Where to Begin?

Wow, there is so much to catch up on!  We spent the last 3 1/2 weeks traveling to St. Louis, Florida, and then back to St. Louis.  Lots of pictures and updates to come throughout the next couple weeks as I upload some pics and document some of our favorite moments.  For the time being a quick update:

• Feeling incredibly blessed with our lifestyle and how things have fallen into place overall.  How many people have this amount of time off together to be able to take advantage of traveling and visiting family and friends?  We definitely realize how lucky we are and have enjoyed it to the fullest!
• We were able to see so many of our family members while in St. Louis, spend some time with Jeff while in Florida, and visit with many wonderful friends while in both St. Louis and Florida as well...some friends that hadn't been seen in years! 
• MJ started out really having trouble sleeping while traveling.  It's always a challenge and something we were rather nervous about.  The first few days in STL were so rough, that we actually briefly discussed cancelling our FL trip.  Luckily though, he caught on and became a good sleeper at night.  We finally realized that he just wasn't going to nap on vacation and resorted to driving him around in the car for an hour each afternoon (so ironic because he usually won't sleep in the car) so that he could get a a nap.  It's amazing what a difference this made and how successful it made the rest of the trip! 
• A few nights after we left home in Dubuque, we received a horrible rain storm...15 inches of rain overnight.  CRAZY!  That's unheard of amounts, more similar to hurricane or tropical storm weather.  We were not too excited about returning home to see our damage...sinkhole on side yard, water leakage in attic/master bedroom, and some drowned plants.  It could have been worse though, but kind of a bummer and unexpected expense. 
• We reached the 20 week mark of pregnancy!!  Hard to believe we are more than halfway through already.  I began feeling the baby move right as week 17 began.  They were very faint flutters but I recognized the sensation right away. Finally a kick strong enough for Mat to feel right at week 20.  Still dealing with heartburn and nausea, but it's more bearable for sure!  Sooo excited to go for our 20 week ultrasound on Tuesday morning.  Pink or blue??? 

Just a couple favorite pics until next time...