Look what Henry got in the mail today!

I really need to have this framed. I still haven't done anything with Alexa's card from the White House. Click HERE to see Alexa's card. I love how the note is different!

In case you can't read it, here's what it says: 

Welcome to the world! Your arrival is a cause for great celebration for your proud family. We wish you a long and happy life filled with chances to learn, ideas to explore, people to love, and dreams to fulfill.

White House Holiday Party! Alexa stays home...

Tonight was a big night for us! Mommy and Daddy got to go to the White House Holiday Party! We met the president and first lady and enjoyed walking around the East Wing, sipping Egg Nog, trying the White House potato latkes (Daddy said mine were better!) and searching high and low for a Bo the Dog cookie.

Meanwhile, back at home, Alexa spent the day playing with Grandma! Here she is in the morning, as I was getting ready for work. She swiped my Blackberry!

Then she tended to her baby dolls, pushed around her shopping cart, played with her new dog pocketbook and ate an apple!

In the afternoon, she had more fun playing with Grandma... So cute! I love her expressions, especially when she sticks her lip out when she's concentrating. Note her new expression, courtesy of Grandma: "I don't know!"

Look what we got in the mail today!

A card from the White House! No kidding! I sent one of Alexa's birth announcements to the White House Greetings Office about a month ago. And we got a nice note from President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama!

In case you can't read it, this is what it says:

"Congratulations on the birth of your new baby. As parents, we know the profound joy you must feel as you welcome a child into your family. We are delighted for you, and we wish you all the best on this wonderful occasion."

What a wonderful keepsake for Alexa!

37 weeks and one more White House visit!

I think this is the last one... My 9th trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue this year, since Obama took office and since I have been carrying a little Lima Bean in my belly!

Today I had routine White House pool duty. So I arrived for pool call time at 8:30 a.m. (thanks Papa Bean for the ride!) and attended an East Room reception honoring new U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Here is my Week 37 bump photo, in front of the East Wing entrance:

In his remarks, President Obama made this statement, which I hope Lima Bean heard and paid attention to. He said: "While this is Justice Sotomayor's achievement, the result of her ability and determination, this moment is not just about her. It's about every child who will grow up thinking to him- or herself, 'If Sonia Sotomayor can make it, then maybe I can too.'"

So whatever name we choose for Baby Lima Bean, it must be able to work with the titles "Justice," "Congresswoman," "Senator" and "President." You know, just in case. :-)

According to my pregnancy books, Lima Bean should be about 6 pounds and fully developed. But although she is now considered "full term," she will continue to grow and develop the longer she stays in her utero home.

And, finally, what you have all been waiting for... I have finally achieved watermelon status. Behold, my final fruit picture!

31 Weeks and another White House visit

Today I hit the 31-week mark! Yay! Only 9 weeks to go... Also today, lucky Lima Bean was at the White House for her 7th time! All in utero, of course, but still, pretty lucky little girl.


This time was even better.

I was one of nine regional reporters who were invited to take part in a round table interview with the president on his health care reform package. The round table took place in the Roosevelt Room, where I was seated directly across from the president with two reporters on either side of me and two reporters on either side of the president.

When the president entered the room, he went around shaking everyone's hand as we all introduced ourselves. Unable to resist, I whipped out the traditional Hawaiian greeting of "Aloha," which, combined with my Hawaiian name, prompted some Hawaii talk and I think might have snagged us a ride home on Air Force One? You be the judge...

Me: Aloha, Mr. President. Malia. (shakes hand)
POTUS: (smiling) Howzit going? (Pidgin style)
Me: Wassup, bra?
POTUS: Now you know you're going to get special treatment. Where in Hawaii?
Me: Kailua.
POTUS: Ahh. My family was just there for Christmas.
Me: I know. Your beach rental is five minutes from where I grew up.
POTUS: When are we going back? When are we going back, Malia?
Me: Soon?
POTUS: Soon.
Me: You got room on Air Force One? (laughter)
POTUS: All right. You may be able to hitch a ride. Although... (glancing at my belly) I'm not sure. You can't fly right now, can you?
Me: Not now. Not yet.
POTUS: Exactly. See?
Me: But… Christmas?
POTUS: All right. (He then got serious and started the round table interview.)

Third Trimester is here! We are now homeowners! Plus, we just went bowling at the White House ...

Life has not slowed down for us! If you look at the ticker at the top of this page, you will see that today marks 28 weeks! That is the start of my THIRD and FINAL trimester! Only 12 weeks, or 3 months, to go! Unless Lima Bean is early... But if she is anything like her momma, she'll be nice and tardy.

She is still about the size of an eggplant, so no fruit pictures this week. Stay tuned for a squash pic in the coming weeks, to be followed by honeydew and, finally, watermelon. Or, as you'll see later in this post, bowling balls.

She is not as big as a bowling ball, it turns out. I used a 6-pound ball, the lightest one they had. Lima Bean right now weighs just 2 1/2 pounds. But in just two weeks, she'll be 3 pounds! Eeek!

She has eyebrows, eyelashes and taste buds! So she can taste all the sweet things I've been eating... She'll have a sweet tooth for sure! And this is kind of a bummer, this week she can feel pain the same way that a full term baby would. So pain starts before birth. Who knew?

Besides all these monumental things going on inside my belly... Today was a big day for us as a family because today we officially purchased our first HOUSE! Our first home. And, yes, we moved to the 'burbs. After today's closing, we are now officially Maryland residents. Sort of. We don't actually move in until July 6th. But it is now officially our house!

And if that wasn't enough... We had a fabulous evening bowling a couple games at the Truman Bowling Alley, a two-lane alley located in the basement of the Old Executive Office Building. This is the building next to the White House where many White House staff members work. It's located on the same grounds as the White House and is surrounded by the same fence.

I would note, however, that there is ANOTHER one-lane bowling alley in the basement of the actual White House. But, according to the White House Museum, former President Nixon bowled in the Old Executive Office Building alley where we were tonight! So did Lady Bird Johnson! Some more history on the lanes here.

Here are some photos from our game!

More White House photos!

As promised, here are a few more pics of me and Lima Bean at the White House on Thursday (Week 25, Day 1)!

Directly behind me in this first photo (above) is the East Wing, where the first family's private residence is located. On the right, the lower-level building is the Press Office, which is where the press conferences are held.

This second shot (above) is taken from the back lawn of the White House facing the South Portico of the East Wing. This is where the president greeted the Steelers football team and stuffed care packages.

This last photo (above) is of me standing in front of the Rose Garden and West Wing. On the right side of the photo, you can see the white columned walkway that goes from the East Wing to the West Wing. On the left, the windows that you see are part of the Cabinet Room. To the left of the Cabinet Room (not pictured) is the Oval Office.

Lima Bean's 6th trip to the White House

What a lucky American. Not even born yet, and Lima Bean has already been to the White House SIX times! Today was our latest trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, where President Obama welcomed Super Bowl champs, the Pittsburgh Steelers!

Here are a few shots from my Blackberry of Obama stuffing care packages for U.S. troops with the football players. In these shots are Obama, wide receiver Hines Ward, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and coach Mike Tomlin.

More photos to come of yours truly at the White House. Stay tuned!

The stars were out tonight!

Baby Lima Bean will never believe the multitude of stars her mommy and daddy just rubbed elbows with at tonight's White House Correspondents' Dinner!

All while proudly displaying my baby bump, which really looked more like I smuggled a basketball into the gala event! And, yes, this was the red carpet scene we had to walk past as we entered the event... It was certainly a scene to see and be seen at!

We arrived shortly after 5:30 p.m., scooting into the Gannett and USA Today party. Then we took off for the National Journal party, where we heard that Jon Bon Jovi might make an appearance. Just as we were about to take off, he showed up (with George Stephanopolos)!

Papa Bean went over to tell him that one of the first concerts he ever went to was a Bon Jovi show. Jon was very nice and agreed to take a photo with us!

On our way back upstairs, we brushed past Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, turned around to see Julia Louis-Dreyfus, then ran into Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon!

Then, as the dinner started, Papa Bean took off, pausing to chat with Jim Cramer of MSNBC's Mad Money and shake Warren Buffet's hand on his way out! Meanwhile, I headed into the ballroom and stopped to take a photo with Glenn Close!

I then walked past Owen Wilson flirting with a gaggle of girls before running into Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon again, and this time I got a photo with Kyra, who was super nice!

Then my dinner guest, a press secretary at the White House, and I got a photo with Eva Langoria Parker!

Then I told Kal Penn that Papa Bean and I looooove his "Harold and Kumar" movies! I also congratulated him on his new White House job. And, of course, took a photo with him.

We also met Bradley Cooper, who starred in "Alias" and also "Wedding Crashers." He was really nice! He stopped to introduce himself to me.

The dinner itself was a stitch. President Obama was hilarious! You can watch his remarks on C-SPAN, and I really suggest you do!

Back to star sightings. Near my table sat Stevie Wonder. And from my seat, I caught a glimpse of Beyonce and former "West Wing" star Dule Hill. I also saw figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi. After dinner, I got a photo with dreamboat actor Colin Firth!

Finally, my way out of the hotel, I saw Mariska Hargitay of "Law and Order SVU" and walked past Richard Belzer, also from "Law and Order SVU."

Then, outside, I nearly ran right into Whoopi Goldberg!

What a night.

More White House Visits

We started Saturday (Week 22, Day 3) off by taking a nice walk with Papa Bean's mom and aunt to the most famous White House in Washington: The one at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!

Afterward, we drove out to Bethesda for lunch and to look at another white house. This one had just come on the market and we were eager to check it out!

Our busy day ended in Virginia with another big fun family dinner!

CLICK HERE to see a slideshow on Kodak Gallery of all the photos from the weekend. Thank you Grandma Enid Bean!

WARNING: Don't make fun of pregnant women!

This post on MediaBistro's fishbowlDC blog was posted last week about an unidentified White House reporter falling asleep during a press briefing.

Ouch!

Well, it turns out that the reporter is a friend of mine who I used to work with.

And, it turns out that she is about 20 weeks pregnant! She's due Aug. 8.

Someone should warn those folks over at MediaBistro against making fun of pregnant women. We are not exactly known for being on our best behavior at all times!

My first pair of maternity pants!

They have arrived. And they are sooooo comfy!

Let me describe: They are pull-up work pants from Ann Taylor Loft with a soft cotton midsection like flannel pajamas! I don't want to take them off!

In fact, I might wear these forever. Why on earth have a button and zipper when you can wear these comfy delights? Flat tummies are so overrated.

On a related topic...

So I was at the White House today, and as I was going through security, I beeped. So the guard waived his magnetic wand over me as I stood with my arms outstretched. And as the wand passed over my belly, it beeped.

So he says to me, "Is there metal there? Like, are you wearing a belt?"

So, I say, without thinking, "I have a metal safety pin holding up my pants?"

He takes a double take at my pooch belly, turns red, and says: "OK, uh, you are free to go."

I wonder what else Lima Bean can sneak into the White House! By the way, this is Baby Bean's fourth trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.