Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Look Alikes?

Lately I've been wondering what our little boy is going to look like. Will he have my eyes? Will he have Mitch's nose? Please don't let him have my skin. Please let him have Mitch's skin.  Will he have dark hair or light hair? Will he have Mitch's crazy cowlick? All I know is that we are going to love this little boy so much! It is so fun to get to know him through his movements all day. The ultrasounds give a little hint of what he will look like, but not much...


                                                               11 weeks

                                                                         18 weeks

20 weeks

         
I also know that if he looks anything like this guy, he is going to be so cute! These are my favorite Christmas ornaments from Mitch's mom last year. Mitch's homemade elementary school presents.







 Mitch has always been an amazing husband and even more so since I've been pregnant. He has done my number one least favorite thing to do- make a meal and grocery list for the week a few times, he cooks, does laundry, cleans, gets me random things that I'm craving, and gives me foot/back rubs after a long day.

Even if our little boy doesn't look like his dad (which I really hope he does), I hope he is as sweet and as good as his dad. I am so lucky to have such an incredible husband who is so excited to be a dad. I can't wait to start this crazy adventure and raise our son together!

I made Mitch write a note to our baby after he felt him move for the first time a couple of weeks ago (I know kind of weird) but I thought it was a big moment. Maybe it was just pregnancy hormones, but it made me tear up...

"Hey Little Guy!

Tonight I felt you moving in your mom's belly for the first time. It was fun to feel close to you and know that you are doing alright. Every ultrasound you look extra comfy and it seems like you are moving around and figuring things out. Your mom and I try to sing to you each night. Lately we've been going with the Christmas tunes. I dream about who you will be. I am just excited to get to be a part of your life and to help you accomplish your dreams. I love you so much my boy! I can't wait until we get to meet face to face.

With all my love,
Dad"

Thanks Mitch for all you do for me and our baby. I love you!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Surprise Visitors

5 weeks ago....
One Thursday after school, all the kids had left, and I was just talking with my assistant about how a parent had found out that I was pregnant. I noticed three people walking up the stairs and thought they were parents so I just waved and they kept walking to the other Pre Kindergarten teacher's room. But then I noticed one of them was Mitch holding his phone like he was videoing something. I looked closer and realized it was my sister and her husband!!!! I was shocked and all I could say was, "What the heck... What the heck!?"

It was like I could't even recognize them because I never would have pictured them to just wander into my classroom in Houston, Texas. I started crying and Minds and I just hugged and hugged. They both had "don't mess with texas" shirts on that they had bought at the airport.

Mitch had been keeping their visit a secret since May! I had no idea and was way impressed with Mitch's sneakin' skills. When I looked back though, he had been super suspicious about me reading his texts which was kind of sketchy but at least it was for a good reason.

We had so much fun showing them around our town. They had made a good list of stuff they wanted to see which made it nice for us cause we hadn't even seen some of it!

We walked around the Medical center....shout out to BCM (Baylor)


Went all bundled up to a free concert at the Miller Outdoor Theatre. (No we were not the only ones there although it looks like it.) It was too cold for most people.



We went to see some old houses in the Heights and ate at a "Hole in the Wall" restaurant. 


 We rode up to the 62nd floor of the JP Morgan Chase Building. Here it is straight from Wikipedia, " It is currently the tallest building in the city, the tallest building in Texas, the tallest five-sided building in the world, 12th tallest building in the United States, and the 54th tallest building in the world." Minds was pretty excited. It was a pretty cool view!






The best part of the whole trip was dinner the first night. We went to Cheesecake Factory but that's not why it was the best part. Mindy pulled out a little gift for our little baby and then passed me a card to go with it. It said something like, "Baby Peterson, your godparents (minds insists she is the godmother :) ) can't wait to meet you. We'd appreciate it if you'd keep an eye on the Dunn Baby coming in late May until you come. We'll repay you in lots of playdates later!

I had to re read it to really get it. Ahhhhhhh! I couldn't believe it. I was still getting over the shock of having them in Houston and then the best news ever! She told me that she was due only 7 weeks after me!! I don't think I have ever heard better news. They told us before they had gone to the doctor so they were still worried that everything would turn out ok but we just couldn't have been happier. We had so much fun talking about being pregnant. I remember praying that night and all I could think of to say was please please please bless our babies and how grateful I was over and over again. 

The next night, Minds had looked up a really yummy Korean restaurant that we decided to go to. I'm not so sure Mindy and Brady were glad we did. It was a little too Korean for them. Here's how the meal went....



Mitch was in heaven though. He couldn't get enough Kim Chi. Mindy tried one bite of Kim Chi and then spit it out/gagged and all she could say was "hate it. hate it!" Looks good right?


Our waitress was so excited to hear Mitch speak Korean. She was even more excited when she found out he had spent two years right in her home city! 


I wish I would've taken a picture of what happened after this dinner. Mitch and Brady are in their cowboy shirts cause we tried going country dancing after the dinner. Let's just say it wasn't really our crowd. We didn't even go in, we could just tell by the way the bouncers were looking at us that we were not going to like what we found inside. We felt like little teenagers getting kicked out of the dance walking back to our car. 

Saturday morning we went running around the "Rice Loop" and checked out Rice University. Like clockwork, Minds and I had to use the bathroom and grab a drink at the library. (it was nice to have someone with me who was as thirsty and had to use the bathroom as much as me.) Also like clockwork, we had to eat! We got bagels from Einstien's and while we were there, this crazy guy just started talking to us. His pick up line was "when did you graduate from high school?" Then he quickly followed with asking how old we were, when our birthdays were, and what we were doing in Houston. Just as we were leaving, he asked Minds and I if we were free. Pretty bold question to ask two couples. We were glad to get out of there.

Later, we walked around beautiful Hermann Park and enjoyed the nice Houston weather. While everyone else was in their coats and hats, Mitch and Brady were in their shorts. 60 is pretty cold for Houstonites. And Minds.

We had a random lady take this picture and as she was taking it, she told Minds to "get in close and make it look like you love your dad." Dad? We looked at Brady and could not for the life of us see how she could think that Brady was Mindy's dad. Wow. We could not stop laughing after she left.






                                              
Saturday night, Mitch and Brady watched the legendary Alabama vs LSU game while Minds and I went maternity/baby shopping and crafted!



On Monday, they went down to Brazo's Bend to see the alligators while I went to work. Brady almost got attacked by a nest of baby alligators but luckily came back alive.





 We went out to lunch after at Tacos a Go Go and it was a pretty fun restaurant. Cheap and yummy food too.




The worst part of the trip was dropping them off at the airport. We didn't cry because we knew we'd see each other in 3 weeks for Thanksgiving. Not yet at least. After I got home, I looked around and saw the games we had played, the popcorn bowl we had eaten out of, and a note Minds had written, and I started getting pretty sad. I just wished that we could live closer to them, especially now that we were both going through something so fun together. So I did what I do whenever I feel sad, clean! About twenty minutes later, Mitch found me on the couch, bawling. Mindy called me later from the Denver airport and told me she had been crying too. We must be pregnant. :) 


 12 weeks and 19 weeks along!

Thanks Minds and Brady for such amazing surprises and for coming to visit us! 

Friday, November 18, 2011

Visitors


Our first visitors were my mom and dad. They flew down to see us about three weeks ago. I can't tell you how excited I was to see them and have them here with us. I was counting down the days till they made it here!

We picked them up from the airport in Dallas and then drove to Fortworth. We saw the stockyards and the fun sites along the main street.



We caught a celebrity at Riscky's Steakhouse totally trying to cover up. ha ha it's my mom! I just think this photo looks exactly like a tabloid.

My dad really liked all the history about the cattle drives that used to go through this town. Probably because he grew up ranching with my grandpa. It's probably the same reason I loved Fortworth the first time I saw it- cause it reminds me of our ranch!

We found a sign with all the "sister cities" to Fortworth and one of them was Toluca, Mexico, where my brother Kevin is serving his mission in Mexico City. We were so excited!

Then we headed to the real reason my parents came to visit- the BYU vs. TCU game! Just kidding they really came to see us. The game was in Cowboy Stadium which is such a cool and enormous stadium.



We couldn't decide if we should watch the game on the field or watch the big screen right in front of us. It was huge! and had a really good picture.


My mom and dad being nerds with their reading glasses.

We lost the game to TCU but I really didn't care too much cause I was too excited for Monday when we would find out the gender of our sweet baby!

I didn't really take many pictures of the rest of the trip. I wish I would have cause it was a blast! The game got over late Friday night so we spent the night at a hotel right on this lake. We woke up in the morning and walked all around it which was really fun.

We drove back to Houston and spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, chatting, and playing games in the park. My mom beat my dad in Bocce ball just for the record.


My parents finally got to see how nice Houston weather can be. The last time they came, it was 105 degrees and 100% humidity.

The best part about the trip (for me) was that they got to come to my ultrasound appointment on Monday, Halloween, to find out whether we were having a boy or a girl. Mitch and I could hardly wait until 2:45. Mitch was sure it was a girl and I was positive it was a boy (I had thought all along it was a boy and I knew for sure when I had a dream I was holding a baby boy the night before the ultrasound. In my dream I also was being a terrible mom and had forgotten to feed the baby again. I'm hoping it's not a sign!) My dad had been calling the baby "Rhett" all weekend (the name we like for a boy) so he was on my side.

We went into the room and got everything ready and soon the ultrasound tech had found the spot. Our little one was not shy! We could all tell it was a BOY! Mitch's face was priceless. I was too busy watching the screen but my mom said she could see a visible weight fall on Mitch's shoulders. He was shocked it was a boy and all the sudden felt a lot more pressure raising a boy. We are so excited! After the appointment, my mom reached into her purse and pulled out a little BYU t-shirt. (She had brought that and a cheerleading outfit in case it was a girl)

I was so sad to see them leave but it helped knowing Thanksgiving was just around the corner.

To celebrate finding out it was a boy, we carved our pumpkins to announce that it was a BOY!



We are so excited about this little guy and love him so much already!