Adeline took a while to come into our world, here is the first part of her story.

Just a friendly warning, I’m not being shy with details. I found a lot of enjoyment reading other women’s stories, and I want to have record of everything that went on.

One more note, I could NOT have done any of this without the love and support of Daniel. He was strong, encouraging and loving. I don’t know how it’s possible, but I love and appreciate him so much more deeply and intimately than before Adeline came into our lives. And I can’t imagine the experience  we would have had without the support and coaching from my mom. Thank you mom, I love you and appreciate you so much!

I hit 40 weeks, my due date on Friday, September 28th. My dear friend, Ashley was kind enough to spend some of my “due date” afternoon with me! I knew labor probably wasn’t going to start that day because I hadn’t really felt much different. I put up our 39 week recap on our due date, and spent some time with Daniel and Silas. Daniel and I decided to go to Jungle Jim’s where I thought I might have had a few mild contractions, but it may have just been gas

Saturday rolled around and I found some “bloody show” that morning. Daniel and I went to our favorite park for some outdoors time. I took a walk for about an hour and then went to the grocery (in hopes that it would be my last grocery trip). I napped a bit on Saturday afternoon and Daniel and I decided to go see Brave at the dollar theater.

(source)

We decided to go to Target for a while just to kill some time. I started noticing very mild contractions (squeezing) on our way to the movie, coming about every 7-10 minutes and lasting no longer than 30 seconds.

By the time we got home from Target, around 10:30, I started to use the Full Term Labor & Contraction App on our iTouch to time the contractions. They were coming every 4-6 minutes, lasting for 30 seconds or so. Daniel and I just hung out for a while, he would start and stop the timer while I bounced on our exercise ball. The intensity of the contractions started to pick up around one or two am and we took a walk around the block. It was quite chilly that night! We did have the light of a full moon, and Daniel’s mom thought that the baby might be born on a full moon night!

(source)

We labored at home until about 6am, when things kind of died down. I didn’t call the doctor or the hospital, but I should have. Prior to the contractions tapering off, they were definitely bearable, but I was having to stop what I was doing and lean up against a doorway and sway my hips. We went to the hospital, I had maybe one contraction in the car but they had stopped by the time I got to triage.

7am- Arrive at hospital, get checked into triage, 3cm and 70% effaced. We are offered the option to stay, but I was pretty sleepy and emotional by this point (about 12 hours into “labor” and definitely 5-6 hours into the more intense parts of labor). We went home and I actually got to sleep for about an hour before contractions picked up again.

I hopped in the shower around 10am and the contractions started to intensify. My mom had called earlier and she was going to come up to Cincinnati for the day, and she said she would be available if I wanted or needed her help. Around 11am I called her and asked her to come over because the contractions were picking up in intensity and I was needing coaching to get through them. I wanted Daniel to be able to rest, because had already been up the whole night with me. My mom helped me through some tough labor. Silas was pretty concerned and he stayed in the room with us for most of the day.

We played an Enya station on Pandora and I used an exercise ball placed on top of our bed as support for my arms and head while leaning over and swaying my hips (and making moaning noises) during a contraction. I rested in a chair placed a few feet from the bed. Daniel took Silas to the dog park and by the time he got back home around 2pm, I was having VERY strong contractions (but I was able to breathe, rock, moan and groan through them pretty successfully). Around 6pm, we decided it was time to go to the hospital. I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes, and they were lasting about a minute. I had 4 or 5 terribly painful contractions in the car on the way to the hospital and I had a very loud contraction in the elevator with a very understanding stranger…

Part 2 is coming

Baby was the size of a WATERMELON!!!

Well, not too much excitement this week! Last week, Silas and I walked 22 miles!!! How cool is that? We’ve been getting out for at least 45 minutes each day, and then sometimes we’ll get out for a second short walk later in the evening (and the cat, Mowgli, usually comes with us too).

Anyways, we spent last Saturday walking all around Cincinnati when my mom and brother came to visit! It was great to show them around our “new” city- we visited Eden Park (where Daniel bouldered for a while), and we walked around Mt. Adams as we tried to find the “Farmers Market”. Turns out that it was a tiny little setup with a water cleaning company, supplements and one tiny produce stand. I need to get down to the Hyde Park Farmer’s market, it’s on my “to-do” list for THIS Sunday!

Well, our due date is today, Friday, September 28th. And we don’t have a baby… yet. BUT- my two dear friends from high school (the ones in the “triple baby shower” post) have both had their little boys! Amber welcomed her son Mason last Tuesday, and Melanie and her husband had little baby Levi this past Tuesday! And…. another friend had her little boy, Graham a few weeks ago as well! Our little one has two new little friends to meet!

Pregnancy Stats

• Weight gain: Holding at 11lbs (or 16lbs if you count what I lost in the first trimester)
• Baby’s Heart Rate: 140′s this time (it’s ALWAYS different!)
• Signs of Labor: Just a few Braxton Hicks while walking (tightening), still at 1cm and 50% effaced (same as last week)
• Rings: Back on at night actually, I guess maybe I had a few nights of swelling over the past few weeks? I don’t know, but I can wear them again when sleeping.
• Number of Bathroom Trips: 4x at night. Probably TMI
• Cravings: Anything sweet sounds good! Found some Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows at Walmart (they smell better than they taste, but they still taste delicious) and Daniel brought home some “just because” Pumpkin ice cream this week after work
• Nesting: I keep freezing stuff. I froze leftover enchilada sauce, I froze a giant batch of enchiladas, I froze whatever amount of spaghetti squash wouldn’t fit in a Tupperware, I froze extra homemade pumpkin butter. Our freezer is PACKED. And now that I think about it, it’s kind of silly that I keep freezing random amounts of strange foods!
• Names: We keep going back and forth on names! We’ve added another potential to our list… our baby has to have a name!!! Oh well, we’ll just keep talking about it until something clicks!
• How I’m Feeling: Actually, pretty darn good despite being 39 weeks pregnant. I think I felt “crappier” last week! My ribs are getting pretty sore, and I sometimes have to take Tums 2x per day because of heartburn, but I feel relatively “normal” despite my belly poking out!

I cried when we got home from our doctor’s appointment. I told Daniel that I was frustrated and just sad that I hadn’t progressed since last week. BUT, he sweetly reminded me that our little girl is doing so much important growing and maturing, and that I should be thankful that my body is doing such a good job of getting her ready for this world. The doctor did tell us “Whenever you want to meet your baby, we can make that happen. It won’t be pleasant, and it’s not something that we like to do- but you all get to call the shots. If you want an induction, it’s yours. If you want a c-section, we can do that.” As much as I want to meet our little one, I want even more for things to get going on their own, and I really would like an un-medicated birth. Fortunately, Daniel is 100% on board with letting my body do it’s thing, so I know if I ever get close to the edge of just wanting an induction, he’ll calmly talk me back from that ledge! So yes- I guess I just came away slightly ‘disappointed’ with myself at not having made any changes since my last appointment but I CANNOT beat myself up about that! I’m going to really try to focus on really ENJOYING these last few days before our daughter comes! That means: lots of walks with Silas, lots of quality time with Daniel, naps, cooking, trips to the store by myself and more. I spent some time with Ashley and Lydia this past week as well, and I’m so thankful to have a friend who is a mommy close by And Lydia kept giving me the cutest “angry” face while I visited, check out Ashley’s blog for Miss Lydia’s unbelievable cuteness!

Okay, that’s all till next week (or until she is BORN!)

Finally getting a “nursery tour” posted! Yahoo! We spent around $300 on our nursery- and most of that cost came from the purchase of our Pack ‘n Play and our glider! We repurposed a lot of items we already had and made artwork to give the room a little bit of personality!

We didn’t really have any “theme” in mind for the nursery. I didn’t want to spend a whole lot of money, so I made some decorations for the walls. We’re also just using the Pack ‘n Play as our bassinet/crib until our little one is too big! I wanted to keep the things that we purchased fairly gender neutral, and I added in some purple as an accent color in some of the artwork!

From the door looking towards the left:

• Glider from Walmart
• Daniel’s file storage/nursing table
• Basket ‘o Blankets (will probably move this basket out to the living room so we have blankets out there)
• Dresser we found on the side of the road
• Changing table (repurposed desk)

Another view:

• Basket of books under the desk
• Laundry basket and nursing pillow

“Artwork” over Changing Table:

This art project was really easy. I just traced circles of different sizes onto purple tissue paper. I cut them out and then used Modge-Podge to adhere them to a piece of foam board. It was super simple, and I’m really happy with how it turned out!

From the door, looking towards the right:

• Closet (not pictured)
• Pack ‘n Play
• Bouncy Chair
• Mirror that I don’t know what to do with…

Close-up of the sleeping area with homemade tissue “flowers”

We practiced swaddling the bear! Can you see him in the changing table above?

Watercolor artwork (between the closet door and the Pack ‘n Play)

This was really easy as well. I just measured out a 1cm grid on a sheet of paper, and then I painted each square in with watercolors! I liked that I could choose which colors to put in each square! The frame was $1 from Goodwill, I purchased a bunch of frames (you can see them piled up on top of the dresser) and a can of white spray paint. I’m not sure where or if I’ll use the other frames, but they all match now!

Artwork above the glider/nursing station:

I purchased a 4 pack of 8×10 canvases from the craft store, 2 sheets of felt and a bottle of black and white acrylic paint. The top “prints” are simply toilet paper rolls that were dipped in paint. The bottom pieces of “art” are elephants cut out of two different colors of felt. I found the silhouettes online and just traced them onto the felt. I used Modge-Podge to adhere them to the canvas.

So there you have it! I’m sure we’ll be spending lots of time in the nursery (especially for nursing) and I’m really glad that there is a lot of open carpet space in the middle of the room for playtime! As far as sleeping goes, we’re planning on pulling the Pack n’ Play into our room for the first few weeks to make it easier during those nighttime feedings. I still may take baby girl into the nursery for those feedings so I don’t wake up Daniel, or we may move the glider into our room. We’ll see!

I think we spent around $30 for all of the art projects (including the unused frames). We purchased the Pack ‘n Play and the glider ($270 total). My mom found the bouncy seat and un-pictured swing for $15 at a garage sale. We repurposed a desk as the changing table, found a dresser, used a milk crate for book storage and used Daniel’s filing cabinet as a “table” in the nursing corner (free). We already had the curtains, mirror, and baskets and the rest of the items in the room were gifts. So there you have it, a nursery for about $300!

Baby is the size of a honeydew!

36 weeks!!! I used to think that this was the “very end” of pregnancy, but 40 weeks is “the end”. Although I could go to 42 weeks… Anyways- in my mind 36 weeks= 9 months= baby. I think our little one will be “cooking” for a little while longer!

It’s really strange to think that our family of 2 will become a family of 3 in a matter of weeks. Daniel and I talked about it the other day, and while having a baby/parenting is going to be difficult, we feel like it will come so naturally at some times. Baby said “hi” to Daniel this week by sticking a knee/foot far out to the left side of my belly during church. She’s definitely moving A LOT still, but my pregnancy books say she’s rapidly running out of room! I’ve been at a pretty steady 1/2lb per week weight gain, which is pretty much exactly what baby should be packing on each week!

My dad and sister have booked their plane tickets to come visit after baby is born, I’m so excited! I’ve been taking the time this week to make many lists. I’ve made a “what to grab before we go to the hospital” list, a “Daniel’s Hospital Bag” list, I’ve put together my hospital bag, and I wrote “directions” to our friends who will help out with the animals while we’re at the hospital! It feels so good to get this information down on paper!!!

Stats

• Weight Gain: 10 lbs (or 15 lbs if you include the weight I lost in the first trimester)
• Fundal Height: 38cm
• “Waist” Measurement (string around the biggest part of my belly): 34 inches
• Blood Pressure: 85/50
• Baby’s Position: Locked and loaded- her head is down VERY low.
• Signs of Labor: Some pelvic pressure and more Braxton Hicks contractions that go away if I rest!
• Wedding Rings: Still on during the day, but I’ve been taking them off at night

And one last belly photo. I think it’s funny that my linea negra is crooked! It makes the whole belly look funny!

Dear Little One,
I wonder when daddy and I will ever come up with a name for you? You’ve been our “little one” or “little bubs” for a while now, but don’t worry, you’ll have a suitable name sooner or later! Did you know that we could have joined daddy on a 10+ hour road trip to see our friends Ben and Erika get married? I know that you probably wanted to go, but daddy and I decided that it wasn’t best for me to sit in a car for that long. I get pretty uncomfortable in a car on a 1.5 hour drive, I don’t think I would have been a very pleasant driving buddy for your daddy.

You are still moving a lot, despite all of the “books” telling me that you’re running out of room! Your little bum is up near my ribs on the right side, so I get lots of little feet/knee movements on the right side of my belly. Sometimes after a walk, you like to settle really low into my pelvis.

I’m nearly finished with the artwork for your room! We’re trying to stay busy until you decide to arrive! We love you a lot and can’t wait to see your little face for the very first time!

Love you,
Mommy and Daddy

Baby girl was the size of an eggplant!

Well, we’re in the 7th month! Third Trimester! WOWZA! Every week seems to be getting shorter and shorter- only 3 more weeks of class! Yippee!

This was a big week! We had our 28 week doctor’s visit (complete with the gestational diabetes screening), we had a lovely baby shower given by Daniel’s mom and sisters, and I got in a bunch of great workouts!

I totally forgot to bring out my camera for the baby shower, but I did snap this gem while I was stopped at a stop-light on my way back to Lexington after the baby shower: (see the bump?!?)

That’s pretty much Silas’ favorite way to take a car trip. If we’re around town, he sticks his head (and sometimes his whole upper body) out the window to catch the wind, but on longer trips, my leg becomes his pillow.

I am still so shocked at how much we have for our little girl! We are beyond blessed to have friends and family that give so generously, and I know we’re going to have lots of items that we’ll be able to pass along to friends/family in the future!

Stats

• Weight Gain: 8.5 lbs (that’s the weight gain from my very first doctors appointment (pre-pregnancy weight). If I add in the pounds that I initially lost in early pregnancy (6lbs) that puts my total weight gain around 14lbs. I’ve never been able to figure out if they count that or not though!)
• Baby’s Heart Rate: 135bpm
• Fundal Height: 28cm (right on target!)
• Number of Diabetes Tests Failed: 1
• Grams of Sugar I had within 24 hours: 150g
• Number of 3 Hour Diabetes Tests Passed: 3
• Number of cupcakes eaten to celebrate: 0 (but I did have an awesome macaroon at my baby shower)

I failed my first gestational diabetes test. My appointment wasn’t until 1:30 in the afternoon, and I had to eat breakfast since I had class prior to going to the doctor. I read a bunch of boards that said if you ate before your test (before drinking the sugar solution), you would probably fail. Yep- I failed. My nurse said “we’re looking for a 140 or lower” (on the blood sugar meter), and I scored a whopping 184. That guaranteed me a 3 hr. appointment the following morning. The second gestational diabetes test was no fun- fasting for 10-14 hours, drinking a 100g sugar solution in 5 minutes and then getting blood drawn every hour for 3 hours. BUT- I passed and I’m glad to know I won’t have to do any major overhaul of my diet/exercise!

How I’m Feeling

I’m still feeling good! I mentioned in the beginning that this was a great week for me workout-wise, I got in a good day of lifting biceps, a great triceps workout and I even squeezed in a simple leg routine on Saturday morning. I’m really excited for Daniel- he’s doing a Rugged Maniac race at the end of August and he’s been letting me “coach” him through some of his workouts! It kind of makes me sad that I’m not running or pushing myself super hard like he is, but it’s really fun for me to get to be a part of his training!

New Friday Tradition

For the past few Friday mornings, I’ve found myself reading birth stories on various blogs. I suppose my new Friday morning tradition is sipping my coffee (half-caff) while crying into my bowl of blueberry oats. I love my new tradition!

See you all next week!

18 Weeks vs 28 Weeks

Baby was the size of a turnip!
Just another note- these posts are a week behind, I wanted to do a recap of each week!

Well, nothing too much to report this week! I’m pretty excited for next week’s recap- 28 weeks= third trimester! And we have a doctor’s appointment next  (actually this week) week, I’m anxious to see how baby girl is growing and I’m also ready to get my gestational diabetes screening test OVER with!

My aunt found a HUGE lot of baby girl clothes at a yard sale a few weekends ago and my mom brought up the clothes on the 4th of July. I spent some time this past weekend organizing the clothes by size and I think our little girl is going to be pretty well dressed for the first 9-12 months of her life! I didn’t expect myself to get that excited over baby clothes, but the teeny-tiny little shirts and pants make me so excited to dress her up!

Little clothes arranged by size, stashed in the bottom of the Pack n’ Play for the time being!

Baby closet! I really want to hang up all of the clothes….

I had a couple of headaches this week and I had a few days where I just felt exhausted… but I’m fortunate enough to have some nap time on some afternoons that I can use if I’m feeling super sluggish! I definitely didn’t get in nearly as many workouts as usual this week due to the heat (I drove to campus the 3 days that we had class because it was so stinkin’ hot!)

Bye bye, feet!

Sorry I don’t really have much more to report! I can just say that I’m getting more and more excited about meeting our little girl each day! I still don’t understand what she’s doing in there sometimes, the movements are so crazy sometimes!

And I FINALLY updated the “Mini-Coop” page, so it should be easy to go back and see the weeks that have FLOWN past!

17 weeks vs 27 weeks

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Baby is the size of a head of cauliflower! She’s also about as long as an English cucumber! WOW!

It’s no wonder that I’ve been feeling kicks/punches on both sides of my belly, she’s getting so big! My bump is officially here! You can see it even when I wear a t-shirt! I’m thinking that I might actually have to get a few maternity items, but for now my athletic shorts and some of my regular pants still fit (I just have to wear them LOW!)

At the beginning of week 26, we moved Daniel up to Cincinnati! I went to stay this past weekend, and I thought I’d take a few pictures of our new place! Our “big move” isn’t until July 28th, so please excuse the sparsely furnished living spaces.

Living Room/Entry to Kitchen (and downward-dog Silas)

Kitchen and adjoining Dining Room

Master Bedroom (With our make-shift futon bed)

Our lone bathroom (complete with a glass-block window in the shower! Love the natural light!)

Mini-Coop’s Room! (I just HAD to get something baby-related set up!)

First Belly Picture in the new House!

Still feeling great, moving part 1 went well (except when Daniel and I had to move the futon up from the basement, that was NOT fun!) I can’t wait to be up in Cincinnati for GOOD!

Geez, Louise look at that belly!

Baby Girl was the size of a head of cauliflower (which I think is an absolutely ridiculous comparison because babies are NOT cauliflower shaped).

This was a big week for our family! Our summer roommate moved in (we have an awesome couple moving into our house once Daniel and I are both in Cincinnati!) We picked our first zucchini out of the garden (and we also picked an ALMOST ripe tomato). We had a great “last” Lexington date night at School (mmmm grilled squid). We moved Daniel to Cincinnati and I quickly realized that having a baby belly makes moving things difficult. There were many trips to the gym and I got really sweaty on my walks to and from class because the temperature decided to spike this week.

I realized that having a baby in your belly makes you really hot, and I resort to fanning myself with pieces of paper during class. I took a few extra naps this week (because I wanted to and because my schedule allowed me to).  PS sorry for the crappy cell phone picture!

How I’m Feeling

Still going strong, although as I mentioned above, the heat is beginning to get to me a bit. There’s not much shade on my walk to class, and I might drive myself closer to campus once the temperatures get even higher. I’ve had a little bit of round ligament and general abdominal stretching pains this week, but what can you expect from carrying around a head of cauliflower plus a few extra pounds in your abdomen?

Big Changes

Well, I mentioned in the entry paragraph that we moved Daniel up to Cincinnati this week, he started his new “big boy” job. It’s a little weird for us to be living in two different places, but at the same time, it’s okay. We did the whole long distance dating deal for a long time. It sounds like Daniel will be pretty busy during these first few weeks at his new job, so I’m kind of thankful that he can just focus on that (instead of having to entertain me!) We’ll still see each other every weekend (or almost every weekend) and I can’t wait! I’m sure there will be a few nights spent in tears, but we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do!

Dear Baby Girl,
You’ve been so shy when I try to let other people feel your strong kicks and wiggles! I like to think that you “know” that it’s not my hand that’s trying to feel what you’re doing in there. Silas the dog has been sniffing my tummy lately. It might be because I keep dropping food on myself, but I also like to pretend that he’s saying “hello” to you! Your daddy told me how excited he is to meet you soon, and that made my heart melt! We’re still trying to think of names for you, sometimes we use a name when we’re talking about you, but nothing has sounded absolutely perfect yet. I think we’ll have a few names picked out, but we won’t know which one is for YOU until you arrive! Keep on growing and practice your snuggles because I’m sure we won’t want to put you down for a while
Love you,
Mommy and Daddy

Baby is the size of a cantaloupe! Baby’s face is now fully formed and she’s anywhere from 10.8 inches to 11.5 inches long and weighs a little over a pound!

I’ll say it again, time is flying by! Did you miss the post where I tell you about all of the silly things I’ve cried over?

We had our first baby shower this weekend! My lovely sisters Maggie and Catherine and my mom threw us a fantastic shower! We are so blessed to have received so many things for our little one! Here are a few pictures from the shower:

I had a great time hanging out with my aunts, cousins and grandmothers. I am the 28th grandchild on my mom’s side (she has 15 brothers and sisters!!!), and I was born on December 28th. Our little girl will be the 29th GREAT-grandchild (the 15th girl great-grandchild), wouldn’t it be neat if she surprised us a day early by arriving on September 29th?

(the view from above, I still have feet!)

How I’m Feeling

Still feeling good! My lower back gave me some grief this week and I did take a few naps over the weekend, but I still feel really good! We had a doctors appointment this week, here are some updated stats!

• Baby’s Heart Rate: 140bpm
• Total Weight Gain: 7lbs
• Nasty Glucose Test Drink: In my Fridge
• Doctor in Cincinnati: Appointment made

I can’t believe I’ll be moving up to Cincinnati in about 7 weeks! Daniel moves up in a week! I’m really looking forward to getting our “nursery” all set up, especially now that we have books, toys and lots of other baby things to use!

Week 16 vs Week 24

Keep on growing little girl!

Baby is the size of a grapefruit!

Today we hit 24 weeks, the beginning of the 6th month! Unbelievable!! But first, a 23 week recap (that is pretty much a pregnancy-workout recap because everything is still going GREAT!)

Workouts

I mentioned last week that I’m loving working out while pregnant! I walk to class 5 days a week, and that gets me in 40 minutes of walking per day! That’s pretty much the only form of “cardio” that I’m doing, and I still feel a little silly calling it cardio because it doesn’t feel quite the same as running, but it’s what feels good! Walking routes with HILLS is so fun yet challenging at the same. My walk to and from school is flat (thank goodness), but it is fun to visit the Arboretum or to walk in the hilly neighborhood when we go home to visit our families on weekends.

Aside from walking, I’ve been pretty good about getting in 2 weight lifting sessions per week! I learned a lot of great exercises when I did the LiveFit trainer, so it’s been pretty easy to make up an exercise routine!

When I do an upper body workout, I usually warm up a little bit on the treadmill (if we didn’t go to the gym right after I got home from class). Then, I usually do 3 sets of 12-15 reps of the following: Bicep Curls, Tricep Pushdowns, Bent Over Tricep Extensions, Rear Delt Fly (with resistance band), and Incline Chest Press. Sometimes I’ll add on a few Pilates-inspired moves or rows/lat pulldowns, but those are generally the exercises I go through on an upper body workout day. I only do legs once a week (if that), but I usually do squats, calf raises, abductor and adductor exercises and a bunch of SI Joint exercises (like the ones here: http://www.pilates-back-joint-exercise.com/si-joint-exercise.html). And I usually do 3 sets of 12-15 reps of each of those exercises as well. It just depends on the day and whatever weight I choose! I can assure you that my muscles are tired by the last few reps, but not overly so.

I’m also LOVING planks!!! I read on Fitnessista that you should do a combination for 10 second planks with a 3 second rest so that you’re really activating the muscles in your core. I like to vary the planks by doing some on elbows, some on my hands, and some on the bosu ball (elbows and hands). Depending on the day, I’ll do 10-20 planks (again, holding for 10 seconds with a 3 second rest).

The only body part I’m having trouble working out is my back. Most of the back exercises I know have you lie down on your belly, and I know baby girl doesn’t like being all smushed in there! I think I mentioned last week that bending over for more than a few seconds makes my lower back ache, so standing back extensions are out. I just need to do my research- I’ll report back!
Of course, if you’re pregnant- check with your doctor and do what your body is comfortable with. I’m fairly certain that a few months from now, my workout routine will not look the same, and I intend on doing whatever makes me (and baby girl) feel good!

So that probably wasn’t too exciting, but Daniel and I did see my family this weekend (and we ate a lot of ice cream!)