Happy New Year!

We hope you're excited for 2008 - to say we're excited might be an understatement!

Baby is growing, I am growing... in the past eleven days I have changed shape substantially (pictures are forthcoming after we return to Syracuse)- there's no doubt anymore that when a stranger sees me, they know I'm a pregnant person. Baby's foot (head? hand? who knows!) sometimes gets shoved under my rib (very uncomfortable), but I have discovered that if I jump around or lay on my left side, baby will move into a better position and leave my ribs alone.

I am trying to get Dave to put on a little baby belly, but so far, no luck.

Our last Halloween without a little Yoda

Dave and I are big fans of Halloween, but being an adult without a child to share it with sometimes makes Halloween just an excuse to drink alcohol. And I like Halloween because of the reasons I loved it when I was 10- the time of year, the creative process, the pumpkin-carving, bobbing for apples, etc. I was the type of kid who planned my Halloween costumes in August, and I still take it pretty seriously, because I think it is a quintessential holiday representing America - specifically, I think that it is unbelievable that you can come up with a bizarre conglomeration of clothes (like the year I was a bag lady - not very sensitive) and walk around your neighborhood with a pillowcase, ring stranger's doors, and get FREE candy. Amazing. As my foreign-exchange student friend Anne-Sophie said after experiencing her first Halloween in the States, "America is beautiful."

Dave and I came home from work/school yesterday, carved pumpkins on the front stoop before the trick-or-treaters showed up, and proceeded to hand out gummi candy shaped like severed body parts for a couple of hours. And I felt so excited... because this is our last Halloween without a kid. And the very thought of experiencing this amazing holiday, one of my ultimate favorites, with a little person dressed in a white sheet is great. I can't wait to plan Halloween costumes in August, and carve pumpkins, and walk around the neighborhood greeting our neighbors and shouting Trick or Treat! I really can't wait.

And I am already, one year early, plotting my little one's Halloween costume for 2008. A baby Yoda - the little green character from Star Wars. Last night I read that we should start looking for cribs soon. But Yoda is much more exciting.

PS: That kitty pumpkin is my creation. Just so you know I didn't steal the picture from someone else's blog and pretend it was my own.