Quality Sister Time

For work Daniel was sent to Argentina for 2 1/2 weeks. He calls it work, I called it a vacation...so I took a little vacation myself! I flew down to Orlando to stay with Steph for a week to break up my time alone. And to also spend some quality time with my lovely sister since we won't be seeing each other over Christmas this year. And must say...it was awesome!

Each day we got our morning exercise in, ran some errands, ate lunch somewhere tasty and took naps (k, I took naps) all before the kiddo's got home from school. We did take one day and played at Disney. I don't think everyone understand how much I love Disney World! Even when I can't ride the good rides, I still love going and taking in the Disney Magic!

 We had to choose one park so Steph took me to Hollywood Studios to see the Christmas lights, which I've never seen before. They were waaaaaay cooler than I thought they wold be! Think of the Clark Griswold's lights on mega steroids...with music! 

Any day at Disney is a good day, but this was one of the coolest things to do during the Holiday's. And we're just pretty cool like that :)

My week in Orlando was great! I love visiting with my fam and the 75 degree sunshine wasn't bad either....oh yeah and I love my sister! Thanks Steph! 

Thanksgiving 2011...NY style!

This year for Thanksgiving we traveled to visit Daniel's family in Albany, NY. On our way we cut through Canada which the anticipation of getting to the border was much more exciting than actually driving through it. Here we are getting ready to cross the bridge into Canada... 

And here we are being officially welcomed into Ontario, Canada!

I slept through most of Canada, but when I woke up we stopped to stretch our legs and see Niagara Falls from a distance. Even as far away we were, it was still neat to see. 

I would like to visit again sometime in the summer when we can ride the Maid of the Mist :)

After Niagara we crossed back into the USA to New York State! From there we had about a 5 hour drive to Dan's Grandparents. We visited for a short while and conked out so we could be ready for TURKEY DAY!

We ate Thanksgiving Dinner at Dan's Uncle Dick's and Aunt Tracy's. The place setting was b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l. And the food was just as great! 

 Here we are with the whole family during dinner.

The rest of the week we enjoyed seeing where Dan's mom grew up and downtown Albany. We spent each day hanging out with Dan's Aunt and two Uncles and of course Grandma and Grandpa Metzger. 

Here is Daniel with Grandpa Dick

And Grandma June

Aunt Denise

Grandma giving me some words of wisdom while I eat my cake :)

Aunt Cindy (Uncle Doug's wife), me and Aunt Denise. 

Denise's family

Grandma and Grandpa

Doug and Cindy (Grandpa snuck in)

Uncle Dick's family

We had such a BLAST! It was fun for Dan to see his family again, since it's been a while and I loved meeting everyone for the first time. We felt right at home and can't wait to visit again. 

Thanks everyone for having us!!!

Baby T

So this is a bit late but here are some gradual pics of my growing abdomen. Yes, I realize I do not look pregnant. I just look chubby! And I feel chubby too. I'm pretty sure my weight is distributing everywhere, not just my belly...ugh. Oh well, now that the morning sickness has started to subside I'm going to start walking everyday. I should have been doing it all along but I just felt too lousy.

I started getting sick every morning around week 6 to week 12. I wish I would have actually counted how many times I've thrown up but I didn't. But to estimate...I was sick pretty much each morning for 6 weeks so that's approximately 40 up-chucks. Sweet huh? But it is getting better. I'm not sick every morning and my energy level is beginning to go up.

Right now I'm in my 15th week so the baby is about the size of a navel orange or appx 4 inches long! Keep growing Baby T!

Grand Rapids Hockey

This weekend a group of Daniel's co-workers got tickets to the Grand Rapids Griffins hockey game. I must admit this was my first hockey game...ever. Apparently hockey is a big deal in Michigan. Who knew?

A lot of fights broke out which was fun, other than that...I don't see what's so special lol. But here we are embracing yet another western Michigan tradition :)

The real reason I even posted this eventful outing is because of THIS lady right here. She was h.i.l.a.r.i.o.u.s!

 She was like this the entire game. I love drunken nuts...

BTW, do you see anyone else standing? Singing? Dancing? Nope.
You go girl.

Seriously?

Winter has struck Western MI. Seriously? Seriously?! 

2 + 1 = 3

That's right! The word is officially out! Even though people have started to find out on their own bit by bit lol. I can owe that to my extreme flakiness and lame excuses of "I don't feel good...cough cough."

Here's what I've learned over the past 12 weeks...
1. Don't ask me to do anything before noon
2. A person can survive on cheese and crackers
3. I never thought a cheeseburger would sound so disgusting
4. Coke Cola cures stomach aches and headaches...might as well cure cancer
5. Brushing my teeth has now become a bad word at this house. I have actually gone all day without brushing my teeth until I see a Crest commercial to remind me. Even then I dread doing it.
6. Dishes can wait till tomorrow...or the next day...or the next
7. Yoga pants are the best invention evverrrrrrrr

Well there you have it! We are very excited and already anticipating the arrival of our lil bambino May 17th, 2012!!!

Autumn in Grand Rapids

Wow, it's been over a month since my last post. That should tell you something...we've been really busy. Actually, it means we've done absolutely NOTHING so there's been nothing to post about lol. 

But Fall has arrived here in Grand Rapids and it's beautiful! I love fall weather! Fall means, sweaters, scarves, boots, apple cider and pumpkins! But Fall also means Winter is not too far away and I'm not the biggest fan of Winter (except Christmas). 

Anyway, recently we went to Klackle Orchards which is this huge apple orchard and pumpkin patch in Grand Rapids. I guess it's a pretty big deal. We went with some friends, drank apple cider, ate donuts and picked out a pumpkin! Below you can see where they load the freshly picked apples, clean them and bag them for sale. It was pretty cool to see the whole process.

All the pumpkins on the vines were itty-bitty so we picked one that was already picked lol. 

It's pretty much the perfect pumpkin :)

It was cold and windy but it was fun to get out and participate in a Grand Rapids tradition!

I have a sister who's 40!!!

For Stephanie's 40th Birthday the fam and I through her a surprise party! It was sooooooo much fun sneaking around planning this great party for her. She was gone for a weekend getaway with her hubby and when they came home Sunday night (Sept 4th), friends and family were waiting in the shadows. 

It was a "Travel Themed" dessert party. Everything from the invitations to the old fashioned suit cases filled with yummies represented the theme. I chose a travel theme because Steph's real present was a girls getaway at the Grand Floridian Spa! Yup, we spoiled her :)

Take a look at our hard & super fun work...

Happy Birthday to the best big sister I could ever ask for! <3 you!

GUSTERRRRR!

I guess Grand Rapids is good for one thing, their Summer Concert Series! They have this outdoor venue that hosts several concerts throughout the summer and we've held out for Guster all Summer long! And I must say, they did not disappoint. 

We also got a little more than we paid for...

The show opened with Lady Danville. I've never heard of them, but they were really good. Check them out on iTunes.

Next was Jack's Mannequin. And yes, I HAVE heard of them. They played for a little over an hour and they are much better live in my opinion. I've heard their tracks and I wasn't in love with them. But I know tons of other people who do loooove them. They put on a pretty awesome show...VERY energetic!

Last but not least, the stars of the show...GUSTER! I had no idea how many people love them! They still don't seem mainstream to me but they have a lot of fans here in GR lol. They weren't as energetic as Jack's Mannequin but they did awesome. Pretty funny dudes too. They played songs from I think 5 out of their 6 albums. We just love live music and had a great time! 

 Guster was Dan's band first, thanks for introducing them to me! 

Sadie Update

It's been a few weeks since our last post so I thought I'd give an update on Sadie lol. Well last week Sadie didn't know what hit her. She went into the vet with a uterus and came home without one. Poor baby. She was so drugged she couldn't even make it up our stairs so she slept standing up, leaning against the wall for the evening until she staggered her way onto the couch where she laid for the next 24 hours. 

This literally only lasted 24 hours, the next day she wanted to run, jump and play. But how do you tell a dog to take it easy because she still has stitches in her belly? Ya, you can't. So we've been dealing with a hyper-active dog that can't burn energy at the park. It's been a nightmare. Two more days and the stitches come out and we can start taking her to the park every night!

On another note, I've been stepping on these little choking hazards. Our baby is loosing all her baby teeth! Baby teeth out...big, strong, crush your arm teeth are in! Careful...

Anyway, that's the low-down on Sadie! She'll be a 65 lb man eater before we know it :)