OPPS I did it again!

Actually, this was my first time and before you read this post I will have you know there will be no judging! If you are gonna judge, you can just go ahead and close the page and wait for my next post! UNDERSTOOD?

Ok, Here we go. Last night I went to the Britney Spears concert with my sister-in-law Brittanie! That's right! Call it sowing wild oats before the baby comes or peer pressure, but I call it A DANG GOOD TIME! Nate and Britt gave me my ticket for my birthday and I must say it was up there with one of the best gifts I got this year! Nate babysat Issac so Me and Britt could go stress free. Wayne and Marshall kept him company and offered moral support while enjoying some "man time" together. Here are some pictures from our night.

Before the concert we met at Britt's house to eat dinner and make some T shirts for the concert. Yup, you read mine right. We couldn't resist using the saying for my shirt since that is a shirt Britney was photographed wearing several times during her first pregnancy. Hey, I said DON'T JUDGE!

Here is the view we had! Our seats were amazing thanks to Nate and Britt! This picture really doesn't due it justice!

Some of Britney's more modest costume changes!

A souvenir for our little girl! After all, she was there too!

About half way through Nicole and her friend Cami were able to sneak down and sit in some empty seats right in front of us!

There you have it! I hope you were able to make it through this with minimal judging. Some day when our children are older they will look back at these posts and laugh at us. But at least they will know we were fun people once upon a time! Thanks so much Nate and Britt for a fun birthday last Hoorah!

Texas Trip

DISCLAIMER- I wrote this post last week but somewhere in my long blogging absence I forgot how to get pictures to post the way I would like. So pictures will come first this time. Here they are in no particular order...

John, William and Steven enjoying ice cream on the River Walk in San Antonio

Me and Marshall enjoying the beautiful Texas Spring. (One of the only shots you will see of me in Texas due to the unfortunate pregnancy swelling that occurs in the South)
Jill, Ella and Flat Stanley posing by the famous umbrellas

A quick shot by the pretty scenery

Golfing Fun

Jill and I had a rare opportunity to take a back to back shot. We are due only a few weeks apart!

Fun playing with the blocks Nana bought Ella

Charger and Raggedy Anne got caught cuddling

Fun with bubbles in Nana's garden

A picture from one of our many fun walks at Nana's House

Me and Charger at the Comal river in New Braunfels

Marshall and the river rat! It was pretty interesting. It ate the bread intended for feeding the ducks right out of Marshall's hand!

Some friends Marshall made while golfing with the boys in New Braunfels

We made it back from Texas early last week, and after a week of catching up on sleep and trying to detox from all the yummy food, I am ready to give my vast blogging audience a report on our travels.

I started off in Houston for a week where I had tons of fun playing games with family and friends, going for walks with my mom, the dogs and cute Ella, and getting baby stuff organized.

We had a fun girls lunch to celebrate all the birthdays with Valorie, Amanda, Mom, and Jill. Jill helped me start my baby registry and gave me some good advice on things that would help me keep my sanity while trying to adjust to motherhood, and some things not to trouble myself with. It rained the first day and a half I was there and after that the weather was beautiful, definitely not the typical hot and humid Houston weather. However, despite the unusually beautiful weather, I discovered while in Houston how although I miss my family terribly, I am glad I will not be spending my last trimester in the Lone Star State. Apparently, the Southern climate makes me swell and retain water in a very scary way!

After a week in Houston with my mom, it was off to visit my dad in New Braunfels! Lee, Jill, Ella and I drove up Tuesday night and Marshall and John flew in Wednesday just after lunch. We spent our time together mostly just visiting, playing games and catching up. The boys, including William and Steven, managed to slip away for some golf twice during the trip. The first time was the first day there. The girls stopped by for a short visit when they were about half way through and they were generous and patient enough to let us tag along for a few holes.

The next day we enjoyed an authentic Texas rain and thunderstorm that cleared up just in time for us to head to San Antonio for an early dinner on the Riverwalk. After dinner we enjoyed some ice cream and music at the Rivercenter.

The rest of the trip was filled with more golf, in person and on TV, a fun shopping trip for the expecting mothers, and tons of fun food and games.

And to top it off, the day before we left, the family put together a fun birthday celebration for me where we had cake and ice cream! It was fun to get to spend so much time with all my family so close to my birthday, and a good break from real life right before the baby comes!

Thank you everyone for making our trip so comfortable and enjoyable!

Texas

I made it safe and sound to Texas this afternoon. My father treated me to a week visit to see the Houston clan and then another to see the New Braunfels gang. I had a typical experience at the airport this morning, and no thanks to the pregnancy hormones, managed to make it on the flight that left an hour after the one I had reservations for.

When I arrived in Houston, I was meet by the rain and my brother Lee. Charger managed to remain low key til we arrived at my mom's house where he immediately started harassing Raggedy Ann (the terrier my mom inherited from her father). They like to spend a full day reacquainting and fighting for affection before they both realize when I am here we all ignore them both and then they become buddies again.

Before I left I promised myself that I was going to be good and not snack on junk food, (since I have already gained the recommended pregnancy weight for my frame and have just begun my third trimester). But I was immediately seduced by the Blue Bell. What can I say, I am weak and Cookies n' Cream reminds me of Marshall who I already miss a ton! Besides, I want the baby to have the same respect for the brand as her ancestors! More to come on the Texas trip...lets hope I can fit into more than the sweat pants I wore on the plane today when I leave!

Birthday Fun!

Yesterday was John's birthday! He turned 24! We decided that was cause for celebration so I took the day off and we had some birthday festivities!

John had an interview in the morning, so while he was busy with that Nicole decided it would be a good time to treat me to a birthday pedicure (my birthday is at the end of the month and I leave tomorrow for Texas for just over two weeks)!

YEA!

After the pedis, we went to see the new Nordstrom . It was beautiful and very tempting. However, lucky for Marshall, a pregnant Melissa who is about to be carrying a diaper bag for the next several years of her life and is currently several sizes larger than normal, is not as tempted in such a place these days!

So we settled for some new lipstick!

We made it a short trip since it was John's day not mine and headed home before there was any real damage done!

We started the festivities with lunch at the Cheesecake Factory!

Where we meet this nice lady "Babe"....

Who helped us sing Happy Birthday to John very enthusiastically...

then John opened presents.

After lunch Marshall had to go back to work, but John, Nicole and I headed off for some fun at the Hogle Zoo!

It is still a little chilly outside these days so we didn't see as many animals as we would have liked but we still had some tons of fun!

After the zoo we went back to my place to have cake and watch the Office! It was a fun time had by all!

Basketball

Last Wednesday night Marshall and I went to the Jazz/Rockets game with John and our friend Nicole. Here is a quick summary.

We were excited to cheer for our Rockets!

We thought the old Rockets T-shirt we got Yao to sign would bring good luck!

Elliot Yamin from American Idol sang the National Anthem.

We thought, "who could loose with this guy on our side?"

Apparently they had this guy on their side.

We lost. But Marshall caught this Jazz ball that he gave away to a little kid sitting a few rows ahead of us. We appreciated the Jazz fans sitting near us for letting us cheer for the Rockets.

We made it all better though. After the game we went to The Pie and ate all of our blues away. Thanks John for a fun night out!

It's Official!

I'm a Beeson! Well, I should probably clarify. When Marshall and I got married July of 2007, according to LDS church records, (I've been told these are the only ones that really count), I became Melissa Ann Beeson (Doesn't that look pretty?). Although my dad made a good solid effort to try to convince me to change to Melissa Prince Beeson, I held my ground and immediately began referring to myself as the former.
However, I had somehow managed to keep my Texas driver's license, with my original 16 year old picture and maiden name, the entirety of my BYU education (which seemed like a small eternity) and the years following that I remained a "permanent Utah residence", until it's expiration (which actually isn't until next month). In case you are wondering, I'm pretty sure that WAS a run-on sentence.
Until then, I had managed to make a lot of excuses for why I "couldn't" change my name yet. Mostly they were regarding plane reservations made in my maiden name therefore requiring my Texas driver's license, but mainly I was overwhelmed at the thought of making time to gather all the correct documents and stand in line to make it official.
Anyway, since I have been pregnant, I have felt guilty checking in at my doctor's appointments under my maiden name, with my very patient husband of a "different" name by my side. You see, even though I have been told that the legal marriage immediately "changes" my name for all intents and purposes, the hospital won't refer to me as Melissa Beeson until my driver's license does. So, now that I am over half way through my pregnancy, I have started having those "am I prepared?" dreams, mostly about the changing of my name. You see, I don't want "little girl Beeson" to accidentally be called "little girl Prince" because of my laziness. I am pretty sure Marshall would not enjoy that either.
So, I purposely made my plane ticket to Texas in March under the name Melissa Beeson, knowing this would force me to finally change my driver's license, and jokingly told Marshall that he was getting my name change for Valentine's day.
Yesterday I got ready, (a major event in my life these days), and gathered all the correct documents and had NO wait at the DMV to take a 25 question test and fill out ONE form and TADA... I am officially Melissa Ann Beeson! Yea!
If I could offer some advice to those procrastinating along these same lines... Don't go take a new driver's license picture while you are in the middle of your second trimester, I can eat a horse 24 hours a day phase! It isn't pretty!
Also, i would like to dedicate this entry to Valorie Hartman (Dudoich) :) !
And... I would like to apologize for my "pregnant mind" and the grammar it produces... or lack of!

Wake Up Call

Monday morning around 7 am I woke up to the friendly tune of "Country Roads" by John Denver.  No, I don't have one of those fancy alarm clocks that sing you awake, that is the ring tone I have set for my younger brother John.  I have to admit my first thought was, "Oh crap he wrecked my car".  However, I was pleasantly surprised to hear a calm, somewhat cheerful John on the line apologizing for calling so early. He hadn't wrecked the car, but he was at the hospital and the cheerful tone was due to the IV pain killers that he had just received for kidney stones! After I got the scoop and he assured me he was going to be ok, I made arrangements with work and headed down to Provo to pick him up.  We spent the rest of the day hanging around my house and laughing at his drugged state.  Unfortunately for John, it took most of the rest of the week for the pain to go away, but we enjoyed getting to spend the down time with him and watching him carefully ration his remaining pain pills for the "other" stone the doctor spotted on it's way! He's not so excited that he has entered the "kidney stone phase of his life" but we are glad it wasn't something more serious!