Sutter's

We've been passing by this sign for nearly a year and half saying we have to take pictures with it... And we finally did!
Our dear friend Ron is quite the comedian (in a very subtle and extremely intelligent way) and has hosted us at "Sutter's Restaurant" ("Sutter's"--his street, "Restaurant"--his home) a few times. It was after our first visit to "Sutter's" (and a very awkward explanation from yours truly after a very purposeful inquiry from Ron) that our spending time together after Chris' return from Turkey was propelled to a DTR. One of our last visits to Sutter's was actually the day after Chris proposed.

Although this company apparently spelled their name wrong, it still reminds us of Ron, "Sutter's", and some of the best meals and funniest discussions each time we see it.

Our Garden

If you hadn't noticed... I'm not much of a photographer, and we don't have an impressive camera... but this is "Our Garden" where Chris proposed.

The view from our bench:The cute little building on the side of the garden:

The cute husband by our favorite bench:
A close-up of the cute husband:
Not a fan of this picture... but it's the "best" one...

Chris' Joke

Which of the Star Wars’ characters is in the business of delivering babies????

OBi-Wan Kenobi

Yes. He made that up, and he’s pleased with himself. =)

Week... ?

Ok, so, we have been purposely taking my progress pictures in the same shirt. You'll see why later, but the unfortunate thing about doing this is that when you misplace the shirt you use for the pictures… you don't take the pictures…

We have since found the shirt and are now happy to present the Big Belly at Week 34.

In case you are interested… It looks like this baby may not hold on for the full 40 weeks. Last week I started feeling some discomfort. When we went in for our appointment on Friday, we brought it up to the doctor, who wasn't really very concerned. (I'm at the point in pregnancy when discomfort is a pretty normal state of existence.) Well, we had the doctor check and the reason why I'm feeling discomfort is because the baby has dropped and I am dilated to 1.5 cm. He told me to hold off on having the baby for at least 2 more weeks… =) Of course, when I told Susie-Q (my good friend and almost OB in training) she told me to tell this baby there's no hurry. We'll just have to wait and see if s/he is going to be obedient. =)

It is Finished

This semester has been quite the semester for both of us! It was Chris' last semester, so he has been busy working hard to make sure he passed. ;) So far, so good. We are still waiting to hear back on a few of his grades, but there shouldn't be anything that would prevent his participation in commencement (yep, that's a big word for graduation exercises) on Sunday.

I, as the eternal student, have been taking two classes—Stress Management and British Literature. To sum up this semester of course work… One class was necessary to get me through the other alive. Having been an English major, I like English. I like to read. I like to write. But I did not like my class. Chris didn't either. But, without going into all the messy and ugly details, as of yesterday, it is finished. We are both so so very glad. As Chris has said… now he has his wife back.

The Day the Queen Came

Though some of you may have heard about it, or seen it on the news, you probably don’t remember that it was just a year ago that the Queen of England came to good ol’ Virginia and visited Chris’ school. It was a historic event… but the media forgot one thing…

It’s also the day Chris proposed! =) And to think… I gave him such a hard time about going on that walk after dinner. (I really was quite tired and my legs really did hurt.)

Although there are still a number of details regarding how he pulled it off that he refuses to tell me, it has been fun hearing about what he would reveal. Like a security guard pulling the ring out of the box, when Chris went through a security checkpoint, and “accidentally” dropping the ring… or why Chris thought we should go for a walk when I got to campus rather than make dinner first… or why he was so happy to drop me off at church for leadership meetings the Sunday before he proposed (he then went back to my house and had a good chat with my mom…). The list could go on!

On one hand it is hard to believe it was that long ago, and yet, on the other hand, it’s hard to believe it was just a year ago. While we knew our family would probably grow pretty quickly, I don’t think we imagined that I’d be 8 months pregnant just one year later. Pretty crazy.

It’s fun to think about. Hope you don’t mind my reminiscing for a bit. =)

I Pack the Heat

In case you didn’t already know, all those rumors about pregnant women liking the cold are true. (At least as far as this pregnant woman is concerned, anyways.)

Over the last month and a half, my dear, sweet husband has borne the brunt of my need for cold. Once my body temperature really kicked it up a notch, we quickly learned that I had difficulty sleeping if the temperature in our apartment was above 62`F. Below that was preferable. As it is still just April, we have been able to accommodate for my need for cold by not running the heater or a/c much--until the last week or so. While beneficial to our budget, I really feel for Chris, who has taken to doing homework in bed under all our covers. All of this has helped me to see that while June is not the worst time of year to have a baby (I don’t have to endure the hot and humid summer months with this heater), I think there may be a better time… A baby due in January/February/March seems perfect to me. =)