Several Weeks of Baby Belly

After getting back from two weeks of vacation I finally have my camera cord again and can post baby growth pictures! We had a fabulous time in Seattle and Phoenix visiting friends and family. It was hard to leave 90 degree Phoenix to come back to the wet and cold Northwest. But, one great result of all this rain is that the fields have turned vibrantly green and all of our plants and trees look beautiful.

Here's 17 weeks:



And 19 Weeks:



And 20 weeks! Halfway there!

Baby GIRL kumquat

We had our ultrasound today and found out that we're having a girl!!







I've been getting lots of kicks in the last few days from lower down in my belly, and from the way she's positioned in the ultrasound pictures it looks like what I've actually been feeling are head butts! I had some really cute videos of her but unfortunately right now Blogger won't let me post them! I'll try to figure out how to post them another way!

16 Weeks

Well, I did forget last week, but here's a picture of baby kumquat at 16 weeks! According to babycenter.com he/she is now the size of an avocado and has started growing toenails. What a miracle.

A post about Whiskey

Mom insists that once baby kumquat arrives our affections for Whiskey will go entirely by the wayside. I have even caught her whispering soothingly to her, "Don't worry Whiskers. When the baby comes I will still love you."
And while I imagine our attention will turn towards the baby and away from the kitty, I'm pretty sure this is a change she will welcome gladly. Less of me picking her up and cradling her like the infant I've been dying to have, less of Joel suddenly grabbing her by the skull and shaking her head back and forth in what he insists is a gesture of affection. In fact this first picture just might be the result of a little too much head-shaking.



Actually she's just enjoying our spring sun. It was hidden away for so long, we were all going a little crazy. Here's another picture of our adorable kitten, just so you all know that we still love her. I took the liberty of editing it so she wouldn't be embarrassed.

Baby Kumquat

Look at me, posting a picture on our blog the same day it was taken! I'm so very on top of things right now, eh?
A friend of mine, Tamara, had the great idea of posting weekly pictures of her growing baby belly. This is the first time I've remembered to do it, and I can't promise I'll be very consistent in posting pictures, but it's worth a shot! I also stole her nifty idea of holding up cards with the number of weeks. Thanks Tam! :)
We started calling our baby by the name of whatever size he/she was that week (e.g. 7 weeks=blueberry, 14 weeks=lemon), but once we got to kumquat (10 weeks) the name kind of stuck. So now I've started calling him/her baby kumquat, until a better name comes to mind.

So here I am at 14 weeks!

Valentine's Day Party

I just found pictures on my camera from our Valentine's Day party. It was such a blast I thought I'd post them even though it's been several months. :)

First the decorations: Kathryn provided these beautiful gerbers for the occasion.


We hung crepe paper around the apartment (Valentine's Day seemed an acceptable time to be a little cheesy with the decorations) and placed candles all over.


These adorable paper hearts were hung above the food table.





Here's a view of the food table prior to everyone arriving with the food!



We also made the dessert. Check out these adorable cookies:






And here's the table after everyone arrived:



I remembered to get a few pictures of real people! (Sorry Samantha and Audrey! Somehow you guys didn't make it into the few photos that I took of the guests).

Seth and Naphtali:



Morgan, Lesley and I:



Kathryn and I:



Morgan, Lesley and Lauren:

My new favorite part of our place

I had trouble decorating this corner of our apartment, since the windows are a little too low to put a couch in front of, and I didn't actually know how to successfully decorate window space. So first I stole these three cute blue chairs from my mom (I will have to give them back at some point, but I'm on the lookout for chairs of my own), and then I found these adorable topiaries at Pottery Barn.



And ta-da! A corner that I am now very happy with. Next I'll have to post a picture of our tv-disguising hutch.