A Simple Love

I'm really loving...

my husband, Brent!! He is a wonderful man and my best friend :)

He is the very best husband a girl could ever have and he's all MINE!!!

I can't wait to watch him be a dad to Rowen!! 

~Rachel~

Baby Stuff :)

Like I mentioned in the last post, Brent and I painted our guest room which we will now call the nursery :) Here are some before and after pictures:

The guest room

We cleared everything out except the bed and started painting on Saturday. It was a blue/grey color and we chose to paint it off white.

This is the finished room with the new color( I'll take better pics when we have the room all put together! )

We decided to paint a thick green stripe around the top of the wall to add a little something...it matches the green color in the bedding.

We put a few of the paint samples up on the wall to see what it might look like. We are going to paint a 12 inch stripe around the top this weekend!

We went in for a check up yesterday. We had to have another ultrasound( Darn! ) because the last time that we had one they weren't able to get all the measurements they needed to get because little Rowen wouldn't hold still. He is very active! He's just exploring his surroundings  :)  Everything went well. The ultrasound tech asked what we were having and we told her a boy. She then proceeded to reassure us that it was STILL a boy. haha. We all had a good laugh about that! She actually got the measurements that were needed pretty quickly and then just played around for a bit showing us different things. She did a close up of Rowen's nose and it was so cute. She even showed us the underside and where we could see up in the nostrils. His arms were moving around quite a bit and he would open and close his mouth too! That was our last ultrasound :(  Next time we see him will be on his birthday. 

this is a profile with one of his hands above his head

head on the right, body on the left, little legs curled up above the body, and his left arm in the middle of the picture

face shot. eyes, nose, and lips

My next appointment is in the middle of July and it's the gestational diabetes test day..oh yay! I have to drink about 12 ounces of this yucky looking orange drink which they went ahead and gave me a bottle of so that I can drink it 30 minutes before heading to the appointment. Soooo I get to look at it everyday dreading the day that I have to drink it! That and getting my blood drawn makes me really not look forward to this next appointment. 

We have been getting baby gifts already and I love it( I especially love that the things have been off of our registry! ) My aunt sent us our diaper bag, bibs, and socks.

And last night, 2 of my personal training clients, Glen and Brooke, got Rowen 2 cute toys!

Love this little guy. It's a seahorse and he plays soft, soothing tunes and his belly lights up. Yes, I have already been playing with it :)

and they got the baby this teethe and tug duck too.

My grandparents let us know that they are sending us a check this week to buy the car seat!!! They are being way to generous to us and the baby. We definitely appreciate everything that they are doing for us :)

              

22 weeks!

I didn't post a 21 week picture last week because we were at the beach last week. Here is the only picture that I got for 21 weeks:

Baby Rowen enjoyed the beach :) I think he is going to be a beach baby! 

At 22 weeks, baby now weighs 12 1/4 ounces and his crown to rump length is about 19cm. By this week the baby's eyelids and eyebrows are well developed. His fingernails have now grown and cover his fingertips! His organ systems are becoming specialized for their specific functions. Once he's out( on or around October 28th ) he won't be able to depend on my systems anymore so his little organ systems are getting use to what they will have to do. Iron is a major nutrient at this time in pregnancy that I am suppose to be getting a lot of. Iron is what makes red blood cells. Since the baby is needing iron to make his red blood cells too, I am needing to get lots of iron in my diet. I have been eating lots of spinach either raw in salads or cooked and mixed in with foods like spaghetti sauce. My prenatal vitamins don't have iron so on Monday when we see the doctor I am going to ask her if I should be taking an iron supplement or if iron rich foods are sufficient. I hope the latter will do b/c I really don't want to take an iron supplement! 

Rowen is now the size of a papaya and there are only 125 days to go!! That's not a lot :) Today Brent and I painted the nursery. It was a blueish color and we chose to paint it off white. The bedding and other decorations will add lots of colors to the room so we wanted the walls to be neutral. Soon we will be on the hunt for a crib and a glider for his room! I can't wait till it starts coming together and looking like a nursery :) 

22 weeks and 1 day - June 25, 2011

We head to the doctors office on Monday for another ultrasound and a check up. I am very excited to see how much bigger Rowen is compared to the 18 week visit! Considering how much my belly has grown these past few weeks, I am thinking he will be quite a bit larger! I will definitely post pictures assuming we get a few. 

As far as working out goes, it's harder to jog now. I can really tell that I am carrying extra weight. And it also just feels weird. Brent and I went for a jog while in Florida and it really did feel like there was a bowling ball inside of me. It's just an odd feeling but as long as I am feeling good, I still plan on mixing jogging in with walking. My muscles are slowly being covered up with a small layer of fat :( They are not as defined as they were but I'm not worried...I'm positive that they will go back to how they were! I have been drinking tons of liquids especially water in the last few months. I can easily drink 4-5 bottles of water in just a few hours! Pregnant women are actually suppose to drink lots and lots of water. Water helps process nutrients, develop new cells, keep up your blood volume, and regulate body temperature. Even though I don't drink much after dinner, I still find myself waking up at least once during the wee hours of the morning to go to the bathroom. Oh well! 

Rowen is going to be an...

                

Bubble Gum

I don't know what it is about bubble gum and summer but the 2 just go hand in hand! I love riding with the windows down in my car, smaking on gum, and blowing huge bubbles. I don't really seek out bubble gum in the winter months but I love getting bubble gum in the summer. I would have to say that Watermelon and Grape are my 2 most fav flavors. 

Does anyone else ever stop and think why we love chewing on a rubbery blob for hours and hours?! haha. Here are a few fun facts about bubble gum:

* It was invented in the 1928 by a gentleman named Walter Diemer. Walter actually worked as an accountant for a chewing gum company in Philadelphia. In his spare time he experimented with a new gum recipe and turns out with his ingrediants, he made bubble gum. He started selling his gum under the name Dubble Bubble.

*The worlds largest bubble blown was set in 1994 by a lady named Susan from Fresno, CA. Her bubble grew to 23" in diameter! She holds the record in the Guiness Book of World Records. Seems like something I might like to try and beat! But that's a 2 foot wide bubble. I wonder how many pieces of gum she used?!

Here is a rundown of some of my favorite bubble gums when I was growing up:

Gum shaped like band-aids..loved it!

Bubble tape was great! 6 feet of gum in one cute roll!

Do you remember this one?! Each piece had a joke on the inside of the wrapper.

And the cutest bubble gum picture...

2 very funny SNL ladies :)

( side note: Brent wrote the last post about our nightmare trying to get home from the beach on Wednesday. He wanted to record our terrible but funny mishaps and we had quite a few! I'll post some other things from Destin soon! )

~Rachel~

"Be careful, the bristles fall out in your mouth."

I'll get to the title shortly.

We decided to ride down to the beach with our family and fly back one way since they were staying longer than us. We had 2 vouchers from Delta because they screwed something up on our return flight from our honeymoon, so we thought we would use those. BAD DECISION.

This day started like any typical last day of family vacation... quality time with the family and amazing spouse, sad that Nashville has no beach, etc.

We hit the road to the airport at around 2:30 pm. Had a few stops to make on the way there, but we were headed out nonetheless. One plane change in Atlanta and then we would be home.

What has ensued since then has tested my temper and brought out a smorgasbord of emotions. The last of these emotions resulted in laughter. (You will see why at the end.)

To save some time for our readers, lets just say I will never fly Delta again in my life. Every experience I have had with them has been a bad one. This one takes the cake though and is the last one I will put up with.

At the current time, we are stuck in Atlanta for some time. Usually, if we were coming to Atlanta I would shout at some friends we have down this way to spend some time with them. Unfortunately, that will not be possible this time.

Tried to get a rental car to drive back to Nashville tonight. No luck.

We have checked into a heck of a hotel hoping for a flight out tomorrow. I swear I called 20 plus hotels tonight and they were all full. The first one that said they had rooms was a Drury Inn. I took it as quick as possible. Never stayed at one before. Know nothing about the brand. All I knew is that it was close to the airport and they had a shuttle. They only have suites left, that is OK. More space, right? Great. The color of the bed made me laugh a little when we got in the room.

What really made me laugh was what you see when you step back a little...

Correct. That is our bed behind the 8 person conference room table. Not only is it a hotel room, the bed also folds up against the wall and you have an excellent conference room at your fingertips. I did not know whether someone was playing a joke on us or not. Who is the person that decided this should be a hybrid room? I would like to meet that person at Drury Inn's corporate office. I kept the laughter going for a good while. The picture does not do this room justice.

Since Delta decided to hold our luggage hostage, neither of us have a toothbrush. Hotels usually have a disposable one they will give you. Not as good as the real thing but it will work for one night. Good, until you hear someone that is currently using one say "be careful, the bristles fall out in your mouth." I'll pass, thank you. The laughter continued.

The earlier extreme anger and the more recent laughter have worn us both out.

Anyway... It is 2:30 am Atlanta time. Going to go to sleep. Keeping my fingers crossed that we will be back in Nashville tomorrow evening some time.

Something I have always been interested in seeing...

The Cirque du Soleil shows have always looked very interesting and something that I would enjoy going to see. Brent and I are going with a group of friends tonight and sitting in a suite/box thanks to one of our friends, Angie, who got all of us free tickets!! This is about tonights show:

Alegría is a mood, a state of mind. The themes of the show, whose name means "jubilation" in Spanish, are many. Power and the handing down of power over time, the evolution from ancient monarchies to modern democracies, old age, youth—it is against this backdrop that the characters of Alegría play out their lives. Kings' fools, minstrels, beggars, old aristocrats and children make up its universe, along with the clowns, who alone are able to resist the passing of time and the social transformations that accompany it.

What I didn't know is that there are performers AND characters. This is a story like mentioned above that the characters are telling through their stories and the stories of the performers. * I originally thought it was just a bunch of gymnastic-y, flying through the air, etc...type of stuff! No No, there is much more!

Here are some of the performers:

And here are 2 characters who I think I am really going to like watching:

The White Singer-

She is the storyteller who echoes in song everything she sees around her. She moves like a delicate porcelain doll in a jewelry box.

And this is her alter ego!

The Black Singer-

There is a wickedness about her. She hides many secrets in her dark heart!

Hopefully I will get to take some pictures while we are there and show you these characters and performers in real life!!

~Brent and Rachel~ 

Time for Wednesday Loves & Birthday Part 2

Today I am loving quite a few things! So here they are:

I'm Loving

my wonderful husband who is just the sweetest man alive :), my family especially my parents, and my friends. Yesterday was the best birthday! My friends and family sent me lots of messages wishing me a "happy birthday", my parents took me out to dinner for my birthday, and a present came in the mail yesterday that was from my grandparents( I'll get to that later! ). In our family, on your birthday, you get to choose where you want to go to dinner. I chose Cheesecake Factory!

We hadn't been there in a while and I forgot just how much I love that place!! I want to go back again tonight! haha. My mom, dad, and myself all got different salads and Brent got the energy breakfast which looked really yummy!

This is a picture of my dad's Luau Salad! When it came to the table, we all just kind of stared at it and wondered how he was going to eat it! He worked hard for his food last night! It was a very nice night. We sat outside which I love doing and it was a very pleasant night. For a few years now instead of having a birthday cake I get brownies from...Corky's! Yes Corky's bar-b-que has some of the yummiest brownies :) So my mom had those for me as well.

I'm Loving

the gifts that I got for my birthday( most of them are for Rowen which I really love! ) My parents had Brent and I over to their house right after dinner so they could give me my present...I just told them they could have brought it to the restaurant and my mom was like " yea, I don't really think sooo..." So when I saw the huge box in the living room, I agreed! I opened it and found Rowen's new ride!!

Brent and I both LOVE it! It's super light and really easy to use! Can't wait till there is a baby in it! I was going to put my parents cat in it for a test drive but the cat didn't like that idea!

My granparents sent me a huge box of baby clothes that they had gone out and bought last week...it wasn't necessarily for my birthday but it got here yesterday so it WAS a birthday present! They bought the baby 20 items!! Here are a few of the things:

cute doggy sleepwear

polo onesies

pants in 4 different colors..these 2 plus light blue and dark green

this dog towel plus matching washcloths and a matching robe! and a lot of other goodies :)

Brent got me this bathing suit for our upcoming beach trip...

( it was actually just delivered to me 5 minutes ago haha )
Love it!! Hot pink and gold hearts = very cute :)

I'm Loving
that in 3 days I will be laying on the beach and doing absolutely nothing but relaxing! Brent, myself and his family are heading to Destin, FL bright and early Saturday morning and by bright and early I mean 4am!! I'm trying to rack my brain to think if there has been a time in the past 5 years when I have woken up at that time and...nope, I can't think of one single time. Well, this should be an experience! Non the less, I am so excited to be going on vacation to the beach! Sun, Sand, and Seafood are things that I am looking forward to the most!!

~Rachel~