More Photos of the Big Day!

So, we took more than 200 photos at Lizzie's wedding, and we need to share more of them! What a great weekend....

Bridesmaids' Luncheon:

Rehearsal Dinner:

Ceremony:

Reception:

Liz Gets Married!

My beautiful little sis got married this weekend in Atlanta to Dave Fetzer! I luckily got the "all clear" from my doctor to travel to the festivities at 34 weeks pregnant, and it was certainly worth the trip. The wedding was held at a winery and resort outside of Atlanta - Chateau Elan. The whole Webb and Neeland families were in attendance, and we had a fantastic time the entire weekend.

More photos coming soon...

Mendocino Beer Adventure!

Thomas and I continued our tradition of weekend trips for Presidents' Day/ Valentine's Weekend. We hopped in the car and drove up to Mendocino County, just north of Sonoma. Mendocino is known for its wineries since the climate is similar to Napa and Sonoma, but it has also developed as a bit of a destination for the beer afficionado.

With an automatic designated driver in tow (me!), Thomas got to hit a few breweries on our trip. We stopped first at the Anderson Valley Brewing Company in Boonville, known for its Boont Amber Ale, where we were treated to a full tour of the brewery. They had a great tasting room where we met some other couples and purchased several of the large 22 ounce bottles to take home for me to drink in a few months.

We then headed up to Ukiah where we took in an afternoon movie and went to the Ukiah Brewing Company for our Valentine's Day dinner. Mendocino County is known for its California hippieness, and the Ukiah Brewing Company was no exception. They are the nation's first certified organic brewpub. All of the food and beer they serve is organic - and it was also delicious!


We drove a few miles down the road after dinner to Hopland, a small town on Highway 101 named for the hops that used to be grown all over the region. We stayed in the most adorable historic Victorian hotel - the Hopland Inn.

On Sunday morning, we walked around Hopland and then drove a few miles of out town to the Fetzer winery. Even though they didn't have tours or tastings, we thought it was important to visit and take a picture since my sister is about to become a Fetzer next week! We were then back to Hopland to the Mendocino Brewing Company, known for its Red Tail Ale and totally awesome hawk logos. Thomas sampled 8 different beers as we chatted with the locals and other tourists.

The weekend culminated in a drive out to the coast of Sonoma County to visit Bodega Bay. We had an early dinner at a crab shack and took in the views. Then it was back to San Francisco.

An Evening With Pistol Pete

Thomas and I spent our Monday evening this week watching Pete Sampras! We found some great tickets to attend the SAP Open in San Jose, and took off after work to see Pete play in an exhibition match to kick off the tournament. Pete started the evening warming up against Andy Roddick, so we were excited to get to see another star too.

Pete was scheduled to play James Blake, but Blake had to withdraw from the match due to an injury he sustained in his doubles match earlier in the day. Tommy Haas stepped in to play Pete at the last minute and was just a complete class act! We had a great evening seeing some world class tennis - Pete's serve was still regularly more than 120 miles per hour, and he had his fair share of aces. Tommy pulled off the win in a third set tiebreak, but not before Pete had totally charmed the crowd with his antics.

Andy Roddick warming up:

Pete steps out of his shoe on match point!:

Tournament decor:

Eight Weeks Left!

Thomas and I can hardly believe that I'm now past the 32 week mark, with less than eight weeks to go! The baby is still very active, even though she is much more cramped in my tummy these days. Her movements contort my midsection in all sorts of weird ways. I think Thomas is a little frightened when he feels her move now.

We spent this weekend trying to get the house a little closer to ready... we bought a bedskirt for Baby H's crib, and got new blackout shades for her room. We still need to move the guest bed out of the room before we can set anything up, but that will have to wait.

Here's my latest belly photo, as of February 7th:

Lake Tahoe Trip

Last weekend, Thomas and I continued our travels and went up to Lake Tahoe. We stayed with another two-lawyer couple in their very lovely condo at Northstar-at-Tahoe. Thanks Dan and Rachel! Dan is a former Heller colleague of mine, and he coincidentally now works at Orrick with Thomas.

Dan and Thomas hit the slopes on both Saturday and Sunday. Apparently the snow was okay, despite the terrible drought we've been having. Even though I wasn't able to ski, I took advantage of the weekend to explore the new village at Northstar. Rachel and I also went up the gondola to the top of the mountain to meet the boys for lunch one day. We spent Saturday evening eating cheese fondue and roasting s'mores over the outdoor firepits in Northstar Village. It was a fabulous and relaxing weekend!

Back to School

Earlier this week, Thomas and I attended our first set of classes to prepare us for parenthood. We took an infant CPR and care class put on by the McMoyler Method, a company recommended by our OB. We were amazed at how much we didn't know about all the details of caring for an infant, but we learned so much. Thomas was especially amused when we got to see a grown 200 pound man get swaddled. We also had a three week old baby come to our class for show and tell... so cute! The poor baby didn't know he was going to be part of a demonstration, and he wasn't thrilled to have to be bathed in front of so many people.

We will have our birthing class in early March with this same teacher - keep your fingers crossed that Baby H doesn't make an early arrival before I learn how to to get through labor with her!

We had another OB appointment this week and all continues to go well with Baby H. She is growing well, and I don't have any complications other than just being big and uncomfortable!

Big Sur

Thomas and I have decided to take advantage of our last few free weekends to do a little local traveling. Last weekend, we jaunted off to Big Sur - a coastal area south of Santa Cruz (near Carmel-by-the-Sea) known for its beautiful wilderness and hippie Cali attitude. Even though Big Sur is only 2 1/2 hours from San Francisco, neither of us had ever visited!

We began the trip with a visit to Point Sur to visit a historic lighthouse atop a large volanic hill (a significant climb - but I made it!). It was the height of the whale migration, so we were able to watch the whales go by while we toured the lighthouse and surrounding area. Then we were off to a beautiful beach in Andrew Molera State Park. The weather was magnificently warm, and Thomas was crazy enough to hop in the ocean for a dip. All the surfers in their wetsuits were giving him a thumbs up for bravery.

We spent the night at a cute little hotel that consisted of a collection of wood cabins nestled by the Big Sur River. We crashed before 8 pm! The day of sun and hiking completely wore us out.

The next day, we began with a light breakfast on our porch by the river, quietly reading the paper. We then went to Deetjen's - a local restaurant - for the best lunch ever. Our waitress personified California hippie friendliness and gave us all sorts of tips.

We also visited Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and saw the famous coastal waterfall. Next, we were off to visit Partington Cove - a secret coastal area where bootleggers used to land and transport their illegal booze into the area. I was particularly proud of myself for toughing out the hike to visit it. Well worth it. We finished our afternoon at Pfeiffer Beach and then drove back to San Francisco. What a fantastic trip! We decided that we will definitely go back with Baby Harvey soon.

New Year's Resolutions

Thomas and I returned from our Christmas travels and spent much of the New Year's holiday getting our apartment ready for Baby H. We cleaned, cleaned, and cleaned some more! And then we loaded up our car full of stuff and dropped it at Goodwill. We managed to make a little space in our second bedroom for Baby Harvey to fit. She even has her own footlong closet space now where we hung all the cute outfits she received at the shower.

We acquired our first major baby furniture purchase - a glider! Thomas and I bought it used off of Craiglist and were able to get a great deal on a very good quality Dutailier glider with a matching gliding ottoman. Thomas was especially happy that it is a nice light green color so we don't overdo the room with too many pink accessories.

I'm sporting quite a tummy these days, but am still going strong! Here I am right after Christmas, at approximately 26 weeks:

And here I am three weeks later at 29 weeks: