Halloween in Denver

It was time to celebrate Liz's 30th and get my Colorado fix for the fall! Liz, Fadya and I rendezvoused in Denver for a girls weekend full of celebrations, hiking, nightlife and football! Sometimes you don't need a lot of words, but want to share a lot of pictures to capture a weekend. This is one of those! :) 

Reunited and it feels so good!

In my opinion, the intersection of 15th and Larimer is the best spot in downtown Denver at night. Nestled in a basement on this street is a phenomenal little restaurant, Osteria Marco, where we had dinner. This is the restaurant, six years ago, that boosted bread pudding up my list to my all-time favorite dessert! (Especially with the butterscotch sauce and topped with ice cream.)

I love that the lights are up year-round on Larimer! There is something special and kind of magical about the street lit up every night. After another incredible dinner, we walked over to Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret for a 'Boolesque' show. It was certainly something different and very entertaining for the night!

Out on 15th and Larmier to celebrate Liz's birthday!

(Semi-obsessed with the dark lipstick)

In our booth at Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret!

Saturday was Halloween and before our pub crawl that night, we wanted to get out of the city and spend some time in nature. Thanks to a great recommendation from Renee, we drove about an hour for the hike up to St. Mary's Glacier. The hike, roundtrip, was less than 2 miles, but we took our time snapping lots of photos and breathing in the fresh air. [Not to mention, my preggo butt had to take a couple breathers as we hiked higher and the air got a little thinner.] It was all completely worth it, as we were blown away by the beauty of the hike and the scene of the frozen lake at the top. The lake is fed by the glacier (hence the name) and even the tornadic winds couldn't keep us from enjoying the view!

Fuel for our Halloween hike!

The scenery. Seriously gorgeous.

#selfiestick

Loving the view!

:)

Gorgeous view!

Just wow!

Peak of our Halloween hike!

Perfect way to spend our day!

Halloween night! In the past, I'd pore over options until I found just the right costume for the festivities. This year, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the little munchkin in my tummy. I've seen the momma-baby skeleton shirt before, but I wanted to take it a step further and complete the outfit! So this year, we had a skeleton, Grecian Goddess and Cheetah roaming the streets of Denver. We met up with Paige at the first stop of the pub crawl and had a blast dancing and drinking (water, for me) and people watching!

Ready to take on Denver at 15 weeks pregnant!

Just love these ladies!

Fav costume of the night!

My sweet cupcake!

It was a big weekend for Denver Broncos football--two undefeated teams were to meet that Sunday night. Broncos vs. Packers. We really wanted to go to the game, but the ticket prices were insane! Even searching for last minute opportunities weren't really that reasonable... Instead, we opted to post up at the bar at LoDo's and enjoy a Bronco victory!! It was a great end to a fantastic weekend before we left for the airport in the morning!

Cheering for the Broncos at LoDos!

I'm so blessed to have such beautiful, successful, supportive ladies in my life! I absolutely relish our time together, as we live so many miles apart! 

Weekend travelin,

xoxo,

Marissa 

#marryingmorales

Prior to baby conception, I had a few great motivators to get in beach-body-shape this fall/winter (and I WAS on track). Brooke and Dro's October wedding in Mexico was one of them!

Brooke's family is our extended family. We lived next door to the Straub family since third grade. My parents still live in the same house, but my other parents have since moved to their long-term retirement-forever home. Sad. This is the family we spent weekends with, holidays with and every Christmas morning with--as life has it, we've all grown and gone our separate ways and don't live with just a fence separating us anymore.

So, October. Brooke asked me to stand by her side on her wedding day and I was honored to say yes! Unfortunately Eric was in South Korea, but his absence opened the door for Ursula to attend as my date! Mom, Dad, Bro, Hannah and Ursula departed from Houston and our connecting flights met up in California. Mexico, here we come! (Taking baby on the first of many international trips!)

We arrived a day earlier than most of the guests, so we spent our first morning walking around the local market and making deals (Ursula was the pro!). Of course, I had to get something for our travel shelves, but fortunately I still didn't know if Babyzilla is a princess or a prince or I would have come back with a little Mexican wardrobe! The tiny dresses and linen suits were adorable!! Lala and Pawpaw managed to find something that will work either way--a noisy xylophone that is sure to endure. Maybe we'll keep it at their house!?

At the mercado

Crossing this bridge took a little coordination!

I did, however, indulge in a good ol' big orange moo-moo for when my belly gets big!

That afternoon, we met the majority of the guests at the pool, then happy hour, before we went our separate ways for dinner. Baby wasn't showing in my tummy yet at 13 weeks, but other areas were much enlarged. Multiple people asked if I had anything augmented recently, so I took that as a compliment, winked and cheers-ed with my bottle of water!

The wedding was gorgeous! The girls spent most of the day pampering and prepping and fortunately everything went off without a hitch. It was a lot hotter in October than I was expecting, but the humidity and sweat stains didn't stop this group from enjoying the evening. :)

13 weeks!

I'm so lucky I got to be part of this special day!

My "little" (read: younger) bro. <3

All the pretty ladies!

Picture perfect!

My sister from another Mister!

She looked stunning!

We had so much fun!!

One of my favorite parts of this trip (besides, of course, standing by my beautiful lil sis on her wedding day) was the fruit section in the buffets! Since I couldn't get my money's worth in alcohol for this all-inclusive, I certainly indulged at the buffets--fresh fruit, topped with lime and Tajin everyyyy meal! It makes my mouth water to type this!


Jet-settin',
xoxo,
Marissa

There is Fruit in My Belly!

This has been really fun so far! I love the icons on Photofy to mark each week and give an idea of Babyzilla's size!!

12 Weeks: 10.7.15

I swear I could see a difference. Eric said I was crazy!

13 weeks: 10.14.15

Pushing my belly out as hard as I could.

14 weeks: 10.21.15

At my parents house after a weekend in San Antonio! It was kinda visible...

15 weeks: 10.28.15

I had been anxious for a 'bump' to show. I may have positioned myself and been trying really hard to make it look like a legit bump. Either way, the angle and pic was enough for me to post this one on facebook. Babyzilla is here! But not to stay at this point, and only when I was wearing something really tight. Soon enough....  

Documenting my bump,
xoxo,
Marissa

Visiting Houston



To round out his hitch home, it was finally time to visit the family in Houston [the last weekend in September/first in October]. Originally, we were going to break the news to everybody on this trip, but I just couldn't wait. Besides, I would have already been 11 weeks along and I wanted to bask in this happiness with family and friends as long as possible!



Heading to H town!

Wearing this shirt that Regan and Flo got for me!

We flew in late on a Wednesday night. I wasn't expecting it, but I should have known both mom and dad would be waiting as we walked out of the secure gate area. Cue tears. Mom came up and hugged me hard and I held her tight. At this point in my pregnancy, I still had no physical signs of pregnancy, I hadn't experienced any symptoms (thankfully, and knock on wood...), and had we not just had an ultrasound a couple weeks prior, I still wouldn't have believed it was true. That being said, just knowing that I was starting my journey of motherhood gave me some inexplicable, instant bond with my mom, deeper than I could have ever imagined.

Chloe came along on this trip (whyyy don't they have frequent flier miles for dogs? It's a hard pill to swallow when her 'ticket' is sometimes more than mine, and she counts as one of my carry-ons, and she has to travel in her duffel bag under the seat in front of me!). So after a bit of an emotional moment, mom took Chloe, we got our luggage and headed for the house.

Expert traveler, right there.

One of my favorite things about Houston, besides family (of course), is the food and culture! Mom and Dad were able to take Thursday off, so we went to our favorite Carniceria in Deer Park for breakfast tacos and the Greek Festival that evening for dinner and entertainment.

Thursday night, Mom and Eric were extremely agreeable as we took like a million options for the 'pregnancy announcement' for the good ol' world wide web. We had a few ideas floating around, but ended up just keeping it simple. I think it was perfect for us!






ummm.... one more?

...maybe a few more...

We love to travel, but that's just too busy....

Yes!! Simple, perfect. Winner!!
(Thanks, Auntie Brooke for baby's first AND the most precious onesie!)

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Friday was a great day-we got to meet and spend time with our first nephew, Mr. Gunner Dean! Mom went with and stayed a few hours so we got to catch up with Vicki, hear the birth stories, and oogle and google at this sweet boy.

Sweet baby, 5 days young!

Pimpin' that onesie Auntie Mar custom made!

Snuggled up to Uncle Eric!

It will be so fun having a cousin so close in age to our little one! I loved growing up with so many cousins!


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Saturday was great with my in-laws. Sharon and I ran errands, visited some antique shops and dropped by to see Gunner again. That night we had an early birthday dinner for Sharon with Wombat. Perry's steakhouse has never disappointed!

Like woah. We didn't get a photo of the four of us at dinner, but I sure remembered to take one of this bread pudding with a homemade marshmallow. The marshmallow was the size of my fist and so wonderfully delicious!

Our last night together this hitch. Chloe and I relaxed while Daddy was packing up his stuff. Last night is always the worst night, but I did have a fully tummy and was laying in bed so I mustered a smile ;) [Can you find camouflaged Chloe?!]

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After dropping Eric off at the airport Sunday morning, I headed back to my parents to watch the Texans (lose) and hang out with more of the extended family. I finally got to see my grandma for the first time after telling her the baby news. At one point, she was standing there looking at me, saying, "Ay Marissa," (in her Spanish accent) "I can already tell you're pregnant!" and she walks over to feel my 'belly.' Please note, at this point, I literally had not gained an ounce of weight, and was in fact still in my 'skinny/in-shape' wardrobe. Thanks, Ma. :) [You know, I've got clothes that range 3 sizes at all times in the closet--in shape, standard, holiday time]

MMMMmenudo! So, I half-joked that I would love to have some delicious menudo at my parents after I dropped Eric off... Any other time they would have laughed, this time, it was for their grandbaby. I could get used to this....

Family <3

It was a whirlwind of a month that we got to spend with so many people we love. While I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed 7 consecutive nights, I have 3 of the 4 weekends booked while Eric is offshore. I love my non-stop life!


Not-even-close-to-showing,
xoxo,
Marissa