Today, for the first time, Guillaume and I got a sneak peek of our little baby growing inside my expanding belly. Our petite fille seems to be doing well in there, all curled up with her ten fingers and ten toes and her big, beautiful round head full of brains. She weighs about twelve ounces right now, which is on track for my due date of June 16th.

Seeing her little skeleton for the first time and knowing that she is actually a “she” makes this pregnancy finally seem so real. I was lucky to have had a really calm (although exhausting) first trimester, and despite my bulging belly, I haven’t felt much movement yet. Having a visual of what’s causing all the fuss down there makes my heart beat with anticipation and swell with love. Now, it’s just a waiting game until we get to meet our sweet girl with whom we can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives calling her our very own.

We had such a fantastic time in Paris over the holidays.  Everyday was jam-packed with visits to see friends and family, and we were even able to get in a few pit-stops to some of our favorite hangouts and restaurants. As anticipated, I ate my weight in foie gras and probably did a little too much shoe shopping.

Paris was not nearly as cold this winter as the last (thank goodness!), and we even lucked out with quite a few days of sunshine.  Most of our time was spent in the city or surrounding suburbs, but we trekked out for a couple of days to Gui's grandfather's place in the almost-countryside and spent New Year's Eve with friends in Normandy.  The days flew by, though and before we knew it, we were back on a flight headed west with luggage filled to the brim and smiles on our very fatigued faces.

This visit was particularly special for Gui and me...we recently discovered that we'll be expecting our first petit bébé early this summer, so we won't be going back to Paris to visit for at least another year.  We are so unbelievably excited to add a new member to our family (and I can't wait to be a maman!), so it was such a treat to share in the excitement with Gui's family and most of our closest friends while we were in town.  Although, it's a little unreal to think that the next time we're back in that city, we'll be with a little one in tow.  C'est fou! 

It’s so hard for me to believe that the Christmas holidays are upon us and in 1 short week Gui and I will be en route to Paris to celebrate Christmas and ring in the new year with our family there. I am beyond stoked! I’ve already started a VIP list of places to visit and a seemingly endless list of things to bring back. It’s so funny how the tables have turned now that I’m back in the land of plenty Target Supercenters; I miss things like foie gras, baguette sandwiches and French hot chocolate instead of mac 'n cheese and salsa verde.

Time has been traveling at warp speed these past few weeks. Last week, I finished my final exam for the accounting course I’ve been taking, and I have to say I’ve never felt so free! Between night classes, homework and study-time, I’m happy to have some time back to myself again. Thanksgiving seems like it just came and went; Gui’s dad and step-mom came into town for that week, and, along with Gui, they experienced their first ever Thanksgiving in America. We enjoyed a beautiful feast at my uncle’s house full of family. It was a strange feeling not being in charge of hosting for once (I hosted Thanksgiving in Paris 2 out of the 3 years I lived there), but oh, how I’d missed my mom’s cornbread stuffing and banana pudding!

Of course, we were eating and entertaining non-stop while Gui’s family was in town, so time just flew by. And, now it’s December. For the first weekend in December, I flew up to Kansas to partake in a Christmas tradition for my sister and nephews – the Nutcracker Tea Party. I’d been dying to go with them ever since my sister started the tradition back in 2008…I mean it doesn’t get much cuter than watching my nephews all dressed up, drinking punch from champagne coupes while enjoying the ballet. And, the ballet performance (by an academy of 10-18 year-olds) was totally impressive, too. Watching it made me wish I’d been girly enough to learn ballet when I was a kid.

Here are a few photos of our Thanksgiving feast and from my time in Kansas. The next time I post, I'll either be in Paris or just returning, so stay tuned for Paris photos galore!