Happy Birthday America!

I love the 4th of July. Absolutely love it. What other time do you camp out in the hot, blazing summer sun all day and then get to watch the most awe-inspiring and spectacular show of the year? Seriously, I love it. And that is just the celebration. I love the fact that what we are celebrating is the independence of our country. America is freaking awesome. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

This year we decided we wanted a good spot so we headed down to the Charles at 1:00 and picked the perfect spot, spread out our blankets and got comfortable. We spent the extremely hot afternoon playing games and eating lots, and lots of snack food (fortunately we borrowed a a canopy from my boss which was a life saver and made the day very pleasant.) Once the son went down it started to cool off a tidbit so that was really nice (and by a tidbit I mean it was 75° at 10:00 pm). Then about a half hour before the show was about to start, it started to thunder and lightening. The guy on the speaker told everyone to clear out and find shelter and would you believe it, but people actually listened to him! Our neighbors who had been there all day packed up everything and ran off - only to have their spot quickly snatched by those who had stayed. I didn't really mind since we were smart enough to tough it out (though some people in our group were terrified we were going to get struck by lightening - we made them stay :)) but then as they came back, people tried to squeeze more people in than were there before which was major annoying considering they were seriously encroaching upon our long claimed turf. But then the fireworks started and we couldn't care less about the people around us. The show was phenomenal and even after 23 years worth of 4th of July's, I am still mesmerized by how awesome fireworks are. Who ever thought of celebrating our independence with fireworks was a true genius. It was also really fun watching the fireworks considering about a minute after they started, it started pouring rain. It was coming down only like it can in the East. It stopped just a minute or two before the fireworks ended, allowing us to walk to our car without getting any wetter (not that it was possible - we were pretty drenched). Perfect way to celebrate the day and I loved every minute of it!

(Notice the awesome view in the background. That was our backdrop to the firework show.)

And for those of you who don't really care what Nate and I do but are much more interested in Whale Baby... here is an update on her:


I think that Whale Baby is going to be something of a diva. It's just this feeling I have and talking to other women with children, they said they could all kind of sense what their kids were like while they were pregnant with them and so I may not actually be crazy. But I just have this feeling that she is going to be something of an attention lover. I noticed that anytime I make a comment about how sometimes I forget that I am pregnant, I get a nice, hearty kick. She also apparently loves music. I like to listen to the radio in the car and when certain songs come on, she starts moving and shaking and kicking. So far her favorites are Starships, I'm Glad You Came and Party Rock Anthem. Nate suggested I start listening to classical music. 

Speaking of diva... Whale Baby's first MySpace shot.

And here is a normal one. 23 weeks down, 17 to go!

As for a name, we are definitely favoring one of our choices over the other but have decided not to say anything until we know for sure. So until then, I am just going to keep throwing these little teaser updates out there for you to enjoy. 

Also, these are the flowers Nate got me this week, just because. That is my favorite reason.

Notice we have our first pet (bottom flower, on the right.) We named her Lily.

Don't I have the best husband ever? Seriously. And so handsome too!