Fun Weekend!

This weekend was extremely good!  My Mom and her friend, Kathy, came up around noon on Friday.  Robin and I were both off for a half day so we could spend a little extra time with our company.  The first thing we did was have a checkup for the baby.  My midwife was delivering two babies Friday so I went to her "alternate" midwife.  Everything is looking good but there were a few surprises.  First is that the heart rate was 140 this time.  Last time it was 150.  If you believe the old wive's tales, you can tell whether you're having a boy or a girl based on the heart rate.  Even the midwife said she couldn't tell because we're right in between.  The second surprise is that the baby may be bigger yet!  He/She was big during our first sonogram so they moved my due date up a week.  Now the top of my uterus is level with my belly button whereas it should be just under it.  This isn't a concerning issue but it makes me wonder if they'll move my due date up again. 

Otherwise we're doing great!  I'm still on track with my weight and I'm paying more attention to my scale at home than at their office.  At home I can weigh in the morning and in the nude.  From my college days, I know that this is how you should weigh so I'll take that number over theirs.  That makes my weight gain up to 5.5 lbs.  Not too shabby!  The best news is we'll find out the gender of the baby on November 1st!  Just one week and all of you can share in our excitement!

That evening we ate at Rudy's, our favorite Mexican restaurant, and came home to sit on the porch.  Kathy, Mom, and Robin drank wine while I enjoyed a water (ha, ha).  The weather was actually really nice though we were told it was supposed to rain all weekend.  Boy were they wrong!  Saturday was beautiful!

We spent the day in Lawrence exploring the shops along Massachusetts Street.  Last week I saw an article that Mass Street is one of the "best" downtown streets in the US.  I would definitely say it is one of the most interesting because of the kinds of people you see (all kinds) and the types of shops (all types).  The shops are mostly locally owned businesses.  Very few are chains and most all of them have things you wouldn't find most anywhere else.  Between the four of us, we got a few Christmas presents, a few things for ourselves, and lots of people watching opportunities!  The weather was beautiful, as I mentioned before, and we got there before the gameday traffic.  We decided on Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch simply because it was right in front of where we parked.  Thankfully they had a Mass Street patio so we had the opportunity to sit outside, chat, and enjoy the beautiful fall day!  Here's a link to the Mass Street website:  http://www.downtownlawrence.com/SiteResources/Data/Templates/t1.asp?docid=514&DocName=Home
Click on "About DLI" and you can find a directory of the stores lining Mass Street.  It doesn't do it justice but you'll see how unique this area really is!

After leaving Lawrence, we headed to the Legends, another shopping area in KC.  I specifically wanted to go there for the Motherhood Maternity outlet store.  I am still searching for work options, mostly shirts, but got only one off the clearance rack.  Along with those I got a longer pair of jeans that were on sale.  I'm set for bottoms now, other than pajamas that I can wear this winter as well as at the hospital.  I have a feeling that may be a Christmas wish-list item.  I did have to invest in two new bras.  I won't even mention how big they are now but I will say they are MUCH larger than I've ever had in my life.  I wish they would stop but I know they'll get bigger still.  Kathy gave them the nickname, Jugs, if that tells you anything!



Successful Chocolate Meringue Pie!



We got home more than 8 hours after leaving.  It was a FULL day and we were all exhausted.  We spent more time on our deck, drinks for the non-preggers and a lemonade spritzer for me.  Leah taught me about the spritzer and she was right.  It makes it feel like you're drinking an adult beverage when you aren't!  After relaxing for a bit, Mom and I began our task of attempting to make my Gradma Mac's from scratch chocolate meringue pie.  It is my all-time favorite family recipe and I want to make sure I can master it too.  The three of us ladies wore our pajamas and set to work!  I think the pajamas made all the difference; we were successful on the first try whereas last year I tried twice and never did get it right!  For supper, we ordered Chinese delivery and gorged ourselves silly but it was a fantastic end to the day.  We had zero room for the pie so it was saved for today.

This morning I woke up to a house that smelled wonderfully of coffee.  I LOVE waking up to that smell and it really reminds me of my time with my Mom.  Kathy was the only one downstairs when I got there; Robin had gone to get a paper and Mom was taking a shower.  We chatted a bit and she even served me a cup of coffee for my caffeine quota of the day.  Kathy made all of us a breakfast casserole that was fantastic!  She even made one without cheese for Robin.  She's just so nice!  We followed the casserole with a piece of pie each.  Hey, sometimes you just have to have dessert for breakfast!



17 Weeks (Post-Walk)
I feel huge and not very cute these days.

Mom and Kathy left around 1:00.  It's always tough to see Mom go and we enjoy having Kathy here anytime she comes down.  She is certainly welcome in our home anytime!  I spent the rest of the afternoon searching for shoes (if you ever find somewhere that sells 11's or 12's in cute styles, let me know) while Robin watched football.  We washed all kinds of laundry and to end our evening, we went for a nice walk with Atlas.  I would say all in all, this was a successful weekend!

We just took my 17 week picture (at left) and as you can see, I'm worn out from the weekend not to mention my belly is getting bigger by the day!  Right now I feel really big and unattractive but that varies from day to day.  Weekends, I just don't try unless we're going somewhere so I guess that partially explains why I look the way I do in these pictures.  I promise I'm not AS huge as the picture looks!