It's a Baby Shower!

My mom, Carri, Cathy and Lynn were so nice to throw me a baby shower today!  It was so great to see everyone who came and visit.  Thank you to all who came out, and especially to the ladies who threw the party.  It was so fun!

They know me so well...cupcakes for all!

Eric made it safe and sound, and just in time to party!

Mom and I enjoying the afternoon.

Queijo!

The Kettle Falls Pharmacy was low on baby shower balloons, but Hello Kitty was a fine stand in.

!!!

The decor was exactly my style!

Even with paper dingle-balls and everything!

Carri and I looking fab!!

Home Sweet Home

Yesterday I finally made it home.  Maternity leave begin!  I don't have to report back to DC until November, and there is much going on between now and then.  These next couple of weeks before the baby comes will be spent preparing and relaxing.  Carri came up yesterday and will be here through the weekend.  We are having so much fun!!  Eric is arriving tomorrow with our car...everything is coming together!

Good morning Lake!

Even after 2 years living in Mexico with the real deal, I still have a soft spot for American-Mexican food...

This will be a great 3 months :)

Thanks Carri for the great pics!!

Road Trip!

While Autumn flew first class back to Spokane, I drove the car from Falls Church to Kettle Falls. The highlight of the trip was getting to visit Jacquelyn and Jude in St. Paul, which was ridiculous as always!

My route!

 

 Jacq 'n Jude!

 Banzai!

We went out to dinner at Chino Latino with J&J's neighbor and had a great time!

 The Painted Canyon in the North Dakota Badlands...

...WARNING - Unstable Area!

That Would Be MY 3/3!

So today was finally the big day...Portuguese Test Day!  I have been dreading this day, but here it was nonetheless.  Eric and I both tested today, and we both received the required 3/3 score (Eric actually got a 3/3+, but who's counting, right??)!!  What that means is that my employer deems my Portuguese speaking and reading skills to be at professional fluency.  This is incredibly remarkable to me because 4 months ago, we could not speak a word of Portuguese...now we can express almost any concept in fairly grammatically sound Portuguese...and our accents and Spanish intrusion aren't bad either.  :)  

It feels amazing to be done.  I have worked extremely hard the past 4 months, and to achieve my goal at the end is great.  In celebration we had a big party with a bunch of friends this evening, which was great.  We leave tomorrow for Washington State, so it was great to see everyone before we head out.  Thanks to all who came out to wish us well!

Here I am, at the beginning of my ninth month of pregnancy, looking fabulous!  :)

Sprinkles!

Restless and weary from packing and Olympics overload, Autumn and I decided to head over to Georgetown to try the cupcakes at Sprinkles. We were both a little surprised we hadn't already gone there sooner!

 Top secret spy footage from inside the store!

The loot! Raspberry, Milk Chocolate, Coconut, Dark Chocolate.

Final analysis:

CAKE:  Good texture and flavor - 9.0

FROSTING:  Superior! - A perfect 10!!

OVERALL SCORE:  9.5

Although Sprinkles gave it their all, the gold medal still goes to Trophy in Seattle!

Crafting Fun!

Since we can't decorate a nursery or anything for the baby while we're here in DC, we decided to make a quilt and a play mat for the baby!

It's a puzzle quilt!

 It's a play mat!

Truckeroo

Today we met up with a group of friends at Truckeroo for dinner, drinks and fun!

 I think that these were the best cupcakes that we've had in D.C. so far!

 Mmm...MEAT!

 More truck-related fun!