Ferrara's in Florida

Ginger threw together a fantastic baby shower. I don't know how she did it with her work schedule and final exams, but it was really so nice of her. She even had some of my New Orleans favorites--king cake instead of a baby cake, muffelattas, french dips, and PJ's iced coffee!! Mrs. Ann, aka Nana, brought her homemade iced sugar cookies in the shape of a baby's foot. They were decorated in pink and blue and tasted like they came straight from a fancy bakery!! Naturally I received lots of "tips" for Big Apple Baby. Michele pointed out that my registry was void of many much-needed items so that night Holly graciously ran me down the aisles of Wal-Mart and helped me pick out socks, wash cloths, infant medicine, etc. I really felt honored, not only by Ginger and my family, but also by my friends that came. It was great to see Mary, Michele and Tiffany.

For the first time in seven years, we made it to the annual Gibbs Family Christmas party. This year it was held at Uncle Tommy and Aunt Karolyn's in Baton Rouge. We caught up with lots of our cousins and had a fun time.

We dreamt of a mild Christmas and had one alright. I wore a poncho all week in lieu of my wool coat which was a nice change from past years of Christmas in NYC.

Juliana received a puppy for Christmas--her very own real puppy named Paris. Paris has a pink bed, a rhinestone collar and a pink puppy purse. Juliana thinks she is the mom of Paris and calls the little pup her real baby.

Progression Pics from weeks 16, 20, 24, 26, 28

Philip and I enjoy hosting parties so we decided to have a Christmas party. We teamed up with Theresa Chen, one of our friends and neighbors, and did a semi-progressive party since we live less than two blocks from each other. The party commenced at her home and ended at ours. I think I had so much fun planning the party, decorating the house and choosing what I was going to wear that by the time the party began I was pooped. As you can see in the photos, Philip wore his Cosby sweater that he spent hours searching for (and I think he eventually found it downtown at Super KMart for only $10...wonder why...lol). David De Geus graciously entertained the party-goers on his keyboard and then led everyone in Christmas carols. It was actually really fun. Theresa and I invited different groups of friends which lent itself to healthy conversation and good times. Usually I'm the last person standing and regret when all the guests leave, but this year I was so pooped. Despite my ever-present ...

These pups were shopping with their owner in Chelsea. Big corporate lawyer Kristen had a closing this week in NYC so she stayed with us over the weekend. Tony had to work so she flew solo from Birmingham. It was like old times--just us girls like our single, college days--except now we had more spending money :) We shopped and we shopped and then we spent yesterday at the Peninsula hotel's spa. We didn't leave much time for lunch so we had just about 10 minutes to throw down some fast food in Rockefeller Center before the Radio City Christmas Spectacular show. The weekend was so much fun, I really really really enjoyed having a close girlfriend like Kristen to hang out with. It was extra special knowing that it could be my last time with "just us girls" before I have the responsibility of kids.

Somewhere between Sunday evening and Monday morning my belly grew literally overnight. One would think I caught the chicken pox the way I fervently scratch my belly. No amount of extra virgin coconut oil (or hydrogenated Crisco, lol) can keep my stretching skin from itching these past two days. I promised I'd model some maternity clothes for Maw-maw, so here you go. Well, except for the coat--that is my favorite coat in the whole world and I'm so thankful it still fits...for now.