Guess what!?

Andy and I are going to have a baby!! Well, ok, I'm going to have a baby, but Andy helped! :) We are so excited to finally be able to share the news. It is so hard to keep a secret this big, but I am now in my second trimester and so figured it was about time we spread the word.

I'm due on 09/09/09, which I think would be a great birthday! So we'll see how that goes. And yes, we will find out what we are having so stay tuned...should know sometime in April. However, we are not going to disclose our name choices until the baby arrives--so you can guess all you want, but we're keeping our lips sealed. :)

I'm going to avoid the obligatory photo of the positive pregnancy tests---in fact it would have been hard to capture all six tests in one photo anyhow. Yes, you read that right, I took six tests. Cut us some slack, we're new at this! Andy wasn't convinced by the first one so ran out to the store and bought five more--every brand he could find. We are now re-financing our mortgage as those tests are not cheap!

I had a great first trimester with absolutely no morning sickness. We've also had two ultrasounds, including one yesterday. It is so amazing to see this little baby bouncing around inside.

We certainly have an exciting journey ahead of us and are excited for you to tag along!

Comfort food...

Inspired by a delicious meal that Greg and Erica made for us on Thursday night, Andy and I spent the better part of yesterday evening cooking up some good (and healthy?) comfort food!

On the menu, homemade baked macaroni and cheese and sweet and sour meatballs (ok, when I say it was inspired by G&E, I mean we actually copied exactly what they served). We used a recipe from Alton Brown found here, and for the sweet and sour meatballs, we went with the traditional chili sauce and grape jelly goodness! A recipe that it appears every Mom out there swears that either they or their mother invented themselves! :)

It was a great way to spend a Sunday evening, and the end result was an even better way to end another cold wintery weekend.

A Happy Valentine Weekend...

Andy, Liddy and I had a great extra long Valentine's day weekend! We both took Friday and Monday off (my office doesn't give us President's Day, probably because they give us the whole week at Christmas!) and headed up to Wintergreen. We really didn't have much planned, so it was nice to just relax and escape from cell phone/Blackberry coverage!

We had agreed ahead of time to skip doing gifts for Valentine's day, and instead I handled making a yummy breakfast and Andy took care of a wonderful candlelit (like all of our meals) dinner.

For breakfast I made Swedish Pancakes and even put a little Nutella on the insides, which is so yummy when it gets all melty! We also had some fresh fruit to put on top, and Andy was even greeted in bed with a fresh cup of coffee.



For lunch we both decided we had major cravings for Macados sandwiches, and it turns out there is a Macaodos in Lynchburg, which is just a 50 minute drive from the top of the mountain. A drive that was worth every mile! We enjoyed the scenery (it was a route we had never taken before) and were so happy to be able to enjoy our favorite sanwiches without having to drive to Virginia Tech. A great way to spend Valentines day!!



And because we hadn't already eaten enough, Andy cooked up a great dinner of grilled filets, mushrooms, twice baked potatoes, and roasted asparagus. Yum!

But wait, what's a Valentine's Day dinner without dessert!? Fortunately, I had made a strawberry cake, layered with strawberry frosting and fresh strawberries. A perfectly sweet ending to a perfect Valentine's day.



PS: We only both started eating again yesterday! ;)

Mid-week bbq

With the unseasonably warm weather we had last week, Andy and I used it as an excuse to throw an impromptu BBQ to celebrate. We invited Greg and Erica over, and they brought little Roxie for a play date with Liddy.

We had humus, pita and veggies as an appetizer, and then our famous Bok Choy Salad, bbq chicken sandwiches, and oven baked french fries. It was fabulous and definitely got us all excited for more permanent warm weather!

Roxie and Liddy had a great time playing together, they are such good friends! Liddy was even so exhausted from running around that we caught her leaning against the wall at one point--too cute!

Of course now it is a windy 40 degrees outside...but at least we savored the warm weather while it lasted!

"Is this real life?"

Every now and again there is a video that graces the world of YouTube that is just too funny not to share. I highly recommend that you take a gander at this clip, especially if you are in need of a little comedic relief from your day.

Kinda makes you wonder what your parents might have caught on camera after your own visit to the dentist or oral surgeon?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs&feature=related

A fantastic (and warm!) weekend...

What a weekend! The weather was perfect, and though it is causing major spring fever, I was happy that the great weather showed up on a Saturday and Sunday, rather than the middle of the week when I'm stuck inside!!

The weekend started with a great Friday night with Dave and Alysia, where we enjoyed some amazing pizza from Generous George's Positive Pizza and Pasta Place---YUM! We worked off some of our generously portioned pizza by doing some Wii bowling and tennis at our place afterwards.

Saturday was all about being outside. We walked around Reston Town Center, something I hadn't done in quite some time--my how things have changed over there! We also played some real tennis (inspired from three weeks of watching the Australian Open--it isn't nearly as easy as they make it look on tv, and what happened to my back hand? It used to be pretty decent?!) and went for a long walk with Liddy. We ended the day by attending a Doggie Happy Hour (DHH) Baby Shower for Logan and Amanda, who are expecting their first child, Lilly, early next month. It was great to see our DHH friends again and can't wait for really warm weather so our outdoor DHH gatherings can resume.

We also spent a lot of time outdoors yesterday. Liddy got another long walk and Andy washed both cars (love saving that car wash money!). We also headed out to Andy's parent's house for a Sunday evening dinner party with Bebe, Mark and the boys. Liddy loves going to their house as she has the whole back yard to romp around in. I'm always amazed that even after being away from there for so long that she can quickly gather up her sticks that she's left in various areas around the yard. Too cute!

As far as weekends go, it's hard to ask for a better one...of course if it were seven days long, that might make it better!

Happy Birthday Cupcakes

For my co-worker's birthday I decided to try out a new cupcake design, and I was very happy with how they turned out. I made strawberry cake (using applesauce instead of oil...that makes them practically health food right!?) and used cream cheese frosting. For the decorations I had seen in a book the idea of using un-wrapped Starbursts as little gift boxes, and then I just piped on the colored icing to look like ribbons. It was a bit tedious, but I think the end result was well worth it.

The bonus--getting to finally use the cupcake carrier that Andy got me for Christmas!

Am I bad luck?!

There were two big sporting events on yesterday (yes, believe it or not, there was something other than the Super Bowl on.) Actually, I was more excited about the men's final of the Australian Open then I was about the football game (does that make me un-American, I'm worried it might!).

Ever since the amazing Wimbledon final last year, I've been really hooked on watching tennis. I'm a huge Roger Federer fan and also enjoy watching Rafa Nadal play. So it was with great anticipation that I awaited the first major tennis event of the year, and I probably clocked about 30 total hours of viewing time during the three week tournament.

The final was a show down between Federer and Nadal, and while I was very sad to see Federer lose, it is just so hard to not want to route for Nadal as well. They play so well against each other, and make for a great match to watch, but Nadal just had a little more in him yesterday. I do fear that Federer's time at #1 (which ended at the end of last year) is now forever out of reach--but I'll still be routing for him!!

After one loss for the day, I set my sights on Larry Fitzgerald (I've always like him, even when he was crushing my Hokies during his tenure at Pitt) and the Arizona Cardinals to beat the (sorry to say, obnoxious) Steelers. We all know how that turned out!

I'm wondering if today, Larry and Roger are wishing they didn't have me as a fan...oops!