Surprise Trip to Canada

3 days after school got out, I flew home to surprise my family. My dad was the only one who knew I was coming home. The main purpose for going was to visit with family and give them a chance to see me pregnant. It is tricky to go through this major life change and not have my family close by to be a part of it. So I was very thankful for the opportunity to make it home.


The surprise went off with out a hitch and the entire trip was wonderful. I got spend time with everyone and even see a couple of friends. It was great to be back home, but I realized that my understanding of home is changing. Belleville will always be home in the sense that my family is there, but Richland is home because Marc is here. I, of course, missed Marc but it was also good to realize that I missed my house, my dog and my Tri-City friends.

A couple of pictures to catalog my trip home:

I flew into Toronto and got to spend the night with good friends Amber and Jon. Plus I had the privilege to meet sweet Abigail for the first time. She is precious. It was so good to visit with friends.

What would a trip home be without pictures of my sweet Sophia.? My little neice is growing up so fast. She is adorable as you can see. Plus she has the funniest sense of humor. When I first walked in and surprised everybody, Sophia kept trying to get my attention. After the third attempt I finally got down and asked her what it was she wanted. Her response was, "Aunt Katrina where is Uncle Marc?" Oh that about did me in. So precious to hear my name on her lips. She hasn't forgotten us.

My sister Paula just before she left on a trip to Mexico with my nephew Shane.

I have to admit this picture is a bit of a posed one. It was re-enacted from the night before. I went to see Shane play soccer and just before the game started he came over and gave me a big hug. Then he grabbed my belly and just held on. It was pretty funny. The other nephews were not so keen on feeling the movements of their soon to be cousin. But Shane was more than happy to. It was pretty cute.

Week 27

So here I am at the end of week 27. Definitely getting bigger. Oh and I got my hair cut!

Spencer's Room Part 1

Marc and I were anxious to get started on the baby's room. Who, by the way, we have named Spencer. So we worked hard on Memorial Day weekend to tackle this project. It first involved emptying the room of its current contents (a whole bedroom suite) and moving that into the office/craft room.

Then we started painting. Don't worry it was well ventilated. 3 coats on the bottom and 2 coats on the top. Then we painted the chair rail and the following weekend we put it up. We also put up trim around the closet doors. I will say his room is the nicest in the house.

The next step is to do the finish work on the trim and then set up the crib. I am excited to do that and then start moving things into his room and getting ready for him. I think this is commonly referred to as the nesting stage of pregnancy. :)

Before shot

Marc did all of the intricate work as I painted the larger parts. Chocolate sprinkle on the bottom.

This was my first time painting. Not bad for a beginner. We put "rejuvenate" on the top half of the wall. It is a light green.

Voila! The painting is done and the chair rail and trim are next to go up.

Spencer's Room Part 2

I definitely look very pregnant in this picture. This is me learning how to use the nail finishing gun. I did it once and that was enough for me.

Marc put up most of the chair rail, while I held it in place. He did a spectacular job and looked so manly and proud holding his (borrowed) power tool.

Out of order, but more pics from the Zoo

Had to add a few more.

I think the lion was my favorite this trip. He strutted his stuff and then walked directly towards us. Of course there was a glass enclosure separating us, but it was like he had his eyes on us and was walking right to us. Everyone in the group started to lean back the closer he got. He ended up coming up to the glass and then turning around and sitting down with his rump against the glass. The kids loved it.

Hippos are my favorite animal so I had to get a shot of them.

You can't see as well in the picture, but the giraffes were being hilarious. They had their necks intertwined and kept "head-butting" each other. Pretty funny to watch.

Class trip to Seattle

It is a tradition at my school that the 5th grade classes go on an overnight trip to Seattle. I went last year and loved it. This year I was a little bit concerned about going because I was going to be 25 weeks pregnant and knew we were doing lots of walking. So Marc came on the trip and we had a blast with my students. We went to an IMAX on the Grand Canyon (which was really a political ranting about water conservation...which is a good thing, don't get me wrong. Maybe just a little over the heads of 11 year olds though). We toured the Pacific Science Center, went up the Space Needle, spent the night at a hotel (as compared to sleeping on the floor of the Science Center), went to the Zoo (my FAVORITE part) and then on a Ferry ride. It was a tiring trip, but so fun.

On top of the Space Needle

At the Pacific Science Center

I can not fully describe how animated the animals were. We caught them on a great day. The gorilla walked right passed us and then put his hand against the glass. The kids all put their hands there too and were screaming. That gorilla was HUGE.

We heard the tiger roaring and decided to go check it out. He was pacing back and forth and kept stopping to look at the crowd. He started to jump down each level of his enclosure to the point where he actually jumped out of sight. At that point we decided to leave, since we weren't too interested in having any experience like the San Diego zoo mauling. So we hussled out of there quick quick.

Week 21

Here is a shot of me at week 21. At least I can still see my toes. I am sure that will change.