I know, I am bad at this

Larry sent me an email yesterday telling me I was not good at keeping my blog updated & I agree! Oh well! I blame it not so much on the writing, but the lack of pictures we have been taking (and since I want to push this off - I am going to blame that on Chris... hehe)

Exciting news - we have a 3D-4D ultrasound scheduled for this upcoming Sunday at 11 am!! I am very excited to see Stella Mae in action and promise (cross my heart) to post the pictures and video this weekend. We will also take some new pics of me to show how big I am getting.

On the work front - I have 10 more working days in Vegas before I head back to Phoenix - yeah! After some contemplation, the powers that be within Perini have decided that upon my return to Phoenix I will not be working in the Phoenix office and will start short term. Part of me is excited for this because I will have time to relax, harass friends, and get things done. Part of me is scared because as we all know - I am not good at being bored. Luckily I have my masters thesis to get completed and there is plenty of organization to be done around the house (blah).

I am also trying to tell myself that I will still get plenty of exercise since my body is used to walking around the jobsite all day. I figure I will take a walk in the morning or utilize the dusty Wii fit, and then when Chris gets home from work take the dogs for a walk (which they will love)

Our house - the countertops and new fixtures look fantastic! I am really happy with the way things turned out, especially now that we have the faucets working :) Now we have to finish our master shower and then change out the towel bars and other fun accents :) I am happy to say after that, we should be done with home improvement projects for quite some time!

The rental house is also undergoing some renovations. Our lovely past tenants thought it was appropriate to not only trash the house, but also smoke in the house - so Chris has been doing lots of work up there. This week he got the inside of the house prepped to paint while the wonderful painters of MKB are working on the exterior of the house - I am really excited to see what it looks like. Speaking on painting - the Sherwin Williams website has become one of my new favorite things - I love it! You choose a color and it shows complimenting colors - good thing I know I am only allowed to paint under limited circumstances or I would be going nuts!

Texas Visit & Baby Shower

Last weekend Chris, my mom, and myself flew to Texas to visit and also were given a wonderful baby shower! My mom made herself the designated photographer, so I can finally post pictures! Thanks to our wonderful hosts: Martha Cole, Bernatine Mariott, Becky Kind, and Shelly Samuels for the great shower and sea of pink gift bags :) We left Texas which two additional suitcases packed with adorable outfits (some shown in the pics along with my cheesy smile).

We also had some nice visit time in with nana & papa (Pat & David, with their chosen new names) and John & KK.

23 weeks

I apologize to everyone for being so long since my last post. I admit to being a blog slacker and also not doing so good at taking pictures! I promise to take some this weekend and post them.

Everything is going well in our world. Next Tuesday we will be 24 weeks (and viable per Carly - yeah)

Our next doctors apt is Friday, July 31st at 10:30 am.

We have a couple exciting plans for this weekend:

1. Keith Urban & Sugarland concert at Jobing.com arena. We paid the extra $ for suite tickets so I don't have to climb over people and have a close bathroom - much needed!

2. On Saturday afternoon we are going to a two hour Baby Training Course put on by the Arizona Animal Welfare League/SPCA. It is designed to provide us with techniques to get the dogs ready for baby - should be interesting!

(and a shout-out for Jill's 30th birthday celebration Friday night)

We have been doing ALOT of work around the house lately, trying to get thru our wishlist of items before Stella Mae makes her entrance into the world. We have an apt with Allied Stone on the 31st to look at slabs for new kitchen countertops (adios purple laminate) and Chris met with my dad last week to get some advice and supplies on tearing apart our bathroom tub. We are ripping out the fiberglass tub and replacing it with a stone shower. We are doing most of the work ourselves with the exception of the waterproofing and stone - should be an interesting process. Luckily we know a couple drywall people to provide advice :) And of course - I still have to paint Stella's room! We have the paint, blue tape, drop clothes (for those concerned about my past painting skills), and rollers - now we just need the time to get it done!

20 Weeks

20 weeks – yeah

There has been quite a lot to happen since my last post (sorry)

On Tuesday June 23^rd we had out ultrasound and learned that we are expecting a little girl! It was amazing to see her move around on the screen with her tiny hands/feet/and kicking legs. All of her measurements looked good, so we have a heathly little girl!

Our next doctors apt is this upcoming Monday, July 6^th, so I will fill you in on more after that.

On Wednesday morning we headed up to Cheyenne and then Denver. In Cheyenne we visited the wonderful Fodor family – Larry, Lauren, and 9 month old Clayton. I wish I could say I took pictures, but I didn’t (sorry, I am kicking myself for it) But I can tell you their house and surroundings are beautiful – Chris was in heaven with the antelope wandering the hillside. We daydreamed for a bit about living there, but in reality know we aren't leaving AZ.

On Friday morning we reluctantly left Cheyenne and headed back down to Denver, where we picked up Megan and headed to the Omni hotel for Victoria’s wedding on Saturday evening. The wedding and reception went great – and I was able to get a couple pictures (yeah) but I have my camera cord at home - so I will download those this weekend.

Sunday morning we left early to get back home, much to the happiness of our dogs. With motivation from Larry & Lauren’s beautiful backyard, Chris wasted no time and set to work on our grass and adding a retaining wall between our grass and gravel (our dogs are tracking the rocks into the grass) Chris started the project last night – exciting stuff. He is determined to finish it on his own (the blocks are too heavy for me to lift in “my condition”) and I keep throwing in hints about cheap day laborers – we agreed he would start it on his own and then if he needed, we would get help. I am really excited that this is starting and know it will make a huge difference in our backyard.

On the baby front – we also browsed paint colors at Lowes and are thinking we are going to go with a light aloe green on three walls of the room, leaving one wall as is (which is a light yellow/white color – same as the rest of the house) Now I just have to get a sample can of the paint (not-toxic of course) and test of the color. If all goes well – let the painting fun begin. For those who are worried about my painting skills– I promise to use plenty of blue tape for cut ins and protect everything else.

We also started our baby registry – the plan is to be registered for JC Penny (bedding), BabiesRUs (most items) and Target (remaining items) It is a fun process, but also difficult with all the different options. Luckily – I have great friends who have been able to offer a great deal of advice.

So much that happened in just a couple of days – craziness!! I promise to update this soon after our next doctors visit!

Pics & More

Here are a couple new pics - it is amazing the difference a couple of weeks make!!

Last weekend we watched Caden & Chloe for a bit and I was able to get some cute pics of Chris with the kids. Chloe & Chris set up a tea-party which Aunt Dawn was only allowed to participate in for a limited time :)

Boy or Girl

We have our ultrasound to hopefully find out if we are expecting a boy or girl on Tuesday, June 23rd at 3:30 pm.  

Before we learn this, Chris thought it would be fun to poll everyone on what they think...

(click here) Cantrell Baby Poll 

Pictures

As we are approaching 16 weeks (June 2nd) we finally got took some pictures to start documenting my growth. (you can tell I am thrilled by my wonderful facial expressions - I blame this on the photographer)

In the last week I have went from the "fluffy" stage to definetly pregnant! I also made Chris pose for one - only fair! Not fair is the fact that he can suck in which does nothing for me!! We promise to start taking more pictures and posting them to track my growth!

Week 15

And we are now 15 weeks along - woohoo! It is amazing how quickly the time is going by now.

As of this weekend I officially starting sporting the maternity clothes and I have to say I am a pretty big fan.  It is nice to relax in an elastic waist band and not worry.  I think I am finally starting to look pregnant (instead of just fluffy) which is nice as well.

Life beyond pregnancy is good.  Chris and I have been cruising along with work, travel (mostly me on that front), school (I keep reminding myself I am almost done), and attempting to get things done around the house before our new addition.   Chris has been great at getting things organized in the garage and closets - but is seems like everything we do, something else pops up - such is life I guess.

We recently made a wonderful purchase - a new washer & dryer!! So exciting!! The funny thing is - we ordered the front loaders and pedestals and didn't think to measure the hight of our laundry cabinets.  Well, they got delivered and there is about an inch overlap, so they went back to the warehouse.  Chris thinks we should raise the cabinets and I think we return the pedestals - I guess we have until this Friday when they are delivered again to continue that discussion.  I guess that is a sign of growing up when new appliances are the best thing ever!!  

Speaking of growing up - I turn 29 in a week - craziness!!  

We haven't taken any pictures of the pregnant girl (otherwise known as me) but promise to get some up this weekend. 

Week 13

As of Tuesday we are 13 weeks along - yeah!!

In my last post I had said that we had our next doctors apt on June 12th, but the date is actually June 5th instead (at 2:10 for those who are interested)  When I make the next appointments I have to make them for a Friday afternoon or Monday morning so I can commute and I often mess up the week count (my doctor was pretty adamant at 4 weeks) so I called and rescheduled.

At that visit we will either schedule an ultrasound for 2 weeks later or wait the 4 weeks until the next visit to determine the sex - whatever the doctors suggests. 

 

My roomate in Vegas, Kristen, is devastated at the idea of waiting that long.  I have promised her that after we find out if it is a boy or girl, I will go with her to babies-r-us, so now she is anticipating the announcement!

Beyond that, all is going well in our world. I started the first of two summer school classes this week and was disappointed to have to pay $300 for 3 textbooks for a 7 week class - that is just mean.  But on the high point, after these two classes I only have to complete my thesis and I am done with my masters - which should time out to be about September.  

Timing wise would mean I have the baby mid November and officially graduate with my masters in December - eventful end of the year for me.

Things in Vegas are going... along.  I am working on block C of City Center now at Mandarin Hotel.  The hotel itself is nice, but it seems like a war zone to get decisions out of everyone - no fun!! I keep telling myself that I am only here for another couple of months which helps pass the time...

Doctors Apt

We had our second doctors appointment which went well today. According to my doctor I am a very normal pregnant woman (which was apparently a relief and rarity, I guess I was the only one she encountered so far that day)
We didn't have an ultrasound, but we did get to hear the heartbeat which was very neat.
Our next doctors apt is the afternoon of June 12th.
She said they like to do the next ultrasound around 18-20 weeks, that would be on the following doctors apt around the middle of July when I will be 20 weeks. Yes, we are going to find out the gender of the baby!!
As I type this Chris is declaring war with a closet that we bought from Ikea today. The idea was to have a small closet in the laundry room to fit our vacuum and mops and clear out our entry closet. The directions looked simply, but apparently the assembly is not going as planned. I have no idea what he is doing in there no and intend to stay away from that area for a couple of days now :)

New to this

This is my first attempt at this, so it will most likely be a slow process.

I figure with this blog we can upload pictures and our status throughout the next couple months and everyone can see it (plus I want to be one of cool kids)

Hopefully I will get this thing figured out soon!

Chris is excited to start documenting the belly and posting the pics on here!

Speaking of - I am in what Andrea nicely called the fluffy stage.  I am not such a big fan of this stage. 

Yeah for my first post!