The picture doesn't do it justice. On Sunday after church Aaron and I were both starving, and Jack conveniently fell asleep in the car and stayed that way after we got home and put him bed so we got to cook brunch together. We proceeded to make the most amazing huevos rancheros I've ever experienced. We didn't just eat them, we experienced them. We even made our own pico de gillo and since we were both working it only took about fifteen minutes from start to finish. I'm 13 weeks pregnant today, and I can feel a definite shift away from queasiness. I still love my fruit, but I'm able to drink coffee and I'm making dinner every night again which feels really nice. I've been appreciating my role in our house lately and really enjoying the "ordinary" things in life, like giving Jack a bath at the end of the day, putting clean sheets on our bed and making tasty food. Having other people live with us has made me realize more and more how much the woman of the house sets the atmosphere of the household, and it's both high-pressure and high-reward. On days when I'm grumpy, Jack is cranky and the older guys tiptoe around me. On days when I'm happy, everyone is obviously more cheerful and relaxed. I think it's really cute how sensitive men are to a woman's mood, but it makes me feel guilty for being grumpy sometimes.

Tradition!

One of the grand occasions in the life of the young homeschooler was end-of-the-year testing, where we'd all get together at a big church and pretend we cared about the state's standards of education, eat gross home-made lunches and try not to look too awkward in front of the cool kids. Luckily, there weren't very many cool kids and eventually we all became friends. We started the tradition of making dinner together every year when testing was over because a lot of us lived far away from each other and it was a good excuse to overcome some geography. The first year, we drove up to Iain Bernhoft's house and made our own Indian cuisine, complete with Tristan and Nick's famous naan bread and some not-so-famous onion-peanut butter dish. That was the day I met Tristan and soon after we became friends I met Aaron, who was not wildly interested in me at first but eventually(four years later) came to his senses. Homeschooling and boring tests are behind us, but we have tried to carry on the tradition of having dinner together at least once a year, which was kind of tricky while Iain and Rachel were away at college. I don't think we ever missed a year, and it gets more fun every time. Plus, we're all much better looking than in the homeschooling days.

Happy Birthday Jack!

On March 7th Jack turned two and on Saturday we had a wild party to celebrate. Both Grandmas and Grandpas were there, as well as the Patton family and the Matriotti gang, plus cousin Kaden and Tristan. We wanted to invite more people, but simply could not fit them into our house; as it was it got very hot but everyone had a great time. I cannot believe I have a two year-old, and in six months I'll have two whole kids. I don't really feel old enough to have two kids, but I guess I did get an early start. I turn 24 next month, maybe then I'll feel old enough. Notice in the picture that I have bangs; these are new. I was getting all that lovely new growth in that comes with pregnancy, and I had lots of small, fuzzy little hairs along my hairline. They were really bugging me and my hair never looked very finished, so I went to my trusty stylist Nina and asked for help. It was a cozy night for a haircut as it was pouring rain and dark, so I was really enjoying sitting by the fire at Gene Juarez drinking free coffee and leisurely reading a magazine. I only get my haircut about once a year, which is how I justify spending $50 per cut at a fancy salon, and I always look forward to seeing Nina annually. I was thinking as I sat in the lobby that I really didn't belong in such a fancy place, but it was fun to pretend. When I sat down in Nina's chair to talk about what she'd do with my hair, she started moving my hair around and playing with it as she talked. I saw her smile in the mirror as she pulled something out and said, "Um, you have food in your hair." My cover was blown! Jack had shared some of his spaghetti with me at dinner and I had unwittingly shared it with Nina, who, fortunately, has a great sense of humor.