Nature Walk

Today, I made Lizzie go on a "nature walk" at Huntley Meadows. Initially she was not interested and kept asking to go home. Then she saw some "callipillars" and decided to enjoy herself. We also saw lots of birds, but when we got too close they flew away. Liz was convinced it was because of me. She said "Mommy your too big. You scared them. I'm little, but your too big."

A Day Off

Andrew suggested that I do whatever I need to do to calm down and reduce my anxiety. So, in the spirit of that, I spent yesterday afternoon at the East wing of the National Art Gallery looking at (and learning about) modern art. It was really nice. I was able to see everything and even take a docent-lead tour which I never would have been able to do with Lizzie in tow. Very relaxing.


Also, last night we finally used the Doppler heart thing. Andrew was able to find what we are pretty sure was a heartbeat. Phew.

Anniversary!

Yesterday was our 9th wedding anniversary! Nine years! Yikes. I don't feel like I'm old enough to be married so long, but clearly I am. Around the time we got married, my sister-in-law, Jen, talked about how she and Andrew's oldest brother either had been married for 10 years or were approaching it. I remember thinking, wow, that's SO long. Well, here I am. Next month it will be eleven years since I met Andrew. Crazy how time flies. We decided to count our upcoming Florida trip as an anniversary celebration so last night we had a quiet night in. After we put Lizzie to bed, we had a nice dinner of steak (I don't remember ever purchasing and preparing steak for ourselves before, but Drew insists that we have), prosciutto wrapped asparagus, and garlic mashed potatoes. After dinner we gorged ourselves on twizzlers while we watched "Lars and a Real Girl" (good movie).

Earlier in the day I received a great surprise. A friend lent us her hospital-grade, baby-heart-listening-thing. Hopefully now I'll be able to listen to the heartbeat on a regular basis and calm down a bit. I haven't used it yet. I didn't dare use it during the day because I was afraid I there wouldn't be a heartbeat to find and I didn't want to be alone for that. I didn't use it when Drew got home because I did not want to spoil our anniversary with the possibility of a dead baby. I'll probably try and figure it out today.

Relaxing Weekend

We had a pretty relaxing weekend (Andrew loved it). Friday night we saw Gladys Knight and her Saints Unified Voices Choir perform. They were amazing! I especially liked Gladys' gospel version of I am a "I am a Child of God."

On Saturday we lounged around the house a lot which was nice. We did the lazy parent move and let Lizzie watch cartoons while we slept in. It was lovely. We had to take turns changing the channel and getting food for Lizzie, but that wasn't too bad. I have resisted teaching Liz how to work the remote herself because I don't want her to be able to watch television without me knowing about it. That evening we looked at couches for date night. It was actually really fun and the idea of getting rid of our nasty old sofa got us both excited.

On Sunday I found Drew's credit card in my scripture case. I had "lost it in the apartment" a little over a month ago and Andrew stubbornly refused to cancel it and get a replacement card because according to him, he would be "encouraging my irresponsibility." Whatever.

Gladys Knight

So, last night we saw Gladys Knight and her All Saints Unified Choir perform. They were amazing! I especially liked Gladys' gospel version of I am a Child of God. Other highlights: Amazing Grace, seeing the line to get in wrap around the church, Gladys' funny husband, and hearing their conversion stories.

Thank you

I'd like to thank everyone for being so supportive and encouraging of our baby news. We really appreciate your well wishes.

Also, thanks to Andrew who surprised me this morning with a breakfast of delicious German pancakes and banana nut topping. Yum. And thanks to my friends for the cake and flowers last night--another nice surprise.

Bellobration

Lizzie and I went to the circus two weekends ago. This year, they called the event a "Bellobration," as in Bello the clown. The term might not have been so annoying if it weren't for the incredibly annoying, yet amazingly memorable, theme song: "Bello, bello, bello, bello, bello, bello, bellobration." That's just a snippet, of course.

We had a great time, though. There were a few moments that frightened Liz, unfortunately. We had to step out for the human cannonball routine, and she clung to me pretty tightly when it got especially dark, but I didn't mind that a bit. Lizzie's favorite bits were those that involved horses and dogs.