A Month of Visits

Well, by the end of this month, all of our parents will have visited. Charles' parents drove down at the beginning of November. They were able to join us at our ultrasound and see little baby Spoelstra move around in there. They also joined us for the annual Grace Ministries banquet, and church and life group and many a breakfast, lunch and dinner. Charles' dad fixed up our pantry with an impressive lighting system that turns on when the door is opened and turns off when it closes. Once the pantry had light in it, we needed to spruce it up a little, so he put flooring down and I gave the walls a quick coat of paint. Mari Ann and I did a little shopping for the baby.
My Dad and Patricia joined us for the Thanksgiving weekend. I have to say that I can't remember a stretch of days where I have eaten so much or so well! Between Thanksgiving leftovers and several great restuarant choices, we all had our fill. Last Christmas when they visited, we went to Waffle House for Christmas morning breakfast. So, in keeping with the tradition, we visited Waffle House for Thanksgiving morning brunch, and we liked it so much, we took them there again Sunday morning before they caught their flight! We took them antique shopping in Roswell. Dad and Charles spent much of the weekend doing house projects, which was wonderful! They even put a new ceiling fan and light in the baby's room. Dad said it was great knowing he was doing something for his grandson. We think it was great too! Patricia helped me put up the Christmas tree, which was so nice because Charles really doesn't like doing, so I usually end up doing alone. The weekend was enjoyable, but went by much too quickly.
Mom and Rich came to visit the last weekend of November. The weather was actually much nicer than it's been most of the month, so that was very nice. We gave them a tour of Atlanta, visiting the High Museum (great exhibit, btw- Harry Callahan- thru 12/9), visiting a few of our favorite restaurants- Surin & Waffle House, and painted pottery. Unfortunately they were only here from Friday to Sunday, so the visit was packed full and way too short, but it was nice for my mom to finally see my house and meet Gordy. I have a feeling that there will be many more visits once the baby comes!

Weddings

It's really cool that I was a high school English teacher for 2 years, because I developed a few lasting friendships with a few of my students and I've gotten to photograph a few of their weddings. This past month Brandon and Emily got married- I taught Brandon for 2 years, and actually photographed he and Emily because they were high school sweethearts. When Brandon contacted me years later to tell me he was getting married, I told him that he and Emily must have been really mature in high school, because no one I would have chosen to date then would have lasted! Of course, if Charles would have dated me then (he was 27, I was 17) I would have taken him, but I bet my parents wouldn't have liked him as much at that point.

It's A BOY!!!!!!

We got our first look at our beautiful little boy today. He was quite active, flipping around entirely in the course of the ultrasound. He was not very shy about his boy-hood, so we got an easy confirmation of his gender. (Being discreet parents, we are keeping those pictures off of the internet!) Here are a few of our favorite stills from the ultrasound. I think he has the most beautiful profile that I have ever seen. We went out for sushi and a mountain bike ride to celebrate. It was a good day!
To see Leif's website go to: Leif Gordon
or click the Leif Gordon link at the side of this page.

Happy Halloween

Yesterday we hosted our 3rd annual neighborhood Halloween Photo Shoot. My costume was a jack-o-lantern, with my belly providing a nice pumpkin shape. Thanks to DM for the idea and artwork. Here are my favorites from this year: