My parents got me a great digital camera (Sony Cybershot) for my birthday in November. It has all sorts of features and functions that I had never really played with until this week. Jessie (who has the same camera) showed me the "sparkle" setting and a few others, but my latest accomplishment (with much help from Edward) has been fiddling with the shutter speed and F-stops to take pictures where the subject is in focus and the background has a soft blurred look. Here are a few of our pictures from yesterday.

Certainly not a beautiful subject but the soft background effect came out just as I wanted.

Here's a video of Piper at the dog park...


And in baby news, we are eight days away from our due date, May 9. I've been having lots of Braxton Hicks but not the real thing...yet! Hopefully soon!

Visitors, Stony Creek, 38 Weeks, and a cold

Here's a summary (in bullet form) of the last week and a half...

*My friend Joanna (friends since 2nd grade!) visited last Friday from Manhattan and we had a lovely day walking around Yale/New Haven and catching up over lunch and ice cream. She nearly missed her train back to the big city but made it in the nick of time. Of course I forgot to document her visit with a picture.

*I had a Dr. appt Friday and nothing much to report. Blood pressure good, weight on track, baby in head down position, now just waiting! We hit 38 weeks yesterday which means the baby is now full term. He could come any time now!

*Grant Shuman (one of Edward's older brothers) came to visit Friday afternoon to Saturday morning. He was at a conference in Manhattan and took the train to see us. It was a short visit but we managed to get in a long walk around Yale, eat at the famous Pepe's pizza joint, and Edward and his Grant got to have some brotherly time as I conked out on the couch. Hopefully Uncle Grant will come visit when the baby arrives!

Wooster Square

*After dropping Grant off at the ever-so-sketchy New Haven airport, Edward, Piper, and I visited Stony Creek
--"an affluent, shorefront section of Branford, Connecticut, centered on a harbor on Long Island Sound, in the southeast corner of the town. Stony Creek residents feel it has its own distinct feeling, that of a small village with a traditional timeless and quaint charm. Two unique attractions set Stony Creek apart from other small Connecticut coastal towns: the Thimble Islands and the Stony Creek Puppet House." (stolen from wikipedia) We skipped the Puppet House but were quite intrigued by the Thimble Islands--about 100 small islands not far off the coast, 23 inhabited, some just one large house per island. It was a beautiful day and we felt light years away from New Haven, even though we were only about ten minutes from home.

Many islands had only one house, this had one had several. The wealthy residents get to their homes by ferry, boat, or seaplane. Jane Pauley owns one of them, along with the writer of Doonesbury. President Taft had a summer house here, too.

Very nautical themed homes. One was shaped like a light house. Can you see the large boat steering wheel on the back of the house? (is that what you call it, a steering wheel?)

This was Piper's first time near the water and she was TERRIFIED--shaking like a leaf! She tried to slink away but Edward made her face her fear and go all the way out on the dock. Poor thing!

38 weeks

This rickety bridge over the water was also terrified Piper (and me!). Our walk didn't last too long because of my sudden urge to hit the restroom (very common these days).

Today I am dealing with a rotten cold. I could feel it coming on Friday night, had a sore throat yesterday, and was MISERABLE last night--drippy nose, sneezing, itchy ears, sore throat, achy, etc. I'm bummed because it's so nice out and I wanted to take Piper for some long walks, but it seems I'll be plopped on the couch all day. Hopefully the baby won't make an appearance until I am feeling fully recovered.


Hope you are enjoying the lovely weather!

Saturday stroll

Bible Study Baby Shower

Last night my Tuesday night bible study group held a surprise baby shower for me. Our group meets at 7pm and at 6:30 I had called my leader to tell her I wouldn't be coming because I was sore and miserable after having my tooth pulled on Monday (a less than pleasant experience). Fifteen minutes later another girl from my group called and said I MUST come because I was the guest of honor! I hadn't showered and I was in my pajamas, but I threw on some clothes and drove over. It was a wonderful evening and I was showered with adorable baby goodies as well as much advice from this group of Godly women. They all wrote down bits of advice for me as well as bible verses to reflect on and live by. Here are some of both...

Advice:
- When your husband offers to do anything ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS say YES YES YES!!!
- Always play songs and scripture passages in your car when you travel.
- Look for God in every experience--God wastes NOTHING he brings into your life.
- Take a morning walk with your baby.
- Sign up for a Mommy and Me class.
- Take care of yourself. The baby deserves the best YOU you can be.

Scripture to live by:
- Raise up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6
- ⁵ Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6: 5-9

Extraction!

Well today did not go as planned. Edward and I should be on the road to NJ right now but here we are still in CT because of one dreadful tooth. I started feeling slight tooth discomfort this morning but didn't think much of it. It got progressively worse as the afternoon went on and when it started throbbing I realized I better call the dentist. I have a bad history with cavities. It's genetic though--I brush and floss daily! I haven't had new x-rays my last two visits because I've been pregnant, but the dentist had noticed some questionable spots on my teeth. Anyway, after many calls I finally reached my dentist who nicely let me come in at 5:30 this evening even though they were closed. Turns out one of my wisdom teeth is badly decayed, all the way up to the nerve, which is now infected. The tooth needs to be extracted (along with the bottom wisdom tooth--not that it's infected as well, for alignment reasons or something). The oral surgeon needs to take a high powered x-ray (not the kind you bite on, but the kind that uses the big machine that wraps around your head) to better see the nerve before he extracts, but the radiation exposure is dangerous for the baby. However, it's also dangerous for me to be sharing my infected blood with the baby. I realized I had full x-rays taken last May at my orthodontist to get new retainers and so we can hopefully use those so I won't have to have new ones taken. There is a slight chance the oral surgeon will see me tomorrow morning, which is why we aren't leaving CT yet, otherwise the extraction will be done on Monday. I just went and filled a prescription for an antibiotic and painkillers, but I'm not supposed to use the painkillers unless I am in a lot of pain (although my OB said not to let myself be in SO much pain that I cause stress to the baby). This is what you call BAD TIMING!! If only this could have held out another four or five weeks.

SO, now that you know far more about my tooth problem than you wanted, I will post some belly pictures. I'll be 36 weeks along tomorrow.

Valentine's Day!

belly button starting to pop!

yikes! i look huge!

Four more weeks to go!

Baby, Baby Shower, Wedding, and Nursery Pictures

Our adorable baby boy! His hand is still covering his eyes and the umbilical cord is covering most of his mouth, but you can see his nose and cheek. This is from an ultrasound on Tuesday. I'll be 35 weeks tomorrow and will soon post new belly pictures.

Clothesline in the entrance

Delicious desserts

Sarah made this wonderful diaper cake, which is surrounded by party favors--bunnies filled with my favorite--m&ms!

Custom diaper bag made by Aunt Karen

"Little Peanut"

Me and Grandma

The Saturday after the shower my cousin Jonathan got married so it was another weekend back in NJ. Here he is waiting for his beautiful bride.

The newlyweds!

Fun at the reception

Korean ceremony

Check out all those baby clothes!

We still need to clear the computer out of the nursery, purchase a rug, and hang the quilt.

Toy basket, changing pad, and diaper cake on dresser. I made these hot air balloons using quilting hoops and leftover fabric. Cute, huh? (and very cheap to make!)

Piper made herself quite comfortable as I assembled the Pack and Play.

Everything is ready! We just need the baby!