Red Tie Gala 2009

Some of you may remember that 2 years ago I was heavily involved with the Little Sisters of the Poor benefit Gala, the Red Tie Gala at Neiman Marcus. This year I wasn't as involved with the overall planning but still helped out in some capacity with volunteers and the raffle. We donned our black tie outfits on Friday November 7th and headed to Neiman Marcus to enjoy the food, drinks and great music. We then headed to the after party hosted by the Sangiacomos at the top of the St. Francis Hotel. I think this was my favorite part as we found a seat right away and I could rest my swollen feet! :) It's a great cause as the Little Sisters help the elderly poor who are sick and have no one to take care of them.

Emily and Ry

A little tired as this was at the end of the evening but so glad we supported this cause!

Ryan and his red bow tie and red socks to match!

Essential Reading

Ryan doing his "essential reading" . . . he wanted to add his comments to the blog!

Who knew that there were so many books to read prior to having a baby?! And each one has a different title that appears to make them essential reading. I mean, really, what "Expectant Father" is going to say he does not want the "Happiest Baby on the Block" and learn as much as he can "Week by Week" about "Our Amazing Newborn"? The sheer volume of material is somewhat overwhelming. However, we also get real, direct advice from those who know best - our parents. It is hysterical when we tell our parents we have a stroller, a jog stroller, and a snap-and-go stroller. I think their comment was "We had one umbrella stroller and you turned out fine." Kidding aside, we appreciate all their love and support. Only 8 weeks left to finish all these books!

31 weeks TODAY!

Well, we are growing. . . if you can't tell from the photos! I am feeling great and as today we mark 31 weeks. I feel blessed to be feeling good and I love feeling the baby move. The baby has some serious kicks, turns and pulses that I feel throughout the day. Ryan loves to feel the baby move and we often lay on the couch just waiting for baby to move while starring in amazement at this miracle of life.

Truthfully, I'm feeling BIG! BUT my Mom tells me that I am not BIG I'm just pregnant which somehow makes me feel better. Let's be honest, no pregnant chick wants to be told she's "HUGE" or "BIG" just tell her she looks great and she's doing a fabulous job carrying this little one! For example, I was walking up the hill yesterday and saw this lady walking her dog she was all smiles (you do get lots of strangers just smiling at you when you are pregnant) and as we were approaching each other she said "how do you feel" and I said "oh good, thanks" and she said "well you're doing great and you look wonderful". . . wow, I was all smiles the whole way home! I will refrain from sharing with you all the crazy things people have said to me as there have been some ridiculous comments. Here's the lesson, when you see a pregnant gal just smile and tell her she looks great, that's all she wants to hear! AND thank you to all of you who are cheering us along!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Happy Halloween! This was our self timer photo of our Halloween night. . . don't we look festive! We had our good friends, Stephanie, Dennis, Jack, Anne, Julie and Chris over for some dinner and pumpkin carving. We never quite made it to the pumpkin carving but it was fun to catch up with everyone! Next Halloween, we'll be joining my sisters and their little ones (and Poppo and Grammy, my Dad takes the day off work to see the grandkids in their costumes!) on Chestnut Street with our little one all dressed up. . . can't wait!

Oh the places you'll go. . . Baby Dunn!

Last week, Ryan and I had a great 29 week check up with our Doctors (Dr. Musci (ultrasound dr.) Dr. Laurie Green (ob/gyn)) last week. We had another ultrasound to check the placement of the placenta (it was a little low last time they checked) and it has moved!!! This was great news as it reduced the chance of a scheduled c-section. The baby has grown and is weighing in at 3 lbs. 6 oz as of now. We were really surprised at the growth but felt blessed that everything was on track. The doctor asked us how much we both weighed at birth I thought he was kidding as I didn't think that mattered, BUT it does!! Ryan was delivered by c-section at a glorious 8 lbs. 9 oz and I was 2 and half weeks late (Mom and Dad had just moved to California from DC with my three sisters under the age of 3!) so I waited for them to settle in. . . arriving at 8 lbs. 13 oz. YIKES!!!! If these genetics matter we are looking to have a good 7-8 pounder! Regardless, we had a great visit at the doctors and felt so good about the growth of our baby. They now have ultrasound in 4D (it's so amazing we love the pics) so here is our little angel's leg and foot. . . oh the places you will go Baby Dunn! :)

Kid's Night Out. . . or was it Margaritaville?

KDO 2008!

In our family we have a tradition of not giving each other Christmas gifts but putting money into a pot and planning a night out together. Each year the planning duties rotates between couples, somehow the bar is always raised year after year. This year it was the Dunns turn to plan but everyone was busy after the first of the year with new babies (Jack and Chloe) and Eileen was prego with Reese. Once Eileen had Reese (in May), shortly after, we told everyone we were expecting Baby Dunn so we've basically postponed our KDO (kids day out) for many months now. Until, Jimmy Buffett came to town!



We all were able to go to his concert on a Tuesday night and we had a blast. We had great seats (thanks Mom!) and Baby Dunn enjoyed the concert too.

Love this pic!

I had the privileage of meeting Jimmy Buffett on Thursday as he made an appearance at Google (I'm on the authors@Google team!). He was awesome, super personable and invested in technology so Googlers and Parrotheads alike, loved him. Here is my favorite photo with him (this will definitely be Baby Dunn's photo album)! He wished me good luck with the Baby and I told him we'd bring up our baby listening to Jimmy Buffett tunes, he loved that!!!

Jamie and Bret's wedding!

Jamie and Bret's chair dance!

On October 12th Jamie and Bret got married at the beautiful Old Federal Reserve building downtown SF. The Burnstein's (Jamie's family) grew up around the corner from the Dunns and they have been great family friends ever since. Ryan and Bret have gotten to be good friends as they are both in the biz of the law and love sports. It was a fabulous celebration and so much fun! Here are a few pics. . .

A beautiful black tie wedding, it was fun to dress up prego and I was actually comfortable.

Jesse and Emily

Jamie is an event planner as well so I had to take some photos of the details for her, it was stunning!!




The Dunns. . . Ryan always including baby Dunn (holding onto my belly!)