Note to Self

Self: just because a pair of shorts were fairly loose pre-pregnancy does not, I repeat does not, mean they will fit everywhere else but the waist mid-pregnancy. Unless you want to feel like a hippo, never ever try on pre-pregnancy clothes mid-pregnancy. It's not just your belly that has to expand. Other areas have to expand to accommodate growing a gorilla baby.

Ankles and Freckles

23 Weeks - Today is the first day I noticed that I now have cankles. I thought I was going to be able to longer without getting swollen, but no such luck. They don't hurt, but they look like they should. I've been good about propping my feet on a footrest while at work but maybe it's not high enough. I'll have to be sure to put my feet up when I'm at home, too. Hmm ... relegated to sitting on the couch with my feet propped up on pillows ... that sounds pretty great right about now!

This pregnancy has shown me that I have a freckle that has, until now, been hidden. Now that my belly button is getting shallower (by the minute, it seems), I'm able to see it in a whole new light. And just yesterday I discovered that I have a freckle smack dab in the middle of my belly button. I never would have known that had I not gotten pregnant.

My freckle total is now 12,001.

Color Scheme

I think we've decided on a color scheme for Gorilla Baby's room! The big green square will be the wall color and the dark green and pink will be accents throughout the room. (The wall color is a little more springy and a little less pea soupy in person)

I don't think I could have handled a pink room, but I definitely want there to be some pink accents - I want someone to know that it's a girl's room but I don't want to make them nauseous with pink-overload. This scheme seems like a good balance ...

First Kicks?

21 weeks, 4 days - I think I'm convinced that I've felt her kick! I haven't ever felt the 'flutters' that everyone talks about. These are more of a combination between bubbles and light pokes. I've felt them before but haven't been 100% sure that it's her and not something I ate.

But after lunch today, I felt it about 6 or 7 times within a few minutes. And even now, I'm not 100% sure ... but I'm like 90% sure. And that'll work for me!

Kick away, baby girl. I don't mind one bit!

GB at 19 Weeks

We'll scan some more in soon, but here's her 19 week picture. This is obviously not the shot where she's flashing her girl parts, but it's a pretty neat profile shot.

She's so pretty.

Trip to the ER

Lee took me to the ER early yesterday morning. Nothing baby related, thank goodness. But it was my arms. Something was seriously wrong with my arms.

At our OB appointment on Thursday, I noticed that my left forearm hurt. It was throbbing, like it had been punched. I'm a super-klutz, so I didn't even bother to mention it to my OB - I figured I had run into something or strained it somehow.

But later that night, the pain was in both forearms, and creeping up towards my shoulders. It was horrible. I'm too young to have a stroke or a heart attack, but it still had me worried. My tendons felt like they were being pinched all the way up both arms. I wrapped a heating pad around both arms and tried to get some sleep.

Around 3am on Friday morning, I woke Lee up. The throbbing was almost unbearable and my grip strength felt weaker in both hands. He made me an ice pack, suggesting that alternating between heat and cold might help. I fell back asleep and woke up at 5am to more throbbing and aching.

(How wussy does "My arms hurt" sound?! If it didn't happen to me, I would have a hard time believing that arm pain could be that bad.)

We were wondering whether I should just wait until Urgent Care opened at 8am or to head on the ER. After about 20 minutes, I decided that I couldn't wait until 8 - I had to do something. So off we went to the ER at Baptist Hospital.

They drew blood, checked my vitals, and even called my OB to ask her some questions. They checked the baby's heart rate to make sure everything was fine (it was). Final verdict: unknown. How frustrating.

They said they weren't sure what was causing it. They didn't think it was a blood clot, since I didn't have any swelling or redness in my arms, and I didn't have a fever. They said it could be carpal tunnel, but weren't 100% positive. One nurse suggested that the baby might just be sitting on whatever nerve in my back that connects to my arms. I got a prescription for Darvocet and was told to make an appointment with my OB next week.

So no known cause and I made Lee miss a half a day of work. I felt like a world-class schmuck.

Thankfully, when I woke up this morning, my arms felt better. They still ached a bit, but nothing close to how bad they hurt on Friday. Maybe the nurse was right - mabye GB was just sitting pretty on a nerve.

She's totally grounded if she does this again.

Ready or Not

So I thought I had it all planned out. In my mind, everything was set and it was just a matter of confirmation. And then things change. Three little words have changed our lives.

It's a girl.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

The first thing Lee said when we found out: "I'm so DONE." The second thing: "Well, I guess I just have to get ready to go to jail in about 14 or 15 years when the first boys start coming by the house."

(The ultrasound tech was kind enough to check about 5 or 6 times to make sure that the baby was a girl - Lee wanted absolute certainty!)

In addition to the baby being incredibly un-modest and flashing her girl bits for the world to see, we also got to see two healthy kidneys, a nicely-forming brain, the four chambers if her wonderful heart, and two spindly arms and legs (that look perfect to make jump shots with).

We're biased, but she's totally beautiful. (There's two ultrasound pictures where she does look look a little, um, scary ... but I'm hoping that just wasn't her best side ...)

She is measuring at 19 weeks, 3 days, which is just two days shy of how far along I actually am, so my due date remains the same - December 26th. Lee and I were also thrilled to hear that her head is actually measuring smaller than everything else, at 18 weeks, 5 days. Maybe our fears of having an abnormally large-headed baby are unnecessary now!

She was moving around like a champ during the whole ultrasound, but I still don't think I'm 100% convinced that I've felt anything yet. It's just a matter of time now.

Our plan was to have both set of parents over for dinner that night, and tell them all at the same time. So after our appointment, Lee swung by his parents' place to pick them up and I went to Party City to buy some pink bowls, pink napkins, and pink silverware (pinkware?). My parents met us at our house, and we told them all the news by surprising them with dinner served in the pink bowls. And my super-cute mom brought over Thin Mint Pie (which tastes as good as it sounds) for dessert, and right before she served it, she put a few drops of red food coloring into the Cool Whip to turn it pink. So, so cute.

Bring on the pink, the pigtails, the dresses, and the tea parties ... and also, the fishing, the golfing, and the basketball. :)

(by the way, if anyone listens to country music, the song "All-American Girl" by Carrie Underwood fits perfectly right about now ...)

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Weight gain: +10 lbs

Random Updates

Well I've already failed at keeping up with this blog on a regular basis, but I'll try again!

• I swear I've been more tired the 2nd trimester than the 1st - I actually felt pretty normal during the 1st trimester. I had major problems with being tired before I got pregnant, so I had a hard time believing that I could actually get any tired-er. And it's not that it any more than usual, it just happens earlier. I'd actually like to go to bed right now (6:21pm)
  
  
• I've gotten more and more headaches, which has been really frustrating. My doctor prescribed some medicine, but I hate relying on it to make me feel better. But I guess that's what it's for. I wouldn't be surprised if this insane heat is causing at least some of my headaches. It's unfortunate that I can't take a pill to make the temperature drop by 30 degrees and the humidity drop by 50%.
  
  
• Yesterday, Lee very, um, lovingly pointed out that my belly button looks different. And he was right. It's nowhere near poking out yet, but it's getting shallower by the day. I've gotten attached to my innie, and it's only a matter of time before it's full-fledged outie.
  
  
• I love maternity pants. I've never worn more comfortable clothes in my life. No zippers? Score! No buttons? Another score!
  
  
• I only have one more week of school. I didn't realize how preoccupied I've been with all the planning I want to do for the baby, but it's been insanely hard trying to concentrate on anything school-related. I had been planning on just taking off the Spring semester, but just recently decided to take off the Fall semester too. I'm stressed now, and I'm not big or uncomfortable yet, so I can't even imagine how I'd be next semester. There's no law that says I have to graduate by a certain date - it was just an imaginary deadline I set on myself. So I took it off! And I'm so happy with that decision. Lee's happy too. He can finally get a break from doing my share of the housework (Have I mentioned how wonderful my husband is? He is so very wonderful.)
  
  
• Oh, and we decided not to get the Triple Screen done. It just didn't seem worth it to us. If I were over 35 or either one of us had a family history of illness, then maybe we'd think harder about it. But we feel strongly that God will guide us through whatever He puts in our path. And that's really comforting.
  
  
• Add to the list of delicious food - fresh pineapple.
  
  
• We start birthing class next month. I'm really curious as to what we'll learn. Two of the classes are taught by the teacher's husband, so I know Lee will appreciate that part.
  
  
• Only 8 more days until we find out if we're having a girl gorilla or a boy gorilla!

I'll aim to update more, so that not all my posts are novels.

Silliness

Lee in his (ahem) super cool hat and me in my (ahem) super cool maternity shirt, showing off our bellies. As one gets bigger, one gets smaller!

(taken at 13 weeks)

Food, Prenatal Tests, and Weight Gain

I'm perfectly aware that the few people who DO read this blog probably won't be interested in most of the things I'm posting, but I'm doing this mainly as a keepsake for me. Feel free to ingore the mundane.

No real food aversions so far, except the smell at the fried chicken counter at Walmart really gets to me now. It never smelled especially good - now it smells especially worse. And it's unfortunate that the deli meat counter is right beside the fried chicken. And it's unfortunate that the slowest people in the world work at the deli meat counter at my Walmart. So I'm pretty queasy by the time I get home from grocery shopping. (Yes, I know you're not supposed to eat deli meat when you're pregnant - but my doctor said it was fine, and sometimes I even remember to heat it up before I eat it. So there, lysteria.)

Mexican food, specifically Taco Bell (which I'm sure it's up for debate as to whether or not that even counts as Mexican food, but whatever), has never tasted more delicious. I don't necessarily crave it, but when I do have it, it's absolutely wonderful.

Oh, and Krispy Kreme donuts? Yeah, I don't like them anymore. How weird is that? I used to love them - and few things were better than when you got them "Hot Now". But I've had them twice now, and each time I was highly disappointed. I couldn't even finish a whole one, that's how bad I thought they were. Did they change their recipe? They seem crispier (krispier?) and it's terribly sad.

I haven't felt the baby move yet - or maybe I have and just didn't realize that's what it was. My doctor told me that I might not feel something until closer to 20 weeks.

Right now, the big decision is whether or not to get the triple screen done. Lee and I have gone over the pros and cons of doing it and not doing it. I'm a worrier, through and through. And the high rate of false positives makes me nervous. And if something is in fact wrong with the baby, it's not like we wouldn't go through with the rest of the pregnancy. And chances are, I'd spend the next 5 months worrying myself sick. But if we don't get the test done, and something is wrong, we won't be prepared in advance for how to take care of a special needs child. needless to say, we've been praying a lot over this decision ... and we have to get the test done before I'm 18 weeks, so we're sort of on a time constraint.

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Weight gain: +5 lbs

I know that I WILL gain weight because I know I HAVE to gain weight, and I really have no problem with that, but it's still weird to see the numbers on the scale go up. And to see that my pre-pregnancy jeans that sort of fit a few weeks ago, sort of fit even less is still weird. It's becoming more real day by day.

(Lee and I have agreed that he'll match me pound for pound - whatever I gain, he'll lose. He's worried I won't be happy with him when I'm in my 9th month and huge and he's looking all svelte ... but I told him it'd be okay. I'd forgive him) :)

Finally an update!

Grab some popcorn - this'll be a long one ...

Wow. Okay, so I know it's been a bajillion years since I've last written anything. And I have no excuse other than that I forgot. And that I'm slightly scatterbrained. And that I've had a lot on my mind recently ...

Just when I thought that I didn't have any spare time, grad school kindly reminds me otherwise. I have no idea what I did with my afternoons and evenings before I started back to school. Did I just sit around and twiddle my thumbs? School is going well, and most of the courses have been pretty good so far, so at least it keeps me interested. But I still feel painfully out of practice when it comes to studying, doing homework, and writing papers. But so far I'm doing better in my grad classes compared to my undergrad classes. It's amazing how when you're really interested in a topic, you do better in that class :) Each semester I've gotten one A and one A-. I assume that'll be the same for the Summer semester too.

So there's that news. And there's the news of Baby Smith! Lee and I are seriously beside ourselves with excitement. We started trying around Thanksgiving '07 and on 4/26/08 at 4:30am, we saw two lines! [Happy 2nd anniversary to us! :)] I had taken about three or four pregnancy tests leading up to the 26th and they were all negative. I was getting really grumpy, especially because they don't give out those dang tests for free! I woke up early on the 26th and was on my way to the bathroom when I saw the last test sitting on my counter. I figured I couldn't get any grumpier, so I just went ahead and took it. Because it was so early in the morning and Lee was still dead asleep, I didn't want to make too much noise while I waited. I washed up, threw some clothes in the hamper, rearranged some clothes in my closet (I enjoy my OCD, thank you very much), and was on my way back to bed when I glanced down at the test. It was pretty dark in the bathroom, but there it was - the slightest bit of the 2nd line.

I ran into the bedroom and started shaking Lee to wake him up. I kept saying "It's positive! It's positive!" Lee's response (still half asleep): "You're positive about what?" Then he rolls over and goes back to sleep. So I shake him again and say "The test! The TEST is positive!" Lee's response (again, still half asleep): "But I didn't take a test." Then he rolls BACK over goes back to sleep. So I resort to (lovingly) smacking him on his arm and (politely) demanding that he get up. He finally woke up and realized what I was telling him.

We wanted to find some cute ways to tell our parents. So I found some bibs that said "I love Grandma" and "I love Grandpa" and bought two of each. I called my mom and asked if she and Dad could stop by our house that night, since Lee had some souveniers from his trip to NC that he bought for him (completely true, by the way). I tried to act all nonchalant, but I'm sure I sounded like a goofball. We stuffed Mom's "Grandma" bib into the coffee mug Lee got for her, and Dad's "Grandpa" big into a shotglass. The shotglass was from a rival school of my dad's - Lee loves to tease my Dad about that since Dad frequently says that Lee went to LSU instead of Tulane. Mom picked up on it immediately and started hugging Lee like crazy. Dad's pitching a fit (not really) about the shotglass, about how he most certainly did NOT go to Virginia Tech and that Lee should KNOW better than to get a crazy gift like that. He's holding the bib in his hand but hasn't looked at it yet. I asked what he was holding and he said "Oh it's some sweatband (?!) or something. I'm still mad about this shotglass!" We finally had him look at the bib, and he joined in the celebration.

Lee broke the news to pretty much everyone else with this story "Um, listen ... do you have a second? I need some advice. Okay, so I got this girl pregnant, and I need to know if I should tell Suze or not." He told it like a pro after the first five or so times. He even told that to one of our pastors at church (the pastor who married us!). It definitely caught him off guard, but it only took him about a nanosecond before he realized who this story was coming from. They can read Lee like a book :)

I called to set up an appointment with an OB and was told I had to wait until 5/15/08, which seemed like an absolute eternity. But that day finally came. We didn't meet with our OB then, but we met with her wonderful nurse practitioner. It took some doing but she was finally able to find the baby - it was too small for us to hear the heartbeat but we could definitely see it - a really quick flashing light. Just over a half a centimeter with a heartbeat! That blows my mind.

Overall, the first trimester was very manageable. I was nauseous a lot, but only got sick once. One of my biggest concerns was (and still is) that I got off my daily migraine prevention medicine once I got pregnant. I've read that many times, women who have migraines before they get pregnant don't have them after they get pregnant. But I'm still worried - especially since the only thing I can take is Extra Strength Tylenol, which is completely useless in my opinion (sorry Johnson and Johnson, or whoever it is that makes Tylenol, but it's true).
So far I haven't had too many bad headaches. I've gotten them more than I was hoping, but I haven't had a full-fledged migraine. The nurse practitioner prescribed some other headache medicine for me to take if I get a really bad one. Hopefully I won't have to use it, but it's nice to have if I do.

Our second appointment was on 6/9/08. Lee was out of town, helping his sister and her family move from Milton, FL to Fresno, CA. I knew I didn't want to go to the appointment by myself, especially if something went wrong, so I invited my mom to come with me. She seemed really tickled to be able to go. I got to meet my OB at this appointment, and she seems really nice. She wasn't able to hear the heartbeat with the little Doppler thing, so she had to do an ultrasound (score!). And again, it took a while to find it, but all of a sudden there was a baby on the monitor! A little alien-ish, but a baby nonetheless! It was really incredible. And it only took a few seconds before the baby started shaking its little arm buds and little leg buds. This is definitely his father's child. And we heard the heartbeat! A healthy 160 bpm! We got some really neat ultrasound pictures from that appointment. Although I wish Lee could have been there, it was really special to have my mom with me.

(And yes, I keep calling the baby a "he". Lee's called the baby a "he" from the moment we found out I was pregnant and it's rubbed off on me. Even though we say "he", more often than not, we call the baby GB, short for Gorilla Baby. I married into a BIG-baby-having family, so I have no doubt that this baby will continue the tradition. Lee jokes - though I use that word loosely as it's not funny at ALL - that the baby will be 18 pounds at birth. 16 pounds of head and 2 pounds of body. Poor kid.)

I'm slowly growing out of my clothes, which is a bit of a bummer since there's not a huge market for tall maternity clothes. Old Navy has been helpful, but not as much as I was hoping. I showed my pooch to Lee a few weeks ago and he said he didn't notice any difference. Now that means that either he thinks that I look like I *always* have a pooch or that he just can't see the bulge that I can. Let's hope it's the second one. :)

We had our third appointment on 7/9/08, again with the nurse practitioner, so Lee has yet to meet our OB. We were hoping for another ultrasound, but unfortunately (not really) she could find the heartbeat with the Doppler thing. There was all of this static noise at first and she said that was the baby moving around. Apparently he wouldn't be still for her to hear the heartbeat (again, such his father's child). My sister said it perfectly - "like trying to stab a grape with a fork!" :) Finally the nurse practitioner found it and it sounded great - 140 bpm!

We find out where it's a girl GB or a boy GB on 8/6/08! Can. Not. Wait!

First Day of School

So I'm really doing it - I'm going back for my Masters. School starts today, but since my degree is 100% online, I don't technically ever go to class. Lee thinks I'm getting my degree via voodoo :)

He's thought about going back to school, too - he may start his MBA in January.

I'm a little nervous, especially since I haven't studied for a test or written a paper in over five years. But I loved buying new school supplies - Office Max is seriously one of my most favorite stores. (Yes, I'm fully aware of just how nerdy that sounds.)

And hopefully by December 2009, I'll have a Masters in Instructional Technology with a certificate in Human Performance Technology.

Wish me luck.

Weekend Getaway to Helen, GA and Charlotte, NC

Despite our best efforts to escape this miserable heat (even if just for a weekend), we couldn't seem to find a place that wasn't in the 80s in the daytime. We even looked at flights to Minnesota - St. Paul was still 85 degrees ...

We decided to drive up to Helen, GA and spend a day there - where the temperature was really comfortable in the morning and at night. Then we drove over to Charlotte, NC and spent a day there - where the temperature was not so comfortable in the morning, day, OR at night. It was very Pensacola-like. Eh, who cares. Lee and I get a kick out of road trips.

We played putt-putt on top of this big hill in Helen - it had been raining pretty much all day but the course was still open. Only a few holes had water hazards.



Can you tell that my golf ball is floating in water?


The view of downtown Helen from the course




Windmill across the street from our hotel


Our cute hotel


The morning we left, Lee wanted to stop at this model railroad exhibit.
I wasn't too keen on the idea, but it was really, really cool.


Bird's eye view


They even had a marching band :)


We hiked up to Ruby Falls before we left for Charlotte


The shiny-cheeked couple at the bottom of the falls

Sister Hazel!

Yes, I love them. And yes they've had more than that one popular song back in the 90s. And thankfully Lee agreed to go with me to hear them play when they came to Pensacola Beach last week.

I'm sure he'll deny it, but I've gotten him to like their music.

They had a great band called Ingram Hill open for them. I've never heard of them before that night, but they were really, really good.

Yay!


Lee getting himself pumped up for the show


Ingram Hill


Sister Hazel


It was an awesome, awesome show. It was well worth being totally exhausted for work the next day.

Midlife (?) Crisis

(I've really got to do better about only posting once a month ... thanks for the reminder, Jess :) )

Lee's birthday was this past Sunday. I won't say which birthday it was (but I will say he's older than 34 and younger than 36).

He was joking that he's hit his midlife crisis. But instead of getting the fancy sports car that's typical of a midlife crisis, he finally got his fancy TV.

He's so excited.

He named it Lee, Jr.

Spring Has Sprung

The woman who sold us our house was an impressive gardener. It was obvious that she had put a lot of hard work into keeping her plants look beautiful.

Little did she know that she sold her house to a plant killer.

I haven't had much experience with plants, but what little experience I do have hasn't been pretty. But when we bought this house, I felt like I should at least try to maintain what she already started.

And lo and behold it's worked (so far, at least)! They survived complete neglect for a few months - and all it took was some watering to bring them back to life.

I bought these $.88 petunias from Lowes - sort of as 'tester plants' - to see if I could keep plants alive that I bought myself. So far, so good. They've been sturdy enough to survive so far. I definitely didn't want to test that theory with expensive plants right off the bat. Maybe I'll graduate to grown-up plants one day.

The next pictures are of our plants in our backyard:

This is one of the coolest plants I've ever seen.
It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I realized that it wasn't fake!
It looks like a ceramic plant, but it's definitely real.

I think the official name is "Hens-and-Chicks". Or something like that.

Plants on our back porch:

My neglect affected this plant the most.
I had to remove every single leaf - all that was left was the vine thing.
I'm happy to see some new leaves growing.

And we just ordered our first piece of married furniture (minus the coffee table)
I'm so excited about it! (and I totally love the orange wall)

1 Down, 59 to Go!

I can't believe we've already been married a year. It's been such an awesome year.

Lee sent me flowers at work on Friday morning. So fun!

Before church on Sunday, we exchanged gifts. I gave Lee a Japanese Magnolia tree for us plant in our backyard. It was my roundabout way of keeping the 'paper anniversary' tradition.

close-up of the pretty flowers

Lee's present to me was the coolest paper anniversary gift ever - a customized print of the 17th Avenue Graffiti Bridge.
(look closely at the center of the bridge - !)

After church, we went to Sunday Brunch at Skopelos - the scene of the crime ...
Thankfully, the weather a year ago was much prettier than it was today

After brunch, we went home to take a nap (Lee knows me so well ...). When we woke up, Lee was telling me that he felt really sick, that something he ate must not have agreed with him. He asked me to run to Tom Thumb to get him a Sprite. I, being the concerned wife, happily obliged.

When I got back home, after getting him three different drinks AND crackers, I see Lee's April Fool's joke: all my luggage is laid out on the sidewalk, with a note that said "It's not me ... it's YOU". Thankfully the luggage was empty ... though he said that won't be the case next year :) Very well done on his part. Lee - 1; Suze - 0.

And we ended the night with a piece of the slightly freezer-burned, but still surprisingly tasty top part of our wedding cake. Kudos to J's Bakery and my mom's outstanding wrapping abilities.

I'll start thinking now about next year's April Fool's joke ...

Too Much Food; Not Enough Sleep

We're back! And we're totally exhausted. But the exhaustion is 100% worth it.

A quick recap:

• Karen and Mike's wedding was amazing. I have never seen a more stunning bride than my sister - she was the epitome of beauty.
• We saw the Blue Man Group after the wedding; what an awesome show that was. I've heard their shows are an acquired taste - it's not for everyone. But it's definitely for me. I'm pretty sure Lee liked them, too
• We ate some of the most amazing food we've ever tasted
• We saw some of the craziest people we've ever seen
• It took about, oh, 3 seconds before being bombarded with call-girl business cards got old
• Lee and I took an afternoon to see the Hoover Dam. And this is where it became apparent to me that I married someone who likes to read every single one of those informative signs. Seriously - every single one. And wants to take pictures of every single one.
• The drive up to San Francisco is absolutely gorgeous. In fact, it's gorgeous enough to keep us from paying attention to speed limits. Thankfully the CHP was nice enough to inform us of this. Ouch.
• Napa is breathtaking. The whole landscape looks fake - like we took a picture in front of a green screen and someone came in after the fact to add some gorgeous mountains
• San Francisco is awesome. The hills are absolutely insane. It gets up to a 45 degree angle in some places. It's actually like a really slow roller-coaster.

Here are some pictures - I know there are a lot; feel free to skip though them!

Vegas, baby!!

Mike and Karen's Wedding

The hilarious shirt Mike wore the morning before the wedding.

Karen, right after getting her hair and make up done.
She's so pretty.


Lee and me after Karen and Mike's wedding


Mike doing his toast. I love Karen's expression in this picture.

Blue Man Group

We tried to get him to smile ... no such luck

Lee posing with the background band members for the Blue Man Group

Casino shots

The view from the top of the Stratosphere


Lee on the ride that's off the top of the Stratosphere.

The Luxor, home of a delicious Sunday Brunch

The roller coaster in front of the NY NY ...

Yep, still don't like roller coasters

The water show in front of the Bellagio

Paris

Hoover Dam trip

View from one of the lookout points they have along the Dam

Hoover Dam big-horned sheep!

The white section on the rocks is where the water line used to be.

It's dropped 80 ft; they expect it to drop another 15 ft by September.

Lee pointing to the American Society of Civil Engineers sign.
He's such a nerd.



The Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay

Jellyfish are so pretty behind a glass barrier

Cute fish

Freemont Street Experience

It was NASCAR week, so they did a car theme for their light show.



California

Ouch.

The worlds tallest thermometer.

It's hard not to be jealous, I know.

Really cool windmills along the Interstate

Wine Tasting in Napa Valley

All the vines are dormant right now, so we didn't see any grapes, but even dormant vines are amazingly pretty. Hopefully we'll be able to go back when the grapes are out.

Nickel & Nickel Winery

Inside their cellar

Pride Mountain Winery

Lee playing King of Pride Mountain's Rock

The view from the picnic area at the top of Spring Mountain

Domaine Carneros Winery

Doesn't this look like a fake background?!

Me, Lee, and Christi ... I think you could buy a bottle that big (I think it holds a case of wine), but it's mainly for picture-taking purposes.

San Francisco

We just happened to make a turnoff from the main road,

and it led us to this little lookout point. What an amazing view.

There are gorgeous flowers like this all over Fisherman's Wharf

Sunbathing sealions! I had no idea how noisy these fellas are -

we could hear them inside the restaurant where we were for lunch.

A crayon portrait I made of us during lunch at the Sealion Cafe.

Pretty impressive, huh?

I didn't realize just how many pictures I took of the Golden Gate Bridge!

The famous cable cars. I LOVED riding them.

With all the big hills, it's like a roller coaster ...

but with them going at about 3 MPH, it was like a

really, really slow roller coaster - just my speed.

It sort of became a tradition throughout this trip to

take pictures of Lee "interacting" with different things.

It made us laugh the entire trip :)

Lee tickling Lance Burton's nose

Holding up the Port of San Francisco sign

Poking a sealion on the nose

Holding up the US Department of the Interior sign

Tickling Big Boy's arm on the World's Tallest Thermometer

I commend anyone who made it to the end of these pictures! Bravo!