Maternity Photos :D

Our wonderful friend Sharon offered to take maternity pictures of us to remember our bump!! Sharon is so talented and we had so much fun!! She got SO MANY great shots it was hard to choose which ones to showcase, there are also adorable shots of Baby Kwiatek's name in the wooden Hebrew blocks we got at our baby shower... but you will all have to wait to see those until the bris :P Enjoy....

                                                  Sweater Mummu made for Oren as a baby

                                                                     BUMP!!

                                                        How we met... walking our dogs :D

                                                  Oren's baby blanket (made by Mummu)

                                           My, OH MY GOSH we are having a baby smile :D

           Thank you so much Sharon for capturing these sweet moments before our Lil' man comes!

Watermelon..... Yep! That feels about right!

So I am 37 weeks pregnant today.... and the size of a watermelon, YIKES! I have something the size of a watermelon moving, kicking, stretching and punching my insides!!! No wonder most of my days are now filled with lots of very uncomfortable feelings! Check out all that is happening below....

http://pregnant.thebump.com/pregnancy-week-by-week/37-weeks-pregnant.aspx

FULL TERM! Baby Boy Kwiatek is free to come at any time.... and I mean anytime...come on little man, Mommy is now anxious to evict you! :P Last Thursday at my scan his estimated weight was 6lbs 1oz, so he is right on track, and now that I am full term the Dr. gave the go ahead for anything I am willing to do to get this ball rolling! My body has already started to progress towards labor which is great... so lots of walking, I will set up an acupressure apt soon, and other things :) (but no castor oil thank you!). My Mom had all of us kiddos at 37 weeks, and my Dr. said there is a 50/50 chance that I will follow in her foot steps... so we shall see what this week may bring! :D I think the waiting part is what is killing me, I am SUCH a planner... and you can't really plan for this. It's a waiting game now! Tick tock, tick tock!

One cold night....

This last Saturday Oren and I were walking home from a nice dinner (also because I had a few rough pregnancy days) and he was cheering me up all day....sweet husband that he is :) Anyways, it was FREEZING outside and we came to an area which has a few large business buildings in a row... and all of the sudden we hear this small loud cry coming from somewhere. I kept looking around, knowing that cry sounded like it needed help! Finally, hunkered against the building shivering I see this tiny grey kitty ball crying out. Oren and I catch the kitty and I knew we had to take it somewhere safe, as how tiny she was and how cold it was going to get that night, there was no way she would survive! I wrapped her in my scarf against me for her to warm up, and as I looked down I see the sweetest little face EVER! I knew we were in trouble... I remember saying to Oren, "Oh no hunny, I want to keep her!!" Knowing very well we can't, A. Oren is allergic B. We have a baby on the way in 4 weeks (or less!) C. We are now living in an extended stay hotel until our house is finished D. we have 2 dogs already E. OK OK there are a LOT of reasons why, I get it! :P Now the easy part of finding a place for this sweet kitty, right.... WRONG! Every shelter we contacted said we can give her a warm place to stay for the night but due to her size (we estimated she was 6-8 weeks old) but in the morning she will have to be euthanized!! There was NO way we could do that to her! So Oren set out and got a carrier for her to sleep in and some food. She was so exhausted that she didn't want to eat at all, she just slept soundly most if the night. Around 4 AM she cried out (had eaten what had been in there) and I took her out to eat some more and she ate well again. Once her belly was full, she immediately started playing and being very sweet! I was hooked, what a sweet kitty!! The next day we looked into no kill shelters, which led to no where. They are all on a volunteer basis and had no room. We also posted an ad on Craigslist to find a family for her. We heard back from quite a few leads but one stuck out to us. He already had a cat and was looking for a companion for his cat to be with during the day while he was at work. He seemed like a nice guy and from our sneaky research on Facebook, he looked like he was being honest and a great fit! After all, we can't give her to just anyone! So that day was spent playing with her, holding and cuddling, watching her eat... Buddy LOVED her! He was so good with her and she was great with him too! Sparky, not so much!! He was JEALOUS in a way I have never seen before! We think because Sparky's "Spot" to be cozy and sleep is right on top of my belly, and this is how kitty slept on me and how I held her, he did not like it! He wined in a whine we had never heard before, and was so beside himself he would just shake! That evening we met the guy from craigslist and his girlfriend and of course the second they held her they fell in love, it was SO bitter sweet! We were so happy to have found a nice home for her but sad to see her go, even though we had her just a short time... she had captured our hearts!

First night we found her :)

                                                                     Sweet Lil' face!

                                                               Buddy love :D

                                                                Just hanging around!

Getting cozy with Buddy :)

We even got a couple pictures of kitty in her new home (they named her Elizabeth Noel) that evening...

                                                                      Hungry Kitty

So sleepy :)

Goodbye sweet Kitty! We will miss you and know you will be happy in your new home!

House Progress!!

Our house has been speeding along!! We are always so surprised to go and see the progress every week! They say in the next few weeks the siding should go up, then the front porch over hang, and loggia off of the family room. Very exciting! We are still awaiting the right buyer for our condo.... who knows how long that will be in this market!! People want it, but for the price of all the condos in the area with NO upgrades and for a short sale price!! Grrrrr!! Patience is a virtue right?? RIGHT? :P

                                                                     Foundation walls

                                                                     FRAMING!!

                      In front of window/view in kitchen table area (Family room to left, kitchen to right)

                                      Same window a week later....and yes, larger baby bump!

          WOW!! I think is what we said when we came around the corner to see the progress this week!!

                                                     Side view, dining room bay window

Baby showers!!!

How blessed Oren and I (and baby boy Kwiatek) have been! We have felt so loved with all of our friends and family who have been such a support for us. Over the last few months we had not 1, but 2 baby showers, and what FUN we had!! Candy Kwiatek threw us a shower for everyone in Ohio, and Aliza Kwiatek and Lindsay Corbett (my girlfriend) threw a shower here in Maryland. Both so amazing and full of fun and love :) Oren joined in with the gift unwrapping at both showers, thank you again to everyone who was able to join us and for everything to help get our little guy started in this new world!

                                               Ohio Baby Shower:

                                                    Games!!

                                                          Baby Bump buddies :)

                                                                       :P So handsome!

                          Blanket, booties, and sweater Mummu had made for Oren when he was born.

                                                                            YUM!


                                                      Maryland Baby Shower:

                                              Aliza shower prepping :)

                SO surprised and thrilled to see 2 of the sweet and very grown up boys I used to nanny for, and such a great and fun gift.... a 5 ft Giraffe!! New addition in our nursery! :D

                                           Lindsay made amazing diaper cake and wreath decor!!

                                            Shower crafts! Everyone designed a baby onesie :)

                                              Gift time!

                                                                                  :D

                                           Brother, Sisters, and newest member of our nursery.... :p

Honeydew, short update, and more to come in a week!!

So a LOT has been going on to keep us VERY busy these last 6 weeks! Baby showers, trips to NJ, family time, checking on our house, Dr. appointments, and a growing baby bump!!

Speaking of growing baby bump, at 33 weeks (this week!) Baby boy Kwiatek is now the size of a.... Honeydew?!!

http://pregnant.thebump.com/pregnancy-week-by-week/33-weeks-pregnant.aspx

It sure does feel like it! He has moved up, which is great on my lower back... but not so fun on my ribs! Yep! He likes to tuck his little feet under my ribs and wiggle his toes back and forth :) Which also means he is head down! :D Other then that, I have been feeling great and doing all the little things to baby prep the best I can. Wednesday will be our last Lamaze class and it has been a great success, hopefully I will remember everything when it all kicks in! I have a great coach to help me through... so I am not to worried. I am hopeful for a natural birth, but am keeping my options OPEN... seeing that I have NO CLUE what to expect :P 

Our house has been speeding along! Most of the frame work is done, the front patio is in, even the roof is up! We have an electrical appointment tomorrow to review everything and make sure we have what we need and where we need it! More pictures to come in a couple weeks!

Baby shower, baby bump & more house pictures to come (once I locate the camera) HAHA! Wishing you ALL a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving with your loved ones. Wishing we can be with you! XOXOXO

Our Hole!

So yesterday we got an email from our guy on site in Poolesville, saying that they started digging on our lot!! We got so excited and rushed right out to see our new...... hole. :P If weather permits we will have a foundation next week and we were informed that we should be having our drywall inspection/walk-thru in 6-8 weeks!! WOW! Then the process slows down a bit....

Our Hole... and baby boy bump at 27 weeks...(and 1 day)!

YEAH!!!! :D Can you tell we are excited!

POOLESVILLE DAY!!

Last weekend we took advantage of getting to know our new town better by attending the annual "Poolesville Day" with our friends and family. Even though it was a bit drizzly, we had so much fun! After doing a tour of the model of our soon to be new home, we hit the streets! Poolesville Day actually started out with a very early 5k run (which everyone opted for breakfast instead!) followed by a parade, lots of fun craft, food, and everything you can think of stands..... Plenty of bouncy activities for kids, a rock wall, pony rides (Aliza was excited for that one!), a petting zoo, face painting, oh yes...and the best funnel cake EVER!! OK, perhaps I am not the best judge of that considering it was my first experience with it....but YUM!...and the list goes on! While walking around we even bumped into 2 families that will be our future neighbors, so it was great to get to know them a little more too :) Our friends Lindsay, Mark and their 7 month old twin girls Addison and Brooklyn, our friend Matt, and Aliza and Aaron joined in the fun! We can hardly wait for next year when we get to walk to Poolsville day with our little guy in tow!

Lindsay and adorable Brooklyn :D

Oren and Matt trying to get this group moving forward while girls were shopping for hair bows :p

Ummm, ADORABLE :D Aliza and Aaron being cute...

Aliza and Aaron being even more cute.....seemed to be the theme of our trip :D (Aliza's moccasins were getting wet)

2nd trimester clothes getting snug, baby bump getting larger = baggier tops..... but I can't complain!! Getting even more excited now that we have cooler weather! :D

Why not add more to our plate!?

So quite a while back while Oren was away in Seattle, I was watching the show "House Hunters" and browsing the housing market on redfin.com for fun (which we would do on occasion just to see what was out there) and I came across my dream house!! Beautiful full front porch, PLENTY of space, AMAZING kitchen....well, everything about it was perfect! I sent the listing to Oren just for fun and said.... "my dream house.... maybe someday" :) He commented on how beautiful it was and we left it at that. Of course when Oren arrived home he said "ok let's go" and to my surprise we were off to go look at the new community in Poolesville, which we fell in love with... but none of the lots we wanted were available yet. None the less, it threw us into our on going house hunt. We were on again off again with the hunting process (boy does it get tiring!), trying to decide where our ideal area was we wanted to be. We fell in love with the Poolesville area. It is a small town country west coast feel.... it felt like a relaxing, friendly place to raise a family and come home to at the end of the day. The only draw back being that it is a little bit further commute for Oren. He tried it out a few times and realized it really isn't much further from where we are now and there is an alternate route that cuts out one of the worst freeways during traffic! So we kept our eyes on that area. To our surprise, right before our trip to St. John, 3 great lots opened up in the new community we had looked at previously. So we put a lot hold on one, mulled it over while we were away.... and made an offer when we returned. After much back and forth, changes to how we wanted the house....WE GOT IT!!! :D OUR DREAM HOUSE :D So in a few weeks they will break ground and start building our home where we will raise our family...very exciting times! The expected move-in date is April. So we will be busy busy busy getting our place on the market, over seeing the building process, having a baby, moving, Passover shortly after!! Phew!

Front of our lot taken from our new neighbors deck, the entire neighborhood is already so nice and welcoming! We met most everyone at a meet and greet put on by the builder right before our deal was made.

Back of our lot. The tree line is protected area, so there will be no building ever to take place behind us... Hello privacy! Another thing we love is the spacing between the homes, unlike most neighborhoods in the DC area, where the homes are on top of each other...they might as well be town homes!

If you want to check out the model, click below....
It is the "montgomery" model and will look most like the last home model picture shown in photos. Although we are not doing a side load garage and brick as the picture shows, we decided on a front load garage and a stone base. (Although the pictures show a TON of upgrades/additions we are not getting, if you click on the interactive floor plan you can get more of an idea of how it will really be) :)


 http://www.brightwellcrossing.com/modeldetail.php?mod=3

It will certainly be a nice change from our small condo we are already growing out of! We can hardly wait for all of the exciting changes to come :D

BABYMOON!! Hello St. John!

When I first heard about babymoon's years ago I thought it was the best idea! Your last and final big trip before your baby comes and your life changes in many different and very busy ways! So when Oren called me from work one day and said we are going on a babymoon to St. John in the Virgin Islands.... I was SO EXCITED!! And the best part was, we didn't have long to wait. We anxiously kept our eyes on the hurricane status (yes it is hurricane season) and Irene skimmed by them as a tropical storm, but threatened the East Coast. Luckily, we flew out hours before shutting down the airport in Philly, and as we flew out the pilot pointed out the outer rim of the hurricane...YIKES! So we headed off to hurricane ally and avoided the hurricane :D We got the BEST weather, and can I just say it is amazing there!! Crystal clear blue water you can walk right out into the ocean up to your neck, look down and see your feet with fish swimming around.... families stuck their babies in floaties and floated right along with them in the ocean!! We are already thinking to return with baby in tow (and family!) in 2013 (since 2012 is already spoken for) :) It was so beautiful, we came back tan, relaxed, and ready to prepare for our new little man on the way :D

Our view checking in at our Westin time share.

Our native friends....the iguanas, we saw EVERYWHERE! Even in the tree outside our balcony!

View on the way to the beach for the day! AMAZING!

Baby bump Kwiatek!! (he has been moving and kicking quite a bit these days!)

More beautiful views from our drive around the island.

 Awaiting our dinner reservation with a great view :)


It's crunch time now, I have baby showers to look forward to, Lamaze classes in Nov., getting baby stuff set up, plan a bris, and only 18 weeks left!! YIKES! (and that is IF I carry to full term)...my mom delivered ALL of us 3 weeks early and my Dr. said I have a 50/50 chance I will do the same :P We are very excited for the journey we are on, and even more excited to share it with you! XOXOXO