28 weeks

Christmas Day Pictures

Christmas Day

This year Jared and I celebrated Christmas morning with just the two of us - that is actually the first time that has ever happened! We have either been traveling or had guests every year for Christmas since we started dating. It was a wonderful morning, Jared spoiled me as usual, and it will be our last Christmas morning with just the two of us for a long time!!

For Christmas dinner we went to Jared's parent's fattoria (that's farm in Italian) to celebrate. Because we don't have kids yet, we only take pictures of the dogs....;) Here are some pictures of Roma and her Uncle Midas enjoying the snow. It was a beautiful day!

Christmas Eve Dinner

Jared had the day off on Christmas Eve which was nice for me! He was my chauffeur for the day as we finished up a few last minute errands. We went to dinner at Mike & Colby’s. The food was delicious! We missed all of our family that couldn’t be there with us. I am 27 weeks pregnant and Colby is 18 weeks pregnant in this picture.

Off to work

Well we have a total of 10" accumulated from the last two days. Jared just arrived at the Microsoft campus in Redmond - the lady at the front told him he was the only person she'd seen come in so far today. He said there were 5-6 cars in the parking lot - it will be a quiet day in the office for him!

More Snow

At last measure we have had about 8.5 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours, which is quite a lot for the Seattle area! That's 5 inches overnight and 3.5 inches so far today, and the snow hasn't quit yet. It looks liked Jared might be working from home again tomorrow, much to his disappointment. It's hard for him to stay focused with me, Roma, and all of the other distractions at home during the day. But I love having someone home with me, especially when I can't leave because the driving conditions aren't the safest right now. So lucky me!

Mozzarella Making

This is day #4 of being trapped in the house (other than the necessary starbucks runs of course) due to the snow. Jared says we have to live off the fat of the land and learn to make things from scratch in preparation for the massive worldwide depression that will hopefully hit in the next week. Oh Jared.....

So he decided to make his own cheese. This is his first attempt at cheesemaking.

The consistency is good, the taste not so much. I ate one bite and that will suffice for me. It tastes a little bit like stale milk but Jared is going to eat it any ways. One of the two balls of cheese is already gone. One gallon of milk yielded about 14 ounces of cheese. Here is the finished product:

Roma's Early Christmas

Roma opened her first Christmas present last night, without asking of course. She wanted to go outside around midnight, and we were both sleeping, so we told her no and then went back to bed. Well when Roma gets bored it seems she always finds some way to show you that she should have gotten her way!

It was actually a present for her dad, an electronics gift for Jared with that horrible hard plastic packaging that she must have gnawed on for an hour. I hope the gift still works - pictures of that after Christmas when Jared has officially opened it! It looks like she had a marvelous time....

Personify Design Christmas Party

Snow Day

Since it rarely snows in the Seattle area it's very exciting for us! The flakes started yesterday evening and we have two inches of snow at our house right now (as you can see on the deck rail) - so fun! Jared and I had a wonderful day enjoying the snow, our coffee, and a nice fire. Poor Jared will probably have a long commute tomorrow morning - they are expecting more snow tonight, and freezing temperatures so the roads will be icy.

25 weeks

and I'm feeling huge! I can't believe I am going to get bigger than this....;)

Puppy Whistle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHAshi4vdbg

I saw this video today and thought it was just one of the cutest things ever - puppies are just so adorable!!

Accenture Christmas Party

Jared and I went to his work Christmas party last night at the Sculpture Park in Seattle. It was the first time we'd been to that venue, so it was fun to check it out. This is me at 24 weeks! I also made Jared stand in front of the tree by himself for a picture, which he thought was very weird.

I was so excited to get together with Laura and Kari the weekend after Thanksgiving. It wasn't the same without Steph and Erinn - wish we all lived closer! But it was great to see the girls and the fun little babies. I could not believe how much Sean had grown since I last saw him! And Ella was quite cute with an outfit that matched her mom's, as usual!

Christmas decorating is finished!

Jared put up the lights on the house this weekend, and he also helped me decorate the top half of the tree. Apparently he doesn't think a pregnant lady should be on a ladder.....weird. Our house is lit up and there are Christmas decorations everywhere. I love the holiday season!

Proof Roma loves the vet

In case we needed anything else to prove to us that Roma just loves going to the vet, she got into more trouble tonight! Roma never ever chews on anything in the house. I left a strand of lights on the floor in the gym (where she often chooses to lay) a couple of nights ago. We go in there tonight to find that she has chewed through the strand, has been chewing on the lights, and it appears she ate a couple of the bulbs. What the heck is wrong with this dog?!

So Jared called Katie, his friend who is a vet, and got instructions for us to follow. We didn't really want to go in to the emergency clinic if we didn't have to...it's a good thing we have such a large dog otherwise all of these little problems she has would be much more serious. We are now on watch for the next few days to make sure she doesn't have any major stomach problems.

I hope Anthony is not as high maintenance as Roma is......

Christmas Trees

We went up yesterday to get our Christmas tree from the mountains. No snow up there yet, which makes it much easier to find a tree. Though Jared was disappointed he couldn't do any sledding. I always have trouble finding the "perfect" tree - I think this will be our last year getting a tree in the mountains until our children have their own tree and can go pick one out!

Tis the Season

Join us in donating to the Salvation Army again this year. We are all so blessed to have everything that we do. I don't remember the exact statistic, but Salvation Army gives somewhere between 88-90% of every dollar you donate back to the community. It's a great way to help out and know that your money is really going to make a difference for someone. Donate to our red kettle today!!

To learn more about their programs, visit:
http://www.salvationarmynw.org/

work, work, work

Jared works so hard as an analyst during the week, and then works at home as a carpenter on the weekends! This weekend he finished the baseboards in Anthony's room, installed the new light fixture, and put together the crib. Jared loves taking care of his "two babies" as he likes to call me and Anthony, and we are so thankful for that!

Huskies Game

Saturday was the last game of the season.....winless so far with a couple of away games left. What a team. We were lucky this year - only rained at one game and we had great weather for the rest. I'm not sure how many games we'll make it to next year with a new baby!

21 Weeks

I feel like I am HUGE, though I certainly don't look huge yet.

Nursery

Jared is painting the baby's room this weekend. I chose a really light blue color that will look great with the dark furniture we are going to have in the room. There is still a lot to be done once paitning is finished. Jared will be replacing all of the moldings and electrical outlets and cleaning the carpets before he can set up the crib! We are on the way to having a finished nursery!

Pumpkin Carving Party at Ken & Erica's

Where's Roma?

Roma has two friends in the house now, a giant sized Bernese Mountain Dog and a mini one. She is quite curious about these two....we are trying to teach her not to play with the baby's toys.

Well I finally did it. Towards the end of my 20th week now, and finally had to wear maternity jeans.

As I was getting dressed yesterday I realized that all of my jeans that still fit were dirty. So I thought this would be the day I give these maternity jeans a shot. I never really thought it would be that hard, but when it came down to it, I didn't want to wear them. They are fat pants after all. Now I understand why Erinn never wore maternity jeans for her first baby....

But once I gave in and put them on, I was sold! Maternity jeans are the most comfortable pants ever - I felt like I was wearing sweat pants all day, and who doesn't love that?! I might have to buy another pair, that's how cozy these pants are!

Other news this week: Jared spent just under four hours commuting to/from work yesterday. It's raining in Seattle - is this new?? Why aren't people used to this around here?! I am thankful that Jared works so hard to take care of his family. Roma likes to eat!

I made my first loaf of rustic Italian bread this week, and it turned out great! I never liked baking and now that I'm pregnant I have the desire to bake all the time. Lucky for Jared.....

November 5th

Today is one of my favorite days of the year - if you need me, I'll be at the Half Yearly Sale!! Hopefully I can still squeeze myself into some new clothes....it's a good thing the shoes are on sale too!

http://shop.nordstrom.com/?origin=tab-logo

Anthony Vito Anardi is already very active, which leaves me wondering what we have in store.....

It's a Boy!!

Here is our little guy, weighing in at a whopping 13 ounces. He's in the 61st percentile for weight right now. He is perfectly healthy - Jared and I are so blessed!!

18 weeks pregnant! I'm finally starting to show and still feeling great. Tomorrow we get to find out if we are having a boy or girl and then the nursery decorating can begin! I'm sure that we are going to have the happiest little baby, because Jared keeps me hysterically laughing most of the time. Baby and I are doing well!

Welcome!

We've finally decided to start a blog in hopes that family and friends far and near will be able to keep up with our daily life. We are both so looking forward to the birth of our little baby in March, and can't wait to be parents. Stay tuned as we have so much in store for the next year.