Happy Halloween

This has to be one of the most rediculous photos of me, and pretty funny of Kris. Believe it or not, these are our halloween costumes! Kris is imitating me pregnant, and I'm an old man with a beer belly. Kris' belly was pretty convincing and he kinda got a taste of what its like. Anyway, it was fun for the evening. 

On another note, this weekend we made progress in the baby space - we finally have a mattress for the crib and the changing pad for the dresser. I need to get the cover for the shelves done and then I'll be ready to take pictures. With 7 weeks to go...the pressure is on!! 

Babies and Houses - Labors of love

Yesterday was my 32 week doctor's appointment and again, all went well. I am measuring normal, so even though I feel huge, I am where I am supposed to be. The heartbeat was easy to find, but I forgot to ask what it was. I asked a lot of other questions, like is this crazy movement normal - and its a good thing! I have a lot to do still - like find a pediatrician, get on the waiting lists for daycare, pre-register at the hospital, figure out what to pack for the hospital for me, the baby, and Kris! I am finishing up some sewing for the baby space, and trying to get things in the drawers of the new dresser to make things more comfortable and roomy. I guess all of this falls under the "nesting" phase. 

While all of these things pretty much occupy all my thoughts, Kris is occupied with trying to design a house for our new little family. Which, as you can imagine, with two architects, is more difficult than you think. I am more interested in the practical flow of the spaces and well, having space, Kris is more focused on the construction and exterior aesthetic. The trick to all this is to figure out where the two come together and make a buildable structure within the budget! All your prayers and good luck wishes are greatly appreciated!! I am starting to think the house process will be more difficult than going through labor! Let's hope they both end up being easy!!!!

Actually, I am pretty excited about both events and processes, and if I get a baby and a house out of all of it, I will be pretty happy!!!

32 weeks gone by!

Tomorrow marks 32 weeks according to the doctor. I have an appointment Tuesday, which I will be asking many more questions than before - I want the low down this time! Though I still feel good most of the time, I know I will be needing to keep my feet up more often and relax. Having an "extra" day for the weekend by going to the conference was a much needed break. We made a lot of progress again today. Kris built a platform for the dresser to get it up high enough to use as a changing table. He also helped vacume and dust the place. Don't forget doing laundry and he went to the store for dinner and stuff for lunch. He was a big help today! We still have a long list, but will get to it bit by bit. I think he was trying to also get the Ray's loss last night out of his mind. I only hope they win tonight so they make it to the World Series, then he'll be in a good mood for a while longer!

Enjoy the photos! I'll try to update on Tuesday after my doctor's appt.

Baby in Motion

Kris and I just got back from Miami. We were there for the AIA Emerging Professionals Conference which was worth the 3.5 hour drive there on Thursday and back today. You never know who you are going to meet at one of these things, and its fun to hang out with other young architects and find out what is going on around the state. We ended up having dinner with the Keynote speaker, David Montalba, a 36 year old architect from LA who has his own sucessful practice in CA (http://www.montalbaarchitects.com/). As usual, Kris and I and the rest of the Orlando group picked his brain for info and advice, especially since we are moving forward on our new property!
Now that we are back home, and on the long drive back have again realized that the clock is ticking, we have to prioritize and make sure our lists get accomplished - there always seems to be an excuse, so I am trying to push with kindness, but I have a feeling my hormones are going to kick in and excusses will not be acceptable!! My belly keeps growing (I'll post a 32 week photo soon) and the crazy shapes the baby makes my belly reminds me that the pace of life is going to change real soon!
Speaking of which, I forgot to mention that our great friends Alberto & Bianca brought Alberto Gervasio SdF into the world on Thursday. He was born at 7:43 am at 9 lbs 1 oz and 21.5 inches long! We are excited to meet him and welcome him into this world! Congrats A&B!!

Bigger baby space??

Sorry its been over a week since I last posted a blog! It has been a busy couple of weeks both at work and in our personal lives. Kris had midterms for his class last week and I stood in as one of the critics. It was fun to see what he's been teaching every monday and wednesday and it is also fun to get back into a studio environment of students (they actually listen to what you say as opposed to argue against your comments!) We've also had a ton of lectures associated with AIA "October is Architecture month" events. We even went to Tampa this weekend to see another architect lecture/discussion. Its made for really long days, but its all been very interesting. 

Back on the ranch... we finally got a dresser for the baby's room - a sweet deal from Ikea's "as is" area, which not only saved us money, but time too, because it was already assembled! So I am working on a little bit of sewing for the room before I get it all pulled together to post a photo. 

Also, big news, we put a bid on a piece of property this weekend in a land auction and - believe it or not - we won the bid! What does this mean, you are thinking....well, we are hopefully going to be building a house!! We have 3 days to get all the ducks in a row on the bid, but we'll be designing a house and hopefully starting to build in the next few months! Keep your fingers crossed that the banks will loan us money for construction!! Anyway, we are confident that we got a good deal on the land and look forward to making progress on a bigger place to live! I'll keep you all updated. 

Countdown continues

Though it is early Sunday morning, and I still will be cherishing every moment left of this weekend, a lot has happened this weekend - first the Fighting Illini won against Michigan yesterday, and the Cubs are out of the running for the World Series! Both of these events are good news for me, as Kris is in a really good mood! As I type, he is also playing a round of golf - which he hasn't done in months - and assuming he might play a mediocre round, I can only hope that the fresh crisp morning air will carry the mood through to next weekend! 

As the countdown seems to be going faster and faster, we are starting to freak out and get more and more excited at the same time. My list of getting a pediatrician, finding a daycare (or getting on muliple waiting lists), to setting up my benefits at work, are just a few of the important things that I have to get to asap. Getting the car seat, running stroller, breast pump, or crib matress seems a little less critical at this point! But we must move forward and continue to prepare - regardless of what is on the lists!