Well...a deep hole with water! :)

I just realized that I have started every one of these blogs so far with the word “well”…so, this time…I will certainly not disappoint and continue with tradition! :)
Well…(haha!) things are progressing along as planned with this pregnancy and while there isn’t really anything new to report, I’d thought I’d give you an update on what we’ve been up to lately!
I had a doctor’s appointment this past week and the doctor said everything looks great! Surprisingly (yes, that was sarcasm!) I am measuring a little big and the nurse believes that we may have a “BIG” baby on our hands! Ya think? LOL!! His heartbeat is really strong and he’s moving a TON! I keep teasing Justin that we may just have another “KICK-R” on our hands!! (inside joke for those of you that had the luxury of riding in the Probe back in the day!! Haha!)
Last weekend we started (note that I said STARTED!) our baby registry process. We walked into BabiesRUs and imagined that we’d only be there for a few hours. I mean, how difficult can this possibly be, right? LOL – to our surprise…the first item that we attempted to add to the registry (our travel system – stroller) took over an hour to pick out!! We collapsed and carried almost all of them around the store to see what worked, what didn’t, etc. – and even then, after we snagged a sales associate to help us with bedding and furniture, we decided to ask her advice on the stroller that we’d picked out...and needless to say…we deleted the one we selected and went with her recommendation! 4 hours later, we gave up with only 15 items on our registry! With the approval (and a huge smile of relief from Justin), I have decided to enlist the advice and guidance of my girlfriend who has been down this path before and allow her to ‘show me the way!’ We have yet to pick out a date…but she has graciously agreed to go back with me and help me add the items that we will need.

As an employee of the Walt Disney Company we have been tasked by the president of ESPN to commit to 30 hours of volunteer work over the course of this summer. And, I'm pleased to report that this past Friday, I swallowed a HUGE dose of reality by volunteering at Children's Hospital of Michigan and can not begin to express how much it put things into perspective for me. I often find myself complaining about being uncomfortable and having to pee every 10 minutes. Or, not having enough clothes to wear (maternity fashions are still extremely outdated!) but after spending 3 hours in the children's play area with some of these innocent little ones, I was humbled by their bravery. As a surprise for the kids, Mickey & Minnie joined us straight from the parks and lit up the faces of these little angels!! Ok, I can't lie - even a few of the adults in the room enjoyed the visit too! (see picture!) It was such a warm and comforting feeling to be part of something that, for a change, made these children feel like children again!! All in all, it was a VERY rewarding afternoon! I'm really looking forward to my next volunteer outing at the Detroit Institute for Children in July!
I guess that's all for now! Until the next time - I hope you're all enjoying the beginning of summer!

The Most Magical Place on Earth...

Well, I'm happy to report that we have officially "dried" out from our most recent trip to Disney World - aka the most "magical place on earth" and made it home, safe and sound! :) As our luck would have it, Florida was experiencing horrible flood-like rains the entire time we were there - go figure! (We should have known that something was in store for us considering that our luck seemed to be headed south (no pun intended) 10 hours before we took off for the sunshine state when Justin came home from his Wednesday night hockey league (code for beer league!) holding his side and in severe pain! Little did we know, he had broken 2 ribs...but of course, we wouldn't find this out until the week AFTER we arrived home! Poor guy!)

Anyway, back to our luck...so we land at Orlando airport and head to the luggage carousel to get our bags. Ann's bag - check. Brad's bag - check. Justin's bag - check. Amie's bag...NADA. Strike #2!! My bag was held at Detroit Metro by TSA (which we later learn is NOT the case but Spirit Airlines!) and will arrive later that night, after they have had a chance to go through it! Who would have known that my smuggling maternity clothes would have made me a target? LOL!! Thankfully, the next morning, my bag arrived, disheveled...but unharmed!!!

The next 3 days were spent dodging rains storms at the theme parks, all while uncovering the newest fashions in Florida (see poncho photo to the right!) However, the entire trip wasn't a complete washout - we did manage to catch a few rays in the early part of each day and had a great time taking in the sites!
I was a little nervous that I would get tired easily (it happened!) and that the heat would be too much (also happened!) but thankfully, it gave us an excuse to stop and sample appetizers in just about every location possible! Ha! We had some amazing food @ an Irish pub in Downtown Disney, in Germany, Mexico & Morocco (@ Epcot), and this great little Italian place in Hollywood Studios.
Needless to say we had a FABULOUS time on our last "adult only" trip and are looking forward to taking our little munchkin back once he can enjoy it!!