21 Weeks/Christmas 2010

Me and the babies @ 21 weeks at the Bean--

21 Weeks--
It's hard to believe that I have already made it this far. Seems like time is just flying!! This last week has probably been the hardest week I have had since getting pregnant. Lots of pain from the rib I have out of place has made life interesting. It's hard to get comfortable at any point and time during the day, and sleep is pretty much just a nap here and a nap there...even when taking Benadryl or my pain pills. (which both normally knock me flat on my tail end!) I feel like I constantly have ants in my pants b/c I am changing positions every 5 minutes it seems like to get comfy. Oh well, such is life, and hopefully, with the holidays being over and being able to get back into a routine with the chiropractor, I will be able to get the pain under control. We had a great time in Chicago, and thankfully, for the most part, my back didn't bother me, except while we were on the airplane to and from Chicago and we won't talk about how that went...

I still haven't felt the little boogers move...anxiously awaiting that day! As far as appetite, I am now hungry all the time, but am only able to eat small meals b/c I get full really fast. We found this place in Chicago called Yolk and we ate breakfast there on Sunday and Monday...the babies and I were in heaven! It was delicious food, especially the cinnamon roll french toast. I don't even want to know what the scale says tomorrow when I go to the doctor, however, I was reading a book this weekend about multiple pregnancies, and it said that with multiples you should gain half to a little more than half of your pregnancy weight by the time you are 22-24 weeks, so if that's the case, I don't think I'm doing too bad so far.

Billy and I were talking about all the fun stuff that the babies have already gotten to do and they aren't even here yet! They've survived an entire football season, been to Disney World, been on several road trips, and now they've been to a Bears game, been to Wrigley Field, and have seen all kinds of fun sites in Chicago!! I'm very thankful that I have plenty of pictures of all these adventures to be able to share with them when they are older.

Christmas 2010--
We had my parents, my sister and my grandma over for dinner on Christmas Eve and exchanged gifts. We drew names this year, and am pretty sure that we will continue to do it that way. It's so much less expensive and then there's not the stress of buying for a ton of people. My sister had my name and she got me a gift certificate to Brush with Art. Can't wait to use it!!!! :) Billy and I also exchanged our stocking stuffers on Christmas Eve since we had to leave for the airport @ 4:30 the next morning!! Billy got me a tripod for my camera b/c it makes him crazy to walk in the living room and see all the things that I have stacked up to get my camera at the right height to be able to take my weekly/bi-weekly belly pictures. He also got me some warm and fuzzy house shoes. I got him 2 books and some fuzzy socks b/c he is always trying to steal mine!!! It was a good low key night with my family and then we furiously packed to head to Chicago.

Christmas morning our flight left @ 5:50 am...the things you do to yourself to save money!! The flights up there weren't bad at all, and we got to our hotel without any problems. We stayed at the Chicago Hilton were President Obama had all of his inauguration stuff, and where they filmed part of Home Along 2. It was really nice and a very convenient place to stay. That night we went to dinner with J'Marcus and his mom and brother. It was fun to get to talk to him and catch up on things. He is doing really well and is enjoying being in Chicago. After that, we went back to the hotel and crashed b/c we were exhausted from having gotten up so early.

Sunday morning we put on all of our layers and headed to Yolk for breakfast, ran back to our hotel to give Colby and Sarah some extra clothes to put on (since only 1 of their 3 bags made it to Chicago...) and then we walked over to Soldier Field. It was a great game and we had a blast. It snowed off and on throughout the game, and even though it was cold (the wind chill was only 10 most of the game), it wasn't near as windy as we thought, so it wasn't near as miserable as we expected it to be. The Bears played well and it was a great win. It was fun to see the LSC so well represented. 4 of the Bears 22 starters are former LSC players. After the game we went to the family room to hang out with J'Marcus for a little while, and then we walked back to the hotel. By the time we got back to the hotel, I needed a nap, so I took a nap and then we went and got dinner and hung out before heading downtown for a little while. We ended up at the Cheesecake Factory, where we got our cheesecake to go and then came back to the hotel and devoured it!!! :) I felt like our eating schedule was off the whole time we were there b/c we would eat breakfast about 9 and then not eat again until 4 or so, and then by the time it was time to go to bed, I was starving again...

Monday we got up and ate at Yolk again and then went to the Field Museum. This is the museum that they made the first Night at the Museum movie at. It was really cool, and I would love to be able to take our kids back there someday. We got to see Sue, the T-Rex skeleton, that they have there. It's the most complete T-Rex skeleton in the world. We spent several hours in there and then went to Millenium Park to watch the ice skaters and go see the Bean. I have been to the Bean before, but Billy hadn't, so we went and took pictures there, and then as we were getting ready to cross the street, we randomly ran into our friend Dana, who is from Chicago and home for Christmas, and her boyfriend. It was good to see her and I love little random run ins like that. After a quick stop for some hot chocolate, we took the train down to Wrigley field and took pictures and then went back to the Navy Pier where we walked around for awhile, did some window shopping, and then had dinner. After that, I was done in, so we went back to the hotel and I put on my pajamas, and after he hung out with me for awhile, Billy went back downtown and met up with Colby, Sarah, Dana and Mark.

Our flight left @ 8 on Tuesday morning, so we didn't get to do anything on Tuesday, but overall it was a great trip. I was telling my friend Joi tonight, it was nice to just have Billy's (mostly) undivided attention for a few days and not have job/player/football/recruiting stress/drama constantly at the fore front of our conversation. I am struggling with my attitude about that right now, so if you think about it, say a prayer for me and my attitude! I'm just not in the mood to share these days...

Billy and the Chicago skyline

Billy and I with J'Marcus after the game. (He always makes me feel so tiny...I LOVE it!!!)

Sarah and Colby with J'Marcus afterwards...wish I had a picture of Sarah's hat she wore at the game...it is the best ever!

The big blow up that the players run out of before the games.

I have lots more pictures, but will have to do a separate post for those b/c I don't have time to upload them right now. Hope everyone has a blessed Christmas, and hopefully I'll have new pictures of the twins tomorrow that I can post along with more Chicago pictures.