30 weeks!

How far along: 30 weeks! 75% complete
Baby is the size of a: cabbage and about 3 pounds!
Maternity clothes:Just the usual.
Food cravings: Not really. I have been thoroughly enjoying the Boston Creme Cake that I made :)
Anything make you queasy or sick: No. 
Miss anything: Sleeping any way I want.   
Boy or Girl: Boy :)
Movement:Before, I never really felt him at school, but that started to change this week. I have been feeling him throughout the day. At one point last week, when I was doing calendar time with my students, every time I stood up, he started to kick!
Best moment this week: SNOW DAY! We had a snow (more like freezing rain/ice) day on Friday! It came at the perfect timing. I was desperately needing a break. I was able to spend all day in my pj's :) The only bummer was that it took one day away from my maternity leave... NO!
Worst moment this week: Emotions. Emotions.   
Best kid comment about the baby this week: In math we have been learning about surveys. The survey that was taken today was: Would you rather be a child or a grown up? Every single one of my students answered grown up. I asked them why. Several girls said because they could have a baby. One of my little boys even said because he wanted to work and have a baby. 
Other tidbits:

• Baby gets the hiccups  about twice a day- once in the morning and once at night. I hope this is okay?!? He currently has the hiccups while I am writing this post.
•  Teaching is a really. hard. job. 
• Having a type A personality and being pregnant does not always seem to mesh well. 
• We have 99% selected a name! First name has been chosen (we prayed for the Lord to give it to us) for some time and the middle name was basically confirmed this week. 
• Don't even ask what the name is- you will find out the day he is born ;) I am a vault, baby, locked down. 
• Belly button is on the verge of popping out. I have been watching this closely for some time. Justin says that I am obsessed. On Friday night I thought that it actually popped and had a little freak out moment. I don't really want an outie. 
• I have a very slight linea nigra. I don't fully understand what this is. 
• The bump is definitely starting to interfere with every day life. It is harder for me to move around. 
• I have approximately 2 months until my maternity leave starts- and yes I am due in about 2 months. I am trying to work up til the last days. 
• That equals about 41 more school days- I started a countdown yesterday. 
• I am praying that I do not go into labor while at school. 
• Sometimes it feels like the little man is doing the splits on my hip bones. There seems to be pressure on both of my hips at the same time. He is either doing the splits or is maybe pushing one hip with his feet and pushing the other with his hands.
• The new blog layout is a result of a snow day and the fact that my old layout was somehow erased.

How have I been feeling: Feeling slightly more tired this week. I don't seem to have as much energy as I used to. Still trucking through! 
Looking forward to: Meeting our baby boy and seeing what he looks like!
Countdown: 1 1/2 weeks until our first baby shower! I am so excited :)

Biltmore Getaway

 For Christmas, Justin gave me two postcards and asked me to choose. One was a picture of the Biltmore Estate with a date weekend of staying a night at the Biltmore Inn, dinner at the Biltmore Inn, chocolates from the chocolate shop at the stables and fresh flowers. The other was a picture of downtown Asheville with a night at a suite in downtown, dinner at a fancy restaurant downtown, chocolates from one of my favorite chocolate shops and fresh flowers.

I chose the Biltmore package.

Three weeks ago, we packed our bags on Saturday for our date weekend. Our first stop: Babies R Us. Since we both had the day off (which never really happens these days) we took advantage of our time and finished our baby registry. After spending about 3 hours in Babies R Us, and with this momma to be getting very hungry, we made our way over to the Estate. We had lunch at the Bistro, which is a casual, European style restaurant near the winery. After lunch, we took a tour of the winery and Justin enjoyed some wine tasting, while I sipped on some yummy grape juice.

We checked into our room and rested for a bit.

Dinner at the Biltmore Inn is very formal, with a dress code. Remember this dress that I wore just a few weeks ago? I was planning on wearing it again to dinner, and after several tries, Justin informed me that there was no way that zipper was going up. I decided to wear one of my maternity dresses and try to dress it up a bit. 

 it no longer fit :(

Dinner was wonderful. There were beautiful chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, a huge, elaborate fireplace with a fire lit. We both split a pumpkin gnocchi dish, then I ordered the filet minion, while Justin got beef ribs. For dessert, we split a sampling of five macaroons.

Staircase going down to the dining room. 

As my parents like to describe it- it is like the Titanic

 When we got back to our room, we discovered that the Inn had turned down our bed, left a real red rose, chocolates and tomorrow's forecast on our bed. Fancy Smanshy.

 The next day, we grabbed some pastries for breakfast at the little bakery near the house and then walked through the Biltmore House and gardens. We ended our trip at the estate with lunch at Cedric's, an Irish pub restaurant on the grounds. (In all we at at 4 of the 5 restaurants on the estate!)

 haha- i liked his face in this picture :)

It was such a perfect weekend, perfect date and perfect Christmas present. With our very busy schedules it had felt like we had not had a date night or getaway in a while. Justin had kept asking me what I wanted for Christmas, and I couldn't think of anything. At one point, I stated that I would just take a date and some quality time with him. I also wanted to have a little weekend getaway or 'babymoon' before our little guy arrived. Even though our 'babymoon' was not a true getaway, I loved the time that I was able to spend with the man I love.  

Operation Southern Christmas: Part II

My entire family, minus Chris, Tessa and Kaitlin, made the trek down to the South for Christmas. Their flight was cancelled due to the massive snow storm that struck in the Midwest. It was a complete bummer because we were all looking forward to seeing them and spending time with them. Later in the day, we were able to Skype with them and do a present exchange :)

Christmas morning at my parent's house started with our traditional Christmas breakfast: homemade bear claws, Danish puff, eggs, sausage and hash browns. After we stuffed our bellies with bear claws, we headed into the living room to open presents.

One of the reasons why my parent's decided to not get a Christmas tree was because all of their ornaments and lights were still packed away in boxes up in Ohio. Since we successfully got them a live tree, with a stand (!) my sister, Jen, had the sweet idea of each kid buying an ornament or ornaments for my parents that made us think about them. We all bought an ornament, or two, and attached a love note or love explanation as to why we thought that ornament was special. We went around the room taking turns, giving out the ornaments.

 

The tradition in my family for opening presents is passing out one gift at a time, watching that person open their gift, and then oohhh and ahhhh over it. Although it takes a very.long.time for all the gifts to be unwrapped, I love doing it this way. I like seeing what everyone gets and the joy on their faces as they open their gifts.

The next part of the day was spent relaxing, playing with sweet little Emma bean, preparing Christmas dinner and Skyping with Chris and Tessa and Kaitlin.

We had our traditional Christmas dinner of Prime Rib, Yorkshire Pudding, Twice baked potatoes, and peas. Delicious! I think I need to start taking notes as to how to make all these yummy, traditional foods so that I can do it one day :)

After dinner, a group of us loaded up into two cars and drove to the Biltmore to see the house lit up at night. It was such a fun day celebrating with my family and I am so thankful that Justin and I were able to make it work to be at both of our families celebrations this year. I am also so very thankful that all of my brothers and sisters made it work last minute to spend Christmas with my parents. My parents are two of the most loving, hard-working and sacrificing people I have ever met and I am glad that we were able to bless them this year on Christmas. I am also thankful to the Lord for blessing me with such a wonderful, loving and godly family.