Let's Chop Up This Tie!

As I am bopping along with baby, Erik is flying along with flight school. After being stuck idle for quite a while due to lack of planes, it picked up and then really picked up. A huge milestone this week: He soloed! That means he got to surf among the clouds all by himself. This is a nice big step in the pilot training process - if you see him, make sure you give him a pat on the back... or a virtual pat. We are very proud of him!

Along with flying solo comes the tradition of "Tie Cutting." This is a small ceremony/ get together in which students that have flown solo in recent weeks celebrate the milestone. They each wear a tie that their "on-wing" cuts ... if I had to guess, I suppose it symbolizes the fact that you are no longer tied to anyone in the plane...? Deep stuff, really deep stuff. As with any little ceremony, there will probably be a certificate, some beer, some chicken wings, giggles and stories.

Erik didn't want to cut any of his nice Hong Kong ties (agreed!), so he headed off to Burlington Coat Factory to find the worst of the worst. And what he founds comes pretty close.

I try to be a good person, but admittedly I do end up judging people that wear Ed Hardy stuff. Judge, judge, judge. There, I said it. That - however - should not detract from this glorious achievement by the hubs. Good job, shipmate!

24 Week Belly

This past month has been nice and comfy! I guess I've been at the height of joy in the 2nd trimester. I feel like I am slowly joining the 3rd trimester fraternity recently, however, as the rapidly growing belly is beginning to bring its first taste of discomforts to come (I believe my recent words waddling out of Olive Garden were something like "Erik, it feels like I don't have enough tummy skin for this.").

I wouldn't have it any other way, though - can't wait to meet this little guy :o)

Meanwhile, Peanut is still our little Squirmster McGee, bopping around all hours of the day and night.

Happy Father's Day!

It was nice to be at home for Father's Day this year, which always seems to fall around my parent's anniversary, as well. Plus the beautiful rolling green hills and wildflowers of Pennsylvania never disappoint. I had plenty of moments driving down the back roads, loving the scenery, and then am humorously brought back to the present day when a large bug splats against the windshield or I have to swerve to avoid possum roadkill. Aaah yes, the circle of life.

Anyhoodles, for their anniversary, I escorted Jim and Babs to the Charles Town Slots and Racing. Just for slots, though - no horsies on a weekday. We enjoyed the buffet and then my mom proceeded to find a good machine where they made about $75. I think dad was more thrilled than mom.

Father's day was spent in Lancaster, meeting Jamesy at his place and then going to the Olive Garden. Which doesn't sound fancy or anything, granted, but it was a really nice time and I finally got a big ol' hunk of tiramisu that I've been craving for quite a while now.

Here is a picture of Dad and I before I packed up and headed back to TX.


He promises to work on the front patch of missing landscaping before my next visit.

San Antonio Weekend

Over the Memorial Day weekend, we decided to drive a couple hours to visit San Antonio and see some sites besides the local big butts of Corpus (I'm not being mean, tis the the truth). Anyhoooo... we had a great time although it was boiling hot and there was little or no reprieve from the sun of the south.

We spent the first day at SeaWorld, although didn't take any photos as it took all my energy to just traverse the large adventureland park and dodge kiddos and strollers and 4 gallon buckets of cotton candy. I enjoyed the sea lion show the most (come on, a mystery show where the otter is the suspect - how can you miss?!) and the obligatory Shamu show was impressive, too. Apparently Peanut really likes inspirational/ethnic/ethereal music, since he was moving like crazy during the Shamu show where they play Enya-like tunes throughout.

Otherwise, we spent most of our time in downtown San Antonio, along the Riverwalk and visiting sites like the Alamo.

From San Antonio May 2010

I can't believe the Riverwalk doesn't have any handrails to keep all the intoxicated bar goers from falling in, but I guess its only like 3-5 ft deep in the busy areas. There is a $500 fine if you fall in - we learned that from a mini tour we took, not from experience.

And lastly, after many attempts, we've proven it's impossible to take a photo in front of the Alamo without getting the butts and fanny packs of others in the background.

From San Antonio May 2010

18 Week Belly

Looking bigger (and sleepy) at 18 weeks...


Never thought I'd be excited to say the we are gaining weight, but here it goes... we are excited to be gaining weight.

Last week marks the first week that I officially felt Peanut move. I maaaay have felt it earlier, but passed it off as little gas bubbles previously. Beano or baby, beano or baby? Baby! I was feeling guilty that I only got to feel him for now, but sure enough, Peanut kicked Dad's hand last night while we were all snuggling on the couch! It was so awesome to see the look on Erik's face...

Glamour Shot - Week 16

We had an ultrasound today and it was much less blobby than the first peek we got at 10 weeks. It actually looked like a little baby in there! We could even see its little fingers and toes - just absolutely amazing. We also saw what every father dreams of seeing on his baby - a wiener. Turns out Peanut is a boy! Erik has been walking on cloud nine ever since we left the office and wearing a slap happy grin.

Here is Baby H's profile view - all snug as a bug in a rug (or as a duderus in a uterus...?). His head is on the right side of the pic and you can see the button nose. That's his bell-ay on the left side.


I will save Peanut's modesty and not post the wiener photo. I will keep that for the baby book that is put on display when his first girlfriend comes to visit in the years to come.

Happy Mother's Day!

Paint the Nursery: Check!

Last weekend we decided to paint Peanut's room. Not knowing if it's a little guy or a little gal, we went with a neutral green color. This is not a big surprise for anyone who claims to know me :o)

The room was originally a violet-pink color which may have worked out fine if there is a girl on the way, but the fact of the matter is that the nursery-to-be is currently my home office... working in a pink room all day was making my eye twitch.

As we painted, we could start to see outlines of the castles and stars and stuff from its previous resident. Pssh, Peanut's room is going to be soooo much cooler than that.

"Hey, who's idea was it to have the short one paint the room?"

We are planning on getting some nice darker walnut baby furniture so I think it will look really sweet in the end.

"Let's get physical, physical..."

How exciting to hear baby's heartbeat today! My pulse got in the way for a bit, but finally the doctor was able to find the little thump-thump-thump of Baby H. It was going pretty fast - around 165 beats per minute, but that's a good thing! It made me think of an image of a baby in 80's style aerobic gear, just hanging out down there, doing his thing.

We are excited to have another sonogram, but that happens in a couple weeks, so we will just have to be patient. They may be able to guess the gender at that time - which would be fun! - but I've heard many-a-story of gender swaps that we'll know to take the info with a grain of salt.

Where the Magic Happens

Continuing the theme of our domestication, we went furniture shopping the last couple weekends. Its kind of a fun process until you are in the 10th furniture store and, as a result, your nights are filled with visions of dovetail joints dancing in your head.

Erik and I have somehow managed to elude the need for bedroom furniture such as dressers for the last 10 years. It was time. Erik's t-shirt collection is well into the 3-digits and some need a folded home since many of the classics are warping on their hangars.

Our budget allowed for a bed and 2 dressers and delivery, apparently. Of medium quality. We tried to go with Ethan Allen, but turns out our money there only gets you a dresser and maybe a night table and maybe a stick of chewing gum.

Our decision-making came down to its normal point of "Ugh, let's just get it over with." We are classic Libras indeed, unable to make decisions without first weighing all possible options and reviews. So most of our decisions are typically just made on information-overload induced exhaust at a certain point. But hey, it works for us.

Here is the resulting decision!


We will see it in our own house next month! One of the pieces is on back order, so what can you do, what can you do.

Next purchase? Furniture for Baby H! I'm not quite ready to go back to the stores yet - we shall wait another month or two for that. Must... restore... energy for next... big... decision.