Michigan Babymoon

We are having a busy summer, and it looks like the fall and winter will be pretty busy too with Baby Boy preparations and then the arrival of our little miracle this winter! I LOVE being busy, so this is a good thing! We are making our last trip down South (not forever, just for a while) this weekend, and then we have lots of visitors coming. We are so excited for all of these things, but we also wanted to do one last getaway with just the two of us! So Jay planned us a Michigan Babymoon that was so much fun! I don't know about y'all, but I didn't know very much about MI until I moved here...and we are slowly peeling back the layers and learning that this state has so much to offer (other than the cold and snow, LOL). There are so many things to do and see here, that even in our 3 years I know we won't get it all done! Anyhow, we are trying our darnedest to scratch the surface!

For our babymoon we went up North, on the Western side of the State. If you reference the Michigan "hand map" we live near the base of the thumb, and we went to the very tip of the pinkie (I indicated with black dots). This doesn't look far on your hand, but in real life this was a 5 hour drive! (Now you can realize that this state is HUGE). We stopped at Sonic for lunch on the way up! My fave! :)

When we got to Glen Arbor, the town we were staying in, we checked into our B&B. It was such a neat old house, the floors creaked when you walked, and I just loved the character! We walked downtown that night and went to dinner at Western Ave. Bar & Grill.

I had blackened whitefish (which is on the list of okay fish to eat) and it was SO good! And Jay had Whitefish and Beer Battered Perch.

We walked across the street from our B&B and got some snacks, and milk for the night (a must for me since I am always hungry!)

Saturday morning we went downstairs for breakfast! We had a cooked cinnamon apple with whip cream for starters, and then breakfast quiche, and homemade granola for the main course. I got seconds but Jay made me feel better about it by letting the other guests at the table know I was pregnant (not just a PIG!) We got ready to go, and even though it was raining, and had a 70% chance of rain for the day, we were going to make the best of it! We started off at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Visitors Center. Jay consulted with the ranger there about the different hikes, and they figured out which ones I would be able to handle. We watched a film about the Lake Michigan lake-shore and dunes, and then headed out for our hike!

We did a 1.5 mile round trip hike to a lookout point, and it rained the whole time. Thankfully though, there was tree-cover most of the way so we didn't get as soaked as we otherwise would have had it been out in the open. The view was so beautiful, and we really had a great time on the hike. Jay was so patient with me when I had to walk slow because I was tired.

After our hike, and a scary encounter with a port-o-potty...we went on the Scenic Drive. But it was raining so hard at that point that we couldn't SEE anything...so we kept on going.

We went to the Dune Climb, just in time for a recess from the rain. I was so proud of Jay as he hiked the dune, and then he RAN down it (which really scared me since it was so steep!)

It started raining again so we went to into town to find a pottery place I saw advertised. It was so much fun!! Jay is not artsy at all, but he painted a baby bowl for our son, while I painted some coasters for our living room. I so enjoyed watching Jay carefully and meticulously painting something for his little boy...amazing to think how far we've come from one year ago! After painting, we got ready for dinner.

We went to Blu for dinner, which overlooked Lake Michigan. It was beautiful watching the stormy windy weather dance across the waves of the water while eating! I had fried green tomatoes for my appetizer and Jay had crab puffs. For entrees I had a Salmon Special, and Jay had Duck Confit, we were both so pleased and finished our plates! :) After dinner, it had stopped raining so we went back to the park and did the Scenic drive and saw a few other things we couldn't see in the rain.

We came back to the B&B and went to bed because I was worn out!!

Sunday morning we had fruit and yogurt parfait for starters at breakfast, and then a peach pancake and sausages! Jay and I were the last ones to breakfast, but that meant I got to finish the rest of the food on the buffet and not have anyone look at me funny! Ha ha! We checked out of the B&B and then headed up even further north to see Grand Traverse Lighthouse.

It was a beautiful day (still a little chilly, but the sun was out!) We enjoyed more views of Lake Michigan. I still can't get over how blue it is, and how much it looks like an ocean with the waves!! We headed down to Traverse City for lunch, and found a cute Bar & Grill (that was non-smoking) for lunch called Mackinaw Brewing Co. After lunch, we went and played putt-putt. I got a hole in one!! AND, for only the second time EVER in our relationship, I beat Jay at putt-putt!! I was so excited! I think our son must have helped me! ;)

We got some homemade icecream on the way out of town, and started the long drive back!

It was such a fun weekend!! Thanks so much to my wonderful husband for doing such a great job planning!! We did lots of talking about our baby and are looking forward to becoming a family of three! We have another exciting weekend this week in our home state of South Carolina! We are really looking forward to time with family and friends and I can't wait to share with you next week!

Boy how time flies...22 weeks tomorrow!

Hello! Long time, no blog! I am alive, and baby and I are doing well! So well in fact that I haven't devoted much time at all lately to blogging or blog reading as I am sure you can figure out by my lack of posts and comments! My "to-do" list seems to get longer by the day and there are so many things I am trying to get accomplished before I get too big/the arrival of winter/before he comes, so blogging tends to get put on hold!! I miss you all, and I am very sorry to be such a slacker! Thank you so much for all the kind words and congratulations. We are just so excited to know this baby is a boy. I have a mental picture of what our future holds, and couldn't be more excited! I just hope he'll want to play catch with his Mom! Even though I am a girl, I am pretty athletic! :)

Anyhow, another reason I have been MIA, is that we had visitors for a couple of weeks so I was trying to be a good hostess. Jay's parents came and stayed with us, and we all took a trip together to Chicago. It was so much fun! I had been to Chicago once before in 2004, but it was a business trip, so it was all work and no play. This time was ALL play and we had so much fun exploring the city and seeing the sights together! We went to a few museums and one of my favorite things we saw was baby chicks hatching out of their eggs!! SOOO cute! Here are a few pictures from our trip, and my most recent pregnancy picture: 21 weeks!

I am going to try to do better about blogging, because I have lots of fun things going on that I want to share!! Thanks for sticking with me, I really do want to do better!! Lots of blog love!

Our Little Miracle is a...

So sorry I am so late in posting this. We have had a busy day today! And I am so thrilled to report that our ultrasound this morning was WONDERFUL!! This whole time I knew there was a real baby growing inside of me, but today, seeing it on screen wiggling around was so amazing. I drank a large sweet tea right before the appointment so baby was very active and moved around so we were able to see everything! 4 healthy chambers in the heart, 2 kidneys, 1 gallbladder, 10 fingers and 10 toes. And without further ado, our little miracle baby is a...

BOY!!

When the ultrasound technician got to "that area" she said "This is DEFINITELY a boy!" Jay has never looked prouder! I had a feeling the entire pregnancy that "it" was a "he"! And even though my whole life I've always imagined myself having a daughter, I honestly didn't feel disappointed when I learned it was a boy. I am just so thrilled! Infertility has taught me to trust the path that God lays out before us...and now that I know my path holds a little boy at the end I am so excited!! I hope our son looks just like a miniature version of Jay. I can't imagine anything cuter than that! (Jay of course hopes he looks like me, ha ha!) Today was such a neat day for us. We began to envision sporting events, and doing things with a little boy. And yet, it still hasn't quite sunk in yet that any of this is real...

Our friends Matt and Ashley had us over tonight and their kids helped us celebrate with a "Happy Boy Party". It was so much fun to get to share our special day with such good friends in person, since all of our family and most of our friends live far away. Their kids enjoyed looking at the pictures of our boy and could identify the "Willy". It was just too cute! We had cake and ice-cream and just talked about our baby boy!

We have another doctor's appointment tomorrow morning since they do the Ultrasounds at the hospital. That way our Doc can see us and answer any questions we might have! Thank you so much to everyone for your prayers! We so look forward to sharing our sweet little miracle boy with each of you, and I can't wait to tell him how many people prayed for him.

Family Time 2

This weekend Jay and I headed over to Pennsylvania for my family reunion. My Mom and Dad had been in town all week and my sister and her husband had arrived Wednesday. We were anxious to see everyone, and started over after I got off of work on Friday night. We made a stop at Chic-Fil-A in Toledo for our dinner on the way. :) I managed to not take a nap in the car, and stayed awake by playing the alphabet game against Jay. (Where you find A-Z on signs along the way). Jay beat me, because I got stuck not being able to find a Q.

And of course as soon as the game was over we drove past a Quality Inn, and I was so mad! Ha ha! We got to town kinda late, around 11pm, and I was so exhausted. I wasn't my energetic, perky self, but we still really wanted to see everyone for a bit. It was really good to see everyone and I was excited for them to finally see and rub my ever-growing belly in person.

Saturday morning we had a delicious breakfast at our B&B. Then we headed over to Grandma's house to spend a little more time with the immediate family before the actual family reunion. The reunion was a picnic that afternoon and there were over 100 people there! I only know who some of the people are, since we grew up in SC and didn't get to see them often. And this was probably the first time since around 1990 that all of my Grandma's kids and Grandkids were together. Way overdue! The food was really good and very plentiful, and even though I wasn't that hungry after our huge breakfast, I still managed to eat two plates plus dessert! (PIGGY) I played on the swing set with Puma just like old times, which was fun. There was a lot of chaos that afternoon when we headed back to Grandma's. It was very exhausting and I would have loved to squeeze in a nap but it was just too hot and noisy. My aunt ordered pizza (although, I can't imagine how any of them could have been hungry) for dinner. Jay and Brandon played Boccie with my cousin and his wife, but they got rained out mid-game.

But thankfully, the rain stopped long enough that evening for us to have our annual fireworks display! Jay was in charge of setting them off this year which made me very nervous...I am pretty sure you need to have fully functioning hands for a dentistry career, but all ended well. The fireworks were pretty and no one got hurt. We had to say goodbye to Puma, Brandon and my Mom and Dad that night because they were leaving at 4:30am the next morning. I was sad that our visit was so short, but am looking forward to seeing them again in one month when we head down to SC!

Sunday morning Jay and I had breakfast at the B&B and then we walked down the the waterfall behind the house. It was so pretty! I so enjoy having quiet time in nature: just in awe of the wonderful creations God has put on this earth. Jay was nervous watching his clumsy wife hike back up the trail, because it was steep and a little muddy from the day before, but I made it! :) We went over to my Grandma's for lunch. Jay wasn't hungry since we had just eaten, but I still managed to eat a sandwich, fruit and chips. (PIGGY) We said goodbye to my Aunt & Uncle, Cousins and Grandma and began the trek back to Michigan. I took a short nap in the car, but I'm pretty sure Jay didn't mind some peace and quiet after all the craziness of the weekend. We got back home in time to pick up Buddy from the PetSmart Hotel, and he was so glad to be back home, as were we. It was so fun getting to see my family, but I was also so happy to sleep in my own bed!

Tomorrow is a big day for us! It is our 18/19 week ultrasound, and hopefully if our little baby cooperates, we'll get to find out if we are having a boy or girl. I am so excited but kinda nervous at the same time. I doubt I'll get much sleep tonight! :-)

Family Time

Apparently once a week posts is my new "norm". Yuck. I used to get frustrated by "those blogs" and now I've turned into one...AHHHH.

Thursday afternoon Jay and I flew down to Atlanta, Georgia. The flight was really short, only an hour and a half. We arrived in terminal C and I took the train to terminal A to get some Chic-Fil-A while Jay headed to baggage claim. CFA was out of fruit cups but the lady behind the counter was so sweet and apologized calling me "love". Man the South is SO wonderful, I miss it! I was so happy to have my CFA, since we don't one near us! The only less than perfect experience we had was that getting our rental car took almost as long as the flight, waiting in line, fighting with the kiosk, not having our right car in the right stall. Jay was so frustrated by the end, when they told us where to walk for our car he said "It's not far is it? Because my wife is pregnant!" Ha ha! We drove the 2 hours up to Helen, Georgia where Jay's family reunion was, and I didn't even fall asleep in the car! (That is an accomplishment for me people!)

Friday morning Jay's immediate family is in charge of breakfast. Jay and I slept in a little and didn't get up at the crack of dawn to help like we should of, so we did the dishes! We went bowling that afternoon with Jay's sister, our niece and nephew, and Jay's cousin and his kids. Jay did the best, but I got tired after one game and just talked to his Aunt Strawn while they played the second game. On our way back to the Ranch house where everyone stays, we stopped at a boiled pnut stand and got some freshly made boiled pnuts!! :) That night a group of us stayed up late playing scattergories, and it was definitely the "late night version" Ha ha. Our laughter got us in trouble the next morning, but it was worth it. We'll try to keep it down next year! (Plus Jay and I volunteered to take the room where the noise is the worst since we'll be up anyways with a little baby!)

Saturday I helped teach my niece Claire how to play Skip-Bo (it's a card game for those of y'all that haven't heard of it!) It is amazing to me how fast she has grown up. We had great talks: more adult-like conversation, and she is only 9! She and I devoured the remainder of those boiled pnuts together! And our nephew Wes is 3 now, so energetic but what a sweetheart. Getting this time together was a reminder to me of how much we miss out on only seeing them once or twice a year. Sad. :( Jay's sister and I went shopping with his Mom and Aunt, and that was fun. But it was a VERY hot day! I'm not used to that kinda heat anymore! The rest of the afternoon we just hung out, and talked to with family. We went and played putt-putt with Jay's immediate family after dinner. Everyone got a hole-in-one except Jay's Dad and Jay's Bro-in-law (including our niece and nephew!) We all had ice-cream afterwards and it was really great fun!

Sunday we helped clean up the house and got packed up. We ate lunch at a pizza buffet with Jay's family before hitting the road to go our separate ways. I took a nap on the way to the airport, which was nice for me. The returning of the rental car was a whole lot smoother than the getting, thankfully, and we were at the airport with time to spare. This time we got some Atlanta Bread Company food for a "snack". And as much as I wanted to get down South into the heat, I don't think my pregnant body was enjoying it too much because I had to change shoes in the airport. My feet and ankles (cankles) were so swollen that they needed some air...I threw on my flip flops and felt so much better. After we got back to Detroit, we stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way back home. Yummy!

Overall it was such a wonderful reunion! Really great to see everyone. I hadn't been to Jay's reunion since 2005...so there was lots of catching up to do! I can't wait for next year when we can introduce everyone to the new member of our family! Sorry for the one lonely picture, I had some technical difficulties downloading...I will share more next week sometime.

Tonight Jay and I are headed over to Pennsylvania. My Mom & Dad and Puma & Brandon are already there. Tomorrow is my family reunion and I am really excited to see everyone. It's funny how different family reunions are! Jay's family rents a house for 4 days and everyone stays there together. The location changes every two years, and there are always different activities to do. My family reunion is a picnic on Saturday afternoon. And our family is HUGE!! So it makes it tough to get to visit with (or even get to know) everyone there. I will share pictures when we get back! Have a great weekend!

16 Going on 17

It's been a while (again!). Let me catch y'all up on what we've been up to! Jay and I went to the Ann Arbor Art Fair last Friday. It is an annual event they have here, where they shut down the streets and artists from all over the country set up booths exhibiting and selling their art. It was so neat getting to see all the different mediums, and all the beautiful pieces of art. We didn't end up buying anything, but we had a really great evening together walking around downtown. Here were two of my favorites...and the second one is NOT a real man, that is art...how much more lifelike can you get? Amazing! Then Saturday we went to see the Blue Angels. Being in the Navy, we love supporting our great United States Military! We got free tickets because Jay had a military connection at the ROTC at the University, which was a total plus! The traffic was HORRIBLE! We were supposed to meet Matt and Ashley there, but they got stuck on the interstate and couldn't make it, which was a total bummer! It was an overcast & chilly day, even by Michigander standards, because the guy standing next to us during the show wearing shorts and a wife beater was shivering. Ha ha!! Jay had a chance to ride in Fat Albert that he turned down because his pregnant wife couldn't go, isn't that so sweet?! We really had a great time, we enjoyed the show and our time together! We joined a gym this week. I went twice and Jay has gone everyday. I am so proud of him! It must be hard trying to lose weight when you see your wife eating 3 plates at dinner, but he is doing so great! I had a fun time swimming laps with him at the pool even if he did kick my butt! I went walking with Ashley, and got to talk to my two best friends, so those were highlights of the week. My sister and I have been playing phone tag lately and I have been missing her like crazy!

And last but not least: the baby update. This week we are 16 going on 17, and I have had the song from Sound of Music in my head since I realized it on Tuesday! Ha ha! :) Obviously we were pretty cautious the first trimester, so when we got to the second trimester, Jay and I started buying something for the baby each week. It was Jay's idea and I thought it was so sweet and cute. I know he is going to be such a great dad!! I have been feeling great lately. I've had a few headaches, but thankfully no migraines. My acne is still bad, but that is just the story of my life-thank goodness for Photoshop! We registered for Child Care, and we are just so pleased with the place we chose! It is right by our house, and is so clean, and organized. The BIGGEST most exciting news this week was that I felt the baby move! It felt like popcorn popping, and it was so amazing. We find out in two weeks what we are having and I just can't wait to be able to call "it" a "him" or "her"!

16 going on 17

Week 14 Purchase: Cute Green & Yellow Outfits

Week 15 Purchase: Travel System! :)

I loved this one because it is so classic & gender neutral and we could hopefully use it if and when we have kid #2

Week 16 Purchase: Sleep Sack

Requirement for Child Care, and I think we will need one too since baby is due in January in MICHIGAN, and babies can't use blankets

Tonight Jay and I are flying down to Georgia for his family reunion! I am so excited to see everyone, and to finally get some Southern heat and humidity in my bones! I hope to have lots of pictures to share next week! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thoughts and Dreams

Have you ever had a moment in your life where something happens, either good or bad where you are just taken by surprise? Like, did that really just happen? To me? It wasn't a scene of out a movie?? And if it was something good, you wish you could rewind and soak it in...recapture it over and over. And if it was something bad, you wish you could rewind and take it all back? I've been having moments like that lately. Don't worry, everything is fine with me and the baby!! But some things have transpired around me that have made me think about the fragility of life. I need to slow down and appreciate the here and now, and take time to be more thankful for all the blessings in my life, because we don't get the chance to rewind. We really never know what tomorrow will bring, good or bad. I think about all this stuff too much because the rumors about "Pregnancy Brain" are SO true. I have nicknamed my new state of mind "P-Brain" because I feel like such a dummy. I am scatterbrained, and forgetful, and I find myself thinking about and concentrating on things I shouldn't and other stuff, important stuff, is falling on the wayside. And then I just get so frustrated at myself!! I wish there was some sort of on/off switch where I could turn off all the unimportant things in my brain that are swirling around...and only think about important stuff! Ha ha!!

We are almost 16 weeks now! I haven't had any nausea in the last few weeks except a few random moments here and there. I'm not feeling as completely EXHAUSTED as I was before, but I never can manage to get enough sleep. Last night I got 10.5 hours, and I could have slept longer this morning! My main pregnancy symptom I've been having (other than P-Brain) is weird dreams!!! They have ranged from violent, people dying dreams, to nicer dreams about the baby. I think one of the weirdest ones yet was last night. I drempt that Jay and I were in the Civil Rights era...Jay was black and I was white. He was exactly the same, and it was for sure my Jay, but he just had dark skin. We were in public holding hands. We walked from a park into town, and so many people of both races were getting mad at us. We went to a Barbeque Restaurant, and it was really delicious, but we had to eat in seperate areas. Pretty random huh?? Every night is something different, and my dream journal that I've kept for years has been filling up faster than ever!