24 Weeks

This past week was a different week for me. I didn't have any coupon classes to teach and I actually got to spend time with my husband AND go away for the weekend with my college roommates! My roommates and I go on a trip every year because we know that if we don't plan a time to visit each other we would never see each other! One year we surprised our good friend Sierra for the weekend in NYC for her bridal shower and that trip was a TON of fun! We stayed at Sierra's condo and went shopping in the city and had a blast! Then last year, we went to Whitney's apartment in Charlotte and stayed with her for the weekend- unfortuantely I was sick that weekend with the only stomachbug I've had since I was in 5th grade!! THAT was no fun. However, I did have fun shopping and spending time with some of my best friends! This weekend we decided to go to Blacksburg! What memories I had driving through that town! The campus has changed so much but also stayed the same and the town has grown up more than I could have imagined! I love Virginia Tech and I'm so proud to be a Hokie Alum! =) We stayed at Whitney's parents house (thanks Whitney's Mom and Dad!) and Saturday during the day we ate lunch together and then went to hike the Cascades. Susan and I had never hiked the Cascades the whole time we were at Tech... crazy! But we were so excited to go because we had always heard that it is so beautiful there. When I told Brandon ahead of time what we were doing, he was very anxious that I was getting myself into more than I could handle (being pregnant). I googled the Cascades to make him feel better and thought that it looked pretty relaxing and easy and that it was just a trail you could walk up to see the waterfalls. He felt better and so did I. I didn't want to overdo it or get hurt or somehow hurt the baby so after seeing that it was going to be a leiusurely stroll through the woods to the waterfalls I was pertty excited. Uh, leisurely stroll my foot. Whoever put together the website for the Cascades clearly did not document the amount of streunous activity involved. Don't get me wrong. I was fine and I had a ton of fun BUT I also sweated like a pig. And huffed. And puffed. All the way up and all the way down. 2 miles each way. I run, you see. But I'm currently on a hiatus from that particular physical activity (as well as all others aparently) so I'm a little out of shape. And lets not forget that I weigh 18 pounds more than I used to. So starting out, Whitney and Laura took the lead and we all decided that it was probably best to take the "lower trail" or the easier of the 2 trails to the top. Easier trail! Haha! That's funny. We ended up switching halfway up because we thought we might have gotten on the harder one... only to find out that they are BOTH EQUALLY AS CHALLENGING. Susan and I started out talking and pretty soon we were silent except for the wheezing and huffing going on. Whitney and Laura somehow carried on a full conversation the entire way. Amazing. I'm going to post pictures but let me warn you, I am sweating heavily in these pictures so they aren't pretty. See, the trails are made up of some pathways, some man made bridges, and some naturally created stone steps. And throughout the whole trip up, you have to look down to watch your step because there are rocks all over the trails and of course the LAST thing I wanted was to miss a step or trip and go tumbling down the side of the mountain into the rocky creek below. It was a true possibility my friends. I was very afraid of that very occurrance the whole time. At one point I was trucking along (huff huff, wheeze, huff huff, wheeze) and I glanced up to make sure I was following Whitney and Laura still and whoa, the whole mountainside swayed as I looked at the quarter mile long boulder staircase in front of me (ok, it wasn't quite THAT long, but definitely more than 15 steps for sure!). Whitney and Laura looked slightly alarmed (maybe from my eyes rolling back in my head, I dunno) and Susan looked slightly relieved as I called up to Whitney and Laura that I needed to take a break for juuuust a minute. "Are my legs still there," I wondered? "What is this strange mushy feeling from the waist down?" "Am I dreaming?" "Where's my inhaler?... oh wait, I don't have asthma OR an inhaler." All of these thoughts tumbled through my head as I bravely clutched the skinny little tree near me and let several groups of hikers pass (show-offs... pshhh). When I was well rested (yeah right) we moved on and I continued to sweat. You're probably thinking that my neck was a little moist... no. There was sweat pouring down my face, off the tip of my nose, down my back, etc. And by etc I mean, I was straight dehydrating at a rapid pace. The girls were so good to me and so concerned about me (I guess I would have been too, considering the amount of salt and fluids I was losing in such a short amount of time) that we stopped and rested 2 or 3 more times on the way up and when we got to the top, this is what awaited us...

Completely worth the sweat and rubbery leg feeling. It was so beautiful there and I'm so glad we went. It was a great workout and I really had a lot of fun. It really was a lot harder than I originally thought it was going to be but we had so much fun laughing about how hard it was (well hard for me and Suz!) and catching up that we really didn't care. After our hike we went to downtown Blacksburg so I could shop for baby hokie clothes. I found a set of 3 onsies that are super cute that I can't wait for my little hokie baby to wear AND in one of the stores, Whitney found an adorable maternity shirt! It says "Future Hokie" on the front with an aorrw pointing to my belly and of course I had to get it! =) Later that night we ended up spending some time with Whitney's mom (talking about coupons, of all things!) and just catching up. Then we went to dinner and went back to watch a movie (yes, we are getting old and yes none of us made it through the whole movie without falling asleep!). Sunday morning, Whitney's dad cooked us breakfast! It was so sweet of him! We had made-to-order omlets and fresh fruit and bagels! Yum-yum-yum! The pregnant girl was happy =)

Thanks for a great weekend girls! Can't wait til our get-together at Susan's house with Sierra! =)

On Friday night Brandon and I got to go have dinner with Warren and Emily at their house. They are a couple who have been coming to our church for a while now and are super sweet! (Remember, Emily is the one who so graciously is letting me wear some of her maternity clothes!) We grilled out (because preggo here has been craving that grilled food taste all week) and Warren made some yummy burgers and we had Emily's fantastic baked beans and some chips and pasta salad. Then for dessert we had this...

This was the before picture of me holding it in the car on the way over. I wanted proof that it was whole when we left our house, in the event that a bite went mysteriously missing before we arrived. Just sayin... This was actually the second strawberry shortcake I made this week. I'm not trying to brag, but this sucker was pretty darn good. Musta been the strawberries or something because I'm telling you, Warren, Emily, Brandon and I ate most of this thing Friday night! Yeah, I'm serious! Warren and Emily have a 4 month old, Ruby, who is just the cutest little thing. I was so glad that they let me hold her and "practice" because Ruby is such a good baby and I wasn't scared off at all =) I guess it helps that I only held her when she was laughing and then when she was hungry I gave her right back to her Momma =) I'm no dummy.

I thought while I'm posting some pictures I'd show you guys a crazy before and after set of pictures. Of course, this before picture is after a lot of work had actually been done at the church, but I think you'll get the idea.

Ok, here is the stage before...

And here is the stage during our first service on Easter Sunday (Brandon is on stage in this picture!)And here's another shot of the stage (with Brittney singing!)

Here's this week's survey:

How far along? 24 weeks 3 days (since I haven't had time to blog until Wednesday!)

Weight gain? haven't weighed myself this week... still up 18 lbs I'm sure

maternity clothes? Yes and no. Its a little tricky figuring out my outfits because while some things fit, they aren't actually that comfortable anymore soooo... I'm thinking some clothes shopping is in my future since my birthday is coming up!

Sleep? Not great, not horrible. Still getting up to go to the bathroom some nights, other nights I must be so exhausted because I don't wake up to go to the bathroom until right before my alarm goes off...

stretch marks? Not yet, but this week I had some really weird pains on my sides, like where my ribs are, and I couldn't figure out what they were until Emily asked me over dinner if I had had any muscle pain yet from my muscles stretching... bingo. That's exactly what the pain was. My abs were slowly ripping apart... aaaaggghhh...

Best moment this week? seeing my college roommates again!

movement? Oh yes, he's an active little fella =)

food cravings? strawberry shortcake and anything grilled on the grill!

Food aversions? coffee

what I'm looking forward to... hopefully buying baby furniture and bedding this week for my baby boy!

milestones... Ok, this week BabyCenter.com says he is about as long as an ear of corn! Oh my goodness! Does anyone else LOVE the food references? Plus, baby boy is now a little over a pound.