we miss the muppet!

puppy's girlfriend olive, the italian spinone, got spayed a few weeks ago. she hasn't been allowed to play at work while her stitches heal. she hasn't been very happy about it and neither has her buddy foster. but she should be back to playing again sometime this week. in the meantime here's a pic i just discovered on DH's phone from this summer....

how freakin adorable is she with all that hair?!

fun with fern

a few weekends ago we dogsat for S&J's black lab mutt fern. she is quite the ball of energy. she & puppy had a fun 2 days together rolling around the house & shedding EVERYWHERE.

there was lots of tug-o-war

hanging out

and eventually some rest

yet another fun puppy visit this month for foster! and we still have one more any day now.....

getting there...

from last week, 28 weeks
baby s' face
and profile with hand

only 10ish more weeks!

fall already?

all of a sudden the temps here have dropped and it is suddenly feeling alot like fall. no complaints from the 7 month pregnant lady. last weekend we went apple picking with some friends & co-workers at a lovely little orchard in stow called carver hill. we picked macs, cortlands & macouns in the beautiful 70-degree sunshine. pair that with some donuts & cider and i was VERY happy!

with all these apples lying around i pressed my sister for some recipes besides my usual apple crisp. she gave me a few and i decided to start with the easiest one: apple sauce. i love it and it's a bit healthier than ice cream for a snack.

cut up 4 apples, i recommend cutting slightly smaller pieces than i did-i used cortlands (i think). put in a pot with 3/4 cup water, 1/4 cup sugar & 1/2 tsp cinnamon. i LOVE cinnamon so i may have used a bit more.....

put on medium heat & let sit for 15-20mins, stirring occasionally

take off heat, let cool, then mash! i used a potato masher, i think next time i will use my stick blender since mine was a bit chunky.

easy & yummy! thanks sis!! next i will try apple bread.....

musings of a pregnant woman

so i have just about reached the end of my 2nd trimester. on sunday the final stretch will begin. lately i have been getting more & more bonehead comments from people (especially men!) regarding my size. i have decided to share some of my favorites with you readers in hopes of teaching a few of you what NOT to say to a pregnant lady & of course to give you all a few laughs too. mom's out there please feel free to share any good one's you've heard over the years too!
BH=bonehead making comment

this was ~16 wks when i "popped"...
BH: you look big, is the baby big?
me: no he's the size he should be at this point.
BH: oh, well maybe it's just fat.

this was last week....
BH: when are you due?
me: december 12th
BH: ohh, are you having twins?

this was today...
BH: when are you due?
me: december 12th
BH: that's going to be a big baby.

things you should say to a pregnant lady (i'm giving credit to the lovely people who have said these!):
CS/BF: you are the cutest pregnant lady ever!
DH: aren't you cute!?!
many smart women: you look great!
GB: i love your pregnancy wardrobe! it is really working for you!

thus concludes today's lesson. i promise to be back soon with more of foster the puppy and less B&M-ing about the wonderful world of pregnancy. :)

zorch!

we have been dogsitting for a co-worker of dave's since the weekend. zorch the 100+lb rottweiler has been visiting. he's a sweet boy & he & foster seem to get along ok. i think puppy might be a bit scared of the big black bear.

i snapped a few pics during zorch's visit....

as always foster is a very gracious host!

love for the walls at last

we FINALLY got around to hanging up some art on our walls a few weekends ago.

i got this awesome williams sonoma blue fin tuna plate for christmas last year. we have yet to use it and thought it might look pretty nice up on the bare walls of our kitchen. of course if DH catches a tuna someday we will def take it down & make good use of it!

i bought this painting a while back for dave. it's a painting of a drake mallard duck decoy. i got a matte cut for it & then finally got to michaels & bought a nice frame for it. we hung it up above the couch in the living room and we LOVE it.

i framed this old print that i have been carrying around for a while now for the upstairs bathroom...

our good friend matt made this beautiful plate for us as a wedding gift 2 years ago. we finally decided to hang it up in our bedroom as a reminder of our favorite day....

we also swapped out a few items on the walls in the dining room. we removed a framed photo from banff & put up this fun parsley pic (from christmas tree shop!).

and we hung up a piece of pottery from my trip to seville a few years ago. i don't have a pic of that so you'll have to take my word for it that it looks lovely!

next......the office/guestroom is continuing it's makeover. more on that in a month (?) or so hopefully! and of course the nursery!

cape cod part IV

a few final pics from our amazingly fabulous vaca on cape cod...

dr. lords rd beach, dennis

some family shots

one last belly pic

and to sum it all up....

ahhhhhhhhhhh!!! we'll be back again next year!