Happy Halloween!

We survived hurricane Sandy. Seems troubling to me that we have experienced two hurricanes in two years. Last year we were just worried Irene had washed our house away. Sandy wasn't too bad at our house, though others sadly didn't fair as well. We passed the time in the dark (while the power was out) carving pumpkins next door with my brother's family. Now we're all ready for Halloween! Hope we get at least a few trick o' treaters at our new house!

James' Summit pumpkin on left and my "our little family" pumpkin on the right.

A Party for the Babe

Yesterday my girlfriends and my mom threw our babe (and us!) a very lovely shower. We certainly were spoiled. Surrounded by lots of family and friends, we shared the afternoon visiting with loved ones, passing around new babies, eating yummy food and opening lots of amazing gifts. I didn't take any photos during the party but borrowed some from a friend and took a few of the left overs this morning. It was a wonderful day and a wonderful celebration in honor of our little babe. Big thanks to my girlfriends Caitlin, Suzanne and Kelly for helping to put it together and to my mom for all the work she did too (and for helping me clean our house!). We love you all!

Everyone brought a baby picture and I had to guess who was who. Can you tell which one is me? Try the screaming child in the middle on the right. If our daughter takes after me, we're in trouble!

All of our friends and family put their artistic talents to work making the babe her first alphabet book. So cute!

Speaking of running...look what we got! A BOB! I literally CANNOT wait to strap the little bean in to this puppy and go for a run next spring!

 

We literally got showered with amazing gifts. You get a little sneak peek at the nursery here too. I can't wait to reveal the rest as soon as we finish organizing the loot. 

32 Weeks

Made it to the eight month mark! Should we start counting down the weeks now? Hard to believe there's only eight to go! Baby will be here before we know it. Be sure to check out how far we've come (grown) on our bumpdates page.

Nieces and Nephews

James and I have two nieces and two nephews. Three belong to my brother Curt and his wife Mandy and one to James' sister Alisa and her husband Brian. Last weekend I had an opportunity to take pictures of the families and all four kiddos. How lucky are we to be auntie and uncle to these beautiful kids. Love them! Check out more of their pictures here and here.

My brother Curt, Mandy, Andrew, Aubrey and new baby Zachary

Brian, Ava and James' sister Alisa

31 Weeks

Check off another week! I've been feeling mostly the same this week with the exception of a few new unwanted side effects. Be sure to check out our bumpdates page for all of our weekly updates!

Midwest Travel

Both James and I spent some time in the midwest this fall for separate work related trips. James flew out to Chicago in mid-September for the International Manufacturing Technology Show, also known as IMTS. IMTS is a huge manufacturing trade show held in Chicago every two years. James also attended it in 2010.

In typical James style, he didn't take many pictures while in Chicago. Below is one from his company's booth and a video he took of a robotics operation. The rest are photos I borrowed from the IMTS website. IMTS is a big deal in the manufacturing industry. I think James enjoyed spending the week with colleagues and learning about the latest and greatest in manufacturing technology. See more photos from IMTS here.

 

As for me, I traveled to Duluth, MN for a small conference called NEMO University8, or NEMO U8.

NEMO stands for "non-point education for municipal officials". It brings together folks from across the country interested in working with communities to address natural resource conservation through land use planning and site design. The conference allows for networking, sharing of resources, educational workshops and lots of opportunities for fun. The conference is put on by the NEMO "hub" located in my office which means that just about everyone I work with (all 8 or so of us) is involved. NEMO U is always a good time. You might remember I blogged about NEMO U7, held in 2010 in Portland, ME. I didn't bring my camera but snagged these photos below were taken by colleagues.

My work peeps. We are a silly bunch!

In addition to a great conference agenda, NEMO U's always have the best "extra-curricular" activities. In Duluth we enjoyed a scenic train ride along the shores of Lake Superior, an afternoon of kayaking and happy hour at the Great Lakes Aquarium.

Lots of fun...and a bit of work on too. Here are a few snapshots of the mapping workshop I led at the conference just to prove there was some actual learning going on in Duluth.

And few parting shots from the shores of Lake Superior.