The baby's room

Last weekend, we finally had a weekend at home so we could put the baby's room together. Here are a few pictures.

Russ' dad made the baby a cradle, which we put in our room. Such a nice gift that hopefully we'll be able to pass on to generations to come.

Looks like we're ready for baby!

Where did October go?

October seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye. It was a whirlwind of baby showers with a wedding sprinkled in there.

On October 3rd, I had my first baby shower.

We received a lot of great gifts, like this handmade stocking for the baby's first Christmas,

and these really cute stuffed animals that go along with the bedding in the baby's room.

The weekend of October 17-18, we spent in Sturgis.

My cousin Samantha got married on Saturday. It was a beautiful day for a beautiful bride.
Congratulations Samantha & Ryan!

Sunday was baby shower #2 for me.A lot more fun little baby things! And cute! Everything is so darned cute!

We got a photo of some of the ladies on the Weiderman side that are either pregnant or have had babies already this year. Four of my cousins are pictured here, as well as my sister-in-law. There are two more that weren't at the shower that already had babies. It's going to be a really fun Weiderman Weekend next year with all these little ones!
And of course we had to get a shot with all my Sturgis buddies (plus Heather - whose pregnant, too! Contgrats, H.P.).

The next weekend it was back to Sturgis again. This time for Megan's baby showers. On Saturday, her sisters threw her a shower.

I think they're going to have trouble finding their little one. He got a lot of camo clothes since my brother is really into hunting. Megan's aunt made the baby this camo sweater.

Of course we had to get a picture of the two of us, bump to bump.

On Sunday, Aunt Cindy and I threw Megan a baby shower. Here's my first attempt at a diaper cake. I think it turned out really cute!

Megan got a lot more really cute baby things, including this handmade blanket (can you tell I love the handmade things!),

and this little boot ornament for the baby's first Christmas.

It was such a fun (and tiring) month. We are really excited for our baby to get here and are so blessed to have such a wonderful family and so many wonderful friends to celebrate this upcoming event with. We can't wait for all of you to meet our little one!

WWIX

The 9th Annual Weiderman Weekend was held at our house this year. We had almost 30 people at our house for the weekend. The weather was crazy again this year (cool and rainy on Saturday and really hot and humid on Sunday). Despite the weather, it was a great weekend. We had lots of great food, which is key for all of us Weidermans, and lots of laughs. What more could you ask for?

Detroit River Ride

Last Sunday we had an opportunity to take a ride along the Detroit River on the Diamond Queen. The ride took us up the river almost to Lake St. Clair, around Belle Isle, then back down the river under the Ambassador Bridge, past Joe Louis Arena and the Renaissance Center.You might recognize the building in the background here since it's been all over the news, especially in the last year. It's the Renaissance Center, which is where the General Motors headquarters are. We arrived at the boat dock early so Russ and I took a walk down The Riverwalk to the Ren-Cen.

We saw the Manoogian Mansion from the river, which became somewhat infamous a few years ago when ex-mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was in office and had a wild party there with exotic dancers.

Lake St. Clair
It's hard to see but it was packed with boats and sailboats.

The Detroit skyline with the Ambassador Bridge in the foreground.

This is the J.W. Westcott II. Russ' Grandpa George was a captain on this boat and delivered mail to the ships going along the Detroit River.

Captain Bill allowed Russ to take the wheel for a minute.

Half way there!

I can't believe that I'm halfway through my pregnancy already. The time has gone by so fast. I'm feeling so good that sometimes I have to look down at this growing belly to remind myself that I'm pregnant. Last week we got something even better than my bulging belly to show us what's going on. Here are some pictures from my 20 week ultrasound. I was absolutely, completely amazed by how much we could see. Oh, and for those of you wondering, we didn't find out the sex. We're just going to wait until this little one makes it's grand entrance.

We caught baby sucking his/her thumb.

The baby was really moving around a lot. Legs and arms were moving all the time. Here's a shot of the legs. You can see where the ultrasound tech. typed in "knee" on the picture. The lower leg goes up to the left from there and then there's the foot. I think that's the other leg/foot to the left of that.

And now on to a couple belly bump shots...

My brother and sister-in-law are expecting their first (a boy!) in December. Our due dates are only a week apart (and hopefully the babies will come at least a week apart or my parents will go crazy driving all over to meet new grandbabies). Here we are at my cousin's bridal shower on July 12th. Megan was just starting her 20th week and I was at the beginning of my 19th week.

Here's my bump at the end of my 20th week.

I figured I'd throw a shot of the dads-to-be in here, too. Here they are back in May at my cousin's wedding where we shared our good news with family.

Bridgett's baby shower

Bridgett made it home in June and we were able to have a little baby shower with the Sturgis girls. She was looking great and it was so much fun to see her and the rest of the ladies.

Fieb Fest 2009

In June, Russ and I were able to make it to the 2nd Annual Fieb Fest BBQ Cookoff in Sturgis.

My brother rounded up about 7 cooks for a BBQ showdown of ribs, chicken, pork and steaks.

Here are the seven carefully chosen judges. You might recognize the 3 judges on the right side of the picture. They are all well rehearsed eaters and know good food when they meet it.

Here's the family relaxing and enjoying what was a perfect summer day.