For Jesse's birthday he just wanted a home cooked meal, so Abby and I went to work. Abby was more than willing to help me make a confetti cake and 28 brownie cupcakes, and of course, we had to re-light all of the brownies so that she could blow them out herself :)
We are so lucky to have such a wonderful husband and father in our family. We love you Hunnies!
For Valentines day, Jesse and I went to the Outback Steakhouse. We had a very delicious meal and I loved spending time with him just the two of us. I forgot how nice it is to have a grown up conversation :) Even though Abby wasn't with us, we still talked about her a lot. How much she was growing and how different it is going to be when we have our new little addition.
On our way to pick up Abby from the sitter's we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things and Jesse decided to take his blood pressure. I thought this was funny because my brother's and I would always play with these machines growing up :)
We figured before the baby came and life got even more hectic, that we would have an Abby Day. We knew that she would want nothing more than to spend time with her little boyfriend Crew so we took them to the Kangaroo zoo. They both had a blast!
We had the best time in Florida this year for Christmas. There was a lot of family, food, friends, parties, and TONS of fun. Abby was a complete angel on the plane ride to Tampa (thank goodness for laptops and Disney DVD's!) When we got to Tampa, my parents greeted Abby and I with chocolate (which I refused to share with Abby since I was craving something sweet :) ) and a BIG Minnie doll for Abby. Abby's reaction to seeing her Nina and Vovo was very cute. She's used to seeing them on the webcam so it was a special reunion. She couldn't get enough of my Mom and was a little timid around my dad. That night we just hung out at the house and I enjoyed my mother's divine cooking.
While in Florida, I got to meet up with my besties. Lyndrea has 2 kids now and Lyndi was pregnant and due within a few weeks. It was so good to see them and catch up. Of course we are still very immature when we talk about the good ole days and embarrassing stories, which ironically enough are always about me :)
The only glitch in our vacation was the scare that I got with my dog Hope. She is getting old and already has bad hips. There was one morning that she was acting very strange and I got worried so I took her to the Vet. He said that she may have a tumor and they could do a ultrasound. If they found something, they could do surgery but with her age, it was unlikely she would survive. He gave us some pain meds to help, and we basically spent the rest of the day at her side and said our goodbyes. With the pain she was in, we didn't think she would make it through the night. I thought it was bittersweet that she would wait until I came to Florida to say goodbye to her before she passed. I spent most of the night by her side but had to get up at about 3am because being 5 months pregnant and laying on cold tile wasn't good. The next morning, my dad picked her up to take her outside to go to the bathroom and she had urinated all over the floor (she hadn't gone to the bathroom in over 24 hours), because she had a kidney stone the size of a coco puff! Once it had passed she was back to being her cheery self, minus the weak hips :) I love my doggy!
Jesse joined us in Florida Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, he could only be there for that weekend because of his new job but we were going to take whatever we could get! Christmas morning was a lot of fun. I was so happy to see that Abby was treating my mother a little better at that point. After Christmas morning, we all got ready for the BIG party at my parents house. There is usually around 30+ people that show up. It was great to see all my relatives. Towards the end of the night, we had a game of guesstures. My family made the mistake of putting Jesse and I on the same team. Big mistake! We won....naturally :)
Saturday my dad took us to the Boston Lobster Feast. It has become a tradition in our family to go there whenever we have family in town. Jesse had lobster for the first time and seemed to like it. Not as much as the crab legs though :) Sunday I had to say goodbye to Jesse since he had to be at work Monday morning :(
My aunt Etel and her family from Kentucky came to visit as well. For the Christmas gift, my dad got us rooms at the Gaylord Palms resort. Apparently there is someone who works there that my dad knows because we got sweet room upgrades for free. We Cape Verdeans stick together! This place was amazing. There were different themes to each section of the resort. Each theme was based on a different part of Florida. We stayed in the Key West part. Our balcony overlooked a indoor pirate ship that was used as a restaurant. Other awesome accommodations include: mini water theme park, mini golf course, shuffle board, and volleyball. That night my Aunt took me and my parents out to dinner. They are sushi guru's so they ordered me some that I was allowed to eat. Probably some of the best sushi I have ever had!
The next day we went to the Ice Show that was at the convention center. I can't believe what these people were able to do with the ice! The pictures speak for themselves!
My aunt Etel, uncle James, and their kids, Shayne, Ian, and Max
Of course the big fat prego woman gets stuck on the ice slide!
Abby walking Jameson, Andrew's girlfriend's dog
New years was awesome! I had some cousins from Boston that I haven't seen in years come and visit. My cousin Peter, who was my dance partner growing up, had his little girl Eva with him. She and Abby were best friends the entire night. We had to leave the party early since we were flying back early in the morning, and I was a little tuckered out from all the dancing. I would have danced more if my elderly relatives weren't freaking out about me busting my moves while being prego. :)
It was a wonderful Christmas in Florida. Thanks Mom and Dad for all the great memories!
Christmas Pics taken at JCPenney
Before Abby and I head to Florida, we got together with Jesse's family. It was great spending time with them before we left for our long vacation. As usual there was some yummy food and even better company. Abby got her big surprise, a new Jeep! She was so thrilled by it and she had to ride it right away. Despite the cold weather, we bundled her up and she went riding! She loved the radio that was in it and surfed the FM frequencies until she found something she liked.
She's listening to some good music
She loves her Daddy so much!
Riding outside even when there's snow on the ground. She almost hit her uncle Josh's car. We will work on her driving skills.
Grandpa and Grandma Pearce with Bonnie
It's been a while since I posted a blog so this is about a month in the making :)
A few weeks ago Jesse, Abby, and I went to St. George for some warm weather. We heard it was going to snow in the Salt Lake Valley and we weren't ready for the snow, so we made a run for it. Before we left, I had my ultrasound to find out what the gender of my little kicking machine was. Most of you have already heard that it's a girl :) We have decided to name her Isabella Jean. Jean in Jesse mom's middle name, and despite what most of you are probably thinking, Isabella has NOTHING to do with the Twilight books. I've loved the name since I was young. Abby was actually supposed to be Isabella, but Jesse wasn't sold on the name quite yet. He finally warmed up to it and said that if this baby, and this baby only, was a girl, we could name her Isabella.
We got to St. George late Thursday night and just crashed. Friday morning we took Abby to the park right by the house. She had a blast and I was amazed at how fearless she was. She loves to climb and do basically anything the older kids do. She really liked the see-saw and swings.
Later that night, our friends Jeff and Molly joined us fro Salt Lake. I don't think they were ready for the snow either. Saturday morning, the boys wewnt golfing (shocker), and the girls went shopping. Most of you know that I hate shopping with a passion. I'm such a froogle person and not keen on spending money. We went to the outlet stores and they were having the best sales! I actually had a good time shopping considering I was getting really cute shirts, both dressy and casual, for $5! I was all about it ;) Jesse was even proud of me because he knows how hard it is foor me to look for clothes. Later that night, we ordered some food from the Brick Oven and watched some UFC fights, and the movie "Up."
Isabella waving to us :)
This one is kind of freaky. You can see her eye if you tilt your head to the left
Isabella's profileWe took Abby to "Trunk or Treat" at our church. Everyone was in the parking lot serving candy out of their trunks. It was great to see all the kids having fun and it was especially comforting knowing who was giving my child candy :)
After that, we took Abby to see her Papa and Mima. Unfortunately, she fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep for the first 30 minutes we were there. Being a superhero is tiresome! When she finally woke up, she wanted to eat all of the candy at the house and loved going to the door when the treaters came to get their candy. As always, there is never a trip to see her Mima without a lot of reading.
Sleepy Supergirl
She thought the baby needed a lollypop too :)
