My new pet names?

So I am almost 24 weeks (Friday) and I am feeling--shall we say--much larger? Due to this change in my body, Ryan and I have had some pretty funny conversations.

One day I was doing something that Ryan was worried about, so he made the comment that I was carrying precious cargo...
Me: "So you're just worried about my cargo, huh?"
Ryan: "No, it's like you're the Ark of the Covenant--important on the outside AND carrying precious cargo."
Me: "Um...thanks, honey." =)

Another day I was saying how I feel much larger...
Me: "I feel like a whale!"
Ryan: "I think you underestimate how much I like cetaceans."
For those who do not know, cetaceans are whales, and my husband did his Ph.D. dissertation on the movement of ancient whales.

6 Year Anniversary

On July 16, 2005, I got to marry my best friend. To celebrate our 6th anniversary this year, we went out to dinner at a local restaurant called Pacific Rim. The food was excellent and the restaurant was so beautiful with all its wooden decor. We started out with pork confit mu shu tacos (tender slow-cooked pork confit with a shiitake-jicama slaw and scallion mu shu pancakes), followed by soup (Ryan got the coconut curry soup, and I got the special chilled avocado with crab soup). We then had a nice spring salad while I sipped the house lemonade and Ryan drank his Coke.

For the main course, Ryan got a pan-roasted pork loin chop: Black Oak Farm pork loin chops crusted with panko and togarashi, with shallot soy-mustard sauce, lentils, and grilled zucchini, eggplant, and asparagus. I was limited in what I could eat due to the fact that so many of the dishes contained raw ingredients, but I was really satisfied with my grilled lemongrass chicken: lemongrass-marinated Miller Ranch all-natural chicken breast with rice, grilled vegetables, a chili-lime dressing, and scallion oil. After dinner we walked around downtown Ann Arbor and visited a few favorite shops, such as Vault of Midnight, and The Cupcake Station for dessert.

Then we went home for the rest of the evening. Ryan and I have the tradition of watching our wedding video, slideshow, and reception video on our anniversary each year, which always makes us smile at the people who are in our lives and realize how much has changed since we got married. We also wrote in our anniversary journal (another tradition), in which we write down the highlights and lowlights of that year of marriage while reading back over (and sometimes laughing at) what we wrote in prior years. So much has changed in six years, but one thing that has not is how much we love and adore being together.

Speaking of change, my baby belly has gotten bigger in recent weeks. Ryan even felt Peanut kick for the first time last night! Here I am on our anniversary at 22 weeks:

And here I am snuggling with our furry baby Duncan after we got back from dinner on our anniversary:

"Showered" by Wonderful Friends

It has been a busy couple of weeks, and a lot has happened. I am now "unemployed" since I really am not a stay at home mom yet...well unless you count Duncan and unborn Peanut. Our apartment is almost unrecognizable after all the boxes have taken over, but that will be a post all on its own, I promise. During these busy weeks, I had wonderful friends and co-workers throw me baby showers.

Kellie and Laura worked hard to give me a really adorable baby shower on July 9th at our church. It was great to see so many friends there and to receive love sent from others who could not be there. My parents were able to come up for the weekend and even catch a softball game before the shower on Saturday morning.

After a fun game, I received some super cute Kellie-made bibs and burp cloths...
U of M of course!

Super soft blanket with puppies from Lynsey and Lori

I continued to receive more of our cloth diapers!

The super cute diaper cake with more burp clothes and onsies with cute little tub toys (the whale on top was a Ryan favorite)! We will definitely enjoy the disposable diapers the first month when Peanut arrives.

The great group of friends and family who came (and the love that came with them from those who could not attend)

A week later, I ended my 2 1/2 years working for the U of M Anesthesiology Department. I will greatly miss all the people I worked with and was overwhelmed by their love and generosity on my last day. They threw me a "going-away baby shower" on my last day. I have never been sadder to leave a job. I will greatly miss all the wonderful people I worked with and hope to stay in contact with them all! (I didn't bring my camera so I missed out on pictures for this one... Sorry!)

More Good-Byes

So we are coming down to weeks, not months until we move to Bourbonnais, IL. I only have two days left at work and then the packing can really get into full swing. The hardest part for me right now is the unbelief of this all changing. It is really hard to believe that walking Duncan this morning I will not be waving at Matt and Courtney through their slider door. I still don't believe that after Thursday I will not be going to work at the OR desk with so many wonderful people that have made me feel unbelievably loved. We are going to be going to our last midnight movie with Jess and Michael this week. It is really hard to believe that what has become the normal after 6 years in Ann Arbor will all change soon. Ann Arbor has become home, but one thing that I have learned is that change can always be managed and enjoyed.