Staying Home

Jason was supposed to leave today for a 5 day long business trip to be held at the same Los Cabos, Mexico, resort where we babymooned in January. But, his client has cancelled its meeting. . . .something about not wanting 25% of their worldwide sales team contracting swine flu. . . .

I know he's disappointed to not get to connect in person with these clients that he works with over the phone and computer all year long, but I'll admit that I'm happy he's staying home (and hopefully staying well) this close to baby's due date!

However, I already had a great weekend planned with my brother who is flying in this weekend! I think Ryan secretly hopes his nephew will arrive early and he'll get to be the first person to meet him, but I think he's a few weeks too early for that! I suspect we'll be having one last adult weekend and that he'll get to meet the baby in Chicago in June.

36 Weeks

36 weeks down, 4 (or so) to go!

This has been a busy week of baby adventures. Thursday was my doctor's appointment. It was my last 2 week appointment (although it had been 3 weeks since my last appointment due to our Chicago travel) and now I will go weekly.

The doctor confirmed my belief that the baby had "dropped" while we were in Chicago. He said the baby's head is engaged. I didn't feel the baby drop. I just noticed that the shape of my belly had changed dramatically and that there weren't feet in my ribs any longer!

Baby's heartbeat and my blood pressure were both good. I've gained 24 pounds, which is fine. He cautioned that any additional weight gain should be from healthy food and to stay away from the sweets in this last month. Otherwise, the baby may gain 1 pound per week instead of 1/2 pound per week, and I'd have to deliver a much bigger baby. Seems like pretty good motivation to avoid the donuts!

Yesterday we had our childbirth class at the hospital. We opted for the single, full day instead of classes for several evenings. It was exhausting (particularly since it was 90 degrees outside and felt nearly that warm inside the classroom - hence my "worn" look in the picture from last night)! I even got a slight sunburn on my arms at lunch when we ate at our cafeteria salads outside. The class was good and gave us lots to think about. The best part was practicing different massage techniques! My back was so happy! I think we need to practice those quite a bit more in the next few weeks before we need them during labor.

Unfortunately we got home last night and our air-conditioner wasn't working. It's 90 degrees again today, and we have no fans, so we're making due with the breeze coming in from outside and a propped open front door to draw in the building's cold air. Hopefully our landlord can send someone over tomorrow to fix it.

Rachel's 8th Birthday

Today is Rachel's 8th birthday - and her last as an only child! She told us she wanted a pony for her birthday, but we compromised and are giving her a brother. She seemed satisfied once we explained the benefits to her of a self-feeding infant and toddler. Now she just has to wait another 4 weeks for her present to arrive. As for this morning, she was too excited to be frolicking through the wet grass to pose for pictures, but I took some anyway!

I'll sit, but I won't look at the camera. . . .

Whoa! The sun is bright this morning!

Gotta run! Something interesting over here!

Food Critic

Have you seen this in your grocery store produce section yet (it's next to the bagged salads in mine)? According to its website, "It's not a juice, it's a snack."

Well, I've tried two of these snacks now and decided to comment. First I will say that they were on sale and I had a coupon, but each 6.75 ounce bottle still cost me over a dollar. The Cherry Grape flavor that I tried is 120 calories and loads of vitamin C combining bits of pear with apple, cherry and grape juice. It's not smooth and thick like a Naked Juice. It's basically half a container of chopped pears covered in grapey juice. So, you drink the thin juice and chew the bits and pieces. Yes, it's a little weird. The taste is decent - pears and juice with no weird aftertaste - but I would definitely prefer a Naked Juice (although those cost almost $4 each). Basically, I recommend eating a banana or apple or pear to get your fruit. Should be cheaper and just as good!

35 Weeks

Only 30-some days to go! Last week was exhausting, but exciting. We had a beautiful, warm, sunny weeekend here. Jason got in a round of golf; Rachel and I got in a nice walk and a few naps. This week it's back to work. Even though it's dark and rainy this morning, I can't be in a bad mood. At most I only have to walk in the rain 19 more mornings before I start maternity leave!

After my 33 week picture, I realized that my belly is gigantic! However, I think that shirt was particularly unflattering since it wasn't fitted at all. Today I meant to remedy that. However, I think my belly is still gigantic! :-) But, I think that's to be expected with an entire baby in there! Ha! Knock on wood, but my belly button hasn't popped, and I can still wear my wedding ring. Small victories!

Home Sweet Home

We've been busy house hunting in the Chicago suburbs this week. Hopefully, this one is our new house! We're still waiting on the last part of the inspection, but if all goes well, we'll be moving here in June.

It's got 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms upstairs. On the main level there is a sunny, eat-in kitchen that opens to the family room. Downstairs is a finished rec room and workshop. The garage has plenty of storage room, too. But, one of the best features is that we'll have a yard again! This view is from the guest bedroom upstairs. It overlooks the covered deck and all the green grass!

Little Lambs

The baby's nursery (once it is set up) doesn't have a theme per se, but I did decide very early on that I liked the white, furry, cuddleness of lambs. So, boy or girl, the baby was going to get a white, cream, brown and fuzzy nursery! Here are two items that we LOVE that have already arrived for baby to snuggle in:

Fisher Price Lamb Seat: It plays nice music and vibrates - we expect this to be a very popular item early on! (Thanks Grandma Hilary and Grandpa Ed!) Jelllykat large sheep plush toy. It lays flat and also stands up! I wish it came in adult size for me to nap on! (Thanks Grandma Joni and Grandpa Roger!)If I don't get any blogs posted in the next week, it's because we're out hunting for a new home to house the lambs (and the baby, and the dog, and us)!

Newseum

On Saturday, the guys headed out for a windy round of golf while Desiree and I headed downtown. We enjoyed tasty sandwiches for lunch at the Cowgirl Creamery and then headed to our featured destination: the Newseum.

Interior of the Newseum with its six level open atrium and all-glass front

Desiree was in journalist heaven as we made our way through six floors of archives about the impact of the media. There was an amazing section of Pulitzer prize winning photographs and the story behind each print. I also loved reading the old front pages which were reporting the important events of the day. But my favorite may have been the botched headlines which were printed on tiles in the restrooms! I even used the restroom on 3 of the 6 floors just so I could read more of them! :-)

Section of Berlin Wall and watch tower

On the sixth level was an outdoor terrace with beautiful views south over Pennsylvania Ave. To the east is the Capitol and directly across the street is the National Gallery of Art's West Building.

National Gallery of Art

Monuments by Moonlight

On Friday night we took the Monuments by Moonlight trolley tour. I was amazed how many people and tour groups were out seeing the sites that late (8-10 p.m.). First stop was the FDR Memorial on the Tidal Basin, which was gorgeous in the dark. We enjoyed it so much that we were 90 seconds late returning to the trolley and found it pulling out without us! Keith and Jason sprinted ahead to catch it for us while Desiree and I jogged behind. Catastrophe was averted as it let us back on.

Cherry blossom tree at the edge of the Tidal Basin with Washington Monument in the background.

Second stop was the Iwo Jima Memorial on the very far edge of Arlington Cemetery. Jason and I have been to Arlington several times, but we had never been to this section. I wasn't able to get any clear pictures in the dark of the memorial (the famous picture of the soldiers hoisting the flag on Mount Suribaci).

Third stop was at the Lincoln Memorial / Vietnam War Memorial / Korean War Memorial. We enjoyed seeing the Lincoln Memorial lit up in the dark, but we were awed by the Korean War Memorial on the dark, windy night.

19 soldiers wading through a Korean rice paddy.

Close-up of the Korean War Memorial granite wall mural which has the etchings of 2,400 soldiers. These were very faint to see in person, but showed up dramatically in the photo.

33 Weeks

I traded in the condo white door for today's picture. This is at the Newseum's sixth floor "Pennsylvania Avenue Terrace" Capitol view. My head is covering the Capitol here, but in my full Newseum post, you'll get a better feel for the awesome view.

Stay tuned for more posts about our fun weekend with friends Keith and Desiree from Kansas City. So far we've enjoyed beautiful weather and sites. This is the peak weekend for the Cherry Blossom Festival, so we're enjoying everything along with thousands of our closest tourist friends!

Sweet Little Libby

I've been debating with myself all week whether to do this post or not. . .you certainly recognize the adorable dogs in this picture as Lucy and Libby, my parents' Corgis.

Sadly, sweet little Libby got terribly sick last week and on Friday we lost her. She was barely 5 months old. I'm thankful for the 3 months that my parents did get to love her and dote on her. She was a sweet, sweet puppy, and is terribly missed.