14 Weeks

14 Weeks (February 10th) Matt took this picture for me on my 29th birthday. He got me the new jammies I am rocking (and not showing yet) but I didn't feel like changing. Matt surprised me and took me shopping (Dick and Victoria Secret) and took me to dinner at Biaggi's and surprised me with a necklace.  It was a great birthday!

I went to see Dr. Dameron on Friday for an appointment and got to hear the heartbeat. The heartbeat was strong and right where it was supposed to be!

 A little different this year not being able to drink so Taylor got me the next best thing... sparkling grape juice!

 Love this card!

 Birthday love!

13 Weeks

When I lived with Taylor 7 years ago we got this window frame chalkboard at the 3rd Sunday market and between the three sisters we have all used this for different things. I wanted to track the weeks so I could look back at pictures. Before I finally got pregnant I had lost 20 pounds from eating right and working out and all I can say is I am so glad I did.

Here is my first picture that we decided to take and of course Willie decided he needed to join.

13 Weeks (February 3rd)

Colorado December 25th- January 2nd

We decided this year to skip our trip out of the country and took the Amtrak to Colorado for the week. We left on Christmas day and headed to Galesburg to catch the train. I have never been on a train overnight so it was quite the experience. We had a sleeper and the trip was a little over 24 hours before we arrived in Denver. We stayed at a Marriott in downtown Denver where we were around a million different bars, shops, and restaurants. We were in Denver for three days and it was amazing because the weather was in the fifties the entire time.

This was a photo from the 16th street mall. The area was awesome because you couldn't drive down this street so we were able to do a lot of walking and sightseeing. This was my first time in Denver and really enjoyed our stay. 

 Matt took me to the aquarium. It was amazing and we had so much fun. I can't wait to have a little one to have even another reason to go to Aquariums and museums.

 One day we took the lightrail (high speed train) to Golden, CO for the day. This is where the Coors Brewery is and the reason we went to this town. Little did I know, you couldn't have any personal belongings during the tour (no purses) and since we took the train I had my giant Hobo full of goodies for the day and couldn't store it anywhere. This made no sense to me but we both were pretty bummed we couldn't take the tour.

 I loved this statue on the streets of Golden. It was super neat and huge!

 This is a little our of order but these are buffalo statues made out of steel sheets on the street of Denver at night.

 Since I couldn't have a drink all week we saw this and I had to take a picture. Now I can't remember how many coors lights this was but it was alot!!! All day we bar hopped, shop hopped, and soaked in the sunshine!

 When we left Denver we took another Amtrak to Grand Junction, Colorado which was the most beautiful scenic trip I have ever gone on. The trip took 8 hours through the mountains. We both just stared out the window the entire trip. I didn't feel good the whole time we were gone with morning sickness (all day long) and I was off all my arthritis medications so I was stiff and sore all trip, but Matt was truly amazing and kept getting me ginger ale whenever he got a beer. So sweet, everyone knows I always take pictures of beer so I thought this was fitting.

 My first time using the excuse "the baby needed ice cream," with a mint brownie and ice cream from an Irish Pub in Grand Junction.

 Driving into Durango, CO. We rented a car in Golden and Matt drove to Durango for a few days. Durango was my favorite part trip. It was a great small town with so many things to do!

 Another drink I am obsessed with!

 This was on the train in Durango. We took a day trip and it was beautiful. We left Durango and headed to Silverton and had to stop because of all of the snow. This railroad has a Polar Express (it was the first one) and we were there to see the kiddos get on and off the train to see Santa. The train trip was so cool because we were in Caboose with all adults so it was neat to be at the back of the train.

 Amazing river where we stopped to eat lunch.

 The Polar Express!

 More pictures from the train trip... This was really far down, Matt was impressed I could event take this picture.... I am afraid of heights!

 We stopped on the trip from Durango back to Grand Junction to see the waterfalls. So neat!

 This was a half frozen waterfall. I had never see anything like it!

 This log truck reminded me of AX Men. This road was barely wide enough for the jeep we were driving, let alone a semi. Good thing Matt drives for a living!

 Our selfie!

 This was in a bar. The wall paper was all all beer bottle labels. I had to take a picture of this!

 More pictures....

The Kelzy Wedding! Their wedding was the weekend of Thanksgiving so we had a great time with a few days off and got to see a lot of people we don't get to see very often. When Matt bought our house his first roommate that lived with us until we got married was Aaron Elzy and we always had so much fun with Aaron and Kelly, so we were so excite about their wedding. Matt was a groomsmen in the wedding so I had a great weekend with all the other wives and girlfriends that we in the wedding. 

Here is a rare photo of me and Matt! 

 This picture is really blurry but I thought it was fitting to take a picture of everyone who lived together at one point in time!! We had an absolute blast at this wedding a great weekend.

Little did we know, I would find out I was pregnant just a few days after their wedding! 

Back at It!

After four short months of being on JQH Task Force I am going back to the Normal Marriott as a Catering Manager! These last few months have been fantastic working from home and traveling! Nothing is better than  drinking coffee until noon, working out in my down time,  making lunch and dinner everyday, trading my heels for uggs, and being with my dog all day long!

It was a lot easier to work from home than I expected because I am very routine oriented. Matt helped me set up an office in our dining room which kept me sitting at my computer during the day instead of getting preoccupied with other things at home but I loved getting laundry done and keeping the house tidy during the week since I was always there.

Before I left the hotel to go on Task Force I had the goal of being a catering manager but it didn't seem like anyone was going to leave anytime soon, and as soon as I left so did another manger.

I am still doing Task Force here and there for the next few months (I am currently in Houston and will be in Oklahoma next week) but then I will go back permanently to the hotel soon! The ladies I work with are great and welcomed me back with open arms. This is what they did for me on my first day back!

My Little Snuggle Bug - Sawyer Tate!

The newest addition to the Grieder Family Sawyer Tate.  I know anyone that reads my blog follows my sister Brooke Brand Grieder but I just had to post these cute pictures. 

The first picture was on Sawyer's birthday at the hospital. 

 Yesterday I spent all day with this little guy and got to hold him pretty much all day. He slept for most of the day and then he woke up so me and Brooke did a little photo shoot. This picture was when I was holding him and he just kept staring at me and I can't believe how good it turned out! Brooke also dressed him in a onesie that says "My Auntie Rocks" so this one goes out to Taylor and Kaitlin too!

 He is a very content baby that doesn't ever fuss (which I enjoy because I never know what little ones need) and he is a little heater so I didn't mind holding him all day. I had my dog Willie at Brooke's house and he was being my little guard dog.  He kept getting closer and closer to the baby. I don't think Brooke enjoyed it too much but I thought it was super cute! I am sure I will have a lot more pictures in the future to post of this little man!!

Nashville

Matt had two engines in his shop that he was going to sell to a diesel mechanic shop outside of Nashville, TN. He has had them for a few weeks and I told him that no matter when he took them I was going to go with him so I could go to Nashville!

I have only been to Nashville once and it was for a sorority convention back before I was even 21! When I was there we really didn't get to do too much but we did manage to sneak out two nights when we were there. I have always wanted to go so I hitched a ride with Matt.

We stayed at the Gaylord Opryland which Marriott recently bought the Gaylord resorts so I got a steal on a room. Here is a map of the hotel to show you how big it was!

This is the map they give you at check-in so you can find your room. There was over 7 restaurants and bars in the hotel so we actually never left once we checked in! It was really busy and we decided since it was a quick trip we would just stay there!
On the right is a picture of the atrium with ducks, fish, and water features! There was sushi bar on the water it was so cool! I told Matt that we need to take girls trip around Christmas and come back to this hotel!!

Matt and I have an obsession with the Food Network especially Diner's, Drive-in's, and Dives. We have been talking about stopping at restaurants we see on this show for years and we finally hit up our first place. It was super yummy and had local beers to wash it down! I am not a fan of BBQ at all but I even enjoyed the food. Then the very next week Matt and Tyler went to Mississippi and hit up another DDD favorite Memphis BBQ.

This is a picture of where they smoke the pig! It smelled so good in this restaurant! 

Not the best picture but we actually took a picture together!