Drew got a Radio Flyer Big Wheel and loved it!
Waiting patiently to open their gifts!

Brian and Shannon wrapping the ugliest gift ever!

Brad and I with Aunt Brenda and Uncle Bob

With daddy and Joyce

The family

We made the kids sing carols before opening gifts...they were tormented but great sports!

Playing with their new game table from Brenda and Bob

Me and Aunt Brenda, mama's twin

Being naughty and getting a game in before we surprised the kids!

Seth, Ben and Lindsey with our boy Bleeker! How cute!

Christmas with the Dan Clan

As I mentioned below, this year Brad and I celebrated Christmas with my family in NC and stayed with my brother, Brian, and his wife, Shannon, and their 4 kids. We had a wonderful time spending it with so much family between the shower and the other gatherings. We arrived on Saturday and later that night, we had this great idea of driving about an hour out into the country to a town called Beaulaville to have dinner at this place called Mike's Farm, an agritainment farm that has a petting zoo, hayrides to see the Christmas lights, but even more, a great family style restaurant. We had no idea what we would be in store for once we got there. Well, first of all, we had major issues trying to find it and once we arrived, we were greeted by hundreds of other cars with the same idea. Seriously, I've never seen this many people in one small spot. When we got to the restaurant, they told us the wait would be at least 3.5 hours!! Have you ever? No food is worth that kind of wait so we trekked it back to the car and had dinner at a small pizza joint! Who knew we would drive all the way to Beaulaville for pizza but we had a great time with the family anyway!

On Sunday, we had the shower and that lasted a while, just simply hanging out. We finally made it back to Brian and Shannon's, called in for dinner, and ended up helping them wrap gifts until about 12:30 am. Christma Eve is traditionally spent with my mom's side of the family (Aunt Brenda/Uncle Bob and Aunt Sharon/Uncle Scott) since they drive in from out of town. So this year was no different. We had our Christmas dinner that night, which was quite a spread thanks to Shannon, and then opened gifts afterwards. This is always exciting and a bit crazy when you have kids ranging from 3 to 10! It makes it that much more fun. This was the first time that we have all been together since our wedding, so it was extra special. Once again, the four of us were up late wrapping all of the kids gifts until about 1 am but had so much fun doing it! It gave us a little insight as to what it will be like when we have our own little munchkin to buy for!

On Christmas morning, Brad and I were greeted by my neice, Lindsey, letting us know it was time to open up their gifts. So, we got up and watched all the fun. Funny enough, about halfway through the gifts, my 6 year old nephew, Ben, said he wanted to stop to eat breakfast! What kid asks to stop opening presents for food? I guess only someone in my family! So, he sat at the table and ate cereal and the rest of us took a break and waited for him. Ha!! Once they finally finished with the presents, we opened ours. I won't go into detail about what we got, but I will say that Brad surprised me this year with tickets to Celine Dion in September as one of my gifts! How great is he? I was thrilled! That night, Shannon's family arrived along with my dad and stepmom, so we celebrated by having a prime rib dinner and playing a game of Dirty Santa...a favorite of ours at Christmas. We really get into this game and it can often get nasty! So, after all of the fun, Brad and I spent the night at my daddy's house and had to leave on Wed. It was overall a wonderful Christmas for my family, probably the best in five years!

Brad and I standing with some of the gifts.

Sitting with Mandy (my sis-in-laws' sister) who is also pregnant, Shannon and Aunt Brenda

Friends from home...Jay and Cristie

The wonderful family that threw the shower for us!

Treats table

Baby Blackmon's Shower!

This Christmas, it was our turn to spend the holidays with my (Nicole) family in NC. On Saturday morning, with my doctor's approval, we hit the road and travelled about 4.5 hours to Goldsboro. We were so excited to finally arrive and see the neice and nephews and of course the rest of my family. This Christmas was a little bit different in that my sister-in-law Shannon, my cousins and aunt on my dad's side decided to throw us a baby shower! It was held on Sunday afternoon and my mom's twin sister and her husband (Brenda and Bob) and her younger sister and husband (Sharon and Scott) drove up early for the occassion. Brad's Aunt Sherrie and Uncle Buster were also able to make it as they only live about 30 minutes away, which was great since his parents weren't able to make the trip. We had a great time opening gifts, eating yummy cake but more importantly, spending time with family and friends from my home that we never get to see.

We got some really great gifts and found it to be a bit overwhelming to think it was all for the baby...reality set in I guess! We got some adorable clothes, our bouncy seat, Boppy, Moses basket, Baby Bjorn, JJ Cole Bundle Me, floor gym, Eddie Bauer travel bed, and lots of other odds and ends. The surprise blessing...my cousin Dana is letting me borrow her Medela electric breast pump which is not cheap and such a blessing!! Thank you Dana! This is something I really didn't want to buy but renting them from the hospital is not cheap either so we feel very fortunate. Overall, it was a great success and we feel so blessed to have such great family and friends that care about us!

Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Baby it's cold outside!

Andy and Patty on King Street, all decked out for Christmas!

A view of DC from the Kennedy's grave site.

Standing at the Kennedy's graves.

Robert E. Lee's former plantation home at Arlington Cemetery.

Arlington Cemetery

Bleeker chomping at the bit to get to his doggy stocking!

A Blackmon Christmas!

An Early Christmas in DC with the Blackmons

This past week, we had the pleasure of Brad's parents visiting with us. Andy and Patty flew in from TN on Saturday night and were able to stay until Wednesday night, so it was the chance for a really great visit. To our understanding, the weather in TN hasn't exactly been winter-like, but here in DC, we've had some seriously cold days already. So, for the first time, they finally got to feel like it was Christmas. On Sunday, they wanted to visit our church so they could meet all the people we're always talking about and see where we attend. It was perfect because they got to meet our pastor and the friends we've made and seemed to really like it. That night, we decided to have our Christmas with them, so we made the traditional holiday hors d'oeuvres, lit the fire and opened gifts. It was a great night spent with family and watching Bleeker open his stocking from them is always entertaining!

On Monday, I had an appointment with the doctor to check on me and the baby. Of course, they were thrilled to be able to go this and hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. You have to love Patty for getting very emotional during this! It was precious. Everything looked great so far and I got the okay to travel to NC for Christmas and our 1st baby shower this weekend. That afternoon, we did a little shopping and made a trip to the Arlington Cemetery to see the wreaths that had been laid on the tombstones and to visit the Kennedys' graves. It was absolutely freezing but breathtaking nonetheless! Afterward, we had to head home in time for Brad and I to go our childbirthing class. Due to a class being canceled because of the snow a few weeks ago, we had to attend a make-up session. So, Andy and Patty doggysat Bleeker for us...they love this job so that wasn't a problem! Tuesday, we spent the afternoon walking the streets of Georgetown and Brad and I got the chance to spend some of our Christmas money that we got from his parents this year. Of course we had a great time doing that! This was the first time they had been to Gtown and they really enjoyed the English high street vibe that it has.

The highlight of the trip was our White House tour that we had scheduled on Wednesday morning at 8:30 am! Brad's parents worked really hard to get us tickets from their TN Congressman and we were relieved when we heard that they squeezed us in! We had just watched the HGTV Christmas tour of the White House on Sunday night so to see it in person was amazing! The theme this year was Holiday in the National Parks http://www.whitehouse.gov/holiday/2007/index.html. The massive tree in the Blue Room was the most impressive. It was fully decorated with round glass ornaments that each of the national parks across the country created so each one was very unique. And the gingerbread house this year was coated in white chocolate and weighed 200 lbs more than last year, I think totalling about 500 lbs!! So, although the tour was shorter than expected, it did not disappoint us. Brad's parents had to leave later that afternoon but it was certainly a great visit and a wonderful Christmas in Old Town!

A Busy Weekend

So, this weekend was busy but great! As mentioned in the post earlier, we had Brad's work Christmas party on Friday night which was a lot of fun. On Saturday, we had the exciting chance to take a hospital tour of Inova Alexandria Hospital which is where we plan to give birth. We were both a little anxious and excited to visit the hospital, especially knowing that we will likely spend a lot of time there! It was a great opportunity for us to learn where we will need to go when labor strikes, see the rooms on the labor and delivery floor, and visit the maternity floor for post-partum care. We felt assured after seeing the units and know we will be in great hands there! This doesn't mean that I am not nervous...I most certainly am!! :o)

When we left the tour, we finished up our Christmas shopping. I know this might make many of you jealous but yes, we are done! Later that night, some friends of ours from church, Brandon and Lauren, hosted a Christmas party at their place and invited us. It was a lot of fun with some yummy food and great new people to meet. At the party, they gave us the sweetest baby gift! It was a cute white basket with blue gingham liner and Lauren had decorated it with the cutest little wooden animals...hard to describe but very cute...and filled it with bath stuff for the baby. It was really thoughtful and we were thrilled to get it!

On Sunday, after church, Jeff and Anna returned for another night's stay. Jeff had his residency interview at the Children's Hospital on Monday since he plans to specialize in pediatric dentistry. He had to attend a dinner on Sunday night as part of the interview, so Brad and Anna and I lit the fire and Brad made us dinner...how sweet is he? They had to leave last night but we had a great time with them, as always! And of course, I had my camera ready the entire weekend and forgot to take a single picture...sorry!

31 1/2 Weeks Pregnant (and counting!!)

Brad's Work Holiday Party

Last night, Brad's work hosted their annual holiday party and finally, for the first time since we've been married, I was able to attend! All of the agencies he's worked with in the past haven't allowed dates but this agency did. I was so excited to get dressed up to go and Brad was very excited to not have to go alone! The party was held at the Evermay (http://www.evermay.org/), an old historic estate located in the Georgetown Historic District and, if we heard correctly, has served as the residence for presidents when the White House has been under construction and other dignitaries. Needless to say, it was stunningly beautiful!! So, with delicious food and drinks being catered by one of the top caterers in the area, we were very excited to go. Afterall, how often do we get to dress up to go to such events? At least for me being a girl, I love to get dressed up for stuff like this!! Funny thing is, we said we would probably stay for about an hour and ended up staying for 3 1/2 hours!! Ha! But we were having a great time hanging out with all of Brad's co-workers. Overall, it was a great night and full of entertainment!

The Morning After

Isn't it amazing how bright it seems to get outside when there is snow everywhere? I love that glow it gives off and how it makes everything so cheery! Obviously, the snow is still covering the ground this morning and road workers are scrambling to get them cleared for commuters. Snow continued to fall until about 10:30ish and by the end of it all, totaled about 3 inches! How exciting! Anyway, here are a few pics right outside our front door from last night.

King Street

Founders Park and the Potomac River

One of the florist shops around the corner

Bleeker and Nicole in front of Bilbo Baggin's restaurant

Brad walking the pup!

DC's 1st Snow of the Year!!

Today, DC woke up to beautiful snow falling from the sky. I guess I got my wish today because this time, the snow stuck to the ground, and a good 2 inches if not more! Brad flew to NYC on Monday for work and was scheduled to fly back today but due to the weather, he cancelled his flight and took the train to get home around lunch. The snow really started to fall around 9:30 am in the DC metro area and hasn't stopped since - it's 8:30 pm now! It's so beautiful. All of the trees are capped in white and now that the temperature has dropped, the ground is covered in snow! Brad and I have loved having this snow day and feel like we're kids again, especially when our childbirthing class got cancelled due to the weather...we felt like school was cancelled, it was great! We haven't really seen snow since we moved from NYC so this was really exciting for us! Brad has been so cute, like a little boy. He gets up every few minutes to look out the window and make sure the snow has stopped because he loves it so much. Bleeker got to enjoy it too by dressing in his little sweater, which he hates, but it keeps him warm so he appreciates it eventually. We've stayed in most of the day, other than our walk with Bleeker, and ordered in pizza this evening. So, we're loving DC right now and the snow really makes it feel like Christmas. Hope you guys are enjoying the holidays as much as we are!

Snow Flurry

Oh my! I just stepped outside for a moment and saw my first snow flurry! Well, since we moved from London that is! It's hardly anything to get excited about since it's so sporatic and it will not stick to the ground but there is something wondrous about seeing those little white flakes fall from the sky. So, I just had to share that with all of you! It certainly feels more and more like Christmas!

Our first fire - what a wonderful thing!

The nursery but only the bones so far! No decor just yet.

More nursery

El bano

Bleeker relaxing on our bed.

Eat in kitchen - this table has been in our family for about 120 years!

Our little kitchen

Another view of the kitchen

Living room

Our sweet Christmas tree!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care!

Our Home During the Holidays

We realized that we haven't posted any pictures of our townhome since we moved in August. So, what better time than when we have decorated for the holidays! There is a picture of pretty much every room in the house, so hopefully you won't be too bored!