San Diego Wedding Weekend

I recently made a trip back to the States so that I could attend my cousin, Amber's, wedding in San Diego.  My mom & I made the wedding weekend into our annual "Girls Trip", and we had lots of fun exploring Southern California!  We went shopping (of course!), to the San Diego Zoo, and relaxed poolside at the amazing Rancho Bernardo Inn, where we were fortunate enough to stay.  We spent a day at the spa, where I was treated to a fabulous "Mother To Be" massage...oh my gosh, it was heavenly!!  And we spent 2 days hanging out w/ Amber and the family getting ready for her big day.  She looked gorgeous, the groom was handsome, and the weekend was just fantastic!  Here are some pics of our adventures....

The little giraffe is only about a month old!

I thought this parrot was GORGEOUS!!

We caught this Panda eating her morning snack!

The Rancho Bernardo Inn (this was the spa pool)

My mom & I before the wedding.

Amber & Evan, cutting the cake.

Ahhh, they didn't even cram it into each other's faces!!

Good-bye, sweet Kelly!!

It's that time again...time to say good-bye to dear friends.  Honestly, I think it's the worst part of the military lifestyle, the saying good-bye.  No matter how many times we do it, it never gets easier.  

I met Kelly while we were stationed in North Carolina.  Actually, we met while playing one of my favorite games ever...BINGO!!  (I've never denied being a huge dork!).  Kelly had already started the moving process, as she and her husband would be moving to England about three weeks later.  I remember how much I already liked her, even after that brief encounter...from her cute piggy-tails to her infectious smile, I had made a fast friend.  When Chris & I found out that we would be moving to England a little while later, I was excited to already have someone I could call on for some support.

And support, she did.  Kelly & her husband let us borrow their car during our first few weeks in-country.  Though it was right-hand drive, and oh-so-terrifying, we were thankful to have it!  She introduced me to most of the squadron ladies, and invited me to go with her to a Bible Study group as well.  That group has been such a blessing to me during our time here...the ladies I've met through it will remain in my heart forever.  Kelly basically took me under her wing, and helped me adjust to the many differences that we faced in England.  We've traveled to multiple countries together (the Italian police fiasco has Kelly's name written all over it!!), helped each other through our husband's first deployments, eaten countless meals together, and have become better friends than I could have ever imagined.  I'm so grateful to have her in my life.

As Kelly & her husband leave England for bigger & better things, she will definitely leave a much-missed hole in our sweet little group of friends.  Good luck Downings, in all that you do.  May God bless the road ahead of you, and may we meet again in the future!!

Kelly & I on Homecoming Day

Our Naming

New Year's Eve 

At Pee-Dog-a-PaLooza!

On my mind...

Obviously, with all of the big changes that are coming up in our lives, I have quite a bit on my mind. I thought I'd just post some of my questions/concerns/worries/ideas here for y'all to ponder and perhaps help me out with. Some are silly, some serious...feel free to be as honest as possible, I need all the help that I can get!!

1. Vaccinations. Where do I even begin with this one? Any good book recommendations or suggestions? Are there any pro-vaccine people out there? Con-vaccine people? Just don't really care people?? This has been on my mind frequently lately!

2. Our child's name. Holy moly, how hard can it be to come up with one that we both like??? I'm seriously starting to consider Amy Jr.! (We've already got 3 Amy's in the family, why not add one more?)

3. Sleep Routine Books. "The Baby Whisperer", "Baby Wise", "Parenting for Dummies"? Any suggestions? And if you do have one, can you tell me why you like it?

4. Vinyl Wall Designs/Letters. Yes, I'm thinking about these...A LOT! Do I use them? Do I not? Has anyone seen any cute ones? What do you guys think of the one below? Remember that the room will be Pink/Brown/Green :)

5. Car Seat/Stroller. Why is the ONE car seat/stroller combo that we really like sold out of every store in America? Anyone have a Chicco Keyfit 30 combo in Romantic...if so, I'll pay just about anything for it!

6. Houses. We're still in the midst of our house search, with one promising lead. We have the sweetest lady in the world working on it for us, but I'm still just wanting something to be settled already!

Hmm, I guess that's all for now. Like I said, feel free to give me some honest feedback...I promise you won't hurt my feelings if you think I'm a complete mess for thinking about all this stuff!...I'm fully aware of my mess-ness!

Our First Baby Shower

This past weekend some of my good friends hosted my 1st Baby Shower, and I can officially say that I'm ready for our little girl!  Well, maybe not COMPLETELY ready, but I definitely think that she'll be the best dressed baby on the block!!  My friends made plenty of yummy treats, we played some super cute games (none of that "smell the diaper" stuff for me!), and I had a great time chatting with all of the ladies who made it out to celebrate this special time with me. 

I can't believe how much stuff we got!!  From rattles and blankets to washcloths and bottles, I was overwhelmed at everyone's generosity.  My mom sent about a million children's books over.  She found the ones that I loved as a child, and surprised me with them all.  It was such a sweet gift, and it was absolutely perfect coming from the woman who taught me to love books!  And the clothes...oh my gosh, the clothes!!  We now have a wardrobe fit for a true princess...I think Chris was a little taken aback by all the pink!  The hostesses went in together and got us the Pack n Play, which was SO fun and SUCH a surprise!  I love that thing...it's like an entire room/activity gym all squished together!  

Thanks to Wendy, Kelly, Missy, Emily, Kate, Kim & Melanie for an truly wonderful shower.  I couldn't have asked for anything more :)

The cute "Welcome Baby" Sign that Wendy had in front of her house.

The book, "Guess How Much I Love You"

The AWESOME Pack n Play!!

That's Our Girl!!

Here's my favorite picture from the Ultrasound on Monday...she's just chillin' out, sucking on her thumb :)

How far along:  21 (almost 22!!) weeks

Total weight gain/loss:  Up 5 lbs total

Maternity clothes?  Oh yeah!  I keep trying to sport my old shirts, but they keep creeping up my belly...nice!

Stretch marks?  Nope.  Gotta love Cocoa Butter :)

Sleep:  Not so great lately.  The other night I had a pain in my side so bad that I thought I was dying!  Oh, I'm dreading labor!!

Best moment this week:  Having our ultrasound, and learning that we're having a GIRL!!!

Movement:  Oh, she's a mover!!

Food cravings:  If it has sugar in it, I crave it!

Gender:  She's wearing a tiara!

Labor Signs:  None

Belly Button in or out:  In

What I miss:  Cold sandwiches from the Commissary, oddly enough.

What I'm looking forward to:  My appt. on Monday.  The Dr. will go over the results of the ultrasound.

Weekly Wisdom:  Patience is a virtue (I'm obviously not very virtuous in that area!)

Milestones:  1st Profile Pictures, and finding out the gender!!

Happy Spring!!

The Wait is OVER!!!

We're having a GIRL!!!!

Yesterday was the "big" ultrasound, and I can't tell you how excited I was to find out whether we were going to have a little prince, or a little princess!!  I barely slept on Sunday night, and I woke up yesterday morning absolutely giddy with excitement.  I kept myself busy doing laundry and cleaning up the house, and I even got to have lunch w/ Chris before the appointment (a rare occurrence!).  We got to the Dr's office about 10 minutes early, and we were quickly escorted in to start the sonogram.  I was lying down, so I couldn't see the screen, but since Chris was at my feet, he had a perfect view.  It was so sweet to see his face light up every time he caught a glimpse of our little one.  Though I was disappointed that I had to miss most of the show, it was really fun to get to watch him experience it for himself!  

Finally, after about 30 minutes of pictures and screening the technician turned the screen around so that I could see.  She said that she couldn't see any abnormalities in the facial features, and that as far as she could tell our baby was "right on schedule", and "doing perfectly".  I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief when I heard that.  More than anything else, I just wanted to know that our baby was healthy.  Since we opted out of all of the pre-natal testing, this was the first time that we actually got to hear that everything was okay...I don't think I realized how much I needed to hear those words. 

We have a feisty one on our hands, let me tell you!  So much so that the tech said that ours was one of the most active babies she had ever seen!!  She finally got a good picture of the lower half of the body, and let us guess whether we thought it was a boy or a girl.  We both guessed girl, and we were right!!  Just about that time though, she crossed her little legs...she's a lady, after all!!  As we were finishing up, we got to see her start sucking her thumb.  I think we made her tired w/ all that poking and prodding.  It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen...I am so in love with her already.

After the appointment, Chris and I spent at least 5 minutes standing in the hallway staring at the new sonogram pictures.  He's just as smitten as I am!  To celebrate, we went straight out and bought her first little outfit.  The picture isn't very clear, but it says: 

"I can make you smile." 

And, she already does!!