Prayers and good thoughts needed please :)

Jamie's Grandpa Schwaberow passed away this morning at the wise old age of 92 :( Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers (if you pray) as they get through this difficult time.
Happy Thanksgiving and much love to everyone :)

13 Weeks

I am almost there... for those of you that don't know, the first trimester is considered the most "risky" and when the most things can go wrong. You officially enter your second trimester at 13 weeks and 4 days... so Friday. Not only does it mean I can take a slightly deeper breath, but I get to stop my medication and am no longer on pelvic rest so I can start exercising and lifting things again and rumor has it you start feeling better... I'm really looking forward to it :)

One of the weird things about being pregnant is the changes in your body. Obviously it's quite the miracle that I'm growing another human (seriously, I could sit and think about that all day) but it's kind of hard to accept the changes that happen that you have no control over, but I have to say I'm doing much better with it than I thought. I'll fully admit that I've always had very poor body image, but I've gotten to the point where I just don't care any more. The other morning it dawned on me that I didn't care that my arms weren't toned or that my butt is getting a little jiggly since I can't exercise. I am actually embracing the changes and it feels really good. That said, please take a look at this week's belly shot and tell me what in the heck is growing in my stomach?? I've done my best approximation to show you how big the baby is right now (the size of a peach, it also developed fingerprints this week!) and how that compares to the size of my belly.... um, what else is in there? Part of me is wondering if I'm eating too much, but since there are days I can barely eat, and I've actually lost a pound, I know that is not it. Any guesses??

I am also SO excited for Thanksgiving this week!! My brother and his girlfriend Sam are coming into town and my Gramps will be here, along with my Aunt Susan, her boyfriend Jeffery and my Uncle Charlie. We're having dinner at my parents' house and I'm really excited for some family time. I'm in charge of the stuffing, trifle and rolls :) Bring on the food!!!

KC was fantastic!!!

What a perfect weekend! (oh, except for Jamie not coming with us) We had the most fantastic time in KC!! We had some wonderful food (if you're ever in KC, I HIGHLY suggest LC's BBQ... it was so awesome, best burnt ends I've ever had!!) http://www.lcsbar-b-que.nv.switchboard.com/ and did a little shopping (Oh, how I love Dean and Deluca!!) :)
We also saw Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood... great, great show!! Wow, can that man preform! And we saw the Broncos beat the Chiefs, which is a rarity at Arrowhead. All and all a great trip and it was wonderful to see Suzie's parents :)

Girls' Night Out :)

Last night, in honor of Jill's birthday, I went to dinner with Suzie, Drea and Jill at Brasserie Ten Ten in Boulder. I have so say I wasn't extremely impressed with the food. We started with the Grilled Calamari Salad with shaved fennel, piquillo peppers, oven roasted tomatoes, lemon, thyme and radicchio and it was very good. The calamari wasn't fried so it was very light and fresh. For an entree I had Almond Crusted Sea Bass served over caramelized fennel and rock shrimp with roma tomatoes in lobster carrot sauce. The sea bass was extremely over cooked and dry, though the rest of the flavors were very nice. For dessert we split their Lemon Tart with candied lemon wheel and bruleed whip cream and it was really good. And it was actually the first sweet thing I've had in weeks that didn't make me sick, yay!!
And most importantly I had a fabulous time with the ladies, it was JUST what I needed after a crappy day... thanks girls :)
Today I'm off to KC with Suzie and Mike to see Garth Brooks and the Broncos... woo hoo!!! Wish us happy house luck, it goes on the market today!
I hope everyone has a great weekend!

11 weeks!!!

I am slowly reaching the end of my first trimester :) I had another ultrasound today and it was so awesome to see the baby actually look like a baby instead of just a blob. Everything looks great and s/he is measuring a little ahead so maybe s/he'll be tall like my brother. Heartbeat was 162 (for those of you that would like to guess if it's a boy or a girl) and I haven't had anymore bleeding so that is great!

(if you can't tell the baby is upside down, that is it's head to the right and it's legs and toes are stretched out to the left :))

I've also included a belly shot. Up until last week most of it was bloat, but this week it's starting to feel more like baby belly. The baby is only the size of a large lime, so I'm not sure what the rest of that is :)

The stagers paid us a visit!

So in preparation for our house going on the market (this weekend), we had two stagers come over today and "move things around". I wasn't really sure what to expect, but told them to do whatever they thought necessary and I have to say the house looks great!! I am so excited about the changes they made and I'm hoping it translates into selling quickly :)

Before and After Pics :) (I tried to post them side by side but I couldn't get it to work, sorry!)

Living Room/Dining Room Before and After

Living Room Before and After

*Xbox* Room Before and After

After shots of Master Bedroom and Guest Bedroom

I wouldn't say that all the changes are convenient if we were planning on living like this forever, but I really, really like the way it looks and I think the house will show very well!