Far from uneventful

If you have been following our blog and check in every now and then, you will notice that we have not been very faithful about posting. Well, that isn't for lack of things to post about! So to catch you all back up here is a very brief version of the highlights (besides, most of you probably got the Christmas letter with the highlights already). Anyway, here it goes...Baby was born. Named him Corey. Took him on a road trip. 11 states in 2 weeks. Sold our condo. Bought a house. Thanksgiving in Wenatchee. Grandparents coming to Christmas here. And that about sums it up.

We are loving our baby and our new home. We are so glad for all the extra room now. The condo was definitely too small for us and a baby ;0).

Baby Shower

Last Saturday was beautiful, and made for a perfect day to celebrate baby Corey. The ladies at church put on a lovely shower, complete with good company, yummy food and a carefully scultped diaper cake (pictured below, but it was even cuter in person). We are getting closer now to meeting our little guy, and getting showered with gifts makes it all the more real.

Mother's Day

I may not have a baby in my arms yet, but I definitely have a baby bump, and my dear husband thought that that was enough to celebrate the day. He woke me up Sunday morning and asked if I wanted to come eat breakfast. I am pretty sure I responded with "not really" as I was thinking about the yucky cereal I had left in the cupboard...but then I smelled french toast!


Doug had gotten up early and prepared french toast for me. He also had the sweetest mother's day card and a box of my favorite chocolates sitting by my plate. He sure knows how to make me feel special! Unfortunately, he burned his finger on the frying pan...not a very pleasant reward for his sweet efforts.

Meet our newest edition...

B.O.B

With baby on the way, baby "stuff" starts rolling in...quite literally in this case. B.O.B is our new stroller. We have had our eye on it for some time now, but finally bit the bullet and bought it (REI was having a sale...who can resist that!). Doug assembled it in no time flat, and was so pleased with it that he was tempted to take it out for a spin!



Besides the stroller, we also have the infant car seat and baby's crib. Both are set up and ready to go in our nursery/guest bedroom. With May here, we are counting down the weeks to our little one's arrival.

Friday Harbor

Some time ago, we planned a weekend getaway to a bed and breakfast in Friday Harbor. We knew that this would probably be our last chance to do nice vacation before baby came along. Also, Melissa was going to be in town with us still, so we thought it would be fun to include her, and treat her to a nice weekend away after having her slave away while here (she and Doug cleaned the carpets and moved furniture earlier in her visit). So this was the long awaited weekend, and it was just perfect! The weather behaved and we ended up with sunshine the entire weekend with the exception of one cloudy morning that eventually cleared into a beautiful sunny day.

At our bed and breakfast we enjoyed a cozy room, delicious gourmet breakfasts (all including dessert!), yummy homemade cookies every afternoon, and relaxing bubble baths.


We enjoyed exploring San Juan Island and came across many beautiful views and a few of the local wildlife.





We also enjoyed tasting what the local restaurants had to offer…from fancy seafood restaurants to “world famous fish and chips” from a local bar. We even enjoyed ice cream on the wharf even when the weather was probably a bit to chilly for a frozen treat.



The rest of the time we were either just relaxing, or walking the docks and streets of Friday Harbor soaking up the warm rays of sunshine and just enjoying the fact that we didn’t have to do anything or be anywhere…such a wonderful feeling.

On our way home, we made a detour and stopped at one of the tulip fields in the Skagit Valley. We just happened to hit the end of the tulip festival season, so we got to treat Melissa to the amazing view of thousands upon thousands of tulips, and a variety of tulips that you would only find in a bulb catalog…needless to say she was on cloud nine, and her camera is full of the colorful blooms.

Nesting?

With spring the the air and Easter just around the corner, these little cookies seemed like the perfect treat.


(picture inspired by K's bird nest cookie making last year)

Cream Puffs

The other day I was talking to Doug about cream puffs and he had no clue that I used to make them, so I thought I had better do my wifely duty and give him a sampling. Okay, maybe it was a more self satisfying motive, but hey what better excuse! Here are some pictures of my completed work...they almost look too good to eat, but I am sure that won't stop us.



Just heard on the radio that March is national nutrition month, HA!

Ultrasound

Here are the long awaited first pictures of Corey Thomas! The doctor says everything looks good. We are on cloud nine here looking forward to our beautiful baby boy!

Valentine's Day

I was supposed to work today, but on a whim, I called to see if they needed to cancel anyone...sure enough I got a call saying I didn't need to come in. Ah, the things that make my day ;0). Anyway, I hadn't planned on being home for Valentine's day, so needless to say, dinner was not planned. I did have some leftover roasted potatoes in the fridge, and by pure chance (or cupid?) I ran across some bacon in the freezer earlier today. So when I was thinking dinner it all came together...we wouldn't have dinner at all...we would have breakfast! Our menu consisted of homemade buttermilk pancakes, roasted potatoes, scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, and fresh green beans. And although we could have gotten by without the pancakes (trust me, we had PLENTY of food), they were the only food item that made it a Valentine's day meal.

A touch (or kick) of reality

Well, I mentioned before that this whole baby thing doesn't feel real yet. Maybe it is because no one can even really tell that I am pregnant, even though I feel huge! Or maybe it's because I was feeling so gross for a while there that I really couldn't focus on anything other than that. Well, for the past week things have started to set in. I have started to feel better...much better, which is a wonderful relief, and last week I finally started to feel baby move inside of me! And boy do we have an active baby in there! He/She seems to kick kick kick all the time. Doug has even been able to feel the kicks. With reality setting in, we have started to think about things like car seats, baby cribs, strollers etc. etc. etc. etc. (you would be amazed at the list of STUFF that is suggested for a newborn...yikes). And instead of focusing on the pregnancy books, I have turned to books about raising baby (currently On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo is in the stack, and although not a great literary work, its ideas and recommendations seem very useful). At our next appointment we will have our first sonogram. If baby is willing we may be able find out if baby is a boy or a girl. So more updates to come in a couple of weeks.

In case you are wondering...

...all is still well with us. With all the media reports of Microsoft layoffs, we are pleased to say that as of today, Doug still has a job. We were a little concerned when we first heard the news of the layoffs as we were literally right in the middle of emptying a large portion of our savings in order to refinance our condo. But our concerns were fleeting as we know that whatever happens, God will provide.

As for baby, my belly continues to expand. I am officially 4 months along, and still waiting for energy and wellness that seemed to be promised in the second trimester. Somehow it doesn't quite seem real yet. Maybe once I start feeling baby move it will set in, but for now I am just feeling ill and pudgy ;0).

TMI

I know, I haven't posted in ages. It just seems that the new things going on in our life would probably be TMI (too much information) for the average reader (pregnancy is much more than just the happy news and a growing belly ;0)). For example, most readers would not like to hear that I have a hair aversion. That I gag the instant I see (or think about) a hair on the loose. Or the fact that I have seen an increase in the number of facial blemishes, and with fairer than fair skin and being that it is winter in Seattle, I would be better off using white out as cover up!

Anyway, for other non-pregnancy related news, we are safe and sound (and warm and dry) here in Seattle. I know that national news has been focused on this area a lot this winter...first with the snow storms, then with the flooding. We did get dumped on as far as snow. We had 10-12 inches fall in one night which basically shut Seattle down. But being that we own a Subara AWD with snow tires, we had no difficulty at all...we just had to watch out for the other drivers (the ones that think because they have all season tires they are all set for snow driving!!)! And as for the floods, we watched the water rise in the field across the street, but we are several feet above the water level, and live on the second story, so no problems there either. Now we are just waiting for a glimpse of the sun promised to us this weekend (but what do those weather people know anyway...afterall we were only supposed to get 2-3 inches of snow ;0)).

We enjoyed family this holiday season. Kristen and Johnny flew in from Germany, and Alex, Riann and kids travelled up from Astoria and we all spent a week in Wenatchee enjoying warm fires, Christmas goodies and conversation. It seemed as if the calendar days fell off before our eyes, and soon it was back to real life...aka work.

We did pop over the mountains last weekend to pick up some things we had left behind after Christmas, and felt spoiled with good company, homemade meals, fresh fruit and again that warm and welcoming fire where we relaxed after a busy week. Aha...just thinking about it makes me feel relaxed and ready for a nap (hmm or is that just the pregnancy talking ;0))

With the cold and rainy weather still hanging about, Doug and I are seriously contemplating a vacation to warmer parts of the world. A cruise to Mexico or the Carribean? A Vegas vacation? Just a trip to Florida swinging by to see friends and family on the way? It would be our last chance pre-kid, and if we do it soon enough perhaps I won't be too uncomfortable to enjoy it.

Oh and if you are curious, our little blueberry is now about the size of an apple!