Oh MICKEY You're So Fine... ;)

Okay, so I've been totally horrible at posting lately, so here's my attempt to fill in the gaps. Yep, I'm expecting and totally excited... I'm officially in my 15th week, so we're closing in on 4 months! I don't have another doctor appointment for a few weeks, which kinda stinks b/c I had gotten accustomed to being in there every 2 weeks or so! Regardless of if we can see it or not, baby is growing and is approximately the size of a naval orange! Ok, so oranges aren't that exciting, but seeing that it starts out at poppy seed-size, it's progress! Here's a photo from Disney this weekend (more to come below) of Jill and I at Magic Kingdom that shows just how big/little the little booger is!

For those who are wondering, the official "gender determination" ultrasound doesn't come until week 20, so it looks like we'll be finding out around the last week of April/first week of May! Clearly, the little one's parts have already been established, so its not like we can change the outcome, but I've added a fun little poll on the side of the page for you to vote for your guess... I'm not really showing, so that doesn't help much, but feel free to ask any questions that you think could sway your opinion, etc etc. Most of you know my opinion, but I'll let you get your guesses in before I weigh in!

On the non-baby front, I had a FABULOUS weekend in Orlando with the girls! Since Dayna conveniently planned to tie the knot in a fabulous location, we took advantage of the trip and had a little girls (plus Adam!) weekend! Jill's fab sis-in-law, Kelly, actually works at Disney, so she totally hooked us up and got us into the park gratis! Given my "condition," I'm not exactly Splash Mountain-bound, so we opted to spend the day at Animal Kingdom! We had a great day seeing the shows and had killer views of all of the animals on the safari! We finished the day at the Bug's Life 3-D show.... it was totally adorable and the bug-eye glasses were a total bonus! :)

Towa had to tend to her bridesmaid duties on Saturday, so Jill and I spent a few hours at Magic Kingdom and Epcot... when it came down to it, we really only had about 3 hours to play with, so we popped into Magic Kingdom for the obligatory photo opp and headed to Epcot to tour the countries and sit down for "Turtle Talk" with Crush... I highly recommend this show! After the rehearsal dinner, Jill and I bolted back to Epcot for the famous light show! The fireworks are always my favorite part and these were just great!

Dayna and Bill got hitched on Sunday... and it was B-E-A-UTIFUL! The location was picturesque, the bride was totally gorgeous, and there were just smiles all around! It was so nice to sit down with everyone (especially after all of the walking we did all weekend!) and enjoy each other's company!

And now, I'm back to the grind and totally counting down until maternity leave... 175 days to go! ;) J/k... I'm not in that huge of a rush, but I am looking forward to it!

Coming Up (from the Cave) for Air...

Now that the Caps Cave has had its official debut, all of the activity around our house has died down a bit... a.k.a. We're cuddling in the cave! ;)

The Richardson Crew came over last week to watch Monday Night Football and we had a great time catching up in the cave. I was especially excited to use the night as a debut for the final piece of the Caps Cave puzzle...

Yay! Christmas came a bit early from the elves at Laura's Platters and Splatters! ;) Joe was unbelievably psyched as this is a piece of craftiness that is totally guy oriented! As for me, I just love it so much!

This past weekend I got some much needed Girl/Elon time at Homecoming! With all of the house and work stuff going on and coming up, I took advantage of the event and buzzed down I-85 to good 'ole Elon!

Luckily, Towa never denies me a bed ;) and is always graciously giving me a place to stay on my road trips! We went to Lighthouse (Gasp! I know, I finally set foot in there... it only took Elon buying and refurbishing it to get me there!) for the Young Alumni Party and caught up with Jenny, Kim, Beaty, Catalfumo, and a bunch of other people! We continued the fun into tailgating on Saturday... I was so excited to see my friends Reed & Katie and meet their little girl Avery (who is flipping adorable!!)... and catch up with a whole mess of people! I think Catalfumo and I recounted nearly every cheerleading memory at the game and my ear drums nearly burst from her screaming when AOII won Homecoming Queen... Elon beating Western Carolina was just gravy! We, of course, finished the weekend with dinner at Monterray's!!

The cherries on top... Cheap Gas and Biscuitville!

The last few weeks...

It's been a crazy few weeks with lots going on... I got back from Texas on Friday night and then helped host a shower for Kim! It's crazy to think that we've known each other for so long (since Kindergarten!), that she and Josh are finally getting married (who knows how long they've been dating... but it sparked somewhere around his senior prom... which was ten years ago!), and that we're all together to celebrate! The Enoch girls sure know how to throw a beautiful shower... I'm just excited that I got to share it with them!



Before Sirius and I headed home on Father's Day, I let him have one last swim with his pup-cousins! Actually, it was more of Bailey and Duke swimming while Sirius jumped in and proceeded to dig up dirt and get muddy... and then Ally had the honor of tossing him in the pool to rinse off! :) Bailey is just the sweetest pup... it just took me a bit to get used to a big dog!



I was home for a few days before heading down to NC with Vycki to go to Jill and Scott's Wedding!! We left at the crack of dawn and got into NC just in time for lunch with Dayna and Garrett!! Garrett is just darling... and so entertaining! We had so much fun catching up with each other and realizing that we can still have girl talk with the kids around (at least until they can understand what we're saying)!

The wedding was just BEAUTIFUL! It was soooo Jill! Scott lost it a little bit when she walked it - it was so sweet! We got to sit with Ponz (now Sarah Rush) and her hubby, Amanda and her cutie boyfriend Derek, and Christina (who came in from Alaska!!)! We just had a great night... I'll let the photos say the rest...



We had a great Saturday hanging out at Towa's... a lunch at Ham's and just cruising around Elon! Vycki and I were whooped and anxious to sleep in our own beds, so we decided to head home Saturday night (instead of Sunday morning).

I came home to a nicely buzzed Joey and Srian doing absinthe shots in the living room! They quickly passed out... Joe cuddled up with me and Srian cuddled up with Sirius! We had Pho 95 with Sri before dropping him off at his parents... I hate saying goodbye to him, but he'll be back from Bahrain in August and we'll get to meet his girlfriend! :) Once we got back from errands I just passed out!

Whew, I'm exhausted... but it was worth every minute!!

Rory and Ellie's Long-Awaited Reunion (Elon Homecoming 2007)

We came... we saw... we took a nap!

Moi!

With all of these babies being cranked out this year (I think I have 9 friends/coworkers that have or will give birth this year!!), Andrew leaving on his mission (Booo... not gonna lie, I wish he was sticking around), Tommy flying off to Hawaii for the summer, and everything else going at lightening speed... It's hard to find time to catch up!! Let's see...

In the beginning of March I had a huge work project where we did a product launch for our new anti-malarial medication (ASAQ) at the French Ambassador's Residence (ooh la la) and then on the Hill and other places. I got to meet a ton of people who's life focuses on the fight against malaria. Needless to say, these people are my rock stars and ever since that day, I've been trying to think up ways to do this kind of work!

Also in March, Joey and I went to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases Annual Gala... it was a good excuse to go black tie and flaunt it! ;)

In early April, we missed the beginning of the Cherry Blossoms because I headed down to North Carolina to thow Towa's Bachelorette! It was definitely worth the trip as we all had such a wonderful night together (it makes you want more girl's nights)!! Here's the link to the photos: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8RZtGzVsza28&notag=1

We found some time to get down to the Cherry Blossoms and then to the Chesapeake Hyatt for a nice weekend alone, but no G-rated photos from that trip! ;)

And then there was Towa's wedding... it was a beautiful weekend... everything came out so wonderfully and it was such a good time!! (And we got a bonus by being able to go visit Elon!) Here's a link to all of my photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/RoryElizabeth/TowaSWedding

Allison Graduated from Bloomsburg!!
http://picasaweb.google.com/RoryElizabeth/AllisonSGraduation

Whew... and that's not even half of it!