The Beginning of "the bump" & Memorial Day 2012

Hello friends & fam!


Wanted to start blogging a bit more than I have since now I will be undergoing a lot of changes that I will want documented for Mark, myself, and our growing family to read in the future. With that said, I decided I would track my pregnancy and the growth of my tum tum! Many of you have seen ladies you know do this...week by week taking a photo of their stomach. As it may be typical or boring to some of you, it is a mind boggling and exciting thing to experience. Personally, I have ALWAYS looked forward to becoming a mother. I think I was always one of those little girls who during recess playtime wanted to "be the mom"  when we played "House" on the playground. I have always loved the idea of being a wife, running a household, and raising kids. For me, getting to see my body change and, in the end, produce me and my husband's first baby is mind blowing for me. Some girls are a bit scared or bothered when they think about their body "getting fat" or losing their figure...I AM THE OPPOSITE. ha. I am one of those people who see a pregnant woman and think it is one of the most beautiful things in life. When I found out I was pregnant, it took a while to really hit me that I was going to be actually growing a living being inside of me. So, I will be tracking the baby's growth through belly pictures because, unfortunately, I do not have an ultrasound machine in my possession. 


Last Tuesday  May 22, 2012- 16 weeks pregnant

As you can see, I look like I have a gut...nothing really there yet. I had to take this one because I knew it was about to begin!
Then, not even a week later I actually look like I have a baby bump! The tiny little growth spurt happened so incredibly quick. You spend weeks and weeks and weeks WAITING for something...then BAM - a little bump! Finally. Which brings me to our Memorial Day Weekend. 


This year, Jared and Jacki Roche drove down from St. Augustine to spend the holiday weekend with us. They arrived late Friday night and stayed at our place. On Saturday morning, Jared and Mark went golfing (as usual) and met us back at the house around 3 for lunch at Bru's Room in Pompano.
We then drove over to the hotel in Ft. Lauderdale for our beach weekend. :) We had a great time with Jared and Jacki. Although they live 4 hours away, we make it a point to see them when we can and they do the same for us. They are great friends and we are lucky to have them. Also, let me not forget to mention how much we love Zach Muilman :) He spent much of the weekend with us - attention ladies, he is single and I am on the hunt for a NICE girl for him (sorry Zach - if you're reading this, please don't kill me.)

At our Mexican dinner (right before the flash, Mark put his hand on my belly :)  Makes me smile at the little things he already does that shows me how excited he is to be a dad. 

Me and "uncle Zach" who has named the guppy "Jack" because he says it  is a combination of Joe (Fisher) and Zach.  I like how he just assumes the baby is a boy... 

My favorite picture of the weekend. HAHAHA. Oh, I love this man...

Me & Jacki  behind the hotel on the intracoastal

Jared & Mark - Tank top buddies 

This is just to explain that my husband doesn't always wear awful shirts (thank GOD). It is pretty much a thing he and some of his friends do to to look as ridiculous as they can.
Last 4th of July...The start of the TACKY TANK TOP tradition. Matt Davenport  was involved in this decision...and Zach apparently missed the memo both years or is just not tacky... 

And that's it! Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day!

We are EGGspecting !!!!! Easter 2012

We wanted to share these pictures of how we announced that we were expecting to our families. It was Easter, and we had all just gone to church together. We (Mark's mom, step-dad, and step-grandma, my mom, Mark's little brothers, plus Mark and I) were all having Easter lunch together. 

When Mark and I first found out that I was pregnant (Feb 29th 2012 - Happy Leap Year!), we knew that we wanted to wait until our parents were together so that we could tell them at the same time. Then we started to try and think of creative ways to tell them...So Easter it would be!

Since Mark has two younger brothers, Tommy (11) and Luke (9), we decided that we wanted to have them involved in the exciting news. Mark and I decided that we would give them an Easter egg hunt before we all sat down to eat. As we told them the instructions of the egg hunt, we told them that there were 32 eggs, a small piece of paper in each egg that had a number and a letter on it, and that they were to put the pieces of paper in numerical order in order to get the secret message. The boys were so excited...I knew they would be because they love to solve things. So out they went!

After they came back in, they started to place the papers in order. 

Mark helping out because he was getting antsy. 

The boys (confused) trying to read the message...

My mother in law shouting out the message, "MARK AND CHRISTINA ARE EGGSPECTING!!"

My mom happy as can be

And Mark's parents expression! (my favorite is Mark's mom's expression) hahaha 

Basically, this was the BEST Easter we've ever had. The rest of the day was awesome. We, of course, talked about due dates, gender of the baby, how excited we all were, and how this holiday season will be very special. Tim's mom, Grandma Jaselta, was very happy that she had flown in to be there this Easter and was there for the announcement. Shortly after, we began calling Mark's family in North Dakota and his father, step-mom, and step-brothers in Oregon. I also started calling my family in Miami to tell them that I was going to my grandma's in a few hours and that I needed them all to be there. We later drove down to Miami and delivered the good news. 

Joe Fisher reporting for duty, Sir!

As you can tell, I don't blog as much as I used to when I started last Fall. But that may change...FSU Football Season is approaching and that means important things are underway! ha


Anyways, I do like to blog when I am excited about something or would like to remember it later on when I look back on these one day. In this blog, I would like to summarize our friendship with Joe Fisher.
Joe Fisher is leaving tomorrow, Tuesday Aug. 16th, 2011, for boot camp! He is joining the US Navy, and  Mark and I are [beyond] proud of him!

Boat ride on the SummerWind down to Miami

Boat ride to Bahia Cabana with Zach, Joe, and Mark

Long story short:
I coined Joe, "my 2nd husband"...even before Mark and I got married I had called him this. Weird? Maybe... but you'll understand in a second.
 The truth is, Joe and I went to high school together, but it wasn't until he was pledging Kappa Sigma that we got to know each other. The first night we actually spoke was at a Kappa Sigma house party. Joe was a pledge and wasn't feeling too well. Mark came over and told me that a fellow St. Thomas Aquinas "Raider" wasn't feeling so hot. (Sorry, Joe but you know this is true!)  I believe Mark was VP at the time, so he was busy and his hands were full. And I guess he thought I would be a little more nurturing to a sick former classmate? So into the bathroom I went to introduce myself! HAHA I doubt Joe even remembers this, but from that night on Joe always looked out for me as well.

From Mark's busy schedule with his years as Kappa Sigma VP and President to graduating and leaving Tallahassee before me; there were plenty of instances where I would often be at a bar with my girlfriends and Joe would see to it that I got home safely. There were also times I needed help lifting heavy things and moving furniture to South Florida in his pick-up truck... Hence, his "2nd husband" nickname and inside joke between Joe, Mark, and I.

Tailagating

After college, we were all back in South Florida together after Mark and I moved back from Chicago. From helping us move into our condo (thank God you helped us, Joe!) ,being a groomsman in our wedding, playing tennis with me on his days off, fishing with Mark, and watching mindless morning TV shows after late nights that he stayed over (yes, Joe has his own room here and expects me to make him breakfast when he stays....I would have no problem saying that he is now equally my friend as he is to Mark.

 He will always be Mark's fraternity brother and they will always have a special bond, but so will Joe and I. :) One of my favorite things about Joe is that  he is always warm and kind to my friends as well.

Joe and Sarah

Ali and Joe

I think that is why he gets along so well with us. We see eye to eye, and are grateful for his loyalty to us. He is one of those great friends that does what he says he is going to do. Recently, he helped Mark and I set up at the Broward Noles Beach Bash. Joe has known that he was leaving for the Navy for some time now, so even though he wasn't looking to join the Seminole Club of Broward County...he still helped us because he knew how much we had worked on it. Without asking him for help, he was there in the morning setting up banners, Mark's massive speaker, and later bringing me beer refills at the table that I was manning :) Joe is a true friend that stands by you through thick and thin, and does things without expecting anything in return.  We are proud to say that he will be representing our country in the Navy.


 I know that Mark and I can always count on Joe, just as he understands that we are always there for him.
We are going to miss him, but wish him nothing but an amazing experience in the US Navy. We are so proud of you, Joe! And honored to call you one of our best friends :) Thanks for always being a true friend to the BOTH of us. We will see you tonight for dinner, Joe!

"There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship. "
-Thomas Aquinas

"You Know You're A Frat Wife If..."

I suppose this post started last night when I posted on twitter, "Had I known sororites were anything like @SororityProblem... I may have agreed to rush..."

Following that tweet, Jacki Roche tweeted back saying, "haha well now you're in the frat wives club...we're pretty much our own sorority :) "

This morning I read that and texted her my first "You know you're a frat wife if..." comment. She then followed suit and that lasted about 4 hrs. So we both thought I'd funny just to post the comments we came up with. If you're a frat girlfriend or fiance, some of these apply to you as well :) Enjoy.

1. You know you're a frat wife if...you have to make multiple UPS trips to send back drunkenly left behind Lilly Pulitzer dresses and Vineyard Vine oxford shirts.

2. You know you're a frat wife if...you go up for a football game, your husband goes missing for a couple hours, returns with his frat brothers and a guilty face, then reveals his new addition to his "frat tatt."

3. You know you're a frat wife if...everytime the song "Thunderstuck" comes on, you immediately man your station at the cooler ready to distribute beers for the whole song.

4. You know you're a [former President's] frat wife if...you go back to their old frat house for game day tailagting and the pledges run up to you and tell you how much they already know about your husband and that they idolize them.

5. You know you're a frat wife if...the EMTs have to make an appearance at your wedding weekend's events to take care of the best man.

6. You know you're a frat wife if...it is totally normal and expected for the frat brothers to sing/scream a chant for the groom (while repeatedily screaming "drink mother f*cker, drink!!!!" at the end of the song) and no one batting an eye.

7. You know you're a frat wife if...you husband is proud of himself when he buys you little gifts to suprise you like: matching koozies, croakies,  boat shoes, or Maui Jim sunglasses.

8. You know you're a frat wife if you have a special place in your kitchen soley to hold all the koozies collected over the years of formals, crushes, weddings, Fall/Spring Rush ect.

9. You know you're a frat wife if...your now "grown up" tailgate begins at 8AM while having a full liquor bar, as well as, planning and preparing a full menu of breakfast, lunch, and dinner foods for all of game day.

10. You know you're a frat wife if... you look for/ purchase game day attire year round for the upcoming football season.

11. You know you're a frat wife if... you know you will have to strategically plan your pregancy one day so that your child is not born during football season.

12. You know you're a frat wife if...every time your husbands get together they plot over drinks and cigars that one say they will all move the families onto one street with a potential chapter house at the end of it.

13. You know you're a frat wife if...every road trip you take all together requires stopping at whichever Bass Pro is in that town.

So, there they are. I am sure we can think of more - and may add on later with a Volume II. If you can think of any, let us know :)
We love our crazy boys. 

Wedding Day...marrying all of the Kappa Sigma men...

Mrs. Jacki Roche's wedding bouquet adorned with her Kappa Sigma lavalier & Phi Mu necklace.

the Brothers at Jared & Jacki's wedding

Cooper update

I believe that the last time I blogged about Cooper was when we had just adopted him...how things have changed in those few short months! That little boy went from neglected to a spoiled rotten family member. He's also gained 2lbs!



Cooper sleeping on Mark's foot last night holding his baby (a stuffed fox)




Coopie playing hard to get




Outside playtime- he lovesss to run and jump over the other dogs in the neighborhood.



He loves visitors too.

Today, I bought him a new collar at the humane society with an engraved tag






We love our Cooper Currington McGuire! <3
(Mark spoils him too...he buys him toys and treats all the time :)




Christina McGuire

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sometimes you just need your girlfriends :)

Hi all :) sorry that I haven't been posting much( for those of you who read my little blog.) Nothing is new with me and Mark. He is doing well at work and I am getting ready to start my Masters this fall.
I wanted to post this because I wanted to tell my friends that I love and miss them :) These are a few pictures from a couple weekends ago...
We don't get to see each other as often as we'd like now that we're all spread out in different cities and states. On this weekend, Lauren came down from Gainesville, Michelle from Jacksonville, Gabby from Tallahassee, Rach from West Palm beach, and Lana from West Palm as well (not pictured unfortunately because I didn't get one while she was down). I also have some other VERY MISSED girlfriends in Jacksonville, Tallahassee, IL, NC, NY, GA. that I would have loved to see this weekend as well...(they are pictured below)
I love Mark, but sometimes a girl just needs some quality time with her best girlfriends :)

My father always used to say that when you die, if you've got five real friends, then you've had a great life.

-Lee Iacocca

Friends are those rare people who ask how you are and then wait for the answer.

-Author Unknown

         Friends are relatives you make for yourself.

- Eustache Deschamps

Here are some other faves of the girlfriends I MISS and LOVE too :)

Last time the "trio" was all together (Disney) & that's when Ali asked me to be her Matron of Honor with her older sister! <3



FSU game days with Kendall, Erika, and Jacki - I finally found girls equally as fsu crazed as me :)



Michelle, Lauren, Meg, Bre, Meredith, Ali, Lana, Kel, Sarah W, and Sarah P :)

 



Soaking up the sun with Kel in the Bahamas

Kara and Lauren with me on my wedding day

longtime friend, Ashley, on her wedding day!

College wouldn't have been the same without these ladies...Kerri, Sarah and Ali



Thanks for always being great friends ladies. Love you. 

My Newlywed "issues..."

I was always aware of decorating being an issue for newlyweds...
Bachelor decor and "single" girlie girl nicknacks...trying to figure what stays and what goes after the I Do's.

For us, we had a pretty good idea of each other's taste in home furnishings. In Chicago, our apartment was filled with his furniture and furniture he bought on his own...before I arrived. Mark has good taste, similar to mine :) of course, there will always be things that are found that could replace certain items. For example, we have a tv stand that Mark bought for the Chicago apartment. It's basic, modern, and glass. It's nice but I live for furniture that looks like it has a story. Vintage, antiques, shabby-chic are welcome any day of the week in my opinion. Even better, when I find something that is bought in a consignment- antique store...it's like finding a treasure for me! You search around and find something that screams personality and history.
Now, there will always be dirty and crazy looking items in these places, but that's the beauty in finding a gem in all that rubble.
I have recently found: 4 carved wooden frames (that I painted myself to match our place), 2 wooden boxes beautifully painted with palm trees, 2 thick wooden candle holders for the dining table...and recently- a bamboo table! :)
I was determined and somehow fit it in!



Thinking Mark would absolutely love it -as we both like the old Florida-Cuban tropical look, he was not as excited as I was. He just simply asked where it was supposed to go because nothing was being replaced... :-/
Now, I have a beautiful old bamboo table sitting on the side of the dining room with nowhere to go :( I am determined to make this table work somewhere but if not, I'll sell it I suppose :(

Second issue, forgetting to put your wedding rings back on after a shower!
I think that since the moment I came out of the womb, I had jewelry on. Being a Cuban little girl, my ears were immediately pierced with little diamond studs...a little Mother Mary -or one of the other saints- on my wrist, and maybe even a black stone called an azabache made into a charm on a necklace. (cubans are a bit superstitious and this "azabache" wards off people with negative thoughts toward you.



Commonly worn by babies to protect them.... You get the picture- I've always loved and worn jewelry... The thing is, I usually would wear my usual daily jewelry into the shower with me, sleep with them on, ect.
But when I got my Wedding rings, which consist of the main diamond on the engagement ring along with several smaller diamonds on both rings, women would tell me not to shower with them due to soap build up and such.


So now, I try and remember to take the rings off, place them on a little plate on the counter, and put them back on when I am getting ready. Problem is, when I am in a rush out the door, rings have been left on the little plate. This has happened 3 times already (including today.)
This would not bother me of it were any other piece of jewelry... but now that I am married- it feels like I am committing a mortal sin!!!! I hate it!!! I feel so guilty and all I could do is put another ring (that I had in my purse pocket -which Mark gave me in middle school- on my ring finger so I don't feel half as bad. I also LOVE this ring as it has 3 garnet stones(his birth stone).
I remember on the last occasion that this happened, we were supposed to have dinner with Mark's parents that night. Since I was on the east side of town, I wasn't planning on going home prior to the dinner and made my mom go to our place and bring me my rings (I couldn't leave where I was at the time.)
I couldn't imagine being at dinner with him and my in laws being ring-less !? Even though I know they probably wouldn't have thought twice about it and would have understood...I just
couldn't. Today I had even put on my watch and a bracelet that Mark's aunt gave me that spells: Mark!

So as my rings are at home, I have improvised with the Mark bracelet and impromptu ring on my wedding finger :)



Ugh-I think I'm just going to say forget it and shower with my rings from now on. I'll just stick them in the cleaning solution more often. Problem solved and no more of me feeling like a bad new wife. :)



Christina McGuire

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone