San Francisco - October 2011

Back in October, we went to visit family in San Francisco - Hasan's dad and brother, and the McKennon-Peterson gang.

It was kind of neat as Hasan got some quality 1-on-1 time with the Andrews men, and I got a one-week immersion in toddlers :)

Tallulah and Atticus (below) are the best.

Two pics say it all...they also happen to be the two pics that Wendy and Ben sent me, because I'm too lazy to pull pics off the digital camera.

It's a...

GIRL.

To my absolute surprise (I was totally convinced it was a boy, despite not having a preference), we are having a baby girl.

Her name will be Sanaa Andrews. Middle name TBD.

Sanaa means "light" or "sunshine" or "brilliance". Gives new meaning to the saying "Good morning sunshine!".

We are happy to know her as a she. Hasan is thinking about giving her away in marriage. That seems a bit far off to me. Just a bit.

I'm Distinct!

Today I got some news that capped off a really awesome birthday week.

Hasan and my old good friend Tanu surprised me with her arriving on Sunday night for a few days for my birthday. What FUN I had laughing with her. Nobody gets me laughing like she does. Always has, always will I'm sure.

And then, today I found out I have been named as one of the 2011 Philadelphia Business Journal's 25 Women of Distinction! I'm in their Rising Star category :) Some of the other winners include the Mayor's wife (I'm sure that's not appropriate to write because she does a lot outside of being his wife!) and our former District Attorney. Anyway, I'm just grinning from ear to ear. There's a big awards dinner banquet in late November - very fancy. Now I need something nice to wear that's maternity - hm...

Here's a link to the list - there's a dedicated supplement in the Journal coming out right before the dinner where they will have my photo and an article about me. I'll post that too :D

A little big news

Haven't posted in a while because I suppose I was waiting to post this: We're pregnant! (Yesterday, I conceded that Hasan should be able to say that "we" are pregnant since he has to experience the joys - and not so much joy - of my being pregnant. As I say, we are both pregnant - he just experiences it differently!)

So yes, there you go...the due date is April 2nd. The doctor actually gave me a choice between April 1st or 2nd, and I jumped on the 2nd because I didn't want to walk around for 9 months with people talking about April Fool's Day. This all makes me in the middle of my 4th month - or about 14.5 weeks.

It was a bit of a surprise and not. (We all know about the birds and the bees.) The day before our 1st wedding anniversary, I wondered if I was pregnant...but put that out of my head and went out with Hasan to have a great dinner and night out. I woke up in the middle of the night - something that would happen to me a lot the first trimester - and thought to myself that I actually had no idea what the symptoms of pregnancy are, so I looked at my handy-dandy bedside iPhone and Googled "symptoms of pregnancy". Lo and behold...um...there seemed to be a match.

So that morning, I told Hasan that I was going to go to the drugstore. I'm not sure he paid too much attention (you'll see why later), although I ran into him while I was walking there and he gave me a ride the rest of the way. I came home, took the test, and there were the 2 lines. Bright, bold, pink. No mistaking that. WHAT!? So I called Hasan, who didn't answer. Never mind...I went back to work. He eventually called back, and here was the conversation:

Me: Hi.

Hasan: So what's up?

Me: So, I took the test and it came back positive.

Hasan: Positive fuh what? (complete New York accent)

Me: Um...for being pregnant (like HELLO??? didn't you just take me to Rite Aid, mister!?)

Hasan: Get out. Get OUT. GET OUT.

Me: Stop saying "get out".

Hasan: Whaaaat?

And the rest is history. He came home. Joy. Surprise. Took another test (you know I bought a pack of 3). Most unexpected first wedding anniversary lunch ever. Took the 3rd test the next morning. And we've been going about our business ever since. Not sure it's totally sunk in, but super excited!

And I must give Hasan a "shout-out" (as my mother-in-law would say) because he has gone to every single appointment and participated in all the doctor-provided article reading. :)

So, I suppose this blog will take a new turn in the coming months (and years!). In the meantime, here's a picture of this Andrews-to-be from our first ultrasound a couple of weeks ago. Can I just say that this baby was going NUTS moving around during the ultrasound. Like it was literally listening to it's own dance music - it's like I've got a rave going on in there. No sitting still with this one. I just couldn't stop giggling. In response to the news that the baby wouldn't stop moving, my mom said "like mother, like child". Uh-oh....

Dominican Republic

Last month started out wonderfully. We had the chance to go to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic for cousin Darnell's wedding to Karimah. 5 days, 4 beautiful nights at the Paradisus Palma Real, and we had such a wonderful time. The wedding was gorgeous (the bride stole the show...as she should!) and the choice of resort was fabulous.

Here are some pictures from the trip: Dominican Republic pictures

Surfin' Safari!

It's been crazy long since I've posted here...not that we've been bored. Just very busy. Last year I learned how to swim with the carrot of taking surfing lessons in Miami a couple of weeks ago. I went down to Florida with my colleague Tracey and HAD A BLAST. I totally caught the surfing bug (we did one day of surfing - which i was terrible at but still loved - and one day of stand-up paddle boarding which is a CRAZY workout). I can't wait to go to the Dominican Republic and me and Hasan are both going to take lessons. He's working on his swimming now - it's going to be totally awesome, duuuude ;)

Here are some pics that Tracey took because of course I didn't think to take any: https://picasaweb.google.com/115820853194522684928/Miami?authkey=Gv1sRgCMjE0p2o65ngXQ&feat=email

An oldie but goodie

Hasan has been asking me to put up this video that he took in India back in January 2010. Our niece Tanuja had (and probably still has, if she is anything like her aunt and uncle) an obsession with biscuits (which is British English for cookies). I forget who ended up winning this battle, but I do remember she was none too pleased with him when I came home ;)

Wonderful time in San Francisco

It's been a while since I had been back to San Francisco. My last trip was back when I had a different (maiden) name, and I was bringing my wedding dress back with me to Philly.

This time, I went to see my new extended family member, Mr. Atticus Pax McKennon-Peterson. That's a mouthful! He is such a sweet baby...so smiley (although I don't think his night screams are so cute to his parents Ben and Wendy). I will miss getting to see him grow everyday like I did with Tallulah, his sister.

And I got to take care of lots of business. Lots of meetings, lots of new prospects - just so terrific. Business is going well...but boy, is it busy!

This trip was different though - somehow I just felt even more at home with the McKennon-Peterson gang (thank you for such a nice time) and San Francisco in general. Maybe it was the absolutely gorgeous weather (who ever heard of a week of 67 degree sunny days in SF in January??). Or, maybe it was the lovely dinner and conversation I had with my father-in-law on Saturday...advice over wine and great French food in San Anselmo is a lovely way to spend an evening. Plus, I got some inside scoop on Hasan, Reggie and Shineal (ha-ha!)

Anyways, this is the one and only photo from the week...but it sums it up. Me, Tallulah, and an obsession with ice cream (and baked goods generally).

Wendy, I gained 2 pounds. All your fault.

Happy January and happy 2011!