I Popped!

Kelly playing sand volleyball with the locals

Sorry again it's been so long. We really have been busy, Kel with work and me with school, and both of us with vacationing.

We had another appointment to check on the baby, which is doing great thus far. My next appointment is the 'big' one, the 4D imaging ultrasound late February. My stomach has officially popped and my pants are officially tight. Today I went to the 'maternity shop' and found another pair of pants to wear. (I had one pair of early maternity pants from my thoughtful Di Di). Another exciting event...I have finally started to feel baby movement. Yesterday I was driving home to Duluth from class in Saint Paul, singing and dancing to Bruce Springsteen's folk album, and the baby started to dance along the inside of my belly! :) Apparently our baby takes after it's papa and obviously has an appreciation for good music!

The past three weeks Kelly has traveled extensively around the midwest (Iowa for four days and Chicago for five). He also had been requested to make a 'spur-of-the-moment' presentation for a very important skatepark prospect in MEXICO. Although Kel didn't WANT to go, he felt it would be somewhat rude to turn down the invitation and opportunity. (I'm being somewhat sarcastic here!) I thought it sounded like a dream come true, I would've gone if I were him, and quickly it became my reality TOO! Kelly called me immediately after the invitation from his rep in Mexico and asked if I could take a few days off of work. Fortunately, I have a pretty flexible and compassionate boss, so Kel and I were able to make it happen.

Kel left Tuesday, January 23, for a tradeshow in Chicago. The plan was to meet up in Minneapolis late Saturday night and we would fly out 4 a.m. Sunday to Manzanillo, Mexico. I know, the meeting just happened to be on the coast, in beautiful and sunny Manzanillo, Mexico. Truly we lead a rough life, don't we???? However, I was very ready to feel the warmth of the sun, play in the ocean, and eat all of the delicious Mexican food I could.

While Kel was at his trade show, I packed us up for this meeting/vacation. We were prepared to travel all day, get picked up by a taxi cab, shuttled to a futbol game to meet up with the interested party, and then go out to dinner where Kel would present the information to these guys. Usually I am not much of a planner, but my husband reminded me that the passport law had changed and since my last name is now Bartz and I should be prepared to show a marriage license. Smarty pants! I packed that in my carry-on (backpack), along with a change of clothes for when I arrived in Mexico. When we left Minnesota, it was -10 degrees. We knew it was going to be close to +90 degrees when we arrived to Mexico, so I also packed a change of clothes with sandals and my marriage license in the backpack. The rest of our luggage (including all of the presentation materials) were checked cargo.

Our first flight left at 4 ish (in the morning) and got into Phoenix at 7 ish. Both Kelly and I fell asleep on this flight and were woken up by the flight attendant when we landed. We got off quickly and went to find our next departure gate to Los Angeles. This flight was postponed, so we sat down and rested. Suddenly Kelly looked at me and asked me where the backpack was. Ummmm, I looked all around and then remembered I didn't remember it in the overhead compartment. SHIT! Someone told me about this 'mooshy brain/mommy brain' thing a while back, could it really be happening???? I'll use it for this one...I would never admit this is the real me! I ran to the help desk to have the lady call back to the gate to find the backpack, but our previous aircraft JUST departed five minutes ago to Charlotte. Now this is what I don't understand, because I too thought it procedural to go through the plane and clean it out before every flight, but this unhelpful lady said they didn't have to and the backpack was NO longer in Phoenix. This trip was off to an interesting start. At LEAST I had my suitcase full of summer clothes to change into when we arrived, since I had dressed myself in my ski pants, wool sweater, and boots to travel down south. (Hey, it was cold outside in MN!)

We finally arrived in Manzanillo with a few near misses of flights, but after much traveling we were quickly smiling in the beautiful sunshine of Mexico. We made it through customs and then went to pick up our luggage. We waited and waited....and waited some more. I was getting very warm in my boots and 'sweats', Kel was also really hot, anticipating the moment to feel the warm air on our skin in our shorts and t-shirts. BUT to our good fortune, our luggage never showed up. The lovely Alaska Airlines attendant, Adriana, called up to California Alaska Airlines and found them for us. Good News! The bad news was there was not a flight coming into Mazanillo until Tuesday NIGHT, it was only Sunday afternoon...we left Wednesday evening. Fortunately, Adriana let me know the airline would reinburse us both up to $75.00 so we were to get suimsuits and more comfortable attire. BUT we were currently in a hurry and shopping would not happen until Monday. I was going to have to suck it up and smile in my warm duds.

Our cab was patiently waiting for us throughout this situation (about an hour) which made us incredibly late to the futbol game. Ooopsy. We showed up with NOTHING but my purse and our winter gear. Actually, Kel dressed in nice Khakis and a short-sleeve button up just to be ready for action when we arrived. Me, I didn't. At that point I wished I had too!

But you know what, I was in Mexico. Did I really have any right to complain? I just sat back in the rickety nissan sentra and enjoyed the warm humid air on my face... and after a very adventurous (aka scary) drive to the game, we met up with the business men. We all went to dinner at this incredible restaurant on the shore of the ocean. We were told by Jerry (the rep from Mexico who set up this meeting with the 'money' for the operation) that we would absolutely love these guys and Mexicans are very social when it comes to business. They have to like you to spend money. Most of these men owned resorts, owned futbol (soccer) teams, etc. They too could sure eat, drink, and party like no other! Jerry had brought some TrueRide samples so Kel could still hold a presentation, the men LOVED Kelly (of course!), and the food and company was amazing! Although I was very HOT, the experience was wonderful and I had a blast.

The next days we enjoyed each other and played in the ocean until we left! Now, I HAVE to apologize for these photos because the swimsuit IS a size small. My boobs are size enormous. You get the point! The funny thing is, I fit in with most women on the beach. Ughh! Still the photos aren't put on here to offend, but to show the growth of baby Bartz....I am still embarassed and don't mean to put any of you off! Truly, choices were few and far between for swimmy suits..and there was NO maternity section at the fashion shop at Club Maeva!