two weeks...

On Halloween a bunch of the paramedic students got together and had a little Halloween party.  It wasn't a costume party but I figured I had to take advantage of my large belly.  I dressed my little prego belly as a jack o lantern.  I told everyone it was my baby's costume not mine, since after all she IS the belly. 

 

This year we didn't carve pumpkins...I know we were slackers. It was the day before Halloween and I figured we needed to have some sort of decorations.  I told Sam that if we weren't going to carve pumpkins then we were going to draw some.  We also made a little one for Bean.

 

It's been a while since I have had any updated belly shots. Lets be honest I don't exactly love pictures of me right now, I feel gigantic!  So here is my 38 week shot.

We are getting so anxious for this little girl to be here!  I've got my hospital bag all packed.  I've had a few contractions, only like one or two a day though... I keep hoping she wants to come early, but I don't know if she's on the same page.  I've also started the nesting stage.  I cleaned the fridge reorganized the pantry, cleaned the whole apartment, and reorganized our closet.  Whew...I'm loving the energy.

Dallas...For Real

So I meant to include our Dallas trip in my last post, but I ran out of time.  Sam and I wanted to have one last getaway before our sweet little girl's arrival.  Neither of us have ever been to Texas and were so close now we had to make a trip down.  We decided to visit Dallas. We stayed at an amazing hotel connected to a spectacular mall.  This was the first time we had stayed in a hotel together since our honeymoon. 

 

 So our view wasn't that great, but I loved the comfy window seat.

I loved this mall.  I thought the skating rink was too fun and told Sam we should go.  Then I instantly remembered I was 36 weeks pregnant and that probably wasn't the smartest idea... We also had fun window shopping, and imagining what life would be like if I could actually buy the $800 vest I fell in love with at Saks Fifth Avenue.  

This was the car we rented while we were there! 

Just kidding...we wish but we did see a few while we were there.

During our trip we played in downtown Dallas.  We found this cool little fountain place.  Unfortunately their was a wedding going on so we couldn't walk around the entire park.

 

We walked all over downtown and explored the shops.  We then went to see the Kennedy Memorial and the grassy Knoll. 

This was the building from which Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy.

We also had fun looking at the historic buildings.  Sam just loved this museum.  

My feet were so swollen and exhausted we finally sat down to eat at Friday's.  It was fun to eat on the street.

 

The next day we went downtown again to explore the Dallas World Aquarium.

We loved the Aquarium it felt as if you were walking through a rain forest.  Sam’s  favorite were these adorable little monkeys, he just fell in love with them.  I literally had to drag him away.  The aquarium was very open, not all of the animals were in cages.  There were some  birds flying around, and no fortunately none of them dropped any of their business on us.  Also one exhibit had monkeys on an island just out in the open.  I guess monkeys can’t swim!  In the middle of one path was a tree with a sloth in it.  You could reach out and touch him (besides the fact that there was a sign saying specifically NOT to touch the sloth).  

Manatee

 

 

 

 

This little sea horse things were so cool, they look just like a plant!

The shark exhibit was my favorite.  These guys were too funny looking.  I loved how a tunnel went right through the middle of this exhibit.  I tried taking a picture of Sam with a shark behind him but Iwas unsuccessful.

I loved the flamingos and the jaguar was beautiful.  They also had a fun penguin exhibit but for some strange reason we didn't take any pictures of those cute little guys.  There were so many animals it felt more like a zoo than an aquarium.  We loved the experience and it only made us even more excited for baby girl to join us so we can share all these experiences with her!

Dallas

Since we moved to Oklahoma Sam and I have been wanting to explore downtown Oklahoma.  We finally did it!  OKC has a very nice downtown area.  We stopped at the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial.  It’s a beautiful memorial.  Next to the reflection pond is The Field of Empty Chairs.  Each chair represents a person whose life was taken in the bombing.  There are nineteen small chairs representing the nineteen children that were killed.  

 

Also on the grounds is the survivors’ tree.  The tree miraculously survived the bombing and represents those who survived the attack.

 We then went to an area of OKC called Bricktown.  It’s a very beautiful area that surrounds a canal.  Sam and I enjoyed walking around the beautiful landscaping.

 

There’s a water taxi available to take a cruise down the canal, someday we’ll have to go back and take a ride.  While walking along the canal my poor swollen pregnancy feet were done, I was ready to call it a day.  However, Sam wasn’t done playing so he had to entice me with the reward of ice cream if I kept going.  So of course I kept going J. We stopped at a creamery that tasted just like Cold Stone.  They claim they were the first and Cold Stone copied them.  It was delicious and worth the walk.

My family (Susie) keeps asking for belly shot updates, and I have been very reluctant.  Today I caved and decided to put up a few.  My belly is getting gigantic!  I have just one month left until our little bean arrives!  And judging by the way she has been moving around in my tummy I get the feeling she might be ready to meet us, I think she's feeling just a little bit cramped. Alright so here goes the belly shots

27 Weeks

32 Weeks

35 Weeks

 
On Monday we go in for our last ultrasound.  We're so excited to see how much our little girl has grown!  I've been busy washing all her clothes and blankets.  It's been so fun, for once I've actually enjoyed doing laundry.  We'll only be living in this apartment for two weeks after she'd born, so I haven't done much decorating.  Her pack and play is all set up and ready though.  I will admit it took me an embarrassing long time to set up. Finally I read the directions and it was a piece of cake!  Last Saturday I got together with some of the ladies who live in my complex and we decorated one-sies.  This is probably my new favorite hobby.  We have no plain one-sies left for baby girl because I keep decorating them.

We really are loving it here in Oklahoma.  Every time I check what the weather is in Rexburg, I'm so thankful I won't be living there this fall/winter.  Sam changes his shift this week.  He will no longer be working nights. YAY!  I took this picture of him on his very first shift but I never posted it, so I guess I can do so now.  He just looks so handsome in his uniform. 

Sam and I have had fun exploring Oklahoma.  We discovered a little nature park close to our apartments.  It was a very pretty area right inside the city.  I’ve come to love the red rock/ red dirt in Oklahoma. 

Last weekend Sam and I discovered a unique gas station called Pop’s.  It’s a gas station/diner/pop store.  This place had over 600 different flavors of pop, all in glass bottles.  Sam and I were a little boring at first he chose a root beer and I settled for cream soda. It was a difficult decision considering there were 65 different brands of root beer.  They even had a few bottles to embrace the current presidential election.

Before we left Sam and I decided we would be a little more adventurous and try a different flavor.  Sam chose a very yummy huckleberry pop.  For the last couple weeks I have been craving a Shirley temple.  I tried to satisfy the craving with a cherry 7up, but unfortunately it didn’t hit the spot.  I was excited to find that Pop’s actually had a real Shirley Temple bottled drink, and it was delicious.  It still wasn’t quite as good as the Shirley Temples my mom makes, but still good.  

Pop’s is located on Route 66, so we decided to take a little cruise down the old highway. 

On our way home we stopped at Lake Arcadia.  The lake is only 15 minutes from our home.  The lake was beautiful, and we enjoyed walking around the lake. 

The worst part of the day was when I discovered this giant spider…probably the worst thing about living in Oklahoma is the size of the spiders.  Fortunately, I have never found one in our apartment, but I’ve seen them in the parking lot.  This spider was at least three inches long.  Sam and I were walking and found a gazebo we wanted to sit in when something stopped me in my tracks.  This spider was gigantic, I couldn’t even get close to take a picture, I left that business to Sam.

Other than the spiders we really are enjoying Oklahoma.  We’re just getting anxious waiting for the arrival of our little princess.  Only seven more weeks!  It still seems like we have forever, but I know it will be here before we know it.