Masquerade Ball

This past Saturday was Jessica's 25th and Nico's 4th birthday ball. The theme was cocktail attire masquerade style. I did not get too many pics unfortunately, but impressively I did stay out until 11:30 pm!
Lala and Cinnamon
La and Sami
Jessica receiving her cake. We all sang Happy Birthday along with the accordions.
Nico eating her salmon and whipped cream cake. MMMMMM
Lala with the b-day girl, Nico. Nico sported a fancy feather collar.

Baby Quilt

Just in time, I finished the baby's quilt today. I do admit that I love it and I am pretty proud of my sewing/design skills.
The front of the quilt
An up close view

The quilt back
I think it looks great folded over the crib in the nursery. Hopefully the baby enjoys it too.

Spanking Clean Fridge

Since baby arrival is nearing, we have begun to work on "the list" of fun and ever so exciting dirty jobs. Sami is an expert fridge cleaner and enjoys doing a stellar clean job about twice a year. He decided (with a little help) today was the day. Being foodies, we keep our fridge pretty clean and our leftovers do have a self life, but it always feels great to have a thorough clean job. This time it only took him 2 hours. (he is getting faster!)

Chocolate Banana Bread

Today is the last of our 7 birth classes, and also a potluck. Here is the delicious banana bread I made for the event.

8 1/2 Months Preggo!

So, as of today, I am 34 weeks pregnant or 8 1/2 months. Just to clear up the "how many moths pregnant are you???" discussion. Pregnancy is actually 9 WHOLE months or 40 weeks, so the due date is actually the first day of the 10th month. A bit confusing I know. So, I still have 6 weeks until my due date, but technically I am considered "term" at 37 weeks, or 3 more weeks. Ahhhh! It is good to know that if I delivered at any point from now on the baby's chance of survival is golden.
Sassy belly.
Cute belly.
Santa belly. (this one was named by Kris and Sarah. Thanks guys. Gives me an excuss to eat lots of cookies and milk.)

Baby Nursery Revealed!!!!

The nursery is basically complete at this point. I already love this room and enjoy sitting on the rocker while I talk on the phone. It is very peaceful and serene. It really does not feel "lived in" yet, but I imagine it won't until our little one is present.
I LOVE this rocker. I was obsessed for months with finding an upholstered chair that was modern, comfy, and might be functional post babies. Most baby gliders are hideous and look like they belong in an 80-year old woman's country-style home. And most modern gliders cost a mere fortune, so we were thrilled when we found this one on sale at Babies R Us for $300.
The tree on the wall is a decal and can be removed and re-done. The side table is a re=painted antique.
The crib is a Jenny Lind crib. They have been around since the 50's. The bookcase we had and simply re-painted.
I have 2 of these rectangular polka-dot rugs in the room. They were on super-sale at Pier One. The pompazon swing has been recommended to me by all my mamma pals. I registered for one (it was way more obnoxious than this one..too many bells and whistles), but then came across this older version of one at a baby consignment store...for 1/2 the price. We were thrilled to buy one used and it great condition. Sami loves it because it is bumble bee themed.
Here is an antigue dresser we found that will be doubling as a changing table. And, of course, I had to put some ball jars in the room.
These prints I have had for many months now, patiently awaiting the finished nursery. They are from an artist on Etsy. Decopauged birds and trees from French newspapers. Birds and trees is kind of the "theme" for the room if I had to pick one.
Here is the amazing bird mobile made by Laura. It is above the changing table. The birds are made from fun printed paper.
Ahh, the closet doors. For some wierd reason, this closet never had a door. We figured having a crawling/walking child in a room without closet doors might lead to disaster. We opted for French paneled doors. I attached fabric to the inside of the doors to camoflouge any messes in the closet.
Bookcase up close.
The crib bedding has little birds on it.
And finally, the enterence into the room. The ABC hooks are hung low so baby Grover can hang her things when she is old enough.

Braxton-Hicks

So yesterday I experienced a fun new 3rd trimester symptom, Braxton-Hicks contractions. It was a weird day from start to finish. I got up at my usual time for a work day and felt very dizzy and nauseous while in the shower. I decided I needed to lie back down for 45 minutes to try to feel "normal" again. I felt a bit better after waking up and headed to work. I had a morning full of clients, then I took a 15 minute walk at lunch. It was blazing hot and I kept having a tingling feeling in my extremities. I had to sit down on 3 random porches in Hillsborough in order to make it back to work. Then, I noticed a strange tightening in my uterus. This is probably a feeling that I have had before, but not for so long. The Braxton-Hicks ( I had to call Sarah to look them up) are pretty normal at this stage and will progress through the remander of the pregnancy. They are my body's way of getting ready and strengthining my uterus for birth. They pretty much lasted the rest of the afternoon and into the night. The were not painful, but did worry me a bit since they are a fairly new experience. Anyway, my body was able to relax some during the night. For awhile there, my belly was in a permanent pointed position from the contractions. Weird! The belly feels a little less tight today, although I have noticed some of the tightening.
Ahhhh, about 6 1/2 more weeks of fun-filled uncomfortableness. Yippy!

Pig in a Sling

Thanks to Jessica's thrifty garage sale spotting, we now have a sling for the bambina. Bela really wanted to try it out. He liked it for about 10 minutes, then he flipped out!

Nursery Sneak Peek

I am not quite ready for the bif reveal, but here is a little sneak peek. I am trying to get the nursery mostly finished before the blessingway, since it will be at our house. This is the view from the hallway looking into the room.
Papa made the stool for me when I was a babe.
The ABC print is from ModernPop, an artist on Etsy.

Aracnaphobia

This HUGE creature set up camp right outside our front door. Check out that zig-zag in the web! Amazing.

New Tile in Upstairs Bathroom!!!

Thanks to our friend Ryan (and Sami's great grout sealing skills) the upstairs bathroom tile is complete. The floor is a simple white subway tile in a brick pattern. The tiles match the tiled shower and now we can change the style of the bathroom easily since white goes with everything. Just hope we don't regret the white when our kids are using that bathroom!
Th

Tomatoes a Plenty

These beauties came from Laura and Jessica's community garden. Our still have a couple of days until they are ripe. Then we might have about 100!

8 Months Pregnant!

Eight weeks of harvesting yet to go.

Sami...Post De La Soul

Sami and Lala had a brother/sister date last night. They attended a much anticipated De La Soul concert. I have really been encouraging Sami to go out and live it up before Lilia comes and we are housebound for awhile. He left the house about 7:30 and I got a call around 9. He decided it was too much fun having a couple beers, so he decided to have a few more and stay in town at Lala's house. This picture is him this morning after arriving home around 11am for some much needed coffee. Should I put him to work or let him have the day off??? hehehe We shall see.

Baby Bela

We are slowly getting the nursery in order. Yesterday I put the changing pad cover on the changing pad. About 30 minutes later, I walked in to find Bela ready for a diaper change.

Garden Delights

Another meal almost entirely from our garden. Mashed potatoes, romas, yellow squash, and carrots. the pork is from Cane Creek Farm down the road.

Kissing Cousins

Our precious cousins, Casey and Natalie, have headed back to Ohio this morning. We had such a fabulous visit this past week. Laura, Jess, Sami, and I were very sad to see them go. It was amazing to spend some "parent-free" time with the girls and really get a chance to know them and discover the young adults they are becoming.
This was Thursday night. Our last supper at The Spotted Dog.
Kissing cousins.
In order of age: Chip, Flip, Snip, Rip, and Zip
"These fries are totally covered in fry" hehahahhe

Booboos

I had quite a graceful fall on Wednesday evening after work. Leaving the clinic, I must have missed a step and hit the concrete parking lot pretty hard. Luckily I landed on all fours. I managed to bang up my knees and feet pretty bad. It was a bit of a shock, and lots of blood, but no major damage. Mamma and baby are just fine.

A Great Find

For about 6 months now, we have been casually looking for a glider for the front porch. They usually run around $500-600. We found this glider and chair at the flea market this weekend for $200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It will take quite a bit of elbow grease, but the structure is in great condition. What color should we paint it?

Cousin Beach Trip!!!!!!!!

Group shot.
Something tickled us.
Sistas
Sistas and the sunset.
Kissing cousins.
Ladies sunning.
Enjoying a beach read.
Baby's first beach trip.
Cousins.
Road trip fun.