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Life is Grand

For the past two days since we have been home from the hospital this is where I have been spending my mornings. Tim will brew a pot of coffee and then I will just sit on the porch with Ian and Pippin catching up on emails, reading, and phone calls. Life could not get much better.

Ian on the bed

Second morning home...

Hanging out

Pippin Preparing For the Year Ahead

Ian on Tim's lap

Looking a little annoyed with Dad...

Ian after a new diaper

He is always most active and aware right after the traumatic experience of a diaper change.

Ian in the morning

After the first night in the home...he did great! Kind of cranky from 3:00 am to 6:00 am, but great otherwise. We all slept from 6:00 till 10:00 this morning.

Ian in the big leather chair

Pippin meets Ian

Ian at hospital

Ian Whitman Chapman

From Tim's Tuesday morning email: "Ian Whitman Chapman was born very early this morning at 1:13 am. He weighed in at 6 lbs 3 ounces and is 19 inches long! All he and mom want to do is sleep! And boy do they both deserve it after nearly a 22 hour labor!"

A couple of weeks ago my mom and sisters threw me an amazing baby shower. It was just perfect in every way. They put so much time and effort into making every detail flawless. It was also wonderful to see all of my Pennsylvania family and friends. Tim's mom and sister Hannah made the trip all the way from Pittsburgh and his Aunt Monika came from New Jersey! My friend Krista whom I hadn't seen in 6 years came with her daughter Hannah. I was just once again overwhelmed by everyone's generosity, words of wisdom, incredible thoughtful gifts, and love.

The menu card and decorations

My sisters Emily, Rebecca, and Abigail who did all the work and preparation for the shower.

My older sister Sally and her son Will

The soon to be grandmothers!

Tim's sister Hannah, and my friend Krista and her daughter Hannah

The Finished Project!!!!

Over the last couple of weeks we have been getting our bathroom renovated. Our good friend Jesse's company, ConnellSchmidt, has been doing all of the work and they have done a fabulous job. The bathroom is almost done, just some finishing touches are needed, but the transformation is amazing. ConnellSchmidt and all of their workers did an incredible job of dealing with our 1902 house and all of its intricacies and outdated plumbing. Jesse even recreated the original molding in the bathroom since it is no longer available. I have posted a play by play below.

Our Bathroom Before the Renovation

Notice the gross tile, no tub, and mix-matching colors

Day One: Everything out, tub in!

Oops...slight leak from 100 year old pipes. I think this is when I had a nervous breakdown. Seven and a half months pregnant and I come home to this. Not cool.

Toilet is back in, we can return home. Showering with plastic and no shower curtain is interesting. Floor is one quarter finished. I think this may have been my meltdown weekend. Fortunately my mom came for a visit this weekend and totally took my mind off of our bathroom. But can you imagine making your mom shower in this? And making her brush her teeth in the kitchen sink?

Floor is finally all in.

Floor and shower tile done!

Waynescoating is up and first coat of paint is on the walls.

Cabinets are in but still waiting on the vanity top and sink.

I'll post the completion of the bathroom tomorrow after everything is finished. They are hopefully finishing up tonight! YAH!!!

32 weeks pregnant plus need for cold bubbly beverage = Craving #4- Root Beer

Several years from now when I look back on my first pregnancy I will think of only four things:
Orange juice, eggo waffles, fruit, and now root beer.

Each trimester can be described by the food that I craved in each. The first I was sick and orange juice was the only thing that made me feel better. The end of the first to the beginning of the second I craved eggo waffles. One weekend I ate waffles for every single meal. I didn't even switch up the syrup from regular to blueberry. I literally just ate eggo waffles with maple syrup for every single meal. That carb-packed couple of weeks led to my body needing/craving/yearning for fruit. I couldn't (and really still can't) get enough. My favorites are watermelon, blueberries, raspberries, and pineapple. And now that I am in my third trimester I average a can of root beer a day. I love it.

Last weekend my two friends Kristen and Cynda threw me the most incredible baby shower. It was so surreal. Everything was perfect. The invitation declared that the "2008 model has arrived" and the theme was red and yellow cars. It was so adorable. Kristen even spent the entire previous night making pound cake mini cars for favors. I was completely blown away. They had all of my favorite food: quiche, strawberry and banana muffins, salad, and a huge fruit salad.

It was so wonderful to see all of my DC friends gathered in one place. Did I mention I was blown away? I am still overwhelmed by everyone's generosity. Tim and I got some amazing gifts for our baby. I am definitely feeling more prepared for this baby post shower. Thank you Kristen and Cynda!!!!

Some of the scrumptious quiche.

Opening an adorable outfit.

Santorum girls!

The AMAZING Hosts!

Catching Up and Counting Down

The last couple of weekends Tim and I have had family in town which has been so much fun! It started with Tim's mom visiting while in DC for work, then my Uncle Dave and Aunt Courtney and their three kids, followed by Pete, Matt, Abi, Becca and Geoff two weekends ago. We had such a wonderful time with everyone. I wish they would all come back! Below is a picture of Abi, Matt, and Pete on Pete's 27th birthday. I also posted a picture of Abi and I which shows my baby belly.



This past weekend Tim traveled up to Maine to celebrate his friends 30th birthday while I drove to PA to visit with my family and my great friend Danielle. Danielle helped me pick out a super cute dress for my shower in June and my parents helped me pick out a glider for the nursery. Slowly but surely things are coming together.

I am now in my third trimester and I have constantly been craving fruit. I put fruit on everything: waffles, cereal, oatmeal, salads, icecream. The problem is that along with the fruit I have also been craving bread, and not the healthy whole wheat bread, nope I have been craving white bread especially bagels. I made waffles the other night after eating pasta and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Bisquick is my best friend right now. As I write this I am now craving strawberry shortcake. Yum!


It also seems that every two weeks our little baby boy goes on a growth spurt. I get dizzy and faint as he saps me of energy and food. I have to eat constantly to stop myself from passing out. Just this morning I had to pull over the car in downtown traffic and shove gum in my mouth to stop myself from fainting. IN addition, baby boy has decided that he will kick non-stop as he drains me of my energy and every piece of food I put in my mouth. Kicking is one of the very bitter sweet aspects of pregnancy that I will never get used to.

Getting Ready

Tim and I have been doing a ton of work around the house getting it ready for our little baby boy. Other than selling all un-needed furniture on Craigs List we have also been starting to collect a few necessary baby items. This adorable bassinet is on loan from our neighbors. It is just so cute and matches our house perfectly. The bassinet which will sit by our bed will serve as our baby's sleeping spot for the first couple of weeks. Pippin was very curious about this new piece of furniture. In fact he was so excited about the new bassinet he actually jumped into it.
Other changes to our house in the last few months have included:
- getting a new bedroom rug and thus moving our old bedroom rug to the kitchen
- getting a new rug for the living room (since we have all hardwood floors I feel like we need to start baby proofing our house and covering up these hard surfaces)
- New curtains and bedding in the nursery/guestroom
- Selling a cedar armoire on Craigs List
- Landscaping and gardening our front yard (this really has nothing to do with the baby)
- Purchasing adirondack chairs for our back porch
- Buying a new kitchen table
- Starting to landscape our back yard

We have also decided to completely remodel our bathroom before the baby arrives. We currently don't have a tub so we will be putting in a tub and all new tile, fixtures, paint, furniture, etc. I am so excited for this to be complete.

I feel like these last few weeks have completely flown by. We have had several weekend visitors including my aunt and uncle and their three precious children this past weekend. With all the work we have planned over the next couple of weeks I have a feeling the baby will be here before we know it. Here is a picture of me at 27 weeks. It is not great since it is on a self timer and I am talking to my mom and trying to take the picture at the same time.

Carmel

Al British novelist once said, "You can fall in love at first sight with a place as with a person." Well I totally fell in love with Carmel, California when Tim and I went there on our honeymoon almost six years ago. We recently had the chance to go back again for the third time.

We stayed in a cute little bed and breakfast a block from the beach. Tim got to play his favorite course again and they actually let me walk it this time. I grew up going to golf tournaments with my parents and have always felt at home on the golf course. Well, Cypress Point blew my socks off. It is absolutely stunning. Every hole is picturesque.

The same can be said for the beach and town of Carmel. The quaint homes with fabulous gardens and cypress trees suggest that you are walking in a fairytale. Tim and I took several walks along the coast and thru the neighborhoods.

We had an amazing time visiting with Tim's grandparents as well (they live there several months out of the year and have the most darling house and front garden). On Easter Sunday we worshiped in the church where they were married. We walked in the courtyard after church as the children found hidden easter eggs in the lilac trees.

You can view our pictures at this link (you may need Internet Explorer instead of Firefox to view them. ) Carmel Pictures.