SOUTH BEACH

Thanks to my wonderful parents, Austin and I got to spend the last five days of spring break with my family in South Beach, Florida. It was the first time that my mom, dad, Colleen and Fes got to see me as a pregnant lady! (well, I was pregnant at Christmas, but I didn't know it then).

The vacation was filled with laying on the beach, swimming in the pool, playing "30 Seconds" (a fun board game), eating delicious food, going on long walks/runs, watching a lot of basketball, and telling vendors that we were not interested in henna tattoos.

Colleen is so certain that our baby is going to be a girl that she purchased a pink bib souvenir. She also commented, "So do you think I'll have a girl niece or a boy niece?"

Even with the Jayhawks' heartbreaking loss, we were still able to have fun our last night of the trip. My mom was of course in good spirits because she picked St. Mary's to go to the final four! My dad and Fes gave her a hard time, but she figured they have the Virgin Mary cheering for them, so they'd probably do well in the tournament. Pretty great.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This is the baby and me on St. Patrick's Day, 17 weeks pregnant.

Surprise Camping Trip

It was the first afternoon of my spring break. I came home from school, Austin looked at me and said, "Hey, you ready to go camping?"

He had spent all day gathering our tent, sleeping bag, food, and supplies

for a one-night campout. He even remembered to pack my prenatal vitamins.

So Austin, Fable and I set out on the road. Austin's dad has some good friends with property just west of us. Acres upon acres of open fields as well as forests. As we arrived at our site, a herd of cattle was running through. Then, as we sat by the fire later that evening, we heard coyotes howling. Austin said they were far away, but they certainly sounded like they were pretty darn close.

It got down to about 40 degrees in the middle of the night, but thanks to our arctic weather sleeping bags, we survived.

Even with the coyotes and the chilly weather, it was a WONDERFUL way to start my spring break. :)

15 weeks and counting...

We had our 15 week checkup today with our midwife. It was the second time we got to hear our baby's heartbeat. Pretty awesome. Here are a few updates:

• The baby is about 4 inches long (or the size of a softball) and weighs around 2.4 oz.
• My belly is definitely growing! I'm sure it won't be long until I need to be wearing strictly maternity clothes. But for now, my "normal" clothes are still holding up.
• I have lots more energy than I did a couple of weeks ago. I don't feel the need to nap every day after work, which is nice.
• I've been ultra-sensitive to smells: spicy smelling foods, school cafeteria food, and even the smell of the dishwasher running can make my eyes water. Austin thinks it's hilarious.
• No weird cravings yet! Just the normal things, like mozzarella sticks. If I ever start craving mozzarella sticks dipped in ice cream, I will let you know.

We will have our first sonogram done at 22 weeks. So in seven more weeks, we will get to SEE this baby for the first time. That is normally when people find out if they are having a boy or a girl, but Austin and I have decided that we are going to wait. We won't know the baby's gender until he/she is born. This is making some people a bit hostile, but I'm pretty sure we're going to stick with our decision. :) Until next time!