Fishing weekend!

Somehow, it's Monday again, and I really feel like time is just going so fast right now! The summer always flies by, and winters are so long, haha. We spent most of this weekend on the boat enjoying the long summer days.

On Saturday morning, we went for a family bike ride, and Travis towed Avery behind him. We went almost 11 miles on a bike trail nearby. I feel great on my bike so far! I was nervous last pregnancy to ride my bike (for fear of falling) but now that I've trained and completed several triathlons, I am a much better (and more confident) rider. I do feel most comfortable riding my hybrid bike, because on my road bike my feet are attached to my pedals, and I fell a few times getting off my bike last year when I forgot to release my feet. My hybrid is more comfortable for my growing stomach as well because I sit up straighter, whereas I lean forward on my road bike. I would like to continue to ride my bike this summer as long as I feel that I can maintain my balance. It's a great form of exercise and easier than running for me right now.

Speaking of running....it's not going great. I ran on Thursday and Friday, and I am not feeling great about it. I was able to run comfortably through about 22 weeks last time around, and then I ran-walked until about 27 weeks. At that point it was December, and I didn't feel comfortable running outside on ice, so I switched to elliptical at my gym. I was on the elliptical for 10 minutes the day before I gave birth to Avery, so I was able to stay relatively active. This time, my times have become much slower, and my stomach is just not comfortable?!? (And I'm only 17 weeks.) I honestly don't know why, and it's very frustrating. I also get lightheaded doing just about everything, and it makes me nervous when I'm running. However, I still want to stay active this pregnancy, so I think I'm going to cut back running, and increase biking, swimming, walking, and yoga. There are lots of alternatives, and I just have to keep reminding myself that it's just temporary, and I'll be back to running in no time!

Anyway, Saturday afternoon we ordered a pizza and took Avery and Ranger on the boat. It was so relaxing. Avery loves being on the boat, and being on the water was great. Travis fished a little bit, and really spent most of his time setting things up for Sunday's Lake Erie fishing trip.

On Sunday, Travis's mom watched Avery while we went up to a Lake Erie with Travis's grandfather. We went out just east of Cleveland, and could see the city skyline from the lake the entire time we were fishing. I have to say...it might be the best way to see Cleveland haha. We fished for walleye from 6:30am-4pm, and caught 18 walleye, the maximum allowed to keep. Travis was so excited because that's the most walleye he's caught on our boat in one day, ever! We actually almost caught several more, but they never made it into the boat...they either released the hook, or somehow made their escape. One fish actually jumped out of the net that Travis had him in, and freed himself back into the water!! We also caught some other types of fish, but released them back into the lake. It was a gorgeous day to be out on the lake, and it stayed calm most of the day. After we caught the last fish, I started getting mildly seasick, so we headed in. The waves picked up around 3:30-4:00, and that last hour was a little rough for me. I never used to get seasick, but I guess I'm getting old.

Here we are after we made it home last night and Travis cleaned all of the fish!

Travis's grandfather:

Busy week with family!

This past week has flown by!! Travis went out of town for his annual meeting (in Orlando) so I decided to take Avery to Pittsburgh and stay at my sister Lindsey's house. We left last Monday - a week ago - and we dropped Ranger off at GG's house on the way (Travis's grandparents.) Avery and I had lunch with them and played outside for a little while.

We headed to Pittsburgh, and Avery napped for almost the entire 2-hour drive over there. When we arrived, we took Avery and Cooper to the playground that is just a 3-minute walk from Lindsey's house. There were a lot of kids there because a day care was there, and of course Avery loved it! It was good for her to have so e social interaction, and good for me to not be a "hover parent." I find myself wanting to be by Avery's side in everything, and I was able to take a step back and kind of let her go a little bit...I am trying to find a happy medium of staying close to Avery, but not too close. She had a small incident on the merry-go-round, because she wanted to go on it with the other kids, but she had never been on one before, and she didn't realize it would spin. A little boy (a few years older) started pushing it, and Avery panicked and tried to step off. She fell and I got there quickly, but she was fine. It was a good learning experience for both of us.

The next day we went to one of Lindsey's friend's home for a play date! Lindsey's friend Katie has twin girls who are 2 days younger than Avery, and a little boy who just turned one. We started outside on their swing set, and it went really well! Avery was social, and her girls did great! Her little boy was amazingly "chill" and I am hoping my next baby will be like him! He was just crawling around and very independent and happy. We had some of Avery's favorites for lunch - macaroni and cheese, chicken fingers, fruit, and pasta salad. Avery taught the twin how to put black olives on your fingers and then eat them. It was pretty cute. Later that day we met my other sister Kelsey for dinner at Burgatory for a burger and milkshake. We had to wait an hour, but Avery and Cooper (my sister's 5-month old son) did pretty well.

The next day was a pool day!! Lindsey and Meesh are members of a country club, so we took Avery and Cooper swimming. On the way, we stopped at Gymboree because Cooper needed a new bathing suit, and I picked up a new sun hat for Avery (see below.) The pool was empty when we arrived, but we headed to the baby pool. We found out a bit later that they were't planning on opening, because there was a chance of rain later in the day. However, they stayed open since we arrived, haha. The lifeguard wasn't thrilled, but it never ended up raining while we were there (from 12-3) and it was sunny and nice out! Luckily more people showed up so we weren't the only ones there.

On Thursday, we went to South Park to walk and go to the playground with Avery and Cooper. Avery  had a great time playing, and we walked 3 miles. I have been dealing with a lot of lightheadedness this pregnancy, and I was definitely noticing it on our walk. I think it has to do with my relatively low blood pressure. Luckily Lindsey took a nursing break with Cooper, and I took a little break too, while Avery went on swings. We put Cooper in the swing next to Avery after he was done eating, and he loved it!

South Park also has an animal preserve with a peacock, and we saw lots of ducks, geese, and turkey's, too! After the park, we had lunch at Lindsey's, then headed back to Ohio. We picked up Ranger at GG's and stopped by Nana's workplace to say hi for a few minutes before heading home sweet home (for less than 24 hours.)

On Friday, we picked up Travis from the airport in the morning. We had lunch, and then headed back to PA, but this time to Edinboro for the weekend. On Friday night we went to Pizza Pub, and I enjoyed it immensely...except for the no beer part haha. Saturday was very exciting. We had been thing about buying kayaks for Edinboro for some time, so we went to the grand opening weekend of Field and Stream in Erie, and they had tons of Kayaks, and an outdoor paddle pool to try them out!! Kelsey and I tried out a few of them, and my mom spoke to someone knowledgeable about kayaks. We ended up buying 2 kayaks - one single small one that you sit down in, and one larger tandem kayak that you sit on top of. Travis and Kai (Kelsey's bf) picked them up a few hours later, and we tried them out that day!! They were really great, and even Avery likes it! Because our family is growing, we can't all be on the boat at the same time, and these are a great alternative! I think I will enjoy kayaking when we are over there for many years to come, and it will be a great activity with kids. My mom and I took Avery on the tandem kayak on Sunday morning, and it was great to go to the shallow areas of the lake and get a different perspective of Edinboro Lake. Then we took Avery on the boat to watch my mom waterski, and Travis wakeboard.

We headed home during Avery's nap, and now we are finally enjoying some downtime/cleanup and unpacking time. We had a great week and I was glad to have Avery do so much and be so happy with my family!

12 Week Ultrasound

During my last pregnancy, we weren't given the option for the NT scan at 12 weeks because it was standard at our office to do the quad test screen (a blood test) around 16 weeks, which is slightly more comprehensive. However, when this test was offered this time around, I really wanted to do it...not as much because of the testing, but because this first ultrasound would also confirm my due date. 

After our quad screen we received news that our results were "abnormal," which is very scary to a first time mom-to-be. We ended up having a ultrasound anyway, and it turned out that the test was abnormal because I wasn't as far along as my doctor thought, and my due date changed by 3 weeks. I was happy to find our our baby was healthy, but also stressed because I was going to be pregnant 3 extra weeks, haha. I ended up having Avery at 39 weeks, but I think she was actually right on schedule.

We had our ultrasound for this new baby about a week and a half ago, and my due date is right on track. They also measure the fluid around the baby's neck to check for Down syndrome, and everything looked good. They also do a blood test at the same time, as a double check I think. My doctor's office typically won't call with results unless they are concerned, and so far I haven 't heard anything. No news is good news! Seeing my baby on the ultrasound really is one of the best things about pregnancy, especially early on. I haven't felt any flutters or kicks yet, but the baby was moving a lot on the ultrasound. It really makes it real, and appreciate what a miracle pregnancy is...and makes it a little easier to get through the tough parts.