To say that I’m exhausted after this weekend is a total understatement. This weekend was my mother’s 60th birthday party, which brought my aunt, uncle and cousin in from California for the weekend and my aunt, uncle and cousin in from Chicago for the party. As if that wasn’t enough excitement for one weekend, this weekend was also the big moving weekend for my grandparents. My mother’s parents arrived on Thursday evening from sunny Florida to their new permanent residence of Wisconsin. This move came because both my grandma and grandpa were no longer at a point that they could manage on their own and it was time to enter assisted living.

Grams & Gramps sold most of their stuff (furniture, etc) in Florida, leaving them with a pretty empty apartment. This meant that our charge this weekend was to get them settled and get their apartment furnished. To say we rallied would be a total understatement. We divided and conquered and together, purchased just about all of their furniture and equipped their home with essential and non-essential items to get them going. This entailed 2.5 days of solid work (and shopping)…

Gramps trying out his new sofa!

As for the party, what can I say? It was a blast. Although, I will say, I almost cracked (or snapped) under the pressure of my family to tell my aunt and uncle about my bun in the oven. Prior to the event, I had decided I was going to wait to tell them until Thanksgiving. That way, I would have another ultrasound under my belt, I’d be further along, and my announcement wouldn’t come at such a stressful/overwhelming time. However, when I got to the party, it was starting to feel as if I might need to tell them. I was feeling uncomfortable, pressured and rushed and finally decided I was going to stick to my original plan. Unfortunately, my family didn’t get the memo. For the first 3 or 4 (of 6) courses, my mother, sister and father kept trying to “cue me in” for the announcement. Thankfully, between Mark and I, we were able to send the message to each of them that there was no announcement coming. Instead, I pretended to drink the wine or beer that was paired with each course and carried on conversation as the table became more and more intoxicated. In the end, it was a blast. It’s quite silly to be on the sober end of things, but I’m not going to lie, at the end of the night, I was ready to crash. The pressure of an announcement and my attempt at slyly making sure each course was pasteurized or cooked well done enough or some other form of pregnancy safe, left me ready to snooze.

Mom making a wish!

Mark, Cousin Stef and I enjoying each other’s company at dinner.

Goofing off.

All-in-all, it was a really lovely, important, special weekend spent with people I absolutely love and adore. I got quality time with my California family, who stayed with Mark and I, and Mark got the opportunity to really get to know the California family better. And oy. It must be mentioned how amazing my husband is. He was so patient and helpful the entire weekend. He happily came shopping with us, helped lift grams in and out of the car / her wheel chair, and kept us all smiling. He really is such a perfect guy.

Anyway, now, it’s Monday and I’m zonked.

Even my sweet little niece, Gabby, was zonked.

My nephew, Judah, & Uncle Geoff hanging out before they headed back to Cali.

My nephew, Judah, & Uncle Geoff hanging out before they headed back to Cali.

Symptoms

I’ve been feeling pretty great. Bouts of nausea are becoming less frequent and really, I’m just feeling happy and excited. My body seems to be changing a bit. I’ve gotten on a pretty good pattern of working out, and am feeling fit, but definitely feel a tummy that wasn’t there before. I don’t think it’s baby, but I do think baby is pushing my guts and fat upwards to form said tummy. Other than that, it’s business as usual.