Baby Shower!

While I was home in Montgomery, the MA girls (and a few other dear friends and family) threw Baby Harvey a magnificent shower at Susie Pearson's home. We had a delicious brunch, and Baby Harvey was lucky enough to receive some beautiful clothes and lots of fun toys and gear. I loved having a chance to spend time with so many Montgomery friends and family.

Thanks to... Katherine, Lauren, Allie, Stacy, Susan, Andrea, Ashley, Amy, Meredith, Susie, and Nee Nee!

Holly Jolly Christmas

Thomas and I traveled to Montgomery to spend our last babyless holiday season with the Neeland family. We hit all the highlights like Old Fashioned Christmas at the Country Club and the candlelight ceremony at First United Methodist. Liz and Dave were there to join the fun. We celebrated our very first Christmas this year at Ed & Nee Nee's home in Wetumpka instead of the usual location at Granny's house. It was a fabulous country Christmas with all the fixings, courtesy of Nee Nee!

Christmas is coming...

And Leslie's getting fat!

Seriously, though, the past two weeks have been pretty overwhelming in terms of my belly growing. Cutting down on the Christmas cookies would help, but I know that Baby H is just getting a lot bigger too.

We attended a very fun holiday party courtesy of Thomas's father's law firm last night. They hired one of those guys who does caricatures, and we asked the artist to make sure to include Baby Harvey in the picture. We didn't expect that he would have such a fantastic sense of humor, though....

Here we are enjoying the festivities:

25 Week Appointment

Thomas and I went to my 25 week appointment today and all is well. Baby Harvey put on quite a show for our OB, moving around the entire time and making it really difficult for the doctor to keep the Doppler machine in range to detect her heartbeat. As soon as the doctor got the wand in the right place, Baby Harvey squirmed again! Our doctor was a little amazed by how active she is...

I'm generally feeling very good these days and have lots of energy. Baby Harvey is starting to give me a little pain in my ribs though. She is big enough that she is pushing my other organs up into my ribcage and putting too much pressure there. But I don't have any other aches and pains yet, so I'm doing okay for now.

Thomas and I are looking forward to the next week as Christmas approaches. We will be going home to Alabama to show off my round belly to the Neeland clan and to see Liz & Dave for one last visit before their big wedding weekend in February. I am also getting so excited about the baby shower that my friends are going to throw on the 27th!

Rounding out

The past few weeks, Baby Harvey has continued to make her presence known. She kicks after every meal and also late at night right before I go to bed. And sometimes she kicks for no reason - just to remind me that she's there and that she's way more important than whatever else I am doing at the time!

I'm finally starting to look truly pregnant and not just "thick." I can still fit into one or two of my bigger regular sweaters, but I'm pretty much in all maternity clothes now. I'm nearing the 24 week mark, so I will soon be at the end of the 2nd trimester. Hard to believe how the time is flying.

As stuffed as a Thanksgiving turkey...

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Harveys in the East Bay this year. It was a small gathering this year - just Peter, Susan, Biggie, Thomas, and me - but we had enough food to feed 25! I made cheese straws, sweet potato casserole, and corn pudding this year. I was particularly proud of my sweet potato casserole. So proud, in fact, that I took a picture.

Baby Harvey has been growing so fast these days... I feel like my tummy cannot stretch any more, but it has such a long way to go! Here I am "recovering" from the big Thanksgiving meal. I was just so full, even though I didn't eat anywhere near the volume I usually do. Baby Harvey is taking up all the real estate in my stomach.

Boola Boola!

This week, Thomas and I watched Yale's annual embarrassing loss to Harvard in "The Game." Yale hasn't managed to pull off a victory since we've lived in San Francisco, so it was more of the same for us. We had a great time hanging out with old friends at the Elephant & Castle Pub in SF, though, so the Saturday morning was well worth it despite the loss.

Here we are grinning through the pain with Devin & Eddie, two of Thomas's fellow Spizzwinks:

This weekend was a big one for other reasons as well... Thomas finally got to feel Baby Harvey kick! She is the most active right before I go to bed, and he put his hand on my tummy at just the right time. I was at exactly 20 weeks into the pregnancy, so we weren't expecting her to be so strong so early. Watch out - we have a kicker!

Baby Gear

Now that we know we're having a girl, Leslie and I can begin in earnest our search for the coolest in baby gear. The question is: where do we begin? There are so many awesome baby items out there, so many would-be essentials for the discerning cool baby, that it's hard to prioritize. Selecting these items, and in doing so reflecting one's own values, is a delicate balancing process, full of parental hand-wringing. What stroller will you choose: the fashion-forward status of the Bugaboo, the regal and functional refinement of the Maclaren, the run-of-the-mill sensibility of Graco or Chicco, or the self-expressiveness of one of the quirky new brands? Will you buy a fancy Italian changing table, an Ikea special, or something off eBay? Will your baby wear only organic cotton and cloth diapers, or will hand-me-downs and Huggies do? As you make these choices, other people are definitely watching. And judging.

The easiest way for me to get involved in the value-laden decision-making process for baby gear purchases is through onesies. Onesies are a baby staple; I am told that young babies go through several of them a day. Because you need a lot of them, it's easy to take a flyer on fun ones. And because you can buy a onesie with essentially anything you want printed on it, onesies provide a convenient forum to express whatever values you want to convey. What are your aspirations for your child? What influences prevailed upon your own childhood? What is your vision for the world? All of these topics are ready material for onesies.

Thus, my personal hunt begins for the finest onesies, the onesies that will distinguish and identify Baby Harvey as my own. My first fatherly act was to buy a 3-pack of Oakland A's baby jerseys. What's next? Guns N' Roses? Pee Wee Herman? Ghostbusters? Barry Goldwater in '64? I welcome your suggestions.

Trip to DC

Last weekend, Thomas and I went to Washington DC courtesy of my new firm, Covington & Burling. On Thursday and Friday, I attended a new associate orientation at the main office of the firm. Thomas flew out on Friday evening and joined me for a weekend of visiting old law school friends and seeing the sights. We had a fantastic time seeing Sarah Citrin and meeting her boyfriend, Matt, and also seeing all of the UVA law crew again - Annie & Andy Rucker, Yancey & Steve Haas, Julie & Jim McLaughlin, and Dan & Lisa Bress.

We especially enjoyed getting to meet Yancey and Steve's 10 month old girl, Finley. She is absolutely precious and happily enjoyed our walking trip on the National Mall and to see the World War II Memorial. Yancey also gave me all sorts of useful baby tips during our visit... thank you Yancey!

Thomas with Matt & Sarah:

The UVA law gang in front of the Washington Monument: