Once Upon a Springtime

 What have we been up to lately? Crazy fun stuff is what we have been up to! We seriously feel so blessed. First of all...thanks to Scott's work we were able to stay at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort and Spa in Dana Point last week! It was so nice and relaxing! They treated us like royalty! No way could we ever afford to stay here ourselves so it was nice to enjoy it while we could...especially while it is still just the 2 of us! My breakfast of just an OJ, bagel and fresh pineapple was a whole 30 bucks! Haha! I was able to drive down to visit my familia while Scott attended seminars and presentations and even golfed the last day!

 I love my family! They were able to see our babe in 4D along with us! He is so very loved already! I'm so glad everyone enjoyed the experience and that we got some really good views of his sweet face and how he is all positioned in there! We can't wait to meet this little guy in person!

Scott has been wanting to get a bike to ride to work for a while now. Since we don't live very far from his work this will save on gas money and be some great exercise! He found a great deal last weekend and brought home this baby! Her name is Topanga...like from Boy Meets World! Haha! 

So many fun birthdays were celebrated in our family this month! It was Brinley's 6th birthday so my Mom kidnapped Brin from school and took her to Disneyland! We had a blast getting her all done up at the Bibbidi Bobbi Boutique. She was transformed into a beautiful princess right before our eyes! She loved every minute & kept saying what a happy day she was having!


...Some people may think that our life here in California is just a party, well it isn't. We have great times when people visit and with Scott's work and our family we get to experience and see the sites but then really it is just a normal life with nice weather and really expensive rent. So don't be jealous on the freezing gray blah days. Life is what you make of it and happiness is where you want to find it really. I have the same amount of blah days here as I did in Idaho. So really don't envy, just come visit so we have an excuse to go out and play!

Baby in 4D

Baby Camden at 28.5 weeks! Cutest little profile We've ever seen!

Another cute baby face. Just look at those chubby cheeks!

He is all folded up inside there! You can see both his legs and feet in front of his face and his hand above his head here! 

Cute little baby leg, foot & toes all stretched out! We have quite the gymnast in there! 

I love this one. You can really see how squished he is! He is even giving us a thumbs up.
Just hope he is comfy in there for now! 

Sweet sleepy baby....see you soon!

I Heart Stripes!

 

Exhibit A: My side of the closet

Exhibit B: Baby's side of the closet
 

Notice any similarities?? Hmm...maybe the fact that half of the clothes I have purchased so far for baby Camden are STRIPED & the fact that the last few shirts I have purchased for myself have STRIPES! Now this might have been planned but really I do assure you that it was all very accidental! Quite the coincidence no?  I just noticed this the other night and had to take a pic! Funny how things like that happen! I guess I am just loving stripes right now...I better slow down before this kid has all striped clothing!

Shopping for baby things is too much fun! I seriously have to take out half the stuff in my cart before going to the check out because everything is just too cute I want to buy it all! Haha! So far I have bought him a few cute church outfits, awesomely handsome summer outfits as well as some cuddly sleepers and onesies! I also bought one blanket to match his crib bedding and some touch and feel baby books that were just so colorful and fun not to buy...See what I told you...too much fun! 

I just recently finished registering at Target & Babies R Us which took me forever and a half because there are so many choices...but it was really fun too! {So go checkout my registries!} We also just bought our first stock of diapers!! {Via Amazon Mom & Target} I have felt weird buying them until now...now that people can actually tell why I am buying the diapers! Haha! It is just so much fun preparing for this baby to get here! I need to stop buying stuff though because I'm sure I will get some fun/good/needful things at my showers! :)

All this preparing just makes me so excited for his arrival! I just can't wait to hold my baby in my arms instead of in my belly! I am getting a little weary of this being pregnant thing but this week I will be entering into the 3RD TRIMESTER! Holy Cow...when did this happen?! It really is coming fast so in the mean time I am definitely enjoying this time and the time I have to spend solo with my hubs! He is so good to me and we have so much fun together. I just know he is going to be the most loving and helpful and greatest dad there ever was! He is just as excited as I am for our baby to get here & I can't wait to see him with our babe! 

This was the first outfit we bought for our lil one right after we found out we were having a boy...I just love the little footsies and doggie on the bum. Too cute! I can't wait to see him actually in all his outfits! Can't wait!

86 Days til baby's due date!!!

Home Sweet Home

We survived a month away and oh how lovely it has been to be back home. It has seriously felt so so good to be home! Our small apartment never felt so spacious & I can't get enough of this sunshiney weather! Scott has been enjoying getting back to his regular routine at work and I have surprisingly been busy busy busy which is usually not the norm. I blame it on my nesting instincts! I have been non stop organizing, cleaning, cooking and buying stuff for this baby boy ever since we got back. So funny right?!

I had my 27 week appointment today and am measuring 27 inches, meaning that baby boy is roughly 2 1/2 pounds. Doctor says he will probably be an 8 pound baby! Whoa! I got to hear his little heartbeat just like always but this time asked if I could record it so I could bring it home for Scott to hear too!

Isn't that the sweetest sound? I love it. 

Oh and that is Dr. Gray. He is pretty cool too. 

I also took the Glucose Tolerance Test today and was a wee bit nervous for it because all I have heard about it is that the drink tastes nasty and makes you feel sick...Well to my surprise and delight I had quite the opposite experience!!! I had a normal breakfast in the morning before my dr. appointment (fried egg, toast with peanut butter & small glass of milk) and scarfed down lunch (half a pastrami sandwich and some rasins) a half hour before I went into the lab, so I was already feeling good. Once I got there I downed the orange soda like drink in a minute flat and secretly wanted another. It was pretty darn tasty! Then I got to sit in this cute little room with a comfy recliner and watch Anne Burrell on the Food Network. I love her! Then after an hour they came and got me to go take my blood and I think I was actually smiling when she poked me. It was a lovely experience let me tell you! I just hope to hear the actual test results are just as lovely. The doc says no news is good news, so we will see!

We also got to go to this Maternity Open House thingy last night and they explained the whole process from labor to delivery to hospital stay to discharge. Our eyes where open wide the whole time..."Is this real life? Is this really happening?" Haha. Well not just yet but soon! 2.5 months to be exact! Crazy that in just 12 short weeks our new little addition will be here.

What was also pretty cool was that we won a free DVD in the raffle. The lady was telling me how great it was and I said, "Yea yea I've already read the book and seen this DVD in my infant/child class. I wanted the Boppy Pillow!" Haha. No I didn't say exactly that. It is actually a really neat DVD. It is about Dr. Karp's Happiest Baby on the Block...which explains the 5 S's and how to soothe your baby. Interesting stuff! I'm exited to watch it again and for Scott to watch it with me. Anyways...after all that fun we skipped off to Ross and bought Scott some new shoes and shirts, test drove some strollers at Babies R Us and ended the night with some Tutti Frutti frozen yogurt and a sweet game of Jenga. Life is good! 


& here's my  27 week belly pic...

Top Places to Visit in Boston

The Kendall Hotel in Cambridge! A historic restored firehouse with so much character & great service. The free breakfasts in the morning were awesome. The fresh berry tarts were my favorite! The hotel's restaurant, The Black Sheep, was amazing as well! It is called the black sheep because the firefighters who used to live at the station were nicknamed that because it was a smaller station that didn't get a lot of work compared to the larger crews in the city. We got to try Boston cream pie...so light and fluffy and gooooood. We will definitely be staying here at the Kendall Hotel the next time we venture out to Boston!

The Trolley Tour around the city was a perfect thing to do on a cold day! We were able to sit back and relax while listening to our tour guide show us the way around!

 

 The Boston Common & Beacon Hill! Even though it was a very cold day we explored some of the cute shops on Beacon Hill and different monuments on Boston Common! Brinley was obsessed with the snow and kept wanting to keep some to store in our hotel's little freezer! She also screamed, "I hate Boston! I want to go home!"...when the wind blew a little too hard that day! Haha. It was very cold the first day but we were lucky with sunshine the rest of the week until it rained on the last day! It was crazy weather that was always changing!

The No Name Seafood Restaurant! We got to try their famous seafood chowder and Fried Scrod fish! Pretty tasty place right on Boston's Harbor...so you knew it was really fresh stuff! Yum! It is called the No Name because they didn't have a name for the restaurant when it first opened and then it just became known as the restaurant with no name so they kept it that way! I love stories like that!

The Boston Public Library! It is nicknamed "A Palace for the People". We were so glad we went inside. It was filled with gorgeous marble all around and golden murals and statues. It was amazing!

Filene's Basement! We heard this place had some great bargains. It was fun to shop til we dropped! We were pretty much poooped from walking all day!

Mary Poppins at the Boston Opera House! I was lucky enough to get to see Mary Poppins again. What an amazing Broadway show at a beautiful and historic venue! It reminded me of the theater from Phantom of the Opera. Brinley was so excited to see the real live Mary Poppins. She wanted to get her autograph so bad! She talked through the whole show asking us all these questions. She is quite the jibber jabber! We got pretty good priced seats and sat all the way up in the balcony. Still a great view of the stage! I don't think there was a bad seat in the house!

 

The Freedom Trail! We decided to leave the freedom trail for when Scott came to meet up with us during the weekend! It was a 2.5 mile trek through some of Boston's most historic sites and landmarks. You follow this red brick line on the side walk that leads you to each site. We kept singing, "Follow the Red Brick Road!" We didn't get it all done in one day but got to see everything we had wanted to see! It really was an inspiring trek. So grateful to our forefathers! It was also fun to take the T line, Boston's subway around town. We got pretty good at navigating the city!

Old Churches & Cemeteries! Well we definitely got our fill of century old grave sites and churches. There are so many in Boston. We were amazed they are still standing. Some are even from the 1600's. Brinley would ask questions when we were in the churches like, "So where do they go for Primary?" Hehe. It was interesting to read the tomb stones as well as learn about the historic churches and who attended them. We got to see where the signers of the Declaration of Independence were buried as well like John Hancock, Ben Franklin and Sam Adams. Pretty cool!

 

Quincy Market! It was a fun happening place with street performers and a great food court. We got some creamy hot clam chowder that was super yummy. We also got to go inside Fanuiel Hall across the way where early colonists would go to debate British rule. Oh we also snacked on salty pretzels and hot carmeled nuts right where the Boston Massacre occurred. A little strange if you ask me...

Mike's Pastry! So we had to take Brin and my mom here again with us to get some super yummy cannolis. It is fun to watch how fast they wrap the iconic boxes with bakery twine! It was a just an all around fun experience and super tasty to try different flavors like lobster tail cream and chocolate mousse. Still I think the original is best! We kept joking that we were going to turn into cannolis because we ate so many sweets there!

The USS Constitution! Nicknamed "Old Ironsides", it is the worlds oldest commissioned military ship still afloat! It never lost a battle so you could say it is Boston's only undefeated team. On duty US Sailors gave us a great and informative tour through each of the decks. Scott took all these great photos. I was too tired to hold the camera!

Regina Pizzeria! Our last major stop was this great and famous pizza place. We got the Giambotta pizza with all the traditional toppings. I had 3 pieces! We all just scarfed it down it was so fresh and yummy. The crust was perfect and not at all greasy! So worth the wait in line to get in!

So that about sums up all the great places we got to see!!!
Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Tuesday's Thoughts

 

I have been having the most vivid and detailed dreams lately...dreams where you can smell the salty sea air, see the changing colors of the sky, feel the raw emotion of the situation and even wake up to feel like it was actually something that happened to you in real life. I have always been an intense dreamer but these pregnancy induced dreams are so much more detailed and emotion filled. It is like I produce an academy award winning movie in my head every night! This morning I feel like I just got back from a vacation located near a dangerous waterfall where I saved my siblings from drowning and falling to their demise. You want to see video footage of it? I got it all on my professional underwater video camera. Oh wait, darn...don't really have one of those!

Speaking of movies...last night we went to see the Adjustment Bureau and it wasn't anything like we thought it would be. It wasn't nearly as intense or action packed as it looked and the ending was sort of lame but the first half was good. I would give it a 7 out of 10.

I really want to and need to get a hair trim...& a spa pedicure especially since I can't really reach my toes very well anymore. A prenatal massage would be nice when we get back too! I do have a gift certificate to get one from our anniversary.

A random stranger rubbed my preggo belly the other night for the first time. I've always heard stories of how you get random strangers coming up to you rubbing your belly when you are with child and so far it hasn't happened but now that you can actually tell the huge bump in front is a growing baby random people are beginning to take notice. First, it was our waitress at dinner and she said, as she brought out my meal, "And here's food for the little baby!" It just made me laugh and sort of made me excited that other people besides my friends and family can tell there really is something there! It really wasn't weird or awkward or anything but just surprised me. I don't think I myself would ever go up to a random someone and rub their belly though, pregnant or not! HAHA.

Last week I got some really cute outfits for baby Camden in Boston. I was even able to find these little socks that look like shoes in every color for only $5! I think they are so cute! The Marshall's headquarters is near Boston so their store in the city is always stocked with the best stuff! It was more like a Nordstrom than a Marshall's but with way cheaper price tags! My kind of shopping! Some of Scott's coworkers even bought us a cute little onesie and baby shoes for our little guy while in Boston! So sweet of them!  It really is fun to shop for baby clothes! Now I just can't wait to put him in all the outfits!

I had such a fun time in Boston with my momma and little sis Brin this past week. We had a blast touring, shopping, eating and enjoying all the history and beautiful scenery. So glad they could come visit! I took way over 400 pics so I'm still deciding which ones to post! Scott met up with us over the weekend and it was just the best of times. Lots of walking but also lots of fun! So glad we had the opportunity to explore other parts of the country while we were here and that my mom and sis could enjoy it with us! More details and pics to come!

I'm sort of excited to get back to real life in our real homey apartment and to be able to sleep in our own comfy bed. I'm not complaining about living in a hotel for a month, the maid service, continental breakfasts or going out to dinner every night but it is always nice to just be in your own home. Sweet home California is calling my name. 3 more days!

I really miss my husband all the time when he is away. I can't wait for him to get back from work each day! I am so lucky to have him. He is just the greatest & I don't think I can ever say that enough!