Merry Christmas!

It's been an absolutely lovely week. Last Saturday Peter and I spent the morning in our old stomping ground, Camp Hill (I miss that place). We visited an antique shop, grabbed coffee and hot chocolate at Cornerstone Coffee House and then went to Creative Elegance (a boutique my aunt had given us a gift certificate for). We bought scone mix, jam and a few things for the baby (the alligator has a pouch for a little ice pack, the dog is sitting on top of a little blanket trimmed in satin and the elephant rattles!) Later that evening my parents and nieces came for dinner and we all had a great time.

Yesterday we spent the day at my parents'. Half the family stopped by during the day and we saw most of the rest of the family at my Pop-pop's later in the evening so that was really nice. We had great food - ham, mac & cheese, sweet potato casserole, baked pineapple and veggies. Plus tons and tons of sweets. I gave away another 9 dozen cookies (I think that makes 29 dozen total so far and I'm not done!)

So we made out really well, haha. Actually, so did Pumpkin. As you can see, Pumpkin has his/her own section of the overall gift pile. I loved getting baby-related gifts. My favorites were probably the Willow tree figure from my parents and the blanket my great-grandmother made. And of course Peter and I love the Spamlet onesie I gave him.

I hope you had a satisfying and meaningful Christmas as well!

Lazy Saturday?

Not exactly but the day started that way (see pics below). It was quite the busy weekend, actually. Friday I met Peter at work and we headed straight to our family Christmas party. Good food, good company. Mom had a grand old time telling anybody and everybody that I'm pregnant. There was ample tummy rubbing.

Saturday we did enjoy some snuggle time with the kitties (separated by the Great Wall of Peter). We picked up groceries and then I spent most of the day baking oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies. Then I baked a cake for Sunday's party. Grabbed an episode or two of Gilmore Girls and crashed early. The kids ended the day together on the love seat (a rare occurrence).

Sunday I got to help out a bit with a friend's newborn baby! Peter helped for a while too after Sunday school. Then we headed to Whitney's Christmas party with cake and Christmas cookies in tow. We had a fantastic dinner and a wonderful time hanging with my college roomies.

Last night I finally finished my holiday baking (assuming my freezer supply holds). I had to give out Christmas cookies to co-workers today instead of closer to Christmas because I had no more room in our freezer! I had a little fun with the extra chocolate (see below).

And just for giggles, my latest belly pic. 14 weeks! There's a little bump there... trust me.

NYC

Saturday we took a bus trip to NYC for the day. We met up with Ted and Becca (friends from college who we had not seen since their December 06 wedding in Florida) who now live just outside the city.

It was a really great day. No agenda, just aimless wandering. We landed in Times Square, had BBQ for lunch, saw the tree at Rockefeller Plaza, window shopped at Tiffany and Cartier on 5th, took a peek inside Trump Tower, had a sit down at Starbucks, checked out Lush and had a lovely Italian dinner. A fantastic (if tiring) day!

Today we had our 2nd official Dr. appt. Everything went very well. I've yet to gain any weight but the Dr. is not concerned. I now know that my blood type is O+. The Dr. was able to find the baby's heartbeat immediately and said we have a cooperative baby (just what we like to hear). We could hear the baby's movements on the dopler and he/she seemed to be quite active. A great appointment!

I've Been Tagged?!

My friend, Heather, tagged me so here we go:

Here are the rules:

* Go to your sixth picture folder then pick your sixth picture.

* Pray that you remember the details.

* Post it on your blog.

* Tag 5 others, leave a comment to let them know they’ve been tagged.

I could have had a more interesting picture but this is what I came up with. This was a church across the street from out hotel in Athens. The bells would chime on the hour and it was so beautiful and relaxing, especially when we were lying in our bed for our daily afternoon nap. Oh to be back there right now in the 70 degree weather.

Thanksgiving

Yes, I'm going to start off with the mushy "what I'm thankful for". I'm thankful for our house, our jobs, our health, our friends and family, our cats, our baby-in-the-making and most of all... for my wonderful husband. Ok, enough mush.

Thanksgiving was a hit! It was overwhelming to make the entire meal but I had plenty of help from my Mom. On the menu: Hershey Kisses, Peppermint Patties, chocolate chip cookies, and cheese and crackers for snackers. My family loves chocolate. And for dinner: citrus turkey (stuffed with grapefruit, orange and lemon!) and smothered in lemon chive butter, cranberry almond stuffing, mashed potatoes with homemade gravy (thanks to Mom), garlic string beans, mac-n-cheese, baked corn (thanks to Gram), cranberry sauce, and cornbread muffins. And for dessert: pumpkin pie and homemade frozen chocolate mousse pie. What a great day for food!

I loved having my parents and my Gram at our place for the day. It was very laid back (once the cooking marathon was finished). We watched the parade. Dad assembled a bookshelf for us for the nursery. We took a walk after dinner. Mom and I played Grey's Anatomy trivia (and I kicked her butt). And my parents even spent the night.

Friday we grabbed breakfast then ran to Linens-N-Things. Yay going out of business sale! I got a salad spinner, flannel sheets and a fuzzy pink bathrobe. After a successful shopping trip, we went to see Australia. Really a fantastic movie. I'm a big fan of Nicole, Hugh and Baz so it was an easy choice. Definitely a departure from Baz's usual work. Not so much a chick flick like Romeo & Juliet or Moulin Rouge but an epic, to be sure. We had Bangkok Wok for dinner (I know, shame on us for not eating leftovers). Then my parents sadly had to go home. I promptly fell asleep.

The highlight of my day yesterday, well, there were two: the moment I woke up from my nap and my horrible headache was finally gone and my successful attempt at a new recipe for dinner. Peter and I went to Panera for breakfast and that was amazing too. Decaf coffee... yum. So, the new recipe, turkey and stuffing casserole! It was fantastic. We took some to Chris and Michelle since they are just 2 days away from their due date and I figured they weren't doing much cooking. I can't wait to have more leftovers tonight.

So that's the lowdown on the weekend. Right now Peter is on a "man date" with Josh seeing Transporter 3. I wasn't willing to spend money on a movie I had no interest in seeing so Josh is bringing Melinda over after the movie for pie. More my speed. Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving and enjoy your holiday season. Not long till Christmas!

New Baby Pics

We had our 2nd u/s last night. Baby measured about 9.5 weeks and is growing right on schedule. We saw the heartbeat again. What a miracle! We shouldn't have another u/s now till early February. I think it'll be a long wait.

I have a cold this week but I'm pushing through. I took the afternoon off yesterday to get some rest and I think that helped. Grape juice hasn't hurt either. And I think the weekend is really the best cure of all.

Ooooh! One more thing because I'm super proud of it. On Wednesday, Oprah mentioned on her show that for the next two days viewers could get a free 8x11 20 page photo book from Snapfish. I immediately ran to the computer because I've been wanting to make a photo book of our Europe pictures since May. In less than 90 minutes, I had ordered a lovely photo book worth $30 and only paid $7.41 shipping for it. I was so pleased. Can't wait to get it! If you're interested, check out the link on Oprah's website from Wednesday's show. You can still get in on this deal today I think.

I could use another day off too

I'm trying not to complain but Peter has today and tomorrow off... and I do not. Not fair. Ok, that's out of my system.

We had a lovely weekend! Friday I got a haircut and then met Peter at Ignite (the monthly event run by my work to stir interest in missions among college students). Peter played the drums as usual and Anita Keagy was the speaker (google her or Joyshop Ministries). We had something like 100 people there so that was pretty amazing. We were home by 9:30 but I was beat.

Saturday we slept in a bit and then after a little lazy time on the couch Peter went to get a haircut and I cleaned the house. I love a clean house. We tried several times to take a family portrait for the Christmas cards with us and both cats but Nutmeg is less than cooperative. She refuses to be picked up or held so unfortunately, she may not appear on the Christmas card. I worry she'll get a complex and feel like the unwanted step-child. But we tried. Later we met my parents and my younger nieces for Red Lobster in Lancaster and it was fantastic.

Sunday we taught Sunday school (and our girls were WILD!) and went to church. After church we went with some friends to Taco Bell and then did our grocery shopping at Wal-Mart. The prices seemed to be better than Giant so I may need to do a little research for the future. We came home and did very little for the rest of the day. I watched some Gilmore Girls and made pancakes for dinner. A lovely weekend.

How am I feeling (for those who asked)? Pretty good! Aside from one bought of morning sickness last week I've just been tired in the evenings. I consider myself very blessed to feel so good. I hope in a couple weeks maybe I can stay awake past 10 again.

Below is my favorite "oops" shot. Kenny was getting a little bored with the photo shoot. And is it me or does Nutmeg look a little smug?

Introducing...

... the newest member of the Jones family, "Pumpkin". Yes, we're expecting! We found out October 1st and today was our first official Dr. appointment.

The details: I'm about 8 weeks along. Due June 14th, 2009. We had an ultrasound today and got to see and hear the heartbeat! I just laughed I was so excited (probably not the best thing to do during an ultrasound).

In the pictures below the baby is upside down but if you stand on your head while looking at the 3rd one, you can make out a head, little arm bud and teeny tiny belly (trust us if you can't make it out).

We're so thrilled to finally share our news. We ask that you would please keep all 3 of us in your prayers. Thank you so much!

Happy November!

Wow - November already. I'm loving it! Despite the windy and chilly weather. As long as I get some sunshine, I'm happy.

We finally had our storm door delivered and installed last week. We've been waiting a few weeks. It looks wonderful! I'll need to take some pictures and post them here. The cats are warming up to it. It's a little loud when it closes so Kenny is scared of it.

We had a nice weekend. Friday we had a Halloween party of sorts with our small group friends. We watched "Midnight Meat Train" (horrible movie, haha) and ate a meat buffet. The spread was incredible. Way to go Joy and Jeremy! I started to fall asleep during "Leatherheads" so we headed home.

Saturday we took Nutmeg to the vet for a check-up and to have her nails clipped and get some meds for her sneezing (it's a seriously disgusting problem). She was wild though and Peter had to end up shoving her into her carrier. She scraped her little nose and then smeared blood all over the inside of her carrier. Not fun. She was fine once we got to the vet. She was SO happy once we got home. We got antibiotics for the sneezing and so far have been able to sneak it into her food, thank heavens.

So after that excitement, we went grocery shopping and then replaced the batteries in all 5 smoke detectors. It's a convenient time with the clock change and all. We went to see "Mamma Mia" at Messiah Saturday afternoon. What a seriously girly movie! I felt a little bad for making Peter sit through it so we picked up Chinese on our way home and watched "Shaun of the Dead" to balance it all out. I mean - it was a good movie - just not Peter's (or any man's) style.

I had a bad headache yesterday so Peter tackled Sunday school all by himself. I love him for it. I layed on the couch all day and then we went to Friendly's for dinner with some friends. All in all, a wonderful weekend.

Below is the cake I made for our Halloween party Friday. Devil's food cake (haha, get it?) and homemade cream cheese frosting. The stem is actually a silicone cupcake baking cup (thanks Mom!). It was tasty. And the other picture is what happens when Peter lays on the stairs when I'm trying to get by with my camera in hand. Isn't he adorable?

Have a great week!

Homecoming 2008

What a weekend! Friday Peter brought home Panera (SO good!) and we went grocery shopping. We picked up "PS - I Love You". It was pretty good. Not fantastic but worth a try. (It's no "Atonement"). Then we went to bed fairly early. We're party animals I tell you!

Saturday we made breakfast (toaster Eggo waffles, baby) and hung around the house a bit. Did some laundry. We're so exciting aren't we? Ok, here's where the weekend really picks up. Around 2 we headed to Messiah to check out Homecoming. We took a stroll through the Oakes Museum (pretty awesome) with about a million kids + strollers. Then we headed to the President's new house "Orchard Hill". The house was amazing, outstanding and fabulous all rolled into one plus 10. Really truly incredible. I loved it.

Around 4 we met up with my 4 college roomies - Linz, Chris, Whit and Stef - at Isaac's for dinner. We had a really nice time visiting. We hadn't all been together since June 2006! It was about darn time. After dinner we, Linz and Jason headed back to the soccer game to meet up with another friend - Nicole. Despite the fact that she lives roughly 3 miles away, I hadn't seen her since graduation so it was a nice treat to meet up and chat. After all that we crashed.

Sunday we taught Sunday school and then came home to prepare for my Pampered Chef party. Only 6 ladies showed up but we had a good time nonetheless. Peter met up with his Dad at the mall to hang out and avoid all the estrogen. At the party we made a one pot pasta dish that was so, so good. Penne cooked in chicken broth with brocolli, carrots and sun-dried tomatoes. Oh and cream cheese. Delish! My mom and aunt were here so we had a nice time hanging out with them after the party too. Then we had our small group meeting and didn't get home till 9. And then we crashed again, haha.

This morning we awoke to a chirping smoke detector in our bedroom at 4 am. We have a cathedral ceiling and Peter could hardly reach it even standing on my dresser. We couldn't find a way to change the battery so we're enlisting the help of a neighbor tonight to help figure it out. So frustrating!

That's all the news from here. Keep on keeping on.

The Hutch

...as promised. See below :)

Not much going on this week. We're enjoying the lovely Fall weather. Today it feels close to 80 and we have the windows open again. Simply beautiful.

Amy made a lasagna on Tuesday and we're still enjoying it (along with what's left of the baby shower goodies).

That's all for now.

It's a baby shower!

Amy hosted a baby shower for our good friend Michelle. There were 10 guests in all. It was a good time! Michelle wanted a dessert bar so we had about 8 different desserts. We have leftovers coming out our ears and we already gave some away to Amy's parents, our neighbors and Amy's parents' neighbors!

Chris and Michelle are having a surprise so the shower was gender neutral. We tried to get yellow roses but all we could find was pink. The shower was for Michelle and she's a girl so maybe that's ok, haha. We didn't play any games but we did have the guests fill out pieces of cardstock with words of advice and encouragement to put into a large glass vase to keep in the nursery. All in all, Amy was pleased with everything but we're both glad for it to be over.

Amy's Mom and Dad dropped off a hutch from her Gram tonight too. It is beautiful and fits just perfectly in our dining room. Photos to follow eventually, promise. It's just been too busy a day and we're too tired and lazy...