New Post Coming Soon!

Things have been crazy busy with this Christmas Season but I have lots to post! Hopefully this next week I can sit down and add all my recent post and pictures!

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year!!

31 weeks and Nesting

On Friday, I went to my 31 week check up and everything is looking great. Right now my doctor appointments aren't the most exciting - they check my weight and blood pressure and that is about it. That said, the best thing about my appointments is that I get to hear the baby's heart beat which is very cool. The doctor noticed that our baby is very active - he's always jumping around and it's hard for the doctor to get him still enough to hear his heartbeat. Of course, there are still the restless nights and soreness during the day due to the lower back aches and sore hip/pelvic bones. Everyone I talk to says welcome to the "Third Trimester Club". I am excited the end is near but I'm definitely not quite ready for Baby Jack as there is so much still do do around the home.

Speaking of that, I am in the infamous nesting stage. I think it started early on with me but now it is in overdrive. As you know we finished our complete renovation of the kitchen about a month ago...which by the way I love. Well, now I have decided to paint the entire house and then to top it all off, we've decided to re-do our bathroom. O.k. just so we understand, I haven't even touched the baby's room yet besides having it painted. There are only 8 weeks left - yes, I know, pretty crazy. The good thing is that I have ordered the baby's furniture and my mom has graciously offered to make all the baby's bedding (which I'm so excited about).

I'll let you know how we do...the countdown is on!!

Mexico

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Alex and I went down to Texas for less than 24 hours to spend Thanksgiving with my family and then we jetted off to Mexico. Alex's brother Michael and his long time girlfriend, Rachel, of 10 years were married in Puerto Vallarta. We arrived in Mexico on Friday afternoon and it was beautiful..80 degrees and sunny. The wedding was at the resort Golden Crown Paradise, where the 17 of us all stayed. During the afternoon, everyone pretty much did their own thing and then we would meet up for dinner and Sexy Spanish Coffee!! You could usually find Alex and I out by the pool - we were soaking up as much sunshine as we could before we had to go back to snow-filled Chicago.










On Saturday night, the Brieles hosted a gorgeous dinner at The Kliff, a restaurant that was absolutely breathtaking. The restaurant was on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean and was surrounded by mountains on each side. The ambiance and food couldn't have been any better for this festive occasion.






The happy couple was married beach side on Sunday afternoon at 4:30 p.m.. The joyous ceremony was filled with Jewish and Mexican traditions. The biggest bummer was that Alex got major food poisoning and had to miss the ceremony but his spirit was definitely there.










We were sad to leave Mexico, but we both left with great memories and a tan!

29 weeks and counting...

So today I had my 29 week check up and all is well. The Dr. said that my weight and blood pressure are normal. I am now in the home stretch and will have to go every two weeks for my check ups. I will keep you up to date!

28 Weeks

So I have made it to my Third Trimester...WOOHOO!! I have an appointment next week so I will be sure to post back all the latest stats. I can tell Baby Jack is growing stronger and stronger everyday. He is a little fiesty one, I'm not sure where he gets that from. He loves to push down on my bladder especially when I'm out and there is not a bathroom around for miles. Fun Times!! Sleeping at night has become impossible and I still have 3 long months to go. If I'm not up 2-4 times a night using the restroom I'm tossing and turning trying to get comfortable. I promise I'm not complaining, I wouldn't trade this time in for the world.

Favorite 8's

I've been tagged! My favorite 8's

My friend Debra has tagged me with listing all my favorites.

My 8's

8 Favorite TV shows I love to watch
1. Lost
2. Survivor
3. Grey's Anatomy
4. Desperate Housewives
5. Brothers and Sisters
6. Lipstick Jungle
7. Amazing Race
8. 24

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Got out of bed
2. Ate Breakfast (brown sugar and maple oatmel)
3. Watched Desperate Housewives on Tivo
4. Was atempting to go to suburbs to look at furniture
5. Got a blow out while driving on the expressway
6. Sat for 2 hours at dealership waiting on new tire
7. Made Chicken Taco Casserole for dinner
8. Tried to sleep

8 Favorite places to eat:
1. Sapori de Napoli (Chicago)
2. Coobah (Chicago)
3. Uncle Julio's
4. Abuelo's (Texas)
5. Reata's (Ft. Worth, Tx.)
6. Whataburger
7. Chick-fil-a
8. Babe's (Texas)

8 Things I am looking forward to:
1. Delivering this baby and not being pregnant anymore
2. Christmas
3. My mom coming to help me with the baby
4. Possibly working again
5. Being able to sleep through the night
6. Bending over
7. Planting a garden in the Spring
8. Learning to travel with the new addition to our family

8 Things on my Wish List:
1. Buying new couches and baby furniture.
2. Buying a new t.v..
3. Organizing the house in preparation for baby Jack.
4. Getting the Nursery ready...can you tell I'm in the nesting stages!
5. That I will be a great mother.
6. To learn how to be a mini Martha Stewart.
7. To have a house with a yard and garage.
8. To enjoy the process of baking as much as I do cooking.

Halloween 2008

Alex and I had a great Halloween weekend! We gained about 20 lbs in the process but it was well worth it. We were invited to our friends Traci and Jim's house for a little get together on Friday night. Traci is always such a gracious host and had a great spread of delicious hor'd'ourvs and Jim had Cuban Cigars for the guys.





Our friends Dan and Nicole had a "Costume if you dare" party at there house on Saturday night. Originally Alex and I weren't going to dress up but when I was out and about I found a perfect costume for Alex. I knew if I ended up buying it I could talk Alex into it and sure enough I did and he got into character. As we were driving over to Dan and Nicoles we started thinking what if we are the only ones dressed up...luckily we weren't.