2008 - Looking back

I was watching the Today show this morning and they were talking about 2008 and all the memorable photos from this past year.  It "inspired" me to do my own kind of looking back from the past year.  Overall 2008 has been a great year.  So many things have happened, mostly in the last six months, but I don't think I would change a thing.  

Two of my grandparents turned a milestone, 80.

I got a new teaching job at a fabulous school teaching 4th grade.

Left a company I had been at for years with many wonderful friends who I miss dearly.

Gabe's job role changed to a higher level with more responsibilities.

Found out we were pregnant in July with our little Brody.

Found out many great friends are pregnant. (2009 will be B-U-S-Y)

Sold our house...extremely fast.

Moved in with my mom and step-dad.

Signed a contract on a new house - about to break ground at the beginning of '09.

Were able to travel to LA and Chicago with friends.

Celebrated mine and Gabe's 3 year anniversary (married) and 10 years (dating).

My little Rocky turned 4, wow time flies!

The Lord has given us so many blessings this year, I don't think I could have asked for more. Gabe and I are so lucky to have each other and to be experiencing the things we are at such a young age.  We are blessed to have a wonderful, gracious family and fabulous friends!  Our hope is that you had a great 2008, and that you have an even better 2009.

Merry Christmas

We are wishing you joyous times with your family and friends this holiday season. Remember the reason for the season.

(A picture taken a few years ago, Rockefeller Center)

Love, Lindsay and Gabe

And wishing my cousin, Melanie, a VERY happy birthday!  Sending our Texas love to you on your special day!

Our latest appt.

Went to see the doctor on Thursday afternoon.  Mom and baby received a clean bill of health. Baby Brody is measuring right on, and Mommy is starting to gain weight.  I am in my 3rd trimester which is crazy to think about.  It has all gone so fast, and I know it will continue to do so.  Here is what babycenter.com says about where Brody should be:

"By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of his head to his heels.  He can blink his eyes, which now support lashes.  With his eyesight developing, he may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb.  He's also developing billions of neurons in his brain and adding more body fat in preparation for the outside world."

Brody sure isn't shy.  He is movin' and groovin' around in there.  Sometimes it feels as though his is doing "the worm" in my belly.  It is the weirdest thing.  Gabe's predicting he goes to USC and plays football for the Trojans, a kicker.  He is going to be the first kicker to enter the NFL draft after only 2 years of college and be drafted in the first round to the Dallas Cowboys.  In which he will win a Super Bowl by faking a field goal and throwing a touchdown to one of his wide receivers, leaving one second on the clock to win the game.  We are still unsure the team they will be playing, but Gabe is thinking an all Texas Super Bowl....Dallas vs. Houston. We are so proud of our unborn child!  And I am so proud of Gabe's creative imagination.  :)

My Song

I finally figured out a way for you to hear the song written for me by our wonderful, talented friend Marc Vega.  He and my amazing husband collaborated to make this special song.

Best Friend Song

The song is titled "Best Friend" if you are interested.

Sick...

Being sick and pregnant is no fun!  Can't take anything!  I have a lovely sinus infection and have had it since Thursday night.  My head is so full and I am oh so tired with a massive stack of papers to grade since it is the end of the 3 weeks.  I was so busy this week preparing for my observation, that I did not pick up one paper to grade.  I find myself finding other projects I wouldn't normally do just to avoid "the stack."

Guess I better get busy and then rest up.  Hope everyone is healthy!  :)

25 weeks down, 15 to go

So here I am...  I feel great!  Just getting a little harder to bend down and tie my shoes!  :)

Turkey Day

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I know I have a lot to be thankful for this year.

Poor Tech

What a sad day in Raider Land, or Raiderville (I guess that is something new this year).  We still love our Red Raiders, even after the huge loss.  Glad we were able to spend time with great friends!

The Latest

Went to the doctor bright and early this AM to check in on little Brody.  All is well.  My tummy measured normal and his heart beat was normal.  We were lucky enough to get another sonogram (for free!!).  Last time we went was to find out we were having a little Brody and I had just made a comment to the doctor that since it is my first pregnancy I wished that I could have seen the little guy move around a little more.  Not mad at all, and totally understood that the sonographer was getting all of her measurements and doing her job.  So I get a phone call the next day from a super sweet lady at the doctors office apologizing that I didn't get the attention that I was hoping for, going on and on, so nice of them...  I was assured that I could have a complimentary sonogram anytime my schedule permitted. (not the outcome I was expecting or hoping for by saying something, but heck...I will take it!)  Well, since we moved to Colleyville for a little while, it is harder for me to get all the way over to McKinney, so I just combined it with the appointment I had scheduled for this morning at 7:30!  This time our doctor did it and really took the time to point out everything and got to see him move so much.  He was moving is arms around and opened his mouth once for us.  So weird because some of the movements we saw on the screen, I could feel them too.  Such a miracle growing inside.  An amazing feeling. I am not sure if it has really hit me that I am going to have a baby!

Baby count:

Gabe and I - boy

Brooke and Steve - boy

Cortney and Justin - girl

Adam and Amber - TBD

As soon as we get our camera charged up, I will post pictures I promise!

Goodnight, its almost my bedtime!  :)

Picture Update

I would love to post a new picture of my ever-growing belly, but we have lost our camera charger and the camera battery is d-e-a-d!  Maybe I can get Gabe to go get us a new one.  We are going back to the doctor on Tuesday and will be getting another sonogram, so hopefully we can put that up too.  Also, need to get a pic of my pretty anniversary flowers before they start to fade.  :)

Short and sweet...  Happy Sunday to all!

Anyone know if there is a way to upload the song that Gabe had made for me to the blog?  I would love to share it!  Just not technological advanced and unsure how to make it happen.

Anniversary

So last night was mine and Gabe's 3 year wedding anniversary, but also our anniversary from when we began dating back in high school.  This anniversary was a milestone...10 years together.  I have decided that I officially have the most wonderful hubby in all of the land!  We both agreed not to get anything for each other and that we would just go to dinner.  I chose steak, he chose Del Frisco's since neither of us have been there.

Yesterday, while I am at school, I get an email titled "Surprise" from the office.  I figured they were anniversary flowers.  Picked them up...beautiful orange roses and lily's!  Thinking this was my anniversary gift.  So sweet.  Early on in our relationship we decided not to do flowers too often since they are pricey and die just a short time later, so getting flowers yesterday was a nice surprise.  Love them!  They have already opened so much in one day.  I'll try to take a picture and post later.  Anyway, we get home, get ready for dinner.  Get in the car.  Off to Ft. Worth.  Gabe starts playing some music and says that I need to listen close because this is my anniversary card.  I was so confused.  Those who know me really well, know that this is not hard to do (to confuse me).  The song played, a man was singing a song I hadn't heard before.  At first I just thought "10 long years" and "when I first saw you in grey" were coincidences, I kept asking, "Who is this??"  "Just listen," was the reply.  Then he started singing about LA and Reese, Gemini's, and of course the little nugget.  That's when I knew this wasn't just any song, Gabe had a friend write and record a song for this very special occassion.  I was crying happy tears.  Probably one of the most sweetest things anyone has ever done.  Not to mention the maternity jeans he bought me and also the "Twilight" book that I can now read! (People have been talking about this book for so long, I am so excited to read it...and then see the movie).

I hope you are asking yourself, "so...what did Lindsay do for Gabe?"  Because this is where it gets good.  For this milestone anniversary, I decided to get him a card.  That's it!  Seriously.

I am forever indebted to my wonderful, amazing, caring, thoughtful, creative, loving, fantastic, fabulous Gabe!  I am so lucky to have such a perfect man in my life.

(Don't worry, I am thinking of something I can get him--it will just be a little belated)  It's hard being preggo and teaching.

It's a BrOdY!!!

We are so happy to introduce you to our new son in the making... Brody Journey Lewis!

0lb. / 8oz. sweet baby Brody is in good health and is coming along just fine.  He is still due to enter this world on 3/10/09.  If you look closely at his photo's, it looks like he has his hands behind his head, like he is just chillin.  We could not be any happier at this time!!!

Here is another photo to show you how far along Lindsay is with her rapidly growing belly...

A Chicago Adventure

Last March Gabe and I were in LA with some friends and were talking about going to Chicago this fall on a weekend when the Bears and Cubs are playing so we could go to the games.  It worked out to be the last weekend of September...yes, I am a little late in posting this.  Anywho, I get to the airport first.  Gabe, Adam and Amber are on their way but a few minutes behind me.  Gabe scheduled mine and Amber's flight one hour later than his and Adam's flight since it was cheaper, so we were hoping to get on the flight via standby.  So I walk up to the counter and speak with a very nice lady telling her exactly what I want to do, but not knowing the flight time, the flight number, or my reservation number.  How helpful am I??  She looks my information up from my name.  She tells me my reservation was cancelled because we didn't confirm the ticket!!  According to her notes, we used miles on my flight and paid for Gabe's.  NOT TRUE, it is the exact opposite.  Finally Gabe gets there and calls American on his way to the gate, gets my flight reservation number and off we go.  Gabe to the rescue!  (That's one of the many reasons I married him...he always rescues me because I never know what I am doing.  Plus he travels all the time).  Amber and I are able to get on the guys flight and are sitting in the row in front of them.  Things are starting to work out perfectly.  We get in late Thursday night, so we just decide to go to bed.  By the way, Gabe's dad lives there so he was gracious enough to let us "borrow" his apartment for the weekend.  Friday we get up and go to a yummy breakfast place called Kitshun.  Off to Michigan Avenue to shop.  Parking in Chicago is pretty expensive so we opted to walk and get in our exercise as well as save some money.  We shop and shop and shop.  Took a taxi home since our legs were about to fall off!  Nap for a little bit, and get ready for dinner.  Off we go to dinner.  We head over to Millenium Park and eat at the restaurant there, sit on the patio...perfect evening.  The temperatures in Chicago couldn't have been more perfect!  Loved every second of it.  We had a wonderful evening at Millenium Park, showing A&A the area since it is their first time to Chicago.  Being preggers and shopping all day, I was pretty tired so we called it a night.

Saturday we get up, go to breakfast with Gabe's dad and lovely girlfriend Rochelle, who I had never met before.  They were so kind and generous to let us stay at Harvey's place, borrow his car, and even pay for breakfast.  We kept talking about how much fun we were having and how great the trip had been.  I guess we spoke a little too soon.  After we left breakfast we were heading to the Cubs game.  We decided to take a little bit longer of a route and drive over to Lakeshore Drive.  So pretty!  City on your left and Lake Michigan(??) on your right.  Sandy beaches, volleyball courts, walk/bike trails.  All of a sudden the car comes to a screeching halt.  We just crashed into the car in front of us!  (Gabe was driving his dad's car!!)  You can see the pic!  :)  

The boys were in the front and hurt by the airbags.  Amber and I were in the back with no seatbelts on...whooops.  Actually I think it was for the best so it didn't lock on my belly, because we did fly forward.  We just came out with knee bruises and I had one on my head above my left eye, thinking it was from my sunglasses. After dealing with all of that, we were talking about how to get to the Cubs game, the tow man offers to take us.  How nice!! Except 5 of us were SQUISHED into this bright red-single cab tow truck.  Awesome!  We pull up to the game, streets are PACKED and no one even takes a second glance.  haha.  One of the ladies directing the traffic stops Amber and asked "That's not the wreck from Lakeshore is it?"  Amber laughed and nodded.  The game was a blast, we all got new t-shirts and the Cubs clinched to go to the playoffs.  Great time even with all of our bruises and hurts.  Luckily Chicago has a train we were able to ride home with LOTS of drunks.  Made it interesting.  We stopped for dinner at Gino's Pizza.  

Sunday, we went to breakfast, Amber and I got on the train going one way to the airport and the boys got on the train going the other way off to the Bears game.  We had to go home since we couldn't miss another day of teaching.  And the drama continues... we are on the "wonderful" train and it comes to an end about 5 stops to early.  We have to get off the train, take a bus to 2 stops up and get back on the train to get to the airport.  Good thing we were early.  Same thing, we wanted to fly standby to get home a little earlier, we were both exhausted from an eventful weekend.  This time no such luck, the stanby list had 66 names.  We were somewhere in the 30s.  No luck on the first flight so they were transferring our names to next flight leaving out of gate K1.  We head on over that way.  Waiting and waiting for our names to pop up on the standby list so we can see where we are.  Nothing....  We go up to the lady at the desk and ask her where we are on the list, bc our names aren't on the screen.  She is very rude and not helpful one bit. Basically she told us we were wasting our time trying to get on an earlier flight and should just go sit at the gate where our scheduled flight is supposed to take off (which was K1, the exact place we were standing)!  We decided to go to a different ticketing agent to hopefully get some help.  He couldn't have been nicer.  Glad we talked to him bc he told us there was no way we would get home to Dallas tonight if we would have stayed with our original flight!  So he helped us get on a flight to St. Louis and then to Dallas.  Boy were we glad to be home!

Something's in the water...

I love finding out that my friends are pregnant, especially because it means my baby will have friends his/her own age.  :)  Just found out about 2 more friends due a short time after me.  So fun.  I guess something must be in the water...

Latest Lewis news-  (picture- our house last Christmas)

We decided to put our house on the market and to build something a little bigger that we could grow into.  So of course we think our house is cute and perfect, but we never would have thought in a million years that the first person to look at our house would buy it, especially in this crazy market.  Well it happened!  We are closing Oct. 9 and have to be out the next day!  I have been so busy with school that I feel like I am never home.  I don't know when we will have time to pack.  We are starting this weekend.

Has anyone ever used one of those PODS for storage?  We are using something similar, same concept but called SAM (storage and moving, for those of you who could figure out the abbreviation).  Sounds like a great deal.  They deliver, you take as much time as you need to pack, they pick up and store in a climate controlled location, and deliver when you are ready! Really convenient for us, since we don't have trucks to haul furniture and don't want to make 50 thousand trips to the storage building.  We will let you know how it goes.

Doctor Appt. #2

Just got back from my second doctors appointment.  Quick and painless is what we will call it.  Took my weight, blood pressure, and checked for the heartbeat.  She made me a little nervous when she couldn't locate the heartbeat, but we kept hearing these loud "womp" sounds.  The doctor assured us we have a very active baby, which is why she couldn't find the heartbeat at first.  We found it and got to hear it again!  How cool and how refreshing to hear for the second time.  I am so lucky to not have had ANY sickness, morning or evening.  Needless to say, I was a little concerned I was still pregnant, even though I knew in my mind I still was.

Gabe's thoughts - we have an A.D.D. baby and it isn't even born!  

I go back in mid-October to hopefully find out the sex of the baby!  We shall keep you posted.  Not too much to report on other than we have never been busier!  Don't have much time in our days.  I am so excited to get to see some of my Fossil friends tomorrow for an early diner/appetizers!  I can't wait to catch up with them!  I am really looking forward to it.

Have a great night, hope everyone is well!

Love, Lindsay

It's going to be a juggling act...

The first week of school is officially over! Overall it was a good week I think. Although I am glad to have a long weekend! :) Eventhough this is the 1st week of school, and it is very exhausting it makes me wonder how I am going to juggle my school, home (cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc.), and family(Gabe, Rocky and the new baby) lives...especially beginning in March?? I guess I shouldn't worry about something that is so far off, but at the same time, I know this year is going to fly by! We are lucky to have such a wonderful family who most are close-by and happy to help! Gabe and I could become magicians...that might be good. The house could magically be clean when I got home, the dinner could magically appear on the table hot and ready! Wouldn't that be nice? Or let's just hire a cleaning lady- something I have been talking about for a while now.

Ending One Chapter and Beginning a New One

Today was my last day at Fossil, a place where I have spent my last 3+ years working.  What a great job to have straight out of college!  I have learned and grown so much with that job both personally and professionally.  The people are by far the hardest thing to leave behind!  (I'll miss you guys! :))  But, this bittersweet time in my life means that I am starting a new chapter as well.  I am beginning a career in education, teaching 4th grade.  Going from somewhere I am completely comfortable with to something I am unfamiliar with is extremely scary!   The school is wonderful and my team couldn't be a better one...I feel very fortunate to begin this "chapter" in the setting I am in.  I start working in my room officially tomorrow!  My wonderful team at Fossil gave me this huge, massive gift basket FULL of teacher heaven!  I could not have asked for a better send-off.  I will hopefully post pictures once I have my room complete so you can see my "wild about 4th grade" setup!  Good things are ahead...

Goodnight,

Lindsay

The Story

Since more and more people are finding out, we decided to let you in on the whole story and how we found out.  We had just had a great fourth of July weekend with some friends and as the weekend was winding down, I needed to make a quick run to Target to get a few things...you know, like toothpaste, a lean cuisine...all the fun stuff.  Gabe was leaving for Atlanta the next morning to see a client, and while he was there he was able to have dinner with his aunt and cousins.  With my list in hand, we begin walking around Target getting everything I need.  Gabe says lets just take a preggy test just to see.  We head over to that "section" of the store when Gabe starts to joke around with me and starts asking "what percent pregnant do you think we are?"  I reply with "4%."  So I ask him the same question and he replies with "12%."  Very low percents!!  We check out at Target, go home and get settled in for the evening.  I get everything all ready for the next morning, since they say your hormone that detects the pregnancy in the at-home tests is highest first thing in the morning.  Off to bed we go...  I wake up the next morning, take the test and go to get Rocky up and take him outside to do his business.  Next thing I know, Gabe is right there behind me asking me what 2 lines mean?  I reply with nuh-uh...  He says, "no, really.  What does 2 lines mean?"  I immediately run to look at the test, and sure enough, there they were.  Two lines clear as day...not even a faint second line.  It was just as strong of a line as the first one.  There we are Monday, July 7th...just another morning to most everyone else, and we were finding out we are going to be first time parents!!  Off to the airport we go...  :(   What a day to leave town!  We shared many, many phone calls that day, as you can imagine!  Very exciting news.

Since my pregnancy tests came in a pack of three,  Gabe asked me to take another one that evening, which I did (even though it is just about impossible to get a false positive).  Exact same result, 2 very very clear lines!  A few weeks later Gabe asks, "are you sure we are pregnant?"  I take the third and final test in my 3 pack...sure enough, same happy result!  And the rest is history, which we will be documenting on here for each of you to keep up with us and the little nugget!

We are so happy and blessed to have each of you in our lives, and cannot wait to meet our little one as well as have you meet him/her.  And by the way, we will be finding out the sex of the baby the second we are able to.  

Thanks for being so special to us!

Goodnight!

Lindsay and Gabe

Baby's First Photo!

So, we are about 8 weeks in and we got to hear and see our baby's heart beat.  We still have not let the word out and it has not been easy.  That is all about to finally change!

The little love nugget is 1.2 cm long and looks kinda like a peanut.  In the picture above, the head is the bottom right portion of the "nugget".  According to the lady who conducted the ultrasound, the head is always the biggest part.  

I feel a lot of emotions as of this moment, anxious, excited, nervous, curious, hopeful, etc.  And Gabe is just excited!!!!

As of now the due date is March 12th, but I am a little behind my original schedule so I am not going to be surprised if I am later than that.  We hope you enjoy our picture and I know there will be many more to come!

Goodnight, this little lady is TIRED!

Lindsay

7 weeks

Today I am officially 7 weeks preggers and my first doctor's visit is in one week.  I am so anxious.  I have questions that I have been writing down so I won't forget to ask her anything.  As far as feeling pregnant, I really don't feel any different.  Haven't had any morning sickness...the only thing is, I don't really have much of a taste for anything but I am definitely still eating!!  So as of now, please don't ask me "what sounds good to you?"  It is good to know my friend Brooke who is a few days to a week ahead of me is feeling the same way (about food).  She just doesn't know I am pregnant yet!  It is such a hard thing to keep to yourself especially when you see people at work everyday and your close family and friends.  I just want to blurt out the good news, but I also want to be safe and wait 5 more weeks.  We will probably start telling more and more people after the doctor visit.  It's too hard!

Happy Tuesday!

Lindsay

Secrets are no fun

Secrets secrets are no fun!  I can't keep this a secret any longer!  It is killing me inside not being able to tell people for 3 months and I am only about 6 weeks...half way there.  I want to tell all of my friends so bad.  I guess I technically could, but not sure I want to take that risk just yet.   Only some family knows at this point.  More will find out after my doctors appointment on July 29th.  

I feel like this is making me act as though I am a different person.  I definitely do not feel myself keeping this secret from people. 

I am not feeling pregnant really.  My tummy has "cramps" every now and again throughout the day, and thats about it.  I hope this is normal...  I guess I will find out in 2 weeks.

Have a good night!

Lindsay

Holy Cow!!!

On July 7th of 2008, we were blessed to find out that we are now expecting our first addition to the Lewis family.  After almost 10 years of "just the two of us," we are going to be proud parents come March!  To those of you who have been with us since the beginning, we couldn't be happier to share this time with you and what better way than with a BLOG.  This gives us an opportunity to invite you into our home, especially to those who are so far away.