Halloween! Hockey and week 24

Another weekend has come and gone.  They seem to fly by these days.  Having been out of the town the past three weekends in a row it was fantastic to be home!  We definitely stayed busy though.  The snow squalls of last week motivated me to get ready for winter.  Cut the grass one last time, put the patio furniture in the shed and started the never ending battle of raking leaves. 

Outside of yard work there was lots of hockey played this weekend.  Brendan and I played a drop-in on Saturday that was lots of fun.  Team Sole Tattoo moved to 2-0-1 in our league game tonight.  The drop-in maybe wasn't the best idea, I was worthless tonight.  Worthless or not, its good to be playing competitively again.  I had somehow forgotten how much I loved playing.

The Whites hosted a Halloween party at their place Saturday night, so we got dressed up and headed up.  Neither of us had planned on dressing up so our costumes were pretty last minute.  I found a mullet and put on my puma track suit.  Lexi found costume bits and went as Wonderwoman.  We played some darts, and had a few beverages (Lexi had Shirley Temples).  It was a great time.

We've reached 6 months!  Still completely amazed that there is a human being inside that will be here in 4 short months.  He is moving around a lot and getting stronger every day.  I was sitting on the couch with my hands on my stomach and my hand actually moved when he kicked!

Still feeling really great.  Unfortunately no great stories about cravings or hormonal rages.  Bending over is getting harder, sleeping is starting to be a little more uncomfortable and I've been getting a little bit of a delayed indigestion/heartburn thing but in general I'm still feeling pretty normal. 

After multiple online orders and returns I've finally acquired 2 pairs of maternity jeans that actually fit decent and are long enough.  Not a huge fan of the full spandex belly panel but I'll get used to it.  I had a Motherhood Maternity coupon so I went on a bit of a shopping spree at the outlets in Park City this weekend.  I got some basics that I hope will get me through February.  I've never been a leggings/skinny jeans kind of girl but desperate times call for desperate measures :)  I guess I've been really surprised to find how small of a selection is out there for maternity clothes.  Most stores don't have an in store selection and if they do it's extremely small.  Online is great but things don't fit the same so it gets expensive and annoying to ship things back.  Considering how many babies are born every day and how many women are pregnant at any given time I kind of thought there would be more affordable options.

Anywho...Mayhem's room is coming along nicely.  The curtains arrived and I finally got around to covering a lamp shade with some fabric I'd found and I'm loving how the yellow and grey are looking.  I used spray adhesive and a glue gun which were new adventures for me but the lamp turned out great.  Up next...a staple gun :)

Till next week!
Love,
Andy, Lexi and Mayhem
 

MN weekend and week 23

We had a very busy but very fun weekend!!  Andy was asked to be a groomsman in Jake Girtz's wedding.  Andy has known Jake since high school and we saw Jake and his now wife Christa often when we lived in MN.  Jake was also a groomsman at our wedding in Mexico.  We were so excited to be a part of their wedding!  Of course we had to take advantage of our weekend home so we tried to fit as much in and see as many people as possible. 

At the Girtz wedding reception.  23 weeks

I was also fortunate enough to have my first baby shower the morning of the wedding.  My sisters Greta and Gabrielle threw me a fabulous shower!  Thank you to everyone that could make it.  It was great to chat with everyone.  Mayhem is already very loved and VERY spoiled :)  I am loving the daily packages on the front step!

I'm a shower newbie so we just have candid photos.  This is the best bump picture I have for week 23...

Just a taste of our weekend schedule.  Landed at MSP at 9pm on Thursday.  Grandma and Grandpa were taking care of Owen and Avery so we had an early wakeup call and cuddles from them, drove down to St. Peter to have lunch with my parents.  Drove back up to Blaine for the rehearsal and dinner.  Another early morning on Saturday with my shower from 9-noon in St. Paul and then the wedding at 2pm in Blaine.  We stayed over after the reception and then met Greta, Nate and Gabrielle for lunch in Minneapolis on Sunday, stopped over at Tom and Emmy's in Savage for a visit and then back to Rosemount for an early dinner before a 7pm flight back to SLC.  Whew!  Like I said, very busy but very fun :)

Not too much new in the baby world.  Mayhem is moving a bunch and I'm getting bigger.  Definitely gaining some more weight a little quicker than the first 20 weeks.  I'm still in my regular pants with a little help from a jimmy rigged hair elastic.  I tried the belly band for awhile but wasn't a big fan and haven't found any maternity pants that I like or that fit.  A shopping trip is in the works for this weekend.  Got the yellow curtains for the baby room and they look great! (Pictures next week) Gabrielle got all crafty and made some artwork for Mayhem which will look so perfect.  You can kind of see it in the shower pic.  We've got a Halloween party on Saturday and I'm having some people over to decorate sugar cookies on Sunday so another busy weekend. 

Till next week!
Love,
Lexi and Andy

Weeks 21, 22 and Great American Beer Festival

It's been a busy couple weeks and I've been a slacker with the posts...sorry!  I've been doing some crafting for the little guy, painted his room not once, but twice, Andy went to Moab to mountain bike 2 weekends ago and we drove to Fort Collins this past weekend to visit friends and go to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

I now realize that I've been only making bibs for older babies and toddlers.  I found this cute pattern and went a little crazy while Andy was in Moab :) 



I cut up a bath towel for the back and velcro for the neck



I also got super motivated and painted the baby room while Andy was in Moab.  He's so lucky I like to paint :)  I was going for grey but didn't want it to be too dark since it's a very small room.  It turned out barely off white with a hint of pastel blue.  Not a bad color but definitely not the goal.  So I repainted Monday night since Andy is in St. George for work.  Apparently I can't just relax when he's gone.  The 2nd color looks much better.  It's a bit dark and depending on the light it can look a little blue or green but I love it.  Andy hasn't seen it yet so hopefully he likes it too. 

This past weekend we made the drive to CO to visit our friends Matt and Cassie.  Andy and I worked with Matt at Mayo and they moved to CO about a year before our move to UT.  We usually get together every 6 months and always have a great time!  I think we'd been talking about going to the Great American Beer Festival for about 3 years and we were able to get tickets this year.  I wasn't going to let this whole pregnancy thing stand in the way!  I got a cheaper non-drinking ticket and let everyone else have fun for me.  They had a great designated driver section with snacks and root beer which definitely helped.  Amazing how many breweries and beers there are throughout the country.  Definitely going to have to go back and enjoy next year!

Week 22 with Matt and Cassie at the Beer Fest!

Just a couple more days and we're flying back to MN for a wedding and my first baby shower!  So excited to see all our family and friends!  I feel like I've kind of exploded in the last couple days and don't know how much longer I can wear my normal pants with the belly band so I'm sure everyone will be happy to see that :)  Almost to 23 weeks so I suppose it was bound to happen soon. 

Looking forward to seeing everyone!
Love,
Lexi


It's a...

BOY!!

We're sooo excited!

He was quite uncooperative but the tech spent a long time making sure, and we are 90% confident.  Of course the umbilical cord was in the way but the tech said she could tell the difference.  I've got my study appointment on Wednesday so we'll hopefully get some confirmation!

 

We did a gender reveal party with some friends in SLC which was really fun.  We were split 50/50 so it was really fun to tell everyone.  Cali of course helped us.  We had some snacks, some blue cupcakes and played some lawn games. 

 

Andy ran his 3rd marathon on Saturday morning with Zane.  It was a pretty course that started in the middle of the Salt Lake on Antelope Island.  The downside being that it was a 6:30 am start.  I left  the house at 3:20am to meet Zane and drive up!  The first ten miles were spent running up the island as the sun rose over the mountains.  That part was great, then we ran across the 7 mile causeway that connected the island to land and things went downhill.  The last 9ish miles were through some pretty lonely farm country and residential areas.  It went well and I finished up the 26.2 miles at 3:37 hours, a new personal best, and the top time in the 25-29 age category, 16th overall.  Feeling pretty sore, and missing some skin from the bottoms of my feet, but that's about the worst of it.  Who knows if there's another one in my future?

 

Now that I have some inspiration the sweat shop is back in business!  I bought some cute flannel to make burp cloths and some fabric that will hopefully work in the baby room.  Not quite sure what I'm going to do yet...I also bought some of the super soft cuddle fabric and I'm going to make a critter blanket.  http://www.cuddlesoftkits.com/cuddlesoftkits/critter-blankets-step-by-step.htm

My family of course collected a crap ton of those beanie babies so I've got every animal under the sun to choose from.  I also designed a super cute penguin quilt that I started on but never finished that will be perfect for the little guy.  And then 8 billion bibs...so, if anyone would like some bibs, burp cloths or onesies for gifts for friends let me know!

 

We are super excited!  Still getting used to saying "he".  We've started throwing around names.  So glad we have 5 months to figure that out...

 

Till next week!

Love,

Lexi and Andy

 



Houston...we have movement!

The start of week 19 brings baby movements and a bigger belly!  I haven't felt too much yet but I'm definitely noticing it more.  Not much of the flutter that I've read about but more like a little muscle twitch.  I've tried to lay down quietly to see if I can feel movement but I usually fall asleep :)

My 20 week ultrasound appointment is this Friday!!  Cross your fingers Mayhem cooperates.

We got dressed up last night and went out for a really nice dinner.  We went to Tiburon and it was fabulous.  Of course the wall of wine when we walked in was a little sad but we will definitely be back.  I had the beef tenderloin and Andy tried the house specialty of Elk.  So good!  The drive home was even exciting.  We were stopped at a light and all of a sudden we hear a crunch next to us in the right turn lane.  I thought the guy got rear ended but his tire actually fell off!!!!  It rolled right around our car just like a cartoon.  So crazy.  He wasn't even driving a clunker.  So glad no one was hurt and that he was going slow and coming to a stop.  If he'd been on the freeway it would have been really bad. 

We're pretty much done registering which wasn't quite as overwhelming thanks to my lovely sister-in-law Katie.  She was nice enough to take Andy and I on a walk through when we were home last weekend and help us figure out what we need.  We're going pretty gender neutral but we're waiting to register for bedding, jammies etc until we know if it's yellow flowers or yellow stripes/dots.

Cali and baby were also officially introduced this week.  As most of you know, Cali thinks she is a lap dog instead of 85 lbs.  Either laying in bed or on the couch she loves to pretty much lay on top of you and she must have a paw on you at all times.  Since her paws seem to weigh 10 lbs each it's like she's punching you.  This is coming to an end quickly as my tummy gets bigger.  Cal had her head on my stomach so I introduced her to the baby and told him/her that he/she will have plenty of time to punch back when he/she gets older :)

We've got a busy weekend so I'm just hoping the week goes fast.  I've got my normal 20 week appt on Thursday, the big 20 week anatomy appointment on Friday, Andy runs his 3rd marathon on Saturday morning and then we're going to have a little get together Saturday afternoon to celebrate the marathon, enjoy the hot tub and hopefully reveal the pink/blue status of our little one.  Stay tuned!

Till next week!
Love,
Lexi and Andy

Fall Colors in the Mountains, and Disaster...

The trees have started to change in the Salt Lake Valley and the temp has started dropping at night, so the snow isn't too far off.  Means we're running out of time to get out on the mountain bike.  And I needed a break from marathon training.  Got 20 miles in on Tuesday, special thanks to the asshole that took a shit in the drinking fountain at mile 13 of the Draper trail.  Very classy. Back to mountain biking, Zane and I decided sneak in a ride on the Crest Trail this morning.

It was only 45 degrees when I got up and moving, so it was time to break out the down puffy coat.  We almost didn't make it out to ride thanks to a Marathon going on in Big Cottonwood Canyon, we had to follow a shuttle car to get up to the top of Guardsman Pass.  The weather was perfect and the trail was in great shape.

Then things went down hill, literally.  We finished all of the uphill sections of the trail and were ripping back down towards Mill Creek when my luck ran out.  We were on a ridge and I was checking out the view over into Park City, not quite paying enough attention and BAMMM!! over the handle bars at 20mph.  My right elbow looks like a great white shark got at it and took out a big chunk.  Although my iphone was kind enough to break my fall, thank iphone.  Zane, the eternal park ranger had some band aids, so we rubbed some dirt in it and slapped on a band aid and got back at it, we had 16 miles to go.  Trip to the hospital for stitches, TBD.  Check back next week.

We got into Mill Creek and the colors were amazing.  It was like riding through a tunnel of fire.  Very pretty colors.  Zane, being a good friend, decided to make me feel better about my boner of a crash and went over the handlebars while messing with his bike computer.  Not nearly as bad as mine, but nothing good happens when you fly over the handlebars.  All in all we had a great ride, I'm hoping we can squeeze one more in before the snow start falling in the higher elevations.

Off to a classy dinner and a good soak in the hot tub with my lovely wife.

Crib, Weeks 17 and 18, and WI wedding!

Hola!

It's been a busy 2 weeks!  We got our crib and got it all put together with only a couple problems.  I apparently follow directions too well :)  It looks great and is a great reminder for me everytime I walk by of what is to come since I'm still feeling very unpregnant.  11 days until Mayhem gets our hopes up about finding out if we're having a girl or boy!  Then hopefully we can think about painting!

I think we're going to go for a grey/yellow/black theme so we went with the black/dark wood

We had a busy 17th week and weekend with get togethers with friends and football parties.  We're finally mostly out of the 90's and it gets nice a cool at night so we've been trying to spend a lot of time outside and on the deck.  Not much had changed in the belly region so the blog and photo was forgotten :)

But that changed overnight this Saturday!  I have officially popped and just in time to be in public with a bunch of strangers for Jump and Celia's wedding... We flew to MSP on Friday night, drove 4 hrs to Baraboo, WI on Saturday morning for the wedding and then back to MSP for a 5pm flight back to SLC.  It was a ridiculously fast/sleep deprived weekend but it was so great to be back.  I haven't been up that late 2 nights in a row for a LONG time.  The whole May family had a sleepover on Friday night.  We're so happy and thankful that everyone is willing to sleep on the floor and spend the weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's just so they could see us for a couple hours.  Owen surprises us everytime with how much he's grown, his vocab and how much fun he is.  Avery is just too cute and and changes so much so fast!  Definitely get's us very excited for our own to make his/her debut but also is scary too! 

My handsome hubby and my new bump at Jump and Celia's wedding at Devil's Head Resort

Men in Black (Andy's best man Andy Ney)

We hope to see many more family and friends when we're home again the weekend of October 20th.

Till next week!
Love,
Lexi and Andy