Visitor from the Empire State

About 5 years ago, Chris started a project in upstate New York for his uncle, Phillip. Over the course of almost a year, Derrek and Patrick took turns working on the job with him. They have a million wild stories (on and off the job) and it turned out to be kind of a nightmare of a project but they made some great friends while they were there. One of those friends, Scott, was in San Antonio for a convention (he sells apples) and made the short drive to the Burg to see Luckenbach and hang out. Chris, Derrek and Patrick have all met and married their wives since they saw Scott last and probably calmed down a bit! Scott was really fun to be around and I wish I could have spent more time with him to get to know him but I had to pick up Ashley from the dance! It's such a blessing to reunite with friends like that and luckily we got a couple of pics to capture it.

First Dance

Ashley had her first dance tonight at the middle school. I think it was more fun than she thought! Here she is waiting for her ride. And apparently, you don't wear a dress to a dance anymore. I was ready to go shopping!

We got Blake in a pic too to show off his new sunglasses he picked out at Root!

37 Weeks

So I should have a picture to go with this but I don't. I will try to post one soon. Just wanted to give everyone an update: nothing's happening. I know this is normal and ideal but you know, I've been pregnant so long and now I'm at the end-ish and I've gone to half of my childbirth class (the remaining 4 hours are tomorrow) and it's really tough to not be anxious. Especially now that we're in the safe zone. Oh well. I know he'll be here VERY soon and I'll be mad I didn't just kick back and relax since I don't have an infant to tend to.

Octoberfest

The first weekend in October means Octoberfest in Fredericksburg. There is an unlimited stream of German beers on tap, live polka bands playing all day long and our city's finest sporting lederhosen. Here we are last year when I could fit into my dirndl:

Here we are this year. Sean bought his lederhosen and Willa's dirndl in Austria last year.

Soccer Saturday

I missed the game, due to said Childbirth Class but Derrek got some good action shots and then Ashley got some goofy poses after the game. Unfortunately, I can't upload the action shots! My computer is acting screwy. Maybe it needs a blogging break? I'm going to miss his game next week too because of the class butI love his soccer games! We've still got at least 3 or 4 more after that, thank goodness!

Happy Belated Birthday, Honey

Holy cow, I'm a bad wife! Derrek's birthday was the same day as my shower last weekend and he didn't get a proper post! He really didn't even get a proper gift. The only gift he got from me ON his actual birthday was that I agreed to name the baby Cash. That's right folks, the babies name is going to be Cash Leo Penick. We've gone back and forth for a long time. I've always liked the name Cash but I loved the name Leo (after my uncle Butch). My other problem with Cash as that an aquaintance had a boy a month or two ago and she named him Cash. It just felt like a strong name and I didn't think it was as neat with two of them running around in this small town in the same grade (I know there are many more Cash's out there). So, I found out that that family is moving out of town so my argument was leaking really quickly. Anyway, Derrek has been so excited about this name and it has been so fun calling him by his name for the last week!

The day after his birthday (Sunday), the kids and I took him to Kerrville for some treats and dinner. He used some of his birthday money on architecture books & we got him some CDs and a t-shirt. The t-shirt says "Cash" and he was so pumped. I have no pictures from dinner because we went to Mamacitas and they sing to you and that is Derrek's hell so we all three had to PROMISE that we would not act all birthday-y in the restaurant.

Wednesday, after our follow-up appointment with Dr. Vick in San Antonio ("everything looks good"), we did a little more shopping with his birthday money and here he is all decked out in his new gear.

I still need to get him something! Poor guy. He's been through so much and I didn't even get him a birthday gift!

Childbirth Class

Uh, yeah. I've been trying to avoid the whole subject of "childbirth" since I got pregnant. I know there are many other women that are scared but I've been determined to stay in denial. I mean, he's got to come out somehow right? Well, of course, I was encouraged by my doctor and friends and family to attend. Derrek was sooooooooo excited about it...riiiiiiight. Our first class was on Saturday and, well, we survived! I just really didnt' want to watch alot of videos or see pictures of the actual birth of children. I'm a freak, I know. Just, ever since we had to watch that video in our 9th grade health class, I get the idea. Of course, we did watch videos and they showed a few women laboring while their husbands loved on them and massaged them and talked sweetly to them. They just would breath and sometimes moan (Derrek and I were both a little freaked out with the moaning) and rock and walk and lay in bath tubs and sit on balls. The videos did freak me out a little bit more but I'm socking those memories away like I did in 9th grade. But, all in all, it was a good experience and I know being educated is always the best plan. The one thing I know, and a thought I've tried to avoid as well, is that anything can happen during labor and childbirth and it's best to be prepared.

Derrek had to leave a little early to take Blake to his soccer game and I was left alone for the breathing techniques portion of the class. I do plan on having an epidural but, again, anything can happen so I was all ears and paying close attention. I'm also kind of dorky when it comes to being a student or being coached. She had us do an exercise to test the breathing techniques. We had to do wall sits (where you lean against a wall with your knees at a 90 degree angle) and use the breathing techniques to get us through the pain. We did it three times. The first two times, the coaches/husbands did the wall sits as well and tried out the breathing. Then the third time, all the pregos did the wall sits and the coaches coached. I was missing a coach but very determined to check out the truth to these techniques. In other words, I was focused. Oh, and I had women on either side of me that had decided they do not want epidurals. They are going all natural. I think that is awesome so don't get me wrong when I say, uh, good luck! Maybe, I'm being all Braggy von Braggenstein (totally borrowed from my friend Jenn) but I was the only prego that didn't give up on the last wall sit!!! The breathing stuff works. Did I want to pass out when it was over? Yes. Did my thighs burn more than they've burned in about 10 years (since high school athletics)? Yes. The instructor was impressed and questioned my decision for drugs. I still want them but I feel great & a little empowered now that I can get this done no matter what. Now, I can't talk about it anymore. I won't sleep tonight.