We are now a party of THREE!!

Zachary Thomas Ross arrived at 9:43am on Saturday (July 25th) weighing at a whopping (*smile*) 6lbs 13oz and 19 3/4 in long. We have fallen madly in love with him!

More pictures coming soon =)

Another baby shower

At the end of June, Carol and Kristie (my mil and sil) hosted another beautiful baby shower for me. Lots of relatives and friends came into town for the occasion and we had such a wonderful time relaxing with everyone . . . and opening gifts =)

Kristie started the shower with a fun (?) but seriously disgusting game where we had to identify baby food and candy that had been melted into a diaper. And that's about all I'll explain about that one . . . my gag reflex is still super active . . .
Greg and I were again amazingly blessed by all of the gifts we received. This little man is going to be lacking for absolutely nothing!

All of the men went to the neighborhood pool for some water volleyball and then we all hung out on the back porch for the rest of the evening. But I unfortunately don't have any pictures of that.

The next day we celebrated Kristie's birthday with a cookout and some more chill-laxing. Again, no pictures. I need to get on this taking pictures thing . . . wow.

Thanks Carol and Kristie and everyone else who made the shower so special!!

Zach's Room

Decorating Zach's room has been a long work in progress. I painted the walls (and some creative patches of green on the ceiling, still not quite sure how I did that, but Greg fixed it!) back in the Fall of 2007. I couldn't stand a plain white room any longer and being the frugal man that Greg is, he said I could paint it as long as the color doubled for a nursery later on. That was probably a little of a mistake to tell me that . . . In Greg's mind that means "pick a neutral color". In my mind, that means "you really should plan out the entire decorating scheme for the baby that is only a twinkle in my eye". Well, my interpretation prevailed and I found the Winnie the Pooh fabric from which I chose the green paint and etc, etc, etc; and nearly 2 years later it's all come together. It's been so much fun to sew the nursery bedding and curtains, repaint a few pieces of furniture and see the room really become a baby's room. Except for a couple slight changes (we have some shelving to hang that we bought at Ikea this weekend and our collection of graduation gowns and formal wear needs to come out of the closet) the room is all set and ready for a baby. We are, too!

Saying Goodbye

Last night we had our good friend Jon Brown over before he moves to FL. It's a bittersweet time as we've been praying for him to get a great job . . . but obviously if we got to pick the job out of all the jobs possible, we probably would have picked one in Charlotte. But there's not only a job in FL for Jon . . . there's this girl . . . =) So . . . as Greg told him, man-to-man, he made the right choice (it wasn't too long ago that Greg was weighing those options himself).

My family has known Jon since I was 7 and Jon was 5. We even lived across the street from each other for a few years at the end of high school. Oh, and we went to high school together. Jon and Chelle were in the same grade, but because of how Jon's class schedule worked out, I ended up having a handful of classes with him, too. We were on the school's praise and worship band for chapel services together (Jon played guitar, his brother Taylor played drums, Chelle played piano, and I sang). And we ate lunch together most days. . . with a bunch of our teachers . . . because we were all cool and popular like that . . . yea . . . Jon and Taylor have pretty much been the brothers that the 3 Baumgartner girls never had.

Greg got to know Jon through youth group activities at our church and then also played a bunch of jam sessions with Jon and Taylor one summer. And they are both, well, geeks, so they get along really well =) It's always been a huge blessing for me to see Greg's friendship with both Jon and Taylor and how excited he'll get when he has a chance to hang out with those guys.

So last night, we grilled some burgers, played some Farkle and then Greg and Jon pulled out the NES and played Dr. Mario, Mario Brothers and Mario 3 (I think those are the right games . . . ). As I watched them play I was cracking up as these 2 college graduates got transported back to elementary age as they played the games of their childhood. They were sharing shortcuts they remembered and getting super excited at getting 100 lives. I wish I could remember more of the dialog, it was priceless.

We're very sad to see Jon go, but so very excited for him as he makes this big change, starts a fantasic new job, and get's plugged in down in FL. Plus . . . everyone really should have a friend that they can visit who lives in close proximity to a beach =)

And to finish it off, here's a small sampling of pictures . . . some more embarrassing than others, haha.

A weekend in the mountains with a bunch of family friends. Jon and Allie are the two in the very front.
Hanging out at a church conferenceSame conference, that's Greg in the background . . .
Styling and profiling in our sweet sunglasses . . .

The next several are from working at Creation one summer

Jon played in our wedding, this at at the rehersal dinner

Saying goodbye to Jon at his going away for the summer party a couple of years ago

38 Weeks - You've been served

EVICTION NOTICE

Date: July 10, 2009
To: Mr. Zachary Thomas Ross

To the above tenant in possession of below described premises:

We are issuing a 14 day notice for EVICTION. You will have 14 days in which you can either gather your belongings and promptly vacate the premises, or wait until the final day. After which, you will be physically removed from the property.
You are being evicted due to breech of contract and destruction of property. Expansions only to the FRONT of the house, within reasonable limits, were discussed. Not only have these limits been exceeded, but additions to the back of the house were also made!
Remodeling and gutting of the home was never approved, nor was changing the initial layout and base structure. On top of which, the landlord has received numerous complaints about nightly disturbances.
After 14 days from this day that you don't comply with the notice will result in immediate and forceful removal at our discretion.

Thank you for your cooperation
Love,
Daddy and Mommy

From What to Expect: Your little one isn't so little anymore — weighing in at close to seven pounds and hitting the height charts at the 21-inch mark (or less). Your baby's lungs and fetal digestive system continue to mature, too. All systems, almost go!

Baby Shower

So anyone who's been married or had a baby knows that there is no other blessing like a shower. Major life changes are expensive (thus the word "major") and it doesn't seem to matter how much you plan and save, there is always a moment where you wonder if you can really do this or if you will end up living in your car . . .

Greg and I have been so wonderfully blessed to be given not 1 but 2 baby showers over the past month. Here are some pictures from shower #1, which was thrown for me by the amazing ladies in our small group at church. It was such a special evening for me not only because I received so many ADORABLE gifts, but I was able to look around the room and see so many faces of ladies who are excited for me and who will be a major part of my support system over the next couple of decades. It makes this whole motherhood thing less scary to know that there are so many (including my mom and mother-in-law) who have gone ahead of me and done so with excellence and they will answer my questions!!

Zach not only will NOT be living out of a car, but he'll be dressed in style and have absolutely no lack of warm, cozy blankets!



**Thanks Rebecca for taking all these pictures for me!**

Black-bean and Goat-cheese Quesadillas

Here's another non-dairy recipe that we've enjoyed over the past couple of months . . . and probably will continue to enjoy even when I can go back to eating ANY KIND OF CHEESE I WANT!! (I'm excited, can you tell??)

1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained (1 1/2 cups)

3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (1/2 cup)

1 medium tomato, seeded and coarsely chopped

3/4 cup corn kernels (from 2 ears of corn)

2 scallions, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons coarsely chopped fresh oregano

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

10 six-inch corn tortillas

1. Mash beans in a medium bowl until chunky. Add goat cheese, tomato, corn, scallions, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper, and stir until well combined.
2. Heat a grill pan over medium heat. Spread 1/2 cup bean mixture evenly over 1 tortilla, and top with another tortilla. Repeat with remaining bean mixture and tortillas.
3. Raise heat to medium-high. Grill quesadillas, 1 or 2 at a time, until grill marks appear and filling is hot, about 2 minutes per side. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

37 Weeks

No picture this week . . . maybe I'll come back and add one, but I'm still sitting in my pj's as I type this and that's been a general theme of this week. It's been pretty hot and humid this week in Charlotte and my body has also been fighting off a bug that's flying around. So between feeling exhausted, sticky, and dehydrated there just haven't been many photo-ops =)

Looking at the calendar though has been motivating for me to be up and at 'em today . . . 3 weeks left!! As I type, I've got a HUGE pot of spaghetti sauce (yes, Kristie, the secret recipe) cooking on the stove in preparation for the freezer meals I'm hoping to assemble this weekend.

The highlight of this weekend though is that Mawmaw and Pawpaw (my mom's parents) are finally moving to Charlotte!! It's been a lengthy process (as is to be expected when anyone moves for the first time in 40 years) but tomorrow the moving van rolls in to town!

From What to Expect: With just three more weeks to go and at about six and a half pounds (though weight and height vary from fetus to fetus), your baby is doing just fine. You can expect weight gain to be about half an ounce per day. (Boys, though, are likely to be heavier at birth than girls. And here's a bit of boy baby trivia to back that one up: Moms carrying boys tend to eat more than moms carrying girls — a foreshadowing of teenage refrigerator raids to come.) Since your little one is considered full-term at 37 weeks pregnant, if your baby was to leave the wet nest this week, he or she would likely thrive.