Trip to Vegas

Our company hosts a leadership conference each year. The past two years the meeting has been held in Vegas. Anyone who has talked to me recently knows how excited I was for this trip. The snowy weather in Pittsburgh made me want to get away even more.
The trip was truly great! We had wonderful weather the whole time. I even wore my flip flops. It was really nice to hang out with my coworkers and catch up with everyone. We saw the Cirque show "O" this year. It was like synchronized swimming on crack. The whole show was based in the water but they had acrobats and fire too. We were totally on sensory overload. Our group really loved the show. We had a wonderful italian dinner at the hotel before the show.
Monday night was the cocktail party and dinner with our company. It is so much fun to see everyone dressed up. My friend Rodney won an award this year. Our team was really pumped up for him!!
We had some great speakers at the conference. One of the presentations was on this book entitled "The Flip Side" It highlights your behavior constraints. I was suprised to see which constraints I scored the highest. The book has a test that you take to see where you rank with each constraint. I would recommend this book to everyone.
Our Ops team did a bit of acting in the conference again. Rodney and Brittany played Caesar and his assistant (we stayed at Caesar's palace). Several of us acted in skits. I acted in a skit on my own. I have fun doing things like this for work. I don't think I'd be comfortable acting with friends or family; but for some reason I have fun with it at work.
We finished the conference on Wednesday and everyone flew home. I got in at almost 1 AM because of the 3 hour time difference. Keith was there to pick me up. He had several fun suprises at home to show me. He worked on the baby's room, purchased and setup a blue ray player, and fixed a couple other things around the house. He also had 2 dozen pink roses in a vase for me. I love to have fresh flowers in the house. I'm glad to know that he missed me while I was away. I also came home to 4 dogs instead of 2. We are dogsitting for one of the residents while they are on vacation in Florida. Thankfully the dogs love playing together and get along well.
The sun is finally out here and the snow is really melting. It is still really cold, but I'm thankful for the sun. Now that my Vegas trip is over I am looking forward to my friend Liz visiting from TExas. SHe will be here in less than 2 weeks. SHe and I are going to New York for a weekend of fun! Then KEith and I are flying to ARizona. We will get to spend time with my mom and Keith's brother Josh and his wife Steph. Lots of great things to get excited about!!!
Everything is going well with Brooke. She is kicking all the time and my belly is expanding every day. My next visit is on the 17th. I am be taking the glucose test to see if I have gestational diabetes. I will try to post some new belly pics soon.

Podiatry wives and the new babies!

We took this first picture the second week of December at the Podiatry Christmas party. There were 6 pregant ladies at that time(Jessica is not pictured here). In the last three months we have added 4 new babies to the podiatry family. The Browns were first with baby Evan. Then came the Staskos with their first baby Christian. The Nelsons welcomed their first little girl one day later named Hayden. And finally a couple weeks after that we met the Heck's baby Cal. Jessica and I are still pregnant. She is due in May and they are going to be suprised if the baby is a boy or girl. I am due in June; brining up the rear of the pregnant podiatry wives. We'll have to take this picture again at the end of summer to show all 6 babies. We all got together last night for pizza and hang out time. It was so funny to see all the babies lined up in their car seats. I had to wear my belly band for the first time last night because my jeans do not fit. Thanks to Shevawn for the awesome Belly Band. Hopefully I can make it another month or so in my jeans before I have to switch over to maternity pants.
I am really excited for our upcoming work conference in Vegas. I leave Pittsburgh on Sunday morning and will be gone for 4 days. I'll definitely have pictures to post from that trip. We are going to see the Cirque du Soleil show "O". It is supposed to be a really cool show; all in the water. I think I am most excited to escape the snow here.
This morning I let our dog Mason out to go potty. I was watching him from the window and then a big fox ran by the yard. I tried to get Mason back in the house but he thought it would be fun to chase the fox. I quickly pulled on my golashes and hot pink bathrobe and ran after him. We had a nice little chase through the snow onto the golf course. I finally got Mason to follow me back to the house by promising him a Greenie. These are the best dog treats. Now the dogs are going out to potty on a leash. That run was exhausting. I'm hoping that none of my neighbors were watching. ha!

Snow Storm and Super bowl Pictures

Big Snow In Pittsburgh

This was quite an eventful weekend for everyone in Pittsburgh. The snow started coming down about 1 PM on Friday and did not stop until Saturday afternoon. The weather channel predicted 12 inches of snow. We eneded up getting 22 inches in our area. Keith was on-call at the hospital on Friday night during most of the storm. He was done working on Saturday by 9 AM but there was no way he could drive home on the snowy roads. We waited and waited for a plow truck to come. At 4 PM Keith was getting restless and decided to try and drive home. He made it most of the way without any trouble. Parts of our neighborhood had been plowed so he was able to park at the top of our hill and then walk the rest of the way home. The snow on our street was up past his knees. During the walk home Keith found a neighbor with a plow on the front of his truck. He had gotten stuck on our street. Keith and some of the other neighbors worked to dig him out. He was nice enough to continue plowing the rest of our street. He even came back the next morning and plowed our driveway. Keith estimated that it would have taken him over 8 hours to plow our driveway that clear. Everyone on the street was thrilled when the power finally came back on Saturday night, almost 24 hours later. Our house had gotten down to 51 degrees during that time. We are very fortunate to have our power back. There are still about 5,000 people in the Pittsburgh area without power.
On Sunday morning the city plow truck finally came and cleared up the street. Keith and I decided to continue with our plan to host a superbowl party with all the podiatry residents. Some of the families were still snowed in; which was really sad. We did have 14 people make the drive to our house for the game. Some people came early to sled on the golf course next to our house. Our neighbors accross the street canceled their superbowl party. They brought over the 22 pound turkey they were planning to cook. Keith injected the turkey with buffalo hot sauce and roasted it for the party. It was delicious! We had lots of goodies and enjoyed a great game. Here are a few pictures from the storm and the party. I also had Keith take a couple belly pictures. We are just about 5 months pregnant. Thanks again to Dan and Shelly for all the cute girl clothes. Brooke is going to love them!

Sledding with Arizona Friends and the baby's name: Brooke Marie

Our sweet friends from Arizona flew to see us last weekend. Their kids were really excited to play in the snow. Sadly, most of it had melted by the time they got to our house. We were able to go sledding on Saturday at the golf course; it was really fun. My friend's little boy Logan decided he'd rather sit and eat snow than sled. They were really cute.
While they were visiting we decided on a nursery theme. We are going to use the bedding called Arctic Babies. http://www.cottontaledesigns.com/collections/artic-babies.html
It has little penguins, polar bears, and whales. It seems fitting since we live in such a freezing cold place. My friend Sally is super creative and she gave me some great ideas on decorating. I wish she lived closer. I'm definitely not crafty enough to make any of the decor. I'm hoping she can help me from long distance.
I asked my friend's daughter Emma what we should name the baby and she suggested Cinderella. While that is a lovely name, I think CInderella McSpadden would be quite long. Keith and I are excited to name the baby Brooke Marie. Brooke is a name that we both like and Marie is a family name on Keith's side. Our little niece Claire has the middle name Marie too. I think it will be fun for them to have the same middle name; especially since they will be born less than one year apart. I know they will be great friends!
We also got a crib this week. Keith is going to put it together soon, so stay posted for pictures. I am finally able to feel the baby kicking. It is so nice to know she's in there moving around. It will still be a few weeks before the kicks are strong enough for Keith to feel. He is already excited about it.
Keith has been cracking up lately at my cravings. Last night I made Kraft Mac and Cheese and Fish Sticks. He feels like he's eating with a 5 year old kid. I am just excited to be enjoying food on a stable stomach. I will have Keith take a belly picture soon. One of the resident's kids (she is 3)told me last week that I've been eating too much chicken and that's why my belly is big. ha!

We're having a girl!

We had our sonogram today at the hospital. It was the coolest thing. First it was amazing to see a real baby on the screen. We were so happy to see she was healthy and developing normally. Keith was happy that she didn't have clubbed feet. I was shocked at how much she was moving around and moving her hands, feet and mouth. At some points it looked like she was talking in there. Our sonogram technician was calling her sassy girl becuase she would not cooperate with her positions and wouldn't hold still for any of the pictures. We are expecting a crazy, rambunctious baby; as payback for all the trouble we caused our parents when we were little. Keith and I definitely received the most spankings of our siblings. She also had some aggie moments with her clear thumbs up! Keith is already convinced that she's bound for Aggieland.
Now we are excited to choose a name and start picking out nursery stuff. Keith and I went to a baby store right after our appointment and he bought a pink shirt that says "I'm better than a puppy" We are curious to see how the dogs will react to the baby. Thankyou to everyone for your thoughts and prayers for the baby. We are very thankful that she is healthy and developing on track. Right now she weighs about 1/2of a pound. Our due date is June 16, 2010.
We will go back at the end of March for another sonogram; this time a 3D sonogram. I'll try to post a belly picture sometime soon. There is not much to show at this point. Hopefully this baby belly will begin to pop out soon.

Time in Texas

We had a great time in Texas visiting friends and family. We loved our Claire time! She is our first neice. Keith enjoyed holding her and singing silly songs. I loved getting to see all her sweet faces. Claire is definitely the best dressed McSpadden. She has a bow to coordinate with every outfit and she's already sporting A&M gear.
Keith was finally able to relax and sleep in on our trip. We had lots of relax time at his parents house. There was plenty of great food, a warm fire and of course Keith's beloved family pet Maggie. We enjoyed our time with his parents too!
We got to have lunch with my favorite girls at a great Mexican food restaurant in Richardson. It was my first time to eat salsa in 3 months. My tummy still wasn't completely okay but it was worth it. My friend Liz and I are planning a girls New York trip for March. Hopefully Jen and Val will be able to come too!
We had to fly back to Pittsburgh at the end of the week. It was sad to leave everyone; especially not knowing when we will see them next. But, we couldn't wait to get back to Pittsburgh and see our dogs Mason and Jackson. They had a great week playing at the Thomas' house with Chase and Tally. Thanks for taking such great care of them.
We are now back in Pittsburgh and the snow is still falling. Our friends from Arizona are coming to visit next week and their kids have never been in the snow. Hopefully it will stick around until then. We get to find out if the baby is a boy or girl on Wednesday. Stay tuned!