Road Trip!

We have been traveling all over the country the past few days, and it has been a whirlwind! Last Thursday, Kurt and Rosie took off in the CRV for Dallas. I flew to Lubbock on Friday morning where they picked me up, and the three of us drove to Hobbs, NM together - Kurt's hometown. We visited with his dad, his wife (Anita), her three girls, and their kids (Tol & Anita's 8 grandkids!!). The best part of our stay in Hobbs was getting to see the amazing gift that Tol is making for us - little Toliver Knox's crib. What an amazing talent he has?! And this crib will be such a treasure in our family for years and years to come. I cannot wait to have a house to put the crib in...and I can't wait for baby Toliver Knox to come out and sleep in his crib!


Sunday morning, we packed up and headed north towards Albuquerque to see Kurt's brother, Clay (better known as "Uncle Pud"). Rather than taking the most efficient and easy way up, we decided to take the road less traveled. We stopped in Cloudcroft, NM, which is unbelievably gorgeous! You think of New Mexico and you think of desert, right? Not here! It's way up high in the mountains and is as beautiful as any place I had ever seen.

Leaving Cloudcroft, on the descent down the mountain, you can see White Sands, NM in the distance. This is where the first Transformers movie was filmed.
You can barely see it out in the distance, but it is quite a sight!

After one night in Albuquerque, we drove up to Pagosa Springs, CO to see Kurt's mom and her husband, Ed. They live in this quaint little mountain town, and we have visited three different Christmases. But this was our first time there in the Summer. And it is still breathtaking! We got to go hike with Rosie, and she LOVED it.

One of our other favorite places to see while in Pagosa is the overlook near Wolf Creek. It has some of the most spectacular views. The pictures don't even do it justice, but I'll try!

BUT, as if this place wasn't already special enough...Kurt did one of the most amazing, surprising, and romantic things ever...

HE PROPOSED!!!

(We had to re-create the proposal and had a little old man take a picture for us...he nearly fainted with excitement!!)

Needless to say, this road trip has been exhausting and INCREDIBLY EXHILARATING and surprising! I couldn't be happier!!

Kurt's mom (Roberta) and I just landed in Nashville, where Kurt and Rosie will be joining us tomorrow. We'll spend the weekend here with my family, and then head back to Birmingham on Sunday...gotta get back to reality! And maybe even start planning a wedding - yay!!

BEACH!

I can't believe I forgot to tell you all about our trip to the beach for Kurt's (25th...yea right) birthday and 4th of July! We had such a great time - great friends, great house, great weather. What more could you ask for?!

We stayed in a little house about 1 mile west of Rosemary Beach - which, in my opinion, are the most beautiful beaches in the world. We were a quick walk down to the beach, too, which was ideal. Because the house was so great, we were able to cook-out two of the nights we were there. Fresh fish on the grill - nothin' better!

Rather than giving you a play-by-play, I'll just share a few of the many pictures we took while there!

The house had a fenced in backyard, so we were able to bring our first child, Rosie :)

We ventured out to Panama City one night for dinner; afterwards, the crew wanted to go to this German beer house. I obliged, as long as they agreed to one beer. (Bars are just no fun when you're pregnant!) The only problem was that there was no air conditioning. So the picture above is me attempting to fan myself with the menu...I was trying to be a trooper so they could have fun!

Oh, and check out the size of the ONE BEER I agreed to. What the heck?! Biggest beer glasses I have EVER seen. We had a great time though. The restaurant had a live band - well, not band - she was a fiddler, and he played the accordion. But, to our heart's delight, they played Rocky Top! And if you've never seen Kurt during the playing of Rocky Top, you are missing out. It's sheer joy and excitement when that song is on!

At the restaurant during sun set

I literally did not move from that green chair the entire trip. I had my feet in the ocean at all times. And these sweet girls made the trip that much better - me, Teri, Mandy and Erin.

My sister, Jackie, works at an Aveda salon in Baytowne Wharf. Some of her clientele are managers and other workers in the area, one of whom is the manager for a restaurant called Cantina Laredo. She arranged for us to have dinner there for Kurt's birthday...and we got our meal for FREE. How awesome is that?! We, of course, had to surprise him with some dessert and singing.

Mandy, me and Jackie - always touchin' my big ole belly!!! :)

And as you know, Kurt blessed our sweet baby boy with a name while we were at the beach. He drew this in the sand and took pictures of it while I was reading - a fun little surprise for me to see! Toliver Knox Thomas - in love with him already!

The 28 Week Buddah-Belly

28 weeks along, 12 weeks to go! That just does not seem like a lot of time; and I know that it will just fly by!

According to my "FitPregnancy" weekly update, I officially entered into my third trimester. And generally at this point, I might start feeling those crazy Braxton Hicks (or practice) contractions. I'm going to do my best to not overreact; but let's be honest here. I'm going to freak out!

Here's what the weekly email said:

"Your Growing Baby"
Your baby has doubled his weight in the past month and is the size of a bag of flour. He now weighs almost 2 1/2 pounds. His total length is nearly fifteen inches. Your baby's lungs are now capable of breathing air! This is big news. It means if the baby is born from now on, he'll be able to survive with less medical intervention. Your baby's main job right now is to put the finishing touches on major organ systems, such as his brain, lungs, and liver. As you can probably tell, he's also working on gaining layers of fat. His body fat is about 2 to 3 percent. Your baby's eyes, which were covered by his eyelid folds at the sixth week of development, are capable of opening this week. His sucking and swallowing skills are improving.

"Your Growing Body" (understatement of the century, by the way!!)
You're getting larger, and as you get larger, you become more uncomfortable. Your legs may ache or cramp, it's hard to get a good sleeping position, and the baby is big enough to give you some sharp kicks to the ribs! Remember that hot weather, standing for long periods of time, or low blood sugar can make you prone to dizziness and fainting. Drink water, and stay in the shade if you're pregnant in the summer. If you know you're having a boy, you and your partner may be battling over circumcision. Consider doing research on the procedure, talking to your baby's future pediatrician for her views, and talking to other parents to see how they resolved the issue.

Now on to the part you all really want to see, but that I dread posting. And because I'm in a good mood today (I actually slept for about 4 hours straight last night - woohoo!), I took a bare belly pic. Beware - it's rather frightening!

HUGE! And it's just gonna keep on getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger...yikes!

Ain't nothin' better than some Rosie kisses :)

I'll do a few more updates to the blog this week before taking a siesta next week. We're heading west to Hobbs, Albuquerque, and Pagosa Springs to see Kurt's family. (He's driving...I'm flying. No one wants to do a road trip with me right now!!)

27 Weeks!

Every Tuesday morning, I get so excited to read my email. I get an email from the "What To Expect When You're Expecting" people and one from the "FitPregnancy" people telling me about another week of pregnancy. Today, it really hit me how far along I am and the short amount of time I have until Burrito (oops!), I mean Toliver Knox will be here. I am SO excited and cannot wait to meet this kid. BUT, we feel so unprepared! No matter what, though, he'll be loved - so I guess in the end, it doesn't really matter if we're prepared or not.

Here's what the email said this morning about being 27 weeks pregnant:

"Your Growing Baby"

Your baby weighs about two pounds and is about 12 to 15 inches long, about the size of a small pot roast. If your baby were born now, he would have an excellent chance (85 percent) of surviving. He still isn't fully formed and would probably not be able to breath by himself. He would need to stay in an incubator to keep his body temperature regulated, and he would have a weak liver and immune system. (Fact: Babies have more taste buds at birth than they will have later in life. Newborns can sniff out and tell the difference between their mother's milk and someone else's.)

"Your Changing Body"

The weight of your baby is putting pressure on your back, which can cause shooting pains (sciatica) in your lower back and legs. Lifting, bending, and walking can make the pain worse. Warm baths, ice packs, and changing positions may help. The volume of your amniotic fluid is reduced by about half. With less cushioning blocking the view, you'll be able to see bony knees and elbows poking out of your stomach when the baby kicks and turns. As you grow, you may start to see stretch marks on your breasts and abdomen. You may also have a hard time bending over and tying your shoes. Your heart rate may have increased, causing you to feel flush and look winded with less exertion.

Sounds charming, huh??

It also said: "You have 13 Weeks to go!" WOAH!!! That'll be here sooooo soon!

Now these pictures below are for Allison - she hates when I just put commentary on the blog. She requires pictures! And I don't blame her - I love looking at other people's pictures on their blogs. I just hate showing off my big ole belly! But, I'm learning to embrace it and love it because I know it's my sweet baby boy in there - kicking me ALL THE TIME. So here you go, Mrs. Meadows! Love you - and all the rest of you, too!

How sexy are maternity jeans?! Ha!

And he shall be called...

So, Kurt waited until 11:44 pm last night before he decided to tell me what name he had decided for our baby boy. He was torturing me ALL day with horrible names - from "Corn" (another lovely food name), "Wetumpka" (because we drove through there yesterday on our way to the beach), and "Xavier" (which isn't horrible, but it definitely wasn't on the pre-approved list). He had a deadline of midnight last night to decide, so he was cutting it eerily close. But sitting on the beach last night, he finally decided to let me in on his decision.

Without further ado....

"Burrito" for now on will be named Toliver Knox Thomas!

We haven't decided if we'll call him Toliver, Knox, or something else; but at least he has a name now! For those of you that don't know, Toliver is Kurt's dad's, grandfather's, and great-grandfather's name - so we're keeping it in the family. And Knox is paying homage to the city in which we met.

Now - we're off to sit on the beach and talk more about Toliver Knox!

30 Years!

That's right...that's the number of years that Burrito's daddy has been alive TODAY! I can honestly say that my life is more blessed and more filled with laughter and love because of him. I am SO excited to celebrate his birthday today, and for many, many more years to come...although, I'm sure he'd rather not have to add too many more years to that number. He says he's celebrating his 25th birthday...again!

For his birthday present, I have decided to give him naming rights for Burrito. That's right - I'm THAT nice! So stay tuned...maybe later today, we'll be able to announce Burrito's REAL name!!!!

Happy, happy, happy birthday, Kurt! You are loved!!!