Week 38 - 2 weeks to go

For all of you curious folks out there, here are some photos of my belly from Saturday when I entered week 38. This belly is growing day by day! How much bigger will it get??  For some reason we think the baby will arrive on May 15 (due date in May 10).  What day do you think Little Henry will arrive?  Only time will tell...

Washington DC Baby shower, Sunday April 18, 2010

Last Sunday Tish Zone, my sister, and Leah Lipsky threw me a baby shower in DC.  They planned it around an international theme with snacks from all over the world and word games to challenge our language skills.  It was so much fun! 

Thank you to the hosts:

Tish couldn't come but here I am opening up a present from her:

Me, Sarah and Kaylin (from right after the party):

And Leah who had the party at her new house:

I was surprised by all the decoration when I walked into the room:

And here are some snaps of a few of the guests (Beth Fine from Emory and Leslie Ekstrom who was our Peace Corps director in Bangladesh):

And we finished off the evening with dinner around the corner during which Kaylin was so much fun expressing her happiness with the entertainment offered by ceiling fans.

Now all we're waiting on is the baby!!!  We spent a lot of time this weekend organizing the apartment and feel confident that we're ready for the little guy to arrive. ~2 more weeks!

Surprise baby shower at Iggies (Baltimore, MD), April 17, 2010

Today I was TOTALLY surprised by friends who threw me and Scott a baby shower at a local pizza shop.  And apparently so were some of the guests...

I had NO IDEA  this party was planned!!   I was impressed to find out that Scott was in on the surprise since the planning began over two months ago.  The crowd was full of friends from School, a friend from DC, and colleagues (who of course double as friends :) ).

The presents were just great. We got our first Hopkins gear from Andrea Wirtz:

And some nutritionally friendly gear:

Gillian gave us a blanket that is SUPER comfy and reminds us of traffic in Dhaka:

And Peggy hooked us up with a diaper bag full of helpful goodies including tons of cloth diapers:

Too bad we didn't snag a photo of the Bob stroller that many of the nutrition women (plus Aimee) chipped in to get us.  Scott was SO excited to have this specific stroller and was offering everyone information on what sets this stroller apart from all the others :)  We'll get some action photos with the stroller before too long!


A special thank you to Gillian Buckley for pulling this together - and for making the great cake!

What a special day!

Williamsburg, VA to celebrate the Defense…and a surprise baby shower! March 6, 2010

The weekend after I defended my thesis Scott and I drove to Williamsburg, VA to spend the weekend with Sarah, Drew, and Kaylin as well as Tad and Charlotte who drove in from Atlanta to celebrate.  
Scott had a good time bonding with Kaylin who is ~11 mo old and super cute!

On Sunday, Sarah and Charlotte surprised us with a baby shower! It was an intimate affair with Sarah, Drew, Tad, and Charlotte.  When we went to lunch at The Carrot Tree, I mentioned to Charlotte that the restaurant has a special meaning to Sarah and me because we went there for her baby shower a year ago.  Little did I know that we were going again this time for another shower :)  Charlotte gave a shirt with a tiger on it which was fun because we're moving to Bangladesh which is the land of the Bengal Tiger and our baby will be born in the year of the Tiger (of the white tiger in fact).  Scott was especially thrilled with at least one of the presents…

As the festivities wrapped up Drew asked Sarah and I who we thought would be the guest of honor at the next family baby shower:

None of us could pass up more adventures with Kaylin:

And the proud parents tried on some Easter gear that Charlotte gave to Kaylin in preparation for the holiday:

After breakfast the next day and an all too short visit, we fueled up with a great diner breakfast and headed back to Baltimore:

Thank you to Sarah and Drew for getting Scott the Settlers of Catan board game for his birthday. We’re hooked and can’t wait to introduce it to the Dhaka community.

Houston Baby Shower, February 13, 2010

Now that I’m done with school and feel like I have a handle the excitement of being Dr. Day Merrill, I’ve enjoyed spending time on some personal admin tasks I had put on hold.  One of these tasks was putting photos from fun events up on the blog. 

Travel with me back to February.  Right after the second blizzard hit Baltimore, Scott and I went to Houston for a weekend.  The big event for the weekend that we had been looking forward to for awhile was a cook-out (I just love that you can have a cook-out in Houston in February!) with Scott’s friends and family as well as with Christine Yamokoski, my girrrrrrrrl who just moved to Houston.  (I’m SO glad that I get to see Christine and her family whenever we go to Houston!)

(Becky and Ian show off their bellies)










Christine and Phyllis planned a shower for me during the bar-b-que.  It was so much fun to get cute baby items and to hear helpful tips from experienced moms.

Before this shower Scott and I had basically no baby items but after this fun party we felt like we had a solid supply to help us feel more ready.  I can’t wait to put the baby in comfy sleep sacks and to watch him pull toys and books out of his monogrammed backpack (Thank you, Christine!).  

I'm all DONE!!! On Tuesday March 2, 2010, I successfully defended my PhD thesis ('Iron intake through groundwater and iron status of women in rural Bangladesh") at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. What an exciting day that was made all the better by my dad and sister coming in town and Scott skipping work to join me. The day consisted of my 1 hour public seminar describing what I did for the past 5 years and what it all means in the world of public health for women of reproductive age followed by a closed oral exam with a committee of professors that could last as long as 2 hours but luckily ended up being just about 1 hour.

Here is a photo of me with my committee (from left to right: Drs. Eliseo Guallar, Keith West, Parul Christian, Tom Burke):

My presentation wasn't until 2pm and I spent all morning trying to keep my excitement for finishing under control. This excitement completely trumped my nerves; I couldn't even think about anything that might go wrong during the presentation or exam. "Who cares what happens during my oral exam. This is a day to celebrate the completion!" is all I could think all morning. Finally by 5pm I was in fact done and calm Becky Day re-surfaced.
After the defense my friends, family, and people from my office celebrated on campus with some h'ors d'oeuvres and champagne (and sparkling juice pour moi) before going out to a wonderful dinner with my family and I and my advisor, Keith West, and his wife, Marie, and Parul Christian who I have worked closely with during the degree.
My oh my, the day was filled with so many emotions. On the drive home from dinner around 9:30pm I almost fell asleep in the car. Phew – all done.

Bal'more Blizzard 2010

They predicted 18 - 24 inches would fall from Friday afternoon to Saturday night.  By Thursday evening schools were already announcing early closures on Friday.  Rain fell on Friday until about 5pm. And then, the snow began.  At 3am I had to take the dog out and there was already what seemed to be a foot on the ground.  Snow just kept on falling and falling hard.  The storm finally ended around 5pm; it seems like 2 - 3 feet of snow accumulated. It's beautiful outside.  I was thrilled to pull out my ski pants, Guinness was having the time of his life swimming in the snow, and by evening people were cross country skiing in the streets.
At 7am...

12pm...

5:30pm...
Can you spot the Subaru?

What about now?

Or now?

Now it's time for some hot chocolate :)