We're Having a Chick + Babymoon

Yes, the rumors are true: we're having a little girl hatchling...and if you're reading this, you probably already know that. Expected due date is July 2nd, but who knows. Word on the street is that with your first pregnancy the little babe can be 2 weeks early or 2 weeks late or maybe it will just camp out in there for life if the quarters are hospitable enough.

Below is baby Nel's first photo. I can't be sure if she's daintily waving for the camera or holding an imaginary bottle. Either way, she's hilarious.

Kyle took me in January to L.A. for our Babymoon/my birthday and we got tickets to be contestants on the Price Is Right (a Kyle "Bucket List" item)—no, sadly we were not picked, but I wasn't willing to risk pre-term labor to run around giving everyone high-fives (personally, I refuse to give high-fives on most occasions anyway) and being crazy for 4 hours, so we'll have to take another stab at it again sometime I suppose. The main takeaway: Drew Carey needs to put some weight back on. Its not a good look for him.

I had a video, but sadly it won't show up. Boo.

Kyle and Neil playing at the pier. Adorableness at its finest.

Enjoying some shopping in the delightful Santa Monica winter weather.

Alisa, here are a couple of promised preggers photos. I need a better profile shot, but Kyle took a couple while I was getting ready for a YW event. More to come...

— Week 18 —

— Week 23 —

Pretty big difference between me trying to make my baby bump show at week 18 versus week 23 and trying to minimize it with black.

I waited so long to show so that I could get out of the "chubby phase" of pregnancy and now I'm thinking, "Good, let's leave it at this size." I can't make it through the one side of our french doors sideways anymore—Kyle woke up to me yelping after a failed attempt to sneak through them in the middle of the night. Looks like I'm a wide load these days, and just when I think I couldn't get any bigger, I realize that the math says otherwise as I'm only a little over halfway.

The New Abode

We're home owners! Does this mean an end to our nomadic lifestyle? For a while perhaps...

Our new casa interior needs some updating—its not necessarily outdated, just not my style. We need to paint, redo floors, change out lighting fixtures and actually decorate, but that aside, the structure is good. We also have a neighborhood saline pool (salt water is so much better than chlorine)! The house is about 4 years old and we're proud to call it our own! We have a little plot of land (about a 1/4 acre) and I can't wait to start my garden next year...Japanese Beetles and exhaustive heat willing. Oh, and another fun thing is our landscape...we'll have to dig out and replace about 10+ trees and bushes because the previous owner did not water them while the house was for sale, and they died a painful death of dehydration. Yay, more projects.

I have two favorite things about owning a home:

#1: we have our own washer and dryer and it doesn't matter if I want to do laundry at 2 in the morning—it won't wake anyone up and I won't find cat hair on my clothes afterward or have to worry about some stranger touching my clothes.

#2: I can't hear my neighbors and they can't hear me...and I don't receive notes on my door saying "Please go outside and enjoy the fall leaves because you're walking too loudly on the floor." I can actually run around my house and do jumping jacks if I want!...and I do.

#3: A yard! I can finally plant my own little garden!

Here she is: 3 Bedroom, 2 1/2 Bathrooms + Studio...and 3 car garage. Our little white car just wouldn't accept anything less, she's so finicky about having lots of space to herself.
Entryway...Formal dining room. Finally a room that fits our monstrous table...barely.
My atelier is nice and roomy with that perfect constant northern sunlight.
The eatery. This is where the magical food creations begin. One thing we didn't thing about was having to buy all new appliances. We actually got a stellar deal on a scratch and dent Samsung refrigerator that we love! The casual dining area is partially shown. We still need to buy a breakfast table for that, but for now its just an empty space where I sit my growing wheatgrass down to capture some sun.

Hooray for dual sink bathrooms, or the "Marriage Saver" as some realtors call it.

Oddly enough, there isn't a picture of the living room? I'll have to add one later.

So that's a wrap. If you're ever in the neighborhood (though I doubt Arkansas is on the list of places you'd like to visit this year), you can always stay in our "sparest of spare rooms" (sorry, Anne of Green Gables applies to everything) and sleep on our "luxury air mattress".

I'll add more pics as we update our darling little house!

Kyle's MBA Graduation

We've been in Bentonville, AR for 7 months now—time flies! Kyle graduated with his MBA from the A.C. Nielsen Center at the University of Wisconsin. I'm thoroughly proud of him. He landed his Marketing Research dream job and here we are.

We bought a house! However, it isn't fixed it up yet. I still have to paint the entire house from top to bottom, replace some flooring and actually hang pictures for once. I make it a point to never put any nails in the walls for fear of loosing our deposit because we've only rented until now and moved so much. We've moved 8 times in our marriage of 4 years! I know its hard to keep track of where we are, so here's a re-cap:

Our Nomadic Timeline (I'll have to make this into an infographic at some point)

Alpharetta, GA — Alpharetta, GA — Sarapiqui, Costa Rica — Alpharetta, GA — Madison, WI — Chicago, IL — Madison, WI — Bentonville, AR...

Without further adieu, the graduation pictures...

MBA Class of 2010! Woot!

Apparently one of the professors always does this weird thing with his hand on his head and they're poking a little fun—imitation is the purest form of flattery right?


Kyle's parents and sister came for the occasion. They had the privilege of sleeping on our "luxury air mattress" for a few nights, but despite cramped quarters and only one loo, we had a lot of fun!

We were able to introduce them to one of Madison's jewels: Stella's Bakery and their Spicy Cheese Bread...I could really go for some of that right now. Hmm...I think I'm going to have to create a Visit Madison Guide Book with all the things that we loved about it there and will certainly miss!

Next up...Our New House!

Sister-In-Law's Baby Announcement

I've designed my first baby announcement! It helps to have an adorable subject. Congratulations to my sister-in-law and her husband on their new little one, Nash! He is so adorable in this picture, we love him already—though we haven't officially met yet. :(

This Is Not A Test...

In case you were wondering if the Nels fell off the face of the earth, we haven't. At least not yet—but we do have a bit of news.


So there it is. We are moving to Bentonville, AR this summer for Kyle's new job. Woohoo! We're really excited for all the "natural" things to do and see. Now begins the house hunt...Tally-ho!

Want Some Candy Little Girl?

I wonder who decides what should be recorded onto those motion-sensor electronic Halloween candy bowls with the hand that moves and shockingly touches yours as you innocently try to reach in for some sweets?

At any rate, Kyle was a Webkinz (those pricey collectible stuffed animals that also have a life in the kid-haven internet game Webkinz) and I was a hotdog. We decided to go to Kyle's school Halloween party about 2 hours beforehand and had to rush off to find a costume...kid's section always wins. Notice—they don't really fit well, but the price was right. Kyle is wearing flippers, not shown but very convincing. My costume was perfect because I was able to cut little slits into my "buns" to make a handy little pocket for my camera!



We never get tricker-treaters because our condos have a security door that you have to ring to get into, but Kyle says he'd give a kid $20 if one ever got to our door! Don't get any ideas kids...its the last time we'll be living here! Opportunity: over.

{What's Your Cookie Personality?} -A Sweet Giveaway!

Tomorrow, Sept 30th, is the last day to enter the "What's Your Cookie Personality? - A Sweet Giveaway!" and win a box of gourmet cookies from Heidi's Heavenly Cookies! All you have to do is leave a comment with your:

Name
City, State
Your cookie personality
Why that particular cookie reflects who you are
How you are going to use the box of gourmet cookies

{Your information will not be sold to anyone. promise.}

Winner(s) receive a free box of cookies and will be featured on their site.

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Good Luck to everyone! Free gourmet cookies, yum!