Last Thursday Aaron and I left around lunchtime to drive to Asheville, NC. It was our last little getaway for just the two of us before Baby Fernandez arrives. It was perfect! We were so thankful to be able to go...we stayed at the gorgeous Grove Park Inn. Quality time with your best friend...nothing like it.

On Thursday evening when we got there, I took a quick nap while Aaron read up on the resort. We went to dinner on the Sunset Terrace at the resort. Here is what you can imagine it was like: Yes, it really was this romantic! The view was unbelievable. The food was even better than that. And the company was the best part of all. We had a lengthy conversation about how God has grown our marriage.
And we had this for dessert! We had lots of dessert on our vacation. :) After dinner we were so full and tired from the week, we crashed in the room.

This is an aerial view of The Grove Park Inn. It's huge...we explored a little, but didn't see everything. The big things to do there are golf and visit the spa, but we did neither. We were happy to just hang out. In the far left corner in this picture, you can see the Sports Complex. On Friday morning we went there to work out together.

This is the view of the resort when you first drive up. Needless to say we were very excited.

I didn't take these pictures! I got them off of their website! This one shows how the resort is tucked in the mountains of NC. It really was a beautiful place.So why do I look so blue? Well, we had started the day off well with a workout, and then we headed to downtown Asheville to eat lunch. When we sat down, my oversized belly brushed against the table and I got a couple of stains on my shirt. I was so sad, and for some reason Aaron thought it would be a good time to take a picture of me! My emotions are sort of out of whack, and it took me a little while to bounce back from the incident, unfortunately.So to cheer me up, Aaron took me to the Biltmore Estate! He had already been twice, so it was kind of him to take me. I'm glad we went...it was a fun way to spend the afternoon in Asheville. Here are some pictures of us on our tour:

We went to the winery after finishing in the gardens at the house, and Aaron participated in a wine tasting.
We were too hungry to go somewhere else for dinner, and it worked out perfectly that there was a casual outdoor grill restaurant at the winery. Aaron is listening to and watching the guy who was playing guitar and singing for us. It was a relaxing end to the Biltmore visit- after walking so much, we enjoyed sitting for a while.
And then Aaron played the hero again when he took me to Marble Slab in downtown Asheville before we went back to the resort :)

We ate breakfast at the resort on Saturday morning before we headed to Raleigh for the baby shower. We could have stayed more nights, but we loved the time we had to vacation there together!

Yesterday Aaron became Superman for a day. He had a lot to do at work to catch up from last week's vacation, but he made time to do all of this, too:

1. drive to Vinton to have lunch with me

2. send flowers to me at school

3. get a gift certificate for me for a prenatal massage

4. buy the groceries for dinner

5. pick up some more flowers to bring home (roses!)

6. cook dinner

7. work on the baby's room (install closet door, work on beadboard, put together the stroller, drill some things on the wall)

8. make me a chocolate milkshake

What a day! What a man!
If you are wondering about all of this, it was my birthday yesterday. He made it so awesome. I loved being loved :)

He wasn't the only one to treat me yesterday. I got lots of calls and cards, and Stephen and Michael took me to get ice cream after work. Erin Carroll also came by to hang out and give me Noel Piper's Treasuring God in our Traditions (a book I have really been wanting to read!). Thanks to everyone for being so thoughtful!

Aaron took this picture of the baby belly on the "back porch" of the Biltmore Estate on Friday. More info and pictures of our Asheville trip to come... 6 more weeks! We aren't quite ready...give us a couple more weeks and then we'll start getting anxious :)

Yesterday my dear friend Kristen threw a baby book shower in Raleigh for Baby Fernandez! I had fun seeing friends that I haven't seen in a while, eating Kristen's chocolate cupcakes, and reading the fun baby/children's books that they gave. From left to right: Kristen, Acella (Nuri is on her lap), Emily, me, Allison, Rebecca, and Meghan. Missing from the photo are Shelly, my mom, and Peggy. They are sweet women and have already given me lots of good baby advice in addition to the books. I hadn't seen Emily since August! She and Travis are doing great in Fuquay. Her sister's due date is the same as ours, June 21, except she's having twins!
I was glad Acella and Nuri came. And Wansoo stopped in for a few minutes, too!

Kristen is so talented with hosting/hospitality. I am very thankful for her willingness to do this for us...it was a special treat.
Look at those strawberry shortcake desserts! Yummmm

We are finally ready to start inviting everyone over for dinner, to make use of our new kitchen! On Tuesday night Nathan and Erin came over. Aaron prepared most of the meal for us and I helped with the small details. We loved their company. Afterwards Erin helped me clean and Aaron got this shot, saying that we needed a picture of women "doing their work"! You have to understand his sense of humor...And on Wednesday night Aaron invited Robert from work over to eat with us. Robert has been washing batteries at the shop for 21 years. We enjoyed treating him (and ourselves) with steaks that Aaron grilled.
Thanks for joining us, too, dad! Except maybe next time you could pick a different shirt to wear to our house. ;)

Aaron and Bryan drove to Philidelphia on Saturday and came back on Sunday. They went to visit Gray and Pam, who are from Nash County but moved to PA a couple of years ago after they got married. Gray is studying there to become a dentist. The guys also went to run in a 10-mile race together on Sunday. It was a long trip but definitely worth the fun. Aaron took a lot of pictures to show me what it was like (I stayed behind...let the men have their male bonding time!).
They just hung out for a while at Gray and Pam's apartment when they first got there...tired from the traffic they endured on I-95.

And then they made the venture to downtown for a famous Philly cheese steak. Gray and Pam knew exactly where to take them.Ahh, the big city. They drove around for a while (sort of purposefully, to see the city, but also looking for a parking spot).Wonder why he took a picture of this? :) This is a picture of City Hall that Aaron took because it looked so cool. I agree that it's awesome.
This was taken at lunch on Sunday, after the race. They both ran well- I don't know Gray's finish time, but Aaron finished in 1:45. Bryan went to church instead with Pam to help with the kids.

Aaron and Bryan took turns driving. Both of those are scary thoughts. The Lord is merciful.

One end of the tableThe other end

Thanks for driving down to eat with us, guys!

hehe we match :)
The birthday man and his bride!
Mom and Dad had a good time, too. Even though they covered the meal for everyone.

Aaron and I decided not to take the labor and delivery classes for this pregnancy, but this past week we did go to a one-time baby care basics class. We learned a lot actually...how to take the baby's temperature, how to swaddle, how to change a diaper if you have a boy, how to wash the baby the first few weeks, etc. A lot of things seemed like common sense, but it was good to get our minds thinking about these things before the fun begins.