The Philadelphia Wings

The Philadelphia Wings - Professional Lacrosse Team

I had no idea professional lacrosse was such a huge thing here. A friend at work has season tickets and couldn't go to the game on Saturday night, so he offered me 4 tickets to see the Wings. I thought... sure, why not? A new experience. Well, he gave me the tickets and then sent me this email...
"Warning – there are a lot of very vocal fans that sit in that section. It’s not for the faint of heart. :)"
And he wasn't kidding. Mike and I took my brother CJ along since he's here for the week and we had a blast. The Wings beat the Colorado Mammoth, and it was an awesome game- with fights, injuries, broken lacrosse sticks and our goalie even made a goal from our goal- so fun.

CJ and I cheering on the Wings (Actually CJ was secretly cheering for the Mammoth - don't worry, it was very secret)

Some crazy fan - he was leading cheers the whole game.

Mike and I enjoying the game


And for those of you who keep saying I don't look big yet... check these out!

27 weeks!

Your pregnancy: 27 weeks

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How your baby's growing:

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

Belly Picture... (Mike is out of town again, so I had to prop my camera on the table and set the auto-timer- so please pardon my head being cut off!)

Baby plans for the week: Mike and I are going to check out the labor and delivery areas of our 2 top hospital choices to make our final decision on where we're going to have our baby. Pennsylvania Hospital (1st hospital in the U.S) or University of Pennsylvania Hospital. I'm so excited to see the options and what the facilities will be like. We'll let you know which one we decide.

Visiting with Family

Well, it was a great weekend for us. Mike traveled to Minneapolis on business on Thursday night and went to the NCAA tournament with some clients on Friday. Because his sister, Aud and her husband, Dave live in Minnie, Mike decided to stay the weekend and spend some quality time with them. It sounds like they had a great time, Mike was so sad to leave them and come home. It's always hard leaving family... especially when they say "the next time I see you, you'll have a baby, oh yeah... and you'll be 30!" Haha- love you Aud. Anyways, we miss you guys tons and wish we lived closer so we could hang out all the time and play Apples to Apples. By the way, for some reason they didn't take any pictures of their weekend in Minnie, so we have nothing to show for it. Boooooo.

I also had a great time this weekend. On Friday night, I headed up to NJ to visit CJ and his fam and pick up my mom and niece, Lexi. We celebrated my other niece, Haydin's 1st birthday - it was so much fun. She is adorable, I can't believe she's already 1 year old... I remember her being born like it was yesterday. I didn't get to spend much time with CJ, Kari and the girls, but I feel okay about it because they're coming to visit us in Philly next weekend- can't wait!

Haydin and her new teddy bear from Grandma Baltz.

Hannah helping Haydin open Grandma's present

Lexi, Hannah and Haydin

Once my mom, Lex and I got to Philly on Saturday, we decided to walk and grab some lunch. The weather was so nice, we were able to sit outside. I'm loving the spring, bring on the heat!

On Sunday, we did the historic touristy stuff and it was so fun. It was amazing because Lexi is now 8 (2nd grade) and she's either just now learning about this part of American history or will soon and it was so fun to see her learn and be intrigued by the stories. We went to Betsy Ross' house (which is on my street, less than a block away) and saw the Liberty Bell, Ben Franklin's grave...etc. In the afternoon, we went on a hike with Morris in Fairmount Park- it was beautiful.

Lexi and Grandma at Betsy Ross' house

All of the things we did were fun, but most of all... it was just fun to have them here. Mike came home on Sunday night and Lexi was so excited. We played Phase 10 and just hung out together. I had to drive Mike to work in the morning so that we could have the car for the day. We had to leave at 7am and Lexi HAD to come- she was such a trooper. She grabbed her pillow and her blanky and drove with me out to Mike's work (an hour away in traffic) because she had to get every possible second with her Uncle Mike that she could.

Lexi showing her awesome back handspring. It's so good, Mike and I were very impressed!

Dropping them off at the airport sucked. It's always so sad and no matter how hard I try, I can't not cry. But, I'll be in SLC in less than one month, so it's not so bad. I'm missing them so much right now, I hate you guys being so far away!

Anyways, thanks for coming to visit mom and Lex... it was so much fun and I can't wait to see you in April!

26 weeks and counting...

Your pregnancy: 26 weeks

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How your baby's growing:

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

Belly shot:

25 Weeks

Your pregnancy: 25 weeks

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How your baby's growing

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

And of course, the belly. I'm definitely prego now, I've had the first random belly touches from people I don't know. It's really strange, but I honestly kind of don't mind it :)

24 Weeks

Last weekend, we went to visit my brother CJ and his family in Newton, NJ for our niece, Hannah's 3rd birthday.






On Friday, we had a couple of friends over to eat dinner and play games. It was a blast. Cindy and Nick (Cindy is a writer at Red Tettemer- where I work and Nick is her husband who happens to work in finance in NY, so he and Mike always have plenty to talk about) and Wick and Caroline came too. (Wick is my partner at work and Caroline also works at a financial institution, but in marketing). It was so nice to just hang out at home and play games with friends, we really miss the game night days. Al and Andrea, Aud and Dave... you guys are sorely missed.

Saturday we went to Beerfest with a group of our friends. This week is beer week in Philadelphia and it kicks off with a craft beer festival at the naval yard where you sample all kinds of craft beers from around the country.

Since Mike is in his study mode and needs all of the free time possible on weekends to study, I had a girls night on Saturday night with some friends from work. We went to dinner at a new Mexican restaurant here near UPenn called Distrito. It was delicious. We then went to see Chelsea Handler at the Tower theater. It was so fun, she is so raunchy and hilarious- I loved it.

Anyways... so, this picture is from Wednesday, when I was officially 24 weeks. Getting big. At this week doctor's appointment, I told my doctor that I've been having a hard time turning down sweets and that it's pretty much all I want to eat, ever. So of course after that, I was told that I need to slow down on the weight gain! How rude. Haha. Anyways, I've only gained 17 lbs. at this point, but 11 of them were in the past month - yikes! So, less brownies and more vegetables this month, I guess. Ugh.