Oh What a Day...

Have you ever had one of those days that you don't expect a ton from, but they surprise you and turn out great? Well, that was yesterday for me...

Brittany had scheduled some more wedding reception appointments and asked me to come along, so we met up this morning (Skinny Vanilla Latte & Carmel Macchiatos in hand) and toured the DC Centre, Ramada/Coco Keys and the Magnolia. The DC Centre really set the bar high and the other two really didn't stack up, but it was still great to see some of the other options out there. We had checked out four others a couple weeks earlier and on that trip she asked if I would be a bridesmaid in the wedding. "Absolutely!" I think on this trip she is may have found THE location and will more than likely make a decision this week. 

After the appointments we headed to Ingredient in Midtown Crossing for lunch and then hit Three Dog Bakery for some treats for Maya and Bailey. Then we went to Mohegan for pedicures and they were AMAZING...as usual. I swear this is the best place in Omaha for pedicures and I've checked a lot out. The leg/feet massages are sooo great and go on forever! Plus, Brittany picked my up as a belated birthday present...how can you beat that?!?



The "Petchup" I picked up for Maya - since we've moved her solely to
hard dog food, she hasn't been a huge fan. This stuff has vitamins
and is supposed to make the food taste better - let's hope it works!

I had some errands to run and $400 later I was home. Seriously, how did I spend $400 in less than three hours? Here's how:

• Gas...$60 worth!
• Beauty Brands - 2 sets of shampoo/conditioner liters, hairspray & smoothing cream
• Sephora - Dior Concealer, Tinted Moisturizer, Powder and Clarins Stretch Mark Control Lotion
• Target - groceries for the week, plus other household items
• UPS - mailed Blake's 12th birthday present and greeting cards to Angie. We had picked some up at The Afternoon on Sunday and she forgot them at my house. Speaking of great day, I had a blast with her yesterday before her flight - we hit up the Omaha Farmer's Market at Aksarben Village and went down to Midtown Crossing for a little shopping at Republic of Couture and The Afternoon. I've been wanting to go to the Farmer's Market for weeks and picked up corn on the cob, a baguette, kettle corn and some yummy salsa.

Cannot wait to lube up with this and protect from
those awful stretch marks!

I got home and unpacked the groceries, picked up the house and started a couple loads of laundry. I sat down with my work computer and sifted through all the emails I'd gotten over the weekend. Then I put together a nice little dinner of corn on the cob, caprese salad and garlic bread.

Oh, and I can't forget the great gift Cruz got from Marc & Brittany - they had picked this up in Las Vegas on their engagement trip and I can't wait until he's big enough to wear it to support Uncle Marc's favorite baseball team!

"My First Angels Tee" t-shirt

As you can see there really wasn't anything too special or out of the ordinary about this day, but it was just really nice and I got a lot of stuff done....and not what I expected when I woke up that morning. Because of that I felt the need to share it with all of you!

Fun Pictures

I was searching some of my "future mommy" sites and these pictures came up as I was looking at 20 week progress. It amazes me that I have a little man growing inside me and that he actually looks like a person.  It finally feels real since he's been moving like crazy over this past week. I could lay with my hands on my belly all day long. I cannot wait until he gets here and I get to hold him in my arms. Ahhh....this is such an exciting time!

20 Weeks: What's New...(Halfway Mark!)

Due date: November 26th (tentatively)

Baby developments: Little Mango is now the size of a cantaloupe and I can definitely tell he's growing in there as my belly continues to grow larger every day. He's 10 1/2 ounces already! LM gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day both for nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. These days his taste buds work and studies show that babies respond best to tastes they've already had via amniotic fluid, therefore, I need to think about what I'm putting into my mouth!

Weight gain: 1lb (5lbs total pregnancy)

Cravings: red delicious apples, breads (bagels, sourdough, you name it), diet Mt Dew, Starbucks decaf Skinny Vanilla Lattes w/ two pumps of vanilla, in case you wanted to know :)

Aversions: nothing too crazy this week

Symptoms: itching....major itching on my ever-growing belly. To compound the itchy belly, I had gotten a little red on our Boji trip and everywhere I was burnt was itching like crazy as well. Nick & I were quite the sight every night before bed when we were itching each other all over!

I am loving: all of the prego women EVERYwhere. Seriously I feel like everyone is preggers these days and I love seeing all the different size bellies and hearing all the fun stories. This weekend at a wedding there were three girls from my hometown who were pregnant, a couple girls from college and some other random bellies in the reception hall. It was fun!

Sleep: sleep has been great, but then I wake up in the morning having to race to the bathroom. My bladder is full to the brim every morning!

I miss: being able to run distances without getting absolutely winded. The weather has been great lately and I would love to be running Zorinsky but it's just not in the cards. I guess the ellipticals at Lifetime will have to suffice.

I am looking forward to: our tech at the last sonogram told us she would give us a deal on a 3D ultrasound and I really want to set up an appointment, I'm thinking I will in the next couple of weeks.

I'm spazzing about: well I had some interesting convos with some of the prego ladies at the wedding this weekend and I got some horror stories about childbirth that they've been learning about in their classes. Now I need to determine if I'm going to schedule one of these classes because I definitely think it's going to scare Nick out of the delivery room!

Best moment this week: I've been feeling Little Mango move like crazy this week! From fluttering to little pokes, he has been very active this week and I LOVE being able to feel him moving around in there.

Milestones: hitting the 1/2 way mark is so exciting...there is so much left to do and plenty of time, but we're finally getting closer!

Movement: YES! Finally!

It's a....: baby boy

Exercise: more walking than anything - I'm getting back to Lifetime this week while Nick is out of town because I'm feeling the toll the lack of exercise has taken on my body.

Diet: I've been eating pretty good - good amount of fruits and decent serving sizes, but I need more veggies. I will work on that this week.

Goals for the upcoming week: I need to be more considerate about what I'm eating so that Cruz doesn't grow up with a need for decaf Skinny Vanilla Lattes, pretzels & cheese, chocolate and diet Mt Dew.  We'll see how this little challenge....err, I mean goal....works out.

Belly shot:

20 weeks

Nursery...Step by Step

Well we've finally settled on a crib & dresser for the nursery and I absolutely LOVE them! I have been looking for a black set and a lot of companies have discontinued sets in black, but Tessa and I were shopping a couple weeks ago and found this set and its going to be perfect. It's the Bonavita Metro Collection set crib and dresser. Crazy enough, the crib can actually turn into a child's bed and then it turns into the headboard & footboard for a queen bed. How convenient!

We are very fortunate because our family want to help out and give Cruz the best nursery. Nick's dad is paying for the crib, his mom is taking care of the dresser and my parents are getting us the chair (once we figure out which one we are getting). We are so lucky! Now I just need to find the perfect, most comfortable chair...because I know he and I will be spending A LOT of time in it.  I've seen some that rock, some that swivel, some that recline and some that do all three - there are just too many choices out there!

 

Best.Husband.Ever.

While I was laying on the couch tonight catching up on my DVR'd shows and doing some laundry, I realized that I needed something sweet to offset the Subway sandwich I had for dinner. Luckily, Nick was playing poker at the Horseshoe and I caught him just before he was getting home and he stopped to pick me up some Milk Duds for a late night snack. He officially wins the title of "Best Husband Ever" for the night.mmmm...

Delicious "Chocolate AND Caramel"

Fortunately, I had picked up this onesie on my way home from work tonight. It was my way to suck up to him after he came home from a long day AND had to stop to pick up candy for his prego wifey.

"Handsome Like Daddy" onesie

Date Night

After a long weekend away with family & friends, Nick & I decided it was time for a date last night. I came home after work to a pretty clean house with all of his laundry done and most of the unpacking finished (yes, we still had not completely unpacked!). Each morning as I walked out of the house this week, I told myself that the dishes needed to be done that night, but each night I did not do them....when I got home last night - they were done, the lawn was mowed and the trash was taken out. Major "great husband" points.

We went to Charlie's on the Lake for dinner. A place that is very close to our house but one that isn't on the top of my list of favorite restaurants, because the menu is so heavily seafood dominated. However, since Nick has been trying to eat better (we both need to after this past holiday weekend) and had already found a menu item he was drooling over (blackened salmon, grilled shrimp and baked cod) we went. Plus, like a great husband he had already picked out a menu item I was sure to love (i.e. he could eat the leftovers). The bread and salad were good, but the Jackson's pasta I ordered left a little to be desired. Nick didn't even want to finish it, BUT that was ok by me since it meant I got to eat movie theater popcorn at AMC!

Nick & I love going to movies....seriously we could go a couple times a week and not bat an eye, but the movies that have come out recently haven't been all that great so we hadn't been in a while. Last night we decided to hit up "Bad Teacher" - a comedy sounded great and even though it has gotten ok reviews (poor reviews from Tessa & Chris), we decided to go anyway. The movie was ok (not great, but not terrible) and there were definitely some laugh out loud moments. Plus the popcorn and Diet Mt Dew was amazing! Definitely made going to a so/so movie that much better. And to be honest Cameron Diaz was gorgeous in it and her wardrobe made me like the movie even more. She had on beautiful dresses, great skinny pants and every pair of shoes she wore was Christian Louboutin (ahhhh....).

All in, it was a great night hanging out together and I know these are going to be very few and far between once Cruz gets here, so we need to relish every moment. With Nick leaving again this weekend for Vegas, it was nice having some time to spend with him.

Celebrating America's Birthday - Boji Style!

Our 4th of July weekend has come and quickly gone, but not without a lot of laughs and plenty of memories! We loaded our stylish ride on Friday and picked up a bunch of people to start our trek to northwestern Iowa & the beautiful lakes of Okoboji. Friday night was low key with everyone traveling all day so we grilled out and had a great family dinner in our suites. We stayed at Bridges Bay Resort, which was in a perfect location just off the lake.  (Bridges Bay Resort - Suite Pic). The guys retreated outside to the patio and the ladies started a mean game of Left, Right, Center. Then we put together some jello shots for the next couple of days and got to bed at a decent time because of the long days ahead of us.

Hard core gamblers - Left, Right, Center

 On Saturday morning we loaded our group of 20 up in the pontoon and headed out on the lakes. It was a gorgeous day and we were ready to party! We hit Miller's Cove in West Lake and tied up to some other boats and then went to Barefoot bar, which was a great beach bar on East Lake. That night we grilled out and headed into town to the bars.

The Men

The Ladies

Strategically covering my belly bump!

The moustache gang - seriously, we had to look at those all weekend!

The next morning we had the pontoon rented again, so we loaded early for Round Two. The lake was packed and so was Miller's Cove. A barge floated in with a live band and at one point we probably had six party boats tied up to ours. Hung out with some friends from high school who happened to be in Boji as well. After a long day on the water we headed back to the hotel and hung out in our rooms. Later that night we went down to Bracco, our hotel bar, for a couple hours.

Day two - Nick & I

Nick taking a paint stick in the water

Jess & I

At Bracco, our hotel bar

 Early Monday morning we packed up and headed home. All in, it was an amazing weekend that just went too quickly, but we had such a great time and definitely plan on making this an annual event. We will just have to see where Cruz fits in next year!