I miss my abs

So here is the latest belly bump pictures. The learning from this picture is that I need to not wear prints in front of the rug on the wall! But I was tired and not inclined to change clothes to take a picture as I had just gotten home from swimming at the gym. While swimming back and forth I was thinking about my abdomen. I no longer turn as one unit while swimming. I turn my head back into the water after breathing, and my belly goes a moment later, it's REALLY weird. And I never knew how much I used my abs pushing off the wall! Though, after today's swim, I am inclined to push with a might less vigor.

The Christmas Stuff Begins

We put in this picture to show that we actually have more boxes of ornaments than I am tall. And, if you will believe it, this is the pared down set of ornaments. We got rid of the ones that were truly old last year. I am leaning on the boxes of lights. And these are just the tested and working lights too! There is another whole set that needs doctoring. Clearly, I need a bigger house and a bigger tree!

Charlie's Birthday

The world's best brother (mine) has a birthday perilously close to Thanksgiving. We are given to throwing him "surprise" birthday parties every year. My suspicion is that he caught on at about 8 years old. But, this year was no different and we dragged him to Tarrytown NY for brunch. I think he had an idea about who we were meeting when we went over the Tappan Zee! Of course we met the fabulous Nichols. Here is Katie rather unhappy at the camera while she is trying to eat!

And her great dad Cliff looking on, encouraging maple syrup as finger food. Guess who was not going to be cleaning up after her?

My mom and the afortmentioned fabulous brother!

Happy Katie and happy mommy!

The Bow Take 2

The bow did not hold up in the wind

There it goes, off the house! Ohh well, the wreath will look lovely anyway!

The Bow

When Andrew and I bought the Toaster last year (2007 Honda Element) it came witha big bow! What a great Christmas decoration! Charlie boldly went up the ladder to drill for a support

Andrew handed him the bow!

Beautiful! It will look great with the wreath in the window. But wait, there's more....

Thanksgiving 2007

Charlie, my parents and Andrea joined Andrew and myself for Thanksgiving. My mom worked very hard on polishing the family silver, and ironed a beautiful heirloom tablecloth.
















My dad prepared puu-puus (hors d'oeuvres in Hawaian) for us. They were, as usual, amazing!
The rotten cat slept
Andrea saking out between puu-puus and dinner

Renoir 2007

The Philadelphia Museum of Art had a beautiful exhibit on Renoir Landscapes. We met Andrea (finally in port!) and my parents in Philly for the exhibit. We neglected to check the calendar though because there were 3 BIG events in Philly that day; 1)The marathon, which ended at the Art Museum 2)A one pm Eagles game and 3) An international dog show. Andrea, Andrew and I must have walked 2 miles from Andrea's neighborhood to the Museum. Ouchy feet! We cabbed it back

Dad's Away!!

And the cat's will.....

Sleep

So, Andrew is on retreat this weekend. My dad always asks why they aren't called advances. A good question!

Since Andrew is gone, that leaves a lot more room to sleep on the bed. The cats prefer to take one spot each. Though, Aggie seems quite fond of the full body pillow. Kovi was sleeping in my spot. He claimed it when I shuffled outside to retrieve the newspaper.

I've felt the best today that I have felt my whole pregnancy. This is a great blessing. I've been so sick and run down that I've not been able to enjoy life, let alone pregnancy for several months now. But, hopefully, these spirits, and this energy will last through the holidays!

Pregnant woman in uniform!

Well, I have finally assembled my oh-so-comfortable maternity uniform. All I can say is that I have NO doubt it is designed by men. First of all, a very non scientific poll of my fellow pregnant soldiers indicates that you need to buy the pants two sizes up. Hello? As if I don't feel fat enough! Second, the are built with absolutely no room in the hips and butt, because really, pregnant women only grow in the belly. Third, there is no such thing as a maternity ACU tee-shirt. Therefor we must buy progressively larger shirts with larger necks . Of course, there is a regulation about where the neck of your tee-shirt must fall. All in all, we can safely say that this uniform was designed and executed by men. Women make up almost 15% of the Army, and this uniform shows exactly what we are thought of.