Kareoke on NYE

Dear Zoe - The year after Dad and I moved to Chicago from San Francisco, my dad (your grandpa) and I decided to throw a New Years Eve party. We invited all of our friends and even had a kareoke machine to sing all of our favorite songs.

Little did I know that this would turn into a (now) tradition for every New Years Eve. I am in no way a good singer (smile), but I do enjoy singing a tune or two (or three or four). This year, you will only be about 3-4 months old, but grandpa still has big plans for us busting out the microphones and singing well into the night. We'll see how that goes. :)

Pics of the mama singing some of her favorite songs

Weekend in Asheville

Last weekend, Dad and I travelled to Asheville, NC for another wedding, one of his childhood friends, PJ and his new bride, Courtney. Asheville is so beautiful - I loved the downtown area, so many cute shops! We hung out with Annie and Paul a lot (your Nana and Da) and went to great dinners. On Friday, Nana, Dad and I went to the beautiful Biltmore house for a tour. The wedding was at a beautiful venue and we had another great weekend! I can't wait to take you back someday when you can better appreciate it. :)

Beautiful Biltmore house in Asheville, NC

Here is you and me, taking a little rest on our tour at Biltmore, on the balcony.

One of our delicious meals was at a little cafe downtown, where I got these enormous and delicious sweet potato and oatmeal pancakes. YUMMY!!

Jenny and Mikeys wedding

Jenny and Mikey are married!

On July 30, you and I were the maid (and baby) of honor in Jenny and Mikey's wedding. This was officially your first wedding. :) The whole day was so fun - we got ready at Jenny's house with all of our friends and then headed out for pictures. The ceremony was perfect- outside at a great venue downtown. Jenny looked so beautiful and I was so happy for her. We had a blast at the reception - danced all night and ate delicious food (yummy cupcakes).

Congratulations Jenny and Mikey!

Love, the mama

Eggplants

Dear Zoe - I am 28 weeks, that means that I am 2/3 done!! I am officially in my third trimester and feel so different than I did at the beginning of my pregnancy. I am much bigger. :) I have gained about 22lbs at this point, and am definitely showing! (see picture above!) I no longer have morning sickness, but I am tired a lot. I fall asleep on the couch every night pretty much around 9:30 and leave Dad to finish watching all of our shows himself! You are moving around a lot too, which is so fun! It is kind of hard to describe, there are little kicks and little flutters and the other day I am pretty sure that you had the hiccups. Your favorite time to move around is right after dinner and at bedtime (hopefully you will outgrow that!)



My weekly pregnancy tracker tells me that this week, you are as big as an eggplant! Kind of unbelievable!

The Nursery

I have been thinking about the nursery since the day I found out I was pregnant, and even before I knew that you were a girl, I had the cutest bedding picked out from land of nod. I didn't have anything picked out for a boy, and turns out, I didn't need to. Dad and I struggled with whether or not to paint your room, it is a mocha brown, which I love, but we were worried it would be too dark. But we decided we would brighten it up with some pictures on the wall, a light colored rocker and the bedding. I haven't purchased the decals yet...I am going between butterflies and birds, but I love how they look. I am really excited to see it all come together!

The best day of my life...

This is a picture from my favorite day ever (so far...you are not born yet, remember??). November 10, 2007, the day your daddy and I got married. It was such a fun day. My best friends were all over at my house all morning and we hung out got ready, drank some champagne. Then we drove to a beautiful church where I met up with your dad and we got married. We were both so happy, we couldn't stop smiling all day long.

We had a wonderful reception with great music and everyone danced all night. People still tell us that our wedding was the most fun wedding they have ever been to. The dance floor was never without people on it and that was what I wanted! The food was delicious, and all of our favorite people in the world were there with us to celebrate.

The last 3 years have been wonderful. I cannot wait for you to be here to make the next many years even better!

Love, the mama

Where your daddy and I met...

Dear Zoe -

Hopefully we will be bringing you out to one of my favorite places, San Francisco, CA very soon. SF is where I met your daddy. We met through friends in the summer of 2004 and my old roommate and friend Ginny gave him my phone number to check on me while I was on a date at the Cubs game. The date wasn't going so well, so I went out to meet your daddy. The rest is history. :) We lived there until summer of 2007 before we moved to Chicago before we got married. I miss California all the time - its weather, scenery, food and people. As much as I love being home in Chicago, there are lots of times when I wish that we could move back and we could raise you out there. I am sure that you would love it...