Thanksgiving, a Brit and a few parking tickets

Steve and I hosted another successful Thanksgiving dinner. Steve is an awesome cook and likes to go a bit overboard. Along with the traditional foods, we also ate homemade squash soup, lobster risotto, 2 types of cranberry sauce, and venison stuffing. Most of our guests were stuffed but managed to try some of my homemade desserts. We even had a friend, Andy, who traveled from England to experience this American holiday. I don't think he was disappointed.

The rest of the weekend was full of showing Andy the sites of Boston and stuffing him with food. We brought him to Faneuil Hall, the North End, Harvard Square, and Walmart (every foreigner needs to experience this). A bunch of us met at the North End (Italian section of Boston) for dinner on Saturday night. During dinner Andy mentioned that he would like to see parts of the Freedom Trail. As luck would have it we walked part of the trail on our way to a bar! I'm sure our founding fathers would be happy to see the Freedom Trail covered with bars and drunk college students.

To make this weekend complete, we got 2 parking tickets on Saturday. Nothing says "Welcome to Boston" than parking tickets! But, Andy had a good time and that's what counts.

Here are some pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30481680@N03/

So Sweet!

Two parents of my students asked if they could come in yesterday to do a project with my class. I assumed they wanted to do some Thanksgiving project like making a paper plate turkey or something. When the parents arrived they asked if I would mind leaving the room for a half hour. After about an hour, one of my students found me and asked me to come back. When I walked in the room all 22 of the students were holding a sweet, animal blanket for the baby. All of them tied the strings surrounding the blanket!

They also made me cards. Here is one of them and I am quoting so there are spelling mistakes.

"My Teacher is Mrs. Pevzner She is a nice Teacher and is haveing a baby and I thik the baby is going to be a boy and its going to be very qute just like Mrs. Pevzner."

Awww....

33 weeks and counting

As you can see from the picture my belly is growing every day. Last week more than one co-worker said to me "Oh, you finally look pregnant." I guess it is a compliment. I felt like I have looked pregnant for a while now, but everyone is different.

This weekend exhausted me. I went into Boston to get my hair done (the last time before the baby comes) and met Susan and Katie for lunch. I have no idea how I am going to make it into the city once the baby comes but I guess I'll figure it out. Once I got back home I had to start preparing for Thanksgiving. This is our second year of hosting the festivities, but it is a bit harder to do everything with a human living inside my body. Steve and I have a whole system down. Steve prepares dinner (I think he got the shorter end of the stick but he loves it) and I prepare the desserts. This year has to be extra good though...we have a visitor, Andy, flying over from England to enjoy our American holiday (and to visit us too). Hopefully Andy and the rest of our guests won't be disappointed!

Progress!

We made a lot of progress this weekend in the baby's room. We wanted to add an overhead light and Steve thought it should take less than an hour. Poor Steve (and his dad) because it took them over 4 hours to finish it. Apparently the previous owner of the house did a crappy job with the electrical system so Steve had to fix it. The good news is that the baby's room is coming along.

We also finished our childbirth education class on Tuesday. The last homework assignment was to bring in a bag of sensory items to use during labor. For example, you could bring in a photo to concentrate on or your favorite chapstick for your sense of taste. I had a hard time with this assignment because I am pretty sure I won't use any of that stuff. It's just not me. So, I brought in my IPod and small baby toy that may help me get through. Steve and I both snickered at this one woman who brought in food for her sensory items. I think I mentioned her in a previous post. She was the one who kept asking if she could eat during labor. Well, for this assignment she brought in Doritos, crackers, etc. She said it would satisfy her sense of taste. I think the instructor burst her bubble again when she informed the pregnant woman (again) that she couldn't eat during labor. Then her husband piped in and said "But I can, right?" Priorities people!

Here are some pics of the baby's room: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30481680@N03/

Baby Shower!

The Pevznamian family was showered with love and gifts last Sunday. I couldn't have asked for a nicer shower. The guests could decorate onesies, shirts and bibs for the baby. I loved watching the creativity from the guests and I know the baby will like the creations too!

Holly knows me very well and hosted a musical themed shower. Guests brought musical toys, cds and even rock band onesies ("I love Bon Jovi and my mommy does too" is my favorite onesie)! Holly did an awesome job planning. She never ceases to amaze me. How she planned a shower with a 21 month old while living in New York I'll never know! But she couldn't have done it without Julie or Sandra. Thank you guys! Our baby is lucky to have you in his or her life!

Check out some pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hollyp/

Halloween 2008

I was a bit tired today since my class took a field trip to Plimoth Plantation today. But that didn't stop me from answering the door for the trick or treaters. My favorites are always the little ones. You know the ones who have no idea what is going on but mom and dad are ecstatic that it's their kid's first or second Halloween. This year it was a tie for my favorite kid costume. Our neighbor's little boy was a skunk and another little girl was a strawberry. Both were adorable.

I am leaning toward an animal for our baby's 1st Halloween next year. Steve wants to dress the baby up as Lance Armstrong complete with baby bike shorts, yellow t-shirt and helmet. I smiled and told Steve, "We'll see."

Since we had an old toilet under our deck (doesn't everybody?) Steve wanted to use it as a prop. He took a skeleton and attached it to the toilet and made the skeleton reading a paper. He even put a spotlight on it. The kids didn't know what to make of it and the parents thought it was hysterical.

Since it is November 1st I am ready for the toilet to disappear. I don't want to be known as the trashy family on the street.