Happy Valentines Day!

Usually because February is just right after Christmas and our birthdays both fall in February, Valentines is sort of noticed but we don't do anything special. In fact, typically we support our youth at Church by attending their Feast of Valentines! But, this year we didn't even get to do that. I wasn't worried about it, but then felt terrible when Vic went to the trouble to create a Valentines Day celebration for me! He is the sweetest husband and because he knows how much I value a fun craft or someone taking extra time just to do something special, he made me a wonderful Valentine! I am very lucky!

He hand glittered all of these hearts and letters! haha - and then formed a heart out of chocolate! I love glitter and chocolate - he knows me well! And was super sweet to do something very non-male to make a craft like this!
Dinner - stuffed porkchops!
Dessert - grilled pineapples, ice cream and chocolate!

Vic turns 30!

When I first met Vic, I quickly learned that he likes to celebrate his birthday not just on February 5, but for the entire month! Over time, that has lessened, but with the big 30th birthday this year, a party was planned down in Orange Grove at the lake with family and friends to celebrate the big 3-0! Kind of crazy to realize that I met Vic when he was just 21...I've almost known him a 3rd of his life! See below for pictures of the evening of February 5th, 2011! Jill was my great photographer and I couldn't put them all on here, but some of these are good ones!

Some decoration - I made centerpieces with pictures of Vic when he was little - they were so funny!

Jill, Lora, Crissha, Vic
Mandee, Sarah & Amy

He's probably known these people his whole life! Joe, Lucas, Vic, DL
Jill, Vic, Sarah, Kari & Josh
Vic's Granny Irene has made his birthday cake possibly every year of his life...this year's was no exception - she is a great cook!
The men grilling the food...
and the ladies inside visiting!
Our last year of birthdays without a little one to celebrate with! I am 24 weeks pregnant in this picture.

Happy Birthday Vic!

Veretts in Town

So, since our fun friendship with the Verett family officially began on MLK Day in 2005, it was only mandatory that we continue the tradition when we can of spending that weekend with some of them! So, back in January, our great friends came into town for a great 4 day weekend - Whitney, Kristofer, Taylor and Mary traveled in to see Vic, Katerina and I! Here are a few quick pics from that weekend! It was spent eating a lot of good food, making them all see our London pictures, some important back porch sitting and solving world problems, doing a little baby shopping and baby book reading (thank you Whitney!) and even hitting up Northgate! This was also the weekend that Vic and I picked up our new Traverse! So, it was perfect for all 7 of us to fit all weekend long....yes, I felt like a soccer mom carrying all of my children around!

Whitney & Mary at Wings N MoreKristofer and Vic

Kristofer supervising the first "trimming of the beard". Kristofer is our expert and Vic was finally ready to start grooming it since it had grown out. Vic actually kept the beard for 3 months before Taylor convinced him to buy an extremely expensive new razor to keep groom his face during the summer! Thanks for spending all of my money Taylor! :)
One of the reasons I love Verett time is because they know how to relax! This was during Family Movie Time! Part of the group lounging around....
A little backporch time...we were heating ourselves by the grill!!Kristofer & Katerina - eating some delicious dessert that Katerina always brings!A few drinks at northgate...Kristofer looks so serious!
Mary and Taylor - our little couple that Vic takes credit for bringing together!
The Original Verett with the Seidels!
Brotherly / Sisterly Love between Kristofer and Whitney!
The boys
The group!

BABY UPDATE!

Today we have reached 28 weeks of pregnancy. After about 20 weeks I started feeling much better and now am not sick at all nor do I feel sick too easily. I am back to being tired and sleeping more, but because (sorry for this TMI) I have to go to the bathroom 3 or 4 times a night, I do not get that fantastic sleep I got during my first trimester. But, overall things are good! The baby just prefers to take space away from my bladder!

I am growing out in front of me and the baby is actually growing a little ahead of schedule. I had an ultrasound at 20 weeks where the baby was about 2 weeks bigger than expected and then I had another ultrasound at 27 weeks and the baby is about 3 weeks bigger than expected. So, after a dr. appt this week, my doctor decided NOT to move the due date, but instead to just start watching the baby's size at about 37 weeks. As much as I want this baby to get here, I am ok with cooking it as long as it needs. Plus, May is pretty busy with Charley's A&M graduation and it would be nice to have his party and ceremony done before the baby gets here....:)

The good news about the baby growing big is that the doctor sees no reason to be concerned. She said sometimes baby's just grow fast! Hopefully we are not looking at a 10 pounder...ouch!

We still do not know the gender and I have to admit - I am loving it! While I love to look at baby clothes for girls and boys, it is more fun for Vic and I to just constantly guess each day as to what the baby will be. Right now, Vic swears it's a boy and I think it is a girl. Of course, then I wonder if it is a little boy in there that is growing so big and strong since the baby is big. Constant guessing!

Other baby info:

• The baby moves ALL the time; i can now tell when it has the hiccups vs. when it is just rowdy inside there. And, there have been a few nights when I sit on the couch that I can watch my stomach jump when the baby jumps. Vic is also getting to see it some and feel it a lot more now.

• I haven't really had cravings in the sense of "Vic if you do not get to that grocery store for my craving right now, I''m going to go crazy!" but I have had a few things that I've just liked a lot of:      

Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches
Oranges
Toast & Jelly
Granola Bars & Applesauce (though know applesauce has changed into jello)
And let's be honest here....who doesn't crave chocolate??

• We have 2 baby showers planned - April 2nd in College Station and April 9th in Corpus Christi; we have the most wonderful friends that want to help us get ready for the baby and I look forward to both events!

• We also have ordered our crib, glider and mattress. And, I have finally registered at Babies R Us, Target & Buy Buy Baby. We are having the baby room painted this weekend and then slowly will work on sewing and decorating in the month of March.

I guess that is all the baby news I can think of. I will take a picture of myself this weekend for those of you who have requested "pregnant Sarah" pictures. I'm glad to say that I actually do look different now! For awhile, I was wondering what was just "lovable stomach sarah" and what was baby! Just kidding - I can tell just by bending over that I have something extra in there! And I will leave you with the best picture ever of my darling husband who found the perfect outfit for his "son" when we were at Carter's one day....it is going to be so much fun being parents with Vic!

They match!

London Day 3 - 6

Well we are going to summarize the rest of London for a couple of reasons:

1. It has been 2 months since we visited and I have yet to complete the remaining 4 days of my trip via the blog.
2. I am scrapbooking it anyways, so I'll have the details for myself in my scrapbook to remember.
3. I have 2 other events to get scrapbooked - Vic's 30th Bday and MLK Day Weekend with friends.
4. I have BABY news to get posted...

So, here we go:
Day 3: Thursday, 12/30/10
We went to St. Paul's Cathedral, the Tower of London, and Trafalgar Square where we went to the National Portrait Gallery. St. Paul's was also beautiful and while no pictures were allowed inside, this was Vic's favorite stop during our London trip. It was much more elaborate and fancy than Westminster Abbey. The Tower of London was practically a day trip, or you could make it one. It was huge and included us seeing the Crown Jewels and lots of authentic armor from people like Henry the VIII and the Medieval Palace. On this particular day, the weather was really drizzly and misty - not clear at all. We got a bite to eat and then by that evening, after heading to Trafalgar Square to see not only the Square, but the National Portrait Gallery, we headed home. First of all, the National Portrait Gallery was more than I expected. It has portraits of the entire Royal family from a long time ago to now. It also had portraits of famous people and family members of the Royal Family. It was really more interesting than I expected and we all enjoyed it! By the end of the day, however, I was exhausted, but also sick. I just came down with a cold and didn't feel well. Charley found me some medicine and instructions from a pharmacist and by the time we got back about 9 or so that night, I was ready for bed to start feeling better!

Sarah & Vic in front of St. Paul's CathedralCharley & Vic in front of Tower of LondonTower of LondonA fun spot in the concrete that looked like a "gig'em"

Day 4: Friday, 12/31/11On this day, I actually stayed home in the hotel. Sounds sort of silly, right? But, I felt terrible and really thought if I could just sleep for a few hours and not get out in the cold, then maybe I could feel better so I didn't have to be miserable for the rest of the trip. It actually worked out great. I doped up on medicine and slept and by that evening, felt much better. This was our day that we originally planned to go to Nottingham to see Charley's town and school, but after learning how much tickets would be on the train, realized we would probably just miss it that time. So, we will just rely on Charley's pictures and stories since we didn't get to see the town. While I stayed in bed, Charley and Vic headed to Wimbledon to tour the Tennis Courts and history of Wimbledon's big tournament. Vic is a big tennis fan, so he had a great time! Later that afternoon after they came back and napped, we headed to a fun Italian restaurant for dinner, grabbed some champagne for the boys for the hotel room and spent the evening in the hotel to ring in the new year. Again, we originally thought it would be so fun to go down to celebrate in the city but after being tired and sick and then learning that people had stood all day long just to get in the area of where the big fireworks show was held in London for the New Year, we were glad to ring it in while in our nice hotel room!

The tennis courts getting "fake sun"Vic at WimbledonHAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!!

Day 5: Saturday, 1/1/11Saturday was spent shopping! We headed to Portobello Market on Portobello Road in Notting Hill. We ate at Charlie's Cafe and Vic and Charley ate Full English Breakfasts while I stuck to my morning hot chocolate and muffin (safe on the stomach during this pregnancy!). Portobello Market was really neat - lots of antiques and shopping and tons of people! I found a small antique item for mom and a London onesie for the baby! We also headed to see and shop in Harrod's - the ritzy mall in London owned by Dodi Fayed's (Princess Diana's boyfriend who was killed with her in the big crash) family. I thought it would be so fun to just buy one small thing from that store and just knew they would have New Years Day sales. Well, they definitely had sales, but there were also 1 million people there. We made a pretty quick entry and exit, after looking at some expensive dresses (12,000 pounds) and some other expensive brands. But, it was still a fun day of shopping!

Portobello Road in Notting Hill

Day 6: Sunday, 1/2/11
On Sunday, our last day, we made it to Buckingham Palace for an outside view then split from Charley so he could go to one thing while Vic and I went to Kensington Palace and then to see an old movie in another part of town. First of all, Buckingham was so cool - regardless of what anyone says. I know it is just a palace and you cannot go inside except in August I think? but it was still really neat. Kensington Palace, however, was not that exciting. It is being renovated (the museum part) right now, so it was setup mainly for children, but we did not know that when we bought our tickets. Kensington is typically where princesses (like Princess Diana) live so it has some good history about princesses from long ago, but was still geared for children. So that was probably our least favorite thing to do in London. That afternoon, Vic and I headed down to the National Film Theater where they show only old movies. We had a quick bite and then watched "The Big Sleep" with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. It was great! One more fun Italian dinner (we ate lots of italian food when we were in London, other than pubs) and we were headed back for our last night in London.

On our way to Buckingham Palace, we passed these horses and riders...not sure what they were doing, but obviously something for the queen!!In front of the palace! P.S. The queen was in (per the flag on top of the palace)!My adorable husband having a snack before our date night with movie and dinner!

Overall, our trip was great and we were sad to leave. We probably could have spent a couple more days there to do a few things we didn't get to see...but that just means we will have to go back! So, what do you think of my hat below? Isn't it cute? It was always too cold to wear it during the week because it didn't cover my ears, but I wore it on the way home! I love it!

London Day 2 (Wednesday 12/29/10)

Day 2 in London included the British Museum which was FULL of history. Actually it was also full of historical items that England took from other countries..haha! It had parts of the Parthenon and tons of Egyptian artifacts and all kinds of other things. Vic read that you should rent the audio for this museum, so he did that and just loved it! I like history, but between Vic and Charley, they really enjoyed all of the history in that museum! We spent a good 3 hours there at least. We also walked to Parliament which was a beautiful and intricate building. Unfortunately, because they were not "in session" (I know you call it that in DC, but not sure if that is the right lingo for England), we did not get to go inside. But, it was still worth looking at on the outside. We also got to go to Westminster Abbey - MY FAVORITE! I'm not sure why it was - it is just so old and had lots of history and lots of people buried there. The audio comes with this tour (which it should for 15 pounds - or maybe it was 12 pounds!) and was just so good and full of great history about kings and queens. It made Vic and I go home and look up all kinds of royal history when we got back. It's so hard to keep up with who married who and when! Plus, it was just beautiful and so exciting to know that kings and queens since 1066 have been crowned there on that floor that we stood. And even Kate & Will are to be married and walk down that exact aisle come April. I was surprised at how large it looks from the outside, but how small the inside chapel actually is. We could not take any pictures inside (bummer!) but I did buy some postcards for my scrapbook. Oh and it was interesting because I just assumed it was Catholic, but it was not.

That ended our day (remember it gets dark at 4:00 so by the time we left there at 5:30 or 6, it seemed like a long day)! We stopped for dinner and hit the sack!

The British Museum where Vic could have stayed for 8 hours!Egyptian artifacts
Even Assyria had goat figurines!
Vic in the room with the Parthenon pieces...so excited to be immersed in history!
Parliament Building
Lambeth Bridge overlooking the Thames
Westminster Abbey - my favorite to see!
Vic on the tube still ready to go! P.S. Notice his beard?
Charley on the tube...but he looks super sleepy!