Justin's birthday week-and-a-half.

My husband managed to get us to not only celebrate his birthday two days early with a picnic at Centennial Park, but he also somehow finagled an extension of the festivities a whole week after the big day had come and gone with a trip to a winery bed & breakfast. What a lucky duck!

Justin was working the weekend of his birthday, so we got our parents together a couple of days early and we tried to recreate his childhood by celebrating with a good old-fashioned picnic in the park.

Good 'ole southern-style hot chicken, corn, potato salad, and, of course, rice, to round out our tasty meal.

Gotta have a yummy birthday dessert! Homemade strawberry shortcake - delish!

Walking with Lola.

Swingin' with Lolo.

Happy early birthday to both Daddy and Lolo!

On Justin's actual birthday, Lissie and I trekked up to his workplace to bring him a lovely sandwich from our newfound favorite place, Penn Station. We continued to celebrate the next day with his requested birthday dinner: tacos and a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake!

Fast-forward a week later, and we said our goodbyes to Lissie as she enjoyed quality time with my mom and dad while Justin and I drove top-down in our Saturn Sky about an hour and a half away on the beautiful Natchez Trace to a quaint little town that has several lovely wineries and a fabulous bed & breakfast. Sure, the trip would've been more fun if I could enjoy the wines (which is why we ended up bringing several bottles home for later!), and it would've been nice if we didn't decide to go on what was a record-breaking hottest day ever, but we definitely enjoyed a nice little weekend getaway!

These grapes are destined to be a tasty merlot one day...

We happened to be there the same weekend of a big crawfish festival! Justin was having a little too much fun with the all-you-can-eat crawfish!

A HOT game of crawfish cornhole.

A gal can at least pretend, right?

Enjoying a carriage ride to the winery.

Our quaint little log cabin accommodations.

On the deck where we had breakfast before heading back to reality.

Happy birthday, Justin! Now you can start planning mine...haha.

A Mother's Day Recap

Mother's Day 2012 will go down as a wonderful, relaxing celebration of love and family in my book. We decided to make a vacation out of the weekend and headed down to Panama City Beach. My parents and Auntie Susie drove down Wednesday, while Justin, Lissie, and I followed via plane the next day. Now THIS was the way to travel! My parents brought down most of our luggage, including Lissie's pack n' play, car seat, and toys. PLUS, we had the added benefit of a multitude of baby-sitters, as well as a plethora of chefs for mealtimes! It was definitely a win-win situation for everyone.

I was initially nervous about Lissie's first plane ride, especially since it fell so close to her bedtime. Yet, everything went super smoothly throughout the duration of the one-hour flight. She took it like a pro and only got fussy during landing, but it wasn't anything that a few bites of dried apples couldn't cure! (The trip home was a little more stressful, but thankfully it's a quick flight, and there were other fussier babies around us!) My folks picked us up from the airport, and we were en route to our beachside suite for the weekend!

Friday marked Lissie's first beach experience. We've been told that babies either love or hate the sand and the water, and I was pretty positive that Lissie would fall in the "love" category, especially since she loves her weekly swimming lessons. Mama's instincts proved right, and after an initial hesitation, Lissie proved that she is, indeed, a water baby. We spent the morning enjoying the sand and the beach, and after lunch and a nap (both for Lissie and me!), we headed to the kiddie pool to show Lolo and Lola her swimming skills. Afterwards, we enjoyed a lovely seafood dinner at a beachfront marina. After putting the baby to bed, Justin and I enjoyed some quality time at the resort's bar. It was only a slight bummer that I wasn't able to imbibe in a nice summery cocktail!

The rest of the weekend was cloudy or rainy, but that didn't stop us from enjoying some fun at the pool again. We had a great time simply relaxing and de-stressing, relishing the memories we were making as a family. We laughed a lot, ate a lot, and overall just had a fun time at the beach.

By the end of the weekend, we even upgraded our own timeshare to ensure that we'll be able to take many more vacations together in the years to come! Hmmm....where should we go next???

Half Marathon #6. Check.

Back in December, my friend Stacy told me about her New Year's resolution to run a 5K a month. I absolutely loved the idea of that challenge, and even thought that the annual April Country Music Half Marathon would be a perfect addition to the goal.

And then, in early January, I found out I was pregnant. But I didn't let that stop me. I ran the ZooRunRun in January.

Then came the Fangtastic Preds 5K.

March included the Kegs and Eggs St. Patty's Day race. Which led me to April.

Every month that I went to my OB to check on Baby2, I'd ask my doc if I could still run a half marathon. And every month, she always said yes (with the caveat, of course, that I train properly and NOT go for a personal record). Even still, I was nervous and didn't sign up for the run until just a week before the race - after one last doctor's visit and one final 11 mile run that felt great.

In all honesty, I most likely would have backed out of running the 13.1-mile race, except that my former college roommate, Ashley, was coming down from Chicago to run it. I couldn't let her down and do it alone. Especially since I got the "all clear" from my doc and didn't really have a legitimate excuse not to.

So, last Friday, I picked Ash up from the airport, we headed to the Expo, pasta-ed it up for dinner, and went to bed early to prepare for the big race.

It's hard not to get pumped about running when you've got 30,000 other folks all lined up on West End Avenue feeling the same mix of excitement, nervousness, and "what the heck did I just sign up for?" emotions during the opening performance of our National Anthem. And then we were off.

I turned on my trusty Garmin and told myself to go SLOW, no matter what. My normal 10-12 minute pre-pregnancy miles needed to turn into a slow and steady 14-15 minute pace. I kept reminding myself that just completing a 13.1 mile run, regardless of the speed, is an accomplishment. Whether it be at my personal best of 2:19 or at what I was anticipating to be a 3:30 finish.

Yet, despite the heat and the hills, I was feeling pretty darn good, and actually exceeded my own expectations and finished much earlier than expected at a final time of 3:07. Sure, it's nowhere close to a PR, but it was quite an accomplishment nonetheless. And, yes, I am pretty darn proud of myself.

(My shirt says, "Yes, my doctor says it's ok to run!" Haha.)

Ashley also managed to do awesome, despite her nervousness about the crazy Nashville hills, and she managed to get a PR by 7 minutes. Whoo-hoo!!!

Afterwards, we celebrated with lunch with friends and a nap. A nice long nap.

It was a fun, fun weekend with a fabulous old friend, and I'm so so grateful that I did it. It was a different set of satisfaction as my last half marathon last September, but an awesome achievement, nonetheless!

Look out, May - here I come!

P.S. I'm amending my New Year's resolution to stop running outside when the weather reaches 90+ degrees. I'm pretty sure Baby Boy will appreciate that change of plans. Also, of course, I'm taking September and October off for recovery, but I plan on running two more 5Ks to round out the year.

P.P.S. It looks like Lissie's a runner, too!

P.P.P.S. Who's running it with me next year?

Halfway there!

We had a lot of people tell us these last few months that they were praying hard for a boy. Many folks know that Justin is the last male to carry on the surname, which means the "pressure" to produce a boy has sort of been there since we started talking about getting married all those years ago. In fact, he warned me on several occasions that "It doesn't matter how many kids we have, I'm not stopping until I get three boys."

Umm.

I'm really banking on the fact that he was kidding because I don't really know how many more children are feasible.

But, indeed, the pressure is sort of off now that we have one healthy boy in utero just waiting for September to make his appearance! (Little does Justin know, though, that there are also several relatives who are praying for a priest in the family, so the surname may still be in trouble of carrying on!)

Of course, I'm mainly grateful that Baby Boy Y is looking very healthy in his current place of residence. He's measuring well, his heartbeat is great, his organs are developing on track, and he is currently in the 71st percentile of growth. What a relief!

It's just, of course, an extra bonus that it's a boy! Lissie's gonna have herself a little brother come September. Yay!!!

And, just for fun, here's a belly shot since today marks the beginning of my 20th week of pregnancy. We're halfway there! See ya in about 20 weeks little guy :-)

And we've got a walker!

I knew this day would eventually come. In fact, we all thought it would happen sooner. Lissie has preferred to be in a standing position since she was nine months old. She has long since been a master "cruiser." Her pediatrician even said she wouldn't be surprised if she skipped crawling altogether.

But then, indeed, she started crawling. And climbing stairs. And she figured out how to do them FAST. So much so that it looked like she would never ever walk. Ever.

Over the course of the last month or so, though, she discovered how fun it was to walk with her mini shopping cart and baby stroller.

Oh, and, of course, her Disney Princess ride-on toy that her Lola got her for her birthday. Over the last month, we've spent virtually every day outside pushing that sucker around the neighborhood, only stopping to point out the leaves on the trees and the cars going by.

Last Thursday, quite unexpectedly, Lissie started pointing at something out on our balcony. She took three wobbly steps to get closer to the door, and I was soooo excited. But then she refused to do it again, and so no one believed me.

But over the course of the last week, Lissie became a pro at one-handed walking (either with her walking toys or having a very firm grip on my finger).

So I knew that the inevitable was going to be in our very, very near future.

Yesterday, we went to a party to celebrate a first birthday of one of Lissie's (and our) friends. Lissie was one of the only ones not walking. I didn't think she noticed or cared, but we think it must've motivated her somehow because when we got home....



She literally became a giggly, walking machine.

Go, Lissie, go!

A Brother or a Sister?!?

It's that time again! Our anatomy scan is scheduled for Tuesday, April 24th. Is Lissie going to have a brother or a sister?!? Take the poll at the top left of this page!

I think Lissie is going to have a brother. In fact, I refer to "him" as "her brother" all the time. Of course, I'll be thrilled if it's a girl, but I'm really feeling the boy vibe this time. Granted, I felt the same with Lissie, so I most definitely could be very wrong.

Justin is convinced it's a girl. I don't know if it's more because he's trying to brace himself for a house full of estrogen instead of getting his hopes up for someone to carry on the surname.

Either way, we're hoping to catch a glimpse of a healthy baby on April 24th. Regardless of whether it's a boy or a girl!

My Second Easter (by Lissie)

It's fun looking back at last Easter and comparing it to this one. I look so different! Almost everything about Easter was different this year!

On Saturday, I went on my first Easter egg hunt at the zoo. I had such a fabulous time hunting for eggs and hanging out with my friends!

On Easter, we went to Mass and took pictures in the courtyard like last year. I look so different! Last year I made funny faces and didn't even know it. This year, though, I barely wanted to look at the camera to take a good picture to show off the Easter dress mommy made for me.

Mass wasn't as interesting to me as it was last year, since I've already been to an Easter service before. I stayed in the cry room and played with some friends and got cranky when daddy had to leave to go to work.

Afterwards, Lolo and Lola took mommy and me to a lovely buffet brunch just like last year. But instead of sleeping through the meal, this time I ate my fill of all sorts of good Easter foods! I was still eating when everyone else was finished!

Since daddy had to work and missed brunch, mommy made a special Easter dinner of cornish hens and green bean casserole for him to enjoy. We also played with my new books and toddler crayons that I got in my Easter basket!

All in all, I had a great time celebrating Jesus' resurrection. Alleluia, alleluia! He is risen!