Progress.

Well folks, I'm happy to report that in a mere 5 weeks, we've progressed from this:

(a corn kernel)
 
To this:

(a prune, not a piece of poop :)

To this:

For the un-sharp tools in the shed, I am referring to the size of baby.
Here, for comparison:

Yup, 5 short weeks. That's some incredible progress if you ask me.
Today on ultrasound (11.5 weeks) we saw our little guy kicking around, squirming, bending, jumping, moving arms and legs. So, now my hubby knows I am not lying when I get up to pee three times during the night and I say it's because baby is doing jumping-jacks and cartwheels on my bladder.
Here is today's picture:

I almost died when I saw him moving around so much and looking like a little baby. Most awesome thing ever. And still feeling too good to be true.
Now that is progress folks!
And speaking of progress....
Check out the huge changes in my little niece is making....
Here she is at 1.5 weeks (two of my favorite shots from our photo shoot)

And here she is at 8 weeks - so much more alert, and she's almost smiling in this pic!

And talk about progress...my sis-in-law is already back into her pre-pregnancy jeans! Way to go!!
I will leave you with two more pics of my niece...and yes, she does love her grandmas :)

Work??

Last weekend it was over 70 degrees in Chicago-land. 
After we got back from church, I ran outside to my garden, excited to say hello to an old friend after months without communication (3 feet of snow will do that to a relationship).

As I walked around, I began to become more and more overwhelmed, noticing fences in disrepair; piles of leaves, sticks, and various garbage accumulated over a winter; bed after bed after bed needing tidying, edging and weeding (seriously, already??!); three of my four beautiful clematis' completely chewed through by those damn rabbits (anybody have a shot-gun I could borrow?)...so I finished my garden walk-through, which had evolved from a nice little catch-up conversation to the equivalent of a conversation in which my best friend tells me she has lost her job, her mother has died, and she has discovered she has colon cancer. Needless to say, I trudged back to my house, dejected and depressed, and already ready to give up, and call it quits. 


The beautiful weather, chirping birds and blue skies were calling my name though, so later on I changed out of my Sunday-best and went to tackle the front beds, wielding my trustiest garden tools.

It was then, after a few minutes of kneeling over the long-neglected beds, raking through piles of decaying leaves, searching for each new treasured discovery of fresh green life, with the sun on my neck, birds chirping overhead, earthworms and centipedes frantically scattering out of my way...it was then that I remembered, it all came back to me: there is no need to get overwhelmed. This is not work for me...this is therapy.

Happy Spring everyone! May you attack your neglected gardens with exuberance and vigor!

1.2 centimeters...and shock.

Not sure where to begin. Ok, I guess I'll begin with this:

After having 4 ultrasounds last year, each one revealing crazy, dysfunctional ovaries and a lonely, empty uterus, today I saw this.
Complete with a little flickering heartbeat.

Perhaps some of you are aware of the struggle the past 15 months have been as we tried to start a family, and then were told by a fertility specialist that our only hope of conceiving was by doing in-vitro fertilization. Well, two days before our appointment to start all of that ordeal, we found out we were pregnant.  That was three weeks ago...and today our baby measures 1.2cm, and I am still in shock.

Words fail me...I can only echo the joyfulness, gratitude and praise reflected in the the words David the Psalmist:

"I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall be continually in my mouth.
My soul will make its boast in the Lord,
The humble will hear it and rejoice.
O magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.
I sought the Lord, and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
O taste and see that the Lord is good,
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!"

All praise be to God for this little blessing. 

Our upstairs bathroom...before and after

Sorry about the lack of text in this post - or perhaps my readers are happy.
Just wanted to share with you the before and after pics of our upstairs bathroom re-do.
I picked the paint color from a bunch of mis-tints at the store, and then found that painting that I LOVE that matched the color, and then later found the vase that also matched the colors! I love it when things in life work out that way.

Do you have that place?

If someone were to ask you what your favorite restaurant is...your favorite place to grab a bite for lunch, commune with friends over brunch, or relax and enjoy a delicious hot beverage while you people-watch the yuppies strolling down the street...where would it be?

Well I don't even have to hesitate anymore to answer that. When I am meeting friends in the city, and someone queries where to meet, my reflex, knee-jerk reaction is to blurt out, "Why Julius Meinl of course!" And nine out of ten times, said friends don't even bother to put up an argument, or suggest something else, because really, IS there anywhere else that even compares? A resounding NO I say!

Why would one choose to hang out at such a generic, dime-a-dozen place as a Starbucks or Caribou when one could frequent the most beautiful, unique coffee-house in Chicago - an Austrian-based company with exquisite teas and coffees, delicious Austrian-style foods, lovely ambiance (did I mention they have live classical musicians performing on the weekends?), cozy lighting, walls lined with large windows,

and adorable little Viennese boys perched on various points of the walls?

Oh, did I mention that each table has fresh flowers, all the time, every day, (I'm sold)

and there is an entire WALL of various wonderful teas and coffees (doesn't the guy on the bottom right look like Wilson from House, MD?)

and large silver vats of exquisitely roasted high-end Viennese coffee beans

and an entire case of gorgeous, pastries, each more luscious than the next, pastries that make you forget that you are starving and you came here for lunch...really, you just want to order three pastries and wash them down with a steamy, smooth cup of coffee.

And oh, the coffee! and the tea! Did you know that each hot beverage that is ordered is served on a lovely little silver platter with a paper doile, a little gingersnap cookie, a glass of water (no ice, in the European style), cute little teaspoon (yes even the teaspoons here are cute) and an adorable little tube of sugar?

 Check out the orange mocha latte I ordered:

C'mon folks, does it get more fun than this? I mean really. This is probably the closest I will ever get to Europe.

And when I am there, sipping my hot beverage, chatting with friends and enjoying the ambiance, sometimes I think that just might be ok with me.

Here's to meeting with friends at Julius Meinl - a little bit of Vienna, Austria right here in our own home-town.

The stork has finally arrived!!

My new baby has finally come!!

Introducing the newest member of our family:

Baby Canon Rebel t2i (still trying to decide on a name for the little one)

The stork also dropped off a bonus addition, the Tamron AF 17-50mm F/2.8 zoom lens (not pictured in photos because I couldn't resist using it for these photos)

I can't wait for all the memories we'll create!

 

Thank you 2010 tax return!!

A night out on the town!

Last week was a sisters night - we went downtown and saw the best musical/story every created - Les Miserables. 
I know I'm getting older and more sentimental (i.e. too much like my mom) because I cried through the whole thing. 
It was such a lovely night, the Cadillac Palace theater is extremely gorgeous and ornate. One of my favorite things about Chicago is all the beautiful old theaters. Cameras were not allowed inside, but I snuck a few anyways (couldn't resist!)