32

Today I turn 32. It wasn't all that long ago that I thought 32 was ancient. Now that I am here I don't think it is old at all. In many ways, I think I have finally figured out what I want from life and how to get it. Additionally, I am in a warm and sunny place, I have a job I enjoy and I get to celebrate this birthday with some amazing friends and family.

The last year, was a roller coaster. There were some pretty big ups our trip to Vegas, moving back to Orlando, getting pregnant and making it through the first 20 weeks. I also ran a lot and raced a lot last year. Unfortunately, the the low point in the year was really low, when we lost baby #1.

I know that 32 will bring a lot of change to my life, but for once I feel like I am prepared for the changes ahead. We will be welcoming baby Marron at the end of July and moving into our new house in August. I also plan on returning to running this fall. 

It is amazing to think that this blog was born partly because I was afraid of my 30s. That fear has passed and turned into something great. Right now I am just trying to soak up and enjoy life as much as I can, because I am realizing just how fast it goes.

Happy Birthday to me.

Plant City Strawberry Festival

So, this post has been written in my head for about a week, unfortunately that was about as far as I got with it. When we moved back to Orlando, one of the things I really wanted to do was to take in some of the local sites and events that had always been put on the next year list. In November we hit up Gatorland and in December, we headed to Blue Springs Park to seen the manatees.

Another must do on my list of Orlando events was a trip to the Plant City Strawberry Festival. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I figured any festival that celebrated the strawberry was my kind of place. It is also good to be back in FL for Strawberry season, since they are high on my limited list of foods I enjoy right now.

So while it is on my Orlando list, Plant City, where the strawberry festival is held, is actually about 70 miles west on I-4. The Saturday we went met up with my sister-in-law and her family at about 11 a.m. and headed out. 

Parking for the festival is pretty crazy, and we ended up parking at a business that was renting out parking spaces for the day. It was reasonably priced and only a couple of blocks away from the gate. We headed inside and started off by watching some Irish dancers.

Then it was time for lunch. There was a variety of food options from roast corn to nachos to a donut burger. While there were a lot of things to eat, most of the food was carnival type vendors and nothing really special. We did find one place that sold hand dipped, homemade corn dogs that were really good.

After lunches we saw the Chicks with Axes lumberjills show. This was pretty fun and included a chainsaw competition, an axe throwing competition and a log rolling competition. These girls were tough and it was fun to watch. We also tried to see the pig races, but they were packed.

These chicks were awesome.

Next up was the Florida Strawberry Growers Association display. It was cool to see how they plant and grow the berries. I also got my picture taken with a giant Strawberry. I love strawberries, but really had no idea how they were grown.

It was crazy windy the day we went,
hence the crazy hair.

We then wandered through some areas showcasing projects from the local 4H and future farmers of america. We tried some strawberry sweet tea. Then it was time for strawberry shortcake, actually a build your own strawberry shortcake. It was delicious. So good that I forgot to take a picture before it was gone.

A visit to the animal area, some additional wondering and a few rides for the kids wrapped out the day. Then it was back home to Orlando.

The Plant City Strawberry Festival was very much like a good old fashioned fair. It was a fun time with something for everyone. We will be going back again.

Any other things I should add to my Central Florida must do list?

Baby Update - 20 Weeks

Baby is 20 weeks today. I don't know where the time went, but it feels like it has been flying. I think that is because overall I am feeling better. Other than getting tired rediculously easily, I am not having too many symptoms right now. I also know to enjoy this time, because it will not last.

The baby bump is growing.

Yesterday we had our anatomy scan and things looked good. The baby was moving around a lot and seeing it moving confirmed that I have been feeling the baby pretty regularly for about a week or so now. I was never 100% sure if it was the baby or just some sort of crazy digestion thing. We do have to go back in two weeks, because they want to take a couple more images of the heart. The baby was blocking the view from some angles.

According to what I read, the baby is about the size of a banana and 10.5 ounces (source). It was measuring pretty close to my due date on the scan, so that is good. I am a little worried that we are going to have a giant baby. My husband and I were both big babies when we were born.

Even though I am not having a ton of symptoms, I am feeling more pregnant this week. I am slowly moving from looking like I have been eating too many donuts to actually having a baby bump. The baby is also sitting pretty high, so I am starting to feel pressure on my lungs and diaphragm.

We still don't know if the baby is a boy or girl. We have the gender written on a picture in an envelope sitting on our counter, but I don't know when or if we will look. Maybe for my birthday in a couple of weeks.

In the next week or so, we need to work on putting together our registry and registering for classes at the hospital.

What are your suggestions for a baby registry? If you had a baby, what were your must take classes?