The Bush Family

Temporarily On Hold!

2011-03-17T23:12:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone I know it has been awhile! You may be asking yourself why haven't I done one blog entry this year? Well it has been for a lot of reasons. One and foremost is that everyone that views my blog is now on Facebook! Yay! So I kind of see it redundant to post on both.

Secondly for the past year it has been very difficult to post photos on my blog. I guess the "blogger" did updates and uploading photos are harder now for Macs. It would take me over an hour to do one blog and now that Olivia requires more of my time since she is walking, I just don't have that extra time.

And lastly I haven't really taken photos until recently. I forgot my camera for Christmas and ended up only taking one or two in our annual Beaver Creek Ski trip. Until recently Charlie made me aware of my lack of camera use.

But now I am making up for loss time and will be posting all my photos on my Facebook profile. The great thing with Facebook is that you will see a whole lot more photos than you used to on the blog since I won't have to edit as much since downloading on Facebook is so easy and fast.

Also this is not the end to the Bush Family blog. I will resume it when we have baby 2. He or she will get a year of their life blogged, just as Olivia did. This will also happen for baby 3, 4, and etc. HA! I can actually hear Charlie's heart skip a beat and he is in NJ right now trying to find our next house!

See ya all in a little while????? Singing off.......

Olivia's "First" Birthday!

2010-12-17T22:15:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it! My baby girl is one years old! Where did the time go? When I look at this picture it seems just like yesterday she was our little sweat pea with dark hair and eyes. Constantly making funny faces, one of which the cooing face, my favorite.
But now my baby has grown into beautiful little 1 year old girl. Sitting up on her own, crawling around, chewing her fingers as numerous teeth come in. Melting every one's hearts with her baby blue eyes and strawberry-blonde hair. I couldn't love anyone or anything more than this sweet baby girl we call punky.
Charlie sitting in Olivia's new Pottery Barn kids seat that Nina gave her for her B-Day. They are relaxing before all the guests arrive for her 1st B-Day party. I love how Charlie fits in a kids seat.
Maggie Garcia's little girl Page and my niece Callahan seemed to really like each other. I thought it was cute how they escaped the party to go outside to hang out. I guess when you find another three year old girl who talks your language, it is pretty neat.

Nina (mother-in-law) and my sister-in-law Carolynn hanging by the spread.

The party in full swing.

Nina did a great job decorating the table!
Carolynn and I made the cupcakes and smash cake. The fondant toppers I purchased from Etsy.com. Although Carolynn ended up doing majority of the prep work with the food since I was literally in my pj's icing cup cakes 20 minutes before the party. It didn't seem like there was a lot to do, but I definitely misjudged. Kids parties are stressful!
Smash cake!
Pink tutu and on point= Ballerina in the making! But does she really have a choice? :)
Carolynn and I tried to get a pic with Olivia and my nephew Evans amongst the craziness.
The owl pinata had ribbon attached, which the kids pulled one at a time and only one ribbon dropped the candy. We tried to have the kids form a line so each kid had a chance to pull a ribbon, that was easier said than done.
I love Rachel's boy Alden, his face says it all as he walks away with a ton of candy.
The pinata all pretty before it was destroyed by the kids.
The pinata dropping a ton of candy.
I love this pic of Paige and Callahan shoveling candy into their bags as Milo searches for stray pieces. The dogs were likes sharks swimming around bait.
Pretty impossible to take a pic with a one year old when yummy candy is on the floor.
Callahan trying to squeeze in some healthy carrots before feasting on candy and cupcakes.
Olivia is mesmerized by everyone singing happy B-Day to her. Love how Sunny is watching the cakes every move, she has learned that what ever baby gets on her tray she may get on the floor.
At the end of singing Happy B-Day, everyone started cheering and the kids started screaming, making miss O very upset. She hates loud noises. Love how Paige was concerned.
I quickly gave her some icing to distract her from all the noise.
Amazing! Icing makes everything better.
I couldn't remove the topper fast enough. It looks like she was helping, but more like trying to take it.
"Ummmmm..... I am in chocolate bliss"!
"Can I rub my whole body in this stuff"? "Well I guess I will start with my face". "Mmmm.....".
I tried to feed her some cake, because she didn't seem aware of anything but the icing.
Yes, I can confirm we have reached a chocolate coma state.
Squish!
I keep thinking I should stop her from eating anymore because she is going to get sick, but it was too funny watching her eat her cake that I let her go a little too long. The rest of the night she was spitting up chocolate goo.
We call this the sad clown face. Poor baby.
Smash cake is definitely smashed.
Now time for the presents! Thanks everyone for coming to celebrate Olivia's First Birthday!

Thanksgiving at the Santos's

2010-12-17T21:22:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! I know I am a couple of blogs behind, but it seems like it has been one thing after another since Thanksgiving. We have had family company, Olivia's First B-Day, Charlie's B-Day, and Christmas parties just to name a few.
For Thanksgiving we spent it once again at our good friends house Jen and Larry Santos. We have known Jen and Larry ever since we were stationed with them in Humboldt. Our other good friends from Humboldt the Garcia's also joined us, along Kelly Higgins and her husband Greg.
We deep fried three turkeys two of which the Santos's take to the air station every year. The turkey was great and we had a million fixings. Olivia definitely was full from her first Thanksgiving dinner, but remarkably saved room for some cheese cake and dark chocolate mousse tart. A girl after my own heart.
At the Santos's it is Thanksgiving tradition to wear Turkey hats. Olivia is sporting a new one. To see more pics of our Thanksgiving day you can go to my facebook page by clicking here: Thanksgiving Pics

First Snow Day!

2010-11-24T17:24:00.001-08:00

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"! Wait a minute, it isn't even Thanksgiving yet! I cannot believe that it is only November and we have already had a foot of snow. It began this past Sunday the 21st, but the blizzard lasted all day long on Monday. They even closed the CG station.
People were stuck at Seatac Airport in Seattle due to all the ice and snow. A girlfriend of mine who lives in my neighborhood was stuck in Bremerton, as she tried to drive home from the airport. Her husband cut his deployment short in order to rescue her today.
Needless to say it has been completely crazy here, but at least I am getting a lot done around the house and Olivia was able to see and touch snow for the first time.
Our front yard.
Backyard.
Olivia and I about to play in the snow. I bought her snow suit before she was born, which she never used since it didn't snow last winter. It was a 3-6 month, so it was a bit tight, but we squeezed her in. Nothing was going to stop our snow day!
Her first steps in the snow. And yes those are my lounging around the house pants and not some crazy snow pants. Both Olivia and I wore our pj's all day long. Why not? It's not like we were going anywhere or had to look good for the snow!

About to touch the snow.
Holding a snow ball for a couple of seconds until it started to freeze her hand and then it was all over.

Kids in our neighborhood love to play on the hill behind our house, but this past week it has become a great sledding hill.
Our house.
The trees in the backyard look like great X-Mas trees. Hmm.....to bad we rent :)
I love all the snow piled up on the barbecue. It looks like a snow cone. I use this as my snow gauge.
Definitely a winter wonderland!

First Professional Family Pics

2010-11-18T17:43:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we as a family took our first professional photos in Sequim, WA. The exact location was the Dungeness Rec. Area, which is located on the bluffs of the Juan de Fuca Strait. Out of the location options Tara gave me I decided on this one since it sounded like it had the most fall colors and a variety of opportunities to show the beauty of where we live.

I emphasized to Tara our photographer that I wanted to capture the fall colors and that I also wanted to dress us in different fall colors. One to capture the season, but mainly to use colors that represented our individual personalities. Tara did a great job and miraculously captured the images in my head.

Tara is actually a friend of mine. I first saw her in a local newspaper about an up and coming photographer and when I read she was a coastie wife I just had to meet her, plus at the time I was looking for someone to do belly pics. Long story short we have become friends, although I don't see her much because she is crazy busy with her business. Ever since we meet I have been saying to her she is going to take pics of our family and finally with Olivia's 1st B-Day less than a month away I felt there was no better time than now! I am so glad we did it and can't wait to do it again with the next little kiddies we have. I am thinking we are going to have to live somewhere with enough wall space. HA!

Here is the website gallery you can view the photos. It will only be usable for the next 10 days.

Hope you enjoy the pics!

Bush Family Photos 2010

Olivia's First Halloween

2010-11-04T22:02:00.000-07:00

Hurray! It is Olivia's first Halloween! As everyone says, holidays are so much better when you have kids. It's like reliving your childhood memories. Olivia also had a good time even though she had no idea what was going on or why she was wearing a puffy suit with spots.
The first party was the Saturday before Halloween at our CG friends house the Smith's. As you can see above Olivia was not the only animal for Halloween. She was joined by a monkey and lamb. I love batman running in the background.
The cow and the lamb sure liked the monkey and the monkey was liking his odds.
After sitting for the pics above my little cow for the rest of the night was all over the place. I would talk to someone for a couple of seconds and the next minute she was gone and I'd have to go on a hunt for her.
Olivia claiming all the toys. The baby doll dressed up as a cow I found at Walmart right after I bought her costume. I just couldn't pass it up, it even does mooing sound effects!
The monkey was checking out the baby cow.
Olivia's favorite thing to do when she likes another baby is to put her fingers either in their nose or mouth. It's her form of a handshake I guess. Actually when I think about it she does this with all my girlfriend's baby boys. Hmmm...
The cutest toad prince I have ever seen. Yes I will kiss you!

This is me trying to corral my cow. Story of my life!
Finally we get a pic together!
Kids wrap their mummy game.

A candid, but sweet moment.
Olivia stole Athena's (aka lamb) binkie, so to be fair she tried to take Olivia's. Too bad it was on a leash connected to her cow suit, this was quite entertaining.
Halloween day! I tried to be a farmer, but couldn't find overalls anywhere. We just got a Super Walmart and couldn't find one pair of overalls. Isn't that against the law? Anyway I ended up looking more like a cowgirl.
Olivia looks thrilled.
We bought a wagon to go trick or treat in. It is a ATW wagon and couldn't believe how much it cost! Only the best for our sweet pea! Seeing how much she loved the wagon at my Brother and Erica's wedding we just couldn't resist.
I love how her ride is in front of daddy's.
Olivia's first house/our next door neighbor.
The process of getting her out. However, she wanted me to carry her most of the way.
Trick or Treat! Olivia got Mommy and Daddy some good candy.
I loved how this neighbor decorated their front porch.
All our neighbors are extremely friendly and a lot of them invited me in to talk.
Our neighborhood really goes all out for holidays. I couldn't stop laughing at this little girls costume of an inflated rooster. When she ran, it was the funniest thing I have ever see. Best costume I saw.
I have become friends with a CG couple Corey and Catherine Anderson that moved in a couple of doors down this past summer. Corey is a Captain on one of the boats at the station, so he doesn't work with Charlie on the helicopter. Catherine invited us over after trick or treating for some food and drinks. I was amazed by the spread, which also included Frito chili pie and spiked punch with champagne.
Monica another neighbor of ours from Columbia made these cat and ghost shaped salmon spreads. Yum!
Monica's best friend who is from Argentina made these delicious cup cakes, which were embarrassingly my breakfast the next mourning.
Olivia loved Mattias who was dressed as Mickey mouse. Not sure if she is attracted to him being Mickey or that he is Latin. I really need to find girls for Olivia to play with.
Once again the "how do you do" hand in the mouth.

Olivia also wanted to play with the little girls who were dressed as fairies. However, by now all the kids were out of their costumes. For some reason the girls wouldn't play with Olivia.
Catherine is the hostess with the mostess.
Charlie and Catherine were trying to make Mattias and Olivia dance.
Ahhh, the slow dance.

Olivia is obsessed with getting into Milo and Sunny's dog bowls. Finally she found a partner in crime. I love how Olivia is licking the back of the bowl, soo sanitary. I also like that Catherine and Corey dressed their dog as batman, Corey was the joker.
Wow, what a weekend!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the pumpkin patch! A week or two ago we took Olivia to her first pumpkin patch in Sequim. I was amazed at how much there was to do. I figured it would be a field of pumpkins to pick from and that's it.
When you entered there was a general store were you could buy gifts or other home decorations for the fall. There was a corn maze, hay maze for the little ones, and playground. You could pet baby piggies, rabbits and chickens. There was also a pumpkin catapult to launch pumpkins into a trash can to win $100. I wanted to give it a shoot, but Cha said there was no way I could make it. No faith!
Photo opp on an old tractor.
Picking out Olivia's baby pumpkin. I wanted to get one for her and then a larger Mommy and Daddy pumpkin. Of course Charlie's was the largest and I didn't forget the dogs, they got their own small pumpkins. I am hoping to bake some of our pumpkins and make them into baby food for Olivia. I just hate throwing away pumpkins after Halloween. Although this means we can't carve them.
"What is this round orange thing and why is it between my legs"?
It was a pretty day even though it was a bit windy and cool.
Olivia helping search for Mommy and Daddy's pumpkin in the big patch.
This was a real patch, not the kind were they bring pre-cut pumpkins from another field. As you can see I was trying to cut the vine off the stem with my bare hands. Man I wished I had a knife, those stems were prickly!

The corn maze.
The observation deck for the mazes.

Baby piggies!!
I feel in love with the baby pigs. I now understand why people have them as pets, too cute! I was feeding them fresh grass. I decided they liked the green grass when one of the pigs escaped to graze on it. I truly could have spent all day with the pigs.
I wanted to steal him or her and so did Olivia!
Charlie was getting my Mother of the Year photo, as he called it. I wasn't that close and was holding Olivia very tight. Plus how bad could the shock be if one of the pigs ran under it? But nonetheless I was cautious even though Cha was teasing me, as he does oh so often.
Cha's money shot.
Bye from the patch! (can you see me waving good-bye?) :)))

Crawling and now onto walking!

2010-10-13T00:54:00.000-07:00

Olivia has mastered crawling forward! She no longer goes backward or rolls. This new mode of locomotion has become her favorite past time.
Over the past month she began by getting up on all fours and rocking back and fourth and then to taking one or two steps. We thought for sure she would be a crawling demon once we got to LA for my brother's wedding, but she still just crawled forward once or twice before she feel to her stomach.
However, the very next day when we got home she was crawling everywhere! She even conquered the slippery hard wood floors! I put a video of her crawling at the bottom of the blog. Please excuse the kettle going off and my annoying baby voice. :) I love in the video the dog parade and when she starts to crawl she does her motor boat sound. She sounds like she is powered by a little invisible motor.
I also included a video of her being pulled in the wagon by Brandon at Chris and Erica's wedding. I wanted to capture her cute laughter and how much she loved it.

Not only is she crawling, but she began to pull herself up on furniture to stand. I guess she thought crawling was just not good enough. Show off!
Getting higher....
Almost there....
So close I can taste it.... and the next pic was not taken since I was too busy picking my crying babe off the floor. Unfortunately her reach was not long enough to get to the top of the table.
Side stepping around the ottoman without any assistance! My mom said she did this with their coffee table. She predicts she will be walking in a month. Gosh I hope not! I am just getting used to her being so mobile.

Chris and Erica's Wedding and Visit to OC

2010-10-07T22:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, we made it to Mission Viejo for Chris and Erica's wedding on Sunday Oct. 3rd. We flew in five days before and left the following Tuesday after the wedding. Seven days seems like enough time to visit, but it wasn't. It was a whirlwind of a visit and I wish I had another day or two to decompress.
Almost every morning I would wake up to Pop Pop and Olivia watching cartoons. It melted my heart seeing them together. Mornings were pretty much the only down time of the day. I want to take a moment to thank my folks for getting up with Olivia every morning. It was a great and much needed break!
We couldn't wait to put Olivia in her flower girl dress to see if it would fit. My Mom bought it months before so we had to guess on the size. It was perfect! She liked to pull at the flowers and put the ribbons and pearls in her mouth.
Olivia had another princess moment for the dinner rehearsal. I think she likes getting all dolled up.

Sweet face!

The fam!
As the flower girl Olivia was going to be pulled in a wagon by her cousin Brandon aka "the ring bearer" and the other flower girl, Faith. We wanted to give the kids enough practice time pulling her since the ceremony was located on a steep grassy hill with a pond at the bottom. I had a hard time walking down the hill (in heels) let alone Olivia being carted down. Believe me I had nightmares of her flying down the hill and into the pond.

Gee can you tell they are related!
Brandon gets bigger and bigger every time I see him!
The beautiful bride Erica and Olivia, who can't take her eyes off the ice cream she is being feed.
Yummy!
Olivia and Aunt Alicia stealing some snuggles.
The Friday before the wedding we were invited by my Brother and Mom's business associate Dean to go on his 40 ft. Bayliner boat. We left a harbor by Sea World and worked our way down to San Diego harbor.
A Titanic moment! I know I am a dork and have to do this on every boat I go on.

The little sailor girl. Thank goodness we were able to properly use this outfit my Mom got.
My brother at the helm.
We motored around the harbor for awhile, which was full of security for all the navy ships and aircraft carriers.

Olivia taking the reins. Can you tell she likes having the control? :)
Cha would love his own boat/sail boat someday.
The wedding day his here! Erica's bouquet came out beautiful.
Getting ready. Erica's good friend Nicole did a great job on all our hair and makeup. It was so nice to have a big room for all the bridesmaids to get ready in.
Olivia hanging out with the girls. She was crawling all around.

My handsome Johnny Cash.
The blushing bride and maid of honor.
Too bad the sun was shining so bright because this pic would've been nice.
Olivia ready to be pulled down the aisle. I have video of Brandon pulling her because every time he stopped she would crack up. She loved the wagon and I think this will be our next purchase for her.
The ceremony went great and no accidents, besides my sis almost falling down and the kids pulling the wagon a little too fast down the hill. Everyone in the audience keep yelling at them to slow down. I was so glad that so many people were feeling my pain.

The cake! The room in the background was the grooms room, which Cha and I stayed in for the night, while my parents took Olivia home. We had our own little honeymoon! Thanks guys!

Great wedding topper!
My cousin Elizabeth and Olivia.
Sweet Sally getting some hugs.
Cha and Elizabeth.
First dance!
My Dad holding his sweet girl.
My Bro getting some time with his best man Corey Hirsch.

Cutting the cake.
Not sure what Olivia is being fed here, but I am guessing it is cake/ I am hoping. I am surprised Olivia didn't get sick with all the sugary food she was fed.
Brandon really loved his cousin. He wanted to hold her, feed her, and make her laugh. I wish they could see each other more often
Erica is officially Mrs. Rette and my sister-in-law! They were headed out early the next day to LAX airport for their honeymoon in Mazatlan, Mexico.
Riding in style.

Later that day Cha and I headed to LA to see my best friend Abby and her hubby Josh. I haven't seen Abbs since I went to visit her in Hawaii two years ago. What I love most about Abbs is that no matter how much time passes we pick up right were we left off.

The day we were leaving Olivia was playing with her owl pillow that Aunt Erica and Uncle Chris gave her. Unfortunatley we couldn't fit it into our bags so we will have to mail it. Do you notice the owl on Olivia's shirt? If you hadn't noticed I have a thing for owls for Olivia.
Olivia slept almost the entire two hour flight home. When she woke up she wasn't very happy so I tried to soothe her. Cha took some pics because it is very rare for Olivia to cuddle. I think the last time she cuddled this long was when she was a itty bitty infant.
Can you tell I was enjoying it?

If it takes flying for Olivia to snuggle like this than maybe I will travel more often.
Mt. Ranier = WE ARE HOME!

Hiking on Gray Wolf River Trail

2010-09-26T16:42:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday it was an unusual warm sunny day, it was actually in the high 60's! We decided to capture this rare warmth and go for a hike on the Gray Wolf River trail, which is not too far from our home.
This was the first time we have used the hiking back pack with Olivia. We wanted to wait till she had good head control before using it. Charlie was having to make a lot of adjustments to make it fit him. I guess we sized it for me.
Her face reads, "Mommy do you really think this is safe"?
"Nope, I am thinking this is not safe"
However, when she got up high she was like, "Wow this is not too bad, what a view"!
Ready for business.

"Hmm...what can I bite on, this strap looks tasty".
"How much of this strap can I shove into my mouth"?
The view of the Olympics!
Beautiful leaves turning to fall colors.

Not even ten minutes in and Cha is already turning up his sleeves.

Making our way down to the river. Pretty much the hike was down hill and then up hill all the way back up.
Can you see me? I found my hobbit hole!
Trying to get through without being snagged.
Yay! We made it to the river. Now turn around and walk back up!
Olivia fading on the hike back to the car. I have never seen her fight sleep that bad.
Sunset along the Mountains.
The hike pooped Olivia out. I felt so bad because she only got an hour to nap before we meet our good friends the Santos's for dinner. She amazes me because I thought she would be cranky with no naps, but she was as happy and chipper as she always is.
Out cold!
Cha had the camera so close to her face and she still didn't wake up!
Our reward! Not only did we have Mexican food, but then a vanilla milkshake from the 101 dinner. Olivia loved the milkshake and almost pulled the whole cup off the table. We forget her good range at grabbing things. She has long fingers, like her momma. Hmm..maybes that's why I used to always knock things off the table when I was younger, leading to my nickname "Smashly". :))

Olivia is Nine Months

2010-09-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe my little girl is 9 months old already! Only three more months till she is a year! Crazy! It seems like yesterday she was born. It goes by as fast as people said it would, next thing you know she will be driving and dating boys. Both of which Charlie will try to post pone as long as possible I am sure.
Olivia's 9 month check up went very well. She had only one shot this time, which was nice. The whole time we were in the docs office she keep waving at the nurses and docs, which everyone was getting a kick out of. Waving is Olivia's new thing, as well as shooing with her hand.
Olivia's stats were good she is a tall lean baby weighing 18 lbs. (40-45%), 281/2 in. tall (75-80%), and 44.3 hc (55%). The doctor showed me the chart and said she is growing right on track and seems to be a perfect little baby. I couldn't agree more and thank goodness because if she wasn't I wouldn't be able to convince Charlie to have another one. :)
So much has happened the past 9 months, so I decided to include some pictures below of her latest milestones, developments, and activities. Enjoy!

As you can see Olivia loves strawberries just like her mommy! The other day she wasn't having a good day so I thought I could cheer her up with a strawberry and it worked. Even once she was down to the stem and leaves she wouldn't give it up. So glad she has reached an age were I can give her berries.

I have started putting barrettes in Olivia's hair since it is getting long in the front. This is what they end up looking like as she plays. Charlie calls this particular barrette the caterpillar, which is pretty accurate here.

Olivia's BFF, Sunny! Milo loves her too, but he is smart enough to keep his distance.
Tired herself out while playing in the exer-saucer.
I couldn't help including the next couple of pics because they are too cute. When we were shopping in Silverdale at the Baby Gap Charlie keep putting different animal hats on Olivia, it was pretty funny.
My fav was the giraffe, which we purchased.

Look very closely at Olivia's lower gums and you will see two little teeth. The tooth to the left was the first to pop through and then weeks later we noticed the second one. She shows no signs of teething, which we hope continues.
In the last days of summer, or at least days above 60 degrees in Sequim, we decided to take Olivia to the park on go on the swings for the first time.

Can you tell she liked it?

Hmm...where have I seen that face before, oh yes her daddy! :)
Olivia's first tastes of teething biscuits, which we have recently discontinued due to a chocking scare. I think we will wait till she has more teeth.

Another milestone is Olivia's ability to crawl/move backwards and roll. I love to watch her explore around the house. I thought it was funny when she trapped herself under one of the bar stools.

I love that face!
Olivia has been enjoying experimenting with solid foods, just as much as I have enjoyed making them. All of the produce comes from a local organic farmer, which I purchase every other week. I have also been experimenting with different spices and flavors, such as peas with mint. She loves it all, there hasn't been one thing she won't eat.

A visit to LA and San Fran in June!

2010-06-22T21:44:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the great absence on my blog. I have been having problems downloading pics using Safari and Firefox, but just recently it started working. Go figure!
So much has happened since this last blog and I hope to get to all of it as soon as possible.
Anyway, around the first week of June we had been planning as a family to go to a U2 concert, which was a post B-Day gift to my mom. Unfortunately as most of you know Bono the head singer had emergency back surgery and the US tour was canceled until next year. Even though it was canceled I still wanted to come down since we were going to throw Erica a surprise wedding shower at a restaurant in San Juan Capistrano (pictured above and below). The shower was great and I was so glad Olivia and I could share the day with such wonderful ladies.
As you will see my trip to LA was anything but boring. I hope you can follow along with this post because it is jammed packed!

Erica's mom at the wedding shower loving on Olivia.
The bride to be!
Erica and my brother Chris just bought a townhouse and invited us over for a swim. Isn't she a cute duckie!
Olivia loves the water, so much that we can no longer bathe her in her baby bath tub. She likes a regular sized tub were she can splash around in.
Just dunked.

Right after her swim I took these close up pics. The light coming through the windows of Chris and Erica's house made for perfect pics . I just had to include all of them because she looks so pretty.

Another hard day of activities, so time to fall asleep on Uncle Chris.

As you are about to see I have tons of pics of Olivia with her Pop Pop. He calls her his little princess and absolutely loves her to pieces. It is really sweet to see my Dad, a grown man turn into goo over his granddaughter.
Grandpa and Olivia's favorite past time.
Just hanging out!
My parents wanted to see if Olivia would eat some cereal. I tried around four months old and she didn't seem interested in the least, but since she was about to turn six months I thought we could try it again. To my surprise she ate some, while making the cutest faces of course. Since that visit she has moved on to eating pureed fruits and vegetables, and I haven't found one thing she doesn't like.

One morning I came upstairs and found Olivia sleeping on the couch like a big girl. I about had a heart attack and told my Dad not to do this since she could fall off. Whenever I lecture him on her safety he just looks at me like I am a crazy mom. Why do I have a feeling this is how I was raised? :))
Since we were in SoCal Olivia had to of course get a new bathing suit from my favorite children's store Janie & Jack.

When our visit was almost up, Olivia and I were given the opportunity to extend our stay and attend my Cousin Elizabeth's wedding in San Francisco. I haven't seen my extended family for many years! It was so great to see them all and introduce them to Olivia for the first time. The above pic is breakfast at the bistro in our San Francisco hotel.
Can you tell she likes the hotel life.
Elizabeth and Damien's wedding at UC Berkley Botanical Gardens. My Uncle Tom gave his only daughter away. Elizabeth's beautiful bouquet was made entirely out of orchids.
Olivia's first wedding and she was a good girl as always.
The ceremony was held in a beautiful grove of redwoods.

My cousin Steven and his wife doting over Olivia. They don't have kids yet and since they held her they will now!
So sweet!

Olivia grabbing for the camera.
Olivia and Gramie.

Steven giving Chris a high five for catching the garter.

Olivia relaxing after the wedding doing her imitation of Napoleon.
Yay, we had a great time and a packed fill trip to CA. Now it is time to go home to Daddy.
After our flight back home I had to put on the baby harness, but to do so takes two hands. I have become very creative in traveling alone with Olivia and finding ways to achieve the tasks at hand.

As you can see she had no problem being wedged between my purse and backpack. She almost seems comfortable. In any case we had a great time and can't wait to come back for Chris and Erica's wedding in October!

Family Visit and Whistler

2010-05-26T12:47:00.001-07:00

Last week my parents came up from California to take Olivia and I to Whistler for a week long vacation. Our long time family friends the Wimmers also came out from Philadelphia to join us in Whistler. Charlie decided to stay home and look after the dogs.
The night before we left we made some homemade pizzas and Olivia decided to join us at the table. She is becoming such a big girl!
Our first day in Whistler!
The ride up to Whistler after you leave Vancouver is extremely beautiful. The road hugs next to sheer rock faces while overlooking a beautiful strait with snow cap mountains in the background. Here is a pic of one of the sheer faces of a Snoquamish Mt. taken at a gas station. I guess there is 51 rock climbing passages up the rocky face.
Whistler Village and some ski runs on Blackcomb.
This is a view from our condo of the village. Each day on the weekend circus performers would perform various aerobatic and acrobatic tricks.
Everyone got a chance to take a nap with Olivia. As you can see Louise is sleeping like a baby :)
As Olivia's shirt say "Berry Cute"! I love the binky resting on my mom's arm, they always seem to work their way out of Olivia's mouth while she sleeps.
And of course I couldn't resist! This was right after a whole day of skiing. I was so happy that I got to ski the last week of the season. The snow was kind of slushy, but pretty good for the end of May. They ski the glacier all year long while the lower half of the mountain has been made into mountain biker courses. It was kind of strange to see skiers walking next to bikers in the village.
My parents and the Wimmers golfed at this beautiful course. Olivia and I stayed back in Whistler and took a run with the BOB to a lake.

This black bear was roaming around the gondola when I came down from skiing. The whole time we were there we had three bear sittings.
While I was skiing my parents took Olivia up the gondola and chair lift to check out the sites and snow. Supposedly she sleept most of the time.
I love these next couple of pics of my dad carrying Olivia in the baby bjorn. He seems such a natural at it. I can't even get Charlie to use it, I am impressed.

She loves her pop pop!
The gang about to go up the gondola.
On one of our last days my parents, Olivia and I hiked up to a waterfall.
The view from on top of the waterfall.

This is just one of many beautiful scenes in Canada. Can't wait to hopefully go back this winter to do some more skiing with my Brother and Sister-in-Law!

Olivia's Fifth Month B-Day & Mother's Day

2010-05-13T19:05:00.000-07:00

Well here we are, 5 months old! Everyone says it goes by fast, but this is ridiculous. It seems like yesterday she was born. Since time has been flying by at the speed of light I am doing my very best to soak in every moment. It seems like everyday she does something knew and I just can't keep up.

As you can see above we were playing tummy time, which she seems to do the best on her changing table. She is really strong and can hold her head up that high for a couple of minutes. No rolling over yet, but the doctor thinks she could do it any day now due to her strength.
We were getting ready to do a 5 month photo shoot and it seems she is already starting to pose.
Thank you Nina for the cute dress and hat.
Olivia was trying to pick the flowers off her dress. Sorry babe those flowers can't be picked off.

I though she was just trying to pick a flower later to find she had hold of the entire branch. Guess she felt the plant needed some pruning.

Olivia and her wagon of plants.
Trying to pull a plant out, if you haven't noticed she loves to pull at plants. It seems she has acquired her mommies green thumb, at least I hope.
For Mother's Day we decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and take a hike in the HOH rain forest, which I have been bugging to do for some time now.

It was a beautiful hike full of ferns, moss, lichen and countless wildflowers. It reminded me of Lord of The Rings.
Olivia was a champ for her first hike. I don't know if you can notice but she sucked on the front on the baby carrier the whole hike, which explains the large wet spot in the front.
Taking a break next to the HOH river.

It was a great day!

Just Hangin Out!

2010-05-08T20:49:00.000-07:00

This past month Olivia has started to really get the hang at grabbing things. She especially likes her rings that hang from her bouncy seat. The middle ring plays songs and she gets excited when they come on. Most of the time she bangs the rings together or bounces her seat to make them swing violently. Lately she has been falling asleep while holding them. I think it is so cute, she just can't let go even for sleep.

Another development is the blossoming relationship between Olivia and the dogs, Sunny and Milo. The dogs have always been interested in her, but not the other way around. Olivia just seemed to be completely unaware of their presence. Now she can't keep her eyes off of them. Her favorite thing to do is pull their ears and fur, which can be quiet funny. Sunny doesn't seem to mind, but Milo is another story.
It seems Sunny found a way to control the grabbing by pining Olivia's arm under her paw. It seems a dog out smarted a baby. Things are going to get interesting once Olivia can walk. Poor pouches don't stand a chance!

Olivia's Four Month Checkup

2010-04-16T17:32:00.000-07:00

Olivia had her four month checkup today! She did great! She weighed 13.5 oz, which is three oz more than she was at two months, putting her in the 50th percentile. Her height was 25 in, putting her in the 75th percentile. She also got shots and x-rays. The x-rays were to see how her pelvic bone was developing due to being breech. The shots once again where horrible and by the time of the x-rays Olivia about had it.

I felt so sorry for her that after our lunch with my friend Jen Santos I decided to take Olivia shopping. What girls mood doesn't improve with a little retail therapy. To my delight we found a new baby boutique that opened about two weeks ago in downtown PA. Ever since I knew I was having a girl I have been keeping my eye out for a pink tutu and guess what was hanging in the store right when you entered, but a rack full of baby tutu's. I swear no child of mine is going to be without the necessities of being a ballerina and yes that just might have to do with the fact that I am a dancer :)). No pressure :))

Unfortunately right when I put her in the tutu when we got home she spit up all over it. And let me tell you trying to clean spit up out of tulle is no fun. The picture above was when I was cleaning it up and she keep wanting to examine this new texture.
Here is her sucking on this new texture. Gotta cover all the bases!
It was such a wonderful day that we decided to take some pics outside.
Tutu close up!
Sunny and Milo wanted to get in the action and ride the pink elephant too. Thanks Mom for such a cool rocker.
Action shot of Olivia spitting up. I guess this teaches us to not do a photo shoot right after she had a bottle.
Poor elephant took the brunt of it all.
These next two photos are my absolute fav!! I love her facial expression, it is like "come on now this is getting ridiculous".

Another purchase we made during our shopping spree was this adorable dogie coat, were the hood is the dog face with ears and the back is the tail. It is a little big, which will be good for next winter and hopefully the winter after that. I am banking on her being a small girl since I am not very large and she has only grown out of two outfits so far.
The below pics were taken this past month and I just wanted to include them for your viewing pleasure.
This was taken before we went to the pool to go swimming. The one shoulder retro swim suit is too cute.
I am so posh!
One mourning before a run I just had to capture the silliest outfit Olivia has ever worn. I was in such a hurry that I just put a hat on her head on these socks we bought that have rattles on the toes.
Lately she has been into sucking on and playing with her spit up rags, therefore I thought it was time to give her a blanket that expresses exactly how I feel about her.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T19:39:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Olivia's first Easter by going over to our friends, Jen and Larry Santos house for dinner. But before we left we took some pictures of Olivia and I in front of our house. We just had to get pictures of her in that cute dress that auntie Erica bought. It was a sunny, but windy day.

Jen made Babka a polish sweet bread to go along with dinner. Her dad is polish, as is mine. My dad would be so proud, as he is in the middle of writing a book about his polish heritage.
Jen and Larry also made cakecicles dipped in chocolate, which were so yummy and of course good for you. I made trifle (not shown), one of my favorite desserts my mom used to make.
Larry carving the ham with precision.

Olivia checking out all the food we consumed. She is in awe!
Jen got Olivia to smile.
...And laugh.
.....And smile some more.
Larry decided he wanted to try holding the little monster.
Trying out different positions.
Jen taking a stab at it. I see a kid your near future ;))))
Olivia's favorite pass time, eating her dress.
How much of my dress can I shove in my mouth! I just love that little tummy.

Olivia's First Laughs

2010-04-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight Olivia made her first attempts at laughing. She has been smiling for some time now, along with cooing, but never has she made a laugh. We were so excited that we didn't have time to get the camera to record it, so we used Cha's phone.

Hope you all enjoy listening to her little laughs as much as we did.

The Easter Bunny

2010-03-28T19:13:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we traveled down to Silverdale Mall to do some shopping. As we made our way through the mall we came across the Easter Bunny, I have been wanting to take Olivia's picture with him and now was my chance. Unfortunately Olivia was not in her Sundays best, but I had to take this opportunity since we live an hour away.

I was afraid she was going to cry when I handed her to this big furry bunny, but she was great. Sitting contently on his lap, she just looked all around, which then became a problem to get a good picture. The girl taking the picture keep honking a horn while I jumped around next to her in hopes of getting Olivia to look straight ahead. Finally we got this one shot, which makes me laugh when I look at it because Olivia is making this face like what are you two crazy ladies doing.
I had to add the next couple of pictures because they are just too cute. After reading her bedtime stories, she decided she wanted to do a little reading of her own. She has great taste, Winnie the Poo one of my baby books.
I love how small she looks in the nursery chair.

These pics were taken one lazy Saturday when Cha was listening to music on our bed. When I was pregnant I used to put these head phones on my stomach, allowing Olivia to listen to classical. Cha thought it was appropriate to let her listen to some tunes on her own.
Letting daddy know that she liked what she was hearing.
Rockin out!

Mommies Little Top Chef!

2010-03-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

Tonight while making homemade pizza I decided to let Olivia watch me cook for the first time. My favorite thing to do growing up was to watch my mom cook and I think Olivia has that passion too, as she watched my every movement. Her enthusiasm for cooking is starting early as she holds a spatula. I cannot wait till she can actually help me, while wearing a matching apron I bought her and I years ago. I always knew I would have a girl someday, therefore I would buy anything that I felt my little girl would just have to have.
Look at that head control, I cannot believe how fast she is becoming a big girl.
Starting to get tired.

Now she is completely pooped. No one said cooking wasn't hard work!

The Bumbo and Spring is here!

2010-03-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

Just recently I saw my friend's little girl sitting in her Bumbo. She is around the same age as Olivia, so I thought that maybe Olivia would be able to sit in hers too. Olivia has always had good head control, but not enough to sit on her own. For some reason I thought the Bumbo was only to be used for babies that can sit up on their own, but I guess not. As you can see she slumps to the side and doesn't sit up right, but that's better than nothing. This is also her first dress, it was just one of many cute spring clothes Erica and I picked out for Olivia on our shopping spree at baby gap.

She is into pulling up shirts and dresses, showing off her little belly and then sucking on them in her mouth.
I love this pic with her arm resting on the side. She just looks like she is chilling.

It has been sunny and 60 degrees for the past couple of days here on the Pacific Northwest, so we decided to put her Bumbo outside. She was getting a little tired of her seat.
My little strawberry! I bought this strawberry hat for Olivia last Spring and I am so happy she can now wear it. Look at those lips! She definitely has her daddies full lips.
Taking in the sun!

This is the first time she has touched grass or at least sat on grass.

Not digging the grass or being messed with.
I had to include these next couple of pics. Above was taken when Cha was really sick and I just loved how they were sleeping together.
Every time Olivia sits in her bouncy seat the dogs come over and check her out. She loves to stare at them and I can't wait till she starts pulling on their hair, but that will be the day the dogs probably stop checking her out ;)

A Trip to SoCal and Olivia turns 3 Months old

2010-03-12T16:07:00.000-08:00

The night before our trip to Orange County to visit friends and family, we gave Olivia a bath in her favorite whale tub. She was making so many funny faces that I asked Cha to capture some. Lately she really likes to play with her tongue, as you can see.
She has started to smile a lot more and it seems like she is smiling directly at me. She has also started to coo at me too, as if she wants to start a conversation. I try to mimic her sounds back to her, which makes her really excited.
She loves bath time, can you tell!
I just love this face!
At my parents house, Olivia strikes a lot more poses. She might be a model someday :)
Pop pop loving on his favorite little girl, he just can't get enough!
Olivia and her auntie Alicia posing in front of PJ Abbys Restaurant. Their outfits matched for the day, which was too cute.
Uncle Chris giving Olivia lots of kisses.
Olivia loved being held by her cousin Brandon the most. Brandon wanted to carry her around everywhere he went and keep asking me when it was time to feed her a bottle. He was dieing to feed her. Brandon was also a big help in making the bottles with me.
These pics were taken on Olivia's 3 month B-Day. I cannot believe how fast my baby is growing. I have a lazy eye and as you can see in the pic so does Olivia. When both of us smile one eye is bigger than the other. Sorry baby girl.
I almost forgot to post my favorite pic of Olivia on our stay in LA. Erica (my soon to be sister-in-law) and I were shopping at South Coast Plaza. The baby gap had the cutest clothes as well as these spiffy glasses. I begged Erica to take a pic on her camera phone and send it to Cha. In the movie the Hangover they put glasses on the baby. It is one of the funniest parts of the movie. Cha used to rewind the trailer of the scene and laugh hysterically. Cha loved the pic and saved it as his wallpaper on his iphone.

Love the binkie growing out of her head and the funny face to match.

Olivia talks!

2010-02-16T20:53:00.000-08:00

Just Completed Olivia's 2 month check up. The Doc says Olivia is right on schedule. She weighs 10.5 lbs and 22 inches long. We recorded Olivia cooing for several days with our dSLR, and then Charlie took a stab at editing it all together with our Mac. I apologize for some of the blurriness but we were not using a real video camera. I also included a short video of bath time from the weekend, ENJOY!

2010-01-07T18:33:00.000-08:00

Happy 1st Month Birthday Olivia! I can't believe it, our little girl is already a month old!

We celebrated with some carrot cake and her favorite binkie :) sending out the love! Unfortunately she was not awake for any of this, but we celebrated in her favor. The cake was yummy by the way!

Olivia's Many Faces

2010-01-03T18:09:00.000-08:00

This one is one of my favorites... the ooohhh face!
The "what ya talkin about Willis" look. Or deep contemplation.
Just a perfect little face.
The whata ya doin now daddy.
The pirate face rrrr.... Love it :))

A Time of Firsts

2010-01-03T17:34:00.000-08:00

The past month has been a time of firsts for Olivia. We finally gave her her first bath in the whale tub. I thought she was going to freak out since she hates being naked, but she actually seemed to like it. She is going to be a water baby!

Falling asleep under her gym of lights and sounds. All the stimulus tuckered her out :) But she seemed to really like her first play session.
Here first Christmas with an outfit from my mom that says my first Christmas. She barely fits into it, maybe next year.

Here she is!

2009-12-15T19:05:00.001-08:00

Our beautiful little Olivia was born on Wednesday December 9th! We are so blessed for her to come into our lives. We couldn't be more happy, however these late night parties in her crib have got to go. Other than that she is a wonderful baby and a great early Christmas Gift.
These are all pics taken in the hospital by my mother-in-law! Aren't they cute
Her eyes are really a dark blue-green.
Our sleeping angel!

Last Belly pics!

2009-12-06T14:49:00.001-08:00

Well here I am in my last few days before Olivia arrives. I am in my 38th week about to enter my 39th. She will be born a week before her due date due to being breech. The C-section will take place this Wednesday around 12:00 pm, so please pray for me!
Here is some of the nursery!
Sporting my bump one last time!
My owl Penny perching on my tummy. I love owls, which are one of the main themes of Olivia's nursery. Man I look tired! I haven 't been sleeping well the past few days, which isn't good because a couple of days from now I really won't be getting any sleep!

35 weeks pregers

2009-11-14T16:49:00.000-08:00

Here I am at 35 weeks along! The past couple of weeks I have really grown a lot. I am so front heavy that I trip over my own two feet and trying to pick something off the ground is chore in itself. Not sure if I can handle getting any bigger than this, but I still have 32 days left to go, so I am just going to have to endure.

28 Week SoCal Beach Belly Pics!

2009-10-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

Even though I am technically 29 weeks currently, I thought I would put some more belly pics from 28 weeks when I was down in So Cal for my baby shower. Wednesday we decided to spend the day at the beach and did I sure need it. I am a born fish and the ocean is my second home. Living in Washington the beaches are not the lay out in the sun type like Newport Beach, so I miss the quality time spent laying out and swimming in the waves. I can't believe it was 85 degrees and sunny at the end of September, only in CA!

In the pic above, as you can see I am holding my Dad's belly. Wonder who will be due first! Ohh...:)))
My mom and sis striking a pose. Back to back belly shots! Urr... I win this time! Dang you Dad for working out and eating right :))
Snoozing on the beach!
Erica and I.
Still snoozing, but with water this time!
This pic looks a little risky since my bottoms look non-existent! Darn you belly :))

Baby Shower in San Juan Capistrano

2009-09-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

Here I am about 28 weeks pregnant at my baby shower for Olivia and I. My mom and I have been planning this shower since the spring! It was held at a cute, quaint little tea house in San Juan Capistrano, CA. At the time I still only had 75% prediction (now it is 95% after the latest ultrasound in Seattle) on if it was a boy or a girl, so most of the gifts were unisex, which is really hard to find these days because everything is pink or blue. But my favorite color is green, so that makes it easy.

I loved all my gifts and more importantly I loved seeing everyone! Thank you all for coming and making my day so special. I especially want to thank my Mother in law, Father in law, sister in law, with kids in toe for coming out all the way from Alabama to be there for me. It was great to see all of you again and I can't get enough of my niece and nephew. Sorry there are no pics of you all because most of these were taken before the event ;(

I also want to thank Diane Toedter for helping to set up and making all the yummy white chocolate baby lollipops, they were delicious and I know my niece Callahan loved them just as much as I did. Most of all, I want to thank my mom for putting on the event, it was beautifully perfect day because of you.
My sister and I. In my dress I look naked here ;). Man have I been in the Pacific Northwest too long, do I need a tan!
My sister in law to be Erica and I in our tea hats before the event.
My food, a yummy veggie quiche with lots of cheese on top. Yummy! Plus all the fruit, which is my biggest craving right now!
Some of the ladies!
Diane and I, one of my favorite pics!
Oh, sweet Sally and I!
A little test taste before the real thing :))
The baby actually kicked my Sissy's hand!
Erica, Alicia, Sharon, and I in front of the tea house.
This is the only bike I can ride, a garden one!

Our 8th Anniversary Celebration weekend!

2009-09-10T18:55:00.000-07:00

Our 8th Anniversary together 10 was celebrated over this past labor day weekend. Friday night was spent eating a lovely dinner at my favorite restaurant in Sequim, called Alder Wood Bistro. Yum! On Tuesday our first sunny day of the weekend we had lunch at Crescent Lake. We bought sandwiches at my favorite sandwich shop, Drakes, and sat out on the dock of the Olympic Park Institute (the place we had a board retreat at for my work at NOLT). The reason why we made this into a weekend celebration is because Cha had duty on our actual anniversary day, so we decided to make the best of it and make our four day labor day weekend special!
Cha was cold while eating lunch. Good thing we had a towel. We weren't sure where we wanted to have lunch, just winged it, so that is why we brought the towel.
Loving the sun!

A view of where we were sitting.

A blue jay just outside of Sol Duc Falls, where we decided to take a scenic hike. What I didn't know is that a 1.6 mile hike would tire me out for the rest of the night :). I guess when you haven't exercised in a month or two, that will happen to you!

Hiker's pose, ready for business!
Ready for business :)
Ahhhh, finally we made it! Yeah!

Along the way!

Which way will we go... ohh Lover's Lane, how suiting!

The reward.....

Posing with my six month belly.

Water break!

Contemplating getting in the river, the water looked so nice and calming. Hope you enjoyed our anniversary weekend just as much as we did.

Belly Pics- 25 weeks

2009-09-07T19:46:00.001-07:00

Here I am! I was playing around with some bathing suits to see what I could wear to the local pool since I can't work out like I used to at the gym. I also will need a swim suit when I go to LA in two weeks for my baby shower! With all the fires down there, I am looking forward to a good swim to escape the heat! It is so hard to find a good swimsuit when you are pregnant. But, what I didn't expect when I was trying these on is how funny it ended up being. Hope you all enjoy and get as good of a laugh as Cha and I.
Trying to be sexy! Haa....haaa
What do you think??
This one is just a bit too small, think I will stick to the black one! It seems more slimming, when I said that to Cha he just laughed and said there is nothing sliming about a pregnant women in a bikini. Help I need a pregnancy bathing suit! Hope you all got as good a laugh as we did :))))

Belly Pics- Twenty-Two Weeks

2009-08-17T08:19:00.000-07:00

Here I am! The belly has grown a lot since the last pics, have fun laughing at me :)
OHHH...MY.....
My Sister-In-Law, Carolynn was nice enough to take these pics. Thanks! The quality of the pics is astronomical compared to my Olympus :) Don't I just look so thrilled in this pic?!? It's just going to get bigger people, so hold on to your hats. Heee..heee...

A lovely visit!

2009-08-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

This past week we have been blessed by a week long visit from my in-laws and sister in law, plus kids. My Mother In-Law is Lois Bush, Father In-Law Pat Bush, Sister-In-Law (aka Cha's little sis) Carolynn Woodall, beautiful ever growing Niece Callahan Woodall and bran spanking new Nephew and cutie pie Evans Woodall.
Ahhhhh......!!!!
Can you see the family resemblance as Cha takes a little quality time with Evans on our back porch. He is so funny, with the faces he makes, but he is a GREAT baby, sleeping all the time with no regards to all the stimuli around him. I hope to be as lucky!
She loves her blankie!
We sure do!
This is some pics of Port Townsend, a day trip we took for lunch and some shopping that we could fit in between rain storms :). Gotta love the Pacific Northwest!
I thought I would get a quick click of the woman behind the awesome blog pics. She sure does have a great eye and camera to boot! Love ya and your blog!

Finally You Get to See Spikette!

2009-08-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

Here she/he is! The Ultrasound tech was unable to determine the sex of our baby as our shy little one was playing coy. With no obvious boy parts visible, the tech gave us a 70% chance that it is a girl. Spikette, a nickname Cha has given the baby has always been a little shy, as our Doctor once said when trying to find the heart beat.
Here is a foot! Anyway we might get a 4-D later to see for sure, but no decision has been made yet, I am just happy she/he is healthy and happy!!

Enjoy the photos as much as we have.

The Best Belated B-Day Gift Ever!!

2009-07-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

Hurray! I just received this weekend a belated B-Day gift from my BFF Abby Prather. She is in Hawaii livin the life. She has been working on my B-Day gift ever since my B-Day on June 28th and it truly shows. She is soo cute!

Any who, I thought I would take some pics of what she has collected overtime. I love every little thing, even the card and the dang envelope it came in. I have never kept an envelope before, but it is too cute to throw away.

Abbs really pays attention to detail. Not only did she make me a dress. Yes, I said made me a dress from a vintage fabric, but she bought me matching pink and purple earrings and a J-Crew cardigan to go with. A whole outfit, I am surprised she didn't buy me some shoes too :). I love her, she gets me and I get her. Sometimes when we talk I don't even have to finish sentences because she already knows what I am going to say. Way cool! Everyone always asked us if we were sisters when we would go to gym classes in Mobile, Al. I guess they knew something we didn't. Hmm... a sister from another mister maybe!?! Mom, do you have something to tell me?

But no, the gift doesn't stop there she even got Spike (nickname Cha has given the baby, Spike Hammer Bush, don't ask~) a little romper with a turtle that says "Happy Turtle North Shore Hawaii". AHHHH! I absolutely adore turtles and green/blue are my favorite colors, this is the best unisex romper I have seen yet. Love it! By the way, not sure you noticed the TV behind me has Formula One on, guess you know who took the pics.
And it keeps going... Wish there was smell a pic or something for computers because this is the most beautiful smell in the world. When I visited Abbs last summer I bought a small little bottle of the ginger oil, since everywhere we went in Hawaii I could smell this beautiful flower. The smell always takes me back to my time there and the fun Abbs and I had. I can't believe she got me the Cosco economy size bottle, I should be good for a long time since this bottle is three times the size of the one I bought last summer, which I just ran out of.
Well, I hope you enjoyed my great B-Day gift. If all my B-Day gifts are this good than I hope all will be belated. Look at that dress, can you believe she made it! So talented!

Soon to come will be pics of the new place once I get it completely decorated (of course some of these pics are from my backyard and front) along with the news tomorrow of ultrasound and what we will be having. Will it be an Olivia or a Noah?? Can"t wait to see!

Almost Half Way There- Week 16/17

2009-07-08T19:37:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Been a long time since my last blog entry. Today I had my 4 month doctors appointment. If you are wondering why I put 16/17 for my week it is because due to the first ultrasound I would be 16 weeks this week, but if you go off my last period I am actually at 17 weeks. I know it's a little confusing, I really should just pick one or the other, but I can't seem to disregard the first ultrasound which placed the baby five days behind. The next ultrasound should give us more information about how far along the baby is in reality.

The appointment today went smoothly and really quick. Of course they started off with the scale, but I already knew the outcome since I weighed myself last week at the gym. I was floored to see that I gained five pounds since the last weigh in at 12 weeks. I went from 125 lbs to 130. There was only once in my life when I weighed that much and it was when I was on a medication that caused me to unnaturally gain weight. I am just not used to seeing that much weight gain over such a short period of time, but I had to remind myself that it is not all me. The doctor even reassured me by saying that I am making up for lost time since I gained very little the first trimester. Sure enough once I reached the second trimester it seemed my body decided to pack it on. Although it is reassuring that I can still fit into my normal pants even though I can only zip them half way up. So at least it is not going into my butt or thighs.

The doctor then checked the heart beat, which usually in the past takes a few minutes to find, but this time he found it right when he placed the Doppler on my stomach. I was shocked how quick we heard it. The heart beat was about 147 bpm, which is a lot lower from the first two times. When I asked the doc the heart beat I guess he could tell I was wondering about the sex and he reminded me that it is an old wives tale and that this just means that the baby is at rest. The baby has also grown since the first Doppler reading, which means the heart beat should go down.

To be honest even though I prefer a girl, I will be fine with either one. This is our first kid, so we will have plenty of chances to have both. But that doesn't stop Cha from teasing me by calling our kid Spike. He thinks he is so funny!

Well, it won't be long, only two in a half more weeks until all this guessing will be over. I made an appointment today for the two hour long ultrasound on July 27, about a week before we go on vacation to Beaver Creek Colorado with the rest of Charlie's family. Get ready to do lots of baby shoppin girls!

The Ever Expanding Belly- Week 13/14

2009-06-16T20:52:00.000-07:00

Well, here they are, my belly pics! It doesn't seem like much of a difference from the last pics, but I can confirm that my belly is definitely growing little by little. Pretty much I can measure the growth by how far I can zip my pants up.

The amazing thing is that my belly varies in size throughout the day. In the mourning I barely can make anything out, but as the day goes by it seems to miraculously grow and by bed time it is huge. My pilates teacher told me that when she was pregnant her belly would grow throughout the day too. So weird! She also had an aversion to vegetables like broccoli, just like myself. I wonder why that is?
This past weekend I purchased my first pair of prego jeans at a maternity store in the mall. I love to shop, but shopping in a maternity store is no fun. Not because everything is huge, but because nothing looks good on and most of it is butt ugly. I am definitely going to have to do my research on cute maternity boutiques in Seattle, otherwise I am going to be wearing dresses my whole pregnancy.

Other news is that we are probably going to move. Not from Sequim, but from our current residency. We've been having complaints by neighbors about our dogs going the bathroom on the grass. Our duplex does not have grass, so I have to take them for walks around the neighborhood. Of course I pick up any droppings, but this neighborhood is full of old people who have nothing better to do, but complain about everything. I swear I live in the movie Cacoon.

However, this is not the only reason why we want to move, we also have noticed after cleaning out our third room that there is not much room to grow. Our garage is stuffed to the rim. I mean literally, we had to hang shelves from the ceiling. Plus it would be nice to have a house with an enclosed backyard for the dogs.

We found a craftsman style house down the street from us for rent this past weekend and it is too cute. It has an enclosed back yard and lots of room to grow. We put in our application tomorrow and hopefully we will get it. Yeah, can't wait to move! Well sort of...

Over the hurdle of the First Trimester!

2009-06-05T17:12:00.000-07:00

Today was my 12 week appointment, a milestone in the pregnancy since the first 12 weeks are the most fragile time in the babies development. I saw a new doctor this time, Doctor Burkhardt, one of three doctor's that I will be seeing throughout my pregnancy. He was an older man, but very nice.

The appointment was a normal OB exam with doppler to hear the heart. I made Cha come along since he didn't hear the heart beat the first time. Plus if anything went wrong I would need his support.

Of course the appointment started off by stepping on the scale, which I was not looking forward to, but who ever does. To my surprise and Cha's I lost a pound. Don't ask me how that happened! I have been eating like a pig lately and not going to the gym as religously as I normally do. I am usually a pretty healthy eater, but not lately. My sweet tooth and craving for carbs has been ridiculous. It is so bad that I can't even go down the candy aisle at the grocery store. The doctor said that there was nothing to worry about and that he wouldn't be surprised if I even lost more than that since my body has significantly increased in blood flow and boob tissue. Plus most women don't tend to gain weight until the second and third trimester. He has never had a patient were the problem is not enough weight gain, usually it is the other way around.

Once he began the exam and then the doppler, that's when I became extremely nervous. I mean if anything bad was going to happen it would of happened by now. It took him a few minutes to find the heart beat and the whole time I was praying to God, please let everything be ok. The doctor even said, "she is a shy little thing, isn't she". Cha and I just looked at each other like does he know something we don't! Is there something on my file that says she wants a girl? But finally he found it and I think Cha almost fainted from suspense. The doc calculated the heart beat at 156 bpm and he said, "it sounded like a strong little heart beat and it's also in the girl range". Each time I hear that rapid little heart I am amazed. I think the next appointment I will record it because I could just listen to it all day long.

After we left the doctor Cha confessed to me that his heart was in his throat the whole time when the doctor was trying to find the heart beat. But now both of us can relax and feel comforted that we have made it through the scary first trimester. Although even though I know this I still can't wait for the next appointment. I probably won't feel totally relaxed until I deliver the baby and hear her/him cry, along with the doctors confirmation that everything is ok. Oh, the joys of motherhood!

The Beauty of Sequim by Bike.

2009-05-30T20:58:00.000-07:00

For the past week it has been sunny and 80 degrees along the Pacific Northwest. Cha and I decided to take advantage of the wonderful weather by taking a day long bike ride. First stop was lunch at one of our favorite restaurants in Sequim, Cedar Creek. Cha got a delicious pizza, while I had a crab, asparagus, and artichoke bisque soup with a yummy salad. It fueled us up for the long bike ride to come.
Cha giving his sexy pose in front of the restaurant. This is the only pic I have of him the whole day because he was mostly in control of the camera.
One more pose before we start our journey. Wearing my Da-Nang shorts and coconut sun tan lotion reminded me of my trip last summer to Hawaii to visit my BFF Abby. Miss ya Abbs!

All too soon there will be a kiddie seat on back of my bike.
We traveled along the Olympic Discovery trail, which runs close to the water from the Indian Casino all the way to Port Angeles. Last summer we biked to Port Angeles along the trail, but that took about 3 hours one way. I didn't want to over extend myself so we traveled the shorter portion north to John Wayne Marina.
All along the trail and all throughout Sequim is millions of wild daisies and CA poppies. Poppies are one of my favorite wildflowers.
So of course I had to pick one and wear it in my hair. Amazingly it stayed the whole bike ride.
This is the Johnson Creek Trestle, which we rode across. We stopped for awhile and walked along the trestle looking down at the creek below. The trestle is so high that you feel like you are walking along the tree tops. The Olympic Peninsula is full of these little gems that you don't even know exist until you stumble upon them. So beautiful!
The tranquil creek below.

Hope your are not afraid of heights! Excellent for bungee jumping.

What a great day!

This is Charlie's favorite wildflowers that he would yell and point at as we rode by. Finally he was overcome by their beauty and had to get off his bike and snap some shots. Sorry that I don't know their name.
Just above the marina. In the distance you can see Mt. Baker, if you squint through the trees you can see a white lump.

Yeah, we made it too the Marina!

All done! Although now we have to do it all over again, in reverse and up hill. But at least there is no snow! :)

Belly Pics- Eleven Weeks

2009-05-28T19:49:00.001-07:00

Well here ya all go! Another set of belly pics, although nothing significant has changed since week nine, but I thought I should post some anyway. I guess my belly won't really start to grow much more until the baby starts to get substantially bigger. The little bump is pretty much the fact that my bladder has grown to the size of a grapefruit and extra water retention. I feel extremely bloated in my belly and Charlie likes to push on it with his hand and say "squishy" :). Thanks! He knows how to make a girl feel good about herself, but I love him anyway.

No, he really has been sweet, sending love everyday to my belly as he sits watching TV with one hand on the remote and the other on my stomach. So cute!

Even though there doesn't look like much growth my pants have gotten uncomfortably tight around the waist. With some pants I have begun to wear my bella band, which holds the pants up while they are unbuttoned. I have begun to look for clothes that are loose fitting, like these cute jersey knit dresses on J-Crew. I have one already and just love wearing it because it is so loose and stretchy. I think that it is so cool that you don't have to go to a maternity store to buy clothes these days, although I am sure that will change when I become the size of a whale :).

My Brother is Engaged!!

2009-05-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

This past year has been pretty eventful! Not only am I going to be a Mother, but a sister-in-law too, as my brother proposed to Erica in Mexico this past weekend. On top of that my sister-in-law Carolynn is going to be a Mother any day now and her sister-in-law Catherine is having her first baby as we speak. Too much excitement in such a short period of time!
My brother and Erica have been seeing each other off and on for about three years now. My mom, sister and I have been bugging him for awhile of when he is going to pop the question. Finally he came to his senses and decided that he should propose and what better time to do it than when they are on vacation in Cancun, Mexico. The funny thing is that the last time we were in Cancun was as a family at Club Med Resort when I was in high school. I can remember my brother making a comment one night about how romantic it was there and what a great place to bring a loved one. Well you got your wish!
For months now my brother and Erica have been planning a week long trip to Cancun. Charlie and I were going to join them, but at the time people in Mexico were being killed in drug wars, so Charlie felt it wasn't safe to go. Which ended up being a good decision since I later became pregnant and the swine flu epidemic began. I have been teasing Erica and Chris that they should watch out for pigs and drug lords while they are down there.
But in a way I am kind of sad I didn't go because I could of been there for their engagement. I haven't found out the particulars of how Chris proposed, but I am sure it was really romantic. The ring he bought her is absolutely beautiful and he was able to get it the week before they left. Just in the nick of time!
Well I just want to Congratulate them and let them know how happy Charlie and I are for them. Now get to making some kids! :)

My May Garden

2009-05-25T21:13:00.001-07:00

Welcome to my spring garden and varieties of plants that I have never grown before....
This past Memorial weekend has been the sunniest and warmest since 2005. I thought I would take the opportunity to soak up as much sun and vitamin D as I could by working on my garden. Surprisingly most of my plants survived the dreadful snowy winter. I was shocked that only three bit the dust after 13 inches of snow and extreme freezing temperatures from October to March.
Everything is so green and blooming that I couldn't help but capture all the beauty yesterday. These delicate pink flowers, otherwise known as bleeding hearts are my absolute favorite flower. All four years living in Mobile, AL I tried to grow these precious flowers and failed miserably. The only things that do well in the South are plants that can survive extreme heat and humidity, mostly tropicals. But here on the Pacific North West, bleeding hearts are native and can be found growing naturally along hiking trails. So once we moved here this plant was one of my first purchases and they have been growing like weeds. I also love tulips and other bulbs, which also do extremely well here. Unfortunately my daffodils are done flowering so I didn't include them.
Only nature can make something so perfect. For some reason bleeding hearts remind me of a bunch of ballerinas dancing around each other.
My roses have also been doing wonderfully. If anyone ever saw my rose garden in Mobile, it was pretty sad as they fried to death in the scorching sun. Gardening is so easy here that I pretty much plant them in dirt and they just do their thing, so effortless.
I am excited to watch my garden continue to grow as does my belly :). Although I didn't post a belly pic this week because I didn't feel like there was much of a difference since last week. But I will definitely post one this week.

What me patient? Haa...

2009-05-22T15:03:00.001-07:00

I have to be the most impatient person on the planet! I am the extreme opposite of those people who don't want to know what they are having. But, I guess I am not alone since they wouldn't make such a product if I was the only one.

This past week I was feeling impatient about having to wait till week 20 to find out the sex, so one of my old co-workers sent me ways to find out sooner. I guess one of her friends did this IntelliGender test and it ended up being correct when the baby was born.

Yesterday I was in Walgreen's picking up some items and came across the test. I wanted to wait till my next doc appointment to do the test since I will be at the end of my first trimester and less chance of miscarriage, but I couldn't even wait till then.

The test is pretty much like a pregnancy test, using urine to decipher the sex. Don't ask me how it works, it has something to do with the different hormone levels or something in your urine. The package says it is 95% positive, but it is already starting off at 50%. It also says that real life results are more like 87% accurate. So who knows if it is really accurate, but it will be interesting to see if it ends up being true. Think of me as human guinea pig.

Well I thought it would be fun to do this and find out the result. Even though it resulted in a girl, I don't really feel that excited. I kind of feel like I got away with something I shouldn't, like cheating on a test. I was even contemplating posting it since I am a little embarrassed, but this is supposed to be a documentation of my journey so I thought it was better to be honest. Nonetheless, I am just too dang excited!

The Olivia Crib!

2009-05-20T15:30:00.000-07:00

Here is our baby crib! My Mom was kind enough to purchase it from Pottery Barn Kids. Charlie and I have already bought the matching dresser with changing topper, but it is in the garage waiting to be assembled since our baby room still has things left over from the junk room. Anyone need an old computer, broken chest, and TV stand??

We feel in love with this crib collection when I first saw it in the Pottery Barn Kids catalogue. I just loved everything about the room, right down to the sheets. When I looked at the collection name I almost feel over. It is called the "Olivia" Collection! No joke, it is the name Charlie has always wanted to call our little girl. It was fate! The funny thing is that two years ago when I was first prego I feel in love with a boy's baby room in the catalogue. And on the sheets in the crib was the name Gavin, the name I have always wanted for a boy. I don't know if God has a connection with Pottery Barn kids, but it is very interesting coincidences. Albert Einstein always said, "that coincidences are Gods way of staying anonymous". I can't tell you how true that rings for me because my whole life has been filled with signs and coincidences! That is why I have this feeling that I might be having a girl. Knock on wood! My very good friend Abby even confirmed that the last pregnancy would have been a boy and this one should be a girl in her astrology book. The Chinese calendar also supports this theory. So all signs and coincidences point in the same direction! We will just have to wait and see...
I love this angle the best. I have always been into older styles, especially Victorian. As you can see the dogs are obsessed with the crib. They have been sniffing and circling it ever since it was put together by the delivery men. I can't imagine what they are going to be like when there is a real baby in there. This used to be where their cage was, so maybe they are thinking this is their new bed. Sorry guys, two legged babies outrank four legged.
What's under there guys?

Belly Pics- Nine Weeks

2009-05-14T17:42:00.001-07:00

Well I think it is time to start the belly pics. Looking into the mirror today I could definitely make out a bump forming. It is all down hill from here. It is sad that I am already starting to look at older pics and long for that body. Good bye 110's!

Unfortunately I have started off my pregnancy at my heaviest, thank you moving. Instead of Freshman 10 it is more like moving 10. For some reason I always seem to gain weight when we move. I think it is because I get out of my routine, but I always seem to go back to normal. This time around I gained 7. Too bad I am prego, there is no going back now. Well, at least not for the next nine months. So far since I found out I was pregers I have gained three pounds. I like to tease that it is all in my boobs, well some of it is. The doctor wants me to gain between 25-35. I don't think that will be a problem!
Do you see the bump? I sure do and so does the top button on all my pants.

A sweet and beautiful gesture

2009-05-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

I wanted to take a moment to thank my Mom and Dad for the very beautiful bouquet of flowers they sent me. This past Monday was the day of my ultrasound and right as we got home there was a knock at the door with these beautiful pink roses and white carnations. The flowers were to celebrate Mother's Day and my baby ultrasound day. It couldn't have been timed more perfectly.

Here is the card they also sent the day before wishing me my first Happy Mother's Day. It says that "You're going to be a very special Mom.." Well hopefully special in a good way and not in a handicap way :) Thank you once again for the sweet, beautiful gesture. I loved it! By the way if you hadn't noticed everything is pink that she sent. I am not the only one wishing for a girl, believe me. My Dad even predicted a girl before I even got pregnant. We will see! Cha says since I want a girl that will mean I will only have boys. Guess I need to start wishing for boys :)

The day our lives changed forever!

2009-05-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

Going back in time a bit, I thought I would show you some pics from the day our lives changed forever. The day after my missed period and about five pregnancy samples later I decided to call Chuck and let him know it was pretty positive that he was going to be a Daddy. The day before he just laughed when I said it because it hadn't even been a day since my missed period. But a woman just knows these things and I am also very regular, eighth of the month every mourning. Plus on top of that I jinxed myself by saying, watch I will conceive in March, which means I will have a December baby. Not that it's bad to have a Dec. baby, I just hate having Cha's B-day on the 6th of December because it always gets pushed into Christmas.

Anyway I digress... as you can see I also used the digital EPT test cause I was tired of trying to make out those stupid little pink lines. The first line was very faint because I was so early. Seeing the actual words was a better confirmation. Later that night Charlie came home from work with a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Cosco. It was that or Safeway due to the time of night. We then celebrated by going to our favorite Thai restaurant.

I also decided to post the very yummy lemon-vanilla cupcakes I made for the Easter Sunday dinner with our close friends Larry and Jen Santos. The cupcakes were almost too cute to eat!

2009-05-13T21:05:00.001-07:00

This year has already started off to a great start. February we decided it was time to start trying to expand our family beyond ourselves and our two precious dogs, Milo and Sunny. Four days before Easter Sunday our prayers were answered. The Easter bunny stopped by the Bush Family early.

Five weeks later and ironically the day after Mother's Day we celebrated when the pregnancy was confirmed by ultrasound. I was mesmerized by the babies heart beat, it was truly amazing to see. It was like watching a miracle in progress. But not as amazing as hearing the heart beat the next day by doppler. The doctor was surprised we were able to hear it at eight weeks, but that little heart was so strong there was no way it was not going to be heard.

The due date for our little baby is December 16th and I am currently about nine weeks along. However, the ultrasound measured me at eight weeks and the doctor said the due date might have to be pushed to December 21st. Is it going to be a Christmas Baby? Stay tuned!!