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Wednesday, June 20, 2012

San Antonio!


Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel.  ~Author Unknown
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It's been so long since I updated, so this is going to be a long post (as it doubles as my journal most of the time :-P).
I can't believe it's already the end of June... I guess time flies when you're wrapping things up at work, getting ready to move, moving across the country, starting a new job, and getting ready for a new baby to come.  But this long blog will have many pictures as well :)


Let's start with May:
Stephen left at the beginning of May to go down to San Antonio and start his new job, while I stayed in Rexburg to finish up the school year.  After much thought and prayer, I decided to take a week and a half of maternity leave so that I would be able to fly down and meet up with Stephen on May 23rd.  Work kept me very busy, and I worked late most nights so that I wouldn't have much time at home in the evenings.  It really was good, although I was worried that I would never get anything done!  Stephen and I were apart for 2.5 weeks, definitely the longest we've been apart since we were married, and being 7 months pregnant that was a little rough.  So many times I wished Stephen was there to take care of me (because he's good at doing that), but I was not without much help!  
First, Stephen packed up almost EVERYTHING before he left, and John, Mike, Gordon, Heidi, and Zak came an helped on multiple occasions to pack and clean before he left and after he left.  We were also blessed to be able to sell a lot of our furniture so that we wouldn't have to worry about packing that.
Boxes and boxes that Stephen Packed
While he was gone, Natalie fed me and made sure to check up on me, and Zak took me out to dinner on several occasions.  Joe and Jason came, and many members of the ward helped to load all of our stuff into the Uhaul and truck (and managed to fit it all!), and Joe and Jason drove it all they down to San Antonio after Stephen had found us an apartment.  They were real lifesavers, and helped me to remain somewhat rational when pregnancy hormones rendered me incapable of dealing with roadbumps (discovering that we had forgotten to have Joe and Jason take some of our things to San Antonio, having no where to send the fish, getting an ear infection a week before I was supposed to fly to San Antonio, cleaning the apartment when I was too tired to want to do anything).  I facetimed with Stephen whenever I could.  I am so grateful for technology that helped me stay a little bit rational as well and for Stephen for calling in help for me on many occasions. I am so blessed, and grateful for all the help that made this move possible.
The Beautiful flowers Stephen sent me for Mother's day.
Also, I can't forget to thank my wonderful coworkers for helping me so much to wrap up things at work.  Kayla especially helped so much to pick up whatever I couldn't finish, and never once made me feel guilty for leaving a week and a half early.  She even organized a little lunch/shower for me before I left, and my sweet coworkers gave me so many cute little baby things.  I'm really going to miss them and how they so patiently helped me through my first year of teaching.  It was an amazing growing experience.
Finally on May 22nd I took a shuttle down to Utah.  Grandma was there to pick me up, and I had so much fun spending an evening with her before she took me to the airport at 4:30 in the morning the next day.  I don't know what I would do without my sweet Grandma who takes such good care of me anytime that I need help and am in Utah.  The flights went well, there were no delays, and before I knew it I was in San Antonio.
In baby news, Etienne was growing and I could feel him a lot more.  I started getting tired again, and my back always hurt after long days of sitting in desk chairs, but it was so much fun the feel and see him wiggling, and especially fun the feel him get the hiccups.


Now on to San Antonio and more recent developments:
I arrived in San Antonio early that afternoon.  It was almost surreal to see my cute Husband there, because I felt like I hadn't seen him in FOREVER! :)  It was so exciting to see him.  He gave me a little tour and showed me our new apartment.  I love it so much, and he had already unpacked a lot of the big stuff.  We immediately went on a furniture buying rampage and thanks to Target, Walmart, and Craigslist, now have a fully furnished, super cute apartment.  It's so nice, and has two bedrooms and two bathrooms.  As of last week (June 13th-ish) we have officially unpacked everything, and this week I finally finished getting everything somewhat organized.  It feels like home now :).  
The view from our front door
Our living/dining area
View into the kitchen area
View out onto our back patio. My favorite part!  It's like our own little backyard 
Our bedroom.  We have a nice new bed, but we haven't chosen any bedding for it yet :) It's fine with me though, because I sleep with just the sheet anyway :-P 
Etienne's bassinet and my little vanity table.
Since I've arrived here we have been sampling what San Antonio has to offer in the way of barbeque.  I have to say that Smokey Mo's is my favorite, but Stephen prefers Two Bros. BBQ.  They both are delicious.  We even found a decent fish and chips place called Mr. Cod, which I love :).
Stephen has taken very good care of me since I got here, especially since I managed to contract a double ear infection almost immediately.  He's made many phone calls to sort out banking, phone, and insurance quickly and to get us going.  I've started seeing the midwives at Lonestar OB/GYN and have been very pleased thus far.
I've been pretty excited to be done unpacking so that I can work on Eti's nursery a little bit more.  I have a few more things I want to do, but it's coming together nicely.
Stephen putting together the crib that my parents got us.
The finished product
All ready :) 
book shelf
The other side of the room 
Cute Decorations
Stephen took a few maternity shots of me.  This one was a favorite, if you click on the caption, it will link to an album of a few more that Stephen took of me when I was 34 weeks pregnant
www.beckmanphotography.com
Etienne is running out of space in there and every movement results in much movement on the outside as well.  Sometimes even his hiccups will cause my stomach to spasm.  He doesn't like for anyone to encroach on his already limited space and pushes back when pushed on.  One day he even pushed his side out and I could see him "breathing."  The more I see him move the more excited I am to meet the little guy.

Speaking of "seeing" little Eti, the midwives thought that Etienne was measuring a little big, so yesterday (June 19th) they had me get an ultrasound to see just how big.  
My belly on the day of the Ultrasound (almost 38 weeks).
Etienne is very head down, and they had a hard time finding his head to get the measurements, but they finally got it, and they were able to take a sweet 3D picture.
A picture of baby Eti's first 3D picture :)
I love love love it.  My mom pointed out that he has Stephen's lips, and I totally agree.  I can't wait to kiss those little lips and squish those cheeks.  I was doing pretty good at being patient, but after seeing this picture, I definitely cannot wait to hold my little guy.
The measurements show that Etienne is measuring in around the 70th %ile.  They guessed that he is probably around 7lbs 9oz right now, and that, depending on when he comes he'll probably be around 8.5 to 9 lbs.  However, everything is looking great


Oh, back up, One last thing to share in this post (although there are probably a bazillion things to update, I will leave those other things for other posts).  Father's day was on Sunday and it was Stephen's first one :).  On Saturday we got a new car (which I think is definitely Stephen's favorite).  It's a denim blue 2011 Kia Soul, and it's super nice.  We're pretty excited about it, and especially excited to have a car without so many quirks.  We've been wanting another car so that I can get places when the baby's here, and this one was a great deal.  It's super nice to have two cars.
Stephen's New Car
Then on Sunday I gave Stephen his Father's Day Presents.  I got a matching shirt and onsie at this etsy shop, and then another onsie at this etsy shop, because I though Stephen would get a kick out of them.  He seemed to like them.