Hello Small Fry

We had our 21 week appointment yesterday, with the full anatomy ultrasound. It was SO awesome to see this little person moving around. Small Fry is currently about 14 ounces, so almost 1 pound. The ultrasonagrapher and the midwife said that everything looks great, and there are no concerns. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the ultrasound.

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Little FootBaby Face and Hand

Click to watch Small Fry wave to you!

"This should only take two hours"

Possible titles for this blog post included:
1. Adventures in mold
2. This OLD House
3. Galvanized Steel Pipes is code for RUST
4. At least one part of our house is now "up to code" (kind-of)
5. Yay! The washer finally drains!

So here's the story. We've known for about a year that the drain for the washer was overflowing and causing mold in the wall going down our stairs and in the storage closet below the washer. I switched to running medium loads of laundry to help the situation, but Jon had to patch the wall once already last year from the water seeping through the drywall. Well, recently the wall was starting to show signs of water damage again, so we borrowed a snake from our friends and Jon tried to snake out the drain pipe. Now, let me remind you all that our house was built before people knew that galvanized steel = rust. Therefore, the drain pipe was completely rusted on the inside, along with 50+ years of gunk. Jon could not get the snake through the p-trap, so he decided that it was time for the pipe to go. He ended up cutting the pipe out, which included cutting out a large section of drywall on the stairs, and all of the shelves in the closet. When the dry wall was removed, we could see that this needed to be done a while ago. The amount of black mold was indicative of many many years of that drain overflowing (go-figure). Jon sprayed all of the mold down with bleach and then painted over it with Kills, so that it doesn't come back. Fortunately the weather was really nice this weekend, so we could open the windows to let the house vent. We decided that since the wall was open anyway, the electrical and the fresh water pipes should be replaced also. So, the good news is that we have a new rust-proof, functioning drain on my washer, and new up-to-code electrical in that wall, and new copper pipes for when we redo all of the plumbing, and the black mold is gone. The bad news is there is no drywall on the stairs yet, and this project was more than budgeted (both time and money). But I think that the positives far outweigh the negatives. It needed to be done, and Jon did a great job, even though he thought it would only take two hours- it will take about two weekends.

During Jon's project, I was sewing the whole time. I got the drapes made for the new guest room, and I got some gifts made too. The guest room is almost finished. We got the new sconce hung, and the drapes are in there, so now we just need to touch up the paint. My parents will be staying with us on Friday night, so they will get to try out the new room first. Now we are on to the nursery!!

In other news- did anyone else see the space station moving on Monday night? That was awesome! Our neighbors came and got us when I was making dinner to see it. It was very cool to see how fast it was moving through the sky.

New England Visit

Last weekend we made a trip to the New England area to visit our friends Trevor and Jenny. It was a relaxing weekend with good food. It was great to spend time with them in their town before their wedding in May. Jenny and I ran errands for the wedding on Saturday while Jon and Trevor visited the local home brew store and played video games. On Sunday Jon and Trevor bottled and brewed beer. We visited Legal Seafood, and although it is a chain out there, we don't have it in CO, so it was a treat for Jon and I. Very delicious food! We also went into Providence on Sunday night and went to Federal Hill and had some of the best Italian that we've ever had. The restaurant was quiet and service was great.

Jon and I picked up a rental car on Sunday night so that we could get ourselves to the airport on Monday. Thank goodness for GPS units. All of the highways look the same out there, so you really can't tell where you are. We had some time to kill in the morning so we visited the Bass Pro Shop (for Jon). They had a full size whale hung from the rafters, it was pretty cool. Definitely more fishing and boating stuff than the one in CO- go figure. We also drove by the Patriots Stadium, which is tucked into the middle of MA in a little town. There is an outdoor mall that surrounds the stadium, which is kind-of odd, but there are good stores.

We made our way down to providence to visit with Aunt Cindy. We met her for lunch in the Nordstrom Cafe in the Providence Mall. It was nice to catch up with her, and we can't wait to see her whole family in PA in June. We were chatting so long that we left a little later that we intended, but fortunately the Providence airport is little, so we had plenty of time to make our flight.

Denver Restaurant Week (or two) & Small Fry Update

The last two weeks we’ve been able to enjoy Denver Restaurant Week. This is a fabulous opportunity to experience restaurants that you normally wouldn’t be able to afford to go to on any given Tuesday. Several (over 250) restaurants participate, and offer a 3 course meal for only $52.80 per couple. We visited three different places with friends, here are our observations.
***The Burnsley Dining Room*** Saturday, February 21
This restaurant was part of the Burnsley Hotel in Capitol Hill. We went with our friends Rick and Mary.
Food: I had the lobster bisque, filet mignon, and banana’s foster. Jon had the cheese plate, filet mignon, and banana’s foster. The food was delicious and well presented. The only down side was that the banana’s foster was not prepared table side, so we didn’t get to see any flames.
Service: The service was terrible. We thought that maybe the server we had was really a hostess filing in for a waiter. She had poor etiquette throughout the entire meal, and she didn’t have a clue as to what the food was. When she was asked what the cake was under our filet’s, she said it was a risotto, but it was a potato cake.
Atmosphere: The atmosphere was nice. Very quite and cozy. I didn’t care much for the décor, or the outdated vinyl booths.

***Sullivan’s Steak House*** Monday, February 23
We met up with our friends Amanda and Erik here to catch up. We used the gift certificate that I received for my contributions toward the cityWILD benefit last year.
Food: I had the lobster bisque, filet mignon, and cheesecake. Jon had the Caesar salad, Center-Cut Delmonico steak, and the chocolate mocha mousse cake. We each had mushroom caps and horseradish mashed potatoes for our side. The food was good, but not as flavorful as the Burnsley. The presentation was kind of flat too, not very pretty, but not ugly. Jon really enjoyed his Martini, and said that it was one of the best he’s had.
Service: The service was good. However, towards the end of our meal we started to feel rushed because they brought out desert when we had not even finished the main course.
Atmosphere: The atmosphere was great; modern and updated, but still warm and cozy. It was a packed house, but even then, it wasn’t a strain to hear the conversation at our table.

***O's Steak and Seafood at The Westin Westminster*** Tuesday, March 3
Aimee and Luke joined us for a wonderful meal at O’s. This restaurant was only 15 minutes North of our house, and it was nice to go somewhere not in the city.
Food: I had the Lump Crab Cake with Avocado Relish, Watercress and Sriracha Caviar, Roasted Prime Rib with Baby Yukon Potatoes and Onion Jus, and Liquid Nitrogen Whipped Blueberry Ice Cream with Grilled Yuzu Pound Cake and Caramel. Jon had the Crab Cake as well, the Grilled Salmon with Shitake, Asparagus and Hoison Brulee, and the Vanilla Custard with Peach Air and Tapioca Pearls. I also have to mention that Luke had the Apple Tarragon Puree with Smoked Bacon Wrapped Mushrooms for his first course, and I had a taste. The food was incredible! I really enjoyed the variety and flavor. We all had a hard time deciding what to get because the menu looked so good. The presentation of the food was beautiful. I was a little worried at first that we would be eating little portions of food art, but the portions were perfect, I even took some of the prime rib home.
Service: The service was very good. My only complaint is that my Shirley Temple never got refilled, but our water glasses were never empty. Our waitress was very knowledgeable and professional.
Atmosphere: The atmosphere was really nice. There was really nothing special about the tables, chairs, or decor but it all fit together well and it didn’t distract from conversation or the meal.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed O’s the best. And although we could not afford to go there for kicks, it is on my list for an anniversary or birthday dinner celebration possibility.

Small Fry News
We got the test results for the sequential screening back yesterday, they all came back negative, which means that our baby is healthy so far. I also felt the baby move a lot for the first time yesterday. I think that we have a future gymnast coming; it felt like baby was doing back flips for about 20-30 minutes. It was soooo awesome! I am starting to “show” for those who know I am pregnant, here is a picture from last night- can you see Small Fry???