Happy Christmas Eve!

We'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah or Merry Festivus or Happy Isaac Newton's Birthday, depending on what you like to celebrate.


Nick and I did our own little Christmas a week ago in Boston (we're pretty good a stretching holidays out). We are now out in Santa Barbara to celebrate Christmas (and Newton's birthday) with my family.
Above is a picture of our tree and presents. Note that all the ornaments start about half way up the tree...this year the tree was almost Mallie proof.

One of the presents I got Nick. I got him his own fleece comfy pants, and even found a matching pair for Barca.

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope the weather is mild for all of you that are travelling!

Another Baby Quilt

I made a baby quilt for our friends, Beau and Des's, newborn son Alex. Again it was pretty simple with blocks of colorful fabrics (cotton and fleece) and the back was a really soft fabric with stamped stars. I quilted stars onto the quilt.

And I couldn't pass up sharing this picture of us with Alex. Alex is such a cute baby! It was great to have a chance to meet him while we were in Chicago.

An Early Chicago Christmas

So Nick and I went to Chicago this past weekend to celebrate Christmas and the holidays early with Nick's family. Plus we got to see some good friends!

On Friday we left Boston at 7 am (early!) and after a mid morning nap we went to lunch with Nick's parents. Then we visited with our good college friends Beau and Des (and got to meet their new son Alex!). For dinner we had some fabulous deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati's with close friends Sarah and her fiance Joe. I hadn't seen them since they got engaged and I was so excited to see the both of them and the gorgeous ring Joe gave Sarah.

Desiree, Alex, and I

Saturday was the family party. We spent most of the day at Nick's Aunt's house visiting with family. Cindy (Nick's sister), Chris (Nick's cousin) and I spent plenty of time talking about weddings as Chris and I will both be bridesmaids for Cindy in her wedding next fall! The food and company made for a fantastic afternoon.

Nick, his cousins, and their significant others (and me). Front row from left, Cousin Jenny, Sister Cindy, Cousin Chris, and me. Back row from left, Jenny's husband James, Cindy's fiance Mike, Chris' husband Matt, and Nick. (You know its an important photo when there are so many people taking pictures that flashbulb reflections are caught in the picture!)

Cindy, Chris, and me

As a surprise the family threw us a baby shower! With a cake! It was very generous of the family and we appreciate their thoughtful gifts. Nick's grandma knits baby hats for the hospital near her house and she made three special hats just for Barca!

The cake!

Presents for Barca. Poor thing will be a Cubs fan...

Saturday night we hung out with Nick's close high school friends Feihong and Mike and Mike's fiance Marta. Plus we got to hear details about Mike's upcoming wedding with Marta...in Poland!!

Sunday we spent the morning with Nick's immediate family. We had our own early Christmas morning complete with nice breakfast (with chocolate covered strawberries...Nick's mom knows the way to my heart) and gift giving. We flew back to Boston late Sunday evening.

It was one long weekend, especially for me who doesn't have the same amount of energy I had approximately 7.5 months ago. But we were so happy to spend time with friends and family and celebrate not only the holidays but engagements and new babies.

The Holidays have arrived

Its that time of year again...the tree is up and decorated, we went to the Holiday Pops tonight, and now we are waiting for the laundry to dry so we can pack for our weekend trip to Chicago!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Happy Birthday Rick!

So last night we celebrated our friend Rick's birthday. Rick's wife, Steph, planned a surprise birthday party for Rick at a bowling alley. Rick and some of our other friends are a bowling team in an amateur league at the same bowling alley where we celebrated his birthday. We had a blast hanging out with friends and celebrating Rick's 30+something birthday. Although...Nick and I aren't really the best bowlers.

However I did win something! I won the bowling-while-the-most-pregnant-prize! Of course I used a 6 pound ball. Thanks to our friend Paco for spotting the kids bowling balls so I wouldn't hurt myself while bowling. Nick's second game was actually pretty good. He missed a turkey by 1 pin! Oh well...next time.

Did I mention it was Atomic Bowling, or Glow Bowl, or whatever its called when you bowl with blacklights and loud music. Above is Nick shoing off his stylish moves while bowling.

Rick, of course, won the best bowler award!

Kevin, Victoria, and Timmy. Timmy is showing off his, "that's what she said" Dunder Mifflin onsie. Timmy did really well, he didn't seem to mind being passed around and held by everyone.

Not quite sure what we were talking about at this moment, but I'm sure it was baby related. Or perhaps Timmy spit up and I was helping her clean up...

Rick blowing out the candles.

Rick enjoying the present we brought him. He is a huge whiskey fan!

Happy Birthday Rick!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great, uneventful Thanksgiving! Susie cooked (and I baked) the dinner. Nick had to work (he always does...) and we didn't eat until 7-ish. My manager came over for dinner as well. We made way too much food for four people, but at least we have a lot of leftovers! Everything went really well and the only store bought items was the creepy cranberry sauce in a can that Nick really likes. Susie did a great job on making her own stuffing and gravy! And we even made whipped cream for the pumpkin pie I baked! It was definitely a success and a much better dinner than the frozen turkey-dropped pies debacle of 2006.

And here is a picture from yesterday, after I ate dinner...I think I ate too much!

Barca's Buddies!

Congratulations are in order for our good friends Beau and Desiree on the birth of their son Alexander! Alexander was born on Friday and both mom and baby are doing well and are home now. I can't wait to see more photos of Alexander and even meet him when we are in Chicago in December!

And I totally forgot to give a shout-out to our other friends Steve and Sara on the birth of their third son, Zachary at the beginning of October. Zachary has two older brothers who are twins! And since I flaked, I'll give Sara a plug here and say that she is a contributor for Polliwogged, which is a website with lots of great information for parents and parents-to-be! You can also follow Sara's adventures at her blog, Loving My Fellas.

Sara, Des, and I were all sorority sisters in college, and despite my attempts to find photos of us on my computer, I couldn't find any! It seems I didn't have a digital camera during our undergraduate years! However, I know I have some actual photos which I obviously need to scan!

Congratulations guys!

26 Weeks...time is flying by

So here we are the beginning of week 27. Some books and websites claim this is the beginning of the 3rd trimester, others claim its in week 28 (as my doctor does). So we are almost out of the second trimester. My how we have grown...and Barca seems to really enjoy doing somersaults. Nick has felt her move several times and is always amazed by it (which is better reaction than the first time he felt her move and was a little freaked out, but that was right after the Halloween costume so he may have thought I really did have an alien in my stomach!)

The background of the photo is the newly painted Barca room. The yellow is much brighter in person, but the photo was taken without the flash so it doesn't look as morning sunshine, daffodil, or lemon sorbet.

Also, I finally got a haircut! Woohoo!! It had been well over 7 months since I had a haircut and my salon had been totally renovated! My stylist probably would have chastised me for waiting so long had she not been excited to hear I was going to have a baby girl!

Awww...

No words.

Santa Barbara on fire again...

Just when you think wildfire season is over...

The fire is in an area of town where the uber-wealthy and celebrities live (yes, even Oprah). However, Westmont College has already lost some buildings and many other schools are threatened. Also, a Frank Lloyd Wright house is in the vicinity and is threatened as well. This is a bad fire and a lot of resources are being utilized to contain it and put it out quickly.

It doesn't appear that my parent's house is threatened. They are evacuating people and pets to my old high school which is like 1/4 mile from my parent's house, so the officials think our neighborhood is safe. However, the SB winds are very unpredictible.

For more information you can check out the Santa Barbara Independent.

Barca in the Big Apple

This past weekend I hopped on the bus and headed down to NYC. Two of my closest high school friends both live in Brooklyn and this past weekend was one of the few when they were both in town and I was free. It also worked out well because my aunt and uncle were also in town to visit my cousin (also living in Brooklyn!). I was able to catch up with my cousin (and meet his girlfriend) and have lunch with my aunt and uncle. I really don't seen anyone from my family, except my sister, more than once or twice a year.

I stayed with my cousin and his two crazy cats (adorable, but almost certifable). It was absolutely fabulous to get to spend time with P. and C. It had been a really long time since we had seen each other. I'm always amazed that we can spend months without corresponding and years without seeing each other but when we finally do get together, its like we haven't seen each other in 30 minutes. It also makes me realize how much I really miss seeing them at school everyday, or hanging out every weekend, or talking on the phone every night. You never realize how much you miss someone until you only get to spend a few hours with them!

But the best part of the weekend...Nick, Susie, and two friends, Kevin and Dan, painted Barca's room and moved around furniture. It was great not having to paint or watch Nick paint. We have begun Barca's room. We chose a bright, soft yellow. Now we just have to figure out the placement of the furniture and decorate the rest of it. We'll post pictures once we resolve the furniture dilemma.

My Surprise Shower - Photos Added

I love my office and my coworkers! Last week they threw me a surprise baby shower! How awesome is that?? I was not expecting a shower at work, let alone this early!

They had a whole plan to get me back to the office as I was out in the field that day. My manager said that I had to come back by 5pm to help her resolve an issue and she had to leave at 5:30! They were really worried that I would say that I couldn't because I was already working a long day, hadn't had a lunch, and was pretty stressed out! But I went back, and even resolved the issue (which wasn't a huge deal like my manager made it out to be...but at least I could cross it off my to-do list!).

They hosted the shower in our building's lobby and decorated with balloons and some table decorations. We had a nice dinner of Upper Crust pizza, ice cream, and my favorite cake (vanilla with fresh strawberries). Nick was in on the whole thing and rushed over from work to be there! The office definitely splurged on Barca getting us gift cards to multiple places (including a spa, which technically I guess that one was for me), as well as, getting us started with our hybrid diapers. (We have elected to use gDiapers, http://www.gdiapers.com/). And the office got Barca a onsie with the company's logo on it...they really want me to bring her by the office!

I know someone took pictures so I'll try and get those and post them. Again I just have to say, I love where I work and the people I work with!

The surprise!

All my coworkers (well two were missing because they were out of town)

Opening presents (they made us open presents before we could eat...)

The pink onesie with the company logo on it, seriously adorable!

Yes We Can!

I just have to say the day Nick and I realized that our child will be born after Bush leaves office and will not have to ever say that she knew Bush as a president was a very happy day for us indeed.


Now, she can say that she was there right at the beginning of Obama's presidency and that makes us very very happy people.


Note to Barca, don't arrive before January 20, 2009.

Halloween 2008

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween. Nick and I attended my sister's annual Halloween party. It was a blast! And we weren't the first ones to leave (though we were the first ones to arrive). There was quite the assortment of costumes. Of course there were the politically inspired, Sarah Palin, Joe Six-Pack, and a Bridge to Nowhere. But the teachers (most of the party attendants) came out with some creative costumes including a Hester Prynne.



Here are a few pictures of our costumes...


Susie as Rosie the Riveter and her roomate as Amelia Earhart after her crash (morbid I know, but to M. its not Halloween if there isn't blood...). Both are history teachers, go figure. Susie actually wore her costume to school!

Nick and me as people from the movie Aliens. I am a victim with an alien coming out of my stomach (what else can a 5-month pregnant woman go as?) Nick went as a marine from the movie. Later in the night, Nick also became a victim when he broke out the face-hugger alien mask...

Rosie just wanted to beat up the alien. So many people were taking pictures of us at this moment we are both laughing so hard we are crying...seriously.

And one for the grandparents....

Barca Belly Pictures - Week 22

Here are a couple pictures from this week:



From this morning, after the chocolate buffet! I just want to point out that I'm wearing a dress I bought before I even got pregnant, best purchase ever. Not only was it a great dress for the cruise (lightweight, it has pockets), but I can't believe it still fit when I had to dress "business causal" for brunch.


Barca and I are both growing (and so far it seems to be in my stomach only, thankfully). And she is now kicking me on a regular basis, especially as I try to fall asleep! And now that the PE exam is over, we can focus on important things like the color of her room!

(And mom...now that I have a little bit more time on my hands, I'll try to get an appointment for a haircut...)

Just 10-12 weeks of waiting...

So yesterday was the big exam. All my studying and hard work rolled into one day. It was difficult. One marathon exam. And now, all I have left is to wait 10-12 weeks for the results (it was multiple choice, I don't know what can take so long!).
Basically here is how the day can be summarized:
-Left the house at 6:20 am, got home at 6:30 pm (it was a LONG day)
-8 hours total of exam time, 4 hours in the morning and 4 in the afternoon.
-80 questions total (approx. 6 minutes a question...not a lot of time to design a concrete beam or steel column!)
-75 minute lunch
-approx. 1.5 hours of just sitting there while they read instructions, tell us not to cheat, collect and count the exams, etc
-75 pounds of books (not an exaggeration, ask Nick, he carried it down the stairs)
-2 strangers I had to ask to help me get my suitcase of books in and out of my car
-finally a good nights sleep where I didn't have a dream about taking the test!

Today in celebration of having taken this exam, Nick got reservations at the chocolate buffet at a hotel downtown and we headed down there for brunch. When I took the FE (the first 8 hour exam I took in college) we went out drinking after. However, well...can't do that this time so I ate my weight in chocolate covered strawberries (okay, at least Barca's weight, well maybe a little more).

Feel the 'Nois!

That was the theme of this year's Homecoming at the University of Illinois. I went back and had a great time -- despite the final score of the football game at the center of the weekend. (Still can't believe we got beat by Minnesota. We really ARE better than them.)

It was cool to hang out with some friends from school I haven't seen in years -- and hit some of the campus bars I haven't hit in years. We didn't go to Kam's or Joe's, though, so I can't help but feel like the trip was missing something (namely skanks), but what can you do? Hehe...

Anyway.. since I feel like you'd be better served with picture captions rather than a long write-up, here we go (in chronological order):

No college football weekend is complete without an early morning of tailgating. We got set up on the corner of 4th and Kirby in Champaign (as usual), kiddy-corner to Memorial Stadium at 7 am. There's nothing like waking up at 5:30 am to start drinking -- unless it's waking up at 3:30 am to start drinking at the Rose Bowl. That was still amazing. The guys are all friends from my fraternity.

 

My mom and dad even stopped by the tailgate to enjoy some weird Costa Rican beer. Aside from not having any labels, the beer was great.

It had been a while since I saw some of the frat guys. However, some I tailgated with before the Bears game in Chicago just a couple weeks ago.

Gametime was 11:00 am, but we went into the stadium early to catch the Marching Illini. They were good, as always. Too bad the football team couldn't manage to follow suit.

There's the football team entering the stadium through the Marching Illini (and alumni band). That's my mom's hand waving her "Zook Zone" towel. I have one, too. They are orange and they are awesome.

The improvements to Memorial Stadium are really great. These stands behind the north end zone, the new home of the student section, are brand new.

On the field behind the south end zone, the university set up a bright orange basketball court for what it dubbed "the world's largest basketball practice" following the football game. Too bad the basketball team sucks, and the football team suffered a depressing loss, because absolutely nobody stuck around to watch.

After the game we made our way back to campustown, where I had to get a picture of the Alma Mater (and Altgeld Hall). The town is still a great place to visit. We made sure to eat a burger at Murphy's, some barbecue at Hickory River, and breakfast at the Courier Cafe (for Sunday breakfast with Ann's dad, Mike). I am sorry to say we missed out on deep dish pi zza from Papa Del's, though. We tried to go there after the game, but there was an hour-and-a-half long wait.. which we couldn't stomach. Too hungry.
After the game we went to hang out at Legends, one of the other bars on campus to hang out with, you guessed it, more frat friends.
(It actually is an Illinois jersey from the early '90s.. but hello.. how about some orange?! I don't know what the university was thinking back in those days.)
Here's me and friend toward the end of the night -- just prior to our La Bamba's run. I can still taste the chorizo-y goodness of my Super Nachos.

That's the trip in an orange nutshell. Like I said, I had a great time, despite the football team's beset efforts to ruin it. I hope to get back to another Homecoming as soon as possible -- and whenever that is, I'm sure I'll have a little Illini fan in tow.

50-yard line

We are half-way there. Only 20 more weeks (give or take a few) till we are, "Harrer, party of three".

I would post a picture, but Nick, once again, has jetted off to Chicago for a long weekend (this time he's going to Illinois' homecoming, Go Illini!!). So we'll all just have to wait till he returns and has time to take a picture of me. Hopefully he'll have some good stories and eat plenty of pokey sticks and Papa Dels and Murphys and Aunt Sonias...I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. I can only wish that we could get decent deep dish pizza out here on the east coast.

I'm feeling her move and kick a lot more now. It is really a strange feeling. Pretty awesome though. Apparently she is now the length of a banana (according to the internet). I'm definitely getting bigger, it feels like everyday I'm getting a larger belly.

We've begun quest for the perfect name. The most difficult part is when I think I have a great name, and I tell Nick and he shoots it down immediatly off a gut reaction. I can't blame him entirely though, I do the same thing. At least we have developed a set of criteria that we want the name to adhere too. But we have decided that we won't pick a final name until we meet her. So we only have to agree upon a short list right now.

And only two weeks until the PE. I'm starting to freak out a little bit. And it doesn't help that I now have a headcold. The last thing I want is to be sniffling or coughing during the test!

10 fingers, 10 toes, and...

...nothing extra. No extra appendages. No stems.

We're having a girl!

We had an ultrasound last week where we were able to see her heart beating, her stomach, her brain, her little arms and fingers, and her itty-bitty little toes! The doctor said all was well and normal.

Again, Barca did not sit still for the doctor. Constantly moving the doctor had to work fast to get measurements and photos. She kept her face covered up with her arms too, which made it difficult to get a good picture of her little face. However, she did cooperate when the doctor asked if we wanted to know if it was a girl or boy.

Below are a couple of the images from the ultrasound. Fair warning, during the actual ultrasound she looked a lot more like a baby and when she moved you could make out her arms, legs, etc. But the printouts you get, yeah, don't really look like her. So enjoy the photos of Barca at 19 weeks.

Here is all of Barca, you can see her trying to punch me

Tickle, tickle...bottom of Barca's feet

I am super excited to have a daughter. I know what little girls like! And I can't wait to make her dresses and skirts (making boys clothes would just be boring!) I wasn't rooting for a boy or a girl, both have plenty of pros and cons. Plus, it'll be nice to go against the trend right now of all our friends having boys!

Hey, speak of which, any of you new or soon-to-be parents of boys want to wager that we can potty train Barca before you can potty train your guys?

Weekend in the Windy City

Last weekend my friend, Dan (who is a fan of everything Philadelphia), and I went to Chicago for a couple days of football and fun. The main reason we went is because I was lucky enough to get free tickets to the Bears vs. Eagles game from a friend of mine from journalism class in college who now works for the Bears (as a photographer), but hates football.

That's right.. FREE tickets. It turns out he gets a pair to every game and is working for most of them and has no use for his seats. Nice friend to have, huh? Now.. if I can only figure out a way to make friends with somebody who works for United or American Airlines.

In any case, I gave Dan a whirlwind tour of downtown Chicago, including stops at the Sears Tower, Grant / Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the waterfront, the Magnificent Mile, and Wrigley Field. We also made sure to grab some Chicago-style hot dogs and deep dish pizza.

Saturday night, just a few hours after getting in and dropping our stuff off at my Grandma's place (who was very kind to let a couple of goof-offs stay with her), we headed downtown to catch the Illinois -- Penn State football game at a Big Ten bar I'd been to a few times. Little did we know, though, that the place was the headquarters for the night of the Chicago Illini Club -- the city's UI alumni organization. Needless to say, Dan was outnumbered. But, his team wound up winning so he was happy.

Sunday was the main event, though. In the afternoon we met up with a couple of my friends from college (Don, Jennifer, Zack, Colton) -- who are Bears season ticket-holders -- at their tailgate. Thanks to them for some great company and awesome food. After a couple hours of tailgating, we made our way into Soldier Field. As hideous as the place looks from the outside (you know, with the UFO having landed on the classic, old, columned stadium), it is spectacular on the inside. Not a bad seat in the place and some great concourses/facilities. And, I'm happy to say Sunday was my night to leave happy.. as the Bears managed a great upset of the Eagles.

In all.. it was a great trip. We packed a lot of stuff into just a few days, but it did a lot to remind me about how much I love that town.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

This dude at the Bears game at Red Sox hat on. Weird.