4th and 31

No, it's not a football down; it was our 4th Anniversary and my 31st Birthday a couple weeks ago.  Jason and I exchange traditional wedding anniversary gifts, which forces us to be creative sometimes.  This year wasn't too tough for him though, it was flowers and fruit.  He got me these beautiful flowers, and I made him a fruit tart and some and flowers out of slim jims - quite a hit.

We went to Prescott, AZ over my birthday weekend, checked out the town and had lunch at The Lone Spur Cafe.  It was a surprisingly good lunch.  The picture above is outside the cafe in their "jail".

Prescott has a really fun street called "Whiskey Row" where a lot of college kids and bikers go to party.  We hope to partake of the fun sometime post baby.  It was St. Pat's day and there were plenty of revelers enjoying themselves.

I also got these wonderful flowers from Jason's brother, Kurt, and his girlfriend Kasia.

My house really smelled yummy for a few days with all those flowers.  I also got some great gifts from my friends and family.  We got about 1 ft. of snow on my birthday, so I watched Netflix episodes of "Friday Night Lights" and let my hubby cook me lots of yummy food.  Icing on the cake is that the Monday after was a snow day!

We also had another addition to the baby's room, the crib! Jason worked his butt off on my birthday in between cooking and shoveling to put together this gorgeous crib.  I'm so in love and it looks great.  Next up is shelves!

Hello!

Say "hello" to our little one!  This is from our 20 week Ultrasound and  he / she was wriggling around like crazy; the Ultrasound Tech. had a difficult time getting a full profile shot.   In this shot they were sucking their thumb, although it looks like they are giving the middle finger - lol.  It's the umbilical cord in the background.
All organs and parts were working and size and weight looked good too.

I'll be 22 weeks on Tuesday and by the end of that week they should be 8 inches and 1 full pound.  Quite a long way from the size of my thumbnail!

Last week was so busy and the cold I've been fighting finally caught up with me.  I was home on Friday and all weekend I've been hibernating. Jason left for Netherlands on Friday, but he'll be home Thursday in time for our 4th Anniversary celebration.  This coming weekend is also my 31st birthday and we are going to take a day trip to Prescott, AZ and dinner with friends Saturday night.

xoxo - Helen, Jason & the Peanut

Half Way There

As of this Tuesday we will officially be half way there, 20 weeks!  I've been feeling really good, but go through random periods of total exhaustion.  I've noticed those tired times correlate pretty closely with major growth spurts, so at least I know something is happening in there.  My belly is growing like crazy, and I think it doubled in size over night. Our 20 week ultrasound is tomorrow and we are so excited to see our little one!

The picture above is from this past weekend, we were on our way to dinner at Criollo and to a community showing of the Vagina Monologues.  Jason had never been; it was great!

This weekend we also moved around some furniture to start making room for baby.  We've consolidated our office and guest room, and it turned out pretty well.  There are still a few projects I'm working on, but I'll post pictures soon.

Jason also put together the baby's first piece of furniture; a dresser.  We opted for a dresser instead of a changing table.  Our house space is limited so we are trying to purchase furniture that can transition with the baby.  It came out great!

On Friday I went out to dinner with some friends and Jason went to a friend's house for a "jam session"...apparently they are training for a gig ;)

Jason is traveling a lot, but he's home for 2 weeks straight, so we are taking full advantage and doing stuff around the house and getting out for dinners / movies/ other fun stuff that will be harder with an infant.  Looking forward to our vacation; 1 month till Coronado Island!

Sedona Marathon

With Jason after his race

We went to Sedona for last week; Jason and our friend Jen ran in the Sedona marathon.  Ok, they didn't do the marathon; Jason ran the 5K and Jen the 10K.  For obvious reasons I wasn't running in the race, so I enjoyed the coffee and joined the cheering crowd.  Jason came in 8 / 22 in his age group and 63 / 500 in the 5K -- not too bad!

Yay, Jason!!

It was a lot colder than we anticipated, but really nice to get out of Flagstaff with some good friends.  We also went to Elote Cafe for dinner.  It is a pretty famous and very popular southwestern restaurant; the chef has a great cookbook.  The food was fantastic and we thankfully got there about 15 minutes before it opened so didn't have to wait for a table.

Our view from the condo was rented.

I noticed a lot of other pregnant ladies when I was at the restaurant; I find myself noticing other pregnant women all of the time.  I always wonder how far along are they? Where did they get those leggings?  Sometimes I'll connect eyes with other pregnant women and we'll just give each other this understanding glance as if to say "yea you are awesome" or "I feel your pain, sister"! 

Jason just got home from Orlando today, we are going to go to lunch and for a long walk.  Work is pretty hectic for both of us right now.  We are getting all the things done we need to before the baby arrives.  So, we enjoy a pretty low-key weekend.

I'm almost 18 weeks, which is really hard to believe.  2 more weeks and we'll be 1/2 way there!  So far this pregnancy has been pretty smooth sailing (knock on wood!).  I'm still feeling good, loving prenatal yoga classes every week, and able to eat pretty much whatever I want.  Thankfully I don't really crave junk food, with the exception of fruit flavored tootsie rolls and movie theater popcorn!  I'm having some issues with my hips and it's pretty painful when I sleep.  I'm trying all sorts different sleeping  positions / pillow arrangements and making sure I stretch every night.   Our next Dr. appointment is February 28th and we get another ultrasound; very excited to see the little one.

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