BABY HUNTER

Last night my brother, Jamie and his girlfriend, Katherine welcomed to the world a beautiful son, Hunter Thomas Bell.  He looks absolutely precious and his auntie can't wait to meet him! Congratulations to the new family!

 

Proud father and son

  I love this shot of my dad - looks like Grandpa John was excited too!

CATCHING UP

The past two weeks have been a whirl wind of activity with a trip to Southern Cal, a trip to Northern Cal, a three-day management skills training, a highly anticipated doctor’s appointment, and finally our first newborn care class.  With each of these events came a multitude of emotions that have left me quite introspective and excited for what’s to come.

In California, I felt eternally lucky when spending time with my family, which reminded me of what is truly important in life.  I felt tremendous gratitude for good friends who showered our baby girl with their best wishes and love at my baby shower. I experienced pride and happiness in seeing my little brother prepare for the birth of his son and how his life has transformed so much in the last year.   I cherished the familiarity of the California sun that warms the soul and makes life feel lighter.  I enjoyed exhilaration of deep belly-jiggling laughter when spending time with my sister.  I slipped easily back into comforts of easy conversation and connectedness with my best girlfriends in our trip North. 

Then, it was back to New York.  At our doctor’s appointment on Monday we learned that my previa condition has corrected itself, allowing me to have a traditional birth at the 40-week mark if all goes well.  The ultra sound technician took a liking to the baby girl on the screen and took a whole slew of photos.  In the first shots she had her eyes open.  In the following shots she closed her eyes and developed a pout – she may be a little camera shy. It was fun to see how much she has changed in just a month.  For one, she has developed some serious cheeks and now weighs just under 5 lbs.  We can’t wait to meet her in real life. 

Despite a relaxing time in California, I am physically feeling more and more tired everyday.  The books warned me this might happen in the late third trimester.  Part may be from anticipation and also from a little bit of stress in getting prepared at work for my maternity leave.  The count down is on, just 6 ½ more weeks… yikes.  Here are the latest photos of our girl…I promise to post some of the Cali pics as well as soon as I can get them downloaded.

LEMONADE & PIE

Today feels like Friday, though it is definitely Wednesday.  This afternoon wrapped up our third straight day of 2011 Business Plan presentations, which is a huge sigh of relief.  Weeks of planning, budgeting,  PowerPointing and overall anticipation have finally paid off and I can now scratch this major to-do off my list.  I am ready to close up shop for the evening and go outside to enjoy what remains of the sunshine.  Today was 85 degrees in NYC, which is quite strange for the beginning of April - but no complaints here!  Loving the warmth and this preview to summer.  Let's have lemonade and pie.

SPRING IN THE AIR

Enjoy the weekend.  It is going to be beautiful.

30 WEEKS AND GROWING

For KK,
Per your request...