The Nest

Our nursery is finally set up and ready to welcome our new little one whenever he decides to arrive!  We tried to create a cozy, not too gender specific room with a few personal touches and I think we accomplished our goal.  There are still a few spots that are "in progress" because we want to wait to put up pictures of him after he arrives.  But for the most part I think we're done with this project for now.  Now all we need is a sweet little baby to fill it!

View from entry	Changing table.  Uncle Ryan provided the great mobile!
I'm sure I'll be spending lots of time in this glider.  Good thing it's comfy!	Our room theme is classic children's books
Stuffed monkey from Pops (Meg's dad), baby's first pair of sneakers, Meg's old Peter Rabbit bank, collectable Tigger from Uncle Ryan and homemade blocks from Etsy	Can't wait to read all these great books to our son!
James' childhood bear named Charles and Lamb Chop	Maybe this comfy crib will help our baby sleep through the night at a young age (yeah right!)
Thank goodness James, Grampa, and Uncle Johnathin redid this closet--we clearly needed the storage space!	Love this children's book cover banner that Hillary made for my shower--now it's a perfect decoration for the nursery!

Here are some more artistic photos that Uncle Ryan took for us:

"Babymoon"

Last weekend we went on our "babymoon" as some people like to call it.  After all the projects and crazy schedules at work, we realized we needed a weekend getaway just the two of us before baby comes.  A couple years ago we went down to Cannon Beach, Oregon just as James finished up classes for his MBA.  It was such a relaxing, refreshing weekend and we wanted to experience that again. 

We headed down on Friday and enjoyed a yummy pizza dinner at Pizza a Fetta in the town of Cannon Beach.  We stayed at the wonderful Inn at Cannon Beach like we did two years ago.  This time we lucked out and got two nights for the price of one!  That's the beauty of heading to the coast in the winter/early spring time.  The inn never disappoints.  It's right across the street from the beach.  We had a large, but cozy room.  They have fresh baked cookies in the lobby when you arrive and you can rent as many movies as you want.  So the first night we rented a movie, but didn't watch for very long.  Our stressful schedules finally caught up with us and we were out pretty quickly. 

How glorious to sleep in and wake up with nothing to do!  We did manage to walk across the street to one of my favorite bakeries called Waves of Grain to get some fresh baked goods.  Then we hung out and finished our movie.  I forgot to mention that the first night it poured rain and the wind blew like crazy!  It woke me up a few times.  Luckily by about 11am on Saturday, the clouds started to part and we took advantage to finally venture out on the beach.  I just love Cannon Beach especially with the haystack rock.  It never gets old.  It's just so unique and beautiful!  And probably also because it reminds me of the movie Goonies which I think I've seen 100+ times since being a kid. 

We walked the beach all the way into town and then had a yummy brunch at the Lazy Susan Cafe.  By that time the sun was shining brightly!  We totally lucked out because we thought we were gonna have a rainy weekend the whole time.  We wandered around town for awhile and then headed back via the beach.  There is just something so freeing about being at the ocean.  We kept saying how alive we felt just smelling the fresh air and watching the waves crash.  As if we hadn't had enough sleep, we still enjoyed a nap in the afternoon.  That evening we went to one of our favorite restaurants in town called Newman's 988.  I feasted on prawn scampi and James had duck.  Needless to say we definitely weren't deprived of food or sleep on this trip.

We got through two more rented movies before we headed out on Sunday.  But before heading home, we drove to Portland simply to have brunch at Cafe du Berry.  If you've never been there, it's south of the city and we highly recommend it.  They have the MOST AMAZING french toast in the world!  It's so rich and yummy you don't even need to put syrup on it! 

What a perfect getaway weekend--just what we needed and were hoping for.  Can't wait to get back there and to take our son so he can experience the wonderful Oregon coast.  Now back to reality (although reality is pretty dang good right now)!

Love the Haystack rock! 

My belly is almost as big as the rock!

Our wonderful inn

Our cozy room was at the top of the stairs--view of the ocean!

Goodies at the Waves of Grain bakery--definitely made baby happy

Quintessential Oregon Coast shot.  I love how Northwesterners get out on the beach even in stormy weather!

You can almost just hear Chunk and Sloth yelling "Hey you guys!"

Happy 30th Birthday Ryan!

Nothing makes you feel older than your sibling turning a milestone age.  This past Saturday on St. Patrick's Day my brother turned 30!!  It was enough when I turned 30 on my own but now that my brother is 30....well I feel ten times older now. 

True to style, my fun brother planned a party to celebrate.  It's always been so fun that his birthday is on St. Patty's Day and this year was especially fun because it fell on a Saturday!  He rented out the private party room at the Alibi Room, a great bar by Pike Place Market.  He arranged for food and a DJ.  Feeling bad that he planned most of his own party, Tracey his girlfriend and I planned some fun surprises behind his back including a photo collage of Ryan through 30 years and a cake with his baby picture on it.  About 35 of his close friends came and it was really fun.  I hope he had a great time and felt as loved as he is. 

Happy Birthday Bro!  Here's to staying 30 forever so I don't have to feel any older than I do now.  :)  Love you!

A perfect place for the embarassing photo collage

Ryan and Tracey

Can't believe my little brother is 30!!!

Perfect cake!  Such a cute baby huh?



Cute hat James!

30 candles!

Ryan bustin' a move at the end of the night

The Talented Mr. Spaulding

I feel a major need to give a shout out to my incredible husband.  I am married to the most brilliant, hard working, talented and serving man in the world!  The amount of projects James has completed in the past couple of weeks as we prepare for baby is so impressive.  And not once has he complained or had to be nagged to do any of them.  He's taken them on with enthusiasm and determination. 

Who knew that preparing for a baby would involve so many projects!  Projects for the nursery inevitably spill over into other areas of the house as we move things and try to create more storage.  And then of course minor projects are created along the way.  Here is just a sampling of what James has accomplished recently:

Hung new curtains and valances in the nursery

Installed this amazing closet organizer system with my brother-in-law and father-in-law

Installed this door hinge stopper in about 3 minutes



Installed this door stop in about 5 minutes on the door to the garage (something we've wanted to do for awhile since we're always loading things into the house)

Hung these fancy bike racks--this has engineer written all over it!

Put up new garage storage racks



Again this is just a sampling of all the home improvements James has accomplished.  I just want him to know how appreciated and admired he is.  Thank you James for all that you do!  It never goes unnoticed.

Baby Shower!

A couple weekends ago my wonderful friends threw me my first baby shower!  It was held at Kristen's beautiful houseboat in Portage Bay.  It was such a special day and I felt so blessed by everyone's generosity and love.  Baby boy Spaulding is definitely spoiled so far!  A major thank you to Hillary and Kristen for being the greatest hostesses ever!  And thanks also to Heidi, Jana, Karen and Sarah for helping out. 

My favorite part was when everyone went around to introduce themselves and say how they knew me.  About 80% of the group were friends who I met in elementary school or junior high!  And we're still really close friends!  I think that's definitely a rareity.  And the other 20% of the group is part of my wonderful family.  I feel so lucky to be entering this mommy journey with such amazing people in my life. 

One of the most memorable parts of the shower was a game where everyone filled in the blanks on a Wishes for Baby card such as "I hope you learn ___________ or I hope you laugh ___________ or I hope you grow _________________.  Some of my favorite phrases were "I hope you never forget God is always with you", "I hope you get to live abroad", "I hope you aren't afraid of spiders", "I hope you ignore your Uncle Ryan's snyde comments", "I hope you become witty like your dad", and "I hope you respect those who are different than you."  Everyone read their cards aloud when I opened their gift.  What a special keepsake!  I can't wait to read them to our son. 

Here are some photos from the lovely event:

Cute decorations!	My brother and Tracey
So fun being pregnant at the same time!	Enjoying the yummy brunch
My wonderful brother captured the event on film (notice the adorable banner Hillary made of children's book covers)	Tamara, Sarah, Tracey, Leslie and Vanessa
Kristen, Kristine, Karen and Hillsy	Are they laughing at how big my belly is?
Husky paraphenilia!  Our boy isn't even born yet and he's already a fan	Even the cake matched the invitation
Great artsy shot captured by  Ryan	Me and "Nana"
Best hostesses ever!

Bump

I've had some long distance friends ask to see bump pictures though so I thought I'd post a picture finally.  It's nice to be in the stage where it's obvious that I'm pregnant.  In months 4 and 5 I think people could tell that my belly was a little bigger but they didn't feel comfortable saying anything since they weren't sure.  I could just see the thoughts going through their minds..."Has Megan let herself go a little bit?  Or could she be pregnant?"  Now people freely ask "Oh when are you due?" or they say "I didn't know your were pregnant.  How exciting!"  It's a much more comfortable space socially.  Physically on the other hand though, comfortable is definitely not the word I would use.  I'm officially in the 3rd trimester now and I can feel things stretching, loosening and aching.  I don't want to complain because it really hasn't been that bad, but I definitely am feeling heavier.  It's no wonder too because baby is a strong one.  He's been moving around a lot!  Feeling him move is surreal, amazing, and kind of strange all at the same time.  More than anything though feeling him move is comforting.  If his moving is any indication, we're gonna have an active baby on our hands.

Work on the nursery is in full effect although there's not much to show for it yet.  Right now it looks like a tornado hit it.  Slowly but surely it will come together.  I'll post the finished product when we get there.  In the meantime, all is well with the Spauldings and we can't wait to meet this little guy come May!

About 7 months pregnant (excuse the sleepy, no makeup look)

P.S. Happy Valentine's Day!!

Valentine's Date Night

Lately we've been trying to be intentional about having good couple time together and getting in a date night whenever we can.  Since restaurants try to rip you off on Valentine's Day by only offering a 7 course menu for $100 a person, we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day this past Saturday instead.

I planned the date this year with the theme of a Parisian Valentine's Day.  We had a lovely dinner at Chez Shea downtown which is a french restaurant overlooking Pike Place Market.  Our feast consisted of escargot, sushi (James only--kind of weird for a French restaurant but James said it was good), and salad as starters, beef tenderloin and scallops as our main courses, and a yummy chocolate mousse dessert.  We would highly recommend this restaurant--romantic atmosphere, awesome food, etc. 

For the second part of our evening, we went to The Big Picture in Belltown to catch a movie.  This place wasn't your average movie theater though.  In the lobby they have a bar and several little nooks with couches and lounges to hang out beforehand.  The theater itself is small and you can order drinks to be delivered to you in the middle of the movie!  I got a fun non-alcoholic froo froo drink and James enjoyed a few beers.  It was a really fun atmosphere.  James said it well--it was almost like getting together with some people from the neighborhood to watch a show.  We saw the movie Safe House with Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds.  At first I thought maybe that wasn't such a good idea because it wasn't very "romantic" for a Valentine's Date.  But I quickly realized it would be a movie to suit both of us--action and car chases for James...Denzel and Ryan for Megs! 

It was a really fun date and we would highly recommend both places if you're needing some ideas.  Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day!