Chris Shows Texas to his Brothers!

Before we left to Colorado where we spent Christmas, two of Chris' brothers, Nick and Jordan, came out to visit. Chris had finished with his finals and I still had about 2 weeks left of work. The boys flew in and began their trip right away. They visited Austin, San Antonio and Houston. Along the way they made many stops at famous "Texas sites" like the Dr. Pepper factory that still makes the origional recipe of Dr. Pepper and a famous BBQ restaurant that is apparently one of the top 5 in the U.S.

In Austin they visited the state history museum, which is huge and really quite entertaining. Chris and I went two summers ago. But the boys all agreed that their favorite stop was San Antonio, where they stayed in the Mariott at the Riverwalk. The Riverwalk is this amazingly beautiful area with shops, hotesl, restaurants and music all along this really pretty river. There are a lot of trees and the river has these little boats that people can eat a meal on, or just float up and down on. Chris said there were Chrismas singers on the boats this time and that the whole area was lit with Christmas lights. I am sure that the pictures just don't do it justice- they never do.

One other thing the boys liked about San Antonio was the mirror maze and lazer game. They were put in a room with lazers that they had to try to get to a certain spot without setting off the lazers. Nick had the best time, and proudly sacrificed his body to get it (He got rug burns from diving and avoiding the lazers). All the brothers agreed that they would love to do this again!

The boys were glad to get back to Lubbock for a little relaxation from driving...until the next morning when we left for Colorado. Chris loved the time with his brothers, and he was thrilled for the chance to get to spend some quality time with them.

And The Baby Bump Grows!

Our little girl is still name-less! I am growing and my skin is getting itchy. I still feel great, and everytime she kicks I get excited. Chris likes to feel her, too. In one more week I will be at the 6 month mark- can you belive that? I am excited for the little baby to get stronger. We got a lot of baby clothes from my sister, Erin, and we are excited to dress our baby in some of the same little outfits that her daughter, Keiya, wore. I remebered a lot of them as I pulled them out of the box.

I have been sewing some little Christmas items, but nothing like I did last year. Last year all the girls in my family got matching pajamas (lower picture). Denise, one of my best friends is also included in "family" and got the matching pajamas. Ashley, another one of my best friends also got matching jammies with her baby. This year Keiya got her annual Christmas jammies (posted here) and a matching nightie for her dolly. I look forward to sewing some little Christmas outfits for our baby. I also look forward to saving myself some time and re-using the ones that I made for Keiya.

Where is Alyssa, my younger sister? She started the matching pajamas when she asked me to make her feet pajamas for Christmas. Yes, she is an adult (now 19), but we love feet pajamas. I made her some and then my mom wanted a pair that was not as hot as some of her others. So I made them for everyone! Good thing I started in October!

Our Night at the Nutcracker

I have wanted to go to the Nutcracker for many years, and I finally got the chance! Chris took me last Saturday. The only event similar to this that I have previously experienced is when I was in Cuba (2003- I think). I went with some study abroad friends to the ballet, El Lago de Los Cisnes (Swan Lake). It was at the National Theatre (Teatro Garcia Lorca) in La Havana, Cuba, but since I was with a group of students we had a cerfew and had to leave at intermission. I am not a huge ballet enthusiast, but I was disappointed that we had to leave.

The National Theatre

This time I got to see the whole production of the Nutcracker. It was so fun to go out to dinner and the performance. Chris stayed awake the whole time, which made me happy, because he told me a few days before that he was going to sleep during it.

The baby liked it too because when the orchestra was playing the music she was kicking a lot. Most of the time I don't feel her very strongly, but she was strong during the Nutcracker. I tried to slouch so maybe she would stop, but she kept wiggling. Maybe she liked the music.

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Chris and I went to the doctor's together today and found out- that much to our surprise- we
are going to have a little girl. The best news was that everything looks great and healthy. We were just so sure that it was a boy. I am so excited to know the gender and to be able to plan a little more! I just love babies!

The Holidays are here!

I love the holidays, the decorations, lights, the food... After this Thanksgiving break I have realized that I really am looking forward to a longer break. It was nice to relax for more than the weekend. But I still have many things to do before the Christmas break, and some fun parties to attend, so I don't want to rush it too much.

I went to Azle (near Ft. Worth) for Thanksgiving. I will soon post some of those pictures. Chris stayed home to study for his finals. When I returned he remarked that my stomach grew over the break. I feel the baby move now sometimes in the evening, and I love it! In Azle, we did the "ring test" to see what the baby's gender is, and it predicts a boy. My family thinks it is a boy also, and we have a name picked for a boy, so we are also leaning towards that guess. Tomorrow we will find out! We are giddy for tomorrow, and I know that tomorrow I won't be able to concentrate at work because of the anticipation. I am now nearing 21 weeks- so I am in the 5th month.

While in Azle, our friends, Karen and Kevin Isley, gave us a beautiful baby cradle, and I just love it! We set it up next to our bed and I put the blanket that I made in it. I can picture our little baby sleeping in it, and it makes me so excited!

Last Summer

I know it is passed, but I wanted to include some pictures of this past summer. We went to Peru and fulfilled one of my life dreams to do a trek in Peru and see the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. I put a bunch of pictures on Facebook, so I will just put a few here, but we had decided together that we would do a large vacation before we had kids. We spent a few days in Cusco, which used to be the heart of the expanisve Incan Empire. We saw a bunch of ruins around Cusco and then we hiked a trek for about 4 days through the Urubamba Valley. We ended our trek near Aguas Calientes, which is the gateway to Machu Picchu, the mountaintop and somewhat mysterious city built by the Incas. It was a wonderful vacation, and it was fun to speak Spanish the whole time. We made friends, and well, I plan on returning there one day to see all the other parts that we didn't get to this time!

Silly as it may sound- one of the highlights was holding Pancho- the smoking and beer drinking monkey!

Intro by a First Time Blogger

Well, this is my first attempt at the whole blogging thing. Chris and I have been doing great! He has 2 internships this summer in Houston, so between visiting family, I will be in Houston. The best news EVER is that I am expecting in April! I am 4 1/2 month along. The due date is April 16th.

I actually always said that I didn't want to have a blog until we have children, especially since we don't take many pictures here in Lubbock. So now that I am closer to that, we decided to start.

Here is a little summary on us to start the blog off...Chris and I got married somewhat over a year and a half ago. We truly are the best match for one another, even though we both have different hobbies and interests at many times. Chris is in law school at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. That is now the home of the #2 football team in the nation for those of you that follow football! I teach first year Spanish and coach volleyball and soccer at a high school here in town. It keeps me very busy! In my free time (when and if I have it) I play soccer on indoor soccer teams, sew and enjoy cooking and baking. Chris loves movies, going to the huge rec center on campus to work out, and when we get a chance we meet up to play some raquetball or tennis together. We also like visit the local ponds here and feed the ducks and geese bread. They all crowd around us and honk for the food. They come right up to you and will even take it out of your hand! If you have ever wondered where the Candadian geese fly when they go South for the Winter, well, here is one place. They crowd our ponds and really are beautiful birds! But do you know what I think of when I look at one of those beautiful plump birds? I think of eating it for Thanksgiving! Isn't that terrible?

Well, I am putting some pictures of our growing addition here, and I just can't wait for a few more weeks when we find out what this little gift from heaven is. You can guess- what do you think it is... a boy or girl? My family has requested that I post pics here so they can see how I am growing. Really, this is a dream come true, and I am soooo EXCITED!

I have also been doing some sewing in preparation for the baby. I made this adorable quilt, and although it is unisex, it definitely leans more to the boy side. The pics don't really show all the fun detail, but it has little duckies on it, and I just love it!