Under the Sea

That's me petting a shark! So brave!

The penguin 2nd from the left looked like he had a huge fur coat on. Hilarious!

Um Jared...don't look now...but behind you..ummm

I had to laugh because this reminded us of Crush from Finding Nemo.

Scary huh? Sharks have multiple rows of replacement teeth. This guy had 4 rows.

Another shot of the shark.

Here I am with a sting ray flying over my head

Jared demonstrating that his strength is more than a shark bite. Not quite!

They put pumpkins in the water for Halloween. The fish loved eating them.

This bird is giving us the evil eye because we were too cheap to buy that nectar that they can eat from your hand.

Talk about kissing the glass!

If you are ever in Cincinnati (and who isn't?) Jared and I definitely recommend the aquarium. We have been to the aquarium in Chicago and we believe the aquarium in Cincinnati is a lot better. There is one part of the aquarium where you are completely surrounded by water. I can best describe it as a glass tunnel. This is where they keep the sharks, sting rays, snapping turtles and other sea life. They literally swim over your head! We also got to pet sharks. Aren't we brave? We kept saying how all of our nephews would just love this place! The pictures don't do it justice so you will just have to check it out yourselves. Enjoy!

Our BabyMoon

They won! Happy Bengals' fans.

Love him or hate him Ocho Cinco brings excitement to the game

This was taken by a player's wife. Nice lady!

A view from inside Paul Brown Stadium

Future Bengals' fan. Kate's little #9 jersey

Jared in front of Paul Brown stadium

The Bengals pregame meeting

I bet you didn't know that Cincy had a skyline!

The tickets! Thank you George and #63 Bobbie Williams!

A babymoon is a popular term right now referring to a couple's last trip together before their baby is born. Some couples go to exotic islands or Europe, but you had to know that Jared and I would do something different than the average Joe. Our "babymoon" consisted of flying to Cincinatti, Ohio to see the Bengals play the Jets. We flew down Saturday night for the game on Sunday. Our seats were excellent! We sat on the 10 yard line 15 rows up. How did we score these tickets you ask? Well, my Mom works with the brother in law of one of the offensive lineman Bobbie Williams. When his brother in law learned about what big Bengals fans we are he offered to get us the tickets that Mr. Williams gets for his family. What an amazing treat! We were in heaven! The weather was perfect and miracle of miracles the Bengals actually won the game! We were sitting next to 2 players' wives which put a whole new spin on the game. It's kind of weird to sit next to someone when their husband missed a tackle in a professional football game and all of the fans are cursing his name. It's also great to sit next to the wife of the player who recovered a fumble and give her a high five as Jared did. We enjoyed some really good time doing what we love the most, just hanging out with each other. As you can see from the pictures above Kate received her first Bengals jersey. I also got her a I "heart" Chicago onesie on our layover in Chicago so she won't forget her Chicago roots. I wonder if there is a I "heart" Crosbyton onesie out there?

Popcorn, 22 weeks, and Back to Class

My favorite entertainment at night is no longer watching TV or reading a book to fall asleep. It is watching my favorite girl do her gymnastics/kick boxing routine in my tummy every night. Just like clock work when I lie down to rest Kate gets her little party started. I can watch my tummy and see her movements. It is literally like watching popcorn pop in your stomach. It's great to watch. We went for our 22 week appointment yesterday and got to see her on a sonogram again. She was so much bigger 4 weeks later. The Dr. confirmed again that she is a girl so the pink walls can stay. I love my Doc. He is just the right amount of calmness and cautiousness. We also started childbirth classes last night with our fellow prego pals Jodi and Derek. The best part was the breathing relaxation exercises at the end. The teacher coaches your breathing through a "contraction." I was breathing so calmly and evenly and tried to remember that feeling, so that 3 months later when I really feel like screaming and huffing and puffing I will have a visual.

Never Say Never!!!

My Mom always says you will never be smarter than you are before you had kids. Now this doesn't mean that you will suddenly go dumb and stupid when a baby comes into your life but let's just say you won't be dispensing wonderful baby and parenting advice freely anymore. I can come up with a million ways to discipline certain random kids that I see but I think that will all be out the window when Miss Kate makes her entrance. I envision something closer to the 3 stooges chaos, slapstick humor instead of the well ordered bliss that was in my dreams. Certain phrases such as "I would never do that" will not be part of my vocabulary anymore as I enter the world of Mommyhood. Last night was a prime of example of me doing something I said I would never do. I have scoffed at water aerobics my whole life claiming that it didn't give me a good work out. I have even been indignant when I have been chased out of the pool by these ladies when I was doing my "Serious Lap Swimming." "It's not even a real work out!" I would say under my breath as I exited the pool Well shut my mouth!!!! Last night I took a water aerobics class as a way to supplement my swimming during the week. It was quite a good work out and perfect for pregnancy. So I have become a quick convert. I can't wait to add to the list of "Things I said I would Never Do." I just love learning about myself don't you? Has anyone else ever done something that they said they would never do?

A Present For Daddy's Girl

Our friends Jodi and Derek brought over a present for Kate the other night that they said only Jared could open. In the picture above you can see what was inside. The most adorable little ruffled diaper panties with Texas Tech embroidered on the back. A better present Jared could not have received for his little girl. Won't she be cute watching the Red Raiders in her Daddy's lap sporting her very own pair of Texas Tech ruffled panties? Stay tuned for those pics!

Did You Feel That!?!?

When I think of wonderful moments in our marriage I think of course of our wedding day, our anniversaries, and the day we found out I was pregnant. We had another amazing moment the other night. I had just climbed into bed and as is my habit lately I put my hand on my tummy to see if Miss Kate was awake and wanting to play. In the past weeks I have felt little movements, but nothing convincing. "Was that really something? Was it just the way I moved?" Well Monday night I thought I definitely felt something. I told Jared that I thought I felt her moving. Of course as he has in the past weeks he quickly put his hand on my tummy to see if he could feel it also. Then came silence as we waited. Then a distinctive THUMP! We both turned to each other and said at the same time, "Did you feel that?" We just smiled at each other knowing that we had both just felt our baby girl making herself known to her Mommy and Daddy for the first definitive time. Sweet!

Her Room

Recently I find myself wanting to sit in Kate's room and just enjoy the peacefulness there. I pray for her and her future when I'm in there. It seems as though everything is so clear when I am in her room. I imagine her cute little face peeking out over the top of the crib or her crawling towards me on the carpet with a determined expression on her face. I have also been reading to her in her room. The other night I read "Guess How Much I Love You" to her (thank you Auntie Care and cousin Reece.). I could feel how sweet she is while I was reading to her. Jared came in and laid his head in my lap as I read to our baby. A very sweet family moment. I know there will be many more sweet moments in this room. I thank God for her present and her future.

8 Things About Me

I was tagged by my wonderful sister in law on Friday to write 8 things about me. I will try to make it as interesting as possible but I think I will come up short so bear with me!

1. I hate fresh fruit! I mean, really can't stand it. I could probably choke down an apple if I had to but it must be crisp with out the slightest hint of mushiness. I can't even stand to watch people eat bananas because they make they smooshy banana sound with their mouth. However I love dried fruit and fruit that comes in pies. I know this will probably leave me nutritionally deficient, but believe you me I will be offering Kate fresh fruit as soon as it's possible.

2. I love everything political. I picked this up from my Mom. I love to read non fiction and biographies. I like to know what makes powerful people tick. I love to know what their strengths and weaknesses are. I love to find what made them vulnerable. My Mom and I took a tour of the Reagan and Nixon presidential libraries last February (see what political nerds we are?).

3. I dream of being a really good long distance runner. It's all relative but long distance to me is running about 5-6 miles a day. I have always admired the sport of running. I think I love the self discipline it takes and the fact that when you finish with a good run you feel like you have accomplished something.

4. I am inherently a negative person. I convince myself that if I think of the worse possible thing that could happen to me or people that I love that it won't happen. Kind of like, "Ok I've covered that possibility. I've thought about that so nothing will catch me by surprise therefore it won't happen." In my small defense that is my job as an underwriter. I get paid to discover the worse thing that can happen to a loan and then I measure the risk. It drives Jared crazy because I am always "what iffing."

5. My prayer lifestyle is pray as you go. I try to be disciplined and talk to God for a long period of time but my focus is lacking. I pray for people when they come across my mind which they usually do during the day. For example, the other day I had a conversation with my co worker about her husband who has just been diagnosed with lung cancer and told her I would pray for her. The second she walked away I prayed. I knew that if I put it off I wouldn't.

6. The strangest things strike me very funny. I have a friend who thinks it's hilarious when people fall. (You know who you are). I have a brother, I mean a friend who thinks it's hilarious when people get scared all of the sudden (as in putting a dead lizard in front of your face.) I find humor in the way people say things. I have a slight disadvantage over the people who think that physical stuff is funny as more times than not they do not see why I am laughing at the way someone said something. For example, when we got our new camera Jared kept on talking about the tripod. He kept saying that word , tripod and everytime he would say tripod it would send me into fits of giggles.

7. I only feel comfortable rooting for bad, hard luck sports teams. I feel even a little let down when they win. Where's the fun in them winning? Look at my track record of teams, the Cubs- you can't get more lovable loserish than the Cubs (One caveat here- I really do wish that they would win the World Series this year. It has been too long). The Cincinatti Bengals- if anyone who reads this watches this team they will know that their season is off to a terrible start.

8. I love to pay our bills. I get a thrill out of out of putting in the amount and clicking "send payment." Major accomplishment. I am definitely the finance nerd in our family but every family needs one eh?

Ok I am done thanks for tagging me Care. That was fun. Hope everyone enjoys this and doesn't think I am total weirdo!