Hello/Goodbye

The changing of the seasons from summer to fall is always bittersweet to me.  I love summer's colors (watermelons, cantaloupe, lemons, limes, etc) but could do without the heat and humidity... and I love fall's colors (eggplants, pumpkins, changing leaves) and adore the cooler temperatures - though I could do without the fact that it leads into winter **shiver**  So in honor of the changing weather, I'd like to take a moment to say hello and goodbye to many other parts of my/our live(s).

Hello week 25... Goodbye toes!
Today marks the beginning of 25 weeks for me - where Peanut is measuring (according to last week's ultrasound at least) 1.5-1.75 pounds. 

Supposedly, he has a sense of equilibrium and can tell which way is down... if only he's make his way there!  He's still breech (or possibly breech/transverse based on his kick placements the last day or two) - and he's only got  12 more weeks to get his little tushy turned around!  Sad to say, but I'm officially huge now as I have lost the ability to see my toes beyond my belly (unless I curl my back in).

(24.5 week belly).  When we were at the doctor last week for the ultrasound, we were told that everything looked amazing and they were thinking about taking me off of the "high risk" list!  And then yesterday morning I got a garbled message from my OB (whom we had seen about 2 hours before going to MFM for the ultrasound where she said that everything was measuring exactly where it should be) saying that they wanted me to go in for a growth ultrasound (which I had sent over, they reviewed and said it looked amazing, but they're still ordering another one for next week) and weekly ultrasounds to monitor my AFI (amniotic fluid) levels from here out... so I guess we're not quite in the clear yet, but at least I get to see my little munchkin more often!

Hello 1 year anniversary... Goodbye smooching tree!
Nate and I went to Olive Garden for our first date - cutting out of work early the last Friday before Thanksgiving craziness hit - November 11, 2009 and had our first kiss under this beautiful tree in the parking lot.  Then, when we got married (eloped) last year - September 12, 2010 - we held our "reception" at the same Olive Garden and had a photo op of us playing smoochie face under the same tree. 

When we were discussing going out for our anniversary, me being the sentimentalist that I am, Olive Garden was the winner... and I planned a repeat photo op for posterity sake.  But nothing went according to plan!  I spilled the girls' dinner on my outfit I was planning to wear and had to scramble to find something else (one of Natalie's shirts that didn't accentuate the pregnant belly, but just made me look fat instead) last minute.  I realized that Nate's camera, despite being plugged up forever, was dead, then we scrambled to find batteries for Alyssa's - but it wouldn't turn on when I got there!  I ended up roping the hostess into taking a couple (very poor quality) pictures of us on my cell phone in front of the... bush? 

They chopped down our smooching tree because they'd had problems with people loitering in it around closing time.

Hello promotion... Goodbye Nate!
Next week (sometime after our Monday morning custody thing) Nate will be leaving for Phoenix, AZ for the week - the longest he and I have been apart since we started seeing each other.  But he'll be coming back with the promotion to General Manager In Training that they've been talking about giving him since the beginning of the year!  While the financial increase will come in handy with the addition of our little bundle, I know that the greatest reward will be the fact that Nate will be the "big man" again :)

In other news, Alyssa was nominated for the Young Peacemaker Award at the end of last year for being an exemplary student and excellent role model.