This is Lauren's view when trying to look down. First she sees her ever growing belly (this picture was actually taken 2 weeks ago!!!). Then she sees the points of her knees. And that is it!!! Lauren hopes that Niblet's arrival will be soon and then she can start getting her waist back!
In following yesterdays post about Jerald's eating habits during Passover, we bring you What Does Lauren Eat During Passover?
The answer is: Matzah Pizza!!! YUMMMMMM. This cardboard eating holiday thankfully ends thursday.
As we are currently in the middle of Passover we thought we would share Jerald's favorite Passover dish. This tradition started with Jerald's Grandfather and his whole family loves this strange concoction. They have named it MSCAS. Which stands for Matzah, Sour Cream, Cinnamon, And Sugar. And it is exactly what it sounds like. The strange thing for Jerald is that he normally hates sour cream and only eats it during Passover. Go figure!
As you can see, Jerald carefully spreads sour cream over the matzah. Jerald is very meticulous with this.
Then Jerald sprinkles every inch of the matzah with the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
Then all that is left to do is enjoy!
Happy Passover!!!
Oh ~ to answer any unresolved questions, Lauren has never tried MSCAS and refuses to!
Last summer, one of Lauren's best friends, Meredith, moved to Sante Fe. Unfortunately, we have been unable to visit due to a crazy schedule and our expected bundle of joy. Luckily we will get to see her this summer in Rochester at her wedding! But she finally has got some pictures up of her and her fiance's beautiful Adobe home. They are so cute we just wanted to share them.
Oh, this is their dog Goober. How cute is he? For all you childhood friends of Lauren out there - doesn't he look like Roscoe's cousin???
Sunday night we attended our good friends Ethan & Jess' wedding. It was a wonderful occasion. They are a wonderful couple and it was fantastic to be able to celebrate with them. Most of Lauren's high school friends were in town for the event so it was great to be able to spend time with them. They all seemed to be quite enamored by the belly. Lauren's oldest and best friend Rebecca actually began to cry when she felt Niblet kick. Very cute!
You can view the rest of our pictures from the wedding.
Not much to say except that we are in the home stretch and hopefully there will not be much more opportunity to post "belly" pictures.
From Lauren:
Last week two of my friends from work, Erica and Jamie, and my assistant Polly, threw me a fantastic Afternoon Tea at work. Here are some more pictures of the event.
As you can see, they know me very well and provided yummy cakes and cookies! I am very lucky to have made such wonderful caring friends at work. They have listened to every little problem, ache or pain I have had over the last 8 months. Erica and Jamie have been so supportive and wonderful. They actually made going to work fun!
Speaking of work ~ it is official ~ I am on bedrest. Today was my last day of work. From now until Niblet's arrival you will find me on our couch hanging out with Oprah.
Today we had yet another uneventful visit with the doctor. According to him there is no evidence that would suggest that Lauren will be delivering early. In response Lauren began booing! So we go along from here - always thankful that things are looking good.
The highlight of the visit was while we were waiting for the doctor. Jerald read "Green Eggs and Ham" to Niblet for the first time. Niblet had been not moving much prior to the reading but upon hearing his Daddy's voice started kicking and having a great time. But the hard stuff will come when Niblet will be able to speak and he asks, "Why can't I have ham???"
As the date gets closer, people have been increasingly asking us if/where we're registered. So, to answer the ever popular question, Niblet is registered at the following places:
Magic Beans and Babies R' Us
Of course, we hear he likes cute clothes (and Sox/Patriots themed clothes) as well.
Sunday was Josh & Sara's Wedding. How cute do they look??? Their wedding was wonderful. They are a fantastic couple and their love for each other permeated the entire day. Everyone had a fabulous time!!! Click here for more pictures.
Well we are hanging in. As you can see Lauren has been suffering a lot of swelling (mostly in her hands and feet). But Niblet is doing great. And Lauren is toughing it out. We attended our childbirth class yesterday. We learned a lot of stuff that we are sure we will totally forget once the time comes.
A funny story our teacher told us... she used to pass around a vacuum that would be used to vacuum the baby out if necessary (very rare so don't worry). She had to stop after this one class. There was this guy who was the jokster of the class. Well when the vacuum got to him he thought it would be funny to put it on his head. He was bald so a good suction was made. He pumped it up to full force and it got stuck on his head! They had to stop the whole class to try to get the vacuum off this guys head. Finally a member of the class who was a mechanic had the great idea to just puncture the tube and pop it came off. Needless to say his wife was ready to kill him. So they left the class after that. We did not witness anything crazy like that in our class - but it made for a good laugh!
From Lauren:
I think a lot of what we experience during pregnancy will help prepare us for the time when we have to take care of the baby. Case in point: As my belly grows I become more and more prone to drips and dribbles. Today alone I have spilled three different substances on my belly and on my cute new pink maternity t-shirt (rice krispies, beans and yogurt). And I haven't even eaten dinner tonight!!! So, is this preparing us for all of niblet's messes and dribbles?
Also - I wanted to thank everyone for their kind and wonderful birthday wishes last week. They all meant a lot to me. And of course thank you to my wonderful husband who cooked me a scrumptious and romantic birthday dinner. I am a lucky girl!
From Jerald:
Today is Lauren's 28th birthday. Although she thinks that makes her old, you can see that she's just as cute as she was when she was very little. Feel free to leave Birthday wishes in the comments below.
From Lauren...
Just a helpful list to keep the crazy pregnant women you come across from getting even crazier... (note: only some of these things have not been said to me directly - you can guess which ones)
1. Are you sure you aren't carrying twins? Even if this is meant as a joke it is not funny! And if she is carrying twins - she will let you know.
2. I can tell you are pregnant from behind. No explanation needed.
3. You look tired. Um, yea I look tired. I am growing a human being inside of me. You would be tired too! I never understand why people have the need to point this out.
4. You are not due sooner? If you ask me when I am due, and I say May 7th - the appropriate response is NOT "I would have guessed you were due this month." This is just another way of saying "Boy you look fat." Not nice!
5. Oh you are having a boy? Your husband must be sooooo happy! Now I think this one is just strange. Yes my husband is happy that we are having a healthy baby - but is he more happy that we are having a boy over a girl - no! What year are we in?
I am sure there will be more to come...
From Lauren:
Today I got sworn in to the Federal Bar for the District of Massachusetts. Actually, I think Niblet and I might have both got sworn in. As I said the oath, I had my right hand up and my left over Niblet - who was happily kicking away. So I am pretty sure he is now a member of the Federal Bar as well!!!
Happy Valentine's Day!!! Jerald and I are always pretty low key for this holiday. Mostly because Jerald and I don't need a set day to be loving and romantic. Above is a picture of the Valentine Cookies I make for Jerald (this is the third year). Hope everyone survives the day :-)
~ Lauren
Well time keeps ticking away and Niblet and Lauren keep getting bigger! We are now in the third-trimester and it is slowly (or quickly depending on the day) hitting us that very soon our son will be here. We have so much to do and learn. But we are still very excited and as always leaning on each other for support.
So we did it... we had our first baby class!!! We have signed up for all sorts of classes at this really cool place called Isis Maternity in Brookline. They have this cute little store of clothes and a ton of classes. After niblet's arrival Lauren is planning on taking Mother and Baby Yoga - how cool!
Anyway - the class went well. We each had a baby to save. Lauren named hers Johnny and Jerald refused to name his! We learned a lot and now are ready for the next class.... Infant 101 or as Lauren says "What the hell am I supposed to do with this baby!!!"
If you are interested in taking a similar class check out the Red Cross in your area.
Time for another belly picture... Things are going well with us. We are finally starting to get a handle on all of the baby products we will "need" for when niblet arrives. We are also starting to take some classes on childbirth and other fun topics. We have also been busy reading a variety of books to prepare. But we know nothing will really prepare us....
Tonight is the FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of our first date. Where has the time gone??? Our plan was to meet at the Fenway movie theater and see O Brother, Where Art Thou. But the movie was sold out. So we got tickets to a later showing of Chocolat (yes, a MUCH better first date movie). Interestingly enough, we have never seen O Brother - but friends bought us a copy not too long ago. To pass the time we went to the very romantic Cask N' Flagon. After the movie we went to a law school party where are friend Summer upon realizing that we were on a "date" was the first to predict that we would marry. Oh how wise Summer is!
Lauren's Mom & Dad came to visit us this weekend in Boston. They came to spend time with us and also spend time with the belly. We had a great time helping them with their various computer problems and shopping for baby stuff - oh and of course eating!
What a great weekend we had with a big group of our law school friends in town. We did miss Katherine, Murray and Summer!!! We did have a lot of fun. Above is our big dinner out on the town.
Then we have a riveting game of Jenga!
And of course sleeping on our very comfortable couch!!!
Seriously, it was amazing to have all of you guys in town. We love you all. You can also check out a couple of more pictures from the weekend.
24 weeks and Lauren keeps getting bigger. The big news of the last couple of weeks is niblet's kicks. They are getting stronger and more often - very exciting!
BEWARE: Lauren's rant of the day...
Is it just me (& Jerald) - or did the movie "A History of Violence" suck!!! We saw it in the theaters because we were in the mood to see a movie and nothing else sounded good. This movie's trailer looked interesting - but half way through the movie I looked at Jerald and said "This SUCKS!!!" Now I have been known to like a lot of movies that most people don't like. You need examples... Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Listen to Me and The Cutting Edge to name a few. But I have been shocked at the amazing reviews A History of Violence got. Especially as I read my year end Entertainment Weekly that lists it as one of the top movies of 2005. What am I missing???
We watched the documentary "Super Size Me" last night. Please see our new mantra above. The movie is recommended for any person wanting to kick their fast food habit!
We hope that everyone had as a good time as Lauren's Dad. See picture of Dad with belly dancer at a family friend's crazy New Years Party!
We hope that everyone has a very happy and healthy coming year!
Here are the cutest pictures of our friend Stefanie's son Jacob and the blanket Lauren knit for him. How cute!!!
Last night was the first night of Hannukah. We had a lovely evening alone lighting candles and opening presents.
We wish everyone a Happy Hannukah - or whatever holiday you might be celebrating!
Happy Birthday Grandpa!!! This picture is from 1978 and Grandpa is holding a sleeping little Lauren. We love you Grandpa!!!
Time is really starting to move. So we have had quite a few requests for "belly shots" so here are some for your enjoyment. Now that Lauren is getting bigger we will try to update the belly shots regularly
Here we are at 18 weeks ... and then just over 20 weeks
Here is the first pictures of Niblet. We know it is a little hard to see what is going on. Sort of like those 3-D magic eye pictures!
Niblet's head is the big round thing on the left. He is in profile. Right by his nose or maybe eyes are his two little hands. You can then see his chest and then all the way on the right his legs. For a closer look, you can click on the picture on the left and it should open as a larger version.
Here are the rest of the pictures. They are even more confusing but take a look anyway.
That is right - we are having a BOY!!! We had our ultrasound this morning and the good news is that niblet looks wonderful! We saw all of niblet's parts and everything looks perfect. We are so excited. Tomorrow we will post pictures of the ultrasound - we just wanted to get the good news out right away.
Marci & Dave were married over the weekend. What a cute couple! Lauren had a fantastic time at the wedding. Marci was radiating happiness. It was wonderful to be around. Here are my other pictures from the event.
And what a treat it was to spend time with the crew from NYC! Old friends are some of the best friends.
We had a wonderful and yummy thanksgiving with Jerald's family. The women then spent a very cold friday shopping for dresses for Josh & Sara's upcoming wedding. The store had no heat!!! But we all got wonderful dresses.
Even though it was our year to spend Thanksgiving with Jerald's family, Lauren's family was in town for the holiday as well! We got to spend dinner with them on friday. Grandma and Grandpa even flew up from florida to see Lauren's tummy. What fun!!!
But the biggest event of the season was Lauren's now famous apple pie. YUM!!!
Just a little plug for my brother's (Josh) new business venture, Cartel Goods is an online t-shirt store that sells shirts with original artwork on it. Here is the one I have: 
So check out the site and support my baby brother.
Stefanie is one of my (Lauren's) oldest friends. We went to Pierce day camp together from age 5 until 10. Then we went to Camp Starlight, a sleep away camp for 8 weeks, together from age 10 until 16!!! We pretty much grew up together.
Well now, one of my oldest friends is a MOM!!! Stefanie and her husband Rick (who is my brother's boss!) welcomed Jacob Ryan a couple of weeks ago. The whole family is doing wonderful and Jerald and I cannot wait to meet Jacob.
We are back from our fabulous Babymoon in Jamaica. The term Babymoon refers to a couples last vacation before the arrival of their baby. Well, we had a fantastic time at Swept Away. I strongly recommend the resort for any couples without kids (they are not allowed).
We spent our time relaxing....
Drinking....(don't worry there is no alcohol in there!)
Eating, playing tennis, golfing, kayaking, snorkeling, water skiing and of course enjoying our last peaceful moments on vacation until the baby's arrival.
Check out the rest of our pictures.
Myles Lenox Nastich Kettler was born on November 12, 2005, after 60 hours of labor!!! Katherine (pictured with the baby), Summer and Myles are all doing well. Summer a fellow B.U. law school grad and very close friend was actually the first person to predict Lauren & Jerald's wedding. We wish Summer, Katherine, and Myles all the best and can't wait to meet Myles in person!
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Yes, we are VERY excited!
2. The baby is due on May 7, 2006.
3. Yes, our families are thrilled!
4. It is the first grandchild for both our families.
5. No, we do not know if the baby is a boy or girl yet.
6. Yes, we will be finding out the sex, most probably in 6 weeks.
7. Yes, we will let you know if it is a boy or a girl.
8. No, we do not have any names picked out yet.
9. Lauren was not feeling well for the past month but is doing much better now.
10. Yes, that is the actual home pregnancy test we used!
Thank you for all of your support, excitement and love. It has made the beginning of this journey absolutely wonderful. We promise to keep you all updated with the progress.
