Latest on our Kitchen!!

We are getting closer and closer to having our kitchen back to normal. We received our cabinets today and tomorrow they are measuring for our granite. Hopefully by Friday we will have our tile and appliances....fingers crossed. I am predicting that the kitchen will be totally finished in two weeks. Alex and I are soooo ready for this project to be finished, we are sick of eating out for every meal. It will also be nice not to be living in such small quarters- everything from our kitchen and dinning room is in our living room and it leaves us feeling very cramped. Once the kitchen is done I will be cooking up a storm so if you have any great recipes to help us break in our new kitchen please send them my way!!

Boy, Oh Boy!!

Alex and I had our 20-week check-up and ultrasound today and we found out that we are having a baby boy! It was amazing to see our little guy and how much he has grown in the past several weeks. We saw our baby moving and squirming all around - he was mostly curled up on his side so the ultrasound technician had a hard time keeping him still to get the pictures she needed…it was so cute. At one point, I saw and felt him kick at the same time and that was very weird. The technician said everything looked really good and healthy and we were so happy to hear those words.

We wanted to find out what we were having in a creative way, so my good friend Gina gave me a great idea to create a card that said “Congratulations, you're having a boy or girl." I then asked the ultrasound technician to circle the right one and seal the card in the envelope. After our appointment, we had lunch at Ralph Lauren on Michigan Ave where I asked our waitress if she would like to participate in our exciting news and she enthusiastically agreed. I had purchased two pink and two blue straws and asked our waitress to go back to the kitchen, open our envelope and place the corresponding straws in our drinks. She came back to our table, hiding our drinks with a tray, and asked "What do you think it is?" We both at the same time guessed that it was a girl and then she revealed to us that we were, in fact, having a boy. We were certain that we were having a girl so we were surprised but of course we were both thrilled!!

I was so excited about finally finding out what we were having that I wanted to go shopping and buy a couple cute outfits. Below are some pictures from our exciting day.

Update on Kitchen

Our kitchen is moving along quite nicely and we are about half-way done with our project. The only things left to do for our great contractors are the hardwood floors, cabinets, granite, tile and paint. We hope everything is completely finished by the end of the month. Now that our kitchen is near completion, I would love to do our bathroom next!!

Labor Day: Beech Mountain, North Carolina

For Labor Day, Alex and I were invited to go to Beech Mountain, North Carolina with our friends from Atlanta. We left on Thursday and flew into Raleigh/Durham where Alex's brother Michael lives. We stayed the night with him and his fiancee Rachel, it was so great to see them even though it was just for a night. On Friday, we headed out to Beech Mountain which is 3 1/2 hours west of Raleigh. The drive was absolutely gorgeous as there were beautiful, green trees everywhere.

We met up with our friends (Cam, Catherine, Greg and Jon) at their cabin and had such a memorable time. For a short weekend we sure did a lot - we cooked out, played games, swam in the waterfalls and enjoyed each others company. Alex and I have definitely found a new favorite spot and we are looking forward to going back!

A fun fact about Beech Mountain is that it sits at 5,506 feet and it's the highest incorporated town on the east coast.

17 Week Check Up

Today I had my 17 week check up at the doctor's office. So far I have only gained 9 pounds, so I am right on target. Today I heard for the first time the baby's heartbeat. Dr. Dipasquale said that the baby was moving around and she couldn't get the heartbeat, so she had to "trap" the baby. The heartbeat was around 150 beats per minute. Today was a very exciting day at the Dr.'s office. We find out the sex on September 15th so stay tuned!!

1st Chicago Bears Game

At the last minute Alex and I got 2 great tickets (35 yard line 8th row up) to the Bears game on Thursday night. I am a big fan of professional football(Go COWBOYS!!!!) so I am always up for a game. Neither one of us had ever been to Soilder Field (the new field)before, so it was very exciting and a fun first for the both of us. Unfortunately the Bears ended up losing but they gave it a good effort.

Now let's be clear my love goes to" My Cowboys "and I was tempted to wear my Cowboy t-shirt but I decided not to. I ended up wearing a Bears hat ....I just had to pretend since the Bears fans can be a little rough sometimes.