All Things Baby!

30 weeks today!  Only 10 more to go...and I'm feeling the nesting urge and time crunch to have everything perfect for Baby Sam's arrival.  The nursery is coming together, I have a list of must-haves that I need to shop for, and my growing belly serves as a constant reminder that we are in the home stretch.  And we couldn't be more excited!  Blaine and I talk daily about meeting her for the first time and what our lives will be like once she's here.  She's moving constantly and we enjoy watching and feeling her little squirms, punches, and kicks.  Aside from swollen feet and fingers (my wedding rings are officially stuck and will probably have to be cut off soon), and some backaches, I'm feeling great and anxiously look forward to delivery day!

To capture this amazing time, we decided to take some maternity pictures.  I set out to hire a photographer, but decided that we could do them ourselves to save some money.  We scouted out areas with nice backgrounds, bought a wireless shutter remote for the camera, and set out with our tripod and gear on a beautiful and sunny Saturday afternoon!  I was skeptical, but, to my surprise, I think we got some really nice shots.  And we learned that Blaine is actually a great photographer!  Out of 400 photos, we ended up with about 40 that I would actually put into an album.  I look at these pictures and still laugh because the photographer I was talking with wanted me to wait another five to seven weeks so that my belly would be "nice and round".  I don't think that was a problem for these pictures...and I don't think I will want to be photographed in another five to seven weeks.  ;)

We went in yesterday for a 4-D ultrasound, something I wasn't sure we would do, but decided on it after all.  Mainly, I wanted to see her again and make sure she was doing well in there.  Our ultrasound tech was AMAZING, taking the time to go over every detail and she checked out all of her measurements again to ensure her growth is right on track.  She also checked (for the third time at my request) that she is, indeed, a girl.  :)  Samantha was not very cooperative, hiding her face in my side, but we got some decent shots.  Our tech (again, LOVE her) said she could get better shots and scheduled us to come back in two weeks to try again...for free!  Maybe I'll have some better pictures then, but for now, you can get some idea of what our precious girl looks like.  We think she is beautiful!

Little fingers and feet!

Side of her face...and yes, she is smiling!  Check out those chubby cheeks!!  As soon as I saw this image on the screen, I thought she looked just like my mom.  And my mom thought that was funny because when I was born, she and my dad said the same thing about me...that I looked like my grandma!

I'll post more ultrasound pictures in two weeks, granted we get some better ones.  And I'm sure my blog posts will consist of baby stuff, nursery pictures, etc. over the next 10 weeks...since that's ALL that's on my mind!  :)

Christmas in Europe!

I really need to blog about our European Christmas vacation before we are into February!  Needless to say, we had a great time and it was wonderful to see our friends, the Knapps!  They were awesome tour guides and made all of our arrangements ahead of time, which made our trip stress-free.  We were able to relax and just take in the beautiful sights of Germany and France.

Our first adventure was to the Christmas markets in the adorable villages of Bernkastel-Kues and Trier.  We sampled gluhwein (hot, mulled wine) at both markets...I had kinder punch (hot grapejuice) but did have a taste of the real thing.  ;)  Blaine sampled enough gluhwein for the both of us.  ;)  The markets and the villages were so charming and the bratwursts were outstanding!  I could have eaten one for every meal.  We decided that collecting gluhwein mugs from each market would serve as a good souvenir from Germany.

Bernkastel-Kues Christmas market

Our first stop at every Christmas market!

It was COLD, so the hot gluhwein (and kinder punch) was perfect.

I fell in LOVE with the Christmas decorations in each village...and maybe all over again with this guy. ;)  Check out that huge mistletoe!

The buildings were exactly what I would expect from a German village...so cute!

Trier Christmas market

Enjoying more gluhwein...this is where I actually had the real thing.  :)

Our next stop was the amazing village of Rothenburg.  This is THE picturesque German village and Christmas market you might see in a fairytale storybook.  This was definitely my favorite village.  We stayed overnight in a cute hotel run by a sweet German man who was quite the character.  :)

Adorable streets of Rothenburg

Rothenburg at night

Rothenburg Christmas market

The lights were so pretty!

Rothenburg is surrounded by a wall, dating back to medieval times.  You can walk along the wall around the entire village.

After returning from Rothenburg, we enjoyed a nice and relaxing Christmas at Mike and Jewlee's home.  It was so much fun to watch the kids' excitement while opening gifts on Christmas morning!  Later that afternoon, we were invited to one of their German neighbors' homes for cake and coffee.  What a treat!  Claus and Gertie served us a spread of different desserts with coffe and we really enjoyed visiting with them.  The way they entertain reminded me so much of my German grandparents.  :)

Kaiserslautern Christmas market...I can't recall what day we went here, but it was near Christmas.  We also stopped for dinner and had amazing schnitzel!!

The day after Christmas, we headed to Paris on the ICE train (the fast one that gets you there in two hours)!  We spent two nights in Paris in an adorable hotel near the Arc de Triomphe..amazing!  In addition to the Arc de Triomphe, we saw the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, and took in the sights of this romantic city.  The architecture is breath-taking!

Arc de Triomphe...just around the corner from our hotel!

The Eiffel Tower...impressive during the day but AWESOME at night!

Our best picture in front of the Eiffel Tower...taken with my iPhone.  Go figure.

Paris even had a Christmas market!

I think this was the Hotel de Paris from looking at the signs outside...stunning!!

Notre Dame 

We took a lunch break near Notre Dame and Blaine ordered a beer.  THIS is the obnoxious production that came to the table.  Times three!  All three of the guys ordered one.  ;)  

The Louvre Palace where the Louvre museum is located...once again, we were blown away by the amazing architecture and attention to detail!

Ah, the Mona Lisa.  We were not blown away by this...ask anyone who has seen it and they will probably concur.  While I'm sure the painting is fascinating in person, no one could get anywhere near it to enjoy it because of the ropes and annoying crowd of people trying to take self-portraits with the painting with their iPhones and iPads.  Not a great experience.  

On our last day in Paris, we were returning to the metro after finding a Starbucks for Jill's France mug :), and we stumbled upon this statue.  It is an exact replica of our Statue of Liberty's torch.  To our surprise, though, it also sits atop the tunnel where Princess Diana died.  I snapped this quick iPhone picture, only to realize later that I got a perfect shot of the Eiffel Tower in the background.  

We spent our last day in Heidelberg, another gorgeous German village.  We toured the Heidelberg Castle (beautiful!) and had a great meal of brats, potatoes, and sauerkraut.  Yummy!  Yes, I love sauerkraut...must be my German roots.  ;)

Looking over the village of Heidelberg

Heidelberg Castle

Heidelberg Castle

We really maximized our days of sight-seeing, despite my poor, swollen feet.  I can't wait to get back to Europe again to tour some more!  Thank you, Knapp family, for a great visit and fun memories!

A Trip to Texas!

I traveled to Texas recently for a number of reasons, to include attending my first baby shower hosted by my mom and sisters!  Although it was a long 12 hour drive (don't worry, I stopped and stretched my legs often), it was worth it to see my family and friends.  They did a great job and it was awesome to see so many friends and family, including my sister-in-law, Jill, who flew all the way from California!

This is the photo my mom included in her Christmas cards this year...to break the news that BOTH my sister, Andie, and I are expecting!  She's due in June.  :)

Guests signed the inside cover of a Christmas classic, "The Night Before Christmas".  We plan to start a Baker family tradition and read this book to Samantha each Christmas Eve.  

The shower theme was "Baby It's Cold Outside!", but the Texas weather didn't cooperate and it was actually closer to 80 degrees that day.  Sigh...

Yummy cupcakes from Lone Star Bakery...so good!

Andie made this adorable burlap bunting!  And we had a baby photo guessing game (an idea we used at another shower that I LOVED!)

Hot chocolate bar goodies!

The food was great and made such a pretty display!

Guests playing the photo guessing game!

My friend, Tammy, had this cute caddy made and filled it with adorable gifts!

Opening gifts...one of many sweet outfits we received!

Baby Sam's first monogrammed outfit!  :)

The Sutton girls...Cassandra, me, Mom, and Andie.  Thank y'all for a beautiful and memorable shower!

So I mentioned that I traveled to Texas for a number of reasons...besides attending my shower, I drove there to celebrate an early Christmas with family and I took our dogs there so that my parents could watch them over the next two weeks.  Why, you may ask??  Blaine and I are leaving for Germany tomorrow!!  I can't believe we are actually going and I am beyond excited!  Our dear friends and old neighbors from Hawaii, the Knapps, moved there when we moved to Alabama.  Thankfully they were serious when they invited us for Christmas because we accepted the invitation!  We will spend nine glorious days touring the Christmas markets and castles in Germany, spending Christmas with our friends in their home, and enjoying Paris for a few days, too!  I'm sure I will have plenty of pictures to post and adventures to blog about when we return.  :)

Since we will be leaving tomorrow, Blaine and I celebrated Christmas at home last night.  We went out for dinner, exchanged gifts, and watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  We also reflected on the thought that this will be the last Christmas with just the two of us...and for that, we are thankful and feel so blessed!  

This card was in my stocking and was addressed "to the family".  Blaine found a card with characters that he could name all three of my babies.  It made me cry.  :)

I got Blaine a new scarf and gloves to keep him warm while we're in Europe.

Blaine got a pull up bar, something he's been wanting since joining the local Crossfit gym.  He is also getting new golf shoes, but they have yet to arrive.

I got a new toaster (ours has been acting up lately).  And then Blaine led me to believe that we were done with gifts, until he returned from the garage with this...

A new sewing machine!  This is what I asked for and I was thrilled to see him carrying it inside!  Of course, I don't even know how to turn the thing on, but I am planning to learn.  I figure I should learn so I can teach Samantha how to sew...and so that I can sew all those cute things I keep pinning on Pinterest.  ;)

Stay tuned for a post on our Christmas vacation in Germany!!