Wee Baby McFarland

We have made it through the first trimester now and can officially share the news -- Seth and I are expecting Wee Baby McFarland to join us this January! It's been a really easy pregnancy thus far, with only mild morning sickness (coffee = no bueno smell wise) and a good amount of light headedness, but I'm working on this whole standing up slowly thing. Rosie has been very cuddly and is anxiously awaiting to find out why we're excited -- she is already on guard duty, apparently, as she has decided she should up the snuggle factor. We waited until after the first trimester and we got through Tweedle Dee and Brina's wedding reception to make sure the spotlight stayed right where it should -- on the new bride and groom. :-)

Wee Baby McFarland, aka Webby (Wee Baby was too long to say consistently), is, as we said, due in January, and we're praying he/she waits the whole time to arrive. We have found a doula as well as childbirth class we think will be very helpful, and look forward just to the next step in our lives! It's super duper weird to think we're going to be parents soonish... But I think everyone feels that way.

And that's all our news for now!

(Anything else we say won't seem nearly as important or monumental after this.)

Cheers,
Cassi and Seth

Things we find amusing:
I tried to suck in my tummy and asked Seth if it looked better, he said sure. I looked down, and said, oh, it does nothing. Seth started singing "Let It Go." Best husband ever.

Me: "We need to make sure we get a bike we can hook the baby up to." 
S: *laughs and shakes head* "Hook a baby up to? Really?"
Me: "Is that not how you say it?"

Oh, real life.

Seth and I have settled well into Norfolk life. We love it here! I walk to work almost every day, and I'm about to change my schedule so that I get to come home to Seth and Rosie at 5 instead of 6 two days a week. :-) We are ready for summer! Rosie even got her summer haircut....

Short haired Doodle!

We have so much coming up! Some we'll share in a week or two, but other exciting things are that we're going to CALIFORNIA in a couple weeks!!! I am SO EXCITED to see California and cousins and all sorts of good people and things. We are going to visit YOSEMITE!!!!! (Yes, all these capitals and exclamation points are 100% necessary.) We are packing a lot in to a short trip, but we also made sure we added in a night just for us to recover and have us time. We are starting in San Francisco, and found a place with free parking right near everything, and maybe swinging by the John Muir woods? We then head to Yosemite -- we are staying at the Evergreen Lodge, where they have camping tents set up for you, and you get to sleep on an air mattress and have a fire and all the good parts of camping without trying to bring camping gear across the country. :-) Then we head to San Simeon, and Hearst Castle! If you haven't seen it before, watch America's Castles on it --https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lSP7t4Dgl0. I cannot wait!!! Seth and I both love the show America's Castles, and this year we get to see two! We're staying at Cambria Pines Lodge, where we will be having an awesome sounding dinner from their organic kitchen garden on site -- I can't wait. It's on a huge plot of land, and just looks gorgeous and relaxing. Finally, we'll be visiting San Diego and our awesome cousins! I will finally meet the husbands, and the youngest addition to the family!!! <3 Love it.

There's a lot going on in the upcoming months -- I'm finalizing some of the details for the reception for Jon and Brina's Norfolk wedding celebration. Cupcakes, wine, and flowers are chosen, as is the reception site, and the caterer!

I went to AOTA last weekend and saw lots of lovelies, including Macon and MUSC women! Life is good.

On that note, Seth and I are both recovering from the stomach bug of doom, so it's time to take a walk and let Rosie know we're both alive. :-)

It's almost Christmas!

It's hard to believe this time last year I was in school! Now, I've completed my 90 days of orientation at work and am officially employed as a full time CHKD occupational therapist, and I absolutely, positively adore my job. It's amazing, and I am so thankful every day that I've gotten the opportunity to do this!

For anyone who missed it, here's our end of the year Christmas card:

So, in other exciting news, Seth and I were able to go look at what we thought would be our new house! It was gorgeous inside with truly amazing views. There's just one tiny problem.... It had major termite damage below and leakage, and a serious risk of the porch falling in one day. So, not so tiny problems... It did show us what we want, though, in a house in terms of layout, as it was pretty much perfect on that front. :-) So, the house hunt will continue when more houses come on the market this spring.

We have our families coming over for Christmas this year! My parents, Seth's parents, my brother, and his fiance are all coming over, then we have the group Christmas at my grandmother's, followed by what will be well earned drinks. That morning, I'm going to make a casserole for breakfast, and we have mimosa ingredients, eggnog, and pomegranate sparkling cider. It's going to be awesome! We have all the presents under the tree, and we even have Rosie's stocking stuffers! She was very excited when I brought home the candy cane braided bone from Target.... And super disappointed when I didn't pass it over immediately.


So, that's about it! We are excited about Christmas and family visits and all that good stuff. :-) And food, obviously. 2013 is almost over, and it's been a fantastic year!