a bit of this 'n that

The blog title is much more heartwarming if you say it in an English accent. Try it, "uh bii uh this en thaaat." What's ironic is that I actually spent a semester in England on a mission trip in college, AND a week in a different part of England on a mission trip with Shawn, and my English accent is abysmal. Shawn says I sound like an old Englishman stumbling out of a pub at 2:00 am in the morning. That's probably because I scrunch my face up all weird-like and say, "ello! Ow ah youuu? Aw blimey,"... and that's about the extent of my accent.

Anyway. I just thought I should update friends and family on the general goings ons of the Maurer home. To make things easier for us all, I'll break it down by family member:

Shawn: Is very busy and very handsome. Lots of crazy cool things are happening at our church, much of which Shawn is smack in the middle. He's working super long hours and has tons on his mind, but is doing an amazing job of balancing work and home. If we could afford it, I would totally whisk Shawn away on a Jude-less vacation to Seattle sometime before this baby is born, but I think he'll just have to settle for me doing my best to make our home a peaceful respite for him. He's still the best Daddy in the entire world, and Jude is madly in love with him. Seriously - Jude's face lights up at even the mention of his name.

Jen: Is also very busy, but happily so. After a lull throughout the holidays, things with Serwa Chic are picking up tremendously (yay!), so my sewing machine and I are BFFs right now. Things with Worth the Wait are also picking up in the next month, so I'm just trying to be very wise with my time in order to accomplish everything and not go insane. I was starting to feel a lot better (pregnancy-wise), but recently caught a cold that seems to have set me back. I caught it from Jude, though, and he seemed to get over it pretty quickly so I'm hoping it's a quick one for me, too. I'm excited to report that I've only gained 2 pounds so far this pregnancy, which my nutritionist says is right on target for me!

Jude: Is much more fun to be around now that he's getting over this cold. We're loving watching his little personality develop, and thus far it's sweet, cuddly, stubborn, hard working, and comedic. He's taken to putting things over his head and singing, "Da da da da," as he walks around the house. Yesterday, he put a pair of Shawn's pajama pants over his head so that the waistband was around his head, and the two pajama legs were hanging down over his shoulders. My stomach hurt from laughing, and the more I laughed the more emphatic his "Da Das" were.

This is a video from before Christmas that I've tried to upload several times, but have failed. It finally worked! So enjoy Jude laughing at those hilarious peas:




Baby Maurer: Seems to be doing just great. The little one is about the size of a plum now, and I'm getting the tell-tale baby bump. The kiddo is starting to develop the sense of "feel," and I guess most babies at this age start exploring with touching their faces and mouths. Our next appointment is February 8th, and our ultrasound appointment is March 8th.

So there you have it - not very interesting, I'm sure, but I didn't want our family to think we'd dropped off the face of the planet. We're here, we're happy, and we're all doing just great!