Only When Pregnant

Only when pregnant..

Do you wake up at 4:30 am "just because"...

(To be fair, you went to sleep at 9:30 the night before)...

At least your husband gets a homemade fritatta for breakfast out of it.

You and the eggs... still... no.

Uneventful

Finally, I had what I've been after for 32 weeks...

An uneventful doctor's appointment.

I think I mentioned that I've been scheduled for extra ultrasounds every two weeks because of the couple of weeks of high blood pressure and liver-in-distress blood work. 

And today, I got a nice "everything looks great".

Finally.

Didn't have to give any extra blood.

Baby's growth is back on target, even measuring a little ahead.

Blood pressure is back to 110/70.

Mama = happy.

When I was leaving, the couple who went into the ultrasound room after me came out in tears.  Not good tears. 

Uneventful?  I'll take it.

32 weeks?

This is what 32 weeks pregnant looks like.

Don't laugh.

Tomorrow I have another sonogram, so hopefully we'll have some new baby pictures too!

A Strong Name

Baby names are something that Shawn and I didn't have much of a challenge coming to an agreement on.  We never bought a book, we never had much of a discussion... we just knew what was right and fit our family.

So we are excited and blessed in August to be welcoming to our family Baby E. aka Tad... from here forward known as Robert Lacy Edwards.

Baby Robert/Rob/Robbie is named after several strong men that we hope he grows up to emulate.

Robert comes from my side of the family. 

My Grandpa, Robert Miller, was a pilot in World War II.  He put himself through medical school, and raised a family of one son and three daughters with the fantastic partnership of my Grandma Miller.  He raised his kids to value hard work, family, and faith -- and expected the same from those around him.   One of my memories of him as a child was his testing my eyes at my parent's home in Florida.  For some reason I can't remember, I was scared.  I remember to this day he said to me: "There will be many things in your life that frighten you... that's not a reason to not face those fears."

My Dad is Gerald Robert; my brother is Matthew Robert.  Both of them are a man in the mold of Grandpa Miller.  They both have worked hard, sometimes in challenging times, to provide for their families.  Both put their families first, and have valued being a Dad as their most important job in life.

Lacy comes from Shawn's side, and is after Shawn's dad, Lacy L. Edwards. 

Robbie will be the first grandchild on the Edwards side of the family, and it is only fitting that he have the honor to carry on Shawn's family name.  Shawn's dad was an only child, so Robbie will carry on the family name Edwards as well-- and what a name it is.  Lacy Edwards is a man that has faced all the challenges in his life head on.  He also raised four children (three sons and one daughter) to put family first.  He worked tirelessly to raise a family that values faith, hard work and selflessness.

Robert is lucky to share their names. I hope he does them justice.

Date night

Susann and I try to have official date night at least once a month.  We usually try to go to restaurants and tonight we went to Graffiato that Chef Mike Isabella ( of Top Chef Fame) just opened here in DC.

We had a great meal consisting of:
Gnocchi with braised pork and burrata cheese
Mushrooms

New Jersey Shore Pizza (with calamari on it... see picture!)
Chicken thighs with pepperoni sauce
Fresh mozzarella with balsamic vinegar and olive oil
Polenta with Meatballs

Susann loved the gnocchi and I thought the pizza was awesome.

Very good stuff.  We are fortunate that we live in a city with many fine eating establishments to enjoy with seemingy more opening every month.  While I certainly realize that our schedule is going to be impacted greatly with the arrival of the little one I hope that we can maintain the date night tradation - we shall have to see .