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.

Welcome Fall and All It's Deliciousness!

The month of September has come and gone and with it the first day of Autumn. Although we are still experiencing temperatures in the 90's, there are other indicators that fall has indeed come to the 505. The air is crisp and cool in the mornings on my way to work, the trees have a slight hint of yellow and hot air balloons are hovering over roof tops in anticipation of the International Balloon Fiesta. One of my favorite things about fall, is the smell of freshly roasted green Chile!

Green Chile is a staple in most New Mexican households and the Danner house is no exception. This will only be our fourth year buying the fresh Chile and freezing it ourselves, but I the smell always reminds me of when I was much younger. There was a grocery store on the way to our house that roasted Chile every year and it always smelled sooooo good! For some reason though, my family always opted for frozen Chile, which I always thought was fine. I now know what we were missing out on.

Last year, we bought 15 pounds of Chile. That may seem like a lot, but it only took us through March. We've learned our lesson and bought 30 pounds this year.

I wish you could smell this!

Matt was a trooper this year and did all the peeling himself while I worked. 

Delicious Hatch Green Chile!

We New Mexicans are also a bit picky when it comes to our Green Chile. It can't be just any Chile, the best is Hatch Green Chile which is grown in a small town just north of where I grew up.

Can you guess what we've been eating all week?

Thirty pounds and several hours later, we should be all set for the rest of the year.

1 Down 2 to Go!

We reached a couple milestones today. 

We are officially done with the 1st trimester. Phew! Matt and I have been anxiously awaiting this time for weeks. Although I haven't been extremely sick, we are more than happy to say goodbye to the nausea, exhaustion and irritability. I realize these things don't always go by the book, and there is a possibility that the 2nd trimester could be worse the 1st. I have to admit though, that I really did feel like a new person today. I wasn't nauseous at all and I had so much energy! I'm praying this lasts a while. That would make my husband really happy.

Our second milestone came when I went out in one of Matt's t-shirts with my pants unbuttoned. I guess with the baby already being the size of a plum, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Here we are at 12 weeks!