4 year anniversary

Alex and I have been saying we want to get away for one last little vacation before our baby boy drops in June. A friend of mine from school was telling me how they took their dog with them to Ft. Myers a few weeks ago and that it is a pretty dog-friendly city, with a nice dog beach and welcoming hotels.

So when Alex didn't have to work this weekend he came in Saturday morning and said, let's get out of town- we'll drive to Ft. Myers, hang out at the beach, and this can be our anniversary celebration too. We so very rarely do things spontaneously, and since this will be one of our last times to do so we decided to jump on it. We threw some clothes in the car, along with my beach chair and umbrella, and the chuck-it for Maggie and a frisbee for Alex and I. We ended up at the Lover's Key dog beach, just south of Ft. Myers Beach and found a nice patch of sand for me to sit, although Maggie had no intention of sitting. She made friends and chased balls and frisbees for hours. We left and decided to find a hotel, which was a bit of an ordeal since it is Spring Break time, but it worked anyway and we stayed in a nice suite.

Here I am in my new maternity bathing suit...29 weeks preggers

We showered up and left Maggie in the hotel to relax while we went out with just us adults. We found The Beached Whale Restaurant and had some nice appetizers and a good dinner. Alex sampled most of the fruity drink menu, while we enjoyed a nice night on the roof-top of the restaurant overlooking the beach for dinner. Then we walked for a bit on the beach and even danced under the starts as we passed by a beach bar with live music.

On Sunday we made our way back to the beach for a few hours, this time avoiding the spring break traffic by taking a different route. We had a nice outdoor lunch on our way out of town, and Maggie patiently waited for us to eat while she relaxed on the ground after her fun beach weekend.

28 weeks

Got to see our boy for a little bit today. He was hiding most of the time, with his spine up and the back of his head showing. We really didn't see his face much, just a few profile shots. Even if we couldn't see him very well today, it is so comforting to hear his heart beat and see him squirm and wiggle, and see him do big boy things like swallow and flex his muscles. We did learn that he is growing quite well and is a big boy with a full head of dark hair. He is 2 and 1/2 pounds already and at the 76th percentile for weight, and measures about 10 days larger than his date should indicate. He did have some guns and showed us his big bicep.

It was nice to see him so healthy because I had a bit of a scare today on the way to work when a distracted high schooler rear-ended me while in morning traffic. Thankfully there was no damage to either car, but it scared me and shook me for a bit. I had some sore shoulders in the morning, but most of that was tension stress I think and already sore shoulders in need of a massage. I am even more thankful that the impact was not so hard that myself, my placenta, or the baby had any injuries. So I gave that teen a stern talking to and about scared the bejeezus out of him, and took his info and let him be on his way.

I am really looking forward to the prenatal massage my wonderful husband arranged for me for this coming Friday. He is so good to me, and it will feel so nice to relieve some of the tension in my back. In fact I was in such a need a massage that I got a pedicure last week just so I could sit in that massage chair for a half hour... well not just that, my piggies of course needed work.

St. Augustine with the "Gainesville Family"

I decided to head up to St. Augustine to see Jen and the rest of the Davises for the first time since they moved back from Atlanta. It worked out because Devon had to drive up there for classes all weekend for her DPT school. We caught up in the car on the way there and back, but she was mostly gone at school during the days. So on Saturday it was just a small group of Jen and Milo, Zachary and Joshua, Jaime and Ron, and Brooklyn and Ben... A mildly full house. We played in the yard for a bit, and I took a nap in the afternoon while the kids played *quietly* somewhere.

In the evening the girls had a huge surprise for me. They had put together a small shower for me and were completely generous with their gifts! The decorated a little table with balloons and gourmet cupcakes and had all sorts of other goodies for me. I got a diaper bag stuffed full of clothes, shoes, sleep sacks, bottles, nipples, pacifiers, soaps and creams, and also a boppy, and a cute little stool with old timey car. Then they had a whole collection of things for scrapbooking. The book, stickers and decals, papers, glues, etc. We had some of the cupcakes for an appetizer then headed to Olde Town St. Augustine, walked around a bit and had a girls night out at Harry's for dinner. The men put the kids to bed.

On Sunday everyone let me sleep in and then it was off to the beach to enjoy what was a perfect beach day. The kids played in the shallow surf a bit, the water was perfectly cool. We threw the frisbee for a bit, then had a picnic lunch and the kids build sand sculptures and played in sand buckets. After the beach some of the kids napped and Jen and Jaime and I did 4 pages in the scrapbook. They shared their creative expertise with me, a newbie scrapbooker and rookie mom! When I showed Alex he asked where I got the book and when I told him I made it he didn't believe me. He said Jen and Jaime were crafty enough for that, but not me. I will show him! They are so cute and are all organized and ready to fill with baby pictures in the coming months.

How precious are these children, I ask you?

Baby Boy's first dose of Spring Break

Today was Lori's last day in Tampa and the last day of my mini-spring break four-day weekend. We headed to Clearwater beach with a cooler full of fruit and water and chairs and an umbrella for the preggos. I brought one of my motherhood books that I have yet to crack and read aloud to Lori since she didn't have a book. Propped my feet up on the cooler. It was heavenly.

We had a wonderfully relaxing day. It wasn't hot at all under the umbrella and the most work we did all day was Lori digging a hole in the sand for her belly so she could lie on her stomach. Here she is with her little contraption- sea turtle style!

Here we are belly and all. Sorry if this offends anyone or grosses you out but I really don't think more than 3 people read this blog and I'm not worried about any of you!

Me at 27 weeks.

Lori at 21 weeks.

Strawberries everywhere

When Lori came down for a visit we made sure to hit up Parkesdale Farms in Plant City for their famous Strawberry Shortcakes. They were great and Alex and I brought a half flat of berries and a bag of tangerines home. They are really good... and packed full of folate for my growing boy!

Lori looked more pregnant than me in that dress, but you can't tell from the front.

Then there were 4

Lori came home for the weekend and brought with her her little bun. Here we are, two preggo sisters.

Meeting the newest Hays boy

We went to Longboat Key to Aunt Anne and Uncle John's house to see my cousin Debbie and her two boys who are down for a little spring vacation. Today we met Christmas Baby, Griffin Aaron Hays, who was as sweet as you could imagine. An adorable baby and such a content and alert little guy. Debbie and I got to talk 'baby' a bit, and she brought me a couple of maternity dresses.

Here is Alex, who Griffin didn't seem to want to let go of. Alex is always so good with kids. It makes him that much more irresistible to me as we get closer to having a baby of our own.