Bellyland: 34 Weeks

34-Weeks (7.5 months) belly shot: only 6 more weeks until my due date!
I'm still holding up great, staying active, and plan on working as close to my due date as possible.
The weather in Seattle has been absolutely beautiful the last few days, and on Saturday we enjoyed the sunshine by smoking ribs & pork shoulder all day. Lodi (our dog) helped too:

Bellyland: 32+ weeks

32+ weeks (less than 2 months to go!)

Annual Winter Get-Away

Last week Andy and Michelle flew in from from Utah for our 4th annual February visit! We had a wonderful long weekend. On the agenda was Seattle site-seeing, wine tasting in Woodinville, a few gourmet meals, snowboarding at Stevens, a night at a cabin near Leavenworth and homebrewing a Kolsh. It was a great mini-winter-get-away! I didn't take a ton of pictures, but here are a few from Woodinville:

Me & Eric at Chateau St. Michelle (me: 32 weeks/7 months pregnant):

Andy & Michelle at Mark Ryan Winery (our favorite winery of the day!):

Me & Michelle at Bookwalter Winery (don't worry folks... I'm just holding Eric's glass here...)

Cheers to good friends!

Showering of love for Mini-Merhar

Last Saturday my good friend Beth hosted a baby shower for me, and it was so incredible to celebrate with such a wonderful group of ladies. They definitely showered mini-Merhar with love and generosity!

Beth created these amazing mobiles for decorations, and as a gift for the baby's room. They will go perfectly in the nursery: Me, Mom, Janai & Lisa:And, me with Debi (Eric's Mom)
More pictures of the shower via picassa (click on the photo below)

Baby Shower 1-23-10

Bellyland: 29 Weeks

Things in bellyland are going well. I'm 29+ weeks along (about 2.5 months until my due date!).

I've been feeling great, and the doctor says the baby is also doing well: he is normal/large in size, his heartbeat is strong & he's moving and kicking a lot these days! I've been feeling healthy and strong, with only minor backaches. I'm keeping active with daily walks with our dog, swimming laps 2-3 times a week and prenatal yoga (talk about a lot of bellies in one room!); all of these seem to help with the aches and pains, and should help minimize them as I(we) continue to grow!

Here is the latest belly shot at 29 weeks+3 days:
I've still been hearing that I'm not showing very much for being in my third trimester, but the Doc says this normal, especially considering my height. But not being huge? "I'll take it!"

We've also picked out a name for the little tyke; but we've chosen to announce it after he is born.

IPA for our baby boy (well, more for us)

Yesterday we went to Cellar Homebrew to pick up ingredients to brew an IPA. If all goes according to plan, it will be ready to drink when my son is born! It's going to be a rye IPA with loads of citrus hops. With any luck it will be 6% ABV grapefruit bomb! Yum.

In lieu of the occasion, I'm sampling some of the standard-bearers of the style: Bear Republic Hot Rod Rye IPA, Lagunitas Hop Stoopid IPA, and Ninkasi Total Domination IPA. Now, the only rye IPA is the Bear Republic, but the others are darn tasty and I couldn't pass them up. All are north of 8%, so my beer will be the weenie of the bunch, but I'm ok with that. I'm looking forward to sharing it on our boy's b-day. Just be sure to save one for momma, she deserves it!

Christmas with the Family

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration with my side of the family in Bellevue. It was a true Jabbusch holiday filled with excellent gourmet food, crafts, lots of laughs & remembering Christmas's past.

Photos from Christmas Day (also on our Picassa site):

A little more belly: 6 months (27 weeks)

It is hard to believe that I am just about to start my third trimester! Here I am at 27 weeks (6 months):

I am still feeling great, and everything is moving along well. Cheers!

Merry Christmas!

A little bit of belly: 20 weeks

Week 20 ultrasound (pregnancy mid-point) - we found out we're having a boy!

I've been slow to start showing, but finally (at week 22/23), I am starting to have more of a visible bump. I suppose I shouldn't complain too much, as I am still fitting into all of my regular clothes (for now!). Here I am at 5 months (22+ weeks):