Still Here

For anyone who may read this blog and is waiting with bated breath for news of Baby #3, we are having a boy!  The ultrasound went really well.  More on that later.

(By the way, the theme of this post is "more on that later".  I just need to get something written so I don't go too long without posting.)

We've had a very busy last couple of weeks.  On a whim, I decided to drive to Orlando for a family party last weekend.  More specifically, Chet's sister lives in the Orlando area, and she was having a birthday party for two of her three kiddos (one is born in late August, the other born in early September).  All of Chet's family was going to be there, and I felt strongly that we needed to go to see all of them.  I know for a fact we are not travelling anywhere for Thanksgiving or Christmas (I will be too pregnant), and there's just not an event in the foreseeable future that will gather us all together.  Not to mention that the sequence of events of early 2014 is 1) have baby, 2) Chet return from deployment, 3) move to Washington D.C.

But moving to Washington D.C. in March (approximately) is a topic for a whole 'nother post (or, "more on that later").

Anyway, the drive from Gulfport, Mississippi to Orlando is 9 hours.  There was no way I could do that on my own, so I enlisted my neighbor (whose parents live in the Orlando area) to ride with us/serve as the girls' slave during the drive.  She was an absolute saint, and I feel like I should pay her about $6,000 for all the help she gave me.  We departed Gulfport at 6:30 a.m. Friday (September 6th), and arrived at Jenni's house 11 hours later.  The party was Sunday, and we departed Orlando at 7:30 a.m. Monday (September 9th) and arrived home 11 1/2 hours later.  The girls had a blast playing with their cousins:

Tuesday all I did was laundry and repack, because we were headed to Houston the next day (September 11th), as soon as Sydney finished preschool for the day.  We got on the road a little after 12:00 p.m., swung through the New Orleans airport to pick up my mom (it's only about 80 miles from Gulfport to New Orleans, so she was able to help us with the majority of the drive), and arrived in Houston at 9:00 p.m.  We rested Thursday, and then Syd and I hopped a 7:10 a.m. flight Friday morning (September 13th) to Baltimore for a wedding (Lorelei stayed in Houston with Didi).  The older sister of the girl's wedding that Lorelei and I attended in San Diego last July (2012) was getting married, and it was fun to go Northeast (although I realize Maryland is technically the South...yeah right) this time of year.  The weather has actually been quite hot in Baltimore, but Thursday storms brought a cool front, providing absolutely perfect fall weather for Stephanie's wedding weekend.  Sydney and I loved getting away, just the two of us, and wearing long-sleeves and long pants (or in Sydney-speak, "down sleeves" and "down pants").  We both had a lot of fun at the wedding, and it was beautiful.  Here is a picture of the enthusiastic wedding guest:

Unfortunately, we had to depart Baltimore early this morning, at 7:50 a.m.  We were back in Houston by 10:00 a.m., and now I need a nap.  We are headed back to good ol' Gulfport Tuesday, so that Sydney can go to school Wednesday morning.  After that...I'm not sure we're doing any more travelling at all until the baby comes.  But, by all means, come and see us!