The Nursery

The furniture and crib bedding arrived! Here are a few pics of the nursery.




















How cute are these shoes?

32 Weeks

This picture was taken at our 32 week ultrasound. This is the first we've seen her since our first ultrasound at 20 weeks. We were so excited to see how much she's grown. Our baby girl now weighs 4 lbs, and she has long limbs (like her daddy). And she has hair! This may explain the recent heartburn I've been experiencing. At one point, the doctor said she was sticking out her tongue. Only 8 more weeks to go!

What Kind of Dad Will He Be?

I recently took this quiz on Parents.com- What Kind of Dad will he be?, and wanted to share the results. I subscribed to this site a while back and really look forward to my weekly emails. According to my answers (which I confirmed with Chris), Chris will be a hands-on dad. Perfect!

Quiz Results
Diapers, baths, late-night feedings -- this dad will handle them all like a pro. You can count on him to administer the medicine for baby's first ear infection, and he'll probably want to take Junior to the doctor, as well. In fact, hands-on dads are so involved that they make great primary caregivers (this is the dad you want at home if you're planning to return to work). His parenting style will be based on nurturing, togetherness, and total involvement -- being there for his child will be his first priority.

Happy 60th Birthday!

I'm sorry that I am just now getting around to posting these pictures from our Pittsburgh trip. Chris and I drove up the weekend of October 22nd to celebrate Sue (my M-I-L) and Aunt Vic's 60th Birthday. On Saturday night, we ate dinner at The Gandy Dancer Saloon at Station Square. The view from our table was spectacular and the food was amazing. It was such a fun party and we loved seeing the family. Everyone came to town for this special occasion. Cousin Perry and Kathy even drove in for the night from Ohio!

Check out these pictures courtesy of Uncle Fred.





It was such a special night and we wouldn't have missed it for the world. Happy Birthday, Sue and Aunt Vic. We love you!

30 Weeks!

It's hard to believe that in just 10 weeks, our baby will be here. Well, at least should be here anyway. My doctor’s visits are now more frequent--I go every 2 weeks, and I look forward to every appointment. In a couple weeks, we have another ultrasound scheduled and I can't wait. The last time we saw the baby was at 20 weeks. I can't wait to see what she looks like now. These days, she is one very active baby. Not only can we both feel it when she moves and kicks, but we can see it! Every kick and punch is truly amazing and makes me very happy. I really think she is doing somersaults in there. She must be a gymnast just like her mommy.

November is going to be one busy month for the Salisburys. Our Baby "To Do" List seems to be getting longer and longer. We are STILL waiting for the furniture to come in. They told us it could be anywhere from 5 to 12 weeks. It’s a good thing we ordered it when we did. I am very anxious to get the room all set up and the clothes put away. We decided not to paint the room after all because I found an adorable bedding set online at Serena and Lily (my new favorite website), which I plan to order this week. It's pink, white and green, and will look great with the existing wall color. Chris couldn't be happier about this decision as you can imagine. This month, we are also buying the car seat. I've narrowed it down to 2 brands- Graco and Chicco, both travel systems. I've heard great things about both.

For the last several weeks, we've been busy researching and touring various daycare centers. When we started this process I had no idea how competitive and expensive these places can be. The waitlist at most places is over a year! At one center, we have 200 infants ahead of us. I don't think we'll be getting in that one. Why aren't there more daycares in DC? Luckily, we found one that we both really like, called Bright Horizons. The staff is extremely nice, the facility is big and secure, and the playground looks really cool. The best part is that the center is in walking distance to Chris's office. He would be able to visit our baby every day, and if there was an emergency, he could be there within minutes. All of the children seemed happy, and the waitlist is much more reasonable. Hopefully, we will be able to get in when the time comes. This month, we are also starting to interview pediatricians. Our doctor gave us a list of recommended doctors, which is helpful. Needless to say we have lots to do this month...in addition to Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping. Wish us luck!

Happy Halloween!

Greenville Baby Shower

The weekend of October 8th, we drove to Greenville, SC for my first baby shower. Thank you to Emilie, Davis, Kathy, Lauren, Jacqueline, Jessica, and Allison for hosting such a wonderful baby shower. You girls are the sweetest. We received so many beautiful baby clothes, blankets, bibs, booties, etc. All of the gifts barely fit in the car. Good thing Betsy and Gary let us borrow their SUV. My grandma Goss made the baby 2 quilts, which are both precious. And Mema sent a beautiful gold bracelet. My Aunt Connie gave me some of my dresses from when I was a little girl. She saved them all these years! Pinned to each one was a picture of me in the dress. What a sweet and thoughtful idea. We all had so much fun passing them around. It was a great day with baby games, amazing food and cupcakes, and tons of presents. I can't thank everyone enough for their generosity and thoughtfulness. The baby and I feel very loved.

Cribs and Karaoke

Chris and I finally bought furniture for the nursery from this baby store called Great Beginnings in Gaithersburg, MD. We decided on a white convertible crib, with a long dresser and hutch. Lucky for us, the store was offering 20% off any third piece of furniture IF you sang karaoke. Not sure what the store gains from embarrassing its customers, but it was obviously worth it. Chris and I decided that since I was the one carrying the baby, he should be the one to sing. : ) Chris chose the song "Take Me out to the Ball Game." I think he did a great job, but I'll let you be the judge of that! Of course I taped his performance with my cell phone. Ha! I couldn't resist. Unfortunately, I had trouble posting the video to the blog. As soon as I figure it out, I will upload it. Stay tuned!

Here is a picture of the crib. I can't wait for it to be delivered. Of course we have lots to do before that happens, so maybe I can wait. We need to clean out the guest room, pick out the bedding, and paint. We haven't decided on a color scheme yet, but we are leaning towards lavender.

Pretty in Pink

It's a girl and I have the pink to prove it. Baby Salisbury received lots of really cute clothes (mostly pink) this week. Thank you to Aunt Sharon, and Cousins Shannon and Jennifer for this adorable outfit and bib. I love it!



This one came from my Grandmother "Mema".

And lots of onesies, tops, pants, booties, and hats from Grammy Sue and Grandma Betsy.



Thank you all so much! I can't wait to see our little one in all these cute outfits.

Weekend with the Whitakers

My best friend, Emilie, and her husband and baby were in town visiting for Labor Day weekend. I couldn't resist taking a few pics of Baby Virginia. She has the cutest, biggest smile, but unfortunately I wasn't quick enough with my camera. She is so adorable and I already miss her. I know she and Baby Salisbury will be best friends just like their mamas.

It's A Girl!

This morning we learned that baby Salisbury is a girl! It was a very emotional and surreal experience. The sonographer told us that the baby appears to be healthy, and she printed out some pictures for us. She also told us that she thought the baby was really cute. Of course we think so, but not sure if she tells all the parents that. I am guessing not. : )

Check out these pictures of our sweet princess. She looks like she is waving in the first picture.


Everything became a little more real today. Next step- buy the baby furniture and decorate the nursery. I'm trying to talk Chris into painting the nursery pink. Wish me luck!

Pittsburgh

On Saturday morning, Chris and I drove to Pittsburgh to spend the day with his Mom, Aunt Vic, Uncle Tom, Aunt Deb and Uncle Gene. We had so much fun visiting with the family and checking out the city. While the men were bar hopping, the women decided to ride the Incline. Little did we know that there were no windows or AC, and we would have to deal with a cranky Incline operator. While I got some amazing pictures of Pittsburgh from the top, the men clearly had the right idea.

Aunt Vic, me and Sue. Can you pick out the twins?



That night we went to PNC Park to watch the Pirates play the Mets. Check out our amazing seats! Not only were we behind home plate, we were also just a few steps from Primanti Brothers. They make one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. Any sandwich with cole slaw and a handful of fries in the middle of it sounds good to me.

Tom, perhaps the biggest Pirates fan you'll meet, arranged for the seats and gave us the low down on the park and the team. While the rain didn't slow us down, the game was delayed and then eventually cancelled in the 6th inning. Nonetheless, we had a terrific time. PNC is an absolutely beautiful ballpark with great food and an amazing view of the city. If you're ever in Pittsburgh when the Pirates are in town, we really encourage you to check out a game.




We headed home on Sunday. The trip was short, but a lot of fun. Thank you to Aunt Vic and Uncle Tom for a wonderful weekend. We especially appreciated the newest baby onesie (I think we have officially covered all of the sports teams) and the maternity tops. These will come in handy with the increasing size of the belly bump.

And the back...

And the pacifier...