26 week ultrasound

Tuesday afternoon we had our 26 week ultrasound. I had been very anxious to see our baby again because it had been 10 weeks since our last ultrasound.

Baby is healthy and growing well. Actually, it's legs are growing two weeks ahead in length! The legs are super muscular, too, which means they are like Jason's. :)

Here are our ultrasound images:







I think this was our last ultrasound before the baby's born. We've got a lot of work to do around the house, but I can't wait for baby to be here!

Pant length

This morning I stood in front of the mirror and realized that my pants are too short. This is a horrible pet peeve of mine and I'm embarrased to be wearing them!

I hate the thought of spending money again on more maternity clothes, but of the three pairs of maternity pants I've purchased, two now are too short - even with flats. Apparently they shrunk - I didn't buy them too short. Cheap Old Navy pants. Ugh! I guess I should purchase at least a new pair of black pants as I will wear them at least twice a week for the next three months.

Here's a great website I found to be very informative about pant length.
http://www.alreadypretty.com/2009/04/reader-request-guide-to-pants-length.html

Anniversary

Today is our third anniversary. Hard to believe it's only been three years. To me, with all we've been through, it feels like a decade, which is great! We've been through surgery, job loss, illness, infertility and now pregnancy. Still, I wouldn't trade any of these things for the world because they made us the strong couple we are today. I love Jason and am so blessed to have him as my husband.





We're going to dinner tonight at Lo Sole Mio, which is where we met five years ago. I also ordered a cake from HyVee that looks just like the top of our wedding cake. We'll also watch our wedding video together before we go to bed.

Last week we celebrated our anniversary in an extra special way by spending four days in the Black Hills. We stayed in a little cozy log cabin that overlooked a meadow with deer. No TV. Only us, conversation, baby and music. We did do some sightseeing, but mainly our time was spent being together enjoying the stillness of life.

Jason did an excellent job selecting our location. It was relaxing, romantic and another wonderful trip with him.

Here's our beloved cabin.


On our way to Hill City, we stopped at an 1880s Town. Really cool! They had lots of memorabilia from Dances with Wolves there.


Us visiting Deerfield Lake


And Jason changing our tire on the way back from the lake after we got a flat tire. After that, we drove to Rapid City and purchased new tires. While we were there, we also stopped at Target and bought Dances with Wolves and watched it that night at the cabin on a laptop.


This is how we spent our evenings - in comfy clothes, listening to music and reading.


Mount Rushmore was cool.


So was Crazy Horse Monument. It was my favorite because I loved learning about Native American culture.


Here I am with the wife of the sculptor of Crazy Horse. Had a to meet a "celebrity."


Then we went to Bear Country USA and saw the wild animals walking around our vehicle. We just couldn't get over the bears casually walking around us.


Here's how we spent our mornings - sitting on the deck, reading, watching the deer, drinking coffee (decaf for me) and eating pumpkin muffins.


And on our way back to Omaha, we drove through the Badlands. Totally worth the extra hour! Gorgeous!


We stayed in Mitchell, SD, home of the Corn Palace, on our way to the Black Hills. We got there in time to watch Texas beat Nebraska - boo - and drove around to see the Corn Palace and explore the town. It was the opening weekend of hunting season and I have NEVER seen so many hunters in my entire life. Found it entertaining, although Jason wouldn't let me have my picture taken with them. Instead he let me be photographed with a huge bunny and a dinosaur.

Of course we stopped at Wall Drug and while we found the shops boring, we did enjoy taking pictures with the scenery.

It was a fantastic trip - a great way to spend our last vacation together as a couple.

Nicholas Sparks

This last weekend revolved around Nicholas Sparks, you know, the author of The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, Last Song, Message in a Bottle, etc. He appeared in Lincoln on Saturday and Mom, Alicen and I spent the day anxious to meet him. He did a book signing at the Nebraska Bookstore from 1-3 p.m. Mom and Alicen had him sign books and I had him sign an article that was published in the Catholic Voice in 2004. I interviewed him then about his Catholic faith, so I thought it would be cool to have him sign it...you know me. Always looking for an opportunity to stand out when near a celebrity. :)

Nicholas was so incredibly sweet. He signed everyone's item and allowed them to sit in a chair next to him and leaned in for a photo with each person.
That night we went to a fundraiser for Lighthouse in Lincoln where he was the featured speaker. It was really fun to hear him talk about his life, about how his career got started and about how his real life stories end up in books.

Here's me and Nicholas:


It was just a great weekend with my mom and sister.

Here's one of me and Alicen trying on things at the bookstore:


I went Friday night to Lincoln (without Jason) to celebrate my brother Stan's 30th birthday. The party at Legend's bar didn't start until 9 p.m., which is when I typically get ready for bed, so I was pretty tired when we got there. Thinking I'd only stay a couple hours, I was really surprised that I didn't get home until 1:30 a.m.! Wow!

Here's me and Stan:


Me trying to look cool dancing:


And the 4 of us siblings:


Saturday morning I went to my grade school friend Erin's house for coffee and snacks. It was great to see her and to meet her new little girl. Her children are so cute and we had fun conversation.

I loved playing with my nephews, too.



On Sunday, when I got back to Lincoln, I was so surprised to see all the work Jason had gotten done around the house. He finished the closet in the spare bedroom, cleaned out the nursery and painted a wall in our bedroom (part of the ceiling, too). This weekend we also decided to go on a trip to the Black Hills for a week this month. Neither of us have been there before. We are renting a little log cabin in the woods, so I expect it to be very relaxing and romantic. :)

Baby news: 23 weeks along. Everything is going well. I can see my stomach move when the baby kicks, which is pretty cool. Tomorrow I have my glucose test. Yuck!