Baby Showers!

On Saturday August 9, Matt and I left our driveway in North Carolina at 5:15am and began the 10 hour drive to southern Indiana. We arrived at my sister Krista’s house around 2:30pm, and our week-long vacation to visit friends and family was off and running! On Sunday, Krista and my mom held a beautiful baby shower at Krista’s house. I thoroughly enjoyed the food. :) It was great to spend time with aunts, grandmas, cousins, and friends that I haven’t seen since December.

We spent the next few days staying with my parents and enjoying a little rest and relaxation. On Wednesday, we drove to Matt’s parents’ house to stay with them for the remainder of the week. On Saturday, Matt’s sister Andrea and his mom held another baby shower for us at Matt’s parents. The weather was so cool and nice that we were able to hold the shower in their backyard. This type of weather is definitely a rarity in southern Indiana in August. It was wonderful to visit with Matt’s aunts, grandma, cousins, and friends from church.

At both showers, we received so many wonderful gifts. We are very blessed to have such kind and thoughtful people in our lives! Our vacation week went very quickly, and we were sad to leave on Sunday. We look forward to visiting again after our daughter is born and introducing her to everyone!

Carolina Wedding

Matt and I experienced our first Carolina wedding last night, complete with a UNC topper for the wedding cake! I met the bride and groom in the fall of 2005 when we all entered the chemistry graduate program at UNC. Matt wasn't planning on seeing anyone that he recognized outside of my Chemistry Department connections, but to his surprise, one of his law professors was in attendance! The wedding was small and intimate (less than a 100 people), and we had a great time. Congratulations, Tina and Devin!

A Working Weekend with the Rusts

My parents and sister came to visit this past weekend. To show our appreciation of the time and gas they spent on driving down here, we put them to work. (In our defense, they volunteered to come help with baby-related preparations).

We worked all day Friday and Saturday on projects centered around the new housemate Victoria and I are getting in November. We painted the nursery, installed crown moulding in the nursery, assembled the baby's crib and dresser, and cleaned and re-sealed the deck (nothing says "Welcome Home, Newborn" like a water-tight deck).

It wasn't all work and no play, though. We enjoyed some dining out, a trip to the Smithfield outlet stores, and we took in the new release, Mama Mia. I plan on drawing on some of the ABBA songs still stuck in my head from that movie when I have to sing my little one to sleep some day. "You are the Sleeping Queen, young and sweet, only seventeen (months)..."

Many thanks to Mom, Dad, and Anno for the visit and all the help!

We Love Bald Head!

Bald Head Island is a magical little place off of the coast of North Carolina. A ferry ride is the only way to access the island, and cars are strictly prohibited. Transportation options on the island include golf carts, bicycles, or walking! There are no hotels on the island, and it has remained a very natural environment. Matt and I absolutely love the seclusion that all of these factors provide, and we are spoiled rotten by some good friends of ours whose parents have a beach house on the island. They have invited us to stay with them each summer that we have lived in NC, and we took our annual trip last weekend. This year's trip did not disappoint-- We enjoyed long days on the beach, grilling, and Mario Kart on the Nintendo Wii! We are trying to enjoy these trips as much as possible this summer. Life (and trips) will be much different with a little one around next summer!

Thanks for a great weekend, Peter and Bradleigh!

Our baby lost her name!

Matt and I are quite traumatized that our baby girl recently lost her name. The name had 2 fatal flaws:

1. First initial C with last name Rust spells "crust"
2. Meaning of name is "lame, hobbled, disabled"

We just couldn't place those burdens on our little one! Now, we are very sad that we don't know what to call her. We are starting from square one and are open to suggestions!

Beach Vacation

3 days. 3 vehicles. 3 different last names. That sums up the Wade family vacation '08. The Wades (Jim, Sally, and Jordan), the Swartzentrubers (Tim, Krista, Sydney, and Addison), and the Rusts (Matt and Victoria) traveled to Emerald Isle, NC for a beach trip. Highlights included:

• Baby Addison smiling and being happy 95% of the time (we hope our baby is at least half as happy)
• The greatest beach game ever: Mario Kart on Jordan's Nintendo Wii
• 9pm dinners
• Big Tent flying away at the beach (we caught it)
• Matt seeing the baby move in Victoria's belly (very sci-fi-esque...)
• Sand everywhere
• Jim napping everywhere
• Sydney in her blue sunglasses
• Sunburn
• Sandburn (very windy at the beach this time)
• Lots o' fun

Pictures are linked from the photo galleries section.

Pinard Horn, Anyone?

Have you ever heard of a pinard horn? Well, I hadn't until my doctor's appointment yesterday. My midwife and I were speaking about my ultrasound results from Friday, and she mentioned that technology has changed quite a bit since she had her children. Neither ultrasound nor the small doppler units used to listen to the baby's heartbeat were available to her. Instead, they listened to the baby's heartbeat with a pinard horn. It is a wooden horn that the doctor would hold up to his ear and place on her stomach in an attempt to hear the heartbeat. I was so curious about this horn that I had to google it to find an image:Overall, the appointment went well. Baby gave us a nice strong heartbeat to listen to, and my midwife is confident everything is just fine. If you're curious about the midwifery practice I'm visiting, more information can be found here: http://www.uncmidwives.org/. The practice is established through the UNC Hospital. My appointments are all at the hospital, and I will deliver (with an epidural!) at the hospital in the labor/delivery rooms with doctors available in the event of an emergency. So far, the personalized care of the midwives has been wonderful, and I look forward to having them take care of me during the birth of our little girl.