BL's Visit and Disneyland!

For my Birthday present I decided that what would make me happiest (and was actually attainable) would be to have my sister in law BL come visit me. So several months in advance my brother and I started scheming to make it possible. She basically had no choice in the matter! ;-) This required a lot from her - flying across the country alone...something she'd never done before. But I think it was totally worth it, wasn't it BL??



Unfortunately we had a lot of the "May Grey" going on so there weren't any fantastic California beach days, despite it being sunny at my house the whole week!

I drove her by the "Top Gun" house that's in Oceanside. Sadly it's all boarded up and I think it's supposed to be moved or knocked down. Who would want to get rid of that house?? I mean, it's nothing grand but it was still a part of a very famous movie.

Gardens at Stone Brewery for my Birthday lunch with S.

BL had never really had sushi before so for her last dinner out here with me we went to one of my favorite sushi places and got a couple rolls...yes, I know it was very bad for two pregnant women BUT I was super safe with what I ordered AND one of them is tempura. O:-) Most importantly, she really liked it!

Okay so I was trying to plan for us to go see a taping of "America's Got Talent" but unfortunately that fell through. So on the spur of the moment I decided that despite BL and I both being pregnant we should go to Disneyland. This year the Disney parks are having free admission on your birthday so I registered and got my "free" ticket and then went to ITT to pick up BL's ticket. Perfecto, two for the price of one basically! I figured, even if we can't go on the "big" rides, there are plenty of smaller rides and neither of us has ever been to DisneyLAND and if BL is able to make it out to Cali again, it'll be with my brother and the kiddos and Disneyland would be a completely different kind of experience for her (and for me, since I'd have a kiddo too!) So we went...and it was fantastic fun!!

Sleeping Beauty's castle is incredibly smaller than Cinderella's in DisneyWorld...I thought she should complain to Walt.

A note from Mickey thanking me for Celebrating with him, how sweet!

We totally lucked out and happened to enter the park just as Mickey was parading down Main Street USA! Of all the times going to DisneyWorld we used to try so hard to get a picture of him waving at us and here, it wasn't an issue at all!

We went on just about every "small" ride the park had. But there was one in particular I absolutely couldn't miss, not for all the swelling or braxton hicks contractions in the world!

It's a Small World!

It was far more extravagant than DisneyWorld's version (about one of the only things that was) and I loved every second of hearing that song over and over and over and over and over and over again!! :-)

I think as a whole it was a pretty relaxed week with BL. Other than DisneyLand, my shower and a party, we just hung out: went shopping, saw a movie and just caught up on a bunch of talking. Part of what I miss most about being so far away from my family is being able to just hang out. I'm glad BL made the trip out here and that my bro was able to work everything out with some of his awesome friends to help with the girls. It really made my Birthday "week" a fabulous one considering D is gone.

I can't wait until we're able to see eachother again since we'll both have new additions to our families!

Birthdays, Farewells & one more Shower!

I don't think I've ever blogged about this but when D and I moved into this neighborhood, we moved in the same weekend 3 other families moved in on the same street basically all right next to eachother. Instant friends since we were all relatively new. Add in meeting a few of the other surrounding neighbors and you've got, literally, a row of friends.

Anyhoo, we discovered that 3 of us had birthdays in row in May (19, 20, 21) so we knew this year we'd be doing something collectively. Sadly our multi-birthday celebration also acted as a Farewell to our neighbors S&M. :-(

The same neighbor who made my baby shower cake, made our Birthday/Farewell cake and did a beautiful job...see her other masterpieces here.

A bit fuzzy, but the three of us blowing out our candles.

Last year S and I went out to lunch and got pedicures on her birthday in celebration of both of our birthdays (since they're a day apart)...we decided it'd be fun to make it an "annual" event..har har har! This is us in the gardens at the fabulous Stone Brewery. It's a favorite brewer of our hubbies and not only can you take tours of the brewery, but they have a delicious restaurant we discovered is also open for lunch! (And for those of you curious, I'm 31 weeks in this picture.)

Before M could leave, we had to have a baby shower for her! She and S are expecting their second child in September and found out they're having a little girl this time! She couldn't have been happier and we all couldn't help having fun giving her pretty pink girly things despite the fact that she was packing up her house to move! ;-) We were all very sad to see S&M move out and can't wait to see pictures of their new arrival!

If you look closely you'll see that the cake (again done by A!), is a 3D Duck!!

Baby Shower!

The Cake!!

Beautifully done by my neighbor, A.

The Guests!

The gifts!

So many cute little boy clothes!

Lots of Puppy Dogs!

Smocked outfits!

Blankets and blankets and wait...there are even more blankets in there!

The Hostess

Thank you S for a great shower! I know there was a lot of effort, time and money put into making my day super special and I am so grateful!!

I was so happy BL was able to come out and be there with me!! :-)

Once we got everything back to the house, Boo and Luna were a bit un-nerved. Luna kept laying on all the clothes and obviously Boo was anxious to see if anything in the bags was for him! I can already tell that any toy with a squeaky sound will have to be "fought" over between Baby T and Boo! :-)

It was a great shower and I was so thankful for all who came and everyone from near and far who sent Baby T some wonderful and useful gifts! It felt wonderful to know so many people already love and care about him and he hasn't even arrived yet! I'm not quite done with the Thank You notes, but I'm working on them!

Happy 3rd Birthday Boo!

I shared my "Mommy to be Day" with Boo this year as it was his 3rd Birthday! It's hard to believe that he's already 3, probably due to the fact that he's just as energetic, mischievious and "puppy-like" as he's ever been...just bigger and a little smarter.

I tried to made the day as much fun as D would have: trip to the lake, trip to PetsMart, Birthday cake and a steak and rice dinner. He was quite the pampered pup with tons of Boo-only attention (Luna was left, sadly, at home).

Unfortunately I didn't catch any pictures at the lake. We met up with a friend and neighbor of mine who was having a picnic with her two boys. They threw a ball for Boo while they finished up lunch, then we relocated so Boo could get some water time in. As usual he loved it and wasn't ready to leave when I was!

Then we headed to PetsMart where he "picked out" his own presents. (He tried to pee on the package of stuffed animals you see in the picture below but I stopped him and attempted to pick up the raw hide out of it's basket.) So it being his birthday, I bought all of them for him.

Don't let the picture fool you, he actually took his time with the raw hide - about a week and a half. And Luna did get to share in some of it's broken off smaller parts. The stuffed animals...well they lasted longer than I thought they would. The first one died a week later. The only one left now is the big green one and last night he successfully ripped it in half. I've been having a great time picking up fluffy stuffing and catching the squeakers before he eats them.

Enjoying the Birthday cake I got for him. After I snapped this picture he walked over and ate about half of Luna's piece since she was eating "too slowly" for him.

Steak and brown rice dinner. Please note the toy in the picture. He really loved them and I thought he was being cute with them for a couple days. This was the first casualty though. :-)

Overal I think he had a good day of being as spoiled...ok, more spoiled as I could possibly make him. Hopefully next year his daddy can make it an even better day for him!

Happy Mommy to be Day!

My very first Mother's Day bouquet! Who's it from you (and I) wondered??

:-) Such a sweet boy already! He had a little help from his Grandpa T...

Third Trimester...no really, it's here already!

I can't even believe it. In a little less than three months, I will be a mother. There will be a baby in my arms to hold and look at and well, take care of!

Insert frantic scream of panic here.

No really. Yesterday I thought I had all the time in the world to finish up the final details of T's room. I had all the time in the world to finish getting the house totally clean and organized. Today, some crazy new panic has drifted over me and it hit me that the last few months have flown by and time has suddenly sped up...I don't have that much time left.

I was getting ready to go take my diabetes test and looked around my bathroom and thought "Oh no! What if something happens and he comes earlier and I have to send someone to my house to get personal stuff?? I don't want anyone to be in here or see my house like this!! They wouldn't be able to find important documents, etc. etc." I know it seems silly but honestly, if something were to happen between now and my MIL arriving, I'd have to send one of my friends and neighbors in the house to get me stuff and I would just die if they saw certain areas of my house!! It's not a pig-sty but not presentable in a way that D and I would feel comfortable with.

Oh and I haven't washed anything of T's yet...I put sheets on his mattress but I mean, that was because I was so excited to see it all put together. I haven't washed them yet, or any of the clothes yet.... I'm pretty sure that's something you're supposed to do before the baby uses them.

Ok...I'll relax. A little. Deep breath.

In other news I took the diabetes test today and it went alright. I was blessed with a great lab tech so I hardly felt the needle and he got all he needed within seconds it seemed. I should have gotten his name, then I could have requested him the next time I have to give blood for testing. Anyway, while I was there there were 5 other women who came in for the same test and judging by their conversations (they all seemed to have brought a friend...did I miss a memo or something? I didn't realize you brought a girlfriend with you to testing!) anyhoo judging by their conversations they were all within 26-29 weeks as well. And they ALL had smaller bellies than I do. ALL of them. I'm not being paranoid, it was as plain as day. The only ones I didn't glare at were the ones who were rediculously taller than I am. The others I just silently growled at.

Oh well, he's going to be a big baby - D is a foot taller than me, after all.

Washington...the state this time!

So my little weekend excursion went well and was very enjoyable. It was nice seeing and spending time with my brother A and sister in law S, especially since I hadn't see S in a little over three years! I liked the Seattle area, a lot actually! (The good weather we had all weekend probably helped that!)

My brother lives right next to Lake Washington so Friday S and I went to the park next to Lake and got milkshakes and walked around the coastline. The island you see here (I forget the name) but it's the "rich people's" island....as in Bill Gates lives there.

If you look carefully to the center of the picture you can just make out a water plane landing on the lake. I got really excited and was trying to watch it and take a picture at the same time...so the picture didn't come out so well. I'd never actually seen one in person so it was pretty cool! (And I instantly missed D, a lot, 'cause he would have loved to see it too!)

Saturday we headed off North a little ways to see some Tulip fields...the first fields we saw, though, were Daffodils. They were so pretty and had a very "romantic" feel about them. S and I are actually standing over one of the few Tulips we saw in this particular field.

A and I in front of the Pinwheel tower at the main Tulip "farm" we visited. This place had tons of Tulips in bloom and it was hard not to want to pick some! Of course you could order bulbs to be delivered at the perfect time of the year to plant but who wants to wait?? :-) I did not pick any, just took too many pictures to post!

Of course I had to take a picture of these type of Tulips!

I bet the next weekend all of these were open...

They were still so beautiful and peaceful looking with the mountains behind them!

This was my brother's first attempt at taking a picture of me and the Space Needle...which I was apparently wearing as a hat! It's much more a picture of Baby T's first "visit" to the Space Needle!

There we go!

At the top...and just for those of you out there who may have believed the Space Needle was actually tall enough to be in a part of Space...clearly I'm still on Earth. ( ;-) You know who you are and I just had to give an anonymous shout out to you.)

For you Grey's Anatomy fans out there. This building was used in the first couple seasons as the hospital and the helicopter landing spot. It is not a hospital, rather a news station.

Seattle and Mt. Rainier. I was trying all weekend to get a good picture of the active volcano...that's not so active...thankfully!

The original Starbucks! Notice the change in the logo?? Sorry it's fuzzy!

Pike Public Market...such a cool market. Aside from milk and eggs you could do just about all of your food grocery shopping here; and the bouquets of flowers were amazing for only $10 - $25, simply amazing!

YUMMO!! ha ha ha ha this fish stand was crazy fun!

Our very funny "helper" just threw our crab to the dude in the back who's nonchalantly walking by with his hand out...and dude in the back totally caught it without any problem! Then our very funny "helper" turns and says, "Okay, I've got to go meet my parole officer! Have a great night!" S and I figured it was totally possible he was telling the truth!!!

So like I said, I had a great weekend and I can't wait to go back with D and visit the area some more. Maybe check out some of the mountain trails or even venture into Canada. I finally got the "money shot" picture of Mt. Rainier when I was leaving Seattle and it dawned on me that we'd be flying right over the mountain! Sadly my camera was stowed away out of reach, but I had my cell phone and thankfully the picture came out pretty well! It definitely ended my trip on a very happy note.