37 weeks!

I'm 37 weeks and so excited. At my last appointment the doctor said she is head down and dropped. I have gained 44 pounds and weigh as much as Silas does now!! Good thing it doesn't bother me and I just keep on eatin!! I may regret that after the baby comes but oh well :) I am going to the doctor every week now, they are suppose to check me at my next appointment but I have my doubts that they will since they start checking you at 38 weeks and I will be 37 weeks and 5 days. The doctor I saw last week said they would but I see a different doctor this time so we will see...The biggest change for me that has occurred recently is how swollen my feet get, especially after I work a couple days in a row. I actually had pitting edema, where my finger print stayed in my ankles for a good 10 seconds after I pressed on them.

Here is the funniest thing that has happened yet during my pregnancy. I worked a 12 hour shift on a Sunday and at the end of the day went to get into my car. Well, a large van had parked next to my car, right on the line...I opened my door, it was touching their car, but this belly would NOT fit though. So I had to go to the passenger side, take off my shoes and climb over the seat to get in...I was a little nervous that I would not make it! The worst part is that there was someone sitting in their car across from mine watching me the whole time. They were on their phone and laughing really hard...I know they were laughing at me.

Here are some pictures...



Now we just wait and see...will she come early, late or right on time...

32 weeks

I'm 32 weeks along now and just had my 32 week OB appointment today. All is well with me and the baby. Her heart beat is strong, they say she is growing like she should. They never say anything about my weight gain so I assume its ok. So far I'm up to 33 pounds. She is moving around a lot and kicking me in the ribs. Although, I guess shes not really kicking me since they said she is actually breech right now, so her head is up by my ribs and her butt is down. I had a talk with her today and she has 8 weeks to turn herself the right way!! :) I'm also fighting off some kind of upper respiratory sickness. I think maybe its a cold that is taking FOREVER to go away. I felt so bad by the middle of the week I was convinced it was the flu, but I never had any fevers and it is clearing up now, just taking forever. One of the joys of being 8 months pregnant and having a cold is that you cant really stop a sneeze from coming out or a forceful cough...and sometimes...it makes you pee on yourself. Silas has found this fact to be hilarious....it is pretty funny.





I had my first baby shower on Saturday. It was amazing. I was so surprised at how many people and gifts were there. I am so blessed!! The cake was so cute, it was decorated to match the theme of the nursery and the flower arrangments were gorgeous!! I have the two best sisters ever and a great cousin in law too :) It was so fun to come home and really go through everything and see what kind of stuff she got. Silas sat in the living room with me and just stared at it, then he was like so...I am really gonna be a dad. It was cute. I think it finally hit him with all the baby stuff that came in the house.





For the next few weeks I am busying myself in the nursery. Putting away clothes and decorating, hopefully it will be done soon and I can post pictures. It is turning out so cute. Her daddy built her a shelf to hang on the wall to hold her quilt until we can use it. I thought that was really sweet and it looks so good.


Only 8 more weeks to go!!!

28 weeks

By the time I am updating this I am actually about 29 weeks, so I'm a little behind. Things are still going very well. I apparently gained 9 pounds last month...oops, but they still said that was ok. I just hope I don't make a habit of that! I also had my glucose screen, which I failed. Now on wednesday I have to go for my 3 hour glucose tolerance test to make sure I do not have gestational diabetes. I do know a lot of people that have failed the first one and pass the second one so I am not too worried about it. If I did have it it would be sooo hard to give up carbs, but it would only be for 11 weeks or so. My only real worry is that I do not want to have a big baby!! and that is one of the most common side effects. But so far I am measuring right on schedule and we will just have to wait and see :) She is moving around a whole lot. My belly stretches into all kinds of funny shapes, which Silas thinks is hillarious. I wish I could see in there, I want to know what she is doing! The nursery is on its way to being set up (thanks mostly to my mom). It is painted, I just have to paint the dresser and order the crib and it should be ready for her. My energy level is decreasing, I'm loving my afternoon naps, but this pregnancy is still going so well. Can't complain about a thing, except that I am ready to meet her but still have about 3 months to go!

24 weeks prego!

Here are some belly pics at 24 weeks. Nothing new going on. Shes moving ALOT, which I like, its very reassuring. I still can't complain about anything, so far this pregnancy has still been really easy. I have gained about 15 pounds so far, which according to my doctors and my pregnancy books is right on track, and they tell me I measure right on track. At my last appointment the nurse about gave me a heart attack though. She looked at my chart and asked me if I was aware that they had changed my due date, which I was not...but then I got very confused when she told me they changed it from 1/6 to 1/8 and I was thinking, why would they change it 2 days?? Then she said so...you will be pregnant a little longer than you thought, that makes you 18 weeks. And then I was REALLY confused...18 weeks?! I though I was way further a long than that!! So she then told me that the doctor would speak to me about it. Anyway, the doctor came in and measured me and was like whoa, wait a minute, let me calculate your due date and he let me know that I was really 23 weeks like I thought. SO, anyway the nurse apologized and said maybe it was because it was Monday ha ha...I was just relieved that I did not backtrack a whole month of being pregnant bc I am sure ready to meet her and the pregnancy is going slow enough!!! Also, Kathy (my mother-in-law) got me a recording device from build-a-bear that I took with me to my appointment and the nurse helped me to record the baby's heartbeat on it. Kathy said she is going to make a bear with it, I guess for Elaina but I think I might like it more than her :) So that's it for this month, next time I get my glucose tolerance test and I will post some more pics!!

Yellow House

We finished the next stage of the house update this weekend. And by we of course I mean Silas. It took about a week, we started last weekend and we painted the house a bright cheery yellow, the doors a dark blue, and white around the trim of the windows and roof. I think it tuned out really nice and most of the neighbors have said they like it. Here are the before and after of the exterior of the house. Sorry for the bad lighting, the sun was in a bad postition and these are the only 2 pictures I can find of the house before we painted it. Its also before we got a new roof and cleaned out the pool.

Costa Rica

For our vacation this year, we spent 2 really great weeks in Costa Rica. We went with Shama, Caleb, Gavin, John, and Lauren. In two weeks we stayed at four different places and split our time between the beach and the rain forest. I had never been to Costa Rica but Silas and been once and Shama and Caleb and been 6 or 7 times and Shama and Caleb spoke enough Spanish to communicate with anyone we needed to. Gavin loves the beach as you will see in the pictures and was such a great traveler! The first place we went to was called Playa Grande. This beach was mostly for the surfers in the group. We stayed at a hotel called The Swell Hotel, it was a nice place. Very small, only 7 rooms and only ever 4 people working there. All round us were the same type places, small hotels run by families. Surprisingly a lot of the families were from the states and loved Costa Rica so they had moved their families here. It was a neat experience meeting all the people and learning their stories. The beach here was beautiful, but not great for swimming. The waves were huge and at least one day they were too big and rough for even any of the guys to get in. We stayed here for four days and mostly the surfers surfed and Lauren, Gavin and I played on the beach. There were cool places to walk around on the beach and we did some traveling to other beaches close by in search of great waves.

The next place we stayed at was Nosara. We had our own house here which was nice. It had a kitchen (sort of) so we were able to make breakfast and lunch and a couple dinners there. This was another beach spot, it was nice because it was in a small town with restaurants and shops within walking distance. We stayed here for a week. It was another surf spot and Lauren, Gavin, and I spent more time on the beach and in the pool. Natalie and Paul (the Dudley cousins) also happen to be in Costa Rica at the same time we were and their stay overlapped ours here by a few days. We also celebrated Caleb's birthday here. On his birthday though we celebrated by him getting stung by a stingray, hyperventilating and all of us praying around him!! But praise God we did not have to find a hospital or medical care since we had no clue where one would be! The beach was beautiful here as well, lot of places to walk around and explore. There were also monkeys!! The hung out right around the pool, that was an interesting sight.

The next place we went was to a place called La Carolina. It was a 2 hour drive from Nosara to there and on the way we stopped by a Macadamia Nut Tour. We weren't sure it was going to be anything worth doing but it ended up being really cool. A couple own the farm and have started doing a little tourism as well. They have cabins where people can stay and mostly host high school groups and schools involved with research they have going on at different times. The husband and wife were so nice and it was impressive the knowledge they had about growing different things and the investment they made in the community they lived in. We had a cooking lesson in which we learned how to make ceviche with heart of palm. I never really like heart of palm but it was amazing in this dish, similar to a salsa, only no tomatoes. Then they served lunch and it was one of the best meals we had over there. Caleb had also brought some papers on Bag-a-Nut in case they could use one, turns out they already had one! That was kind of funny and they all took pictures with it for the bag-a-nut website. Then it was onto La Carolina. This was one of the most interesting places I have ever been. It was somewhat primitive cabins in the rain forest area. There was limited electricity. For example, our cabin had one light for the bathroom and that was it for electricity. All the cabins were right next to a very cold rushing stream that came down from the mountain/volcano near the area. The windows and door were not solid they were all screens and that's how the cabins cooled off. It was never really hot there and there seemed to always be a breeze from the stream. It also rained every night, which was so loud. I would wake up when it would start, but it was a nice sound so it didn't really bother me. At this place everyone staying there ate their meals together family style. We were such a big group though we had our own table. All the workers there spoke spanish only, there were only a handful of them. La Carolina is a fully working ranch as well so they not only helped with the guests but ran the ranch. The owners are from the states, South Carolina, hence the name of the cabins. They provided all your meals and there was no electricity involved in this either. The ladies there cooked over a wood stove and all of the meat was provided from the ranch, they had cows, chickens and pigs. One morning I saw them bring the chickens up and start cleaning them, so I knew that's what was for lunch! At every meal including breakfast they served beans and rice. We ate by candle light. At night light was provided by candles, they would light candles in our cabins and all along the paths. There was also a hot tub right by the stream that was filled every morning with fresh water from the stream and heated by a fire that was burning right next to the water, that was my favorite place. Even though we didn't speak much spanish (except for caleb and shama) the workers really like us I think. We were unlike many of the guests I'm sure since we volunteered to go milk the cows...although this was really hard and we did not help them out in that area any. They were really surprised though when the boys decided they wanted to grind coffee and also got up early to help chop wood. One of the days there we did a hike in a really beautiful area. It was really steep in some places and I blame the difficulty I had with it on the extra pounds around my midsection! This hike was around a river coming down from a volcano and you hiked up to the point where the water from the rain steamed down and met the water from the volcano. For some reason when these two waters hit each otter they made this beautiful aqua color. There were also areas bubbling up that were hot springs from the volcano. We got in the water and you would walk around and if the rocks shifted under your feet it would burn your feet. It was a neat to sit in the cold water and feel the hot water bubbling up under you and mixing it all around to make a comfortable temperature. Also on the hike was a gorgeous waterfall (couldn't find the pictures though) of the aqua water falling into pool below, so pretty. We stayed in La Carolina for 2 nights and then it was on to Tabicon.

Tabicon is a 5 star resort located right by an active volcano, aeronal. It was the best way to end this trip. 2 nights in luxury...Finally really comfy beds and water pressure!! At this resort there are natural hot springs and this is what we spent the days and nights doing, going to the springs. They were awesome. There were 5 ro 6 different spring pools all varying degrees the hottest being 102 (of course I couldn't get all the way into these). There were waterfalls of hot water coming into them and I felt ok to sit and let the hot water hit me but not have my body in them. There were pools that were a little cooler in temperature and I was able to get into those and also a swimming pool filled with the hot water with a water slide and swim up bar. After 2 nights there it was a drive to the airport on some crazy roads...Costa Rica is not know for great road construction. Lots of bumpy gravel and dirt roads with pot holes and there are some pictures of bridges you drive over...not side rails just made out of wheels...also most of the bridges have only room for one car and you have to yield, the only problem with that is that most of located on a sharp curve so you have no idea a bridge is coming up or that there may be a car in your path around the corner. I was glad to be home after 2 weeks, but would defiantly but up for another trip there!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

It's a GIRL!!

We found out today we are having a little girl! I'm 19 weeks pregnant and we couldn't be more excited. It was a big surprise for both of us we both just knew it was a boy, but now that we know we couldn't be happier!! As soon as I got done with my apt. I sent out massive text messages and phone calls and my mom and I went shopping all afternoon! And there is SO much cute stuff for little girls....

My pregnancy so far has been great. No morning sickness just tired in the first trimester but pretty much uneventful. I'm so thankful for that. Now into the second trimester I am still enjoying my naps but I do have more energy. My belly is definately growing but I'm still comforatble, so at this point I can't complain!

I think I'm finally starting to look pregnant and not just chubby. I got my first congrats from a stranger who just assumed I was pregnant (this was very brave on their part but it did make me feel good that someone didnt think I was just fat!). I have gained 12 pounds so far and I think its all in my tummy and boobs, nothing else is gettin bigger so far. My belly popped out very soon after getting pregnant and my pants stopped fitting in the first trimester. I have been very nervous to post anything on the internet about being pregnant because in the back of my mind I still worry about if something happens. But I know that everyone who reads the blog knows I'm pregnant and maybe putting this out there and updating will get a few extra thoughts and prayers and that is worth it.

8 weeks

12 weeks

16 weeks


19 weeks ultrasound

this is how we know its a girl...

Two Years and Counting

We made it. We have been married two years now, with I hope plenty more to come. This year we decided to take a weekend and go to Orlando and go to Seaworld. We both haven't been there since we were little so it was really fun. We saw all the animals, including of course Shamu. It was so much fun, except for the part where I had to listen to Silas complain about Seaworld's message of we are all one world or something to that affect that he did not agree with, kind of like Disney's just believe and all your dreams will come true...he doesn't like that one either...but he is who he is...and he still had a good time :) We both agreed our favorite things were the shows. The next day we did not have anything planned and spent the day in bed watching movies...that was especially great because if we were at home he would never have been able to lay around and do nothing. There is always a project to be done on our house and he cant just let them sit there. So We laid around and did nothing! We finally got up and went to Ikea just to look around and then to Downtown Disney to eat dinner. We ate at Rain Forest Cafe. So yummy and loud and just a fun place. Now we are back to the routine...working and working on the house, but our next vacation is not far off! Costa Rica here we come!!!

Silas is one the left, he is hard to see be he just looked like he was having so much fun.




And of course Shamu :)

Looking Back

We have now been in our house officially for one year! Its crazy looking at pictures of when we bought it, to what it looks like now. I was thinking to myself...why did I like this place??? I loved it then and I love it even more now and there is still sooo much left we want to do so I'm sure in another year I will look back and be even happier with this place we have made a home... here are a few before and after pictures of the pool and the unpainted/wallpapered walls....



This is what the pool looked like when we bought the house...inviting, huh? We figured it was hopeless and we really did not want to take care of a pool so our plan was to fill it in and add to the already huge backyard. As it turns out, one of our neighbors owns a pool company and offered to help clean it up for us.

He sent 2 guys over. They drained it and acid washed it.



And this is what we have now! We also pulled out the big sawgrass bushes that were planted behind the pool to open up the yard. I have really enjoyed having a pool and am so glad we kept it!

Here is the wallpaper that was in the kitchen. Somehow it incorporates chickens, apples, watermelons, and the pink/blue-gray theme that is throughout the house.

It took 3 nights to peel all that paper off...this really does not make me look forward to doing our bedroom and both baths....

And now we have a bright happy yellow kitchen, which I love...of course we want to totally gut it and remodel but it is last on the list for remodels because it is functional and we have other uglier rooms ahead of it haha...


And a quick update on the shed...its painted and all that's left is to get doors...this is the paint color we are thinking about for the outside of the house...we decided it would be a good idea to paint the shed and see what it looked like first...

I really hope there are more house updates soon...but I am at the mercy of my husbad as to when these projects get started because he is the one who does all the work!!!

My Camera!!!

I found my old camera!! I'm so excited...I decided to organize the bookshelf, which had piles of books just haphazardly stuck on all the shelves and unpack the rest of the books that I hadn't touched since we moved in. When I started moving all the piles of books off the shelf...I found the camera that has all of the pictures of our house before we started painting or doing anything to it!!! I'm so excited and I plan on posting some before and after pictures soon. Flipping back through the pictures I'm not sure why we liked the house when we first bought it ha ha. I love it now...but it was sure UGLY!!

Salad For Dinner

We had this Saturday night and it was enjoyed even by Silas, who may not consider salad a main course for dinner. I got the recipes for the salad and for the bread from The Pioneer Woman. It was very easy and very flavorful and actually made just enough for dinner that night with no leftovers, which I like. I am one of those who does not enjoy my leftovers. The bread is very good and not healthy at all! but I figured if we had salad we could afford the bread :)



(the food looked better in person, and on pioneer womans website!! but i promise it is very tasty :))

He's Just So Cute!!

Here is Gavin, almost nine months old and so cute!! I get to watch him some days while Shama goes to work with Caleb or just needs to get stuff done and I love it!! I love being an aunt and I love this kid!!

murdock update

Apparently we have reached peacock mating season. The peacocks have become increasingly noisy around our house the last week or so and on Saturday morning Silas was up pretty early to try to finish up the shed project. He snapped some pictures while he was out there of the peacocks...apparently the Murdock we have been seeing is actually two birds...here they both are. We were trying to figure out if one was a female and one a male or if they are both males.


So either this guy is in love or he's chasing the smaller one away...

Either way, it was pretty cool to have this in our backyard. He is HUGE...about as big as the saw grass bushes...maybe we will get another chance to see him and take some pictures without the sun behind him.

Wedding Portrait

Way before I was even thinking of getting married I had an idea that has stuck with me about what I wanted to do with a wedding photo of mine. I think I saw it in a magazine and just really like it and kept it in the back of my head. After we were married and I looked through the photographs that our photographer took I fell in love with this one he took of us walking up the boardwalk. I'm not sure why I liked it so much since it didn't have our faces, but it was just a neat picture and it had the back of my dress and my veil in it, not a posed portrait. I decided that this was the picture I wanted to use for my idea. So, for christmas Santa got me a 20x30 print made!! haha...I also kinda thought that it was more artistic and that we would use it for a long time. Then I found a calligrapher who would write the date of our wedding on the mat board (there is no way I would even attempt to do it myself). I found http://http//www.calligraphybycami.com, she was great, if anyone ever needs something done, she also has a lot of cool ideas on her website. And here is the finished product!!

This is going to hang over our bed whenever we remodel our bedroom. It will go great I hope since our colors will be blue and brown, this picture is black and white but is warm tones so the mat board I chose were tan and chocolate brown and a dark brown frame which goes with our bedroom furniture. Sorry the pictures aren't better but I could not get good lighting no matter what I did, maybe I will try again later and post a different picture.

Valentine's Day...not excatly typical

Although not a typical v-day this year, it was a great one. It all started with Silas planning a hunting trip for the weekend of February 14th. Being the amazing wife I am, I did not get upset, but I did use his trip as leverage to get him to take me to the melting pot for our v-day celebration :) Who really wants to fight the crowds and go out to eat on valentines day anyway. (OK, so I'm sure he would have taken me wherever I wanted to go, but it felt like I got my way when I think about it that way...)A few days before the 14th Debra asked me what I was doing and suggested that since both of our hubbies would be MIA (hers was working), that it might be fun to invite our friend Chris to have dinner with us.

*Chris has refused to be pictured in my blog...I had to remove the picture I had of him or else he would never talk to me again* haha....I will get another one one day!!!

Chris is a friend we met several years ago. He lived across from us in our apartment complex. He befriended us three girls (Debra, Alicia and I) and pretty much got us through college, providing us home cooked meals, movies, groceries and company. He has turned out to be a great friend that all of us girls are thankful to know. So, we suggested dinner and decided to have it at my house. Of course, he insisted on cooking for us since it has been so long since he has cooked us a meal. Alicia has married and moved to Hawaii :( so her "replacement" was Shama, (Caleb is with Silas hunting). (<--He even made the plates all pretty and presentable) Chris has a tendency to cook way too much food (but we weren't complainin'!!!) It was soooo yummy. We had so much food we started callin' around to see if anyone else was lonely on v-day and needed some food...Kathy came over and joined the fun. (<---Kathy and Gavin) Chris served us steak with baked potatoes and asparagus, king crab legs, and a Thai dish...yes 3 full meals....(and salad, although i skipped that part).

<---The crab legs were my favorite part...

I made the desert, cookies and blackberry cobbler (no picture, guess it wasn't that impressive...). Chris also rented some movies, a bunch of chick flicks for us to watch. All in all it was a lot of fun and a great way to spent the day if you cant be with your man....

<---my substitute man :)

Chris even got us girls gifts! All I can say is that I hope he finds himself a worthy wife soon and whoever she is, is one lucky girl.....

Thanks Chris for the wonderful evening, even Silas said it sounded like it was almost worth stayin home for... :)

P.S. We missed you Alicia sooo much!!!