Baby Russell

Well the good news is out! Josh and I will be welcoming a bundle of joy in late April. We are so excited and cannot wait for baby Russell to be here. I'm about 14 weeks now and we will find out what baby is in about 4 weeks.

My first trimester wasn't too bad. Let's re-cap:
-I was extremely tired and could have slept those first 12 weeks straight. There were times where Josh would say "let's put you to bed" and this was at 9 p.m.
-I've been lucky in that I've had no severe morning sickness. However I did have a stomach bug the day after we found out I was pregnant. I was glad for that to pass! (Josh got it 3 days later)
-No serious food aversions, it just depends on what I'm in the mood for.
-I've had some random cravings including Cheetos, cucumbers and bagels with cream cheese. (not at the same time, of course)
-No weight gain yet! (YES!) I can also still fit into my same work pants thanks to Zumba 4x a week. (2 of the classes I take are at 5:30 am) My Doctor said exercise is a requirement, not an option when you are pregnant. And honestly, it makes me feel better after I go.

Ok, so now to the good stuff. Sonogram photos of Baby Russell at:

5 weeks 6 days




9 weeks 6 days



12 weeks 2 days



It's been so fun to see baby grow at my doctor appointments. As for my belly, there is a little bump which I MIGHT post. It just seems a little weird to me.

We love you baby Russell and cannot wait to find out if you are a Peyton Allen or Adilynn Hazel! (top name choices of the moment...)

Life is always full circle...

Earlier this year, I found out our wedding planner Erin is moving to San Antonio. (her husband is in the military) They were here house hunting for about a week and wanted to meet up for dinner. After much contemplating we decided on Mi Tierra. When I was younger we would eat there while in San Antonio for my Dad's annual ADA conferences. It has really grown popular over the years.

Here is Preston enjoying a virgin strawberry daiquiri. Her daddy paid for the Mariachi band to play "La Cucaracha". (The men figured this song was the closest to her original request, "Itsy Bitsy Spider") I wish I had taken a video of her shaking he shoulders. She is a great dancer!




She is so precious!


I can't wait for more fun times with Erin once she finally moves to SA in the late fall.

South Texas Maize

Yesterday afternoon after some shopping we headed to Castroville to meet up with the Lilies. Their friends Denise and Josh were in town and we thought it would be fun to venture the South Texas Maize. We have heard about this attraction from many people in SA and were excited to get discounted tickets on Groupon. So everyone piled in the Russell car and we were on our way! If you get a chance, you should check out aerial view photos of the maize. It's George Strait's face!



I loved this sign...



All the kiddies enjoying the tractor ride.


Some pretty flowers by the entrance.


The Lilies with Denise and Josh...entering the first phase of the Maize.


Lilies and Russells!


Throughout both phases of the Maize we kind of switched off on who the leader was and here is our turn! Notice how dusty our shoes and jeans got. There were also lots of nats...we carefully calculated that we each inhaled about 3.5 million.


Josh P. trying to scare Denise.


This guy was in the viewing tower to make sure there was "no cussin', no smokin' and no kissin'" (our group broke 2 of the rules)



Pretty sunset from the observation stairs right before we finished phase 2. (Just in the nick of time since we didn't have flashlights)



"WE FINISHED" success pose...


AND finally we took Christmas card photos. (It was dark out and we didn't realize that the men were in the woman's cut out lol)






We had such a fun evening. A word to the wise: If you want some of their homemade kettle korn, make sure you order it before going through the maize. There was over an hour wait! Sad day. If you ever go, help a pregnant sister out and buy me some!

P.s. A blog post on Baby Russell is underway...I've had multiple requests!

Turkey 2010

Click here to view this photo book larger

Classic movie update...

So as you may remember from this post Josh and I have been working on our classics. It's not going too great. Some of the films are very old and the camera movements are hard to watch. But, Russells aren't quitters, so here it goes:

-Lawrence of Arabia (I fell asleep and Josh didn't feel like finishing it)
-French Connection (weird, I didn't get it)
-Singin' in the Rain (cute, but Josh decided not to finish it with me)
-African Queen (not at all like the title sounds)
-North by Northwest (we both really liked this one)
-Double Indemnity (just arrived from Netflix)

Can I also send a shoutout to Netflix? It has been life changing. One low monthly fee to get 2 movies at a time all month long, you can stream from your computer, or through your tv with the Wii/PS3/XBOX 360. Now they have an iPhone app where you can watch from your phone. (of course they do) I can also show TONS of PBS videos in my classroom from my laptop at work. Why hadn't we made the switch sooner?

Look at my med stud(ent)

first day of second year 2010 ;) Better late than never.

Mini trip to Austin

So early Monday morning I hit I35 North to Austin! The plan was to hang out with my sister on Monday and have lunch with 2 good friends: Callie and Taylor on Tuesday. Josh had two huge exams on Monday and Wednesday...so why not head our for a little adventure?

I arrived a little before lunchtime at my sister's apartment. Which is in Barton Creek and I love it! I wish they had apartments like hers near the medical school. We got ready and went to lunch at Mimi's Cafe. They have tons of fun salads to choose from and it comes with a muffin...random lol.

Afterwards we went shopping and found some great clothes at Nordstrom rack. I also found Josh a pair of brown Cole Haan dress shoes for $40! (originally $160) Finding shoes for a size 17 feet is not easy! When he was trying them on I asked him to pose so I could put a picture on the blog and this is what he did. Obviously I wasn't joking!



Later on that night we went to the Hula Hut on Lake Travis. What a fun restaurant! It's kind of like Chuy's meets Joe's Crab Shack. The view on the water was beautiful and the food was awesome.





We stayed up late and drank skinny girl margaritas (YUM) and watched the Teen Choice awards. The next day I met Callie and Taylor for lunch at Sushi Sake. (another great find) It was so great to catch up. We went by the Domain and it is definitely one of the nicest shopping places ever. We found a peacock bench and had to take a picture on it. They laughed at me because I asked a random guy if he would take our picture and please not runaway with my camera. (gotta hold onto this one!) He wanted to take 2 pictures, and our tushes were burning on the metal bench! Overall I had a blast on my day trip before going back to work...sad day.