I guess it's beeN A whiLe...

i never mean to let this go unposted for so long. sometimes life just gets ahead of you. :) we sure have been busy but we're loving every minute of it! Here are a few things we've been up to...

cousin Katy-nana brought her babies down to the beach in May and we had SO much fun hanging out with them! They are such fun kids!

At the end of may, we went to Oahu with dave's family. SO MUCH FUN!

chex happened to take a trip the same week, so we got to spend a little time with them there. this is perhaps one of my favorite pictures of all time! :) Hattie loves that camel back!of course, glenn found a friend. haha. they were EXACT twinners. and when we pointed it out to the guy, he just laughed and laughed. and of course, posed for a picture for us. :)and of course we ate plenty of this... mmm. i could eat that stuff every day! Sorry to any Matsumoto's fans, but Shimazu kicks it's butt. :)Then, the first week in june, we went to santa barbara for my cousin's wedding. it was a short trip, but nice to spend time with family. :) on the way home, we stopped at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. It was super cool to see.

Old Air Force One. that thing is HUGE!and a piece of the Berlin Wall. So crazy to think of everything this signifies...and i'm gonna put the rest up in a new post... i'm sick of dragging pictures down...

ALieNs

So we had our "anatomy" ultrasound last week. what an event. I gotta tell you, i was way freaked out. a few weeks ago, we had our genetic ultrasound where they check for problems in the brain and heart and i had nightmares about missing it. ONLY to wake up early and drive to the wrong office and actually miss it! yes, i broke into tears and yes, i felt like an idiot. when i went to the rescheduled appointment 2 days later, the lady at the counter actually apologized. out of all the pregnant ladies she sees daily, she remembered that she had made me cry. my only response was "no worries. i'm seriously pregnant and it wasn't your fault." yeah. anyway...i digress. so setting up this appointment, i knew i should brace myself for some anxiety. the night before, we talked and talked about all the what-ifs. about problems, and miracles, and fears and excitements. and i felt like things were pretty good for both of us. that is, until i woke up at 3 AM to the most terrifying dream. in my dream, our baby was dead, it was an alien, and it had (sorry for the honesty...) a half formed little boy part. seriously, it was a lifeless, green monster with a little taquito. i was terrified. the next few hours of dreams were just as bad and i got out of bed early in a terrified fog. man, pregnant dreams feel SO real!

The U/S tech starts out taking pictures of different parts of my insides before ever getting to the baby. i'm just dying inside thinking "what's the point, it's gonna be gone anyway." but low and behold, i was wrong. :) 2 hours of taking pictures of every nuance that is the human body. AMAZING. what a miracle to see that little thing that was once a blob with a heart beat, then a wiggly worm with arms and legs, and now is a full fledged functioning body. we just loved every second of it! and of course i had to tell the technician about my dream and we got to have a good laugh about it. so she takes an awesome opportunity to snap this one for us to hang on our fridge.

how's that for a freaky alien baby? haha.

the good news from our appointment...our baby looks healthy. everything measures right and it is one wiggly worm. also, for anyone who cares, we're about 90 percent sure it's a girl. :) she wouldn't QUITE spread her legs (good girl...) so the view wasn't 100%. we go back in 3 weeks to get a few better pictures of her heart for her records and hopefully we'll be 100% then. Dr says "i wouldn't quite paint the room, but go ahead and shop." that's enough for me. :) we are SO SO SO very excited.

ANotheR quick shout out...

this morning, i'm just thinking how grateful i am for my dad. last week, i was craving a hamburger. holy smokes. i couldn't stop thinking about hamburgers! since i can't eat meat from a restaurant (long story), and i didn't have a grill, i just kept thinking i would never get one. then in casual convo, i mentioned to my dad that hamburgers were my latest craving but that i couldn't figure out how i was going to get one! he disappeared into his garage or his basement or some other fantastical hiding place and pulled out a mini weber bbq. it was a little old and beat up. and the grill on top is actually a grill from an oven, but it is the PERFECT size for us. in the past week and a half, we have gotten good use out of that little guy!
i know the story seems silly (and very pregnancy driven...), but it was just a classic dad moment. it made me so grateful for a dad who would do anything for me. at the drop of a hat. he would do anything for anyone, for that matter. and he always does. he is such a great guy. i'm so glad to be able to learn so much from him and see and learn from his example. i'm grateful that he takes the time and opportunity to stop by and visit us. that he always keeps our avocados and oranges stocked. that he wants to build good relationships with his family. that he takes the time to get to know and love dave's incredible family. that he loves and takes care of my mom.

so this morning, after eating a fantastic dinner of dave's hamburgers on dad's old bbq, i just gotta say i'm grateful for my dad. :) hope he knows that.

i beLieve thANks ARe iN oRdeR...

i really do have so much to be grateful for. so i wanted to take some time to name them. here's one.

this week, i am so grateful for this worm. she called me last week to see if she could do any chores for me. she spent all day friday scrubbing my toilets and cleaning my floors. she took out the bunny poop and watered my plants. the list goes on and on. all with a smile on her face. this may not seem like a big deal, but given that i have spent the majority of the last 3 months on the couch, it was a HUGE blessing. my house looks and smells clean! it means the world to me! plus, we just love when she comes over. she makes me so excited to have kids and have her around them. she is the nicest girl i know and has such a fun view on life. thanks jordy. i definitely owe you one. someday when you are pregnant and i am old and having grandchildren, i'll come clean your house. then you'll understand how much it means to me to have you around. :) we sure love you.

guess this mAkes it officiAL...

i guess it's time to officially share our news. :) scheduled to officially join our family mid september. we're SO excited! sorry if i've been a lame/non-existent friend to anyone of late... this whole sickness thing sure knocked me out. we can see the end in sight though, so we're definitely getting more and more excited!