Our Little Boy!!!!

We are so very pleased to announce the birth of our son, John Wyatt Yeatman. We’ll be calling him Jack. Our little bundle of joy was born at 3:12 on the afternoon of Sunday July 6, 2008, weighing 6 pounds, 5 ounces, 19 inches long. Below are some pictures. We’ll update with more details soon, but right now we’re too tired…

More prego pictures!

My sister got married in August 07 and found the most amazing photographer to capture her special day! Once I found out I was pregnant I contacted Carmen from Blink of an Eye Photo to book her to take pictures of the baby once born. She does a lot of family and children's photos too (not just weddings!). She informed me that she does a 'package deal' of newborn PLUS maternity photos. So.....I got signed up for both and recently had prego pictures taken.

She posts pictures on HER blog and there are some to view if you are interested....here is her site.... As she adds more and more you will have to scroll down further and further to get to me...listed as "Stacey"

http://blinkofaneyephoto.blogspot.com/

I'm up to 36 weeks now..... less than a month to go! Hope you are all well!!!!

Baby Baby Baby

The countdown is ON!! Five weeks and six days (42 days total) to go....until BABY day! (assuming of course that he is born exactly on his due date....not very likely) Erin and I are now in full preparation mode. We spent a few weekends working on the nursery...new carpet, new paint, new crown moulding, new furniture.....ahhhh! It's almost done! Here are a few pictures...

There are so many beautiful things in the room already because I have been GENEROUSLY showered by both wonderful family friends and my co-workers! I am still overwhelmed by the beautiful gifts that everyone has given us!!

Erin and Barb Hennessey threw me a shower at C-Est Toute Bistro in Oakwood...it was a georgous sunny day and the room was decorated with beautiful flowers, an adorable cake, and gifts and more gifts! It was wonderful to see everyone and catch up! Pat came all the way from Canada...so both grandmas-to-be were there! I know everyone had a great time!

Then....this past weekend....my two c0-doctors and amazing friends...Becky and Chanti threw me a shower with the staff from my office! The shower was at Chanti's beautiful new home and was very fun! My camera battery died after taking just one picture of the creative cupcake cake...so I'll have to wait for copies of pictures to post the rest... Here are some from both showers...

And last but not least....here is an updated belly picture. My mom asked me yesterday if my due date was correct....she thinks my belly is so big that the baby must be due earlier than July 14th!

What a difference one month can make!

Yipppeee!! We are so excited around our house that spring is finally here!! Check out the huge difference only 35 days can make.....comparing these two pictures of the wall in our backyard taken just that far apart.

Thank goodness the snow is gone and the flowers are blooming!!

Lola is ready for spring too....she got her official summer shave down! Here are some pics showing off her new do....

And the last month has also brought more belly growth....here it is at 27 weeks. Also a picture of me wearing the 'mind the bump' shirt that Kristen and Tom gave me. It's a take-off of the English subway station signs that say 'mind the gap'....reminding people to watch the gap between the subway platform and the actual subway. Kristen and I got a kick out of the signs when we were there together oh so many years ago. I love the shirt though and the bump part certainly applies these days.....thanks guys!

It's a.......BOY!!!

Hello Everyone! Sorry for the delay in postings...time is flying by! I am now about five and a half months pregnant (23 weeks). We had our mid-point ultrasound which was super fun! (wish I could have one once a week...so fun to see the baby moving around in there!) Originally we had planned to keep the sex of the baby a surprise until we saw the baby in person...but within seconds of the ultrasound starting, it was blatantly obvious on the screen that we are expecting a baby BOY! Now that we do know it's a boy we are overjoyed and the insight has helped a lot with further planning and shopping. Names will still remain a surprise for the BIRTH day!

So....17 weeks to go.... still feeling great, but kind of feel like a walking beach ball. How will I survive another 4 months of belly growth??

Here are some ultrasound pictures....and a few pics of my growing belly....

Here is a pic of his little foot.....I think it's so cute...it's my favorite ultrasound picture!

His profile....and you can see his heart in the middle of the chest. (he does have legs...but the angle just dosen't show them!)

And here was our 'NO question about it' view of the fact it's a BOY!

Now a few pictures of me....tracking my belly growth...

This one was early on....at about 12 weeks....not showing yet...but a baseline picture....

This was around 17 weeks....

19 weeks....

And one from today.....23 weeks! Starting to 'pop' as my sister puts it...

We're MULTIPLYING!!!!

Happy New Year everyone!!! This year will be another BIG one for Erin and I.....we're PREGNANT!!

The countdown to Baby Yeatman is on! The due date is July 14th, which means I am currently almost 13 weeks pregnant. We made it past the first trimester, so now we are joyously sharing the good news with all of our friends and loved ones!

Here are the first pictures (of what will surely be hundreds posted on this site this year)...from our ultrasound this past week. It was an amazing experience to see the little baby in there kicking and waving to us!

We plan to leave the sex of the baby a surprise for the big day....but we do already have a nickname for the little one....BLASTO. (when we first found out about the pregnancy it was so early that the stage of development was still just a ball of cells...a blastocyst....Erin has been calling the baby Blasto ever since and it has stuck!)

We will keep this site updated with preggo pictures and any news.....

Christmas Preparation

Today was a FUN day!! We made our second annual trip to Dirr Nursery in Goshen, Ohio to cut down a live Christmas tree. This year we took Lola along and she had a fabulous time helping us search for the perfect tree. After awhile of searching.....we found it!! Here are some pictures from the day...

October Update

Although our European adventure is over, we still hope to keep this blog somewhat up to date.


We didn't wait too long before getting on a plane again. We had actually just barely unpacked, when we were once again leaving the country. This time we went to Montreal, Canada! Erin's mom, Patricia Yeatman was staring in an amazing play called The Carpenter in a cool theater in Montreal. Erin, Bob, Peggy, Bill and Lucille (my aunt and uncle) and I all went for a long weekend to check out Montreal and to see Pat in the play.


Montreal was the most charming city! Old Montreal was packed with delightful restaurants, shops, and pubs. New Montreal brought a night out in the clubs and SHOPPING!! We had two highlights of the weekend. Erin's highlight was watching a LIVE hockey game! My first live pro hockey game too...it was quite the experience. The crowd was so loud and interactive. More than most American sports. They cheered for any good move or score and booed for any bad one. Kind of fair-weather fans, but they didn't hesitate to let you know how they felt. The Canadiens (the Montreal hockey team) lost the game, but it was still tons of fun. We got to drink Canadian beer and have Pizza Pizza (Canadian delicious pizza).


The second highlight...my favorite....was seeing Pat in her acting role in the play. The play was about a close-knit Italian family which was experiencing the effects of Alzheimer's disease. Pat played the old Italian mother and was such an incredible actress we were all just blown away. Every actor and actress did an amazing job and there was not a dry eye in the whole house! It was such a pleasure to finally see my mother-in-law perform! We are all now groopies and can't wait to see another performance!!

The other highlight of October was of course Halloween. Included are some pictures of our pumkins for the year. The puking one was of course, Erin's creation.....

All good things must come to an end

We were just fed on the plane. After two weeks of wonderful Bistros, Ristorantes, Trattorias, Cafés, roadside food stands et al, eating Airplane food seems so unappealing. Stacey ordered the Cheese Tortellini, and I had the Roasted Breast of Chicken. When the food arrived, the first thing I noticed was the ice cold bun. Not exactly the freshly baked baguettes that we had become accustomed to. The food, surprisingly, was pretty good. Real pieces of chicken breast with a spinach risotto and glazed carrots. The tortellini was pretty good as well. I shoved the bun between my legs to warm it up to a reasonable temperature.

Leaving Paris was rather uneventful, and bittersweet. After lugging four heavy suitcases throughout Europe into 9 different hotels, plus Simone’s places in Rome and Umbria, going home will be nice. Clean clothes will be nice. Not having to wash socks and underwear in a bathtub in Venice will be nice.

We had a fun last day in yesterday. We rose early to get to the Louvre, and promptly got lost in the streets and subways of Paris. We eventually got to the museum, and made a beeline for the Mona Lisa, so we could get looking at her over with. For those who have seen her, you know what it’s like. For those who haven’t, it’s more interesting watching all the people elbowing each other out of the way to see a painting of a woman smiling.
We did a 3 hour whirlwind tour of the Louvre and then walked along the Jardin des Tuileries, to the Place de Concorde (where the big, famous ferris wheel is), and along Champs Élysées. We walked by the American Embassy, and tried to take a picture, but about 5 Gendarmes officers stopped us before we could snap a shot.

Then, the real reason we went to that area; Buddha Bar. The original Buddha Bar that spawned the sushi hysteria, and all those CD’s with the tranquil, chill music. It was certainly impressive. There’s a giant Buddha (about 20 feet tall) in the front of the restaurant, overlooking the whole dining room. Our table was right at his feet. The food was fantastic, Stacey had Edamame and a sushi combo plate, while I went with deep fried Vietnamese spring rolls, and the Tempura combo plate, with chicken, duck battered veggies. We had a fantastic bottle of Pouilly Fuisse wine with lunch, and were the last table to leave that afternoon.

We went back to the Eiffel Tower and took a Bateaux ride along the Seine River. The boat had big spotlights on the sides to highlight some of Paris’ more famous bridges and landmarks, while an automated tourguide told us the histories of them. It was a wonderful experience, dampened only by the cold cold rain that fell on us. It was, in fact the only time, other than a few minutes in Siena, that rain fell on us in a two week span.

We finished the night by returning to the Latin Quarter for quick ‘n dirty dinner. Stacey had crêpes, and I went to a Greek gyro joint. Both items were quick, cheap, and delicious. We were back at the hotel early, as we needed to get up and drive to the airport.
Overall it was a wonderful trip, full of moments neither of us will ever forget. We feel very lucky to have had such an adventure. Thanks for reading all about our travels! Until the next trip…..

Driving back to France

We left Venice with a lot less hassle than our arrival, we had mastered the water bus system. The day was mostly spent in the car. We got into some traffic and had to travel all the way across Italy, through the Alps on the edge of Switzerland and up into France. We saw some breathtaking peaks and mountains and also got to travel THROUGH Mont Blanc (the big white mountain). Their was a tunnel through the mountain which was 11 km long. It was warm and sunny on the entering the mountain and when we came out it was cold and raining. You can see it on the map if you zoom to the Italian/French border.


View Larger Map

We spent a long day in the car, and our normally wonderful GPS system missed an exit due to new construction. We saw the exit, but the computer said to continue for another 2 km. We obeyed, and there was nothing but highway, causing us to take a 45 minute detour through the outskirts of Torino. The highlight of that was seeing 2 black prostitutes sitting in plastic chairs in a cornfield, literally in the middle of nowhere. We eventually did get to our hotel which was a French Chateaux named Castel tres Girad in Moray-St.-Denis. We had a huge comfy room and were happy that we could just walk downstairs to the chateaux's restarurant for dinner.

Dinner was delicious. Very well priced and ended up being about 8 courses. We each ordered from the 3 course prix-fixe menu, which was to be the standard appetizer, entree, dessert. What also came was 2 amuse bouches, and choosing cheese from a rolling cheese cart that held about 30 different selections. Dessert came, but then they also had a pre-dessert AND a post-dessert course. I was in heaven. Any meal ending in three delicious desserts is one I will always remember!

It had been a long day in the car so we went to bed right after dinner.

We got up very happy that we only had a short drive to our final stop, back to Paris. Before leaving, we stopped in the charming town of Nuits St. George for a little breakfast. The main pastry shop was chocked full of delicious treats. I got a chocolate croissant AND a meringue. We also grabbed a baguette to eat in the car. It was a tiny, but very cute town.

On the way to Paris we stopped in Beaune to check out a French shopping mall. I really wanted to get at least ONE souvenir (besides wine) to take home. Since Erin and I have become addicted to espresso, we decided to find some espresso cups to take home. We found a home goods type store called ‘Casa’ which had a great selection, and we now own 6 espresso cups if anyone would like to come over for coffee!

We got into Paris without much difficulty. After two weeks of driving through Europe Erin has become a pro at navigating the crazy roads and driving patterns. Our hotel was right across the street from the large Pantheon. Our room was on the first floor for the first time in this trip and we were so happy to be able to avoid any stairs or lifts with our luggage. We had to take it all in this time for one final packing.

We decided on Fondue for dinner. It was chilly in Paris (felt like fall had arrived in the two weeks since we were there last) and we were excited for some warm, comfort food. We found a fondue restaurant in the Latin quarter which was just a few minutes from our hotel. We stuffed ourselves silly with cheese fondue, tarteflette, salami, and chocolate fondue to top it all off!! We had the house wine which came in a cool jug. We were at the restaurant for almost three hours and it was a wonderful meal.

After dinner we strolled through the Latin quarter taking in the student-centered nightlife. We stopped in an Irish bar for a beer and then went back to go to bed. Ahhh…..Paris.