Christmas & Such

Christmas celebrations were fun as always. We started at my sister's house. It was so fun to watch her kids open presents and spend time together.

 

Emily's tree with an explosion of presents

Christmas Eve was spent hanging with the Vienneaus. It was a long day, but a good one especially since it was probably the last time before our new addition comes.

 Siblings!

Christmas day we went to a cousin's house for Cruz family craziness. The Yankee Swap was awesome as usual!

Then my parents, sisters, brother, niece, nephew, & brother-in-law slept at our house. It was so fun!!! Now, don't get me wrong...it was insane too. We then went to Coco Key the day after Christmas and the next day. Surprising a super fun time even at 8 months pregnant!!

 Bing Family

Less than a month until Baby Vno's due date! I can't wait to meet this little person :) She's moving like crazy. It's fun to feel her move and at times painful. She's still growing and there isn't much room left! I don't know how I can grow more than I have already. Can't wait to see her!!!!

-Becca-

Getting ready...Nesting?

Brian and I continue to get things ready for the baby.  Some call this stage "nesting".  I'm not sure that I'm quite nesting in the same sense that everyone says.  I've been going crazy knitting & crocheting things for my baby girl.  Brian's been busy getting the furniture ready and room set up.  He keeps talking about where furniture will go and how we should set up the lighting.  Its wonderful to have his help with all the details (especially since I don't even think of some of them!).

We've had two baby showers, so our house is getting quite full of baby items!  We're working on where items will go, washing clothes, bedding, and getting those last few pieces of furniture that we need.  Its crazy to think that in just a few weeks we'll have a baby in our house!

Becca's ever-growing bump!

Check out the shower photos section for more pictures.  THANKS to everyone who came & gave so generously to assist us as our family grows.

10 more weeks!

10 weeks left until the due date!  Will we actually meet Baby Vienneau in 10 weeks?  Maybe not.  They do say "give or take a few weeks."  There are times 10 weeks feels like forever and other times 10 weeks seems like no time at all.  All we know is we're already in love with our little one & can't wait to meet her whenever she comes.

Becca & baby continue to grow!  Our little one now weighs more than 2lbs & moves like crazy.  Brian always asks Becca when the baby's moving.  We both truly enjoy feeling her move.

 The nursery is coming together!!!  Walls have been painted, changing table & crib have been built, carpet has been picked out and is in the room.  The finer details: window valence, wall decor, crib sheets, mobile...these are being worked out.

We have quite the collection of baby stuff that we can't wait to use!  We've gotten donations of used baby items from family & friends along with gifts, which we are so grateful for.  Thanks everyone!

Preparing for Baby

Lots of things have been going on since the last post.  Here's a quick update with more to follow...

One fun thing that Becca has truly enjoyed is registering!  Creating a baby registry has been fun for Brian too, but not quite the same way.  Becca has been picking out items that are cute, but functional while Brian makes sure the product has good reviews from multiple websites.  Here are some fun pictures of us registering:

Can you tell who's enjoying this more?

"Bun in the Oven"

The famous saying is true for the Vienneaus!  We've got a little one on the way.  We're really excited for all that is to come.  God has blessed us thus far in our marriage and we're looking forward to see His grace continue to abound.  This means big changes for us. One of those changes is getting Brian's office moved to the basement as that will become our nursery.

A few weeks ago we got to see our daughter via ultrasound & sonogram.  It was so amazing.  We were both totally enthralled by our little one moving around.  We got to watch her heart beat, see her kidneys (or so we are told that's what those dots are) and see her head.  To be honest, it was great, but the very first thing we saw was her "face" or skull facing us as the technician found where she was.  We both agreed our daughter looked a bit like an alien until we saw the profile view.  Its strange to think there is a bitty human growing inside of Becca, but also very exciting.

As our daughter grows, so does Becca:

 "that's a great baby bump dress Mrs. Vienneau"

 baby girl Vienneau sucking her thumb

Vacation to Niagara Falls

We had a GREAT trip to Niagara Falls.  Though Niagara was our destination, we took the scenic (very scenic) route to get there.  We went to CT first to visit with family.  After leaving the dog with my sister and brother-in-law, we took off to Niagara Falls.


We stopped at the Niagara Falls State Park first (in NY) to do the Cave of the Winds and Maid of the Mist.  Let's just say, you don't stay dry on these adventures, even with the provided ponchos!!!  After this, we walked along the American Rapids and back to our car to drive over to the Canada.

 Our Canadian experience included going to Niagara on the Lake & enjoying the quaint town in the rain.  We enjoying going in and out of cute shops and trying ice wine.  If you haven't had ice wine...well...let's just say it was so good.  Brian was even tempted to buy a bottle.  Too bad it was $90 for 375mL.


On our drive back to Niagara Falls from Niagara on the Lake we saw the famous flower clock.  We also toured the power plant.  It isn't right near the falls because there is a greater drop in the river farther downstream.  They do use intake tubes above the falls to divert water to their facilities.  It was very educational and interesting.  Then, as we continued our drive, we stopped at many scenic overlooks (to humor Becca) and enjoyed the way the river curved and flowed.

 We had a great time & this time, didn't have a plan.  We knew the few things we wanted to do or see, but didn't have a planned out itinerary of places to go by this time on this day.  It was nice to take a vacation that way!

Last photo to share is the view of the falls from our hotel room.  Brian knew it would be worth the extra price and he was right!  It was a great view.




Lots of our photos are posted on Facebook, so if you're on there you'll see them, however MOST of our photos are on our shutterfly share site: Vienneaus Share Site
Check them out!

Ahh....Summer

Now that its summer, updating the blog has taken a back seat to having fun in the sun!

Becca has been babysitting part-time and hanging out with friends.  Sleeping in late, working on a scrapbook, painting the bathroom...only some of the things Becca's doing during her summer.  Here is one way Becca's been keeping herself busy:

Beach with MB

Brian's work is going well and steady as always.  There have been a few weekend installs and updates, so he is looking forward to an upcoming vacation.  Though there will be lots of driving, it will be worth it!

Weekends and scheduled days off have provided both Becca and Brian with fun day trips.  Here are a few we've done over the last month.

 Hibachi with friends in Albany

 Kori & Mike

 Enjoying an afternoon in Boston at the Phantom Gourmet BBQ Beach Party...a bit cold!

 4th of July in Boston

Anniversary at George's Island

We're going to Niagara Falls!  (and will definitely update after that)

Unofficially Summer!

Though its not summer just yet, we're in summer mode already...Becca's done with school and Brian's wearing shorts while doing yardwork.  FUN!

House Blessing
We had a house blessing at the end of May.  It was so neat to have family and friends over to pray over our house.  Here are a few pictures of our guests.

Traveling...a bit
We took a trip to California for my "little sister" Joanna's wedding.  Becca has known Jo her whole life and well,  she definitely teared up seeing Jo with her hair done, getting her make-up done, having her dress on... let's just say Becca was quite emotional.  Best wishes Jo & Geoff!!! Here are a few pictures from their wedding.

  It was truly a wonderful ceremony and great celebration of love!

...Spring...

Right now I sound obsessed with spring and well...I AM!  I'm enjoying seeing what comes up in the yard and trying to figure out what's growing in the yard.  Like this flower on the side of our house.  I can't wait for it to bloom, so I can see what it is!  Brian didn't even know it was growing there.

Here are a few of the things growing around our house.  We're hoping to keep the beauty growing with some of our plantings.  More pictures to come when those are up and blooming.

Spring fun!

Spring Break
One thing I love about spring and being a teacher is Spring Break!  I spent my break in Florida with my cousin Judith.  It was so fun to hang out in Niceville, FL.  That's right...Niceville is really the name of the town she lives in.  It was beautiful and we made some great memories.  Check out some of our pictures below:

Spring Planting
Saturdays are great for yard work.  Especially when they're cool, but sunny.  As we did yard work, I was reminded of how much I love earthworms (when I have gloves on) and how much I hate dandelions.  The yard looks great and yet there's still lots to do.  "Joys of being a homeowner" - or so we've been told.
Here's a picture of our flower garden that has been started, but still needs some work!  If you have any ideas, please let us know.

~Becca~

Visitors

Spring!

Evidence of spring is popping up around the house!  More visits from bunnies, flowers starting to grow, GREEN GRASS!!!  We've even been able to open the windows on a few occasions. 







Brewery Tour
We had a fun weekend with the McArthurs and Silvers.  Part of the fun of having a bigger place is the ability to have visitors!


This particular weekend, we saw parts of Boston we haven't visited before, like the Samuel Adams Brewery Tour.  This is a smaller facility, so we learned about how to make beer, where Samuel Adams gets their hops from, and saw their boilers.  We got to try malted barley, which actually wasn't so bad.  It made for a good snack since we were getting hungry for lunch.  Overall, it was a great tour, mostly because of the beer, but the free 4oz glass was nice too.

We'd definitely recommend checking it out.  Its a fun thing to do in Boston.  As "locals", we had never done it, and we're glad we checked it out!