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....