Easter Brunch

Before heading back to High Point on Easter Sunday, we had a family farewell for Easter Brunch. Margie and I planned out a delicious menu: Lamb Chops, Crabmeat Quiche, Fried Potatoes, Cinnamon Rolls, Soda Bread and Fruit Salad. And of course, Coffee and Mimosas.
We also made a homemade, from scratch Buttermilk Cake with Chocolate Frosting. The frosting took a little longer than normal to harden up, although our cake was lopsided it was indeed delicious.

Sammy grilling up the lamb chops!

The whole family! Minus a big sister, and two gorgeous nieces. Christy and Mike made it just in time to say goodbye, the poor dears were on a cruise all week.

Sushi Deli nite

Another obsession of ours... we all headed out to dinner for one last hurrah before I left. Unfortunately, Cody still wasn't home, he couldn't make it. The Newlyweds!

Laurel, me, Corky, Melissa, Mimi and Crazy Lees! I love this picture! I kinda got really sad at our goodbyes, I realized that Lisa and I may not see each other for awhile. She is moving back to San Fran, she has to go do like grown up things and get a masters.

Next time I am in town, and not toting a baby on board, I so want to check this place out ladies. Doesn't it sound fabulous?

More San Diego

While Cody was away, I had lots of free time to play. I had so much fun with my family and my girls. Margie, Scott and I headed down to the Prado to check out the Annie Leibovitz exhibit. It was amazing, she is best known for her celebrity portraits (i.e. preggo, naked Demi Moore) and there were a few of those displayed. However, I found that her more personal work and photojournalistic styles were incredibly moving. She covered Rwanda during the civil war and the pictures are so haunting. Also, included were family events... births and deaths. I highly suggest checking it out if it comes to a city near you. The Prado is in downtown San Diego at Balboa Park, it is a cluster of very beautiful buildings built to house the exhibits of one of the World's Fairs (not sure which one). The park itself is huge and also includes the land with the San Diego Zoo.
Mom and I posing for Scott, he was collecting lots of family photos to take with him to Japan. He left a few days ago, he plans to teach English to middle schoolers for a year. He is very excited, and we wish him all the luck.

A few of my girls and I at Melissa's new house, having our sanity-saving-pjs-and-wine-party! A tradition started shortly after we all started working together at Toddler School. I sure do miss those nights!

Laurel and Hailey (who turns one this week!).

I gave her the elephant she is holding for her birthday. In case you don't know, a hidden talent of mine is very realistic animal sounds, especially the elephant. We can't have baby Haze forgetting who Auntie Heather is, can we?

Spring Break in San Diego

Cody and I headed out to San Diego for a little vacation and Cody's much anticipated climb with Summit for Someone. He had a few days before Ryan and him had to take off for the Sierra Mtns., and we filled it with lots of good Mexican and catching up with friends and family.
Yummy Fish Tacos from our favorite taco shop in University Heights our old 'hood. This time around we got to see everyone! Not to much rushing around, Cody got lots of cuddle time with Max after his nap.

Down in PB for breakfast the morning Cody left.

The two mountain men pre-Whitney climb, they were both stoked and ready to roll.

A little thing I like to call "NESTING"

Cody and I would like to say we have been off traveling to exotic places, eating at fancy restaurants, and making cool new friends during our last few months of coupledom; however, this is not the case. We have been doing endless projects with our new yard and house.
This weekend, and I do mean all weekend, we tackled the biggest project yet: the backyard landscaping. It was overgrown with weeds, onion grass, and vines. Southerners just love their freakin' vines! If you have anger issues, try pulling vines, it is very theraputic. A total count of 28 bags and 2 trashcans filled with yard crap! We found all kinds of crazy stuff, rusty poles, broken toys, concrete chunks, and bricks. I lost two hand garden tools to the job, snapped right in half.
We layed down about 50 bags of mulch, transplanted some flowers and bulbs. We still need a border around the beds to keep the mulch in, and the grass and weeds out. Finally, the beautification of 223 Edgedale comes to a close....
Sort off.

St. Patrick's Day!

I wasn't going to let a little thing like pregnancy get in the way of celebrating my favorite holiday, this is how Irish preggers do it! In a pinch, O'Douls can go great with your Cornbeef and Cabbagge. I also attempted for the first time this year to make homemade Irish Soda Bread, and it came out awesome! Thanks to my girl Lisa's Irish granny, I got a handed down recipe that is deliscious. I was so proud of myself because Soda Bread is tricky to make and I am not much of a baker.
And of course, a Happy 1st year of life to Mr. Paddy Mc Birthday Himself... Jake Magaldi! We are sorry we missed your celebration up in Philly. I am sure most of your fan club made it though.

24 Glorious weeks!

The 24 weeker checkup was today, and everything looks hunky-dorey with little BF. We had a stong heartrate of 156 beats per minute, and a total weight gain of 5 pounds. It was a pretty basic checkup, nothing to exciting.
I am headed into my 6th month, and cannot believe how quickly July is sneaking up on me. I still feel like I have so much to do! The nursery is about half complete, still need to buy a plush, fluffy carpet to cover the hardwood floors...decorations...the soft, comfy glider that I absolutley can't live without (HINT! HINT! Cody-man). I know it will all come together soon though.
Check out these pictures, I look like I swallowed a basketball! Just in time for March Madness.

I am feeling good, with the exception of some back pain that recently started. It is difficult to sit up straight because it is as if something is poking me in my backribs. The only relief I get is when I am standing or laying down. I hope that it doesn't last long, and whatever is streching, growing or poking me moves! Working out does seem to help, so I just try to work through it.
I am feeling the rage of the hearty appetite, three hours is about as much as I can handle without a little something. In the morning I can't wait to dive into my cereal bowl. I have been trying to eat lots of fruit, which I have taken on a whole new love for me since pregnancy. I can't get enough, especially plums, necturines, and oranges. Thank goodness, it is fruit and not french fries, right. Frozen yogurt or ice cream has also been a love of mine. Hmmmm....butter pecan sounds good.

Spring has sprung

I would like to report that Cody and I have led terribly interesting lives in the last few weeks and that is why I haven't had a single moment to blog about our adventures. Unfortunately, we have just been busy with yard work. The temperatures finally have begun to rise and so have the daffodils, with that we raked up the remaining leaves and winter ugliness and spread mulch. Lots of mulch, two car loads... totaling out at approx. 50 bags! The yard is looking good and we have started to sketch plans in our imagination of what new shrubs we want to buy and flowers to plant. As boring as this is to the rest of you, it is totally awesome and thrilling to us dorky homeowners. And, yes, we spent all Sunday at Home Depot.

Saturday, we did venture out of the house for some socializing. We met up with a few of my cousins from South Carolina for brunch, it was great to catch up in a nice relaxed environment rather that at a wedding or funeral. This seems to always be the case now that we are older and our grandparents are not alive to keep us connected.

Saturday evening we attended our first High Point Oyster Roast. This is an annual fundraiser for Family Services of High Point, a wonderful organization that helps low income families get the help they need, such as financial planning, abuse counseling, and so on. It is a huge winter BBQ, everyone bundles up and hovers around bonfires drinking beers and listening to blue grass. It is so fun, I can't wait for next year when I can enjoy the debauchery! None of the pictures turned out, to dark, but here is Cody holding his very expensive beer cozy.

A Charlotte weekend

After all the duldrums of winter cold, being stuck inside and being pregnant... Cody and I just wanted to get out of the house for the weekend. We headed down to Charlotte to spend some time with Dennis and Holly.
Holly invited me out with some of her friends for a birthday celebration, it was good to spend some time with girls and enjoy some new company. We went to Mama Ricotta's, it was delicious. We totally chowed, and then thought dessert was a good idea. Look at these pieces of pie! They were huge! And, the big news is Dennis and Holly bought a lot in a development and are going to start building a house. Here is a sample picture of the model home, it is basically the same as theirs will be, but instead of the garage on the front of the house... it will be on the side. The inside was lovely, spacious, but still felt very cozy and homey. I am jealous of their soon to be kitchen, it is perfect. They took us out to see the new neighborhood, it is charming, and they are tucked way in the back of it, so there won't be any danger of through traffic. It is also about 20 minutes closer to us, yeah!

20 weeks Checkup!

Here are a few ultra-sound pics from the 20 week checkup. This is the 3D version, of BF's little face. If you look closely you can make out the eyes, nose and mouth. BF was pressing the front of his/her face into my belly. It was a tough shot to get according to the ultra-sound tech, because of the position of the baby. This is the traditional profile shot, is that not the most beautiful profile you have ever seen or what?
The technician did a very detailed ultrasound, she checked out every organ and bone. She made a few comments regarding how "beautiful the spinal cord was" and "what a gorgeous heart" our baby has. This of course made my over active imagination very, very happy. Everything looked great according to her, and my placenta was the "most beautiful placenta she had seen all day". Whatever that means....
We got a heart beat of 150 bpm, which was an increase from the last appointment. And, like BF's daddy, the baby is currently breech. Nothing to be concerned about now, the chances of a change in position are very high. BF now weighs about 10 ounces (an ounce more than a typical 20 weeker), but the measured precentiles of his organs, bones and head circumferance are registering as a 18 to 19 weeker, the technician suspected my due date may be a little off. I think this baby is just like his parents, a little on the small size and kinda stocky.
I have gained a total of 3 pounds, and am feeling great at five months! I feel the baby all the time now, and Cody got his first kick on Sunday. It was very exciting! I also got the green light to travel to San Diego in April...
My mom was down this week to help me register for the nursery and a shower. I choose Babies-R-Us, since there is one in every area. That was kind of overwhelming, I am so glad I had some more "experienced" help. And, she got to be there for the ultrasound. That was neat for her and I to share together.

Frontal view!

Side view!

A few more pics from adventures in babysitting!

Nana and Dennis relaxing with Sesame Street! Yee-haa!!!!
Blowing bubbles with Uncle Cody
Dropping leaves into the water with Auntie
Mmmmm....pudding.
Could there be any two cuter boys?

Dennis III and Nana come for a visit!

Dennis and Holly went to Utah for a wedding and they left little Dennis with his Aunt and Uncle for a few days. It has been a very busy few days! Fortunately, Nana came to help out.
Breakfast always tastes better when it is from someone else's bowl! Dennis enjoyed playing out on the deck with the dogs and balls. He is quite fearless, he just prys open their jaws to get his turn.
Having some lunch, green beans were a hit, especially dipped in ketchup.
And, "ding-das" were for dessert. For those who don't know Dennis, "ding-da" is
Dennis-lish for doughnut.

Bath time!
Dennis loves his Uncle, Nana and the "mew-mew".
Dennis also has been having lots of fun dressing up in Cody's green sneakers. He walks all over the house with them on, it is so cute.

All in all, Dennis has been very well adjusted and secure since his stay. We love having him, and his Nana has enjoyed all the Dennis time and not having to share attention with Pop-pop.

A hazy shade of winter Blahs....

I wish I had something exciting to report, but we have reached the winter duldrums in the worst way. It has been cold and dull around here, therefore, no blogs.

We did manage a little excitement this weekend, we were invited to a Superbowl party by some newer aquaintences. We had a great time, there were around 30 people. Everyone brought there favorite "man-ly" snack, so for the preggo girl, it was good. I couldn't indulge in any keg stands, but bye-golly I had me a smorgesboard of saturated fat yumminess.

Cody and I brought Sammy's world famous, prize winning Chili... here is Cody chopping and dumping the secret ingredients. It was delicious!

I took this picture today of Tillie, I am not sure why she is taking a nap in the flower pot, but apparently it is quite cozy when the temperature hovers just above 30 degrees. She stayed there most of the afternoon. Crazy cat!
We also started to prime the walls in the nursery, and picked out a color... it's called "Restful". Let's hope the name inspires a restful infant. I'll post the before and afters when it is all finished up and the furniture is in there.