Bunge Blurbs

New Blog

2010-02-06T21:50:00.002-05:00

I have moved our postings to a new blog
Hope you guys will continue to follow and check us out. I will keep this blog up for anyone wanting to look at past blogs, but all future blogs are on our new site.

No soup for you

2010-01-29T13:49:00.003-05:00

... unless you eat it at home. David and I have decided that we are going to try our hardest to not eat out for the entire month of February. I know that sounds drastic, and you may be wondering why we don't just limit ourselves, but we really believe we can do this. Plus, it will give me the opportunity to try a lot of the new recipes I have. I'll keep you posted on how things come along.

You've come a long way, baby

2010-01-21T09:22:00.005-05:00

Our little man is 2 1/2 months old already! Before Harrison was born, I remember telling David how the thought of giving birth seemed so surreal. Now that I've done it and he is almost 3 months old, the fact that I did give birth to him already now seems surreal. In a way, it seems akin to our wedding day. So wonderful and full of happy memories, yet our actual wedding seems a bit foggy. Don't get me wrong, I remember little details (I think) and what actually took place, but I wish it had been recorded. I was just reading how our memories of events (mostly how we acted) can be somewhat inaccurate; especially when it comes to the details. I feel like I give an accurate portrayal of how Harrison's birth day went down, but perhaps I don't fully remember how I was. I only remember grunting like Xena, Warrior Princess (according to David) at the very end, but maybe I was that way throughout. Hmm...maybe I don't wish anything had been recorded :).
Well, here it is 10 weeks later. My little man has grown from 7 lbs, 13 oz and 21" to a whopping 12 lbs (probably 13 now), 24". He no longer simply eats and then goes back to sleep after being up for maybe 10 minutes. Besides getting bigger, here is a list of some of our chunk 'a monk's developments:

more hair - the hair is becoming fuller and present in more places on his head. He still has a bald spot on the back, though.
lighter eyes - still not sure if they'll turn out blue or not, but right now they have changed from steel grey to blue
bushier eyebrows :) - He definitely has his daddy's eyes. Once those eyebrows started to fill in and get darker it became clear who he was taking after. He has Daddy's beautiful, long eyelashes, too.
sleeping through the night - being a good sleeper, especially at night, was never an issue for Harrison, but we had to wake him up for feedings. Over Christmas, we dropped the 4:30 am feeding, and we got rid of the 10:30 pm feeding almost a week ago. He is now sleeping from 9/9:15 pm - 7:30 am!
moving and grooving - Harrison now moves his arms and legs around like it's a constant dance party. In fact, in light of his new movements we have started dance party in the evenings. He is on the brink of rolling over. He rocks side to side, but has yet to roll over. Tummy time is not his favorite, but we make sure it happens at least twice a day.
head movement - Harrison is raising his head (and chest) off the floor and turning it side to side. He also looks up at us. Sometimes he does Supermans. Little man is getting better at turning to sounds, especially Mommy's voice.
"talking" - Lately we are noticing not just the difference a week or month makes, but a day. We are loving the coos, shrills, and gurgles Harrison is making. They're even better when accompanied by movements and facial expressions. Occasionally, he will wake up before 7:30 and talk to himself before falling back to sleep. It is so precious.
cries - the cries are distinguishable now. We always could tell when he was fussing vs. needing something, but now his cries are different based on what he needs.
alertness - Harrison is not falling asleep as soon as he gets in the car seat, stroller, or carrier. This is nice because he can enjoy our outings more. We can talk to him and he can look around at his surroundings. It's also nice because he can be awake and entertain himself without us being right there with him.
awareness - Harrison is definitely aware of his hands. He will swat at objects above his head, reach out for things and even attempt to grab and bring things toward himself. It's funny when he drops his pacifier and then tries to bring it back up to his mouth with his hand. Obviously, not quite able to do this; at least on purpose.

There are probably other things I am failing to mention, but that gives you an idea of just how quickly Harrison is developing already. He really is our little man. No more snuggles against Mommy's chest or laying in her arms unless he's tired. He wants to see the world and nothing can get in his way! It's definitely bittersweet, but I'm looking forward to cherishing the now and taking lots of pictures to document it along the way.

Holidays in Pictures

2010-01-05T10:00:00.005-05:00

Our family had a great time over the holidays with family and friends. It would be a lot to type about, so I'm just going to post some pictures with captions. The holidays truly are different (in a good way) with a child. It makes for a busier time, but that time is full of wonderful memories. Above are some pictures from our two weeks in Mexico, MO.

2009-12-17T09:21:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Some Early Christmas Celebrating

2009-12-07T17:48:00.007-05:00

Yesterday our family headed to Whitsett, NC to visit our friends Drew and Jana. Not only were we getting to see their new home for the first time, but we were going to celebrate Christmas a little early with them. For the past four years (I think), we have been getting together each December to celebrate Christmas. Last year Jana was in Pittsburgh, but this year it was back to being the 5 of us :). The Rea family was kind enough to have us to their place and fix a delicious meal. Kudos to Jana!
Before we headed out, we had to bundle up our little bundle of joy. And, of course, we had the perfect cold weather gear for him. Here he is ready to hit the road.

Drew and Jana have a beautiful new home that I forgot to take a picture of. They just moved in a little over a month ago, but it was already very cozy. They had some lights up outside and the tree up inside. I was very envious of Jana's kitchen and master bath. I sure could use a huge island in the kitchen, but maybe not as much as the nice bathtub. They have a really nice gas fireplace, but since they're not sure what the switches on either side of it are for, they haven't enjoyed it yet. I thought that was funny, but I didn't exactly want them to experiment while we were there.
Anyway, after a nice meal we just hung out, talking and watching The Office. We also played some Pop Culture Trivial Pursuit. Not sure why I chose that game since last time we played Drew won. I at least came in second. Poor David didn't get a single pie piece :(. Harrison actually stayed up long enough after a feeding for everyone to enjoy him. We did some tummy time and passed him around for cuddles. The last time Drew and Jana saw him was the day after he was born, and he didn't exactly open his eyes for them. This time, though, his eyes were wide open and he was making lots of noises and doing cute things.

I also got the opportunity to have someone take a picture of me with my little man, and I think it turned out very well. I love him so much!

It was so nice visiting with our good friends, and it was even more special having our son with us this year. What a wonderful Christmas season this has been so far.

Giving Thanks

2009-11-29T10:00:00.004-05:00

This past Thanksgiving our family had so much to be thankful for. First and foremost, David and I were thankful for being blessed with our beautiful son, Harrison. We were also blessed with David's family visiting us. David's mom came into town last Friday and stayed with us for a week. She was an immense help to us. I did not have to prepare one single meal, although I did help with the preparation for Thanksgiving. She gave me the opportunity to get out and about several times to do some errands, and gave David and me the chance to go spend some time together. What a wonderful gift that was. We just went to Barnes and Noble, but to sit and enjoy a hot cocoa and pick out some books was just what I needed. David even got the chance to read some comics :).
The rest of the Bunge family came in later in the week. Mike (David's dad) and Kevin (brother) arrived early Wednesday evening, and David's sister, Katie, drove down early Thursday morning. We had a great Thanksgiving meal and just relaxed most of the day. The weather was nice enough to enjoy a walk with Harrison and David's siblings. I even convinced David to watch a Christmas movie - Elf- on television.
Friday we were crazy enough to do some shopping. Since I had to be up early to feed Harrison anyway, we went ahead and took advantage of the sales. It honestly wasn't that bad anywhere. That's the advantage of living in a smaller town like Wake Forest, I guess. We were able to take care of some of our Christmas shopping and didn't stay out too long. Good thing Harrison will be too young for awhile for us to need to worry about the "it" toys. I think we can depend on grandparents and cardboard boxes for a few years.
It was such a nice week, and to have family here for Thanksgiving meant a lot. It's just the 4 of us for a few weeks until my brother, Scott, visits, and then we head home for Christmas. The holidays can be such a whirlwind sometimes. I hope that our family is able to take some time and slow down and enjoy each other and not be stressed by everything that comes along with this time of year. With that said, I'm off to stare at my beautiful, sleeping baby boy.
So that happened...

Baby Love

2009-11-18T11:50:00.002-05:00

By now, you probably know that Harrison David Bunge was born on November 9 at 5:35 pm, and I couldn't have asked for a better birth experience. Okay, maybe just slightly since pushing isn't exactly fun. However, the outcome was unbelievable and words truly cannot express how great my partner/husband, David, was. I thought I would want music or pictures from Harrison's 24 week ultrasound to focus me during contractions, but as it turned out, nothing helped me through them more than looking into David's eyes. He would count my contraction out for me and just look at me and smile. He didn't even have to say anything because his eyes let me know that he believed I was strong and could make it through. (But, honey, next time maybe you could not emphasize "15" so much when you're counting.) I was so blessed to be in labor for just 4 hours, but I know that David would've helped me through a longer labor. He kept telling me how amazing I was and how well I was doing getting us closer to meeting our son. I never felt more in love with him than during that time.
I couldn't have asked for a better support team, either. My nurse, Suzie, was awesome, and the nursing student from UNC worked so hard to make me comfortable. I can't thank her enough for helping me push and keeping me cool. It gets pretty warm with all that pushing. And I couldn't have been happier with my doctor. Dr. Chancellor insisted on delivering Harrison, and she coached me through the hardest contractions. When I didn't think I had more in me, she somehow helped me muster up the strength to push just a little harder and longer. Everyone in that room had great faith in me and helped me believe in myself. They are truly the reason I was able to go naturally. And believe me, there were a few times I wanted to ask for an epidural, but they all helped me through it.
I cannot explain my gratitude to everyone for helping David and me bring our birth plan to fruition. Our wishes were respected every step of the way and there wasn't one time when I didn't know what was going on. It was truly a beautiful day. So, that happened...

Harrison's First Video

2009-11-14T17:07:00.002-05:00

A Baby Shower

2009-10-26T18:43:00.011-04:00

This past Saturday, my neighbor, Suzanne hosted a baby shower for me. It was a brunch featuring lots of yummy homemade food. We ate great food, played fun games, and then I got to open some awesome gifts from my friends. Thank you to everyone who came and shared in celebrating our upcoming arrival. Here are some pictures from the shower.

Delicious food that Suzanne made

Heidi and Lisa

Penny and Jamie

Katie and her mother-in-law

My sister-in-law, Katie, a little unsure of smelling the diaper

Some of my gifts waiting to be unwrapped

Just one of the cute onesies Heidi made for me

Cute booties Rockie made for our son

Heidi and Rockie

It was such a fun morning, and David and I are looking forward to putting all our gifts to use soon. So that happened...

Little Happenings

2009-10-22T18:14:00.003-04:00

The funniest thing was said to me today, and I just had to share it. I was at a preschool I go to every week to see a little boy for speech therapy. While I was there, a little girl came up to me and told me, "Your belly is big". She tells me this every week the past few weeks. I said, "I know". She then asked me, "Why?". I told her it was because I had a baby in my belly. She then asked me, "Did you eat the baby?". The teachers started laughing and said, "I bet you haven't heard that one before". Indeed, I have not. I just told her that I did not eat the baby, but it was growing in my belly. That seemed to satisfy her. Then again, she'll probably say the same thing to me next week. So that happened...

Sooner Rather Than Later...

2009-10-17T10:56:00.003-04:00

I had my 36 week appointment yesterday, and that went much better than 2 weeks ago. I had to get my Group B Strep test so the doctor asked if I wanted her to go ahead and see if I was dilated at all. I figured, "What the heck, might as well". It was a good thing she did. She informed me I was already close to 3cm dilated and 50% effaced. Now, she can't tell me what that means in terms of how soon baby Bunge will be born, but she didn't feel like I will go to my due date.
David and I are so excited to meet our son, but I really wasn't expecting her to tell me I was dilated at all. When she did I think I released a bit of a nervous laughter and got a little anxious. I had no preconceptions about having our son early, so the possibility that that could happen and could happen literally anytime is a bit overwhelming. Needless to say, we realized that we need to make sure we are prepared. We went to Target and purchased whatever remaining items we needed for my labor and postpartum bag. It seemed like others had an inkling, too. We received two packages yesterday that will come in very handy for baby: a feeding gift set and our playard. We're feeling ready for baby now (as much as we can be), but we hope he waits at least another week or two.
So that happened...

Our Little Man's Room

2009-09-29T19:06:00.018-04:00

Our little man's room has come a long way from the office that it use to be. It all started with a vision and a little persuasion to get David to completely remove all traces of an office space. For those of you who don't know, this is what the room use to look like:

The tall bookcase went downstairs to the living room to create a reading nook, and the two small bookcases remained in the room to be re-purposed.

Our diplomas went to our respective offices at work. The vases went into the guest room for decoration.

The chair was sold (no use for it since David no longer had an office), and the exercise ball deflated (I wouldn't be able to really use it soon).

This is sans desk, but everything else is pretty much the way it was before. The only thing that had to stay was our Internet hook-ups since they have to be in this room. We came up with a clever idea to hide those away, though.
So, once everything was cleared away, all that remained were the 2 small bookcases. The first things in were the crib and an area rug. The floor tiles remained, but they were a bit rough for baby. The crib was a steal from Target and went perfectly with the bookcases.

Next, we got some baskets to use as storage in the bookcases. One bookcase holds the lamp next to the rocking chair, and the other one became the changing table and holds all the necessities for changing our little man and getting him ready for his day/night.

The awesome tree you're catching a glimpse of was painted by my co-worker's (Jamie) husband, Brennan. He basically donated his entire Sunday this past weekend to painting it. The following are a couple of different tree views:

Here's a picture of this frog organizer we spotted at Ikea. I have to say "thanks" to my co-worker, Michele, for her suggestion to put it behind the door. We're hoping to fill this up with stuffed animals and other toys.

Last, but certainly not least, is the closet. It's not quite completed yet, but I wanted to show just how much we do NOT need any more clothes for our boy. This just includes up to 1-year. There are three storage bins not pictured full of clothes to dress him until he is at least 2- 2 1/2.

One of the only things we have left to do is find a place for some alphabet cards I picked up. I have an idea of how to display them, but we'll see. And we're thinking of this wall because it's a bit bare in comparison to the rest of the room.

I think the transformation has been wonderful, and we couldn't have hoped for anything better. I know our son won't really care a whole lot as long as he's comfortable in his bed, but this room is really what I envisioned. We pretty much just need one more little thing to make it complete...

Surprise!

2009-09-04T08:41:00.003-04:00

Before anyone gets in a tizzy, there is not another surprise, I just titled this post that because I am sharing the story of how I told David we were having a baby. Someone recently asked how I told him, and I realized I never did share that story with anyone outside of our family. So, without further ado...
First, this was all planned. I don't know why, but several people asked this, and so I feel the need to let it be known. So, when I say David was surprised, he wasn't surprised that we were going to be having a baby, just that it happened so quickly. I also want to say that we were both ecstatic.
I had a feeling that I was pregnant pretty early on. I don't know if a test would've confirmed it as early as I "knew", so I waited until 5 weeks. My first sign was the smell of coffee. I have come to have an affinity toward hazelnut coffee. I brewed myself a cup each morning to take to work. One morning, I didn't smell hazelnut; rather, I smelled bitterness and nothing else. When I took a drink, it just tasted bitter. I also started to find myself hungrier than usual. Now, I could've chalked this up to the fact that I'd gotten very sick a week earlier and hadn't eaten much in several days, but I knew it was more. It was hard to keep this to myself, but I didn't want to get David's hopes up. Mine were already high enough for both of us, and probably both sets of parents.
I decided to take a pregnancy test on a Wednesday. They say to wait a minute or two, but I saw that plus sign in maybe 10 secs or less. David was actually just down the hall, in the office, but I managed to keep it to myself. I wanted to take the opportunity to surprise him and make a big deal out of the fact he was going to be a dad. I decided I would let him know when he got home Friday evening from work, giving me enough time to plan and prep.
I printed out baby footprints and had them leading to the kitchen from the front door. The footprints stopped at the kitchen table where I had wrapped the pregnancy test and put a stuffed animal next to it. We had picked up this rabbit almost a month ago when we were doing some shopping. I wanted it for our baby that we would have one day, and David couldn't turn me down. Anyway, so I had that set-up and then I had Stevie Wonder's "Isn't she lovely" ready to play when he came in the door. I was getting excited just setting the whole thing up.
Well, finally David got home and I hit play on the music and went upstairs. I wanted him to be alone and hear his reaction. It sort of worked :). He saw the footprints and went into the kitchen, but then just kept asking Truman, "Where's Amy? Is she hiding?". Finally, I said, "No, I'm not hiding. I wanted to surprise you and have you open the gift alone.". Needless to say, David was very happy and excited about me being pregnant. He insisted we go out to dinner to celebrate. It was awesome. Now, here we are 25 weeks later, with our baby boy on the way soon. So, that happened...

Sustainable Romance

2009-09-02T20:21:00.003-04:00

First of all, I feel like I haven't blogged in a while. I guess there are two reasons for this: 1.) As I enter into these last few months of my pregnancy, I don't always have the motivation to blog about things. Lately, something has to be really important to blog about it. 2.) I can't say that something "blog worthy" has occurred until recently. Although, this is our blog, and as long as we deem it worthy, we can blog about it. So I guess the big reason is me being lazy as the pregnancy progresses.
To the main event: we went on a babymoon this past weekend. This was something I'd read about in my Fit Pregnancy magazine. I thought it sounded like a fun idea, but I didn't really do much more than glance over it. It was David, while reading through the magazine, who became intrigued. He noticed that one of the locations was nearby.

The Proximity Hotel, in Greensboro, NC is the only LEED Platinum certified hotel and restaurant in the United States. Pretty cool, huh? (The answer would be "yes".) Given that David works in solar, this was definitely a location he was interested in for our babymoon. The fact that they had a package called "Sustainable Romance" wasn't too shabby, either. In fact, once I looked at the website and saw pictures of the rooms and read they offered prenatal massages, I was ready to go. We decided that we would go in my third trimester, but not too late because I wanted to be comfortable and enjoy the weekend. We left mid-afternoon and arrived early enough to settle in our room before enjoying a fabulous dinner at the hotel's Print Works Bistro. The best part was dessert - I ordered the profiteroles that came with vanilla ice cream and "lots of hot chocolate". It was funny because when it came out, I was surprised by how much it was. There were three separate puff pastries with vanilla ice cream in the middle. Then came the coup de grace, the pot of hot chocolate, which the server proceeded to pour on top of the pastries. David laughed at me when I said, "That's a lot of chocolate. Was I supposed to say 'when'?". When I asked why he was laughing, he told me, "The description said, 'lots of hot chocolate' ". I was only able to eat one and David managed to eat one after eating his chocolate almond cake. We couldn't eat the third.
The entire weekend was so relaxing. Both nights, I got to enjoy a wonderful bath. Saturday morning, we enjoyed some room service for breakfast and then headed to the gym. I felt so proud of myself - almost 30 weeks pregnant and working out on the elliptical machine! After we were done in the gym, we went swimming. I loved being in the pool because I felt like I didn't have 20 extra pounds on me. I swam and swam while David mostly sat in the shade reading the paper. That was fine by me, though. I even managed to get a bit of sun on my baby belly. I got to cap it all off with an hour long prenatal massage. I tried really hard to stay awake so that I could remember techniques that David could use ;). The other great thing was finding comfortable positions for me to lay in when sleeping. I have slept better this week since being back, and that is a huge blessing.
Saturday night we had dinner at Ganache. My co-worker, Heidi, recommended it to me. She mentioned that it had great desserts and good food, so we decided to go there. Dinner was good, but we really enjoyed our slice of white raspberry cake. There was one that involved decadent chocolate cake, fudge, ganache, chocolate mousse and chocolate frosting. I considered it, but after the "lots of hot chocolate" I had the night before, I decided to pass, much to David's dismay. We'll just have to go back again so I can try that cake.
We headed back Sunday morning feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the week ahead. I realized once again what a wonderful husband I have and just how much he loves me (not that I need a babymoon to know that). This babymoon was a needed recharger for us. We were able to spend some key "couple" time together without worrying about anything else we had to do or take care of. We also talked a lot about our son and how excited we are to be parents soon. Taking this babymoon was definitely one of our better ideas. I would highly recommend it to any pregnant woman/couple who needs a little rejuvenation in the home stretch.
Here are some more pictures from our stay. They're all of the room.

Isn't he lovely...

2009-07-25T20:22:00.009-04:00

Yes, I know it's "she", but I can't think of any songs about a baby boy, so I switched it up a bit. Anyway, David and I headed to Triangle Imaging Center in Cary today for our 4D ultrasound. This was the one we were going to have done at 18 weeks, but moved it to later after finding out WakeMed performed a 3D/4D ultrasound. We were glad that we waited because our little boy looked very different today. It's amazing what happens in 6 weeks. When we were flipping through an album of other ultrasounds in the waiting room, I informed David that our baby would not look like the babies in those pictures because he is not much over 24 weeks. Everything I've read had me thinking he would still look a bit skeletal but definitely more filled out than he was at 18 weeks.
One of the first comments the sonographer made was about how filled out his face was for 24 weeks. I will say that as soon as she made this comment my mind went to how big I've heard Bunge babies are (over 9 lbs, 22-23") and how our baby could very well be on track to that or more. At our doctor appointment yesterday the nurse made a comment that she thinks our baby will be 23 inches. The views we got of our son's legs today confirmed that they are definitely long. His "fullness" and length made me feel a little better about finding out I had gained 4 1/2 pounds since my last appointment.
This appointment got me the most emotional so far. I think if I had just been watching him with David and no commentary, I would have been fine. However, the sonographer started making comments about how healthy and cute he looked and how well mommy was taking care of him that I started to tear up. Then she played his heartbeat for us, and David was holding my hand, and well.... I'm sure those of you who have had children know what I mean. There's something so precious and indescribable about these moments with your baby. He's not available for holding, but you still feel so connected to him. At this point it's even better because not only are you watching him move, but you can feel him. I thought about how much I already love him, and I haven't even officially met him. I know that this love I feel for him now, while immense, is probably nothing compared to the love I'll have for him once he's actually in my arms.
I keep looking through the pictures we got today, just like I always look at the previous ultrasounds. I can't get enough of him. While I can't believe it's only 4 months until he arrives and how we still have a lot of preparing to do, I also don't think that time can go by fast enough. To know I don't have to wait 4, 6, 8 weeks between seeing him again will be awesome! If I want, I can just stand there and stare at him while he sleeps, and I already told David I will. I told him today that he'll probably tell me, "What were you doing? He settled down 20 minutes ago." And I'll tell him, "Oh, just looking at our baby". I digress. Here are some photos from today. I hope you enjoy them.

Funny Story, Actually

2009-07-17T21:51:00.002-04:00

Yesterday afternoon one of the little boys I work with made me laugh. (Keep in mind this is a boy who just turned 3.) Our session was over and he was asking me to tackle him. This is something we use to do after each session because it makes him laugh and he likes to tackle me back. Well, this time when he asked, his mom told him that I couldn't, but soon I'd be able just to hover above him and my belly could tackle him. She has told him about my "baby belly", so he pointed at my stomach and said, "Baby in belly". He then proceeded to try and see the baby in my belly. He lifted up my shirt a little bit, thinking he could see it, and then started to try to pull my shorts down when he couldn't. I had to stop him there. His mom told him he can't actually see him because he's inside my belly. The little boy then went to get his little MagnaDoodle and placed it on top of my stomach. He tried to hand the baby the pen to doodle :). I took the pen and drew a baby and placed it back on my stomach. I told him, "There, you can see him now." He responded, "baby belly".
Things got even funnier when he went to give me a hug and attempted to look down my shirt to see the baby. He clearly did not understand that he wouldn't be able to see the baby by looking at my belly. I think his mom was embarrassed, but I just laughed. He then did something really sweet. I had given him a sticker for doing good work during our session, and he decided to give it to the baby. He took the sticker off and put it on my belly. It was very cute.
So that happened...

Visiting Friends

2009-07-13T20:48:00.010-04:00

David and I had the opportunity to visit some good friends this past week while we were in Missouri. On Wednesday, we made a day trip to Columbia and spent the entire afternoon catching up with friends. After a fabulous lunch at Flat Branch, we headed over to Lindsey and Travis's house to meet Logan. Lindsey had Logan on May 29, so this was a big deal to me. I had to wait a few months before meeting Reese (Lindsey's first) and getting to meet Logan at 6 weeks was awesome.
Lindsey keeps telling me that Logan is fussy, but I don't know what she's talking about. He slept practically the entire time we were there.

It was so nice to talk to Lindsey and get good "mommy" advice and information. It's always nice to get insight from someone who's already been through the experience - twice. Plus, we got to see Reese again. She's so fun to watch. Lindsey and Travis have done a great job raising her (not that they need me to affirm that), and she entertained herself quite nicely while we talked. She's pretty impressive for a little girl who's not yet 3. She's such a cutie!

And what a beautiful family (Travis wasn't home yet).

After leaving the Bedford's we went over to have dinner with the Rouder family. I haven't had the opportunity to see them in a few years. I use to work with Ben when I was at MU, and he was one of our ring bearers at our wedding 3 years ago. Now, Ben is 10, Tomas is 7, and Emily is 5. They are each very bright, creative children. We brought some root beer over from Flat Branch and Emily told Tomas to try it. After he tried it, she told him, "It's good root beer isn't it, Tomas? First the flavor hits you and then the taste." Becky and I agreed Emily could be a sommelier for children, recommending the appropriate soda/juice/water to go with their meals.

Becky made a delicious dinner for us. I'm probably going to get this wrong, but I think we had Parmesan-encrusted chicken with capers, sesame noodles with pesto, and a mixed green salad with cranberries, strawberries, mandarin oranges, blackberries and pecans. Yummy!

After dinner we got to view one of Ben's videos on YouTube. I'd post one if I knew the link or title of the clip. He's very talented. Before we left, I made sure to get some pictures.

(Ben is on the left, then Emily and Tomas)

(Emily, Becky, and me)

It was a great day, and it made us long for the day we will be closer to our family and close friends. Now that we have a baby on the way, we think even more about going back to Missouri. Maybe someday soon. So, that happened...

Showered With Surprises

2009-07-07T09:06:00.003-04:00

Just this past Sunday, I was surprised with a baby shower for our little boy. Now, you may be thinking that it's odd for someone to receive a baby shower at just 5 1/2 months, but this was the only time David and I would be in Missouri before our son is born. (We don't get to visit very often.) Despite knowing this was the only time we'd be here until then, I still did not expect anything. Everyone, including David, did a great job of keeping this a secret.
Just two weeks ago I was literally crying to David about how I didn't think I would be getting a baby shower. Now, this had nothing to do with gifts and everything to do with thinking I wasn't going to get to enjoy the "experience" of a baby shower. The gifts are nice, but it's just like your wedding showers - it's part of the wedding experience and celebrating a momentous occasion with family and friends. To get to the point, I just planned on not having this experience. David and I were spending the 4th of July weekend at his mom and dad's cabin and wouldn't get into Mexico until later Sunday afternoon. We are leaving on Friday, so I figured there wouldn't be a shower since we weren't really here on a weekend and it's difficult for people to get away during the week.
Well Sunday morning David's parents started talking about how Nancy (David's mom) and I could head out early afternoon and maybe do some shopping, and David could stay around with his dad and help out in the yard and do some fishing. I went up to David and told him I wanted him to come with me and go to my parents' house. I was finally convinced to do otherwise. Nancy and I headed out and by 1:45 or so I told her I was getting really hungry so we stopped at Chipotle in Jeff City. I was starving, so I'm pretty much wolfing down my meal. Meanwhile, Nancy takes a few bites, goes to "use the bathroom" (actually making a phone call to remind someone to call her in 5-10 minutes), and then comes back saying how filling Chipotle is and she'll save the rest for later. We headed to Target and Nancy receives her phone call. I hear her saying, "It's okay", "No, I can come in". She gets off the phone and tells me Dr. Burke called her and some twins are being born prematurely so they need her assistance as well. I tell Nancy, "No problem. We'll just turn around and head to Mexico." Nancy did a great job of going along with this story. I started asking her all about the twins and saying how it would've been nice to go shopping, but of course this is a priority; I just hope things go well. Then I asked if I should drop her off at the hospital. She says to drop her off at the house and she'll get the car. This makes sense to me b/c otherwise someone would have to pick her up from the hospital later.
So, we pull into the driveway and Nancy tells me to park in front of the house. I needed to use the bathroom (I was just playing perfectly into the plan), and Nancy said that was great because she wanted to give me my birthday gift early. We walk in and she tells me it's in the living room. I turn the corner and there are David's aunts and grandma and my mom and grandma and family shouting, "Surprise!" I started smiling, then crying and just felt overwhelmed. My mom looked at me and told me I looked beautiful. I think she was jaded by my pregnant belly. Since I knew nothing about this, I was wearing khaki shorts and a gray t-shirt. I told everyone I felt like I needed to change.
It was such a wonderful shower. We went downstairs and there were decorations everywhere, food, a beautiful cake, games... I still can't believe this was all for me. Everyone wanted to know how I was feeling and asking all about the baby. Then we went upstairs and opened gifts. I felt like there should've been at least twice the number of people there with all the gifts we received. Our son will not be lacking in anything. Everyone was so generous. He received a bib set and one of the bibs said, "Grandma doesn't say 'no' ". Apparently, no one will be able to tell him "no". He will be the first grandchild on either side of the family. While we received many nice gifts, I think I was a bit partial to my mother's gifts. She gave me a hand-knitted yellow sweater that both of my brothers and I all wore, a bunting I wore, and a blanket and sleeper that my younger brother wore. We all laughed at the sleeper that Stephen apparently wore because he was such a big baby and this outfit seemed like he could've worn it for a day before he was too big for it.
I will post some pictures once people send them my way. Of course I didn't know to have my camera. What a wonderful surprise! So that happened...

Boom, Boom, Pow...

2009-06-30T16:57:00.003-04:00

Okay, it's cheesy (and an awful song - I mean, what is Fergie even talking about?), but our little boy is moving up a storm these past few days. It all started on Friday when we were headed to our 20 week appointment. I felt 2 distinguishable movements in my lower right abdomen. I got so excited, and then nothing for the rest of the day really. I was a bit bummed but knew that when you first start to feel your baby it's not always consistent. On Saturday, though, he started to move some more. I found that he was most active after meals when my belly was really tight. I kept trying to get David to feel it, but the baby would stop when David had his hands on my belly. He kept telling me it was okay, but I really wanted him to experience it, too. Well, Sunday, we went to the neighborhood pool, and after I did some laps and got out, I lay down for a while. The boy went crazy! I told David to put his hand and feel, and he felt it :). Then we could both see the movements when we looked at my belly. It was awesome! David didn't know what to expect and seemed taken aback at what he was feeling and seeing. I was so happy that he could finally share in the experience.
Now our little boy is moving a lot. I usually don't feel him until I sit or lay down, but it hasn't gotten old. I don't think it ever will. I get so excited every time I feel him, and I still gasp when he gets started. He's started moving during lunch and today he moved during a therapy session. I just smiled to myself because our little boy is there with me and I'm so aware of it. It's like mommy and baby are sharing a moment together. He's part of my session with me, and that makes it a little better. I love this part, and I'm so in love with our little boy!
So that happened...

Baby Body

2009-06-26T15:57:00.002-04:00

A lot has seemed to change in just the past 2 weeks. Suddenly people are noticing I'm pregnant. By "people" I mean a whopping 3 who didn't know have asked me about my bump. The best so far was from a dad at The Aspen Center. He asked, "What's that bump there?". I told him, "A baby". Then he said he thought maybe a couple weeks ago, but didn't want to say anything. I asked him what he would've done if I hadn't said it was a baby. He replied, "Well, we've been coming here for a year now, and you're pretty trim, so I felt like it was a safe guess." I thought that was so sweet. He even thought I wasn't due until December maybe. Everyone has been so nice to me during this pregnancy, from making comments about my little baby bump to telling me that they don't know many women 5 months along who still have a silhouette. It makes my day when someone gives me a compliment about my baby body :).
I have finally purchased some maternity clothes, too. My tops still fit, but they are not as long as they use to be. I don't want to stretch out my tops to no return, either. I was actually able to find some tops that weren't maternity but they were my size in a tall. The shorts and pants were the main issue. My belly band is getting annoying to adjust because when I sit it doesn't always stay in place. I was able to find some cute pants and shorts today, and I even bought a nice little dress. All in all, it was a pretty successful outing. The swimsuit is an entirely different story...

The Big 2-0!

2009-06-26T15:29:00.002-04:00

Obviously, I am not just turning 20. I am glad that is over with, although I'm sure there may come a day I wish I was turning 20 instead of another number. No, on Wednesday, I hit the 20 week mark in my pregnancy. That means I am halfway there to our baby boy. It seems that the time doesn't go by so quickly when I'm waiting for my next appointment, but when I think about when we found out we were pregnant, it doesn't seem like it's already been 5 months. It has been, though, and we had our 20 week appointment today. It was pretty "in and out". They did all the measurements 2 weeks ago at our big ultrasound and my uterus isn't much past my navel, so there's not anything to measure there. Our little boy was a lot more cooperative today, though, and the doctor found his heartbeat right away. A nice 140 bpm or so. He even moved a couple of times, which was cool to hear on the doppler. I couldn't feel him, though. I am feeling him move more, but still irregularly and nothing that David can feel when he puts his hands on my belly. Our next appointment is at the end of July. I'll be 24 weeks then! So that happened...

It came to me in a dream...

2009-06-12T14:42:00.011-04:00

Today David and I found out that we are having a baby boy! The funny thing was that I had been thinking "girl" all along until last night. I woke up this morning and told David that I had several vivid dreams through the night and 2 of them involved me holding our baby. I have had several dreams where I am pregnant, but none about the gender. My older brother, Scott, and my mom both had dreams about us having a boy. Well, in my dreams last night I was holding our son. I told David not to get too excited since a dream may not mean much. In this instance, I was apparently having a psychic moment.
It was such a wonderful ultrasound. WakeMed has a 3D/4D lab at their main hospital, so we headed there this morning for our 8:45 appointment. For 30 blissful minutes, we were able to see our son! The technician began by showing us the brain and pointing out the fossa and developing lobes. Everything was normal (check). Then she moved onto the heart and pointed out the ventricles and the how the blood was pumping. Healthy and check. Then she pointed out the kidneys. I recognized everything else without much aid, but I had to take her word on the kidneys. They were healthy, too. After checking to make sure we had a healthy baby, she asked if we wanted to know the gender. We both said yes, and she moved down. Well, the baby was not shy, and he was more than happy to open his legs. There was no question our baby was a boy.
It was all so surreal. I was so happy to hear how healthy he was that I didn't really react much to finding out the gender. I could see how happy David was, and I was happy, but no tears. It didn't really hit me until we were waiting for the elevator to head back to the car. Then I looked at David and he smiled and we hugged, and all the happiness overcame me. We are going to have a baby boy! No more trying to say "he/she" or "the baby" to avoid an "it" slip. We can now say "he". We can even call him by his name (but only around each other b/c that's remaining a secret).
We had a gift card to Target that we had agreed we would use to get a couple of outfits once found out. Well, once we started looking, we ended up spending the entire gift card on clothing and a cute blanket. I loved how much David was a part of it. He didn't just say, "Whatever you like." He picked items out and enjoyed looking for baby things.
Here are some of the clearer pictures we got that you all will probably be most interested in. We also got pictures of the brain and facial cavities, but those are a bit creepy. I hope you guys enjoy. So, that happened...

Happy Anniversary

2009-06-04T18:55:00.005-04:00

David and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary yesterday. We, well maybe I, had decided that we would go the traditional route with our gifts to each other. The first 2 years were simple: The first year was paper, and I got David B.B. King concert tickets. Last year was linen/cotton, and we went to Germany and Spain and agreed that would be the really nice hotel we stayed at. This year was a bit more difficult - leather. David has leather shoes and a leather briefcase. He has a leather camera case. He has leather belts (not that I would get a belt, but you see my point). Well, it was down to a leather beer bottle holster and a leather cigar case. While I decided on the latter, I will keep the other one in my gift repertoire for another year. I feel a future Father's Day gift calling... Anyway, I gave him a leather cigar case with 3 nice cigars in it, the idea being that he and our dads could celebrate the arrival of our baby with them. He loved it.
I had no idea what David was going to get me. He's a very good gift giver, so I didn't doubt that he would come up with something good. I was not expecting what he gave me - a Kate Spade diaper bag! I'm pretty sure when I saw the tissue paper with "Kate Spade" written on it my heart started to beat very rapidly, and I looked at him like, "You didn't?". I still didn't know it would be a diaper bag. It is beautiful. And he even made sure it's wipable and stain resistant.
David said he already knows I will be a great mother, and now I can do it in style :). I have such an awesome husband!

To cap it all off, we went to dinner at a fabulous French restaurant in Raleigh, Saint Jacques.

We both started off with salads. I got the mixed green salad and David got the crusted warm goat cheese salad. We shared an order of escargots. In between our salads and entrees we were given a nice subtle sorbet to cleanse our palates. For our entrees I ordered the lamb osso bucco: Fresh lamb shank braised for 12 hours until fork tender and served over roasted root vegetables and white bean ragoût, finished with the braising lamb juice reduction, and David ordered the veal oscar style: Thinly hand cut veal top round, topped off with fresh lump crab meat and a warm hollandaise sauce, served on potato galette and fresh poached asparagus. For dessert David had the mousse au chocolat and I enjoyed the warm peche delight a la mode. It was simply scrumptulescent :).

It was a very memorable 3rd anniversary, and I'm excited to start our 4th year together. (okay, so even though I turned off the italics it is still typing in italics). So that happened...

Show-off

2009-05-29T10:20:00.002-04:00

It seems we have a bit of a show-off on our hands. We had our 16 week appointment today, and got to have an unexpected ultrasound. The doctor was only going to do a Doppler to hear the baby's heartbeat, but we had such a "mover and shaker" (doctor's words), that she had to go get the ultrasound. Amazingly enough I was not nervous. She kept telling us the sounds we were hearing were movement, and I was confident things we fine. David told me later that he was nervous. It is comforting to know that I'm not the only one who worries about this baby.
So out came the ultrasound, and there was our beautiful baby. It was a shame we didn't have the camcorder. We were going to bring it anyway to record the heartbeat, but forgot. We were really kicking ourselves after the show we received. It was no wonder the doctor had a hard time locating the heartbeat. Our baby looked like s/he was doing somersaults and cartwheels. It made for an awesome viewing. We saw the limbs in action and the spinal cord. We even saw the heart. This picture was a lot different than the one we saw at 8 weeks. At one point the baby kicked me. It was cool to see since I can't really feel the movement yet. I think we got to watch our baby Bunge move around for about 5 minutes. I had to hold onto David to keep the tears from coming out too heavily. Here we thought we were going in for a routine check-up, and we got to see our little baby again. It's hard to wait so long to see your baby, especially when you don't have a definitive way of making sure every thing's okay. This was a nice blessing for us today.
I asked about the heartbeat today. Everyone asked us last time what it was, and neither of us could recall (still not sure the doctor actually told us). We got so excited about hearing it, that it was kind of a blur. The doctor said the heart rate was 150 bpm. The doctor couldn't get a good view between the legs to give us a definitive answer, but with all the movement she feels like we're having a boy. I think I saw fireworks go off in David's eyes. I love seeing him so happy. I know he will be happy either way, but I think having a boy would mean a lot to him.
Our wonderful doctor scheduled our next ultrasound at 18 weeks (2 weeks from today) at WakeMed. They have a 3D/4D ultrasound lab, so we will get the whole shebang. We were going to go to Cary for one in 2 weeks, but now we can hold off on that until the baby is older and filled out. We will be able to tell you all for sure if we're having a boy or girl on June 12. So that happened...

Landscaping

2009-05-27T19:56:00.014-04:00

After working on the inside of the house for over a year, David and I have finally been able to get outside in the yard and do some work. Over the past couple of months we have been spending some of our weekends weeding, digging up, planting and ground-covering. We're not quiet finished yet, but here's some of what we've done so far:

Front yard. Its actually got some grass now.

We've laid some pine straw down in the front.
David dug up some sickly azalea bushes and we planted another gardenia bush. We are getting ready to put some rock in front of the house.

We also put pine straw in the back and put in some new plants. On the right, all of our hostas came back, and we planted two hydrangea plants.

On the left, we've planted some more hostas, ostrich ferns, amethyst astibles, Virginia bluebells and cyclamen. They're just starting to come up, so it will be a bit before there's a lot to look at.

"That's one doodle that can't be un-did, home skillet..."

2009-05-04T21:56:00.005-04:00

I've been waiting for a very long time, 8 weeks to be exact, to tell everyone what they now already know from reading the title of this entry probably - David and I are having a baby!!! Needless to say, we are both overjoyed and slightly anxious. We talked about this moment in our lives for awhile, and we knew we were both ready for this challenge and next step in our lives together. I had finally reached the point where I didn't just think I wanted a baby and then have that thought leave my mind as soon as an infant cried in Church. I was never worried about David. I've always known he would be a great father. It makes me smile when I see dads carrying their babies in their front carriers, and I think of David doing the same thing.
Anyway, we had our second appointment this past Monday, May 4. It just so happened to be my dad's birthday. Our first appointment was the day after my mom's birthday, on April 6th. I don't think I have ever been so happy and nervous at the same time. That first appointment I really needed to go smoothly, and it did. It took no time at all for us to see our Baby Bunge. S/he looked exactly like the pictures we had been seeing in the books. We were both worried one or the other would see the baby and one of us wouldn't. We didn't even need the doctor to point the baby out to us. Then, to see the heartbeat - that was amazing. I almost wanted to tell the baby to calm down, even though I knew that rapid beat was normal. It was so awesome.
This past visit, we got to hear our baby's heartbeat. The doctor told us beforehand that it's completely normal to not hear the heartbeat at 12 weeks and not to worry if she couldn't get it. I wanted to say, "Easy for you to say. I need to hear a heartbeat." Well, after the doctor informed us we had a stubborn baby because she had trouble getting her to stay still to locate the heartbeat, we heard it - this rapid buh-bum-buh-bum-buh-bum.... The heartbeat was healthy and perfect for a baby at this stage. We couldn't have asked for better news. Our next appointment is May 29, and we will keep everyone posted. That will be 16 weeks for us.
It's so nice to share our news with everyone finally. We look forward to sharing this journey with you. So, that happened...

Game Night

2009-03-08T19:37:00.005-04:00

Last night I asked all of my co-workers to suit-up, bring their game faces, and come to win - It was game night! Yeah, they suited up for the most part, but I don't know that anyone brought their game faces or came to win, necessarily. That may have changed once they saw my awesome prizes, though. I told them there would be prizes, but I don't think they believed me until the first game had been won, and Jamie got to pick a prize.
Anyway, it was nice to have people come out. We have a good comradery at work, but we don't get many opportunities to get together outside of work. It always makes for good food, great conversation and a fun time. Unfortunately, two of my co-workers couldn't come (Missy and Teri, you guys were missed. We'll have to tell you about the funny moments at work.). We had such a good time talking, we only played 2 games in the 4 hours or so that everyone was here: Apples to Apples and Taboo. Oh, Lisa and Jamie, I will never doubt your game-playing abilities again. Well-played.
I thought the food was good (I made it, though), so I wanted to post the link to the recipes on Women's Health. I made: Cajun meatballs, blue cheese and walnut dip, and chicken tenders. . I also made some apples 'n port for a dessert. I will post that recipe in the Recipe of the Week.
I wish I had taken pictures last night, but I will have great memories. I am so fortunate to have such wonderful people I work with that I can call my friends. I know how hard that can be to find at the work place. So a big "thank you" to Heidi, Lisa, Jamie, Michele, Missy and Teri. So that happened...

Snow in March

2009-03-02T15:08:00.003-05:00

Well, for a state that doesn't get much snow - ever - we have now had two substantial snows. And by substantial, I mean more than 2", because, let's face it, that's substantial for North Carolina. After 2 solid weekend days of rain, it got cold enough to turn to snow overnight last night, and we ended up with a good 4". For those of you who don't think that's much, some places to the west of us actually ended up with 8"-12". That is a lot, unless you live way up north.

I was fortunate enough to have a snow day. (David was not. He enjoyed the distinct pleasure of driving to Chapel Hill, which took twice as long as usual.) This was nice because a very yucky illness fell upon me early Saturday evening and didn't leave me until last night. I had felt queasy leading up to it, so I had felt like my weekend had been shot. Alas, this beautiful snow was bestowed upon me, I mean us, and I had the opportunity to get some work done. (Okay, so blogging is not "getting work done", but I pretty much got myself organize and finished all of that earlier today.) I would've loved to go sledding, but it would've been alone, and we don't actually own a sled since we're not used to snow here. And I'm not good at makeshift. I feel like I've reached a point where at a ripe old 26-years and 8-months, I just enjoy watching the snow fall and looking at the beautiful picture it creates. Seriously, it is very pretty seeing the snow on all of the trees outside. I think I get that sentimentality from my mother.

I am looking forward to my walk with Truman. He loves the snow, so it's always quite the adventure walking him in it. Let's just hope that goes well because while I am feeling much better, I still get tired and light-headed after being up and about for extended periods of time. Always a good reason to have David make dinner.

I Heart You

2009-02-15T18:45:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, and we enjoyed a good one. I decided to make some heart-shaped chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, and then we exchanged cards. I prefer to find a funny one to give to David; whereas, David usually errs to the romantic side. He always writes a message that is so sweet it almost makes me cry. I'm such a cry baby.
David had purchased tickets to a showing of The Tempest at the Common Ground Theatre in Durham. He read about the theatre in the Independent, I guess while searching for something unique to do on Valentine's Day. I won't say much about the show other than Ferdinand looked remarkably like Ben Savage (Corey on Boy Meets World). Community theatre is a wonderful thing, indeed!
After the play, we picked up some calla lillies (one of my favorite flowers) and my favorite cake from Whole Foods. The cake is angel food with chocolate frosting, featuring a custard center and topped with fresh berries. We had opted to make a nice dinner at home rather than go out since Valentine's Day fell on a Saturday. To be honest, though, we have kind of made it a tradition to stay in and cook a nice meal instead of going out. We've been doing it for the past 5 years. It was a wonderful day that we spent without anyone checking emails or doing work. This is rare for both of us. David's nose was back to the grindstone all day today, though.
Even though many people consider Valentine's Day an Hallmark holiday, I think I disagree. Maybe I disagree because I'm married, but I feel the day brings out the reminder of the many blessings we have in our lives. David and I were talking about how blessed we are to be loved by so many family and friends. And, no matter how old I get, I will never tire of receiving a Valentine's card from my parents. This was truly a happy Valentine's Day.

Bunge Blunders

2009-02-08T10:16:00.003-05:00

David and I make a lot of mistakes, most of them small and inconsequential. This weekend, however, we seemed to be particularly good at making ones that mattered.
It pretty much started with me misreading a new recipe I was trying. I wanted to make this "Hearty Chicken and Broccoli Casserole" I received from FoodFit. (Great website by way. I would highly recommend it. Just read the ingredients correctly.) The recipe called for me to poach the chicken in a broth and dry white wine. I saw white wine and assumed it was white wine vinegar. Yeah, not so much. It probably wouldn't have mattered so much if I were just supposed to cook the chicken in this mixture. The problem was that after the chicken fully cooked, you were then to take it out and cook the broccoli in this same mixture. That was the problem. I made David try it first, knowing it wouldn't taste right, but hoping it might. It was definitely the former. The broccoli tasted awful! Good thing there's plenty of take-out options around here.
Our other little mishap was David's fault. We bought this Roku player for our television upstairs to view shows and movies off of Netflix. He read that Roku was adding Amazon.com to it's available sites, and he wanted to check it out. He started exploring this "TV pass" online and noticed How I Met Your Mother was available. He clicked on it to see what the pass entailed, and shortly thereafter received an email notifying him he'd purchased the season pass. To his credit, it didn't ask for him to sign-in or anything. Fortunately, we were able to cancel the pass. And even better, it takes 3 days for Amazon to remove it, so we have 3 days to watch as many Season 4 episodes as we can tolerate. So, that happened...
I've decided to include the chicken and broccoli casserole recipe below. I believe it has the potential to be something special. Just remember it's dry white wine, not white wine vinegar.

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

This recipe serves: 6

Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 cup grated Gruyere cheese
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine
salt to taste
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 cups broccoli florets
2 tablespoons olive oil
2/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound yolk-free egg noodles

Cooking Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

2. In a large saucepan, heat the chicken broth, white wine and a generous pinch of salt over medium heat. Add the chicken breasts and poach them over low heat for 10 minutes or until the chicken breasts are cooked through. Remove the chicken from the liquid and set aside. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, cut it into strips.

3. Bring the poaching liquid to a boil, add the broccoli florets and cook for 2 minutes. Remove the broccoli and set aside. Reserve the cooking liquid.

4. In a separate saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 3 minutes. Whisk in the cooking liquid and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the cheeses. Add the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.

5. Meanwhile, cook the noodles in a large pot of salted water until they are al dente, drain and put them in a large casserole dish.

6. Add the chicken and broccoli to the casserole dish and pour in the sauce. Bake the casserole in the oven for 20 minutes. Let the casserole stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving.

Around the House

2009-01-25T18:27:00.006-05:00

David and I did some extensive re-organizing around the house today. Normally, I wouldn't say it was anything to write home about, much less blog about, but our work today involved hanging a couple of beautiful light fixtures. One of which we purchased 1 1/2 years ago when we moved into our house. The installation was no small feat.

This is this light fixture my brother, Scott, gave us as a Christmas present (Thank you, Scott). It's from the Museum of Modern Art. It is absolutely beautiful! We hung it above the chair and ottoman in the living room.

Speaking of the living room, we moved our smaller bookcase upstairs. We were originally going to move the one from the office downstairs and put behind our couch to house our extensive dvd collection. This didn't work because the bookcases are taller than the couch. We tried numerous arrangements, and settled on moving them both back into the office. We're getting close to having the office the way we want it, but now we have a sparse wall in the living room.

Finally, we didn't do it today, but last weekend. We put a rug under our dining room table. We could probably use a bigger one, but we really liked how the rug tied in the colors from the living and dining rooms. It also had white in it, adding a nice contrast from the table and floors.

We got a lot done today, but we're always surprised how long everything takes us. And, of course, we only created more projects for ourselves (getting frames and adding pictures, then hanging them on the wall). That's the fun part of having a house, though. You have the freedom to change things and do what you want. And for that we are very grateful. It's all part of the adventure of making a house a home. So that happened...

Photo Tagged

2009-01-22T17:53:00.004-05:00

I made the "mistake" of checking out my friend, Heidi's, blog, and inadvertently got "photo tagged". (Okay, no more quotes.) So here are the rules (which I'm not sure I followed correctly b/c iPhoto organizes into many more than 4 folders):
1.Go to the 4th folder in your computer where you store your pictures.
2.Pick the 4th picture in that folder.
3.Explain the picture.
4.Tag 4 people to do the same.

This is when David ran the Chicago marathon back in October of 2006. He's the one in the royal blue long sleeve with the maroon Davidson jacket around his waist. This is the final ascent to the finish line. It was very, very cold this early Sunday morning. The Windy City certainly lived up to its name.
Unfortunately, I know even fewer people with a blog right now. Heidi already did this, so a vicious cycle would ensue if I tagged her, and Heidi tagged Rockie. I can't really tag anyone. Oh well. So, that happened...

Snow Day!

2009-01-20T19:50:00.005-05:00

Today, we enjoyed something very foreign to us here in North Carolina - A snow day! Now, granted, it doesn't take much for a snow day around here, maybe an inch or so. This morning, though, we already had a couple of inches on the ground. It was the first actual snow we've had since living here. We had a small snow two years ago, but it melted by the afternoon. This time, it stuck, and it kept snowing.

We took Truman to the nearby ball fields and let him loose. He love running around in the snow. He kept pushing it around with his muzzle and trying to eat it. David kept throwing snowballs at him, and time and time again, Truman would jump up for them.

We made sure to get a few pictures with our guy before heading back home. He sure loves the camera.

I had to make sure and get a picture of the house with all the beautiful snow. It all looks so serene when the ground is blanketed and all the tree branches are covered. And who knows when we'll get more snow like this. We wanted to make the most of it while we could.

2009-01-11T22:05:00.001-05:00

Davidson vs. Duke

2009-01-11T21:27:00.007-05:00

Wednesday night, David and I got the opportunity to go to the Davidson-Duke men's basketball game at Cameron Indoor. David received the tickets from his parents as a birthday present. We had been looking forward to the game since December 22. We had awesome seats - 2nd level, behind the basket on the opposite side of the band. Even though it was a packed stadium, David spotted one of his classmates who was practically court side. There is something about being one of a few, though. It certainly makes for an exciting game.

From the tip-off it was a loud game. Obviously there were not a large number of people cheering for Davidson, so we took every opportunity we could to yell, "Go Davidson!" and to clap and cheer whenever Davidson scored or made a good defensive play. Basically, we were trying to annoy the people around us. And it seemed to work since we got told to, "Sit down," once.

David and I weren't so sure we wanted to stick around the way the second half started. At one point, Davidson was down by 25 points. It seemed that we might come back, though. Curry got hot, we were making some great defensive plays, and the gap started to close. Despite some great plays and a late run by Davidson, we just couldn't tie it up.

It was a great game, though, and we were glad that we were there in person. If anything, it was worth experiencing the buzz around Cameron Indoor. It is a great atmosphere for basketball. I just don't think I'd want to play there. So that happened...

Merry Christmas

2008-12-31T14:56:00.005-05:00

David and I love Christmas, and it makes it that much sweeter when we get to be back in Missouri and celebrate the holiday with our family and friends. David also loves that fact that it's pretty much a gift-giving and opening melee.

On Christmas Eve, we always go over to the Hackers for their annual Christmas Open House. I don't really remember ever not going. So, we do that in the afternoon, and I get to catch up with all of my parents friends, many who happen to be teachers of mine from high school. There is always good food and good times there, with people constantly coming in and out, but all of them making sure they stop by the Hacker's at some point during the day.

After the Hacker's we headed to Mass and then to my grandma's. All of my dad's side of the family is there, and we eat some more and then exchange presents with them. It's funny because my grandma is always telling people she receives too many gifts, and we always tell her she deserves them for all that she does. After spending time with family, we headed back to my parents' to finish wrapping presents and head to bed.

The next morning, we opened our stockings (always first), and unwrapped our ornaments from my mom and dad. My mom has given us each an ornament since we were born. Now that David and Truman are part of the family, they both get one, too. David and I end up with at least 3 new ornaments each year, plus the ones we give to each other (we want to continue the tradition in our family). Then we sat down for a scrumptious breakfast made by my mom: breakfast casserole, overnight caramel rolls, and fruit. Yummy!

We exchanged gifts with my family and then headed to Marthasville for the Bunge Christmas at his grandma's. The entire Bunge family gets together there every year. I think there are 23 of us, now. We had a nice big meal with brisket and ham. Then we exchanged presents (3rd time, if you're counting) and afterward David's cousins put on a sing-and-dance routine for us. They are extremely talented. I'm going to post the video at the end of my ramblings.

After all was said and done, we headed back to Mexico for Bunge Christmas at David's mom and dad's. This was gift exchange numero cuatro. Ridiculous! It was a lot of fun, but we were pooped at the end of the night and ready for bed. What an awesome day. Truman got himself a good bounty as well with toys and treats. We're not sure what we're going to do when we have children. We will definitely have to put a limit on gifts. Otherwise we will not be able to fit everyone and thing in the car on the way home. We barely achieved that this year.

We were so happy and blessed to spend time with our families, and that's what really mattered. The gifts are just a little bonus tossed in. We certainly don't make the long trip back for gifts. Christmas is always a special time, and this year was no exception. So, that happened...

Happy 27th!

2008-12-31T11:09:00.010-05:00

On December 22, David turned 27! And, since I always bring up something about his age to annoy him, I reminded him this year that he would soon be 30. I can't help myself.

We started the morning off with chocolate chip pancakes and sausage. I never make sausage at our house, so this was a big treat for David. I let him go ahead and open my gifts to him. Unfortunately, not all of them arrived. At least not the correct items. I had ordered him some new running headphones, and instead received a tape-to-mp3 converter for your computer. Not sure how that happened. Another of his gifts, a shoe holder for his ipod sensor, didn't even arrive on time. I was only able to give him Juno. At least my heart was in the right place.

We headed to Columbia that afternoon with David's sister, Katie, to eat at the Flat Branch and do some shopping. We always try to hit up at least one, if not two, of our favorite spots when we go back to Missouri. The Flat Branch is usually at the top of our list. David had a good time ordering his beer sampler and enjoying the awesome food.

After some shopping, we headed back to Mexico to have David's birthday dinner with his family. Kevin wasn't able to celebrate with us since he was still in Lexington, KY with his girlfriend's family.We had a nice meal and then David got to open his presents. Despite being 27, this is still the part David looks forward to every year. His sister gave him a game for the Wii (not that he needs another game).

I think it is safe to say that David's favorite gift came from his parents. After opening a frame for his Master's diploma, there was one more gift to open. David was very confused as he opened the last gift. He first pulled out a Duke t-shirt which he was pretty sure was already his. Then he pulled out a Davidson shirt, which was also already his. At this point, I thought I knew what it was going to be, but I didn't want to say and ruin it. Well, sure enough, David pulled out 2 tickets to the Duke vs. Davidson men's basketball game on January 7th. David had an awesome expression on his face. Pure disbelief! It was definitely a memorable birthday. His parents are always good at making sure they are, though. We can't wait for the game. We'll be cheering on Davidson, of course.

After gifts, I brought out David's birthday cake. He had searched and requested a double-chocolate rum cake. It took awhile to make, but it turned out well. I think everyone enjoyed it. By the time we left for NC, the entire cake had been eaten by both of our families. It's always nice when a new cooking endeavor turns out tasty. This one will definitely be added to the repertoire. All in all, it was a wonderful birthday celebration. So, that happened...

-19

2008-12-21T18:56:00.004-05:00

David and I left for our annual Christmas trek to Missouri on Friday afternoon. When we left NC, it was 70 degrees. Hard to believe, even for NC. We were so blessed not to run into any weather problems. There were some minor traffic setbacks, but nothing good conversation and music couldn't get us through. We had a few snacks in the car, too. Truman didn't seem to mind the long trip. I think he settled in for a nap once we got moving.
Well, we arrived in Missouri Saturday afternoon around 4:00 p.m., and it was maybe 28. Unfortunately, that was hot compared to today. Today, I think the high reached 7, and that was without wind chill factored in. Right now it is -19. Nothing like a -89 degrees from where we started. We tried to let Truman run around outside at the Bunge's, but that lasted for about 5 minutes. We quickly moved indoors to let him play with Apollo, Katie's dog. That wore him out.
It is certainly nice to be home. We didn't get to see our families at Thanksgiving, having to settle for everyone passing the phone around so we could talk to them. It's so nice to be here. We were ready to hit the road Friday afternoon.
Tomorrow is David's birthday. I am planning on making him chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, and then we are headed to Columbia in the afternoon to grab lunch. I am going to attempt a double-chocolate rum cake that he requested. It doesn't look too difficult, but we'll see how that goes. If it all turns out, David will be certainly not go hungry tomorrow. Yep, so that happened...

Christmas Card Picture Take 20...

2008-12-13T18:35:00.005-05:00

So today we embarked on the adventure known to many of taking a picture for our Christmas cards. This was the first time we decided to do such a thing. We thought it would be pretty easy since normally Truman loves the camera. We don't even have to tell him to look at the camera. Well, today was a different story. It probably had to do with the fact that we took the picture in our backyard, and it was only 40 degrees outside. This is very cold to Truman whose coat is not very long. To make it even harder on us, we decided to sit on this big rock. Apparently the rock was very cold to Truman, and he refused to do anything but hover over the rock.

We made more than several attempts to take our picture. We tried me holding Truman while David set the timer on the camera and vice versa. We're still not sure if we got a very good picture, so we might just go with one of the funnier photos. We have David looking at Truman, while I'm looking at the camera; me looking at Truman while David looked at the camera; both of us looking at Truman while he looked at the camera...

In the end we settled for a decent picture and decided to try something inside. That didn't exactly work. We weren't able to get one of the 3 of us, but David got some good pictures of Truman and me, and some not so good but funny ones. This one to the right is a good example. David seemed to think he should go ahead and take the picture even though he saw what Truman was doing. Oh, the holiday memories.

We'll have to wait and see what picture we choose for our Christmas card. We'd have you guys vote, but we're pretty sure this picture would be chosen, and that can't go to our grandmas. So, that happened...

'Tis the Season

2008-12-06T16:04:00.013-05:00

We're finally finished decorating (for the most part), so I thought I'd take some time to post some pictures of everything we've been up to around the house. Last Saturday, David put the lights up on the roof, and I decorated our Christmas tree. Truman mostly slept.

It was a really tough decision, but we went with our fake, pre-lit tree. Last year we had a real tree, but we decided to go fake this year for a few reasons: We are only here for 3 weeks before we travel home to Missouri, and no one will be here to water the tree while we're gone, making it a fire hazard. We also have to put it upstairs right now because we're not sure what Truman will do with it. He was great with the trees at both of our parents' homes last year, but he was never left alone. He is a very curious dog, and we would really like to not have to take him to the vet because he decided to try a fallen pine needle. We'll go back to real next year, hopefully, but definitely once we have children.

One of my favorite parts is putting up the nativity scene. It's a beautiful nativity that we received from my Aunt Rosie and cousins as a wedding present. Last year we had it upstairs on a bench, but we finally have a proper place for it now and can display it downstairs.

We put the finishing touches on the house today (well almost). We hung some fresh garland on the porch and a wreath on the front door. We also decided to get some stocking holders this year. We didn't see any stockings we liked for ourselves yet, but we did find one for Truman. There is a place for a picture on it and you can flip it to read "naughty" or "nice". Truman can never make up his mind on that end, so we thought it was perfect. Not that Truman really cares, but since he's part of our family we feel he deserves a stocking :).

Truman did bark at the stocking when we first hung it up. He seems to do that when we place something new in a room. At least something on the mantle. When I originally placed the vase on the mantle, he reacted the same way. He seems very unsure of it. David let him sniff it and see that it was fine, but just a few minutes ago he was sitting up and barking at it. Yeah, so that happened...

Kids in my day had better manners...

2008-11-29T20:51:00.005-05:00

So, we got together with Heidi and Evan tonight for dinner and a movie. We ate at Milton's, which was delicious. Our neighbors have raved about it, so we had to check it out. I had the eggplant parmesan, and it got me thinking that I need to get my mom's recipe and make some of that for us at home.

After dinner, we headed to the movies to catch "4 Xmases". It was one of those times where we had to wait in line for 10 minutes before we got to the window. Well, right before we got to the window, these punk kids showed up to cut in line to join their two friends in front of us. One of the boys flashed his cash at me and mumbled a "sorry" while continuing to cut in line. I spoke up and said, "Excuse me. I think you should go to the back of the line and wait like everyone else." Apparently the boy had a hearing problem because he didn't respond. Evan spoke up, and still, nothing. So, my pulse is racing as I'm plotting my next step, and I decide that I'm not going to let this happen. After the friend gets his ticket, I'm going to slide in and order our tickets. They are not getting away with this. This is how it went down:

The friends move out of the way, and I slide in from the left and just start talking; "Yeah, 2 for 4 Xmases at 7:15." As I say, "Yeah", the kid scoffs and gets all ticked off. Can you believe his gall?! I'm not sure what he says next, but Evan tells him, "Well, we're with them and we were in line." I think the punks kept trying to cut in front of the next people, but they eventually ended up at the end where they belonged. Victory!

On a side note, we didn't get tickets. The movie was sold out, as was everything else we were interested in seeing. I am proud of myself for standing up for what was right and good, but it was a huge bummer that we didn't even get movie tickets after all of that. I tell you, though, kids in my day had better manners.

2008-11-28T14:16:00.001-05:00

Turkey Day

2008-11-27T21:24:00.005-05:00

Well, it has come and almost gone, and I am pooped! This Thanksgiving meal thing is hard. I knew I had an ambitious meal planned, but I was sure that with David's help, we would be fine. Ha!

It started with breakfast; I made my mom's oven omelet. It was yummy. We looked through some of the good sales going on tomorrow, and then we headed out for Truman's walk. Once we returned, the leisure of the day was over. I'm pretty sure we started everything around 12:45, and I didn't really stop until we sat down and ate at 6:00. I knew it was going to be an endeavor (I've seen Thanksgiving happen a few times in my life), but I did not expect this. I thought I would have plenty of sit down time while things were in the oven, but that didn't happen.

David was a huge help. He not only helped with prep work, but he also helped make drinks :). That was much needed so that the cook could relax a little bit. I couldn't have made this meal with my sous chef, that's for sure.
When it was all said and done, the meal was a success. The menu: Roasted turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry relish, cucumbers, and cloverleaf rolls. For dessert, we had an apple cake with caramel glaze. Ambitious, yes. Impossible? Nah!
So, Happy Turkey Day, everyone. We missed our families, but we know we'll see everyone soon for Christmas. Maybe we'll host Thanksgiving one year for you guys. We certainly had enough food.

And the journey begins...

2008-11-26T17:16:00.000-05:00

Well, I've decided after viewing the blogs of a couple of my friends (Rockie and Heidi), that David and I need a blog. Who knows how good we (probably I) will be at keeping up with this. I thought we needed a better way to stay in touch with our friends and family from afar without them needing to be on facebook :).
David and I are getting ready to celebrate our first Thanksgiving in our house together. This is also our first Thanksgiving not in Missouri. It is more than a little bittersweet. It's never easy to spend the holidays away from family. We still have a big meal planned, even though it's just the two of us. You cannot have Thanksgiving without a turkey and all the trimmings that go along with it. Hopefully it will all turn out. We'll take pictures of our adventure tomorrow and have them up for all to see.