21 Weeks Pregnant

Here I am at 21 weeks pregnant (and the day after Thanksgiving)! Feeling Leo move is now a daily occurrence and always a joy. He moved a lot during Thanksgiving dinner and dessert. Kudos to his Grandma Cleveland's cooking and his Aunt Tiffany and Uncle Martin's pie baking skills. After Thanksgiving dinner, we watched the Incredibles, which was incredible.

Today, we visited a house that we are hoping to rent. It is a 3 bedroom ranch that would be perfect for Leo's first home. The backyard is huge and Leo's bedroom has a built in dresser that would also make a perfect changing table. Cross your fingers!

Leo's 20 week Ultrasound

This is an image from our 20 week ultrasound from Wednesday, November 14. Isn't Leo adorable? We are such proud parents. He is now 11 oz. and about 10 inches long! He was punching up a storm and has been awake for every ultrasound so far. I wonder if that is a sign of what's to come. During the ultrasound, Donna, our ultrasound technician, did an extensive examination of his heart, kidneys, brain, spinal cord and face and he appears to be extremely healthy and is right on track with growth and development. Donna even told us that he had a gorgeous spine and a cute profile. That's our boy! My mom came along to catch her first glimpse of her second grandson; she was also able to meet Dr. Barrett. It was a wonderful day!

The Birthday Celebration Continues

No Birthday (for Joe) would be complete without the Steelers. Good thing my parents came to the rescue and gave Joe a Big Ben Christmas ornament. Joe had been admiring it for a while and my mom took note. To finish up the birthday weekend, my parents invited us over for spaghetti dinner and lemon cake. We finished the night with gift opening; Joe can add a another bookstore gift certificate to his collection. Tiff and Martin provided Joe with another favorite - Belgium beer, fine gourmet cheese and a lovely baguette.

In the top photo, not only are we matching, but you can clearly see the efforts of Joe's new workout routine. Wow! I've never seen him so muscular.

19 Weeks Pregnant

I am now 19 weeks pregnant and an feeling Leo move a ton. I love it! I felt him move the strongest on Friday night and it was amazing. It is such great reassurance that he is thriving.

Joe's 31st Birthday

Joe's 31st birthday was a weekend extravaganza! Although his birthday was Sunday, the celebration started Friday night at Clay's Smokehouse Grill with friends Craig, Lauren, Tegan, Brian and his girlfriend Nancy. We continued our fun weekend with dinner the following night at Pepitas, a local Mexican restaurant that is one of our favorites. Although it was a difficult challenge, I was able to keep Joe from opening his gifts until his birthday morning. Joe received a pair of Air Max Nike running shoes, Blazer tickets and Polo shirt from me, A Baby Bjorn and 2 baby Polo shirts from Leo (although, those are kind of gifts for Leo), a Borders gift certificate from the Wolves and concert tickets from his Dad and Paula. Brian treated us to dinner at Clay's, which was so awesome! My Grandparents also gave Joe a check, which he used to buy some new Polo shirts (what a handsome guy)! As you can gather, there is a bit of a trend with Joe and Polo stuff.

Joe's cool new shoes have a computer chip located in the heel that transmits his running progress to his IPod and then can be downloaded to the computer. Very nifty and high-tech....which is perfect for Joe. He tested out his new shoes at the gym on his Birthday- now that's dedication!

Jacob

On Sunday, November 4th, my parents, Joe and I made the three and a half hour trek to visit my nephew Jacob in Silverdale, WA. We brought Jacob a gift of 2 cars from the movie Cars and it proved to be hours of endless entertainment for Jacob. He is almost 4 now and is incredibly bright, sweet, adorable and simply wonderful. I hope that our little boy will be just like his older cousin; it's great to know that Leo will have such a great pal.

I also think that I felt the baby move for the first time. We were on our way to see Jacob and I felt a bubble popping-like feeling in my lower stomach that could possibly have been our little guy making himself known. I just can't wait until he starts karate practice in my stomach. That will be a thrill!