San Antone

Benton, mom, dad, Dutch, and I all loaded up on Saturday morning and headed down to San Antonio to see my aunt, Donna, and my Grandpa Joe. It was a whirlwind of a trip, but great to see them. Grandpa Joe is 92 and his mind is sharp as ever if you can get him talking. Unfortunately though, he doesn't understand me at all - my mom has to translate :( I don't know if I am too quiet, talk too fast, or what, but it is terrible - he just looks at me with this blank stare anytime I say something.

Dutch was not a fan of Grandpa's scooter (or any of the other walkers or people in them), which has me concerned about how he will react to Haven's strollers. I guess he'll overcome his fear or spend a lot of time hiding under our bed!

Long Weekend in Destin

My bestie, Ms. Sarah Chanel, met me in Destin for a long weekend two weeks ago. It was so great to get to spend time with her and my mom, just hanging out for a few days. Our trip overlapped a bit with some of my mom's teacher friends and it was so good to get to see them too - they've known me almost longer than I can remember and are the sweetest ladies.

Thanks for coming to hang out with me, Sarah! It was great girl time!

(Sarah was headed to the airport and I was staying behind to do conference calls then head back out to the beach.)

My mom drove to Destin a week before I got there and she took Dutch with her, but he took his first plane trip back with us. Other than REALLY not wanting to get in the bag initially (and not really wanting to stay in there), he did surprisingly well - no growling, barking, or leaky-butt. He passed the test with my mom and I, so it looks like he'll get to go back for Labor Day.

Fourth of July...Better Late than Never

Benton's sweet Aunt Nancy and Uncle George flew Benton, Betsy, and I out to Carlsbad to spend their favorite holiday on the river with them. We had so much fun! Bianca picked us up from the airport loaded with roadies and sporting a Statue of Liberty hat - I wish I had a picture of that, but I accidentally left my moms camera at home. Since this was my inaugural trip, they gave me the grand tour of Carlsbad and lots of Carlsbad gossip. Friday night we met Tom, Charla, Hannah, and Briley for dinner and a good little Mexican restaurant and then went back to the house for some Sprinkles cupcakes by the river while we watched Hannah and Briley show off their swim and diving skills.

Benton and I got up bright and early on Saturday so he could ski with Uncle George. It had been a few years since the last time he had skiied, but he got up like a pro! George and I watched him take one pretty good tumble halfway across the river, but it wouldn't have been as entertaining without a good fall. Jim, Faye, Seth, Candace, Blakely, Gam, and Claude all came in Saturday afternoon. Nancy and George had some world-famous barbeque for lunch and we all just spent the day hanging out by the river - going cruising, skiing, and tubing in the boat, and watching the boys do "tricks" off the diving board.

It rained on us Saturday night, but that didn't stop the fireworks. Benton, Faye, Jim, Nancy, George, and I all stayed on the dock under the umbrellas watching the fireworks while everyone else jumped in the boat to get a better view. As it turns out, we were better off on the dock because everyone in the boat got SOAKED from the rain.

It was a fun-filled family weekend! We had so much fun getting to spend time with everyone. Thank you Nancy and George for your incredible hospitality!

Latest Gut Belly Pics

The camera adds 10 lbs...

Just shy of 22 Weeks
19 Weeks

It's still weird to look down and see my stomach protruding out. I still wonder, is it fat or baby? Maybe I'll stop thinking that when it looks like a baby bump rather than like I've just been eating too much.

And She Will Be Called...

Haven Caitlynn Hyatt

We just like Haven - it's different, but not off the wall. I actually put Haven on our running list awhile ago and Benton vetoed it, but then he brought it back. We came up with a lot of names, but just kept coming back to Haven, so it has stuck.

Caitlynn is much more common, but more meaningful. My mom's middle name is Lynn and she is an amazing woman. She is the most generous, kind, patient, and loving person I have ever known. Unfortunately, I didn't get all of those great qualities from my mom, but I hope and pray that Haven will have a sweet soul just like her Grammy.

Half Way There

and so far, so good. I really can't complain, I have had a pretty easy pregnancy from the very beginning. I was super tired for the first few months, but luckily that had all but vanished before our trip to Europe. I didn't really have any "morning" sickness unless I brushed my teeth before eating breakfast (weird?). I have definitely been hungrier and it comes on pretty fast and I get really grumpy if I don't get to eat fast enough (sorry Benton!). The other pregnancy symptom I did not escape was the breakouts, but it could have been much worse and it appears that things are clearing up. That has not been fun though, so I've tried to wear as little makeup as possible and even not wearing sunglasses as much because I seemed to breakout where they touched my face. Really, the worst thing in the past 20 weeks was that I got some allergy/sinus junk that started the night before Easter and I could not get rid of it. I felt and sounded terrible on and off (but mostly on) until the last week of April. I hope and pray that the second half will be as smooth sailing as the first has been!

A Princess in the Making

I'm a little delayed in the news, but we found out last Thursday that we are having a GIRL!! We are super excited, but were a little shocked since Benton was so convinced it was a boy (and therefore had totally brainwashed me into thinking it was a boy also). Benton's immediate reaction was "Oh man!" - I think because he was surprised to be wrong AND he was trying to grasp how expensive a girl is going to be :)

We got to watch her move all around for a good 20-30 minutes while the sonographer got all the measurements and pictures she needed and also took tons for us. We got two really cute profile pics with her hands in her mouth. She wasn't quite as easy of a target for the sonographer this time, I don't think she stopped moving the entire time we were in there. She is weighing in at about a half a pound and her heartbeat was 145.

On another note, I felt her for the first time last week as well. The first time that I knew that's what it was was on Wednesday and she has been very active ever since. Benton was able to feel a tiny little movement yesterday for the first time.