day one.

we have spent the first day.....staring, holding, sleeping, eating, cuddling, smiling and simply getting to know our newest addition to the family.  we are totally in love and completely smitten' with her.

xoxoxoxo

she is here!!

we joyfully announce the arrival of our daughter, Logan Maeve Ainsworth, on November 29, 2011, at 5:53 pm. she weighed in at 9 pounds and 7 ounces and has the most adorable chubby cheeks!

{grand} dads.

{grand} dads are the best.

helping us install baby girl's car seat.

aren't they cute!?

xoxoxox

national gallery of art fun.

as we continue to WAIT for baby girl...

we have been hitting up some art museums with family members.

xoxoxo

tgiving in dc.

this year, jeffrey and i hosted our first thanksgiving.  we had both sets of parents here plus the two (or is it three!?) of us.  at the end of the evening, jeffrey and i were talking about how special this day was.  how rare and sentimental this year's thanksgiving was to us.  we got to host in our amazing city and spend time with BOTH sets of our lovely parents.  we of course missed siblings and cousins and extended family very much this year and wish we could be celebrating with everyone, but our little girl is coming VERY soon and we cannot exactly travel.  it was beyond lovely to get this special time with our parents before our family starts growing and growing.....we are thankful for this time, thankful for our loved ones and thankful for our little one on the way. 

xoxoxox

tgiving prep.

 

ann and me in the kitchen getting ready for thanksgiving dinner.

my mouth is watering as we speak.

tgiving meal = a pregnancy gals dream.

xoxoxox

thankful.

{image from rockstar diaries}

with thanksgiving fast approaching, 

giving thanks is on my mind.  

especially during a time when i have so much to be thankful for....

the health and happiness of loved ones

the BIG little girl growing inside me

my loving husband

quality time with family and friends

food - glorious food

{seriously cannot wait for some sweet potato casserole, turkey and mango loaf}

and little things like:

colorful leaves

fire in the fire place

cards in the mailbox

fresh laundry

peppermint hot chocolate

baby clothes

christmas decorations

decorative paper

hugs

back and foot rubs

cherry vanilla cola

baths

hope everyone has a lovely tgiving!

we are staying put for the first time in 10 years and 

hosting jeff's parents as well as my parents

for a big ole turkey dinner in our tiny dining room.

should be warm, cozy and everything nice.

xoxoxo

breaking dawn fun.

had to make it to the theater this weekend to see

breaking dawn, part 1

of the twlight series.

it was wonderfully corny, ridiculous and glorious

all at the same time.

xoxoxox

waiting.

hey big girl, 

got to see you on the big screen today.

you are already weighing 8 lbs and 12 ounces

{the docs are predicting}

and we are still a good 10 days away from your due date.

maybe this big ole turkey dinner coming up

will get things moving along :)

xoxoxox

an evening of country music.

last night, we ventured over to the library of congress to see the country music association songwriters series.  the concert consisted of song writers and performances by clint black, patty loveless, bob di piero, and tim nicholas.  before each song was preformed, these four told stories of how hit country songs came to be.  they had us laughing and entertained throughout the entire performance.  and the neat part was the concerts at the library of congress are FREE.  amazing because it was a DELIGHTFUL evening complete with dinner before at we, the pizza and drinks afterwards at sonoma with dear friends!

xoxoxoxox

38 weeks.

hey little lady,

your momma and dadda are sooo ready to meet you!

xoxoxox

the nursery!

baby girl's nursery is complete!  wahoooo!  i feel like we have been working, planning and thinking about this room since last march and now it finally put together.  a very special place to bring our little one once we come home from the hospital.

the space we are working with was on the difficult side.  the room doesn't have any windows {we call it the "cave"} and the room is a small one.  we decided to keep the double bed we had in the room incase one of us needs to crash in the nursery and also for our guests.  we could have purchased a twin bed for more space, but we had a double bed, so we went with that.  we also didn't have room for a rocker/glider and are going to see if we even need one of those once she arrives.  maybe we can fit it into our main room.

we finished this room just in time, as i started having some contractions on sunday night.  nothing too regular, so i think my body is "just practicing."  it could be days away or it could be weeks away.  we shall see :)

 my cute mama is working on an art peice to go above these drawers...

 

xoxoxoxo

chili cook off 2011.

our sweet friends, the cheeks, host a fabulous chili cook every fall {isn't that a fun tradition!}  it is a delightful gathering filled with good friends, delicious food, and lots of judging.  the cute cheeks put together prize bags for the winners and we all vote for our favorites.  the chili cook off is a guaranteed good time and this year did not disappoint!

 the orange pot is jeffrey's chili

this year he named it "helga's hotness"

 carol and me in our stripes

 jason, jeff and sean "looking off"

 lovely ladies: 

carol, megan, baby evelyn, blair and holly

 and the winner is....

jeffrey's chili - "helga's hotness" for BEST CHILI!

 

jeffrey practicing with baby willa

thanks cheeks for another lovely chili cook off!

good times indeed!

check out pictures from last year's chili cook off here.

xoxoxoxo

awkward and awesome moments in my pregnancy.

{i like stripes.}

thought i would take a moment to record the awkward, not so fun moments in my pregnancy as well as the awesome and amazing moments in my pregnancy in case these moments leave my mind in the coming years.

awkward moments in my pregnancy ::

1. the nausea that overwhelmed me during the first trimester.  trying to teach while your head is down and you are munching on saltines is no easy task.

2. receiving the comments "you are huge" or "are you having twins" from strangers is not the most encouraging.

3. when your lower school students ask "well how did the baby get in there?"  and "how is your baby going to get out of your tummy?"  i respond with "that is a question for your parents." 

4. when you gain 14 pounds in one doctor visit and your doctor says "wow that is rare.  i don't see that very often."

5. when my belly starts to bump and run into things because i don't realize how truly big it is.

6. how my back and hips are aching during this last month.  no position (lying, sitting, standing) is truly comfortable in the end.

7. sleeping on your side.  what i wouldn't give to sleep on my back for just ONE night!

8. the hourly trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  the really awkward part is the high kicks i have to do in order to get myself out of bed.

9. no one really tells you that you start to outgrow your maternity clothes.

10. those lovely swollen ankles.  aren't those fun!?

11. the fact that jeffrey and i cannot agree upon a middle name.  it is making me crazy!

12. trying to not think about the actual birth and just keep chanting, "i think i can i think i can."

awesome moments in my pregnancy ::

1. peeing on that stick, realizing we were truly pregnant and hugging jeffrey!  then going out to dinner to celebrate.

2. announcing our joyful news to our family, friends and co-workers.  it is such a FUN time!

3. the first ultrasound where you get to hear and see the heartbeat.  pretty amazing.

4. the second trimester rocked!  i felt amazing, the belly bump was starting to show and we found out the sex of our little one, which i was DYING to know!

5. discovering that we were having a GIRL!  we didn't care one way or the other, but finding out that we were having a daughter made the whole experience so much more real for us.  

6. working and designing the nursery.  i just love that stuff.

7. amazing baby showers filled with love and loved ones.  i felt so very lucky.

8. when jeffrey rubs and talks to my belly.  it kinda melts my heart.

9. when she moves around inside my belly.  we have a little dialogue going on.  at this point, it is really just me to talking to her.

10. glorious baths - the best part of my day since it is the only relief my back can get right now.

11. when jeffrey and i plan for her future and get all excited about the moments that are to come.

12. i know nothing will compare to the moment when we finally get to meet our little one face to face. 

xoxoxo

shake shack goodness.

after my doctor's appointment this morning, 

i treated myself to a little shake shack goodness. 

these burgers are amazing.

fresh ingredients, a good amount of grease and 

some delicious "shake shack" sauce.

the fries are perfectly crispy too.

and who doesn't love a crispy fry?

the shakes are pretty darn rad as well.

this scrumptious lunch combined with a healthy report

for baby helga makes for a GREAT wednesday!

xoxoxo

texas tortilla soup.

this is probably my all time favorite soup/stew that jeffrey makes in the fall/winter months.  it is simply delicious and makes many servings, so we have leftovers all week!

in case you want to make some at your home too....

you will need ::

2 - 4 tablespoons of butter

1/2 cup of oil, divided

1 large onion, chopped

1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 large carrots, diced

6 ribs of celery, diced

1 lb. raw chicken meat, diced

1 tsp. each of ground cumin, chili powder, salt and lemon pepper

3 tsp. hot red pepper sauce

1/2 cup of flour

1 (14 oz.) can tomatoes

4 (10.5 oz.) cans of chicken broth

served with ::

corn tortilla chips

1 cup of sour cream

4 avocados, seeded and diced

1 cup of grated cheddar cheese

instructions ::

heat butter and 1/4 cup of oil in large kettle over medium-high heat

add onion, jalapeno, garlic, carrots, celery and chicken

simmer 5 minutes

stir in cumin, chili powder, salt, lemon pepper, pepper sauce and flour

add tomatoes and chicken broth

stir well and simmer 1 hour.

to serve ::

put soup in a bowl and top with sour cream, chips, avocado and cheese.  makes 6 - 8 servings. 

YUMMY!

p.s. - have yall ever seen the adorable movie tortilla soup??  it is about a single dad raising his three daughters.  it is such a delightful little movie. 

xoxoxo

weekend bits. {according to my iphone}

 

cannot get enough of peppermint hot chocolate these days.

fall leaves + an extra hour over the weekend = yes please.

this weekend was a relaxing one.  a beautiful one weather wise.  and since jeffrey and i have only a handful of weekends left before our family of two turns into a family of three, we are trying to take full advantage of date nights, eating out, spending time with friends, etc.  we hope to continue to do these activities once she arrives - it will just be different to say the least.  so we had a relaxing, beautiful weekend just the two of us.   

xoxoxoxo