More snow

It's going to be a white Christmas

Armenian Bread

My Grandmother used to be the one to cook all of the Christmas goodies. This year, my mother and I decided that we had to carry on some of the tradition. 7 hours later, we introduced baby Annalisa to the wonderful scent of Chorag.




While we could not find the exact recipe, it was almost right.






The best Christmas morning breakfast. MMM

A Wintery Pacific Northwest Day

This is what we woke up to this morning.









Everyday just a little bit bigger

10 days old

Annalisa Alvina is 10 days old today. Where does the time go? Each day is a blur into the next. We are all doing well, falling into new roles, figuring out new hair styles (can you believe all that hair) and sleeping when we can. Here is a brief recap of the last 10.



Here she is at hour 1 weighting in at 7.8 and 21" long.





So far she is a very good baby who rarely cries...perhaps that is because she is held most of the time. Here she is with Grandpa Reed.





We had a celebration in honor of her turning one week old. Complete with cake and costume.






Ruby is a bit depressed over her demotion from our baby to the dog.







This is pretty much life currently.




Thanks for all the calls, emails and well wishes. David and I look forward to introducing her to you.

38 Weeks

I've been really impatient lately wanting to know when she will come, when the last piece of furniture will come, just what is her name...
However, I woke up this morning and the fretting is gone. I hope this new found relaxed state is here to stay.

Here are some pictures of the nursery as it is today.




A sea of pink ready to wear.







A bed awaiting its baby.








Books ready to transport little Lorelai, Simone, Natalie, Marika to wonderful places.

Bigger and bigger...36 weeks

For those of you asking for updated pictures.

6 1/2 weeks to go

Where did September go? Over the last month the nursery has acquired more stuff, my belly has grown bigger than I thought possible and I had two wonderful showers.


The first shower was at my girlfriend Cozann's house. In attendance were girlfriends from kindergarten, high school, former roommates, moms, neighbors, and generally some of the greatest women (not to mention young ladies)I know.


In addition to their fabulous gifts, everyone brought along a bead. Each person gave their well wishes for the baby and her birth as they presented their bead. I strung the beads into a bracelet that I will wear to the hospital.



The second shower was with friends from Portland. David cooked up a delicious dinner. We had a nice visit that included lots of laughter, thoughtful gifts and a job intervention for our dear friend Nic.

Nursery Crib and Chair

More news from today, I ordered the baby's crib. It is this one only in white.




I also ordered this chair and ottoman (in a different fabric) for the nursery.

Glucola

MMM nothing like fasting for 15 hours and then drinking 100g of glucose.

Now Glucola is basically the equivalent of drinking 25 warm orange otter pops in under 5 minutes. MMM indeed. Then bonus, you get to have 3 hours of blood draws. The good news is I passed and I got my reading done for my birthing class. Hooray!

27 week ultrasound

The baby still is camera shy. I think she takes after Ruby. She kept hiding her face with her hand or would move too close to the uterine wall to get a good shot.

So instead of the desired face shot, here is a picture of her growing spine and her blood flow. The ultrasound estimates her weight at 2.7 lbs and her size is at the 51 percentile. Everything looks good and we are scheduled to go back in 4 weeks.

Diapers

It's not done yet, but this is my first attempt at sewing cloth diapers. I stole an old t-shirt from David's goodwill pile. Sorry goodwill.

Late July & Early August

Here is what we have been up to lately...


David, Ruby and I enjoyed a nice walk on the beach at Sauvie Island.


We celebrated my Dad's 60th birthday in Bodega Bay.


We visited Ocean Song 13 months after the wedding.

And the debate goes on...Simone vs. Lorelai

22 Week Ultrasound

All went well today at the ultrasound. Above is a picture of her heart beating 154 beat per minute. It is such a wonderful sound.

The Move

Things are getting more settled everyday. Here are some pictures.

Misc.

For those of you who don't know, we sold our house. Well, it's in escrow so it's sort of sold.
I spent much of the day trying to stay motivated to keep packing.

The dog is very confused by all the boxes.

A few names we are kicking around

I'm sure that this list will change but here are the names as of today.
Abigail
Alexa (is)
Alicia
Annalisa
Annabelle
Bridget
Brooke
Chloe
Claire
Emerson
Julianna
Kaya
Layla
Luciana/Lucia
Lucy Grace
Madeline
Mallory
Maya
Meghan
Meredith
Mila
Norah
Paige
Raven
Rhiannon
Romany
Simone
Soleil
Sonora
Sydney
Zabel

Thoughts?

The answer to the question...

Due in mid November.

18 week ultrasound

Here she is.

Baby at 12 weeks

The News

I know, they said it would never happen. The girl who made fun of personal blogs, who called them boring, uninspired drivel, has started a blog. How did it happen you ask? What changed her mind?... I'm pregnant and far from many friends and family.

So with this said, welcome and I will do my best to keep it entertaining.