I arrived in DC late Friday night and Nick treated me to a fun new cuisine I had never sampled before – Moroccan! Wow. What a feast! We ate at Taste of Morocco in DC, one of the best know...
Washington, DC
This is a collection of posts from our tour in Washington, D.C. from July 2014 to June 2016. There are also posts from various other times we were posted temporarily to D.C. for language or job training.
As some of you may remember, we had booked our dream trip to Bhutan back in early 2011, about 2 weeks before we found out we were pregnant. Â Unfortunately, the altitude of Bhutan is such that they...
After 3 months of being transient, I am pleased to say that we are finally en route to DC where we’ll reside for the next 9 months. Â The car is stuffed to the gills with all my garage sale...
We had our 7th ultrasound of Nia today and I’m pleased to report that she’s thriving in my womb. Â She is up to a robust 5 pounds now and is measuring in the 78th percentile. Â I let her...
It’s been a heck of a week folks. Â Last Friday we pulled out of MN at 6 AM, headed for our nation’s capital. Â Given that I feel like humpty dumpty now at 34 weeks pregnant, I convinced...
With less than 6 weeks to go now, I’m starting to acquire quite the bump. Â Honestly, it doesn’t feel that much bigger than the 30 wk bump and I’m crossing my fingers that it just...
I thought you’d enjoy seeing a couple pictures of where we’ll be living for the next few months. Â The decorating could definitely use some work (the downside of pre-furnished housing)...
I’ve been a girl on a mission this last week. Â While the setting up house was important insomuch as it made Nick and I feel more at ease, the critical issue at hand was putting together our...
Fact: 10-15% of women are affected by postpartum depression (PPD). Fact: If you have a history of depression in your past, you are 30% MORE LIKELY than the average woman to get postpartum depression...
I am officially registering a complaint! At 36 1/2 weeks, pregnancy is no longer fun. Â Yes, up until Saturday, I would have told you that I was having a jolly good time being pregnant. Â I felt like...
It started out as one of those normal Thursday mornings. Â I woke up, got dressed and headed out for my short walk to Caribou Coffee to get my morning mocha. Â There was however one fun small change...
Well folks, we’ve reached the 37 week mark and with all the recent pain in my legs from her compressing my sciatic nerve, I’m VERY ready for her to come out. Â And technically, I’m...
A Brief History of My Relationship with My Body I’m sure you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about when I say “my relationship with my body’. Â Surprisingly, we...
In case it isn’t obvious, I’ve got some MAJOR control issues surfacing around this whole birth thing. Â This is frustrating for a variety of reasons, but most notably because I’ve...
Baby is slowly starting to make her way down. Â Hopefully it’ll be any time now that we’re welcoming Nia into the world. . .
I had an experience on Wednesday that gave new meaning to the phrase “Rolling Out the Red Carpet.” Â It was, hands down, one of the most exceptional service experiences I have ever had...
Patience has never been one of my strong suits and honestly, these last 10 days have been downright torturous for me as I await Baby Nia’s arrival. Â So much open space on the calendar and...
So, tomorrow (October 21st) is my official due date. Â I had what I **HOPE** will be my last Doctor appointment this morning and was THRILLED to finally get some uplifting news. Â Here’s what...
We are delighted to announce that after a 14 hour labor, we welcomed a healthy baby girl into our family. Her name is Nia Marisa Novak and she weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz. She was 20 inches in...
It’s hard to believe, but Nia turns one week old today! As most parents would attest to, it’s been a complete and total blur. Nothing could have prepared me for the delusional state...
I was starting to go a bit stir crazy in the house and decided it was time for Nia and I to take our first outing (Dr’s visits don’t count). Â It was a WILD adventure. Â We started by...
So, I’m afraid I’ve hit my max. Â With a diagnosis of Shingles yesterday, a dead car battery today and Nick going back to work on Monday it’s just not looking so optimistic for Mama...
Oh friends, it’s starting to become laughable how many things have not gone according to plan. Â Of course, I’m still shedding a few tears over each miss but I expect that I’ll...
Well, we finally got Nia’s Photo Shoot proofs back. Â Actually, they were better than I expected given how uncooperative she was. Â You can see all 16 final shots HERE. Â Would love to hear...
We are in the habit of making videos for Nick each day. Â This one was so good I thought we’d share it with a wider audience! Warning: Projectile Vomiting at min 00:25. Â Watch at your own...
Every year I select an ornament that captures something representative of the year. Â It gives me a way to collect meaningful ornaments for our tree and also helps me remember the major events. Â I...
We have lots to be thankful for this year, including this little munchkin!
One of the biggest things that has surprised me about Motherhood is how draining simple things like diapering, feeding and rocking can be. Â None of them requires much brainpower, but the energy...
It was a very DC Christmas for us this year. Â Nick wasn’t allowed to take any vacation days during his language training, so we spent the holiday in DC instead of traveling to see our families...
Much like Christmas, our New Year’s Celebration had a bit of a different feel to it this year. Â The biggest difference would be that it all took place on New Year’s Eve DAY since we knew...
When we’re in the States, it’s easy to get lulled into the familiar routine and forget that we’re heading back overseas soon. Â By the time we leave in May, I’ll have been...
So we started at the gym this week. Â I was beyond excited to find a place that would accept an 10 week old. Â I’m allowed to leave her for one hour, which is the perfect amount of time for me...
Big week in the Novak house – Nia has learned to roll at 14 weeks old! What amuses us most about this is that she has to get really agitated before she’ll start contorting her body...
We are pleased to report that we made it (mostly unscathed) through the first 100 days with our little one. Â We attribute our success to 1.) Our parents’ assistance, 2.) Caffeine and 3.) These...
We’ve hit the 4 month mark! Â We celebrated this milestone by retiring the first of our 3-6 month clothes that she’s already outgrown. Â Our little girl is growing steadily –...
In the life of a Foreign Service Spouse, there are certain involuntary breath-holding moments that occur in response to the ambiguity of this lifestyle. Â One of those moments is the day you get a...
Had to share these adorable photos from a fantastic week with Grandpa and Grandma Novak! We are so lucky that they’re willing to travel all the way from Oregon to see us!
Nia and I recently started attending Mommy & Me Movie Days at the Regal Potomac Yard Theater in Alexandria. Â They take place every other Tuesday for the first showing of the day (usually around...
Well, here she is in all her drooling glory! We garnered quite a few looks from the passing Business People as we went about our afternoon ‘photo shoot’ in front of an office...
Here’s Nia doing her new favorite thing – playing with her feet! Â I found these great Lamaze “Feet Finder” rattles to make her play twice as fun…
Tonight we had our first go at solid foods. Â Nia sampled both pureed Pears and a Mum Mum, which is a Rice Paper flatbread. Â Nia made a big ole mess and wasn’t too sure what she thought about...
Greetings all – We’re less than 30 days out from Peru now and the reason you never hear from me is that every spare moment is going into our pack-out preparations. Any advantage...
We’ve got new tricks to show off. Â In video 1 – pushing up onto our hind legs. Â In video 2 – “fake chewing”.
So, my subject wasn’t into our 6 month photo shoot. She was too distracted by the sound of all that rushing water behind her. Mistake number 2 was shooting at 3 o’clock in the...
It was a wild weekend here on the home front. We are a mere one week from our international move now and for some reason (back in January) we thought it’d be a grand idea to schedule...
Well, what do you know?! Â It’s Moving Day at Apartamento Novak! Â We are not-so-patiently awaiting the arrival of the movers, at which point chaos will ensue. Â Here’s a snapshot of what...
We’re a little behind on our photo books, but here’s the most recent one we finished! Â Highlights include my pregnancy photos, Nia’s birth and our time in DC. Just click the photo...
We’re 12 days into our DC tour and slowly but surely finding our footing. We spent the bulk of the first week touring preschools and apartments (with mixed results, I might add). I am pleased...
We’ve noticed over the last few months that Nia has a very unique style of play that’s different from most other two year olds. Her play centers around ordering her various collections...