Blue, Blue, We Love You!

It's a baby boy for the Shumans and we are thrilled! Edward is one of five boys so we suspected I might be carrying a boy, but of course you never know. Our baby boy checked out just great and weighs 15 ounces already. He was sucking his thumb during our ultrasound session and looked super cute! Unfortunately I didn't get too many great looks at him because our technician was speeding through the whole thing. She was far more concerned with her job of checking for organs, taking measurements, etc, than attending to our interests as first time parents. This is how she delivered the news that we are having a boy....she was wildly clicking, pointing, and saying something along the lines of "there are the kidneys, spinal chord, heart, penis, scrotum, femur..." without skipping a beat. I interrupted her, "So, it's a boy!?!!". That's really not the way I thought I would be told the sex of my child, but this lady was all business. She went back and tried to point out the "proof" that it was indeed a boy, but it was kind of difficult to tell what was what.

We got a couple ultrasound pictures but Edward had to go right back to work after our appointment and didn't have time to scan them in. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever put up the nine week ultrasound picture. I'll work on posting those.

In other exciting Shuman/Sisti news, my mom was just notified today by Barlow's Flower Farm that Piper and Scout won for the best animal category in their yearly Christmas picture contest. Yippeee!! They have a little Christmas setup where you can go take pictures of your kids and animals and then enter your best photo in the contest. Jessie and my mom took Piper and Scout while Edward and I were in Florida and they got some very cute pictures (which I will also upload later). My mom didn't get the photo submitted until Wednesday, and considering the contest was over on Friday (and had been going on awhile), we didn't think they had a chance, but what do you know!! Collies are the best and everybody knows it!

What a day!

More snow pix

Yesterday we got a couple more inches of snow, followed by sleet, and then a little rain. All in all we got about 11 inches of snow this weekend. It was kind of fun for a few days but I'm glad we'll be heading to snow-free Allenwood tomorrow evening.

I'm scared that if I go outside I'll get killed by one of these massive icicles hanging from our roof.

View out the dining room window

Piper and I stayed cozy yesterday with a down comforter. I'm looking pretty rough but I thought Piper looked so cute I had to post it.

Edward shoveling as Piper looks on

Blizzard!

We are being bombarded with snow here in CT. Even close to the shore we are supposed to get 6-12 inches of snow today. It started a little after noon and I'd say we have about three inches of accumulation so far. I took Piper outside and she went NUTS! She was racing around the backyard and jumping on me (as you'll see in the video). Unfortunately she never went to the bathroom which means another trek out into blizzard in a couple hours.

Colonial Gingerbread House

I LOVE gingerbread. It's my favorite Christmas cookie by far. My dad and Jessie also share this love, whereas my mom, Sarah, and Edward could easily do without. My dad made an amazing gingerbread house when we were kids and I've always wanted to try one of my own. Jessie and I have been in charge of gingerbread for probably the last ten years at the Sisti household, so it was kind of sad not having her to help bake, decorate, and eat all the cookies this year.

I found a bunch of great printable patterns on the Bob Vila website, which came up on a google search. I opted for the colonial pattern, since it reminds me of my childhood home. I used my mom's old recipe which is hit or miss. Sometimes the cookies are great, other times they lose their shapes and get all wrinkly. Jessie and I have shed many tears over failed batches. BUT, this year all went well. Phew! I didn't go out and buy any candy, I just used what we had around the house, which was basically m&ms, hershey kisses, and leftover smarties from Halloween. Perhaps next year I'll got a little more crazy with the decorations.

A pregnant gingerbread lady looked pretty awful so I just made a baby instead. I guess this would be more accurate for next year.

Piper and her dog house.

Piper

The back of the house is lacking pizazz.

Front walkway. Do you see the red cat peeking out the window? (That's in honor of the late Mr. Kitty)

Highlights

Edward and I have had a wonderful couple of weeks. Here are some highlights....

We visited Jim, Jane, and Willy Shuman (Edward's parents and youngest brother) in Deerfield Beach, FL for a long weekend Dec. 5-8. It was great to see his family and spend time on the beach basking in the sun. Piper stayed with my parents and experienced her first snowfall. I'm sad I missed her reaction to the snow, but I am glad I missed the snow and cold, at least for a few days.

My Tuesday night ladies bible study had a Christmas gathering on Tuesday evening complete with holiday crafts (right up my alley!), cookies, food, and singing. I've been attending the group since September and am starting to get to know the women pretty well. We've been studying the gospel of John and will resume in January. The group has definitely been a blessing to me.

Wednesday I had my last pottery class for the semester and we celebrated with a brunch. I got back a bunch of pieces and still have a few more to pick up this week. I'm still quite awful at "throwing" a pot on the wheel, but I'm going to take the winter semester starting in January and jump into it full force. I'll post some pictures of my pieces when I get them all back.

Saturday evening Edward and I attended the Boston Pops Holiday show in Bridgeport, CT. My parents have a Boston Pops Christmas CD that I have always enjoyed listening to, so when I saw they were going to be performing only 2o minutes from us I had to get tickets. We (yes, Edward, too) had the most WONDERFUL evening! The average age of the audience was probably 65-70 and they were decked out in red and green and their holiday best. The stage was jam-packed with the most talented musicians and behind them was an enormous choir (Gloria Dei Cantores). I could go into great detail about the show as I start reliving it in my mind, but I'm sure you don't care. Basically it was a mix of classic Christmas music, some fun stuff, and a sing-along at the end. So much fun!! They'll be playing in Bridgeport Dec. 19, 2009 and as Edward pointed out, we will have a 7 month old at that time--uh, yikes! I definitely plan on lining up a babysitter for that evening (anyone interested?).

Sunday Edward and I attended an evening carol service at church. We also spent hours mixing, cutting, cooking, and assembling a gingerbread house and cookies. I have a picture of Edward putting the structure together but I didn't take pictures of the final house. I'll post them tomorrow.

And looking to next week...
Tuesday we have an ultrasound appointment to find out the sex of our baby!!! I'll be 20 weeks along--halfway--crazy!

Tuesday night we head back to NJ to start the Christmas celebrations! Yippee!

And finally, some pictures....

Deerfield Beach, FL

Jim, Willy, and Buddy

After spending months in the basement physics lab, the bright sun is too much for Edward.

Our first class meal! (thanks Dad) The rest of the passengers had to pay for a pitiful little snack, but we dined in style.

Piper spends 75% of her day staring longingly out the window.

Edward carefully assembles our colonial style gingerbread house.

Next Tuesday we will know what we're having. A family/church friend gave us this ornament--it's perfect!

End of November

My parents surprised me with this cute little winter decoration. That brings my Christmas/winter decorations to a total of three--pathetic!

Me and Piper (aka Pipes, Pipette, Pupper and the latest nickname, Porkchop)

What a loooooonnngg nose!

Our landlord nicely painted our dining room to match our family room while we were in NJ. I think it looks much improved from bare white walls.

Boring white walls

Happy Birthday, Edward!

Edward turns 29 years old today! Only one year away from 30, yikes! I always find Monday birthdays pretty depressing but fortunately it will be short work week for Edward. Actually it will probably work out to about a 40-hour work week but just jam-packed into three long days.

I made Edward a cake today...

That's a lion in the middle...

This looks like a cake for a five year old, I recognize that. However, I have a Wilton cake decorating set from when I took a Wilton class in 7th grade (doesn't every 7th grade girl take that class?) and extra time on my hands, so I decided to try some of the basics. I have terrible handwriting but there's not much I can do about that. Next year there will be a baby to make a cake for so perhaps Edward won't get such a childish cake.

In other news, Piper is doing okay. She has figured out how to remove her collar so I have to keep half an eye on her at all times to make sure she isn't ripping out her stitches.


I am now 16 weeks along in my pregnancy and besides the occasional heartburn I am feeling really good. I don't have much of a bump yet but will post a picture when I do. Apparently our baby is about four inches long, weighs about 3.5 ounces and can hear me. He or she is going to be pretty sick of me singing Christmas songs by the end of December. (This is the first year I started playing them before Thanksgiving and I feel a little guilty, but what the heck!) According to my baby books I should be feeling baby movements in the next couple of weeks and we'll find out the sex of our baby in a month!

Poor Piper!

Our poor little Piper had surgery on Friday to remove all her lady parts (aka an ovariohysterectomy). We dropped her off early Friday morning, she had the surgery Friday afternoon, and we picked her up this afternoon. She's been on valium for the pain so she's a little out of it. She is to be restricted to a leash (no running or jumping) and wear a ridiculous "Elizabethan collar" (that's what the vet called it, I didn't come up with such a name) for the next 10-14 days. This was poor planning on my part because she is going to be in NJ the next two weekends where she and Scout like to run and play like maniacs. Oh dear. We'll do the best we can!

Here is a video of her wearing her new collar. She hasn't quite got a handle on it, as you'll see. She's been banging up the furniture for about an hour now.

New Camera!

My parents got me my first digital camera Christmas 2004 and it served me well these last several years, however now the technology is so improved that my pictures were looking blurry compared to other digital pix. Edward and I were planning on getting a new camera before the arrival of Baby Shuman, but my parents surprised me with an amazing camera for my birthday. Hopefully I'll learn how to use all the features by May. Here are a bunch of crystal clear pictures with my new Sony Cyber-shot.

using the sparkle setting

dinner at Outback


birthday flowers from my wonderful husband


Piper at 5 1/2 months old


this is a quilt I made for Edward back in 2003. we finally got it up on the wall when my parents came to visit


I found these old windows at a barn sale, crackle painted them, and filled each pane with family photos. The window on the left has pictures of my mom's side of the family and the right is my dad's side.
Johannessen side

Papa (mom's dad)

Mormor and Papa on their wedding day

Sisti side


my Mom and Dad (nice tux)

Grandma - isn't she attractive?

Grandpa in Korea

Sarah, Jessie, and Beth