Holiday Happenings

The past week has been wonderful. I'm sure the first thing I should probably tell you all about is that I have finally been feeling Baby G move around. He/She gave me a birthday present a day early. On Sunday, December 20, I was lying in bed when I felt a small bubble feeling. I told Mark about it and let him know that I was 90% sure it was the baby moving. Needless to say, I payed very close attention the next day. I felt it again around 7 p.m. on my birthday. This time I was sure it was Baby G. He/She was moving around like crazy on Christmas Day. I'm looking forward to the day Mark will be able to feel it too.

Christmas was short and fun. We went to Houston for Christmas Eve to be with my side of the family. We played games, talked and watched some movies. Mostly, we laughed! My parents cooked an amazing breakfast and dinner Mom cooked some tasty quail and biscuits which is now a Longcor tradition on Christmas morning and my dad tried out a fantastic new recipe for some beef tenderloin.

Christmas Day was spent with the Grantham side. Things were much the same there. We played Pictionary, watched the Hangover and followed it up with dinner at the Omni. Mark's mom is an amazing cook but this year her health kept her from showcasing her talent. She has been a lot peppier the past few months.

On Christmas Day, my parents drove to Austin to help Josh and I with a few projects. Today (12/26/09) my Dad helped Josh put up a new range microwave while my mom helped me stain our kitchen cabinets. We will use our new video camera (from my parents) to give you a tour-de-kitchen in a few days. Josh, Mark and I are very thankful that we have parents that are so willing to lend a hand and pass on their homeowner knowledge.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas. I'm beat and going to bed.

P.S. Shout out to Chris and Katie! They got engaged tonight and Mark and I could not be more excited for the special couple. We love you guys!!!! Thanks for letting us be a part of your special evening.

New Countertops!

Finally, I am able to post pictures of our new resurfaced countertops.


We had a little mishap at the Grantham household. Mark's computer, which was the only one still standing (let us not forget the Mac incident), gave out on us. So, we had to give in and purchase a new computer today. Not the one I want. But, I'm not complaining...a working computer is much better than the alternative.

I do not have any picture of our 'before' condition in the kitchen. You just have to understand that this is 1000 times better. I'm not exaggerating. You really can't tell much from these pictures and I'm sure it will bore most of you but my Mom will understand!

 

Please note the new sink and faucet. We no longer have a split sink! This means I don't have to worry about people putting food on the wrong side. It's the little things in life...

 

Now we just have to refinish the cabinets and put up a backsplash.

I guess I should also share that we are going to find out if we are having a boy or girl on January 5 at 10:30 a.m. I am soooo stoked! You can vote on the upper right of the screen (or leave a comment) on whether you think it's a he or a she. I might let you guys know when we find out ;).

16 Weeks

Well, folks. I'm starting week 16 and nearly through the fourth month. At the last doctor visit, I had lost around 5 pounds. As far as I can tell from our bathroom scale (which is not too accurate), I've gained one of those back. It's the strangest feeling to have lost weight but look like you've gained. I'm sure it's all about to catch up to me :).

Don't make fun. My 'barely there bump' has left me without the use of most of my jeans and my work pants are a bit uncomfortable. My belts are on their last notch and I had to run to Target today to get a Belly Band. Thank God for those! For those of you who don't know, it allows me to wear my pants unbuttoned and unzipped without them falling down.

We have another doctor visit on Tuesday. There probably won't be much to report from that visit. I cannot wait another four weeks to find out if we are having a Grantham or a Grantham-ette.

On another note, we are getting our countertops resurfaced tomorrow. I'm so excited. I will post pictures once we get the sink and faucet in place!

Happy Holidays in Granthamania Fashion

This our sad attempt at a Grantham family portrait. It makes me laugh. Our poor dogs!

Baby G's Modeling Debut

This was close to one of the most exciting things Mark and I have ever done! We got to watch Baby G move around all over the screen before he/she fell asleep. At that point, the nurse started pushing/punching on my stomach (didn't hurt...lol) and telling Baby G to "move more." She wanted us to have some more entertainment.

Here are the photos. I think you can see a lot more detail than I thought.

Pic 1: Side view (look at that nose and belly that matches Mark's!)

Pic 2: Can you see the hand and foot in this one?

Pic 3: Still the side view.

Pic 4: This is a shot of his/her legs (there are two!) It's almost like an areial shot if the baby was sitting on the floor with his/her legs straight out. (They look pretty long to me, mom!)

Pic 5: It's time for your closeup!

Pic 6: Is the bottom of his/her feet.

We are so excited! We will know if Baby G is a he or a she in about 8 weeks. I cannot wait to find out. Mark won't even discuss baby names until we know and I'm ready to have a name. Can 8 weeks come sooner?

It's a...

Whirlpool Washer!!

I'm only kidding but that's certainly what it sounded like at 160 beats per minute. Mark was quick to point out: 'That's over 2 beats per second.'

We didn't get the picture. We had to schedule that appointment for tomorrow at 2 p.m. Come hell or highwater, we will see Baby G tomorrow.

I can't tell you how relieved I am that I've heard the heartbeat.

I finally met my doctor today. She seems super so far! Up until this visit, I've been seeing a nurse practitioner, who I love, too. I think using my friend, Katie's, recommendation was perfect. Thanks, Katie!

That's all I have for now, I think.

Sunday Funday

The phrase 'Sunday Funday' brought on a new meaning in the Grantham household today. We spent the afternoon rearranging the house. No, not a room. The entire house. I think it's too early to blame it on nesting.

We moved all the furniture from the 'orange room,' which is the former guest room, and into the 'man cave' (that never really was). We then spent the rest of the afternoon shuffling unwanted/unneeded belongings into the orange room to price them for our garage sell that will be next Saturday.

We have been talking about having a garage sale for over 6 months now and there is nothing like the impending doom (kidding...don't freak out) of having another person in the house to force you to purge yourself of all the clutter in your home/life.

So family, friends and nomads that bunk at our house on occasion...you have a new place to sleep! It needs to be painted but for now, I would say that you're going to like your new quarters.

In less than 48 hours, I should get a preview of Baby G! Hopefully, I will be able to figure out a way to post the sono on here so everyone can get a glimpse of our little baby. I think he/she is about the size of a plum now...according to the books.

I also want to thank my mom for taking me to buy a few maternity items last weekend. I can't wait to start wearing them. FYI-if you have never tried on or worn maternity clothes, you are in for a treat. They are sooo comfortable! Hello elastic waisted jeans!

Post Vacation Update

I have a blog half written about our trip to New York. I'm just not sure I feel like finishing it. Call me lazy. Instead, I thought I would give you a prego update and post a few pictures of our trip/anniversary. For the record, we had a blast in NYC.

Sorry there are no 'belly pics' yet. That's because there is no bump really. I can see it but I'm positive that anybody else would think I was crazy if I mentioned my 'baby bump.' I expect that sometime in December we might have a reason to start snapping belly shots.

I'm at 11 and a half weeks which means that we will hear the heartbeat for the first time on Tuesday's appointment. I'm ready to get more confirmation than a blue line and nausea that there is actually a baby on board.

I have no idea what I want to do with the nursery but I do know that I want to keep things somewhat gender neutral so we can reuse some of the stuff for future babies. If I was going to play the odds in Vegas, I'd say that Baby G will be a girl. Everybody we know has a boy. When you're playing roulette and winning on red, black is bound to hit soon. We know it's a 50/50 chance and we can think of a million reasons we want a boy and a million reasons we want a girl. So here's to the cliche'. "All we really want is a happy, healthy baby!"

Here is our 2nd year anniversary picture. Can you tell we were exhausted from our trip? I didn't even do my hair that day!

New York State of Mind

Thursday is the Big Apple day! Mark and I leave Austin at 7 a.m. for NYC. This will be our last vacation as a childless couple. We still plan to travel once we have our little one, but we know finances and circumstances will change the types of trips that we are able to take. In other words, we plan to live it up starting Thursday.

I usually like to wing it on these trips, but New York has WAY TOO MUCH to offer for us to rely on our spontaneity. Today I bought our tickets for the Broadway show we plan to see. Lion King is supposed to be great and I got a pretty stinking good corporate discount. I guess corporate America does have it's benefits. We are going to be going to Broadway on Sunday night (our last night in NYC). Here's some info: We paid more for our Broadway tickets than our Billy Joel/Elton John tickets. (Blows my mind but I'm a sucker for a musical, huh mom?)

I also bought a New York City Pass. It's a lot like to Chicago Go Card that we bought last year for our 1st year anniversary trip. I highly recommend these things if you are going to any major metropolitan area. It gets us into all the stuff we want to do for one low price. In this case: Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty tour, Empire State Building observation deck, Museum of Natural History, Central Park Zoo, Museum of the City of New York, Skyline cruise and a lot of other museums and tours. We WILL NOT have time to see it all but we can go to as many as we have time for in 3 days. It really pays for itself.

It's supposed to be in the 40's and rainy while we are there, but we won't let that slow us down. I'll be sure and post pictures when we get back (assuming my camera doesn't get jacked in Harlem...jk).

Enjoy your week!

P.S. Shout out to the little Bro! He just bought his first house (here in Austin) and I'll be excited to help him decorate and do some yard work (if Mom leaves any for me to help with) when I get back. ;)

And 'Baby G' Makes Three (humans...not dogs)

First I want to say that Stuart and Renee had a gorgeous wedding on September 26th in Irving, TX. We were honored to be a part of it. I didn't get many pictures but here are a few of the guys getting into the limo from the hotel and one of Mark and Melissa walking into the reception. I'm really sorry I didn't get a picture of the bride (she looked gorgeous) and groom (Stu cleans up real nice, too) but I'm sure I can steal some from Renee's facebook when she gets them loaded. Mark and I had a lot of fun at their celebration

The Friday before the wedding, Mark and I found out we were going to be parents! That's right...God had chosen to trust us with the giant task of raising another human being! We are grateful. It has been a long road and we continue to pray that things will go smoothly and have faith that it will.

I went to the doctor on Friday, October 1 for my first appointment. It was all talking and a little a blood work. I was glad the nurse confirmed that I know how to read a pregnancy test. We go back on the October 20 (our 2 year anniversary) for our first ultrasound and to hear the baby's heart!

Mark and I drove to Houston later that Friday to tell my parents and brother. I'm pretty sure they had no idea. We had sold our tickets to ACL and told my mom that it was because we needed the money for our trip to New York next week. Then I casually told my mom that since I already had the time off (from ACL) that we would just come to Houston to enjoy their pool one last time before it gets too cold. She bought it! (Thanks Mom, for taking me to get the baby book and for passing the receiving blankets on to me!)

We drove back on Sunday to tell Mark's parents, brother and sister. Over all, I think everyone is excited.

I'm feeling so many emotions since I found out about this. Mostly, it's joy. However, it varies from second to second. At the moment that I'm writing this...all I can think about is everything I've been putting off for another day. I feel an overwhelming sense of urgency to go complete these random tasks. An example: I need to get Mark's Christmas stocking completed so I can start on Baby G's. Even though he/she won't be around until December 2010. Geez.

So on that note, I'm going to go sew Mark's stocking. I'll try and keep you all updated.

Sorry for any randomness. My mind is going 1 million thoughts a minute.

Still Kicking

I'm still here. I have a very good reason for being m.i.a. for the past month or so. Mark and the computer had a little disagreement and let's just say that Mark won. That is, my $1700 computer is no longer with us. Poor Mac. Until I save enough money to purchase a replacement, you will have to be patient. I do not have regular computer access. It makes checking e-mails, facebook and other fun stuff very difficult. For those of you that see me on facebook, I update through my phone via text messages so I'm really not checking facebook either.

A few updates from the Granthamania here in Austin:

• We are anxiously awaiting Austin City Limits this year with Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Kings of Leon, John Legend, Ben Harper and so many more. This year is going to be the best one yet! October better get here soon.

• We are also excited about going to New York for our 2nd anniversary in October. I really, really, really need to start planning a few things out. Normally, we like to just wing it. However, I've been to New York before and the fact is that there is far too much going on to just fly by the seat of your pants. I really need to prioritize before we make touch down in the city that never sleeps. I LOVE NY!

• Mark's best friend Stuart and his fiance Renee are getting married on September 26th. Mark and I are both very excited about the wedding. They just purchased their first home here in Austin and we are thrilled they decided to call Austin home. Plus, I'm really jazzed about seeing Mark in a tuxedo, again!

• My brother is moving to Austin. Hopefully, he will find a house soon.

• Last week, we went to see "Our Lady Peace" in concert! It was so much fun! All I can really say is that it was a great throw back to my junior high days and Mark, Josh and I stayed out way too late for a Tuesday night, but it was worth it.

Hopefully, I can update this sooner rather than later and next time, cross your fingers for some pictures.

4th of July

I don't have a whole lot to share. I hope my muse comes back at some point. I'm just feeling really unmotivated. Here are some pictures from July 4th for you to check out. We went to our friend, Erin's family lake house for swimming, volleyball and live music. It was pretty fun and Josh got to come to Austin to help celebrate! Hope you had a happy 4th!

Stephanie and me

Mark playing v-ball, above. Josh playing v-ball, below.

Stuck on the Lake

That's only part of this post.

Saturday: Our friend, Cal, came back from living in Spain for over a year on Friday. So Saturday, Stuart, Mark's best friend, invited me Cal and Mark to his lake house for an evening on Lake LBJ. After driving around for a bit we decided to throw the anchor in so we could swim for a bit. After about 30 minutes, Stuart and the guys decided they wanted to do some tubing before the sun went down.

Stuart was on the tube while Cal was driving. We didn't get very far before the motor stopped. After a few seconds/minutes of trying to determine the cause, we realized that the anchor had not been pulled up. We had wrapped the rope around the prop! Ooops! We flagged a boat down and got a knife, tried to cut the rope, and discovered that the chain was actually caught around the prop (after our rescue boat had driven off). At that point (after about an hour of the guys taking turns trying to get the chain off by diving under the boat), Stuart decided to swim to shore and get some help. A very nice gentleman pulled us to shore and let us dock the boat there for the night. Turns out he was a fellow Red Raider! Gotta love those Red Raiders! His friend's wife (an Aggie) was nice too. She bandaged Mark's hand up after he cut it on the prop trying to get the chain off. All told, we were stranded from 7:45 p.m. until about 10 p.m. Lesson learned.

Sunday: We bought the dogs a kiddie pool. They love it! We are expected to be at or above 100 degrees every day this week so we thought the dogs might enjoy something cool. Clyde pretty much just lays in the pool and Tres splashes around. Pepper prefers to observe unless she needs to get the ball out when Tres or Clyde drags it into the water.


Monday (Today): I was working out in the garage (totally recommend P90X...Google it) and Mark runs in yelling 'pause it. Did you see what the dogs are playing with?' I jump up and run outside to see what he is so excited about...please remember that Mark is a pretty calm guy and doesn't get worked up about a whole lot. I run out the back door to see Tres chewing (you heard me) on a squirrel. Now I ask you, if I had seen them playing with a squirrel, especially a dead one, do you think I would leave it in the yard for the dogs' enjoyment?!? This is the first time that our dogs have killed another animal but I'm pretty sure that they had fun with their new squeaky toy. I'm sure this will not be the last dead squirrel we find.

Smart Dog!

So I have to brag for a moment. I'm actually really impressed with Tres. Last night Mark and I decided it was time to start some training with Tres. We have already mastered fetch ('go get it') if the other dogs are not around and 'sit.' Sit he seemed to pick up on his own...strange.

Anyway, yesterday was the day to learn 'shake.' What can I say? We want a polite dog!

We put him inside and gave him the command about five times. He wasn't really 'getting it' so we decided we would try a little everyday. We don't want him to get bored or frustrated with the new commands.

We put him back inside after a few hours and out of sheer impatience decided to try the 'shake' command one more time. He 'sat' and when I said 'shake,' he put his paw up! I couldn't believe it! Only a few hours ago he was uncooperative!

I thought it was a fluke so I left it alone and when I got home from work today, I tried it again. No fluke. He's figured it out.

I don't know if he ate a dog training book and is learning through osmosis or if the other dogs are giving him insider information but this dog is SMART! I think I should probably hide the car keys from him...in case he decides to learn how to drive. Geez!

Backyard Haven

Well, actually our backyard is far from a 'haven' but we are slowly getting there. On Sunday we went to Garden Ridge to pick up some planters for our back porch. However, we came home with a patio table due to my lack of self-control.


I am thrilled that we will have a place for people to sit when they come over for BBQ. But, the best part of our patio is that we have a Red Raider theme! We bought the black wrought iron table and Mark had a great idea to purchase the red chairs. It goes well with our Tech mobile and trash can.


It could take awhile but we can't wait to complete our backyard haven!

A Busy Weekend

Mark and I had an extremely busy weekend. We drove to Amarillo on Friday for Josh's graduation in Lubbock on Saturday. We returned to Austin on Saturday. All said, it was a 16 hour road trip within a 48 hour period. Whew. Glad the drive is over but glad we got to see all the family! Here is a brief summary of what we did along with a few shout outs.

First, we were able to see Landry. My cousin, Tori, had a son in November. Although we were a little late getting to meet him, we are trilled that we finally made the trip! He is such a cute, happy, lovable baby. He is a perfect combination of his mommy and daddy. Our only regret is not getting to see Chris while we were there.
We were also able to see Keevan and Kaleb, who are the son's of my cousin Terry and his wife, Trissa. They are so much fun and so active. As a side note, we did not put them in the dog kennel; they wanted to get in to take a picture...hilarious! Kaleb just turned 5 and Keevan is 7. They are getting to be so grown up and I'm sad that I am not closer to see them grow up.


On Saturday, we went to Lubbock to see my little brother walk across the stage and receive his diploma from Texas Tech University. I am unable to express how proud I am of him. He has become a responsible young adult and I can't believe he is entering the 'real world.' I was lucky enough to spend part of my time at Tech with him. We had so much fun and not every sister gets to share college years with their sibling. I really miss being at Tech with him. Don't worry though, he should be moving to Austin very soon and Mark and I thrilled that we will get to share memories with him here, too. I don't have the family picture from graduation. You'll have to watch my mom's blog for those. But I do have a picture of Josh and I and another one of him and his best friend, Kellen. Thanks, Kellen for being such a great friend for Josh all these years. You two are perfect for each other in a completely heterosexual way!

Josh and Kellen (above) Brother and Sister (below)

Proud parents (above) Proud fellow Red Raiders and brother-in-law and sister (below)

Saturday was also my mom's birthday. Mom we love you very much and thank you for everything that you have done for us. We hope you had a wonderful birthday because you mean the world to us.

Finally, Happy Mother's Day to all of the mom's! You have helped shape us (being your children...whoever they are;) ) You gave us life and made us the people we are and we are forever indebted. Here are a few of the mom's I want to give shout outs to, I'll try not to forget anyone...my mom; my grandma; Mark's mom; Mark's granny; Devonn (my aunt); Tori; Trissa; Ronna (my aunt); Gramma Carol; Debbie (Mark's aunt); Nancy (Mark's aunt); Donna (Mark's aunt); my friend, Katie; my friend, Erin; my friend, Sarah Wrotten; Tana (Josh's best friend's wife and Sarah's sister-in-law).

HeHeHeHe

I'm not laughing...well, maybe a little. We just discovered that our little girl, Tres, is actually a little boy! The boys rise, again. Oh well.

Just thought you might want to have a good laugh with us. Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Tres Makes Cinco!

We have added to our family. I don't want to hear it! I know we are crazy but we fell in love with the gorgeous girl today when we were driving to Garden Ridge. We never made it there. Tres (Spanish for three), which is what we have named her, was sitting in front of Petco.

Apparently, her mom is a Great Pyrenees. For those of you that don't know it is a very large breed dog. She is currently 7 weeks and we can't wait to see how big she is going to get!


The talented Miss Pepper Ann and Clyde are getting along well with her; although, Pepper is pretty frustrated that Tres is too small to play. Pretty soon Pepper is going to wish she wouldn't play since Tres is likely to outgrow her soon. We are going to have to get started on the dog run for our backyard that we have been putting off...


She loves to cuddle and doesn't stray too far from Mark or I. She is so tired but if Mark and/or I get up to go do something, she immediately follows us and lays down between our feet. We can't wait for her to be old enough to join us on camping trips and our park adventures!

Mark, Kim, Pepper, Clyde and Tres makes cinco!

Pancreatic Cancer 5k

If you read my blog, you probably read my mom's blog and you already know about our 5k last weekend. I'm a little behind these days. My parents and my brother came into town (Josh on Friday and Mom and Dad on Saturday) to complete a 5k to raise pancreatic cancer awareness and research money. The race was at 8:30 on Sunday morning but I insisted we be there at 7 a.m. since Mark, Stephanie and I had not registered. (Shout out to Stephanie for coming out to this one.)

We all had 'in honor of' tags on that read, Don Light (grandpa). He lost his fight with Pancreatic Cancer last year.

Here is the photo of us before the race. Please be kind, it was early!

My Marley

My mom had a post a while back about our family's Marley. If you haven't read (or watched) Marley and Me, you may not understand the significance of this post. I read the book a long time ago and saw the movie around Christmas time and I have to say that I think the book is much better; although, I did love the movie.

Anyway, I do love Raider, Mom. However, I would have to say that 'My Marley' is Miss Pepper Ann.
I'm sure ya'll have already heard the story but I will try to convey what I love so much about this pup. She was given to me by my high school sweetheart. When we broke up, I was able to keep her. I don't think he was too thrilled with the idea, but a gift is a gift. Regardless, Pepper was a God send. She was there for me through a pretty big rough patch in college, she helped me find the love of my life and she makes an excellent running buddy.

Here is a video of her 'getting her leash' for our run. This doesn't really do her excitement for our daily routine justice but you'll get the idea. Whenever I say the word leash, she cocks her head to the side and looks at me with such delight in her blue eyes! Yes, Pepper. I'm as excited as you! I could go running three times a day just to see the look on her face.

She's lived in MANY apartments which I know was miserable for her since she is such an active dog. She now has a yard and another dog (Mark's Marley), Clyde!

Pepper is now about five years old, which is still young but moving into years where it could get difficult for her to be as active as she has been. It breaks my heart to think of the day that I may lose my Pepper so for now, I won't think about it...as long as I'm not watching 'Marley and Me.'

Award!

So Dez was gracious enough to pass along the Kreativ Blogger award! I think this means that I need to name 7 things that nobody knows about me and then pass the award along to five other people, who will have to do the same. Some of you may already know some of these things but I'll try to surprise you!

1. I HATE to write Cedar Park on our address. We practically live on the line for Cedar Park and Austin and it was almost enough to keep me from buying this house. Nothing against Cedar Park but I desperately miss writing the word Austin on our mail.
2. I want to start a garden to grow our own fruits and vegetables but I scared of trying because I have NO IDEA where to start. It would make me unbelievably happy to never have to buy produce from the grocery store again.
3. I wish I spoke Spanish fluently. I think it's a beautiful language and I love when Spaniards, Mexicans and/or anyone from a Spanish speaking country speaks English. I think it adds an interesting sound to the English language that I really enjoy hearing.
4. I want to live abroad (for at least a year). I think I would enjoy any of the following: Italy, Spain, England or Ireland. I'm not picky but I would really enjoy getting to see the way other countries function and I don't think I could get that from a vacation to those places.
5. I hate shopping. It takes way too long to find anything that I like and I have better things I could be doing. It also makes me really angry to spend the money. I can think of so many other uses for it.
6. I don't make lists. I wish I did. I wish I made: to-do lists, grocery lists, goal list, any list. I've tried. Somehow I still manage to get the things done that I need to complete.
7. The following are some of the things that make my throat, tongue, lips and ears itch: bananas, pecans, watermelon, kiwi, almonds and sometimes apples. Most of this I still eat. I don't get rashes from them and my throat doesn't swell so I figure it's okay.

I would like bestow the same award to the following:) : Mom, Dad, Erin, Kayla and Sarah. Have fun!

Wednesday Afternoons in ATX

What I call Frisbee golf, has a few names. We lovingly call it 'frolf' and some call it disc golf. Whatever you call it, it's a lot of fun and a great way to pass time on a lazy afternoon.

The basic rules are the same as golf: you are trying to get the Frisbee in the basket in as few throws as possible. This is the basket that you aim for and the length of the basket from the 'tee box' varies. You typically play eighteen holes.We usually go to Pease Park to play; although, there are other parks in the ATX area. Pease Park is where Mark, Stuart and I headed a few weeks ago on a Wednesday afternoon. We didn't really keep score but I'm pretty sure Stuart won and I came in dead last. If you didn't already know, I love love love living in Austin.

Mark and Stuart walking under the bridge to the second 'tee box' (above).

Mark winding up to throw (above).

I just love this view (I mean the trees...).

Mark doing his Zoolander pose.