my birthday week

we had a nice week last week.  it started out with me being surprised, again, by my growing belly (and just how huge it's gotten)... it kind of sneaks up on you!

baby belly

and also with my 32nd birthday.  ben woke me up to a delicious pumpkin-pancake breakfast - what a treat!  and surprised me with roses at work.  we capped the day off with a lovely dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, which only cost 1 lira, due to a promotion our credit card was having.  all in all, a nice day.

pumpkin pancakes

on thursday we were off to istanbul for a few days of work.  we had a beautiful room at the conrad hotel, with amazing views of the bosphorus.  not bad.

we stayed through the weekend, and attended ben's cousin's wedding on saturday night.  let's just say dressing up (let's be honest: dressing - period) is a challenge for me these days.  i was glad to get the invitation in enough time to order a dress from a maternity shop in the states, but i still felt kind of silly.

24 week belly shot - satisfied, mom?

 the wedding was quite the affair - probably about 550 guests.

 as soon as the ceremony was over (which didn't begin until 9pm, and i was sooo ready for them to serve dinner!), the party began - and what a party it was!

mother & father of the bride, burnin' up the dance floor

i would have taken more pictures, but i didn't enjoy walking in my heels, so i was stuck to my seat for the evening.  they had a great band with 3 female vocalists, and later on in the night, i'm told (i went to bed at 11) the band finished and it turned into a disco with props & a mojito bar on the dance floor.  now that's a party.

and now we're back home, with no basically no plans for the month of october.  it will be nice to settle in and enjoy being home for a while.  who knows, i might even do some cooking ; )