OUR new office

along with a new baby comes lots of reconfiguring of space.  in our home and my belly.  the most recent conversion on the long long list of nesting projects was to convert the "man room" into our office.  for obvious reasons this is an adjustment for Dave.  and for me as well, relaxing on seeing his underwear on the office floor.  

all to make room for baby.  my old office is becoming the nursery, which was really my closet and my office.  an obvious adjustment for me, too.  as you can see from the below photo, the one thing that remains is my lovely warm foot rest, Tuk. 

we've begun to seriously start the thinking of what to do with the nursery... which is really hard.  or maybe we're making it really hard.  

xoxo

It's a baby! With all it's fingers and toes!

... and heart.  belly, spine, brain, kidneys.  

today was the "big" ultrasound and it was beyond big.  pretty phenomenal in fact.  we were even able to get a 3D photo of what the babe looks like.  and as far as we can tell it has Sarah's nose and Irish cheeks.  i really hope it has Dave's ankles.  the photo is a little creepy but if you would like to see i can email or post if we get enough comments. we looked away for all of the private part shots, so we held out.  it was hard. very hard not to find out but so happy we didn't.  the u/s tech was patient and great, spending over an hour with us.  Sarah even had to do a few yoga poses to try and move the baby around to get a better profile shot, but the above was the best we could get and I think it's pretty good.  the due date stayed the same : march 13.  the baby now weighs 1lb and is the size of a banana.  

more news soon.  

XO

donut delight

along with being pregnant comes cravings.  or at least with this pregalina.  at first it was taco bell, usually around 10.30a.  yes, they are open at 10.30 and serve the normal menu.  that was just to quench the queasiness.  if you can call it a menu.  

in the recent days it has turned to donuts.  very specifically apple fritters.  reminiscent of uncle john's cider mill and bintz's apple farm from childhood.  today, i found the city equivalent at world's fair donuts (see photo).  it is way out of the way but worth the drive.  it's worth it to meet (see) the people behind the counter.  the woman's hair has more bobby pins wrapping it into a donut looking shape, similar to a french curl, than you can purchase in one pack.  and the man looks to have stepped out of the happy days kitchen to make donuts.  and the donuts are melt in your mouth delic!  you can also get full-fat milk or full-fat chocolate milk.  fantastic!   

i really hope this craving ends fairly soon, it's grossing me out.  

we have movement the size of an heirloom tomato

Ok, so all the movement that I was positive was the baby, was just my lunch.  This morning we went to the doctor and heard the heart beat: 153 beats / minute.  And we both felt movement, me inside, and Dave could feel the baby moving with his hand on my belly.  It's really incredible.  It made me really excited!  All of episodes on animal planet on how other species have babies really doesn't compare until you actually are going through it.  it's no longer surreal, it's pretty real.  

We've begun to interview Doula's, and hope to decide by this weekend.  In hopes of a natural birth.  And apparently we now have to find a pediatrician in addition to our house doctor!  Next week is the "big" ultrasound - wondering what "big" means?  

A huge thank you to my very supportive husband for making it to every OB visit - thank you, babe.  

XO to all.

so we're having a baby...

as most everyone knows by now, we're having a baby.  

based on the above photo, we weren't sure (at least Sarah wasn't sure) if the first test was accurate.  i mean really how can a test sold in a box for $9.99 sold at a store with a terrible name (schnuck's) really be accurate for something so life changing?  apparently, it is.  because when you are pregnant, you're pregnant, no two tests necessary.  so if you are thinking you might be pregnant, save yourself some money and only buy one.  

it's taken me forever, over 18 weeks to be exact to post.  not sure why, other than we wanted to make sure everyone knew, superstition, nausea, exhaustion, and my new addiction to facebook.  

so we are having a baby around March the 13.  It happens to be Friday the 13, which is the day we met, so all is good on the superstition of the number 13 and friday the 13th.  we aren't going to find out if it's a boy or a girl but are having our big ultrasound in a few weeks, and hopefully Dave doesn't peek at the screen.  and no we aren't going to find out for you by putting it in an envelope, nice try. 

more soon.

virginia is for lovers

(the first dance)

this weekend we had the pleasure of going to the wedding of our dear friend's erin and chris.  it was in smith mountain lake, Virginia.  about 700 miles from home in the middle of blue grass country.  we had never been to this area before and decided driving would allow us to see more of the country - on the way there it was great, the 12 straight hour drive yesterday was a bit bold.  it's all part of the journey, right?  

the wedding was beautiful, in typical erin and chris style it was unique and person

able.  chris had a custom tailored suit and erin w

ore a tea-length white halter gown topped off with shiny red Manolo's just beaut

iful and fun.  it kind of made me wish i had worn bright red Manolo's for our wedding.  erin's cousin is a talented country/blue grass singer and he and his fiddler-partner whooped up the night.  it was fun to see Da

ve and all of his fraternity brother's do-si-do each other.  erin and her team turned a little picnic area on a point into an elegant San Fransisc

o fete with exquisite flowers flown in from the west coast and lighting that was reminiscent of a broadway show complete with carousel.   great food with elegant bbq topped off by homemade southern pie.

the wedding gave us a chance to see our friends eric and yvonne who stopped for the wedding on the way 

to Norway from LA.  they are doing great, Yvonne is pursuing a lifelong dream of acting and was wowing us with tales of meeting geor

ge clooney and lindsey lohan - so fun!  eric is one of the craziest energetic dancers I've ever seen... see photos below.

the ceremony (and weekend) was a beautiful reminder of how fun it is to be in love enjoying the adventure of marriage, and how important it is to stay connected with friends.

A few of the photos... 

(the beautiful tables)

(eric dan

cing, yvonne laughing)

(boys)

(chana and his lady)

(happy couple!)

silver lining

i love being home.  i love when you've been away and you realize that your house actually has a smell and it's a really nice one.  most importantly, i am happy that we are all home safe... it's been a wild few days...

so the story begins... every year we head up to Northern Michigan to celebrate Dave's Grandpa's birthday at their cottage in Lake City, MI.  This year he turned 99, so it was a pretty big one. There are always 30+ people in a tiny three-room space.

the trip was to begin with Sarah driving with the dogs on Friday to Midland to spend time with her Dad and good friend Sarah.  About 90 minutes in to the drive, the computer on her car flashed that the transmission was about to go, she pulled over and was told by the mechanics to pull over immediately and have it towed to the nearest dealer. apparently dogs can't ride in tow trucks, so sarah waited for Dave, who came to the rescue.  

silver lining: was able to see our good friend chris, who was in-town for his bachelor party, CK : excited for august!

a big thanks to the Nayler's for helping out with the car - here it is being taken away.

Part two of the tale, begins with Sarah picking up Dave post-bachelor party to make the ten-hour drive together on Sunday AM.  We arrived in Michigan, swung by Grandpa's to see how he was holding up - he recently was put on oxygen 24 hours a day.  He was looking good and ready to go to the cottage.  From there we rushed to Midland for dinner with my Dad.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to see Sarah Smith because of timing, hopefully next time.  Had a great dinner and then took a walk with the dogs.  

While we were walking we let the dogs off the leash to run on the golf course which was a really bad idea.  Ogi was hit by a car.  It was one of those moments where you see it all occur before it even begins.  It was a rapid-fire experience.  Dave sorted out that he had broken his right hind leg, at the very least.  And in a town the size of Midland there isn't an emergency vet.  Thanks to Judy (Dad's girlfriend) she called her vet (it was midnight) and he came in to do triage and x-rays at his practice about 30 miles away.  Ogi was in terrible pain, screaming and 

the thought of the night still brings tears to my eyes.  Based on his size (90 pounds), age (15 months), activity level and break (spiral fracture).  It was decided he had to have surgery and a normal cast would not do.  So we put him under - my Dad was the anesthesiologist (that is the only funny note in this story) and splinted the leg and got a few more x-rays.  We were sent home with lots of pills and planned to find a surgeon in the AM. 

Part three...The closest surgeon was in Grand Rapids, about a 2.5 hour drive... no one really slept that night especially Ogi.  He was on massive meds but nothing was really working.  As of 7a we were on the phone with our vet in STL and the vet in GR - the decision was made to make the 2.5 hour drive and they would try to do surgery that day.  Off we went.  The drive was rough, lots of tears.  Made it to the surgeon's and within minutes they had him ready to go for surgery.  Amazing.  The surgery was complete around 6p and we were able to pick him up the next morning.  It took one plate and nine screws but Ogi's leg will be back in action in a few short (about 9 to 11) weeks!  We are so very lucky it didn't end differently.  

The silver lining here ... we were on the West side of the state which allowed us to visit Sarah's college roommate, Sophia, and her new baby, Gus.  So fun!  And we had dinner and spent the night with Dave's fraternity brother Evan and his wife Sarah.  We were able to have a great fresh perch dinner and end a very long day with a campfire on the beach of Lake Michigan.  Everything that night was shadowed by fear and concern for Ogi.

Thanks to very good friends and all of the support of Judy and Dad in what could have been an even more difficult time. 

We went back to Midland and were able to spend a bit more time with Dad and Judy and gave Ogi some time to recover.  When we picked him up it was like the same old puppy we are used to - the only problem we face is to keep him calm and sedated.  Which is going to be harder for his parents than him.  It was a bittersweet trip, we were able to see good friends and family and celebrate our Grandfather who still stays up to midnight to beat everyone at Uno.

In a way it was a blue moment, just not the fun kind.

xo