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As we've been preparing baby's room lately, I realized I have never shared pictures of what our new place looks like, since we moved in April. We are renting a 2-bedroom duplex in Alexandria, Va. I'm only including pics of the living areas because (1) the kitchen is a mess right now and awkward to photograph anyways, and (2) our bedroom and other areas just aren't that interesting to see. I'm also reserving photos of the nursery until its more complete, but we did a lot of work in it this past weekend so its getting there! I suppose its time since baby could be here any day :) A little sneak peek of the crib:

~living room decorated for Christmas~

the blank wall over the couch is obviously a work in progress but I have great plans to put a photo collage up someday, preferably before we move again...

~dining room~

We upgraded from our tiny 2-person table to one that can expand to seat 10. To be honest we don't eat at it all that often yet but it sure comes in handy to hold a buffet spread for 20+ people!

Christmas plates that Geoff received as a little boy surrounded with some holly from the back yard

Geoff's favorite decoration may be the candle arrangements I make at Christmas. I'm glad he is so easily pleased :)

Belly Pictures

Many of you may have already seen these, but here is a link to the professional maternity shots we had done a few weeks ago around Capitol Hill. The photographer is a sweet gal we know from our church, and if you are in the area and looking for a wedding or portrait photographer, we highly recommend her! She made the experience so much fun and spent time finding out what we wanted as well as incorporating her own creative ideas. It was a blast, and a great way to remember this special time in our marriage while we wait for out little peanut to arrive :)

Showered by Love

October and November have brought into our home many blessings in the form of baby items. Lots of baby items. Thanks to friends from church who put together a fun shower for me in October and my mom and sister who threw a fantastic shower for us last weekend, our nursery is overflowing with both cute and practical items to help us welcome baby into the world (and then clothe, feed, clean and entertain him or her). As we have almost hit the 7 week countdown mark, its becoming more and more real that baby really will be here soon. Everyone is talking about the holidays coming up and the dwindling time left for gift-getting, and its a reminder to us that possibly during or hopefully right after all of the holiday festivities, our greatest gift will arrive. Wow. How did those 30+ weeks pass by so fast?!

Here are a few photos from both baby showers...

Church friends

Friends from William & Mary who also live in the area!

Since my shower, 2 baby girls have been born to ladies in these groups. Yay for mommy friends.

They decorated onesies for Baby; this is Geoff's favorite one:)

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The spread at my family shower ~ mom made amazing coffee punch and my sister made delicious cupcakes which we are still enjoying :)

My grandma with 3 of her sisters~ these ladies make our family what it is today and I'm so blessed to be bringing another life into this loving family

Decorating wooden blocks and fabric book pages for baby!

Me and dad, the grandpa-to-be!

October Snapshots

Whats been happening lately...

Celebrated with friends at their wedding in Newport, RI

Built baby's beautiful crib, thanks to Geoff's generous parents

Baby belly at about 29 weeks (feels like I get bigger every day!)

Our good friends from church had a sweet baby girl 2 weeks ago. Holding this beautiful little bundle made us oh so ready to meet ours!

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* We've chosen our pediatrician and will be pre-registering at the hospital this week

* We signed up for baby classes at our OB's office for December

*I passed my 3-hour glucose test meaning I don't have gestational diabetes (praise God!)

Anatomy of a Dresser

Last weekend, Geoff and I built the dresser/changing table for the nursery! We're super happy with how it turned out, and anxious for the nursery to start taking shape. Somehow baby's due date is only 3 months away and we're sure with the holidays fast approaching, those 3 months are going to fly by!

examining the 400 pieces...

Ok its starting to look like something now!

looking good... just need some drawers...

finished!

The cheesehead will not be a permanent fixture...