Babies and Weddings - Summer 2013

I'm sure most of you know now that Brian and I are expecting our first kiddo in January.  IT'S A BOY!  We are super excited and have decided on the name Nolan Clark Roan.  We had originally chosen Connor for the first name, but then after telling some friends, I realized that EVERYONE is naming their kid Connor these days.  So, when we were in Albania, Brian was talking about baseball to one of our friends outside of the bar of the bachelor/bachelorette party.  Nolan Ryan was brought up and I looked at Brian and said, "OOOOH, that's a great name!"  He agreed and viola.  Our son was named outside of a bar in Albania.  We like to keep it classy in the Roan family.  ;)  The middle name is Brian's Dad's middle name.  He got to choose the middle name since our girl's name was after my Grandmother's.  I'm glad Leo doesn't have a weird middle name like Snodgrass or Pendernut.

Here are some pics of his life thus far...

12 Week U/S

21 Week U/S - His little legs are crossed

21 Week U/S - His face, hand and tummy

Nolan is our most exciting news to update you guys on, but I'll start from the beginning of summer and give you some tidbits of what we've been up to.

We finished our Eurotrip in late April and returned to Doha.  I found out I was preggo about three weeks later.  With this information, my nights of friends coming over for BBQ and wine and movies were over.  I started going to sleep at 7pm and waking up at 7am.  Rock star, right?

I went back to the US for a week in July for some work stuff.  I was lucky in that I was able to purchase some maternity clothes and see some friends.  Maternity clothes in Doha are triple the price of what they are at home - even in the same chain.  I stayed with one of my great friends Lacey and her husband Nate.  Their son Alex is adorable.  He liked to play fetch with the dogs.  And by play fetch, I mean, act like a dog and fetch the ball!  It was awesome.  I also ate a Baconator.  I stayed one night with my friend Casey and her main squeeze Tom.  We went to an all-you-can-eat BBQ place in DC.  HOLY COW...I was miserable after we left there.  I'm pretty sure my kid had quite the growth spurt after the DC trip.

In late August, we went to Albania for our friends' Mark & Kledia's wedding in Lezhe.  It was definitely a culture shock, but I feel like we are getting used to those by now.  The wedding took place in a castle that had hosted only one wedding prior to theirs...the king who lived there hundreds of years ago.  Needless to say, this wedding was kind of a big deal in Lezhe.  Brian was the best man and did his best-manly duties to his fullest.  He gave a speech, that I missed (I'll get to that), that made everyone teary.  So, in Albania, weddings tend to go until 4-5am.  With my preggo-ness, I couldn't stay up past 1.  I tried my best, but no go.  This is why I missed Brian's awesome speech.  I'm hoping someone got it on video so I can hear what he had to say.  I heard nothing but great things from everyone.

After the wedding, Brian had to fly home for work stuff.  I, on the other hand, joined the newlyweds, along with four other people, on their honeymoon in Greece.  We had so much fun!  I met some great new people that will be friends for a long time to come.  We drove from Lezhe to Sarande the first day (6 hours through the mountains).  It was beautiful.  We pulled over to take some pics on the mountainside at sunset.  This one was mine:

Mountain, belly, Ionian Sea, sunset

We took a ferry to Corfu, Greece the next morning.  We stayed in a rental house right on the water.  The water in Corfu is gorgeous!  It's as clear as the Carribean.  That night we rented 4-wheelers.  I wanted to try a moped, but thought it wasn't the best idea being five months preggo on a tiny motorcylce I've never driven before.  I was at least used to four-wheelers from the ranch.  So, me and my side-kick Molly shared a quad and drove all over Corfu.  We ended up at a beach called Pelekas.  Google it.  SOOOO pretty!  It's the most beautiful beach I have ever, ever, ever been to.  EVER.  We hung out there for a few hours and made our way back to the house.  Everyone left early the next morning to head back to Albania to catch flights.  I was flying out of Corfu to Athens by myself, so I stayed at the house all day.  It was nice to have a day to relax and read and sleep...basically do nothing.  Ya know, chillin' out in Greece - No big deal.  HA!  Upon arrival in Greece, I told my cab driver I was Canadian.  No one likes Americans these days, so I was being safe.  Eh?

The rest of the weeks during the summer were pretty much spent sleeping for me and going to the pool for Brian.  None of you will recognize him when he gets home.  He's lost about twenty pounds.  He's been swimming a mile every day and it has melted the weight off of him.  I'm jealous since I'm sitting here gaining pounds and pounds, but it will be my turn soon enough!  :)  He says he is keeping our combined weight at an equilibrium.  

I guess that is all for now.  Things are going fabulously with the pregnancy.  According to his measurements, he is in the 95th percentile for weight.  I hope this changes in the coming months.  Brian and I were both big babies.  I'll be heading home on November 14th, landing in Houston on the 15th.  I'll be staying at my Dad's in Victoria the entire time, but can travel closely (Austin, Houston, Corpus) probably through mid-December?  I'm not sure on the traveling restrictions.  I plan to make a trip to Corpus, for sure, to get some good Mexican food.  This expat NEEDS some Mexican food!