The Sweetest Things...

I was blessed to have two good friends that were 10 and 12 weeks ahead of me in my pregnancy. I was able to ask them all sorts of questions. Well, now i am the only one with a large pregnant belly and there are two new BEAUTIFUL baby girls. Jack is going to be one happy ladies man!

Meet Grace Brennan... She had a rough little start on life, but is a gorgeous and content little lady.

Meet Sophia Quincy. I was able to meet Sophia a few hours after she came into the world. She was checking out Ryan, making sure he was going to be a good dad. She also has the cutest cheeks ever!

So now we wait for the next 8 weeks to see what our little man will look like...
Gracie and Sophia are ready to play!

GMA in NashVegas

Well, my last big trip before i have this baby will begin on Saturday. I will be heading to good ol' Nashville for one final pre-baby trip. And it will be a crazy one. The Gospel Music Association (GMA) host 3 days of non-stop Christian music craziness that ends with the Dove Awards, the Christian music GRAMMY night. It is nuts. Every single christian music artist that is anybody, and tons of people who are trying desperately to be somebody come to downtown Nashville to be interviewed by media people from around the country (and some people from around the world). Most people stay in the Renaissance Hotel which is attached the the Convention Center. Radio, print and television people run interviews non-stop for 2 1/2 days straight, and the nights are filled with showcases that labels put on to introduce their artists. It reminds me of a very large youth convention, where you see people you know or recognized from other churches or camp in the halls and stairways. Instead of it being other churches and friends, it is christian music artists.
Here is an example from last year. We walked in from the parking ramp and ran into a publicist friend. She was with her band After Edmund, who we just had in our studios. We talk with them. We walk 100 yards and run into 2 more publicists that we know. We get on the escalator to get our room keys and coming up the escalator is Pillar, followed by Leeland, followed by a few more bands most of you won't know. We check in and go outside. BarlowGirl pours out of a mini-van and greets Phil Joel who is waiting for his wife. I walk past this guy who looks really familiar, before i realize it is Dan Hasseltine, the lead singer of Jars of Clay. Sweet. Group 1 Crew is just sitting on the curb, waiting for their manager and we talk with them for a bit. Now, throw in a hundreds other people that include managers, media, artists and fans into the mix and you get a glimpse of the craziness of GMA.
We will have a suite on the 24th floor that is converted into a mini studio complete with full lights and backdrop. Most of Sunday will be putting that together. Monday and Tuesday will be full interview days and Wed will be a half day of interview and tear down. Here is what a full day looks like...
Get up around 6ish.
Get ready (and by ready, that means you better look like an artist in the trendiest clothes. This will be fun to pull off this year 7 months preggo)
Grab some breakfast
Get the greenroom set up, get your interview questions put in order and make sure your phone is on, ready to get the first artist.
8:30 am the first interview begins. We will than have an interview every half hour on the hour till 6pm. Morgan and i rotate interviews in hour blocks. I take two interview, she does two interviews.
The evening will have showcases that i am not sure my pregnant body will allow me to attend.
That is a glimpse into GMA week. It is crazy, it is exhausting and it is fun and thank the Lord it is only once a year!

Change

It is funny how things change. Your perspective on things shift and your view of what is important evolves, sometimes with out even realizing it.
Here are some things i have noticed that have changed in my life in the last 7 months.

1. Comfort is important. I wore yoga pants to the mall yesterday. 2 years ago, i would have NEVER done that... but i had worked a full day in dress clothes and heels and i just wanted to be comfortable.
2. Comfort is relative when it comes to shoes. I can still proudly wear my heels, where all my other preggo friends are completely in flats. HOWEVER, i just cant wear them as long. I pledge to keep wearing my cute heels till i cant stuff my swollen feet into them anymore!
3. Travel is not glamorous. I used to want to travel every weekend, dreaming of jetting off to exotic places, or just traveling away from home. Don't get me wrong, i still love going places and i like traveling, i just like it to spread out instead of jam packing it into 3 months. I miss my hubby. By the first of May, we will have spent 28 days apart in the last 41 days...not fun. Not glamorous.
4. Traveling pregnant is especially NOT glamorous. Waddling up and down airport terminals with a heavy carry-on that helps display your every growing belly is not cute. at all.
5. Friends are really important. Even when you are tired and want to lay on the couch all night, friends are worth getting up and spending time with.
6. Time away from your family makes you appreciate them all the more.
7. Shopping is depressing when you are 7 months pregnant. I never thought i would not like shopping for clothes, but i do not like it now. I hate maternity clothes. They are ugly, huge and expensive... and the cute items are few and far in between.
8. Watching your husband place his hand on your belly and feeling your son kick and move into his hand is worth getting huge and fat for. The look on Ryan's face when he gets to see and feel Jack move is priceless...

With 12 weeks left till the baby comes, i know that my life will continue to change in dramatic ways... it will be interesting to see how.

STREEEETTTCCHIINNGGGGG...

Well, i made it home in one very tired piece. While the Hungarians regarded me as "Sturdy", i was one worn-out, tired, waddling pregnant lady when i arrived home after 36 hours of straight, sleepless travel. I think i am still recovering, cause i am still a bit tired after lots of sleep! I am also making up for not eating for a week straight by consuming everything in sight! My appetite is enormous!
Speaking of enormous, so is my belly. Which happens to feel like it can no longer stretch any further with out blowing up and that stretching is actually quite painful. I imagine i am coming upon another growth spurt, so my body is preparing. That preparations hurts!
I went to the Dr.'s on Tuesday. He said that the baby's heartbeat is really strong and healthy, but i am measuring a few weeks smaller. There is nothing to worry about at all, because the baby is so strong and healthy. Apparently though, everyone else thinks that i am MUCH too big for how far along i am. (Almost 28 weeks) I have had more people tell me how HUGE i am and if i am carrying twins and other such wonderful comments. I cant believe how rude people can be. It is as if my being pregnant allows for absolutely NO filters or common sense. My ever-growing belly is up for full comments and evaluations from everyone, strangers included.
So, this stretching phase is bound to come with some more wonderfully thoughtful comments.
ah, the joys of pregnancy....

Kiev, Ukraine

Here is a taste of Kiev...

                      1/8th of the Kiev Skyline with the Rainbow of Friendship to the left.

Notice the broom... It is literally a pole with sticks tied to it... She works for the city and is cleaning a park with that thing!

St. Sophia's Cathedral. Kiev is filled with old Orthodox churches.

One of the most popular streets of Kiev. It is located next to Independent Square and is blocked off from traffic during the weekend.

Here are a few picture of Kiev.

Sveged, Hungary

I traveled to Sveged on Monday and Tuesday to shoot a My World. Marton is a world champion single knee canoer and he trains and lives in Sveged, which is about 2 hours southeast of Budapest. It is only 20 km from the Serbia border. It is one of Hungary's oldest cities and boast to have the world's great salami. If you ever are in a duty-free airport and you see Pick's Salami, it was made in Sveged. I have  not had the pleasure of trying it! We shot at the National Canoeing  center, which hosted the world championships a few years ago. I guess they have 40,000 people attending. Canoeing is a very popular sport in Hungary. Marton is one of the best. He is huge!!! He doesnt look too big in person, but once he is in uniform and on the water, he looks like a beast! 

My all-male Hungarian crew was absolutely wonderful!!! I loved being around them. They spoke a decent amount of English, though technica

l tv talk was a bit hard to translate. I really hope that the shoot turned out well! i am excited to see the footage.

Here is a few pictures of Svegad.

City center

The city center.

             Marton in the water and my Hungarian crew in a motor boat trying to catch up!

                         My wonderful Hungarian crew and Marton. It was VERY cold that day.

Budapest!

I made it to Budapest! It is a beautiful, beautiful city. When i arrived at 7am, it was really cold and rainy. I was able to sleep for a few hours at the hotel before we headed out into the city to explore, have a late lunch and shop. We lasted until 9pm and i am ready to collapse! I will try to go into more details tomorrow. We will be going to the Hungarian church tomorrow for Easter. The service is supposed to last from 10:30-3pm! It should be an experience!

Here are a few pictures from the day.

The view from my room. This is Pest.

Hungarian Parlament

The Palace and the Danube River