Return to the Scene of the Crime

This year marks my 5 year wedding anniversary!! It's surreal to think about all that has happened over the last 5 years. On the one hand, it feels like our wedding was just yesterday, but on the other hand, we have done SO MUCH over the last 5 years! Here are just some of the things our 5 years of marriage has seen:

-moving to Arizona

-my first job as a classroom teacher

-buying our first pet

-buying our first (town)house

-vacations to: Sedona, Mexican Riviera Cruise, Bahamas, Maui, Cancun, Cabo, Grand Cayman, and more!

-Bryan graduating from Grad school

-moving back to Fresno

-buying our second house

-Bryan's first job as a Nurse Anesthetist

-me starting a new job as an itinerant teacher

-starting a family!!

Whew! Those are a lot of milestones to accomplish in 5 years!

To celebrate our 5 years of wedded bliss we decided to return to Santa Barbara, where we got married. We stayed at the BEAUTIFUL Doubletree hotel and were delighted to discover we had been upgraded to a suite when we checked in! Our room was gorgeous and we had the most amazing view! We spent the weekend walking along the beach, window shopping on State Street, eating yummy food, and relaxing by the pool in the fabulous Santa Barbara weather. We had such a great time, we decided we might need to make the trip an anniversary tradition! It was also a great little "last getaway" before our darling daughter makes her grand debut!

The view from our balcony

Beautiful beach

Do these polka dots make me look fat?? :)

Happy Anniversary To Us!!!

Island Getaway

So even though I'm 8 month pregnant, I thought it would be a fabulous idea to drive 4 hours and take a 1 1/2 hour boat ride to go on my annual Catalina trip. And I was right!! I had a fantastic time and I'm so glad I went. The weather was gorgeous the whole week and I got a chance to relax with my friends and "second family." I got to eat at my favorite places, sit outside at my favorite coffee shop, and eat the best ice cream sundaes on earth!

The belly was a big hit with everyone! No one there had seen me in person since I'd started showing except Amy, so it was quite the novelty. Alex loved it so much she told me that I should just be pregnant all the time because it was the best she'd ever seen me look! Hailey even got to patriotic on the 4th of July when she got to "wear" her own glow necklace. =)

I can't describe it, but there's just this feeling of happiness and contentment that washes over me the minute I step off the boat. It's also a special trip for me because I get to spend quality time with my best friends, who I don't get to see very often. I'm hoping that I get to continue this tradition once Hailey comes and make it a special trip for her too.

A Shower of Love

I have gotten WAYYYYYYYYY behind in my posting so I'm going to attempt to catch up in chronological order over the next few days.

A few weeks before school ended, my co-workers threw me a surprise baby shower at our final staff meeting. I was SO SURPRISED! They decorated the whole office and my co-worker Nicki made the most amazing cupcakes. It was so much fun opening all the adorable presents for Hailey and it reminded me how soon I'm going to have a little person to actually use those precious clothes and books!

On June 27th, my mother-in-law threw me another baby shower for Bryan's side of the family and friends. The shower was beautiful and so much fun! Our friend Kim came up with some fun games (melted candybars in a diaper anyone?) and we had a lovely lunch. I got to wear a Mommy To Be sash and Hailey got some of the cutest presents!! It makes me feel so good that everyone is excited for Hailey to come and I am so grateful for the generosity and thoughtfulness of everyone who came.

Because of how spread out our family and friends are, I actually have 2 more showers coming up! Hailey and I are such lucky girls to have so many people who love us!!

And for those of you anxiously awaiting a new belly pic, here is the 33 week belly:

Behold! The Pregopotomus!! :)

Belly Beautiful

Yesterday I went over to my amazingly talented friend Brittaney's house to take some belly portraits. I was really excited to get some artistic shots to capture this moment in my life and I am SO THRILLED with how the pictures turned out!!! Special thanks to April for suggesting I pose with some baby shoes and blocks spelling out Hailey's name. They came out great! Here is a sample of some of my favorite shots and you can check out the rest of the shoot HERE (click Slideshow in the upper right corner). I had a lot of fun playing with my new Photoshop program to get some of the effects but the credit definitely goes Brittaney's fabulous photo skills! Thanks Britt!!

30 Down, 10 To Go...

It feels SO WEIRD to say I only have 10 weeks left!! Next week it will be single digits!! The second half of this pregnancy is zooming by and every time I blink I am closer and closer to being a mom!

I had my 30 week check-up today and everything is looking good. I am measuring right on track and as of the last 2 visits, her head is down. There's a chance she could turn before she runs out of room but I'm keeping my fingers crossed she stays where she is. She is doing a lot of flipping from side to side though... last night I watched what I'm pretty sure was her little butt ripple across the top of my belly as she rolled over. I am still feeling really good and really enjoying the 80 degree weather we've been having instead of what would normally be in the high 90's by now! My only complaint is that my hips really hurt when I sleep. Whichever hip I am laying on starts to throb so badly it wakes me up. Between flipping from side to side with my giant body pillow and getting up 3 times a night to pee, I'm afraid I'm going to be banished to the guest room soon so my poor husband can get a full night's sleep! I can't complain too much though...if that's the worst thing I've had to deal with during this whole pregnancy, I know I'm one of the really lucky ones! :)

Bob Villa's Got Nothin' On Me!

My dad wanted to get us a piece of furniture for Hailey so he decided on the crib and it arrived today!! Of course, it arrived in pieces in a giant flat box...but less than one hour later it looks like THIS!! That's right, 7 1/2 months pregnant and I did it all by myself! It is SO exciting to have this essential piece of furniture put together and in the room, it's getting more and more real by the day.

My dad also got the bedding set to go with the crib. It arrived a few days ago and I just LOVE IT! I can't wait until the whole room is put together!

My next project will be putting together the recliner and ottoman my mom got for the room. It's currently in a lovely brown box because we still have a futon in the baby's room that needs to stay until my baby shower so I can host more than one out of town guest. After that it will be donated to a good home (my friend Brittaney's) and then the room will be 100% Haileys!

29 Weeks

I got a request for a new belly pic so....here it is! I'm not sure it's changed much since last week but I like to keep my readers happy! :)

I met my potential pediatrician today...a very exciting step! I liked her a lot and it feels good to be checking these important preparations off my list. Next up, my crib delivery and assembly!