A few preliminary photos of the nursery

Here are a few photos of the nursery.  We are still working on it but this will give you a sense of where we are with everything.  More to come soon!

A Very Proud Papa!

Changing Table

Crib for Baby Azer

Big Boy

I had a checkup yesterday and Baby Azer is getting really large. (I now have to go to the doctor every 2 weeks until mid-July, then every week, now you know why I picked a doctor close to my office in DC and not one in Alexandria.) When I was there a couple weeks ago, I was perfectly on time, 29 weeks=29 inches, but this week, I was 31 weeks and 33 inches. Granted, I had to go this week after lunch, which messes up everything, but still, 4 inches in 2 weeks. WOW! And before you ask, I don't have gestational diabetes (passed that test with flying colors), just a large baby. (I was a huge baby at 9lbs, 12oz, so I feel this is possibly hereditary.) I can feel every inch as well and my feet are starting to swell. The doctor prescribed pool time as the Rx, so I have informed Adrian he must adhere to doctor's orders. Let's all hope that Baby Azer is a big boy who waits patiently to come on his due date and not any time sooner (although ask me again in August how I feel about that).

Photos soon I promise!

BABY SHOWER!

I had the most amazing baby shower, complete with friends who could be in town (shout-out to Cat who made a special trip down from NYC!) and surprises from those who could not be in town. It was so much fun and a big THANK YOU to all the hostesses: Jenny Capone, Amanda Olcott, Sarah Gauch, Vivien Azer, Beth Azer, Violet Azer and Wandaleen Adams. I enjoyed reading all the fun advice and hearing Adrian's responses to the questionnaire was priceless. I cannot wait to open the baby book years from now and reflect on all of this and remember how much fun I had and how blessed we are with wonderful friends and family.

Of course it would not be complete if I did not have a "fun" story. After the shower, we decided to go swimming at Samir and Violet's, who made another amazing dinner! On our way home, Adrian wanted to show my Mom this awesome house he loves, so to avoid a cop and another ticket, he took a side street. DC has had nothing but rain for the past 2 months, which means everything is super saturated, and Adrian "accidentally" drove over a pothole filled with water. Then we heard the warning light "Low Tire" (understatement of the year)--yes, we had a flat. It was too funny. Lucky for us his cousin lives nearby, so we made it to their house to leave the car, Murad and Benedicte picked us up (bless you both for ruining date night to pick us up), and the car will be taken care of today. I was just dying laughing because this happens after I locked my Mother out of our house so she had to take a taxi from the airport to the mall to shop until I could pick her up after work (I am thinking that Momma did not mind the shopping diversion but carrying luggage around a mall is terrible-pregnesia at its best!).

We had an amazing weekend and LOVE (LUV, LURVE, LOOOVE) all the gifts (while unnecessary, we do truly appreciate each one). Jenny totally impressed Adrian with the Baby Puma shoes to match his Puma tracksuits. I have no favorites--I Love it all, every outfit, every book, every swaddler, every swing, EVERYTHING. His room is almost completely set up, with the exception of artwork and I will try to post photos of the nursery with my new amazing camera (when it arrives) that my parents bought us!

Thanks again to everyone!

How time Flies!

I cannot believe that it is already June (almost) and that this baby will be a reality in less than 3 months! I at least now have a crib and nursery done. My amazing family and friends have planned a shower for me here in DC and one at home in Jonesville. I am so excited to spend time with everyone. And while I am on the subject, I just love showers. It's so much fun to spend time with good friends, family, look at presents, eat fun food-and I don't mean just my showers, I enjoy my friends' showers as well. (A big thank you to everyone planning my showers, I truly appreciate it and love each of you dearly!)

We had a routine appointment today and everything was good. I am measuring exactly on time and from early indications, I don't have gestational diabetes. Baby Azer is super active--his heart beat is around 150 bpm and he is just kicking up a storm all the time (I seriously think he has a promising career in martial arts based on in-utero movements.). I will be in meetings or on calls and get whacked, which is pretty funny to me still. It's so strong that even Adrian can feel it, which has been really nice to share with him. (And on the subject of Adrian, he is being wonderful. He put the crib together last weekend and has been generally very helpful. While he he disagrees with having to wait on me "hand and foot" and that "pregnancy does not equal disability", he is very helpful when I need him to be and rubs my back for at least 5 seconds before he is bored of it. Lucky for me, he is willing to pay for massages, which I will take any day. Funny story, he threatened to push me in at the pool at the club last week, and the lifeguard threatened to kick him out. It was great!) No weird encounters with strangers rubbing my belly but I do love that people are so helpful. I get my groceries carried out, people lifting things, etc. I love that for sure.

I think I am starting to nest, but I really just want to clean his room and baby things, not my own. I am more into cooking (but I think that is also because we now have a grill and I love cooking on the grill).

We are still trying to figure out what we are going to do while I am on maternity leave, so please come visit us! I am hopeful that we will get a trip into Dallas and Florida in before I go back to work.

Amanda and Jake's Wedding and Transatlantic Twins

Our dear friends Amanda and Jake entered into marital bliss on Saturday, May 8th. It was a perfect day, with good friends, excellent food, and perfect weather--not to mention a beautiful bride and handsome groom!

Amanda and Jake took on the ambitious task of creating descriptions for each guest at their wedding for a booklet, and I have to say, it was great! (Nod to Duncan and Katie who also did this for their wedding.) Here is our description and we hope you find it as entertaining as we did:
What do you get when you combine a country girl from southwest Virginia with a wise-talking Egyptian? We’ll all find out in August, as Brooke and Adrian will be welcoming their first child. They both practice law in DC. Adrian and Jake play tennis together, while Amanda and Brooke enjoy sipping iced teas in their beautiful home in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria. They frequently vacation in Destin, FL.

Congrats and Best Wishes to Amanda and Jake who are off to Jamaica for a well deserved honeymoon (and congrats to Amanda for graduating with an MBA from Georgetown!).

Baby Azer's transatlantic twin, Baby Lillie, came to visit us (in utero of course) and we had so much fun baby bumping together. It was also fun going to restaurants and having people take pity on the two pregnant women--we got a better table at Rosa Mexicano for Katie's shower ahead of our reservation. I think that Duncan and Adrian probably got annoyed that I would point out each and every stroller type in Old Town, but I was just trying to be helpful and informative while showing them the pros and cons of each type. Katie and I had so much fun comparing notes on pre-natal care in the US and UK, discussing names, and planning nurseries. (We also enjoyed eating loads of fun stuff together but that is beside the point.) (On another note, Adrian challenged Duncan to several contests, all of which he lost. I tried to explain that challenging an Englishman to golf (okay it was TopGolf, the driving range), tennis (paddle tennis, whatever that is) and drinking (beer, need I say more?) were bad ideas, but he never listens. Congrats to Duncan for taking Adrian down and giving him a hangover!)

What a relief! Prayers Answered!

We just got back from the sonogram to check on Baby Azer's kidneys and everything has cleared up on its own. We are relieved and he looks amazing. We could not get many photos this time but you can start to see that he looks a lot more like his Daddy (and that is according to his Daddy). (As a side note, the sonogram technician confirmed yet again, through photos, that Baby Azer is indeed a boy.) I feel like all our prayers were answered and we appreciate all the support, good karma and prayers. We will not have another sonogram, so until his debut, this is it! He is breech right now and keeps head butting me a lot and kicking my side like he is an MMA fighter. It appears that Baby Azer intends to be super active--this does not bode well for later.

Funny story that occurred while we in the sonogram office today. The room was really hot, almost to the point that it felt like a sauna. Suddenly, black spots appeared, I began sweating and feeling lightheaded. The technician asked if I was okay or if I felt like I was going to pass out, and I honestly did think I was going to pass out. He then said "roll onto your left side." A seemingly easy task but when you are 6 months pregnant lying flat, this is not easy task. Adrian starts dying laughing and then tries to help me, and I felt like a beached whale having to be rolled back into the ocean. Once I did that, I felt better but it was fairly comical.

Thanks again for all the love and good wishes! We will keep you updated on anything that comes up. We are narrowing down names and trying to get the nursery done.

Friends, Family and the Nursery

This has been an exciting week for Baby Azer. Not only did he get some amazingly, stylish gifts from folks in Dallas (Brittany, Q, Heather and Leslie) but he got a visit from his grandparents to help with the nursery. First and foremost, I need to thank our friends who have been amazingly supportive and helpful in this pregnancy. Advice, assistance and love have been overflowing and I am so grateful for it all. (Gifts are awesome too but we love the love!) Second, a huge THANK YOU to my parents who drove up from Lee County to help paint the nursery and get my yard looking better (I should also thank my husband who paid a landscaper to get most of the work done so my Mom could just touch it up). It was a huge job but we got it done and everything is starting to look perfect (except for the missing crib but details people, details).

The nursery is a pale green shade-Anjou Pear to be exact (I know, I must really love this color, it was my wedding theme and now is my nursery theme). The accent colors will be navy blue, yellow, green, brown, and white. Adrian has already ordered some Curious George prints for the walls (his bathroom will be decorated with Babar prints). Adrian thinks I have taken the nesting phase a bit far, but it's all in an effort to get everything done before I am 8 months pregnant in the middle of the DC summer heat.

We have a sonogram this Friday to check up on the kidney issue. I am praying that it is better but we have been told that sometimes it gets worse before it gets better. We also cannot wait for Baby Azer to meet his transatlantic twin, as Katie and Duncan are visiting for Amanda's wedding. We are so excited for Amanda and Jake and cannot wait for their nuptials!