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Monday, March 28, 2011

Sister Wives

Last Monday, 3/21/11, was a life changing moment in my friendship with Nicole Archer and Sarah Thakur.

We affectionately refer to our little trio as the "Sister Wives." We all met working at Hines VA and have become the best of friends. When Nicole, who we affectionately called Mama G, found out she was having a girl, we were thrilled! We could not wait for Baby Grace to arrive. At 3:50pm on Monday, Nicole called Sarah & I and told us that she thought her water had broke. She was only 33 weeks and 1 day pregnant - we were freaking out! After calling her doctor, she told her to come to the hospital. To make matters even more complicated, Nicole's husband had left his cell phone in her car that morning. As Sarah & I were driving Nicole to Northwestern Hospital in rush hour, we were finally able to reach her husband and did all we could to keep Nicole's spirits up. He works at least an hour North of the city and was going to rush to meet us at the hospital. We got Nicole to the hospital and they quickly directed us to labor & delivery. Sweet Nicole was still in a little denial that she was in labor but Sarah & I knew it was happening. We got her settled in the delivery room and patiently waited for her husband to arrive. We saw her labor progress and laughed about who was going to hold which leg when she started to push. About 2 hours after getting Nicole to the hospital, Dave arrived! At 9pm, Grace Catherine Archer was born! 4lbs 9oz 19 inches. Grace has been in NICU at Northwestern since day 1 but is doing very well. Nicole & Dave have already become amazing parents and are doing everything they can to get Grace home as soon as possible. Sarah & I have become Grace's special "aunts" and love her very much. 30 years from now we will be telling this story at Grace's wedding...

Sister Wives: Sarah, Nicole, & Me - 5 days after Grace was born.



Friday, March 25, 2011

Mama Mia! I mean...Mama Dina!

Last Friday I did a Maternity photo shoot for Dina. She is 35 weeks and looking beautiful. I had a blast trying out various different poses and ideas. Dina was a real trooper! It was so much fun! Big sister Alex even got in on a few shots.









Can't wait for my new niece Reese to make her debut!

Ode to Jodi

In the midst of a crazy month, I was lucky enough to celebrate the birthday of one of my dearest friends - Jodi Vedra. Along with 2 of Jodi's other good friends, Tanya & Lori, we celebrated Jodi in style with a suite at the Abbey Resort Spa in Lake Geneva. The weekend was filled with lots of girl talk, amazing spa treatments, good food, good drinks (thanks to Lori), and many laughs.
Lucky Zebra!



I hope you had a wonderful birthday weekend Jodi! You are one of the most special people in my life. I love you for many reasons. One of the most important ones is the fact that you introduced me to the love of my life. You have taught me so much about how to be a good wife, great friend, and one day an amazing mom. XOXO

Wicked Busy

The last 6 weeks have been ridiculously busy. I told Brad on Valentine's Day that I would see him in April because of what my work & personal life calendar looked like. The good part is my calendar was full with a lot of fun stuff! One of the highlights of the last few weeks was my trip to Boston. I was at 3rd annual DoD/VA Suicide Prevention Conference as a guest speaker. After attending these conferences, I can't tell you how cool it was to be on the "other side" as a presenter. In the midst of some great presentations and discussions, I was able to seem some of the sights in Boston.
Harvard bridge - measured in Smoots


Rachel Ray's recommendation for ice cream



George Washington

Commonwealth Drive

Top of the Hub



Lobster Bisque


Tadpole Pond