It's our anniversary!

September 26th marked mine and Mark's 1 year wedding anniversary! We celebrated by taking a day trip to Iowa City to reminisce about our college years. We both absolutely loved living in the I.C./Coralville area and were very excited to be back "home".
The day started off with a bit of chaos when our dog Macy got out the front door and decided she needed to go for a morning run. She didn't go too far but it took us about 20 minutes to find her. After she was home safe, we got on the road.

Our first stop in Iowa City was the downtown area. It was fun to see all the buildings where we had classes, the dorms we lived in and the places we used to hang out. We bought Colin a Hawkeye t-shirt. Hopefully it's the right size so he can wear it next fall during Hawkeye football. We also bought a Hawkeye Christmas ornament for our tree. After leaving downtown, we drove past the new football stadium and took some pictures of it. We then headed to Coralville to have lunch at Red Lobster, where I tried lobster for the first time. I figured since it was on a pizza, it couldn't be too bad ;-).

After lunch, we stopped at the outlet mall in Williamsburg to pick up some items we'd been trying to find here in DM for a reasonable price but couldn't.

All in all, it was a great way to spend our anniversary! Here are some pictures from our trip. I can't figure out how to rotate some of the pictures so you'll just have to turn your head!

Kinnick Stadium entrance.

Statue of Nile Kinnick, Jr.

29 week bump shot. And our first "family" photo!

I'm not sure what to call this one...view from the other side of the Pentacrest, maybe?

View of downtown I.C. from the Pentacrest

The Capitol.

One year ago...

I married my best friend :-). All I can really say is I can't believe it's been an entire year! The time has definitely flown by...but we've been having fun so I guess that's to be expected! We have had an amazing year. There really aren't words for describing how happy I am with our first year of marriage. I hope they are all this easy! Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

The reveal! The first time we saw each other that day!

Walking down the aisle with my dad.

Lighting the Unity candle

Saying our vows

A shot of almost the whole wedding party

Walking down the aisle as husband & wife :-)

 

The cake...so delicious and B-E-A-UTIFUL!

 

 Almost all the girls (sorry Krystal!)

And the guys...

I love looking back at the pictures. It was such an amazing day and everything went so perfectly. I can't say Thank You enough to everyone who helped us make our day so amazing. Honestly, it's the memories of sharing our day with all of our loved ones that make me the happiest. 

Getting this baby out!

I'm not quite ready for him to come out yet (hello, not-even-started nursery!) but I realized last night that in 10 weeks I'll be technically full term. 10 WEEKS! I'm not sure why but that thought scares the hell out of me. But I've been thinking more and more about what I want to happen while I'm in labor. Mark and I decided early on that it would be just me and him in the delivery room. We got into this together and we're getting out of it together! But I've realized that it could be a long process and it might be helpful to have someone else there for both of us to lean on for support. We discussed choosing a friend or family member but we wouldn't even know how to choose one of them. Our birth class instructor gave us the name of a friend of her's who is a student Doula. She has to attend 3 live births as part of her training and we're lucky enough to be one of the 3. We've been e-mailing with her and we're finally meeting her in person on Tuesday evening. Hopefully everything goes well and she'll be at Colin's birth. It will be nice to have an extra support person.

The birth class that we've been taking is The Bradley Method - the "coach centered" method that places a lot of importance on nutrition and exercise during pregnancy ultimately ending with a natural birth. So far it's been awesome. The instructor is all for non-hospital, midwife assisted births so she's been kind of dissing hospitals which scared me a bit since I'm delivering in a hospital. I was pleasantly surprised when I was reading a birth plan checklist from the hospital I'll be delivering in. It has all the options I want - limited monitoring if everything is going ok, being able to walk around, get in the tub, use the birthing ball. I was so surprised! I guess I let the instructor get in my head a little about how hospitals are "bad". I felt relieved knowing that the hospital will allow ME to call the shots.

I was even more relieved after visiting the maternity section of the hospital. It is simply amazing. They have really thought of everything to make the mom's happy! Unfortunatley Mark wasn't able to tour it with me but we're going back soon so he can see everything. So...while neither me or the baby is quite ready for him to come out, I feel extremely confident in the choices Mark and I have made for our path of bringing him in to the world!

When I grow up...

I believe I have figured it out! Yes, I may be pushing 27 years old but I'm just now starting to figure out "what I want to be when I grow up".  And yes...the light bulb may have went off after watching an episode of Teen Mom on MTV - remember the Golden Rule here people! Anyway...there is a couple who gave up their child for adoption and they meet every so often with their adoption agent. She isn't on the show very often but when she is, I find myself oddly intrigued by her line of work. Probably because I've always wanted a career that would allow me to make a difference in another person's life and she has one. I promptly went online and found out that getting a Master's Degree in Social Work is the best way to go about becoming an adoption agent (I'm entirely sure this is the correct title).

I have a degree in Psychology already so this is one logical next step for me. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the University of Iowa (where I received my Psychology degree) has a Master's of Social Work extension program in Des Moines - and the center is conveniently located about 3 blocks from my work - PERFECT! And there are night classes! With the public library located smack in the middle of the route from my job to the learning center, I would have a place to hang after work while waiting for class to start - DOUBLE PERFECT!

And then the let down....
I got to the portion of the reading that pretty much states "There is no way you can be a part of this program on a part-time basis and still carry a full time job". Crap. I clearly have to work to help support my family - that's what adults do right? Well this adult quickly e-mailed DH & gave him the sob story. To my surprise, his quick response was "if this is what you want, we'll figure it out". Um...wait. Did some nicer, less money conscience other person hack his e-mail? No? Oh. He must mean it. He then proceeded to lay out the tentative plan & told me to go for it.

So here I am. Life plan & DH support in hand, I'M GOING FOR IT! I'll be gathering all the necessary documentation & waiting for my acceptance letter. Wish me luck!

Craziness!

So far August is off to a crazy start for us!

On the baby front, the ultrasound was on July 20th & this baby is definitely not shy! The image of him wasn't on the screen for 30 seconds and we knew it was a....BOY! Yep...I won the bet :-)
His name is Colin Vincent and I can't wait to see him, hold him and kiss him! He will definitely be the best Christmas present I have ever received.

I felt Colin move for the first time at the end of July and Mark got to feel him kick the next week. He cried...it was so sweet! Ever since then he's been kicking and moving up a storm. I've been calling him my little ninja because it feels like he's trying to kick and punch his way out, haha! He kicked so hard yesterday morning the remote that was resting on my stomach popped up! It was pretty hilarious.

I have my next check up tomorrow afternoon. I had only gained 3 pounds total at my last appointment so I'm interested to see how much I have gained. I still weigh myself every day and I think I've gained 4-5 pounds since my last appointment. Right on track for my "one pound a week" goal.  The weight gain may be low but my belly has definitely popped out! I bought some maternity pants...they're too big still but I'm sure my stomach will grow into them.

On the home front...we've been doing a lot of home improvements - some minor, some major. The drywall is up in the basement and the first coat of tape/mud has been put on. Once the second coat is on it will be time to paint! I have been having fun looking at paint samples and figuring out how to decorate down there.

Ever since Mark and I bought the house, the front door has been this ugly, dirty brown color. Today I finally got Mark convinced that it needs to be painted. We went to Home Depot and picked out a nice light grey color. It looks AMAZING! It doesn't exactly "match" the shutters on the front of the house but the colors flow well and it just looks so good. I'm very proud of us :-)

I have been wanting to get some pictures to hang up in the bathroom off the kitchen & I finally bought the ones I've had my eye on. They aren't hung up yet though...Mark did so much this weekend so I feel guilty asking him to do one more thing. Sometime this week I'll get them hung up.

I feel like there's so much more that's happened but I just can't think right now! I'll post pictures of our home improvements later this week.

Second best day of my life!

Dear Baby Testa-

I just want you to know that at approximately 1:40 p.m. on Tuesday July 20th 2010, the image of your sweet little face popped up on the ultrasound screen and changed my life forever.

I love you, baby!

Mommy

Quick Recap

For some reason, this blog has slipped my mind the last month. Maybe because nothing noteworthy has happened (that I can blog about at least). Here is a recap:

- I had my second baby doctor appointment on June 22nd. I learned my blood type, my weight was exactly the same as the first appointment and I have no diseases (thank goodness!). We got to hear the baby's heartbeat again, which always makes me smile! The doctor did I say I could be not as far along as I think I am - he's crazy but we'll figure that out at the next appointment.

-The ultrasound will be on July 20th - right around the corner! Mark and I have a bet - I think it's a boy, he thinks it's a girl. Loser buys lunch. I believe I'll be enjoying a free lunch ;-). Unfortunately, I won't be sharing who the winner is so you'll just have to wait until December, sorry!

- My cousin and her daughters were in town over the 4th and we had the chance to visit with them. We hadn't seen them in 2 years because they live in the Netherlands. It was nice to catch up with them.

- Half of the electric work in the basement is finished. The drywall was delivered yesterday. Hopefully Trevor and Mark can get started on that soon. I already have the paint color picked out!

That's all for now!