Tea + Wine Glass?!?

      When my Mom came to visit, I took her to this delightful tea house I had been wanting to try in Boulder.   It was built in Tajikistan by hand and then taken apart and shipped here.  Boulder has a sister city in Tajikistan and the two cities decide to "exchange" culturally beneficial things. We got the beautiful work of art, that is the tea house and they got an Internet cafe/town hall building of sorts.    To see inside photos and learn more about the tea house click here: The Boulder Tea House

      Anyway, I decided to order a blooming tea....Which means my "tea" came tightly bound together and as the water permeated it, the tea "bloomed".   The cooler and more unusual thing was that the tea was served in a long stem, red wine glass!   In all my tea drinking years, I never thought to try tea or serve tea in a wine glass!    The glass was a little warm to the touch, but otherwise it was quite enjoyable to watch the tea bloom and sip it out of the wine glass.  I might have to try this at home!   

Clean car...for a day

One of my "nesting" projects was getting the car professionally detailed.  Between the amount of fur that Boots releases by the minute, 10k miles of driving this summer and all the kids I drive around with nannying, my car felt more dirty, messy and lived in, than I was ready for.   I understand that this goes out the window once you have children of your own, which is why, just once I wanted to know that it had been deeply cleaned!  It managed to stay almost fur free for an entire weekend!   It was a lot of money, but the growing "mom gene" is thankful that every time I get in, I know that it was super-duper clean once and when I take it to a car wash/vacuum place now, it cleans up better than before.

Grandma-to-be, comes for a visit

       My Mom came for a week, at the beginning of November.  It was so fun to have her here and to get things more set-up for the baby.  She literally brought 50 pds of baby boy clothes. (bonus for me, in having all these brothers!)  She actually had 71 pds packed but when the airline told her it would be $160 more for being over 50pds, she decided to mail the rest :)   Since the day she found out we were having a baby, she wanted to get us a bassinet, but we decided to go with a Pack and Play that had the bassinet feature, instead of a traditional bassinet.  I had been having trouble finding a Pack and Play I liked (can't they come up with better patterns!?!?!) but the week before she arrived, Graco debuted a brand new pack and play with new features and a great pattern.  The day she arrived we went out, bought and set it up.  I love it, but I still stare at most mornings in disbelief that there is soon going to be a little baby using it!   We also finalized all the baby shower details via phone with Sharon (The grandmother's to be are co-hosting) and got the cutest invitations ordered.    

       I loved having my Mom come, but I think Boots loved it more!  Since I have been limited this whole pregnancy in how much I can walk, he has been a little deprived of his normal exercise amount. My Mom though, is a huge walker and takes him out every morning she is here, for at least 5miles!  He is usually awake and waiting for her to come down the steps by 7am!   And then after she leaves, he always goes back to waking me up that early and wanting to walk.  (I think this last time he was depressed for a couple days after she left!) 

        The good news for us both, is she is coming back Dec 10th for almost 10 days and bringing my two littlest siblings. Boots loves playing with them, and then Andrew will be home hopefully by the 18th.   If all goes according to plan, Boots will have a few weeks with Andrew back before his whole world is turned upside down and the baby comes ;)

So close, but not

Andrew and I have spent the last 170 days+ talking through Skype.  I feel so blessed to live in this generation.   When I think about women going through this kind of absence and having only letters for communication I realize how good I have it.   I plan on showing our son these photos when he is older, of how his Dad was "there" to watch him grow inside me, though he was thousands of miles away.

Rachel....Our Colorado College International Student

Last year, Andrew and I "hosted" Jannes, a German exchange student.    CC has a ton a of international students and it turns out that as a whole, 85% of international students studying here in the US, will never see the inside of an American home.    CC decided to set-up this program where local families can "host" a student for the year and help them experience American life.    Basically, you and your student get to decide what you want to do together and how often you hang out.  Jannes dog sat for us, stayed with us over holidays when the dorms were closed, met our friends, came over for meals and became a good friend.    

       This year, we were paired with Rachel.  She is a freshman from the island of Malta.  She got a full 4-yr scholarship to study at CC.  It has been awesome to hang out with her and get to know someone from a country I had barely heard of!   She is very excited to meet Andrew, as she wants to be an aero or astro engineer and is incredibly gifted in math. (definitely my favorite subject as we all know :)   Through her we have gotten to know other international students as well.   Judy is her friend from Swaziland in the picture above.    And in case you are wondering, the Maltese dog is from Malta, but not the Falcon! 

First snow

Well, we have been blessed with an incredible Fall.  The colors have been awesome (for CO, nothing compares to New England!)  and unseasonably warm weather.   Picture 60's and 70's for almost all of October!!!    True to form though, we did get snow before Halloween.    I wasn't as excited for it, as I had been in years past (maybe that has something to do with nannying and realizing that play time outside, helps keep everyone sane!)    Boots was thrilled though!   Thankfully the snow was gone in a day and the temperature went right back up!   

Haircut....again

My hair had been driving me crazy for several months now.  I thought I would love it because everyone raves about their pregnancy hair, but that wasn't the case for me.  Becoming a Mom and having Mom hair are two totally different things in my mind!  One, I am okay with, the other is a source of nightmares as I try to sleep.  :)  

   Anyway, Paul Mitchell opened a school down the street from my house and you can get haircuts there for $8!  For that price, I figured I would try them out and if they screwed up, I hadn't wasted a lot of money and would have my normal guy fix it.  Thankfully, they did a great job.  Though the cut was great, I have decided that my hair is a work in progress and will take longer to figure out exactly what I am wanting.  Any suggestions?  (remember I am working with dry, dry air and soon a newborn...simple and no product use is very necessary!)  

Kate Moves In

In mid-September, while walking Boots at the dog park, I got a call from Andy's cousin, Kate.   Things with her job were ending and she needed a place to rest and just be away from everything for a while.  She asked if I could use a roommate.....I had been considering getting a roommate this whole time Andy had been gone.   I had emailed several random people, talked with different friends, etc.  I didn't have a peace about anyone.   Over the summer I had decided to not continue trying to find a roommate and would just let the Lord bring someone who would need a space for a random amount of time.   Little did I know, who he had in mind!!!  :)    Kate moved in at the beginning of October and it has been awesome to have her here.   She has fit right in with our friends, church, small group and just being apart of our community.    And instead of a temporary stay, it looks like the Lord is leading her to move her.   She just needs to sell her house back in IA and find a job out here (2 small details :)    

 

Christina came to visit

One of my dearest friends came to visit back in Oct. (so I am little behind in blogging) She planned the trip back in July when the Dr.'s thought I would be going on bedrest by mid-Oct at the latest. Thankfully, I have not had to go bedrest and hopefully won't ever! I was so excited as the time drew near for her to come, that I was going to be able to do stuff with her and not just sit on the couch and watch movies all weekend. The weather was horrible, but we had a great time. My mother-in-law Sharon even came down from WY for a night and we went out to the Broadmoor for cocktails and girl time! I love sharing my life with my friends and it was a blessing to have Christina here and share with her! Thanks for making the journey out here dear friend!