Cruise to Mexico: Day 1

We made it on the cruise ship! You see, for all of you who don't know (like us, until AFTER we had booked it), you're technically not suppose to cruise with Royal Caribbean after you are 27 weeks pregnant... obviously, I'm 31 weeks! But we didn't know, so we decided just to have our little stow-away, Noah, join us undercover! (Basically I wore a huge hoodie, and Ben and I prayed and prayed our hearts out and the little old lady who checked us in, said NOTHING to us about pregnancy, although the lady who checked Angie and Greg in asked her! She doesn't even LOOK pregnant nor is she!)

Me in my life jacket at our "muster drill" before we set sail.

Vincent Thomas Bridge during the day.....

and at night.

Ben and I out on the deck while we were departing from San Pedro.

Angie being fed by our waiter, John!

We're so excited to finally get our cruise vacation (or "babymoon" if you please!) started!!

We're leaving for Mexico!!

We leave tomorrow for our three day cruise to Mexico and we simply cannot wait!

31 Weeks Today!

Here's the latest belly picture!! 31 weeks.... seven (or LESS!!) to go!!

Noah Update

This afternoon I had another fetal monitoring session. Noah was VERY uncooperative! At first, he hid from the nurse, and then once we got the monitor in a position to track his heartbeat, he got the hiccups! My OB also did another ultrasound and this time she says he is measuring about 6lbs. 6oz. He's also breech right now too... so, here's some prayer requests: that he stays smaller and that he turns soon! This is the sign that my sisters got for his room and I thought today was the perfect day to show them that it's hanging on his bedroom door, waiting for his arrival!

My Baby is already Spoiled

While I was talking on the phone this afternoon with my sister, the doorbell rang unexpectantly. It was the mail-lady with a package for us from my Aunt KK.... and look what was in it! Noah is already spoiled and he's not even here yet! I guess my family really knows how much I love children's books! Thank you KK!!

We have a crib!

After watching the sermon online (between the need for sleep and my poor swollen feet, it was a GREAT day to stay home and watch it!), Ben and I left the house for some shopping. The highlight of our shopping trip was the purchase of Noah's crib! The best part was between the gift card from Ben's mom and dad and the gift cards from my shower in Oklahoma, we simply paid the tax! Thank you!!!

We haven't bought the mattress yet and we're probably not going to actually put it together until later this week, but we're SOO excited to finally have it!

Good times with friends

Any time that we spend time with Greg and Angie we have a blast... and tonight was no different! After spending the morning and afternoon cleaning the house, we spent the rest of the day playing Wii, laughing, winning (and losing) at Euchre, and of course, eating and drinking! And Angie kicked some major butt at Wii Bowling - how many strikes did you get?!

Ben's special drink, garnished perfectly by "Bartender Greg".

All in a Friday

Katy, Grant and I went to eat lunch today and even though we intended to get a lot of scrapbooking done, I don't think either of us felt like we accomplished anything! (Except for a lot of talking!) Therefore, no pictures of completed layouts.... however, I do think that I got her addicted to the Wii! :)

Tonight, Ben and I watched Reign Over Me (I bawled!) and he finally got to eat a slice of his pumpkin pie... yum!

It's NOVEMBER!

Ben was so excited tonight to finally get to make his pumpkin pie using the pumpkins that he had pureed. I made the pie crust while he prepared the filling and here's the result!

He hasn't tried it yet, it wasn't finished in time for him to try it before bed, so I'm sure he's ready for tomorrow once he gets home from work just to taste his first pie!

Happy Halloween!

Today was a very busy day! My day started out at the doctor's office for my first (of up to EIGHT!) weekly visits for fetal monitoring. Having never had to do this before, I was a little anxious to see how it would all work out, especially since Ben was in Colorado Springs and he has gone with me to almost every appointment. Luckily, it was a piece of cake! The nurse strapped two belts around my belly, one to measure Noah's heartrate and the other to monitor any contractions. It was great to be able to just relax in the comfy chair and listen to his heartbeat! Towards the end of the session, he even got the hiccups! That was really funny! Afterwards, Dr. Bickman did another ultrasound (she's done one every time we've been in and I LOVE that about her!) and said that he weighs about 5lbs 9oz! But, if she's not worried, I won't be worried.

Later, once I got back home, I got a package in the mail from my parents.... I had been complaining to my Daddy-Man that none of my OU shirts were really fitting me right now and so he and Mom sent me a new one! And boy, is it big! They didn't believe me when I told them it was a 3XL, so here's a picture as proof:

If I wasn't pregnant, I'd probably be offended, but I'm just grateful to have something to wear on OU/Texas A&M weekend and especially on OU/Baylor weekend! Thanks Daddy-Man! (And Mom, and Jess for mailing it!)

When I finally got to pick Ben up from the airport (around 7:30!!), he brought home a few gifts from his mom. His favorite was the alligator bath towel which he promptly put on his own head, but I wasn't quick enough with the camera. Bummer.

Too cute! Thanks Carol!!

And of course, he couldn't go to bed until he beat me a couple of times at Wii Bowling... it's definitely our favorite game right now! :)

Chore day... boo.

Here's what I really did today:

Here's what I really wanted to do today:

Enough said.

Sewing, sewing, and more sewing...

****LESA! Do NOT read/look at the pictures below!! PLEASE!!******

Sometimes it's good when Ben is TDY - I can get so much more done when I don't have to stop and clean up for dinner! Of course, most of the time it's bad... like tonight when I wanted a picture of the nursing cover I made "in action" (notice I put it in quotations - the picture below simply doesn't show how the neckline is curved out!).

I've been wanting to make one of these based on the ones you can find at bebeaulait.com since I saw it in a magazine. Luckily, at our last scrapbooking crop, one of the ladies had her's with her and let me look at and measure it... the funny thing was, I had just bought the material to make it that very morning!

This is the blanket I just finished for my friend, Lesa. She and I have known each other since kindergarten and now we're due within three weeks of each other! Obviously she's having a girl. I just wish I could be at her shower too!

A is for Addisyn!

We have a Wii!!

The day started out normal enough... Ben and I overslept a little and so instead of rushing around to get ready, we decided to just watch our church service online. It was actually kinda nice to just relax on the couch in my PJs, with a cup of coffee and sing along and listen to Rick preach. We've already determined that once Noah gets here, this will be how we will "go to church" for the first couple of weeks/month!
It wasn't until after we watched the service and ate lunch that the normal-ness of a Sunday was over -we went to Toys R' Us. Under "normal" circumstances, it probably wouldn't have been that big of a deal... I mean, we are having a child soon and I do have a ton of BRU and TRU coupons! But we went in Toys R' Us with the sole purpose of finding out if they still had a Wii in stock... and just our luck, they did! Most everyone knows that we've been saving up for this and, so that we could get it a little sooner, we decided to put some of our Christmas money that we were going to spend on each other towards it. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting it all set up and of course, playing! Ben kicked my butt at Bowling, but I won every game of Laser Hockey! We even created our own Mii - versions of us! "Wii" can't wait for everyone to come play with us!! :)

My "Mii"... and yes, Ben was really kicking my butt!

It's never a dull day

One thing we can say about living in Sunny Southern California is that there is ALWAYS something to do. After Christian was picked up this morning, Ben and I went down to Ft. Mac (the base housing in San Pedro) for the Fall Festival. We had **free food** (always a favorite with us!), cotton candy, and fun! We ran into the "other" Smith's (plus a couple of their friend's little ones) while they were riding on the train, and Angie was the brave one who petted the huge rabbit in the petting area.



After we left Ft. Mac, Ben and I ran a few errands and then went back down to Ft. Mac to watch the Ohio State -Penn State game with the Freys and the Kauffmans. Ben and I remained neutral since Greg and Angie were rooting for Ohio State and Matt and Kristin were rooting for their alma mater Penn State... I mean, who wants to cause trouble with their friends? The funniest part of the evening was when Matt and Kristin strategically placed several Penn State paraphernalia around the living room and Greg and Angie took forever to notice it all! It was all in good fun and, even though the game ended badly for Penn State, I think everyone had a wonderful time!

Pumpkins!

Tonight Ben and I are babysitting Christian... he's even staying the night! To help make the evening fun (and to get another taste of what's to come for Ben!), Ben decided to carve his pumpkin with the little guy. It was quite an experience! The end result was a beautifully carved pumpkin, a happy little boy and a moment of awe when we turned out the lights and lit the candle. The silence didn't last long though... especially since Christian's favorite thing to do with "Mr. Ben" is be tickled and attacked.

"It's nasty."

The finished pumpkin!

Post-pumpkin tickle-fest!

Getting ready for Noah

So, after our shower in Oklahoma, Ben and I purchased most of our big baby gear (minus the actual crib) with the gift cards given to us by family and friends. Last night, Ben put together the swing. It seemed like pretty tough work (I just watched!) and at one point Ben looked at me and said, "This is my future, huh?" I just laughed and reminded him of all the bikes and toys that will need to be put together at Christmas and birthdays! Instead of taking it upstairs to the baby room, we just left it downstairs. So today, I've been looking at it and wondering, where on earth are we going to put all these baby items?! And yes, I finally took it upstairs all folded up. ;)

Another day inside....

but at least I had visitors! Katy and Grant came over this afternoon for a little bit of visiting and scrapbooking. Grant, of course, kept us entertained and was even adorable in his sleep! Katy and I both got several things done... Katy finished up a baby album for a friend who is having a boy (it's SOO cute!) and I worked on designing a baby blanket for a friend who is having a little girl (if you look at this blog Lesa, don't look at the pictures below... it's suppose to be a surprise!) and then worked on cutting out the pieces for our Christmas cards this year. We had a great time and I'm already looking forward to our next craft date!

Grant taking a quick nap on the futon.

I can't wait to get started on this baby blanket!

I didn't stay inside today....

I simply couldn't. Under the circumstances (i.e. the smoke/fires, the heat, and the pregnancy), I probably should have... but I had to go shopping today. Mainly because today was the last day that my "Grocery Game" list worked, but also because, well, I wanted out of the house! Below is all my "loot" - most of it is not for us... hidden in the bags are Christmas presents, materials for Christmas cards and finishing up current projects, a gift for Bridget's classroom, and well, groceries. And for all the rest of you coupon-ers out there - check out thegrocerygame.com... it is the primary reason why I was able to get all those groceries for a mere $6.87! Not up to my usual savings, but pretty good when you consider that the mouthwash alone is regularly $5.49 at that store!! :)

Yes, we are fine...

and no we're not on fire. Though the fires are practically surrounding us, we are at least an hour away from the nearest one. HOWEVER, when we woke up this morning, everything outside was covered in a layer of soot and all day today you could smell the smoke. I tried to get a good picture of the sky, but I'm not sure that you can really tell how smokey the sky has been all day. Needless to say, I stayed inside as much as possible!!

No, that's not dirt on the ground... it's ash!

40 Days of Purpose

Today we're starting 40 Days of Purpose with Saddleback Church! Both Ben and I are pretty excited about it even though we've done the program before with FBC Moore. What makes it even more exciting is the fact that our pastor is leading it... Pastor Rick Warren! The author of the book, The Purpose Driven Life! During today's service we were able to hear Ashley Smith's (now Robinson) testimony... just in case you don't remember who Ashley is, she is the Atlanta girl who was taken hostage by an escaped convict and read portions of The Purpose Driven Life to him... essentially saving her life and his. And for those of you who are interested, you can go and watch the same sermons that we are seeing online at Saddleback.com!