Atlanta

Dates: Aug. 30-31

We went to Atlanta for the Alabama vs. Virginia Tech football game :)
We went with our dear friends, Katie & Adam Collins, Carrie & Jeff Neal and Gina and Bryce. We had a fabulous time!! Here are some of the highlights :)

Tailgaiting & DragonCon (Saturday)
We started tailgaiting at a Mexican restaurant on a balcony with a great view of the street. DragonCon (The largest multimedia, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction & fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music and film IN THE UNIVERSE!), mostly this means lots of great costumes on the sidewalks, GREAT for people watching!! (thanks Carrie for your pics)



Steam punk, late 1800's character, awesome intricate costume. Very popular genre of costumes





The Game.....

Virginia Tech vs Alabama - Preseason Chick-fil-a Bowl



Outfitted in our Hokie gear :) we headed to the big game....



Gina, Carrie, Katie and I together :)

The Hokies lost 10 to 35, but they player pretty well, we definitely learned where some of our weakness were. Hopefully will help us be a better team! We had great seats 4 row up on the 30 yard line!! Awesome view :) Thanks Adam!!

Sunday....
Katie, Carrie & I took a walk-about around Atlanta and saw more great costumes. Got delicious pumpkin spice lattes (first of the season!).




Then Sean and I headed to the Aquarium (the largest in the nation apparently). Here are some great pics of the aquarium.....


Sting rays, Mantas, Whalesharks & more!!! It was very cool to see manta rays & whale sharks interact, I am not sure they encounter each other in the wild.


They are the only aquarium in the nation with Whale sharks!! We have wanted to dive with whalesharks since our first dive trip together!! They are incredible animals!! These whale sharks were shipped to the aquarium via UPS (on planes!!!) from Taiwan!!!! Pretty amazing. You can actually scuba dive (or snorkel) with them in the tanks, but you have to make your reservations 3 months in advance, so no diving or snorkeling for us this weekend :)


Baluga whale & Sean :) They are soo cute! Very playful, lots of fun to watch.


Penguins


River otters. Also very playful, hard to take picutres, bc they never slowed down.

The aquarium was a great end to an amazing weekend!! We plan to go back someday, maybe even take little William.

Location:Atlanta, Georgia

Week 22-24

Dates: Aug. 9-Aug 23rd, 2013

Sorry guys I got a little behind on blogging....

How Far Along: 22-24 weeks

Size of baby: (22 wks) wt about 1 pound

(24 wks)  wt  about 1.25 pounds and 12 inches

 

Baby's development: starting to hear (even outside sounds) and taste buds are developing!

Gender: It's aBOY!!!

Movement: I William kicking a lot and moving a lot.  The movements are very distinct now and Sean can easily feel them.  It is pretty amazing!!  I feel them more after eating and drinking my decaf coffee or tea in the am, and especially when I am laying down for bed. 

Symptoms: I am sleeping well, no complaints most nights.  Still have some heartburn, thank goodness for Tums :).  Leg swelling that is pretty well controlled with my awesome leg sleeves.

 

My Activity: Still running some, but have slowed down a lot and walk a lot.  Wish I was doing more exercises at home, but haven't done much.  Sean and I are walking the dogs in the neighborhood a couple times a week which also helps.

 

Diet:  I still LOVE my carbs!!  But I am trying really hard to eat healthier as I have read Willliam's amniotic fluid will take on the taste of the foods I eat and may affect the foods he likes later on (and I would like him to be a healthy little eater).  I do still love my sweets (just like prior to pregnancy, but am trying to limit them also for weight control.  I am avoiding most tomato based foods and fried/greasy foods (except French fries) as they give me heart burn. 

Maternity Clothes: They are starting to fit and look cute.  I am starting to get out of the fluffy stage and look more pregnant.   I have found some cute maternity clothes and my family has been very helpful and supportive in the search. 

 

Shopping experience: I went to Roanoke for maternity clothes shopping and saw a girl that reminded me of me when I first started looking, she was distraught that noting looked good and she couldn't find anything and her sweet husband was sitting outside her dressing room telling her she looked beautiful, I just wanted to give her a big hug and tell her it will get better. 

My favorite things...  I love feeling the little guys kick!  I am talking to him more now that I know he can hear us.  I am also trying to be very aware of what music we listen to (throwing in a little classical here and there). 

 

Baby clothes shopping...I have gotten many wonderful, adorable outfits from friends and family (Thank you guys!!).  AND... I have started shopping for baby clothes!!  Yikes I think I may have an addiction!  I am having way too much fun with Zulily! 

 

Nursery: We are starting to work on the nursery (unknown theme....work in progress) and William's bathroom (underwater theme).   We have picked out colors (rich light brown for nursery & dark blue for bathroom) for both and will start the painting in a couple weeks.  We have ordered the crib and are thinking about nursery themes :).  But the bathroom is mostly done (except paint), Sean picked out most of the décor :) 

 

 

 

Cloth diapering:   This could be a whole blog on it's own!!  We have decided to cloth diaper and I have been research cloth diapers, WOW who knew there was soooo much to know!!  I have ordered 5 different kinds and am anxiously awaiting their arrival :)  I know most people think I am crazy, but it really much different now than it used to be the diapers are pretty amazing!!  Don't worry for those of you that think there is NO way I am changing a cloth diaper, I will keep a couple disposables for you to use when you come babysit :)   

How cute is this!!  This was my first purchased pair of cloth diapers :)

 

More to come soon.....