The stroller arrived!

This is how we now spend our Friday nights. Notice the glass of Scotch that appears by the 2nd picture! The crib arrives tonight, I better buy more Scotch...

WEEK 28

A few belly shots. The baby continues to be extremely active, I am sure she is practicing some sort of dance routine in there.

Ahhhhhh, Swenson's Ice Cream. A neighborhood favorite for a certain pregnant woman.

WEEK 27
Our visit to Michigan

James, sister Christine and baby Julian



Vinne and Auntie Elle


Cristian and Uncle James

It's been a while since we posted; we had a busy August! We spent 10 days in Michigan where we visited with a lot of family. In 10 short days we saw my parents, James' parents, our sisters and their families, my uncle Noah, aunt Andra and couins Sophia and Julia who were returning from Camp Michigiania, my uncle Tom and aunt Sue who came up from Baltimore along with my cousin Natalie, my grandparents, Grandpa Powell and family and James' grandfather who lives in Sault Ste Marie, Canada. Phew! The bad news...we were camera lazy and didn't get many pictures, it just all passed so quickly. The visit ended with a baby shower thrown by Grandma June, my mom and my sister. It was wonderful to celebrate with our family and friends.

Before we left for Michigan, James painted the baby room a beautiful blue (I went to Vegas to meet my friend Kelly - sounds fair, right?). Now we are shopping for a crib and changing table/dresser and will post pictures once the room is completed. I am feeling good and growing quite a bit. The baby is moving like crazy and now has hiccups every day! At our latest doctor appointment everything was exactly as it should be and baby’s heartbeat was healthy and strong.

22 Weeks

I am loosing my belly button! We met our new doctor, Dr Julie Huh and we really like her. She challenged James to find the baby's heart beat with the monitor, which he found immediately. We spent the weekend picking out colors to paint the 2nd bedroom and James ventured into his first baby store...

20 Weeks

20 weeks and growing! We are half way there. Last week she started her first "real kicks", not just little flutters, and right away James could feel them. Every night, just as I am nodding off, the kicks become the strongest, it's like she knows! For now it's very sweet and it has been fun for us to feel her move around, but I am guessing in a few months when the kicks become even stronger and I become bigger, it won't be so cute!

18 weeks - It's a Girl!

Well, it's not a girl yet - but come November, Gabrielle will have a cute new doll to dress up, and James will be about a dozen years from having to chase a bunch of boys away from his kid. He's been drinking heavily since we got the news on Monday.

We've been taking some belly photos as of late, and have included a few here. You'll notice that even though the belly is definitely throwing Gabrielle's center of gravity off, it's not stopping us from enjoying California's great outdoors. The photo you see of us in the woods was taken last weekend at Point Reyes National Seashore, where we spent a morning hiking before a great breakfast at the Pine Cone Diner, our new favorite out-of-the-way breakfast spot. Best pancakes ever, by the way. Across the street from the Pine Cone is Cowgirl Creamery, birthplace (pun intended) of some of Northern California's best cheeses. We bought some fresh mozzarella that day (pasteurized, of course) along with some basil and a gorgeous heirloom tomato that turned into a Caprese salad that night, followed by pasta with James' homemade Bolognese sauce. Yes, we still like to eat :)

The realities of having to gear up for the imminent arrival of our daughter are upon us, and we've started to figure out what we need to buy. Strollers, bassinets, swaddle blankets and other assorted stuff that neither of us knows anything about are now regular topics of conversation, and we're heading out tomorrow to do some comparison shopping. It's likely to be a long day...