Preparation underway

Even though it's snowing outside, we're doing the spring cleaning now. The dust is flying as we cross paths, carting boxes for recycling upstairs and piles of office gear down. Even the front room is getting attention as it will be the new scrapbooking zone, with attached games closet. Though you wouldn't know it from this picture of the nursery pre-clean sweep, we finished emptying the room and couldn't be more excited to be picking up the crib set from Babies "R" Us this weekend.

Speaking of Babies "R" Us, we had a great time registering last week. We'd been to a few different baby stores and baby sections of department stores, and found there's really nothing that compares to their layout and selection. Sadly, they did not carry any Cap'n Crunch, so we couldn't match what we had on our wedding registry (sorry, Curtis). It took us the following week to make changes to the baby registry online, and now we're very happy with our cute, educational, and essential picks. Who wouldn't be excited about Bugs on Board?

All quiet on the Western front

No news is good news for baby development. It's been another week of steady growth for Raspberry. He has become an acrobat, busy a large portion of the time, and his swiping kicks suggest somersaults. What stimulates him the most? Singing in choir, drinking orange juice, and Cortney trying to sleep.

Our nesting instinct is working its way through the house. We've cleaned the clutter out of the basement and organized it. Next up is Jon's office, and then the nursery (currently Cortney's office). We have a musical safari planned for Raspberry's room, and we'll keep you posted as that renovation develops.

Coincidence? We think... probably!

What are the odds that two friends who grew up together would end up getting pregnant and being due only one day a part without ever discussing the matter?  Normally one would assume the answer here to be "slim to none," but since we are asking the question, you know there's a trick in there somewhere.  We went out to dinner last night with Nathan and Diane and, low and behold, not only are they pregnant, but they are due on June 20, one day after Raspberry is slated to join us in the world (for whatever a due date is actually worth).  Nathan and Jon grew up together, and were in each other's weddings, and this was just wonderfully exciting news all around.  So, congrats to Nathan and Diane!  We are sorry that you weren't just a few months earlier or later so that we could have passed clothing back and forth, but, actually, not all that sorry.

In other news... Cortney was ordained as a Deacon this morning at our church (we are both excited about that, as it will be a job we both partake in).  And tonight we had dinner with another of our long lost friends, Andrew (another pre-college friend of Jon's).  We had a great time catching up and will have to do it again some time soon, as we get in our final months of social freedom!

Let it snow, let it snow...

Thanksgiving dinner has come and gone making it time to celebrate Christmas in our household!  Actually, we cheated because we started last night.  We couldn't help ourselves.  It was snowing and cold and it looked like the holidays!  Since we had put the lights up several weeks ago while it was still warm they were all ready to go and there was nothing to keep us from turning the timers on, so we did, and we don't regret it.  We actually got several inches of snow through yesterday and today.  Last night we kicked off our holidays with Christmas music, a movie and a fire.  And what better way to celebrate Thanksgiving morning than with pancakes and Ghostbusters.  We made sure that we each got on the treadmill this morning, too, so that we would be able to eat more at dinner, and it was a good thing.  We did dinner at Cortney's parents' house with all the usual trimmings.  Her dad did the turkey on the smoker (really there is no better way!), and there was stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry salad, waldorf salad, squash, wine, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and various coffees.  New and different this year was the addition of Patty, Curtis' fiance, and her family.  We had a wonderful time sharing the holiday with them, and the excellent desserts they brought, too.  Patty's father evidently has a sweet-tooth from which all the rest of us benefited.  In addition to the pies we had Death by Chocolate cake and riced pudding.  They also brought a traditional Peruvian drink called Chicha (I think) that is made by boiling purple corn to extract the joice, and then adding sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and apple pieces.  The drink has a relaxing and calming affect, yet is non-alcoholic.  We enjoyed it, and we had a wonderful time learning more about their traditions and their family.  Now, again, we are relaxing off the effects of a tryptophan dinner with a fire and a movie. 

Happy snow, happy holidays! 

Video games are good for you

Or at least they are when they give you a complete aerobic workout, as is the case with Dance Dance Revolution. Now we are the proud owners of the Extreme home version of the incredibly popular arcade game. It has brought back memories of our early dating days when we would play it at Pinball Petes downtown. Only now we don't have to worry about looking dorky in front of strangers! Now we can look dorky in front of each other and the friends we are sure to have over to play. While we aren't likely to ever have the skills of the tournament masters, we are definitely improving. The only question is, how long will it be until we give in a get a second floormat controller for dueling action?