Almost done

Hello from Jersey. Spring has finally arrived and it is actually pretty beautiful here (in some places). There are blossoming trees I have never seen before and there was a cardinal in the tree outside my window the other day. New Jersey is so weird, it is this over-populated, polluted, industrialized state, with all this really cool nature that just won't be chased away. My point is, I think I am beginning to understand why they call it the garden state.

Richie is two days away from being done with his first year of grad school. We can hardly believe how quickly it seems to have gone by. I think he feels pretty good about his first year. He has learned a lot, had some great experiences and developed some good friendships. Right now he is in rehearsals for a production of "Hamlet" that opens this week in the city. He has a very small role, actually a couple very small roles, but it is something new to add to the resume. The director of "In the Sawtooths" wants to use him in "A Midsummer Nights Dream" later this summer. None of it is paying our rent yet, but it is a good first step.

My due date is November 7, but I will be able to schedule my c-section a week or so before that, so I may have a Halloween baby. I am feeling a little better, but I am just waiting for that wonderful second trimester feeling of health and energy. I am tired of feeling nauseous and exhausted all the time and I think Richie is wondering if I am ever going to clean the house again.

Little Richie's new favorite activity is coloring. I never thought I would find something that he liked to do more than take a bath, but recently he was hard at work on a drawing (scribbling to be perfectly honest, but he is actually VERY good at scribbling), and I asked him if he wanted to take a bath. He shook his head and said, "No. I color." It sounded more like, "No, uh cuhluh" but I knew what he was saying. It was pretty adorable, but I find most of what he does adorable, so my opinion is a little biased. He has only drawn on the walls a couplle times, I try to be really attentive, but he has accidentally drawn on the sofa and chairs because he is also discovering the joy of climbing and usually does that with a crayon in his hand. Luckily it is just Ikea furniture and his enjoyment of life is more important than things. He never intentionally draws on the furniture, so at least for now, it isn't premeditated.

Tim and Nancy have been our house guests for two days now. Yesterday we gave them their first taste of New York City. We drove in through Brooklyn because the Lincoln tunnel was slow, so they got to see the Brooklyn Bridge and then we took them right to Times Square. We only spent a couple hours there, but we had New York pizza, we tried the "Wicked" lottery sadly with no luck (it was a Saturday night after all and there were only three of us), we went over to Rockafellar Plaza, walked up and down Broadway, and got cheesecake. It was actually a pretty full evening of activity. Today we just went to church, so it has been very mellow, but don't worry, we are going back into the city tomorrow. It is nice to see family and have another excuse to go into that crazy place. I am sure there will be lots to read about on Tim's blog soon.

So that is what is going on with us. We love you all.