Nesting and other news

I've been meaning to update this site for weeks, even though most of my time alone has been spent sitting on the sofa with my feet up! A few weeks ago I started feeling the unmistakable urge to nest. I remember this from my first pregnancy, but I think it happened just a few weeks before Natalia's birth -- not a couple of months. Maybe the typical third-trimester symptoms are fast-forwarded this time because I know exactly when this baby is coming? (What a concept!)

Anyway, Monte has been dutifully moving furniture and dragging things down from the attic, we've borrowed baby gear, I've ordered beaucoup bucks' worth of new baby gear, laundered stacks of Natalia's newborn clothes, added diapers and wipes to my weekly shopping list, and last but not least, I've started weeding through the boxes and bins of "Natalia memorabilia" so I can finally complete (okay, so I can finally start) her baby book. I must get this done before the next baby arrives! It has been five years! I don't even have my wedding photos in an album, and that was nearly 13 years ago! I will work on my first child's baby book before my second one arrives! I will!

In other news. After seeing a top-notch performance of The Nutcracker at Christmas (at the London Coliseum), and taking Monte's parents and their friends to see Les Miserables in January, we were officially bitten by the West End Show bug. During Natalia's half-term break in February, we took her to see The Lion King. The costumes were amazing. The singing was excellent. The story wasn't too scary for our sensitive five-year-old. We had great seats. It was so very much worth the (what we used to think of as expensive) ticket price. So if you're ever planning to visit us in London, be warned that we'll be pushing you to see a show in the West End!

We also went on a mom-and-kid outing with our neighbors to the National Gallery during Natalia's break. It was sobering to see so many masterpieces -- many of which I'd studied in college -- under one roof. At the last minute I decided to bring the big comfy stroller, and I'm so glad I did. Natalia entertained herself with the museum's kid-friendly map/project book, and I was able to stand and stare at Van Gogh's Sunflowers, Jan van Eyck's The Arnolfini Portrait, and Seurat's Bathers, among many others. It was incredible. Another major highlight was seeing an original Piero della Francesca, The Baptism of Christ -- painted in the 1450's! (We stayed at a monastery in della Francesca's hometown of Sansepolcro, Tuscany, Italy, back in 1999 with Monte's MBA class and learned a bit about the artist.)

What else has been going on ... last weekend, we caught another performance of The Nutcracker, put on by a Russian ballet company at our local Richmond Theatre. We all agreed it was a fantastic show, but next year perhaps once will be enough! It was a bit weird to see a Christmas show in March.

Last but really truly not least, members of our family are lining up to lend a hand after Natalia's little sister is born on April 16. Gram Jan and Gramp Terry have bravely volunteered for the first shift, April 12 - 25, and Grandma Carolyn will be close on their heels, April 30 - May 12. We are so blessed by their willingness to battle jet lag and look after Natalia and cook us a few dinners and hold the baby while we sleep and generally help to keep us sane during those crazy first few weeks. (Of course they'd say it's no trouble at all -- welcoming another grandchild into the fold is not an event to be postponed!) Anyway, God bless the grandparents!

Watch this space for breaking baby news. Five weeks and counting. :-)