100 days!

I just wanted to note that today makes it officially 100 days until my due date of July 2nd! It's amazing to think that next week I'll be starting my third trimester. It feels like just yesterday I was miserable & nauseous, wondering how I was going to get through 9 months of pregnancy. This 2nd trimester has flown by - and we've had such exciting things happen! The "it" we kept talking about suddenly became a little baby girl, with a name & an identity. I started feeling little taps that eventually became full-fledged kicks, rolls and punches (that never actually seem to stop!). Even Adam gets to enjoy feeling her move around. We're making progress on her bedroom and next week we start to take pre-natal classes....scary-sounding things like "Labor Basics" and "Pain Management."

Our Easter weekend was great - Adam worked a lot on Saturday at the house while I visited my aunt & grandmother in Mechanicsville. He put a coat of the ivory paint on the trim in the nursery (it probably needs at least one more coat), cut the grass for the first time this season and steam-cleaned the carpets in our room & the office. I was so impressed that he got so much done in just one afternoon!

Sunday Adam unfortunately had to work at Kings Dominion at 7am, so I went to Sunrise Service with my mom, had breakfast at the church, and then headed home. While definitely an early morning, it was nice to get home before 9:00 and still have the whole day before me. I cleaned a lot (am I nesting? I can't stop cleaning!) and then had Easter lunch with my grandparents, cousins, mom & Debbie. The Alford Easter Dinner was later that evening. The food was sooo good, let's just say I am worried about my OB appointment next week when I get weighed!

And now, I am off to see if I can find any Easter candy stashed away in my desk drawers...Happy 100 Days to us!

Started the nursery!

Our guest bedroom is now officially Emery's room, and while we still have a long way to go before it's complete, we at least started making some progress this weekend! We chose a light creamy yellow for the walls - I just couldn't bring myself to do pink or lavender - and I really love the way it turned out! The walls are American Tradition "Butter" and we chose a nice ivory for the trim & window panes. We have yet to finish the trim, but yesterday Adam & his very helpful father painted two coats on the walls and primed the trim! I am so happy with the way the color turned out on the walls, and I know that the finished room will look absolutely amazing. Here are a few pics from yesterday:

A before shot - white walls, wood trim (they had already started priming) - we're buying new closet doors and new curtains. Oh, and steam cleaning the carpet. Forgive the messy closet - I have to finish cleaning it out at some point.

Adam putting on the first coat!

After the second coat is done - this is me & my father-in-law, Steve. You can see a decent shot of the final color behind us. It dried a bit lighter than what you see in the picture.

We will hopefully finish the trim today and then once I steam-clean the carpet (why did I ever buy white carpet??) we'll be ready to start filling it with furniture! If you're interested, you can check out the furniture we picked out on our registry at target.com. It is so amazing to think that in just a few short months, our little girl will be sleeping in that room. I hope she loves it as much as I do!

Ah, some downtime

So once again, I have neglected to update this site in over a month. As usual, things have just been so busy that I couldn't get around to it until now! I finally, FINALLY have some downtime.

Some of you might know that my event at work, the Go Red for Women Luncheon, was on February 7th. This is the event that I am in charge of at the American Heart Association, and the goal was to raise $200,000 in funds to support research & education related to women and heart disease. I am so proud to say that the luncheon met and will probably exceed that goal this year! It was a lot of hard work - the funds raised mostly come from corporate sponsors here in the Richmond community, and it's my job to secure those sponsorships. We also put on a small silent auction, which consists of about 100 items that are donated from businesses and individuals. Even though I was exhausted and definitely ready for it to be over, the event was incredibly rewarding - and the awesome 75% increase over last year's event is definitely something we are proud of! Here are a few pictures from the Luncheon:

This is Daphne Maxwell-Ried, our Luncheon Hostess - she is a local entrepreneur and celebrity, best-known for her role as Aunt Viv on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"

A sampling of our 410 guests enjoying their heart-healthy lunch

Our guests during the networking reception/silent auction

So on to some baby news. As most people know by now, we found out in February that we are having a little girl! I have to admit that Adam & I were both pretty shocked - for whatever reason, we felt very strongly that it was a boy. Ironically, we both had dreams before the ultrasound that we were having a girl, it should have been a clue! We are very excited about Emery Elizabeth - Adam can't wait to have a "daddy's girl" and I am trying not to worry too much yet about her teenage years.

We had to go back this past Tuesday for a follow-up ultrasound because during the one three weeks ago, she was not cooperating at all! They needed to check her spine and also get a good look at her heart - thankfully everything looks great and we're right on track for our delivery date of July 2nd. Tuesday's ultrasound was a lot more enjoyable than the last one - she was much bigger and we got a few good pictures, and we could see much more of her! And most importantly, she looks 100% healthy! A few pics:

Overall, things are going well for us - work has calmed down for me and Adam's class is in full swing. It's pretty time-consuming but he seems to really enjoy it and is learning a lot! We still haven't found time to work on the nursery, but we have the paint color picked & ideas all planned out. We've still got a little time! Our families are great - Debbie is still loving her job at Food Lion, she is so much happier now that she has a job that gets her out of the house, and friends at work. She's working a lot of hours but will cut back a little when Emery is born so she can spend lots of time with her!

Hope all is well with our friends & family - much love to all of you! I'll try to update this more often (ah, empty promises). Take care!

Love, Michelle