20 weeks already!

Hard to believe it, but I'm halfway there!  This past weekend I hit the 20 week mark, which means this pregnancy is half way to the due date.  I had Rob take a few pictures of the baby bump at 20 weeks to share with you all.

I am realizing now that baby bump pictures are not as fun when you are in them.  I use to always love looking at other mama's baby bump pics on facebook, and would think why don't they post more pics so we can see how much they have grown?  Now I know.  I know my bump doesn't even look like much yet, but I feel huge already!  Getting comfortable with the whole body changing and growing has been more difficult than I expected for some reason.  I guess I just assumed I wouldn't mind gaining weight and growing out of my pants when I was pregnant, because that's what happens when a baby is growing inside of you and it's normal.  But honestly it was tough when those jeans didn't fit right anymore and I needed a belly band to keep wearing my dress pants comfortably!

A couple weekends ago my mother-in-law, Ann, and I went baby shopping.  We went to Target, Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby (that store is crazy!  think Bed, Bath & Beyond but ALL baby stuff) and Carter's.  We had a really great time trying out strollers, finding what gender neutral clothing we could, and looking at all of the genius baby products on the market that I never knew I needed until now.  Luckily, Ann suggested I try on some maternity clothes.  I had convinced myself they weren't needed yet, but after trying on those maternity jeans- wow- so needed!  She will tell you my face coming out of the dressing room said it all - comfort & relief!  So yes I got some clothes too.

Valentine's Weekend

Rob and I had a pretty low-key Valentine's evening at home, but it was nice because Rob treated me to a delicious meal that he cooked.  On the menu: steak, bacon wrapped scallops, sauteed mushrooms and roasted asparagus.  And for dessert: german chocolate cake gelato.  I was pretty excited to give Rob his Valentine's gift.  Not only was did it go along with the Valentine's theme being red, white and black, but it was officially the first thing I bought for baby...

The weekend got a lot more exciting on Saturday when Rob's best friend Hayes, Caroline and their pup Oliver came down from Michigan for a visit.  We've spent Valentine's days/weekends with them before, and it was great to be able to do it again.  We had some good meals out, cooked some good meals in, watched a lot of the Olympics and House of Cards, some video games were played, did some shopping, they went on the CNN tour downtown, to the Varsity and Piedmont Park one day while I was at work, and we made multiple trips to the dog park so the dogs could get some energy out.  Oliver dominated the obstacles at the dog park, and surprisingly Roxanne even did one of them too after barking at him the first few times he did it.  She did take a tumble right off the edge one time, but she was fine and got up and did it again.

                                       

Girls weekend in PA

Last weekend I had a really great visit with one of my best girl friends Linds (we met in 2nd grade).  I last saw Linds a little over a year ago, but it had been 2 1/2 years since I was back in PA and since I'd seen Savannah (Lindsey's adorable 3yr old daughter). She was just a babe back then, only 8 months old.  Now she is an actual mini person with her own hilarious personality.  I loved spending time with her and getting to see Linds in her element as a mom.  It also made me realize that in a few short years I too will have my hands full with a little one of my own!  I will need to work on watching every word I say and not letting the little one see me crack up when they do something bad.

Sav really wanted to take our pic with the snowman

It was so nice to just talk and catch up with Linds, and with all of the life changes going on with both of us it's important to be able to spend that time together now.  I know things will be a little different once the baby comes and definitely not as easy to pick up and go away for a long weekend.  One afternoon we went shopping and stopped at Babies R Us where I had Linds point out any must haves that I will need.  It was fun, really helpful and eye opening.  So.much.(expensive).stuff.  Babies need so much stuff- and big stuff- that really is going to take up all free space left in this house.  I knew this to be true, but going through all of the aisles and seeing everything you will one day own right in front of you makes it even more real.

Saturday night we had a fun dinner with Kelly (high school friend, who is also due in July with baby #2!).  I don't know how it's possible, but I don't think I have seen Kel since my wedding.  We clearly had a lot to catch up on because we were at the restaurant for over 3 hours!

Baby P got some of his/her first gifts already from Linds, her parents Mary Jo and Tom, and and Kelly.  So sweet of them and such adorable, tiny, gender neutral things :)

My only regret of the whole weekend is that we didn't take nearly enough pictures!  We didn't even get one of just Linds and me, but here is a selfie gem with two of my favorite girls...

I saved the best news for last...

Now that you are caught up on the highlights of last 4 months at the Porter household, we have one more important update...we're having a baby!  It still doesn't feel real as I write this, but I'm now into my second trimester and baby Porter is due at the end of July!

We are feeling all of the things you would expect first time parents to feel - mostly excited, happy, anxious, a little in disbelief, but also nervous and scared for all that it to come that we have no idea about until we experience it. We've decided not to find out the gender until he or she is born.  We think it will make the birth day that much more exciting, and it is one of the only true surprises you can experience, so we are OK waiting for it.

Strange to think I'm a third of the way there and I haven't bought a single thing related to baby, and haven't even started thinking about names.  I know it's only been 15 weeks, but it is starting to feel like my pregnancy is flying by.  I think I can say that now because the worst of the 'morning' sickness is over.  But for 6 or so weeks there it was bad, worse than I expected it to be.  All I can say is it really shouldn't be called morning sickness when you feel sick all day, every day.  There are still a few mornings here and there where I get sick, but luckily they are few and far between.  I'm not showing yet, but I'm sure the bump is not too far away now.

Rob has been the great, supportive husband I knew he would be.  Always asking if he can get me anything, helping out more around the house and always appreciating whatever 'meals' I did cook/buy/warm up during the first trimester when there were only a handful of things I could stomach.  I always thought it would be fun to find a creative way to surprise him with the good news I was pregnant...until I actually got pregnant, and then I couldn't imagine keeping it quiet long enough to surprise him.  I took a test very early one morning (without him knowing) and I was shocked to see the + sign.  I found him downstairs making breakfast and said, "OK, don't freak out, but I might be pregnant....I took a test and it's positive," and then I showed him the stick.  He was caught off guard because I am never up that early, and said something like, "Wow really? And I thought you just wanted a breakfast sandwich or something."

And here is our fur baby helping to announce the coming of our human baby :)  We really do treat her as if she is our real child sometimes (all the time), and I know I'm not alone and there are lots of other proud puppy parents out there reading this!  But I honestly am a little nervous for what bringing a new baby into the home will mean for Roxanne.  Both because for once in her life all of the attention will not be directed at her, and because she does not like kids.  She isn't mean to kids, I've never seen her be mean period, but she is just very nervous and unsure of kids and their loud squeals, quick sudden movements and how they act in general.  I'm hopeful it will be different when it's a baby that is part of her family, who she will have to interact with to some degree every day, who she will see slowly get bigger and grow up into the crazy 5 year old she currently dreads.  For now we tell her to enjoy these next few months where she is still treated like the only child and every toy in the house is most definitely hers.

Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014!

So much has happened since my last post!  I am going to try to be a more committed blog writer this year, so hopefully this will be one of the last 2, 3, 4 month updates you see for a while  Where to begin...

September wrapped up with Tom and Linnea's beautiful Atlanta wedding.  It was a wonderfully fun day celebrating one of our favorite couples, and we now officially have a sister-in-law!

Football season has come and gone, but we did get to go to a couple of Clemson games with Michelle and my parents - always a fun time!  Sadly and unbelievably, Michelle is a senior this year so Clemson weekends might not be the same next Fall.

Roxanne dressed up as a witch for Halloween...I was pretty excited that she got to wear a tutu, and Rob really didn't have much say in it.

I took a wheel pottery class for beginners at the art center that's in the same complex as my work.  It is much harder than it looks when you watch others do it, but I enjoyed it and would consider taking another class.  I haven't taken a class of any kind really for a long time, so it was nice to try something new.

Me, Rob, Tom, Linnea and Roxanne took a road trip in a minivan up to Michigan for Thanksgiving.  For Thanksgiving it was the 4 of us, Ron, Kimberly, Nate, Aunt Sue, Uncle Bob and Grandma Porter.  Ron did all of the Thanksgiving dinner cooking in their newly remodeled kitchen and it was delicious.  We also got to hang out with Hayes and Caroline, go to a Michigan hockey game, and the Michigan vs Ohio State football game which was a lot of fun despite the loss.

Early December my parents and Grandma Doris came for a visit.  It was nice being able to show grandma our house and she even helped out with some yard work while she was here (she insisted).  Roxanne was really good with her and they became friends, despite Roxanne not usually liking old people.

Mid-December Rob graduated from business school woo hoo!!  Really, I am so proud of him and relieved for him that it's done.  It was a lot of hard work getting his degree while also working a full time job, and sometimes I didn't know how he managed it all.  Congrats babe!

Christmas was spent with my family in Summerville, SC.  The last Christmas we spent with them was 2010, so it was nice to be back at their house along with my sisters and dog niece Millie.

January has really flown by.  I had a fun and much needed visit with one of my best friends Katie over MLK weekend.  I am so grateful that she flew down to visit, as we hadn't seen each other since Megan and Robbie's wedding in August 2011!  We took her to our favorite tapas place, did the World of Coca Cola tourist attraction, had an unforgettable time on the new ferris wheel in ATL, had Mexican and margaritas and watched football, and did a lot of catching up.

As I write this Rob is busy painting.  He really has done A LOT of painting since he graduated and has a little more time on his hands.  I am grateful for all he has done around the house and he's actually really good at it, but I do feel bad because I know it has taken a lot of hard work and time.  First he did the master bedroom after we got new bedding for Christmas, then he did one of the guest rooms just in time for Katie's arrival, and now he is doing the front entryway.  Next on his list will probably be the dining room, as we have already decided we are hiring painters to do the upstairs hallway along with the high unreachable area above the stairs.

The hottest 2 weeks of my summer

It's hard to believe summer is already coming to an end!  With all of the rain and lack of 90+ degree weather we had it almost feels like summer is just beginning.  But football is back and stores are full of Halloween stuff, so summer is definitely on its way out and I'm ok with that.

We had a nice time in Myrtle Beach with my family and enjoyed perfectly hot beach weather while we were there. Besides a few jelly fish stings and shark sightings everything went just fine.  And shout out to Scott , who I'm told liked my last blog entry, for surviving the whole week at Myrtle meeting about 20 of our relatives all at once!  Here are a few random pics from the trip I found on my phone...including my first time on a roller coaster (possibly a ride?) WITH Rob!  

My second beach trip this summer was to Isle of Palms, SC for soon-to-be sister-in-law Linnea's bachelorette party- the wedding is less than 2 weeks away woo-hoo! We rented a fabulous beach house, partied downtown Charleston and even went to a drag show.  Now, I've been to quite a few drag shows, but I will say it definitely feels a little more like a normal activity going to a show in Provincetown, MA than it does in Charleston, SC.  We all had a fun weekend and it was great to meet all of Linnea's super sweet and fun friends.

Now let me tell you about how the AC in my car decided to die on the drive to the bachelorette party.  Rob was driving me to Isle of palms to drop me off at the beach house for the weekend and then he was going to stay with my parents until we both went home together on Tuesday.  About an hour away from IOP the windshield got very foggy and the defrost wasn't helping at all.  Then it started to get hotter inside the car and I was like these vents do not feel like they are blowing real cold air like usual.  But it was pretty hot and humid outside even at 11:30pm and so I didn't really think too much about it.

Fast forward to the car ride home Tuesday, I was napping while Rob drove and woke up sweating.  The AC was already on high on the coldest setting and that's when I remembered my AC might be broken.  With work and everything I had a limited amount of time I could take the car in since they told me it'd take 1-2 hrs to diagnose the problem, but I finally did the following week.  That's when they told me the compressor needed to be replaced, and that they don't make the exact compressor my car has anymore because they changed the whole model the year after my car was made.  This meant the new part along with a special install kit was going to have to be ordered and it was going to cost at least twice as much as normal.  About $1600.  I began to weigh just how much I actually needed the AC, but who am I kidding, I live in Atlanta and get hot very easily.  This is where my husband and father-in-law step in and help save the day, or at least some money.

Rob talked to his dad, who is a lawyer for GM and knows a lot about cars, and said basically the compressor in my car should not fail after 60,000 miles and told Rob it couldn't hurt to call GM customer service and see what they could do to help us out.  Rob gave them the spiel, which is very true, about how he and his family have always had GM vehicles, he had an influence on me getting this GM vehicle and from the beginning I've had issues with it (like when it had a faulty seal and the floors were soaking wet for a week), and that if GM didn't step up and do something now this would probably be my last GM vehicle.  Many phone calls later GM did agree to cover the part and the dealership lowered their labor rate a little, so in total I will be paying under $500, which is still a lot but not nearly as bad as it was going to be.  So after two hot weeks of driving with all 4 windows down, with my arm hanging out the window- not to look cool but to try to get cool, and dreading every red light I had to sit at because there was no breeze, today is the day my AC gets fixed!  Big big thank you to my father-in-law Ron for his help and insight and to Rob for making all the necessary calls.