16 weeks

I had Jason snap this picture when we were on our way out the door to work this morning so you could see the 16 week baby bump!  He / she is growing quickly and so is my tummy.  Last week I finally started to feel human again; my nausea is gone and my energy is back.  Thank goodness because I think I was about at my whit's end with that phase.  For awhile I was convinced all formerly pregnant women were in on a massive lie that "it gets better", but it certainly does!  I can feel my ligaments stretching, which can be a bit painful at times, but overall I'm great.
We've decided that we aren't going to find out the sex of the baby, but we do get to have our next ultrasound in about 4 weeks.  I am excited to see how much our little one has grown since the last time we saw them at 9 weeks.
I've begun the nesting process and dragged 2 giant trash bags and a huge box of stuff off to Goodwill.  Out with the old and in with the new.  We're going to try and do our rearranging and get the baby's room ready while I'm still in my 2nd trimester before I get too big to do much.  I'll certainly post pictures on the progress there.
Besides planning / thinking / dreaming about all things baby we've been busy with work and visiting with friends on the weekends.  This weekend we are going to Sedona with some friends and to a Super Bowl party on Sunday.  As you can imagine, Jason is thrilled his Patriots are in the big game, and I've even committed myself to attempting a Patriots cake...we'll see how this turns out.

Happy 2012!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.  As of this weekend, our holiday decorations are finally all packed up and back in the garage until next year.  Each year when I have to clean up the decorations I ask myself, "Is this really necessary next year?" and next year I unpack it all again.

We went to my parents' house in Greenville for a few days.  I thoroughly enjoyed all of the eating, sleeping, and general laziness that I participated in.  We had a great time.  Here are some pictures...

With Caroline and William in Abbeville

Dad and Tim at High Cotton, Greenville, SC

Aren't my parents cute?

Family picture Downtown Greenville, SC, Christmas Eve

Christmas is very tiring

Cooking Christmas breakfast

Merry Christmas, Chazzz!!

Opening gifts

In Asheville, NC on Boxing Day

Less respectable side of the table, Asheville, NC, Boxing Day.

After Christmas we headed up to Massachusetts to visit with Jason's family.  It was the worst travel experience to date for me getting from Greenville, SC to Seekonk, MA (way of Atlanta, Boston and a rental car), but we were thankful to make it there in one piece.  I completely forgot my camera the day we spent time playing with our nieces, which was a bummer because I planned on getting some pictures of how much they have grown.  We had a wonderful time spending time with them and the rest of Jason's family.  Here is a picture of Jason with his 2.5 lb. lobster at the Grist Mill the night before we headed home. 

We also played some "Just Dance" for Wiii...check out Jason's You Tube debut:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdnn6QB1mpA

 2012 is looking to be a very exciting year for the Hemmers; our family will grow by 1 on July 19!  I am 13 weeks pregnant and things are changing everyday.  Most of you know that this has been a long journey for Jason and I to get to this point and we are completely over the moon.  It is hard to believe that is 6 months we will get to see our sweet baby's face (who currently is about the size of a lime!).  I will keep you all updated on this exciting new chapter.

Happiness and good fortune to you for 2012!

I'm Baaa-aaack!

So after a few requests and some gentle prodding from family who miss our shining faces, I'm Baa-aaack!

I realize that I have been terribly MIA over the past few months.  We have been pretty occupied with work, life, and Jason traveled for much of October.  There are a few highlights and then I'll share a bunch of pictures.  We went to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in September for "The Great Camping Experiment of 2011".  It hadn't gotten too cold yet and the view from the North Rim of the canyon is amazing.  We also drove over to Zion National Park in Utah with a couple of friends for a little hiking, eating, and chilling.

October we went to Clemson to meet up with friends from graduate school and watch a game.  It was fantastic to reunite with our greatest of friends, meet new babies, new boyfriends and hit up our old stomping grounds.  Jason had a birthday (31), I have a new addiction to Toms shoes, and at Halloween we dressed up as Big Bird and Kermit and rented a ranch in Phoenix with some friends.  That essentially leads up to today; we had the first snow fall of the year, only about 5 inches, but winter is definitely here! 

On to the pictures...

North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Sunset at the Canyon

Ahhhhh! Don't fall, Jason!! ;)

Yoga fun

Zion National Park, Utah

At a gas station in Utah

Happy Halloween from Big Bird and Kermit! I know my nieces would love these!

Jason enjoying a birthday scotch with Maddie.

What a season we've been having. Go Tigers!!

Oct. 22 vs. UNC I had great seats!

Tiger!

I miss these girls! With Aaron and Stacy.

Drake, my friend Leslie's 8 month old son.   He has GORGEOUS eyes and a fabulous personality. Love at first sight!

The newest member of the family, Tim's cat Chazzz

He was so sweet!

Ranch we rented in Phoenix.  This is only just a small glimpse, it was absolutely beautiful.  I forgot my camera (of course) so I just snapped this with my phone.

My new addiction, Toms shoes. I have these and a red pair.  I'd own every color if I could!

When we visited Clemson we also got to spend sometime with my family.

After our pedicures in downtown Greenville.

Whenever my family gets together my fondest memories are around the dinner table.  Without distractions we can eat, drink, laugh and catch up.  It is one of my most favorite places.

We also drove up to Saluda, NC with my parents.  The leaves were changing...gosh how we miss a good east coast fall!

The leaves were huge!

Pearson Falls

Whew, that was quite a back log of pictures and events!  I'll try to post again soon:) xoxo

We Made it!

Jason, my friend Jamie, and I completed the Climb to Conquer Cancer this weekend. It's a 7 mile walk up Snow Bowl road (a.k.a up hill the whole way!). Jamie and I were skeptical if we were going to make it or hop on one of the buses going by every few minutes, but it wasn't too bad and we made it! As I said when we reached the top, we kicked cancer's butt today! :)

Portland, Or.

So sorry I've been missing for a few weeks. We have been enjoying Flagstaff summer, which really cuts into my blogging time!

I want to share about our trip to Portland, Or. with my brothers at the end of July. I L.O.V.E. Portland. The city is really young, alive, beautiful and quirky. We rented this fantastic studio apartment in the Belmont neighborhood across the river from downtown. Established neighborhood, green, with a ton of interesting bars and restaurants. We went to Cannon Beach, Mt. Hood, the Oregon Brewers Festival, Queens of the Stone Age concert, ate, drank and were merry. As always I took about a thousand pictures -- here are some highlights...

Voodoo Donuts is famous for their maple, bacon donut. We started our first morning on a major sugar high...






















This one is possibly my favorite photo from the weekend. Richard really loves donuts...


Japanese Gardens




Ohmmmm


International Rose Test Garden






The eating continued. Portland is known for it's food carts, there is an entire park full of them downtown. Of course, we chose the Frying Scotsman; fish, chips and mushy peas.






Old-timey sodas. Best.Ginger Ale.Ever.


Pine State Biscuits -- I was literally dreaming about this biscuit sandwich!






On our way to Cannon Beach




So cold!








More eating. This time, a seafood / fried feast!


Multnomah Falls



Hiking by Mt. Hood








At Queens of the Stone Age concert


Brewer's Festival -- it was HUGE. Portland loves its beer.


In addition to eating our weight in great food, we drank lots of yummy micro brewed beers. Found Bailey's Taproom, so we had to go there!




I will jump at the chance to go back to the Pacific Northwest, so if anyone is interested in a trip to Portland, Seattle, or the coast count me in! We think it would be great fun to rent an RV and drive along the coastline - California up to Washington.

My parents just left from a short visit, and we really enjoyed having them here (Maddie did too and she's still begging outside their bedroom door for tuna -- my dad spoils her!).

Back to normal fall term hours at work next week and students arrive on August 29th -- let the craziness begin. Happy 22nd birthday to Tim - love ya!
xoxo