Baby Makes the Belly Go Round!

WE ARE PREGNANT! Sorry I haven't posted anything in a long time, but I couldn't share my biggest news yet and everything else paled in comparison to write about. But now that the majority of friends and family know, we can share it online. I will be 12 weeks on Wednesday (the ultrasound picture was taken at 10 weeks). We are due on July 6th, but I have a feeling this kid will be late - all of my siblings, including me, were late. Plus, the doctor said the measurements from the ultrasound would put the due date on July 8th, but we are leaving it at July 6th for now.

So far I have not had any problems or issues. I had a little bit of nausea just a couple of nights but I ate some crackers and soup and felt better. I also have not gained any weight yet which my doctor was happy with. In fact, I was still doing bootcamp up to my 7th week! I haven't done anything since then though :(. I did look for a prenatal yoga class in my area but haven't had any luck so far. I may just have to go to one in Houston if I want to do it :(. I will keep everybody updated much better on the blog from here on out, I promise!

Happy Halloween!

I went to College Station this weekend to hear Taylor's band, Chief Nation, play a show on Saturday night. And because that is the night that College Station comes alive for Halloween, it was a good excuse to dress up as well. Neither Hannah nor I knew what the other one was going to wear, and we both had costumes that included feathers in our hair and fringe on our dresses! She went as Pocahontas (or "Pocahottie" as the package proclaimed) and I went as a 1920's flapper.

Taylor in his cow costume, playing the congo drums.

Playing the regular drums

Free sunglasses were passed out at one point by a "Blues Brother" during a cover of the ZZ Top song, "Cheap Sunglasses", by another band.

Chicago

Justin and I had the perfect excuse to go to Chicago this past weekend - for a friend's wedding. And in October so we could experience this mystical season called "Fall" or "Autumn" if you will. So we took a long weekend and flew in early Friday morning (we had to get up at 4:30 am in order to catch our 7:25 am flight; I'm not sure what we were thinking when we booked that) and didn't fly back until Monday morning (a much more reasonable 9:40 am flight). We were in Chicago by 10:00, so we headed straight downtown from O'Hare. First stop, the Museum of Natural Science, called the Field Museum.

I really wanted to see the man-eating lions of Tsavo, which the movie The Ghost and the Darkness was based on. They were really not as impressive in real life, but cool nonetheless. After that, we drove around looking for a place to eat. We ended up at Frances' Deli in the Lincoln Park area. It was delicious! Then we headed towards our hotel in Barrington (closer to the Church for the wedding and the reception in Crystal Lake). It took us 2 hours to go 30 miles at 3:30 on a Friday afternoon. I think the traffic there was worse than Houston. We decided to stay in that night and order Giordano's Pizza. It was recommended to us by a friend from the Chicago area and has been featured on numerous shows, magazines, yada, yada, yada. It was good, but honestly I wouldn't crave it. And the small, which they say is for 1-2 people, could easily feed 4-6. I'd like to meet the person that can eat the entire thing because Justin and I ate less than half. Saturday we slept in then ate at a restaurant next to the hotel for lunch. It was pretty good. Then we drove down to a nature center and walked on one of the shorter trails (1 3/4 mile) just enjoying the scenery and weather.

It was beautiful out there. The leaves turn RED, Yellow, and Orange!

We got back to the hotel room a little after 1 to get ready for the 3:00 wedding. It was very nice and then we all had to drive another 10 miles to the reception at a country club. We had a good time, Justin sitting around talking to the guys, while all us girls were out tearing up the dance floor! It was over at 11 and we headed back to the hotel to crash. Sunday morning we slept in again then decided to try downtown Chicago again. We hit up Millennium Park where "the bean" is and walked around there.
Then we went over to the Navy Pier to eat lunch at Harry Cary's and walk around some more. We were both pretty tired and Justin had been fighting a chest cold so we called it in early and headed back to the hotel by 3:30 or so again. Justin picked up Chili's for dinner and we ate in the hotel room, calling it an early night.

Hannah's Ring Day!

At A&M, getting your official Aggie ring is pretty much as important as earning the diploma. As a matter of fact, I went through all of the rigamaroo to get my ring but didn't even bother walking the stage at graduation - I had my diploma mailed to me. I really wanted to be there for Hannah's ring day, but I could not take off of work that Friday - we had this company wide motivational coach/speaker thing that I couldn't get out of. So I had Justin go in my stead. Hannah's roommate and her boyfriend, as well as Jacob as soon as he got out of class, were also there with her.

Before:

Almost:

Here it is!

It's a special deal who gets to put the new ring on, Justin did it for Hannah. Nobody was with me when I got mine :( and I am still bitter about that. Hannah remarked that he has now put a ring on two Palmer girls' hands. His reply, "Next, I'm going for the trifecta!" So watch out Mom!

After:

With our "little" brother:

Group shot:

I hurried into College Station as soon as I could from downtown Houston so we could all go out to dinner. So finally, some sister pictures:

Everybody always says that Hannah looks older than me. Until now, I've never understood that. But I really think in this picture she looks so much older than she is, and definitely older than me. You wouldn't believe we are 5 years apart from this picture!

I am so proud of my sister!

Date Night

First, I want to say Happy Birthday to my Mom. Her birthday was last Friday and I drove in to surprise her. It was a little strange being the only child home now that Jacob is at college.

Justin was able to come home on Monday which was nice because I wasn't expecting him until Thursday. So, I asked him to take me out on a date last night. We went to Pappasito's for dinner - they have a special going on Wednesday nights after 5, fajitas for 2 are only $16.99. So that's what we ate. Then, we went to Bass Pro Shop to look for a shotgun for me (so I can go bird hunting with him). Oh, he sure knows how to treat a girl right!

The Big Easy!

Early Friday morning, Justin and I loaded up the car and headed East on I-10. Before long, we were in Louisiana! I have never been to Louisiana so I was really excited for this trip - mostly for the food! This trip was to celebrate our 2 year wedding anniversary, which was on Monday.

Friday night, we began our LA experience with none other than Bourbon Street. It was wild and crazy enough for me in the "off" season; I have no desire to experience Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras. We checked out a few places I was told were good by a co-worker who is from LA. We walked in and right back out of several places...

Of course I had to walk in the voo-doo store. What trip to New Orleans would be complete without it?

And we stopped in Harrah's for some gambling - my first time to do that too. Justin and I decided we would each play with $100. I got $60 in chips and sat down to play Blackjack. After losing 6 straight hands with a minimum bet of $10, I was down to $0. I decided that this wasn't any fun, so I didn't even play with my other $40. I'm such a risk-averse finance person.

Taking a seat after being in the smoky casino. I can't stand cigarette smoke - it makes me sick!

And now on to one of the best places I have ever eaten. Adolfo's is above the Apple Barrel bar on Frenchman Street. Talk about a hole in the wall. One thing that did amaze me about NO, is that almost every single place we went was cash only. Even these nice restaurants where we spent $50 - $60 a meal. In addition to Adolfo's, we ate lunch Saturday at a place called Mandina's, which we found by a fluke. It was also excellent!

We found the best music on Frenchman Street. This guy was playing at the Apple Barrel while we waited for our table upstairs. He was pretty good; reminded me of Old Crow Medicine Show.

The trumpet player at The Spotted Cat (far left on the mic) was 82 years old. We hung out here for awhile - I really liked them.

One of the many street bands; these guys were playing up the hill-billy look. I mean, c'mon, the singer/harmonica/banjo player was in a dress and hat and the celloist was barefoot and shirtless. Where else but NOLA?

Another band we heard while walking by that drew us in for a listen at a place called BMC. They were more of a funky band.

We bought day passes so we could ride the trolley's around everywhere. That's how we found Mandina's restaurant. We were riding one looking for a place to eat when before we knew it, we were really out of the tourist area. But there were several other older people who were obviously tourists still on, so I told Justin they were obviously going somewhere so we should follow them. If nothing else, when they got off the trolley, we would too so we'd be in a bigger group until we could catch a trolley back. Well, it turned out they were going to eat at Mandina's, and since we were looking for something to eat, this place looked pretty good - and it was! Apparently, it is one of the best places to eat!

For dinner Sunday night, we made reservations at NOLA, one of Emeril Lagasse's restaurants. It was delicious! I had the grilled pork chop and Justin had the duck. Bam!

And finally, I couldn't leave NOLA without stopping at Cafe du Monde and eating some beignets. So this is the last thing we did Monday morning before getting on the road back to Texas.

I can't wait to go back and eat some more!