Our trip to Lake George

I finally uploaded the pictures from our trip to Lake George with Heather, Chris and Alexander (yes, Heather I will send you the link to Shutterfly). I thought I'd share some photos with you all of the Amato's beautiful home and our nice, relaxing weekend. Alexander enjoyed the ride on the boat... and Heather enjoyed Alexander taking a nap!
Here is Alexander giving me a little lesson on what's to come...

Alexander also taught Joel the fine art of the snuggle. I'm in the captain's chair (as it should be).

I'll post some more pictures after our festivities this weekend. Looks like we'll have a full house with the Amatos, Kelly, the McNeills, the Juviler/Greifenbergers and others joining us for the fireworks on Thursday. Happy early 4th of July!

Stop and enjoy the roses

Joel's sister Meredith has this theory that the older you are, the faster time passes. She shared some mathematical background to support her theory and since I can't add without using my fingers, I bought into it pretty quickly.

This morning, we were watching the news (sad about hearing that George Carlin had passed away) and a story ran on gas prices and the upcoming 4th of July holiday weekend. 4th of July?!? Where did June go?

Last night we had dinner with some friends (Don, Claire (and Baby), Simon, Eleana, Dan and Marissa (who took a couple of steps!). Don and Claire mentioned that tomorrow (today) is their 1 year anniversary. One year ago Joel, Simon and I were wandering aimlessly around London waiting for their nuptuals. One year ago we were looking forward to our pre-wedding trip to Italy. One year ago I wasn't a Harvill yet (or pregnant). One year ago I had poison ivy (random, but you can totally tell from the photos from the McShee wedding). One year ago we couldn't even fathom owning a house. One year ago little Marissa was just 2 months old.

Heather and Chris stopped by with baby Alexander yesterday as well. One year ago, Heather still had morning sickness and the Amatos hadn't even been married for one year. I'm pretty sure they were planning a trip to Vegas.

The time passes so quickly these days... faster than before. I've always taken the saying "stop and smell the roses" pretty literally. It annoys Joel sometimes when we're walking the dogs and I see a rosebush. He knows I'm going to say it. "Stop and smell the roses," I say. I stop and sniff and continue walking. Perhaps in these days of faster moving time, we shouldn't just stop and sniff. We should stop and take some time to truly enjoy them. Just a thought.

I'll post some pictures from our trip to Lake George a little later today. Have a wonderful (slow) day and Happy Anniversary to Don and Claire!

Some New Photos

I've been promising new photos all week so here are a few from the past weekend:

Here we are in the garden enjoying the balmy 100 degree temperatures

Dogs are a great accessory when trying to hide the pregnant (bloated) belly:

And finally, the 14 week belly pic (please note that I am wearing no makeup and did not shower):

I'll take some more pictures this weekend at Lake George!

Creating a mix tape for Rockstar

Everyone knows that I love music. I think back to some of my fondest (and silliest) memories and for some reason, I can always remember what song was playing. For example, I remember finishing art camp and driving up to the boat with my parents in our Monte Carlo and hearing "Bobby McGee" for the first time. I remember my freshman year of high school, sitting in Mrs. Bazcek's awful geometry class and David Hughes playing "Picture of Nectar" on his diskman. From that moment on, I thought that Phish was phantastic. When I think of college, I can't help but recall our Gateway and Anna leaving her stereo on for an entire weekend, door locked, Phil Collins "No Jacket Required" blaring through the wall. I'm pretty sure I rebelled with some Grateful Dead or The Samples.

Well, I've determined that our baby, little ears quickly developing, already has my same love for music (Elaine, you will be so proud). These days, when I drive to work in the morning, I roll down the windows, open the sunroof and let the radio blast. It is a summer ritual for me. I have determined, over the last couple of weeks, that Rockstar already has developed a like/dislike for certain songs and artists. If Rockstar likes a song, I feel great. Almost as if I'm not pregnant for a moment. If Rockstar is not a fan, I suddenly feel the need to pull the car over and get sick on the side of I-95. If I were to make a mix tape for Rockstar, it would look something like this:

Oasis - Don't Look Back in Anger (I have actually thought that if its a girl, perhaps Sally?)
Young Jeezy/Usher - Make Love in this Club (I don't pick em, people... it's what is on the radio)
Blues Traveler - Hook (especially the fast part at the end)
Miley Syrus - See You Again (I'm not kidding)
Allison Kraus/Robert Plant - Gone, Gone, Gone
The Killers - anything. Rockstar thinks The Killers rock
Roy Orbison - You've Got It (Thanks to Elaine's CD that is still in my car)
Jesse McCartney - Leavin' (Perhaps Rockstar wants to be called Boo)
Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl (a must)
Elvis - Suspicious Minds

Now don't get me wrong. Like most weddings, there is also a Do Not Play list. This includes the following:

Rod Stewart - Have I Told You Lately
Peter Frampton - Show Me The Way
Mariah Carey - We Belong Together
Anything by Kat Deluna or Brittney Spears (thank God)

So, here's what I want. Send me lists of your favorite songs and I'll test it out. Hopefully we can add to the playlist!

Blondie or Bruce?

In honor of Kelly, I have added in the boy vs girl poll to the upper left corner of the blog. Feel free to wager your guess. You've got 44 days to wait to see if you are right or wrong. Enjoy!

I'll add the new belly picture when I get home tonight too. Personally, I think I just look like I ate an entire 1 pound bag of peanut M&Ms. Oh wait, I did. My theory is that peanut M&Ms actually check two food group boxes: 1) protein and 2)dairy. Please don't forward this on to Paul Burka, Jill Ladd or Constantine because I'd be upset to hear an actual doctor's view on this. Let me live the lie (and yes mom, I ate a salad for lunch).

Finally, I heard a great (old) song this morning that made me think of Kelly, the poll, and of course, my parents. Here's a link to Bruce Springsteen doing Jersey Girl:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4e0WrBsXbE

Construction Zone

Okay, I'm due to post some pictures of the updates we've done to the house so here goes.

First, the formal living room now has a new paint job (Manhattan Fog) and some new furniture. We are still in dire need of bookshelves, but for now, we've got piles of books on the floor. Here's Shamus watching over our house from his new favorite spot.

Here's a close up of the new paint and the crown molding and Steven and Joel installed (amazing job!). We haven't really hung anything on the walls yet, so hopefully I can do a bit of that this weekend.

Here's the sun room. We repainted the walls a light blue and did the floors in a dark chocolate brown. Joel picked out the nautical pillows for the couch and we're still searching for a rug. We also need some blinds.

Finally, here's a couple of nice pictures of the garden and the backyard. Hopefully our flowers will stick around for awhile despite the heat (and my lack of green thumbs). Lucy and Shamus stopped for a bit to smell (eat) the roses.

It's about time to enter the blogosphere

So, with so many members of our family dispersed out across multiple states and countries, I thought that perhaps the best way to keep everyone apprised of what's going on at the Harvill homestead would be to start a blog. Yep, I said it. I'm blogging. Months ago, I would have bet someone beers if I correctly guessed the number of times the word "blog" was uttered in one of my meetings but oh no... stop that bandwagon... I'm getting on board.

I figure this is a great way for Joel and I to post some pictures of the new house, the puppies and even my ever-widening waistline too.

Quick update for this week:
Baby:
The all-day sickness is beginning to subside. I haven't lost my dinner in over a week and I'm considering that a major success. We went to the doctor on Wednesday and were finally able to hear the baby's heartbeat on the doppler (we'd only been able to hear it on the ultrasound). Our little rockstar's heart was thumping away at 150 beats per minute. Don't take any guesses on the sex based on the heartbeat though. It will continue to change week by week and also based on my level of activity.
We did schedule the big 20 week ultrasound for July 23 (Happy Birthday to me!) so now we just have to wait the 47 long days until then to figure out if Rockstar is rockin' boy parts or girl parts (but who's counting).
Our next doctor's appointment is July 3... just another routine check-up/blood letting. I swear, they take more blood when you get pregnant. I've become good friends with the woman at the diagnostic center and love the fact that she introduces herself as my vampire every time I show up.

House:
George is on his way here for a good long weekend of installing new outlets... I mean, celebrating his birthday... yeah, that's it. We had a little mishap with the washing machine (read: Erica does not know what high efficiency means) but Joel managed to fix it and I guess I'm forced to start washing clothes again. Bummer. We've got a bunch of projects left to finish though and I promise I will post some pictures tonight. Oh, and our split box spring arrived yesterday. Yay for not having to roll out of bed onto the floor anymore!

Dogs:
Had the first run in with the police this week. Apparently their incessant chatter with our neighbor's dogs has someone in a tizzy and Animal Control made a little visit. We've got new bark collars that are being delivered however our neighbors tell us this is pretty common and despite my minor freak-out, we won't be arrested. Shamus did manage to sneak his way INTO our across-the-street neighbors' yard last night where we found him playing with their pup. They are at the groomer right now and I'm hoping they didn't give them the "Rhesus Monkey" cut again. They'll be too embarrassed to go for a walk later.

Random:
Not sure if they are going to air it again, but try to check out the pilot of Swingtown on CBS. It was on last night at 10pm and it instantly grabbed my attention. The show focuses on a family living in the Chicago suburbs in the summer of 1976. The father figure scores big in the stock market (I think) and they move to a new, ritzy neighborhood. The once white bread/apple pie family is now enjoying their new social status with their swinger neighbors. Not sure how they are going to make this interesting all season, but watching the insinuated sex scenes was a plus.

For music, my new favorites include Modest Mouse (touring this summer with REM). If you are downloading on iTunes, start with Missed the Boat and Float On. Also, the new Robert Plant/Allison Krauss CD "Rising Sand." If you only listen to one track, check out Please Read the Letter. Finally, my one guilty pleasure is Katy Perry's song "I Kissed a Girl." It rocks.