Da Bears... In Charlotte!

This post is well overdue, but such is life right about now. Back in August the Chicago Bears played their first preseason game in Charlotte against the Panthers. Of course Joe and I were excited because it was an easy way for us to see them play. Even more exciting? They played the day of our anniversary. As soon as I saw the schedule come out I told Joe that would be our anniversary date. But wait, it gets even more exciting. The Bears team actually stayed at my hotel! 

The day of their arrival my job was to give the Owner, General Manager and Head Coach their key packet and ask if they would like assistance up to their rooms (suites of course). Mr. McCaskey was the one I ended up showing to his room and he was a very nice guy! The next day when the team was loading the bus to head to the stadium he actually walked over and said hello to Joe and I. He recognized me and remembered that the previous night I told him how big of a Bears fan my husband is. Joe and I were both in a slight state of shock I'd say.

Oh and my boss even let me wear this shirt underneath my suit the night of the team's arrival. I got a few good comments on it of course.

Here we are stopping on our way to the stadium to snap a picture. I was surprised by how many Bears fans there were around, especially for a Friday night game.

The sunset was gorgeous at the start of the game.

As you could expect with a preseason game, the starters did not play for long. We ended up leaving at half time to head home. It was an awesome experience and special for so many reasons!

Weekly Pregnancy Update (12 Weeks)

Joe and  I decided it was time to officially start documenting the pregnancy. As you can probably guess I've been browsing Pinterest for a while for some great ideas. We decided on weekly (or biweekly, depending on how this goes) pictures in one same outfit plus some tidbits on my progression. I liked this idea because it should be easier to truly compare each week. So a little over a week ago I went online to buy a dress. Yes, that's right, I bought my first piece of maternity clothing! Small milestones like this make it all seem so real. I figured this type of outfit would look nice for the pictures and I can still wear it to work once I do start filling out. Dress is from Pink Blush Maternity.

Here goes our first pregnancy blog post! So far no one could guess I was with child. Just a little bit of a pooch, but nothing my normal clothing don't cover up. That's good news so far, because all my clothes fit just fine. No need to buy more maternity clothes... yet.

Week Number: 12 weeks, 2 days
Baby Size: Peach (3 inches long)
Sleep: Still sleeping pretty well. I do get up maybe twice a week to run to the restroom. Otherwise I wish I could sleep 10 hours each night. At least on the weekends Joe has been great and let me sleep up to 12 hours. Yes!
Movement: Nothing yet
Food Cravings: I don't know if I would consider any of these actual cravings, but bread and other carbs taste pretty good right now. This week the Chicken Pot Pies you throw in the microwave have been tasting extra good, but that could just be my tastes normally. Oh and we finally bought peanut butter and that taste delicious!
Food Aversions: This whole first trimester I have put up a big fight against vegetables.Will this ever change?
Symptoms: I'll just throw it out there, I burp and hiccup a lot. That is one symptom that none of my books have warned me about. It can be gross and uncomfortable at the same time. I will also say everyday is completely different. Some symptoms I feel one day might not appear the next. Otherwise the symptoms are pretty normal (growing pains, headaches, fatigue, etc.) I wouldn't necessarily classify my pregnancy as having true morning sickness, but there have been some days where I thought it would happen.
Belly Button: Still an "innie"!

Best Moment Of The Week: Receiving gifts in the mail from our great families and friends. Thank you all who have sent best wishes (and onsies) our way, we so appreciate it!
Looking Forward To: Getting over the first trimester hump and on to more energy, less headaches and no queasiness.

Will Pale Ale

The start of this picture dates back to May 24th, right before Scott and Amy's wedding. Joe, my mom and I had visited the restaurant where the rehearsal was set to take place and visited a florist to order flowers for the night. Before picking my dad up from the airport and welcoming other family members to Rhode Island we made a pit stop. We wanted to pick up some beverages and snacks to enjoy. We stopped at a small liquor store to grab beer and wine. Well while there we spotted Newport Storm Will Pale Ale. I mean, could you dream up a more perfect beer for this special weekend? We're in Newport for the wedding and the Will part should be obvious (my maiden name). We bought a six pack along with some other local beer and wine. The checkout guy actually pegged us perfectly. When paying or the booze he said "you guys must not be from around here." We laughed pretty hard at that comment. What gave it away, the selection of local drinks or our lack of New England accents?

Anyway, back to this picture. My dad carefully packed up the Will Pale Ale bottles (once we emptied them of course) and brought them back to Iowa so he could work some magic. He removed the labels and had them framed. They look so cool, we were very impressed! What better place to hang it than our butler's pantry (aka Joe's liquor stash). The anchor below the frame is also from the wedding weekend. Each guy at the rehearsal dinner got one. They're not necessarily or display, it's actually a bottle opener. How appropriate!

Big (Baby) News

Before I go wild on this blog about baby/nursery/my growing body updates I figured I should put the most important part out there... we're having a baby. That's right, this family of two is finally expanding! We're pretty darn excited and anxious at the same time. We were able to tell both sets of parents in person and at the same time. That's a pretty rare thing and it was amazing. The picture below is one we took of the nursery (yes, we have quite a bit done already. More on that in later posts). We framed it, wrapped it and waited for their reaction. Emotions filled the room immediately and the questions followed. We had kept this secret from them for over a month, which was not easy at all! Now the word is out and I'm anxiously awaiting a growing belly.

Photo Friday #50

I took a walk through Uptown Charlotte this week. Yes, I was on my way to meet a client, but I also had a bit of time to kill on my way. The weather was perfect. Well I shouldn't say perfect, I would prefer it to cool off a bit more. I love Fall weather! Charlotte just opened up a great new park and green space. It's part of a multiple year effort to bring more outdoor space to Uptown. It was pretty cool and I stopped to snap this picture. Charlotte's a pretty cool place.