Happy Wednesday!

Today was a great day! Not only am I officially 30 weeks pregnant (whoo hoo!), but I got a bunch of unexpected gifts today. Nothing better to brighten up a day!

This morning I went to the mail box to post some baby shower invitations and there was a package from my Aunty Caroline in Utah. She crocheted Zander a beautiful white blanket. This will be perfect when he is blessed.

Then today at work I was surprised with beautiful sun flowers and a "Thank You For All You Do!" balloon from my teammates Jen and Kevin. I guess today is Administrative Professionals Day. I'm not an admin, but thought it was sweet that my team went out of their way to do something nice for me. None of the other Account Relationship Specialists got gifts from their team.

My last surprise of the day came from my coworker Patrina. She went to Baby Bliss Boutique in Mesa and bought Zander some Skater Johnny Trumpet socks. She was going to try and save the gift until my baby shower, but couldn't wait. Aren't these the cutest? Zander will be styling in these little Vans socks!

San Diego

Last weekend we went to San Diego with our BFFs Jason and Charlotte. They are expecting a baby girl in the middle of June, so we knew that we had to plan a fun trip before the babies arrived. We left early Friday morning. The car trip was full of fun and lots of farts - mostly from Jason!

We stayed at the Westin in downtown San Diego. It was beautiful and we had a great view of the ocean and Coronado Island. The room had heavenly beds (which I wish we could have at home) and heavenly showers (which was 2 shower heads). They also had fruity water in the lobby, which we had our fair share of each time we passed it. Here is a funny video of Jason when we first arrived. He went into the bathroom to pee and came out in the robe and the shower cap.  Video

On Friday afternoon, we walked around the Gaslamp Quarter. Of course us pregnant ladies found the Ghirardelli Ice Cream Shop! Devin & I had mint & chip and cookies and cream ice cream in a waffle cone. Char & Jason got a hot fudge sundae. No pictures since my husband neglected to tell me I had chocolate on my face when we were inside : (

Friday night we went to the San Diego Temple. I went to the open house back in 92 or 93, but I had forgotten just how beautiful it is inside.

Saturday was so much fun. We started our morning at Cafe 222. Bobby Flay from the Food Network went to this cafe and recommended their stuffed peanut butter and banana french toast. It was the cutest cafe and the food was yummy!

We then headed to Coronado Island. We rented bikes and ended up biking over 10 miles. Char and I weren't even breaking a sweat and we are both over 7 months pregnant!

We then layed out on the beach and got burned : (

On Sunday, we went to Balboa Park. We took the trolly tour and found a bunch of free things to do around the park.

We first went to the International Cottages. Each cottage is housed by a different country and it has pictures, facts, and food on that particular country. We really liked England (they had good brownies!), Ireland (they had Irish dancing inside), and the Czech/Slovak house (they had a plate full of pastries as samples).

In the Czech/Slovak house, Devin found a picture of our friend's foreign exchange student Alex.

After touring the cottages and getting all the samples, we went to see the Spreckles Organ for a free weekly concert. It's the largest outdoor organ in North America (or something like that). After a few songs, we were organed out so we headed home.

We had so much fun on the trip with The Clawsons! They just have to buy a 7 passenger vehicle so we can continue to take trips with them and our babies.

Weekend at the Farm

The only thing Mum wanted for her birthday was for Devin and I to come up to the farm for the weekend. After our busy March, we decided last weekend would be perfect. It was General Conference and Easter. We always have a great time while we are there. Rest, relaxation, good food, and there are always projects to work on.

As you can see, Devin is very excited!

I was excited to see my cat Paris. I'm reminded constantly on how I abandoned this cat when I decided to get married. But hey...Devin is allergic to cats. Did they want me to get married or be a cat lady? I still get to visit him and he always remembers me.

Devin worked on several projects with Al. He set up the internet in their shop for Kiwi Metal Art. They worked on a neighbor's car together. They attempted to replace our cars brake pads (which I bought the wrong kind).

Here is one of the new signs they made in the shop.

Looks good huh!?!

Devin even got a new (and free!) toy. He found this subwoofer and amp in their shop and they let him have it. He spent several hours hooking it up and now we have this in our car. Devin is in heaven. I will need some advil!

Mum and I worked on some sewing projects. Well....Mum worked on the projects. I picked out material and took a nap : ) Here are some cute booties Mum made for Zander. She also sewed some receiving blankets and bibs. She is the sewing queen!

Last year, Mum and Al added some chickens to the farm. There are 11 and they lay about a dozen eggs a day.  Next year, we plan on having a good dinner with these chickens!

We picked up 7 new chicks at the feed store. They are so small! They have to be kept in a cage under a heat lamp for the next few weeks. In a couple months, these ones will start laying eggs.

We definitely need to try and make it up there more often. I think Zander will love visiting the farm and hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa.

Belly Pic!

I've been really bad at taking belly pictures. Here is the bump at 27 weeks.

Stats:

• The baby is supposed to be about 2 lbs and 14 inches long this week.
• Heartburn sucks! I've had to stock up on Tums & the Smoothie flavor is the best by far.
• One more week and I'll be in the 3rd trimester. Time has flown by!
• Only gained 17 lbs. Not bad huh?
• This week I've started to crave ice cream really bad. This baby sure has a sweet tooth!
• Baby Zander is kicking all the time. I think he's started to do somersaults or something in there.

Happy Birthday Mum!

We love you and appreciate all the things you do for us. We are looking forward to our weekend at the farm with you and Al.

This is what happens when little hands get on the camera.

3 More Months!

Zander will be here in 3 months! Only 13 more weeks until my due date and we are so excited. While I am ready for him to be here now, I still have a lot to do before he gets here. I've had periods of nesting and feeling really productive. I'll clean out closets, go through his clothes, organize his room, buy diapers, start craft projects, etc. Then I'll have periods where I can't be bothered doing anything. The couch and tv become my best friends : ) There is lots of time right? Well...not anymore! Time is flying by fast. I think I'm getting back into nesting mode. Today I sewed some more cute burp clothes, which I'm very proud of since I don't really sew. 

Aren't they cute?

I also jazzed up a wipes case with some fabric & ribbon. Very easy! I may make a few more to match some of the burp clothes.

Here is his room so far. I organized it again today since the crib was sitting right in the middle of the room. I have big plans for his surf/beach room!

Now I just need to keep motivated or poor Zanders room may still look like this when he's born.

The Aloha Festival

I look forward to the Aloha Festival every year. Mum & I have gone for the past 3 years, but this is the first time Devin has been able to go with us. Good food, shopping, music, and Polynesian dancing.

We rode the new light rail from Mesa into Tempe. First time for all 3 of us. Devin said it was ok and that it was the same as a bus. I'll tell you - buses are not this nice. We already have big plans to use it again if we ever go downtown to a concert or sporting event.

Look at that belly! I'm 24 weeks and it's really starting to bulge out.

Mum & Devin

The festival was fun. Since they are always so crowded, we decided to get food as soon as we got there. Devin and I shared kalua pig & bbq chicken. Yummy! We also got what we thought was coconut buns. Big mistake! It was simply the cinnamon rolls you buy in the can with coconut juice on it. I was expecting something similar to Papa's famous cocount buns. I guess his expertise can't be duplicated!

We watched some Polynesian dancing. It may be the pregnancy hormones, but I kinda got choked up watching the little kids dancing. I guess I imagined little Zander and future baby girl Merrill up there dancing with these groups. They'd probably be one of the little white kids you see amongst the brown ones, but hey - they are still part Polynesian. We watched some Filipino dancing for Devin. It was definitely a bit different. They danced Spanish influenced dances. It all seemed kinda hokey pokey to me, but I know Devin enjoyed it.

Enjoying the beautiful day

Can't you picture little Zander up there?

Filipino dancing

We didn't do a lot of shopping at the festival. They seem to have the same stuff each year. Devin was searching for a Filipino shirt, but couldn't find anything he liked. We did find some decorations for Zander's beach/surf room. We bought some real starfish and some netting which will go up on the wall.

All in all, the day was fun and we can't wait until next year!