Family Picture and our Sauna

I love taking bump pictures w/Gerald in them! We needed a picture for our baby shower invites and I just can't help sharing a few! I already love taking family pictures!!




This is my first week back to work after a weeks vacation and I have to tell you I am tired! We must have done a lot of growing in that week (or we just got spoiled w/relaxing) because by Wednesday I was done! My feet hurt, my back hurts, I am tired and cranky! I know poor Gerald right! haha It's true though, I also think this heat wave is not helping. Our new cute house has no a/c so when it's 90 outside it is probably 100 in our house! This is making me miserable. I get home and open all the windows, turn on fans (which barely help) and just sit on the couch because i simply cannot do anything else!
Finally last night we broke down (mostly cause I keep breaking down!) and got a small window unit for our room but it really only makes our room cool. I mean it was nice to be able to sleep but now I feel trapped in my room! But my very generous friend from h.s. is going to let us use his old portable a/c unit that he no longer uses! We are picking it up tomorrow and I am so exited and grateful! I will be able to function in my house again, so thank-you a million times David!
I am also excited because Rich and Britt (Gerald's brother and sister-in-law) are coming to visit us and see our new house this weekend! We have been so busy lately I feel like it's been a long time since I've seen them!
Well it looks like I have another exciting weekend to look forward to, I hope you do too!!

Xoxo,
Amber & Lucy

Hello 3rd timester!

Saturday marked the official start of my 3rd trimester! 12 weeks and counting until Lucy's due date is here and again I can't believe it!! We have a ton to do in the next couple months and we are super busy! I don't have a completely free weekend until September! I'm sure all the activities will be a nice distraction and make these next few months zoom by. Here are a few new baby bump shots!

I guess to some I apparently don't look as if I'm in my 3rd trimester but I just have to say it's super annoying when a complete stranger asks if my doctors have said whether her growth is okay or if anything is wrong! I'm sorry but even if there was (which there absolutely is not! in fact at every appointment she is EXACTLY on schedule) why on Earth would I tell you? As Dr. Karp says (The Happiest Baby on the Block), "America's favorite pastime is not baseball but giving unasked-for advice to new parents," or in my experience pregnant women! It's funny because I haven't really run into this too much, I get advice from family but typically I don't mind, but I was just super annoyed/offended that anyone would even suggest that there was something wrong w/my baby (especially not even knowing me)! Well just to make sure we are clear I'm great, Lucy's more than great..... she's perfect and not every pregnant woman looks the same, so what may seem small to you may be normal for me! Ahh..... I feel much better now!

Well I hope everyone else is doing well!!

Xoxo,

Amber & Lulu

We Registered!

Today we accomplished the exciting task of registering! We were both very excited to go do this and then we started...... People have told me how overwhelming it is but I guess you just don't know until you know! The stroller alone took at least 15 minutes! By the time we were done we were both exhausted, feet hurting and ready for a nap (I left w/a headache). We started at Babies R Us for the bulk of our needs and went to Target for a few miscellaneous things. It was very tiring but we are both happy it's done and now if I want to add or adjust anything I'll just do it online. So in case you feel like doing a little shopping here's our links:

Babies"R"Us - Baby Registry

https://www.target.com/registry/baby/23M1UP62C60SN

I hope everyone has a great rest of the week! Lucy & I will be enjoying some time off as I am on vacation this week! I am very much looking forward to some needed rest!

XOXO,
Amber & Lulu ♥

End of the 2nd trimester!

As of yesterday I am 27 weeks, this marks the last week of my 2nd trimester! I can't believe how the time is flying! As we get closer to Lucy's birth the anxiousness is really setting and I feel a bit crazy trying to get everything done or at least even looking at the list of everything that needs to get done!

Last Thursday we had a midwife's appointment and everything went well. My fundal height was 28 cm (right on track) and Lulu sounded great! She was very amusing while Lorri (our midwife) was listening to her w/the Doppler she decided she had had enough and either punched or kicked it! It made me laugh, mostly because I get punched and kicked daily by her so it was funny that she tried to do it to someone else!

Speaking of getting kicked the fun aches and pains of pregnancy are really setting in. While at my appointment I had a Braxton Hicks contraction, it wasn't painful and my midwife actually had to tell me I was having one. Now that I know what it is I realize that I have been having them (maybe for the last week and not too often) and as of right now they don't hurt just feel uncomfortable! Another uncomfortable pain is Lucy's foot (or other appendage) in my ribs! Sometimes is really hurts when she does a quick kick and other times it's just super annoying! But I remind myself that as much as I don't physically like it, I am grateful to be constantly reminded that she's ok in there!
As I enter the 3rd trimester I am dealing w/these and several other fun pregnancy aches & pains (leg cramps, back aches, etc.) but as long as my baby girl is growing and is healthy I don't mind! I think I can manage a few more months because once she's here all this won't even matter anymore (the aches & pains that is!).
Looking ahead we have a lot to do, in August alone I have 10 appointments and classes to attend (all together) so far and I know there will be at least one or two more, but we are very excited because it's all in preparation for her arrival! So since we know we have a lot coming up we took our last (mini) vacation/anniversary trip (before Lucy comes) to Santa Barbara this weekend. It was a short getaway but it was much needed and much appreciated! We just went on little adventures all over and enjoyed each other's company. My hubby is the sweetest and I am very grateful that he made our getaway happen, we came back tired and happy!

Well here are a few pictures from our SB trip...

Us on State St.

Us @ the SB Mission

@ Cold Spring Tavern

& family photo @ Cold Spring Arch Bridge!

We hope everyone has a safe & happy 4th! We are looking forward to relaxing & then tomorrow going to register!!

Lots of Love,
Amber & Lucy

27 week bump @ SB Mission

2 years later......

2 years ago today I married my best friend. I know it sounds cliche but it's very true. I have known Gerald for almost 7 years, we have been dating for 4 1/2 and now married 2 and during all that time together he has truly become my best friend. I knew 2 years ago (well I actually knew 4 years ago) that I wanted to marry him, when he asked me there wasn't a second of hesitation and on our wedding day the only nerves I had were from excitement. But over the past 2 years I think I found out why I wanted to marry him so badly. My husband reminds me a lot of my dad, one of the people I look up to and respect most in this world. They are both hard working, loving, completely devoted and very selfless. I have always thought my dad was an amazing husband and always hoped that one day I would be lucky if the man I married was half of what my dad is. I can 100% say that my husband is just as amazing. He has shown me the kind of love, respect and silliness that most women dream of (had to add the silliness because that keeps you in love). Every day I wake up and am just in awe that this man still loves me and wants to be with me as much as I do him. Of course as in any marriage we have our blissful days and our uglier days but that's what makes a marriage and I wouldn't change a second of what we've been through. He is the person I want to grown old with, the person I want to be with forever. And now just when I think he can't be any more amazing he has given me the greatest gift of all... making me a mommy. I know parenthood will be another rewarding yet difficult adventure but there is no one else I would I want to go through it with. He will again prove to me what a great man he is when he becomes a father because I know he will just be phenomenal! Lucy and I are very lucky to have him as the man in our lives.

I love you so much boo and I just want to say thank-you for being you and for saying "I Do" 2 years ago, you have no idea the happiness you bring me daily.

Love a million times over,
Amber

100 days left......

until my baby girl's due date! I know it's highly unlikely that she will actually arrive on her due date (if she follows my husband's wishes she will arrive 8 days late on 10-10-10) but still to know in roughly 100 days I will be holding her causes several emotions. I am so excited, stressed, fearful and anxious all at the same time that it's making me a bit crazy I must say but the end result is going to be worth it a million times over! We move into our new house this weekend and after that it's all about the baby for us! We can't wait to register, start our birthing classes, have our baby shower and then just set it all up and wait for her to make her debut into this world (and all of that will happen in the next 100 days)! She has no idea how loved she is already, yes everyone tells me she'll be spoiled but I think she'll mostly be spoiled with love & attention because so many are waiting to meet her! I am most looking forward to that moment when Gerald, Lucy & I first become a family.... the moment right after she's born when (hopefully) her daddy will lay her on my chest and the three of us will be able to embrace and bask in her arrival... it's going to be amazing.


I know I need to post a father's day blog & belly pics (maybe tomorrow) but we have been so busy packing and moving stuff that I just don't seem to have time lately but hopefully soon!

Until then.... we hope everyone has been having (and continues to have) a great start to the official summer season!

XOXO,

Amber & Lulu

An email, a picture and a faint line.....

Today I was going through my email when I found an email sent to me by my sweet Aunt Nettie that included this picture...


This is a picture of my Grandma's headstone and next to it are the flowers that I had recently laid when Gerald and I had visited her. This picture causes a lot of emotions for many reasons but for me the biggest reason was that I opened this email the day that I found out I was pregnant with Lucy.

That morning I had taken a pregnancy test (it wasn't a super cool one, just a plus or minus one) and the the plus sign was very faint. Gerald and I weren't sure if it really was a plus sign and since I had to go to work, we would have to wait until that evening to retest. But as soon as I saw that faint plus sign it was like I knew, of course I didn't want to get too excited in case I was wrong so the anxiety of waiting drove me crazy all day!

I knew I would feel 2 feelings the day I found out I was pregnant, one was overwhelming joy and the other was overwhelming sadness. Sadness because I knew I would not be able to share my joy with my Grandma. I have always had visions of sharing this time with her, watching her hold my baby and having her teach me things about be being a mother that only she knows (she was like a baby whisperer). So when she passed I knew I had to let go of that, it was difficult and still is accepting the fact that I can never have her physically here with me to experience the greatest joy of my life.

So there I was, it was the middle of the day, C (little girl I watch) was napping and I went to check my email. In my inbox, on the day that I was waiting to find out if I was pregnant, was this email with this picture. She was with me. I am not a religious person and I cannot say what happens after death but I know on that day in that moment I felt my Grams. I knew I was pregnant at that point, test or no test. And sure enough later that afternoon I took two digital tests and both said "pregnant." And even though I will never get to make that call to her and hear her voice sound off in excitement and love that she will once again be a great-grandma, that day she was with me, that picture gave me some of the comfort I needed. I will always miss her and I will always love her, I wish so much that Lucy could have heard her stories and tasted her cooking, watched her hands as she sewed but unfortunately life isn't always fair or kind so if pictures and memories are all I can give my daughter of her amazing Grandmother than I will show her them often and speak of her daily.

Xoxo,
Amber & Lucy