July 2009 Update

I've been in and out a lot this month. Just five days after moving into our new apartment, I was off to Detroit for the annual NFB national convention. I felt the baby hiccup for the first time on the night of July 4th while in Detroit. I didn't feel it again for a long time, but for the last few days those hiccups have returned like a little pulse in my belly. As for Detroit, the city was pretty shabby in my opinion, although the Detroit Riverwalk was a pleasant surprise. I stayed in the Marriott Renaissance Center Hotel (a.k.a. the GM Building) and my room had a view of Canada across the river. Had fun with friends and got some work done including administering the braille exam yet again. Here are a few pictures from the week, although I wish I had more:

This is the Detroit Renaissance Center on the Riverwalk where we stayed.

This is me with my Cambodian/Californian friend Terri Rupp who is due to have a baby a few weeks after me. She's married to a fire-fighter and they live in Vegas but we were once neighbors at the Louisiana Center for the Blind.

This is me at lunch with my buddies Heath, the country boy from Louisiana, and Deja my old friend from Utah. I was feeling under-dressed.

Just a day after arriving home from Detroit, we drove back to San Antonio for Amanda Taylor's wedding. Amanda is Joe's littlest step sister. The wedding was beautiful and it was nice to see so many friends. I stayed a few extra days to hang out with the family. My sister-in-law Ashley and my friend Lori were nice enough to throw me a baby shower. Here are some pictures that Ashley put together to remember the event:

Thanks girls! I'm so blessed to have so many wonderful family members and friends.

Back in Fort Worth, Joe was able to take me out on a Saturday night in "Cow Town". He drove me past where he works in the city and he took me to see the new Harry Potter movie. We found out that Fort Worth is a pretty happening place at night. All the trees are lit up with lights and there are plenty of people and live music around. We're looking forward to spending a few more Saturday nights out.

We also took a second trip back to San Antonio this past weekend because Joe had to give a presentation at an MD/PhD retreat. Now we're back "home" in Fort Worth for a good while I hope. I say "home" because with so much coming and going it's been a slow transition into feeling like it's actually home, but I think I'm getting there.

Speed Blogging

Just got back from Maryland. Joe and I went to our friends' wedding (Mary Jo and Jesse) and visited Joe's sister, Kristen and her family who just moved out there. Now we're back and madly packing boxes for our move to Fort Worth. Definitely in a crazy phase, so this post will be brief.

It seems like over the past few weeks I've gone from looking possibly pregnant to unmistakeably pregnant. I weighed in at the doc's office this morning at 17.5lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight (8 or so of that appeared over the past five weeks). I'm at 25 weeks right now, and almost done with the second trimester. Also, for the first time today I noticed that I can actually tell where the baby is generally positioned after the doc pointed out that I am bulging out on the right side today. Never really noticed that before... maybe I'm a bit of a dummy. There's about a pound and a half of real baby inside me by now. Other observations are that for the past two weeks I've had a sore belly button where the skin is stretching -- weird -- and this week I've had those small (fake) contractions -- weirder. Overall, still feeling pretty good though.

25 weeks down.

Another Joe-ism

Joe: Should I wear a tie?
Louise: No, just a pair of nice pants and a button-up.
Joe: Jeans and a button-up?

23 Weeks

My friends were noticing my belly about a month ago, but now their husbands are actually noticing too. I guess I've reached a milestone.

Classic joe-ism

Louise: I have a headache.
Joe: Me too... Actually, I don't. I'm just trying to be sympathetic.

Oink, Oink!

I'm finally full; Just ate two half bagels with ham, cheese, avocado, and salsa, two banana chocolate chip muffins, two glasses of milk... and a popsicle.

Ideal Weekend

This weekend passed pretty close to my ideal. After Joe finished his qualifying exam on Friday, we ate pizza and went out to see the Pixar movie "Up" in 3D. On Saturday we went out to lunch with our friends Pam and Roland Allen, and Norma and Glen Crosby who were visiting from Louisiana. We went to Tomatillo's Cafe and stayed well past the main course for sopa pillas and flan, and we sat around talking even after the dishes were taken away. I love not being in a rush.

Joe and I were so full from lunch that we ate frozen yogurts and fruit for dinner. Joe took me out to buy a few extra pieces of maternity clothing. I'm in love with my new $12 jean capris from Ross. There's nothing like a good deal to make your day bright. We finished up Saturday at home on the couch watching Spider Man 2.

Usually my ideal weekend would involve hiking, but on Sunday morning we took the dog on an extra long walk on the school field instead. At church we got to sit together the whole time because neither of us had to teach lessons and we had a combined Priesthood/Relief Society meeting. After church we had a banana split night with David, Ashley, Kristen, Aaron, Lily and Gunnar.

Perfect.