Merry Christmas

Christmas was very merry at our home this year! Mom and Dad flew in from Indiana, and Kelly and Mike flew in from Illinois. Good thing we all like each other as there was no where to hide in our small condo! We're so grateful everyone could come and see us as I couldn't travel this year.

This baby is fighting a loosing battle if he thinks he's going to root for other teams!


I look so small from the front!
Aunt Kathy sent us a family craft project, but where are the guys in the family? Mom is a pro with the icing pouch; she has had lots of practice this month!


I hope you all had a merry Christmas and have fun plans for New Years!

31 Weeks

Here I am on Christmas Eve 31 weeks pregnant. The baby is really moving and kicking now! He's still mostly active at night when I'm sitting still with a book. I know, I know, I should cherish this time alone with a book. Personally, I cherish all of the experience these days as I know the end of this pregancy is coming close with only about two more months to go.

19 Week Ultrasound

These ultrasound pictures were taken during my 19th week. Many measurements were taken to make sure his organs and bones were developing correctly with no abnormalities. Nothing negative was found, but like my other ultrasound, he measured a little larger than the due date. The technician said this could mean my due date is off, or he is just a big boy. We'll see in the next 10 or so weeks! Now, I am 30 weeks. Imagine how much he has changed!

28 Weeks

Here I am at 28 weeks which is the beginning of my seventh month and third trimester. As you can see, my baby is really growing. Inside, he is about 16 inches long and 2-3 pounds.

This weekend has been wonderful. Lyman arrived in town on Sunday morning; it was fun to see the look on his face when he saw how much I have grown! Sunday we went out to lunch, took a long nap in the afternoon (the only sleep he had gotten the night before was on the red-eye flight), met some friends for dinner and fell asleep on the couch watching a movie. Monday I took the day off from school. (The teacher who will do my long term came in to sub for me; I hope she still wants to come back in February!) We did some Christmas shopping, went out to lunch and saw a movie. How nice to have a husband again. By the way, for all you east coasters and midwesteners, check out that tank top in December!

Clumsy Carrie

For months, I have been reading and hearing about how pregnancy can bring on clumsiness. Starting my seventh month, now I know what they mean. At school, I drop papers all day long, and my students scurry to collect them. On Wednesday, I dropped a jam jar sending sticky sweetness and glass all over the tile. The next day, I dropped one of my china plates shattering it in pieces. "The book" says this is due to loosening of joints and water retention or just general scatterbrainness thinking about the baby. Whatever the case, I hope it disppears with delivery, or I might not have any china left!

Happy Halloween

Trick or Treat! Murphy is ready to go with this adorable bee costume from Auntie Kelly. Happy Halloween everyone!

22 Weeks

Here I am at 22 weeks- leaving the 5th month and starting the 6th month of pregnancy. Physically, I feel great all throughout the day. However, around 8:30 pm, I have a hard time keeping my eyes open! When I'm quiet and still, I can feel him move inside. What an amazing experience!

Sweet Dreams

Having a baby is a shopper's dream. Not only is everything adorable (why does smaller scale make things so much more cute?), but they are guilt free purchases. After all, you need all this stuff. Actually, for me, the better word is want. I mean, I don't need it to come from Pottery Barn Kids; I could get something second hand, but this is too cute. We're going to have a black crib instead of this red pictured. Also, I didn't buy the quilt in the photo since Grandma Penny is going to make something out of the sheet print to coordinate. For more ideas of what we need (and what I want), check out my registries at Target, Babies r Us and JC Penney. As for me, I will try to control myself... no promises.

Sweet Sophie

My best L.A. friend, Jenny, had her second daughter on Friday. While I was picking up big sister Maddie from preschool, Sophie Nicole had just made her way into the world. Here we are on Saturday getting to know each other.

Oh Boy, Oh Boy!

That's right! Now I am a woman in a house full of of boys. No wonder at 4:00 a.m. I can't sleep! Maybe it's the uncomfortable adjustment of trying to sleep on my left side. Maybe it's the pizza I ate for dinner. Maybe it's the fact that I have to go back to work tomorrow after a lovely three day weekend. Maybe it's the fact that the baby -- is a boy! I'm so excited.

18 Weeks

Here it is! My belly at 18 weeks. This coming Monday the 2nd of October we get to peek inside with an ultrasound. Hopefully, the baby is cooperative and gives us a good view, and we'll know if we're having a son or daughter.

31 Candles

I turned 31 years old this past week. It was an nice birthday with some charming gifts and cards from friends and family in the mail and a date with Lyman that evening. One of my gifts from Lyman included this gliding baby cradle which we plan to use the first three-four months. Here you see Murphy giving it a try.

Babymoon

One of my favorite things to do when I'm on school holiday is watch the Today show laying around in my PJ's. The other week, there was a segment about this new travel trend- Babymoons. Basically, it's like a honeymoon when the woman is pregnant before the onslaught of sleepless nights and dirty diapers. Evidently two million out of six million expecting American parents take these Babymoons. Without knowing how trendy we were, we had already booked our little trip.

On Tuesday, we dropped Murphy off at the doggy spa and headed an hour south to Long Beach where we stayed aboard the permantely docked Queen Mary. We had a firstclass state room with the original 30's decor. It was a very comfortable room- far more spacious than today's cruise ship rooms. Here are some photos of us on the deck in the evening...



The next morning, we headed over to the dock to board a boat to take us to Catalina Island. The boat ride was only an hour- a very fast boat. As we left, we passed the Queen Mary. Interesting family trivia... Lyman's Grandpa Donald Walker rode home from Italy on this beautiful cruiser at the end of WWII.


















We had a really nice two nights on the island. It's really small with only 3000 residents, and they are the only ones allowed cars. Anyone visiting can rent bikes or golf carts. We went biking, swimming, snorkeling, mini-golfing and... eating. Some more pics...

New Blog

Technology in general is not my best skill, and I am new to the blogging world. As a result, I lost the username and password to my blog. After trying many combinations of what I thought could be my passwords or user names, I gave up and have started this new blog. So, keep my old blog address for those sonogram pics if you want, but add this new blog to your bookmarks/favorites as I will be posting from this blog from now on. Sorry.