Baby Shower

To help get ready for our new baby, my friends Meredith and Kerry threw me a baby shower yesterday. And with the baby only 5 weeks away (give or take), we need all the help we can get.

Meredith, me, and Kerry (with Amelie).

Opening presents....a basket of baby essentials!

Addie bringing me presents to open.

My friend Diana and me.

With Joe's cousins, Kim and Cheryl and their daughters, Mikayla and Addie.

It was such a great afternoon and so much fun! And today, we might actually start getting the baby's room ready, well the girls' room ready as Hannah and baby will be sharing! Something Hannah is very much looking forward to...

Stowe, VT

Last weekend, we went to Stowe, VT for our first family ski trip. We rented a condo with 2 other families and had such a great time! The kids had a blast playing in the condo together - their "play room" had bunk beds and it was probably their favorite part of the whole trip.

Here is Hannah all dressed up and ready to ski.

Hannah did a great job skiing for the first time. It took her a while to get used to it and while she said she liked it, she would cry going down the bunny hill each time. Oddly enough, she really wanted to go on the chair lift so Joe said that if she went down the bunny hill without crying, she could. That seemed to do the trick and she was off. She went up the chair lift 4 times that day and was very excited about the whole thing. She kept telling me "look what I can do".

Although the picture shows her holding onto Daddy's pole, there were times when she even let go and turned all by herself. Stopping is a different story.

After lunch, the Dads went skiing and Kerry and I took the kids to the Ben and Jerry's factory for a tour and ice cream.

Playing on the stairs.

Our second day was a different story. Hannah had been coming down with a cold and felt terrible on Monday. She went on the bunny hill twice and that was all she could handle. So Daddy went skiing while Mommy and Hannah went in for some hot chocolate. After lunch, Hannah said she wanted to go out to ski, but instead fell asleep on Joe's and then my lap.

8 months

We're in the home stretch...well kind of. Only 7 weeks left to go. I'm still feeling great, for which I am so thankful!

Hannah's very excited for the baby to come out. She talks and sings to the baby all the time and already gives her hugs and kisses. Hannah has such a nurturing side that comes out even with friends that I think she'll be a great big sister. The baby herself very active, it seems, especially right after I eat. We all love to feel her move around.

We hope to start actually getting things ready for the baby this month.

Another try at ice skating

Another trip to Frog Pond to go ice skating. This time it was a bit colder (in the high 20s, with windchill 7) so we didn't stay terribly long but she's getting better and better.

Standing all by herself on the ice.

The obligatory picture with the frogs. She went over to them and Joe and I kept walking and she got so upset because she said she needed a picture with them.

Then she saw this big snowball and wanted to see if she could move it. She couldn't. : )

After the Commons, we went out to lunch and did some shopping on Boylston St. Hannah's request...a hot dog. It was huge! And this from the kid's menu?