Recapping a busy February!

Well here we are, February, too, has come and gone (and nary a blog from me, bad Carissa!).  Well, we have been busy, despite what it might seem like.  Here are some highlights from February.

January 31 - February 5 - We traveled to Vegas to celebrate our friend Elliot's 30th Birthday on Super Bowl Sunday.  The trip also got coincidentally combined with a work conference also in Vegas that started just as our "for fun" trip ended.  Some highlights included:

• Seeing my first Cirque du Soleil show, Michael Jackson ONE
• Running in to Ludacris (the rapper) at dinner in the Bellagio Hotel
• Seeing Calvin Harris (famous DJ) at a legit Vegas club called Hakkasan.
• Having a $6,500 table (not paid for by me!) at said club and drinking Fiji water to contribute to the ridiculous spend minimum.  Also, being out until 3am. Sober. And Pregnant.  I should win some sort of award!  Shout out to my friend Amanda, the birthday boy's wife, who is also pregnant, due the same day as me, and stayed out even later!
• Checking out "The D" hotel in Vegas, a Detroit themed hotel.\

• Going to the Pawn Shop where Pawn Stars is filmed and getting to meet Mark, the Administrator of the Clark County Museum, who is at LEAST a D-list star.

• Attending my company-sponsored Super Bowl Party and getting this sweet jersey:

• Eating dinner in the Mandalay Bay Acquarium, right next to these:

 It was a good trip, but 5 nights in Vegas is about the max anyone, let alone a pregnant lady, should endure :)

February 8 - We painted our nursery!!  I don't have any pics yet, but I will post some before and after's in a later post specifically about the nursery.  Suffice to say, I am very proud of us for managing to paint the room from green to cream with no major mishaps!

February 15 - We were supposed to have a 6-hour childbirth class on this day, but it got cancelled because the instructor was attending a birth.  Also, my mom came in to town for 10 days starting February 15.  It was great to have her here for the rest of these adventures!

February 17 - We bought our first new car!  It's a 2014 Ford Explorer and we love it!  Also, we'd be lying if we said that we didn't buy it primarily so that we can fit both of our children in the car at once, baby Smith and Nashville (in the back, as seen below).

February 20 - Got our taxes done.  Not exciting, but still one item off the list!  On this day, we also did our make-up session for our childbirth class.  The instructor came in and gave us an abbreviated 2-hour private session.  Finally, my sister came into town for my baby shower (more on that later!)

February 21 - Taylor's mom and sister arrive in town for my baby shower.  We had a great time going out to dinner and just hanging out with them at our house.

February 22 - My mom hosted a FABULOUS baby shower for me, which deserves a post all its own, which I will write immediately after this one and post later this week.  Mom is the best and I'm so appreciative to her for all she's done.  And I plan to show it by letting her hold her grandson whenever she wants, hehe.

February 23 - 24 - My mom (who had been sick at my shower but powered through like a champ) came down with the flu, so we had a couple of pretty low-key days.

February 25 - I took a one-day there-and-back trip to NYC for work and my mom headed back to Arizona to anxiously wait out the rest of the time until her grandson arrives, hehe.

February 28 - We attended a birthday celebration for my childhood friend Randy.  Everyone else played whirly ball while the pregnant lady watched, but it was still fun!

March 1 - We had our second appointment with our Doula.  For those who don't know, a doula is an experienced birth coach that people hire to assist with their labor and delivery (usually their first when they have no idea what to expect!).  She taught us all about labor, comfort and support techniques, and helped us develop a birth plan to share with the midwives at the hospital.  It was great!  On Saturday we also said goodbye to Baby Blue, the 1986 Chevy Nova that Taylor and I had been borrowing since early September.  We are so thankful to my second cousin Cindy and her husband Mark for letting us use it.  We are also so thankful that the weather cooperated and we were able to squeeze this 3-hour errand in between snowstorms!

Whew, it's been a whirlwind, but we wouldn't trade it!  Coming up on the blog I will recap my shower and do some much overdue 30 Before 30 blogs!

And with 6 weeks (literally, 6 weeks tomorrow!) left until baby, we have a busy March coming up.  I am done travelling for work as of this week (YAY!).  This month we have a baby care class, a breastfeeding class, a Michigan Basketball game, a visit from some good friends, another doula appointment, and one last weekend getaway before baby comes :)  So much to look forward to!  Stay tuned :)