Happy Thanksgiving and hello to our (new) niece, Eliora Ruth Singer

Our niece, Eliora, is just adorable and I've really enjoyed my visit with Helene and Adam this past week.  I have learned a tremendous amount about caring for a newborn and breast feeding just by watching and being present during this first week of Eliora's life.  I'm hoping it'll make my first week with Vivienne a little easier, knowing what I can expect and what the challenges may be.

My mom made a 19-pound turkey yesterday, with Kashi & apple stuffing, and a sugar-free apple pie for a belated - but nonetheless special - Thanksgiving dinner.  Helene and Adam will have lots of turkey to eat during the next week (as well as some other dishes my mom made extra of, so they'll have leftovers).  Steve went to my parents house for Thanksgiving and had a good time spending the day with everyone there and eating all the good food they had (especially the sweet potato side dish my mom had made ahead of time).  He also took a road trip with his long-time friend, Alan Bishop, to Tallahassee to watch the Florida-FSU game (so glad the Gators won!) and I am glad he's had some down-time and had fun since he's been working so much leading up to this long holiday weekend.

My mom and I are headed back to Florida tomorrow and while it will be nice to be back home and I have tons of errands and work (CPE coursework) to do when I get back, I'll miss being able spend so much time with family.  I look forward to seeing Helene, Adam and Eliora again in the spring when they come to visit for Vivienne's baptism!  I don't have a date for that yet, but will post it as soon as I can coordinate it with our church.  Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend! : )

Oh Baby!

I'm off to Chapel Hill, N.C. to see my sister and her husband who have just had a baby girl and I can't wait to meet this new little girl and find out her name! They've kept it a secret and I'm glad the big reveal day is finally here!!  My mom and I are driving up from Florida so we should get there sometime this evening and will be spending Thanksgiving up in N.C. which will be bittersweet because I'll be glad to spend time with my mom and sister, but I'll be away from Steve and the rest of our family for the holiday.

I'm glad that I had the opportunity to visit with Steve's family last weekend and celebrate little Julia's first birthday in Gainesville, FL at Coffrin Nature Park.  Steve and I got to spend some time by ourselves yesterday when we attended the Jaguars / Vikings game  - the Jags lost but the day was so beautiful (classic Florida winter weather) and the company so nice (yes, I adore my husband to the point of ridiculousness!) that it was a perfect day nonetheless.  We went out for a turkey dinner last night at Ted's Montana Grille since we wouldn't be sharing the Thanksgiving holiday together and that topped off the day nicely.  I can't recall the last time that I was away from Steve for as many days as I will be on this trip to N.C. so it feels a little funny to be heading off for 6 days, but - hey, I'll survive, right?? ; )

I'll write again and post pics of my new niece when I get them - maybe next week!

Whoa, life is crazy and the baby is not even here yet!

Well, the consulting gig I was doing has dried up and I don't know that I'll get any more work because I had planned on stopping in mid-December anyway and its hard to sell my services to a client if I'll only be available for a month.  But, if the work comes my way, I'll definitely take it - I'm just in a wait and see mode now.  I'm not too worried about it though, because my life is crazy busy these days even without working!  In fact, it gets a little overwhelming when I start writing it all down, but there is no sense sticking my head in the sand and avoiding the sight of my "to-do" list in all its glory. : )

Steve is continuing to put in a lot of hours at work and tells me he will remain very busy for some time. He's doing well despite the long hours and is thinking ahead to March and is planning with senior management to ensure that when he takes time off from work when Vivienne arrives that it will go smoothly.  I love that he's a planner!!  It's funny the things that make you all warm and fuzzy. Yes, I know, that sounds so unromantic, but I'm a practical kind of gal (but, no that does not mean I'd appreciate a household appliance as a birthday or holiday gift).

We were at the doctor earlier today and saw more ultrasound images of Vivienne - she's doing great by the way.  This was our last visit to the "hisk risk" doctors group (only reason we've had to go is because I'm 35 - which is considered "advanced maternal age") and although I've enjoyed that we've had more ultrasounds by having seen this group, I'm glad we don't have a reason to continue to go.  We're just shy of 23 weeks along and Vivienne weighs 1 lb, 3 oz and is 8 inches long.  It just doesn't seem like my belly is big enough for her to be that size, but I am definitely not complaining about that!

Well, dinner doesn't cook itself so I'm off to the kitchen to see what I can whip up for some vittles!

Gotta love them Gators!

Steve and I had a fantastic time at the UF v. LSU game last weekend - I swear it was like watching a completely different team than we'd seen the previous weekend in Fayetteville, AR.  I was surprised that I had enough energy to stay for the whole game but the temperatures have improved greatly since the last home game I went to (against Miami) and the game was so exciting that the thought to go home before it was all done didn't cross my mind.  We also got to visit with Steve's mom, Marylee, and my parents, Rachel & Roger, which rounded out the weekend nicely.

I've got a new job starting tomorrow - I know, I can hardly believe it either.  I certainly wasn't looking for work (its only been two weeks since I left my former job and I was enjoying the time off!) but here I am.  I'm working for a consulting firm on a part-time basis and my first assignment is to work with a local, publicly-held company and assist them with their SEC reporting needs, amongst other things.  Crossing my fingers that I won't regret this move and end up feeling over-extended.  If it does end up being a good fit, it'll be a nice way to earn some more $ before Vivienne arrives - either way, I'll get some experience with consulting and it should give me an idea of whether or not I'll want to pursue consulting opportunities at some point in the future. Wish me luck!

Steve's busy, busy time slows down this week (yeah!) and I know he's feeling a mix of worry now that his project deadline is approaching and relief that he won't have to work quite as many hours for a little while.  This weekend should be good for him and he's off to visit friends in St. Augustine while I entertain my best friend, Kelly, and we plan the baby shower she'll be hosting for me sometime in January or February of next year (not exactly fun stuff for guys, so he'll be heading for the hills).

A little girl is on her way!

We just found out last week that we've got a little girl coming our way.  I had suspected as much, but didn't put too much faith in my opinion, since I know lots of women who swore they were having a baby boy, only to find out it was a girl or vice versa.  We held off on spending too much time trying to pick names prior to finding out the gender of our baby - just to cut down on the amount of work involved in selecting two names instead of just one and I thought it'd take us a really long time to come up with a name, but surprisingly it didn't!  We have chosen Vivienne Elise - Viv, or Vivi for short.  Steve balked a little when he realized the names were French (I don't understand this lingering resentment against the French!) but when I explained that my name is Greek and his is German and neither one of us is a descendant of Greece or Germany, he gave up the argument against French names (whew! we'd have been back at the drawing board and I wasn't too excited about that idea).

So far all is going extremely well, both with the baby and my pregnancy.  I am hoping that I'll continue the trend of being one of the "lucky ones" and cruise through the rest of the pregnancy as I have to date.  We're at week 18 now - almost halfway!

Steve is quite busy with work and is putting in a lot of late nights this week, but I'm trying to do all I can to support him and giving him lots of encouragement.  Hopefully, this busy time will pass and we'll be back to a more "normal" schedule again soon.