Boston Common and Swan Boats

I have been going in spurts of minor freak outs thinking about how much our world is going to change going from one child to two, much less having another newborn. This outing was a product of my antics :)


Last weekend we decided to head into the city and hit up a few yummy places to eat and walk around the Common. "Make Way for Ducklings" is a big deal in Erik's family, and I wanted to make sure we got to see it at least one more time before we left Boston. Ava really enjoyed the duckies, especially getting to see the real thing in the water afterwards.

Lucky for us, the Swan Boats opened for the season this Saturday, so although it was windy and a bit cold, we braved the weather and took a ride. So fun and I'm really glad because it was on our Boston Bucket list! Ava loved looking at the driver and I thought she was going to fall into the water a few times because she wanted to look at all the ducks in the water. She was really unhappy when we left the ducks and it took quite the powers of distraction to hold off a freak out.

She is getting so observant and chatty so little outings are so fun right now. She talked about the ducks and the boats for days (Ava - "duckies" Mama - "Yeah, did we see the ducks they other day?" Ava - "Yeah!"). I love watching her little mind work and grow. She is getting words by the day and has even started telling little stories. It is so cute! Did anyone else get nervous that their second wouldn't be as cute as their first?! I mean, I know she will be, but it's hard to imagine when you only have one. 

We love Boston, and will miss it like crazy!

29 weeks!

This pregnancy is going remarkably fast. I attribute that both to the fact that it's been an easier pregnancy for me and also because we are having another girl...no huge shopping sprees or accessory buying for us! It's nice, but at the same time, I feel like I've done little to prepare for this little one's arrival. We have been trying to talk to Ava about "Baby Sister" and she loves saying it, but really, she has no idea what is going to be rocking her world all too soon. 

Whether we feel ready or not, we are very excited to welcome this new little one into our family. I wonder if she will look like Ava? We also are having a hard time pining down names that we love...any new suggestions, friends?


Random highlights from this pregnancy:

• I have been craving fruits and veggies like crazy this pregnancy. Much better than the nightly ice cream cravings I had with Ava! (although to be clear, there is no shortage of ice cream eating in this house :))
• This baby is just as active as Ava was, and has kept me up at night a few times, which Ava never did. 
• I have been told a few times that I am carrying "high", and one lady even went so far as to ask, multiple times, "Are you SURE you're having a girl?" Might have given me a few nightmares :) (not that I wouldn't love a boy, but man, that would be a weird surprise at delivery!)
• I forgot that they give you RhoGAM shots in the bum...ouch!
• Sometimes I wake up and forget that I am pregnant until I feel my belly...that is weird!

We can't wait to meet you baby girl!

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me

I hope I'm not exposing too much of my inner geek by admitting to this, but then I thought, 99% of the people that might read this also have a geeky side so here goes:

So, for those of you who don't already know, I am a major fan of the NPR show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! It is basically a news quiz show that digs up the funniest stories of the week and asks comedians about them. The stories are usually really funny and to add to the good time, the comedians banter back and forth and provide great commentary. [I may be a bit biased to it because the host Peter Sagal lived in Boston for a while, and is also a distance runner.] At any rate, every show they invite a famous person on to play "Not My Job" where they are asked silly questions about things they likely won't know anything about.

Recently Ken Jennings (the Mormon guy who won 73 consecutive Jeopardy shows, yes you read that right, almost 15 straight weeks of winning Jeopardy) was invited back to Jeopardy to compete against another Jeopardy wiz and Watson the IBM computer. I was reminded how witty and cool Ken Jennings seems to be and thought he would be a great candidate for that "Not My Job" game. Sure enough he was on it... twice! And he is hysterical!

Here is the link to his first show (CLICK HERE).

And here is the second (CLICK HERE).

Now, after you listen to the second one, you must read Ken's blog post that followed his first appearance, where he breaks down how he got the right answers. I love the banter in the second show between Peter Sagal and Ken Jennings, and is worth listening to for that alone.

One last cool thing about Ken Jennings... he has competed in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament made famous (or at least was made known to the documentary watching public) by the documentary Wordplay [which happens to be an fantastic documentary]. Not only did Ken compete, but he took first in the Rookie division that year. His blog post about the event is pretty funny too.

Another guy that I think is cool.... Will Shortz. If you haven't ever read anything about him, read his Wikipedia page, he is quite an interesting fellow.