Back in CT... for three days

We just made it back to our house after a wonderful weekend in Bethesda. I have to say, David and Catherine's wedding was absolutely beautiful and we had a fantastic time. The Ladd family really knows how to throw a party. Their wedding, which took place yesterday, also marked my parents' 35th wedding anniversary. I'm hoping that its a symbol of good luck for the Ladds (although my dad joked that their divorce papers must have gotten lost in the mail many years ago).

On Saturday, we headed about an hour out into Virgina with the wedding crew to visit a couple of vineyards and do a little wine tasting. I took in the sunny day, the fabulous scenery and, well, I treated myself to a sip or two of the chardonnay. Here are some photos from the wine tour:

Here's the beautiful vineyard and the mountains in the distance.

Grapes still on the vine.Here's David and the rest of the wedding crew after enjoying some wine.

I know most of you read this to get an update on Baby Harvill and to hear my funny take on pregnancy so here's my story of the week. We got back to Joel's parents house in Bethesda after the wine tour and had about 30 seconds to change and get out the door before the rehersal dinner. I kick off my shoes and my jeans and look down at my feet and realize that they are swollen... not just a little swollen. To me, they look like pig's feet (Kelly, you can probably relate here) and they were SCARY looking. Perhaps the quickie stop at McDonalds wasn't such a good idea? I was clearly retaining a ton of water but at this point, there was nothing I could do. I tried to shove my feet into my lovely new high heels. It totally wasn't going to happen. I asked Joel if he could help me with my knee-high boots. We couldn't even zip em up. I had to resort to wearing my silly flats again.

Once at the rehersal dinner, I cornered David's mother who happens to be an OBGYN. Here's how our conversation went:

Me: Jill, I think something's wrong. My feet look like pigs feet.

Jill: Ah, you're experiencing the glories of pregnancy.

Me: No, you don't seem to understand. I don't want my feet to look like this.

Jill: The swelling is pretty normal. You'll just have to deal with it for the next two months.

Me: I'm sorry to say this, but I'm not going to accept that as your final answer. There's gotta be something I can do.

Jill: Well, you could try putting you feet in a bath of cold water and then sleeping with them elevated.

Me: Now you're talking.

Joel and I ran home after the dinner and rehersal and I proceeded to cool my feet off in a nice cold shower. I then sat my butt down on the couch with my feet elevated on a stack of about 18 pillows and proclaimed that I would not move until the swelling subsided. I'm being serious when I say that I even slept in this position.

The next morning, no more swelling! Wahoo! I was able to dress for the wedding like a normal person and even rocked out in my 3-inch heels all night (one wedding guest thought that I was going to go into labor while dancing the Hora). Here's a quick shot of me and Joel all fancied up (and the belly at 32 weeks):

So, we're back in Norwalk until Thursday when we head to North Carolina for Constantine and Allison's wedding! Busy month!