After Thanksgiving

24 weeks 0 days

So yesterday we spent Thanksgiving with friends (here is a pic of us before we left our house) and today we spent it putting up our tree and listening to Christmas music. It is actually the first year for our cats with our tree up. When we were living in NYC, our apartment was way too small to put out our big tree. So far so good - they sat and watched us intently while we put everything up. I think they like it too especially when we wrap up cat-nip toys for them under the tree. Wonder how long it will take them to tear into it!

We did have another ultrasound on Wednesday and all looks good still and they even confirmed again that it was indeed a girl- she was opening up her mouth and sticking out her tongue- it was so cute to see her look like a little person on the screen. Crazy!

Work is busy as ever, I helped out with a new biz pitch which took up lots of nights - now that we submitted everything it is in ful force for our Thanksmas party on Friday, 12/1. We have lots to do for decorations so this next week should be interesting to say the least. This weekend we are going to Ryan & Melissa's for another Thanksgiving dinner- we get to see Mason - yaaahh!

The other picture on here is one of me by myself - a side view so you can see my basketball that I am growing- aren't I HUGE!!! It is strange seems like everyday I get bigger and bigger. And she is moving ALOT which is a very different feeling, Al can even feel her. Not sure if she is kicking, punching or what. I know I can't wait to meet her. Also no idea on names yet- we probably won't nail it down for sure until we actually see her face and then I hope that we will know what she should be called. If not I guess her name will be X - hee hee.

A girl. . . .

21 weeks 1 day

We had our ultrasound on Thursday morning and found out we will be having a girl! We were a little thrown off because we thought for sure it would be a boy- I mean we tried the needle test and sure enough we were postitive it was to be a boy but we are very excited about a girl too! This is an ultrasound of it's face and hands - one of my favorites of all of them. We even got one of it's little leg and foot. Al actually got to feel it do something last night- not sure if it was a foot or elbow or what but it suddenly thumped. Pretty CRAZY!

Today I went shopping at a Maternity sale that they only have once in a while. Me and a friend who are 10 days apart went and found lots of good stuff for cheap. Al and I also tried to register today- boy was that funny. . get one of those scanner things in Al's hands and he thinks he is Capt. Kirk! We realized we still have to figure out a lot of stuff so it isn't a very big list right now but a good starter.

Boy is this going to be a fun adventure having a little one:)

This week

20 weeks 5 days

Okay the past few weekends have been a little crazy. . two weekends prior we had some of Al's family up which was fun- carved pumpkins with our lil nephew. Then this past weekend we drove to Oregon to see Al's grandparents. Long drive but still a good trip.

Then Monday it was getting ready for Howlween.. . .This is the big event I alluded to in one of my previous posts. My agency created/hosted a Dog Halloween Costume Contest- we partnered with Flying Dog Brewery who by the way are our next door neighbors and a bunch of other dog friendly sponsors and did it all to benefit Max Fund (a no kill animal shelter). It was last night and it was pretty cool. . check out our site so you can see the design of the event www.howlween.com . Anyways I was handling the press for this one and we were able to be in the Denver Post two weekends in a row and we were also on our local Channel 2 News morning show. So this means I got up yesterday at 4 am to get ready to be in work by 5:15 to meet the crew. We were scheduled to do 4 live feeds throughout the morning. Everyone else was due to be there at 6:15 with their dogs all dressed up. And wouldn't you know it technical difficulties. . so everyone just ate, talked and waited around- do you know how many dogs we had in our office. . . 17!!! All dressed up and ready to go. I have to say that all of them were very well behaved! So we finally went on the air with our first live segment which you can view here http://cw2.trb.com/news/local/morningnews/?track=nav then scroll down to the Howlween Costumes under Chris Parente's Visits and enjoy. Most of the people there are my co-workers. You can't really see me too much in that segment. . but in the next segment we had that is not online - I was the M|B rep in the next one and they had the camera on me while I gave all the details- yep me Jessica Hanner aka Jessica Soliz! Right now we just have it on tape so can't share with you until we digitize it.

So it was pretty cool - my pregnant mind stepped in though and I forgot our address! So I kind of stumbled on that for a sec:) Anyways around 4:30 the event started and it was a great turnout. Had lots of people there with their dogs all dressed up. It was really cold there. . .so I also got interviewed again with Ch 2 for the night news but I ended up on the cutting room floor! Replaced by people dressed up along with their dogs as a Wizard of Oz group. HA! Ch 4 also ended up showing up and taking footage and the Rocky Mountain News was there taking pictures too. So all in all it was a success and we were able to raise some money for Max Fund. It was pretty fun - my first time doing a PR role.

So now that that is over it is on to the next event! AND. . . tomorrow is the day that we have our ultrasound and see if we will be able to find out what the little heartbeat is.

I hope to add pictures soon- have them all on the Mac and haven't had a chance to transfer to laptop yet.

Another Week

17 weeks 2 days

Hey so just a latest scoop on what is going on in our world:

Last weekend we were up in Winter Park (ski town). Anyways my work had a 5 year celebration where they rented a HUGE house and we all went up there on Friday and stayed the night then spouses came up the next morning and we spent the night there for another night. Driving up was fun. . . I drove up with a girl I work with and she borrowed a convertable for a fun drive up. So we drove there about an 1 1/2 hour drive through the mountains with the top down . . it was FUN! So anyways we figured drinking would start at 2 once all the presentations were done and we started to play Frisbee Golf. . and to our surprise when we got there about 10:30 am. . drinks were all round already. It was a blast- even though I couldn't partake in the drinking fun they got lots of candy for me so I could be on a constant sugar high- Anyways it was beautiful up there the house was great. . . there was poker going on, pool matches- which by the way me and another girl won 2 games against first round. . two guys, second round 3 guys (they had to get extra enforcement to beat us girls and they still lost). It was definitley great to spend time with just co-workers and just have fun. It is a very young crowd that I work with all our age even the owners, everyone is super cool too. Extra bonus!

So then Al and 2 other spouses drove up on Saturday and we just chilled out, went to dinner and played games. It was low key but good since there were two pregnant ladies there- me and my boss's wife! Anyways it was a fun weekend.

Then on Thursday we had our 16 week appt.. . . and heard the little heartbeat again. It was crackiling a lot and she told us that the baby was moving around a lot- pretty crazy since I can't really feel it. Our next appointment is on Nov. 2 and that is where we have another ultrasound. Can't wait!

Whoa

14 weeks 5 days

Here it is. . the Hanner's pregnant! Well my stomach is growing. . didn't realize how much till I saw this picture. Strange. . I am using the ol hair tie to hold my button shut on my pants. It is quite exciting. Anyways wanted to share a picture that was taken tonight so you can see my "protruding" belly and our progress- ha!

Last 6 months

13 weeks and 4 days

It's been a bit since I have updated this. . got sidetracked by myspace and started to leave blogs on that. But now in our new "situation" figured it would be good to start this off again and use it. It is now September. . . and I am 13 weeks and 4 days PREGNANT! If you read my last entry on this, we have been ready for a little bit now just had to wait for my body to be ready, it is a wonderful thing that we are so happy about. I am due on St. Patricks Day which is a very fun day to have a baby.

I was lucky and didn't have the nauseous thing too much. Was a little nauseous early on but it has all passed now. Plus my belly is starting to show already which is strange. Still fitting in my jeans/pants but for some work pants I have to be creative with the top button since I can't button it anymore:) We went to the doctor on Thursday and heard the heartbeat. We were so nervous leading up to the appointment. It was amazing to hear another heartbeat in me.

Can't wait. . .lots of good times to come.

Been a little bit

Weather: 55 degrees and night time

Well let me catch you up a little bit and tell you about my St. Patricks Day. . .started out the day going to listen to a band. . .My boss from work and one of our designers are in a band and they were playing at Keggs and Eggs, a show put on by a radio station. The Fray was the big headline band. So a handful of us went there at 8 am. . the line was around the block it was crazy. I guess some people who were at the front of the line were there the night before at the bar and when it closed they decided to spend the night outside and wait for the fun in the morning.-CRAZY I don't think I have that in me anymore ha ha. We were lucky enough to get in with passes- it was a blast they sounded great!! So after they played it was back to work. . .then around lunch time the agency across the street apparently has a parade every year for St. Patty's day so we got to see that too. . .it is the shortest parade ever!! It is basically all their employees that walk around w/ misc. client stuff for PR. The highlight was they had a big group of bag pipers starting it off. . . and a guy on stilts. . oh and police on horses!! Fun fun.

Then later that day I had to go back to the doctor and found out that I still had some stuff left in me. So needless to say I was bummed! So on Monday I had to have some pills that they give to pregnant people to induce labor to get everything else out of me. It was not fun-it HURT so much. . I was on 2 vicodin's every 3 hours and it still hurt. Basically I was having contractions- all I have to say with that is the day I do have a baby I am definitley getting drugs the first chance I get when I start having contractions!! So went back to the doctor on Tuesday and we finally learned that it is finally over and I don't have to go back. So I just had to take it easy a little the rest of this week and I should get back to normal. Hooray!! So I haven't really been on this or My Space in a little bit because I had to catch up with work for being out so much.

But this weekend I am feeling much better and had a fun weekend and it is only Saturday!! Ryan, Melissa and Mason came over to visit and it was fun! Got to see the little guy- how cute he is. And now we are working on the house again- trying to finish the office, spent some time today scraping off old butterfly border from the room. They must have used superglue or something- it was a little bit of a challenge but we did it!! Now Al is working on making a desk! So I wanted to quickly jump on to catch you up on things. Tomorrow we will probably paint the room. . oh it is going to be so nice to have it done. . then we only have 2 more rooms to go. . the living room and the bathroom. Lots of stuff still but it is fun making our house completely ours.

Well I gotta run. . I'll update this again soon:)

Ohh Sunday

Weather: 26 degrees with a light layer of snow on the ground

Well it is almost 9:30 here and I just got back from McDonalds. . . our bathroom broke yesterday:( The bathtub was filled with water and our toilet was overflowing-GROSS! So Al went down to the crawl space under the bathroom which is a little tight and challenging to get under there. . . and water was leaking down there. It looks like a pipe was cracked and a couple more were leaking. Ohhh the joy of homeownership! Anyways we called a plumber and there first available appt is today around 11 . . . another one we called wasn't available until Monday aternoon- Wow must be a busy time right now in the plumbing world!! So I had to go so bad this morning I threw on clothes and was trying to hurry up and get there and well since it snowed last night I had to hurry and brush the snow off. Ohhh I thought I was going to DIE!! I had to go so bad. Ahh but I finally made it ran right in and then left. McDonald's is always so good for that kind of stuff:)

So now I am home and our big task besides wondering how much it is going to be to fix it is to get together our taxes. Yep we have been delaying it just a bit. Oh the fun we will have today-ha ha!

Other than that life has been a little crazy lately. . . Started out February by finding out that I was pregnant then the end of February found out that I had a miscarriage. . .and then had a minor outpatient surgery last Monday to help my body finish being pregnant. . it was the D&C procedure. The name is a little funnny. . .we used to have a store downtown St. Johns that was called D&C aka the Dime Store. I loved that place they had a whole counter filled with Candy-you know the kind of counter where it was broken up with glass and had many compartments that had candy in it. Anyways I stray. . so yesterday was the first day that I finally felt well- tired but well! I ended up getting an infection from the procedure so I was in pain a little longer than I should have. I didn't leave the house all last week and I worked from home from Wed-Fri. But now that I am on antibiotics my body is finally starting to heal and feel so much better!

So we are still wanting to have a baby so once everything is all cleared up with me, we are going to try again so keep your fingers crossed!! We decided around Thanksgiving that we were ready to take that next step and start a family so we will sooner or later. Well that is the general gist of my life lately- always seems like life just doesn't want you to get bored with it and it keeps throwing you little stuff here and there to make it interesting. Gotta love how unpredictable it can be:)

When you are in your bathroom just think how lucky you are. . some people in Denver don't have that privilege today- HAAAA!! Don't worry as long as we have McDonald's we will be fine:)

Long Time Gone

Okay so to quote a Dixie Chicks song. . it has been a long time since I have updated this. Things have been a little crazy lately. . house and stuff. But time does fly. . we have been in Colorado for over a year now. . can you believe it?? I will try to put up a new post this weekend just wanted to add one before this thing kicks me out for not updating:) Just a few more hours till FRIDAY!!

Change change change

Well for those of you who haven't heard, we bought a house! The house actually belongs to us right now which is cool. . .but we won't be moving into it till the first of December. It is a small ranch style house with 3 bedrooms/1 bath and a little back yard. Can you believe it after all this time that we have lived in apartments in Yonkers, NYC, Denver. . . now we are actually going to have something to call our own. We can do whatever we want with it. . knock down a wall even. . .Not that we would but just the principle of it that we actually can!! We can have company over and not have to stick them on the futon in the living room:) I can't wait!!

So that is the big news for us. And the process of it took up lots of our spare time. Now we are just getting ready to move. We went to Oregon for a quick weekend to visit Al's grandparents, went camping at the Rocky Mountain National Park which was awesome! We decided on a Friday night just to leave so we drove up there and slept in the back of our truck in the visitors centers parking lot. Then the next day we checked into the National Park campground. It was mating season for the Elk so all night and day we heard them making their mating calls-check out this picture with all the Elk. Then last weekend we went to Six Flags which is right downtown. It was fun, I forgot how much I LOVED rollar coasters, it wasn't quite Cedar Point but it was cool enough. Fun fun. . . and that is about it. Just keeping busy and waiting until we can move into our house.

On the side of stuff I have been helping plan our holiday party at work with being the "Director" of decorations ha ha . . everyone got a snazzy title. It is the wild west theme so it has been fun trying to recreate that look. I know it is sorta odd to have a wild west theme for a holiday party:) But our office was actually an old Pacific Express Stable which was just like Pony Express so since it has so much history, we wanted to play up that theme. We tried to get real horses to put in the basement stables -where they were at way back when. . but it didn't quite work out so we are improvising:)

Oh and my latest craze. . . is listening to the Wicked soundtrack. We went to see it a while ago in NYC and I forgot how much I loved it until I listened to the recordings of the original cast which is the cast we saw. So that makes it so much better! What a good show it was.

Now I will close with one of Al's latest watercolors he did of Johnny Cash & June Carter, it is really good I wish you all could see it in person since this picture doesn't really give it justice. . it is so good, I love it. . .

Sunday

Well we made it back from Vegas in one piece. We drove back early on Monday morning and we were exhausted! I think we are getting old or something or maybe we just need more practice of staying out all night! Vegas was more than I expected. It was amazing . . . from all the different sorts of people to all the different sort of hotels to the all you can eat buffet! I have to say my favorite hotel was definitely the Bellagio. I could have stayed there all day. It was beautiful. We were there for just a quick weekend so we didn't even make a dent in it. There is so much stuff to see. We even went to the Star Trek place there. I had "the" best drink there. It was gold in color but had some chocolate and banana liquor in it and something else that I don't remember. But it was the best drink I ever had! So definitely go there for drinks they are cool colors. . the beer is blue and all the drinks are funky- one of the fishbowls had dry ice or something to that effect where it was steaming. The rides were cool too. . one was a 3-D one that had actors playing out parts so you feel like part of the experience and the other was one of those simulator things. It was fun!!

We had lots of fun! See all the fun pics of us!! Hope you guys don't mind being on here:) I was very impressed with it all. . The Wynn had a mini mountain with a waterfall at it's front door. . last picture. And that was at night. I loved it. Oh and most importantly I walked away a winner! I went from $2.55 to $3.00 and called it quits!

Other than our labor day trip, we haven't really been up to too much stuff. .. just hanging out with friends and we are currently looking for a house. Oh my you should see what is out there. . we found one that was decorated with Flamingo's. . like lawn ornament flamingos outside and inside. I should have taken pictures of it because you could probably never imagine how many flamingos was in that house! Cats are both taking naps . . and our long lost squirrel friend Slim has returned after a long vacation. I am thinking that he went on vacation maybe up the street or something because we haven't seen him now in a couple of weeks and yesterday there he was at our window just sitting there waiting for us to see him. Just like no time has past.

Oh I can't believe it is Sunday already!! Hope your weekend was good and your week goes well too!! And hope you enjoyed the pics!

Viva Las Vegas!

Well I am almost there. . . just a few more days till I am in Vegas! Yep the "real" Vegas in Nevada as opposed to the New Mexico one :) Woohoo I can't wait. We are driving there so it will be a cool road trip. This is my first trip to Vegas and I can't wait. . my biggest hope of the weekend is that I will see Elvis! ha ha. Well be there for the weekend so I should have some stories to tell when we are back!! I'll also post pictures too! Happy Tuesday before the long weekend!! Have a good one!

Interesting tid-bit

Okay so here is a Denver observation I made today. . as I was driving home I got stuck in a red light. . it always seems to happen here . . for some reason people drive extremely slow here. But anyways not to wander of my point. . but I noticed that on each corner there are a total of 3 crosswalking light up signs. . 3 not 2. Apparently in downtown, they have crosswalking signs to cross across the street. . not the normal way but actually cutting crossways. Very interesting. . .this rates right up there with Salt Lake City where they had flags that you had to hold up to get cars to stop so you could cross. It was hillarious!

Oh and here is a little advertising tid bit too! Target bought out all of the ad space in the New Yorker. . which has NEVER been done before-most advertisers in the New Yorker are upscale like private jets and designer bags. So to even have a Target ad is news but to buy out the whole magazine and have only Target ads-it's brilliant. They are trying to get the upper New York market and I think they did a great job. There ads are great too. .. all illustrated with just a little bit of red in it and maybe a logo or two. I actually have one of the ads on my desktop. . I love it so much. It is so inspiring to see a company just do it right when it comes to advertising. They broke the standard and did their thing which is hard to come by now adays because everyone always seems to jump on the bandwagon. Okay enough shop talk. Take a look at my favorite ad in the bunch, they are fantabulous!

The weekend!

So I know I always let a little time lag between updates-oops. . oh well right. Anyways did I mention that we went camping in the Rocky Mountain National Park? Chris came up and we all went camping . . .it was fun! I definitely missed camping it has been oh. . 4 or so years since I have gone. Way to long of a time to not go. Well for this update I am mostly going to include pictures so you can see what is up. Oh doesn't the picture above look like Ireland?? I have never been to Ireland but this is what I imagine it to look like!! Well these pictures are from a couple of weekends ago on our camping trip. . this weekend we are hanging out at home . . went to a cool restaurant and bar today. Finally checked out My Brother's Bar which was in "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac. . pretty cool place they even had popcorn there! And then for lunch we went to Hemmingway's . . which is a restaurant made to look like you are in Key West. Hmm our day seemed to evolve around food and drinks! Oh I forgot we also went to the book store and the library so I guess you can add books into the mix too:) Well have a good one!

Here is Tucker with our new friend Slim! Slim the squirrel visits us everyday for nuts. Look at how close they are. It is FUNNY to watch them!

From 28 to 29

Well I did it. . I turned 29. Just one year shy of the big 30. I think it was in Sex in the City where they said the 30's are the best years. . so I have my fingers crossed on that one! I'm thinking winning the lotto would make it the best years what do you think?

The last few days of my 28th year. . I got hooked on the second season of Dark Angel. . Library rental. I literally stayed up trying to watch as many episodes as I could. I forgot how much I loved that show. Then on Saturday we went to Colorado Springs and went to the Garden of the Gods. It definitely was beautiful. We also went to an old "Ghost Town". . .so we were suckered in the tourist stuff because when we paid our $6 admission we went into this big warehouse that had a little town set up. The highlight of the visit was they had a small pool of water where you could pan for GOLD! Well gold flakes that is. I was determined to find something so I sat there looking. . then a couple came up and within a second they were both like oh I found one. . Meanwhile there I was still panning. . .Don't worry I hung in there. . and finally found something!! Yep I found a gold flake! So part of the finding is that you get to take it up to the front desk and they put it on a card for you to keep. So there I was carefully holding it between my fingers so I wouldn't lose it.. then when I took it up to the front desk, I showed the lady that it indeed was real and she confirmed it and when she grabbed the tape to put it on the card, it fell off my finger. And then it was lost. . . I looked all over but we couldn't find it. So I had to say goodbye to my gold flake. And I relunctantly left but if anyone is there know that my hard earned gold flake is there somewhere at the front desk. . by the register and paper. If I close my eyes I can still see it. . oh it was beautiful:)

Then on Sunday we went to a Renaissance Festival. . it was cool, my first experience with something like that. I loved it and I couldn't believe that they actually had a real life jousting match! The king was nice enough to make an appearance for the event too! It was great! So far 29 is treating me pretty good.

Well I am getting sleepy now so I am going to close. . Talk to you later!

howdy folks

Hey so a lot of time has passed by again. . oops. Oh well this month flew by completely!! We ended up getting rain on every night of our horseback riding class. . so we were in the barn going around in circles for most of the time. Strange that it rained every Tuesday for 4 weeks!! The one day it wasn't raining we started in the outdoor rink area and then once we went around for a few rounds, it started to RAIN!!!

We have been busy these past months, took two trips to Oregon, one trip to Phoenix and then the rest of the time we have had family up and we went to festivals(pic on left), up to the mountains(we have a couple of favorite places already) and basically exploring Colorado. Still no regrets with moving. . loving it here!! Now we will start camping soon. . found this wonderful place in the Rocky Mountain National Park.

Here is a picture of what it is like out here. . Isn't it beautiful. .the day this was taken, I was finishing the last of the Lord of the Rings books "Return of the King" and Al was sketching. It was a beautiful day!! I have a picture that Al drew of me reading on the rocks. It is wonderful!!

Oh and we finally went to Red Rocks! We went to see a movie there. .it was pretty cool I kept on getting distracted by the scenery. They have Movies on the Rocks almost every week during the summer .. .it is an older movie that they show on a big screen and they have live bands playing music. It is pretty cool. Did you know they had a Six Flags here practically in Downtown? It is pretty cool. . we were supposed to go tomorrow but Al has been feeling crappy with a cold or allergies so we will probably go later. Hope all is well and you are enjoying your summer!!

Oops

Okay okay. . I fell down on the job. I have not updated this for over a month at least. If anyone is even still reading this. . surprise I am back!! Thanks Naomi for reminding me:)

Summer is starting up here and Al and I are taking a Horseback Riding class right now. It is kewl! I love being so close to a horse. It is so much fun, we learned to walk turn in 2 different ways, trot and make a u turn. Last week my horse was Cheyanne and tonight it was Dakota.

Anyways. . when I have a little more time I will fill you in on what we were up to in the past few months. Tomorrow we are going to see the Detroit Tigers play the Rockies with so keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't rain!!

Happy almost Friday!!

Bye bye

So the snow is just about gone:( It started to melt already on Monday. . .and I guess we got about 15 inches total so it was a lot more than my initial posting!! So it was fun while it lasted. Bye bye snow. Hello again Spring.

Our plans this weekend include a trip to see Al's grandparents in Oregon! It will be nice to see them and it will be a nice relaxing get away. Not that it isn't relaxing here. . I just like the adventure of going places and traveling.

OHHHH before I forget to tell you, Al made a cool movie thing out of pictures. . it is on his site at http://homepage.mac.com/albert.hanner/iMovieTheater20.html so check it out if you have a few. . there is music to it to so have your sound on.

Well a little early, but I hope you have a great weekend!! I know there is still 2 more days to go. .but the week is almost over. . .hooray!

Talk to ya later.

SNOW

Well I finally got to see my first Colorado Snow! We got blasted yesterday. It started snowing somewhere early Sunday morning and when we got up on Sunday we already had quite a bit of snow. So yesterday it just snowed some more and more. . . the news are calling it the Blizzard of 2005. . .I think one station called it the Spring Blizzard of 2005:) So it is an official snow storm. But if you ask me how many inches we got, I have no idea. . at least 10 inches.

It is beautiful. . .everything is white and there is so much snow. To get a visual of how much snow, this morning when Al was taking me to work, the snow fell off our hood and to the ground when we were waiting at a red light. There was so much that we couldn't go forward, we got stuck on our own snow! So we had to do the ol reverse trick and we just plowed through it. It was funny.

The amazing thing is that when I get out of work today, it will proably be mostly gone if not completely gone.

Anyways. . . HAPPY SPRING!!

Oh yeah the cats seemed to like the snow too. . I brought a snowball in and they were both amazed by it and just started to lick the snow ball.

Enjoy your day!!