The Crib and Shower Time!

Well hello world!

I've had the stomach flu the last two days and today I feel like a brand new person! I'll spare you the nasty details, but let me just say that being sick AND pregnant is not fun. Thankfully, I have a very loving husband who nursed me back to health by feeding me chicken noodle soup and lots of vitamins.

I'm so happy to be healthy again and can't believe I ever complained about silly little things like heartburn and backaches. Those are nothing and easy to put up with when a precious little one is on the way. Speaking of the little one, he or she will be here in (hopefully) less than two months!

We're feeling pretty good and prepared for Baby Danner's arrival. Matt bought and put the crib together this weekend.

It's now sitting across from the desk he uses to study for the bar. Curious George (a gift from Baby Danner's Aunt Julie) is currently it's only occupant. He hangs out, watches Matt study and patiently awaits the baby's arrival.

A very special friend of the family along with 5 other great ladies threw a shower in honor of Baby Danner this weekend down in Las Cruces.

Family photo

The lovely hostesses

My new Sister, Nicole and sweet friends from high school, Sarah and Juliane

Looking back, I think the scarf and that ginormous corsage might have been a bit much.

We were so blessed with many great, useful and thoughtful gifts including a Beginner's Bible. How sweet! I did have to ask what some of the items were for though. I have a lot to learn about mommyhood and am so thankful to be surrounded by so many wonderful Moms to learn from.

30 Weeks!

30 Weeks! That just seems like such a big number!

I had a visit with the Baby Doctor this morning and although it involved a big scary shot in the tooshie, it was my favorite visit so far. My regular midwife was back from getting shoulder surgery and she is just so nice. I've gained 20 pounds, which I'm told is normal, but it's stressful to see the number on the scale go up so high. The heart beat sounded great and the midwife said it sounded like a boy. She also said I had a "beautiful 2 1/2 pound baby." Praise God!

We scheduled the rest of my appointments and I'll be going in every two weeks now. I can't believe how close we are getting!

I'm getting more and more excited every day (maybe a bit nervous too) and am in full nesting mode. We've re-arranged the living room furniture, I've cleaned out my closet as well as the linen closet (leaving room for little baby linens) and THEN I finally felt like I could start on the baby's room. It doesn't look like it now, but we are making progress! I filled up 5 trash bags to take to goodwill, 3 boxes of books to move to storage and condensed all of our "keepsakes" to one giant tub. We might even pick out a crib this weekend!

It's an exciting time in the Danner household!

Nesting and Dreaming

This morning While Matt is out shooting birds and doing what boys do, I'm enjoying a relaxing morning thinking about little Baby Danner and looking forwarded to his or her arrival. I can't believe how quickly the time is passing and that in just about 10 short weeks we will get to meet the little one.

Besides the biggest question, will Baby D be a he or she, I'm curious to see if she will have her Dad's cute blonde hair and blue eyes or if he will have my nose. Will she be quiet and reserved like her Mom or will he be a little chatter box like his Daddy? Is he going to love hunting, football and all things boy, or will she be Daddy's little cowgirl? I can't wait to find out!

In the mean time I am going to tackle the mess that will be his or her room. Transforming our office/Matt's hobby room/Katie's craft room/library/storage room into a calm, relaxing environment for baby will be quite the task and I'm a little intimidated. I've been putting this off for awhile. This is me procrastinating right now, can you tell?

I'll be taking before and after pictures because I'm hoping the transformation will blow you away.

Let project Clean Out the Baby Room begin!

7 Months!

28 weeks, approximately only 12 more to go!

Holiday Road: New Orleans

Matt and I made it back to the 505 late last night and after our week long adventure through the South, we're slowing getting back into the swing of things.

Our last two nights were spent in New Orleans, Louisiana. We were able to stay just outside the French Quarter and once we checked into our hotel on Christmas Eve, we walked over to Bourbon Street.

There were so many sights to see on Bourbon Street, including Jazz bands, street side singers, bars galore and unique architecture.

My Dad and Matt enjoyed Daiquiris from one of the many Daiquiri bars. Apparently Matt enjoyed his a little too much and started making friends with this wooden Indian.

After cruising Bourbon Street, we walked over to Jackson Square,

and then over to the Mississippi River.

Here's the 3 of us at 27 weeks

These human "statues" were all over the French Quarter.

Christmas Eve dinner consisted of Craw fish Etouffe, Jambalaya, Red Beans and Rice, Bread Pudding and Banana's Foster at the Oceana Restaurant, which was such a favorite that we went back the next day. It also happened to be one of like two restaurants open on Christmas Day.

We left full and happy!

That night we watched a Christmas Story and It's a Wonderful Life from the comfort of our hotel room.

Christmas Day was spent playing tourist. It was cold and wet, so that afternoon we decided to go on a 3 hour tour around the city.

Does that sound familiar?

Did we not learn anything from Gilligan's Island re-runs? It was one of the worst bus tours I've ever been on. I'm pretty sure my Dad slept through most of it and we learned more about the driver's history than we did about New Orleans. Although we were able to see the 9th Ward and Sandra Bullock's house, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

The next day was the last of our adventure. Everyone humored me by standing out in the cold to get a table at the famous Cafe du Monde where all they serve a these beignets, covered in powdered sugar and coffee.

So yummy, but so messy. The restaurant floor was covered in powdered sugar, my Mom even found some in her purse later that day.

After lunch and some more sight-seeing, my parents were finally sick of us and dropped us off at the airport.

Thanks for a memorable trip Mom and Dad. Love you guys!