Good Times in the Bull City

This week, we made a trip down to Durham, NC to see Laura and Tony, my great friends from my Richmond days. K and I got to meet up with Eva and Sadie for lunch in Richmond on the way to the Bull City, named for a famous tobacco company mascot.  It was Kelvin's first time in North Carolina.

We enjoyed dinner in the old Tobacco district.

Laura took us to the lovely Sarah Duke (botanical) Gardens by Duke University.

I was lovin' being in a tank top and shorts and enjoying some true summer weather!

 

Duke University Chapel

Our friend Stephanie, who went to UCLA with Kelvin, made the trip out from Boone (in western NC) to spend an afternoon with us, which was a treat!

Everyone enjoyed the swingset in Laura and Tony's backyard ....

(Abbie)

funny face

double swinger

 ... kids and adults alike!

Rock wall!!

Because the kids didn't get enough climbing in.... 

Jason and Abbie ride horsey

Our last meal was a delicious breakfast of donuts at a local place in downtown.

 

(I will say that I felt less guilty about the donuts because Tony had taken me to an early morning workout at his studio gym where I pretty well got my butt kicked by the trainer :)).

What a great time we had visiting!!! Let's hope our next reunion is sooner than three years from now!

Our Miss America

 

I think I mentioned it before, but I am proud to say again that my lovely cousin, Jacky, was crowned this year's Miss North Dakota.  As a result, my whole immediate family watched the Miss America pageant last night, which was definitely an experience! While Jacky did not win the title (which went to Miss NY), she was awarded the prestigious Miss Congeniality award by her voting peers and was the one "judges' save" candidate who made it to the top 16 (we were all cheering like crazy for her!) which you can read about here.  She is not only gorgeous, but smart, beautiful and kind.

Secretly, I'm glad she didn't take the crown so we get a chance to see our real, live blood relative at my sister's wedding next weekend instead of her being tied up in regal activities :)

Here are some photos, mostly stolen from her FB page :)

 

my cousins, Jacky and Natalie

So proud of you, girl!!!

Catching up & Cupcakes

 

We are out in Virginia for an east-coast vacation which happens about once per year.  On Saturday, Yvonne, one of Kelvin's HS/college friends, and her fiance Irvin drove down from Philly to hang out with us.   

On Yvonne's must-do list was to hit Georgetown Cupcake, so we headed to the Bethesda location thinking the traffic and lines would be better than going into D.C. proper (which was a good move!).  Now living "rural," we have very little patience or tolerance for waiting in lines.

Some of the featured flavors included Peanut butter fudge, Coconut, and Cookies 'n Creme.

I have to say that I'm not, in general, a huge cupcake or cake can (the frosting is, by far, the best part for me!). I haven't eaten that many cupcakes in my lifetime. However, I must say that the salted caramel cupcake that K and I shared was perhaps the best cupcake I'd ever eaten-- moist and very sweet. I hope I don't get gestational diabetes now :).

We had to come home with a dozen to be shared.

On Sunday, we met up with some of my HS/band buddies at Rocky Run Park in Arlington for some donuts/snacks and drinks. It was great to get some tips from the new moms (Jordan with Isla) and Lauren (with Ellie, 2, and newest addition, Will).

Getting practice for January (or, with hope, December) :)

Neighborhood stare-down

We had a gray bunny and a gray cat have a stare-down on our lawn this week. Pepper stared them both down from her ottoman perch (inside)!

Babytime: it's gettin' real

I know that many of you who I've spoken to, or written to, recently know the big news-- K and I are expecting a baby, due in late December.  I am not exactly sure why I have felt the need to keep relatively publicly quiet about it, at least on this blog and FB, although I feel I'm pretty open about blogging about important life events and happenings. It just seemed so... private, and also not that real until recently.  I know many people and patients who have struggled with infertility, and I didn't want to hurt anyone by posting exciting early news in a setting that was in-their-face.  Pregnancy  updates and baby updates definitely can get overwhelming.  I also wasn't really showing much until recently, I hadn't felt the baby move yet, and I just had the normal doctor paranoia that something would go wrong, whether it was first trimester miscarriage or some lethal genetic anomaly (although due to my line of work, I have easy access to ultrasound and doppler which did reassure me). I know we would have coped with the above, but I'm relieved to say that we got the results of our serum genetic testing a few weeks back, had our anatomy ultrasound this past week and, despite the baby being in a face-down position for most of the scan, he (yes, it appears to be a boy! At least he was cooperative in that realm) appears to be quite healthy and active (I have finally started feeling some gentle fluttering and movement in the last 5-6 days or so).

So it's getting real-- we'll have a Christmas present late this year or early 2014 (although I'm hoping to do everything in my power not to go past 41 weeks!).

I have been doing a lot of baby-gear research already, which is incredibly overwhelming.  I've asked for many people's inputs about the best choices of cribs, mattresses, swings, strollers, carseats, carriers, clothing, diaper pails, cloth diapers (which we are [well, mostly I am] contemplating), bottles, breastpumps and accessories, high chairs, etc.   We want to be practical, minimalists, share and recycle, and not create waste or overburden the earth as infants seem to do.

I've been starting to do some good reading on baby sleep schedules and training to also figure out how the heck it is going to work to be able to be rested (and have a well-rested child) and breastfeed while somehow holding down a job with call responsibilities which is notoriously unpredictable and stressful, if you've read any of my previous job-related postings :)

As I know many friends and others who are parents (I have the advantage at this point of being later-in-the-game than most so I can benefit from your knowledge!), I am definitely open to any and all suggestions about baby-rearing, baby stuff, and tips that worked for you.

Let the soon-to-be-parenting begin!

our face-down baby

loved this foot shot

Company Softball

 

Kelvin has the energy, ambition, and skills to play in an evening softball league in Eureka in the summers.  I don't particularly like watching or playing softball/baseball and so never have participated other than to watch from the sidelines (and keep Pepper from running madly in the outfield). I went to their game yesterday (where the other team couldn't produce enough players and so forfeited, but were donated some Open Door players so that a game could go on!).

Here are some snaps of this season, some which Lori took on a different, sunnier evening, and from me last night.

Brooke

Sara, on defense

up at bat

on base!

'rounding the bases!

  Group shot