Finally!

We have a working computer! We are so sorry that we have been offline for so long. There's a lot to update, but rather than going back and trying to catch up right now, we'll just start with where we are: We are in the waiting game! BabyGirl Haus is 38.5 weeks along; her due date is May 26. She had two detailed ultrasounds (biophysical profiles) this week; we had a bit of a scare, but all is well! The radiologist measured her limbs and body, and estimated her to be 7 pounds 6 ounces already! We're so excited. We cannot wait to meet her!


In the past couple of months, we've spent a lot of time getting ready for her arrival. In March, the real fun began with a baby shower thrown by Stacy and Kristen. You can see photos here. It was absolutely lovely, and so much fun. They put so much work into it, and I (Sherry) will never forget it. (This gallery is password protected with a prompt that you'll know if you attended; email Sherry if you didn't attend and need the password.)

Then, in April, we had a lovely dinner/shower thrown by our dear friends Cheri and Mike Weaver and Nikki Fetter at Nikki's condo in Cambridge. We didn't take a ton of pictures -- we were too busy catching up with everyone (It's hard to get that many residents ,together at once!), but you can see those we have here.

I was also thrown a SURPRISE shower by the ladies at the firm (click for link). I was told that I had an important client conference call. I asked a lot of questions about it, worked on an outline, and was still working on and reviewing my outline, as I walked into one of the firm conference rooms--that suddenly looked suspiciously pink and was full of 20 or so women yelling "surprise!" It was so touching. My former secretary (Anita) made a beautiful blanket, and my current secretary (Simone) had a very cozy blanket made. We had lunch, cake, games-- everything! So many of the women who were there inspire me every day with their abilities to balance successful careers and family life, and I'm sure I'll be looking to them for advice.


(Also in April, we attended the annual Harvard Ortho Residents' Dinner for the Class of 2010 at Ruth's Chris Steak House. You can see photos of that here. That same weekend, we were blessed with a visit from our beloved friend Kelly, who lives in Dallas and just flew out to visit us. We miss her so much!)


We also have been busily getting baby's nursery together. It's almost done. Our nursery in progress gallery can be seen here.


Finally, we are now getting ready for our trip to the hospital and baby's homecoming. You can see pictures of our readiness here!
There is even a (hideous) big belly shot for those of you who keep asking for one.

Yes, We're Still Alive!

Yes, folks, we're still alive! We have not updated our blog for a while in part because we are having problems with our computer, so we can't upload photos . . . And we're just really behind.

Most of you know by now that we're expecting! We will be 24 weeks along in a few days. We found out on Christmas that Baby Haus is a Girl! We are so excited.

She is kicking all the time now, and Brian loves to feel her kicking and talk to her. It's sweet. She is especially active super late at night (the 12:30 a.m.-5 a.m. time period) and has even woken Mommy up by kicking so hard. We joke that she already keeps the same hours as Daddy. A chip off the old block! :) When we saw her at the 18 week ultrasound, it was wonderful. We saw her crossing her ankles, sucking on her hand, sticking her tongue in and out, and moving around. We loved it!

BabyGirl is already getting spoiled. We're busily preparing for BabyGirl (that's her name for now; you have to say it like it's all one word for it to be pronounced correct). Mommy and Daddy can't stop buying little clothes for her, and Aunt Stacy, Aunt Kristen, Grandma Pat (and others!) have already done their fair share of as well! We really need to work on getting nursery furniture and setting everything up, but are finding that to be a much bigger project than we expected, especially because our house has a narrow stairway, and only furniture with certain measurements will fit, etc.

We do promise we'll update with more photos as soon as we fix our home computer. (We're using a work laptop right now!) We do have one photo uploaded from our trip to Ireland in November. This is us in front of the Ha'penny Bridge in downtown Dublin. We'll add more later.

Finally Updating the Blog

We're really sorry, folks. It's taken us 2.5 months to get a new blog post up, and that is a record. It probably won't help to tell you that Brian was on trauma for most of the summer, and at times Sherry's hours were worse than his.

We know we missed blogging about Maya's wedding, our Berkshires trip with the Weavers, our Maine trip with Darren and Laura, and a host of other stuff. Rather than starting with the old stuff and trying to dig ourselves out of an ever-growing hole, we're going to start with now, and fill in items that we should have posted in the late summer when we get time. (Don't worry, Sac buddies-- Maya's wedding will get up eventually!)

This past week, we had SEVEN visitors staying with us at our home in Boston. (Cue Maria from The Sound of Music exclaiming, "SEVEN?" right here. And if this comment doesn't tell you which of us is the primary poster on this blog, then you don't know us very well.)

Last Tuesday, Julie and Raul Reynon and their baby Maile arrived from Sacramento. Raul was scheduled to compete in Head of the Charles. The regatta, first held in 1965, takes place on the banks of the Charles River, is the world's largest two-day rowing event. More than 7,500 athletes from around the world compete in 55 different race events. As a result, Boston and Cambridge (the host city) attract up to 300,000 spectators during the October weekend.

When our friend Liz Smagala heard that Julie and Raul would be in town, she wanted to be in on the fun, too, and arranged to fly out from L.A. on Friday for the weekend. (That's Liz, right, with Julie and Raul's daughter, Maile.) Eventually, a third high school friend, Kathy Roeder, jumped aboard as well, and took the bus up from the Big Apple on Friday as well.

Separately, our friends Rich and Sandi Cano (Brian's med school classmate and his fantastic wife) made the trek to visit us from Palo Alto the same week, arriving Thursday and leaving on Saturday.

On Tuesday evening, we had a night out in the North End with the Reynons, including dinner at Bricco. They left on Wednesday for a leaf-peeping overnight in New Hampshire, and returned on Thursday. That day, Sandi and Rich also arrived. The Canos and the Reynons and we went down to Fenway and cheered on the Sox at Boston Beer Works.

On Friday morning, Liz arrived. Sherry took the day off work, and she, Liz, Julie, Maile, Rich and Sandi enjoyed a Boston Duck Tour (see Sandi and Rick on our Duck Tour, right) and lunch at the Top of the Hub (the restaurant at the top of the Prudential building, with nice views of Boston) (see Liz, Julie and Maile at lunch left, and the view, right). (Brian was working and Raul was practicing for his race.) We shopped for a bit on Newbury Street as well. Kathy then made it in, Brian got off work, and we all went to 75 Chestnut, a cozy restaurant that we frequent in Beacon Hill. Afterwards, we went back to our place, and relaxed with a fire and cider.

On Saturday morning, Rich and Sandi left. :( Brian was working (again), but the rest of us descended on Harvard Square to watch Raul in his race. We stood on the bridge and watched him go by! Go, Raul! (See the team for which Raul coxed, right.) Then we enjoyed the festivities around Harvard Square. (See Maile, Kathy, Sherry, Liz and Julie, left.) On Saturday night, we had dinner at Gaslight in the South End, followed by rounds of Taboo! at home in front of the fire. Taboo! was particularly fun when played in junior high school teams: The Arcade Spartans (Brian, Sherry and Liz) versus cross-town junior high rivals The Churchill Bulldogs (Kathy, Julie, and Raul). Yeah, we go way back. We're proud to report that the Spartans kicked booty. (You can also see our "Party Like a Vegan" shirts leftover from Maya's wedding over the summer, below left.)

Sunday, Kathy and Raul left in the morning, and Brian, Liz, Julie, Maile and Sherry enjoyed part of the Freedom Trail and lunch at Kingfish Hall. (Oh, and of course, a stop at H&M to buy cute baby fashions for Maile.) Liz flew out later that day.

Julie and Maile were our last visitors to leave, heading out on Monday afternoon. It was very special to have some time alone with our dear friend and her super sweet, super cute baby. Maile was a champ the whole weekend, and must have the best baby disposition in the world! (Isn't this a beautiful picture of them playing in the leaves in Harvard Yard on Saturday?)

Whew! It was a whirlwind, but so fun to see our dear old friends from so far away. You know what they say:

Make new friends, but keep the old

One is silver, and the other is gold.

(One caveat: Old friends' babies automatically jump to gold status, no matter how new they are!)

Welcome, Maile Elizabeth!

We've made (well, okay, technically our friends have "made") a lot of brand new friends lately. REALLY brand new. :) And here's one of them. Meet Maile Elizabeth Reynon, daughter of our friends Julie and Raul. Isn't she cute? She's just over eight weeks old. Our friends Liz and Maya came into Sacramento from L.A. and San Francisco, respectively, for the birth of sweet Maile Elizabeth (pronounced, "Miley") (Liz has taken to calling her M. Elizabeth, but that doesn't seem to have caught on with Julie and Raul!) We recently met little Maile at Tom and Maya's wedding in California, but were saving all those pictures for a separate post. (We're behind. Sorry!)

We'll highlight some of our other new pals in posts to come.

Our Trip to Wisconsin and Chicago

As you may know, we take vacation the last week of every June in celebration of our anniversary. This year, because of various complications with Brian's work, we had to take our trip one week early, the third week of June. We went to upper Wisconsin for half of the week, spending time with our friends Seth and Jen and their families, and the second half of the week alone together in Chicago.

Seth is a colleague of Brian's, and his wife, Jen, is an accountant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Seth and Jen have, like us, been together since high school. They both grew up on Lake Superior in Superior, Wisconsin. Both of their parents now live right on the lake, in beautiful lake houses that they welcomed us into on our visit. We had a wonderful time. We boated on the lake, lazed around campfires, drinking wine and listening to the loons (okay, and 80's music), and took a day trip out to Madeline Island. (The pic above right is us with some interesting locals-- "Shame" and Costello-- don't ask!) We stayed a few nights with Jen's parents in their house on Lake Nebagamon, and a night with Seth's dad, where we stayed in the lighthouse next door to the house! It was definitley our first night in a lighthouse-- but we hope not the last!

After our time at Lake Superior, we drove through Wisconsin down to Milwaukee, Sherry's dad's hometown. We called Jim from Milwaukee, and he gave us a tour of his hometown neighborhood in downtown Milwaukee over the phone-- his old house, the corners where his parents owned pubs, his local church (see right) and park. He couldn't remember some addresses, and even cassled us back when he found them. He was so excited to share that history with us, and sounded so happy. It was the last time we would speak to him.

After our tour of Milwaukee, we headed to Chicago, where we spent the next several days celebrating our anniversary. We took the architecture boat tour, went to the top of the Sears Tower, had cocktails in the Signature Room at the top of the Hancock Tower, toured to the Field Museum, rented bikes and rode up and down the shoreline, explored the city at night, went to a concert in Millennium Park, and had a fantastic time. We ate at two notable restaurants, Blackbird, and for our anniversary dinner, Tru. (Click italics for links.) Both were wonderful. The highlight of the trip was catching the Chicago Cubs v. White Sox game, where we were able to cheer for Sherry's high school classmate, Derrek Lee, who hit the ball out the park and had a terrific game. Go, Cubs! Go D-Lee!

We had such a fun, all-American vacation! For the rest of the pics from our trip, click here.

Dad's Funeral and Our Trip to California

We've just returned from our trip to California for Dad's funeral. I (Sherry) arrived two days before Brian and spent some time with my sisters Stacy and Jodi. Brian arrived on Wednesday, and we met for dinner at the Mission Inn (which became a sort-of Ground Zero for our family during this time) with all of my living siblings on my father's side (my half-siblings, Jodi, Kristi, and Alan, and my sister, Stacy). It was both an evening that was both comforting and sorrowful, filled with hugs and long conversations, laughter and tears. Jodi had brought the many, many emails of condolence she had received from guys who had served in the Air Force with my Dad, from his early days at March AFB, to his service in Japan (where Matthew, Stacy and I were born), and beyond.

Thursday, the third of July, was Dad's funeral. The recitation of the rosary and funeral mass were held at Saint Catherine of Alexandria Catholic Church in Riverside. It was the most beautiful service I've ever attended, with each of Dad's children taking a significant part. Kristi, Jodi and Stacy made most of the arrangements. Jodi gave the eulogy, Alan and Stacy read scripture verses, and I read the poem, High Flight, below.

After the mass, the funeral procession made its way to the National Cemetery in Riverside. There, Dad was given full military honors, including the flag folding, gun salute, a bugler playing Taps, and -- a surprise for all of us -- an Air Force flyover. Jodi had mentioned that some of the guys at March AFB were trying to orchestrate a flyover for Dad's funeral, but we did not assume that it would happen. When we saw the flyover, we were floored.

My father loved planes and loved flying, and he served proudly for many years in the Air Force. He was a Vietnam veteran, and one of the servicemen who evacuated Saigon when it fell, almost six months to the day before I was born at Tachikawa Air Force Base in Japan. (He spoke of the heartbreak and helplessness of having to leave so many people behind.) He taught Jodi the ropes, pinned on her Air Force wings, and the two of them held the distinction of being the first father-daughter boom team in the country. He loved the tradition of the military, and he loved his country. He would have loved and been humbled by the way that his service had honored him on the 3rd of July, and would have been proud when the flag was presented to his family "on behalf of the President of the United States, the Department of the Air Force, and a grateful nation."

After the funeral, we all convened, exhausted, in the Presidential Lounge back at the Mission Inn and tried to relax with our family and friends. The next day, appropriately, was the 4th of July, and we spent it together as a family, first by the pool at the hotel, and for dinner and fireworks at Stan and Kristi's house. Stacy, Brian and I met with Liz and Phil for brunch the next morning, then flew home.

This has been an extremely difficult time. Dad struggled with cancer, but still nothing prepared us for his death.

Our family is thankful to everyone who has made condolence calls, wrote and sent condolence cards and letters, brought or sent beautiful flowers, came to our house to cheer us up, shared their own experiences with the lost of a family member, covered projects or shifts for us at work, or attended the services. Having such wonderful friends and colleagues has been a great comfort to us during this time. To see all the photos from the week, click here. You will be prompted for a password that many family members will already know. Friends or family members who do not know the password can get it by emailing Sherry or Brian.

Dad's Obituary

Dad's obituary can be seen by clicking here.

Also, please note that the funeral is at 11:30 a.m., not 11 a.m., as originally listed below.