Annual Crawfish Boil

Last Saturday Kenny and I welcomed almost 50 people to our house for our annual crawfish boil. We were really worried most of the week leading up to boil day because of the weather, but it could not have turned out better. There was supposed to be heavy rain all morning and into the afternoon, but the bad stuff ended up coming through the night before and the day dawned bright, sunny, and breezy. Whew!

Kenny and I were so excited to have such a good turnout of our friends and family, especially with so many making 2- and 3-hour trips to get here. It was a wonderful afternoon, but as always it went by too quickly. I feel like I didn’t get to visit long enough with everyone who was here!

My parents made the drive over from Houston, and they brought with them three big boxes from Target. Nursery furniture! I was having trouble finding the changing table and the dresser to go with the Delta Eclipse crib I picked out a couple of months ago, but luckily a store in Houston had all three in stock. Yay! None of it is assembled yet since we still have lots of things to move around before we can begin to put together the baby’s room, but all three pieces are ready and waiting.

Thanks SO much, Mom and Dad, for picking it all up and bringing it to me! I can’t wait to see how it all looks in the completed room.

23 Weeks

From BabyCenter.com:

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world.

My latest doctor’s appointment went well. It was the least amount of time I have spent there so far, which I guess is a good thing! My blood pressure is still okay (136/64) and the baby’s heartbeat sounded very strong and steady (heartrate: 148). My next appointment is in three weeks, and I’ll definitely be there longer then…..the dreaded glucose test!

Baby Bedding

When Kenny and I got home on Sunday, I was excited to see a big box from Target on our front porch. The baby’s new bedding had arrived! I had a fairly hard time deciding on which set to order but I’m so glad I went with the one I did. It’s called Alphabet Soup by CoCaLo. The set is very colorful and there are multiple types of fabric with different textures in the quilt and the bumper. I can’t wait to see how it will look in the crib….guess we need to order that now!

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for the early shower present!

Another NOLA Wedding

Kenny and I were back in New Orleans this past weekend. April isn’t slowing down one bit for us! Every time I think we’ll have a couple of weekends to ourselves, another event pops up. Good thing we like being on the go!

Ken’s sister Debbie was in town from Wednesday to Sunday, so the three of us met up with his parents for dinner on Friday night at the Flaming Torch. None of us had ever been before, and we all enjoyed it. It’s a very small place but it has a great warm atmosphere, as well as a killer mussels appetizer. YUM.

Saturday we all got together again, including Steve, Jaimi, and Zac, for a crawfish boil to celebrate Steve’s birthday. I spent most of the afternoon lounging in a tailgate chair underneath our EZ-Up, reveling in the springtime breeze and waiting patiently for the grub to be served. Once again Kenny outdid himself with the crawfish preparation: they were delicious. I’m so glad my doctor told me I wasn’t limited in quantity when it comes to crawfish! I’m already looking forward to having them again at our boil on Saturday. Now we’re just hoping and praying and pleading for no rain that day! Please? Pretty please?

Saturday night was our friend Steve’s sister Diane’s wedding. Got that? We’ve grown to be pretty close to the whole family through LSU tailgating, so we were glad to be included in Diane’s big day. Scott and Christine were also there, and it was great to hang out with them at the reception.

We left NOLA early on Sunday so we could get back home and start getting ready for this weekend. After unpacking our incredibly full car (how do we always come back with more than we originally brought with us???), we sucked it up, made our list, and headed back out to Sam’s. Success! We came home with most of the ingredients for the boil and a brand new patio furniture set! We had been shopping on and off for one since we moved into the house, and I’m so glad we finally found one we both really like. And we got it home just in time to provide some extra seating for the weekend!

Ready and Waiting

Kenny was able to carve out some time in his busy schedule to keg his two latest beers last week. They are both ready and waiting to be sampled (and most likely polished off!) at our big crawfish boil this Saturday. One thing is for sure: no one will go thirsty while eating some delicious mudbugs!

Registry and Party

Last Saturday morning I went to register for all things baby at Babies ‘R Us. My good friend Bridget, having gone through early motherhood for the first time not too long ago, graciously agreed to come with me to give her sage advice. She made the store seem way less intimidating right away, which I appreciated very much. We had a great time picking all kinds of cute things out, and now I can’t wait for my shower in June!

Saturday afternoon was Karen’s son Nathan’s first birthday party. Karen and Jeff did a great job with their Curious George themed celebration, and as always, it was good to see lots of my friends. We even got to spend a good part of the afternoon outside on account of the beautiful weather! I guess Kenny and I won’t be so lucky when we start hosting birthday parties…..August is way too hot to be outside without a nice cool pool to jump into!

Festival and Wedding

This past weekend Kenny and I were in New Orleans for various events. On Friday Mom and I went down to the Quarter to meet QP for lunch at Cafe Amelie (one of the best cochon de lait sandwiches I’ve ever had!) on an absolutely beautiful spring day. Afterwards we walked around French Quarter Fest for a bit, drinking in the sunshine and checking out all of the local art. We both went home with a little something: two small Robert Guthrie prints for her and one for me! Now I just have to find a suitable frame for it….

After a quick nap back at the house it was time to get up and go again: Jason and Ann’s wedding was Friday night. The locations couldn’t have been more convenient: the ceremony was at the gorgeous church on Loyola’s campus and the reception was right across St. Charles Avenue at the Round Table Club. It was fun hanging out with all of our friends, but I think the best part of the night for most of the girls was sampling the groom’s cake, the most delicious chocolate brownie-like cake I have ever tasted. I need to find out where they ordered it!

Finally Finished!

Thanks to my wonderful husband, our front gardens are finally finished, and they look fantastic. I love our new red pots! Now we’re just keeping our fingers crossed that most, if not all, of our caladiums come back. Some tiny shoots are starting to emerge through the mulch, so here’s hoping!

Ultrasound Video

Here’s a short snippet of our ultrasound video. The angle is a side view of the baby’s head and abdomen, and if you watch closely you should be able to see the heart beating and the mouth moving. :)

20 Weeks and the Big Ultrasound

Last Wednesday was my most recent doctor’s appointment, including our big ultrasound. Some stats first: my blood pressure is great (102/72), I’m still gaining weight at a good pace, and the baby’s heartrate is a healthy 143. Baby is also growing exactly according to schedule, right on target with my due date of August 23. Here’s my first official belly pic!

Now for the fun part: the ultrasound. Let me just say that technology is SO incredibly cool these days. The baby started out fairly motionless in a breech position (legs down) but eventually flipped around and cooperated beautifully to let the tech see everything he needed to see.

Hands, arms, legs, feet, brain, heart, kidneys, etc. are all in place and functioning. We saw and heard the heart beating, which was so neat. And near the end of the 20 minute exam the baby was really moving around, which was great. I hadn’t really started to feel any movement yet, so it was very reassuring to see on the monitor. However, I think I’ve felt the first movements within the past week. It’s hard to tell since they’re not really strong yet, but something’s definitely going on in there!

I’m still trying to figure out how to convert the DVD file to a format I can post, so I unfortunately couldn’t include the video here. Hopefully between Kenny and me we can get it to work sometime soon!

Easter in Houston

Kenny, Jeff, and I went to Houston on Thursday night to spend a long Easter weekend with my parents. We got there pretty late, so we had a laidback Good Friday morning and then all piled into cars for a trip to Houston Garden Center. Mom and Dad needed some plants, Kenny and I were looking for two big planters (the last piece of our master garden plan), and Jeff was looking to get ideas. The outing was successful for everyone, and as soon as Kenny can get the planters we bought filled and in place, I’ll post pics of our finished front gardens.

Afterwards we grabbed some lunch at a small little outdoor restaurant called Little Big’s. The only main dish they serve is sliders, and those little sandwiches (as well as their fries) were mighty tasty. Finish it all off with a chocolate milkshake and I had myself an unhealthy yet completely satisfying meal!

Back at the house and very full from lunch, Mom and I sat in the backyard while the boys got the new plants into pots around the pool. It was just what the doctor ordered: a nice, relaxing afternoon. And we decided to continue our unhealthy eating streak and go out to Cyclone Anaya’s Mexican restaurant for dinner. Margaritas and wine for the non-pregnant people and good fish tacos for me. A win-win!

Saturday started off wonderfully for Mom and me: we had massages booked that morning, which were followed by a great lunch at CPK and a little bit of shopping. The boys, meanwhile, headed off to visit two local breweries (St. Arnold and Southern Star). We all met back up at the house late in the afternoon and pitched in to make dinner. Fred, Claudie, and Aaron were in town and joined us for good food and a few games of Apples to Apples. Fun times!

Easter morning we went to the 9am service at Mom’s church and then to brunch at Backstreet Cafe. We sat outside on the patio in the gorgeous overcast and breezy weather. The highlight of the meal for me was the plate of little muffins and scones we got at the very beginning. I staked a claim on most of the blueberry ones and even had one leftover at the end of the meal. I decided I didn’t want to waste it, so I carried it out in the palm of my hand. When the manager saw me doing so, he offered to get me a to-go box full of the muffins. Did I turn him down? Absolutely not!

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for having us…..we had a great time! Hope everyone had a great Easter!