3 Months, Yikes!!

On Friday, I became 7 months along. That means in 3 months time I'm going to have a child! Let's not forget Matt, he will have a child too. So my question is, where did the time go, people!!? We have sooo much to do, it's crazy. People at work are asking me if the nursery is done. DONE? Are they nuts? We just started it! Ahhhhhh. All I can say is hope this child does not come early. Especially since all of our birthing classes are scheduled just one month before the baby is due. It seems that every week now, my belly is growing. On Friday, we have another ultrasound. I am sure this time they'll be able to tell the sex, let's just hope they don't tell us the sex by mistake. We've gone this long, I definitely don't want to know now! Yellow and green are starting to grow on me ; )

Gotta love the weather!

It's the end of January and today it was sunny & in the upper 70's. I was outside doing yardwork and actually didn't mind it, it was that nice. You definitely can't do that in Chicago at the end of January, that's for sure! No offense to Chicago, of course. You know that's where my heart is, but you just can't beat this Florida weather. Ahhhh.

My Baby Shower in Chicago

So, right after we got back from our cruise, the next day I was on a plane off to Chicago for an early baby shower with friends and family. My brother Ryan put the shower together, with a little input from me, of course : ) And it turned out really nice. The restaurant had a great atmosphere, along with the room we were in and the food was great. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Since I couldn't bring back a bunch of gifts on the plane, most people ordered gifts and had them sent to FL for us. So at the shower I opened a lot of gift cards, clothing items and cards that had pictures of the gifts they shipped us. It ended up working out really great. I even managed to fit everything into my suitcase!

While I was there I got to see Evan, Lauren's son for the first time. He was only 2 weeks old, so most of the time I was over visiting, he was sleeping, but it was still awesome to meet the little guy and see Lauren in a whole new light, as a Mommy!

(L) Me and my bro.
(R) Palesa and adorable Amelie (4 months).

(L) The baby tee I'm holding up says "Chicago Baby", I love it!
(R) We have about a million of these pictures together, yet we always seem to take more : )


(L) My cousins, aren't they cute?
(R) My Aunts, I love them dearly!

(L) Me and Nana-to-Be!
(R) Last, but not least....Baby Evan. Just 2 wks old.

Our Babymoon was Grand!

Matt and I had an awesome time on our cruise. As you know, it was our first one and after the time we had, we agreed we would definitely do another one. The customer service on the ship was outstanding. Everyone is so friendly, helpful and willing to do what they can to make your vacation a great one. Mad props to Royal Caribbean and EA!!

Our favorite part was probably Jamaica. We took a tour to a jerk spice factory where we got to see how the spices were grown and put together to become a great rub for chicken, pork and the like. We also went to a ceramic shop where we go to see people making pottery and had the option to buy some ourselves, but the prices were pretty steap and we didn't see anything we just had to have, so we passed on buying anything there. Cool stop though. The shop gave jobs to a lot of people in the community, which was cool.

Driving to these places was another favorite part. We loved our tour guide, she was adorable....teaching us slang Jamiaca words and singing songs. During our ride we drove thru some rough run down areas, seeing how a lot of people really live there. Taxes are high there, so it's not that affordable to live. It makes you really value the life we have in the US. We also drove thru a rain forest, driving up a somewhat steap mountain on a windy narrow road. Crazy stuff, but fun!

I wish I could write a bunch about Georgetown, Grand Cayman, but we didn't actually do too much there. We didn't even make it to the 7-mile beach that seemed to be the rage there. Instead Matt and I walked around on our own and started to melt by the intense sun. We thought we might walk to the beach ourselves, while tons of buses passed us. Yeah, that plan didn't work too well. We saw the beach, but it wasn't where everyone else went to see the beach. Instead, we stopped at a condo resort and took a dip in their pool to cool off. It was quite funny, especially since we didn't have any towels. That really didn't matter in the end though, since the sun dried us off in no time. After our little dip, we took the long walk back, stopped at one shop to pick up some rum cake and then headed back to the boat for lunch.

On the ship we enjoyed hanging out at the piano bar, played some shuffle board and even hit the casino to play some virtual $2.00 blackjack - we both bought in for $20 and I ended up playing for about an hour and a half and winning $30! Matt on the other hand, lost his money in about 20 minutes or less. Lol.

Did I fail to mention the food? Oh the food! Why must they have food available at all times? It's insane. I think I ate dessert with both lunch & dinner almost everyday while on our trip. That's not like me either, but my sweet tooth was in full effect. I blame the pregnancy!

Check out some pictures below. Unfortunately we have none actually together!

Happy New Year!!

It's the first day of 2007, I can't believe it's a start of another year! A lot of things for Matt and I to look forward to this year. We truly feel blessed. Hope everyone had a fun & safe new year! Time to go take down our Christmas decorations, ugh.

Christmas in Chicago

Our trip to Chicago for Christmas was great, our only complaint? The weather!! It didn't snow, I wanted it to snow! Instead it was gray (or it grey? I never know) and gloomy everyday. How do you people live like that? lol. Matt and I are sooo spoiled now that we live in the sunshine state : ) It was great to see family & friends for the holiday. It's also good to be home, we were exhausted by the time we returned. Thank you Trish and Sarah for letting us stay with you!

Baby Max & Baby Evan

As most of you know, 2 of my best friends are (or were) pregnant - Lauren (due Dec. 18) and Michelle (due Feb. 18). While we were in Chicago for Christmas I was hoping to witness Lauren give birth, since she was over due, but unfortunately that wasn't the case and Michelle actually ended up delivering her baby first instead!

Her water broke early and she ended up having Maxwell Jaden Liberty on Christmas day, almost 2 months early. Thankfully, both baby and Mom are doing well. Max is still in the hospital right now, but in a few weeks should be coming home.

Now for Lauren...I went with her to her doctor appointment on Wednesday morning, the day Matt and I were leaving and it turns out her doctor wanted her to check into the hospital rigth after her appointment to get induced since her amniotic fluids were low. So I got to check in with her and even tried to change my flight to stick around for the birth, but unfortunately that didn't work out and in the end it was best, because it was a long time before she finally delivered. After a very slow labor she had a c-section on Thursday night, Evan Joseph Convey was born at 6:43 p.m. Baby and Mom are both doing well. I love being an aunt!!

Another Family Visit...

Ok, this post is late, so you'll notice it's a little out of order. Before Matt and I went to Chicago for Christmas, my family came up from Naples to celebrate x-mas a weekend early. My Dad, Joanne, Marty & Ryan all stayed with us! It actually didn't feel too crowded, but there is no way we could fit one person for sleeping purposes....our inn was full! We had a nice weekend together, had a ham dinner on Saturday and opened presents that night. It was great having them at our house for a change, especially Marty, since he doesn't get to visit too often. Miss you guys!