Halloween 2015

We have loved owning our own home this year. It's been nice to live in a neighborhood rather than an apartment! We've been looking forward to celebrating the holidays in our own home before we even started looking for a house in earnest- we bought about 20 strings of Christmas lights on clearance last year just in case we had our own place by this December.

Our town is pretty big on Halloween, I think it has something to do with the proximity to Salem (yes the Witch Trials Salem). Our town has a Halloween parade every year and people put up lights and all sorts of decorations on their houses. I really like Halloween but we have never had trick-or-treaters come to our door since we've been married- not many people come to apartments with a door code on the building. Thomas never had trick-or-treaters come to his door growing up either, he lived down a spooky looking lane and nobody ever dared venture down there for a treat.

This year Thomas cooked up an idea to do something a little more than just hand out candy. We decided to go all out to be the cool house on the block. We borrowed a fire pit from some friends, brought out all the lawn chairs and set up a hot chocolate and cider station.

We invited some friends to come trick-or-treat in our neighborhood and use our house as a home base to keep warm. Everyone that came down the road was welcome to enjoy the fire in the driveway and we whipped up fresh hot chocolate all night. We finally met some of our neighbors which was nice especially since we've lived here since March and know pretty much none of them.

I think we might make this a yearly tradition, it turned out to be a huge hit and was so simple to put together. Plus, I love any excuse to have a good bonfire.

Lil Brudder Comes to Visit

A few weeks ago (make that two months now) my little brother called us up and said he wanted to come for a visit. In two days. We were surprised but really excited to see him. It's been years since we've lived close enough to just hang out every day so this was a real treat.

He came bearing gifts- an electric lock for our door. Thomas' eyes sparkled as the two of them installed it. I have to say, it's probably one of the best things we've done for our house. It's so easy to lock and unlock the door and I think of my little brother every time I leave the house.

We took off for New York a day or two after Drew got here and had a great time. It was hard to walk around all day being 30+ weeks pregnant but we managed to show him some of the best parts of NYC. One evening while we were there we sat at a little table in Times Square and marveled at all the craziness. I think it sort of blew Drew's mind a bit. You always see New York on TV and you know it's big and loud but it is a totally different experience to actually be there in the middle of it all.

Brother ended up staying for about a week and a half so we had plenty of time to show him Boston as well. We took him all over downtown and to our favorite places to eat. We did lots of sitting around the house and introduced him to Brooklyn Nine-Nine and whole lobsters.

I was sad to see him go when he headed back out west to a new job in Arizona. It's been a long time since we had any length of time to just be around each other. This kid is so smart and works so hard. He is hilarious and always makes me laugh. He's really the greatest little brother I've ever had.

Nursery Tour

One thing that everyone asks you when you are nearing the end of your pregnancy is, "are you ready?" I never know what to say because you just have no idea what to expect. You can think about it a lot and do all the research you can but until you experience it yourself I don't think you really have any idea how it is going to change your life.

Logistically I would say we're ready. We've spent hours upon hours picking out gear, painting, building things and organizing. We scoured Craigslist for a glider and a dresser. The dresser didn't work out and I still sort of want to light it on fire in the back yard. We ended up with one from Ikea in the end which makes me a little less stressed about things. We have a car seat, some clothes, somewhere for the baby to sleep. In that way I'd say we're ready. Ready for the single most life-changing event of our entire lives? Perhaps not fully.

Either way, my sisters have been begging for pictures of the nursery so here they are.

We decided on the front room upstairs in our house. It has a great little dormer that just begs for a pile of pillows and a stack of books. 

Thomas put the crib together months ago one Saturday morning, he just woke up and decided it was time. It took him 5 trips to 3 different hardware stores to get it all done. We bought from some friends of ours who were moving and they couldn't find the hardware it had come with so we had to find our own. I think Thomas loved working on it though. We had to add the Darth Vader pillow in the crib- I couldn't leave it in the store when I saw it- along with the clam shell crochet blanket I made.

We painted the oars over there to add to the nautical theme of the room. Thomas did the one on the left and I did the one on the right. I loved working on things like that for the baby. The glider we scored on Craigslist might be my favorite thing. We looked high and low for something that would look nice and was high quality. It also had to fit up our stairs which is something we've learned we always have to check when buying things for our house. I was giddy when we found this puppy!

We added a picture from our wedding that used to hang in our living room. I think it's very fitting that it says "You're my favorite" because this kid is our favorite. It's okay to have a favorite kid right? He's our only one so far so I think we're good. Just in case he gets too full of himself though we added this sign to the nursery too:

I am pretty sure my Auntie Kathy has said this to me a hundred times over the years.

And that's about it. Every time I look in there I still can't believe that there will be another human living in our house before we know it. I don't know if we're ready for him yet but we are sure excited to meet him! (I am writing this on my due date so I hope to see him sooner than later...)

Come on baby boy! We're waiting for you!

Third Trimester Wrap Up

As I only have about 3 weeks left before this baby is here I figured I should write a little bit about how this third trimester has been. I think it's been the one where I have seen the most change. I went from thinking that hardly anyone could notice my belly to how could anyone miss this thing! I feel like the weeks have absolutely flown by and I can hardly believe that we have such a short time left before we get to meet this little creature we call Blob. (We actually have had a name picked out for a while but until I actually see his face I can't be certain that's who he is)

As the baby has gotten bigger his movements have become so much more pronounced and at times painful. It feels like there is a real baby in there! I think I even held on to his foot the other night when he was really stretching out. That made the whole thing a lot more baby and a less blob to me.

28 Weeks

26 Weeks

My body is definitely feeling the effects of trying to hold onto Blob. I have zero core strength left and if I stand or walk for too long I can feel the muscles at the top and bottom of my belly start to panic. My hips have totally lost all control of themselves. I sat on the couch Indian style for an hour or two the other night crocheting and the next day I was almost completely lame. I felt like my legs were barely hanging onto the rest of my body.

32 Weeks

31 Weeks

I feel like I've been a little more emotional the last few weeks, more so than at any other time in this pregnancy. I just keep anticipating that moment of holding little Blob for the first time and it stirs up a crazy mix of love, anxiety and excitement. I don't know if I have necessarily been one of those people who feels a super strong bond with the baby before it's born. He's just sort of in there doing his thing and that's cool with me. I know that will change once I see his little face and get to hold him in my arms though.

36 Weeks

35 Weeks

 When you're obviously pregnant people treat you differently. It's not always a good thing, you get strange glances and comments wherever you go but it often pays off. We were downtown at one of our favorite restaurants and I really wanted their butternut squash ravioli. The only problem was that they didn't have it on the dinner menu that night, it had been on the lunch menu though. I pointed to my stomach and asked the server if there was any way the kitchen could make it for me. A few minutes later I was being served butternut squash ravioli. 

37 Weeks

The absolute BEST thing about being pregnant has been watching Thomas really embrace becoming a dad. At first I think we were both a little terrified of what was coming although it's something we'd been waiting on for a while. The other night we were driving and talking about how there are only a few weeks left and Thomas said, "It's like a dream come true, isn't it? I'm getting so excited!" 

I love listening to him talk to our baby and say goodbye to him when he leaves for work and goodnight to him in the evenings. People are always halfway warning us that our lives are about to change FOREVER! and Thomas just seems to not mind that so much. Yes, it will be different and we will be parents for the rest of eternity but isn't that just the greatest thing you can imagine doing? I know we'll be in poop up to our eyes, I know it's extremely challenging but I am so glad that Thomas and I get to do it all together. He's my best friend and he's going to be a great dad!

Thomas has been working so hard in the nursery- putting up shelves and curtains, building the crib and getting everything ready.