A historical day

All politics aside, I am respectful of the process and people which elected the first black American President, who is going to be sworn into office today. May God bless and guide him and his advisors.

A visitor in March!

One of my best friends called yesterday and asked to come visit us in mid-March! YAY :)

I love this picture! Suzanne is on the far right (with the headband)

Putting the baby's room together

After the holidays my brother drove his truck from Illinois down to our house-- fully loaded with baby furniture and clothes. While he was visiting, we utilized his strength (combined with Greg's) to move the existing furniture that was in the designated baby's room and to assemble the crib.

The crib, changing table, and shelf were used by myself and both of my brothers. There were purchased 25 years ago just about an hour and a half from here.

With the furniture in place, the room is a blank slate. I'll post pictures as we accomplish more.

International visitor and painting project

This weekend my uncle Wade came to visit us. This is awesome because he, my aunt, and their kids currently live in Japan and I haven't seen him for probably 1 1/2-2 years. He is in San Antonio for a few weeks and so he drove over to see us on Saturday. It was great catching up! We introduced him to Chile Relleno with raisons, walnuts, and red chile sauce and Migas for breakfast. Yummmm. He also helped us with a painting project in the kitchen and living room. We were so appreciative for the help!!!

Here are before and after pictures :)

In the land of white...

And after the "Mexican Chile"

Our kitchen and fire place are on opposite sides of our big middle room with our dining table in between.

24 Weeks!

We had a baby appointment on Friday and got more pictures! Everything seems to be looking good. Baby is measuring right at about 24 weeks and estimated weight was 1lb, 9oz. She is coming in at the 55 percentile for growth-- right on track :) Doctor also confirmed gender and I'm surprised at how much fuller her face looked compared to the 20 week pictures. Funny thing: the sonogram tech commented on how she had long fingers! Greg and I both have long bony fingers, so she is destined to be a piano player :)

Here are some of the best pictures:

They're hard to make out here but clockwise from left is a picture her backside and legs outstretched and crossed, the front of her face, and then her profile with a hand open beside her face.

Baby Showers

During my Christmas Break I was able to go to Illinois to visit family and friends for a few days. While I was there, my mom's friends and my aunt had baby showers for me. It was lots of fun visiting with friends and family and I am so grateful for the gifts (and giftcards!) that everyone gave us.

Here are a few pictures.

My mom's friends- They are so sweet!

My mom and I

Me and Grandpa

Christmas Pictures

Here are some pictures of us with Greg's family.

Some serious movement

Since the doctor informed me that my placenta is up against the outside of my belly, or, that I have an 'anterior placenta' (which basically means there is a cushion between the baby and me feeling her move), I had not felt much of the baby's movement-- Until the other night when I was sitting at the airport waiting for my delayed flight. All of a sudden I started feeling definate kicks/punches just right of center. The movement went on steadily for about 45 minutes and a few times I even saw my belly change shape. Later, on the airplane, I felt her moving on the left side for about 30 minutes. I don't know if I ate or drank something different that day, but I haven't felt as much movement since that night-- though I'm still registering random kicks and flails.

I'm so glad to be feeling her more now and it tells me that she is getting bigger and stronger all the time.

Merry Christmas!!

Greg and I are in Pennsylvania with his mother's family right now for Christmas. Christmas has been a happy one-- we are tucked in amidst the cold temperatures and layers of snow and ice. We've eaten Nana's Italian Christmas cookies, played games with younger cousins, and are working on our Suduko skills. Baby girl has also received some of her first gifts: a teddy bear Nativity scene (from Nonna) for her bedroom at Christmas-time, a crystal carousel music box (Uncle Frank), a hand painted Russian rattle, and a few other bibs and chew toys. Receiving these gifts and sharing in the excitement is particularly special for us, as we wait for our young one.

I hope our friends and family are also having safe and happy holidays.

Love, Tori and Greg
Christmas 2008

IT'S A . . .

That's right, we know what the sex of our baby is but, a little suspense before the big reveal.

Today Tori and I went to our OB appointment to get our sonogram. All is well with the child, ten fingers, ten toes, and 92nd percentile in weight. That's right, our baby may be one of the largest babies born in the country this year. But before you all go off telling everyone that Greg and Tori are having a little salchicha, it should be noted that the baby was very scrunched up during our appointment and that adds some considerable weight to the final forecast due to inaccurate measurements. We'll know more at our next sonogram.

However, the big news of course is that we're having one of these . . .

Which I guess means there will be a lot more of this in our lives:

And This:

You know, everything nice, because that's what LITTLE GIRLS are made of. Or so I'm told.