IT'S (SHE'S) A GIRL!!!

Last week we finally found out the gender of our child. It's a girl! wooooot! We are excited, Liese is already working on a girly baby blanket.

This is the evidence, I'm convinced.

We'll have better pictures towards the end of December.

She kept licking the wall of the placenta, we're going to have one of those weird kids that licks everything....

Weekend at the Cavallaro's

The weekend after July 4th we were invited out to the Cavallaro's river house on the Northern Neck. We had a great time, but man was it hot. It got up to around 105 degrees that weekend.

Looking out the back windows towards the river.

Liese (off camera) just said something totally outrageous.

Cruising into the bay for a swim dip!

Oh no! a woman is driving! Stop her!

Phew! that was close!

The swim dip!

James getting his tan on.

Seasonally appropriate sparklers.

Front of the house.

Mrs. Kear and her chickens. She gave us a carton of fresh eggs.

Memorial Day Weekend

This is a super late post, but over Memorial Day Weekend we rented a place on the Chesapeake in Nanticoke, MD (photos below). The place we rented sat on an 80 acre parcel which we had all to ourselves, so there was a veritable wellspring of fun outdoor activities available. Diversion, distraction and overall good fun was very much had by all, especially the friends that came with us (Josh, Loren, and the Georges). 

We went to dinner at place called the Red Roost, it was divine. the crab and shrimp were deliciously crunchy.

The kite came too!

Shooting some clay pigeons.

Liese, sizzling by the fire.

Ryan, Loren, Josh, Liese, and Amber by the fire.

Just some people on a dock.

This is the candid photo I took while setting up the timer, my favorite.

Now everyone do something crazy!

Ryan laughing, obviously.

Josh perfectly posturing for potential pigeon pummeling.

Eating Healthy

I read about a study that claims that a fetus is more likely to prefer the food/flavors  its pregnant mother feeds it in utero.  Apparently the food I eat flavors the amniotic fluid and my baby is 3 times more likely to like those things when he/she comes out.  So...I've been trying to stay away from junk food and eat more vegetables. (I'm already really good at eating fruits.)  In an effort to do this we've been stocking up on asparagus, artichokes, broccoli, etc.  I'm not really good at eating those things without putting some sort of sauce on top tho :) Hollandaise is my favorite!

Craig made me this delicious breakfast the other morning

It turns out artichokes are really fun to eat :)

Then last Saturday Craig and I decided to check out a farmer's market in Manassas (since the one in Woodbridge is only open on Sundays...and you know, the whole commandment thing about keeping that day holy...).  Mom and Josh came too!  We bought delicious peaches, plums, watermelon, yellow squash, and zucchini to name a few and we've been eating them everyday.  SO...this baby had better love these things because I'm trying my hardest here.

Farmer's market finds

Craig is so fancy with his HDR images

Craig keep threatening to make me pills full of spicy flavors so that the baby won't be so sensitive to spice, like me :)

Smug Little Thing

I work in medical imaging...MRI to be specific.  I don't do ultrasounds, but I work with people who do :)  I was just dying to know if our baby was a boy or girl, so I asked my coworker to take a peek!  I didn't want to know without Craig, so the plan was that I would close my eyes and she would put the answer in an envelope for us to open together at home.  Baby could not have been more uncooperative!  So, we're not sure still, but check out this really cute picture:

I think our little Orange (that's what size he/she was during this photoshoot) is smiling...almost looks smug that it still has a secret.

We're going to have a problem....

Well...only if it's girl.
So, have you seen those ads for the new Disney Pixar movie called Brave? Don't misunderstand me, it looks cute, BUT it makes me cringe every time. That little girl with the wild and unruly orange hair...that was me (and probably still is sometimes.)  It's just frizzy and crazy and ALL OVER THE PLACE. 

I was telling Craig, in between cringes, that I feared that our little girls would have hair like that...like me. 


(Tangent: True story: the group of mean girls in 4th grade used to call me lion...because even though my mom fixed my hair, little pieces would come up in the front and look like a mane around my face :/)

(This isn't even the worst picture I could find...just the worst I was willing to share)


Oh, back to me telling Craig about my fear of our girls with my hair...here's the problem: he WANTS that. AND he doesn't want me to try to tame it. If it were up to him, I would have an Afro...or look like a homeless lady...and that's what he wants to do to our children. I'll have to teach them to not listen to their father from an early age...

Photographic Evidence

On Tuesday we went to the doctor's office for our first ultrasound.

The doctor listened to the hummingbird-like heartbeat (160bpm), which we could also hear (now I know firsthand there is a real baby in there). After that he did the ultrasound, we could see the little creature all curled up inside a bubble. The baby measured 5.76cm.  Since Liese's womb is not furnished with a pillow he was just relaxing with his arm up around the back of his head. We were pretty sure about it before, but now we've seen it with our own eyes.

-Craig