Babymoon

Some wonderful friends gave us an incredible two nights at the Chateau Elan spa. We opened the envelope with the red seal that held our reservation information and were speechless. Two nights, all meals paid, plus spa treatments for both of us. The experience was so relaxing and special. We were greeted at the door by a doorman in uniform who offered to help us with our "luggage" which consisted of a couple of very college-looking backpacks. We felt a little outclassed seeing the BMWs and Mercedes parked out front, but we didn't care, we were here to enjoy our stay! Our Vintage themed room was full of antiques.














We relaxed a little in our room, ordered drinks from room service....














...then had lunch in the beautiful airy Versailles restaurant, modelled after a Victorian train station in France, with the glass ceiling and open feel.














Taking a load off my feet on the balcony of the Versailles (the main hotel is in this building as well)

















That afternoon I had my pedicure, which was extra nice because I have a hard time reaching my toes anymore. Jeff sat there and chatted with me and the pedicurist (is that a word?) while he waited for his treatment. He had a men's luxury facial (and if he had known that included an upper body massage he would have been even more excited). "Mavis" was a tiny Indian woman who gave him a longer massage than she had to, and Jeff said he felt incredible afterward. After dinner at the Cafe Elan, we headed back to our room where they had prepared us a "Spa Journey package" which was rose petals strewn on the floor, tea lights, and rose-scented spa products for a hot bath. It was the perfect end to the day. And the best part was knowing we had a whole other day left...

spa journey
















my red toes













(Not pregnant, just had a good meal.)


















Next day we had breakfast in the little spa restaurant, Fleur de Lis, and then walked over to the winery. I wanted to steal some grapes from the arbors but Jeff wouldn't let me. :) We toured the winery and the gift shop, then had lunch again at Versailles. Our massages were that afternoon. I had a special pregnancy massage. It felt great and almost put me to sleep!
Dinner at Cafe Elan was delicious! I highly recommend the peach bread pudding with ice cream. My only regret was not being able to eat huge meals because the baby is taking up so much room!
Jeff and I really enjoyed our "Babymoon" and will remember it with fondness as we are spending sleepless nights with a newborn! :D Thank you to our dear friends who did this for us--you know who you are--and we appreciate your kindness so much.

Someday my little prince will come

This Thursday I will be at 37 weeks and technically full-term! If the baby comes this week he's not considered premature. I'm hoping he doesn't decide to surprise us, since my paperwork is still enroute from my current care to my midwife. It's taking so long because the ultrasound was done by another practice, who had to send their records to my current care, who take 7-10 business days to process records. I'll feel much better when I know everything has gone through!

Soon, soon, my little prince will come. It will just take him a lot of time afterward to become verbal, do anything for himself besides drool, charm anyone with something other than spit-up, and it will be a long, long time before he looks good in tights. But that's fine, because I believe the spell works so that I'll fall in love at first sight anyway.

Plants Post

Sounds like we all needed a jumpstart for blogging! I thought I'd pick from one of Elizabeth's ideas and start with the gardening tips. So...a short post on growing zinnias. These flowers come in all varieties from daisy-looking giant ones to fuller flowers that resemble carnations. Also come in every color of the rainbow. They have a country charm, not sophisticated, but so hardy and colorful.

All you need is a husband (to dig up the beds), a couple bags of compost and manure (about 2 bucks a bag), seeds, and a trowel.

Plant in mid-May for a longer bloom time (later is fine, just won't bloom as long.) Plant in full sun. Zinnias were originally grown by the Aztecs in Mexico so they don't mind being baked! Dig up the beds about 6 inches down, and mix in the compost/manure. You might have to take some of the original dirt out to make room. Be generous with the compost, since this is what guarantees you good growth, and then the beds are ready for next season's planting too. Then...sprinkle your seeds in rows if you're picky, scatter them if you're not. Either way they'll grow (and actually look better clustered.) Then stir up the top inch or so with your trowel to cover the seeds.

Water VERY liberally. The first watering is the most important!

Then, water a little every two days or so and wait. The plants germinate in a couple of days. If I remember right we had blooms within 3-4 weeks. The cool thing is you get blooms all summer long!

These things are so hardy, that when I put some in a vase and forgot about them, they started to grow roots into the water! We've had a couple of storms that washed out their roots, and instead of dying, they somehow re-rooted themselves. Which makes me wonder, maybe they're a weed??

And couldn't resist posting a couple from the yard....the potted plants and the yellow marigolds are from my shower. Also the white impatiens.

Saga continues

Wellll, little Benjamin's heart appears to be fine. I had the special ultrasound done yesterday where they were able to look at the heart. The extra beat is still there, but they can see no abnormalities in the structure of the heart or the blood flow. The nurse was super nice and explained everything I was seeing...and I got a couple of good looks at his face where even I could tell it was a face! I have a hard time seeing anything other than a blob. He has chubby little cheeks and poochy lips, and a flat squished little nose. He weighs 5.5 lbs right now, which is, surprise, surprise, almost exactly average. He's been average every time they've measured...just an average little guy :)

In the unlikely case that there was something wrong with his heart we were going to plan on staying here for the birth, but now we can continue as planned with the midwife.

Glad everything's okay and can't wait to meet him!

And a pregnancy note...the hand swelling everyone talks about started (though it's mild) this week. When I leave my hands down by my sides too long they puff up. At night I have a hard time getting my ring off. Ah well. If this is the worst I have to endure! :)

Monday night the sweet ladies at church gave me a shower. They were so generous and got us our travel system (stroller/carseat/base) among other things. God is so good to us!