Weekend Update & New Belly Shots!

This weekend was spent relaxing, baby preparation, and a BBQ on Sunday. (And errand running of course) We have one more weekend until Maui, followed immediately by the baby shower, so it is nice to relax and get things done.

In baby news: We ordered our stroller and car seat...I know...exciting news right? Brian has made some major progress on the art/cutouts for the baby's room. Next step, dismantling the guest room after our round of guests in March, followed by painting and mounting cutouts. We're getting so close! Just about three months to go!

Then...Brian's request for me to make ribs turned into an impromptu get-together at hour house on Sunday. Several members of the Loose Cannon Crew came over, my friend Annie stopped by, and Rob, Nicole, Elliot, and Jacqueline joined us as well. The ribs take almost a full day to prepare, so it's nice to cook them for a group.

The preparation begins...


Many, many ingredients are involved in this recipe...this is just the tip of the iceberg.


The ribs...which took 5+ hours to slow cook. At least everyone was REALLY hungry by the time we ate.


Smiling now that they've been fed.


Jacqueline, Elliot, and Nicole: Post Feast


We also took some new belly shots...about 27-ish weeks!

Valentines Day Celebration

We decided to celebrate valentines day in a bit more mellow of a way this year...foregoing "amateur" night at all the restaurants for some lovely daytime fun in Seattle.

We hit Etta's for breakfast on Saturday morning, splurging on salmon cakes eggs Benedict (for Brian), and maple french toast for me!

Jen enjoys her delicious breakfast


Brian prepares to dig in


We then headed down to check out the Seattle Aquarium. I hadn't been there since my illustrious days of employment at the gift shop during college. They've done some crazy renovations since then. It was really neat, but it'll be even cooler to see it with our daughter who will be here in about 14 weeks! There were tons of kids marveling over the tide pools and colorful fish, and we got really excited to see it again soon with Baby Girl Patenaude.

Jen braves the tide pool full of starfish


Brian gets attacked by a giant blurry octopus


A cute little otter. (This shot would be better if I had the new lens that I want!)


The river otter cozied up to the glass for a shot


A fish! At an aquarium! Crazy!


This crab-like thingy seemed to be sort of angry


After the aquarium, we hit up Pike Place Market for some groceries for dinner, and popped into Serious Pie for a little bit of yummy pizza for an afternoon snack! On our way home we were thrilled that we weren't sitting in the giant traffic jam headed INTO the city for dinner. That evening, we enjoyed Alaskan spotted shrimp (Seriously...the best shrimp EVER!!), papardelle noodles with spicy red sauce, and some fresh bread for dinner. We topped it off with some cheesecake truffles we found at a little shop in the market....YUM!

The rest of the weekend was spent errand running, stroller shopping, taking some nice walks in the sunny (yes...sunny) weather, and some nice relaxation. Brian spent a lot of time working on the baby's room, and fiddled around with the mounting for the cut outs.

Some cut outs hung up in the office as a test!


Back to work...At least it's a short week!

I'm a lucky girl!

Happy Friday and Happy Valentines day! It may be Friday the 13th, but we're on the cusp of a 3 day weekend, and I'm thrilled. The gorgeous bouquet of flowers that Brian sent me doesn't hurt one bit!!

I'm a lucky girl!!


We're excited for a nice weekend. We're doing a valentines day brunch tomorrow morning, a trip to the Seattle aquarium, and then we're going to forage through Pike Place Market to find our Valentines day feast. (Which we will prepare at home, away from the crowded and over-priced restaurants)

Have a great weekend!

Wine Tasting Weekend. (Do we have too many posts with this title?)

This weekend was filled with wine tasting and relaxing. (No wine tasting for me). Several Woodinville wineries had releases this weekend, and we took advantage of the opportunity to visit some places that aren't usually open! My Mom and Dad made the trip down to Seattle, and my Aunt Linda joined us as well. I was the official designated drive/tour guide for the day...

Our tour started at Delille, which is a beautiful facility that is only open to the public a few times during the year. They had a band playing, lots of tastings, and yummy food!

Linda enjoying the yummy cheese at Delille


I was just HOLDING this glass for Brian


Through the wine glass...arty.


We then headed out to JM, where we're members. We picked up our wine allocation, and enjoyed tastes of their new releases. (I enjoyed tastes of their yummy tomato basil soup)

The group at JM


SISTERS!


Happy mom!


Brian still doesn't understand that you shouldn't wear flip flops when it's 35 degrees, so he tried to warm himself by the campfire.


Is this a group of hobos?


We then headed over to do a couple of quick tastings at Guardian Cellars and Mark Ryan (Mark Ryan is never open!), before our tasting appointment at Adam's Bench. Adam's Bench just recently started opening for tasting appointments, so we took advantage. It's located a bit out of the way on Hollywood Hill, but it's a gorgeous setting, and they make some really yummy reds!

Standing in front of some cool looking gadgets that I'm sure are helpful in wine making.


After one more quick stop at Hollywood Hill Vineyards, we headed home to meet up with Uncle Mike, and enjoy a yummy dinner. (And a few more tastes of wines)

Mom and Dad headed home in the morning after a stop at Brian's office. Brian showed us the game he's working on, and even let us play it. It looks really cool! (Though, I think my mom was most impressed with the assortment of candy and treats in the break room.)

Other than that, we've been working hard and preparing for a baby Patenaude! Brian has been especially hard at work on the room:

Brian...hard at work


The group of cutouts


You can see more of the progress here! I'm so excited that our child is going to have such a cool, original, imaginative room! Not many kids get a room designed by an amazing artist...just for them!

Until next time...

-Jen