Mother's Day, Greek Style

We spent a lovely mother's day at Evvia in Palo Alto this year celebrating nearly 3 generations of mom's. The nearly being me. Nothing says OPA! like some wonderful Greek food at one of our favorite establishments...that just happens to have Steve's godparents as its propietors. I enjoyed my usual Evvia fare, Horiatiki (classic Greek salad) and Arnisia Paidakia (grilled lamb chops). I'm glad a chose a favorite, as it was my last real meal for 2 days...but you'll hear more about that later.

In the meantime, here are some of the party-goers enjoying themselves:

Granny (Steve's maternal grandmother) and Noni (Steve's paternal grandmother)

The dad's likely discussing the upcoming special election over ouzo

Jennifer, Marissa and Andrea

More Showertime!

Last weekend brought some great weather and a gathering of good friends and family. My mother-in-law's friends have a wonderful tradition of throwing bridal and baby showers for each other's daughters and daughters-in-law. I was the lucky recipient of a lovely baby shower on Saturday, May 9th. Sue hosted at her house and the other 4 ladies cooked, baked, bartended, decorated and hosted like no others. As Steve would say, this wasn't their first rodeo.

The amazing hosts: Charese, Eileen, Patty, me, Sue and Debbie

After mingling outside and enjoying an amazing lunch, the group gathered to watch me open gifts. I always feel a little uncomfortable being "on stage" like that, but I know I enjoy seeing others open gifts, so I do my best to explain what it is and who it's from (without sweating too much). As with our wedding, I am so touched by everyone's generosity. And good taste...Piccolina will be one well-dressed child!

The captivated audience

My mother-in-law, Marcia, me (large and in charge-yikes!) and my mom in her cute new Shasta do.

8 weeks and counting...

Friday marked the start of my 8th month, week 32.
And from this photo, I look like I've been awake for all 32 weeks.
Exciting things to happen over the past few weeks:
-Braxton Hicks contractions have made it very difficult to exercise. Walking around the block, I have to stop at least twice because of the tightness in my belly. This has led to less exercise and therefore less energy and this strange feeling that my legs are turning to jell-o every time I stand up from sitting for a long time.

-We started birthing class at Los Olivos. Once a week for 6 weeks we meet with one perky teacher and 6 other couples to learn about what is happening to us and what is to come. There's some breathing, some graphic birthing videos and lots and lots of information I know we'll forget come delivery day.

Babies like soup, right? How about wine?

On Wednesday Steve and I brought a wonderful batch of minestrone soup over to the Imelli household (I know the soup was wonderful because I had it the night before...and because I cut the carrots). We hung out, chatted, learned some things about having a newborn, did puzzles with Lauren and just had a lovely time! Claire and Mark make it look so easy! Grant is an angel and I can only hope that Piccolina is as wonderful as he is. I held him for a good little while and he fussed some, but Claire did not take him back from me, which was very good. I need to get used to that! We knew he was hungry because he dove in for my boob a couple times...but nothing there for you, buddy. It was encouraging he could sense it was coming.

Grant, just 2 weeks old (born March 30th)

The most hilarious part of the evening was seeing Lauren in the chair she has set up at the back window to watch the workers landscaping their backyard.

The overlord overseeing her laborers.

There is nothing I like better than a child who knows how to "Cheese!"

Casual Friday

Friday was the start of my 30th week and here's the proof. Since I never seem to remember to have Steve take these pictures at home, thankfully my wonderful assistant, Meghan, likes to remind me. She will be "preggo photog" from here on out. Plus, I like the background of the bushes outside our office. This is more casual than we really ever dress at work...but it was Friday of Spring Break and I decided we would clean out one of our cluttered storage closets at work. And by "we", I mean Meghan and our student helper. I pretty much directed and made labels. And no, peanut gallery, I do not keep my label maker in a labeled box anymore. At least not my label maker at work.

Making Room for Baby

The last few weeks have been filled with the insanity that can only be brought on by moving. But we're not moving. Well, someone is moving in, in just about 10 weeks. And apparently she needs a whole lotta stuff. That's kind of how I've been thinking of it lately...there is someone coming to live with us. It's so strange to think of it in those terms. We've been on our own here for 3+ years, quite settled in our ways. I've been warned hundreds of times, but I know there is no way to mentally prepare myself for the changes ahead. So, we'll start by preparing the house.

I've been explaining it as "the domino effect" and that is really what it felt like. We decided to turn the office into the nursery, which meant that the office had to join with the guest room. Which meant that the guest room closet filled with china and nonsense had to be emptied to make room for the office closet stuff. It literally gave me a headache for weeks trying to figure out where everything should be relocated. But finally, after two long weekends of movement, organization and re-organization we've pretty much got it figured out. I don't want to post pics of the nursery until it's finished. The furniture is in and I love it. But it's not decorated, so you'll have to wait for that.

When I asked Steve to "smile" for this picture, he said "what's there to smile about?" I guess putting up shelves in a dusty space in the garage isn't all that fun.

The "Before" pictures of the office:

Hop to the Peninsula

We had such a nice Easter this year hosted by Steve's Aunt Valerie at her house in San Mateo. She was kind enough to include my parents too, which is so great and convenient for us! The highlight of the meal for me were the raviolis that Noni prepared. They were so good and I was thrilled to learn you can buy them in the store. It's a local company and rumor has it you can make your own filling, take it to them and they'll make the ravs for you! Genius. Chocolate ravs anyone?

Home Maid Ravioli

Too many cooks in the kitchen!

Adorable placecards

If my camera is around and Andrea is around, there will surely be some shots.
She's trying to capture the "best Facebook Profile pic" ever. This is a cute one!

Not our best pic, but proof that we were there and that I was, in fact, pregnant on Easter.
I do feel like an egg.