Baby Girl's First Boyfriend

I've been keeping a secret. When Meagan and I got pedicures a couple months ago in October, she told me that she and Donny were expecting! They had recently found out and only family knew, so I was lucky to be in on the secret early :)

They found out the gender (by accident; the nurse told them over the phone not knowing they were planning on having a gender reveal) last week, but planned a party tonight for family and friends to learn. Meagan had texted me after her 12 week appointment asking what the sonographer had guessed Baby Girl was, and I told her girl. She told me their's guessed boy, so I had a strong feeling it was a boy...

And I (and the sonographer) was right! Baby Boy Dillard will be arriving in June 2017, and Baby Girl can't wait to meet her boyfriend <3

The First Time I Was Genuinely Surprised

I had an FY18 budget meeting on my calendar for 4:00pm today. I noticed Abbey, Emily, and Chris would be in it, so I assumed we were going to walk through event budgets. Abbey was in the office from Houston, and she had booked Pedernales meeting room for it. I was getting my things together and Emily mentioned she wasn't sure the room was right because she saw people in it. I was running to the restroom and then headed over, so I told her I'd check it out. When I came out of the restroom, she was going to the room, so we chatted about something (I can't remember, probably baby related) while walking there. As we approached Pedernales, I could see people in there, but then my eyes caught something more - balloons.

IT WAS A SURPRISE BABY SHOWER FOR ME AND EMILY!!!

Amber and Abbey have been planning since September, evidently, and we had absolutely no.clue. I guess Chris was telling them there was no way we'd be surprised, we had to know, but neither of us had any idea. I think this is the first time in my life that I've been genuinely surprised with something like this, and I loved it <3

Everyone from the Marketing team was there along with a few others from the company who love us. Chris was planning to be in the office this week, but couldn't make it last minute, so he was dialed-in and joined the party remotely.

They had a little spot up front for each of us, blue for her and pink for me, with gifts and balloons. The whole meeting room was decorated with paper letters, streamers, and mini pacifiers. Who knew Pedernales could look so cute? ;) On a side table were some of my favorite snacks, too: cupcakes, ice cream (Cookies 'n Cream AND Coconut Almond Chocolate Chip), a veggie tray, and crackers with hummus. We all got a plate (plus bowl for me) to eat and then opened presents.

The Marketing team pitched in to get us our crib bedding from our registries. Mine had the three sheets in there. It's funny to think back to the day that I noticed it had been bought and I said to Amber, "Someone got my sheets! I wonder who?" and she played along, knowing full well who was buying all the stuff.

Amber got me (and Baby Girl) the book "The Giving Tree" and a sweet little bunny. Can't wait to snuggle up and read in a few short months!

Abbey got some of the fun little things from the registry: outlet covers, a sippy cup, bowls, ring links, stroller hooks, and teethers.

Chris got my bouncer, adding that he'd like to see one of those for adults some day because it looked pretty neat. I agree, Chris ;)

Cody got us each a Starbucks gift card, noting that it might help a little once the babies come haha :)

And Steven got me my changing pad cover - nice and practical.

We spent the shower munching, talking about babies, telling stories about how emotional I am, and saying just how excited we are to meet the babies. I'm so lucky and thankful to work with such sweet and loving people <3 and I couldn't have had a better surprise baby shower!

Celebrate the Weekend

This weekend was so much fun with visitors, friends, food, and celebration :)

Anne, Paul, and Mackenzie drove in town Friday evening. They had a wedding last night and were staying with us for the weekend. I don't remember the last time I'd seen them - sad! - so a weekend full of catch-ups and playing was long overdue. Nelson and I bought the last remaining items for our Angel from The Salvation Army Angel Tree and then picked up dinner for the five of us to eat at home when they got in. Mackenzie played around a bit before going to bed, and she loved plopping down on the carpet. Jesse and his new girlfriend, Michelle, came over a little later and we all just chatted in the living room and took it easy.

The whole group, Jesse and Michelle included plus the addition of Ben and Taylor, had lunch at Kerby Lane Cafe. I think we got seated around 11:45am and didn't leave until almost 2:00pm. Mackenzie did amazingly well that whole time, so I'm hoping that helps Nelson's nerves about eating out with a baby.

Ben also taught Nelson about a new iPhone filter, so he took this pretty legit pic of me with my new phone. Can't wait to be the photographer of Baby Girl!

That evening, the Tows headed out to their wedding and Nelson and I went to our MC Christmas party. Tyler and Meagan hosted it at their home, and everyone brought a dish to share. We hadn't all been together in so long, and I hadn't seen Malachi since this past summer, so it was fun visiting and spending precious time together. We were sad to miss David and Val that night, but took advantage of all being under the same roof at once - a rarity these days!

Malachi has grown up so much! He's pretty close to walking, which Meagan is excited about, but I'm pretty sure she'll wish he was a little more stationary once he's on the move ;)

Thanks, Trevor.

All five of the girls <3

These two have a fun friendship haha.

I tried using the filter and this is my beautiful model, Bino.

After Malachi got his bath, Tyler read he and Nelson some bedtime stories :)

We got home right around the same time as Paul and Anne, and then Ben and Taylor came down to hang out. We all talked until almost 2:00am!!! Luckily I was super comfortable and already in my pajamas and in my house, otherwise there's no way I would have made it that late. Anne actually fell asleep on the couch for a bit, and then woke up for round two haha. But the six of us are never together, so spent the night talking about everything going on with each other: babies, MBA school, houses, jobs, etc. You know, the typical adult talk ;)

This morning, we skipped church and hung out at home to say goodbye to the Tows as they headed to brunch with a friend and then back to Houston. Mackenzie is such a precious little girl, so of course I had to take a family picture with her.

And I may or may not zoom in on that picture to see a glimpse into my future, and my heart is already bursting <3

Anne wanted a picture touching my belly and I have #tallpeopleproblems

And let's just face it. Mackenzie was totally cool with Nelson holding her, but not me. I'll say she knew she was about to spend a lot of time in the car and wanted to stretch her legs.

After a goodbye lunch with Jesse and Michelle, Nelson and I ran some more errands and then got ready for our belated anniversary dinner. We had a delicious prime rib meal at Fleming's, and then I got to see the new floor of RetailMeNot. I think Mitratech is a pretty cool office until I see Nelson's work place, and then I don't feel so special.

Four wonderful years down, and a lifetime to go <3

I think that was one of my most favorite weekends in a long time. While it was extremely busy and there wasn't as much sleep as I'd prefer, spending so much time with friends made it absolutely the best!

Weekend Shenanigans

I think we were home to sleep this weekend, and that was about it. It was a pretty busy weekend with a lot of fun (and one not-so-fun) things going on.

Allison and Jenni had come over Thursday night for our girls night to make cookies for a cookie exchange Austin Stone was hosting for South Austin ladies. I loaded up in the car Friday evening with my cookies to meet Allison for some fried chicken (my main pregnancy craving, as Nelson would say, but I've always loved fried chicken). It was dark, rainy, wet, and cold. I was thinking to myself, "This is the best weather to stay at home in pajamas on the couch for a movie. I should've just stayed home. These cookies probably aren't even good. Why am I going to this?" Next time I have those feelings, I'm turning around and going home.

Instead, I kept going, following a car who decided to be a good samaritan and stop in the middle of Slaughter to let an oncoming car turn left. The lane beside us was completely backed up and they had left a gap for cars going in and out of a parking lot, but our lane was clear, so him stopping was kind of sudden. I think I said, "Seriously? Are you kidding me?" as we came to a stop, and then I felt my car kind of go forward a bit. I looked in my rearview mirror to see lights too close. "Did he just hit me," I thought? It really wasn't hard, but yup, he did. Turns out the guy behind me was pulling a trailer with no tail lights, so he couldn't stop as suddenly without being rear-ended himself, so he chose to lightly tap me instead. Cool, guy; thanks. We pulled into a gas station and luckily he was very nice and apologetic, and asked me about five times if I was sure I was ok. It's just a small dent on my bumper, but more annoying that now I have to deal with it.

I called Nelson as soon as I got back in my car, and of course I started to cry as soon as I told him I'd been in an accident. Not because I was hurt, I really wasn't, but I think just shook up and that word is just scary in itself. He said he knew I was serious (not sure why I would kid about that?) because I had just told him that morning that if I was ever in an accident, I'd tell him when he first picked up the phone. I wouldn't tell him "the story" first, and then get into, "Oh yeah, and then I was hit." This was spurred because, and I think this is karma getting me back, I had called to tell him about this guy who was driving recklessly on my way to work. I ended up seeing his car parked, so I pulled off and left a note on his windshield that said, "If you drive like an asshole, you're going to kill someone. Be careful and happy holidays.   - a very pregnant lady" (I exaggerated the pregnancy bit for effect). I was kind of proud of myself, but I'd scared Nelson into thinking something bad had happened.

So, after four years of marriage, I guess we're still learning stuff about each other!

The cookie exchange was fun. I met Allison's friend, Abby, who recently moved to Austin from Indiana. We ate some good cookies, drank hot chocolate, and then I packed up my favorites to take home with me.

And since I don't have a picture of the cookies (oops!), here's one of my bumper? ;) Again, minor, but the first one for this car in its two years of age.

Saturday morning was our childbirth class!!! It was LOOOOOOONG. 9am - 4pm. But pretty informative, and not gross at all. One of the nurses from Dr. Cowan's office was the teacher, so I knew her. We didn't have to watch any videos, but she showed pictures of how the baby prepares for birth, explained what happens to your body, talked about when to call or come in, and the whole labor and delivery process at the hospital. We ended with a tour of the labor and delivery area and then the post-partum area, which I remember pretty well from Lindsay with Jackson and Dean.

We hurried home home to change because my mom and John were picking us up to eat, and then we all went to see The Nutcracker. RetailMeNot was the underwriter, so Nelson had free tickets. It was his first ballet, which was evidenced by his question, "So they don't talk at all?" shortly after it started :)

Nelson didn't know the trick to this is that you have to put your face IN the hole....

Sunday afternoon I went to a baby shower for my boss / friend Emily. It was basically all girls from the office, so was fun to chat with them outside of a work setting. The hosts, Britta and Emily (another one), had some fun games planned. We submitted baby pictures, and Emily had to match who was who. And then of course we had to eat baby food. Luckily I didn't make it to the tie-breaker round because that one consisted of meat. Blech!

The Marketing team! Britta, Emily, me, and Amber.

And the whole gang, four of which are pregnant :) L to R - Stephanie, Emily, Emily, Melissa, Allyson, Amber, Me, Courtney (front), Britta, Kristin, and Jillian

Emily is due with a little boy six weeks before me, Jillian is due with a surprise the day before me, and Stephanie is due with a boy about four weeks after me. So many babies!!!

So it's safe to say that Sunday night was a Netflix and chill night :)

Happy Anniversary to us!

Four years ago, I woke up with no anxiety, stress, or nervousness. I knew I was making the best decision of my life, and every day I've been more confident in that decision. Being married to you, Nelson, has been simply wonderful. And I absolutely cannot wait for my feelings for you to go to a whole new level when Baby Girl joins our family next spring <3 Happy Anniversary!