New Favorite Places

Our end of summer weather in Zurich has been absolutely beautiful! Temperatures have been about 80 for a few weeks and have slowly cooled off into the 70's.

We have enjoyed spending time outside on the weekends and I have found two of my favorite spots in Zurich.

I spent some lovely days with the ICS ladies at the Kusnacht beach before school started and was dying to take Zann there. A couple weekends ago we meet some friends there for a fun day in the sun and some swimming.

This place is picture perfect on the lake with REAL sand! This is the only place in Zurich we have seen with real sand which makes it so much nicer to walk into the water instead of climbing over big rocks.

The Juker Farm pumpkin patch also tops my list. I had not been to a pumpkin patch since taking 4 classes of kindergardners a couple years ago in the freezing cold. So needless to say I enjoyed this beautiful sunny day at the pumpkin patch along the lake with out thirty 5 year olds to watch over.

We enjoyed walking around and seeing the huge pumpkins that raced in the Pumpkin Regatta the day before.

We sat in the sun and enjoyed the scenary.

And had a some delicious soup before buying a little pumpkin to make soup with and a butternut squash.

I can't wait to take Baby H back when my parents are here to pick out her first pumpkin!

Pregnant with Friends

Baby fever is all around!! Just this week I have had 3 friends (from Switzerland and the US) announce they are pregnant! What wonderful news to hear!!

I have been lucky enough to be pregnant at the same time as some great friends. It has been such a great experience to share this time with close friends.

Bridget and I both found out we were pregnant with in a week of eachother and shared the news with eachother from the first day. Out due dates are (well not was since Bridget's came and went yesterday) six  days apart so we have lived every moment of our pregnancies together. We shared an office this year at school which was hilarious. Two blondes with huge bumps often found out of breath from walking up all the stairs to our office. Pretty comical! Our fridge was always stocked with yummy goodies and we would both be jumping from opposite sides of the room from strong kicks. We were often walking down the hall together and that was a sight to see since we resemble eachother to begin with, have matching bellies, and wore the same color combination many times unplanned. We got many double takes. Bridget has already gone through pregnancy once so it was so nice to have an expert friend to ask questions to and reassure me of certain things. I can't wait for us to be on maternity leave together for the next couple months.

Two days after sharing the news of Baby H with the PVI girls Alex shared her awesome news that she was pregnant also due 2 days before me. I was so excited when I heard this news. We have lived all the moments of our pregnancies together via the internet. We were both lucky with easy pregnancies but always had the exact same feelings at the same time. When ever Alex emailed about how she was feeling, I felt like she was describing my day. I loved being able to write her and ask if she was having certain feelings or symptoms and getting a response back that she felt that way also. The S7 junior members are due any day now. I can't wait to see if they will be born on the same day and for them to meet at Christmas time. It will also be so nice to have someone with a baby the exact same age to chat with about how the babies are sleeping, eating, etc.

Over 4th of July weekend, The Beckers shared their very exciting news that they are expecting also. Mr. Williams's Party now has junior members. Mandy and I got to talk all baby over the summer when we were together and now get to chat baby over Skype. Our babies are going to be fast video friends and then hopefully not too long after will get to meet in person.

Day trip to Lucernce

Well my hunting for baby items we "needed" to have lead us to a little get away on Sunday to Lucerne. I am a member of a couple yahoo groups that post questions, share info, and sell things in and around Zurich. A couple weeks ago a very nice lady from one of the groups emailed me with many baby items she was selling. I picked a couple things to buy and then things got busy and I forgot we needed to pick them up. Well I didn't pay attention to what group she had emailed me from because I thought she lived in Zurich and I would just go 10 minutes or so on the tram to pick up the things but come to find out she lived in Lucerne which is about 50 minutes away by car or train.

Was it really worth it to drive that far?? After doing some price research we did decide that it would be worth it to go pick them up. And Sunday's weather was going to be beautiful so we decided to take the train and make a little day trip.

We got lunch at a yummy backery and ate lunch while looking at beautiful Lake Lucerne and the mountains.

Zann and I had been to Lucerne when we were visiting Switzerland before we moved here and somehow missed the famous Lion of Lucerene. When Susie visited we took a day trip to Lucerne and were able to see the oh so famous lion. It is now a joke between us because we read on Trip Advisor that this was one of the best sights in Europe and that is was so moving that some people weep when they see it. Not to put down the lion or anything but we didn't have the same reaction. The area in front of the lion is swarming with people taking pictures like he is going to get up and run away or something. So here is the lion.

We stopped by Mr. Pickwick's pub before heading to the train station to pick up out baby items. Then enjoyed the beautiful train ride home along the lake.

Happy Birthday Zann

Happy 28 years to my Zann!
We started off his birthday celebration with some French Toast before heading to work.

Zann received so many thoughtful emails and calls all day yesterday. He brought cake to work and they were so sweet to give him a picture frame to keep at work for a picture of the baby. They also gave him a Swiss Piggy Bank to start saving for Baby H's college. haha

When Zann got home from work we had his little birthday party. He was so excited to get his GPS running watch that he has been dying to have and a few other goodies.

By Zann's request, we had tuna casserole for dinner and finished the night with apple pie for dessert.

Birth week is still continuing. Zann won 4 chf on his lottery tickets that he got as his present on Monday.

Is this not the cutest cake?? Zann and Cubbedge share a birthday and we always had so much fun celebrating them together in college. The Auburn gang in Charleston went out to celebrate on Tuesday night and included Zann on the cake. I can't wait for the day we can all celebrate again together! Vegas anyone???

Baby Bump- 39 Weeks

So the time is almost there. I am 39 weeks pregnant with little girl and looking every bit of it. Babycenter.com says the baby is a little over 7 pounds and is the size of a small watermelon. A bowling ball feels a little more like it to me though. Last night when I rolled over it really felt like I was throwing a bowling ball onto the matress.
This picture made me laugh so hard when I saw it. Erin and Bonner were out bowling to celebrate Cub's birthday and did an impressions of what I look like. I swear I almost went into labor right then and there I was laughing so hard.

With that being said I am still feeling pretty good for being almost 40 weeks pregnant. I am still coming to work every morning until lunch time. No one can believe I am still coming to work but I feel good in the mornings so I might as well save the time until after the baby is born.

The baby is still moving all around especially around 8 at night after I eat my dessert. It feels like she is trying to fully stretch out which can be a little painful. This morning though I really thought that there was going to be a body part to poke through my skin. I don't know if it was a hand or foot but it wanted out and and felt so so pointy on top of my stomach.

I don't go back to the doctor until Monday (the offical due date) so we will know more then. If she has not come my Monday I am not sure what the plan will be. We realized we forgot to ask last time how long they will wait before inducing me. But now we are just going to go with the flow instead of calling to ask. Please just saw she will come before Mom and Dad her here on the 19th. And hopefully we will be almost ready to leave the hospital then so we can enjoy the time with them at home.

So until further updates on Monday here is the big old 39 week belly.

Where to Buy Kids Clothes with Kelly's Korner

Kelly's Korner is doing a fun link up of where to shop for kids clothes. Even thought Baby H is yet to be born that doesn't mean there hasn't been plenty of shopping and window (or online in my case) shopping.

Well I have developed a slight obsession with baby clothes and searching for great deals. With that being said though I have only bought things that I really really love because I know she will not fit in them for long and I want her to wear each thing a couple times.

 I am a lover of classic baby clothes and love smocking and monogramming. They are only babies for such a short time so Baby H will be dressed like a baby or a little girl for as long as she will let me. She will have plenty of time to wear jeans in her life but can only wear sweet little dresses, outfits with her name on them or smockings for so long. The price tag with this type of clothing is not cheap though. My mind (or our budget) can not justify spending $70 ++ dollars on a dress for the baby so I have found other ways to buy the boutique clothing for less $$.

So here is how I have found some great deals.

I signed up for Zulily.com when I first found out I was pregnant (ok maybe a couple months before). They have about 10 or so brands that have sales every day. The sales start at 9:00 ET and things sell out quickly so you have to be fast. Luckily for me that is 3:00 in Zurich and normally a time when I can be at the computer. I have found some super cute things there in the past couple weeks that fit with my baby clothes max price limit (which is not high). I can't wait to see the items when my in laws bring them in November.

EBay has also become a slight addiction of mine. There are tons and tons of cute clothes on Ebay for a fraction of the price. I always look for clothes that are new or in excellent condition and normally sort the prices lowest to highest. That way I don't even look at the things that are above the max price I have set for myself when buying baby clothes. When I see something I like I add it to my watch list and then am able to think if it is something we really need and that I really love. Before auctions end Ebay sends you a reminder and then I go back to check to see if I am still interested and the price has not gone too high.
When searching on Ebay I either type in the brand I am looking for or the type of clothes. Here are a couple of things I frequently type in.
- Kissy Kissy (This is my favorite brand for layette pieces. They are the softest and have the sweetest designs on them)
- Vive Le Fete
-Anavini
-Zuccini
-Ragsland
-Orient Expressed
-Kelly's Kids
-Smocked Dress (and specify Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas or what ever else you want)
- Petite Ami
- Romper or play suit (It will be pretty cold here for baby's first months so one piece outfits will be best)
- Feltman Brothers
-Monday's Child
-Smocked Bubble

Here are two of my recent purchases from Ebay both listed in excellent condition. 

Consignment stores are also a great place to find clothes. I have only been to the consignment stores in Charleston when we were home in the summer and they were jam packed with adorable things. It took a lot of self control to not buy everything. The had smocked outfits over flowing out of the store and I found many Kissy Kissy and Pixie Lily outfits for Baby H's first few weeks.

Here are a couple of the sweet little outfits from the consignment shop in Charleston. Bailey Brother long gown, Kissy Kissy playsuit, and Pixie Lily day gown. 

Now we just need Baby H to get here to wear the adorable things she has waiting for her.