The Nursery - so far....

I thought I would post a few pictures of the nursery to share. We aren't done yet--the artwork hasn't come in, I haven't found a lamp, we don't have everything Baby Q needs yet, but, here it is...

Tobie's Trip to the Dog Park

Gerard and I adopted a labrador retiever/boxer mix from the SPCA a couple of months ago. We named her Tobie and have enjoyed getting to know this sweet girl! She has a lab body with a boxer smile... It is so funny to wake up to this face staring (very closely) at you! She sleeps on the couch--it doesn't matter if you are on it or not--she considers herself a lap dog and will sit or lay right on top of you. Yes...we have a 68 pound lap dog!

Tobie is very mild natured, but has these bursts of energy that send her running full speed in circles around our backyard. I learned from our dog nanny this is referred to as the "Boxer Burn." Its nuts! She just goes for about 30 seconds at top speed like the devil himself is chasing her and then stops as abruptly as she started!!

Tobie is very lonely for other dogs, so Gerard and Tobie visit the dog park on a fairly routine basis. Today, I joined them with my camera to capture a typical "pre-baby" activity!!
The first thing Tobie does is make her "rounds" in search of a fellow high-speed runner! She seeks out other dogs that get their fix by running, top speed, in circles! There never fails to be a few others!!

Every once in a while Tobie will give us a "fly by." She comes by us a full speed just to let us know that she sees us, but isn't yet ready to go home...


Tobie is off again to run. Eventually, she will run straight for us and then keep going to the gate. She knows when she is done and it doesn't take long becuase it is full speed the entire time we are there. So...after about 20 minutes, we are on our way back home! Tobie enjoys this activity so much that we must be sure to continue to take her after Baby Q joins our home! Now...that is a tired, comfy, happy dog!!!

Paris ~ September 2007

Baby Shower ~ 11.03.07

Welcome to the Jungle Baby Q!

Lanie, Lindsey, Ginny & Noemi threw a baby shower for me today! It was so much fun to see so many of my friends in one place!! Thank you to everyone who came.

Knowing that it is going to be a girl now that we have done the "hair/ring" test is relieving--I can quit stressing about boys' names ;-) Gail says that according to a Sicilian Old Wives Tale, if you hang a ring *not an engagement ring* from hair and rub the hair on your thumb then dangle the ring above the palm....if the ring swings from side to side, it's a boy, and if it swings in a circle, it's a girl. Repeat the "thumb rub and dangle" until you have no movement. So...mine swung in a circle the first time (girl), went from side to side the next (boy), and then did nothing the last time (two kids)....hmmm, I've always wanted 10 (kidding).

We thought we would have the guys do the test on Gerard at the house to see if his reading matched--we shortly realized that they didn't have any hair at their party so the test would have to wait...

We started building Baby Q's library today; the "Jungle Jeep" book from Nikki was too perfect as Baby Q will come home in a Jeep to a jungle themed room! Unreal how you found that and thank you for sending it from England!

All of the duck themed gifts from Lori were fantastic. And the cake...no words can describe the cake, so I will just add a picture and you can pretend you are eating a bite of this white chocolate cake with chambord filling...oh my...too yummy!

Anyway, I had a fun day and I really had a great time seeing everyone. Thank you Lanie, Lindsey, Ginny, & Noemi for hosting, thank you to those who traveled from out of town, and to everyone else for taking the time out of your Saturday afternoon to spend this time with me. I very much look forward to all of you finding out the gender of this baby since it is bothering you more than me to wait!!

Evan Kiley's First Birthday Party

Baby Q's First Photo Shoot

Baby Q was shielding itself from the paparazzi!! We had to wait a while to get a good look at "Little One." But...when we finally did, I think I saw the signature Stroud nose!! The sonographer said that most babies in the womb look like they have wide noses; but, I think since its such a strong family trait...it just might be the real deal!

Check out Baby Q's moves...is that the macerana?!?!?!