Casita, Sweet Casita

Welcome home, Behrs!

We are finally settled in our new home in Austin, TX and really enjoying it!  We encountered several hurdles before we could actually get here, but this place is definitely worth the wait. 
In a quick recap for those of you who are now lost: Our first landlord in North Austin, who I believe I may have mistakenly labeled "accommodating," had what I can only understand as a psychotic break and called us Thursday morning at 9:15am to tell us we needed to move out pronto.  She decided that despite our previous agreement, she now wanted the air conditioning unit replaced and the damaged floor beneath it ripped out so we needed to move all our belongings out in the next 2 hours.  We did attempt to explain that we had absolutely no other place to go and legally she couldn't do what she was doing because our agreement was to stay until Friday - to no avail. 
The 2-hour time limit apparently wasn't soon enough for her, because she showed up at the property to start pulling back floorboards at 10:30am.  Meanwhile, at 6 1/2 months pregnant, I'm moving as fast as I can to pack up all the things we just unpacked less than 36 hours before.  David is trying to load packed suitcases into our cars three flights below in 90-degree heat and then shower and suit up for his meeting that morning.  He left at 11am and I was stuck with Luis, the very polite air-conditioner repair man and crazy Miss Crazypants.  I gathered some very good information that day though.  I learned that Luis is a father of 7 and grandfather of 13 trying to buy a ranch and that it should no longer take us 2 days to pack our belongings and leave a city.  I got everything packed in 2 hours and 15 minutes.  If it had been possible for me to carry all those suitcases and boxes down 3 flights of stairs and into 2 waiting vehicles without going into pre-term labor, I wouldn't have had to sit there and fumble around while landlady, who was now wielding sharp metal objects, apologized for kicking us to the curb.  Too late, lady!  Upside here: she dropped the name of the property manager who is now renting us Casita del Sol!  (Insert "Ahhh" here)  You can check out our new slice of heaven right here: Casita Del Sol

Now, we are located only a few blocks away from SoCo, Austin's hip artsy shopping district.  We have only uncovered the tip of the iceberg with exploring our new neighborhood.  So far, I've fallen in love with Austin's trailer park food truck lots which feature everything from Thai to BBQ to cupcakes and gourmet hot dogs.   This is a great city to live in when there is an excuse for eating more than your share! 

We are half way through week 27!  Baby weighs almost 2 pounds and is 14 and 1/2 inches long with legs extended.  Cubbie is moving and grooving regularly now and has recently taken up residence directly behind my belly button which gets slightly uncomfortable with any kicking.  Nonetheless, I'm enjoying the movement and knowing that our baby is behind it all.  I've been told that these sensations will decrease as baby gets bigger and runs out of room.  My belly now feels as though it can't possibly get any bigger, especially post-prandial, which I realize is only wishful thinking.  What in the world will I feel like in 5 or even 10 weeks from now?!  I need to start using that Tummy Bar and cocoa butter regularly because I'm pretty sure baby will need more room soon. 
David has been exceptionally sweet, reminding me regularly to take advantage of all of life's pre-baby favorites before our little bundle arrives and makes sleeping in, time for reading, and coffee shop Saturday mornings much more challenging.  I'm trying to heed his advice without the guilt. 

Any advice from those who've been here?  What do you wish you would have known or would go back and do to prepare for baby at this point?  Any books you'd read?  Any activities you'd recommend?  What should I consider?

You have arrived at your destination.

We're finally here in Austin.  We left Lakeville, MN at 6:15 on Saturday morning and used a Cornhuskers game in Lincoln, NE as our big break for the day after about 7 hours of driving.   With some really great planning, we were able to park our hitched car and trailer easily, grab a free shuttle to the game, and get back out again without any traffic issues.  Yeah us!  David certainly appreciated the history of the stadium more than I could, but the seats were great and it was a good game that ended up being pretty close.  We spent 3 more hours in the car that night and found a motel in Salina, KS to crash. 

Sunday, we made our way into Dallas, TX and stopped to spend the night with family and chase our niece and nephew around for a few hours.  Thanks to Steve and Julie's hospitality, we had a great meal and slept like babies after such a long trip. 

On Monday, we finally completed our road trip and pulled into Austin around 2:30pm.  We're currently staying in North Austin, but will be moving to a new location on Friday.  The current digs are need a lot of repairs that the owner apparently didn't realize until we moved in.  Fortunately, she is quite apologetic and let us out of our lease for our trouble.  Wait, a trend seems to be forming here... No, really, at least this place is much cleaner, it's just that the floor is falling through! 
Anyway, looking forward to getting back into our own routine again and start exploring the town a little bit.  Austin is a great city from what people have said, so I'm looking forward to enjoying the Fall here.  Well, I'm hoping they actually have a Fall.  It's in the mid-90s now. 
 
Sunday marked the start of Week 26!  When I stop to think about it, I really can't imagine how we got here so quickly.  Today, I passed by a mirror and had to stop to stare at myself.  When did my belly get so large?  Is that really my body?!  It's unbelievable to me that a human body can change so much to accommodate a fragile little being and do all the things necessary to sustain that life until birth.  It's truly amazing!  The long car ride afforded us the time to discuss baby names, godparents, and our plan for family visits around the time of baby's birth.  Life will be changing very soon and I keep trying to imagine it with a baby involved, especially with the travel! 

Catching up

It's the end of the summer and the close of our first full seminar series together.  Last Friday, we moved out of our condo in Minneapolis and packed up the vehicles for the long drive to Austin.  Then, we parked the cars at the Falters' home and got on an airplane to Seattle to visit with David's parents for 5 days.  What a great trip!  I got to see my first Mariners game at SafeCo Field on Friday night and the Mariners beat the Royals that night.  We visited Pike Place Market over the weekend and grabbed a few of our favorite goodies - Chukar Cherries, fresh vegetables and fruit, fresh shrimp cocktail from the fish market, and some gifts.  Then, we filled ourselves with 4 kinds of chowder in Post Alley and almost finished a salmon piroshky too.  It seems we do a lot of eating in Seattle.  Let's not forget that we like to sample the coffee shops too!
To top off an already fabulous visit, we drove to Cannon Beach, OR for a stay in the beautiful beach town.  I've never visited Cannon Beach in late summer before - we really lucked out with excellent weather all 3 days.  David took some really amazing pictures that I'll add later.  I'm so happy we had the chance to get back out to the Northwest before the baby comes.  It's such a beautiful place to visit and it was really special to share some time with Ma and Pa Behr. 

At the Lookout at Ecola State Park

A walk along the beach at Haystack Rock

Flew in just in time for a Mariner's game on Friday

Mom and Dad with Haystack Rock

Showing Baby a view of the beach

We've finally crossed that big imaginary line into the 3rd trimester!  We are at the end of week 25 and time keeps flying.  Baby is 13 1/2 inches long, about the size of an eggplant.  He or she weighs approximately 1.5 pounds, and is starting to gain some baby fat.  Cubbie has been moving a lot and watching my tummy move has become one of my favorite activities.  It's such an incredible thing to see and I like to imagine what the baby is doing at the time.  Next up: find an OB in Texas that we can visit for the rest of our pregnancy and for baby's delivery.

Tomorrow our journey to Austin begins before the sun comes up.  We've got a 7 hour drive to Lincoln, Nebraska where we'll make a stop for a Corn Huskers game at Memorial Stadium!  The plan is to make it to Salina, Kansas for the night.  More from our trip later...

Baby Shower at Green Lake

For those of you who weren't able to join us for this beautiful shower, I've put together a few pictures.  Thank you to my mother and sister for co-hosting the shower and putting up with me and my lists during the planning and prepping.  Special thanks to the many hands who put this together, made special deliveries, brought food, and even allowed us to take over their kitchen, including: Mom, Cristina, Mark, Avery and Hallie, David, Vincent, Dominic, Rick, Tammy, Barb and Felix (who didn't howl once even though he really wanted to help).  I apologize if I missed someone!

The hostesses: Mom and Cristina (center and right)

a Baby Shower for Adriana (and Baby Behr)

Sunday, August 28th at 12 noon

the Cottage on Green Lake, WI

As I've mentioned before, Green Lake is one of my favorite places to be.  It's a beautiful, deep, clear lake in central Wisconsin.  It's 7 miles long and 3 miles across at it's widest.  Maximum depth is 264 feet.  The water stays cool and clean.  We've rented a cottage on Green Lake for 19 summer seasons and "the cottage" has been our home away from home.   When it came to choosing a location for the shower, I decided it was the perfect way to share a late summer afternoon with my friends and family.

Mom sandwich.  My sister Cristina (right) is due 3 weeks after me.

We decided to hold the shower outside since the weather was forecasted to be in the mid-seventies.  The guys erected the canopy tent and strung brightly-colored lanterns beneath it.  David designed this family-style table with the hodgepodge of tables and chairs we had available and my Mom dressed it with old family linens and Mexican lace cloths.

The flowers were donated by our family friend, Barb.  The hydrangeas were picked from her garden while still green and dried for the occasion.  We went for a walk that morning and pulled some Queen Anne's lace and other wildflowers from the fields near Norwegian Bay.  They were assembled in old mason jars and tied with raffia and ribbon.  Rocks weighted the vases. 

The Menu:  

Ham, brie and arugula sandwiches

Egg salad sandwiches

Assorted fruit

Tomato, basil and mozzarella skewers

Potato salad

Iced tea and lemonade

The food table.  YUM!

Chocolate and vanilla cake pops for dessert dipped in pink, blue and green!  This is only what was left - the pink ones went fast.  Maybe that means it's a girl?!  Hmmm...

Thanks to Hallie & Avery for tieing the silverware in napkins and ribbons. 











The cute owl cookies were designed by a local Mequon bakery, Truly Scrumptious Cookies, to match the invitations and were set out for guests to take home.   

After the party, we all relaxed in the mid-afternoon sun on the dock.  David and I decided to go for a swim.  The water was perfect!

A little mother-daughter conversation with my beautiful Mom.

My mom gave me a treasured silver heart pendant - a heart inside a heart.  The inscription on the box read:

"Mothers and Daughters Are Gifts to Each Other
They have a bond of closeness that will never break - a friendship that's unconditional.  They are perfect listeners, helpers, advisers, hopers, honesty brokers, promise keepers, and dream sharers.  The love between them is proof of love's power."




I'm so fortunate to have such an amazing and loving family and a very special group of close friends.  Even though you weren't all able to be there in person, your thoughts were much appreciated.  I'm grateful that I was able to share in such a special occasion with so many of you this summer.   It was such a gift!  - Adriana