Thanksgiving

We have quite a lot to be thankful for this year, and we had quite the celebration this holiday. Brian gave the sermon at church on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. After the Thursday morning service we left Macomb and headed to Chicago. It was an uneventful trip considering the dire weather predictions of the previous days and thankfully there was really not a lot of congestion on the roads. We arrived in Chicago around 3:30 and were able to celebrate with my parents, Katie, Michael, Stephanie (Mike's girlfriend), and Nana. We even got a visit from Tony. As always the food and old fashions were great. We went Christmas shopping with all the other crazy people on black Friday and had our traditional after Thanksgiving meals of leftover turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sandwiches for lunch and Lou Malnati's pizza for dinner. We had a baby shower on Saturday and that was awesome. I will post more on that later. It was simply great to be with family over the weekend. I am glad we have a few pictures to remember the weekend. The one at top is of Brian the instigator and his favorite prey, My Mom. He always seems to be able to get her going. The one at the bottom right is of my Dad washing dishes after dinner. I felt his helpfulness need be commemorated. Love you guys!

Birthday Video

For my birthday Brian made me the video above. He is such the sweetheart! It is so funny for me to look at pre-pregnancy pictures of myself. I also love the song he picked though I'm not sure we ever drank three bottles of redwine...Well, we may have been close a few times. Such fun times, Thanks Bri.

Baby Shower Take 2

What a busy but great weekend! Last week Wednesday my Mom made it into town and on Saturday the Davies joined us for our second baby shower. Some women from St. Peter put it together for us and it was wonderful. There was a cake made out of diapers, a fancy homemade dessert cake, plenty of homemade brunch food, a scrapbook for remembrances, center pieces that were actually presents, many thoughtful gifts, and many many thoughtful people. It was overwhelming all the work people put into the shower and how truly generous they were in thinking of us and our little girl.
It was so nice for our Moms to be there and see how great the people of St. Peter are.
We spent most of the rest of the weekend processing all of our presents and continuing to set up the baby's room. The baby girl stuff was so much fun to go through and add to our nursery. After the shower Brian immediately went to Buffalo Wild Wings with his Dad, I think mostly to counter the morning shower with a little football, beer, and testosterone. Brian was just so grateful he didn't have to help me sort out onesies and diapers all weekend. As usual our parents were so much help and it was so fun to have them be a part of the experience. It is crazy to think the next time we see Linda and Wa, we won't be two Davies any longer but three!

Birthday Girl

Saturday was my 27th birthday and it couldn't have been better. During the day we were at the vendor fair and in the evening Brian and I went out to a wonderful celebratory dinner. We went to the new outdoor walking mall they built in town and ate at a restaurant called Brio Tuscan Grille. The mall is an outing in itself with a lot of upscale stores and an extravagant pavilion complete with a huge outdoor fire place. For dinner I had wonderful fillet medallions served with hollandaise sauce over Parmesan crusted roasted tomatoes. It was the best meal I've had since I was pregnant. For dessert they even had my favorite creme brulee. The leisurely evening out with my wonderful husband couldn't have been nicer. We came home and I opened my thoughtful gifts from that wonderful husband. My growing belly and I couldn't have been happier, what an awesome birthday!

Landmark Photography

On Saturday Brian sold some of his original pictures above at a St. Peter Vendor Fair. He donated all the profits from his sales towards the 8th grade class trip to Washington D.C. Being his wife, I'm the co-president (with his Mom of course) of the Brian Davies fan club so I might be just a little bias, but isn't he talented? The customers of the vendor fair must have thought so too because Brian sold 26 framed and unframed pictures and will be donating the proceeds from $360 in sales. What a fun afternoon.

October's End

This spring Brian and I planted a new maple tree. It is a Red October Maple and we can certainly see why it is so named. The tree is a beautiful sight out of our kitchen window. With the end of October, the leaves are now quickly falling, but we will look forward to its beautiful return in the spring.
Also, with the end of October is the end of pastor appreciation month. We have certainly enjoyed all the ways everyone has shown Brian their appreciation, from greeting cards, to baked goods, to gift cards. People have been so generous and thoughtful. One gift however, we must admit we will NOT be eating. Brian was once visiting a St. Peter family in their home and commented on the good aromas from the kitchen. The woman of the house replied that is was squirrel for dinner. Brian almost laughed thinking it was a joke, however, it was not...
It has now become an inside joke between Brian and the family (a wonderful family by the way). One day last week we came home and this family left a gift at our door. Can you guess what the mystery meat is? We are posting a picture so we can refrain from the famous Dave Barry line, "I am not making this up."

Start of Month 7!

Today we have officially finished 6 months of pregnancy and are starting our 7 month! The last week or so has been a big growth spurt for both the baby and me (as you can see from the picture.) The baby is now over two pounds and close to 15" long. We are in our 27th week and as the baby grows she will be adding mostly fat and weight to her already newborn-like body. Her kicks are strong enough now to not only feel them but see them, as my stomach moves with her. My belly button is also dangerously close to becoming an "outtie" in the near future.

Last week we had a little bit of a pregnancy scare. I had a little bit of light spotting on Tuesday night and actually went to the hospital to get things checked out. Everything was just fine and the doctor on call seemed to think it was related to the cough I've had for the last week and a half. Whatever it was, it was certainly a little scary. The good news is that our baby girl is far enough along at this point to live outside of my stomach, but it is also very good for her development that she has not decided to come this early.

So for the end of last week I found myself on bed rest. It actually didn't bother me at all to be off my feet for the three days, and I slept more than 10 hours each night which makes me think I might of actually needed the rest. My cold is now almost 100% gone as well. I am going to return to work on Monday and try to take it as easy as possible while trying to coral 150 kids into learning Algebra. So it has been an eventful but also not eventful last couple of days. As my friend Kristen says the baby will probably be two weeks late now and have to be enduced. I can only hope! If that happens, remind me when I'm two weeks over due that I once said that was a good thing.

Parsonage Party

Last night we had the band members from the contemporary service and their families over for dinner. It was great to thank them for all of their work at getting the new service going. We made a ham and our guests brought an appetizer or dessert to share. We played a music lyric game and had a fire in the beautiful fall night. It was quite the successful night.
About five minutes before we had people arriving Brian stubbed his toe on a wall upstairs. It was pretty bad. Looking back, I don't think I've seen Brian in so much pain since I've met him. But being the loving wife I am, all I could do about the problem was laugh. I'm not sure why exactly I found it funny. Maybe it's because it's not like the wall has moved for the last 80 years its been in existence, or maybe it's because I'm usually the one who does such careless things, but for some reason I thought it was funny. At least I was showing sympathy through my laughs and trying to help him attend to his bloody-stump-of-a-foot. I really wasn't that cold hearted, just a little giggly.
While I was apologizing for laughing as I helped him, Brian likened this toe-stubbing to the time he broke his hip during baseball and Hunter laughed at him from SS. In fact he told me, "You're just like Hunter when I broke my hip." Geoff, if you're wondering, Brian may still harbor some resentment about that. I hope as his foot pain subsides so does his recollection of my less than stellar wife performance. Brian is doing much better today and hopefully we will have no more instances of moving walls or laughing unsympathetic wives.

Deep Thoughts....

Saturday was another beautiful day weather wise here in MI. It was also a great day because Brian took about 50 people from St. Peter, food, a truck full of donated clothes, new socks, new underwear, and jackets to downtown Detroit where they put on an Oktoberfest with Peace Keepers International. They made the lunch in the Church's kitchen downtown and served around 400 needy people in the area. They had games for the kids that came and rented an inflatable castle bounce-house. It was a truly successful afternoon.
In the evening Brian and I attended a silent auction to benefit the Macomb Charitable Foundation that Brian is a board member of. This is a charitable foundation that a local man started with his own contributions years ago and another local woman embraced to help grow. The foundation helps out needy kids and families from Macomb County in numerous ways. There were over 300 people last night at the silent auction and besides being a fun evening, a lot of money was raised for the foundation, and the foundation does awesome things for the area!
I guess what has been occurring to me lately is how much Brian and I have, and how much our little girl already has. She has two loving parents, four loving grandparents, numerous relatives, and many friends all ready to lavish love on her. Contrast that to the people at the Oktoberfest or the people helped by the Macomb Charitable Foundation. I also can't help but think about my own students. One of my 16 year old students is also pregnant. She is about 4 months and going to her first prenatal appointment. I can't help but see the vast head start our little girl is getting.
Being six months pregnant, I think its natural to get a little reflective. I just want so much for our daughter already! (Besides health) I guess I just hope because of all she has been given and all we will give her, our little girl will help to make a difference one day. It makes me think of the Bible verse in Luke:
"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
Brian and I are certainly being entrusted with much. Hopefully, we will be able to give much as well!

Mr. Decorator

Fall has officially arrived here in Michigan. We went from close to 90 on Tuesday to under 60 in the same week. It was a nice break from the heat on the school front and has been just spectacular the last few days. On Saturday Brian and I spent some time winterizing the yard and doing little home projects getting ready for our our little girl. Brian worked on the baby's closet and we are happy to report he is now finished with that project. In the afternoon we went to one of the local garden nurseries to pick up some fall mums. Brian was too cute and decided on a fall theme for our side door. He said we should get two regular pumpkins and one little pie pumpkin in honor of our baby. So adoralbe He envisioned and put together the fall scene in our picture so I've been calling him Mr. Decorator. Who knew he was so multi-talented.
On Sunday we capped off our weekend with a big celebratory Octoberfest. Brian's church, St. Peter is celebrating its 125 year anniversary and the Octoberfest was the pinacle of the year long commemoration. There was plenty of German food, German beer, and dancing to be had. My favorite part was the homemade bavarian creme puffs! It was a great night and a great fall weekend.

What could be worse than being a Chicago fan?

As the Major League playoffs enter the division championships minus the Cubs, and the Bears have given a lackluster start to the NFL season, the disappointment of having Chicago allegiances is all to real. This past Monday night, however, we got an inside look at an allegiance that may even be tougher to stomach. While driving back to Michigan from Albany we stopped in Rochester, NY. There we were able to spend some time with the Hunter family, Geoff and Giselle, Chris Gerber, and Geoff's college friend, Andrew. The Hunters generously hosted us all at their house for the evening, lined up tickets for the guys to go to the Monday night Buffalo-Dallas football game, and put on an excellent tailgate party. I got to experience the art of the tailgate party which was complete with Mrs. Hunter's delicious taco dip. The guys threw the football around and impressively pulled off a Brian long snap, a Geoff 40 yard punt, and an Andrew successful catch. Considering the number of people, the number of cars, and the fact that we had been tailgating for around three hours already, this is more of a feat than you realize. The atmosphere for the game was something to experience and it was great to visit with everyone. The guys went on to the game and the girls headed home to watch with the expert analysis of one, Tony Kornheiser.

The game as you may know was amazing. I'm glad that the guys were able to be there for such a unique night. As Tony so eloquently put it during his commentary (something like), "You don't need a full moon tonight, it is 80 degrees in Buffalo on October 8th. Any amount of money anyone spent to be here tonight, however much work you had to miss, this is worth it." Pretty special for the guys to be a part of that night, except of course if you were a serious Buffalo Bills fan which the Hunters happen to be. Though it looked like a lock for Buffalo, somehow it just didn't happen for them. As a Chicago fan I could say I feel your pain, but I'm not so sure I do. I don't think 100 years of being lovable losers is worse than the one disappointment we Cubs fans had in 2003. Well, The Bills have had a slew of 2003s, which may indeed be more gut wrenching. Experiencing this somewhat first hand, makes me almost say being a Buffalo fan could be worse than being a Chicago fan. It certainly makes it harder to medicate your pain with the tried and true Chicago remedy of "next year". (By the way "next year" looks pretty good for our Cubbies.) Thanks Hunters for a truly great evening and great stay in Rochester!

NY Baby Shower

Saturday was our first official baby shower. Linda and Cheryl hosted it at Normanside Country Club, and everything was just perfect. The room was beautiful. The pink accents were just perfect and the menu of salad and panninis delicious. Mrs. Davies made chocolates molded into baby shapes and Cheryl made adorable boxes that held the favors. It was wonderful to see everyone that came on a busy Saturday and the presents were so generous and fantastic. I think anything baby-size is just too cute, and of course I love anything pink. I had three great helpers at the shower too, Michaela, Jenna, and Katie!

It was a special day and it made me realize again just how blessed my little girl and I are. To see pictures from the great day CLICK HERE.

Chicago Visitors

More news on the baby front; I am happy to report that her grandmother and others are seeing to it that our little girl is going to be a well dressed little lady. We are washing and hanging her clothes and as you can see from the pictures she has quite the wardrobe. My Mom has assured me that she will need all of this and much more. Considering they grow so fast out of the different sizes, I may agree. Already though, she has more pairs of shoes than her Daddy!

This past weekend my brother, Dad, and Mom visited. Someone Brian knows from church got the guys Lions-Bears tickets. The guys had a great time watching the game from the Chrysler supplier's luxury sky box. The game was good, but too bad the Bears are struggling so much. While she was here my Mom helped me organize some baby stuff and she finished the woodwork upstairs. My Dad and Bri went golfing on his "home" course Saturday morning and my Dad helped Brian cut the lawn on the riding mower Saturday.

Saturday night we went out to a local brewery and had a fire at home in the beautiful fall night. We played around the fire where I pretend I'm Tony Reali from Around the Horn and Mike and Brian give me their takes on sports questions. My Dad did a good Woody Paige. It was a great weekend!

Virus Free Computer

You may have noticed an absence in blog posts recently (or maybe not.) We have been very busy, but the real reason for the absence in updates is that our computer came down with an ad-ware virus. We were somehow getting annoying and not very nice pop-ups whenever we used the Internet. We had to bring it to a computer hospital (a store on Romeo Plank), get all our files taken off, the computer wiped clean, and all of our programs put back on. It is amazing how much you can miss technology. Though we have a little more set-up work on our end reinstalling programs and organizing files, I think we are now good.
The last two weeks have brought many fun activities. The baby has been very active in my stomach. I actually felt her for the first time at 14 weeks which was very early and now I feel here all the time. She is especially active after I eat and Brian has felt her kicks many times now too. I had my five month prenatal appointment and all is going smoothly. He asked if I was feeling the baby yet and that was a definite. He said that you can usually feel the baby when you are quiet and resting for the night. I feel her at all times during the day, even in the midst of a busy class period, and at least every hour! It is really special when I feel a jolt from her in the middle of the day. We got a new rug for our baby's room which you can hopefully see in the picture as well as an updated bump-watch.

Fall Harvest

The month of September has been absolutely gorgeous in Michigan. We have been trying to embrace the weather while we can by taking long evening walks and advantage of fall activities. Saturday was absolutely beautiful weather wise so we headed to a local apple orchard where we picked a half bushel of apples and hade some cider doughnuts. We've been using our little harvest for apple crisps, lunches, and snacks. We're not sick of them yet.
From our own backyard we have a large patch of Concord grapes. Last year the birds got to them, but this year we decided to take advantage of our little crop. We are making wine out of our grapes this year. We talked with some elderly people from church that have been making wine for years and found a hobby shop called Cap 'N Cork which specializes in making homemade beer and wine. The last weekend of September we invited two fellow wine loving friends from church, John and Leanne Stallman, and made our elementary attempt at wine production. By the way there was no grape stomping involved. Overly simplified, you make a sugar water solution and pour it over a third to hall full jug of grapes. You need special corks to keep the system sealed but not explosive (air is let out, but not in.) Over a month's time, the sugar eats the yeast of the grapes and produces alcohol. Then it takes a month to separate the sediment and let the wine age. Hopefully, by the time I'm ready to imbibe our homemade vintage will be palatable. We'll keep you posted.