Finally! My long-awaited trip to visit Mark! We had a great time and I tried to document in photos as many things as I could. (That means this is kind of a long post!) Don’t forget you can make the picture bigger by clicking on it.

Wed. I was met at the airport by Miriam, the sister-in-law of our friends the Stays (small Mormon world that Mark goes from church with Steve & Rachel to church with Steve’s brother and his wife!). Miriam dropped me off at Stanford, where I had my first appointment at their Marfan & Related Disorders Clinic. It’s the largest in the world, but you wouldn’t get that feeling from being there that’s for sure. I was pretty apprehensive about going because of all the complications I had getting this appointment set up, but once I actually found the office I was supposed to go to, everything was great! It’s the first doctor’s office I’ve been to where everyone seemed to genuinely LIKE each other. The nurses, receptionists, and doctors were all smiling and joking around. Sunny, the clinic coordinator, took me to her office to chat while I waited for my appointment. And although the clinic saw 900 patients last year, everyone is family.

Dr. Liang is just great. I didn’t mind waiting past my appointment time because he spends as much time with each patient as that patient needs. He was friendly, explained everything well, and didn’t treat me like some Marfan novice (a relief considering my last new doctor spoke to me in a baby voice and many in the past have gotten annoyed at me asking questions). He also agreed that I should have Lil Z here in Columbus, so that is officially set! My next appt. with him will be in March.

Mark picked me up after work, and I got to see his apartment. Definitely a bachelor pad:

The next day he went to work and I stayed at the apartment doing homework. I did meet him for lunch at his office cafeteria, though.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t take pictures of his office because it’s TOP SECRET!

That night we had dinner at Sarah and Ben’s! I miss them and can’t wait till I live closer.

Friday Mark worked from home. We went to In and Out Burger for lunch. For those of you who have never experienced the joy of that burger joint, that alone is worth coming out to visit us.

We spent Friday evening researching baby things on Consumer Reports (and by we I mean Mark) and then setting up our registries. Baby clothes are SO CUTE! Also, Babies R Us is really crowded at 9 PM on Friday night. Who woulda thought?

Also? Mark does not understand pregnancy cravings. Earlier in the week we grabbed a donut for breakfast. This donut was delicious. On Saturday, I NEEDED another one. Poor Mark thought I was just saying that I was hungry and that I wouldn’t NEED a donut after eating lunch. He was wrong. Luckily, he came to understand the power of cravings and we stopped to get some donuts to have for Sunday morning breakfast. I was so excited I started eating my donut before we even left the store.

We spent Saturday night checking out strollers, bottles, and baby monitors at Target. I think I can now tell you anything you want to know about each brand of baby bottles, both BPA-free and not.

Sunday I got up early to pack. I thought it would be nice to get breakfast in bed for Mark by presenting an array of donuts for him to choose from. In theory, this was a cute idea:

…In reality, he rolled over as soon as my back was turned and knocked donuts all over the bed. Whoops! My bad!

And then, all too soon, time to go to the airport. Only 8 weeks until Thanksgiving!!!