Zoo Mob Thanksgiving!

Ten years after it was first celebrated, the Zoo Mob Thanksgiving tradition is still going strong. Since we moved into the house, Todd and I have hosted the festivities, and we now have all of the set-up down to a science. Everyone brings a dish to pass and whatever they want to drink. Todd breaks out the smoker and spends the day creating deliciousness in the form of beef brisket, pork and turkey breast. It is always a day of much laughter and eating--one of my favorite days of the year!! This year we had a really big turnout--17 people for dinner! Gillian and Dylan were in town for most of the day, but had to leave before dinner to attend a family wedding. Toby was sick, and unable to join in the festivities, so Joey and Jenny brought him a plate of food so he could at least experience a little ZMT love.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful, relaxing and delicious Thanksgiving day. We celebrated at Dan and Nancy's house with a yummy turkey dinner and then rented Indiana Jones and watched it over at our house in the evening. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, so we had to take advantage of it with some family photos.

Nursery Progress

I've been in full nesting mode lately--trying to get things checked off the to-do list before they get me totally stressed out! The most fun has been getting Nugget's nursery organized and all of his laundry done and put away. I've posted a few pictures below, with more to come as I continue decorating. :) Notice how great the bedding that mom made looks in the crib!!

We've also finally figured out health insurance, a pediatrician and day care. WHEW!! I'm sure that getting all of this stuff done nice and early will mean that Nugget will decide to enter the world well after his due date, but at least we'll be as ready as we can be for him!

Great day with the Sarapu family

Leslie, Alex and Evan came to Michigan for a week to introduce Evan to all of his fans in the Midwest! :) By some miracle, our schedules meshed, and we were able to spend quite a bit of time together on Tuesday. It was so awesome to spend time getting to know Evan (a total cutie--I'm in love!) and to see Leslie and Alex as parents. They are really great with Evan, and it's clear that they're absolutely in love with him. Alex made some delicious chili, and we all had a great time.

Baby Shower

I know this is long overdue, but better late than never, right? :) I'll be catching up on my blogging today, and I'm going to start with the wonderful baby shower that Suzanne and Hillary threw for me on November 16. It was a delicious Sunday brunch at Suz's house, which is perfect for entertaining, and was also the site of my bridal luncheon the day before my wedding. I love how many good times and important moments have been marked at her house!

I was thrilled and touched by how many of the important women in my life were able to be there, and how many of those who weren't sent their love from afar. It is always an amazing experience to be in a room that is full of people I love, from different corners of my life and family all coming together in support of an important moment in my life. I was really struck by what a loving community I live in, and that Todd and I are bringing our son into. I can't wait to introduce him to all of these wonderful people!

The gifts we received were so generous (and all ridiculously cute!). I think that Nugget is going to be the best dressed baby in town--certainly better outfitted than his parents! :) Hillary also coordinated a really cool craft project where all of the guests made cars out of felt which Hillary turned into a wall hanging for the nursery. It turned out really cute, and I can't wait to get it up on the wall.

Here are some pics from the day:

with my lovely hostesses

Mom and I and the wonderful quilt that Mom made for Nugget--I love it!

Erin, Nancy, Todd, Cindy, Debbie, Mom and I at the end of the shower

The perfect centerpiece!

The beautiful and delicious bird cookies that Hillary made--they matched the bird on my invitation!

The girls working on the craft project

Todd and I with Nugget's quilt

Cutest laundry bag on the block

When I started my second trimester, Mom gave me a book by my favorite fabric designer, Amy Butler, called "Little Stiches for Little Ones." It is full of inspiring projects for the nursery, baby clothes and accessories, all made in Amy's gorgeous fabrics. One of the projects that caught my eye immediately was a little laundry bag with a monkey hanging off of the bottom. So I've finally gotten around to making it, and I just finished it this evening. It was my first foray into applique and using interfacing and fusible "wonder-under." I was a little intimidated at first, but luckily the directions were clear and I had a lot of fun making such a cute little monkey! Here are a few pictures:

32 Weeks

Now that we go to the doctor every two weeks, the updates aren't quite as interesting! But everything is still on track--baby's size and heartrate, my weight gain and blood pressure. Nugget weighs about 3.75 pounds right now!! I feel him move all the time, and can see his movement from the outside. Sometimes he starts going nuts in there, and my belly is moving all over the place; Todd says that it looks like a kitten inside a pillow case. :)

Zzzzz...

Poor Todd, this is what all of the other inhabitants of his household do, starting around 8:30 or 9:00 every night!

Quilting project finally completed!

I started working on this quilt in the spring, and then took a long hiatus over the summer. Quilting never seems as appealing when it's hot outside. So now that the cool weather has returned, I finally finished this quilt. During last fall's quilt retreat I was inspired by one of the other quilter's projects to try something with orange. I love the way it turned out, and it's the perfect size for curling up on the couch.

Halloween Festivities

Last night Dustin and Jen hosted a Halloween party/wedding reception at their house. They got married in Vegas in September, and wanted to have a celebration back at home for everyone who couldn't make it. Everyone got into the spirit of the party and had a lot of fun with their costumes. :)

30 Week Appointment and Belly Pic

We are now far enough along in this pregnancy to have a prenatal visit every two weeks! It's hard to believe that we only have about 10 weeks before we finally get to meet our little guy. Everything looked great at Friday's appointment--Nugget's heartrate was between 140-150, and my weight and blood pressure are right on track. We had the first appointment of the morning, and apparently Nugget, being his father's son, did not like being disturbed that early in the day by the doppler heart monitor. He kept kicking it and moving around, so the dr had to work a bit to get a consistent heartrate!

Here's the latest belly pic: