Charlie and I spent Memorial day weekend with family and relaxing. Saturday we saw Made of Honor with Paige and Marissa and then went to dinner. We went to On The Border and pretty much had the worst service ever. Between getting the wrong food or just not getting it at all. We ended up with one meal free at least. The movie was very cute. Next movie for this weekend...Sex in the City!!! I am very excited:) Anyway, Sunday we did some yard stuff and attempted to lay out (stupid clouds). Then we had ribs at my parents house. Yum! Memorial Day, we got up and went to the zoo! We had so much fun there and it wasn't to hot thankfully. We spent some time with Charlie's family and then went home to relax for the rest of the evening. Here are some pics from the zoo.....

Charlie, Brittany, and "Savannah" at the zoo:)

This post will be a little out of the ordinary. I am going to tell about a dream I had last night. I can remember everything in vivid detail, and I've been thinking about it all morning. Maybe you can see why after I am finished!

My brother Chris and I were walking in a seemingly empty neighborhood. In my arms, I had my daughter Savannah, who it seems was about 3 years old. The sky was dark gray, and completely covered with huge, menacing clouds. I remember we were in a hurry. An apocaplyptic event was about to happen, and Chris and I both knew it was coming. (Stay with me here). We were trying to get back to our house quickly, as the catastrophic event was moments away.

People were appearing on the street and we were frantically trying to tell them to get to a shelter. But they wouldn't listen. Savannah was holding on to me tightly, her little arms wrapped around my neck. I remember us being sad, because we had lost Brittany not too long ago. It was just us. As we got to our house, the air turned a bitter cold, and everything was starting to freeze. We rushed inside, dragging two kids from outside our house with us. I have no idea who these kids were, but I knew they were brother and sister. We shut all the doors, closed all the windows, and made our way up to the attic.

Chris started a fire with furniture we had chopped up for wood, and I had somehow brought up enough food and water to last us two weeks, which I believe is how long this event was supposed to happen. Within minutes, the entire house was buried in snow. Everything outside was frozen to death. Chris was huddled with the kids trying to keep warm, and I had Savannah wrapped in my arms, with blankets all around us. We were as close to the fire as we could be. Savannah looked scared. I remember looking into Savannah's eyes and giving her a kiss on the forehead reassuring her that everything would be alright. She hugged me and held on tight to her daddy.

And that was the end of the dream.

Pretty cool dream if you ask me! Apocalyptic event? Struggle to survive! Awesomeness. But what I keep thinking about is my daughter. Whether or not she will have that fair skin and sandy blonde hair, I won't know until later, but I saw my daughter, and held her. Even if it was only a dream, it was real to me!

This past weekend was not too busy but still filled with many activities. Friday was my end of the year dance recital. It went pretty well. All of the girls did great and it was a lot of fun. I am ready for a nice little break till we start back up again. Saturday I had no dance! Which excited me so very much. Charlie had to work, so I spent the day cleaning and preparing for the house warming party we were throwing on Sunday. Sunday came and we had a great turn out. We had all of our friends and families there and it was awesome! It was also a beautiful weekend. So after everyone left the house, Charlie and I laid out by the pool for some late afternoon relaxing. It was nice.

Savannah is still doing well and kicking lots now. She likes to kick all day long while I am at my desk. I think it is because she hangs out kinda low in my belly and when I sit in my chair at a 90 degree angle I am cutting into her space:) Sorry Savannah! But don't worry she had her revenge a couple days back when she hung out in my rib cage for about 24 hours. It was so uncomfortable. I could not get her to move. Finally when I went to sleep and woke up she had budged a little and by the early morning had moved all the way out. Thank God! We had a doctors appointment last week and I have officially gained a full 15 pounds. CRAZY! The doctor said everything looked good so we were happy! We later went and bought our first little onesie for her at Carters. We have gotten a couple things from people but we have not bought anything ourselves. It was fun to pick something out. She will look beautiful in it I am sure!

Brittany and I would like to thank everyone that came to our housewarming. We really enjoyed showing everyone our first home! I think Savannah's room was by far the biggest attraction. Personally, that's my favorite room right now too!

I have had the pleasure of enjoying a couple days off from work. I didn't do anything yesterday except for the dishes. When I am off this Thursday, I will have a couple more things to do to make up for my chilling out. I also lifted some weights and ran yesterday too. I can tell when I am really out of shape by how out of breath I am after running. I was able to lift a decent amount when I did the weights, but I could barely run for any extended amount of time. It was run, walk, run, walk, run, walk...so out of shape I am. Just need to keep at it. I don't want Savannah to have a wimpy daddy.

Baby update: We have come to the conclusion that Savannah is running out of room in Brittany's tummy. The baby is getting bigger, and is not able to free float around, and do somersaults at will. A couple days ago, Savannah firmly planted herself into Brittany's lower left ribs. And she wouldn't budge...for 24 hours. We thought it was odd that she was so high because Brittany has been carrying her really low. Brittany tried to nudge her down a bit, to no avail. Brittany tried to show me what it felt like by jabbing her finger into my ribs ever so slightly, and not letting up on the pressure. It didn't hurt, but I can definitely see how it would be more than slightly uncomfortable. Fortunately, Savannah moved back down after a day of playing in Britt's ribs.

We also went to our OB for a regular check-up, and everything came back fine and normal. One more visit in four weeks, then we transition to OB visits every two weeks. The closer we get to Brittany's due date, the more frequent we will be going to the doctor.

I will try to get Brittany to post again in a bit. I like hearing what she says about the pregnancy!

I was off 5 days in a row last week after working 8 out of 9 days. It was a break I needed. Day one was spent getting my colonscopy. Everything came back normal, so my doctor said I only have to have a colonoscopy once every two years, as opposed to once every year. Definitely okay by me!

Day two I spent digging and planting a flower bed in our back yard. I planted 2 Nana Nandinas, 4 Gulf Nandinas, 6 cases of Petunias, 1 Chaste tree, a plant called a Silverberry, and 2 plants that were on the 75% discount rack. I forget what the last two were called. The Chaste tree is already looking stressed, but the rest are doing quite well. I tried to find plants that thrived in sunlight, and had low water requirements. I was really hoping to plant Purslane instead of the Petunias, but I just can't find it anywhere. This was a tough job. I had to start from scratch and dig up the grass and dirt, lay down four bags of soil, plant the plants, add the stone trim, and then cover everything with cedar mulch. Here's a pic of my hard work:

Day three wasn't nearly as grueling as the previous day, but it was still quite a bit of work. All house work. Cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming the whole house, all the laundry, doing the dishes, sweeping, dusting, pledging, cleaning up after the cat and dog, etc. Doesn't sound like much, but that took up a good chunk of my day.

Day four I put together our grill for outside, and also put together a TV stand Brittany bought for our living room. We are excited about trying out our grill for the first time! Just need to get a propane tank and we are good to go! We also went to dinner at Brittany's parents house, and spent time with her family.

Day 5 was my day of rest. Brittany worked the Mother's Day brunch at the Marriott and went to a movie with her mom. I went to my parents' house for dinner to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom, and we had a very tasty Turkey dinner. Brittany and I got her one of those scented oil warmers. Bryan got one for us, and we love ours, so we thought it would be a perfect gift for my mom.

Now I'm at work again, and I'll be here 5 days this week. So much work, but at least it's overtime. We have an OB appointment this Thursday, which should just be a routine visit.

Baby update: The baby is still kicking up a storm. She is really active late at night and early in the morning. Wednesday will mark 23 weeks old! She will be a foot long and weigh a little over one pound! Most people think, "Wow, a foot long?!?! No way!" But remember, the baby is curled up. It's hard to imagine the baby is so big already!

Brittany and I are always talking about what we think she will look like. We both think she will have brown hair, blue eyes, freckles and her mommy's nose. I think she will have a more olive complexion, while Brittany thinks she will have a fair complexion. I think she'll have my ears, but we're hoping she has Brittany's small ears. We're saving the big ears for any future boys we may have!

Well, this is 7 out of 8 days at work for me. Needless to say, I'm on the verge of exhausted. One more day will make it 8 out of 9, then I have 6 days off. That's assuming I don't pick up any extra days. I go for a colonoscopy on Wednesday. I know that makes most people cringe, but it really shouldn't. You are under medication and asleep for the entire procedure. You don't feel a thing. In fact, the medication they give you is the best part! Apparently, I get really talkative when I get it. Brittany has not enjoyed our conversations afterwards. Apparently, I don't shut up! Assuming this exam goes well, my doctor will space my visits and exams to once every year, and once every two years, respectively. So cross your fingers for me! Ulcerative Colitis is nasty, but I haven't had a flare-up in almost a year now!

After Wednesday, I plan to do yardwork on Thursday. Going to plant a new flower bed in the backyard. I'll have pics up when I finish it. I'm getting really excited about landscaping my own yard! It's supposed to be 86 degrees on Thursday. I hope it gets hotter. I love the Texas hotness. I love sweating. Man, I'm getting pumped up...

Friday will be all housework: laundry, vacuum, cleaning bathroom, etc...fun day. BUT, that should leave Brittany and I with a free weekend! Not sure what our plans are for Mother's Day, but at least we will already have everything done.

Baby update: Not much of one except that Brittany is feeling the baby kick more now. It's not common yet, but every now and then she says she can feel her kicking. Brit will be 22 weeks on Wednesday. 18 more to go! You know, I honestly expected Brittany to be a little more hormonal than she is. She has been wonderful throughout these first 22 weeks. Somehow she is still patient with me and all my goofiness. We'll see at 34 and 35 weeks how she is when she's ready for that baby to come OUT!

I promised Charlie I would blog as soon as this happened and it did! And for those of you that know me know that I love "Friends". This is what popped into my head as soon as the baby KICKED!

Rachel: Joey! The baby is kicking for the first time! Will you please come feel this?!
Rachel: Aw, it’s unbelievable! Wow! She is kicking so much! Oh, she’s like umm…oh…who’s that kind of annoying girl soccer player?
Joey: Mia Hamm?
Rachel: Mia Hamm!

This morning I was laying in bed about to get up and I felt something. But I was half awake and I was thinking it was the covers. But I woke up some more and pushed the covers away and waited and there it was again. So much stronger and precise than ever before. It was very cool!