Beginnings (of July & other things)

I know it's been a bit since I've posted, but it's been a whorl-wind of stuff lately. For the 4th of July weekend we spent some serious time rearranging the house and trying to get ready for the onslaught of baby stuff. It was just the kind of time that we needed. The following weekend (Sat, 7/11) was our wedding party/baby shower. It was wonderful. I've only put up a couple pictures here just to give a small taste of what it was like because just about all the pictures were not taken on my camera - I didn't have time! I was too busy enjoying the company of the ~130 friends and family that attended our celebration at the Commander's Mansion, in Watertown, MA. We also lucked out and had just a beautiful afternoon.
I'll post more pictures when I actually gather them, but in the mean time we've been busy with sorting through the many wonderful presents that we got (this child is not going to want for anything - it's really wonderful, and we feel really blessed by people's generosity & love) and preparing to come here, where I write from now, which is Woods Hole, MA. Chris teaches for 2 weeks at a course here and I get to hang out in the cabin and have an awesome space to work while enjoying the Cape during breaks. I really couldn't ask for more right now.

Boston Blahs

Just in case you thought all the complaining in the North East about the weather was just because that's what we do around here:

So far, June sunlight in Boston is lowest in past century - The Boston Globe

Wedding Pictures

Today is definitely the day to catch up on things it seems. A rainy Sunday works well for that. Anyway, I finally posted the pictures from our wedding, which a good friend (thanks J!) was nice enough to compile from us from all our friends and family. You can see the whole album here. Goodnight everyone!

Happy Father's Day

Yesterday we celebrated my brother's birthday and Father's Day up in NH. It's hard to believe it's already the official start of summer. Now if only the weather around here would start acting like it! Anyway, I want to wish all the fathers and fathers-to-be out there a very happy day!

Catching Up

Last week us and our baby to be attended our first Sox game of the season. There ended up being a whole group of us who went because it so happened that another friend also had tickets. We grabbed some dinner before-hand at Noodle Street (where there happened to be a whole dinner of ~25 monks who filled the restaurant with chanting at one point), and then headed over to the game.
It was good fun. The rain held off for most of the game. I was a little dissapointed that it wasn't warmer so I couldn't show off my shirt a little more. I'm not too sure how many times I'll get to wear it ;-)
Can't ask for much more for a first game than a win over the NY Yankees.

Raining Babies!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was in NJ for a baby shower this weekend. It was really awesome to see such a great group from my NYU (college) days. I know in this picture it doesn't look it, but Melissa is due in a month (I have 4 months and a week to go). Black really is a slimming color. Orange, uh, not so much :-)
Besides the shower I got to stay with another good friend and her husband (thanks A & B!) and hone my skills at Grand Tourismo. It was pretty much like getting to eat and sleep at the arcade because of their uber-cool setup. Did I mention that they cook really yummy food too?
Other than good food and good friends, it was fun to be in NYC. I'm not sure it's a place that I ever really pictured myself pregnant, and after I got off the bus Friday and was waiting to meet up with my friend, I watched the world go by outside Port Authority at 42nd street. It's easy to forget all the different colors, shapes and sizes that New Yorkers come in when you don't see them every day and in 15 min or so I saw a real slice of life. There was the traffic cop desperately trying to direct the traffic and hold back the hoards of people that would have easily dove out in front of buses to cross the street on a green light. There was the guy who waved at me for no apparent reason. There was the woman who asked me for a light, which I had to smile at. There was the scene of the car pulled over to the side of the road who had been hit-and-run by another car and it took 3 of NY's finest to fill out the accident report. Then there was something that truly warmed my heart. A little old blind woman was making her way through the throng of people across the street. Another woman walked up and asked if she could help, and guided her past me. NYC is just one of those places. I don't miss living there, but I love visiting. I <3 NY.

Busted?!

Memorial day weekend was a busy one - full of Chris getting ready for his last trip before this baby makes his appearance in this world and a graduation party for my sister. Then my sister came down to stay with me while Chris was out of town, and we had a great time, including one amusing (mis)adventure.

On Monday, we took Sabie to a nearby park that I’ve taken her to in the past, and often run into other dogs and their owners there. Technically it’s a people park, but it always struck me as nice that it seemed as though the people and the pets could share and all have a good time. There was a woman there with her two dogs, one of which got along really well with Sabie and the two of them had a blast running and wrestling -- for about 10 min. That’s when the other owner said to me quietly and urgently, “Put your dog on a leash, quick.” I didn’t hesitate and did so without asking why, which was apparent when I turned around and saw the police cruiser slowly rolling to a stop beside the park. She explained that she didn’t know if the cops cared, but that the animal control people did.

My sister and I stood there quietly as she bore the brunt of the conversation with the cop who insisted “I’m not trying to ruin your day, but there is a leash law, and they’ll close the park to dogs if owners continue to allow them to go off leash.” After he left she explained that she had been bringing her dogs there for 12 years, and that it was only in the past couple of months that the animal control people had been hanging out, waiting to give tickets to owners with their dogs off leash. Turns out the same thing is true for another park on the other side of the city just recently as well.

I’m going to stand on my soap box for a moment and say that it’s a real shame. The cop showed up quickly enough that there must be someone in the surrounding houses that has taken it upon themselves to be an enforcer, or that someone actually has the police spend their time on holidays patrolling parks for off-leash dogs. Have they nothing better to do? I know there are some irresponsible dog owners, but why must they ruin it for everyone? Is it really such a crime to want some space for our furry friends to run around? It isn’t like there’s an equal number of dog and people parks - and the dog parks tend to be pretty small and grimy with not much space to do much running anywhere. Grrr… as Sabie would say.

Anyway, the rest of the week was lovely - we spend it visiting with family and friends in the area, and got to spend some good sister time too (which included watching a movie that we were pretty sure no one else would want to watch with us, Wanted; yes I think we both have a girl crush on Angelina...).

Now I’m on a bus to NYC, about to spend the weekend in NJ. I had to mention that because I think it’s super cool that I get to use the internet on a bus!

Baby Sister's Graduation

Ok, I know I probably shouldn't call my just graduated and just turned 22-year-old sister a "baby" any more. But I can't help it. She's my little sister and she's all growed up. I'm just so happy for her. She graduated last weekend from Keene State (in NH) magna cum laude in early childhood education/development with glowing reviews from her supervising teachers and a brilliant portfolio. To top it all off she wants to move to somewhere near Cambridge (near me) in the fall, and look for a job around here, which will be wonderful.
The rain held out and it turned out to be a great day. I think the most difficult part of it was convincing people that I wasn't too pregnant to stand on a chair to see her! Now hopefully I'll be the next one in line to graduate (my brother, Paul, is hopefully starting a 2-year culinary arts program in the fall).

Belly @ 18 weeks

I've had multiple requests, so I figured I would post a belly shot. This is from an outing we took to the Fells, a park about 20 min north of us, two weekends ago (a week and a half ago). For the curious, as of Monday's doctor's appointment (where we got to hear the heart beat again), I've gained about 20lbs in 20 weeks, which is apparently the way it's supposed to work. I don't know how 20 more lbs is going to work though. Walking around at the Fells was really nice (it was hot!), but wow I could really feel I was pregnant. It was very tiring to go on a pretty easy walk (technically I suppose it was a hike because it was on a trail). For anyone who has a dog in the area, even though dogs aren't technically allowed off leash, they all hang out at near the Sheepfold entrance which is really easy to get to off the highway. Anyway, I've started some prenatal yoga just to feel like I'm doing something other than a very easy karate class once a week. We'll see how that goes.