Taste of Saint Louis

This is our 3rd year (4th?) going to the Taste of Saint Louis. It's one of the first fall events of the year and we look forward to it all summer! It was a cool overcast day and about 60 degrees. It was perfect fall weather and there were even brief periods of sun.

Here's the main area with the restaurant booths set up.


We first had pommes frites (Belgian fries) with truffle mayo from Franco and they were delicious! (We ate them too fast for a picture)

We ate the pommes frites while watching the Iron Chef competition. Two local restaurants battled and it was fun to watch them cook. But, we were hungry and headed out of that area for more food!

Nate had the duck confit and goat cheese quesadilla from L'Ecole Culinary School. He said it was too creamy and he couldn't really taste the duck, but they were still good.


We took a time out and headed over to the breakdancing competition. It was so sick and tight and all of the other B-boy words I know.

Chicco going in for a power move:


Freedom doing some ridiculous head spin:


And the winner, Black Belt Jones, hitting a sick stall:


Watching the breakdancers really worked up an appetite (for us) and so we got more food! I had some tenderloin sliders and beignets from Vin de Set. I also had some sub-par orange chicken from Bamboo Bistro that smelled so good I just had to get it!

Nate enjoyed this sampler from Tigin Irish Pub. It's a corned beef slider, smoked salmon bite, and Bailey's mousse in a chocolate shell. He could not get enough of the salmon!


The big finish of Taste is always the Angel Wing from Hank's Cheesecake. It's a piece of turtle cheesecake on a stick dipped in chocolate. It's worth waiting for!

14 weeks

How far along? 14 weeks - a pear!
Total weight gain: 5ish pounds and holding steady
Maternity clothes? LOTS of cute clothes loaned and given to me by friends. I also got a couple of bottoms and now I am feeling much more comfortable! I need the bottoms but can manage with regular tops for now.
Sleep: Better this week. Starting to have some crazy and vivid dreams!
Best moment this week: Going to Babies R Us for the first time and watching Nate try on all of the baby carriers very enthusiastically. He is so excited to carry his baby around! We tested strollers and car seats and we failed our first parent test - we couldn't figure out how to get the car seat off the base!! We managed to have a good time and made some good decisions.
Movement: Nothing I can feel (yet)
Gender: Will find out on October 12th! Less than two weeks :-)
Labor Signs: NONE. I hope to answer this question that way until March.
Belly Button in or out? In.
What I miss: margaritas
What I am looking forward to: Babe Day and Taste of Saint Louis on Saturday
Weekly Wisdom: Even if consignment sales are not my "thing" I should still go and try to score some amazing deals (which I did! - thanks Steph for your help!)
Milestones: Every day is a milestone :-)

Exhibit A: Clever pose to distract from the blousy dress and small bump which combined make me look much more pregnant than I am.


Exhibit B: WOW. Only this dress makes me look this way right now, I swear. Not that I don't love it, but I have many more months to be growing this much!

13 weeks

Our peach!




How far along? 13 weeks
Total weight gain: 5ish pounds and holding steady
Maternity clothes? some cute ones loaned by friends, but I need to shop soon
Sleep: Still waking up 3-4 times to go to the bathroom and still getting used to the body pillow named Hank.
Best moment this week: Having the good news spread at work and officially being "out."
Movement: Nothing I can feel
Gender: Will find out on October 12th! Thinking pink.
Labor Signs: NONE. I hope to answer this question that way until March.
Belly Button in or out? In. Way, way in but spreading if that's possible.
What I miss: Sleeping comfortably and I know this will only get much worse!
What I am looking forward to: The fall festival on Saturday and the changing leaves, caramel apples, hot chocolate, and sweaters it signals.
Weekly Wisdom: Trust in God and my body. Do the best I can to give myself and this baby every advantage to being healthy but realize ultimately it's out of my hands.
Milestones: Every day is a milestone :-)

My breakdancing days are on hold

P.S. Imagining Nate in that B-boy pose with the hood up and flashing a sign will get me through some rough moments. If only I could do a stall like that!

12 weeks

12 weeks and we have a plum!


If you look closely you can see two arms (toward the left), the head, and the spine. Our baby is either raising the roof or laying back like in a hammock. It's a comfy place!



I think this is a fun group of questions to do every week. It will be interesting to look back at the weeks to see how everything has changed.

How far along? 12 weeks
Total weight gain: 5ish pounds, depending on the day
Maternity clothes? some, but a shopping trip is definitely in the near future
Sleep: OK. I'm waking up to pee 3-4 times a night. I have a body pillow to help me get comfortable but I haven't figured out if I like it yet.
Best moment this week: Seeing our growing babe on Monday and hearing the heartbeat.
Movement: Probably lots, but none that I can feel yet.
Gender: Will find out on October 12th! Still having strong girl vibes.
Labor Signs: NONE. I hope to answer this question that way until March.
Belly Button in or out? In. Way, way in.
What I miss: The delicious licorice my husband finished. I need more licorice, ASAP. Preferably Switzers cherry, thankyouverymuch.
What I am looking forward to: Getting back into an exercise and healthy eating routine now that I am starting to feel more like myself.
Weekly Wisdom: Do not go overboard with eating whatever sounds good now that food actually sounds good. This will catch up with you! Everything in moderation, just like always.
Milestones: Second trimester! Every day is a milestone :-)

Changing table

How to put together a changing table, first-time dad style.

Step 1: Carefully unwrap and sort everything while your wife talks to you and photographs you. Be very sweet to your wife as she is eating sour patch kids in an attempt to feel better.


2. Realize that the crucial bag of small parts is missing. Eye the bottom of the box. Do not forget to smile.


3. Go in, head first, using your foot as leverage. Smooth move, very smooth.


4. Assemble changing table with found small parts. Look very manly while doing so.


5. Voila! Feel sense of accomplishment in assembling sturdy changing table much too far in advance. Let the nesting begin!

Baby T is growing!

We've been taking weekly pictures to see how much baby T grows until March. Each week we take a picture and I hold something that is the approximate size of baby T. It's exciting to see how much he/she is growing and how I am growing!

5 weeks: appleseed


6 weeks: lentil



7 weeks: blueberry



Baby T at 7 weeks:



8 weeks: raspberry


9 weeks: olive (I was really trying not to look tired, but clearly it did not work! Growing a baby is hard work.)


Baby T at 9 weeks:



10 weeks: prune




11 weeks: lime (I do not know why the picture quality is so bad but this is the only time Nate took one picture, I looked at it, and we were done in one take. Of course. And the blousy shirt is not doing me any favors.)