it!

Disneyworld Pictures

Countdown: 2 Days Until Chocolate

I have gone 71 days as of today with no chocolate or sodas. That's a long time (for me)! I decided that when I hit 12 weeks in my pregnancy, which is this Friday, I will treat myself and indulge in chocolate again. (No sodas though). Here's my plan on what to indulge on:

• A sprinkles cupcake
• Homemade chocolate chip cookies
• Some type of chocolate lava cake with ice cream
• Dessert at The Melting Pot
• A brownie
• 3Musketeers Mint candy bar
• Dark chocolate Reeses Peanut Butter cups
• Chocolate milk
• Hot chocolate from Starbucks
• Melted chocolate chips with marshmallows
• Microwaveable cake from Betty Crocker

Don't worry, this will be spread out over the course of 3 days. I don't think it seems too extreme.

I should probably start getting my maternity clothes out after this weekend though.

The Law of The Garbage Truck

A friend of mine sent this and I really liked it. Can't say I haven't been a garbage truck myself lately the past several weeks.

Law of the Garbage Truck
One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'

This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so...Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't. Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

Have a great garbage-free day!

The Weekend

It was a pretty low-key weekend. Friday we had my sister, Taylor, come over and she had lunch, took a nap (she's 6) and then we all swam.

Saturday we did a little shopping and hung around the house. I made this caterpillar snack for the boys with bananas, pudding, pretzels and raisins. They loved it and it was one of the highlights of the weekend (I'm old!).

Sunday we cleaned a lot and Keith's parents came over for dinner. I spent a lot of time on the couch this weekend-it's about all I think of these days!

Review: Picasso's Pizza & Grill

Wednesday night Keith and I went out and tried a new restaurant-a pizza place! I have been in search of a replacement for Pappa's Pizza that closed down off of Beltline, and have yet to find anything close to being that delicious.

So we head over there, starving, and walk in and it looks like. A pretty "classy" atmosphere but casual food. We got salads and mozzarella sticks and I was so hungry I got kind of full on that. We then got individual pizzas, and it tasted just "okay". Had a lot to box up and my sister ate some when we got home. For the price of about $45, I can't say that I would go back. It definitely wasn't near as good as Pappa's, or even your typical chain delivery.

Also, my sister watched the boys for about an hour and a half WHILE they were awake-and they all survived! Excellent!

Review: Houlihan's

Last night I met up with Jennifer and Nikki and we tried a new restaurant, Houlihan's, off of Beltline. I was pretty impressed!

The atmosphere was really nice. Open, good amount of people and not too loud, and the food was great. I got steak (of course-I've been craving it every day for weeks), shrimp and a baked potato. Then for dessert I got Creme Brule which was pretty much the only option without chocolate. Jen got pecan pie so I tried that for the first time, and I have to say it was delicious! I would definitely go back again.

Afterwards we stopped by Barnes and Nobles across the street and I picked up a book on meals for kids. It has some great and simple ideas on how to make ordinary food fun and presentable for kids. There's one idea in there where they cut up a banana the way you would tpically cut it, but then used the little pretzel sticks to make legs, and raisins for eyes, and poof you have a caterpillar!

Even if I only do one a week it will be fun for everyone.

Great night with good food and 2 of my closest friends!

Announcing The News!

When we decided to tell our families, we took this picture of the boys and mixed it in with some regular pictures of them to handoff to people. I do that quite a bit where I print the latest pictures and mail them to family or give them to family when I see them.

What a surprise as they were sifting through and came upon this one!

Baby is Healthy!

We had our first doctor's visit (kind of late I know), on Friday the 8th. They did the typical routine-urine sample, blood work, exam and thankfully a sonogram! I was so excited to see the baby for the first time! I couldn't believe how much he/she was moving around in there, arms and legs kicking, head bobbling around. Always so weird to see so much movement, but not feel anything yet. And to think about the idea that the baby is actually not much larger than the size of a grape at this point!

She said I am growing well, measuring about a week ahead (not surprised) and that the baby looks healthy and very, very active. Exciting news! Next appointment scheduled for Thursday, September 4th!

We're Growing to FIVE!

Have been waiting for some time to post the news, but Keith and I are expecting Baby #3! We have a due date of March 5th, but I will have a scheduled c-section the last week of February if all goes according to plan. That puts me at almost 11 weeks and on the home stretch to the second trimester where there will hopefully be much less morning sickness, tiredness and food disagreements.

We are very excited and Kolbe is so excited about the possibility of a little sister. He kisses my belly goodnight every evening!

Review: Fly Me To The Moon

Jill gave us free sneak peek passes for last Tuesday night to see Fly Me To The Moon. I had never even heard of it, but thought Kolbe would enjoy it because it was animated and it was in 3D. I don't know what I was thinking. He gets really freaked out when we take him in 3D shows and we always have to leave.

That wasn't any different this time.

Apparently, at the beginning of the movie they showed a bug coming out towards the audience to really emphasize the 3D effect, and he started screaming and wanted to go. They didn't even get to see the movie. I bet if he could have handled the effects though, he really would have enjoyed it!!

MY TO DO LIST-DEADLINE HERE!!

In 2 hours, it will be 08.08.08-DEADLINE DAY! The day I needed to complete all the goals I had listed out that I wanted to accomplish for the year. I can't say I did everything on the list, but I guess since creating the list a year ago I made some significant accomplishments. Below are the items I am noting, and removing from the list that were done:

• √ Attend a DSVC meeting.
• √ Attend a musical.
• √ Bring Kolbe's teacher a gift.
• √ Bring my Mom to Hawaii.
• √ Buy breakfast for team at work.
• √ Call a friend I never talk to.
• √ Complete a half-marathon (13.1m).
• √ Compliment a stranger.
• √ Contact 5 new people in my industry.
• √ Do 1 volunteer project.
• √ Eat at III Forks.
• √ Get a family picture taken.
• √ Go camping.
• √ Make a donation.
• √ Make a meal for a sick friend.
• √ Paint 1 wall mural.
• √ Sing a song to Keith.
• √ Start a new investment option.
• √ Take GG & Pappy to Melting Pot.
• √ Take Oma & Opa out.
• √ Tell 1 family member true feelings.
• √ Travel to Hawaii.
• √ Trim all bushes in the backyard.
• √ Try a new hairstyle.
• √ Visit my sister's dorm.
• √ Watch all the Leprechaun movies.

WOW-26 things in a year. That's actually not too bad. If I had to pick the top 3 accomplishments, it would probably be taking my Mom to Hawaii, completing the half-marathon and watching all the Leprechaun movies. ;)

Now I am starting my list for 2009 to begin right away and end on 09.09.09. I'm going to carry over the items I didn't complete this year, and combine them with what I started for next year. Let's see if this time I can check them all off!

It's good to have goals!

Review: The Mustang Café & Bar

Friday night Keith and I had a date night!

Yeah!

We tried the Mustang Cafe in Willowbend Mall. I had been craving a steak all day long, which is odd because I never want to eat beef/meat. So we got there about 7:30 and I was really just looking for a nice quiet evening and hoping it wasn't too crowded (Friday night and all), and there were all of 4 tables taken if that. Turned out to be very nice and quiet.

The food was excellent. We got shrimp cocktail, I had fillet minion with potatoes, and veggies. Oh, and a salad. It was one of those places where you had to pay for everything separate, but it was worth it. I think I would go back and try it again, if the place stays open long enough for that.

If you're looking for a social scene on the weekend, this is not the place-but for great food and a quiet atmosphere it hits the spot!