Hotels and B&B's in McKinney

You all probably know some hotels in or around Dallas from the OU/texas games, but those might not be as close as you want to be. I'm including a list here of McKinney hotels and B&B's... McKinney is known for its antiques, small boutiques, and B&B's, so if you want to make a vacation of it, feel free. Click the picture to make it bigger.

9 Months

Wow, we are now officially into the ninth month of pregnancy! I am sooooo glad that this is almost over. I just can't wait to meet baby Jack. I am still feeling good for the most part, although I am not sleeping very well anymore so that causes some exhaustion during the daytime.

On Tuesday, we had our 3D ultrasound and got to see little Jack- he is so cute! We could see that he has some hair on his head already (which means Kristin won the debate- Randy thought he would be bald!) Also, he looked quite chubby and is measuring at 5 1/2 lbs. That puts him nearly two weeks ahead so we may get to meet this guy in three weeks instead of five (one can only hope!) And he has the most pronounced and pouty lips which Randy calls "Marilyn Monroe lips." Where did those come from?! The ultrasound tech seemed to think he had a perfect little nose- she went on and on about it. Jack obviously is very playful as he kept playing peek-a-boo by covering his face with his hands anytime she tried to snap a picture.

As for the important stuff, the doctor said that Jack looks perfect, has the perfect amount of fluid around him, and is still head down and ready for delivery. We are ready whenever he is!

Christmas Break 2006

This Christmas break we were originally scheduled to go to Rome. We were going to head off right after Christmas with a bunch of students from Kristin's Latin class, and we would have gotten back today. After we discovered that little Jack would be joining us, it seemed a good idea to cancel, so we ended up in good ole Oklahoma instead. It was a heck of a difficult decision to make... after all, who wants to give up a free trip to Europe? After the three-hour drive back from OKC took its toll on my lovely eight-months-pregnant wife, I think it's safe to say that cancelling the 13-hour flight was a pretty good idea.


Christmas was fantastic, and probably just the thing we needed. It gets a little lonely when you can't go out to a smoky bar, you get tired after 9:00, and you live at least an hour away from all of your closest friends and family. We got to spend a worry-free week with all of our friends and both families. Christmas is always our favorite time of the year anyway, and being with family for so long just made it that much better. Kristin tells me that my writing stinks, so how about some pictures...

Pat and Terri on Christmas Eve

Mumo and Papo and the mountain of presents

Ryan and Sylwester visiting from Philly

Hayley and Kristin - Christmas Day

Papo's retirement party

Sarah, Kristin, and Randy at Red Rock Canyon Grill

Hayley and Daniel - Christmas Eve

Randy and Matt playing "Battle of the Sexes"

Ron filling out names for Dirty Santa

Jake and his new toy

DIRECTIONS TO MEDICAL CENTER OF MCKINNEY

DIRECTIONS

It's getting closer to time, so we thought it might be a good idea to post some directions to the hospital. Of course, Randy will have his cell phone if anyone needs to get in touch with us:

FROM TULSA
Take HWY 75 south about 20 miles. Take the Indian Nation Turnpike south for 40 miles. Merge onto HWY 69. Take HWY 69/75 south for about 130 miles. Exit Eldorado Parkway in McKinney (around 40 miles into Texas) and go east. Go south on Medical Center Dr past HWY 5/HWY 399 (about 3/4 mile). Arrive at the Medical Center of McKinney. Labor and Delivery is on the second floor.

FROM OKC
Take I-35 south to Texas. About 35 miles into Texas (in the city of Krum) will be an exit for Loop 288 (when you exit, be sure not to take your first right onto 1173). Take 288 east/south to HWY 380. Go east (left) onto 380 for about 25 miles. Take 75 south for about 3 miles. Exit Eldorado Parkway in McKinney and go east. Go south on Medical Center Dr past HWY 5/HWY 399 (about 3/4 mile). Arrive at the Medical Center of McKinney. Labor and Delivery is on the second floor.

Beginning the 33rd Week

I am now around seven- eight weeks away from my due date, and even less from the birth if little Jack continues to grow at the rate he has been. I can't believe it is getting so close!

I went to the dr. yesterday and everything continues to look perfect. We are just so blessed to have such a healthy pregnancy- I keep praying that Jack will be as healthy as he seems to be. He is moving like crazy now and as of a couple of weeks ago has already settled into the "head down" position and is ready for birth. So we don't have to worry about him being breech.

We have scheduled a 3D Ultrasound for January 9 (also my dad's birthday!) to reevaluate his size, so we will get to take a closer look at him and see if he really looks like his daddy- Randy is just positive that Jack is going to look exactly like him- we'll see... Check back for those pictures!

We have also recently finished our childbirth class, visited with several pediatricians (we're still trying to decide who to go with but we have some great options and several within 2 miles of our house!), and preregistered at the hospital. We spent some time decorating the nursery and finally purchased some basics- diapers, wipes, baby soap and shampoo, etc.- in case our guy decides to come early.

I am still feeling really good- ever since I got over the morning sickness in the first trimester, my pregnancy has been really phenomenal. I am getting tired a bit more easily, though. And after working out, I have contractions that last for about 10 minutes. But then they go away and my doctor said that they are perfectly normal and fine- she's just happy that I'm still working out!

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone and check back for the U/S pictures in January!

Jack's Nursery

Well, we have finally made some more progress on the nursery and it is pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself! We still have a lot of work to do but at least the basics are there. Here are some pictures... Only 6-8 more weeks to go!

Oh, yeah, and I just wanted everyone to know that Randy has become an expert swaddler. He practices on a little doll we have. He also put a diaper on the doll just to make sure he knew how to do it- he is definitely going to graduate valedictorian of our childbirth class tomorrow night!

Getting Prepped

Well, we officially went to our first childbirth class Wednesday night, and it was pretty interesting. We got to (or had to... still haven't decided) watch a DVD on the miracle that is delivery. I think dad-to-be may be a little more apprehensive now than mom-to-be is. There were three women featured in this particular video and each of them opted for the all-natural way. It was like 40 minutes of screaming... first the women, then the kids. On the plus side, over the next several weeks, we're supposed to learn CPR and other useful stuff. Kristin is getting a little uncomfortable now, and starting to feel the fatigue factor. I think the second trimester is going to look like a picnic compared to the third.

One cool note... we got our first gifts dropped at the door the other day. Cord and Joanne Fitzgerald sent us a great little miracle crib sheet from the registry along with a mirror that their little son, Reed, apparently went nuts for. It's easy to see why: we played with it for a while ourselves; it crinkles and squishes and spins and... okay, sorry. Anyway, it was pretty cool. It just makes it seem a little more real.

It's funny to have something in your life that is such a huge event and that you've just never experienced before. Now that we're entering into the period of time in which it wouldn't be shocking to actually make that drive to the delivery room, it's just making us that much more anxious and excited. Add to that the fact that we'll both be out of school for a bit, and there's a lot of extra time to think about things too. Keep us in your prayers, and little Jack too. No real big changes to report, but that's probably for the better.