Celebrating our 1st Anniversary!

Somehow, a whole year has gone by from our absolutely amazing wedding day!  It really is amazing how quick the year has gone by.  We've been through a lot within our first year of marriage, and I couldn't have asked for a more supportive and loving husband.  I've watched Jason transform from a great boyfriend, to a loving fiancé, to an unbelievable husband over the years that we have been together... and the best part of celebrating our anniversary together is the anticipation I have for him making another amazing transformation- to turn into an amazing daddy in the next few months.  I know he is going to take such good care of his family and give both baby Nolan and I so much love the rest of our lives.

We decided to exchange gifts and go out to a nice dinner the night of our anniversary.  We wanted to go to a nice, trendy place to eat, and we decided on Julian Serrano in Aria.  The restaurant is a Spanish tapas restaurant and definitely did not disappoint.  We ordered lots of food, all of which was yummy and nicely presented, as well.  We ordered a few tapas to start with, continued with our main course (Jason ordered Crispy Chicken Breast Roulada, I ordered Beef Tenderloin), and we finished off our meal with Spicy Hot Chocolate Churros for dessert.  We snapped a few pictures inside Aria before and after dinner... this casino is always decorated so pretty!  

25 Weeks Baby Bumpin' 

Mixed baby romaine salad

Crispy Chicken Breast Roulada

Beef tenderloin

Spicy Hot Chocolate Churros

For "one year", the traditional gift consists of "paper".  I decided to spend a lot of time and dedication to making our Honeymoon Album (which I had been putting off for a whole year!), and give that to Jason as his gift.  The final result... 100+ pages, came out amazing, and I love our photobook that has every single memory of our amazing Hawaiian honeymoon we can look back on and remember for years to come.

Jason's gift to me was a night out to a dinner and show on the Strip.  He had a few ideas that we thought long and hard about, but we finally decided on getting tickets for Absinthe and eating dinner at Serendipity.  Because we had just gone out that night, we decided to do dinner and a show the following weekend.  We spoiled ourselves with good food!

The night of our anniversary, we also got to enjoy a recreation of our wedding cake top tier.  Our wedding cake vendor was nice enough to recreate our whole top tier (minus all the detail) for us to enjoy, rather than unthawing the old piece that we had kept.  It was SO delicious and I enjoyed every bite.  The inside was similar to how our cake tasted a whole year ago... Lemon cake with lemon and raspberry mouse, surrounded by butter cream frosting.  Yum!

Fast forward a week later, and we were off to wine (or lack thereof, for me) and dine ourselves for dinner and a show.  We started at Serendipity and enjoyed a frozen hot chocolate with our meals... so delicious!

Since Absinthe is located right outside of the restaurant, it made for an easy and convenient transition from dinner to the show.  Since the show is sampled after a variety/circus/stunts show, the outside venue is shaped like a circus tent which is very cool!  Once inside, the details are even more amazing.  With a vintage circus feel, there is a small, roundabout way of seating that makes every seat a good one in the whole venue.  The show is super vulgar and offensive, but hilarious and very talented.  Of course I didn't snap any pictures of the actual show, but I did get some shots of the inside of the tent before it started, although the lighting isn't the greatest!  If you aren't easily offended and have an open mind, I would definitely recommend seeing this show.  It's as good as a Cirque show with a little bit more humor and audience involvement in a more intimate environment.  

Overall, our first anniversary was everything we hoped it could be.  We spent it enjoying each other's company and celebrating, and I love that we kept our gifts traditional and decently simple.  We are so grateful to have an amazing life with each other, and we know it's only going to get better with the arrival of this little guy in a few months!  We can't wait to see where the next 50 anniversaries take us!

Bump Watch: 25 Weeks

How far along? 25 weeks, 0 days

Total weight gain: 12-13 pounds as of last week!
Maternity clothes? Yes, like those lovely Gap maternity jeans,  and also still managing in pre-pregnancy tops like the one above!
Stretch marks? Nope!
Sleep:  Finding myself tossing and turning a little more, but nothing takes away from my sleep!  I'm still sleeping like a baby and LOTS!
Best moment this week: Another quick but great doctor's appointment checkup this week... everything is looking good!  Also celebrating our one year anniversary today!  More movement from the little man, making his regular appearance much more on the weekends than during the week.  He likes to party in there on Saturday and Sunday!
Miss Anything? Nothing lately.  I've been enjoying this stage of pregnancy the last week or two SO much!
Movement: Yes!  He's really active on the weekend compared to during the week, which is probably because I tend to relax MUCH more on Saturday and Sundays!  He's been pressing body parts against my belly, a head here, a butt there, and I've recently discovered some pointy parts- maybe a foot or elbow?  Either way, when I'm lying on one side, he balls up and a large protrusion sticks out from my belly.  It freaks Jason out and he doesn't like to touch it, and although it feels really strange and sometimes a bit uncomfortable, I love it!
Food cravings: Fittingly, our wedding cake!  Our cake baker recreated our top tier for us to enjoy on our anniversary.  It was delicious!  
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really!
Gender prediction: No more predicting... it's a boy!
Labor Signs: Nope!
Symptoms: Lots of G.I. symptoms going on... you don't want details. :)  Pregnancy is gross sometimes... it's amazing what hormones can do!  Nesting has begun, also.  Instead of cleaning, I've been on an organizing spree.  We cleaned out all three bedrooms, I reorganized our master closet and in the process, got rid of three garbage bags of clothes.  Whoa!
Belly Button in or out? Mostly out.  It's definitely not in, that's for sure!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and excited to be feeling really pregnant!
Looking forward to: Enjoying the remainder of the second trimester!  As of today, we're down to 15 weeks.  I know it's going to fly by soon!  Hoping the third trimester is going to go as smoothly as the later end of my second trimester... It seems the last week or two I've really regained my energy, and I'll take everything I can get while it lasts!  

Bump Watch: 23 Weeks

How far along? 23 weeks, 0 days

Total weight gain: Unofficially, based on weighing at work, up 11 pounds.  
Maternity clothes? Yep!  Found the best pair of Gap maternity workout capris that I liiiiiive in lately (see above!)
Stretch marks? Nope!
Sleep:  Still awesome!
Best moment this week: More movement with stronger flutters and having Jason get to feel him on the outside of the belly more!  Also getting to see him move from the outside is pretty amazing, too, although it's not a common happening!  
Miss Anything? Octoberfest (my favorite beer) as well as all of the fall craft favorites have come out officially.  I'm a little sad about this, especially when Jason runs out and buys a 24 pack!  I'm trying to get him to save me one for January :)
Movement: Yep!  Most always every day.  It freaks me out when it's been a while since I've felt him!  He likes to sit way back and low, so it makes it harder to feel him.  But I'll take it when I can get it and enjoy every second!
Food cravings: Dessert.  Any kind.  I've been sugaring it up this week!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really!
Gender prediction: No more predicting... it's a boy!
Labor Signs: Nope!
Symptoms: So the all-talked about "leg cramps" have begun.  People aren't joking about these things... they are like the worst charlie horse I've ever experienced, and even worse, they wake me from a dead sleep!  Crazy the things hormones do during pregnancy...
Belly Button in or out? Still half and half, ew!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and getting some energy back!  I think the nesting is going to kick in soon!
Looking forward to: Getting that energy back and starting to decorate and finalize nursery ideas!  

Bump Watch: 21 Weeks

How far along? 21 weeks, 0 days

Total weight gain: Actually haven't stepped on the scale all week, so I'm gonna stick with the 8 pounds from last week.
Maternity clothes? Yep, but I can still squeeze into some of my pre-pregnancy jeans with the help of the belly band.  I tried the ones above on, thinking there was no way they would still fit, and they did!  That belly band is a lifesaver!
Stretch marks? Nope!
Sleep:  Of course, always amazing.
Best moment this week: Feeling like my bump has "popped", feeling little man get the hiccups for the first time!  It was the coolest thing to experience, especially since he hasn't been big on kicking still.  It was a good 3-4 minutes of consistent pulses,  feeling it from the inside, outside, and even seeing it physically! 
Miss Anything? My normal belly button! :)
Movement: Yep, I'm noticing much more activity and can almost feel him every day now.  Still nothing too strong, but definitely lots of flutters going on on a pretty regular basis!  Sometimes we can feel him outside my belly.  Jason got to feel him for the first time the other night!
Food cravings: Mongolian BBQ, which I satisfied tonight at the GVR buffet!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!
Gender prediction: No more predicting... it's a boy!
Labor Signs: Nothing.
Symptoms: Round ligament pain, and some crazy intense back pain the other night, which almost led to a ER visit.  I may have freaked out a bit... but it was super painful in my lower back on one side only.  It lasted for about 4 hours and wouldn't subside with changing positions, walking, stretching, etc.  I googled and found it could be anything from ligament pain to preterm labor.  Not knowing which of those options it could be, and not wanting to over analyze, I took one extra strength Tylenol and told myself I needed to wait until the morning to call the on call doctor... luckily I did wait because it went away!
Belly Button in or out? Half and half.. Ew, haha!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Moody and anxious this week.  Sorry, hubby... it wasn't the best emotional week for me.  Very irritable!  :)
Looking forward to: Registry next weekend and still waiting for big kicks!

August Happenings

The first day of this month was exciting by welcoming the newest member of the extended family.... Chelsea and Allen had their little man on August 1st, and he's the cutest little guy ever!  I wish I could fly over there ASAP and just snuggle him!  Soon enough...

Harley and I got some snuggling in one day after work, waiting for Jason to come home.

We received lots and LOTS of hand-me-downs from our friends for our little man.  The Luks' let us borrow lots of baby gear, including a Rock N' Play Sleeper, a couple play-activity mats / tummy time mats, a Bumbo chair with a tray, and a sweet, super nice and comfy swing for baby.  If that wasn't enough, one of my mom's coworkers gave us FOUR huge boxes of baby boy clothes, from newborn-12 month sizes!  This little guy does NOT need any more clothes (which we all know, I'll end up buying more anyway), and we are so blessed to have generous people in our lives to hand these things down to us!  One afternoon, I decided to organize all of the clothes out by size range.... here was the result:

We celebrated my birthday at Geisha Steakhouse (yum!) and it was so, so delicious.  Being pregnant made it taste just that much better!  No pictures of us because I was too busy stuffing my face!

We had our anatomy scan and got to see what our little guy was doing in my belly!

I went to a few second hand stores in search of some cheaper maternity jeans (no luck), and ended up scoring the cutest (and my favorite, thus far) piece of clothing for baby Kelton.  I wasn't a big fan of second hand stores for kids and babies... I thought it was too germy and gross initially.  But, when I saw this adorable Janie and Jack cardigan with matching hat, I knew it was totally worth the $3.00 price tag!  This thing probably retails for at least $40 bucks, so I figured a few rounds of Oxy-Clean will make this a great buy!! 

I reached the 20 week mark of this pregnancy!  Half way there!!

Our nursery furniture was delivered and we got to the first part of creating Nolan's room!

We made a trip to Babies "R" Us, and I made Jason park in the Expecting Mother's parking... Gotta take advantage of this for the next 4 months!

Until next month!