Happy Halloween

On Saturday, Lisa and Rob had their annual halloween party. My neice, Ella, was dressed up as a fairy and her friends were dressed in costumes ranging from Indiana Jones and Darth Vader to Ladybugs and Princesses. John, Orzo and I all dressed up as well.

Orzo as a bun, me as an 'oven', and John as the baker.

We can't take all the credit for our costumes since we borrowed the idea from my friend Manon and Alex, who had the same halloween costume last year when they were almost 8 months pregnant. Thanks Manon, Alex, and Margaux!!

Happy Birthday to Me

B-day photo at 26 weeks

October 14 was my 29th birthday. John and I celebrated by going out to dinner and a play in Hartford. Everyone seemed to think that was an excellent idea since it will be my last birthday that we can make plans to go out without having to find a babysitter.... I prefer to think of it as my last birthday without homemade fingered painted, glittered, crayon colored birthday cards from my kids.

I did get one homemade B-day card this year. My neice Ella finger painted this card for me and on the inside Ella dictated what she wanted to say and Lisa wrote it down. "John, Roie, goat, feed them. Fun! Milkshake, lick, tongue, feed them, Reggie".

Food Cravings

All my aversions to meat are gone and I'm back to having a normal appetite, while I'm not currently having any strong cravings, this weekend would have been perfect for filling many cravings (they even had Fried Pickles). John and I and my family all went to the Center Sandwich Fair in New Hampshire. My niece Ella spent most of the time riding the carousel and looking at all the animals, while John and I spent the weekend eating fair food.

Enjoying an Awesome Blossom

Onion Rings

Sharing cotton candy with my grandmother

Satisfying our sweet tooth with a box of fudge.

Philadelphia and several firsts

This weekend John and I went to Philadelphia for our friend's wedding.

The new couple, Tara and Jaron, enjoying a

toast on the balcony after the wedding ceremony.

It was an exciting weekend not only because I got to see many of my friends from vet school, but also because John, Orzo, and I experienced a lot of 'firsts'. I experienced round ligament pain after rolling over too fast during the night and sciatica pains shooting down my right leg while trying to walk from the car into a restaurant for dinner. I would prefer to forget those firsts. The real exciting moment, that we will remember, is that John finally got to feel Orzo kick for the first time.

24 weeks and counting . . .

Getting Ready for the Baby

Everyone has a different way of getting ready for the arrival of a new baby.


Dad prepares by completing projects around the house . . .



John is starting to install a light fixture in the babies room (or what will eventually be the babies room, don't worry we didn't start off by installing a computer and modem in her room). Mom is standing by nervously because the tool John is using is the exact same one that his brother used a few months ago and sent him to the emergencey room to get stitches on his hand.

Success!!

Mom prepares by nesting . . .

...which includes obsessively organizing all the hand me down clothing and other baby stuff lent to her by her sister Lisa, her sister-in-law Lisa, and her friend Manon. And purging all the junk we have accumulated over the years by selling things on Ebay, Craig's List, and multiple trips to Goodwill. John is a little worried I'm going to get over zealous in getting rid of stuff that I'm going to start selling things that we actually need and use regularly.

The cats prepare by getting used to all the new baby stuff in their own special way...

Here is Reggie sound asleep in my niece Ella's baby carseat.

Half-Baked

At 20 weeks pregnant, our little girl is halfway there!!! She is very active, kicking and punching frequently. Now that we know we are having a girl, John and I have been busy making lists of possible names. Yesterday, while she was particularly active, John wanted to give her the opportunity to pick her own name. He proceded to yell out names to her and planned on continuing through our list until she kicked. She responded to the third name, but unfortunately John went rogue and instead of calling out a name on our approved list, called out Scallywag. I can't decide which is a worse actual name for a little girl Scallywag or Orzo?

Mom and baby at 20 weeks

For those of you that don't know we recently found out that our dog, Franklin, has cancer. Fortunately, since his mom is a Vet we found the cancer very early. He had surgery last week to remove a tumor on his small intestine, the surgery should be curative and it is unlikely that the cancer has spread. He has taken awhile to recover, but this weekend was back to himself going for long power walks on the beach where we were on vacation in Maine.

Diptford England

John and I had a wonderful time at Caitlin and Will's wedding in the small town of Diptford, England (about 4 hours outside London)

The backdrop... rolling hills covered in sheep.

Orzo and I getting ready for the wedding. I was just starting to show around the time of the wedding (16 weeks pregnant) and luckily still fit into my bridesmaid dress.

St. Mary's Church, Diptford England

Notice the bride is forcing the pregnant lady to carry her dress while her husband and other bridesmaid stand by doing nothing?

John, Orzo and I

... the new Mr. and Mrs. Palframan enjoying their wedding cake.

Unfortunately our digital camera broke the day after the wedding, so we were forced to buy an old fashioned disposable camera at a gift shop to use for the rest of the trip.

Orzo and I are doing well and since returning from the trip, now at almost 20 weeks pregnant, are definitely into maternity clothes. While I can still fit in some of my regular clothes, I decided it was time to switch to pants that I didn't have to unbutton to sit down comfortably.