the belly

In an attempt to update this blog I am going to be posting a series of old photos/stories that have occured in the last couple of years that I feel are important to our family, that I don't want to leave out.  I hope to soon be back to current events!

And with news of finally being pregnant we got to watch, with delight, my belly grow bigger and bigger.

This pregnancy was very similar to my last in that it was easy and without any complications. I did experience a few weeks of morning sickness this time, but still so, so mild compared to most woman. Achy hips and back, with a little sciatica made the end pretty uncomfortable, but all in all it was another wonderful experience. I really love being pregnant...most of the time :-)                            

Gavin was so excited for his baby sister to arrive!

A few last trips to Disneyland before the little peanut arrived.

We had a feeling we wouldn't be going much in the next few months.

Getting ready to go to the hospital!

This is the last picture I took of my pregnant belly right before we headed to the hospital where our baby girl was soon to make her debut!

3 + 1 = 4

It has been almost two years since I last updated this blog.  Lately I have found myself being drawn back to it and wanting to add to it once again.  Obviously so much has happened in the last couple of years that it is hard to know where to begin and how to catch up.  So I am going to just skip past all the small details and start things back up with the biggest thing that's happened to us in the last two years....

We had a baby!

But let's back up 9 months.

First things first...

We FINALLY got pregnant.

And my due date was July 11, 2012. Or as we referred to it as 7-11

And we were just THRILLED!!!

We had been trying to get pregnant for over two years with no luck.  My doctor told me there was nothing else she could do to help me and referred me to a fertility clinic.  But with the cost associated with fertility treatments we knew it wasn't an option at that time.  Plus, I just felt like it wasn't the right thing for us.  But the fact was that we had been trying for 26 months and still nothing.  Gavin was about to turn five that October and my heart just yearned for him to have a sibling.  

So it felt like nothing short of a miracle when we finally learned we were pregnant.  That Halloween a pregnancy test finally, finally, finally showed two pink lines...positive!  Our little family was finally about to get bigger, right along with my belly.

And before we knew it July of 2012 was upon us and my due date was quickly approaching.

And as I was crossing off the final day on my calendar in my 9 month count down I found myself writing this:

 3+1=4

Our family of three was about to become a family of four!
(which also happens to be my favorite number!)

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Stay tuned for a few more posts to update this here little blog and then we will be back in action!  I hope to keep this a place with currents photos of our family and what we are up to.  Thanks for stopping by!

palm springs

A weekend getaway to Palm Springs

sans child!

A weekend of lounging, eating, swimming, bike riding, and exploring

just the two of us.

All while staying at the uber chic ACE hotel!

The weekend started off so well.

A beautiful drive through the desert with rainbows, wind mills, and amazing clouds.

Then we checked into ACE hotel and started to get settled in with a nice lunch there.

Our awesome room that had a cool casual camp vibe.

Canvas 'tenting', funky lighting, vintage photographs, and even a record player.

This was by far the coolest hotel around.

The grounds of ACE had all these adorable orange trees everywhere.

They made me happy.

It had been a wonderful afternoon so far, albeit super windy, but still quite lovely.

But by 1:00 the wind really started to blow and suddenly the town was being torn apart.

Within a couple of hours most of Palm Springs looked like this.

This had been an art festival that was completely destroyed, along with most of the original art that was being displayed and for sale.

It was really an intense experience walking around town in such strong wind with gusts around 80-100 mph.

And to see all the damage.....the broken store front windows, water spewing into the air from broken water pipes, cars battered, mountains of palm frawns in the streets, and of course so many fallen trees.

So this beautiful, sunny Saturday suddenly was not so pretty anymore.  90% of Palm Springs was without power, including most restaurants and our own hotel.  All the pools were filled with dirt and debris and we were now faced with the decision of what to do.

It was now dark and all we had was a little lantern to light our room.

No where to eat, no hot tub to soak in, no tv to watch.

And we were paying a premium to stay where we were staying.

We decided to head out of town (and get a full refund) and stay in Hemet where Gavin was being watched by friends and where the power was on.  We luckily found a nice and resonably priced hotel to stay in, but it was no ACE.

So the next day morphed backed into a regular 'family day' with the addition of Gavin in the backseat once again.

We tweaked our plans a little, but it was still a really fun day.

Despite a few melt-downs...by both Gavin and myself :-)

Some fun with dinosaurs!

The big plan for the day was to finally ride the aerial tram to the top of the mountain from the desert below.
What an amazing ride!

Suddenly the cactus and heat were gone and we were surrounded by pine trees and cold, crisp mountain air.

And snow!

We had a lot of fun exploring the woods, 'sledding', and making snowballs.

So the weekend was not the one we had planned on, but that is life.

We were handed the proverbial lemons and had to make lemonade out of it.

It was not the kids-free, lounge-around-like-we-expected weekend,

but it was an adventure and a fun-filled family getaway for sure.

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But the next time we go to Palm Springs we will definitely make sure there are no wind advisories in place.

while the wallwork's were here