USVI

Through some fortuitous timing, we were able to meet up with some of our good friends from grad school in the US Virgin Islands in mid-December.  Back in August, we got an email from our friend Alette (who is living back in the Philippines) that she was going to be in the states for a meeting and would we all be able to meet up somewhere for a mini-reunion in Florida.  This was about the same time I was suffering through morning 24-hour sickness and we hadn't told folks yet, but said we'd be happy to host folks here in St Pete.  When our other friend Marilyn responded to the email, she had to spill the beans that they too were expecting a baby due in January so she wouldn't be able to travel in December, but they were happy to host us at their place in St. Thomas.  So, after two weeks of checking flights, our budget, and assessing the reality of our own travel plans before a baby came (we had to let the news slip to them early), we decided to go for it.  What better way to enjoy our waning days of a carefree life than spending it with dear friends on a tropical island?!  And fortunately since we knew enough in advance we were able to plan out a budget so we didn't have to break the bank to make it work.  We were able to get in 4 days of a friends reunion while also having 3 days just the two of us for a mini-babymoon of sorts.

The day before we left we packed up the furry kids and took them down to Mom and Larry's for their own vacation - we're so thankful that they were willing to keep the kids while we're away.  When we're gone on shorter trips we usually have a pet-sitter for them, but on longer trips, it's easier to take them to my Mom's so we know if anything happens they're in good hands.  We also know that they're being loved and spoiled while we're gone so it's easier for us to relax.

On Thursday, Dec. 12th we flew out of Tampa, connecting through Miami, and landed in St. Thomas around 10pm (local time, they're an hour ahead).  That was the longest bit of flying I've done since being visibly pregnant so the doctor suggested a few things to help keep me comfortable - wear loose clothing, compression socks, drinks lots of water, and walk around during the flight.  Mom loaned me her compression socks and I wore a long loose dress and sweater that was incredibly comfortable so the flight was really easy.  Stepping off the plane in St. Thomas, it was lovely to be greeted by balmy air, and the hint of hills in the darkness (Wade in particular loves going anywhere with topography, he's not a flat-lander like me).  Marilyn and Tyler picked us up at the airport and we drove the few minutes to their house along steep, winding roads.  We were greeted by a chorus of tree frogs and her cats that we knew in Miami when we arrived.  We stayed up for a bit chatting, but after midnight we were all pretty pooped and finally went to bed.  We slept under a mosquito net (which only added to the tropical ambiance) and one of her cats, Blixie, crawled in bed to snuggle us all night long.  We drifted off to a chorus of coqui frogs (so named because their call sounds like "co-kee!") - I was one happy camper!

On Friday, we got up, had breakfast, and got a tour of the house so we could really appreciate it in the morning light.  It was a cozy, bright open air house with a wrap around screened porch that had an incredible view of the water and hills and a nice breeze throughout the house.  A nice way to start every day!  Once we had eaten, Marilyn drove us by her and Tyler's office at the University of the Virgin Islands (they're both professors there) for a quick tour then over to the Jeep rental place to pick up our car for the trip over to St John for our mini-babymoon.  One of the highlights for me was finally being able to drive a Jeep Wrangler again (I miss the Wrangler I had in college, but not the poor gas mileage) - a common rental for St. John due to it's winding hilly roads and occasional off-road trails to reach some beaches.  Once we had the paperwork squared away, we loaded our stuff and headed across the island to stock up on food, top off the gas tank, and grab the car ferry to St. John.  We made good time, found a lot of good food at the market, and made it to the dock in time for the noon ferry.  We had been warned that the boarding the ferry can be a bit of a circus and a free for all since everyone has to back onto the barge into single file lanes that are barely wide enough to open your car door.  As expected, there were people hollering directions in some indecipherable language (it was incoherent even for the usual Caribbean-slanted English you hear in the islands), tourists who appeared to have never backed a car anywhere, and lots of impatient locals.  It was pretty amusing actually - thankfully, when I worked for the Park Service I used to have to do a lot of backing up and trailering of boats into skinny ramps and spaces, so it was all pretty easy.  We parked then sat back and laughed at the show around us.  Despite the chaos, it was a fairly quick boarding process and we were on our way to St. John before we knew it.  It was our first trip on a car ferry, so it was a little surreal sitting in a car on a moving boat watching the tropics go by.  

The view from the ferry - St John dead ahead.

The trip was about 45 minutes and we were off the boat before we knew it.  We made the winding 45 minute drive (complete with roving packs of donkeys and goats!) across St. John to Concordia Eco Resort for our 3 day baby moon (a last honeymoon with just the two of us before the baby arrives) on the East end of the island, just on the border of the Virgin Islands National Park.  We got checked in, dropped our stuff in our studio apartment, and promptly took the nearest trail to the beach (past huge tree-like cacti and lots of hermit crabs).  We hiked about 15 minutes down to Saltpond Bay for a dip in the water.  It was near sunset and pretty chill to me, so I walked a bit then sat in the sand where the gentle waves lapped on the shore.  Wade went for a snorkel then joined me on the shore just taking in the scenery.  It was hard to believe we'd only been in the USVIs for less than 24 hours and we already felt a world away! Sunset comes and goes pretty quickly there so we hoofed it back up the trail to beat the coming darkness.  We cleaned up and made ourselves a lovely dinner to enjoy on the balcony while we enjoyed the sounds of the local frogs.  We read for a bit then went to bed only to wake up in the middle of the night to a howling rain storm.  We had to rush to close the doors and windows then mop the floor dry and it took us a while to get back to sleep with the howling wind.  By morning most of it had blown through, but our towels and suits that had been hanging on the deck to dry were completely soaked.

Saturday morning we slept in a bit then made breakfast and ate it on the balcony while enjoying the amazing view.  

We purposefully made no plans while we were there and just wanted to take the days as they came.  It was a good thing since we were slow moving after a crazy night of wind and rain kept waking us up.  We finally pulled ourselves together and headed out to the famous Trunk Bay to see the snorkeling trail and enjoy the beach.  Since the beach is part of the National Park Service (and is world famous) there were showers, restrooms, picnic areas, and a snack bar.  It began pouring right as we got there, so we huddled under the picnic shelters for a bit until it stopped.  Wade got in the water to snorkel and I sat in the sun trying to warm up and dry off enough to want to get in, but generally just enjoyed taking in the view.  After Wade was done snorkeling we sat for a bit then the rain blew through again so we packed up and headed back to the bathrooms to rinse off before leaving.  By that time we were ready for lunch so we stopped at a few scenic overlooks for pictures on our way to Miss Lucy's in Coral Bay to try some local Caribbean fare.  We were greeted by nosy chickens and friendly cats so we felt right at home!  

Taking in the view from the scenic overlook.

My new friend at Miss Lucy's

We sat right on the water of Coral Bay with a spectacular view while we enjoyed delicious callaloo soup and rotis that I washed down with a virgin Pina Colada.  One of the cats spent the entire meal in my lap which was really funny and wonderful.  Apparently that's his schtick to get some scraps after a meal, so we indulged him.  After that we headed back to the lodge to nap and clean up for dinner.  We made another delicious dinner, read, and played some games before bed.  It was so nice to be somewhere so quiet and be unplugged.  We relished being able to just "be" and to be somewhere so peaceful - particularly as we reflected that everything was going to changing so soon.

Sunday morning we repeated our breakfast on the deck ritual (cereal, hardboiled eggs, and fresh fruit) then headed out to check out the snorkeling in Jumbie Bay.  We got there and it was raining again.  I was soaked through (no shelters this time) and shivering and absolutely refused to get in the water unless the view was "worth it" so Wade got in to check it out.  He finally found some interesting things to see and assured me it was actually warmer IN the water - he also said I looked truly pathetic huddled under a sea grape tree for protection from the pelting rain with nothing but a flipper over my head to keep the rain off my face.  I finally caved and got in the water with him while it was still pouring on us.  This time we remembered to bring our camera so we could test out our "tough" camera (the one we had to buy to replace our beloved Canon G-series on our Big Sur trip).  We took some underwater video and pictures which was fun, although they weren't too great due to the surging waves and rain.  

Snorkleing in Jumbie Bay.

But once I warmed up a bit we had fun.  We finally got out and drove back up to another NPS beach that had showers at Cinnamon Bay so we could clean up and meet Marilyn, Tyler, and Dan (another old lab mate from Miami) at Skinny Legs for lunch.  The whole open air bar was decorated for Christmas which felt a bit surreal so we sat at the table right next to the Christmas tree to make the most of it.  The highlight of lunch for me was delicious virgin Painkillers!  It was nice to have some tropical drinks while I was there and found that if made well I actually didn't miss the rum.  Wade was happy to drink my fair share of the rum and enjoy my designated driver status during the trip.  After lunch we did a little shopping in some of the local stores, then headed to Francis Bay to meet up with Jimmy, another friend from grad school.  We had to do a bit of off roading to get there, but the Jeep handled it fine and we were rewarded with a lovely little cove and beach.  It was a great afternoon of catching up with friends, snacking, and floating in the water.  

The two preggos on Francis Bay beach :)

By dinner time we headed back to the west side of the island to clean up at Dan's house (his grandparents have been living on/off the island since the '60s!) before the rest of them headed back to St Thomas.  We enjoyed a stunning view and a dip in the pool before trekking back to the east side where we were staying.  We made a late dinner, played a game, then turned in early.

Monday morning we started our day a bit earlier and packed up a little before hiking back down to Saltpond Bay to get some photos in better light and enjoy some more secluded beach time.  We tried to hike over to another bay where there was supposed to be good beach combing, but the wind was so stiff the water was blowing over the trail and we lost it.  We still managed to enjoy the beach, although the water was freezing (yes, I have very little cold tolerance).  

One of the many friendly hermit crabs on the trail to Saltpond Bay.

Crazy cacti trees on the trail to Salt Pond Bay.

We finally headed back to the studio to clean up, pack up, and check out before lunch.  Once we were done, we headed over to the town of Cruz Bay on the east side to get lunch, do some shopping, then catch the care ferry back to St Thomas.  We had lunch and did our shopping at Mongoose Junction, which was this incredible stone shopping area that looked like it was a historic structure (it's not).  There were lots of neat local restaurants and shops but we didn't have enough time to see it all.  We caught the car ferry back to St Thomas and got the Jeep returned just in time, despite the traffic.  Tyler picked us up at the airport and we headed back to their house to hang out until dinner and for Alette's arrival later that night.  Although her flight was late, in the excitement we all stayed up talking and exchanging gifts into the wee hours of the morning.

Tuesday morning we were all a little slow moving but finally got ourselves together for a trip to the famous Magen's Bay.  On there way there we stopped to get milkshakes at a little roadside stand called Udder Delite (how you know you're in the islands: you have to ask them to leave the rum out of the milkshake you order).  They were really creamy and tasty - my favorite was a blend of chocolate and coconut ice-cream.  Magen's Beach is a big destination for cruise ship passengers, so we got to the beach just in time for lunch, some sun, and highly entertaining people watching.  

The overlook for Magen's Bay.

Lunch at Magen's Bay Beach.

Eventually, the rain creeped in again and we had to run for the car.  We waited it out and got a little more sun, but the sunset finally caught up with us and we headed home.  That night Marilyn and Tyler continued their warm island hospitality by making a fantastic dinner that we enjoyed on the patio before playing games late into the night.

Wednesday we slept in a bit while Marilyn and Tyler headed to a prenatal appointment (their little boy is due in late January) and the three of us packed up our stuff for another day at the beach.  When they got back we loaded up the car and headed back over to Hawksnest Bay for some good snorkeling and more floating.  We had picked up food for a picnic lunch that we enjoyed on the beach and we lounged until we lost the sun behind the hills.  

The girls floating at Hawksnest Beach.

After that we cleaned up a bit and changed to do some shopping in Cruz Bay before meeting Jimmy again for some sunset snacks and drinks.  

Sunset in Cruz Bay.

We caught the last car ferry and had some late dinner on St Thomas before making our way home.  We were lucky to have Tyler chauffeur us around all day!

Thursday morning we awoke to a hearty breakfast of Star Wars pancakes!  I was so excited and they tasted fantastic.  We rallied for another trip to the beach and went to a nearby beach at Brewer's Bay that is near Marilyn and Tyler's office.  We saw some sea turtles in the water which was neat, watched the planes landing at airport, and enjoyed baking in the sun.  Eventually we resigned ourselves to the fact that we were going to have to fly home that evening and headed back to clean up.  We managed to squeeze in one last stop at the ice cream shack on the way to the airport but it was still really hard to leave after having such a wonderful time with dear friends.  One consoling fact was that we already knew we'd have to make plans to come back again soon.  We did have an unexpected bonus on the flight home - there were some empty seats, so Wade moved over so Alette and I could share a row and play cards the entire flight back to Miami.  The flight went by quickly and it was nice to have some extra time with Alette before we got to Miami and had to part ways (her flights back to the Philippines didn't leave until the next morning).  Again, it was bittersweet since we don't get to see her often, but were were so thankful for the time we were able to spend together and hope we'll get to see her again soon.  Wade and I headed off in search of dinner and lucked out with a sushi place before having to board the plane for our short flight back to Tampa.  We didn't get home until almost 1am that night and the next morning went down to Mom and Larry's to pick up the kids.  It sure was weird coming home to an empty house!  We were so thankful the kids enjoyed their own vacation with Mom and Larry, in fact I'm not entirely sure they wanted to come home with us!

We can't wait to make the trip down to the Virgin Islands again someday - especially since it was family-friendly enough that we felt like we could do it with the Little Lady in tow next time!  To check out all of our pictures and video, you can find them here on our Picasa site.

Like a new house....

For almost a year we've been talking about changing around the layout of the living room to account for more storage and make it more functional.  Our living room spans the width of our old former shot-gun duplex bungalow, so it's almost like two rooms since the front door and entryway sort of cut the flow of the room in half.  We were only half-heartedly using the space - one side was the TV side while the other was like a reading nook with a big arm chair and small china cabinet-turned-bookcase.  It wasn't the most effective use of space, but it worked fine for the two of us. 

So, we swapped sides of the room to 1) get the TV away from sharing a wall with the nursery, and 2) make better use of the seating and space in the room.  So the TV side now is The Library, complete with a wall of bookshelves (thank you Ikea!), plenty of seating, an ottoman, and great views of the yard.  

The other reading nook side has become the TV nook now so we're not blocking a window anymore, have great views of the garden, and have the seating set up like a sectional.  Someday we'd love to actually have a sectional here, but to be mindful of our tight finances, we picked a layout we could make work with existing furniture (only the bookcases are new - although I did get new pillows for the couches and curtains for the double doors to freshen things up a bit since they were all over 6 years old and had definitely seen better days).  The blue china cabinet we were using as a book case in the reading nook is now in our bedroom, giving us more storage space in there - it also happens to match our dresser (a happy accident) so it ties the room together nicely.

We're constantly amazed by how much more we love all the rooms in our house now that they flow better and are more functional.  We also spend more time reading together and enjoying the views of our yard now that more of our furniture if oriented to looking out of the windows.  With all the baby prep reading we're doing, we really appreciate this new layout!  The pets are also thrilled - more windows for the cats to look out of and Amelie got a private little nook for her doggie bed in the library.

Before pictures (in all their Halloween glory):

Looking into the TV side of the original living room

Looking into the reading nook side of the original living room

And here's one wide shot of the whole room while we're putting together the new Ikea furniture - thank heavens for a wide angled lens!

After:

The old TV side is now The Library!

The old reading nook is now the TV nook!

A long view of the whole "new" room.

A closer look at the bookshelves (we're going to paint the bottom bins to match the new couch pillows)

We also wanted to make the dining room more of a multipurpose room since we'll be converting the den into the nursery.  Again, the layout worked fine for us but wasn't the most efficient use of our space or storage capacity.  Many of the things we were storing in the nursery furniture had to be stored elsewhere (office stuff, craft/art supplies, camera equipment, etc) so we needed to create space in the dining room for all of it (some of it also went into the living room too).  We did this by getting some Ikea cabinets for the largest wall, and moving the buffet server to the opposite, smaller wall.  We still haven't figured out what to do with the antique china cabinet we love, but it's clear we can't fit it in the house.  The new layout in the dining room is really functional but we also really love the look of the cabinets in the room to display some of our favorite serving pieces and dishes while creating more space to store our other stuff.  We found some pretty boxes at Home Goods to store random stuff like computer cords, office supplies, and the likes that would otherwise look messy sitting in glass front cabinets or a bookshelf (we also used these in the library too with great success).

Before pictures:

Looking into the original dining room set up from the breakfast nook.

Looking into the original dining room set up from the living room

Looking into the original dining room set up from the nursery/den (thank you wide angle!).

After:

Looking into the new dining room set up from the breakfast nook (to the right is the door to the nursery)  The new cabinets on the wall create lots of organized storage that also looks great.

Looking into the new dining room set up from the living room.

Looking into the new dining room from the nursery (the angle isn't as good in this one as the "before" picture so the room looks smaller)

A closer look at the cabinets in the dining room - still plenty of space to put things!

We also managed to finally complete a project over Thanksgiving weekend that I've had on my to-do list since we bought the house - make a picture wall in the breakfast nook under the spiral staircase.  I've been squirreling away frames and random keepsakes for the last few years waiting to finally do it, but with all the shuffling of furniture, we finally made it happen!  My Mom and I spent an entire afternoon laying out the wall and hanging all the frames (some of which we had to add hangers to), but we managed to get it done and it looks great.  I still need to put things in many of the frames, but for now the layout is done and I'm thrilled to have the pile of frames up on the wall rather than stacking up in the attic.  We also added a bookcase to the room (it came out of our master bedroom) and took down the organizational things on the wall under the stairs (coat rack, cubbies, calendar) so the access to the stairs feels more open now.  The coat rack has been moved to the opposite wall next to the small bookcase and the organizational stuff is in the bookcase (which is largely empty for now).

The picture wall is finally hung!  Thanks Mom!

Looking into the breakfast nook from the kitchen.

With all the shuffling of new and old furniture it feels like a new house!  Now that everything else is arranged we can turn our attention to the nursery and the attic... one thing is for sure, my nesting instinct is really kicking into overdrive as we purge useless stuff to make room for the little lady and get organized to stay ahead of the impending baby clutter.  It feels great!

Next up - addressing the exposed lead paint issue we uncovered in our original wood doors and the trim work around the nursery doors.  Sigh.  So much for a new patio, we'll be spending that money on dealing with lead paint instead.  Super.  At least we figured it out now rather than after the little lady arrives.... stay tuned.

Girls Weekend

This past Friday (Veteran's Day weekend) we knew our friend Kellyn was coming to visit for the weekend.  She said she was going to be in Orlando for work and was going to drive over after her meetings for a long weekend.  I was thrilled -  since I never know how often we're going to see each other it's always exciting when we get a chance to catch up.  Apparently, unbeknownst to me this was actually part of a larger diabolical plan…  Kellyn, Michelle, and I met years ago when we all lived and worked together in Sarasota, but since have all gone different ways with Kellyn in Birmingham and Michelle in Atlanta.  Apparently it was all a ruse as Kellyn and Michelle had been conspiring to drive down and surprise me (I had no idea Michelle was coming too - or that they were coming just for me and the beach, not for a work trip).  Wade was in on it and I was really impressed that he kept the secret so well because I was utterly surprised and screamed like a girl when they both showed up at the front door. :)  Well done ladies, that is my kind of surprise!  After being in the car ALL day on Friday we had a Mexican feast waiting for them (courtesy of Chef Wade) so we all stuffed ourselves before turning in early.

To top it off, Michelle and I had been talking earlier that week about the baby stuff she was putting aside for us and she was able to keep up the ruse.  So the car they drove down had a back seat full of maternity clothes, baby clothes, and stuff that her adorable 2 year old Gus was done with!

Saturday we ate our way through the Farmer's Market, then headed out to Pass-a-Grille (a first for me) to check out the little shops, stroll the beach, and enjoy some music.  We had so much fun and getting some sun and exercise felt great.  Saturday night we got our TV antenna working (after much experimentation) and were able to get the big Alabama game for Kellyn so we had a night of college football, pizza, and snacks (Wade's favorite part of the weekend!).

Michelle, me, and Kellyn capturing our love of the beach at Pass-a-Grille. 

Nothing better than french fries with a view of the beach.

Sunday we enjoyed sleeping in before taking a lovely walk down the waterfront to our neighborhood park then came home and had lunch in the garden.  We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging with the chickens and reading in the garden soaking up some fresh air and sunshine.  All weekend Wade was amazing and kept us well fed so we left him to his own devices during the day to bum around as he pleased.
Monday morning we had breakfast, and went for another quick walk before the girls packed up and headed back north.  I was so sad to see them go, but so grateful to have such thoughtful and caring friends in my life.

That night the Girls Weekend continued with our monthly neighborhood "Girls Night Out" or GNO.  I usually do November and put out a s'mores bar for everyone to enjoy around the fire.  The plan was to hold it early enough in the month so that our friend Katie could still join before having her baby, but she went into labor and ended up having the baby right before we started the evening.  Lisa had the great idea of getting us all together before we wrapped up for the evening to send Katie a "cheers" picture welcoming her new baby boy, McGee.  It was a fun night and a few of my friends from outside the neighborhood also came too - it was a lot of fun and the perfect way to cap off an already incredible girls weekend!

Cheers to Katie for giving birth to her baby boy right before s'mores night started!

Philly

The last few days of October I was in Philadelphia for a work trip to conduct some interviews for a program evaluation I'm working on.  I stayed in the historic part of town and mostly walked to my meetings at the nearby National Park Service offices.  While I was in town I even discovered a gluten free bakery and enjoyed some fresh baked bread and cookies which was a real treat.  I was able to eat fairly well while I was there, so that was a relief - there was a local food restaurant, Farmacia, between my hotel and the park offices,  that became my go to place.  It also helped that I packed a lot of snacks and oatmeal packets for breakfast!

One of the days I drove out to Valley Forge National Historical Park for one interview and got to enjoy a little time in the park after my meeting.  I wandered the visitor center and did a quick loop around the park road to take in the fall air (chilly!).  Below is one of the landmarks in the park commemorating those who fought for America's independence.  

The National Memorial Arch was constructed in the early 1900s to commemorate George Washington and the Continental Army's stay in Valley Forge.

The building to the right was Washington's headquarters during the perilous winter of  1777-8 when the Continental Army was encamped at Valley Forge.

Since this was technically the little lady's first national park visit I stopped and got her a little t-shirt in the visitor center to commemorate the trip, as well as a book for Wade on how to camp with kids.  That reminded me her second national park unit will be the Virgin Islands National Park in December, so I'm hoping we can find her a little onsie or something there too!

It was a cold week in Philly, but I was happy to get back to work after waiting out the government shutdown and was thankful I could make it home just in time for Halloween.  I also realized that I'm going to need some maternity work pants because I barely fit into any of my old dress clothes for this trip!  I have to go back for a day to do a final presentation of my findings in January, so I'm going to have to figure out something to keep myself warm (hopefully a jacket will still fit!).

Starting to feel real

Last week we had our Level 2 Ultrasound which is basically a more detailed look at the baby to see if she's in one piece and everything is in order.  When you're maternally "old" as I have been classified (medically defined as any woman over 35 at or before birth - I turn 35 in Dec.) then you have to do some extra testing like the genetic screening we did and this detailed ultrasound.  It even checks blood flow to and from some of the major organs in a color-coded real-time display.  It was pretty interesting actually and they said everything looks normal.  Poor thing though, she looked pretty squished in there!

This has only added to our sense of reality setting in as I have also had to go to the dark side this week and finally commit to wearing maternity pants.  This weekend I think I felt our first kicks and it made me wonder if it's because I was wearing my non-maternity pants (which I can't button) and she was trying to elbow for more space... so that was enough guilt to get me to put out the bat signal to friends looking for any maternity hand-me downs.  Thankfully a number of friends came through!  We have a maternity consignment store nearby which I've been frequenting and have found a few things in my size, but we don't have any regular maternity stores nearby to try stuff unless I want to spend a small fortune.  Which I can't.  So we're trying to be as thrifty as possible on things so I can afford maternity leave in the spring.

Our winter Farmer's Market is finally back up and running, so Saturday morning we had a date to head to the market to wander around, enjoy food, and pick up some organic veggies.  We also got to see an education display of local raptors and they had two live screech owls which were ADORABLE.  Who knew they were so little and so cute!?  

Unfortunately I have not mastered pictures on the iPhone, so these adult screech owls are blurry.

The weather was perfect and now that I can enjoy food again we had a tour de force that morning of our favorites - Ethiopian food, fresh lemonade, kettle corn, and an almond blueberry jam cookie.  Oh lord I was in heaven and it was so nice to just be able to eat food and thoroughly enjoy it.  It was a great date and we had a lot of fun - it was a perfect start to a lovely weekend that was ultimately a lot of work, but really productive.

We spent the entire weekend putting together a bunch of storage furniture from Ikea which was pretty fun actually.... mostly because we've been talking about redoing our living room and dining rooms for over a year now to make them more functional and enjoyable and we finally did it!  I'll show some before and after pictures in the next post.  

We had to move some furniture around in the house to turn the Den into the Nursery which means moving a lot of stuff we store in the den elsewhere.  The new storage in the dining room and living room make that possible.  It also feels a little bit like we're in a new house since everything's been changed around in the majority of the rooms and as a bonus we get even better views of our yard an garden now from our living room!  It's nice to feel like we can get started on the nursery now, although we still have two pieces of furniture in there that will have to go first.

Well, I'm head out of town this week for a work trip to Philadelphia to do interviews for a project.  Fortunately I get home just in time to enjoy Halloween at home, but I am hoping I don't freeze my buns off while I'm there!

The registry dilemma

So it looks like a missed a few FAQs in my last post - particularly as related to baby "stuff":

1. I've finally got to putting a registry together on Amazon which has been more work than fun since it takes a while to look for things that aren't plastic, organic/made from natural materials, don't have flame retardants, aren't toxic, and will breathe in our Florida summers.  We also want to avoid "disposable" anything and focus on reusable things that will last for a second kid.
2.  We have NO storage space in our house, so we're trying to be minimalists about what gear we get since we don't have a closet or spare room to hide baby stuff in.
3.  We're not doing a theme in the nursery (the former den/guest bedroom next to our room) since you can see it from every room of the house, so we're going with colors (walls are already periwinkle blue with white trim and we'll add sweet orange accents) and things in that range - orange cats, butterflies, goldfish, owls, foxes, etc.  We're fans of variety and don't want the room to scream "baby girl nursery!"
4.  We're also fans of recycling baby stuff, so hand-me-downs (clothes, gear, whatever) are welcome (however we're looking to avoid any of the frilly pink princes nonsense, especially since we want to use it again for #2 down the road).  I'll even take "boys clothes" as long as they don't have sports themes on them (I am not a sports person at all really).  We've already been the benefactors of some recycled baby stuff from generous friends who are leaving their kids' baby years behind and we're super thankful!

I've been doing so much research that I've been using our registry more of a check list for me to jot down what we need, rather than using it as a public registry.  In our house we have had to work on reconcile two conflicting emotions with registries - not wanting it to seem like we've created a list of stuff for people to buy for us, but also wanting to help give people some guidance on ideas if they do want to get something for the baby.  Growing up, I came from a "list" family - for birthday and Christmas I made a list of things I like that family could look through to pick something they liked to get for me and it worked great - no one was disappointed and gift givers always felt like they found something that would be valued and appreciated.  Maybe it's the Midwestern side of my family, but I really hate gift giving if I'm not 100% sure the person is going to like it.  It might also be that after years of living in small places on my own (and moving a lot) I really hate clutter and waste.  Surprises are nice, but I like small surprises so if things don't work out, it's more about the thought that counts and no one is upset they spent a lot of money on something the other person isn't that excited about (I am flashing back to our first Christmas together when Wade and I were both clueless, after that we employed "the list".)

Since we're being particular about the kinds of things we're going to use (organic, cotton/wool, no plastic/foam/PVC, wood, non-toxic/no flame retardants, no disposables, etc) I came to terms with the fact that we're going to need a registry.  So I've spent some time putting the core things we need on there, but also putting some fun small gift-size stuff (books, toys) on there for people who feel like getting our little lady something.  We're hoping to build her a nice library, so if you have a favorite baby book not on our list - we'd love to see it!

(Warning: I'm in that phase of pregnancy where it's common to have awful nightmares about things going wrong with the baby - my nightmares however have come in the form of what kind of world she'll find when she grows up, especially in the face of climate change, so I'm about to get a little intense below about why making eco-friendly choices is important to me.  Please just humor me, I've been working on environmental issues for over a decade so it just all boils to the surface sometimes - one of those "when you know too much" moments...  I promise I do end on a happy note though!) 

The other reason I get a little keyed up about waste and giving meaningful, useful gifts is that having kids is actually a pretty wasteful enterprise.  Scientific studies have actually tried to quantify the environmental impacts of having a baby in the U.S. and they all seem to find that the most environmentally destructive thing you can do it bring another child into the world - no, I am not exaggerating (and it doesn't matter if they have an environmental ethic either).  I have seen scientific talks about this too - over population is, ironically, a real and growing threat to life on earth (limited clean land, water, food, and energy resources, pollution, etc) and I have seen presentations by world-renown scientists that end by saying, "if you want to save a coral reef, use a condom" (not joking).  This is for a variety of reasons that change depending on whether you're in a developed country like the U.S. or a poorer developing country.  Smart growth doesn't just apply to economies, it applies to people too.

We're all in this together...

To put this in perspective, humor me and think through this exercise:  What would it take a group of people to survive long-term in a space ship with no chance of help from the outside  -- you would need a self-contained, self-sufficient life support system and ship that provides clean air, water, food, and room for the residents, etc.  (If you've seen the movie Gravity recently it might give you some perspective)  Now realize that the planet Earth is exactly that and our environment (atmosphere, oceans/rivers, and undeveloped land/forests) is the life support system - we're all stuck on this blue ball in the vacuum of space with limited and finite air, water, and land/food resources - suddenly makes you think twice about where your garbage goes or what you put into the air or water doesn't it?  You could be poisoning or throwing away your or your kid's water, air, or food.  Suddenly recycling, organic (chemical free) food and gardening, and water conservation doesn't sound like such a burdensome idea.  This is why we environmentalists do these things and fight for these things, not because we're tree-hugging nutters (well, some are), but we have seen the science and seen the change in our ecosystems and/or personal health to know that things are changing and it's in our power to make the daily choices to not poison or waste resources for ourselves, our kids, family, and those who come after us.

I'm not trying to soap box this, I just wanted to point out that we're putting effort into finding non-toxic and organic baby things, using cloth diapers, avoiding plastic, recycling clothes/gear, and being minimalistic for a reason - we don't take our decision to add another human to the world lightly and I'm going to do my damnedest to make sure we leave her a cleaner, healthier place than she'll find when she arrives in this world.  I also want to make sure that we're not exposing her to any more chemicals in her life than necessary (a growing problem in the production of baby clothes and items) since babies have sensitive and developing immune and endocrine systems.  Ok, so maybe that did get a bit soap-boxy - my point was just to illustrate why these things are important to us.

The good news is that more people are starting to figure this out and make changes in how they live their lives or run their companies to reduce waste or pollution.  Everyone can take simple steps in their everyday lives to make a difference - we started years ago with carrying our own shopping bags (back when the store clerks looked at us like we were nuts) and now we grow organic veggies, compost, and raise chickens for our own eggs!  The point is, if you don't know where to start, start with one small act and it will likely grow into something you never thought possible. :)  I'm always happy to share ideas on where to start too!

A return to our regularly scheduled programming....

Sooo, yeah, it's been quiet around the 'ole blog again - for a few reasons:

1) Hooray, work kept me really busy this summer!,
2) Being on the computer all day didn't really entice me to spend extra time on the addiction box at night too,
3) We've been tending 4 baby chickens in the house since September which has kept us busy, in addition to prepping our garden beds for the fall:

Meet Pearl, Maybelle, Sunny, and Foxy the newest additions to our flock.

4) And ever since July, I've been, shall we say, managing a new distraction on my time:

Baby pumpkin makes three....

In case you aren't getting the hint, or haven't already heard, Wade and I are expecting a baby girl at the end of next March!  We're excited, but for most of the summer we were waiting it out while I was busy feeling like death warmed over.  We waited until 12 weeks to tell or to even let it feel real because we learned the hard way last year that things don't always work out.

I didn't talk openly about this on our blog last year because you never know who's reading and at the time I didn't feel like I worked for an organization that was "family friendly" - however, I wanted to talk about it because we know lots of people who have or have gone through similar experiences and I think the more people talk about it, the more people can feel supported and not alone.  Last year those times I was really sick and had to go in for a "procedure" were us struggling through trying to start a family.  The first time in the spring of 2012 we ended up having an ectopic pregnancy that we didn't catch for almost 7 weeks and it almost killed me (seriously, we later discovered I was bleeding internally and they had to remove one of my tubes).  Then in the fall we had a miscarriage (genetic misfire we later found out) that didn't fully resolve on it's own so they had to put me under again to clean things up.  This was about the same time things started imploding at work, so we took it as a sign to hold off trying for a while.  Now the biologist in us understood things happen and miscarriages are a way of the body sorting the healthy pregnancies from the ones that aren't going to make it, so we took it in stride.  The hardest part was actually managing everyone else's expectations/excitement then watching that look of horror or extreme discomfort with not knowing what to say when it didn't work out although we had actually come to terms with it.  So although I hate keeping secrets, we decided it was actually easier to wait to tell folks until it looked like this was the real deal - it's kinder to not have to put our friends and family through the ups and downs and it's less draining for us to not have to manage everyone else's emotions about it in addition to our own.

Soooo, let's get to the FAQ's shall we?
1.  We're at 16.5 weeks, and the little chicklet is "due" March 31st.
2.  The first trimester was pretty rough and I did once plead to die.  I had "morning" sickness 24/7 for 3 months.  All food and even water was the enemy.
3.  I still cannot brush my teeth without almost throwing up - EVERY time (and sometimes I actually do!)
4.  I will not be taking bump pictures - I do not want to remember what I look like right now, which is generally like I've put on a beer gut rather than a baby.  Sexy!
5.  I can still fit into most of my low cut pants (except my dress pants), however, the shirts are starting to look a little awkward (see #4).
6.  The cats have been super lovey dovey and snuggly so we think they know something is up and are already working to turn her into a cat lover.  Yay!
7.  I am just now able to start cooking again, Wade's been doing the lion's share of cooking since the mere thought of cooking food usually made me want to curl up in a deep dark hole.  Frozen lunches have been a savior during the day.
8.  Yes, I am still vegetarian and gluten-free, and no, I have had zero meat cravings; refried beans yes, but meat - ick!
9.  I have not had any real cravings so no late night runs for Wade.  Rather, all food has been the devil, so I'm just happy to be able to eat anything again.
10.  My bedtime companion for the last few months has been heartburn and we are not on speaking terms.
11.  At our 12 week ultrasound we could see her moving (although you can't feel it until ~5mo) and Wade and I both concluded it felt like I'd been invaded by an alien parasite.  It was creepy and weird.
12.  We did some early genetic screening which indicated that we shouldn't have to worry about any of the major issues and it also told us it was a Girl, which did help everything feel more real and less like an alien invasion.
13.  I am convinced that the "pregnancy glow" is a myth propagated to hookwink women into procreating.  I look like and feel like my worst teenage years - unruly hair, angry skin, and my hormones laugh in the face of any deodorant.
14.  Wade has been great picking up my slack around the house, taking care of me, and has been helping me keep a sense of humor about everything.  He has also been keeping the animals alive single-handedly since the smell of their food (meat) generally sent me running for the bathroom.

Well, that covers the essentials for now.

Stay tuned, I'll be better about blogging now since it's the easiest way to keep friends and family updated since we still have zero desire to get on Facebook. :)