Rice Rice Baby

We were hoping to know if our baby was a boy or a girl today, but baby was shy at our appointment yesterday! The ultra sound technician told us baby was a girl, but the doctor told us not to count on it, and wait until the next ultra sound to be sure. Baby was curled up in a comfy position that made it hard to get a good view of what we needed to see.... or not see. :) Baby was too shy to give us a good picture of the face and profile as well, but I have a few shots to post anyway. Click for bigger versions.

The little hand is up top, the head to the left and tummy to the right.

This shot is supposed to show that baby is a girl, but the doctor said that the best angle we could get wasn't one that confirmed the gender for sure.

I am disappointed that I can't paint the nursery and start buying gender specific baby things yet, but knowing that baby is healthy and growing on schedule was good enough for us. Seeing all of the perfectly formed body parts was amazing and touching, for lack of a better word ~ the little fingers and toes, the spine, brain and heart all healthy and strong! It was amazing to see baby move. I felt very connected as I watched the screen. As I inhaled and exhaled, baby moved ever so slightly to the movement of my lungs. It was amazing.

Enough gushing. Have a great weekend everyone ~ I should have a few pics from Kyle and Jen's wedding when we get back next week. Cheers!

Facebook

I am finally a budding member of Facebook. It took awhile to get me interested, but I must say now I am hooked, and I like it more than myspace! If you have a facebook profile/account, make sure to find and add me. You may be able to click here to sign in and find me, otherwise just search for my full name to do so.

How was everyone's Thanksgiving? I hope the holiday and weekend was enjoyable, relaxing, and perfect. We spent a great day with Eric's parents. The huge Thanksgiving lunch was amazing, and we saw the movie Beowulf that evening. I wasn't particularly impressed by the animation, and it was rather long, however the story line was good, and the music was wonderful. To each his own, I suppose! :) The rest of the weekend was relaxing, and I spent much time reading. It was nice to have a relaxing weekend before the busy weekend ahead. Eric and I are in the bridal party for his brother Kyle and fiancee Jennifer's wedding this weekend, which will be great! The wedding is in Virginia, so we will be there for 4 days to enjoy the festivities.

Stay tuned for some exciting news tomorrow. Happy Monday, friends!

Christmas is Coming...

The geese are getting fat.... come on, sing it with me! I know you're already humming. :) I don't know about you, but I'm starting to feel the crunch. I haven't done any shopping yet, and with all the time we will spend out of town in the next month, I'm hoping my Christmas shopping doesn't become too frantic! On the other hand as prior posts have shown, I am already in quite the Christmas spirit. The last few years, it hasn't felt like Christmas until December 25th. Maybe the snow flurries we had last week made the impending season feel more real. The weather is cold, the trees are shedding their leaves, the scents of wood burning fires fill the air, and gingerbread lattes lure busy shoppers into cozy coffee shops. The sugar free gingerbread latte is amazing, by the way!

Soon I will be decorating for Christmas, and rearranging my autumn wreath to look more "wintery". I could almost jump up and down in my seat as I think about decorating our first Christmas tree in our new home. Isn't it funny how such little things bring so much joy?

Eric and I will be in California with my family for a week over Christmas, and I couldn't be more excited. I haven't seen them since last Christmas, and I won't begin to relate how difficult it has been being away from them for so long.

Here's to getting all of our shopping done early, fellow bloggers! My first Christmas countdown, in honor of the coming festivities.

Thanksgiving!

We enjoyed a wonderful early Thanksgiving feast last night. Our small group came together to collectively produce and enjoy a delicious spread of our favorite Thanksgiving foods, along with quite enjoyable company! After dinner, we played games and had a grand time.

We taught Jill and Zack how to play Settlers of Catan
and they loved it, of course. Katie (right) was about to
give Dave a nice smack upside the head...

This is how Dave's face stuck after she smacked him.
Eric might need to get smacked also...

Poor Laura (on the right) wasn't feeling well,
but you couldn't tell from this picture!

Phase 10 takes some major concentration.

Mmm. I can still smell the turkey and stuffing...

I love Thanksgiving decorations!

New Look

It's officially time for a blog overhaul. I only get to enjoy Christmas time for a few short days every year, so I'm starting now with a new banner and some new colors. And no, I'm not getting a tree and decorating my house until after Thanksgiving.

Christmas in November

Katie and I were feeling Christmas cheer-like last weekend, and decided to make Christmas cookies. There are certain kindred spirits who enjoy Christmas so much, that celebration and preparation begins as early as the first weekend of November. We are two such jolly people. (For a visual definition of Jolly, ask Eric the next time you see him.) We made sugar cookies and No-Sugar Sugar Cookies (yay diabetes!), which turned out great. For future reference, I would not recommend making sugar free frosting or glaze, unless you want to eat cookies topped with glue. For those of us who already feel the Christmas cheer, it is never too early to watch Christmas movies or bake Christmas cookies in an overly jolly manner, like so.


My giant gingerbread-looking-man wore red pajamas. We nearly burned the midnight oil after all.


The snowman cookie I made that graces the middle of this picture got quite cold. Hence his name, "Nipple Boy".


For those other kindred spirits who enjoy Christmas so much, listen to Christmas music online!