Don't Judge the Bright Pink Pants - At Least They Fit

Seriously, we have 6 more weeks of this (or more)? Things are still moving along uneventfully which is a wonderful thing, but lordie oh lordie I've been falling into the standard third trimester woes. My toes and fingers have taken on a sausage-like appearance and Tums have become my personal candy of choice. And you just can't feel that great about yourself when roaming the aisles of Target looking to purchase a "butt pillow."

Erik's excitement always puts things into perspective, though. His daily chats with my belly reminds me how special everything really is. And it's little moments like that or looking at Peanut's little clothes all lined up that put me back into the "attitude of gratitude." This experience deserves the utmost reverence!

In an unrelated note, we hope everyone is enjoying the football season thus far! There's nothing like lazy cooler weekends with lots of fun comfy foods (and Tums, of course!) to say that Fall is here. I think our heat index dropped under 95 degrees this week - great success!

Let's Go for a Spin!

We put together the strollers the other evening and they are looking pri-tty pri-tty spiffy. To put things into practice more, we strapped in Tutu Teddy (Erik's old bear) and Doug (my trusty sidekick stuffed dog) to test out the straps and everything. Assembly passes with success!

Sand Between The Toes

Sometimes in the hubbub of everyday life, we unintentionally ignore the fact that we do, indeed, live along the Gulf Coast. The beach is a simple 20 minute drive away and there isn't really an excuse to not visit and plop our butts in the sand more often. My only stipulation is that I like to be there and back before 11a to avoid the super heat. [Kate's Meteorological Scale: "Regular" heat is an index of 95 or 100. "Super" heat is above 100.] Erik isn't as much of a morning guy on the weekends as he still has the option to imbibe in the evenings, so its up to Peanut and I to make things happen. He was a trooper!

Afterwards we stopped by Snoopy's to get some fish and chips and sit along the water just a taaaad longer before we proclaimed our love for air conditioning and headed home.

Yummy in the Tummy Pot Pie

Erik was sweet enough to offer to make Sunday dinner this week and he was eager to try making a pot pie again. The homemade crust turned out great and the recipe has been perfected. Check!




















(Miller Lite is not part of the recipe.)

I Need More Twigs

This past weekend, I found myself up at 4:00a baking banana bread and sorting out all of Peanut's new clothes for their first wash. By 5:30a, I was wishing that Babies R Us was open so I could go get more supplies (enter: Kate's face and hands smushed against front windows of store).

This must be part of the "nesting" instinct. We still have a couple months to go, but I have this itch to have it all done!

Side Note: The amount of little plastic tie thingies they put on baby clothes collections is ridiculous. It took me 10 minutes to take apart a package of little socks since they were all individually connected to the cardboard piece and then individually connected to each other. Oh, but what cute little itty bitty snuggly wuggly socks they are!!! They have little dinosaurs on them! :o)

Furniture: Check!

We were excited to receive the baby furniture on Friday. Erik and I had a hard time pulling the trigger on a set we liked and it was ironic in the end we picked something very easily. For as many options as we mulled over, it came down to the Babies R Us guy going, "Well what about this one over here?" And its like a halo of light shined upon Peanut's furniture. Done. Check!

Click on the photos to see bigger versions.

Before: The nursery filled with boxes and goodies.

During: Chubby girl in the corner relegated to reading directions and handing over screws as needed.

After: Build massive cardboard and styrofoam pile to discreetly take over to Target's recycle dumpsters that we occasionally sneak stuff into.

As for the "after, after" photo? Well we didn't quite finish it all this weekend. Plus the nursery is still functioning as my home office for the next 6 weeks or so. So hopefully in the coming weekends we can take some more pictures as the final transition occurs! So very exciting!

Local Wildlife

I feel like this is the only place we will ever live that I will encounter a crab, a cockroach, a gecko, a crow and a seagull... all by 8am on a random morning. And all around the perimeter of my house. Ick.

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.