Merry Christmas

On Sunday, we ate lunch with Scott's family before his parents left for Kentucky, so today we just had breakfast with my mom and Billy after opening our presents at home. It was nice to have a fairly relaxing day.

For dinner, I cooked a London broil in the slow cooker with a few of the year's first carrots from the garden. I also made some acorn squash. And mom brought broccoli salad and green beans. I must say, it was pretty good.

 One of today's best gifts was one Scott picked out for the baby. A pair of tiny chucks. so cute. Yes I know my stomach is huge in this photo. It definitely grows every day! I'll have an update on that later this week.

My step-brother Scott, his wife Heather and his two beautiful and funny daughters came to visit last week, so Friday night we went over to eat with them at my mom and Billy's house. We had a good time seeing them. I think the gift-opening photos of the girls speak for themselves......

On another note, our garden is on the verge of giving us a feast. Here's the pics from December 5.....

And here's today....

Thanksgiving, baby shower and an update

We just returned on Saturday night from a trip to North Carolina for Thanksgiving and a baby shower with my NC friends and family.

But I'll start with the latest news first. Baby Whittamore weighs about 2.5 pounds and is 15 inches long, which is slightly above average. And while I only got one ultrasound photo this week, it was one of the cutest ones yet. He was sucking his thumb. so cute.

This week flew by, but we had a great time. We got the chance to visit Sweetbottoms Baby Boutique in Raleigh, which is one of the best little baby stores ever. The staff was so helpful and friendly. They also have an awesome website with free shipping!

I originally found them online and later realized they were in Raleigh, and our trip home was the perfect chance to visit. We decided to sign up for their newborn cloth diaper rental program.

I know some of you may think we're crazy for doing cloth diapers, but Scott and I were both cloth diaper babies, and we turned out just fine. haha. It will save us a ton of money. Sure, there will be times when we use disposables, like probably on vacations. I also like not throwing away up to 12 diapers a day and that the cloth diapers don't have the chemicals in them that most disposables do.
I'll just have to get used to dealing with poop on a daily basis.

Later Wednesday afternoon, we went over to my aunt Marjorie and uncle Tim's house to see my cousin Amber, who made the long drive with her husband John and two boys (Olin and Leif) from Kentucky so she could see me in all my pregnant glory. I'm so grateful that she made the trip because we got to spend some quality time together talking about babies and life, and we never get to do that.

Thursday was, of course, Thanksgiving. I usually make banana pudding and apple crisp to take to Scott's parents house, but this year, we were obviously at dad's house. So he made my Mema's banana pudding recipe, and I made the apple crisp. It was good to spend time with the family, especially my aunt Julie. In the evening Scott and I went back over to my aunt and uncle's house to see Amber and my other cousin Leslie who arrived late Wednesday night from Ohio with her husband Brent and 11-month-old Finn. We finally got to meet him and he did not disappoint. He has the cutest toothy grin.

On Friday, we avoided Black Friday shopping and went to downtown Raleigh to eat lunch at Beasley's Chicken + Honey. Can I just say yum. yum.? Scott had the chicken and waffles (they were to die for) and I had a 'veggie' plate with the Hook's Three-Year Cheddar Mac-n-Cheese Custard, roasted beets (for something healthy), and the biscuits and honey. And I had a Cheerwine to drink, of course.

After we got dad and Judy back home, we set out for an afternoon in Chapel Hill, where we shopped a little on Franklin Street and then had dinner at Top of the Hill.

On Saturday was my first baby shower for my family and friends in North Carolina.

(Please don't be offended that we didn't invite you, aunt Debra, aunt Judy and Gray. We knew you'd be busy over the Thanksgiving weekend with the boys and didn't want you to feel like you had to drive to Raleigh or buy us a gift. We'll see you soon after the baby is born, I hope.)

We had a good time visiting with everybody, and we got some great gifts. Thank you all for coming. And a special thanks to my step mom Judy for hosting and cooking an amazing pumpkin french toast casserole, to my aunt Marjorie for cooking the yummy sausage, egg and cheese casseroles, to Sara Dowd for the beautiful and tasty cupcakes and to Kylie and Amanda for driving in to see me.

Quick update

There's no real news to report this week, but I made a little belly growth chart so all my out-of-town friends could see my progress. Today I'm 26 weeks pregnant!

We're excited to spend Thanksgiving in Raleigh with my dad. My step mom Judy is throwing me a baby shower for my North Carolina friends and family while we're there, so that should be fun. We will miss Thanksgiving with the Whittamores, but I think they'll forgive us this time. I'm so excited to see my family and my best friends - Kylie, Amanda and Sara!

Everybody have a great Thanksgiving!

Another busy, star-studded, baby-filled week

Last week went by in a blur. Election day was a nearly 12-hour workday.

Then on Thursday I got to go to Naples for the dedication of Baker Field at the Boys & Girls Club in Naples where I got to photograph Cal Ripken Jr. He pitched a few balls to the kids, which was really cool. He's a really down-to-earth kind of guy it seems. Check out my gallery from the event here.

On Saturday night, I got to photograph a dinner for 150 people who bid in a wine fest auction. The dinner was prepared by Top Chef's Tom Colicchio and was followed by a concert by LeAnn Rimes!

Of course, I didn't get to try any food, but I did get to hear a little of the concert while I was working. I also got scolded by Mr. Colicchio. Apparently he doesn't like to have his photo taken. Even though they told us we were welcome in the food tent. I guess they just wanted us to photograph the food. I still got a shot of him from outside of the tent. So hopefully I won't get a cease-and-desist order from his attorney for publishing them. he he he.

Before the dinner began, we got to interview LeAnn Rimes privately. So I actually got to meet her and shake her hand. She was really nice and gracious. She seemed genuinely happy to be there. Here's the photo gallery from the event.

I got an iPhone video of part of her new single, Spit Fire, which rocks by the way.

Oh and the house, er estate where it was held.....A. Maze. Ing. It was huge and right on the beach in Port Royal in Naples. The grounds were so big we almost got lost making our way back to the front to take the shuttle back to our cars. And the valet lot was full of Bentleys and Ferraris.

Sunday couldn't come soon enough. I was ready for a day off, but it wasn't totally a day of rest. In the morning I did some family portraits of the Luce family - my wonderful chiropractor, his beautiful wife and super-cute son.

In the afternoon, Scott's sister Emily came to visit with her new baby James David Risner. They are in town for a week from Puerto Rico, where her hubby Eric is in the Coast Guard. It was our first time meeting little JD, and we loved hanging out with him. We think he's super cute. And we're so happy our son will have such an awesome cousin to play with after he's born.

And finally, I'm growing like crazy. Well my belly is anyway. On Monday, the young girl giving me a pedicure asked me if I was having twins. She thought I was only days away from delivery. I cut her some slack because she was so young. But throughout the week, some adult women hinted that I was extra big too. Way to make a girl feel beautiful. Jeez.

For documentation's sake, the vertical line on my belly has appeared. The pain in my pelvis has begun when I walk, stand or move. But I do still love being pregnant. It's just amazing how everything changes week to week. And I believe I'm starting to feel the "labor warmups" aka Braxton Hicks contractions. The right side of my belly tightens every now and then. Plus I think he mostly lives in that side so it gets really lopsided sometimes. It's pretty funny looking. Speaking of funny.......Here's my belly jumping while waiting for my midwife appointment on Wednesday........