: Swooned by Paris :

Can you believe that in just ONE short MONTH we will be heading back to America? I can't believe our time in this country is so close to being over. It seems like we just arrived, wide-eyed and anxious to get to know our new city. Now, 2 years later with more Arabic than we ever thought our brains could hold and more memories than should be allowed, we find ourselves beginning to pack our house. Crazy!

Some of these memories have come from our many trips to various places around the world.

Most recently we found ourselves strolling the streets of Paris!

As some of you may know, this has been my dream destination as long as I can remember...and it didn't disappoint! We had such a great time ambling along and seeing the sights. Our flights were very delayed to get into Paris (due to a city-wide strike, we found out!) so we didn't get as much time as we had hoped. We started out with a lazy morning on Wednesday after getting to bed at 2:30 am the night before. After a light breakfast in the hotel's neighborhood, we made our way to the Notre Dame Cathedral.

It is a very impressive structure! It was built in the Gothic style and is very gorgeous. I thought it was quite a bit darker and ominous than the other cathedrals we've seen in Europe; but no less impressive! We walked up just in time to hear the bells ringing and I couldn't help but sing the "Bells of Notre Dame" song!

It poured rain on us shortly after arriving at the cathedral and continued to rain all day. From there, we walked up to

the Louvre, enjoying the sights and shops along the way. We didn't go in the Louvre (we're not museum lovers) but we saw the outside. Then, our feet couldn't take anymore so we headed back to the hotel.

The next day, we got a much earlier start! We began with a trip to the arc de Triomphe. It is also super impressive. It is the centerpoint of 12 intersecting streets, making a star of neighborhoods...and a mess of traffic!

We crossed over (using the pedestrian tunnels!) to then climb to the top. The view was

definitely worth the 300 stairs! It was Incredible! From there, we saw all the major sights of Paris and got excited to see the rest!

After descending the arc, we meandered down the famous street, Champs Elysee. It is a very ritzy shopping area so, needless to say, we just people watched and made our way to the metro station to go see...

The Eiffel Tower!

It was even greater in person than I could have imagined! We took our time, enjoying it from the park out front, before buying tickets to get to the top. I love 'jumping' pictures but Paul had to do all the jumping this trip...

We got to the base just in time to miss the downpour. We stood in the shelter of the tower to wait out the rain (only about 15 minutes) and then got in line to ride the elevators. Luckily, most of the tourists left because of the rain so we didn't have to wait long! The view from the top was also amazing!

After getting our fill of Paris from the top, we found a restaurant for dinner. We chose a nicer

place, near the Eiffel, to re-celebrate our anniversary, our new baby, and the end of Ramadan! It was delicious and super fun. After waiting out the next downpour, we headed back to the Tower to see it lit up for nightfall. Again, INCREDIBLE! It "sparkles" at the top of the hour, every hour, for five minutes so we waited to see that too. It was so great - it definitely made my night! Such a great trip!

Baby Girl Evs Update:

We decided to change up the background of our weekly belly shots! I kinda like it :)

We are now 23 weeks along in this adventure (22 in the picture) and Baby Girl continues to get stronger! I've enjoyed many instances of watching my belly 'dance' while she moves and kicks around in there! She's still slightly intimidated by Paul I think, only allowing him to feel a couple of times. Whenever he puts his hand on my belly to feel her, she stops moving! We'll get it together someday :) Sometimes, when she has a big movement I guess, it sends chills up my spine! I'm not quite used to those yet but it's definitely cool to experience.

She is now the size of an ear of corn, or 8.5 inches long and 1.5 lbs! If we were able to see a clear picture of her, we'd probably be able to tell if she looked like a Schurman or an Evans by now, as her face is almost fully formed; Paul and I like to wonder what color of hair and eyes she'll have. She still hasn't packed on the fat to cover her bones yet but she will soon. If we could see her now, we would be able to see through her transparent skin, right to bones and blood vessels. She's gaining up to 6 ounces a week now trying to pack on the pounds before birth!