Thursday, December 30, 2010

gaylord ICE exhibit

on the 29th we had the opportunity to join the childers family, my parents and my brother for a trip to grapevine, tx to the gaylord ICE exhibit. the exhibit is here every year, but matt and i have never had a chance to go, so when shari invited us along and matt and i both happened to be off work, we jumped at the chance to take in the spectacular ice sculptures and winter fun!
this year's exhibit was themed "a charlie brown christmas", so we were able to see all the peanuts characters come to life through ice while walking around in a tent they keep at 9 degrees! don't worry, they were kind enough to provide us with parkas to keep us warm in there (it was in the upper 50's outside that day!). we also were able to enjoy the other beautiful holiday decorations set up around the gaylord hotel/resort and spend some quality time with the aforementioned family members. after the gaylord exhibit we enjoyed dinner at fuzzy's tacos before heading home to enjoy our warm houses!
for more information and history on gaylord ICE, check out their website that gives all the details about the who, why and how they make this awesome exhibit.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

27 weeks!

again, not too much to report this week in the area of our pregnancy. we are trucking along, continuing to gain weight and getting ready for our next OB visit on january 4th. our little man is becoming more active all the time, and it's become more noticeable, too, as he continues to gain weight and lose space in there! people at work can actually see him moving around sometimes which is a fun experience for both me and them!
the only problem we ran into this past week was a small stomach bug i caught that lasted almost exactly 24 hours...starting on 12/24 (around 3 am) and ending on the morning of christmas (around 4am). fortunately, besides one really horrible episode of vomiting and a general not-feeling-well type of feeling there were no other symptoms and i was still able to participate in the christmas fun (although i didn't get to eat any of the tex-mex christmas dinner with everyone!). check out the previous post for christmas pics. the maternity quiz and belly pics are below!


How far along? 27 weeks

Weight gain/loss: ~ 13 lbs. total

Maternity clothes? Yes!

Stretch marks? Notta one (thank you to my mom’s genes)

Sleep? No problems…I’ve always loved to sleep, though!

Best moment this week? People at work telling me I’m “all belly!”

Food cravings: none currently

Gender: little boy!

Belly button in or out? In for now

What I miss? Ziegen Bock beer, chuy’s frozen margaritas

What I'm looking forward to: starting our Bradley Method child birthing classes

Weekly wisdom: I am growing a person, and I am part of a miracle today!

Milestones: end of trimester #2!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

christmas 2010

our last christmas without a little king -- it's crazy to think that this time next year we will celebrating the holidays with a little one in tow! this year was busier than most, even though we couldn't make the trip out of state to visit family in ohio. we did enjoy a mini ohio christmas when we got to open our care packages full of christmas gifts from matt's family just before the holiday (thanks, everyone!!!). but between my crazy work schedule and prenatal appointments there was very little time to sit back, relax and enjoy the festivities surrounding christmas. matt and i ended up doing *all* our christmas shopping on december 23rd (not recommended). this was successful in that we got all the gifts we were looking for, but painful for someone used to being on a night schedule, who's not used to dealing with traffic, and who is now pregnant and requires food on a much more frequent basis. fortunately, i have a wonderfully amazing and supportive husband, who helped to keep me calm and fed :)
the actual celebrations were limited for us this year, since i was scheduled to work christmas night which meant that we couldn't celebrate with family that day. we celebrated with my immediate family on christmas eve and enjoyed the christmas service, dinner, gift opening and scavenger hunts for the kids that have come to be just as much a part of christmas tradition in our family as "a charlie brown christmas."

our house all decked-out for the holidays :)

Monday, December 20, 2010

26 weeks


here are some 26 week pics and the maternity quiz. unfortunately, i don't have anything new or exciting to report. fortunately, that also means that everything is continuing to go well!


How far along? 26 weeks

Weight gain/loss: ~ 12 lbs. total

Maternity clothes? Yes! And in time for cookie fests and the holiday season!

Stretch marks? Notta one

Sleep? Stuffy nose this week made it more difficult than normal

Best moment this week? People at work telling me I’m “all belly!”

Food cravings: sweets!

Gender: little boy!

Belly button in or out? In for now

What I miss? Ziegen Bock beer, chuy’s frozen margaritas

What I'm looking forward to: our next appointment (but not the glucose tolerance test!)

Weekly wisdom: eating healthy, sleeping and not stressing out are good for baby and me

Milestones: 6.5 months, baby!

Friday, December 17, 2010

cookie fest 2010



despite everyone's *very* busy schedules, we did get a chance to schedule our annual cookie fest this year! on wednesday night the kings, the millers, the proctors and the childers gathered at the miller household to bake 6 batches of sugar cookies, m&m cookies and snickerdoodles to decorate and enjoy after a pizza dinner. this year the kids got to help with a lot of the decorating and required less supervision, which made it a little more fun and a little less stressful! they also got to enjoy watching "a garfield christmas" -- a true christmas classic! it was lots of fun, and very tiring! i always forget how much of a true mess it makes to bake that many cookies! so glad we were able to sneak it in this year, among all the busy work/school/custody/holiday/etc. schedules! happy holidays everyone, hope you are enjoying the season, too!!

liv, ben, alex, jonah and alia decorating with m&m's

my parents' house all decked out for the holidays...so pretty!

Monday, December 13, 2010

week 25

our baby is now roughly the size of an eggplant! translation: between 13.6 and 14.8 inches, weighing between 1.5 - 2.2 lbs.

a big week for everyone in the family! our little man continues to get bigger and so does my belly! in all the talk about the vacation last week, i didn't get to mention that our 24 week appointment went great. all our measurements are perfect and our little man's heartbeat is still strong. my blood pressure and weight gain are still healthy too! next visit i will have to do my glucose tolerance test to rule out gestational diabetes (ick!) and then after that we will start going every 2 weeks instead of every 4! my, how time flies! around that same time we will also start childbirth classes, so i guess any hope of things "slowing down" after the holidays is out the window for this little king family!


lexi jumped in on this pic...guess she's feeling a little left out lately!

in other news, my husband also needs some time in the spotlight. his indoor soccer team won the championship in their league. whoo hoo! congrats to the team, and to my hubby, who is still convinced that our son can start learning soccer before he can crawl....

my soccer champion

showing off his winner's water bottle and soccer bag


and here's the weekly maternity quiz:

How far along? 25 weeks

Weight gain/loss: ~ 10 lbs. total

Maternity clothes? Yes! And oh, so comfy!

Stretch marks? Notta one

Sleep? Definitely on my sides now, for the first time it’s really hard for me to lay on my back!

Best moment this week? Gaining weight and not feeling guilty about it

Food cravings: Nothing specific right now.

Gender: little boy!

Belly button in or out? In for now

What I miss? Ziegen Bock beer, chuy’s frozen margaritas

What I'm looking forward to: our next appointment

Weekly wisdom: this time next year we’ll have a 9 month old! Enjoy this time now!

Milestones: we got to celebrate our anniversary and babymoon!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

the best christmas pageant ever

today, we got the chance to watch our niece and nephews in a christmas play. alex, alia and ben had all secured parts in the plano children's theater production of "the best christmas pageant ever." the play chronicles the tales of a group of siblings known for their rowdy, wild behavior who end up getting parts in the church christmas play and, much to the surprise of everyone, end up putting on the best (not the worst) christmas play ever!
all three kids did an awesome job with their parts, remembering their lines and acting out their individual characters perfectly. we are so glad we were able to see the play. great job alex, alia and ben!!!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

babymoon & anniversary trip

in complete contradiction to our usual approach to things, matt and i decided that we would spend some "reckless" money and take an actual vacation trip this year for our three year anniversary. we also decided that now would be a good time since this time next year we will have a little one running around, so this trip could also serve as a "babymoon" (a chance to get away one last time before kids enter the picture). while it's true we've done lots of traveling over the past three years -- i'm extremely skilled at packing an entire week's worth of clothes for both of us into a carry on suitcase and know exactly which liquids we can and can't expect to pack -- all of our trips since our honeymoon have been to and from texas and ohio to visit family. while this is always wonderful, and always a nice break from work, it's not what one would call a true vacation.
so before my travel was restricted (read: not allowed to travel in the 3rd trimester, and then we'll have a newborn!), we decided to take just a few days to enjoy some true couple time -- away from work, laundry, grocery shopping, schedules and even our little lexi. we decided to take a trip down to austin since i had never been and it was within driving distance, which meant we wouldn't use up all of our vacation time getting to the destination.
we booked a stay at the hyatt lost pines resort, located in lost pines, tx (about 26 miles SE of austin). we arrived on sunday and left thursday morning (okay, it wasn't totally "reckless" spending, we got the last night free and tried to see what other discounts we could get...you know us!). for the most part, it was just a lot of being lazy: sleeping when we wanted, eating when we wanted, ordering room service when we didn't want to go out and just taking long walks around through the treed areas. the days broke down like this:
sunday: lunch at subway, arrive at the resort around 4:30pm, watch the cowboys game while eating kolaches and take a nap, grab some dinner via room service, sleep some more
monday: sleep in (tell housekeeping to come back x 2), walk around the gorgeous grounds, enjoy shiner bock queso (does it get more texan?!) at the bar, more walking around being lazy, dinner at the bar while watching monday night football, more being lazy in the room
tuesday: sleep in again, breakfast via room service, drive to austin to see the capitol, 6th street, the giant christmas tree and enjoy dinner at chuy's, stop at an H-E-B grocery store for snacks for our hotel room, watch the law & order SVU marathon on TV
wednesday: sleep in (no surprise, right?), lunch at the firewheel cafe, off to the spa to enjoy a mommy massage and some daddy sauna/spa time, dinner via room service, play cards and be generally lazy again
thursday: leave for home and work that night :(

all in all, it was a *wonderful* trip, and although it probably wasn't practical in any way, matt and i both agree that it was totally worth-while and well-deserved. the little get-away was great and gave us a chance to relax, enjoy our time together and continue to prepare for our little baby boy on the way!
special thanks to my mom who watched the house/mail for us and for shari who agreed to watch lexi at the last minute and made our trip possible!


and for those who are following, here's my weekly maternity quiz:

How far along? 24 weeks

Weight gain/loss: ~ 8 lbs. total

Maternity clothes? Yes! And oh, so comfy!

Stretch marks? Notta one

Sleep? Pretty much whenever I can! I miss being able to sleep on my tummy, though.

Best moment this week? Hitting the 6 month mark!

Food cravings: Nothing specific right now.

Gender: little boy!

Belly button in or out? In for now

What I miss? Ziegen Bock beer, chuy’s frozen margaritas

What I'm looking forward to: seeing how our pictures turned out last week (the first ones that attempt to showcase our little bump!)

Weekly wisdom: Enjoying every day, I’m part of a miracle!

Milestones: baby is 24 weeks, which makes him a viable baby for the NICU (although I really hope that he decides to enjoy being in-utero for a while longer!)

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

three years ago today...


...we became a Mr. & Mrs.!


the last 3 years have had many ups and downs : a lot more moving than we'd anticipated, job changes, arguments and compromises, lots of football watching, spending and saving and, now, a baby on the way just to mix it up a bit when we thought we were starting to "figure it out!" ;)

it's been a crazy ride, but it's been worth every minute!
happy anniversary to my wonderful husband, who strives to live up to our vows every day, in every way. i love you, honey!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

november birthdays

november birthdays 2010

on sunday, we celebrated all the november birthdays in the family. starting at the beginning of the month we have alia's on the 8th, dad's on the 17th, matt's on the 21st, and ben's on the 30th! and since dad only gets home made chicken fried steak twice a year (on father's day and for his birthday), we already knew what the main course would be, but each birthday boy or girl got to choose his or her own dessert. we enjoyed the *very* tasty dinner, watched the polar express and then enjoyed *lots* of desserts. a happy time was had by all!
happy birthday you november kids, you!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

thankful to be 23 weeks along!

happy thanksgiving!


no hiding it now!

this week we got to celebrate both the holiday and the joy of being 23 weeks into our pregnancy! i am happy to report that everything still seems to be going well. we have our next appointment next week, so we'll be able to report a little more about our son on the next post.
unfortunately, i had to work thanksgiving night this year (a disadvantage to being the new kid at the job!) but we still made a quick appearance at my cousin's house to see the extended family and enjoy some traditional holiday foods. i can definitely say that i enjoyed thanksgiving this year more than any other year....no excuses as to why i went back for seconds and maternity pants are *always* comfy! even though we hadn't really "planned" this pregnancy, i think that being preggers during the holiday season is something we might aim for again :)
i only have a few pictures from turkey day (i was only there for about 1.5 hours) and some new belly pics.
hope you had a great turkey day, too!


the majority of the family, watching the cowboys game

the ladies in the kitchen

our little family is growing!

I found a "weekly maternity quiz" online that seems like a fun way to help keep track of the changes every week....hope you enjoy!

How far along? 23 weeks

Weight gain/loss: ~ 8 lbs. total (although I’m not sure how much of that has to do with Thanksgiving….)

Maternity clothes? Yes! And oh, so comfy!

Stretch marks? Notta one

Sleep? Pretty much whenever I can! This week was a little busy, so probably not as much as I should have…

Best moment this week? Getting to enjoy as much Thanksgiving food as I wanted…without getting funny looks!

Food cravings: Nothing specific. I’ve finally moved past the cocoa puffs phase, though!

Gender: little boy!

Belly button in or out? In for now

What I miss? Ziegen Bock beer

What I'm looking forward to: our appointment next week

Weekly wisdom: Today I am pregnant, and I love my baby and my body!

Milestones: Shari (my eldest sister) got to feel the baby move!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

matt turns 31!


happy birthday, matt!
the birthday boy with his cake

today, matt turned 31 years young! sadly, there wasn't a ton of celebrating since he had volunteered to spend his weekend helping my dad install a new floor. my ever-giving husband convinced both my dad and my sister (the floor being installed belongs to her) that it would be better to finish installing the floor than take the day off for his birthday. yes, he is amazing! we made sure that his special day didn't go unrecognized, though, shari made sure that there was cake and we had some taco bell for dinner (yum!). and he did have "happy birthday" sung to him before the day was over.
we also had done some celebrating earlier in the week: a trip to starbucks, a dinner out and a few gifts scattered throughout the week made it not-so-awful for my wonderful husband. and, fortunately, we'll be celebrating all the november birthdays with the family next week.

yes, it had a pirate candle...awesome!


"happy birthday to you...."

Saturday, November 20, 2010

22 weeks!

here are some pics of me and our baby boy at 22 weeks into the pregnancy!


to date, and according to our scale, i've only gained about 6 lbs so far...but that is not a complaint! people can now tell pretty easily that i'm carrying a little one around with me, but they always look shocked when i tell them that i'm 5 1/2 months along :) it's definitely an ego-booster to hear things like, "you're so tiny!" since, prior to my pregnancy, i'd *never* been associated with the word "tiny"! and i'm hoping that this means that it's continuing to be a very healthy pregnancy for both the baby and myself. also, our little boy is kicking more and more all the time, which his daddy loves to hear about and feel when he can. mostly, i think, so he can tell me how we will have a little soccer player running around the house before too long :)

what i look like when i'm not "showing off" my baby bump.

according to the growth charts, our little monkey is about the size of a papaya (seriously, they couldn't pick a more common fruit?!) at this point in the pregnancy. this translates into somewhere between 10.5 - 11.8 inches and and 12.7 - 20.8 ounces!

Monday, November 15, 2010

21 weeks



we've made it past the half-way point in the pregnancy and i am happy to report that everything is still going well for baby, mom and dad. although there isn't a ton to report, i will say that people have started noticing at work -- most notably my patients' families! i will walk into a room to introduce myself and the first question i get is "when are you due?" or "how far along are you?!" guess there isn't any more hiding it! fortunately, once i answer these questions i am met with responses like, "you are so tiny to be 5 months!" and lots of "congratulations!!!" :)
although we haven't yet started on the nursery (aside from there being a room set aside for this purpose), we did finally make some time to register for our little king. we spent an entire morning at babies 'r us trying to figure out the maze of strollers, bedding, bottles and burp cloths attempting to get the things we need and, at the same time, pick out things that we will be able to use for future kiddos, too! needless to say it became a little overwhelming for these first-timers, but i think we got most of the necessities on the registry...i guess we'll see! the only other baby news this week? i finally had to remove my belly ring to keep it from getting caught on the desks at work. i guess i'm officially not a kid or a rebellious youth anymore! i've also transitioned to wearing maternity clothes *almost* exclusively -- my regular sweat pants and large t-shirts still fit me for now!
the other question we keep getting is if we have chosen a name. the answer? not yet! we've talked about it quite a bit, but haven't come up with one that we are committed to at this point. suggestions, anyone?


there's a 21 week old baby king in there!
according to baby growth charts he is roughly the size of a banana: 10.5 inches and 12.7 oz!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

932 Cherokee Trail

here are the pics of our new digs! i realize some of the pictures look dark, but we can blame that on my night schedule and the fact that by the time i get around to taking pictures and updating the blog, it's usually about 3 or 4 in the morning! i was able to stay up one morning to get some pics of the outside, but there wasn't enough light inside for the pictures to turn out very well. hopefully you still get the idea, though! enjoy!

Friday, November 5, 2010

a little prince on the way...

these two kings are having a baby!
and now, where to begin? i guess, at the beginning...
we originally found out two weeks before the move to texas. i had already accepted my job at children's and things seemed to be going well. despite that, i was in a horrible mood for no particular reason and chalked it up to some job-related "drama" at MCE regarding my benefits and the stress of the move. matt was super supportive of my bad mood, but neither of us could really figure it out. later, he suggested a nap and i consented, figuring that it certainly wouldn't hurt. when i woke before he did after receiving a call from MCE, i glanced at a calendar...then grabbed a pregnancy test. the result...
i did a double, then a triple take before i started giggling like crazy -- suddenly relieved that my "bad mood" was probably mostly attributable to shifting hormones -- and marveled at the fact that i was suddenly going to be a mommy in another 8 months! the next step: telling matt!
matt and i had always talked about how i would "break the news to him," whether it would be something super creative, or a clever one-liner or some other truly memorable something. in my excitement, i could muster up the neither the patience nor the wit to do any of the above, in fact, i barely made it out of the bathroom without screaming something about the test results! when i walked back into the bedroom, matt was just waking up and he could see that i was smiling. he assumed it was because i had taken a nap and that the call from MCE was good (which was true). i tried to carry on a casual conversation with him before the talk turned from one thing, to baby names (a frequent topic of conversation for us), to boys or girls before i finally mentioned that i was pregnant.
at first i got a look of confusion, then shock, then the most excited face i have ever seen. the worst part? in the midst of matt's excitement i had to tell him "we can't tell anyone!"

the first pic of us as parents-to-be, right after i shared the news with matt

the next two weeks were hectic, attempting to figure out pre-natal care between two states, moving plans, travel plans for parents and ourselves, and not being able to tell anyone the happy news just yet! we actually had to convince my parents, who were staying with us during the move, that we had dentist appointments scheduled the day they flew in so we could both go for a 6 week sonogram. why they believed us, i will never really know.
we finally agreed to tell our parents at a "going-away" dinner we invited everyone to at abuelo's. since my parents and brother were in town we figured it would be a perfect opportunity to be able to share the news in person with everyone! we decided to tell them through cake, which was also a source of much planning throughout the previous weeks ("what should it say?," "no, that's too long for a cake," "i think that's too subtle," "well, that's just too obvious!"), which we had our amazing server bring out at the end of the meal. the only two problems with our plan? 1) we had to sit through the *whole* meal without telling anyone and 2) despite our best efforts to keep everyone at the table for the cake "presentation" we just couldn't get the timing right (we still love you, mom!). in the end, it all worked out well and we were happy that we were able to share the exciting news with family before the move!
the next few weeks, as you can see from the other posts, were buy with new jobs, time with family (sharing our pregnancy news!) and friends, moving, attempting to settle into a routine back in texas (and we had just gotten into a nice one in ohio!), and our first few prenatal visits. i was hesitant to tell too many people too early, since we initially found out we were pregnant at around 5 weeks! working in the medical field...well, i just see too many of the not-so-good outcomes.
after our 12 week appointment, we started telling a few friends. and after 16 weeks, a few more. we finally went public with the news on november 1st, after our 20 week sono that also told us we would be blessed with a little baby boy!
the sono showed that the heart, kidneys, stomach, spine and head all looked good. the baby has 4 strong little limbs (which i get the pleasure of feeling kick and hit me every so often!) and the placenta was in "perfect position." the dates and measurements matched up with the due date we were expecting, sometime in late march.

here's a pic of our little man and his "soccer legs," according to his proud daddy:
it's been quite a ride so far, and i know this is just the beginning. i know that no one is ever really "ready" for kids...but i think we are about as ready as we can get! we were blessed with the ability to move into a house that actually had room for a nursery, and, as always, have the support of our loving family and friends. there's still a lot to do, and i know there is no slowing down now, but we are so excited to think that in the spring we will be parents!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

october fun!

despite a hectic work schedule and being on a full-time night schedule now (as opposed to the mid-shift schedule i was working), matt and i were able to participate in several fun fall activities this year.
on the 17th, we headed to nini's house for a pumpkin carving party where we caught up with old friends and enjoyed yummy pumpkin-themed snacks.
on the 24th, we went to my parents house for the annual pumpkin carving. we actually worked in teams this year, with each child pairing up with a "helper" adult. liv and jonah worked with matt and i, and dad, mom and shari helped the childers kiddos. maddie wasn't too worried about pumpkin carving, but ray was supervising her nonetheless. it was great and the pumpkins all turned out really well! it's crazy to think that 4 years ago this was the first family event that my (then future) husband participated in!
and on halloween, we headed to the dallas arboretum with mom and dad to stroll around the "largest pumpkin village in the nation" which featured houses themed for different fairy-tale stories. this is quite possibly one of my favorite fall-time activities :) after the trip to the arboretum, we attempted to watch the cowboys game....but that involved an awful lot of yelling and frustration and, eventually, a loss (again). we then went back to our new place for a family dinner and to pass out candy to all the cute little trick-or-treaters in the neighborhood. the whole family came over, minus the proctors who were busy trick-or-treating with their own adorable little cat in the hat, thing 1 and thing 2! after dinner, we decided to watch the last part of the rangers game....another mistake! but all in all, it was a great day and we were blessed to be around family the whole time.

happy halloween, everyone!


Monday, October 25, 2010

SMU homecoming

it was "wear blue" day for SMU

an attempt at a group pic :)

our "little" mustang with ben and alia

on a rare saturday off, matt and i headed down to SMU with dad, mom, shari and her kiddos and the two oldest proctor kiddos, liv and jonah, to enjoy the SMU homecoming game day fun. in addition to the tasty free food (barbecue sandwiches and smoked ribs), drinks and cotton candy, we got to see jared with the SMU Mustang Mavericks dancers in the homecoming parade. the kids really enjoyed seeing all the floats and, of course, the free candy that was raining down on them! other than being a little sleep deprived (i was off saturday, but not friday night), the day was wonderful and i was happy that matt and i were able to go...even if it did start to rain on us on the way back! thanks, mom & dad, for inviting us...we had a great time!!!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

jonah turns 3!


on october 21st 3 years ago we welcomed into this world a sweet little man by the name of jonah ryan proctor. we celebrated his birthday on the 17th with family and friends at the proctor's new house in parker. i didn't snap a ton of pics since my camera isn't really fast enough to capture one kiddo in motion, let alone the 6 that were running around! the first part of the party was enjoyed outside while the kids rode anything they could find: big wheels, bicycles, push cars and even the teeter-totter. after that, we headed inside for a tasty dinner and a dump truck full of brownies -- the theme was construction!

happy birthday, jonah! we love you!

liv and jonah take a break outside

the brownie dump truck

the party-goers

uncle jared spends time with liv and jonah

lighting the candles

"happy birthday to you..."