19 Weeks!

Were almost half way there!

18 weeks

18 weeks

19 weeks

My belly is growing and everyday finding something to wear becomes more of a challenge. This weekend I went through all my winter clothes and said "See you later" to most of my favorite sweaters. Hopefully we can be friends again next year.

We visited the baby doctor again last week and everything checked out well. I've gained 5 pounds which means Baby Danner is growing and on the move! Not only did we hear the heartbeat, but the doppler was also able to pick up sounds of the little guy moving around. I've felt a lot of movement again this week which is so fun and a bit distracting. Matt hasn't been able to feel it kick yet but I'm hoping he will soon. It's just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

Crazy to think that next week, we'll only have 5 months left. I can't believe how quickly these weeks have past!

The Air Up There

After 25 years of living in the 505 and attending the Balloon Fiesta, Matt has never had a chance to ride in a hot air balloon... until this year.

One of the pluses of my rather long week was sharing this opportunity with my hubby, who totally deserves a fun little treat after living and dealing with my pregnant self. In return, he said I could share his photos with you.

This was taken with the camera on my phone, right before he took off.

There he goes!

One of those little bitty dots is me, waiving safely from the ground

Looks like it was a beautiful ride!

This was a competition day so the balloons all took off from other locations. Their goal was to drop bing bags on targets on the field.

We live in such a pretty place

They ended up landing in a neighborhood full of trees, right next to the river. It was hard to keep a visual on them. The car I was in got to claim "FOS" (First On Sight). This is a big deal among the chase crew and everyone else was pretty jealous.

When we finally found them, they were just hanging out in someone's back yard waiting for us.

A Love Hate Relationship with the Balloon Fiesta

A blog about life in Albuquerque would be nothing with out a post about the Balloon Fiesta.

The International Balloon Fiesta is the Duke City's largest event of the year. It might also be what puts us on the map. Every year hundreds of balloonists travel from all over the world to participate in 7 full days of ballooning. Along with the balloonists come their chase crew and many, many spectators.

The locals have mixed feelings about this huge event. To some it's a great time to get out and invite their out of town family and friends to visit. To others, it just means more traffic. In the past, I've been among the group that enjoys getting up early, eating breakfast burritos and warm coffee at the park on the weekends. Last year, I even took a friend from Missouri out to the Fiesta. After this year though, I'm not feeling the same love I used to have towards the Balloon Fiesta.

The company I work for partners with a pilot as a way of entertaining our clients. It's fun but five days beginning at 4:00 am plus a full week of work is just a little too much for this momma to be.

Although I would have rather slept in 4 out of the 5 days I was out there, I do have to say that it was quite the adventure. I was able to experience the fiesta from a different angle. From opening the "envelop," (the crew's term for the balloon) to cheering as they took off to trudging through the desert to packing it all up again, each day was a new experience.

As you can imagine, after a week's worth of ballooning, I have a lot to talk about. Too much for one post. So, stay tuned for photos from Matt's first ride in a hot air balloon and a look at what it's like to be a part of a balloon chase crew!

Just A Little Kick

According to all the books and the information online, the fourth month of pregnancy is when you might begin to feel the baby move.

A week into the fourth month and I was yet to feel anything, not that I hadn't been looking out for it. Any slight movement or sound and I had my hands on my belly, hoping to feel something. The fact that I hadn't felt anything didn't worry me until last night when I was experiencing some unusual pain. I began to freak out a little when my friends reassured me that it was all apart of everything stretching and growing inside of me. No need to worry.

Well, guess what happened this afternoon? I felt it! I felt little Baby Danner moving around inside of me. This was definitely more than food digesting, this was a very pronounced little kick!

God is good!

Here we are at 16 weeks. People are starting to notice the baby bump and touch it too!

I always look bigger at night after dinner. We went out for sushi the other night (vegetarian of course!) and I guess I looked huge afterwards because Matt was just beside himself. "What do you have in there?" he said. "It's like you weren't pregnant yesterday and now you're really pregnant!"

Just wait mister! I'm going to get HUGE!

15 Weeks + a Few Days

It's official, I can now longer button my pants, any of them. Thank goodness for a sweet friend who offered to let me borrow her maternity clothes!

I was able to almost get a completely new wardrobe when I borrowed clothes from a friend. The only thing I lack are dress clothes, so at work I just walk around with my pants unbuttoned, totally appropriate for the work place... don't you think?

Matt and I were able to hear Baby Danner's heartbeat again this week. The little guy is healthy and growing. Praise God!

It's still too early to tell whether we can expect a little boy or girl, but if you believe in old wive's tells, such as the one where you dangle your wedding ring over your belly button, we are having a boy! If so, then everyone's deep down gut feeling to expect a little girl would be totally wrong, except my Grandma who's gut is going in a different direction. We'll just have to another 5 months to see if Grandma knows what she is talking about. We've decided to wait and be surprised!

As for my gut feeling.... I really don't know yet. I've heard that most mommys to be know long before any test can tell what their having. And although, I consider myself to be pretty intuitive, my gut isn't speaking to me yet.

I do know this, as long he or she is healthy with 10 fingers and 10 toes, Matt and I will both be thrilled.