Sept / Oct Updates (weeks 33 to 37)

Besides just trying to make this house a home for the past month, we have had a few other things going on here. However, don't get me wrong, we have been trying to do as much as possible during the week and weekends to "fill space" as we say, lol, so that alone has kept us pretty busy in our own little world. The two most complete rooms are probably the dining room (for our upcoming Thanksgiving celebration) and the nursery for "junior" who surprisingly is sneaking up on us. Only 3 more weeks to go! More to report here....we had the doctor suggest an ultrasound yesterday to make sure he is still growing accordingly. If not, he was ready to induce but I was ohhh not ready just yet. Apparently he thought my belly looks small this week but come to find out I have lots of hiding spots and room so it doesn't poke out. He is snug with plenty of fluid and nutrients deep within. At 7lbs and 56 percentile, he is right on track. 155 heart rate and limbs measuring on point for his gestation. No worries but we got some cute pics out of the ordeal! Yay, I love checking up on him. Look he has his dads pouty lips and the Fagan chin, adorable! Some other things we have been up to are weekend activities like visiting my Aunt Candy and Uncle Mike at their second home in Keowee,SC. The guys went golfing, the girls went shopping and cooked dinner. We all spent the night and enjoyed a little getaway together. Visited our friends house for a full day of college football games, went to the Square in Lawrenceville for Rock n Ribville, and had my parents over for a cookout. Dad and Joe did a dry run with the turkey fryer to make sure they had the Thanksgiving touch. We deep fried a 3 lb small turkey, lobster tails and french fries. It was quite delicious! We also had our first baby classes at the hospital, Newborn Care and Breastfeeding Basics (luckily Joesph wasn't the only guy there, phew, I would've felt bad but would have felt worse if I was the only one without a partner, ha) They are a couple hours long from 7-9pm after work at Gwinnett Medical with about a total of 10 couples (someone even brought their parents for a refresher course, interesting). We are both glad we picked up some nuggets of information in preparation but no matter how prepared you think you are, you aren't ...are the dear words of my friend Ashley. So we also know we are ready to "wing it" by the seat of our pants. Yet we still hang the certificates they gave us for attending the class on our fridge with pride, lol. And finally, I got to redeem my birthday present that Joseph had given me for my birthday. I met my mom on the square in Gainesville at Princeton Spa for a massage. I told the lady to please focus on my feet and shoulders. Wow, amazing, I think she temporarily healed my swollen feet from all the moving and fluid accumulation. It felt like a miracle. There was also the Mule Camp yearly festival going on that same weekend so we made a day of it downtown Gainesville. It was a nice fall day to play "hookie" from work. So other than all this it's just been basic work weeks, getting the townhouse ready for the renter, painting or shopping, chasing Allstate for our claim and wondering if our little guy will come early or right on time. To be continued....Ps - ask Joe about his feelings on getting a flu shot, haha

MOVING!! and the Gwinnett County Fair

Finally , we can say we have finished all our financial and loan paperwork we started towards the end July after putting an offer on a house in Buford. It seemed to have everything we needed so we jumped on it after looking at multiple homes for months. We closed on it last week and now are in the midst of moving. We have a lot of work ahead of us to make it our "home" but we couldn't be more excited to start our new life in it. The nursery is one of the first rooms we will have completed too. Joe is working on painting it tonight (navy and white)to match the bedding we had made. Right now it is more of a royal and pale blue. Also, the furniture has shipped in from overseas waiting for us in their Georgia Babies warehouse and is all ready to be delivered tomorrow. We don't even have our master bedroom or living room yet, lol. This weekend we plan on looking for all new things. We were too afraid to buy anything in advance in case the closing didn't go through or jinx it so this will be a fun task in the month ahead before "junior" gets here! Besides all this work, we did have some fun. The Gwinnett County fair is in town and we went there last week. Sadly since I am pregnant I had to bypass all the rides, I was quite bummed out. I kept urging Joe to ride them without me so I could live through him vicariously but he declined, ha. Instead, we competed in friendly competition of basketball which we both lost, neither of us made a basket, lol. We tried to win a lizard, crab or goldfish for throwing a ping pong ball in a bowl of water. We only got one ball so we won a goldfish but forgot to pick it up later, oh well, the kitties might have taken a grab at him at home so we probably spared a life. Then last but not least we did the squirt guns to see who could get the clown to the top first. We were the only ones playing so it ended up we both won one time, ha! We like those odds. So, in the end, we did win two stuffed animals for junior. Then off to find more carnie stuff to buy which led me to the airbrush trucker cap station. Joe made friends with the dudes running the tent there. They were all from San Antonio so they were talking Spurs & showing him pictures of the game they went to. Small world! Finally, festival food, don't leave one without it. To sum it up, it was a fun, successful & delicious day :)

Labor Day Aug 29- Sept 1st, Charleston SC

Since the weather had an 80% chance of rain in Destin area, we last minute (literally the night before) decided to book a trip to a sunnier destination which ended up being Charleston, SC. We found the cutest 2 bedroom, 2 story cottage downtown to stay at near King Street where all the action was with an indoor house kitty included named Boogs, lol. Ironically the owner Jack knows my Aunt Candy's niece, named Candace (after her) they work together at Kiawah. Small world! He's a caddy there and she does event planning. They both promised me they would try to get Joe on the ocean course if he comes back on a non holiday for free, amazing, it is usually $350 a round!! Anyways, the house was in a great central location for us. The beaches were only about 15 to max of 25 min away so we had a nice mix things to do in the area. We first spent time at Sullivans Island which was more quiet and less shells, calmer waters. However, while we were there we did stop by Folly Beach to check it out (known to be the action spot) but there were many more ouchy shells, rocks and stronger currents in the water which lead us back to Sullivans before heading out of town. When we weren't at the beach playing frisbee, body surfing, or Joe finding sand dollars with his toes... we were doing some site seeing downtown of the historic homes, custom house, city market, old post office and marinas. There was even a market festival going on this weekend and we of course had to stop at it like all festivals we spot. I think we only bought about 3 varieties of peanuts,that's it, HA. The breakdancing street performers there were quite entertaining though, they couldn't have been older than 15, spinning around on their hands, heads and bodies to pop music in the town square. We worked up an appetite each day but it was easy to find some great dining spots, our highlights were Stars, Hanks, Leon's, and Queen 82. There was an hour wait for the infamous Poogan's Porch so we bypassed that for lunch but maybe another time and same with Bowen's Island. It was closed on the Sunday we drove out there but snapped a picture of the sign at least for our little almost 2 year old nephew, Bowen. We were hoping to get a t-shirt for him but once again, another thing to come back for. It was a good opportunity for us to get outside and get some excercise. We didn't realize it but between walking the beaches, fighting the ocean currents, playing frisbee and the long stretch of King Street that we shopped...our dogs were barking. I might have been just as excited to relax one late afternoon as Joe was for College Game Day kickoff (like a kid at Christmas) so we spent it on the couch snacking and watching football rivalries one right after the other into the night. It was our official first UGA game together so I had to document this moment especially since the Dawgs whooped on the Clemson Tigers!! And in the spirit of sports, Joe also brought his clubs for this trip being that this area has a ton of courses. He played a twighlight round of golf at Shadowmoss. I rode along shot gun in the cart and would greet him on the green with his putter and to pull the flag out on each hole. Big help I was, lol. This is part of his new life goal to play golf in every state. So I think he has only 46 more states to go, ha! Like Sandy said, "it's good to be ambitious" So I'll keep you posted on this outcome if this blog is still rocking in 40 years :)

28 weeks, Baby shower, Storkvision & Sandy's birthday

Just a quick follow up from my last post, I went in for my 28 week checkup and performed my glucose test I talked about. First chugging the Fruit Punch Capri Sun tasting liquid from the bottle, this was after I locked myself out of the house so I drank it on the way to office the hour before doctors visit. Then they drew blood and said results in one day. Despite the cinnamon pretzels and gummy bears I had eaten the day or two beforehand, I passed!!! I will post the clean bill of health letter next to my candy jar, hooray! The doctor actually said carb restriction before the test is bad, I said "no worries, that's all I consume" so my levels weren't elevated (just an inside tip there) ANYWAYS.... Joe was in Chicago this week for two manufacturer visits, one to Sturtevant Richmont then over to Regal Cutting Tools. He had plant tours, product training and meetings with management to introduce himself and get to know the people behind the companies we represent. Poor fella was tuckered out, lots of travel and knowledge to be had from Monday morning til Thurs night when he got home. Excitingly when he did arrive, he met us at the Georgian Terrace. I had picked up Sandy, Sean and Kayleigh from the airport. They all flew in on the same flight from San Antonio for the baby shower weekend. We were so thrilled they were all able to come and celebrate. The same Thursday, Aug 14th that they arrived was also coincidentally Sandy's birthday so we had to do it in style. First I made an appointment for 5:30pm for Storkvision so after I picked them up, we headed straight there to see what the little munchkin was up to in tha belly. Joe and I were both so anxious but excited to see how much he had grown and to share that experience with Schatzie was too much fun! Even Sean got into, Joe called him from Chicago but he was like "hey I gotta go man, this is pretty neat" haha It was too funny. Sadly he is still breech but on a lighter note he made us laugh as he was putting his feet over his head and holding foot. We may have that male cheerleader we talked about with this flexibility. lol Since Joe got in late that night, we stayed downtown Atlanta at the Georgian Terrace in a suite so we could all stay together, had dinner and drinks and waited for Joe's arrival. We watched people, cars and motorcycle action on the outdoor patio across from the Fox Theater. Dinner was a hoot, everyone was in the mood for casual so that is exactly what they got! We went to The Vortex, a food channel network mention for amazing hamburgers, colorful people and ambiance. Hence the picture (sorry Sandy, I had to share)of the "good luck" charm on the way out the door. The next day was strictly a tour de Georgia adventure from the GA Aquarium to Stone Mountain then up to Coastal Breeze for dinner. I think we hit most of the major cities within a 24 hour time span. We were all tuckered out on Friday night from that big day of site seeing and crashed early as we all had to get up early for Saturday's shower at 10am. This is when we headed to Marietta to my aunt Candy's house who hosted it while the guys shuffled off to TopGolf in Alpharetta for some man time together. It was a great afternoon, Joe and I were so blessed to have such great friends and family spoil us with such a lovely array of gifts and just taking the time out of their weekend to spend it with us for baby Mann's arrival. It meant more to us than anyone knows!! Thanks again for an amazing day. Sorry all the shower pics are on our new camera and we haven't transferred it to the computer yet, work in progress!! Oh and a special shout out to Kayleigh and Sean for their amazing wrapping job of the high chair, haha, I was impressed how well they pulled that off :) The rest of the Saturday was up to the lake for our out-of-towners to swim, tube and boat ride around Lanier. I took 5 and just relaxed up at the house with mom. I was pooped and my body was telling me I needed a lil R&R. Then, when everyone came up we had a nice seafood spread from Skogie's at the house which brought the close of the trip to an end. Sandy, Kayleigh and Sean had to head out bright and early for an 8am flight and we hated saying goodbye but once again "see you soon" and unbelivably around the same time we have our new addition to the family. 2 more months to go!

24 week checkup

With all the travels and things going on in the last few weeks, I haven't updated much on Baby Mann. Well for starters, as you can see we still don't have a name. We have a few in mind that we have toyed with the idea and asked others which they like but haven't solidfied an official birth certificate "see it in ink" name. I think we are both waiting for that "Ah Ha" moment so until then, he is still Baby Mann. However, no matter what we call him, he is still doing well in there. Last Thurs, July 17th, I had my 24 week checkup with Dr Watkins. She actually is due in Sept herself (a couple months before us) so she can really relate to what is going on with me. I finally had a little iPhone checklist I started the day before of questions like "why does only one foot swell and not both" She answered because that is the side the baby favors more. This seemed odd because the kicks and feeling of more movement is on my right side but its my left one that looks elephanty. Oh well, at least there is an explanation there and it is not due to anything being wrong with me like too much salt or a sign of preclamsia. The sneezing is caused by the progesterone which causes all the mucus to rumble around in my nose. Phil in our office has given up on say "bless you" because he knows I can sneeze up to 10 times a day. No worries! lol He said he has never known someone to sneeze as much as me. Congrats, a new accomplishment here. The pain I felt when getting up from sitting on couch or out of bed is due to the lower muscles being stretched as the uterus grows, once again, completely normal and happens to all. Phew! I asked about when he will turn around so he is not breech. This happens by the 34th week so I have some time to move him around to avoid a c-section. This is also the same week that is the end of flying. They don't recommend boarding a plane any later in your pregnancy. I don't know why I asked because we have no plans to go anywhere but in my head "just in case" we want just one more last minute trip besides the drive to Destin, I thought I would see. lol Then finally, I knew I had another test coming up so I wanted to find out when and what it was all about. This is the gestational diabetes test. I swallow a bottle in 5 minutes of this reddish liquid exactly one hour before my next appointment (no food or drink after midnight) then the test is performed after drawing blood that morning. I was hoping all the peeing in a cup to check for sugar and protein was enough but this is a mandatory test regardless because it has a better indication of the sugars in me. Uh oh! Sweet tooth lookout....to be continued on that one. lol. In the meantime, nothing huge to report. He is right on track still for his Nov due date. He measures exactly 24 weeks which is determined by the length of my lower rib cage down to my lower hip bone area by a measuring tape. His heart is still around the 157 area, a healthy strong thump thump and he is quite the kicker for only being the size of a corn or rutabaga. The new Transformers movie Joe and I went to at Movie Tavern, he was a wild man in there. I wasn't sure if it was because the movie was so loud and it aggravated him or because it was one where you can eat dinner at and the food woke him up. I kept Joe's hand on my belly for him to feel the excitement, every time he would kick we would look at each other, laugh and smile. The other active time is at night either in bed or after we eat on the couch downstairs. Sometimes it feels like a mini-jackhammer with fast lil pitter patters (non painful)but flutters around the navel and center bottom of the tummy. We are looking forward to "seeing" him again. Since the OBGYN office only schedules for two ultrasounds during the 9 months, we are going back to Storkvision when Sandy, Sean & Kaleigh come into town for the baby shower in mid August. Apparently the best time for a viewing is week 24-30 or so and that's exactly where we are at. Can't wait!

4th of July - TX

On the 3rd of July, we had an easy flight and got into San Antonio airport around 5pm and headed straight downtown (the flight felt safer than the limo service to the airport in Atlanta, the guy drove like it was rush hour in New York City, haha) Joe was craving some hometown Mexican so we met his friend T Harvey at Rosario's. I have to say I could have drank the cheese dip and as Joe would say "only you" Hey, it was the best thing I could enjoy while everyone else was sipping on their Prickly Pear margaritas. The ones Sandy said "kind of taste like lipstick" at first. lol. They are a pinkish color despite the word pear as I assumed green but learned the prickly plant is a purple one. Then after a nice full meal, we headed to say hello to the Alamo since I hadn't seen it the first time I was in SA. We just did a quick drive by. It was crowded on the outside with lots of people hanging out nearby. Located in the heart of the district and one of those landmarks you say you've been to by just seeing it from afar. So one bucket list item crossed off now, thanks! For the 4th we headed to a neighbors pool house for the day, enjoyed a feast of snacks, dips, desserts and good ole American cookout while swimming,drinking,diving and soaking up the sun before an unusual terrential downpour came in sideways with thunder and lightning. However it didn't rain on our picnic, we continued the evening with backyard fireworks at Josh & Alex's house that Joe and Sean picked up on the way in. Due to the fact the guys had enjoyed the holiday with plenty of cold adult beverages, the firing off of the cannons and black cats seemed a little uneasy that someone might get hurt. Maybe I only had that feeling once or twice when they felt like they popped out instead of up and some shrapnal hit my elbow. I documented some of the fun with a couple video clips of the action. Luckily everyone went to bed with all their fingers and toes and rested well before another full day. Up and early we enjoyed some biscuits and gravy that Alex was sweet to make for everyone including her sister and boyfriend who stopped by, Sean & Kaleigh stayed the night so they were there with Joe and I as well as Josh ....we spent the morning laughing about the evening antics and old stories they shared. It wasn't too long after finishing that meal we had to pack up our bags and head to Joe's dad's house to meet him and Grandma Kitty to head into San Antonio again for some lunch. This was my first occasion meeting him so I put my best foot forward. haha. We ate at his favorite meal spot which is Longhorns and enjoyed a couple hours catching up before heading back to get to the hotel that he reserved for us that evening. It felt like prom because he also insisted we take his new yellow Corvette convertible for the evening since we were heading to Coy & Sandi's wedding that night in Blanco. I almost made Joe stop at the store to get me a corsage. It was a very nice gesture and made us feel like kids again, lol. So this was the very first time I wore boots to a wedding and not 3 inch heels in true Texas tradition, I wore my black ones that Joe got me for Christmas and a matching black dress for the occasion. The only problem was my poor feet from being on the go so much around this time of pregnancy plus the humidity made them so swollen. It took both of us and few up and down jumps to get my feet in before we left for the wedding. Hey, who said fashion isn't pain? I also brought a back up pair of short sandal heels in my purse which I did utilize later in the evening to let the ole dogs breath at the second dance hall. So I jumped ahead there, first around 5:30pm we attended the gazebo nuptials of Coy and Sandi, then all headed across the street to the reception at the first dance hall, Old 300 Back 40 for BBQ dinner, two stepping (I am no good at this) and listening to Gary Allen Hurst and guitar :)Met lots of new and nice people that Joe has grown up with, it was a pleasure to be introduced (especially as his new wife!)Then wrapped up the evening going to his old stomping grounds at Twin Sisters dance hall which has much history in his family as well. Quite cool! He remembers the place since he was a little boy as Sandi and her parents were co-owners of the establishment in years past. He of course had to name drop which I think is awesome to the ticket ladies as they treated him like a local celebrity. (insert giggles here) They are in the process of raising money for a grant for historical preservation so in effort asked him to try to obtain old documents from the family to show the roots and past. We minutely supported the cause by purchasing a Twin Sisters t-shirt and a couple coozies. We were on a souvenier collection kick! I utilized the Mike and the Moonpies trucker hat on the way home to hold my hair while we had the top down, listening to booty shaking rap music in the yellow Corvette formentioned, we were a styling and profiling couple right there! lol Another good nights rest to a another full day before leaving the next day. Since we had a few hours to burn before our 4:30 flight on Sunday we took full advantage. Headed to another Mexican restaurant "The Mo" for short...haha I can see Kelli and Alex cringe as I say that. The Alamo Cafe is the proper name then over to The Main Event for bowling, skeeball and other little games to get a few spares and strikes, a few tickets enough to get me a sweet n sour lollipop and Bowen all the tiny dinosaurs to fill a carseat with :)In fact, I even saw Bowen get a strike, not sure if it was his first one but I documented it, good job nephew!! Then off to the airport to say our goodbyes or should I say "see you again soons" before we headed back to Atlanta for a full work week ahead of us after a nice family holiday vacation! It was great visiting with everyone, double thanks again for all the hospitality and efforts made by all to make our trip wonderful!!

Lake Day & Savannah Getaway

The weekend before the 4th we were able to get together with the Granberg family and have them come up to my parents lake house for a picnic, jetskiing, boating and catch some sun for a full afternoon to early evening. We had been talking about doing this for a while now and finally found a date we could all ride up. Joe and Garrett rode up early that Saturday around 6am to do some fishing. Apparently anything after 9am isn't real fishing or so I overheard them say, so when they did finish up I was looking forward to hearing the grand total of fish caught on their expedition (all of one or so blocks from the dock that they ventured)....drum roll please....one and half total. haha. However, we all know it is all about the tale that goes along with the outing than the actual amount of fish caught so more just glad they had fun since that's all that counts. Therefore, for dinner we planned on BBQ and to go food from Skogies than lake fish. lol I included a pic of Joe pulling Garrett on the tube from the jetski and there is also a video of it on our Youtube GAMannClan channel too for good memories. I also captured a picture while I was driving on the way home, there was a full rainbow from the house all the way to the highway, a rare sighting after a small rain shower that evening. It was a lot more spectacular in person I have to admit. We arrived home and once again, we were packing up for a Sunday trip the next day. Dad invited us along with him and mom for a trip to Savannah for a couple days. It is about 4 hour drive south from our house to get there. Dad let us newlyweds get away from work and see a new city that Joe had never been too before. It is quite historical from Civil War days, close to the ocean and right on the Savannah River. There is Spanish Moss on the trees like you see in the movies such as Forest Gump and Legend of Bagger Vance, old cemetaries and mansions, shops and restaurants within walking distance from the hotel. From the moment we got down there until Tuesday afternoon, we packed in as many touristy things to do. We stayed at a brand new Kimpton hotel called The Brice which was conveniently across the street from "The Riverwalk" ,of Savannah, that is. In a nutshell, the highlights we did were a horse and carriage tour ride, riverboat afternoon cruise, shopped til we dropped looking around for souveniers on Riverwalk and City Market Square, headed to Forsyth Park to walk around while a band played outdoors on a stage, stopped by the Olde Pink House for drinks, had some fine dining at Garibaldis, The Belford, Sapphire Grill, B.Matthews brunch and cocktail hour on the patio at the hotel nightly. Savannah Smiles dualing piano bar was closed Sunday and Monday nights so we missed that show but we did find a real Irishman singing and playing a guitar at Kevin Barry's bar downstairs. He was quite a hoot drinking his Espresso Martini that kept him awake as well drunk he said. Dad and Joe scouted out some cigar shops, I found the candy shops of course and mom is just always content getting her free USA Today crossword puzzle. lol. Apparently they do have cooking lessons at The Mansion hotel that dad wanted us ladies to sign up for but once again they weren't available on Sunday and Monday (the days we were there) Rats. However, it gave Joe and I a good idea to possibly look into cooking classes as a co-hobby together near our house. We both thought that might be fun some time. We just need to find the time to do it of course. As we left town, we felt as if we got to see and do everything we wanted to. We all had to get back and catch up on work and house chores and on top of that we had another long weekend out of town to prepare for again. Ready to get back to Texas for some holiday festivities and family fun. We love staying busy and getting out and about especially when we get to see our loved ones during that time!!