Happy Thanksgiving!

We're begging you to have a Happy Thanksgiving today! May you stuff your face to your belly's max capacity!!

 

 

Love always,

Chase, Maverick, Bella, Gracie, Keuka, Bubbaloo, and Sienna

 

 



O Christmas Tree

I actually hate to admit this...because it goes against everything I stand for...but we busted out and decorated the good ole Christmas tree this past weekend. I was initially hesitant about it. Thanksgiving is like my second favorite holiday and it certainly doesn't deserve to be ambushed by a bunch of green and red; however, we've got family coming in town for Turkey-Day and I wanted to get just a little bit ahead of the game.

 

The good news for me is that I just looooove decorating our tree! It's my second favorite part of Christmas (behind snooping around to find out what Josh got me, of course). When it comes to decorations, Josh and I are not so much the "matchy, matchy" type - we like to go the more "rogue" route.  We've started a tradition of buying an ornament on every trip we go on. And not to sound all lame...but I'm excited for our tree to really represent who we are and our life together!

 

Here are some of my favorite ornaments:

 

Cheesy? Of course! But a friendly reminder that this is our third Christmas in our first home.

New Orleans...only my favorite place on this planet (not exaggerating)

 

Our first out-of-country trip together "The Bahamas"

"Bully Hill Vineyards" - a staple of Hammondsport, NY which is where we got married this past June

 

Cabo! Our honeymoon babymoon! Sober honeymoons don't count...Josh still owes me :)

 

A reminder of our favorite trip together - Pasadena to watch FSU win the National Championship this past winter!

 

A couple of other meaningful Christmas traditions:

 

Not sure of the whole story behind this, but the nest has been on every Falvey family Christmas tree since before I was born. My dad found this up on the farm in New York in like 1781 or something like that...

 

 I stole this from my grandfather's house. His favorite animal was a hummingbird...and I love those quick, little suckers too :)

 

And saving the best for last! Josh and I got these for each other during our first Christmas in the house together. They are proud owners of the prime real estate branches of the tree - front and center:

 

 

We're having some plug issues that we're too lazy to figure out right now...so other than missing the angel tree-topper, here is the final product:

 

 

Holiday season is officially here :)

 

Maternity Monday - Baby Furniture

My sweet husband surprised me last week by putting together our baby furniture while I was traveling for work. I might have suffered from an overdramatic and ridiculous hormonal breakdown with him that we needed to do it, and he could sense I was otherwise having a tough preggers week (thank-you, third trimester). He knew it would cheer me up...and it worked :)

 

 

 

 

I'm so excited to get to work on the details now! My mom and sister will be in town for Turkey-Day, so I foresee some major navy blue and white shopping going on this weekend. We have a big dresser to paint, and we are waiting on a rocker to be delivered. We have even hired a co-worker from the plant where I work to install crown molding in our nursery. Exciting stuff, y'all!

 

Oh yea...Papaw Dwight's present was recently delivered.  Josh put it together like a pro:

 

 

28.5 weeks down, 11.5 weeks to go :)

 

 



Maternity Monday - Sugar Test

Last Tuesday, I had to take a very important test that would completely define my third trimester:

the dreaded glucose-screening test.

 

The test itself is not nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be.  Basically, you chug this super sugary drink which everyone says tastes awful.  This preggers loved it and chugged it like I was back in my beer-drinking days.

 

 

You then have to chill for an hour in the waiting room which is totally not bad at all anymore now that we have smart phones. I got to play FarmVille 2 check my email and catch up on the news and all. Then the nurse lady takes some blood (okay...still can't get used to that part) to see how your body processes sugar.  It all boils down to gestational diabetes. 

 

From what I can gather, gestational diabetes sounds a whole lot scarier than it actually is.  Based on my sophisticated internet research, I discovered that up to 10% of preggers may develop this condition.  In fact, I've had a couple of good friends that went through it and they all had beautiful, healthy babies. The problem is that you have to check your sugar 2-4 times a day through one of those finger prick tests. and the worst part?? well duh...you have to watch your sugar intake.

 

I'm not gonna lie though. I was a nervous wreck during the 24 hours it takes to get the results back.  And of course I was making a sales call when the nurse called in to give me my results.  She even left me the dreaded "Hi Miss Falvey...please give us a call back so we can discuss your lab results" voicemail. Y'all...I ate an entire cookie cake before I called them back.  I just knew it would be my last bit of sugar I would ever have. 

 

Luckily for me (and especially for Josh), my test results came back [drumroll please]...all clear. Phew!! My whole office knew about it within seconds and they were throwing me chocolate bars and cookies by the dozen! It was such a great celebration and I only probably gained like 5 pounds....

 

Anyway...it was a huge relief and I feel very, very lucky for having a healthy pregnancy thus far. The best part? I got to make an appointment for our 4D ultrasound! I don't even know what the fourth dimension is...but I sure can't wait to see our lil alien fetus on December 9th. And for all of you haters out there that are dying to know...I've gained 33 pounds. Only 3 months left to hit the 60 mark. Cheers to the third trimester :)



Exploring Savannah

Savannah.  So much history. And sadly, this preggers didn't have time for a bit of it. We did, however, enjoy the beautiful weather, the majestic sites, and the old southern atmosphere.

 

Last Friday, we drove into Savannah during the early part of the afternoon and immediately took the ferry to the convention center. I loved that little, stinking ferry. We also had time to grab a bite to eat at a pub on the river and do a little bit of strolling around until it was time to check-in to the hotel:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday night wasn't too eventful.  Scott and Patrick carb-loaded. Josh and I picked up Camille from the airport. And the Wheeler family got into a three car pile-up less than a mile from the hotel. No-they weren't at fault and thankfully the Mercedes seatbelt hug and automatic headrest whiplash prevention kicked in. No one was injured. Them rich folk have it made :)

 

We were able to do a little bit of sight seeing during the race. I kinda wish our racers were in way worse shape, so we could have had more time for leisure, but I'll take what I can get:

 

 

and a little bit of picture taking going on after the race too:

 

 

 

Lunch was a total cluster.  It's not easy getting 8 strong-minded people to agree on one place to eat, so we basically separated into the sobers and the drunks. Kara, Sam, and I had a fantastic lunch at Corleone's (my favorite Savannah spot).  We were then able to steal Camille from the cool kid drunkard crew for a few to do some boutique shopping. How in the world I didn't spend a dime....I will never know. Love those little Savannah boutiques:

 

 

 

After dropping Camille off with the fun crowd, the lame sobers continued our much needed boring and fantastic night eating cheesecake in the hotel bawling our eyes out to the first ten minutes of the movie, Up. We met back up with the increasingly drunk drunkards for a quick dinner and then called it a night. I was thoroughly enjoying the hotel suite all to myself, watching a fantastic Bama/LSU game...when these idiots interrupted my perfect evening:

 

Thankfully, it didn't last long (and honestly, I'm just being hateful because I'm jealous):

 

 

 I ended up having a legit blast gossiping and giggling with Camille until like 3 AM. Sunday morning, we said our goodbyes to the Wheelers, had a quick and very yummy brunch, and drove the party bus back to Knoxvegas:

 

 

 Another fun weekend, indeed :)



Rock 'n' Roll Savannah

Oh, how I love three day weekends! Especially when I get to spend them with family and friends in one of the prettiest cities in all of the South: Savannah!

 

Last weekend, Kara, Tom, Scott, and Patrick all kicked some butt at the Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon in the heart of Savannah.  I helped plan the trip this past May before I knew that Josh infected with me the preggers disease, and I had totally planned on kicking some butt with them however....I had to settle with being a cheerleader (not that upset about it).

 

The morning started out bright dark and early. At 6 AM, our racers were pumped full of energy while the cheerleaders were pushing through hangovers from the night before (yes...pregnancy in itself is the same as a hangover without all the fun in my book). Guys...Josh was in such poor shape, I didn't even bother with a picture:

 

 

We all took the brisk walk over to the start line and it was totally worth it.  We got a great spot, the energy was high, and the sunrise was gorgeous. I'm not sure the last sunrise Josh has actually seen; however, he was too busy performing his all-day drinking marathon to even notice the beautiful morning:

 

 

Hey! There's Tom and Kara's hand :)

After the runners got their start, Josh, Camille, Sam, and I rushed over to the 6 mile marker to show off our signs that we worked super duper diligently on the night before...like, we practically pulled an all-nighter:

 

 

Okay, so maybe we won't quit our day-jobs. Josh's Ironman poster got the most attention...I hate it when the drunk guy wins :( Anyway, it was so much fun seeing our runners mid-race:

 

 

 

At about 8:40, our runners started trickling past the finish line.  In fact, Patrick beat his personal record - running the half-marathon in 1 hour and 40 minutes. And that was WITH a pee break. He got awfully close to our rockstar runner, Scottie! I have to say, it was pretty adorable to see my sister and brother-in-law run the entire race together. They even finished at the same time. Like...20 years later and they are still that cute? Ugh...gag me. I mean...Josh and I would have our divorce papers finalized before we ever crossed the finish line...

 

We are truly proud of our runners though! I've always considered marathons a celebration of the human spirit...and our fab-four did a great job:

 

 

 

 

Hey...and don't forget about us cheerleaders! It's exhausting work too:

 

 

The real winner of the marathon though? Josh. Duh. I think he polished off two grape-bombs and a six-pack of beer! Now that, my friend, is one heck of an accomplishment :)