A Dozen Years

This past weekend jb and I quietly celebrated our 12 year anniversary with a Thai food delivery and a viewing of Monsters Inc. with the kids.  Tres romantic.  I was thinking back to years past and how we'd celebrated - and how much things have changed over the last dozen years.  It made me nostalgic and I looked back at some blog posts.

Seven Years
Eight Years
Nine Years
Ten Years
As for year eleven - apparently I didn't blog about our anniversary last year.

In the year eight post I wrote: "Here's hoping that in another eight years we're looking back on today and marvelling at how young and carefree we were."  Well, it only took four years - but I wouldn't trade it.

My Mother's Day Wasn't That Special

Chocolate pancakes, not burnt pancakes (jb asked me to clarify)

I had a lovely Mother's Day.  I got to sleep in, Leo and jb brought me breakfast in bed (chocolate pancakes and a smoothie), family nap, walk around the neighborhood, iced latte, and a phenomenal chicken, spinach, goat cheese salad for dinner.  I think jb felt it should have been more exciting/extravagant - but it's EXACTLY what I was hoping for.  Sleep, good food and time with my family.

I have to admit, I used to judge moms who wished for time alone on Mother's day.  I totally get it now.  It's hard to find time to yourself - even to go to the bathroom in peace, so I can understand how quiet time seems like the ultimate luxury.  I certainly spent a chunk of my day sleeping soundly!  :)  Still, overall, what I want most out of Mother's Day is to spend time with the two (soon to be three!) special people who make me a mama.

I now fully realize that the reason for this is because I am blessed with a partner who makes it a point to make sure I get a little time to myself on a regular basis.  You know how it's often said that every day should be Mother's Day - well, in our house I feel like it kind of is.  It's not just time either, it's general appreciation and everyday pampering.  It's still great to have a special day, but knowing that it's not a once a year opportunity to get my needs met makes my outlook on the day a lot different.

This point was driven home today by Leo.  This was the first year he was able to consciously and actively participate in Mother's Day traditions.  jb kept reminding him that it was Mother's Day and that they were doing X (making me breakfast, being quiet so I could sleep, picking me flowers) because it was Mother's Day. He could tell it was special, but you could also tell that he was a little perplexed - because they often do these things for me.  Perhaps serving breakfast on a tray and making me a card are not regular activities in our home, but most of the rest felt pretty familiar to him.

It is so special to see how concretely jb has instilled everyday appreciation for me in him.  I hope I've held up my end of that bargain.

Then and Now: A Decade Ago

2011 and 2001

I found this picture of jb and I at the beach ten years ago.  I had a shaved head, we were both younger and thinner - but I'd say we are still just as happy.  Maybe more so.  That's pretty special.

Date Night

While we were still in Pittsburgh, jb and I had our first date since Leo was born.  I can't believe it's been almost a year and we haven't been out alone together for that entire time!  My parents had given us a gift certificate for the Melting Pot and offered to babysit, so we took them up on it this past trip and went out to belatedly celebrate our ten year anniversary.  

 

Ten Months and Ten Years

jb and I celebrated ten years together. A whole decade. The day passed fairly quietly considering what a big milestone it is. We ordered in (Thai) and shared the evening with the newest addition to our little family. We plan to have a date night soon (we have an offer of babysitting and a gift certificate waiting for us in Pittsburgh), but really, it seemed very fitting to celebrate at home with Leo. This year has been all about our shift from couple to parents - or more accurately, trying to retain our couple-ness as we navigate parenthood. I miss all the cuddling we took for granted and being able to give each other our undivided attention regularly, but I am loving the new form our family has taken, and grateful for the opportunity to fall in love with jb new ways as I get to see her parent our child.

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Tomorrow is the big trip. Wish us luck. We are all packed up.

A Bathtime Story

Daddy and Leo happily spending one on one time after work.

Leo makes his poop face and jb feels something warm seeping out onto her leg.

jb inspects the damage - note the poo stains on her pants.

Minutes later jb is stripped to her boxers and Leo is stripped naked for a bath.


These pictures don't quite capture how traumatic he found the whole experience.


We get to use the monkey towel (Thanks Kristy!)

And I get a clean happy baby :)

Leo's First Week

I am so incredibly tired. This week has been a rollercoaster. We are crazy in love with this little man and can just stare at him for hours - at the same time, I'm seeing why sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture. It's such a shame that this incredible, once-in-a-lifetime, fleeting time has to be enjoyed through a haze of exhaustion and pain. It's been a bit of a blur - and honestly I'd much rather be sleeping or staring at Leo right now than posting, but I want to make sure I record a few details before it all runs together.

Sunday - Day 1
Once our precious baby joined us earthside and we were cleaned up and filling out paperwork - I asked my family to bring me strawberry pancakes from Pamela's. We were home just six hours post birth and little Leo got to meet jb's side of the family. Leo was pretty much passed out for 24 hrs. after the birth, which we should have taken advantage of to get some sleep, but we were on such an adrenaline rush that we mostly just stared at him.

Monday - Day 2
We had a follow-up nurse home-visit for both Leo and I. The soreness began to hit me as the adrenaline wore off. My mom and Aunt Fanny (Aunt Fanny is Muffy's chosen name for Leo to call her) came by with lunch.

Tuesday - Day 3
Big outing day. First the pediatrician, then voting (I wish I had a picture of Leo voting with jb at three days old, but alas that pesky no camera rule). For dinner we went to Abi's (Abi is my mom's chosen name for Leo to call her) and had an awesome feast of veggies, fish and rice.

Wednesday - Day 4
I had a home visit from the lactation consultant, which was helpful, and timely because I was already getting super frustrated and almost ready to introduce formula. My hormones crashed something awful. We had some neighborhood visitors stop by the cafe to meet Leo.

Thursday - Day 5
Back to the pediatrician for a weigh in - he was still was not gaining, but had not lost any more weight which was encouraging. Katerina (my godmother) and Aunt Fanny came by for lunch and we had awesome chinese take-out and cupcakes. We got ambitious and walked down to the Greek Food Festival for dinner. The walk took a lot out of me, but it was nice to take Leo out for a casual meal and feel like we were getting some date time in.

Friday - Day 6
The lactation consultant came back for another home visit. I got a lot of sleep thanks to daddy (daddy is jb's chosen name for Leo to call her) picking up just about everything. Uncle Daniel came to see Leo. There was Brunton's chocolate milk back in my life after a dry spell (every where was out of it for the last two weeks of my pregnancy!!)

Saturday - Day 7
Leo made his cafe debut and met some of the regulars that hadn't come by yet. We took a lovely family nap. My Aunt and Uncle came by after the shop closed to meet Leo. Leo ate a whole bunch and fell into a deep sleep and jb and I were able to watch a TV show together and steal a bit of a cuddle.


Things about this week that have been hard:

• Breastfeeding - holy heck. I don't even know what to say about it that's not too awfully graphic, but it has been a real challenge. I know it's hard for a lot people, but I've got the extra challenge of having had a breast reduction (years ago) so it's been unclear what kind of success we could have with breast feeding, if any. I'm very proud to say that at this point we haven't needed to supplement with formula.
• Pain - Not only are we using new muscles when we carry Leo making for aching arms and back, but also, my posture while breastfeeding isn't always ideal (especially if it's a particularly painful session). On top of that, while in labor I got through contractions by bracing myself against two walls, so the next day I felt like I had bench-pressed a car. On top of that the soreness of recovering from a vaginal birth and the pain associated with learning to breastfeed. Well, ouch.
  
• Talula. Overall she is great and gentle with Leo - but she's also been acting out. She's had about an accident a day in the house which is just not what we want to be dealing with. In the last day or so she has calmed down a bit, so here's hoping it's getting better.
• Not having the same time with jb. We've been very blessed to have very flexible (if busy) schedules over the last few years and we are spoiled because we are used to eating together, falling asleep together, relaxing a bit together, even taking naps together - but now we have to take turns doing most things and while we've managed to stay on the same team, we miss each other quite a bit.
• The great hormone crash of 2010. Oh my goodness. It was so intense and so scary. Like drowning. I cried nonstop, about everything from how beautiful our baby is, to how I'm doing everything wrong. Luckily it cleared up in 24 hrs, and while there are still rough moments, I'm feeling pretty sane.
  
• Lack of sleep. It just magnifies all the above and makes you feel so run down. And then it's just sad to feel the days slip by as you are just trying to keep your head above water. Getting out of the house helps, sunshine helps, good food helps, and well, of course rest.
  

The little things I don't want to forget:

• Leo peed on jb
• Leo pooed on jb
• Leo spit up on jb
• Hearing jb repeat "I'm a dad, I can touch poo" like a mantra over and over with the messier diaper changes.
• I missed sleeping on my tummy so much!
  
• Friends and neighbors have provided a constant stream of food, flowers, clothes, and support.
• His "poof. poof. poof." and snorty breathing. This is already long gone, and thank goodness because were worried it might be a sign of respiratory issues, but man was it cute.
• His billy goat fussing noises.
• The bruising on his forehead and eyes and his poor little conehead that he wore as badges of his tough, if quick, birth.
• His two faces - totally relaxed, passed out after a milk binge or grumpy old man.

Anyway, I hope yinz like baby pictures - because I can't stop taking and posting them.

Welcome Little One!

Leo Sebastian
Born at 8:26 am 5/16/2010
21.5 inches long
8 lbs. 5 oz.





We are just so happy! I will eventually post the whole birth story - but for now, here is the short version. After attending a young neighbor's birthday party last night we stayed up late - watched SNL, cuddled in bed and finally went to sleep at around two am. At about four am I got up to go to the bathroom and my water broke. Immediately the contractions were pretty much right on top of each other. About 30 seconds long and a minute and a half apart. We called the Midwife Center and woke up our birth team. The midwife on call wasn't 100% convinced I was far along enough to come in - which wasn't helped by the fact that when she asked to "listen" to a contraction on the phone I got total stage-fright and the contractions I had been struggling through suddenly puttered out to the lamest contractions you ever did see. So, she said we could come in to "get checked" and implied we would be sent back home - so to let our birth team know that they should wait for the go ahead before heading over to meet us at the center. As we arrived at the midwife center I was 4 cm. Transition came on quick and by 8 am (yes four hours since being woken up) I was ready to push. By 8:30 I had a squirmy baby on my tummy. My mom and sisters arrived just in time for the pushing stage - my doula arrived right in the midst of transition. jb held me as I pushed our baby son into the world, announced the sex and cut the cord. My mom and sisters were all crying. Six hours after the birth we were all back home.

It was incredible. It's too bad we did it with only an hour or two of sleep under our belts - but heck, you can't have everything. We are just so in love with this little guy. He is so soft - like crazy soft. He's a champion nurser. He's got a ton of hair. He makes this adorable breathing noise when he sleeps - he poofs air through his lips with each exhale. He's got long fingers and toes. He's barely cried (knock on wood). He smells like heaven. He's perfect.

Baby Watch

It is officially my due date! (And has been for 6 whole minutes!)

I'm still feeling pretty much the same. No big signs of labor, but lots of little signs that my body is moving in that direction.

The most noticeable changes are in my stretch marks - they have multiplied, are bright red, crazy itchy, a bit raw feeling and are palpable raised welts. It looks like I was violently whipped on my stomach. Basically, it's screaming that it's at capacity and *someone* needs to move out. Monkey just needs to realize it's not going to be me.

My mom is out of town until Monday and I have plans to go see a movie on Sunday - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a few more days. Of course, my doula then leaves town (but we also love our back-up) - so I don't know. Whenever it happens will be perfect, I'm sure.

We are starting to get lots of e-mails, texts, and calls wondering if the baby has arrived. I don't mind them so much - it's nice to know our monkey is hotly anticipated :) Well, except when they are from people that are on the short-short list of people who will absolutely know as soon as there is any indication that baby could be on it's way. For example, jb's brother has asked several times if the baby has arrived. Even my mom has not-so-subtly reminded me that she would like to know if I go into labor. The siliest, though is of course jb. Each night before bed she says, "You'll wake me up if the baby is coming, right?" And when she gets home from work each day it goes something like this:

jb runs up the stairs to our apartment, "Did you have the baby???"

I look at her as though she is insane.

She looks back at me expectantly, actually expecting an answer.

I say, "yes, the baby is upstairs if you'd like to meet it..."

Transition

Four days out from the 15th. Not only are we in the throes of preparing for monkey, but we are also going through some major changes on the cafe front. After a lot of agonizing we've decided to have the cafe open only on the weekends. There are a lot of reasons behind this shift (none of which are that we think this is a brilliant business decision) and it's not really our ideal situation, but it seems like the best choice for our current circumstances. We are pretty sad about it, and even though we aren't totally closed, we are still mourning the loss of the cafe in many ways. Today was the first day of the implementation of the new hours and it was eerily quiet in the house without the bustle of the shop downstairs - and poor jb is at a complete loss with what to do with the extra time she found herself with today (even if it was way less free time than the average person enjoys).

In other news, our friend Adam was in town over the weekend. Adam and jb worked together in DC (managing one of the busiest Starbucks in the country right in the heart of Dupont Circle). Adam was our #1 tiny porch barbquing, patio weather drinking, and hard-working barista buddy. It was good to see him, even if it was only for a short bit.

I'm still huge. The baby has learned a new trick where he/she stretches out and presses on both my bladder and lungs at the same time. It takes my breath away - and works my kegel muscles. Fun.

jb and I are still in love. Even if my mood swings are getting harder to dodge.

We are making progress setting up the "nursery" (which is really just a corner of our bedroom. We bought the changing table/dresser second hand off of craigslist for a great price - I just need to reattach the cabinet door.


We have enough diapers washed and ready to go. The catch is that most of them are "one-size" so they may be a bit big at first. We do have a few prefolds and xs diapers for those early days, though.

Our collection barely squeezes into one drawer!


And finally - we got the carseat installed. Nuts! We went to the workshop the police station offers - which was super helpful and the officer that led it was really nice. It does feel a little weird to be driving around with a carseat in the back of our car, but I suppose we couldn't put it off any longer!

Hungry, Hungy Hippo

Nine days until my "due" date - single digits. Wow. I had a midwife appointment today and while I tend to not opt for internal exams generally - my curiosity got the better of me. I was surprised to hear how much progress has been made! I am 2 cm dilated, 50% effaced, cervix is soft and midline, and baby is at station -1; which I calculated to a Bishop's score of 7. Not too shabby. Of course, that could mean nothing and it could still be weeks - but it's nice to know my body is working on it!

On Monday I had a preemptive mother's day (getting ahead of myself on the date and the mother-ness) - and it was just such a great day. I slept in - then Muffy, my mom and I went for massages. We went to Rose Tea Cafe for dinner and Rita's for dessert. Then I met some friends from high school for a movie (because I may not get a chance to see another one for a while!). We saw Date Night - and I really enjoyed it. Funny, light, sweet, not too complex. Just right. After the movie we went for coffee and jb picked me up to take me home. I just wish jb could have joined me for the whole day.

Today I prepped all our diapers - which basically means I washed them a zillion times to get natural oils out of the natrual fibers and any chemicals out of the synthetic fabrics. Now there are little diapers hung to dry all over our bedroom - and they will be ready for a tiny bum as soon as they dry!

My mom came by earlier this week to help me clean (well, to clean while I sat with my feet up because the swelling is still out of control). She's also cooked up a storm and frozen a ton of meals for us to keep in the freezer for after the baby comes :) She did this for me years ago when I was homesick while working for a campaign down in Texas. She flew in, walked to the grocery store while I was a work, lugged all the gorceries home on foot, and then spent the whole day cooking and putting meals in tupperware to freeze. She was only able to stay a couple of days - but having a home-cooked meal each night for the next few weeks really took the edge off my homesickness. I think I'll find it comforting when I'm feeling overwhelmed in those first few weeks of parenthood, too.

A friend of ours also dropped off a bunch of babystuff - a bassinett, a swing, and some other helpful stuff that we don't have. There is officially baby stuff in every room these days.

I'm feeling huge and slow and like time is running out - but still pretty good. I've had quite the apppetite. In several of our pregnancy books there are passages reading, "At this stage of pregnancy you may have to eat smaller meals since there's isn't much room for your stomach..." This is hilarious, because I have been putting it away like a champ. I can't easily get up from a seated position, walk to the bathroom, or bend down (there are things all over the house that I've dropped, contemplated, and decided that jb can pick up for me later). I feel like a total hippo - but for the first time in my life when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror I think, "oh, huh, I thought I was bigger."


Now I'm relaxing and putting my feet up. I mentioned to jb that I've been self conscious about my swollen feet and I thought that maybe painting my toenails would help - but I can't comfortably reach my feet. So jb volunteered to paint them for me. Best husband ever.

Taking the job very seriously.


My favorite part about this picture is the shadow of jb's cowlick.


Some might critique the attention to detail of the final product - but I think it's the best pedicure I've ever gotten.

Extremely Pregnant

I'm starting to feel pretty run down these days. Thinking back to this makes me chuckle to myself and really just puts me in complete awe of nature's design for pregnancy. At that point, I really was sad at the thought of my pregnancy coming to an end - and part of me still is, but in just a couple months, my body has made sure to nudge me toward being ready to move on to the next phase - baby! Last night I had a really hard night - I wasn't comfortable in any position and my legs were swollen all the way up to my knees so I had a hard time walking. jb put me to bed, put the Hypnobabies pregnancy affirmations CD on, and gave me a gentle massage - and just when I was sure I'd never be comfortable again, I began snoring. Now, after a day of jb-imposed bedrest my feet look semi-normal and I'm feeling much better.

Staycation

This week jb and I celebrate our 9th anniversary. After having such a great time on our mini-getaway in November - we thought it might be a good idea to do it again. So after seeing a great deal on groupon for a night's stay at the Omni Wm. Penn, I snapped it up and made reservations for this week. So yesterday we headed over to the hotel to enjoy a 24hr. escape together.

The hotel was gorgeous and our room was everything we wanted it to be - big bed, cable, clean bathroom and no one we know for miles, well, blocks. The only trouble is that when you get an $80 deal on a five-star $350/night hotel, there is a certain misundertanding about how much money you have to spend. So for dinner we ventured out into downtown (which is all but shut down on Sundays) rather than patronize the over-priced restaurants within the hotel. We found a hole-in-the-wall pizza place that was miraculously open and shared a chicken parm hoagie (high romance) and then returned to our room. jb did splurge on room service to get me chocolate cake and ice-cream in the middle of the night :)



This morning I was hoping jb would get a chance to sleep in, but getting up at 6 am for the past two years was too hard a habit to break - so she got up early to get coffee and read the paper (which is almost as good as sleep). When she returned, we went for breakfast together, returned to the room, and jb napped while I watched tv (hooray for late check-outs). Too soon, it was over and time to go "back to life" - I cried a little on the way home, partly because I didn't want it to be over and partly because I cry for everything these days.

Of course now that we've been "back to life" for several hours, I'm remembering that our life is pretty great. jb finished closing the store while I did some laundry, then we headed out to a midwife appointment where we heard monkey's heartbeat and confirmed that everything is on track and that I passed the GD screening with flying colors. (I can't believe we are at 30 weeks! Only 10 weeks to go - 70 days!!) We did a little grocery shopping and hand holding, returned home, jb made me dinner and now we're sitting on the couch with our puppy. Not too shabby.

Ode to jb

jb was born to be a parent. She is patient, funny, kind, silly, understanding, and hardworking. She has a strong moral compass and an uncanny ability to bring out the best in the people she loves. I feel very lucky to share my life with her - and I can't wait to share her with a new family member.

Below are some of my favorite jb pictures (most of which were followed immediately by, "You aren't going to post that ever, are you?"). These have been taken over several years, but changing haircuts aside, it's often hard for me to tell when they are from - they all seem to be smiling, loving, and timeless. Someday I'm sure monkey will want to know what we were like before he/she was born - and hopefully the answer will be, "a lot like we are now..."

Acrobatics

Wowzers. I just saw my belly move. The first time I just caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye, but after watching it for a few minutes it happened again - like the whole thing moved, without me doing anything. Crazy.

We had a busy but great weekend. On Friday we met with our doula, Kathy, who is just so great. That evening we went out to celebrate the birthday of a friend of ours from college (at a bar, so we split soon after I finished sipping my ginger ale). On Saturday we had our hypnobabies class (I can't believe we're more than halfway through the course) and that evening the whole family got together for dinner at Sesame Inn to celebrate Muffy's birthday.

Photo by N8

Sunday was Valentine's Day. Usually jb and I don't do much for this holiday, but since we had the gift certificates that Muffy got us for Christmas we thought we'd see how the other half lives and have a real date on the biggest date night of the year. First we caught a matinee showing of Valentine's Day (cute) and then headed over for our dinner reservation at 17th Street Cafe - which is just the sweetest date restaurant. All in all it was a great night. We'll probably go back to our usual and less crowded plan of ordering take-out next year, but it was fun to have a proper Valentine's date for our last V-day before baby.

Today jb started her job, and so far so good :) Daniel and I held down the fort here so all jb had to do was focus on work, eat her lunch packed with love, and come home to a treaty (but not totally nutritionally devoid) dinner.

Fumble

I'm very grateful for having, thus far (knock on wood), a fairly easy pregnancy. I'm loving my growing belly and feeling our little monkey doing acrobatics each day. The few discomforts I've had (round ligament pain and hip pain) seem pretty worth it - and I'm almost enjoying the other nuisances of pregnancy. For example - a waddle has begun to creep into my walk, especially when I first get going after being seated for a while. jb finds this positively hilarious - and I do love to hear her laugh, so it's a win-win. Even the stretch marks that have begun to explode over my belly don't phase me too much - although I am trying to keep them moisturized to avoid splitting right in half and to soothe the frantic itchiness that accompanies the stretching. I'm taking full advantage of the appetite that has ballooned over the last week or so - the latest cravings are chocolate milk (from Brunton's Dairy) and anything spicy. The only disconcerting symptom has been that I seem to be especially clumsy - a walking disaster, in fact. I currently have bandaids on four of my ten fingers (cutting jb's hair, leg shaving accident, scraped on a door, and the last one escapes me - have I mentioned that I'm forgetful, too?). My poor elbows and knees are bruised and my toes are all stubbed.

I've been MIA from the blog for two main reasons -

1. I hate posting without pictures. I don't know why, but it just seems like less fun - and it has been tricky catching daylight to take pictures. (Although I am noticing the days getting longer and loving it).

2. The cafe was randomly selected for an audit - Fun! So we've been very busy making sure all our ducks are in a row and going over the books to make sure everything adds up. We seem to be on track (audit is tomorrow - wish us luck!) but it's been overwhelming and has made us rethink some of our filing choices and division of work.

In response to the audit panic we've had two major changes. The first being a scaling back of hours - we are back to being open 7am - 5 pm. We were surviving with the old schedule, but we were eating dinner at 10 pm and letting non-urgent tasks slip (hello sink full of dishes and dust bunnies galore). With a baby on the way, it just didn't seem to be sustainable long term, so we made the switch back to our old hours - and it's been soooo nice. The second big change is what we've been fondly referring to as "commando life". Basically jb and I each have a daily schedule - and every hour of our day is scheduled, from the moment we wake up right up until bedtime. There is some flexibility, and we schedule relaxing time and dinner together - but overall, it's a pretty demanding schedule and has been a big change for both of us. On the bright side, we've both been hella productive. I've been to the gym almost everyday, taken Talula on walks, made dinner from scratch each night, gotten on top of our out-of-control laundry situation, not let the dishes pile up, and get to some deep cleaning around the house. So while we've freed up some time with the shorter cafe hours, we've certainly kept busy - but I feel like we've gotten more time together. I'm pretty happy with the changes because I feel like we are getting to enjoy our last few months as a twosome, focus on our home (nesting!), and get ahead of some of the stuff that was getting out of control.

Feliz Año!

2009 is coming to a close - and we've got a pretty exciting year ahead of us! Time for the annual year in review post. (You can also check out the 2007 and 2008 posts.)

• Visited Muffy and N8 in Korea for a full 10 days!
  
• The G20 was in town - which was the inspiration for the best party we've ever attended!
• I returned to Sonoma, CA for the final installment of the the Rockwood Fellowship.
• My job tried to get me to quit by saying the only way they could afford to keep me was if I took a 30% paycut, title demotion and moved back to DC - in two weeks. I called my union rep who gave them hell - then they laid me off with three months notice, but the terms of my layoff were that I had to serve out my last three months in the DC office, but they would not provide a hotel or cover expenses for travel (again I believe this was so that I quit and they wouldn't have to pay my severance). I did it - back and forth between pgh and DC for three months on the couches of very gernerous friends. Ha. I'd almost forgotton how thoroughly that sucked.
  
• Completed training to become a Doula
• Went on my last official work trip (a UCP in Rochester, NY)
• Visited my family in Mexico for two weeks!
  
• jb and I thoroughly enjoy the summer weather - Farm tours, outdoor concernts, movies in the park, soccer games, farmers markets etc.
• I attend my first birth as a doula
• The three musketeers (jb, daniel and myself) have a "last hurrah!" birthday blow-out at the Andy Warhol museum on my birthday - Open bar!!
• I make some (not-so) extra cash giving Spanish lessons and picking up some babysitting gigs
• WE FIND OUT WE ARE PREGNANT!!!
• My former job has their convention in Pittsburgh - it's really nice to see former co-workers, board members and chapter leaders (at least the ones that didn't have a part in making my life miserable for several months) and we cater a big event for the convention
• Hoi Polloi starts to pick up catering business more and more
  
• We finally get the living room into livable condition
  
• My family is all living in the same city for the first time in two years! We are all able to go to Cincinatti for Thanksgiving and spend Christmas together!

*Note: The pictures in this post make it seem like all I did was drink until the positive pregnancy test. I switched out the Korea picture so I wasn't holding a bottle of soju, the Mexico picture is me hitting the mezcal, wine in wine country, the music festival picture was taken after a good liter of white sangria (I'm pretty sure I'm clutching the cup below the frame), and then well, the warhol party - at least I'm not holding two drinks like Daniel is.