May - Destin Meeting, Mothers Day, Storkvision & Memorial Day festivities

So as quick as Joe could get here, he also had to turn around and leave again. However, this time it wasn't back to Texas. He had his first Pro Staff Sales company meeting in Destin, FL. It only happens once a year and our company has been doing it annually for several years now. The concept is to have a few of our manufacturer managers and all our sales reps fly in for meetings and training for 1/2 days in a conference room at DestinWest. Then lunch, golf, dinner and drinks the rest of the day over the course of 4 days. Half work and half play for the guys, it was a good bonding experience for Joe as well as an opportunity to learn a little along the way. In fact, he won the longest drive competition on one of the courses. See the picture at the "professional award ceremony" on the condo porch that evening, haha. Congrats!! The following weekend was Mothers Day and with Joe being in Georgia this year and not with her in Texas we wanted to have a little homemade something to send her. We know how creative Mama Mann aka Schatzie is so that triggered an idea lightbulb to actually have an Arts n Crafts night and we each did a pot for our moms. Unfortunately the sad part was the present didn't quite make the trek safely. Apparently she had to ask him "what was that supposed to be" when the box was opened because all that was left was shards of pottery. It was supposed to be a painted decorative pot Joe did for her and we also sent a boot that doubled as a bird feeder. Too bad. However, we promised her we would try again but maybe hand deliver it next time :) Luckily we did document pictures of it during the making of it. Happy Mothers Day to two amazing women!! We love you both!! Then, speaking of "moms" and my future endeavour, the exciting day we couldn't wait for was soon upon us...May 24th at 12:30...why?? Well, it was time for the gender reveal. We had an appointment at Storkvision in Atlanta. My friend, Melissa and her husband Robert had been before when she was expecting her little girl. She told us about how it works, how its 100% accurate and that they can tell you the sex 4 weeks before the OBGYN office will tell you. So I booked it on the Saturday before I was 17 weeks along. We were both dying to know one way or the other so we could start buying stuff and planning for the little one. The night before the scan we decided, "well since this is our first big event to find out, let's make it a surprise to everyone and announce it in a creative way". We thought it might make it more memorable and fun. Everyone will actually get a small piece of snail mail with a little reveal game to find out since we aren't all geographically close enough to have a reveal party. So that morning we went to look at a house for sale in Auburn,GA around 9am, then rode up to Chateau Elan for brunch before we headed on our way to find out, then arrived at Storkvision early. When you drive up it looks like a cute little house in a culdesac downtown Atlanta off Hardman Court. The outer waiting room is decorated so adorable in a gender neutral green tone with baby clothes and photographs making us wonder even more which we will be walking out shopping for. The receptionist was giving us other reveal ideas and asking us what we thought it was. I said "girl" since the heart rate had been so high and Joe said "boy" just because he said he had a feeling. She mentioned that the Chinese gender zodiac had surprisingly been the most accurate from the people she had seen come and go from the office. I told her "well if that is true, then it would be a boy". We signed up for the GenderPlus package with 15 minutes of viewing time, 5 black n white pictures of the ultrasound and a DVD of the session. We walked out so thrilled and amazed to watch our little one on the screen and find out everything was looking healthy and normal!! It was so hard not to share the big news with anyone at first that afternoon so the two of us headed to Lenox mall to shop for our first clothes for baby Mann. We also had to grab some for daddy Joe because he needed some new sharp work clothes and well mama wanted Sprinkles cupcakes (yes cakes plural as in three!) haha To knock out the big eventful day, we also happened to find out Dave Matthews was playing and bought two tickets for that evening. They performed at Lakewood Ampitheatre in Atlanta and we opted for the lawn seats since we were there for the music and not the view, lol. You can't bring picnic baskets or drinks so all we had were lawn chairs and a blanket but so glad we brought that blanket. Apparently our idea of a lawn chair and theirs are two totally different things. They stopped us at the gate until we dropped the chairs we brought and then let us in. We had no clue that beach chairs (the low ones that sit in the sand) are what they call lawn chairs. Ok, now we do! Shockingly on the way out, they were still there by the turnstyle so technically we didn't lose them. We had a nice relaxing time and a few laughs too, ask Joe about the chick in the daisy duke jean shorts in front of us. The following Sunday was a typical American Memorial Day up at Lanier, we had Noelle and Michael as well as my aunt Nancy come up to the lake with my parents, me and Joe. We kept our gender secret while enjoying some fun in the sun, a big cookout dinner (including Moms pasta salad, Joe's corn and Noelle's key lime pound cake, yumm) while hanging out with their pup Allie and rocking the preggo pooch in a bikini, it may be the last time of the season for that, we will see, haha!

2nd Checkup & Joe Moves to GA! Survives on Beef Jerky and 5 Hour Energy Drinks

April 28th I had my second checkup on our little Mann bean (13 weeks along) They did a typical routine health screening. Weight (same as last time which was probably a good thing since I gained 6 lbs the first go round haha) Blood Pressure (104/58) Low and Good ; Urine Analysis (will find out if protein and sugars are ok) Nothing came back the first time; Blood - learned I'm A+ blood type from last withdrawal. Never knew that, always thought I was O something AND the BEST PART - the heart beat doppler ...(170 beats) strong and fast. I am trying to find a way to post the audio video of it. Dad said with a beat like that he's gonna have this kid mow the yard. LOL Overall the doctor said I'm super healthy, easy patient and all looks and sounds good! It is such a relief. Side note: while waiting for the doctor in the room, I also saw a not so exciting dialation graph hanging on the wall of what will happen to me at 10cm. in the delivery room. WOW scary, seem wild your body can expand to that size. Luckily I texted my friends and they all assured me it will be okay and all will snap back in place soon after. Whew! Anyways.... The very next day, April 29th, Joe packed up his apartment and left his jobsite in Dallas to drive to Atlanta! Hooray!! I couldn't wait for him to get here and he said he felt like he couldn't get here fast enough. We had been having bad weather so I was nervous too (bad rain storms and even tornados) However, he drove straight through the night with a jar of Beef Jerky from Love's for dinner (I call it dinner because it was $35 worth, ha) as well as a few energy drinks to arrive here at 4am. (12 hr drive) It felt like a dream to hear him walking down the bedroom hallway. I had asked him to take pictures to document his journey for the blog but since it was pitch dark the entire trip except for a little bit of Louisiana trees, I would say I would post pics he took but instead it would be a black picture box of nothing. Oh well, you get the idea. Waiting for him here, was an official PeachPass for the Georgia highways. I registered his truck so he can quickly fit in with the rest of the Georgia drivers in the wild rush hour traffic. I call it "access to the special lane" It is like an HOV lane that you can get in solo if you pay to get this pass. I use mine all the time so I made sure he had one, it is a lifesaver at times. The next couple days he spent in the office with me learning work stuff including stupid Unistrut that left us both agitated but soon it was the weekend. Friday night we spent at Jazzfest downtown Suwanee in the park. It was Food Truck Friday. The first truck we saw was "Texas Tacos" It was too ironic! However the lines were so long we went to the shortest one and had gourmet popcorn and carmelized pretzels as appetizers while listening to the music. Then walked over to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. At the end of the meal, he got a fortune cookie, FINALLY! He had been in Dallas since Feb, ordered Chinese delivery on many occasions and never once got one. Preposterous!! It literally made me mad because that is the best part...it determines your destiny. With that being said, his fortune cookie this time (no lie) said "Travelling to the East will bring you great rewards" The irony of his recent move here, East of TX. A great sign. We look forward to it all.

April - 11th-20th Easter Wedding, Engagement, New Job Training, Oh Baby

This was the grande week we had planned on making our big announcments to my parents but little did they know so we were both very anxious at this time. Joe had been working so much overtime over the past couple months with minimal hours of sleep that his boss allowed him a week off. He chose this week as it was not only Easter but my cousin Brian's wedding weekend too. It was also a great time to let the final people in on our big surprises. Our game plan was for Joe to ask for hand in marriage, do offical proposal, let that news sink in, then move on to the bundle of joy news at a later date. So, the weekend of the 11th we headed to my parents house where mom cooked a Shrimp Scampi meal (she remembered Joe loves his shrimp!) He got special family treatment with his special meal. We even hand made bacon bits as a topping knowing he loves everything more with bacon including desserts. This now makes for a family joke. Everytime my parents see bacon bits they say "Hey Joe look, your favorite" He will live this down forever now - ha! So while mom and I were preparing the dinner, Dad asked Joe to go on a boat ride to test it out for the new season. They were gone for a while and Joe asked the big question with a resounding yes from dad. Dad is a wise man and knew Joe makes me happy and said to use their 35 year marriage as an example for our own. I'm sure he gave more fatherly advice but you can ask him what he said for all the details. So after they returned, we ate, and Joe wanted to go down to the dock. This is where our official proposal happened and we couldn't be happier to move into this next chapter together. We came back up and told my parents. They were both so excited and mom cried. It was emotional bliss! Some other highlights we did were go to the Dogwood Festival in Atlanta, it happens once a year with arts, crafts, rides, dog shows, music and tons of food vendors. It was a gorgeous Saturday so we spent it outside walking around enjoying the weather, people watching and of course with a funnel cake & a turkey leg! It was the first time I would have loved a nice cold adult beverage :) Later we met up with my friends Noelle & Michael who are always a blast and had a quick drink or two at Biergarden downtown Atlanta before we headed to the Braves baseball game. It was Joe's first time! We wanted to make it special so we purchased seats not too far behind home plate, almost got a foul ball that came our way and slightly made the Jumbotron. The Braves beat the Washington Nationals so it was a good ending to our day. During the week Joe started his new job helping my dad so even though it was his vacation week, he was learning a new business of manufacturer sales reps. He shadowed my dad and even helped him at a distributors open house grilling hamburgers. You never know what is called for in this line of duty! I showed him a few things in the office as well including our software program, literature pieces and reports. It was quite overwhelming for him at first but like I told him "No one learns everything in one day" We are all here to help him along the way. Good Friday we spent scurring around shopping before the rehearsal dinner in Marietta, GA for my cousin Brian's pre-wedding celebration. Aunt Candy and Uncle Mike (dads brother and wife) were hosting us all at the Paper Mill Grill. You know we had to look sharp in case the paparazzi were there waiting for us. I got to introduce Joe to more family members and friends. He was quite interested in who the bridesmaids were and my aunt was quick to introduce him to them. Kidding, she thought he said bridesmaids but he said Bride's parents. He knows better than to ask that but it made us laugh. Great meal, good laughs especially when dad gives toasts and Irish blessings while he pretends he is about to sing then stops. There is always some sort of shenanigan when we all get together. Joe fit in perfectly and I loved sharing this moment with him. He is now officially part of the family! The next morning, Joe and dad had some male bonding time. He had brought his new clubs with him on his flight so they went golfing together at Chicopee up in Gainesville. He had been dying to get out on the course and play so I'm happy he was able to. The weather was dreary but it didn't damper on their day of play. Lighting stoogies on the first hole together and dad asking Joe if he could hit better or otherwise he was going to bring me next time was there new co-hobby. When they were done, we were to get ready and head back to Marietta for the ceremony and reception of Brian and his new wife, Brittany. We are excited to also have her join our new family as well. Lots to celebrate between us all!! Sweet and sensitive vows, good food and fun environment made for a perfect day for the new Fagan's as they left at 10pm for their honeymoon in Cabo, we wished them the happiest and best wishes!! In spirit of celebration mode, Joe and I knew that as we were all leaving the wedding there was one last piece of business we had to take care of before his flight left on Easter Sunday. This newsflash was to tell my parents about their first upcoming grandchild headed their way in November. So as we were in the parking lot, everyone had their sparklers from the wedding, we pulled my parents aside with my phone. I showed them the sonogram on my cell phone. Their vision was so bad it was quite awkward. They were saying "what is that, we can't see" Joe and I looked at each other "Umm well, its a baby" They were shocked, excited and had tons of questions. We were happy to finally share the news and get it out in the open. They wished us much congrats and once again we were successfully off to another wonderful new chapter together! Easter we were invited to church at 12 Stone with Amelia and Garrett Granburg, our good friends here in Lawrenceville. The irony that Garrett lived by Joe in Texas growing up, they went their separate ways for college and now both are here minutes apart with their Georgia girls. Fate has a funny twist sometimes but this has been a blessing. Now they get to see each other like the old days as much as they wish now. After church, they kindly hosted Easter brunch at their house. Her family was all there, they had tons of delicious food like quiche, ham, fresh fruit, mac n cheese and salad with homemade dressing. It was all so amazing and great people. We were so thankful for the invitation so Joe could fly home with a satified full tummy on this holiday! We look forward to many more outings, cookouts and watching their daughter Mary Mason grow right alongside our little bean.

First weekend in April - Dallas

As promised, Joe and I were to take turns travelling from TX to GA and GA to TX until he moves here, it was my turn to return to see him. It never comes fast enough! We had a new celebration to share together and lots to plan for. However, it was still early on so we just wanted to enjoy each others company for the most part. The weekends fly by in the blink of an eye so we try to make the most of them. I came in Thursday night and unfortunately it was nasty weather, it was hailing in Denton but thankful my plane bypassed it all. It was only merely raining in Plano. Joe skid in sideways and threw me and my baggage into the back of his truck bed as usual and we were off like Bonnie and Clyde to Pappadeaux for some din-din. Guess what my man had to eat??? One guess...yep, Shrimp! I am trying to think of a dinner where he didn't have a burger or shrimp for his meal. I am starting to catch on here. He would probably say he can't remember a meal I didn't want a soup or have a bag of candy in my purse. The weather threw me for a loop over the weekend. I packed completely wrong. I left Atlanta in a sundress and 70 degree weather to come into a cold 40 something and rainy. Our outdoor plans of the amusement park, TopGolf and frolicking around town lead to "hmmm what can we do inside" I wasn't sure if shivering was a pregnancy symptom but I sure couldn't get warm. Joe is half bear so he stays warm and hibernates at times. I was not worried about him. So our indoor idea lightbulb went off...okay I say "our" it was probably just mine. They have a store (Robbins Brothers) in Dallas called "World's Largest Engagement Store" Oh boy Oh boy...I love looking at jewels and never got to go ring shopping before so we spent half our day there until we agreed on one. My pearly whites had one of those sparkles when I smiled :) All Joe cared about was making me happy, isn't he the sweetest?! I should probably let him interject his own statement here and speak his inner thoughts. This could be interesting HA. Oh well, they also served him a Shiner Bock so that kept him content a little longer than usual. We also picked out his wedding band which I also love by the way. We DID NOT go with the camo colored one, I am sorry to say it just didn't have the shine as the others did. I had never even seen such a thing before in my life. Joe insisted it would show his roots but I know he was just pulling my chain to get a reaction. Next we were off to a celebration dinner at 3 Forks. We bypassed valet of course, I don't dare ask why anymore(inside joke)and can brag by saying we were the only ones in the parking lot with a truck bed full of bright orange scaffolding shooting out in every direction. You have to laugh because celebrities who have eaten there in the past (and when I say past I mean even Patrick Swayze from Dirty Dance days) have their face shots framed on the wall & autographed them as well. Joe was shocked that "Joe Mann, former Championship Quarterback of Blanco Texas Panthers" was not going to be hung after he left. He still signed his napkin just in case someone wanted it. It was nice though when we made the reservation we did name drop and tell them our reason for dining with them was engagement so they brought us dessert on the house. Waiter first suggested a coconut something or other and that was a quick "thanks but no thanks" but brought out a yummy cheesecake. Joe's overall favorite was the Sweet Potato hash which was a side but tasted like a dessert. Look at the pic to see all the food portions, it was amazing. !! Also, what would a weekend with Joe and Bridget be without us going to Dave n Busters and a round or two of bowling, unconventional. Therefore, this was once again a staple outing we had over the weekend. Immediately another idea bulb went off "We need to join a bowling league for fun!" Yes, I can say we have now officially put in our application here in Buford, GA for one and more details to follow on this Pub and Grub team....We did not disclaim the fact that I was pregnant for a handicap. We want no special treatment if they even ask for handicaps even if this is only offered in golf. Either way, we will both bring our "A" game and strive to always score 100 points (between the two of us) Wish us luck!!

March secret...revealed!

Saving the best for last(literally)during this busy month, on March 31st around 11:30am I was at my doctors appointment scheduled at Maternal Gynerations (not far from the office) to confirm this secret that Joe and I had been holding in. There it was, in black and white, our little bean was seen on the screen growing fast and healthy at 9 weeks to the day. A strong 169 heartbeat. I couldn't text it fast enough to Joe. "It's a baby" We were both surprised and excited at the same time. I was so convinced the whole pregnancy wasn't happening because I felt no sickness, my symptoms seemed to be non-existant. I was bloated and the scale showed it. A whooping 6lbs gained already of water weight. Joe joked that if there wasn't a baby in there, I might try working out. Very funny! I know, I know! They finished the appt by drawing about 5 viles of blood, asked me if I had questions, gave me a packet of info, said everything with me and the baby looked healthy so far. Then I had to share the news with a few close friends,my aunt & of course my hairstylist, I had a hair appt that night and even she almost cried. I mean what is a hair appt without some good local gossip, am I right ladies??? I just couldn't hold it in. I respected Joe's wish by refraining to tell my parents as he wanted to do that in person as well as ask my dad properly for my hand in marriage first. This was our next journey. He wanted my family to know his intentions were the same with or without the bundle of joy. All so exciting and overwhelming but I knew I didn't want to experience this with anyone but Joe. We have an amazing connection and bond so I was feeling blessed. I would like to say he feels the same way but I will let him tell you in person. haha I don't want to embarrass him too much here!!

March visits: Joe & Sandy...

I had the pleasure of having both Joe one weekend then Sandy the next here in GA. First came Joe, he got his long desired meat sweats on at Fogo, then off to his first comedy club show at Punchline. Julian McCullough performed at the Punchline and they had a couple no name other guys who performed before him as well. Scoring front row seats yet not the butt of their jokes we were surrounded by the other patrons who were targeted. It was a great evening. The following night we headed north to have dinner with my parents at the lake. Joe had to help mom with a sign. Her poor back was still in a brace from when she broke it in Florida after falling off her bike so she couldn't walk down to the dock. Dad was busy engaging in a glass of wine and fine cigar on the porch. haha His favorite way to relax after a long work week. Then we were off to good ole Scoogie's seafood - my parent’s favorite waterside meal. Now time for the drumroll please, on that Sunday morning was the moment we realized we might have a new secret on our hands. It was too early to break any newsflash alerts but we had a couple more weeks of waiting to confirm our suspicions :) The next Friday evening Sandy flew in from San Antonio, Joe wasn’t able to make it from Dallas due to work and my dad was in Arizona with his high school buddies catching up on old times. It ended up working out well for us ladies with a girls weekend in store. In true Bridget fashion, when I picked Sandy up from the airport and was heading to Chops Lobster bar in Buckhead for dinner, I thought I had tons of time to waste before our reservation. However, my directional challenged self drove from end of the spectrum to the other – meaning we ended up in a sketchy industrial run down part of town that I pretended not to be nervous in to one of the ritziest parts of town with multi-million dollar West Paces Ferry homes. We even ended up taking an impromptu drive past the Governor’s Mansion. I told Sandy, “I just thought you might want to do a little site seeing before dinner” as we laughed because I had already warned her getting lost was my forte’. I was so thankful she was patient. Anyways we finally arrived for dinner and I had the pleasure of introducing Sandy to my favorite dish, lobster bisque. It was so delicious and I mean it, I am a seafood connoisseur (or so I like to think) so I was glad this was her first bowl. Mmmm! Also, if anyone finds out what the gold numbers mean on the servers jackets, we would both love to know, thanks…the only person we asked ended up not even speaking English. We are both so curious. Anyways moving on, we made a smart decision and ended up calling it an early evening and bypassed all the tempting night clubs and Chippendale establishments for Sandy to get wild at in Atlanta. I planned on being a responsible DD for her but she insisted on wanting to be refreshed for Bev, my mom and our following day together. Hopefully she still had fun (winky face) Instead of some hunky man, her lovely sleeping companion was a furry kitty, Miss Halle Berry also known as “Fat Cat” who slept on the foot of the bed with her. Apparently, they quickly made a friendship which was great! The next day we drove up to meet mom at my parents’ house to pick her up, did lunch at 2 Dog Café, shopped on the Gainesville square downtown and had to scurry to get back to my house later. We had a big night of “Painting with a Twist” It was also a couples night so you could paint two canvases that equal one or paint two separate ones. Somehow Sandy and I started to paint separate but realized if you pushed ours together they looked like they could equal one. We had to take a pic (that was also classically photobombed) and glad we did because in the end ours looked nothing alike any longer. Her painting was way better than mine I have to contest that for sure even if she won’t admit it, such a humble lady! It was a quick but nice relaxing weekend and so glad she came to spend time with us. My mom enjoyed it just as much as I did. We look forward to more visits and trips to see her as well.

Valentine's in Dallas

Friendly games of competition and tons of laughs!!