No AC...but you don't really need it in Europe. HA!

Okay, maybe it is just my 5+ months pregnant body, but when it is 80 degrees F outside it should not be 80 degrees F inside (thermostat says 26.5 C). I've got the windows open as much as I can and feel safe with, considering our little escape artist, and fans going in every room. Zach is sporting a diaper only, while we wait for Daddy to come home from his air conditioned office and suffer with us.

Signs of summer around here

Patio furniture


Things growing. We are loving all the flowers, but the yardwork, not so much. All these weeds were waiting for us when we got back from the States.

Zachary wanting to go outside all the time. And yes, there have been June evenings when pants and a jacket were called for. Luckily it hasn't gotten HOT hot yet.

I actually had to put curtains up in the kitchen because there was just too much light!

Going to the playground

and photos in the park.

Hope you are enjoying the season where you are!

El Paso adventures

Wow, the last week and a half has gone by really fast. Maybe because I was taking it easy trying to get rid of this sore throat, or maybe it was the baby news. The moments that I haven't been knocked out by exhaustion have been spent sorting Zach's old clothes and determining if I have enough Pooh and Tigger fabric for another quilt. Stuff like that. But I do want to catch you up on our adventures in the great state of Texas (well, and New Mexico...).

We celebrated Mary's birthday at a favorite Italian restaurant. I think I could have handled another helping of the tiramisu, but Zach preferred the ice cream, both eating it and feeding it to Grandpa.


Willie flew down as well to spend the week with all of us. We had a nice little cook-out at the house, with major plans for swimming which didn't go quite as planned. After all the getting ready Zach just wasn't interested in getting in the pool at all, though he'd had us fooled every time he was outside and ran towards it eagerly. Poor little guy maybe was teething or just not feeling well; he was unhappy the rest of the evening.

Zachary and Will taking a little nap on our drive to Carlsbad, New Mexico. We visited with some aunts and cousins in Loving, and just generally hung out and caught up. Zach had fun taking pictures and playing the piano.

We spent a couple hours at the El Paso Zoo. Again, Zach was more interested in gaining freedom from the stroller than anything else, but we did see some cool stuff.

And of course we ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant.

It was a fun week and was great to catch up with family. We're glad that Zach got a chance to hang out with Uncle Willie some more. He took more than a little interest in his guitar (got some video that I'll try to get up at some point) and this was the scene at the airport while we waited for our flights:

Who knows, maybe there will be another musician in the family...

A month+ of belly photos and THE ultrasound

And now the announcement you have all been waiting for: Baby the Sequel is...a BOY! We are very excited for Zach to have a little brother. The ultrasound today showed that he is growing well/normally and everything looks good. I'm not sure why the only photo the tech took was of his feet, but they are cute, aren't they?


And here you can see his growth:
16 weeks

17 weeks

18 weeks

19 weeks

20 weeks

Our time in Ohio

We had a fabulous, crazy busy time in Ohio visiting Jen & Andy and the babies. Jen and I have a knack for trying to fit in too much during our visits (and we wouldn't have it any other way), and then when you add three kids to the mix...well, let's just say our days were full.

Zachary enjoyed meeting Ben and Maggie (the peanut waiting to ask a question). He didn't really notice them on his own, even when they were crying, except when they were getting bottles. At that point they were a month old; Ben was up to over 8 lbs. and Maggie was up to 6 lbs.

Me and Maggie

We celebrated Mother's Day with a brunch, lots of their family, and lots of photos.

We spent an afternoon at the Cleveland Zoo.

Zach saw the monkeys. But I think he was more interested in running around than really looking at any animals.

Luckily some playmates showed up for him to have fun with. Natalie, another friend from college, met us there with her kids.

We took Zach to a park one day so he could play and I could take some photos of Jen, Andy and the twins. He enjoyed it, even when he was falling down or realizing that wood chips and gravel don't taste very good.

Some great family photos...it was hard to narrow down which ones to post.

And Jen took some great ones of us. It was the perfect day for it-a little cloudy and windy and not too hot.

On our last evening there we had a BBQ with Natalie and her family and another friend, Jenn, and her baby girl. For Zach, "going outside" now means having a little bit of freedom, and he loves it! He didn't even noticed getting a scraped-up knee (his first).

And we did manage to fit in some stuff for us (me and Jen) around all the get-togethers and outings: going to the mall, getting pedicures, watching the very exciting season finale of LOST. Frank and I got our fix of McDonald's breakfasts (and me of Starbucks), and we were able to go out to dinner with Jen & Andy not once, but twice (more of our faves: Macaroni Grill and Outback).

A very jam-packed week...somehow I thought the following week in El Paso was going to be less hectic (and maybe it was a little), but that is for another post.