daffodils
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

The weather is a bit warmer these days. We have eaten dinner outside on the patio twice in the space of one week which, for me, is the mark of spring. My roses, so heartbreaking to prune back in January, now have little tiny buds all over the new branches.

My sister Elizabeth flew down last night to spend the Easter weekend with us (He is Risen…you know what to say…). Tonight we are going to take her to Yard House for beer and appetizers (obviously, I will not be partaking of one of those options). Telfer is working from tonight to Sunday morning so I am beyond thankful for the company of my sister.

Thank you for all your kind words in response to our big news. We are obviously quite excited. So far, and I ALMOST feel bad saying this, but I have felt really good. At almost thirteen weeks, I am just hungry and still really tired. Two weekends ago I was at the store and suddenly needed dill pickles and salt and vinegar kettle chips…my only craving so far!

One more thing: Henry figured out how to jump on our bed unassisted yesterday. I gave him a bath in preparation for his Aunt Elizabeth’s visit and came out of the bathroom to find a wet dog whirling around all over our clean bedding. Naturally, I took a picture.

wet dog
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

grilling
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

This is Telfer writing one of his very few and far between posts… Anyway, the weather has been absolutely lovely here and after one false start on Sunday evening when the propane tank ran out (ouch) we kicked off the SoCal grilling season with some steaks, asparagus, and potatoes.  Quite lovely.  I even picked up the steaks from the store myself on the way home today! I know – not really impressive but still, not bad either. Since Andrea is pregnant  its the least I could do right? 🙂 We’re obviously very excited.  Anybody want to come over for dinner?

pregnant2
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

Eleanor gave me this book for my birthday in August.

We took the hint and the advice seemed to work like a charm.

baby1
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

I am about eleven weeks and due at the very beginning of October. Got to see its little hands waving about today during the ultrasound. Very cute.

telfer is golden
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

I hope I don’t get in trouble for posting this…

Meet next year’s chief resident for the anesthesia department at Loma Linda. Quite the honor. Not that I am surprised – I naturally think he should be chief of everything.

In other news, we enjoyed a visit from Burton & Tracie, Telfer’s older brother and his wife last weekend. Lots of walking and good food. This weekend we have no firm plans. As I am definitely the plan-maker in this family of two, I am vacillating between two Saturday morning options. One: yard-saling, farmer’s market and then breakfast or two: yard-saling, hiking and then lunch. The decisions I must make.

My book club is reading Fateful Harvest by Duff Wilson, a small town in Washington, big company, polluting the environment, making people sick sort of journalistic expose. I hope no one from my book club reads this because the writing is not my favorite. A little overly dramatic.

Anyway, so I am dropping off to sleep last night but this mention of Hermiston, Oregon woke me up and made me laugh: "…in sagebrush land some people called the ‘triangle of death’ – bounded by the Umatilla Army Depot, the Arlington, Oregon, dangerous-waste landfill, and the Hanford Nuclear Reservation."

I was born in Hermiston, my dad has worked at both the Umatilla Army Depot and the Hanford site, and I went to Hanford High. So, basically I come from the triangle of death.