Best Present Ever!!

I have to dedicate this post to my first X-mas present of the season...tonight, due to some very speedy shipping, I got one of my Christmas presents early!! My fabulous brother-in-law, Jon, had rice pudding overnighted to me from New York City! :)
Here is the background story; Chris, Jon, and I went to visit New York in the spring of 2006. While there we walked down to Lombardi's one day to stuff our faces with amazing pizza. On the way back, we ran into the coolest looking restaurant/shop that we recognized from a food network show; it was called Rice to Riches. Inside we found a contemporary, new-age cafe with one item on the menu: rice pudding. Now usually I am not that big of a rice pudding fan, but after reading their flavors, I was sold. We each indulged in a bowl of deliciousness. It was served in these cool plastic reusable bowl tupperware things with futuristic looking spoons! For the last 2 years I have reminisced about our trip to this rice pudding mecca, and this year for Christmas, Jon brought Rice to Riches to me! I have a large bowl of my very own "Sex, Drugs, and Rocky Road" chillin in my refrigerator!! That tub of sweetness was like crack to this pregnant lady!! Here is a pic of the goods:

On a side note, here is the latest belly picture (22 weeks) taken of course after stuffing myself with rice pudding :)

When Hell, uh I mean Texas, freezes over!!

People, I am not playing around when I say that it was full-blown snowing last night in Houston!! I am not talking the usual lame snow flurries that we get every few years; we had serious snow on the ground! I had to drive through pretty heavy snowfall so that I could pick up Chris at the airport. He had to jump on an earlier delayed flight because everything coming into IAH was delayed about 2.5 hours. It was so exciting! When we got home we immediately got to work constructing a snowman in the backyard. The pups were so happy; they kept running around eating the small snowballs that Chris was dropping. Fun times! Here are some pictures of the shenanigans:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Party Time

Here is our picture from the annual Devon Christmas party. It was Saturday night at The Corinthian downtown; it was a really nice venue, and it was fun to see all the Devon peeps again. At least we know we can get dressed up once a year! There was no denying my preggers-state in this dress, especially after stuffing my face at the dessert buffet! Chris was so funny; I wish I had a picture of him from the party last year because he is wearing the exact same outfit (to his credit, he did change the tie!) We were trying to guess how many of the men at the party were also wearing their designated 'dress-up suit' that gets recycled year after year. Guys have it so easy!!

Seeing Pink!!

Well folks, the day has come...we are expecting a baby GIRL!! The fetal anatomy scan this morning went very well; we saw a perfect little baby girl whose measurements were all on track. It took the ultrasound tech forever to get her to move some so that we could see the sex; apparently we have a very modest little girl. She was keeping her legs very close together! We are so excited :)
I am measuring right on track as well; my belly is really popping out these days. I finally broke down and bought a pair of maternity jeans today. Here is the latest belly picture (20 weeks 1 day).

Yay for Christmas!

We made it through Thanksgiving, and Christmas is finally here!! Chris and I started decorating the house last weekend, and after an extensive search we were also able to find a Christmas tree. We decided that we needed to take full advantage of our vaulted ceilings and find the biggest tree out there. We found the most perfect 12-foot noble fir! It is quite a monster, and I am glad that the neighbor was home to help Chris get it into the stand and then into the house. Here are some pictures of the decorating fun! The outside looks so cute, Chris is complaining that the electric bill is going to be outrageous because of the giant ground lights lining the walkway :)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Jambalaya, Crawfish Pie, File' Gumbo!

This post is a little late, but we have been busy the last few weeks. Last weekend (before Thanksgiving), I flew to New Orleans where I met Chris for the weekend. Chris had been working in Morgan City, so he just drove up to get me and on Sunday we rode back to Houston together. We had a WONDERFUL weekend! Friday night we perused the art galleries and antique stores before enjoying a yummy dinner at Ralph & Kacoo's. Saturday we went to the aquarium, rode the Algiers ferry, saw a movie being filmed in Algiers, ate shrimp and oyster po-boys for lunch, strolled around and shopped in the French Market, ate a ton of fresh pralines, freshened up at the hotel, then went out for a fantastic dinner at Mr. B's Bistro (one of the Brennan's gajillion upscale restaurants!) We slept in a little on Sunday before making the obligatory trip to Cafe Du Monde where we sipped cafe' au laits and got covered in a fine layer of powdered sugar! This weekend trip was an excellent way to celebrate the end of Chris' field rotation. He is officially back in Houston for good!

Oh, I almost forgot, this weekend was also exciting because Chris got to feel the baby move for the first time when we were laying around in the hotel on Saturday night watching the OU-Tech game! So exciting!!

Somebody Loves Me!

After the ear/sinus infection from hell, I am finally starting to feel better! Although I still can't hear anything in my left ear...odd! Today I was feeling pretty malaise and wanted to just go back to bed after going to yoga this morning when all of the sudden I heard the doorbell ring! I opened the door to a beautiful flower arrangement and a very sweet note from Mom and Jim hoping that I feel better soon! Thanks guys! I love you bunches! :)

On another note, can you believe that Thanksgiving is only a week from tomorrow. I am so very excited! I do not play around when it comes to hosting Thanksgiving dinner, so I have been diligently coupon-clipping and shopping for about 2 weeks now. Chris was making fun of my 'Thanksgiving 2008' Excel workbook complete with shopping list, guest list, menu, gameplan, etc... What? Doesn't everyone make an Excel workbook for events that they are hosting?

Homegrown Fruit Salad...

Sorry it's been a while since we have updated; it has been crazy over here at the Allison casa!
First off, we had a check-up with our midwife on Friday. Everything is looking peachy. Speaking of peachy, Chris and I noticed a funny coincidence in all pregnancy-related books, magazines, websites, etc... Anytime you read about a certain week or month of pregnancy, you will ALWAYS find that they compare the size of the baby to a piece of fruit. Example, we are currently just over 17 weeks and have read that our baby is the size of a small pomegranate this week. We have been through the grape, cherry, plum, and peach stages already! We got to wondering, who the heck decided to compare your baby's size to fruit! We ultimately decided that a baby the size of a cheeto puff or small soft taco just didn't have the same ring.
Anyway, we got to hear a nice strong heartbeat (155bpm), and the midwife taught me how to feel where the top of my uterus starts (which is currently about 1.5 inches below my belly button! Pretty cool!) My uterus is measuring right on track, but the midwife told me to be sure that I was eating enough because I have only gained 2 pounds so far. After Chris picked himself off the floor from laughter, he quickly explained that I frequently out-eat him at restaurants! Once we convinced her that I was eating enough, she agreed, but said that she wanted to see me gain another 1.5-2 lbs. by my next check-up (Dec. 5th).
At the December 5th appointment we will also be having our 20 week ultrasound done to ensure that everything is going okay, and we will also be able to find out if we will be having a boy or a girl! YAY! Right now we have a pretty even spread of predictions!
I am currently getting over a pretty severe ear/sinus infection that popped up over the weekend. The doctor laughed when he looked in my ear, saying "Oh yeah! You definitely have an ear infection!" Seriously, I feel like I have a knife stuck through my head right now! Chris will stay home tomorrow to take care of me, then he will be off to Morgan City, LA for the rest of the week for work. I will be flying to New Orleans on Friday to meet him for a short weekend vacation. I think I will definitely catch up on missed calories while in New Orleans!
Cheers!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes (a la David Bowie)

I have finally collected a few belly pictures that are actually worth posting. When this started I had intended to take a picture every week, blah, blah, blah, but it turns out that we suck at remembering to take pictures as well! Not to mention, my blossoming belly really only made noteworthy changes the past two weeks or so. So here we go; this first shot was taken at about 5 weeks. I took this picture about a week after we found out that we were pregnant.

This second picture was taken at 12 weeks 4 days. Here my jeans had definitely started to tighten a little, and I was feeling more bloated than anything!

This last picture was taken tonight, and I am currently 15 weeks 2 days. My belly is starting to look more pregnant and less "I just ate too much today."

Overall, I am feeling wonderful! I am absolutely loving being pregnant so far! I have remained active and started taking yoga classes a few weeks ago. That deserves a post all itself; yoga is fantastic, and I wish I would have started much sooner!
Hopefully this weekend Chris and I will finish setting up the new guest room so that I can post pictures. For those of you who have been to the house, the pepto-pink room is officially gone! YAY!

Fish Don't Fry in the Kitchen...

This past weekend we decided to do something fun; something that didn't involve unpacking/organizing the house or cleaning up/repairing crap from the hurricane! My wonderful brother/professional fishing guide :) talked us into going out with him Saturday morning for a fishing trip in San Luis Pass (near Galveston). We had a total blast and caught 40-50 fish! We had only planned on staying out for a few hours in the morning, but we ended up staying out all day! Needless to say we are all quite sunburned! The weather was amazing, and it was a great way to spend the weekend. Here are some pictures from the trip:


On a sad note, Chris left Sunday for a 6-week field rotation in Carthage, Texas. He is about three hours from Houston in the middle of nowhere; the only thing that they do out there is drill for gas! Luckily he will be home on the weekends, but during the week it is just me and the pups. :(

Music to Our Ears

This past Wednesday we had our first appointment with our midwife who will be our primary care provider for the remainder of the pregnancy, including labor, delivery, and post-natal care. Before leaving for Canada, our fertility specialist released us from his care; this allowed us to move over to a regular ob/gyn practice. We decided to go to a group in the Medical Center that consists of seven obstetricians and four certified nurse midwives. In this practice we will be under the care of a midwife; if we have any problems then one of the ob's will be there to see us.
So far, we have noticed a huge difference in the level of care and attention that you receive from a midwife versus an ob/gyn. The appointments average 45 minutes to an hour! Our midwife sat and spoke with us about nutrition, exercise, our concerns, etc... She used a hand held Doppler to detect the baby's heart rate; it was wonderful to hear a healthy heart beating away! We are scheduled to go back for another check-up in one month.
We have belly pictures from 4 weeks and 13 weeks but the difference is pretty small, so we will probably take another picture in a few weeks then post them on here. CHEERS!

Oh, Canada...

Chris and I returned from our trip to Canada late last night; we had a total blast, but we are very excited to be home. I desperately missed the mundane routine of my everyday life. We spent the first five days of our trip in Calgary where Chris attended a conference for Devon. I spent my days exploring the city. I explored the beautiful parks, attended plays, went to museums, and shopped!! It was great fun. Chris and I went to a great island park one day where we bugged the geese. We also had a complete blast at the Calgary zoo.
We stayed in Banff for the remaining four days of our vacation. Banff is a gorgeous little ski town! The view of the Canadian Rockies is breathtaking. We took a day trip up to Lake Louise, a pristine glacier-fed lake. We also ventured up to the Columbia Ice field and frolicked on the glacier all day.

Yay! It's a....human

Here are pictures from my most recent ultrasound. I am 11 weeks 1 day along at this point and we were really excited to see the baby again. For the first time, we could clearly see a human baby in there! The little bugger was moving all over the place. We could see arms and legs flailing all around. We even got a wave "Hi!"No real physical changes in myself yet. My appetite is returning and I am feeling much better! No weight gained so far (I am sure that will be coming sooner than I could imagine.) Chris keeps insisting on rubbing my belly everyday and asking me when it will get big!!

More Seamonkey Pictures

Since I am trying to play catch-up with the blog at this point, here is a picture from our third ultrasound. This was done on September 26th. Still looking a little more seamonkeyish than baby-like. Heart sounded great again!!

Hurricane + Morning sickness + No power = NO FUN!

Here are some pictures from our second ultrasound. My doctor is keeping a very close eye on both myself and the baby, so we will be going in once a week throughout the first trimester. (We love it because we get to see the baby every week, and we are gathering quite the picture collection!) Here I am a little over 8 weeks along in the pregnancy and have just started to not feel so hot throughout the day!

Hurricane Ike is definitely not making this process any easier. We lost power for about 12 days! My appetite has pretty much disappeared, and the only foods that I can stomach recently have been popcorn and goldfish crackers. Here are some pictures of the hurricane excitement! We lost two very large trees in the backyard. The large oak landed directly on the garage. :( Sophie entertained herself by dressing-up when there was no electricity! :)

First Glimpse

Here are some pictures from our very first ultrasound that was done on September 3rd.

The baby is just a little blip on the screen, but it was still exciting to see our little peanut looking healthy! We were even able to hear and see the heartbeat at just 6 ½ weeks!! I am still feeling great; hearing the heartbeat made everything seem so much more real now! At this point I was having no noticeable symptoms yet!

Baby makes five...

For the past 5 years, (Holy Cow! Where does time go?) we have enjoyed our lives as a small family of four. Just a few months after we moved to Houston after college, Chris and I began to discuss our desire to have children. Since we met, over a decade ago, we have both been excited about the prospect of having a large family. After college, I quickly discovered that becoming a mother and caring for my family was definitely my calling in life! It became abundantly clear that I needed to leave my job and focus on my family. On August 18^th, I had an appointment to meet with our fertility specialist to discuss some options. That morning before I left, I decided to go ahead and take a pregnancy test just out of curiosity. I was pleasantly surprised to find two pink lines waiting for me!!

Chris and I were ecstatic; I called him at work to share the news, and he left immediately to come home for the rest of the day! The next few weeks were a whirlwind! We moved into our new house and began our new lives!

Summer of Change

Over the last few months Chris and I have experienced quite a bit of change in our lives. As most of you know, I left my job as a high-school teacher and have since enjoyed the freedom of working in our home! Chris and I sold our very first home and have since moved into our new home in Kingwood (see pic), a Northeast suburb of Houston. I (finally) finished my graduate work and graduated with my Master’s degree in Education this August. Lastly, we are very excited to share the news of our expanding family!! Our first baby is due April 23, 2009!! We could not be more thrilled with the exciting changes that have come our way!

As most of you also know, Chris and I are not very good at maintaining any form of communication, so we are attempting to use this blog as a tool for sharing our many trials and tribulations that are inevitable on our journey to becoming parents!