Sitting...thinking...waiting...

I'm sitting in my office right now goofing around on my computer and watching Glee as Drew is entertaining people in the other room for Game Night ( basically a bunch of boys who come play nerdy games til wee hours of the morning). This office, as an office, will not live much longer, as the "office" will soon be the "nursery:.

That being said, there is A LOTTTTTTTT of workto do in this room to make it nursery ready. The office has become the catch-all room in our house, holding clothes, extra picture frames, my Scentsy stuff, seasonal decor that hasn't found its way to the attic, etc.

The main reason we haven't really started working on this room yet is because we're waiting to find out the gender of the baby. It's hard to feel compelled to spend a lot of time in here when I don't know where I'm gonna end up. We find out the gender on October 20th, so I'm sure October 21st will be the first busy day we have getting our house ready...
and then there's the garage...
and the backyard...
and the attic...
and the... and the...and the...

Seattle

Drew and I recently got back from a mini vacation in Seattle. I had never been to the great rainy city, and Drew LOVES Seattle. To make it all the better, we got to stay with our wonderful friends: Morgan, Bethany, and Claire Quigley. We had a wonderful time exploring the Space Needle, a Mariners baseball game, Pike's Place Market, the Pier, and we even took a tour under old Pioneer Square and then a harbor tour. We truly enjoyed our trip, especially since this might have been our last little vacation for awhile! Thanks to our wonderful hosts for showing us all around and taking such great care of us- we always love being with you and look forward to more adventures with you!!

Miss Alli

So Alli Berkson and I have known each other since we were much, much smaller. We did the whole growing up, going to school, moving away routine, and over the last two years or so have had the chance to form grown-up friendships all over again. We've shared many a coffee dates and Saturday morning adventures, but the best thing we get to share right now is our adventure into motherhood. Alli is currently 19 weeks pregnant and her baby bump just recently popped into existence. She is absolutely adorable with this little pooch right around her middle.

This last week I was able to take a natural light photography class, and when they told us we would be needing a model for our final shoot, I knew I had to only make one phone call. Getting to catch Alli's process of sprouting a tummy was exactly what I wanted to capture, and she readily said yes!!!

We met up at the Depot on Saturday morning and below you will find some of my favorite pictures. I told her I was aiming for five really good shots and I think I got them! I told her we'd do some more as she progresses and has even more to show off- a great way to start some new memories with a great friend. Thanks Miss Alli, I am so glad to we get to share this adventure together!!!

More Baby Pictures

We had our second doctor's appointment today. We were hoping to hear a heartbeat, since we hadn't been able to last time (4 weeks ago, at 9 weeks). The doctor tried for about five (long) minutes to find it with the dopler, but couldn't. Sensing we were discouraged, as was he, he sent us over to the ultrasound side of the clinic. We still weren't able to hear a heartbeat, because they don't recommend using an ultrasound to hear the heartbeat, but we got some new pictures, one of which shows off the cutest little face ever. It was a quick appointment after a long wait in the lobby- we found out later that he was late because he was delivering a baby on the other side of the hospital (good enough excuse for me). We have our next appointment on September 24th and hopefully will be able to tell the gender at our October appointment- and yes, we WILL find out!!!

The Adventures Begin!!!

So if you couldn't tell by the above picture, we're PREGNANT, and I've been getting grief from some folks out there for not posting anything about it on my blog. So here you go, here's a posting.

As of now, we are just under 13 weeks. We are due March 6th, 2011, but I'm hoping to pop perhaps in February. If we do deliver in March, I'm hoping for March 5th, my Grandma Rosie's birthday. We go tomorrow (Friday) for our second doctor's appointment and we're hoping to hear a heart beat- we saw it on the monitor at our first appointment, but we didn't get to hear it. Specifically, we're hoping for a heartbeat of less that 130- a possible factor for having a boy!! I've not experienced much morning sickness, a second characteristic of having a boy...so we'll see.

Mostly, everything is going really well, and I can't really think of anything I would change. I get tired a little earlier at night, and am eating my meals a little earlier, but other than that, I feel great.

Stay tuned for more updates!!!

Family Pics 2010

Even though Drew and I are just a small family of two, we enjoy pausing for a few minutes a few times a year to snap a few shots of where we've been and what we've been doing in our busy lives. Thanks to the photographic eye of a dear friend, we came away from this evening with some great keepers. Here are our favs!

I Finally Did It!!!!

Well, after much hard work and much fewer order of french fries, I met my Weight Watcher (WW) goal. It took me 355 days and in the end, I lost 40 pounds and dropped two pant sizes. While the numbers have increased and decreased, one thing that has remained constant is the pride I now have in myself. This truly was a whole-body make-over for me and I am very pleased with my results. Don't get me wrong, it was a tough road, and at times, I wasn't sure why I was following it. Those reasons are still becoming clear to me and I discover something new about my new self everyday.

I know I promised that when I reached my goal, I would share my numeric success, and I will stay true to that promise. When I started WW on July 3, 2009, I weighed in at 213.2 (3 pounds less than my highest measured weight). On June 24, 2010, I hit the scale at 172.6. Today, I remain between 172 and 175, as I am trying to figure out where I want to remain. The challenge, now, is truly proving that this IS a lifestyle change and NOT a diet. A diet you stop when you reach your goal and this is when most people put their weight back on. My goal is to not do that :) I have to find a way to now stay constant and secure with where I am... which is in a comfortable size 12!

During my process, I was very conscience about my appearance and rarely allowed time for the camera to capture what I was doing. So, when I reached my goal, I asked a girlfriend to snap a few pics of the "new and improved" me. Below are a few of my favs... Enjoy them, as I plan on enjoying their benefits for a long time to come!