girls weekend april 2009

so i have so much to blog and catch up on.....starting with girls weekend and celebrating megan's engagement (of course she's now married) anyway, 1st weekend in april a bunch of us Florida girls were finally able to get together to reconnect and catch up it was so wonderful to see all of them!! part of this weekend was megan's wedding shower which i unfortunately didn't make but it was so very fun to go out to dinner, have a girls sleepover at megans beautiful new home and breakfast the next day.....

megan, katie (very prego with her 2nd baby girl), leslie (also very prego with her 2nd baby boy) ash....has one baby boy, aubrey, and me prego with my 1st

ash and aubs...my sweet girlies

the bride to be looking so gorgeous and radiant

my such good frined aubrey whom i miss so much!!

tiffany, leslie and ashley

this is brooks batia...he's trying to make out with me..love that face

abbie with her first baby boy brooks

abbie, me and brooks....i miss my friends sooooo much!!!!

brooks was so well behaved the whole time at dinner

crazy kristen, ash and aubs

abs, me tiff, and megs....my beautiful girls what a treat it was to see you!

the funny stages (mike's comedy improv group)

our beautiful friend amy

lindsey and me

so most of you know mike is involved in the new haven theatre company and does improv comedy in random places around CT and regularly in new haven. this was their last show as they are taking the summer off. here you can see some of the crazy antics that go on.....too difficult to explain what's actually happening in all theses scenes but it's always random silliness

look at that gorgeous face

mike mattei and mike smith...such a cute couple

more crazy improvisation tactics

silly face and belly for the camera

the ladies..... lindsey, amy and me

it was so fun to go out with friends......we so rarely go down town for anything so it was a special treat and the show was really funny. mike also has been in a play all month which we went to see last night. it's called glen gary glenross and was quite good...i dont have any pics from that. the play runs thurs-sun for another week (a total of 3 weeks) so mike has been pretty busy with that. what a little star i have!!!!

week 27

so here are some new belly pictures.....i'm starting to feel a little large these days....clothes are just generally uncomfortable but otherwise i still feel really great. i'm wearing my bella band ( the white elastic band over regular pants in this picture...i love that thing! i basically just pull it over unbuttoned pants and on my belly for support)

the baby at 27 weeks ( well it will be 28 weeks on thursday) is about 16 inches and weighs about 2.5 lbs. baby is now able to open and close his/her eyes and is still working on rhythmic breathing and developing it's fatty tissue layer and his/her tiny brain is rapidly growing on a daily basis. i feel the baby moving all the time which is my fave and you can often see my belly moving around a bit. chores are getting harder to do...i cleaned the house yesterday and it took me twice as long since i had to take lots of little breaks. work is still going great. i'm going to chicago at the end of the month to visit with all my chicago peeps and courtney and meredith are throwing me a baby shower so i'm super excited about that.

holy belly!

24 weeks

so here are some belly pictures a 24 weeks. i am still feeling fabulous and enjoying the babys' frequents movement. also, if you observe my belly for a while you can see it moving from the outside. it's really cool and sometimes really weird when the baby is flipping around. the baby is about a pound and a half in weight and developing it's tastebuds and teeth buds as well as surfactant in the lungs which is going to help for oxygen exchange. he or she should really be gaining some weight this month, about 6 oz per week. size wise it's about 8.5 inches, the size of a standard letter envelope. i have purchased my first 2 pairs of maternity pants, which i am wearing in this picture but i'm still able to wear a lot of my regular clothes. i still feel like my regular self and have had no sickness or other complaints...praise God for such an amazing pregnancy!!!!

cruise pictures: semana-dominican republic, st. thomas and boat pictures

first day on the boat....enjoying the warm weather on the windy deck at our departure party and cook out

dinner at one of the many restaurants


breakfast buffet time...one of our faves....mike ate bacon everyday, which he loves, and i had a special order omelette and tons of fresh fruit...so good

water everywhere!!!!

more dinner pictures

towel animals!!!!

our first destination...semana.. in the dominican republic....a pretty poor and impoverished place but we were able to book a tour with some locals and go on a hike to see a beautiful waterfall and go to a private beach which we really enjoyed

a local donkey

beautiful views

we saw banana, plantain, mango, coconut and cacao (chocolate) trees

the hike to the waterfall was really cool here is one of the streams we hiked across

pretty impressive waterfall

this was our guide that led us to the falls

local poultry

and of course the beach!!!!! the guides had some kind of deal worked out where we were able to come to this resorts private beach and hang out...it was perfect!!!!

that tower is the elevator that leads to the resort. there is also a tiki bar and lounge chairs as well as water sport rentals right on the beach for us to enjoy

lounging

mike reading and listening to some tunes

so there was this weird bridge that you see in a lot of the pictures that seemingly led to two small deserted islands....who knows why...we explored it a little....but it looked bit sketchy

the one nice part of town where the casino and shops are for the tourists

here you can see the bridge in the back ground

leaving semana

this was our little ferry boat that took us to and from the boat

in the stardust theatre waiting for some great show to start

out on the deck

more towel animals....mr. bunny

mike in the morning....slow to awaken

so this is me after the gym, so not the most attractive pictures, but i thought my belly looked huge since i was wearing tight clothes you could really see my baby bump

hello baby!!!

this is st. thomas.....it rained for a good part of the morning so we didnt get any beach time on this island but we did do some shopping and just enjoyed the day

a cold carribbean bruski

thats our boat in the background

and we're off!!!

cruise pics: tortola and day at sea

arriving in tortola.....we hopped in a taxi that was going to take us to a beach of course

some of the views on our way up the mountainous terrain.....our little taxi/van thingy literally sounded like it was going to blow up any minute...everyone was passing us...including scooters...this ended up being a very adventurous trip to the beach and we were very glad to have made it to the beautiful beaches without blowing the engine

more picturesque views as we putt-putted through the mountains on the way to the beach

the big boats

so amazing!!!

what a view...i'm relaxed already!

warm, blue, carribbean waters....aaaah!!!

silly pics in the water

baby bump love

you know you're on vaca when you're surrounded by coconut trees

baby bump getting some sun

a pelican to see us off the island

departing tortola..... our ship is on the left

the main pool deck of the norwegian dawn

martini "mixology and tasting" presentation...... basically free martinis

here we are in the stardust theatre where we saw many wonderful shows throughout the week including comedian performances, magicians, broadway shows and our favorite.... 2nd city improv comedy....so funny

this is shonda our cruise director....always with a smile making sure we are having a great time

this is the finale show "bollywood" a broadway with belly dancing and with all sorts of incredible acrobatic stunts

the crew doing their last performance

this was in one of the lounges at the "all white dance party"

laying out on the deck

Visiting with Family

so since mike and i were fortunate enough to get away for a week together on a cruise to the carribbean.....we flew into orlando and spent the day with both sets of parents before our departure. orlando is probably the most central location between gainesville (where the smiths live) and melbourne (where the rudnickis live) both being 1 1/2 hr away or so. anyway, we met up and went out for lunch and then went to a theme park called "the holy land experience" which is modeled after events occurring in the Bible. there were a lot of dramas and mini musicals as well as artifacts and a beautiful prayer garden. at the end we were able to see a drama of the crucifixion and resurrection which was really powerful and had everyone in tears. it was great to be with family, even if only to spend the day together. we then headed south to my parents and my dad drove us to miami the next morning to leave for our vaca!!!! thanks dad!

my dad pretending to be samson and knock down the pillars

my cute parents in the prayer garden

me and my mom in front of the temple

both moms, me and belly

almost week 20

my growing belly...so i will be 20 weeks on thursday....can you believe i'm basically half way done? so crazy!!!! i'm still feeling great. i can now feel the baby move reguarly...it feels like little thumps in my lower abdomen. today i even felt a thump with my hand from the outside of my belly...so cool! hopefully, michael can feel it soon too!

baby bump!!! so the baby at 20 weeks is developing sleeping patterns...hopefully they are really good ones....nice and long. the baby is also practicing swallowing and breathing as well as fully extending it's arms and legs. the baby weighs about 9 oz and measures about 5.5-6.5 inches. (that 8.5 inches at 18 weeks was an error...i must have been having a mindless pregnancy type-o)

like i said, i'm feeling wonderful....no complaints...i do have a cold right now so it's frustrating to not be able to take decongestants and other cold meds which are a no-no in pregnancy....i'm pretty much limited to tylenol. i still have not bought any maternity clothes but i did purchase a "bella band" which is an elastic band that you can wear over your unbuttoned pants and it looks like a tank top and supports your belly as well as holds up and covers your open pants....designed basically so you can wear your regular pants longer...yey!