me & my hero

 

last month i went to mama fest with a girlfriend and managed to win a free photo shoot with an amazing photographer (also mommy of two little girls).  i’m not sure if i’ve ever won a raffle before, but this one was a jackpot!  lucky me!

well, last week was our session and i must admit it was a little crazier than i had expected.  a photo shoot with a nearly two year old is surely different than one with a stationary, unknowing, newborn.  it started here at the house, then we headed out to a nearby park.  not far from the house we realized anabelle had a dirty diaper and we had left the diaper bag at home – but of course how our bag with everyone’s outfit #2.  oh gosh!  chris had decided to let anabelle play with his phone in the car.  before we made it to the park we started to hear curse words coming from the phone.  smarty pants anabelle had found an inappropriate video to watch.  oh gosh!  can you say parenting fail?!  meanwhile, while trying to take picture anabelle really wanted nothing to do with me or my belly (this makes a maternity shoot a dash tricky).  thankfully chris was there and chrystal was super patient and understanding.  to top off the crazy, once we got home chris realized that he had left his first outfit on a park bench with his wallet in the pocket of his shorts.  we were relieved when he went back to look for them and they were right there on the bench waiting for him.  phew!

i have only seen two of the shots so far and was so happy that the crazy didn’t show through.  thank you chrystal!  it was so great to work with you and we are grateful for your gift, time, talent, and help with our anabelle.  i can’t wait to see more!

man, it’s so nice to be in love with your husband!  muggy, thanks for the extra time you spent at home this past week.  it really means a lot.

xoxo

my belly and potty boot camp

golly!  31 weeks, really?!

emilymae has been super busy lately with big roly poly movements.  well, as big as a 3 1/2 pound baby can make.  so fascinating!  even chris has been surprised how big her thumps and rolls have been this week.

today was day 1 of our potty boot camp for anabelle.  we’re using the 3 day training e-book.

she helped ‘throw away’ all of her cloth diapers this morning (they are really just in a trader joe’s bag) and spent all day in her big girl undies.  no pee actually made it in the potty today, but we have two days to go and we’re still feeling motivated.  her little stash of ‘potty prizes’ are waiting for her.

go anabelle!

30 weeks

I seriously don’t know how I am already 30 weeks along in this pregnancy.  I’m feeling great and am definitely excited but am ok if it all slows down just a bit.

yah for deliveries from diapers.com!

watching a sportscenter with papa – we love mornings with him!

marching around in my shoes. 
she knows how to open our closets now and is happy to unpack chris’ shoes too.

29 weeks

here we are, 29 weeks

a little fun at the park

after a long morning at the toyota dealership i now have myself a snazzy truck bed cover in preparation for two littles in my backseat.

anabelle was a trooper.  it didn’t hurt that we were able to walk down to the bay while we waited.

      

lounging at home

visiting my sweet friend, lauren, up in san clemente

enjoy a stroll and some sunshine with lauren

here we are getting ready for anabelle’s first time at the youth center on base.  it was a quick stay as our first trial (i just met chris for a coffee) and we both did great.

the trucks and diggers are still mighty busy behind our complex.  anabelle loves getting to watch them.  she says ‘truck’ and ‘dig dig dig’ and ‘uh oh’ when the dump truck dumps out all of its dirt.

last week i got a haircut and anabelle got her first trim.  it was fun to watch her and i’m pretty sure she enjoyed herself.

       

      

christal gave her a nice little braid to top of the ‘do.  anabelle sure seemed pleased when she got to look in the mirror.

      

she was a bummed when she had to take the cloak off so christal let her wear it (this time backwards as a cape) and she lit right back up!

      

 she even helped christal run our credit cards to pay.  

      

anabelle has been giving the ‘twos’ a little test run here and there with dashes of ‘bi-polar’ behavior.  i think it confuses us both at times but we’re figuring it out one day at a time.

she continues to learn new tricks on my phone and has started taking pictures herself and manages to change my wallpaper at least once a day.  she’s pointing out letters, especially o’s, a’s, and s’s.

i’m feeling a lot like i have the dirtiest house around these days and as though i’m stuck in the middle of the movie ‘marley & me’ – somedays i feel like i just want to post charley on craigslist but i’m sure it all just a combo of preggo hormones and nesting.

anabelle recently discovered elmo – her first kiddo character.  there are two videos she gets to watch on youtube – one about brushing her teeth and one with india arie singing the abc’s.

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tosses with papa

one of their favorite things to do at the table or in the car

a & e

my anabelle belly seems so long ago while at the same time it feels like i was just waiting for her to be born.  now, here I am waiting for our emilymae – but definitely not in a hurry. 
I’m super excited but not ready quite yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this time 2 years ago I was preparing for chris’ deployment to afghanistan.  we are about to enter into all new belly territory for chris, not to mention the whole birthing part!  I’m gitty over getting to share it with him this time.  I don’t think he knows quite what he’s in for, but I suppose everyone is that way their first time.

I just had another check up this week, along with my glucose test.  baby is doing great, growing and strong.  I have now been instructed to eat six times a day to keep us both fueled and nourished.  homemade rocky road brownies filled in a one meal today (hee hee).

anabelle is now trying to say lots of words.  she knows her name, carter (her monkey), and is trying to say e-mae (we thought that would be an easier version of emilymae for her).  she’s saying bus, truck, rock, water, arm and there are new ones everyday!  her latest is to point at my belly when I ask her where emilymae is and then she leans her head to the side waiting for me to get closer so she can lay her head on my belly and try to listen to baby.  it’s pretty darn sweet.

I can’t believe I’m about to have two sweet baby girls.  I’m so lucky!

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a little silliness after bath

assorted pics

a nice kiss from my jellybean

    

    

planning a picnic

    

  then she wanted to see the pictures i was taking

     

our matching hair-dos

i had to work this past saturday so chris and anabelle had a fun morning together at balboa park.  notice the papa selected outfit - he even did her hair!

on the train

and riding the carousel

las vegas

so, vegas isn’t really the place for me but when i was invited my one of my besties for girl time by the pool and a show i decided to pack my bag and head to the desert.  chris was out of town for work so my doula offered to watch anabelle.  this was only my second time being away from her overnight.  it was a quick but great little getaway.  man, you sure get through the airport quick when it’s just you and a backpack.  i even bought magazines to read on the plane.

soaking up some sun poolside with my bestie, betsy!  thanks for encouraging me to come play.

at a tasty dinner before the show

ready to see mystere! 
(not sure why my eyes look so creepy) 
baby emilymae was so busy during the show!

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my doula was awesome about sending me pics while i was gone.  thanks alexis!

anabelle’s first slumber party.
cozy in pjs with alexis’ girls, viana & amari

she is in love with helmets!

i’m pretty sure anabelle enjoyed her getaway too!