building a house

gross? yes.

new blooms

Finally, some color! My drab little garden has signs of life with new flowers I added this weekend. I did a little bit of pruning on one of the existing plants and it decided to give out a bloom as well. Just in time for the family to arrive!

Oh, and for some reason we have a creature-friend who like to come in the back corner of our yard. You can see his little entry way in the above photos. We have never seen him in living color, but we're thinking he takes the form of a(n) opossum? Try as I might to block him out - he gets in. At this point I give up. Until he does major damage, he is welcome into our fairly barren backyard. Just don't mess with my up-and-coming blooms.

Our front porch finally says, "welcome!"

it's that kind of day...

Frank Sinatra. If you want to avoid stress during the day, just tune into the Pandora Frank Sinatra music list. So refreshing. He was crooning on the radio this morning and it was the perfect way to deal with traffic on the way to work.

just for fun

baby belly

This is embarassing, but worth it. Bring on the jokes. Too bad I did not get a profile picture next to my big brother in law...you should see that baby belly. Just playin', bro.

recent remodel

before

after

hiccups

They are a sign of respiratory development...but, does respiratory development have to start at 4am? No matter. It's good news that his lungs are doing their thing.

Phoenix 2008

baby pics

It's a boy! Here's a cute picture of little baby Ace. It looks like bubbles right around the mouth, but it's the umbilical cord beyond.
All is going well...a healthy little baby with ten fingers and ten toes...and lots of movement!

my cousin's wedding

Isn't she beautiful!

memorial day sales!

We found this cute little table and chairs for under $100! I now feel like we can appropriately entertain...only now it's well above 90 degrees. At the very least breakfast outside.

You can see our evolving little garden in the back corner. It still needs a little love, but it's a start.

baby kicks

By the way; it's been a few weeks, but it seems little Ace is moving around like a champ. We find out the gender next week!

remembering good times

my new favorite place to "shop"

The great thing about this website is the quality of each piece and the way you can search by era. Give it a whir. It won't let you down...unless you are hoping to find something in your price range. It's suggested only for client shopping or maybe a very special item! A friend of mine recommended searching eBay for the item you like on this website. Just a thought!

chai mishap

Another pregnancy story to share (it's great to have people tell you pregnancy makes you clumsy or forgetful. . .because surely I would never have done this if I were not pregnant. . .then again, I probably would). Lately my chai intake has been limited due to its high sugar content and caffeine. Today, I decided I deserved a splurge. All was well and good; the chai was hot, seemed to have the perfect proportion of milk to chai. . .but then I took a sip. What in the world! It tasted so odd. My first instinct was to blame the coffee shop. This was, after all, my first time trying the chai tea at the local cafe; maybe they were still working out the recipe.

Since my ever changing taste buds seem to play tricks on me (yes, they do change daily for this preggy mama). I decided to instead blame the pregnancy. I then proceeded to enjoy the slightly odd tasting chai latte and go about my business.

By the time I reached the end. . .the typically extra sweet finish, my chai delight had turned into something more like sweaty hands. What had that barista been thinking! Did I give him a dirty look?

No.

No, no. It was no one's fault but my own. Because I remembered trying to add a little kick to my beverage. I considered nutmeg, cinnamon or chocolate. . . Hm, what about vanilla? Big mistake. What I thought was vanilla, turned out to be SALT. Now I have learned my lesson - trust the barista. The local shop definitely deserves another try. . .Sans salt.

beautiful things

Keeping an eye out for unique and beautiful things can sometimes feel like a job...or else it can be your job. The above is some eye candy from a day's work.

The top image is only considered art work; a one-of-a-kind. Below, the mass-produced version. Not nearly as delicate, but still very pretty:

moms think of everything

So, it's weird. While I am not yet officially a mom, somehow thinking like other moms has already begun...or maybe I should say other pregnant women. For example, sleeping becomes a big job for someone who used to demand a little less space in the bed...Adding a full sized pillow to our queen sized bed has been like adding a third person.
Lately I have been making use of the extra moments I spend awake - designing a more efficient pillow to take the place of our newest unwanted guest. Lo and behold, someone else designed the EXACT same pillow. Who else in the world would come up with a pillow shaped like this! Just think, I could be making a profit of this silly thing had I thought of it first! Would I have also named it a 'Snoogle'?

umlauf lecture

Our office is busy preparing lecture materials for our bosses to give at a local sculpture park. I was out most of the day taking photos with a fancy-schmancy camera and wide angle lens.

alive and...kicking?

Well, no kicks have been felt by this mama yet...at 15 weeks it is now a possibility. I can't express how much of a relief it is to hear your own child's heartbeat. At a brisk 150 beats a minute, I would have to say our baby is probably going to have the energy of his dad over his mom. So far, all is well!

Next month: PICTURES and the GENDER!! Whoo hoo! Any bets?? Doug and I both call girl. (But of course we'll be excited either way!)