Molly's Blog

Hard To Dress This Month

2012-01-18T13:30:00.000-08:00

I'm officially 30 weeks pregnant and had a doctor appointment today. The baby is growing and growing, which means I'm growing, which means I experience all that comes along with having a big baby inside of you: about 10 bathroom breaks per night, lots of kicking and movement (which I like), and the joyful pains pregnancy causes your body. The past 1-2 months, my wardrobe has diminished from a closet of stuff that fits to maternity jeans, leggings, a few shirts/sweaters that are loose or maternity, and coats that I can't zip up. I save my "good outfits" for work or special occasions though; I spend the majority of my time in pajama pants, whichever one of Adam's comfortable shirts I like that week, or my robe :)

Dressing Gwen this month has been hard too, not because she's growing too fast, but because the weather extremes!!! We have left the house this month to sunny 60 degree weather, thunderstorms, ice/snow, freezing temps, etc. It makes it hard to know which coat, if any, she needs.

Rare Sunny Day at the Park in January

Rain Coat Type Day

In other news, the Boekers moved to Texas. We spent a whole day with them right before they left. Gwen loves them all, but I know she will really miss playing with big cousin "See See" aka Sylvie, who is one of her absolute favorite people in the world. We will miss having them so close, but I am excited to have a new place to visit!

Happy 2012!

2012-01-02T12:50:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's already 2012. We spent New Year's Eve with Duvy and her family at our house. It was the perfect NYE for us having Gwen and me being pregnant. They brought Paisley, we made some appetizers, watched Rockin New Years Eve, played our Table Topics game, and had a little slumber party. Paisley and Gwen are finally starting to kind of interact a little, which is fun to watch.

Hope everyone's 2012 is off to a good start!!!

Happy 80th Birthday Grandpa!

2011-12-30T06:46:00.001-08:00

My grandpa, Gwen's great-grandpa, celebrates his 80th birthday on New Year's Day. Him and my grandma spend the winter in Florida, so they always stop in Morton on their drive there to see everyone for a little late Christmas celebration. This year, Grandpa didn't know that not only my family and the Bates family were there, all of his kids and grandkids were there to surprise him. He is a quiet, kind of low key type man that doesn't like too much attention, but you could tell he was really excited and touched that everyone came. It was a fun celebration...Gwen's very lucky to still have 3 of her great-grandparents around!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-30T06:30:00.001-08:00

Gwen was excited for her 2nd Christmas

Gift Opening at Grandma and Grandpa Erwin's

Erwin Cousins

Santa Came!

Bad reaction to Santa

Ralph Christmas...Gwen's cousins and Adam's cousin's kids

Bad Reaction to Mall Santa

Mall Playland with Ellie and Sylvie...she LOVES her big girl cousins

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!!!

"Berry Piss!"

2011-12-17T16:57:00.000-08:00

As I said in my last post, Gwen has really started to talk...well, for the last week or so she has been looking me straight in the eye saying what seems to be "Berry Piss". I know she knows the word "berry" because she loves the food, but "piss"???...that's not exactly a word I use to her or even at all. She kept saying it and I could tell she was getting frustrated that I could not figure out what she was telling me.

The other day we were at the grocery store and we saw a picture of Santa. I said, "Look Gwen, it's Santa. Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas!" in a Santa like voice impression. She said right back "Ho Ho Ho, Berry Piss!"

So, if I don't get a chance to see you before the 25th:

BERRY PISS!!!!

Gwen's Lingo

2011-12-13T18:46:00.000-08:00

Gwen has started coming up with different words and phrases that are so funny and cute to hear come from her little high pitched voice. Some of my favorites are:

"Oh, hi guys" when she holds a phone to her ear

"Oh no!" when she purposely spills milk from her sippy cup

"Diggy go?" when she searches for Diggy

"Stir, Stir, Stir" when she's eating anything in a bowl with a spoon

"Go Bye Bye" as she puts one of my huge purses on her shoulder

She's getting so big and learns so much every day. I feel like every night when Adam comes home I'm trying to remember all the new things she did or said that day. She's at such a fun age.

In other news, our house is progressing. I haven't taken a picture for a week or so but these are pictures taken in the last few weeks or the progress.

It's exciting to be able to actually see something that resembles a house rather than just a hole now :)

Thanksgiving and Other November Events

2011-11-27T20:02:00.000-08:00

Like most months, November went so fast! We have had a good month and had lots of time with our friends and family!

Gwen and Adam lounging

Gwen's playdate with Tucker and Paisley

Playland with Scarlett and Sylvie

Thanksgiving morning with Addi and Sam

We had a great Thanksgiving and got to spend it with both sides of our family, the morning with Adam's family at Jay's house in Dunlap, and the afternoon with my family at my parent's in Morton. My grandma who will be 81 this year plus 3 of my aunts and their families also came. We got lots of quality time with the Boekers in (and are getting sad that their move is approaching) and spent lots of time together at our home. I love holidays and love family get togethers. Now soooo excited that the Christmas season has begun!

Baby Boy!

2011-11-16T15:13:00.000-08:00

We found out yesterday that our baby is a boy!!! I was almost certain it would be a girl, I guess because my pregnancy has been so similar to when I was pregnant with Gwen, but I was wrong! I am so excited to see how having a boy compares to a girl.

Besides finding the sex out, everything looked great and healthy! I got a lot of comments about how he can't sit still and he's busy...just like with Gwen. I also feel him moving around a ton...just like with Gwen. If this is an indication of what he will be like once he is born, I think I will have TWO very busy, very active, young ones to keep their mom very busy :) Can't wait!

Kitchens Kitchens Kitchens

2011-11-04T16:04:00.000-07:00

We have been spending a lot of time at kitchen stores. There is so much to pick out; cabinets, floors, counters, sinks, faucets, hardware, appliances, etc. Gwen HATES these errands, haha. Our visits to these stores usually start out okay, then she starts getting bored and starts whining in the cart, then we give her a toy and she gets bored, then we give her a snack and she gets bored, then we finally resort to letting her run loose. We always leave stores with her looking like a complete rugrat-black hands and knees from playing on the gross floors, food usually on her face, clothes dirty, hair messy, the whole works. There is one store, however, that she can NOT get enough of and is sad when it's time to leave....

This store has an 11 week old puppy that comes to work with the owners. Gwen LOVES to play with it and they chase eachother around. Lucky for us, this is the place that we are buying from, so I hope they keep bringing that dog to work for our future visits. Isn't it cute??? Makes me think maybe we should get another puppy :)

Ironically, this is where she goes to sit when we get home, ontop of her kitchen. Maybe I should get her a potty chair for when we start picking out bathroom items.

Trick or Treat!

2011-10-31T17:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! Gwen is at an age where everything scares her, so this year she hasn't been the biggest fan of Halloween :) She does really like pumpkins though, so we baked a "pumpkin" and she dressed up as a pumpkin.We visited the Trick-or-Treating Adam's work had this afternoon. Initially she was having a horrible time...between the strange men saying hi to her, some of the decorations, and some of the older kids scary costumes, she basically cried for the first half hour. After someone gave her a juice box, and she got into some candy, she started thinking Halloween was pretty great.

Hope everyone else had a good Halloween. I think Gwen will be a bigger fan next year!

The Start of Our New Home

2011-10-30T17:31:00.000-07:00

We decided a few months ago when we were in Morton that we were going to build a house here in Mahomet. My dad just finished a house in Morton that he walked us through, said it was easy to build, it has plenty of room so we won't grow out of it anytime soon, and we thought it was really cute. After working on lining everything up, it finally was started at the end of last week. All that's happened is the basement was dug, but I am excited that the process has begun!

Even though we just dug a hole, we already had to spend the weekend at various stores talking with people about what we like for cabinets, counters, bathrooms, hardware, flooring, etc. We are waiting on a lot of quotes and actually already purchased tile for 2 bathrooms. It is a bit overwhelming, but we are excited and had fun!

October's Ending

2011-10-30T16:42:00.000-07:00

I can't believe October is already almost over. As you can tell, the weather at the beginning of the month when we got our pumpkins was hot and sunny. It has slowly been getting colder and colder, but we still try to make it outside as much as we can to play! Adam's been traveling to Alabama a lot for work, and since Gwen's cousins, the Boekers, are moving to Texas around Christmas, we have been going to Morton more often for her to play with them. She LOVES Sylvie, and her and Scarlett have just started to get to an age where they play. Gwen's great grandparents (my dad's mom and dad) were in Morton this past weekend, so we also got to see them this month. Besides that, we are looking forward to November. We are excited to find out if our baby's a boy or girl and for Thanksgiving!

An Anniversary, a Birthday,and a New Bed

2011-10-24T06:47:00.001-07:00

This past week Adam and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. In some ways it seems like we've been married forever, but in some ways it seems like the wedding was yesterday! We had our babysitter stay late and the two of us met after work at Kofusion (where we had our first date) for an appetizer, then went next door to Jim Gould's for dinner. GREAT food and nice to be able to eat a leisurely meal at a nice restaurant!

Then Saturday, Diggy celebrated his 4th birthday. I always knew he was a great dog and we love him soooo much, but this past year seeing how good he is to Gwen has made me feel even more lucky to have found him. Any dog that will let a toddler yank his ears, wrestle him, sit on him, etc. but still snuggles her and barks at her door if she's crying should win an award if you ask me! We got him some dog bones from the butcher counter and he has been in heaven gnawing away.

Since it was both his birthday and our anniversary, we got a present that benefits the 3 of us-a nice new huge comfy bed. Last round of my pregnancy, I had to sleep on the futon half of the time because there just wasn't room for Adam sleeping normally, Diggy laying completely horizontally, and me on my side with about a zillion pillows. So this time, we aren't living in a tiny condo and had room to get the 3 of us a nice big bed. It felt great to have so much room last night. I'm going to enjoy sleeping sprawled like a starfish on my back until the side sleeping has to start!

Gwen's First Sick Day

2011-10-12T15:23:00.000-07:00

We had a great, relaxing fall weekend. Adam, Gwen and I had Shawna over for dinner, we went to the farmers market, we made a nice dinner Saturday night, we took walks, I got to have a "day off" to go to Oakbrook to shop with my cousin Emily, etc.

Gwen has been working on getting her K-9's for awhile now, so she has been getting up pretty early and been a little fussier than usual. She's already been a bit fussier from teething, so when she got a slight cold Monday, it didn't really seem to make her act any different. Then Tuesday morning, her cold was worse and she was kind of uncomfortable when we went to storytime, but she was still acting happy, laughing, dancing, trying to take other kids' toys, etc, so I assumed she just had a cold. I laid her down for her nap, the babysitter got here, and I left for work.

When I got home, she was on the couch not playing, liquid was running out of her eyes with green goop in the corners, she was coughing, and had green snot dripping down to her lip. She looked so miserable. We took her temp and when it went to 99, we didn't even wait to finish the reading and headed to prompt care.

I assumed we would get there and they would give us something to help with her cold, but it didn't occur to me that she would have an ear infection or pink eye (I have never really seen what pink eye looks like). I felt sooooo bad! I just assumed the tiny bit of fussiness was from teething, but she had ear infections in both ears :( And I felt bad also that I had taken her to storytime and had the babysitters come, when pink eye is so contagious (I have no clue where she got it from).

Anyways, we headed to the pharmacy to get prescriptions and I called into work today to stay home with her. She has slept a lot today, is still coughing and stuffed up, but her eyes look WAY better (still a little red, but no green and not as much liquid).

I guess getting her first sickness at 14 months isn't too bad, but I wish it wasn't all of this at once!

U of I Homecoming and Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-02T15:12:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we had lots of fun with family and friends enjoying the BEAUTIFUL fall weather in the Midwest!

Saturday was U of I's homecoming football game. A lot of my college girlfriends and their husbands/boyfriends/kids came to celebrate together. We tailgated on campus for most of the day. The game started early, so we had lots of good food, drinks, and catching up (oh yeah, and listening to the football game :).

Gwen sneaking into the adult drinks cooler, yikes!
Paisley 8 months, Tucker, 6 months and Gwen 13 months "playing"

All of the girls (and Tucker)

After some tailgating, us girls went and toured our old sorority house (looks the exact same, ha) and the men were brave and took the little ones to the end of the football game! The rest of the afternoon we all did our own thing, but we met up for dinner that night. It was a great day and something that we decided should be a tradition!

Today, we met the Boekers at Rader Family Farms (a big pumpkin patch). We got there before it opened, so ended up at Avanti's for lunch to kill time. After an hour, we met my mom and dad at the farm and had a fun day.

Kristie, Cal, Sylvie, and me jumping on the huge balloon, so much fun ha!

Hayrack Ride

Gwen and Scarli in the wagon (at lunch they were sitting across from eachother going "Yaaah" and "Mmmmm" back and forth, it was so cute)

Scarlett went down the big slide!

Sylvs and Cal on a ride

Playing in the corn

We all had a really fun weekend. It's rare that all 3 of us find the same activities really fun, but I think we were successful the past 2 days!

Fall Fun!

2011-09-25T17:21:00.001-07:00

We had a great weekend full of fun fall activities! Adam got back from Alabama after 2 weeks there (minus two days home last weekend, and he has to go back tomorrow) late Thursday night, so Friday he only worked half day. We got to enjoy the weather and go for a long walk in the sun and out for lunch. After he got home for work, we met the Pletchers for Indian food at a really good little place they discovered.

Saturday morning the weather was beautiful again, so we made it to Reese's soccer game. It was cute to see her team "The Blueberries" play their game. Gwen had fun playing with all of the spare soccer balls and watching the part of the game when the parents could go out and play soccer with the kids.

After the soccer game, we picked up Shawna and Makayla to go to Curtis Orchard. It was really fun, we let the girls swing and see the little animals, we had snacks, we picked apples, etc. Makayla is about 6 months older than Gwen, but she's a little peanut and Gwen's big for her age, so they are about the same size.

Makayla was not scared to feed the goat right out of her hand, it was so cute!

Today we went to church, out for lunch, ran errands, and entered into a new phase of parenting. We think today might have been the day where Gwen entered the "Terrible Thirteen Months" (an early version of the Terrible Twos). She hit Adam a couple of times and pulled my hair. She yelled "No No No" to us after about everything we said. She fussed at everything if she didn't get her way. The grand finale was when she had her first one minute time out in her high chair, haha. We felt like we had to do something after she pulled Adam's lip, he said no, and she bit his shoulder as hard as she could. I always used to think kids learned to hit or bite from older siblings or other kids, but it is definitely instinct because she has never witnessed these types of naughty behaviors. Don't get me wrong, she was sweet and good for most of the day and is currently smiling and playing happily, but I think we have a sweet yet very feisty one on our hands :)

13 Months and Getting into Everything...Literally

2011-09-18T17:24:00.001-07:00

Gwen's busy, busy, busy and has been "getting into" things ever since she was old enough to crawl and pull herself up. Lately, though, her hobby has been REALLY getting into things. She must like to sit in small snug places because I have found her playing in suitcases, trying to get into open drawers, crawing into her armour, etc. Below are a few of the times we have actually caught her with the camera when she gets into things.

Watching TV in the toybox

Lounging in the laundry basket at Grandma and Grandpas

I have a feeling she's going to be the type of kid that has a lot of childhood injuries because she's pretty daring. Her other newest hobby is climbing. She can get onto things like beds, chairs,couches, etc. This past week she was playing with the toys in her room and I was in the living room folding laundry. I heard her start laughing and squealing happily, so I went into her room and found her standing up and bounding on the chair in her room! She was clapping and so proud, haha. I had my phone in my hand, so quick snapped a picture before I told her "No No No!" and got her down.

Never a dull moment :)

Pumpkin Fest. 2011

2011-09-18T17:08:00.003-07:00

This past week was the Morton Pumpkin Festival. I hadn't been there in 5 years, since I have lived in California, so I was excited to go back with Gwen and Adam!

Wednesday, for the kickoff, Gwen and I went and met Duvy, Paisley, and Andy and Darah and Evan to watch Sylvie in the Little Miss Pumpkin Pagaent. I let Gwen try Pumpkin Ice Cream, then we watched the show!

There definitely was some stiff competition (and kids whose moms probably practiced with them for weeks!), but Sylvie wasn't nervous at all and was just excited. We don't even think she really knew it was a competition, but more of a dance recital type event. Anyways, Sylvie didn't walk away as the Princess, BUT out of 10 girls only 3 prizes were given, and Sylvers won best costume. I did definitely think she looked the cutest, but as her aunt, I might have been a bit biased :)

Friday night we went back and had dinner at Darah and Evan's since Joanna and Eric were home from Florida. Then Saturday we headed to watch the big parade. Kristen got Mara and Gwen matching pumpkin shirts that were SOOOO cute so they were twins for the parade!

Sylvie got to be in the parade and Kristie had to walk with her. After the parade, we took the kids to the festival for some lunch, rides, and snacks. Gwen rode the merry go round and the big slide with her big cousins. Adam was excited to sample some of the pumpkin fest food, so between all of us we had a corndog, apple cider slush, pumpkin chili, porkchop sandwich, and pumpkin ice cream. I think Adam was impressed with how big and nice the Pumpkin Fest is, it's not just your average street fair!

I had more fun at the Pumpkin Fest this year than ever before. I love sharing fun things from my childhood with Gwen!

East Coast Vacation

2011-09-11T11:21:00.001-07:00

Gwen and I made it back to Illinois late last night after a great vacation. We saw and did so much in 9 days...

We had this northeast roadtrip planned for awhile, and then Hurricane Irene hit. We almost switched direction, but I'm glad we didn't! We had no problems whatsoever. We planned the trip around Gwen (to minimize the amount of time she had to spend stuck in her carseat), so we only drove 2-5 hours per day and paced ourselves. She was sooooo good thanks to lots of books, episodes of Nick Jr. shows, snacks, and naps!

We left last Friday evening, made a pitstop in Dayton, Ohio to sleep, then drove onto Pittsburgh the next day. Adam goes here for work quite a bit, so we went to his favorite restaurant there for a late lunch/early dinner and walked around the riverwalk and the city.

Sunday we spent the day in Philadelphia. We basically walked to see everything we could in one day. We saw all of the main tourist attractions (Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Love Park, etc.) then just wandered to different neighborhoods and streets that looked appealing. We ended up in a little neighborhood that I think was equivalent to Hillcrest in San Diego that had the coolest little gift shops and restaurants. We also had famous Philly Cheese Steaks for lunch! By the time we walked back to our hotel, we were worn out and it was late, so we found a Mexican restaurant closeby that had a huge patio and ended our night there.

Monday we arrived to where we spent the bulk of our time-Cape Cod. It is such a pretty unique area. There is water everywhere, but it's still very green, and very hilly. My favorite part was looking at all of the classic older homes and buildings, they are so pretty! We spent 4 days basically just exploring each part of the cape. We visited beaches, lighthouses, the little downtown areas of each town, looked in shops, ate LOTS of AWESOME seafood (thank God my nausea went away right before we got here!), took walks, went for ice cream, went swimming, etc. My favorite part of the whole cape is Provincetown, the very tip. It had the coolest little street of shops and a big nice beach. I think Adam's favorite part was when we finally saw a cranberry bog after 4 days of trying :) Gwen's favorite part was probably Cape Creamery's homemade ice cream (see below).

Our last day on the cape, we took a ferry to Martha's Vineyard. When we got there, it was cloudy and cold and after about a half hour, it started POURING. Not light drizzle, windy buckets of water falling down. Lucky for us, we were right by this adorable restaurant called Slice of Life, so we hung out there for an hour and got some coffee to warm us up, Gwen had a snack. When the rain died down, we went out to explore and ate lunch at a Jamaican restaurant that Bill and Hillary Clinton apparently frequent (pictures of them everywhere :). We went back outside and it was PERFECTLY sunny and warm. We got to spend the rest of the day walking along the beach and looking at the beautiful houses, parks, water, etc. in the sunshine. I was hoping to see a Kennedy or Maria Shriver, but no such luck :/

Finally Friday we headed to Boston. We spent the whole day sightseeing, mainly just following Freedom Trail. We also walked to the Boston Common and to Beacon Hill where the Cheers Bar is at. This area had the coolest restaurants and home decor shops and awesome townhouses. I was surprised at how pretty and nice Boston is. Very clean with awesome buildings and parks.

Saturday we spent our last half day of vacation in Cambridge, MA. We went to Harvard and walked around the campus and Harvard Square, did a little shopping, ate a really good lunch, and Gwen and I headed to the airport.

Adam stayed on the go for a work trip, but Gwen and my flights home went fine. She was really good and slept the whole second flight and drive home. Then we got home, and she was ready to party with her toys! Today we went grocery shopping, but besides that I am doing laundry galore and letting her just play at home all day. We had a great vacation and saw so much, but it always feels good to be home!

The End of Summer and My First Trimester

2011-09-11T11:02:00.001-07:00

Time flies! I absolutely can't believe that 9/11 was ten years ago...so sad watching the memorials this morning. It made me remember how lucky I am to wake up every day and be in good health and have my little family here with me!

And I am very happy that our little family of 4 (3 people + Diggy) is going to be a family of 5 this spring! I am about 12 weeks pregnant, and this pregnancy is going so fast! My due date is March 29. I finally feel pretty back to normal (not so tired and grossed out by all foods). We are excited to see if Gwen will have a brother or sister!

This pregnancy probably has flown because it was a busy summer. We tried to savor the last few pool days we could and are still spending time outside very often before the weather starts to turn!

Sylvie's birthday party

Jason had to be the backdrop for the game :)

Going down the slide!

We will miss you, Pool!

My Baby's 1st Birthday

2011-08-18T18:11:00.000-07:00

I can not believe it was a whole year ago that Gwen was born, however, looking back at pictures, it's unbelievable how much she's grown in 1 short year!

We started getting cards in the mail yesterday, and she got her first gift from Aunt Katie in the mail. We played with it all afternoon!

Today Gwen must have been excited to celebrate because she was up and at 'em before 6am :) We spent the morning eating pancakes, going for a walk, going to the park, and making some stuff for her party.

Adam got home from his business trip, and we took her to the mall to ride the caroussel.

We finished the day by getting her Dairy Queen and playing with Diggs.
Funny how such simple things made her day great! The celebrations continue this weekend, as we have company coming tomorrow, and her party Saturday!

Happy, happy birthday Gwen. You are the best little girl I could ever imagine having and I love you more than anything! What a great year you have given us!!!!

August 2011

2011-08-18T17:57:00.001-07:00

Summer's close to being over already, but we are still enjoying it!

We have got to hang out with Gwen's cousins from both sides. We got to go watch Mara's horseback riding lessons, and Allie came to visit, so we spent a day with her!

We go to the pool A LOT!

We went to the farm park and Gwen loved seeing the animals.

Gwen's favorite activity is just playing at home, haha. She loves Diggy, dolls, books, rolling her ball, playing with kitchen utensils, Nick Jr., anything that makes noise, getting into everything (toilets and Diggy's dog food included), making messes, swinging, dancing, etc. She keeps me VERY busy because she is constantly in motion!

We love summer!

Family Visit

2011-07-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

Katie's family was in Illinois for 3 weeks, but between her trip with her inlaws to NYC, our trip to the Ozarks, and us having to work, we had only seen them at the beginning of their trip. To celebrate Katie and Kristie's birthday and Ellie's birthday, we went home for the weekend. We basically had meals, pool time, play time, and walks, but it was a great weekend!

The Roleys are back in AZ now, safe and sound. It was good to see you guys and have lots of QT together!

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-04T13:26:00.001-07:00

Well, we actually celebrated Independence Day on July 3. The Morton fireworks are always the day before the 4th, and you can see them from my parents house, so they have a party every year. Katie's family was home from AZ, and this was the first year since I have been married that we have been home for the 4th. It was lots of fun. There were lots of families, food, drinks, and fireworks! Diggy was scared again, and Gwen went to bed before the big show, but it was a good time.

Happy 4th of July!

June 2011

2011-07-04T13:09:00.001-07:00

June flew by; here are some of the highlights!

Bayer got married! It was such a fun wedding. We had the best time with my girlfriends and their husbands/boyfriends. Courtney looked sooooo pretty and it was such a nice wedding. Lucky for us, my cousin Emily lives close to where the wedding was and babysat Gwenna. We were able to have a fun night and be there when she woke up in the morning! Adam had his first Father's Day. We spent the Saturday before with his dad at Robin's house enjoying a really nice brunch. Then on Father's Day, we went to Morton for the morning and came back to Mahomet and went out to dinner with just the 3 of us. There are lots of little festivals in the Champaign area during summer. This one was the Blues, Brews, and BBQ festival. Strangely, the weekend of this festival it was very fall-ish weather. Adam liked the food there! I got sushi afterwards :)

Gwen is getting so old and taking her places gets more and more fun, yet more and more difficult :) She has so much fun but gets into EVERYTHING! Being outside is a challenge because she can't stay put and puts everything into her mouth. I love her adventurous, spunky personality! She loves animals so we thought she'd like this horse at the mall, but it wasn't her favorite activity!

Lexie came to stay with us for a couple of days. It was so nice having her here! If I wasn't only 27, I would wish I had a 14 year old daughter :) She was such a help and is so good with little kids. We went out to meals and frozen yogurt, took walks, went shopping a bit, went swimming, etc.

Bring on the Heat!

2011-06-06T16:24:00.000-07:00

While most people are complaining about the heat and humidity, I am LOVING it. I love the fact that it feels like summer! Warm weather makes for so many more activities to do with Gwen and we are taking advantage! Every night we take a walk or bike ride, we go to the park, we swing in the backyard, we grill out for dinner, we swim, etc.

Our weekend consisted of not only enjoying the weather but also attending dance recitals both days :) Friday night we went to Reese and Mara's recital in Champaign (we also got a babysitter and go to go to a nice dinner before, outside of course :). Then Saturday we went to Bloomington to Sylvie's. We took Gwen to this one, and she LOVED it. I thought she might fuss and we might have to take her out a lot, but she loved the lights, music, glitsy costumes, and dancing.

We had a great week, and now we are excited for next weekend...my friend Bayer's wedding in Chicago, which pretty much is a Kappa reunion :)

End of May

2011-05-23T11:39:00.000-07:00

As always, the weather in the midwest is so unpredictable. There have been lots of storms, so we are trying to take advantage of every minute that it's warm and not raining!
Last week was Sylvie's preschool graduation, so Gwen and I got to go. Cal's in the same preschool, so all of the classes sang some songs. It was really cute.

Today it has been very warm outside and it's supposed to rain later, so we spent the whole morning outside. After story time, we went for a long walk, then got home and Gwen had lunch outside. Then we swang and she splashed in her pool.

We are excited that after a long winter, summer has arrived!

Current Events...

2011-05-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy! Here are a few updates:

1. The Royal Wedding I had been anticipating for so long finally took place. I got up early and watched coverage all day long. It didn't disappoint! Kate was a beautiful bride!!!

2. My mom, Kristie, and cousin Emily came to visit last Saturday. We had a girls night, then Sunday had a full day of events planned before we went to see Legally Blonde at Assembly Hall. Well, we ate lunch, got pedicures, ate frozen yogurt and then went to the mall to meet my cousin Shelby and Aunt Carol. After shopping for awhile, we were waiting for Carol to pay outside of Forever 21 when a sea of people started running at us and screaming that there was a man with a gun. I have never been so scared in my life, seeing all the people who looked so scared and not knowing where this guy with a gun was. We all just ran...Kristie, my mom, and I to the back of Forever 21 and out the employee exit, Emily and Shelby to Gap (they were trapped in the back room there for about an hour), and Carol got stuck in Forever 21 before the shut the back exit. After the police cleared the mall and released people, we got as far away from the mall as we could. After seeing the news, we found out that it was in relations to gang members from Milwauke coming down to Champaign because they were after some guy because a drug deal went wrong. The victim was shot at multiple times and the gunman was shot by a police officer. It was such a scary experience that I hope I never have to be involved with again.

3. Gwen and I went on a mother/daughter trip to Tucson. We got there late Wednesday night and came back yesterday. She was soooooo good on the flights and LOVED swimming. Her cousins were so nice to her and she had fun playing with some of their big kid toys. We really had fun spending time with the Roleys and enjoying the summer weather!

Great start to May! Summer is so close!

Easter Weekend

2011-04-25T13:38:00.000-07:00

After Adam being gone M-Th two weeks in a row, it was nice that he had Good Friday off from work. We went out for sushi and Gwen loved playing with chopsticks. She also got to try some tofu, avocado, and I let her suck on some pickled ginger. Surprisingly, she loved the ginger!
Sunday we had a busy day. We went to Adam's dad's house in Kincaid to meet up with his family in the morning, and my family came to our house in the afternoon.

We thought it was funny because Scarlett and Gwen are finally seeming close in age. We took the kids to the park to play and they had fun.

The rest of the evening, they colored, did an egg hunt and we grilled out dinner!

Hope Easter was good for everyone!

Great Spring Week!

2011-04-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun week, and we saw so many of the people we love to see!

Last Thursday Reese came over to play with Gwen. She is so sweet with her. She told me very proudly that she thinks people think Gwenna is her little sister when they see them together :)
We went to the park and Gwen loved the swing there. We got a swing for our backyard too! She loves being outside, but once we think it's staying nice, it gets cold or rainy again!

Gwen has so many fun things to do at our house, but her FAVORITE thing to do and her favorite toy is her wipe box! I swear, every time I turn my head for 1 second she has every wipe we own sprawled all over the floor!

We finally got to meet baby Paisley!!! She is 2 months old now but still sooooo little. When I picked her up, she felt like a feather compared to Gwen. It was so fun having them for the day. I got us drinks from the coffee shop, we hung out all morning at our house and caught up, went out for lunch, and for a walk with the girls. Pais is such a good baby too. They were the perfect <1 yr old pair to hang out with :)

Adam, Gwen and I went to Chicago all weekend. I couldn't ask for a better place to visit just 2 hours away that is home to so many people I love to see! Andrea's mom Kristen has a business called Kitchenistas that is just so much fun. She comes to your home and does cooking classes for you and your friends. Our topic was soups and stews and I learned a lot, had some drinks, and ate some really good food. It was so fun to catch up with my girlfriends. I hadn't seen Pope or Ford for 2+ years! Before the class, Ford (a photographer) took Gwen's pictures and I can't wait to see the results!

We stayed with Auntie Emily (really Gwen's second cousin, my first cousin, Gwen's Godmother, but we call her "Aunt"). Her apartment is in such a great location with a beautiful view.

We walked to Navy Pier. The weather was cold and rainy, but we brought Gwen's stroller rain shield and dressed for the cold. We ate lunch, met DD and Amy, went to a really neat grocery store/cafe for coffee, and hung out! That night we met Emily's boyfriend Eric for dinner at a restaurant right at the base of her building. It had good food and drinks and was perfect for having a baby on a rainy day!

What a great week! The only downfall was the tornado sirens going off last night. Adam's out of town again, and the news said to take cover, so Gwen, Diggy and I sat in the closet for about an hour just to be safe :) Even though the tornado has passed, I was scared to have Gwen sleep in her crib (right near a window), so I put up the pack in play in my room and we had a slumber party.

Tomorrow evening starts a holiday weekend, and I am so excited to see Darah and Evan for dinner!

April's Beginning

2011-04-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

April is here and so is SPRING weather!!! Sometimes it's warm and sunny, sometimes there are tornados, sometimes it snows. That's the midwest, but we take warm weather when we can take it!!! Gwen eating some fruit in the nude to keep the clothes clean! First bike ride!

Auntie Panichi came to visit!!!! They had fun playing!

Panichi got through to Andy Cohen on WWHL on Bravo! We were so excited. We had a good question, but the lady told her what to ask, haha. We took what we could get!

Ready for dinner with Dad for his 30th birthday! Of course, we went out for Mexican, Adam's favorite. Gwen loves Mexican restaurants because the servers pay so much attention to her!

Great start to spring! We also went to Kincaid to visit Adam's dad and Carol. They cooked an awesome lunch (Carol makes her own pasta and made a DELICOUS soup from her homemade tortellini and Steve grilled Asian chicken breasts, yum!) and Gwen was so good playing at their house. We have had a fun filled April so far and are excited to go on a trip to Chicago next weekend!

Birthday Parties!

2011-04-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, happy 30th birthday to Adam!!!! We had his party awhile ago, but tonight we are going for Mexican food! We have had two fun birthday parties in the past two weeks. Mara Schick had her first birthday party last weekend in Morton. They had it in a gym with bounce houses and all kinds of kid cars and toys. It was so cute, Gwen sat on a little car and Mara (who's learning to walk) held onto the back and pushed her all around the gym. They had a great time!!!! We did too! Saturday we went to Adam Pletcher's 40th birthday party. It was 80's themed so everyone dressed up. Robin has so many cool decorations and details in the party. It was really fun!

In other news, we moved into our new place. Thank you to everyone who helped! We are finally getting settled!

Spring has Sprung...for a few days anyhow!

2011-03-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

It is officially spring and the weather this week has actually been so nice! I don't think it's supposed to last, so we have really been taking advantage! We have spent a lot of time on walks, and lucky for me, Gwen loves being outside. Thursday was St. Patty's day and we spent the day running errands (in green of course), we met Adam for lunch, and we had corned beef and cabbage for dinner.

Saturday-Sunday we watched the Pletcher kids while Robin and Adam P. went to visit friends in Indianapolis. Mara and Nolan had lots of fun having Adam give them rides on his skateboard (Adam had just as much fun with it :). Reese LOVES to play with Gwenna, Mara loves playing with Gwen and Diggy, and Nolan had fun playing games with Adam. We spent most of Saturday afternoon at Lake of the Woods Park in Mahomet, which was really fun. We climbed the bell tower, hiked around, played in the playground, road skateboards/walked over the lake on the bridge, etc. It's a really cool park and so close to where we live.

Gwen is starting to think she's really old, haha. It's funny how when she does certain things, she almost knows to be proud and feels cool. Some of her new "cool" things are clicking her tongue, vibrating/making spitting noises with her lips, and saying DADADADA and GAGAGAGA. She can't crawl yet, but she doesn't stay put anywhere, she either is moving around in her walker or scooting on her tummy. The only problem is she can only go backwards so once she hits a wall or couch, she gets stuck :)

The only other new thing going on is I finally went to the doctor for my wrist problems (for those of you who don't know, I've been having increasing pain since I've had Gwen) and found out I have what is called dequervain's tendonitis (you can google it). I have to go to physical therapy 2x per week for a month to get this treatment called ASTYM (you can google that too, it's hard to explain). Then they put these steroid topical patches on my wrists. I'm not going to lie, it's PAINFUL and leaves me looking like this. The picture actually makes it look better than it does in person. I have to wear long sleeves so people don't think I'm getting beat up. I don't really know if this is even helping, but I am trying it out. I go back to the orthopedic doctor in April, and if this doesn't work, I think I have to start getting steroid shots...yikes!

Things are good though, and we are sooooo excited that the winter is behind us and we can do so much fun stuff with Gwen outside!

Fairies and Family!

2011-03-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to Morton for various stuff with my family. On Friday night we went to La Fiesta with the Boekers and my parents, Saturday morning we went to Sylvie and Cal's soccer game (soooo funny!), then Saturday afternoon we went a charity luncheon Kristie's friend helped organize through Peoria Junior League. All the little girls wore fairy wings and it was decorated SOOOOO cutely! Gwen had fun watching all the bigger fairies.

She got tired when we got home!

We are so happy we turned the clock forward. Gwen, Diggy and I have major spring fever! We bundled up and ventured out for a walk the other day. I put her in the umbrella stroller because Adam was gone with our good stroller in his car. I could tell she felt so cool!

It stayed light until almost 7 tonight! Now we are just ready for the warmer weather!!!!

Adam's 30th Birthday Party

2011-03-06T18:25:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had a get together in honor of Adam turning 30. My mom came on Thursday to help me with Gwenna while I shopped, cooked, cleaned, and went to a few appointments. Saturday the guests arrived and we just enjoyed a lot of food, drinks, and conversation.

Adam, Gwen, and I loved having everybody here! Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate :)

February's Flying!

2011-02-23T06:16:00.001-08:00

Where has the month gone? We have been so busy and had stuff every weekend! To sum it up, we had Addison's birthday party, Cal's birthday party, a birthday dinner for my mom, Gwen and I spend Valentine's Day in Morton (Adam was out of town for work, so we baked cupcakes with cousins and ate Chinese with Gma and Gpa :), we went out to eat for my 27th birthday, Gwenna turned 6 months old (soooo sad how fast it has gone), then we had a really nice dinner out with Robin and Adam, and Leighton's second birthday party. The rest of Feb and March aren't any less busy, but it's fun to have so much stuff to do!

On a side note, Sylvie is in the hospital with pnemonia...she's doing better but it takes time for her breating to get back to normal....poor Sylvers. She is so sensitive and sweet and it makes me so sad to think how scared she is to have to be in the hospital :(

2011-02-20T20:42:00.001-08:00

Snow Day!!!

2011-02-02T15:26:00.000-08:00

Adam and I both had a snow day today! We knew last night, so it was a great mid-week treat! When we went to bed it was pouring snow and pellet like sleet, and when we woke up, we had a huge snow drift at both doors! The news pretty much said everything's closed and there's too many places to list, so just call where you're planning on going to see if it's even open :)

I could use a No Work Wednesday every week! When you have nowhere to go, and a husband to help you with the baby, you can be so much more productive. We made breakfast and drank coffee/watched the news, I cleaned the whole house while Adam watched Gwen, I worked out, Gwen and I showered/had bath time, Adam shoveled the driveway/patio, us girls baked apple raisin crumb cake, and now I'm preparing to make salmon pasta primavera and Adam's mixing himself a whiskey drink after he got in from the cold.

People keep telling us we are crazy to move from the warm to midwest weather, but today I'm thinking, you don't get snow days in San Diego :)

Hope everybody's staying warm!

Welcome Paisley!!!

2011-02-01T15:57:00.000-08:00

Gwen has a new playmate....my college roomate, Duvy (Jessica) and her husband Andy had their first baby girl, Paisley Anne. She was 2 weeks early and only a little over 6 pounds. I talked to Duvy today and they're doing great! Gwen and her are a little under 6 months apart, so hopefully they will be fun playmates (and their parents will be happy to have another family to go on vacations with :). So excited to meet Paisley. Congrats Robertson Family!

Life Lesson Learned!!!!!!!

2011-01-25T19:00:00.000-08:00

Just a short note to say your prayers for my cousin Courtney's friend Brittany...I was home last Wednesday evening-Saturday because Adam was out of town and I was planning on going to Scarlett's birthday party on Friday. I was happy because I got on the road right after work and made it in time to meet my mom, sister, cousin, and aunt for their weekly girls night out to La Fiesta on Wednesdays. Some of my mom and Julie's friends came, one of Kristie's friends came, and Court's friend came. Kristie and I commented the next day on how nice and fun Brittany is!

Saturday I was driving back to Champaign with Gwen and was in stand still traffic and SUPER ANNOYED. It took me 1 hour to get the 10 mile distance on I-74 between Carlock and Bloomington because of an accident, which made it take me over 2 hours to make what is usually a 1 hour drive. I had the "poor me mentality" because I knew Gwennie would wake up and scream because she was due to eat, but to my surprise, she slept the whole time, which she never does anymore.

Later that day I found out Courtney's friend Brittany had been in an accident, and it was the same accident Gwen and I were stuck in. 2 people in the car died, she was severely injured, but somehow made it through the accident.

I had a horrible feeling go through my body as I made the connection that it was the same accident we sat through. I had been sitting in traffic selfishly thinking about how long it was taking me to get home, when someone I new was being rescued from a horrible, horrible accident.

I will always think differently when I'm stuck in traffic for an accident from now on. While people sit in their cars complaining because they're late for (fill in the blank), someone's life might be being saved, which is way more important than being on time!

Play Dates and Parties

2011-01-24T13:52:00.001-08:00

We had a busy last week of playdates and parties. Of course, Gwen and Diggy play together every day (Gwen can almost sit up unsupported...she can like this for a few minutes then topples over).
Thursday we headed to Morton for Scarlett's first birthday. Kristie had to work, so we went over to their house and watched her, made cupcakes, and played!

Mara and Kristen came over to play too :)

That night (Scarlett's real birthday) my mom made dinner and we had cupcakes to celebrate.

Friday Leighton came over to play!

Friday night was Scarlett's real birthday. We had yummy Italian food and got to see Scarlett open present and eat her cake!

Saturday we came back to Champaign for Robin's winter party. She had great food and a lot of friends over.

Busy but fun weekend!

2011 Starting Off Good

2011-01-14T06:09:00.000-08:00

We have had a busy two weeks! I started my job and really think I'm going to like it. It's nice to have an excuse to get ready and be around other adults, but I think it's the perfect amount of hours because I am SOOOO ready to get home to Gwen and appreciate our full days together so much more! Tuesdays (my full day) I will be leading group discussions/classes for pregnant ladies in their second trimester, and Wednesday afternoons I will be filling in at the walk in clinic, which I have witnessed is very very busy. It was so fun seeing all of the little kids (babies-5 year old). I picked up a babies carrier that was 3 days old and I couldn't believe how light it was...Gwen's grown up so fast!

My first week at work my mom came to watch Gwennie. They had fun playing. This week her college babysitter came and I think she'll be great!

Gwen had another doctor appointment and her second round of immunizations. Luckily that was when my mom was here so I didn't have to watch her get shots by myself. She did great and only cried for a little bit. She was completely healthy, hitting all of the milestones, and was 27 inches long/16 pounds. That puts her in the 99% for length, 83% for weight, and 90% for head circumference. I guess with her two little teeth, she looks more like a 7 month old than a 5 month old :)

We also started her on rice cereal. She does really well with it. The first few times it was more spitting out and getting her used to the spoon in her mouth, but she now knows to open her mouth when the spoon is coming and LOVES watching me take "bites" of the food and act like we are sharing, haha. Now that the holidays are over we had some free time to hang out with the Pletchers. Last weekend they came over one night for dinner and Adam P. hooked up their new video game that is controller free. It was really fun to watch. They did a river rafting game and a dance game. Reese was so cute doing the Poker Face routine :)

Sunday night we went over to their house for sushi. Instead of ordering it, we made it! Robin got Adam a sushi mat and book for Christmas so they prepared all of the ingredients to make our own rolls. We were surprised how good looking they turned out. These are the leftovers. Robin made homemade miso soup too. It was just as good as any restaurant I have been to.

I hope everyone else's new year has started off to a good start too!

Goodbye 2010

2011-01-02T16:15:00.002-08:00

Well, 2010 is officially history. Kristie and Jason had a little get together at their house, so we spent NYE day getting ready for that. K&K and I went to Dixons and the grocery store to shop, then went home to do some cooking. Gwen is sooo happy when I have her in the baby bjorn and am cooking, so she "helped" me make some appetizers.

Kristie and I setting up
My 2 sisters and me

Adam and me

Some of my fave Morton friends

What a great year it was! I'd have to say that this probably was the best year of my life. August 18, 2010 being the best DAY of my life. Can't wait for many many many more years with my little Gwenna Blue!

Shower for Katie and Duvy

2011-01-02T16:06:00.001-08:00

2 of my college roomates are pregnant and due within a month of eachother. Duvy's due in February and Katie's due in March. Since they both live out of state, we planned a little shower for them while they were both off of work for the holidays. Panichi hosted the shower at her apartment in Chicago. Lexie came with me to help with Gwen on the car ride. It was fun to get together with everyone! Can't wait for their babies to be born!

My 4 college roomies (and some of the best friends I know!)

2 moms to be

Lex and Gwennie

Panichi and Duvy with Gwen

Thanks for your hospitality Panichi!!! Love your new apartment, soooo cute! Gwenna and I love visiting and will hopefully be back soon when the snow is clear so we can explore your fun neighborhood!

Extended Families

2011-01-02T15:48:00.000-08:00

We got to get together with both my mom's family and some of my dad's family for Christmas. Since both families have gotten so big and we all have our own families now, we try to plan a get together a week before of after Christmas every year.

My dad's parents came to Morton on their way to Florida for the winter. They had my cousin Tierney with them. Julie's family came over, so it was a pretty big group. My mom made a turkey dinner and we all just hung out.

We go to Iowa City every year to my aunt Lori's "barn" which is always fun. These are all of my grandma's great grandkids. My Grandma Filloon is in the background. She turned 80 on Christmas Eve.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T15:18:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas this year. It's hard to believe last year I was feeling a little under the weather because I was newly pregnant, and now this year we have our baby with us to celebrate the holidays.

We spent the night of the 23rd and all day on the 24th in Indiana with the Ralph family. We had a fun day of Santa visiting (Gwen had to miss that this year, she fell asleep RIGHT before he arrived), then watching some of the kids open gifts from their godparents, then doing the adult gift exchange, then eating a nice dinner.

Christmas morning we got up and hit the road, stopped in Mahomet to shower, do a load of laundry, and repack, then headed to Morton. Once the Boekers were done with Jason's Christmas, we started our night. We ate appetizers while the kids opened all of their gifts from my parents and from their cousins/aunts, then we had dinner, then us adults exchanged gifts and opened gifts from my mom and dad.

Joanna's in town from Florida, so last night we got together to eat dinner at Darah and Evan's. Gwen got to meet Jo and Eric and we got to catch up in person!

We had a great year celebrating Gwen's first Christmas!

Teeth!

2010-12-22T09:13:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, Gwenna started been a little crankier than usual and we were trying to come up with reasons why. After trying a few things, I started noticing that she was slobbering a lot and putting my hands and hers to her mouth immediately when they were free...all signs of teething. I looked it up, and usually babies don't teeth until a few months later, but when I looked in her mouth, I could see her bottom middle gums were a bit swollen and I could see something under the surface. People warned me that it can take up to a month for a tooth to cut through, which makes for a fussy baby, but last week, her first tooth popped up! The fussiness continued and 3 days later, the second one cut through. I hear the top ones come in pretty soon after the bottom ones, so we will see if her little teething stage continues. I feel bad for her, she's so little still to go through pain :(
We spent last weekend at my mom and dad's and went to Iowa Saturday for my mom's family Christmas party at "The Barn"....Katie and her family got here from AZ early enough to come. I forgot my camera, but hopefully will get some from my sisters later. It was a fun party and of course, Aunt Carol entertained us all by dressing up as an elf for the little kids. She was made to be a preschool teacher!

Monday Reese and Nolan came over while Robin took Mara to an appointment. Reese was so cute with Gwen. She kept wanting to try different headbands, socks, and clothes on her. We had fun playing dress-up!

Tuesday Katie, Kristie, my mom, and the kids all came to visit. The kids played house with Gwen's dolls and her crib and baby gear, us older adults chatted, and Scarlett and Gwen observed it all! I didn't realize how wimpy Gwen is, but about 3 times, a kid would make a loud noise and she would startle and start screaming! I think she needs to get used to noise because in both of our families, there are a lot of kids around all the time!

Tomorrow we leave for our Christmas traveling. Evansville for Adam's Christmas, then Morton for my Christmas, then Chicago for a baby shower, then back to Morton to ring in the new year!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2010-12-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

Besides coming home for Christmas and having it be snow covered when we arrive, I haven't experienced the whole process of watching out the window and having it look normal then snow covered an hour later in more than 3 years (for Adam, 5 years). So this past weekend when we got a LOT of snow, it was exciting for us! It made me get into the holiday spirit!

Just in the past week, Gwen has gotten to be so much older acting! She plays with her toys by herself and just bounces and squeals and giggles at them. She loves her playmat still, but now also bounces in her excersaucer, grabs at things on tables, loves to have dolls "talk" to her, loves to look at books and cartoons/children shows, etc.

She's having some major physical changes too. We started noticing she's losing her dark hair (she's getting bald spots in the back, haha) and her legs and arms are starting to feel more solid! Our main news is that last week she started fussing and after putting the pieces to the puzzle together (drool, fussiness, sucking fingers), I looked and noticed a little something that looks like it's budding in her bottom gums. I thought I might be imagining it, but my sister's kids got teeth super early (about 4 months). Poor Gwennie, I hope her first tooth cuts through fast. Until then, we are bff's with her teether, oragel, and infant tylenol!

Thanksgiving/Gwen's Baptism

2010-11-28T12:20:00.000-08:00

We've had a busy weekend that included two major family events: Thanksgiving and Gwen's baptism.

On Thanksgiving, we spent the morning over at Jay and Steph's house. Gwen and her cousins were dressed in color coordinating outfits, so we had to take a picture :) They sure love hanging out with eachother!

After that, we came to my mom and dad's for the rest of the day. We did what you usually do on Thanksgiving, ate a lot and sat around chatting/watching Thanksgiving specials and games on TV. Friday we skipped most of the shopping madness, but did make it to Target and Bed Bath Beyond. That night we stopped over to see Darah and Evan's new home and ordered food.

Saturday was Gwenna's big baptism! Aunt Carol had everyone over beforehand for apps and wine, then we went to mass, then an after party with food, drinks, and gifts! We had a fun day!

Thanks to everyone who came! We are excited to see most of you all again during the weeks surrounding Christmas!

Busy Weekend

2010-11-15T09:59:00.000-08:00

We had a busy but fun weekend.

Friday night we met Darah and Evan in Bloomington for dinner...

Saturday we did some shopping, got Gwen's 3 month pictures taken, and went to happy hour. My friend Lawley was in Champaign with her dad for Dad's Weekend at U of I (her sister is a senior). I hadn't seen Lawley since her wedding in May so it was good to catch up!

Sunday, we were going to Morton to do laundry and for our Sunday night family dinner, but our car was having some problems. Adam spent the morning fixing our car, and by noon we were off to Morton. We had a nice day hanging out with my mom and dad and the Boekers, then the Bates family came over. It's so nice to be able to drive home in 1 day and be back home (or in a hotel in our case, haha) to go to sleep.

Before we left for Morton, I was getting Gwen ready to go and Adam caught her attention and she sure thought it was funny!

Malls, Malls, Malls

2010-11-08T11:14:00.000-08:00

This weekend Gwen and I spent a LOT of time at malls, but that was alright with us!

Friday night we met Duvy, Andrea, and Panichi for dinner at Oakbrook, so Duvy and I arrived a little early to do some shopping. Adam had a rental car he had to return to Midway, so Duvy and I picked him up at the airport and he drove us all back. It worked out well that we got an errand out of the way but got to see friends while doing it!

Saturday we had some returns to make so hung out at the mall here in Champaign. After shopping, we took Gwen swimming and got some dinner. It was a cold day, so we took advantage of the fancy fireplace in our hotel and made a fire :)

Sunday morning, we were up very early with the time change! Babies don't get the memo to sleep in an extra hour apparently :) We got ready for Gwen's cousins to come for a day visit. We met the Boekers at the mall, Adam and Jason left to go golfing, we did a little shopping and let the kids play in the play area, got some frozen yogurt, and Sylvie and Cal swam. It was a very fun day and weekend!

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Halloween Weekend! Friday Adam's friend Swiss came to visit so we went out to dinner, then Saturday Gwennie and I went to Morton while Adam and Swiss stayed in Champaign for the Illini/Purdue game. My mom had a little autumn get together with some of her friends, so Gwenna and I went to that. She got to wear her tutu and "wickedly cute" shirt Aunt Carol gave her! It was very cute!

Sunday we spent Halloween with the Boekers. Adam came, we went to La Fiesta, then got the kids in their costumes. It was pretty cold out, so we stayed at Kristie's to hand out candy while she took her older kids around Trick or Treating. Gwen was a Bumble Bee, Scarlett was a Pumpkin, Sylvie was a Lady Bug, and Cal was a Star Wars guy. Afterwards, we ate soups with the Bates's. I was so happy to be back for a fun kid holiday!

I stayed in Morton Monday because my friend Duvy was in Peoria for work. She's preggo and due in February. My mom babysits Kristie's kids on Monday, so we all just hung out!

I can't believe it's November! Here are all of my October pictures.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbM3DRi0cuWYM

Splashing!!!!!

2010-10-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

Our First Weekend in Champaign

2010-10-25T11:24:00.001-07:00

So far, things here have been going well! We have had a lot to do, but had some time for fun this weekend!

Friday night my mom and dad came, they looked at the house we like, and we went out to dinner. When we got home, the movie Grease was on...it was so funny, Gwen's eyes were glued to the TV! Just like Katie, Kristie, and I, we LOVED that movie and watched it a zillion times!

Saturday we ran errands, went to the mall, and went over to Adam and Robin's for dinner. It is really nice that even though we are new to town, we already have someone we know! Adam grilled some food, we had some drinks, caught up, and got to see Reese, Mara, and Nolan. They are so grown up, it's sad to think how little they were when I started babysitting them!

Sunday, we got up and went for a long walk to a restaurant to meet up with Bayer, who was in town for homecoming. It's always fun to see her and get the gossip! When we got back to our hotel, we decided to take Gwen swimming for the first time. It was so cute, at first she was getting used to it and just stayed really close to Adam, but after she figured out that she liked it, she started kicking her legs and arms and splashing. I knew she liked baths, so figured she'd like swimming. I'm excited because one thing Adam and I both like to do is go to a pool or to the beach, so I hope she continues to like swimming!

Now, Gwenna, Diggy and I are home alone playing and hanging out (we only have 1 rental car, haha AND I forgot to get the stroller out of the trunk today, uggghhhh!)...Adam started his new job today. I really hope he likes it and that the following weeks are as good as our first!!!!

Three Year Anniversary!

2010-10-22T05:50:00.000-07:00

The 20th was our third wedding anniversary. We celebrated by going out to the restaurant we went on our first date to. Neither of us had been back since, but it was really good and fun. Of course, this time we had an extra on our date!

Best third wheel in the world :)

Farewell San Diego, Hello Champaign!

2010-10-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

It's official...we left our home in SD and moved to Illinois. While I am so sad to leave the great climate we lived in, our wonderful condo/neighborhood, our jobs, and our friends; I am really happy to be moving closer to where our family and friends and roots are! I found out I was moving back 10 days after the return from my trip home with Gwen, so it was so rushed and chaotic! We had a lot to do but made the most of our time in Cali!

We tried to fit in a trip to our favorite hang outs! We didn't make it to all of them, but did things like take walks every day, got coffee at the Lion daily, got self serve Frozen Yogurt, and went to some of our favorite restaurants. Tin Fish has been our go to spot for good seafood, good drinks, sun, entertainment, etc, so we definitely made a point to go there!

We got together with our friends for a Purdue game/BBQ afternoon at Joe and Leigh's. Gwen had just had her 2 month checkup and weighed 11.5 lbs...this dish of pasta salad Joe bought was 10 lbs. We compared the difference :)
Diggs and Gwen and me had some QT at our home. Gwenna is becoming stronger and stronger with her "tummy time"...She wants to hold her neck up and does so well but once she gets tired, she gets mad!

Last Friday the movers came and packed up everything from our condo. We took 5 suitcases on the plane with us, plus Gwennie and Diggy, so we were loaded! It was sad to leave, but it was SOOOO fast and so chaotic that we barely had time to realize we were sad...I will miss our life in SD a lot! We had such a great time being newly weds and new parents there, but home is where our hearts are :)

Once we got to IL, we stayed with my mom and dad for awhile in Morton. We got to have Sunday night family dinner at the Bates's, we had a playdate with Mara and Kristen, my dad and Adam worked on one of my dad's rental houses, we went shopping, and we went over to Uncle Jay's house to hang out with his family and eat our favorite food...Avantis

We got up Wednesday and came to our temporary living situation in Champaign! We are staying in a hotel for a month and then, if we need to, we can rent Robin's mother in law's house while she is in Florida for the winter. We have a few houses we really like, so my mom and dad are coming tomorrow to check them out. We are excited to have a new home but the good thing is that we are in no rush because we have nice places to stay until we buy a house!

Illinois!

2010-10-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

Well, it's not a secret anymore...we are moving back to Illinois! Adam got a job offer in Champaign, IL! I would have never thought I would live in Champaign again (where I went to college), but it is absolutely perfect for us! Gwen and I were so proud of Adam.

Before I knew we were moving, I had planned an 11 day trip to Illinois so decided to still go. We had so much fun! We spent a few days in Chicago staying at my cousin Emily's apartment. Gwen got to meet her Godmother Em, lots of my college friends, got to shop on Michigan Ave, eat out at restaurants, etc. Aunt Kristie came for Saturday and then drove us back to Morton

Our week in Morton was very busy. My grandparents were here Sunday-Tuesday so we hung out with them and the Bates, we went over to play with Kristen and Mara, we visited Darah and Evan's apartment, we hung out with the Boeker cousins every day, we went to the apple orchard, Grandma and Grandpa Erwin spent a lot of time snuggling Gwennie and helping me out, I got to go for a mani/pedi with Kristen, we had a girls night out to La Fiesta, etc.

Saturday my mom's whole family came! Of course there was tons of talking (LOUD :), laughing, food, and fun. There is never a dull moment when the Filloon family gets together! It was fun to see my grandma, aunts, and cousins!

Saturday night Adam came! Since we are moving back, he came to look for houses. We went to Robin's house in Mahomet to hang out with the Ralph family for the day on Sunday, then looked for houses Sunday afternoon and Monday! We found one we really like but are waiting until we move back to look more and really make a good decision. We are looking in the neighborhoods West of campus where all the old houses are. Hopefully we find something with lots of character that can use some renovating! Until we buy something, we are staying in a hotel/my parents until Dec 1, then renting Robin's mother in laws house (who goes to FL for the winter) until we have a place of our own.

We left to come back to CA on Tuesday. We now are focused on getting organized and enjoying all that we love about San Diego before we move. It is sooner than we had planned...our flights are booked for October 16! I am a little nervous and a little sad to end our time here, but so excited to get back to our roots and raise Gwenna and Diggy where the green grass grows :)

6 Weeks Old

2010-09-29T15:16:00.000-07:00

Today is Gwen's 6 week birthday! We are on our trip to Illinois and having a lot of fun. She has made the past month and a half so fun. Here are all of my pictures from September.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbM3DRi0cuWXw

Gwen's First Roadtrip

2010-09-21T08:41:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we decided to take Gwen to visit my sister's family in Tucson. I want her to get very used to being on the go, and to our surprise she was so good. Her and I spent most of Thursday and Friday getting ready for the trip. I had to pack a lot of stuff for a little trip. Luckily, she is very well behaved and can entertain herself for a good 15-30 minutes while I get stuff done. She entertains herself by laying naked on her lamb playmat. It's her favorite thing to do; she just kicks and squeals, it is so cute!

We got to Katie's Friday night in time to let Gwen be snuggled and be awake since she slept the whole way there (we only had to stop 1 time to feed/change her on a 7 hour trip). Saturday we had a lazy day and just took Gwen for a walk, cooked, went to Subway, and to the pool.

Saturday night Katie and her friends had their monthly themed dinner parties and it happened to be Katie's turn to host. The theme this week was Italian and there was tons of good Italian food to be eaten. She had almost 50 people at her house (lots of kids!). Diggy had fun playing! Lexie went to a Youth Group party, but got home in time to talk with Katie and I for a bit and hold Gwennie. She's so good with her!

Sunday morning we left pretty early before Katie and her family went to church. Tate and Ells played with Gwen for a little in their PJ's before we had to go.

When we got home Sunday night we gave Gwen her first real non-sponge bath. Her belly button finally healed, so she got to take a bath in the tub. She loved it and was so good!

I hope she is as good this coming Friday as she was for last weekend's travels. This time we head to Illinois! A lot further, but the flight is shorter than the drive we had to make. Wish me luck! I'm just praying she is good on the plane!

Gwen's First Pictures

2010-09-14T08:31:00.001-07:00

We took Gwen to get her newborn pictures when she was 10 days old. It was so fun to watch the photographer pretty much mold her into poses like clay while she was fast asleep. I was really happy with them. There were TONS but here is one I have the rights to and the link to a few the photographer posted on her blog.

http://www.bellagracelynnphotographyblog.com/?p=1391

Our Week Without Visitors

2010-09-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

Gwenna and I have had a lot of bonding time this week, now that it's just the two of us during the day! I love love love every minute we spend together! We spend our days going to get coffee, going for walks, rocking in the chair, etc. She had a doctor appointment on Friday and weighs 9 lbs. 9 oz. now.

This weekend we took her on two fun outings. Friday night we went to Prado for dinner and Saturday we went out for brunch/mimosas. She is so easy to take anywhere!

We also are very well rested! The doctor told me that I do not need to wake her up to feed her in the night anymore, so the past two nights she has slept 6 hours straight! Only having to get up once in the night to feed her has made such a difference!

We feel so lucky! Gwen's just the best thing that's happened to us!

Aunts/Cousin Weekend for Gwen

2010-09-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

After extending her trip an extra two days, my mom finally had to go back to Illinois. We had so much fun having her here and she was so much help, so it was sad for her to leave. Thankfully, my two sisters and their kids (minus Cal and Scarlett) came to San Diego for Labor Day Weekend. Kristie and Sylvie flew in from Illinois and Katie and her kids drove here from Arizona.
Kristie and Sylvie got here Friday afternoon. They got to meet Gwen and we went out for lunch.

Saturday we went to their hotel pool most of the afternoon. Adam and Gwen stayed in the hotel room for part of the time, but Gwen got to put her suit on and come to the pool area with us for a little bit. She looked cute and was so good!

Saturday night we went to Tin Fish and ate dinner outside. Then we went back and sat in the hot tub.

Sunday we went to Coronado out for lunch. They stayed and went to the beach, but I think Gwen's still a little too small to take, so we went home and just hung out with her. That night everyone came over to our condo for dinner and a mini birthday party for Sylvie.

Kristie and Sylvie had to leave very early Monday morning. Katie and her kids came over for breakfast but then had to head home. It was a short weekend, but so much fun and good to have them here! Thanks for coming Katie and Kristie!

Gwen's First Week

2010-08-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

Gwen is 9 days old today and every day has been wonderful! Here are a few highlights of her first week.

My mom's visiting, so we have been taking her on at least one outing every day to make sure she is used to noise and being out and about. Adam, my mom, and I took her out to dinner and she was perfect. She sat in her carseat and slept the whole time!

This may be TMI, but the only problem I have had as a mother so far is with milk production. Gwen has latched on and is so good at nursing and really likes it, but the problem is with me :( I am making barely any milk so at each feeding I have to nurse her, then we give her a bottle, then I pump. If I do a feeding by myself it takes a good hour and a half, so thank God for Adam and my mom. They have been taking shifts with bottles while I pump. The doctor says I still could start producing a sufficient amount of milk for her, but chances are that I have to give her formula on top of breast milk to make sure she is getting enough. I was pretty stressed and sad about this but am trying to stay positive because the doctor says being stressed about it will only make things worse. I am taking fenugreek and drinking non alcoholic beer throughout the day, both of which are supposed to help with milk stimulation and may take a week. I guess I should be happy that I can still nurse her at all, she loves it!

Gwenna got to take her first trip to the mall! She loves her stroller!

Diggy's doing pretty good with her. He is very curious about her and wants to sniff and lick her. We are still being cautious about how close he gets, but I think he is getting more and more used to her being around.

Robbie came over to visit!

This is one of my favorite gifts she has received. My mom got her a vintage lolly doll. Anyone who knew me as a little girl knows that I had my own lolly doll and it was my FAVORITE. It even was the theme of my first birthday party. I love that she has one of her own now :)

Most of all, her first week has been spent snuggling. I love her so much and am having such a great time being a mom.

Gwenna Blue Ralph, August 18, 2010

2010-08-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

Well, the happiest day of my life came on August 18th, only 4 days late! Tuesday night I was winding down getting ready to go to bed when all of the sudden my water broke out of nowhere. I had no contractions or signs of labor before that! We spent a few hours showering, cleaning up, etc. then headed to the hospital around midnight. I finally started feeling mild contractions once we got to the hospital and by 4am the contractions were really hard and strong! Around 6am I had an epidural, I got some rest, then at 9am the nurse told me I was 8 cm dilated and would start pushing within the next few hours. I began pushing at 11:30am and Gwen was born at 12:21pm! It was the best moment of my life and such an indescribable feeling.

We came home on Thursday afternoon and had a great day/night. We had to take her to the doctor on Friday and found out that she had lost quite a bit of weight and had high bilirubin levels. My milk still hasn't came in, so now we have to supplement her with formula via a medical suringe while I nurse her so she gets some nutrition and we have to sit her by the window to help avoid jaundice. I was really concerned about all of this and super emotional at the doctor, but once I have talked to a lot of other moms, I hear this is all normal. Pray my milk comes in soon so I don't have to have a feeding assistant every time she wants to eat :)

Katie, Lexie, and Ellie got here Friday right after the doctor visit, and they all have been super helpful. Adam is doing such a good job too. I don't know what I would be doing without them! My mom is getting here tonight and staying for 11 days to help. I love having family around and sharing my beautiful angel with them. It is so fun to see how other people love your baby so much too!

Being a mom is the best thing in the world! I am so happy and in love!

Update #2: Again, No Baby

2010-08-12T10:52:00.001-07:00

Another week, another doctor appointment, and still no baby. My doctor finally broke it to me this week that usually first time moms who haven't had problems with blood pressure, weight, diabetes, etc. go into labor about a week AFTER their due date. I'm due Saturday, we scheduled another doctor appointment/ultrasound for next week, and if I haven't gone into labor naturally by then, he will plan on inducing me early the next week.

She'll probably be late, which is fine. I will FOR SURE let everyone know, so if you ask me if I've had her yet, I'm done responding until she is born! I won't hide her in the closet.

Finally, I took a self shot in the mirror of my 40 week preggo self yesterday, haha. Not the best quality picture, but hope that makes some of you happy to see how gigantic the bump (or mountain) has gotten.

I'm not making anymore updates until she's born, so assume there's no baby unless you read otherwise :)

Update: Still No Baby

2010-08-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

I have been getting lots of texts and phone calls asking if the baby has come yet. Believe me, I will let the world know when this baby arrives; it seems like she never will, haha. I guess I shouldn't complain until my actual due date has passed, only 6 days away, yet 6 more days of waiting/not knowing seems like so many! I am way too much of a planner for this spur of the moment kind of stuff :)

At my last doctor appointment, she had dropped and I was 1/2 cm dialated, which sound like good signs. Unfortunately, sometimes you can be dialated for a few days or a few weeks before anything happens, so that really isn't a good indicator of when she comes. I will be eager to see what the doctor says is the plan if the due date comes and she hasn't been born yet.

All in all, I just want a healthy little girl, but it would make me very happy to have a healthy little girl born in the next few days vs. having to wait a week or more :) Regardless, I will keep anyone who has asked me to posted!

Labor Inducers

2010-08-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

I have spent the last few days trying everything that is supposed to induce labor. I have read of about 20 things you can do to induce labor. Much if my weekend was spent trying these various techniques to make you go into labor, but after walking about a million miles and eating enough spicey foods to make my nose turn into a faucet (among many other things I tried), I have determined that these labor inducers are a load of crap :)

I guess she will come when she's ready or when the doctor finally makes her. I don't blame her, I don't like to be rushed either! I just really hope she's ready soon!

Comic Con 2010

2010-07-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Comic Con comes to San Diego every July, and it makes for a fun filled weekend. I'm not into comics, Sci-Fi, anything like that, but it is so much fun having all of the people who come into the city for Comic Con around. It is busier than ever, which always makes for good people watching, but throw in the fact that a lot of people who attend wear costumes, and it makes for the best people watching ever. Here are a few picts. of just how busy it was everywhere.

Adam and I went to Tin Fish on Thursday to sit and people watch and then again on Saturday with friends. I heard a few old people on the news complaining about how busy and crazy it is, but I'm sad the Comic-Coners are gone :)

Jobs in San Diego, Over

2010-07-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

I am now finished working both of my jobs here in SD. I thought I'd be so excited, which I am, but I have more of a weird feeling about it. Even though I'm so excited for the baby and my main job has gone downhill this past year, I still feel a little nervous and a tad bit sad about being done with work. At my Share the Care job, this past year things totally changed and I have liked it way less, but as far as having an easy job, good schedule, and good bosses/coworkers, I really was lucky. My last week of work my boss took some of us out for brunch, I had a lunch date with a few of my coworkers, and I got a lot of nice gifts from them, which was really nice. I loved my health clinic job, counseling pregnant women and kids, and doubt I will be able to find a job like that again :( I think overall I was really lucky to find those two jobs, and I definitely do want to go back to work eventually, just when we are moved and settled (I'm thinking around the holidays). I just hope that wherever we get moved to, I can find something that compares to the jobs I had here (just very part time though, so I can be a part time stay at home mom too :).

Since being done with work, I have been working on completing my list of things to do, running errands, and I had a doctor's appointment, so I really haven't had one second to get bored yet and don't think I will. At the doctor, I had an ultrasound, and things look good. We did find out her head is measuring a week ahead of schedule and her thigh bone is measuring 2.5 weeks ahead of schedule. I asked if this means I will go into labor early, and unfortunately the doctor said that it probably just means she has a slightly big head and long legs (both characteristics of the Erwin family babies :). You could really see the features of her clearly now, so it was a fun appointment. The doctor assured us that it definitely was a girl and we even got a good picture of her face.

I'm just waiting and waiting and waiting now. I really want her to be born early, but I think my luck will have it that she's right on time or late :)

Lexie-The Greatest Niece Ever

2010-07-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

I forgot to include the sad highlight of my weekend of the Roley's visiting me, but I decided that it's okay because this deserves a separate blog entry itself.

Lexie has always been a good niece and I have always loved her a ton, but my love for her was elevated times 100000 Sunday night.

I don't know why, but my feet have hurt sooooo bad lately. They aren't really swollen or anything, just by the end of every day the bottoms of them start hurting so bad, like they are bruised, probably because they aren't used to holding up the weight of me + the baby weight, and a lot of the time Diggy or a heavy purse or groceries, or whatever I'm holding.

Anyways, it was evening and we had finished dinner and were all watching a movie when Lexie the Saint got out my foot lotion, sat on the ground, and gave me the best foot massage in the history of the world. I have never been one to like my feet being rubbed, but this was probably the highlight of my pregnancy. I thought it might only last a few minutes, but she gave me a professional foot massage for about a half hour. It was pure heaven! Afterwords I was so happy I wanted to cry, haha.

I just thought I should give some recognition to Lexie. Sometimes doing the littlest things for people make them the most happy!

Weekend in LA and San Diego with the Roleys

2010-07-19T06:47:00.000-07:00

Katie and her kids decided to escape the AZ heat this weekend, so they headed west to CA. They got here Friday night in time for some dinner, a mini-bday celebration for Katie and Ellie (Katie's bday was the 14th, Ellie's is the 21st) consisting of dessert and their presents, then we basically just talked and went to bed.

Katie and her kids had never been to LA, so we thought it would be fun to drive up there for the day and be tourists. We started at Hollywood Blvd. to see the star walk, the theaters, and shops. Then we ate a quick lunch and jumped on one of the celebrity home tours where we got to see Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and the Jonas Brothers houses for the kids and a lot of more adult celebrities houses for me and Katie :)

Katie wanted to see Rodeo Drive, which we walked down, but Tate was tired of walking and I don't think it excited Ellie or Lexie much to be in a shopping area where you can't afford to buy anything, so we weren't there very long :)

After that, we headed to Ellie's main attraction of the day, the American Girl Store at The Grove. Katie let her pick out a new doll and a few items for it for her birthday. While we were at the mall, we had a celebrity sighting that I wouldn't have been aware of but it excited Ellie and Tate. Lexie spotted one of the main characters from one of their favorite shows I-Carley on the elevator in front of us. I think they said her name on the show is Sam (I don't know who she is :). It was cute to see them checking her out. I thought they would be more outgoing and say something to her but they both got shy. We got home and Ellie had a lot of fun playing with her new doll and all of her old ones. Our condo is now a perfect place to play with dolls because we have all of the baby gear!

Yesterday we spent the day in San Diego at the beach and hung out at our condo for the evening. I left for work before they were up, but it won't be long until I see them again! Katie is making a solo trip when I have the baby, then all of them are coming back when Kristie and Sylvie visit for Labor Day. We can't wait for all of our visitors!

Summer Arrived!

2010-07-15T07:27:00.001-07:00

San Diego is known for its beautiful weather, but the last 2+ months have been cloudy and gloomy for the most part (they call it May Gray and June Gloom). I was starting to get a little annoyed when July came around and the weather still hadn't improved.

Well, I think summer has officially arrived. Midway through Sunday the sun came out and every day this week from the time I go outside to go to work until about 8pm, the sun is out and it's beautiful!

After our afternoon walk, I have been taking Diggy up on our rooftop patio for a bit so we can enjoy being outside finally! The patio is the perfect place to feel the warm sun (our unit's patio gets shaded by the time I'm home from work). Diggy loves it too because people grill up there so he likes to sniff around and explore, but after about 20 minutes, he just can't take the heat.

As excited as I am for the baby, I'm starting to get really sad that Diggy isn't going to be the "baby" anymore. I've been trying to give him as much love as possible before he has to share the attention. PLEASE pray that Diggy likes the baby and isn't jealous. It will break my heart if he thinks I'm neglecting him :( I think it will be okay though, and I'm thinking they will be BFF's!!!

Nesting?

2010-07-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

This past week I have been very productive with my time outside of work getting things done that I want to complete before the baby is born. Some of the things I have finished are making an electronic file of all my saved recipes, making an electronic career portfolio (both of these jobs helped me get rid of so much paper clutter!), cleaning all of our kitchen appliances, emptying all of the kitchen cabinets/fridge/freezer then cleaning and reorganizing them, scrubbing the kitchen floor, going through bins on our entertainment center and getting rid of lots of their contents, going through the bathroom drawers/cabinets/towel racks and cleaning/organizing, weeding through my ITunes library, having the carseat base put into my car, stocking up on Costco bulk items, baking/freezing stuff to eat after baby is born, buying new pajamas for the hospital (I wanted new and cute ones since technically these will be my first post pregnancy "outfits" haha) and I read through 1 month of life in my "What to Expect" book.

I still have a lot on my list, but I got off to a good start. One of the things I love more than anything is having a list of things to do and crossing things off of it as I complete tasks; call me crazy, but I have been making lists since I was little and for some reason love them :) Because of this I wonder, is it just my personality that is making me super motivated since I know I have stuff to do with an approaching deadline or am I nesting, like the books say you will do?

Either way, nesting or not, I have to keep getting stuff done while I can! Between sleeping on our fold out bed to try to get enough room for myself, lack of sleep from discomfort, and just getting very large in general, I'm wondering how much longer until I crash!

Fourth of July Weekend 2010

2010-07-07T08:06:00.000-07:00

Even though I'm excited that my pregnancy is quickly coming to an end, I don't like the idea that I can't really make plans for the next month because you never know if she'll come early or late. I was feeling too tied down for a holiday weekend last week, so I decided to plan a little getaway to Palm Springs. It's only about 2 hours away, so I figured if I went into labor, we could make it back to San Diego with plenty of time to spare.

I love going to Palm Springs. It's close and fun and so pretty with all the mountains surrounding it and just a perfect getaway. Lots of people wouldn't like how hot it is there, but there is no humidity and it is completely set up for the heat...there are misters everywhere you go from restaurants to pool chairs. Saturday the weather was over 100 degrees but we just relaxed at our hotel pool until after 6pm and went to dinner once it cooled down. We got up and took a nice long walk early enough Sunday that it wasn't TOO hot, then went back to the pool and relaxed a little bit longer. We drove home in time to unpack and hung out on our balcony and grilled an all American dinner.

Around 9pm, we heard the fireworks from the bay start, so we got Diggy and went outside to watch them. It was one of the saddest things I have seen in my life. After a few loud booms, Diggy went running and started panicking and was trying to get away but there was no escaping the fireworks. I picked him up to go back inside and he was shaking uncontrollably. It made me so sad. He acted weird for the rest of the night. I guess fireworks and little dogs just don't mix.

Anyways, it was a good 4th of July weekend, it was nice to have Monday off, and now my countdown begins for the baby! So much to do!

Feeling Ready to Pop!

2010-06-29T07:04:00.000-07:00

34 Weeks of pregnancy down! The good news is that I still feel really good for the most part. I am still super active and feel better when I'm up and moving than sitting around, I haven't had one complication or cause for concern this whole time, the baby lets me know she's alive and well and strong ALL day (and night) long, I haven't had a problem with swelling (which I probably can thank the nice San Diego weather for) and we're getting excited!!! (and on a more vain note, no linea nigra or stretch marks YET, woohoo...sadly, 6 weeks is plenty of time for these babies to pop up, haha :)
The bad news isn't really bad news, it's just the fact that getting about as large as a house (see picture above) has made everyday activities either very difficult to complete or very uncomfortable. Everything from shaving my legs, to putting shoes on, to breathing, to watching TV has become a slight issue, not that I can't do these tasks, they just don't come as easily, especially sleeping!

Once I get comfortable (it takes about 20 pillows strategically placed) I usually just start drowsing off then I already have to get up to go to the bathroom. Then I get back and get situated and one arm starts to get numb so I have to switch sides and get the pillows resituated again. Then about an hour later I have to go to the bathroom again. Then the baby is moving around like crazy. It's pretty much a cycle that goes on all night. Maybe this is God's way of preparing me for the sleepless nights that are to come??? As a result, I have been pretty tired during the daytime. Sometimes I just have to take a minute to lay down and rest my eyes.

Lucky for me, we have the world's biggest fan of sleeping living in our house, so whenever these moments take place, he's right there to join in...

Weekend at a Glance

2010-06-28T08:34:00.000-07:00

We really had a very uneventful weekend and sadly the weather wasn't very nice. Besides normal stuff we do every weekend like take walks, the only real standouts were stopping by a going away barcrawl for Adam's friend Torti who is moving back to the East Coast (notice the words "stopping by", since goodbyes are necessary but barcrawls at Mission/Pacific Beach, aka party central, really aren't too appropriate for an 8+ month pregnant lady), going to the pool for about an hour before leaving due to cloudiness, eating dinner at an Indian restaurant close to where we live, Adam watching soccer, and Diggy getting a haircut.

I hate to say it was a "boring" weekend because I'll probably be dreaming of those schedule free, nothing planned weekends for the next 20 years of my life :)

Diggy's New Summer Hobby

2010-06-23T10:37:00.000-07:00

Diggy has a lot going for him in the looks and personality department, but when it comes to social skills with other dogs, I am the first one to admit that he's as awkward as it gets! He's too scared to be near most other dogs, but he's still curious about them. This is why he's found the perfect hobby...dog watching from our patio.

Sunday morning

Monday night

Tuesday afternoon

Whenever I can't find him I know where to look. There's a dog that's in the balcony diagonally below us and lots of people walk their dogs below. He just sits with his little head peering out of the crack watching other dogs all day.

He's the sweetest little stalker I've ever seen!

Father's Day Weekend

2010-06-21T06:52:00.000-07:00

Since we live so far from our families and the baby's not here yet, holidays like Father's Day weekend aren't too eventful for us, but the weather was great so we made the best of it!

We had plans for Sunday, so Saturday we took it pretty easy. I got my nails done while Adam got his haircut, we spent some time at the pool, and we did some cooking at home. One of my many projects to do before the baby is born is to type up all of my recipes I have saved from various cooking magazines and that people have written out for me over the past 3 years. The clutter of having saved magazines and paper has annoyed me, so I want to just have them all saved onto my laptop. I'm almost done with this project, and since starting it I have come across a lot of recipes I always wanted to try but never did. This weekend I tried 3. Two of them we really liked, one of them wasn't too big of a hit, but it was fun making new things.

Sunday we started by taking Diggy for a LONG walk for him. Since it has been getting hot, he does not like walks as much, but we started really early, before it was sunny, and he did great! After our walk, we got ready and headed to this restaurant that has a southern style Sunday brunch that Adam has been wanting to go to for some time now. They call it Bluegrass Brunch. It is southern food with a more California twist, they have a bluegrass band, and a really nice patio. We got there right before 10am, when it opens, and there was already a line and we had a 10 minute wait! It is very popular for a reason, the food was really good and so was the band! After brunch, we headed to the Padres game. The weather was beautiful and there were tons of dads and their kids there, which was fun to watch.

After the game, Adam went surfing with Leigh. I think he had a good "Father's Day" but next year will be more fun when our baby is here!

Weekend of R & R

2010-06-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

After about 2 months with every weekend booked, we finally had a weekend without anything planned but to run errands and do stuff we've been wanting to do around San Diego.

Friday I didn't have to work, and the weather was very "June Gloom"ish, so I spent the morning starting to knock off items on my list of projects to do before the baby is born. I knocked one big item off which was going through our closet and drawers to get rid of clothes and shoes we do not need and organize. I LOVE doing stuff like that after it's done, and I now have 4 garbage bags of clothes to take to Good Will. After that, I worked out, did about a zillion loads or laundry, went grocery shopping, and did a quick cleaning of the rest of our condo. My reward for myself was to use my giftcard from Adam to go to the spa and get a prenatal massage and facial. It was so great and relaxing! My day was going pretty good and got even better because I finally got to go see the Sex and the City 2 Movie followed by a late dinner at McCormick and Schmick's. We didn't get home until almost midnight, which for us is PARTYING these days.

Saturday we had a normal morning, coffee, working out, walking Diggy, etc. then we went to Babies R Us to get some more baby stuff. After our little shopping trip, I noticed the sun was peaking out so we got some pool time in and decided to stay home and make dinner that night. Adam somehow got the idea in his head that he wanted to try to make Avanti's bread, something we both LOVE and can not find anything even kind of close to here. I found a recipe on Recipezaar that we decided we would try, but saw that it takes about 5 hours total for the whole process. While I got dinner started, he went to work to start the bread.

Then he showered and had to do more work on the bread.

Then throughout eating dinner, cleaning up, and watching the whole Dear John movie, he had to take breaks to do the various steps to make the bread.

After the movie was over, it was finally time to bake it. At this point it was close to midnight and some of us were tired and kind of sick of this project.
But the outcome was beautiful!

Sunday we woke up to beautiful, sunny weather, so we drove to Coronado pretty early, went walking and to the beach and out to lunch.

When dinner time rolled around it was time to eat the bread and to our delight, it was SOOOO good and definitely very very close to how Avanti's bread tastes. I was making fun of how "into" the breadmaking Adam was getting, but if he wants to make it again, I will gladly let him :)

Hawaii Trip

2010-06-08T08:47:00.000-07:00

Adam and I just got back from one of my favorite places I have ever been on vacation to: Hawaii. We flew into Oahu and stayed on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. We did as much sight seeing, relaxing at the beach, and trying traditional Hawaiian things out as we possibly could in 4 short days. Like always, we wished we had longer, but our trip left us so excited for going back someday with our kids. Here are some of the main things we did (warning, this will probably be long):

1. Our first morning, we were on Pacific Time and got up before 6am, so we walked about 3-4 miles to Diamond Head, a crater you can see in the background of almost any picture of Waikiki Beach. We got there early enough that it still was overcast and not super hot, so we hiked to the top. We thought we had made it, when we got to these two massive stair cases that take you to the peak. People were panting and looked like they were going to die, haha. Anyways, we made it and the view was awesome!

One of the two horrid staircases, plus another winding one to get to the peak

Pregnancy can't stop me, haha

2. We spent most of our daytime at Waikiki Beach, laying out, swimming, going for lunch, etc. Adam's highlight of the trip was going for daily swims, where he would follow around these huge turtles and he even was brave (or dumb?) enough to grab on to one and ride it, haha. The weather the whole time was soooo weird. The mornings were overcast, which was nice for walking around, then the sun started peaking through around 9-10am. It would be so hot and sunny then a cloud would come and it would rain on you to cool you off for about 3 minutes, then the sun was right back out. Our weather we had was perfect though! We got plenty of sun and the clouds that rolled in on occasion actually felt good!

Adam dug a little ditch for my baby bump, so I could lay on my stomach :)

3. We did lots of walking around, mainly on the beach, all around the shops, along the beach walk, etc.

Diamond Head from Waikiki Beach

Waikiki Beach Walk at night

4. We ate lots of good food! From restaurants, to snacks, to the farmers market, all of the food we had was really good! Adam ordered some more daring things...I was happy they had such good, fresh fruit and seafood everywhere. Some of the the foods/places we ate: LOTS of good fruit, farmers market stands (abalone, spam eggs and rice wrapped in seaweed, mango, the best grilled piece of pizza we had ever had), dole whip (pineapple soft serve sorbet/ice cream), pig from the ground, poi (mashed taro, not very good), banana macadamia pancakes with guava and coconut syrup (probably the best food I have ever had in my life :), lots of seafood, two restaurants from the Food Network (House Without a Key and Grass Skirt Grill), etc.

Hawaiian band at a restaurant called House Without a Key

5. We went to a traditional Hawaiian Luau. They had a pig roast, lots of food, entertainment, Mai Tai's, etc. 6. We visited the Pearl Harbor Memorial. It's weird how visiting a place like that really makes you realize the magnitude of a historic event so much more than learning about it in school. It is so sad to read some of the tiles they have around and see how many names are on the lists of people who actually died, most of whom were probably guys about 18 years old. It was sad to see, but I'm glad we went.

All of these are names of people who died, very sad

7. We rented a car and drove to the North Shore. North Shore is more laid back and island type lifestyle, rather than touristy; the scenery here was so pretty! Once we got there, we spent most of the day at Waimea Bay. It was one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen! On our drive back, we stopped at the Dole Plantation to see some pineapples and have a snack.

Baby Bump Week 31!

After all that, it was time to go home. Our last night, we had a nice dinner on the beach. We were sad to leave, but it was such a great getaway for just the two of us before the baby is born!

In case you didn't get enough, here are the rest of the ton of pictures I took :)

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbM3DRi0cuWWW

Playing Mom to the Roley Kids

2010-06-01T12:21:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was Katie and Matt's 10th anniversary. As a way for them to get to celebrate, we decided to do a house swap. Adam and I went to Arizona to play Mom and Dad to their kids at their house, and they came to our condo and lived the life of a young couple without kids to worry about.

I was worried that we would run out of things to do and that they would get bored of being around us for over 48 hours, but the weekend actually went really fast and I think we stayed busy and all had fun! Here's what all we did:

1. We arrived late Friday night...Ellie and Tate were sleeping, but Lexie was making Salted Nut Rolls. Adam, Lex, and I stayed up late and hung out then went to bed.

2. Saturday morning we had a mini bday celebration for Tate, who turned 5 yesterday. I made pancakes and "smashed eggs" (two of his favorite breakfast foods) and he opened his gift from us.

3. Adam let Lexie and I go walking, and he and the little kids met us at a Memorial Day weekend fair in their town. They had water slides, games, snacks, etc. I didn't know about the water activities, so Ellie and Tate participated in their clothes. They left soaking wet, but they didn't seem to mine.

4. After being outside in the 100 degree weather for the morning, we were in much need of some pool time. We were having a good time swimming, until this new lifeguard who carried around his rule book and blew his whistle a little too often, made me and about every other adult at the pool mad for blowing his whistle one too many times at kids who weren't doing anything wrong. Ellie had her feet dipped in the hot tub, and because she wasn't 12, he made her get out. I was livid because kids are ALWAYS in the hot tub, I was sitting right there with her, and she wasn't doing anything but warming up because their pool is like ice. I gave him a piece of my mind and we left :) As we were leaving another lady was arguing with him about something. Anyhow, we went home and Adam had a water fight with the kids instead, which they all enjoyed.

5. The kids had some new paint, so somehow the idea of using my baby bump as a mural got brought up. I agreed, but thought they should do something more in season than their idea of a Jack-O-Lantern. This is what they came up with (and yes, the paint was washable).

6. After a long day of being out in the sun, we decided to stay home and grill out. Lexie and I went to the store, we got some food, and we all hung around the house all night. After dinner, Lexie played some tunes and we all took turns showing our moves. The kids had so much fun dancing for us, but I think they had even more fun watching Adam do his routine :)

7. Sunday we got up, Lexie and I went walking, we packed a picnic, and headed for the pool. It was a great morning (the lifeguard wasn't there) until Ells got a little tummy ache and threw up. We decided to go home and let her lay down, but after she got whatever it was out of her system, she felt fine. To take a little break from the heat, we decided to go bowling. Of all 5 of us, Tate won (okay, so we used bumpers, but still!). It was fun because he was so proud.

8. After bowling, we decided to go back to the pool. To our dismay, the lifeguard was back. We weren't staying long, so it wasn't a big deal, but we thought it was funny because he had his chair set up right in the exact spot where Ellie had thrown up earlier :) Now that's karma!

9. Finally, we went out to dinner. Tate got to pick because he won bowling and it was his birthday. He suggested Taco Bell, but we steered him more towards a sit down Mexican restaurant :)

Monday morning, Adam and I got up to drive home before the kids were awake. They were really good, and I had a really fun weekend, just doing "parent" type stuff. Guess that's a good sign...less than 10 weeks left until that's my life!

Weekend in Chicago

2010-05-26T06:57:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was one of my college friend's, Lawley (or Erin to others :), wedding. I am lucky that in the past year I have had visits from Duvy, Amy, Panichi, and Bayer and saw Katie and my cousin Emily in AZ, but I had not seen Andrea, Mary, or Lawley since I visited Chicago in January 2009. I was so excited to see everyone!

Friday Panichi picked me up from the airport and Adam's friend Derek picked him up so that they could hang out. Panichi had just picked up Duvy so us 3 got to spend the whole afternoon together. We went to this cute little cafe for lunch, got manicures, and walked to a little neighborhood with cute shops.

That night, my girlfriends (with Duvy's organizing :) had a really nice baby shower for me. It was so fun. We ate dinner at Graham Elliots, who Adam and I are fans of from Top Chef Masters. When we walked into the restaurant he was standing at the host stand, which is a rare thing for a "famous" chef to do. The food was really interesting and good. After dinner we went to Panichi's family's boat and had dessert and I opened some gifts. I got SOOO many cute things and it was so fun to just hang out with everyone!

Saturday morning Katie, Panichi, Duvy, Adam, and I took a nice walk to Michigan Ave. and did some shopping and ate some food before it was time to head to the hotel to get ready for the wedding.

The ceremony was super pretty. Lawley's dress was SOOOOOO gorgeous and she looked beautiful! The reception was at the ballroom in the hotel we stayed at, so inbetween we all sat out on this patio pretty and socialized. The whole reception was a blast! I had so much fun talking with my friends at dinner, dancing to the music (the band was the best wedding band I have heard yet), and celebrating.

Sunday morning we all got up and ate brunch together, then it was back to San Diego for me. It was such a FUN FUN FUN weekend and made me so sad to have to leave some of my favorite people. I can't wait to see everyone again, hopefully soon!

(Still waiting on pictures from other people, so mine aren't the best :)

Samantha's 2nd Birthday!

2010-05-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

Adam's brother Jay's family was visiting this past week, and lucky for us, Sam's birthday fell during their trip. We never get to go to niece and nephew birthday parties, so I was glad we finally made it to one. For having the party in California, they had quite the turnout. Steph's brother, his wife, and their two kids plus Steph's cousin all live in CA and came down for the party.

Addi and Sam are both so cute...Addi has this super social, friendly, funny personality and Sam has a bashful, quiet, sweet personality. It was fun to hang out with them for a few days (and of course Jay and Steph too :).

2010-05-11T13:35:00.000-07:00

Last night I saw an episode of 19 Kids and Counting on TLC. It was a Mother's Day special where they brought their little girl, Josie, home from the hospital after 4 months of being in the NICU. This little girl was born at 25 weeks and was less than 1.5 pounds. They showed the emergency C-Section and lots of footage of her over the last few months struggling to just breathe, open her eyes, stay warm, eat, basically just struggling to live. It was so emotional for me to watch. I read that Josie had to go back to the hospital after that episode was taped due to bowel problems. It was so weird for me to watch because I just kept looking at Josie and thinking how the little girl inside of me probably looks pretty similar to the way she does (I'm 27 weeks along now), which is just so tiny and fragile. It was ironic, because right before we watched that show, we were on a walk and I was telling Adam how our baby has been kicking SO hard lately and seems so strong. Watching that show really put things into perspective on how weak and little she still is.

Last Mother's Day Not Technically Being a Mom

2010-05-10T06:46:00.000-07:00

This morning I went to the coffee shop with Diggy while I was walking him and the girl that works there asked me if it was weird knowing yesterday was my last Mother's Day not technically being a mom. I told her that even though I wasn't expecting it, people made it seem like my first real Mother's Day!

Friday night and Saturday for the first half of the day, Adam and I spent buying stuff for the baby. Thanks to everyone who got me giftcards at my shower, we now have the majority of the stuff we absolutely need for the baby. There still are lots of little things I will need to get just because I want them or I think they are fun, but I think we could have the baby and be set. After we shopped, we stopped by the pool to enjoy the weather for a bit, then went home and Leigh and Lisa came over to grill out for dinner. To my surprise, they came with a bouquet of flowers to wish me a happy Mother's Day! It was so nice of them.
On Sunday, after we had taken Diggy out and gone to the coffee shop, I went to work out while Adam said he had some work to do. When I got back, he had a little Mother's Day display set out for me from him and Diggy and the baby. If you can't tell what it is, there is a pregnancy wedge pillow that is supposed to make sleeping more comfortable, a giftcard to get a pregnancy massage and facial, really pretty flowers, and a card. It was such a nice surprise and totally unexpected! We finished our day by heading up to see Jay's family and sitting around the pool at their place then rushing home to shower in time to meet Conner McLucky for dinner. Of course we met him at Anthony's, his favorite.

It was a good weekend and made me excited for next year when I have a little girl and Diggy to celebrate being the mom of!

Long Weekend in Morton

2010-05-06T07:18:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a trip I've been excited to make for years now! Two of my best friends, Darah and Evan (who I should add had dated for over 13 years, that's since junior high!), got married. Kristie, Sylvie, and Cal picked us up from the airport, we ran home to get ready, Kristen brought over Mara so I could QUICK meet her in person (she is SOOOO cute, more about that later), and then we were off to the rehearsal and dinner.

The rehearsal dinner was at Jonah's, one of my favorite restaurants and where I worked as a hostess in high school. It was so nice because with Joanna living in Florida and me living in San Diego, we are rarely home at the same time, and when we are, it's usually major holidays or wedding weekends, so there is no free time for just hanging out. Adam and I got to sit with Joanna and Eric and talk the whole entire time. It was a really fun night.

The next day was the wedding. I honestly can say that of all the weddings I've been to lately, Darah's dress was definitely on the top as one of my favorites! It was even more pretty in person than in pictures. The ceremony was short and sweet, then we were off to the reception. Everything about the day was perfect and so pretty. It was really fun to see lots of old faces and catch up with people. I'm so happy for Darah and Evan!

Sunday Julie and Court had a baby shower for me at their house. It was really fun. I didn't take any pictures, but the cake and decor was purple, green, and brown and really cute! Lots of people sent me gifts in the mail and at the shower I got lots of gift cards (thanks to everyone for respecting the fact that I had to fly across the country and giving travel friendly gifts :). It was a fun afternoon and good to see family and friends!

Monday and Tuesday I had two full days to just hang out. I got to spend time in the mornings drinking coffee with Kristie and hanging out with the kids while they were still in their PJ's. I got to see Scarlett get her bath every morning, she loves it and it's so cute how happy and smiley she is early in the morning! I got to see Mara and Kristen almost every day I was there. Mara is the best behaved baby I have met. She doesn't cry, is so cute, sleeps from 10pm-5am already, lets you pass her around, sleeps in her crib, etc. Kristen is so lucky. I got to have family dinners (one with my WHOLE family while they were still in town for the shower, one with just my mom and dad and Kristie's family, and one girls night out to La Fiesta with Julie, Court, Leighton, my mom, and Kristie). I got to take Kristie's kids and Leighton to the zoo. I got to go walking every day with Kristie. It was finally a time that I was home without a schedule, and it was just soooooo nice!

Cal making Scarlett smile...Sylvie and Cal LOVE Scarlett and she loves them too!

Mara hanging out after our walk...she's got the cutest thin layer of strawberry blonde hair :)

Sylvie and Cal playing with Scarlett...she's getting so much older...always smiling and soooo cute!

Early Wednesday morning my dad took me to the airport, now it's back to the grind. I would be sad, but we have lots of fun stuff in the upcoming weekends!

May Madness

2010-04-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

I am so excited, as of tomorrow, we start a whirlwind of busy weekends. I'm ready for some fun! This is what our calendar looks like coming up:

April 30-May 5
Going to the Morton/Peoria area...we have Darah and Evan's wedding rehearsal Friday and wedding Saturday (where I'll get to hang out with Darah and Joanna, who I rarely get to see), I have a baby shower with my aunts, cousins, and some family friends in Morton on Sunday, then I have 2 whole days Monday and Tuesday to spend with my mom and dad, the Boekers, the Bates, and Kristen and Mara. I'm so excited to see everyone!

The Week Between May 8 and May 16
Adam's brother Jay, his wife Steph, and their little girls Addison and Samantha are coming to So-Cal. They are splitting up the time between here and LA, so hopefully we'll get to spend lots of time with them.

May 21-23
Chicago weekend...we are making the trip for my friend Lawley's wedding on Saturday! Friday night some of my girlfriends are having a mini baby shower for me too!

May28-31
Tucson...Katie and Matt are celebrating their TENTH anniversary, so we are doing a house swap...they are coming and staying in our condo in SD for a little getaway, we are going to Tucson to watch their kids.

June 3-7
HAWAII

I guess after that, my doctor appointments start being every 2 weeks, then every week, we have to sign up for a few classes, and I will probably be huge and uncomfortable, so I am going to try to enjoy this upcoming month and a half of activities as much as I can!

My Exciting Life

2010-04-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

When you're pregnant and have nobody in your circle within a 7 hour drive that has kids or is pregnant, week nights and weekends can tend to become pretty uneventful. Add into the equation a husband who works 14 plus hour work days, lots of Saturdays, is on the phone with work people when he's not at work, and falls asleep at 8pm because he is tired from work, nights and weekends become VERY eventful and sometimes even boring.

I try to think of as many things to do as possible to keep from being bored, but once I get things out of the way like working out and cleaning and running errands, there really is only a limited number of things I can think of doing that are enjoyable doing alone. I love going to the beach, out to eat, etc. but these activities aren't the same when you are by yourself. THESE are what you can find me entertaining myself with lately:

1. Diggy-he's always home and always needs to be taken on walks!
2. The mall-living 2 blocks from the mall is probably the best entertainment I can ask for
3. Magazines-my numerous magazine subscriptions keep me entertained and in touch with the worlds of Hollywood, fashion, health/nutrition, food and wine, etc.
4. Baking!
5. DVR-I think I've seen every episode of Real Housewives, 16 and Pregnant, Millionaire Matchmaker, and Say Yes to the Dress about a zillion times
6. Our Balcony-the sun hits for about a 2 hour time period, so if you want to enjoy the warmth and people watching, this activity is very limited!

Jealous of my fabulous life? Haha, Let's just say I'm going to be REALLY disappointed if we get moved somewhere that's not closer to home next time!

Pre-Babymoon 2010

2010-04-22T07:37:00.000-07:00

Adam and I wanted to take one last trip before the baby is born where we don't have to worry about lugging all the baby gear, taking care of a baby, or finding a babysitter (besides one for Diggy, which is usually hard enough). Anyways, we wanted to go somewhere relaxing, somewhere on our list of places we want to go that we have never been, somewhere in the country (we were considering out, but I was advised that this was a stupid idea), and somewhere where we could go and not have to take a whole week off (Adam's trying to save his vacation days for after the baby is born)...

Since we are likely moving to the opposite side of the country next fall and we are about as close as we will ever be, we decided on.......................HAWAII! We are going at the beginning of June for 4 days, it's a direct flight to Honolulu (about 6 hours, but it's almost 5 hours to Illinois, so that's not too bad for us), it's in the US but far enough away that it seems like a "real" vacation, and somewhere neither of us have never been! We are staying at a really nice hotel right on Waikiki Beach. Ahhh, I can't wait.

Now, let's just hope I don't go into labor 9-10 weeks early!

A Fun Day for Diggy?

2010-04-19T08:33:00.001-07:00

Sunday morning Diggy had to go to the groomers to get a haircut. He hates it and it makes me so sad every time. He shakes and clutches onto you when you take him there. The girls that work there are really nice though and always say how good he was, but it still makes me sad to know he gets so scared to go. To reward him, afterwards we took him to play at this grassy area by the beach in Coronado.

At first he was having fun, but after about a half hour, he was panting and hot and kept losing his football to the sand. At one point he got into the sand and started digging with his nose and paws and got sand all over himself and his eyes. Since this seemed like it would hurt and he had just gotten groomed, we took him home a little sooner than we had planned.
I swear half of the times we try to take him to do something fun, he would prefer to be home either in the shade on our patio or napping on our bed or the rug. He drank a ton of water and then later found a nice place to take a nap under our chair.
He's so cute :)

24 Weeks Down, Around 16 To Go

2010-04-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

Saturday marked my 24th week of pregnancy, which to a lot of people means nothing. Everyone wants to know how many months along you are. It is confusing to tell people this though because according to the doctor's office, they count each 4 weeks as a month. This means when you reach 9 months, you don't have the baby, you are on your 9th month for 4 weeks, so technically pregnant for 10 months, which means I am on my last week of my sixth month. However, most people know pregnancy as a 9 month cycle, so since I have 3.5 months left until I have the baby, if I say I am almost 7 months pregnant, they think I am due at the end of June/beginning of July.

So, to set things straight, I am now 24 weeks along, 6.75 months according to the doctor, but have a little over 3 months until the baby is born if I go full term. Make sense or did I confuse you more?

Anyways, I KEEP having people ask me if I'm getting big and to post pictures of my stomach. If you notice, most of the pictures on my blog are of OTHER people, I'm not one to love getting pictures taken of myself and I feel corny taking the typical pregnant shots. HOWEVER, I know I wanted to see pictures of Kristen and Kristie when they were preggo since I wasn't there to see them and so I didn't feel like I was missing out, so I kind of understand.

Bare Belly
Side profile taken in the mirror

I have one more picture that a few people might be interested in. My junior year of college, I got this green strapless shirt before spring break, that we all called "the pregnancy shirt" because of how it fit (tight in the chest, flowy in the stomach area). I think every person on that trip borrowed the shirt that year because it was so comfortable and good for drinking :) Since then, I have kept the shirt and worn it about a million times around the house or to the pool, just one of those things you can't get rid of. Well, now I am glad I didn't. This shirt has been one of my best hot weather options in the last few months. It works so well to wear to the beach and is so comfy! Who would have though when we were calling it a "pregnancy shirt" on spring break over 5 years ago that it actually would become a shirt that I would wear during pregnancy?

Looks different now than it did back then :)

They grow up so fast

2010-04-16T06:55:00.001-07:00

I remember when all my nieces and nephews were born, and all of their births seems like yesterday. Even Lexie's which was 13.5 years ago! I see Katie's kids enough that they don't look or act much different from the visit before, but Kristie's kids just get so much older every time. Scarlett was so much more aware and about double her size from just one and a half months ago. I didn't take many pictures of the older kids, but I got some good ones of Scarlett.

Sylvs with one dirty sock and a sister

Making her smile

Cheese!

Naptime at the pool

On another note, I had another good mail day! Maybe it's weird that I post pictures of all the things I buy for the baby, but normally your friends stop by your house and you show them stuff like this. Since it's not so easy to just stop by San Diego, I post pictures for all to see :) Yesterday I got my second shower invitation from Courtney (which was SO cute) and my diaper bag. I love it!

Diggs was checking it out too

Our home is getting smaller and smaller by the minute with all this baby gear!

Funny Kids

2010-04-11T17:11:00.000-07:00

They just thought it was the greatest thing in the world to have an underwear party.

Diggy Meets Baby Trial Run

2010-04-11T16:47:00.000-07:00

I have been worried about Diggy being jealous of the baby, so I was eager to see how he reacted being around Scarlett. My worries have been lifted quite a bit...

Anytime she was on the ground, he was right there by her to check her out. Once he realized he liked her, he liked her a little too much and would not stop licking her head.

From the look of things, she liked him too :)

Big Mail Day!

2010-04-08T07:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a very fun mail day! Who would have thought this kind of stuff would be just as, if not more, exciting than getting new clothes?

All in one day we got our stroller and all its attachments, a high chair, an extra car seat base, and a glider. My diaper bag should be coming today or tomorrow! Our condo is getting crowded (or should I say cozy) with all of this new stuff, but I love it!

Happy 29th Adam!

2010-04-07T09:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Adam's 29th birthday. I can't believe next year he'll be 30! I still feel like we're so young, but I guess now that I have a husband almost out of his twenties and we're having a baby and we've been out of college for 4-7 years, it's kind of a reality check that we need to grow up because we aren't so young anymore :)

My real gift to him was going to that spa on Saturday but for the real event, we went to a new restaurant that is about 2 blocks from our condo called Bice. We have had our eye on this place since they started building it awhile ago, but ever since I have been pregnant, we have been having more low key nights vs. going out to nice dinners. Considering the fact that we used to go out to a nicer restaurant at least 2 times a week, we thought it was about time. We both had REALLY good, interesting food (sauteed calamari on crostini appetizer, I had chicken breast stuffed with port and mushrooms with asparagus flan, and Adam had wagyu beef topped with foie gras) and the atmosphere there was really cool. I need a visitor scheduled so we can take them there!

The rest of our celebration was just his presents and cake. I made jello cake, a childhood favorite of mine that he had never had, and he got some REALLY impressive gifts (jk, I got him all stuff he needs and one thing he wanted-work pants, undergarments, a tie and shirt, and a new drink shaker). Of course Adam acts like everything in the world is the greatest gift or celebration ever, so he seemed happy and I thought I had done pretty good...

Until I see that he had randomly gone during his work day and bought this fancy breast pump that I was going to get for myself...on his own birthday.

I don't know if the fact that a man went out to buy (of all things) a breast pump or the fact that he brought me a gift on his birthday was nicer.

Only a mature, 29 year old man ready to be a dad would do something like that :)

Just Saying Hi to Me

2010-04-06T07:17:00.000-07:00

I have really started to feel the baby move. At first, it was hard to distinguish what was her moving or just my stomach, but now I know the feeling nice and well. I have heard it described as butterfly flutters, but that's not what it feels like to me. I feel like there is just a tiny little something tapping a finger against my belly.

Last night, Adam was watching a basketball game and putting together the new armoire. Diggy thinks it's super fun when Adam builds stuff because there is stuff everywhere that he can sniff and chew and play with. I was super bored because I don't really like watching random sports, I'm not much help with building stuff, and I knew there was a special on Bravo about Christian from Project Runway that I wanted to be watching. So I was just sort of sitting there with nothing to do, flipping through a book when all the sudden I felt someone really tiny poke me about 5 times in a row.

It was the most movement I have felt from her so far all at once. It was like she was saying "Hi Mom, I'm awake, Let's do something more fun than this!" She must have been bored too and was sure letting me know. I'm excited that pretty soon I'll have her around to keep me company on nights like that!

Celebration of Adam's Birth, Easter, and an Earthquake

2010-04-05T07:06:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I wanted to plan something to do for Adam's birthday (which is really Tuesday) that we haven't done yet since we've lived here. Now that we know the baby is coming and we will move shortly after, I have realized how much I am going to miss it and how we need to take advantage of all San Diego has to offer! Last year, my coworker had told me about this place in Corona, CA called Glen Ivy that has pools, hotsprings, mudbaths, saunas, etc that she goes to every year and loves for a nice relaxing day. The weather was supposed to be beautiful, so I decided this would be a fun place to go for the day.

We did our usual morning routine, drove about an hour, and got to Glen Ivy before noon. We ate lunch outside at the little cafe there, then headed straight to the mudbaths (which are advertised as pregnancy safe for those of you wondering :). It was so funny. We hopped in the little pit, which was really warm, and smeared the clay all over us, then baked in the sun to let it dry. Adam had never even put a face mask on before so he was so surprised at how weird it feels when stuff like that dries on your body.

Adam all muddy

Me, unable to move my neck or make my mouth smile from the dried mud

After the mud dried, we showered and I changed into a clean, dry swimsuit, then we went to the mineral baths for awhile. The rest of the day we spent laying at one of the pools and finally on rafts in the 2 foot pool that was heated to 95 degrees. We stayed pretty much until it closed, got home, showered, and went to bed early.

On Easter morning, we got up really early, quick got ready, and walked to early church. We were done so early that we got home by 9am, put comfortable clothes back on, and took Diggy for a walk. We had planned on going out for a nice brunch after church, but instead we decided to stay in sweats and go to Souplantation :)

Last week my mom and dad sent me the bedding I wanted for the baby, so since then I have been ready to set up a crib, so after lunch we picked up baby furniture (a crib, armoire, and changing table/shelf) and Adam put the crib and half of the changing table together. I washed the bedding and got it all put together. I thought Diggy might like to try it out, but he hated it in there!

Let me out!

Little Dolly
Back of the changing table without the table attached

As Adam was working on the furniture, I went to take a shower and suddenly felt very hard shaking. I was thinking he was just hammering VERY hard, but then the lights started flickering and it wasn't just shaking, the whole bathroom was rocking. I went out to the living area and the whole condo was moving out of control, like we were on a small boat that was on very high waves. All of our tables and decorations were swinging and shaking, it lasted for about 30-60 seconds. Finally it stopped, and we turned on the TV to find out that the earthquake we had just experienced was a 6.9; I had felt a few since living here, but NOTHING even close to that big. Diggy was acting weird the rest of the night, it was a very strange experience! Glad nothing was damaged or we weren't hurt!

Finally, to end our weekend, we had some of Adam's coworkers over for dinner and went to bed. It was a good weekend, and now the only good thing about it being Monday is that I'm trying out my brand new pair of maternity jeans for the first time and they are just about as comfortable as wearing sweat pants all day :) Can't wait til this weekend-Arizona AGAIN but this time I'll see the Roleys (like always), the Boekers, my mom and dad, and Adam will get to meet Scarlett!

Yet Another Trip to AZ

2010-03-29T06:47:00.000-07:00

This weekend we headed to Tucson, but this time we had more than one Katie to visit.

We got to Katie Roley's house Friday in time to eat a late dinner; she had already put Ellie and Tate to bed and Lexie was spending the night at a friend's house, so it was WAY quieter than their house usually is! The next day we had a very relaxed day-we sat around for what seemed like forever in the morning, went walking, went to the mall, went out to lunch, and went to the pool to lay out and sat in the hot tub all before 4pm. Adam and Matt went four-wheeling and hung out in the garage fixing stuff all day, haha. While Katie and I got ready, Ellie got ready too, but not in a typical way. She is always up to something, and it is always something that makes us laugh.

That night we went out to dinner at a brewery that I had been to but Adam had not and he LOVED it!

We woke up and left the Roley's earlier than usual Sunday morning to head to North Tucson to see Katie Stanley, my college friend (and roomie in KKG and in our fancy house senior year :). Katie and her husband Jared are teachers in Wisconsin and were in Tucson visiting Katie's parents during their spring break. Katie's mom and dad have a BEAUTIFUL house in this little community that is set out towards mountains. I told Katie that I felt like we were at a resort. Her mom made us a really good brunch, then we walked around the area they live in to look at the other houses and scenery, and just caught up! Katie and Jared gave us the cutest little pink and white sleeper set for our baby too, which was such a nice surprise. It was such a fun morning and like every time I see my college friends, it makes me realize how much I miss them and how we need to make an effort to see eachother more now that we all live all across the country. I get to see LOTS of my friends in May with Darah and Lawley's weddings, which makes me so excited!

All in all, it was a great trip. I always get sad when fun weekends end, and I get sad that we have to sit in the car for 7 hours to drive home, haha. At least we got to see a really pretty sunset on our drive!

Baby Mara Rae Schick

2010-03-29T06:39:00.000-07:00

Kristen had her baby and it was a GIRL! I was so anxious to find out since she wanted the sex to be a surprise. I am so happy for them, and so excited to see her in person in a month. This is the only picture I have seen of her, sent via text, but isn't she cute?