Happy Birthday Lyla

This afternoon Leah and I ventured across the street for Lyla's 4th birthday party!  Leah and Lyla actually share the exact same birthday (Aug. 3)!  It was a super cute mermaid party complete with swimming.  I was a little nervous about the swimming part since Luke wasn't there with us.  I was absolutely dreading having to get in the pool too.  All I can say is thank you to the man or woman (I'm sure it was a woman) who invented the puddle jumper!  Leah swims like a fish with that thing on and doesn't require Mommy or Daddy to be in the water with her.  All the kiddos had these on and had so much fun swimming away!  In fact, thanks to the puddle jumper we are skipping swimming lessons altogether this year.  With this thing on she has learned how to kick her legs, put her face under water, blow bubbles and can "swim" from one side of the pool to the other.  She couldn't take official swim lessons (only Mommy and me) until she was three anyways (when summer's coming to a close) so we'll just hold off until next year when we can do it at the beginning of the summer!

All ready to go to Lyla's party!

My own little mermaid!

Lyla had lots of help opening her presents!

Leah's gift to Lyla along with a mermaid cookbook!

Birthday hugs!

27 Weeks

I was 27 weeks yesterday!

(Photo taken at 27 weeks +1 day.  I was in no condition to be photographed yesterday.)

Pregnancy Highlights:

Size of Baby:  Baby Brother weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with his legs extended.

Total Weight Gain/Loss:  +11 pounds

Maternity Clothes:  All bottoms and most tops.  I am able to get away with a few non-maternity tops and all non-maternity dresses.  I sure hope I don't look like I'm squeezing myself into them!  If I do, please tell me!

Gender:  It's a BOY.....Lane Louis Hendricks!

Movement:  No changes here!  He still moves like a mad man!  At times it even feels like my stomach if vibrating.  He must be doing cartwheels!

Sleep:  Still sleeping pretty good unless I'm being woken up by someone snoring next to me.  The snoring got really bad one night so Luke is now wearing Breathe Right Extra strips to bed.  They seemed to help the first night but not so much last night.  If it continues, we'll be making a doctor's appointment.  I don't even know what kind of doctor you see for that, but we'll figure it out if need be!  This Mama needs her uninterrupted sleep!

What I Miss:  Nothing besides not having heartburn!

Cravings:  Cookies and pumpkin bread!  As for cookies.....I stopped by the Cookie Jar the other day and bought three cookies.  Two were gone before I even made it home in less than ten minutes!  As for the pumpkin bread.....I get a slice of every single morning that I get Starbucks (Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.....daycare days at the very least).  Today I was informed that they would no longer be carrying the pumpkin bread until the fall (even though I just had a piece yesterday)!  This is going to be a little bit of a problem for me!  I'm now completely out of my beloved Trader Joe's mix and now the next best thing is out of my reach.  Time for plan C!

Symptoms:  Dry hair, dry skin, heartburn.  I'm also starting to lack in the energy department.  By 9:00 at night, I'm done and can hardly keep my eyes open!  Also, my hips and everything in between seem sore when I go from sitting to standing.  I'm sure this will stay with me until the end!

Best Moment This Week:  Getting to spend the weekend in Vegas with the girls and my ankles not swelling!  I thought there would be no escaping this but I did!  Yahoo!  Also, I passed my glucose test!  I never doubted that I would, but it's so nice to have this done and over with!  Brother's bedding should be delivered tomorrow!  I'm so excited to start getting his room put together!

The Great Food Truck Race

Tonight we ate dinner in the parking lot of a storage building place.  Sounds fancy, huh?  Sacramento is starting to catch on to the craze of the gourmet food trucks, and tonight they were gathered together in our town!  We couldn't miss out on this!  I actually read about it on Facebook this morning when I was planning out our menu for tonight and I immediately put our grilled pork chops and twice baked potatoes on hold!

There were four trucks, one serving grilled sandwiches, one serving mini-burgers, one serving healthy food and another serving sandwiches (cold ones I think).  There were alot of people, but we held out and were not disappointed.  It was actually so crowded that they had a guy directing traffic and helping people park.

We divided and conquered.  Leah and I stood in line for my Hemi.....a grilled pulled pork sandwich with grilled onions, macaroni and cheese and cheese (all on the sandwich) and rosemary and garlic tator tots!  Oh my goodness!  It was fantastic!

Leah and I waiting patiently for Stephanie H.'s name to be called!

My yummy grub!

Luke joined the extremely long line for his mini burgers and fries!  I had my food ordered, delivered and eaten by the time his burgers were announced!  That was definitely the most popular truck of the evening but well worth the wait he thought!  He had three minis.....one Asian, one Philly and one with bacon, cheese and grilled onions.  I did have one tiny bite of one of the burgers and it was pretty amazing!  The fries were especially yummy!

It's almost Daddy's turn to order!

Finally!  (20-30 minute wait to order then another 20 minute wait for his food)

Yummy mini-burgers and fries!



While dining on the curb in a crowded parking lot may not sound romantic, we had lots of fun and are so glad we got this opportunity to try out the food trucks we've been hearing about!

Vegas With The Girls

This past weekend I was extremely fortunate to get away for a much needed girls weekend in Vegas!  This trip was planned before I was pregnant, but there was nothing holding this six-month-preggo Mama back!  I was so blessed to get to spend the weekend with some of my Texas besties.....Jennifer and Kara (my roommates from Tech) and Courtney who I met through Jennifer after we graduated and she moved back to Dallas over seven years ago (so I feel like I've known her just as long).  We would have LOVED to have had Courtney for a roommate too, but we'll forgive her for being an Aggie!  I don't get to see these girls near enough since I live so far away but when we do get together it's as if no time has passed at all!  We all turn 30 this year so we had the perfect excuse for a girl's weekend away!

I flew out of Sacramento bright and early on Saturday morning (8:10 am) for a 9:30 am touch down in Vegas where I met up with the rest of the group who were all flying in from Dallas!

We caught the first of many cabs and headed to our hotel.  We stayed at Treasure Island which worked out just perfect for lunch and dinner across the street at Wynn and Encore.  I've always stayed at the other end of the strip so it was fun getting to enjoy the other side for a change!

After we got all checked into our room we were off to find lunch!  This was the only meal we didn't have plans for so we walked to Wynn/Encore and found Botero.  We had a fantastic lunch out on the patio!

After lunch we hit up a 'computerized/touch screen but still with dealer' game of Rapid Roulette at Wynn.  This was a total waste of $20 in less than two minutes!  The rules were not explained to me very well at all by the "dealer" or "ball spinner" or whatever he was called!  His explanation about having to place $2.50 on the outside squares completely threw me off and ended up working to his advantage because in the end the Wynn took all of my money!  (That and my machine needed to be sent in to the shop for repairs because everywhere I touched to place my chip the machine would put it one spot to the left.  If I dared trying to drag it over, the machine would simply increase my bet and not move the chip at all.)  Jennifer and Courtney enjoyed this game, but Kara felt the same way I did.  I don't think she or I will ever play this game again!

After this we headed back over to Treasure Island and played a little Blackjack before changing clothes for dinner.  I have never in my life played and felt a little out of my comfort zone, but the girls were great at helping me out!  I loved getting to go last and felt most comfortable in the last end chair at the table!  I can't remember how much I started with during this game play, but I don't think I walked away with much at all!  It was a $10 table and that sure doesn't get you very far at all if you're not winning!

After a quick change of clothes, we hopped in a cab and were off to City Center for dinner!

We had dinner reservations at Social House at City Center that night.  Their motto was "Sushi-Sake-Socialize".....we had everything but the Sake!

After dinner we walked down to Bellagio to see the fountains!  I was CRAVING dessert (nothing at Social House sounded good), and we just happened to come across a little cupcake shop.  Most people walk through casinos enjoying an alcoholic beverage.  Me?  I walk through a casino shoving my face in a cupcake.  No fork or spoon required!  I'm sure this was quite a sight to see, but at the time I could think of nothing but that cupcake!

We finally made it to the fountains just as one show was wrapping up!

We caught a cab back to our hotel from Bellagio and called it an early night!  We had all been up early to catch our flights so we were in bed by 11:30 pm (1:30 am for the Texas gals)!

Sunday morning we were able to sleep in a little and then it was time to hop in a cab once again and head to brunch!

 This particular minivan cab seemed to be missing its' middle row so these three were seated way in the back!

Wondering where I was in all these cab pictures?  I rode shotgun each time!  This worked out just fine except for in the one cab where the creepy driver thought he'd be so kind as to unbuckle my seatbelt for me.  Thanks but no thanks!

We had Sunday brunch reservations at Mon Ami Gabi at Paris.  We set out on the patio with a view of the Bellagio fountains.  Oh my heavens it was so so good!  I had the ham and cheese crepe and breakfast potatoes, and Kara and I helped Jennifer finish off her french toast with blueberry syrup!  AMAZING!

After brunch we went walking in search of half-price show tickets!  We chose The Lion King!

The place we found our tickets at was Bill's Gamblin' Hall.....a hole in the wall to some, a smoke pit to others, $5 Blackjack tables on the Las Vegas strip to us!  Score!  Our money lasted a whole lot longer here!  My husband doesn't believe me that I played!  Here's his proof!



After playing here for quite awhile, we made our way down to Mandalay Bay to pick up our show tickets for that night!

After grabbing our tickets at Mandalay Bay and making our way back to Excalibur (where we tried to find $5 Blackjack with no luck), we caught a cab back to Treasure Island.  Once back at our hotel, Courtney and Kara played Blackjack and Jennifer and I played slots before we headed back to our room to get ready for dinner.  We had early (5:30 pm) reservations at La Cave at Wynn so that we would have plenty of time to get to our 8:00 pm show at Manday Bay (on total opposite ends of the strip).

La Cave was wonderful!  It was a tapas restaurant that was overlooking the pool at Wynn.  (I absolutely loved how the restaurants at Wynn and Encore were set around the pool.)  Everything we had was AMAZING including the drinks!  They even had a yummy mocktail menu for me that did not disappoint!  I had something out of this world with cucumber and ginger ale that must be replicated at home!

We stopped for a few pics in Wynn after dinner on our way to catch a cab to Mandalay Bay for our show!

 The Lion King was great!  We had front row seats which I thought were really good!  This was my first Broadway type show, and now I think I'm hooked!  I can't wait for my next!

After the show we were itching for some more $5 Blackjack so we made our way back to Bill's!  I called it a night when I was up $35!  We finally left here and made it back to our hotel around 1:30 am!  We layed in bed talking and laughing until we finally fell asleep!

Monday morning I was up bright and early to catch my 10:05 am flight!  I caught a cab to the airport by myself since the other girls didn't fly out until a little later.  Let's just say I got SCREWED and completely taken advantage of!  Our first cab (with four of us in tow) from the airport to the hotel was $22.  This cab from the hotel back to the airport with just me was $31.  Explain that!  He asked me if I wanted to taken Highway such-and-such or Highway such-and-such and I told him whichever was quickest.  There was not a bit of traffic and I could tell that he went the long way to get me there.  I asked for a receipt so I had the name of the company but what good would that do now?  I was completely taken advantage of, that's for sure!

Checking in at the airport took no time at all because there wasn't a sole there, but security was another adventure.  Although they had the regular metal detectors, I was asked to go through the new body scan machine which I kindly declined since I'm pregnant.  My only option then was to get the extremely fun, touch-every-part-of-your-body pat down.  While patiently waiting for the lucky female TSA agent who was going to get to pat me down, I asked the male TSA agent standing there if everyone is now required to do the body scan machine at that airport (Sacramento doesn't have them).  Without much personality at all, he told me "no, just every third or fourth person".  I must've been number three or four.....lucky me!  Why they couldn't have just let me walk through the metal detector and get on with my day, I'll never know!  I think they were bored and needed someone to prey on.  The lady who did my pat down was very nice and wanted to try to guess what I was having!  She said I was carrying low so it must be a boy!  She was right!  I'm glad I opted out of the body scan because I read up on it once I got home and I did read that there is still very little known about the long-term effects of exposure by all individuals, and even less is known about the effects on a developing fetus.

My flight home was quick and easy, and I was greeted with a gigantic hug from a precious little almost three year old at the airport who was patiently waiting for her Mommy!

I had an AMAZING weekend with these girls and can't wait to do it again!  We decided that we need to do this every other year.  We're already planning on our next one in LA!  I can't wait!

Cheers to wonderful friends and cheers to being 30!

While Mommy Was Away.....

.....Daddy and Leah played!  I was very fortunate to get away for a girls trip to Las Vegas this weekend which left Leah and Daddy a weekend all their own!  They dropped me off bright and early at the airport on Saturday morning (7:00 am) and were there to greet me when I returned at 11:30 am today!  Here's how they spent their weekend together!

We had to get Leah out of bed at 6:30 am Saturday morning for the ride to the airport, so needless to say, she went in her jammies and with her cozy blankie (and with a cup of hot chocolate too)!  She's usually a bear when she has to be woken up from her beaty sleep, but on this particular morning she was in a FANTASTIC mood!  She couldn't stop smiling the whole ride there which totally melted my heart!  She was as happy as could be when I kissed her goodbye, but it sounds like she got a little sad about her Mommy leaving on the way back home!  After they dropped me off, my two loves came home and got dressed and then went out to breakfast at Mimi's Cafe!

After breakfast it was time to hit the pool!  Luke had planned on taking Leah to one of the big water parks in Sacramento but once we looked up ticket prices and saw that there were very few options for Leah for the price it would cost to get in, they chose to just go to the public pool here in town.  We had never been there before so we didn't really know what to expect but had always heard good things about it.  It turns out it was AWESOME and they had a wonderful time!  There was lots of fun things for Leah to do, and even better than that, her friends Maddie and Jake just happened to be there too!  What a treat!  It sounds like they all had a BLAST!

It sounds like Leah had so much fun swimming with her friends that she came home and took a nice nap after grabbing a late lunch at 4:30 at our beloved Chick-fil-A!  Luke wasn't even planning on putting her down for a nap but she ended up falling asleep on the couch.  This is so unlike her!  Luke and Leah had plans to go over to the neighbors to grill out for dinner but Leah didn't even wake up until after dinner time.  They still made it over to the neighbors and had lots of fun playing.  They came home and ordered pizza and ate dinner at 10:00 that night!  Leah didn't go to sleep until well after 11:00 pm!  Mommy wasn't too happy about the late night dining and super late bedtime but Daddy assures me that he had everything under control!

I think Daddy thought Leah was going to sleep in on Sunday morning since she went to bed so late, but she was up and ready to face the day at 7:00 that morning!  Daddy made Mickey Mouse chocolate chip pancakes for his girl for breakfast!

Daddy must not have been feeling so well after breakfast because Dr. Leah had to give him a check-up!

Daddy asked Leah what she wanted for lunch and she chose a "hamburger with cheese and mustard and french fries" so off to In-N-Out Burger they went!

She must have been just plum worn out from the day before because she came home and took a FOUR HOUR nap after their burger date!  Holy smokes!  They went swimming in the backyard when she woke up and grilled out brats and hot dogs for dinner!  Daddy promised me a much earlier bedtime on this night and from the sounds of it she was in bed by 9:00 pm!  It sounds like it took her awhile to finally fall asleep but at least she was in her bed at a decent hour!  Daddy said she was up and out of bed at least five times after he put her down so he had to finally lay with her to get her to fall asleep (nothing out of the ordinary that's for sure)!

I was home at 11:30 this morning so they didn't get to do a whole lot today!  Just a quick bowl of Cocoa Krispies, play time and then they were off to the airport to pick me up!  I missed these two so so much, but I'm so glad that they got to have a special weekend all their own!