Babymoon

Prior to July, neither Steve nor I had ever heard the term, "Babymoon." Fortunately, Steve did some web surfing for trip ideas when we first thought about taking a pre-baby trip. He learned that this is an actual term used to describe trips taken by a couple before the birth of their first child. Brilliant! Now it was mandatory that we have a few days to ourselves...



We first discussed going to San Antonio, since Steve has never been, and going to Seaworld for a day. My brother and sister-in-law told me I was crazy. Of course, at the time I wasn't nearly as big as I am now - who knew I would blossom so quickly and that the changes from then and now would be so drastic. Comically, I also considered an overnight trail ride at a dude ranch outside San Antonio. My doctor didn't seem to like that idea either.


So, where DID we do the apparently mandatory "Babymoon?" Vail! The morning after Laura's wedding, we hit the road and headed to Vail. Frankly, Steve was not excited about being in Vail without snow on the ground and wasn't convinced that this was going to be such a great time. He agreed to go anyway, but complained that the drive up there would probably not be that great.




Obviously, he quickly changed his mind on the ride out there. The weather was perfect for a pregnant woman (though a tad chilly for the husband) at 45-60 during the day and 30's at night. We had to wear coats Sunday night. I didn't have to do much but eat, walk/rest, and sight-see, but that made for a relaxing, stress-free weekend for both of us. Here is a great picture overlooking Vail village and mountain:


Steve booked as at a gorgeous hotel (the Arrabelle) and our friend, Sharon (she used to live in Vail, poor thing), told us where to have a fabulous dinner (Russell's). Fortunately for Steve, we also got to Vail just in time for the last afternoon of their annual Oktoberfest! Polka dancing, beer (for Steve), streudel (for me) - it was fantastic:





What a great Babymoon!

My cousin is old enough to get married?!

Steve and I went to Denver last weekend for my cousin, Laura's, wedding. We spent the day sightseeing in Denver, at Sixth Street Mall primarily. The weather was almost perfect for a hot-blooded pregnant woman. Sunny, 70's with a slight breeze.

The wedding was in DTC, the tech center of Denver, about 15 minutes from downtown at the popular Hyatt Regency. People came from all over the country. Laura was stunning, just gorgeous. She and her sister, Leann, are both beautiful women - it is just hard to believe that they are women - weren't they just born?! I think I was in high school or close to it when they were born - am I really that old?! My Uncle John and Laura had a dramatic entrance in a glass-enclosed elevator from the top of a hotel down to the 2nd floor where the wedding was held in a dramatic atrium. At wedding's I'm all about the dress, the cake and the flowers. Laura's were all perfect.

Here is a great picture of Laura with her husband, Robert.

Here is a picture of me with Laura's sister, Leann. I have a feeling I'm going to be making a trip in the not-too-distant future to Seattle for another family wedding soon. I can't imagine Leann's boyfriend letting my beautiful cousin stay single for much longer.

Here is the cake:

After the wedding and a fabulous dinner, the DJ started playing all the great wedding dance music - like the electric slide and the twist. Steve talked me into doing the twist by myself on the dance floor.

Oh MY - Am I really that big?! I'm starting to enjoy the pregnancy look. Which is a good thing because - Look At That Belly! Little Baby GoodNix was dancing around all night, too. She must have enjoyed the cake and the music.

Speaking of dance moves - My mom has the moves... and way more energy than me. Impressive!

My Mom and her brother (father of the Bride):

My parents - the energizer bunnies:

There was almost a full moon - which might explain why my mom and cousin, Drew, were dancing to Thriller.

What a wonderful event! Congratulations to Laura and Robert! I wish you all the happiness your hearts can imagine and a long marriage full of love and admiration for each other.

Early September Ups and Downs

The first part of September brought us a celebration and a loss to our family. Admittedly both sound more dramatic than they are because (1) I've already shared with you that we had our one year anniversary - (yes, old news is good news - in case you missed it, we've been married a year and we are still celebrating); and (2) the loss wasn't of a person or a pet, but of a car. However, it really was a very important car to us as it held a lot of memories for us.



First the positive: We didn't get to taste our wedding cake at our wedding last year (by the time the cake was handed out, we were too busy with things to do, people to see) and we wanted to take part in all the important rituals of the first anniversary, including eating the top tier of our wedding cake. So, since we didn't actually SAVE the top of the wedding cake, we ordered a replica of the top tier of our cake. We had a fantastic cake designer, who put a lot of effort into making our wedding cakes gorgeous - here is a copy of the wedding cake and Steve's groom's cake:




Never saw anything like that before, have you?! (Unless, of course, you were at the wedding.)

Condra (who owns Patisserie Angelica) made sure that we had an exact replica of the top tier of our wedding cake so that we could celebrate in style. It was delicious and gorgeous. A very elaborate shipping method had to be used to get this cake to us fresh and perfect.




The picture is from our wedding, waiting to be framed. The flowers were a gift from Steve's Mom and family. Very sweet and thoughtful reminder of such an important event for us.

So, now onto the loss: Steve sold his M3 race car. We fell in love in that car (so it has special meaning to me), and Steve has won two BMW racing championships in that car (so it has special meaning for him). I know he misses it, and it won't be long before he has another one to take its place.

Update to Previous 4D Post - Pictures of Feet Reveal that Baby is a GoodNix

My sister-in-law aptly pointed out, in response to my 4D post, that we hadn't provided proof of whether our daughter was going to be blessed with the famous GoodNix toes. For those of you who don't know about the toes, feel free to look down the next time you see me, my brother or my sister. We all have them. They are unique to say the least. Unfortunately for our child, Steve also has long and thin toes. So did she get them? Well, of course! But, don't take my word for it. The proof is in the pudding - or the pictures anyway:

I was hoping that my child wouldn't have to go through what I've suffered all my life - difficulty buying shoes (think 3-4 hour shopping trips and leaving with nothing), and longing for the beautiful shoes that everyone else gets to wear (think Sarah Jessica Parker's fetish without the ability to wear those gorgeous shoes). Unfortunately, our daughter appears to have the same long skinny foot as her mom, with long toes and skinny heels. If she turns out to be a shoe lover like me, just hope that Stuart Weitzman doesn't go out of business anytime soon. Lucky for her, I'm a patient shoe shopper. Hopefully turn into the same mandatory mother-daughter bonding experience of my youth.

First Anniversary

It's hard to believe that it has been a year since we were married in beautiful Napa Valley. It's been a fabulous year! We celebrated at Abacus last night and were the happy recipients of well wishes from family and friends all day. We feel very lucky to have found each other and to have such wonderful friends and family to share these special moments.