the traveling pregnant woman

i have been trying the last few months to get all of the traveling out of my system before junior makes his debut, but now that i am 32 weeks and grounded i must say i am not sad to be done traveling! here is a quick review of the last few months:

while having jamie working in denver the whole time i have been prego hasn't been ideal, there have been a couple of perks. jamie and i took a weekend jaunt to new york in august, with free flights and a free stay at the w times square because of the free stays jamie accumulated in denver. this is a sweaty version of us inside the crown of the status of liberty.

we spent labor day in south carolina for jacob's baptism (jamie's nephew). we also met kim, at the time josh's girlfriend, now his fiance (far right)!

a few weeks later found us in aspen, with another free weekend stay at the st. regis aspen and lots of hiking in the fall colors.

a gsb reunion in park city in early october at the goldberg's fabulous digs. maybe one day we will live somewhere larger than a two bedroom apartment in the city, for now i will just have house envy, specifically goldberg house envy.we rendezvoused to san jose at the end of october to visit pam and michelle. why do we live where it snows? the weather was incredible and my feet enjoyed flip flops for the first time in weeks. not to mention the rest of me enjoyed good food and a lovely baby shower brunch where junior was pretty much was outfitted for the first 24 months of his little life (picture of super cute tiny bomber jacket to come).off to phoenix at the beginning of november for my family shower (a couple of good friends too!) more pics to come of the incredible cuteness that was the shower... and once again, flip flops!

sewing is hard work

i learned how to sew back in high school. my stepmom michelle taught my sister and i how to make awesome pajama pants for church summer camp (awesome is an appropriate adjective because mine had dancing cows on them and you just cant beat that). shortly after i got married i decided i wanted to expand my efforts at domesticity and i asked for a sewing machine for christmas from my mom.

for the next three years the sewing machine gathered dust and jamie teased me about it constantly. i realized that when it was just me and the sewing machine, with no michelle for hundreds of miles, i was actually afraid of it!

junior's eminent arrival, the lack of curtains in his room and the price of curtains to fit giant floor to ceiling and wall to wall windows changed all of that. it was a little painful and there was some grumbling and maybe tears involved but juniors room now has curtains! actual pics of the finished project to come later but here is me pretending to enjoy the creative experience... a record for all posterity that i finally conquered the sewing machine!

smitten kitchen

link to molasses-spice cookie recipe

okay, i usually don't post on other websites, actually i never post on other websites because really, if you wanted to go to other websites you probably wouldn't be reading my blog, you would just go there! but seriously, smittenkitchen.com has become my new go-to recipe site. just reading her blog is well, delicious. and the recipies i have tried so far are easily restaurant worthy.

gees why am i sharing this, i should save all of the praise for my new-found cooking expertise for myself! i guess i am in a giving holiday mood. i recently tried her molasses-ginger cookies which are pretty much out of this world. a batch will make your house smell instantly like fall, enjoy!

PS There are several cookie recipies in the link, scroll down for the molasses-spice ones

prego pic

i stole this picture from one my family took when they were out last week, its not the best shot, but it does show my changing shape (and jamie's cooking skills in action!)

prego observations

some thoughts on my changing state (in no certain order) :

1. prego clothes are not one size fits all. i don't know if the fact that i married someone who is 6'6'' has anything to do with it but i am not ready to have this baby yet and some of my tops are already on the small side!

2. the bus is always awkward. inevidably at some point on the bus ride to work someone notices i am pregnant and standing and announces loudly to the bus that someone should really give up their seat for me. which is nice and all - but oh the awkwardness of the poor person who finally gets up.

3. going for a run. still going strong at 27 weeks but gotta love the stares!

4. conversations with random strangers. suddenly people feel bonded to you. no more askward silences in the elevator, your belly is an invitation for conversation.

5. standing on chairs. okay, maybe this isn't the best idea, junior probably wouldn't like it if i fell, but if i am all alone (even worse idea) you better believe i am changing lightbulbs and putting things away in high shelves, dont tattle please!

6. too much information. literally, i have just given up reading anything at all, it is exhausting how much i need to read to have a baby.

7. too much stuff. never mind the information, i just printed out a baby checklist, and gulp, its long. never mind that for each item there are about a billion choices which everyone has a different opinion on.

8. trips to the dr. i definitely understand that the dr goes through this whole thing all day every day, and the receptionists and nurses too, but seriously, this is time number one for me... and my brain seems to work slower in pregnancy mood. needless to say asking 10 times what a form is for didn't go over so well, now i just sign.

9. indigestion. i honestly didn't think i was old enough, but tums and i are now good friends.

10. i am having a baby. that part of this whole thing still catches me off-guard sometimes.

"see-more"

i mean i could post on our fun weekend in park city hanging out with all of our friends from jamie's days at university of chicago. it was a blast. but since i realize that is not exactly thrilling blog material (as wonderful as the weekend was) i am instead going to share with you jamie's talent for drawing, especially as it comes to barf bags. although due credit goes to heather and karl for the awesome idea, jamie was the creater of symore (or "see-more" depending on how literal you would like to take the barf bag's name) and cynthia in the name of creating entertainment for our friends' 18 month year old henry, but lets be real... barfbag puppets are just awesome whatever age you are.
jamie really does have a talent don't you think?

michigan peaches

my mom came to visit a couple of weekends ago. we packed the weekend full of a whirlwind of activities: my work hosted a cocktail hour at the new modern art wing of the art institute, we went to a taping of oprah (thanks jamie!), lots of yummy fattening food, the harry potter exhibit at the museum of science and industry, of course a litle shopping... but the one thing i promised my mom was that we could go to michigan.

she has been trying to knock off all 50 states for awhile, and she is down to 6. even though michigan isn't more than an hour drive i have denied her everytime she has come to chicago over the last three years. this time i gave in. she was content just driving past the "welcome to michigan" sign but with some coaxing we ventured out in the chilly august weather to pick peaches.

one more state down, only five to go! the peaches weren't a bad addition either.

bundle of...

the ultrasound yesterday confirmed it. i am now twenty weeks along and baby larsen is due january 22nd. we are thrilled and i personally am petrified. yesterday it all suddenly felt much more real, i am really going to be responsible for the day to day welfare of a little person, gulp. hopefully the little guy isn't confused since i thought he was a girl the whole time, off to the store to return all of the pink!