Grow Momma grow...

A bunch of photos from over the past few weeks... mostly showcasing my growing mid-section but a few of Nora thrown in for good measure.  ( :

                

We're now at 27.5 weeks and I was reminded this week (thanks Shelley!) that I didn't ever announce that we're having a BOY!  This is indeed very exciting news except that...

     A.) I have NO idea what to do with a boy, 

     B.) I am having a VERY hard time thinking of boy names that I love (that aren't already 'taken'), and 

     C.) the little rascal is already a VERY active little man.  I have been receiving painful blows from him every day for a good month now!!

Other than that, we're pretty thrilled!  

Nora has taken more convincing.  At the ultrasound she was sitting on Ben's lap while the technician looked for some sign of gender designation.  When the tech told us that she saw something and was pretty sure it was a boy Ben said, 'Nora, it's a boy!  You're going to have a brother!'  And with a look of utter consternation she said, 'But, I thought I just wanted it to be a GIRL.'  (As if we simply hadn't heard her request.)  She was not amused.  But she has since warmed up to the idea of having a brother and has decided the best name for him is Australia.  (Don't ask me where she got that - I'm as confused as you are.)

A beautiful day

Actually, it's been a beautiful week!  We've been enjoying warm, sunny days for awhile now - which is so great!  Because we also moved house about a month ago and have been needing this good weather to encourage us to get out and explore our new neighborhood.

Sunday was forecast to be just over 80 degrees and we decided to take advantage.  

The day started out with a healthy breakfast and a yogurt goatee while dad went for his morning run.

When he got back Nora joined him for some stretching, some sit-ups and some push-ups.                                                                                                  

High fives were definitely in order. 

                                                                                  
We packed up a picnic lunch and hopped on our bikes to go to the nearby village of Binsey.  We wove our way through country roads, past green pastures lined with blackberry bushes and old fences and past clusters of lazy cows until we arrived at St Margaret's Church.  The current church dates back to the 12th century and is built on the site of a previous Saxon chapel.  There is a well there, famous for being the well in Alice and Wonderland but which may actually have originally been a pagan well which was 'Christianized' in the 9th century.

 For Nora, the best part of this visit was the 3 goats in a pen behind the church which belonged to the farm next door.  Second best was the picnic.  She's a big fan of picnics.

After our picnic overlooking a nearby meadow we rode back toward the Thames, changed Nora into her swimsuit and let her wade in the river.  She shared the water with a herd of cows across the river and plenty of ducks, geese, dogs, boaters, and other kids cooling off.  She was thrilled!  (Afterward, we went straight home for a bath!)

Rumor has it that this glorious weather will be gone soon and I've heard from 2 different people today that the weather forecasts are predicting snow by the end of the month!