A Day of Discomfort

Today was my first day back to work (after a much needed week off!), and it was a difficult one! Not in the sense of "I don't want to be working - I'd rather be sleeping!" but my body seemed to not be used to sitting at my desk or the long walk down the halls. I have had that 'round ligament pain' bothering me and my stomach is definitely stretching out. At 6 months, I feel like the tummy has reached its maximum stretch point, but obviously, I've got a lot more growing to do. Once I got home, it wasn't much better. Getting comfortable has been rather difficult (this the reason why I am blogging so late and not sleeping!) and I am wondering how much sleep I will actually get tonight. My sweet hubby has rubbed my back and gotten me anything that he thought would help to make me more comfortable. I think it's time I powered down and tried sleeping.

Ahhhhh... the joys of pregnancy! :)

26 weeks down, 14 to go!!!

Christmas Recap!

After enjoying a whole week of work off (filled with last minute shopping and Christmas preparations), Travis and I prepared for celebrating our remaining Christmases. Friday, Christmas Eve, we met at my parent's house for pictures and dinner at The Taste of Texas. This is a long standing tradition with my side of the family that we enjoy each year. After dinner we headed back to my parent's house (stuffed!) and exchanged presents. When we got home later that night, Travis and I did our special Christmas traditions and headed to bed.

Saturday morning we woke up and Travis and I exchanged gifts. We had a bunch of cute things we had gotten Blair, so it was exciting to see what eachother had gotten her. I won't list everything that we opened, however, these two things are so special, I couldn't not share! Travis got both Blair and myself Nao figurines! They are so sweet and I was so surprised. The one to me is called "A Moment with Mommy," and the one to Blair is called "Petal Pals." I can't wait to put them in her room (on a high shelf, of course!).

After we opened presents, we headed out to Hempstead to celebrate with Nancy, Robert and Loren. We had a delicious lunch and exchanged gifts. We took Raleigh to Hempstead to play and run around (our yard is much smaller!)... and boy did he! He slept the entire way home and the rest of the evening! :)

On Sunday, we had a big family lunch with the Bensons, Cooks, and Pikes/Wrights. It was such a fun lunch and so great to see everyone (especially since we didn't see everyone at Thanksgiving). We were all entertained by little Reagan and Peyton, they are SO cute and have such adorable little personalities. Hard to believe that next Christmas, we will add another girl to the group (Travis is the ONLY male cousin!).

We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and hope Santa brought you all everything you asked for! ;)

25 Week Update

Today I went in for my 25 week appointment... it was the 'dreaded' glucose testing appointment. The last time I saw Dr. Schmidt, she sent me home with the orange colored juice to drink 30 mins before my appointment. Surprisingly, it wasn't too bad (I even let Travis try it)! It tasted like a flat orange soda, which was better than I expected. The visit was pretty uneventful (which is always good!) and we go back in three weeks. Then, we'll see Dr. Schmidt every TWO weeks! When she said that, it really hit home that in just 15 weeks, Blair will be here! After the finger prick (I passed the glucose test), Travis and I went and enjoyed a late lunch after my 12 hour fast!

My stats thus far...

• I've gained a total of 12 pounds since becoming pregnant
• My waist is at 35 inches (I really wish I had measured pre-pregnancy)
• No unusual cravings... though I never turn down cereal, seafood (shellfish only), and candy or any sweet treats

With Christmas just a few days away, I've been doing my last minute shopping (since I have the entire week off!) and wrapping gifts. I have a few little things left to get for Travis, but I am almost done! I got Blair's personalized bloomers and adorable tutu this week... they are SO SO SO precious and cannot wait to see her in them. For now, they are wrapped under the tree that we will open for her on Christmas morning.

Last night, we had dinner with some good friends of ours, Nic and Jill Perez, Fielding, Jessica and Little Fielding Lewis, and Greg Goolsby. It was good to see everyone and catch up - especially since there was a new addition to the group. We finally got a chance to meet Fielding and Jessica's new son, Fielding (jr). He was SO cute and so well behaved. Unfortunately due to Jessica's due date, she and Fielding missed the THS reunion in August... and good thing too since Jessica went into labor just 2 days later!!! We were so happy to finally get to meet the little guy and know that he and Blair are going to have so much fun together!

This past weekend we celebrated Christmas with the Wright side of our family. We had a great time exchanging gifts, eating a yummy dinner, and visiting. Blair even did a little kicking so that everyone could feel! :)

I am so excited about the most recent purchase made for Blair! We ordered it this weekend and hope to get it soon. It's a Mamaroo infant seat. The neat thing about the seat is that it has 5 unique motions: car ride, kangaroo, tree swing, rock-a-bye, and ocean wave. It also plays white noise, nature sounds or you can hook up your MP3 player for a more custom playlist. :)

Lastly, here are some updated belly pictures... the first two are 21 week belly pics, and the last two are 24 week pics!

Travis and I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Another Christmas Party, the Nutcracker and a Shower!

It was another busy weekend for the Wrights! I was finally able to get rid of that pesky sinus infection, though my sciatica flared up pretty badly towards the end of this week / weekend. Lots of massages from my wonderful husband and a good heating pad have helped lessen the pain.

Friday night, we attended Travis' Christmas party for Direct Energy. It was held at the House of Blues in downtown Houston. The party was really great... the organizers put a lot of work into it and it paid off. Of the three we have attended in the past, this was by far, the best one! The food was fantastic (haha, you knew I would comment on that!). I got a chance to meet most of Travis' new group, which was really great to finally put faces to the names. He's in a really great group and I know that he has really enjoyed the transition to working with the traders. On Wednesday night, we have a group dinner with his team at Eddie V's, a new steakhouse / seafood restaurant in City Center. We are definitely looking forward to it!

Saturday, Travis and I attended the matinee showing of The Nutcracker at the Wortham Center. It's been years since Travis and I had been, so it was really fun to do something so neat during the holiday season. There were so many cute little girls dressed up in their cutest Christmas dresses... it made T and I so excited thinking about bringing Blair in the years to come!

A short rest after the ballet, we headed to a Couple's shower for our friends Keith and Brooke. Keith was Travis' big brother in their fraternity at Baylor. Keith and Brooke are getting married in Sonoma, CA in February and since I will be in my eighth month, we will be unable to attend. We were so glad to be able to see them and congratulate them on their upcoming nuptials.

Today, we got up early and did some Christmas shopping and then spent all afternoon wrapping presents. I think we are about 90% done shopping (thank goodness!), with just a few small things left to get. Needless to say, after a super busy weekend, I took a long afternoon nap! Now just hoping I can actually fall asleep tonight!

My belly continues to grow and the 'bump' has turned into a 'hill.' Blair continues to move around a lot and be very active. I definitely feel like I (my stomach) am stretching out making more room for the baby. It's all very surreal, but such a wonderful experience that I am so grateful to be going through with Travis.

It's been awhile since I have posted any updated belly pictures, but I will do so this week! 5 more days until I am off for an entire week! I am so excited to have some time off to prepare for Christmas and just sleep in and relax!

LOVE this girl....

...but she is kicking the dickens out of me today!!! My goodness!!

Update: Feeling better today after getting 10+ hours of sleep every night. Still on the mend, but doing much better! Resting up for a busy weekend...

A Christmas Party, Christmas Shopping, and a Sinus Infection.

This past week, I have been working hard on my company's Christmas party, which was held on Friday night. It has been a lot of work, but I think it went well and that my boss was happy with the outcome. The food was great, Toast & Jam (the band... yes, a very clever name) performed well, and the bar was a hit! I'll be honest, I am glad it's over! :) Hopefully my next two weeks of work will be a little more relaxed (and then, I get the ENTIRE week off!).

Yesterday Travis and I did some Christmas shopping and enjoyed a delicious dinner at Carrabba's. We enjoy picking out Christmas gifts for our families every year and celebrating the holidays with each family. We have created a slew of family traditions that we are excited to carry out each year.

Unfortunately, I started getting a sore throat last night, and this morning woke up feeling less than great. Looks like I have the start of a sinus infection. With Travis being sick with a bad sinus infection last weekend (over the long holiday weekend), I am not looking forward to being 'down for the count.' Travis went to CVS early this morning to get me medicine, cough drops and a heating pad. Hoping that a long afternoon on the couch will keep it from getting much worse. Fingers crossed anyways.

Update on Movember.... we all survived, the mustache did not. Travis was able to raise money to go towards Prostate Cancer research, for which I am very proud of him. I think all of the guys on Travis' mustache team were pretty excited to liberate their faces of the scratchy mustaches... and I am pretty sure the wives were even happier! :)

Next weekend will be a busy weekend for the Wrights! We have Travis' Christmas party for Direct Energy at the House of Blues on Friday night. Tickets to the Nutcracker on Saturday afternoon, and a Couple's shower for our friends Keith and Brooke on Saturday night. Needless to say, it's going to be a fun weekend, but a super busy one. I think we will spend Sunday on the couch recovering, watching football.

Blair continues to be an active little girl, bouncing around in my stomach all the time. I absolutely love feeling her move around and Travis and I really enjoy reading to her and playing music for her. She seems to be a fan of "Vampire Weekend" and is most active during their songs. We are just so excited to meet her... less than 4 months to go!

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and I will try and post more soon!!!