Isabel-ly

I've been slacking on the belly pictures, so here is the latest from 28 weeks. As you can see Isabel is a growing girl. Her movements continue to amaze me...she seems to be a strong little girl and not one to sit still :).

And here is Gizmo helping me to test out some of the baby stuff we already have. I was organizing Isabel's closet on Saturday when I came across this and decided Gizmo might like it. Well, he liked it a little too much and didn't want to get out. Geoffrey let out an "oh no" when he first saw me, offered to take the picture and then told me I was never to put Gizmo in it again.

Cookie Baking & Pierogie Making

Over the Christmas holiday we were joined by my parents, who drove up from South Carolina on Thursday. After shopping for supplies on Friday, we started to work on cookies Saturday evening. We made a double batch (about 10 dozen) of my Aunt Kathy's almond cut-out recipe...soo good :). Here are some pictures of the fun we had cutting out the cookies and baking them.


Dad decided mom needed a Christmas tree on her head :). While doing the cut outs we started to hear sirens coming down the street and I screamed "Its Santa!" Last year I was caught off guard by a town of Vienna ritual, in which Santa rides around the town on his fire truck passing out candy canes. We all ran outside to take a peak. Have I mentioned how much I love living in Vienna :)

Sunday morning after fueling up on donuts, we started to work decorating the cookies. We had some very creative cookies and they tasted oh so good.

Geoffrey crafted a hippo in honor of the mother of his child. It looked pretty good I must admit. He even gave me the honors of eating it.

Christmas Eve day we made Pierogies, a Ukranian tradition that has been going on for quite some time. It was great having the whole family involved and sure made assembly the pierogies go by quickly. We all agreed though that a double batch was not nearly enough, as the best part of pierogies is eating them as leftovers the following week!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

We awoke this morning to a dusting of snow on the ground...and the snow continued for most of the day. Although it made for a pretty nasty commute, it gave me an excuse to head home a couple hours early to avoid the evening traffic. I spent the afternoon sewing a Christmas tree skirt, baking a batch of yummy molasses spice cookies and decided to snap a few pictures to capture the beautiful winter weather combined with our Christmas lights.

At this point we had about 2.5" of snow. Around 8:30 tonight it was closer to 4"...not quite enough to have work cancelled though.

It definitely looks like Christmas inside of the house! The stockings have been hung and the tree decorated with an assortment of Christmas ornaments we have both collected over the years. I have to admit, my favorites are Geoffrey's Hallmark airplane ornaments. At one point, a plane was on the top of the tree, and today he showed me that 2 others were performing aerobatics!

Yes, there are 2 little dog shaped dishes at either end of the fireplace, with the words "Santa Paws" written on them. Its the doggie version of a stocking. Speaking of dogs, its time for the pugs to get in their crate and the mom to get some rest.

Hope everyone is having a great Christmas season!

"would look good in the blog"

This was the title of the email Eric sent out this evening, along with the attached 2 photo...and since it is the Christmas season, I figured why not :). Although VT just fell short of making it to the national championship game, we did defeat Boston College to become the ACC champs. As usual, Geoffrey and I headed to Kevin & Eric's condo to watch the game. After being tied with BC after an ugly first half, Kevin switched his jersey from white to maroon and told me to put his extra jersey as well saying "it will probably fit you." (thanks Kevin). Who knows if it did the trick, but we'll certainly all be wearing the maroon jerseys in January for the Orange Bowl.

The boys were so confident VT would win, they bought champagne and had it chilling in the freezer for a post game celebration.

Greece!

First, my apologies for taking so long to post some Greece pictures. It took me longer to get back in the swing of things after our travels (I think we can thank Isabel for that :) ) and then it seemed that Thanksgiving and holiday preps were already upon us. So, here are just a few of the many many pictures we took while in Greece.

Our trip to Greece was amazing...the best vacation of my life so far. At every corner it seemed that we would come across something thousands of years old. It was almost hard to comprehend how old everything was, and the history behind the various temples and ruins we visited. We spent most of our time in Athens, but were able to take 3 day trips to some surrounding areas.

This is the Panathenaic Stadium, which held the first modern Olympics back in the 1800s. It is constructed entirely of marble. It is also where the Athens marathon ends each year.

Hadrian's Arch. You'll have to do a google search to get the full history :).

The Parthenon. The Parthenon is undergoing a major restoration...guess we'll have to return again to see the finished product! The Parthenon is located at the Acroplis.

Erectheion.

Temple of Athena Nike at the Acroplis

Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens.

Changing of the guard at the parliament building. The guards wear kilts (though they do get to wear underwear), and do this funny slide, kick, walk march. Their shoes also make a tapping sounds each time it hits the ground. The shoes each weigh 5kg and are completed with a lovely "poof ball."

Geoffrey did a great job using his timer to get this pictures of us. You can see the Acropolis in the background (and also see some pretty visible signs that Isabel is certainly growing).

The Gulf of Corinth. Our first day trip was supposed to be do Delphi...except the tour company managed to forget that the Athens marathon was the same day as our tour, which means all the roads get shut down. Our bus driver road around for a while, yelling at people (including cops), finally stops the bus and yells "off bus, tour cancelled." It was pretty funny. We rescheduled our tour for later in the week, and used the opportunity to go to Corinth, where the Corinthians once lived. It was pretty cool, especially since that is where St. Paul spent some time preaching, and wrote his letters to the Corinithians.

Our second day trip took us to Aegina, one of the greek islands. Due to my lack of sea legs, we opted for the island closest to the mainland. We wandered around the town, looked at more ruins and enjoyed a delicious fresh seafood lunch along the water. Above are some of the ruins we looked at.

Another shot of Aegina

Mmmm, Baklava. The food in Greece was sooo good...I was in heaven. The only downer was I couldn't eat most of the dairy, as it isn't pasturized and pregnant women are to avoid such foods. Geoffrey did an excellent job of tasting all the things I couldn't though. My favorite food there, that I could enjoy was the baklava. I don't know that words can describe how delicious the layers of pastry, nuts and sugar, drowned in honey tasted. But you can probably get an idea based on my facial expression. Geoffrey missed out on this food, as he dislikes nuts.

On our last day (day 7) we were able to take our rescheduled tour to Delphi. Not only was it great to be so far away from civilization, but the beauty and history of the Delphi was remarkable. One of the tourists on our trip commented he was more amazed by Delphi than the Great Wall of China. Above is a stadium at Delphi, where they held their own sporting competitions.

The Temple of Apollo at Delphi

Well, my fingers are tiring, so I hope these pictures give you just a glimpse of our Greek vacation. I could go on and on about our trip, but we'll have to save that for an in person meeting. A final note about Greece involves Isabel. She must enjoy traveling as she "kicked" for the first time while we were there, such that Geoffrey could feel her movements. A few days later we could even see her "poke" out of my belly...kinda freaky but cool at the same time. And her activity level has only increased with each day. She is certainly a lively one. Geoffrey says she must take after me, and just can't sit still.

And with that, its time for me and Isabel to get some rest. I'll also work on getting a more recent belly picture up...there is no doubt about it, I look pregnant...and absolutely love it :).

Small World

First, we haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Geoffrey and I were lucky enough to sneak away for a vacation before little Isabel arrives in March.

Anyways, 3 events have happened this week that really make me believe that the world is much smaller than we think.

1. Monday morning I got an email from one of the 10 girls in my "pregnant moms' meetup group." She happened to notice a picture in my profile and one of my pugs looked very familiar. When she saw his name was Gizmo, she decided to email me letting me know how much he looks like the Gizmo her brother in Fredericksburg had to give up due to allergies. Well, Gizmo did indeed come from a guy in Fredericksburg who was allergic, so I sent him his name. Turns out the Gizmo is one and the same! She said how delighted her brother was to hear that Gizmo had indeed gone to a good home.

2. In talking to my new office neighbor this week, I learned that he moved here from Florida, and used to work for Pratt & Whitney. I mentioned that Geoffrey had once co-oped there and he said the name actually sounded familiar. I told G about it, and he said "do you knwo how big pratt is?", but I told him the guys name anyways. He said it did sound familiar, so I told the guy what area Geoffrey had worked in. Turns out Geoffrey co-oped with the guy back in spring of 97!

3. And finally the not-as-great, but still crazy coincidence. While reading the Washington Post Wednesday morning, Geoffrey points to an article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111302033.html and picture and asks "does she live in our neighborhood?" I said "no, thank goodness, but she does look familiar." About 15 seconds go by when I blurt out "I think she was in our baptism preparation class!" Turns out, it is the same lady who attended the class with her husband, as their daughter was getting ready to be baptised.

So, in the past month I've met the former "sister-in-law" of Gizmo, a 10 year old co-worker of Geoffrey's and a lady who is in some serious trouble with the U.S. Government. Just crazy.

Have a great weekend everyone and stay tuned for pictures from Greece :).

Baby Isabel

By now most of you have probably heard the good news, that we have a healthy and active little baby. And an added bonus of our sonogram was getting to find out that we'll be having a girl, a daughter. I've been grinning from ear to ear all day. Its just all so amazing and almost hard to take in all at once. All day I've been thinking "I wonder if she'll enjoy this, or what she'll be like." And the great thing is, we have all the time in the world to find out.

So for now, I hope you all enjoy the first pictures of Isabelle (no middle name yet), as it will be another 20 weeks or so before we get the opportunity to photograph her in person.


***Please note...Although Geoffrey and I had decided on the girl name "Isabel" a while ago, we never actually discussed the spelling. So tonight we figured out the spelling...after my initial blog posting where I spelled it "Isabelle."***

The Belly is Growing :)

There isn't much that needs to be said about these pictures, as they speak for themself. Although I still don't have that true "pregnant belly pop" I'm definitely getting there. I've noticed it the most over the past few weeks especially...which makes sense, as the little one should double in weight from week 17 to week 20. According the babycenter.com, the baby is 6" long and weighs 8.5 ounces. Pretty impressive!

One thing is for sure...my former flat stomach is loooong gone. The other sure thing...this is one active baby. He/she is moving around a lot, and not just "swimming." I think within a week or two Geoffrey will be able to feel the little jabs I am now feeling, as he/she is at it again while I type up this entry.

August 25th, 11 weeks

September 2, 12 weeks

October 6, 17 weeks

Oct 21, 19 weeks

Fish & Mrs. Crabby Hippo

Strange blog title I realize, but you will understand once you read on...

First big piece of news is that I felt the baby move last week. I'd thought before I maybe had, but this was definitely it. I was sitting in a room full of 75+ people at our system level Final Design Review, for the Orion Launch Abort System (LAS). The LAS is essentially a rocket, and during one of the talks about the motor, I felt a strange sensation. It was as though I had swalled a fish and it was swimming around my belly, flipping and flopping against the walls. It took me a second until I realized "oh my gosh, that was the baby." It was awesome and it "swam" around a little more during the presentation. Now, usually after dinner when I'm sitting still, I'll feel the little one moving about. I'm hopeful that in the next few weeks that Geoffrey will be able to feel movement from the outside of my belly.

And now to the Crabby Hippo. A little over a month ago, I got an email from Kevin stating that I would soon be looking like a hippo (I suppose its a nicer way to say that I"ll be getting huge). So from then on it became a little joke. He'd send pictures of hippos to me, which would always make me laugh. Then, while watching a VT game a couple Saturdays ago, I wasn't in the greatest of moods. I received a warning email stating that if my behavior continued for the next game, I'd have to sit in the "crabby hippo corner." Luckily, I haven't been sent there.

So, today I get home from work and there is a box on the counter. I know I haven't bought anything online recently, and open it, wondering what it could be. Inside the box I found this:

If you click on the picture, you can read the note, which reads

"TO: Mrs. Crabby Hippo FROM: Hubert A. Hippo I hope you enjoy playing with my hipponess. Maybe someday your baby will enjoy being hiptastic with me."

Geoffrey and I just laughed and laughed. He was actually the one to grab the camera right away, to take a picture to send it to Jerry, who has joined in the hippo fun. He likes to sing the song from the scene in Fantasia where there is a hippo in a tutu dancing.

I'm so lucky to have such loving brothers and brothers-in-law. (J/K...I wouldn't trade them for anything)

20 week ultrasound scheduled!

Ok, so I'm just a little too excited about this, but we have our 20 week ultrasound scheduled. October 26th at 8:15!!! This will be the first time we get to see the little one (since I knew my "dates" and am having a healthy pregnancy, they don't do any extra ultrasounds). AND, 3 weeks from today we'll hopefully know what sex the baby is! Here's to hoping that the little one will stay still for a few minutes, unlike today when he/she was moving all around as the doctor tried to locate the heartbeat! It was pretty funny and he even asked if I'd felt him/her moving. I haven't yet, or at least didn't recognize it as movement. Everything else checked out good. I need to try and bump my calories up a bit (always fun to hear) as I'd actually lost a pound. Now that I'm feeling better and not getting sick that shouldn't be a problem.

I'll be sure to post some pictures and the big news on the 26th. Until then you'll just have to listen to my random musings. :) Feel free to post your "thoughts" on what you think the baby is. I definitely find it interesting to hear people's ideas of what it is and why!

Changing of the Closet

Well, its starting to happen. Right around the 16 week mark I noticed a little bump on my tummy and that my clothes were fitting just a wee bit snugger than usual. It was definitely weird to have this solid mass where a once flat tummy was...but I love it. I can't wait for the bump to actually pop, so I can rub the belly and the baby inside. So, with the coming of the bump comes new clothes. Thankfully, I have a wonderful friend, Megan, who passed down to me all of her maternity clothes...and there are a ton! Unfortunately Megan is about 5'2" and well, the 7" difference I have on her wouldn't work so well in the pant area. So today I headed to the mall after work to Old Navy and Motherhood Maternity. It was an interesting experience, as I learned that maternity pants are usually stretchy from top to bottom and just pull up...almost like I've regressed to the jeans you put on little babies and toddlers. But, they are super comfy and move in and out as I breath.

So tonight begins the official changing of the closet. It is usually around this time of year, as the temperature drops, that I get very excited about pulling out sweaters, cords and other cool weather clothing. Well this year, the same clothing I get excited about is being put away in storage. Along with my jeans, pretty dress slacks, shirts and anything else that I know I won't be wearing until next summer if I'm lucky. And its strange to be putting these things away, not knowing if I will ever even fit into them again (though hopefully with a jogging stroller I will get back in shape come March). But at the same time I couldn't be more excited. Excited to know that these clothes will accomodate my growing belly and the baby inside. Excited that these clothes will show the world I am pregnant. And extra excited that during the holidays I won't really worry about what I eat...as the baby certainly needs to develop a taste for christmas cookies and it will be hard to tell what was Heather eating too much and what was the baby :).

Well, dinner is calling my name...I'm going to go and put those expandable pants to good use.

Snake in the Kitchen?!?!

So, not the most exciting of posts, but since I was able to capture our house guest, I decided to share my story and a couple pictures. I arrived home around 5 this afternoon and noticed something on the kitchen floor. As I moved closer and it moved into what I am calling the "snake tamer" pose, I realized there was a snake in the kitchen. *At that point General started barking at the snake standing on end and Gizmo ran into the crate* I didn't freak much initially, and grabbed my camera (which happened to be on the kitchen counter) and took a picture. I then went to get a yardstick, turned around and the snake was gone. It was then I realized it had crawled under the kitchen cabinet and that is when I started to freak. There was an unknown snake in my house and I was certain if I left again, it would crawl out and climb into bed with me. So I did what your typical girl would do, picked up the phone and called Geoffrey.

ring ring- (G answers) Ay Hello!

Me- Um hi. I got home from work and there was a snake in the kitchen. Now it is under the TV (I failed to clarify that I meant the TV in the kitchen...not living room). What do I do. I grabbed a yard stick and it disappeared and I'm afraid if I leave it, it'll come out. I did get a picture though.

G- Ok, well send the picture to Jerry and call him. He should be able to identify it. He can also get there faster if need be.

Me- Ok, but if I go and get my computer it'll probably crawl out. And then we won't know where it is and I don't want a snake loose in our house.

G- Wait there and I'll leave now. Make sure you put the pugs in the crate.

I then put the pugs in the crate...well really General. Gizmo had already run into the crate and General was sitting on top of the crate. I proceed to call Jerry, who doesn't answer. I then call my brother Kevin to tell him about the snake and ask what he knows. He doesn't know much but asks me if the head was bigger than its body. I said, oh yes, much bigger. Kevin then says I should probably watch out for it. I ask if I should tuck my jeans into my socks, so it can't crawl up and he says probably not a bad idea. So I continue to sit on the floor, staring at the cabinet, with a yardstick, a pasta pot, my cell phone and home phone. Jerry then calls me back and I relay the story again. He starts pulling up various snakes on the computer as I describe to him the snake. He asks me a series of questions to narrow down the variety, and guesses it is a rat or corn snake...which aren't poisonous. Which is good news except it still doesn't fix the fact a snake is in my house.

Geoffrey arrives home and first uses a hanger with duct-tape to try and poke the snake or catch it. When that fails he decides to take off the base molding and front piece of the cabinet to look inside. It is then we discover that there is a small hole cut in the drywall from when the house was built at the back of this cabinet. Grreat. Now the snake has climbed into the wall. Sorry snake, but you ain't coming out. Geoffrey puts the cabinet base front piece and molding back and I seal the opening up with duct tape. Finally at 7 I begin to make dinner. Darn that stupid snake!

Here is our house guest. After doing a little research, we believe it is indeed a corn snake. They aren't poisonous, and apparently make good pets (no Geoffrey, we can't keep it). I also read this "This species is not dangerous but is a good "mouser" so a valuable animal to have around your home." I don't care how good they are at catching mice. They can eat all the mice they want...outside of the house.

And here's a picture of me. When the whole ordeal had finished, Geoffrey looks at me and just starts laughing. I'm wondering what the heck is wrong...and then I look down. I had completely forgotten that my pants were now tucked in my socks. He then tells me "don't move" and uses the camera to catch me looking oh so 80s. I couldn't help but laugh at myself...I did look silly.

Have a great week everyone. And here's to hoping that the snakes will learn of their friends fate and stick to the great outdoors...where they belong.

Garden Pugs!

This past weekend we got an early taste of fall. The weather was just beautiful, sunny, not too hot, not too cold, with a small breeze. Not only were we having the perfect fall weather, I was also having one of my best days yet, so after going to church and eating breakfast, it was into the garden for me. The flower beds had been seriously neglected, as the extreme heat combined with my morning/noon/night sickness did not make for a happy gardener. The pugs also enjoyed the weather and kept me company. I spent the first couple hours weeding and the last couple hours transplanting a few things and putting in a new hydrangea.

Gizmo enjoyed spending most of his time in the sun. As the sun changed position in the sky, so did Gizmo.

General was his normal busy body self. He wouldn't sit still for very long, moving between the porch and the flower beds.

This is the beautiful hydrangea I planted, or what I call "Alcatraz's hydrangea." My friends that I visited at the lake a month ago gave us this plant to congratulate us on Alcatraz. (Martha knew I much prefer flowers with roots versus the kind that come in a vase) For those of you who don't know, we are calling the baby Alcatraz (Geoffrey's brother Jerry named him/her, because it is a "strong" name) until we know what the little one's gender is. The plant is really special and I'll be making sure it gets all the TLC it needs to thrive and grow for years to come. And who knows, maybe little Alcatraz will love to garden as I do and take over the hydrangea care.
I also separated some lambs ear that had grown out of control. Last August, mom sent me home with a VERY small piece of lambs ear from her garden. And yes, it really does feel soft like a lamb's ear. The piece was made up of about 4 small leaves, and was planted in the heat of the summer, and I must admit I didn't do a great job watering it. I must have planted it in a magic spot, as this is how it looked a year later:
It was spilling onto the sidewalk and was just too big for the front, so I dug the whole thing up and broke it into 6 smaller plants. I'm guessing that next year I'll be separating even more of the lambs ear!

Here's a shot of the front steps. In addition to breaking up the lambs ear, I also separated the crocosmia (the green spikey looking stuff) so that it was growing behind the lambs ear and on both sides of the sidewalk. You can also see where the hydrangea was planted.

I intend on planting some pansies in front of the monkey grass, along the front border of the bed. I also transplanted the day lilies that had been down by the mailbox, to the front bed, behind the azaleas. I replaced the day lilies with some sedum, which I'm hoping the deer won't find as tasty as they did the lilies.
After all that gardening it was time for a rest. And rest I did. Although I felt great yesterday, it was also a reminder that I am indeed pregnant and don't have the energy I did 4 months ago. I was exhausted...as in I couldn't get off the couch and had no energy. Note to self (and those pregnant or trying to become pregnant) "You are not superwoman when you are growing a little baby inside of you and must act as such. Frequent breaks are necessary and prolonged manual labor is highly frowned upon, regardless of how much you enjoy it." I think I'll have to set a stopwatch the next time I garden and only go for hour or less spurts.

I wasn't the only one tired from all the gardening...apparently watching me garden was hard work as well.
General decided I was a good bed, while Gizmo took advantage of my body heat. Crazy little pugs. I keep telling them that soon my belly will be poking out and a few months after that they'll be a little one taking up almost all my time. Somehow I don't think they understand, nor do they really care.

Have a great week everyone! I hope that wherever you are, you are also getting a nice taste of your regions fall.