Waiting for baby....

We are all anticipating the arrival of Baby S....

You can barely see Toby in the bottom right hugging the swing....

A close-up...

T-minus 3 days.....

Grandparent Invasion

The grandparents have started coming to town in anticipation for Baby S's arrival!

As a result of this, Mike and I haven't made one meal, we have vaccumed and mopped floors without lifting a finger, our dogs are exhausted from all the playing, our refrigerator and pantry is full of food, and our empty pots have beautiful flowers planted in them both inside our house and out. I could live with this....

And with every set of grandparents comes another furry creature.

Here's Jakey - Judy and Leland's sweet baby....

And here's Jasmine (pictured here with Baby S), my mom's 6 pound Chihuahua - otherwise known as the princess.

It has been a LOT of fun having them in town!

Meet Baby S's future buddies...

Introducing Drew and Maddy...our good friends' beautiful newborn babies. Andrew is Alison and Brandyn's little guy on the left who is a whopping 2 weeks old (in this picture). Madelynn is Michelle and Matt's beautiful girl who is 2 months old (in this picture)! Both are eagerly awaiting Baby S' arrival and I'm certain Baby S cannot wait to get to know them too.

This picture was taking a week ago and all of us were able to witness Maddy's first ever rolling over! She is clearly headed for Harvard.

And even more exciting, our good friends Lesley and Mike are expecting another baby boy in 16 weeks! More boys fighting for Maddy's affection....

Let's Celebrate Baby S - Bay Area Style!

My very good friends Lesley and Marisa threw Baby S a shower in the bay area and we had SUCH a fun time. Besides Baby S, the focal point of the shower was Marisa's beautiful and very yummy cupcakes she made:

The food was fabulous too!

Unfortunately, my camera died at the beginning of the shower so I don't have many pictures; however, some of my friends took pictures so I'll have to get those from them. Here are a few I did have:

We had a great time and Baby S left with quite the loot (including lots of diapers that the hosts asked guests to bring)! Thanks Lesley and Marisa!!

The Spruiells head to Tahoe

Back in February, we headed to Tahoe with some close friends (Sy, Karen, Shreeraj, Bindu, and Dorothy) that Mike went to business school with. When we showed up, they surprised us with a baby shower! It was so generous and thoughtful of them!! Since we were a bit caught off guard we don't have many pictures except this one....

How hilarious is that?? They couldn't find a sign that said "It's a Boy" so they improvised.

Here's my girl after a long day of playing in the snow...

And our attempt at another family photo (minus Toby), which didn't work out too well b/c the dogs were clearly distracted by the very exciting thing going on to the right...

Lots to Celebrate in Colorado!

Back in February, we headed to Colorado for 3 big celebrations: my very good friend Adrienne's wedding, my baby shower, and my father-in-law's retirement party.

Adrienne's wedding was beautiful and we all had such a great time!

My mother-in-law Judy, sisters-in-law Jonna and Amy, and future sister-in-law Kate threw me and Baby S a fabulous baby shower! Many friends and family came to celebrate with us....we had such a fun time! Unfortunately, I have only one picture from the shower...the rest is on video...

And John's retirement party....

The man of the hour (and I'm not talking about baby Hunter)...

Rosemont Reunion 2009

So I'm backing up a bit as I've got LOTS to catch y'all up on!

Back in January...yes January...my closest group of girlfriends from college (whom i refer to as "Rosemont" b/c that's the apartment complex we lived in our senior year) headed back to where it all began...San Antonio, TX...where we graduated from Trinity University 10 years prior.

While planning the trip, we realized that all the things we wanted to do involved eating and drinking....it is amazing we were not 1000 pounds in college.

Here we are at our favorite bar - Bay's

The next day we went to the spa for some pampering, mimosas (non-A for me), world's longest pedicure, and to annoy all the other spa patrons as we cannot seem to control the volume of our conversations....it was a lot of fun!

We also did a 5K around Trinity....we each visited our dorm rooms. At TU, you have to live on campus Freshman - Junior year so we have a lot of pictures of that...

Here we are at the fountain....in pledge class order :)

A picture of Erin and I where we spent WAY too much time in our early years at TU...sweating our butts off in the gym by playing volleyball...

And the group out in front of the Bell Center (minus Mully and Rios)

Karen and I at Rudy's....very yummy BBQ!

A SERIOUS highlight for me...tortillas and queso from Taco Cabana. Someone had to introduce Baby S to some good Mexican food b/c we are NOT getting that in California.

And Tyler (Erin's sweet boy) visited us at the end of the weekend to gather his mom and head back to Austin to hang with the grandparents...

The battle continues...

....for the title of "Man of the House".

I'm sure none of you are surprised to learn that Jerry is not even in the running. No, this battle is between Toby and Mike.

Notice this picture.

Do you see the white box looking thing on the couch? Mike put these EVERYWHERE in an effort to keep pet hair off of the furniture. Smart man if you ask me....they've been working pretty well. We have two on each couch (that's a total of 3 couches in our house), one on each of our living room chairs, one on the coffee table, one on the dining table, and on the side table. They make a really loud noise when an animal jumps on the furniture and has been rather successful in keeping all animals off most of our furniture.

Until this weekend....when I found Toby lying RIGHT next to it in an act of defiance.

Date Night!

On Friday morning when Mike asked me if I'd rather stay in that night and go out to dinner on Saturday night, I spent all day Saturday wondering how I'd convince him to go to Chili's vs. the Polish restaurant that is walkable from our place. Have I ever mentioned how much I love Chili's? Seriously, try their skillet queso and get back to me. Little did I know he was planning a big date! He surprised me with reservations at a French Bistro in Walnut Creek...my favorite! I *heart* French food...especially duck confit. And with the moms (and Leland) coming into town next Saturday all ready to spoil their grandson, this was a perfect time to spend our the last evening out without having to pay babysitters to spend some time alone.

We had such a great time. For those of you in the bay area, I highly recommend Le Bistro in Walnut Creek (off of Main St)...it is a quaint place where everyone is really friendly and the food was tasty too! When my belly and I walked into the restaurant, we were THE star of the show! Between the hostess, chef, waiter, and patrons everyone wanted to know how far along I was, were we having twins, and how excited we were. The couple sitting next to us even said a little prayer with us before they headed out for the evening. So all in all, a very fun and special time!

Here's a picture of me and baby S at 37 weeks and 6 days just before leaving for the restaurant...

A picture of us fat and happy after devouring appetizers, main course, and dessert. Mike noted that our table was further out into the walkway than the others, due to Baby S's latest growth spurt.

And outside of the restaurant...

PS. The last time I wore the shirt in these pictures was as a DRESS at my friend Meredith's birthday party in Vegas over a year ago. I guess when my mom told me that eventually I'd be able to wear some of my pre-maternity dresses as shirts, she was right!