33 weeks down...7 more to go!

Sawyer is a wild man! He feels huge already! I can't imagine him growing for 7 more weeks...not sure where he is going to fit! I have appointments every 2 weeks now which I don't love but am trying to be positive about it :) I go this Thursday so I'll give you the update on that but they are usually fairly uneventful...other than attempting to pee in a cup when you have zero visability...and of course last time I kicked it over after I finally got some! Damn it! Ha ha! I have gained about 22 pounds and am really hoping I stay at 30 or below!!! He sits so high I still can button my pants...now I would by lying if I said sitting in them all day was comfortable still! I am pretty devoted to my motherhood secret fits...you know, the really sexy ones that go up to your boobs! Ah, they are heavenly though! I also officially have my first ever stretch mark...yes I do believe I cried or pretty darn close anyways!

Sawyer is in his creepy alien movement stage. My entire stomach shifts and rolls! I have been trying to catch him on video moving but everytime I get the camera he quits! He had the hiccups yesterday and I finally caught it! I don't know if you will be able to see it very well, but I point out the general area in the beginning so just watch that side! My belly is getting HUGE!!! Scary huge actually. I apparently have no problem exploiting myself so here is the video and scary bare belly picture! I am not sure where Karly got those abs but it surely isn't from my side of the family :) She is attempting to push out as far as she can...I am a little jealous! ;) Karly was "playing" with him the other night...she talks crap to my belly and pokes it and he would kick back. This went on for 3 or 4 minutes...it was the cutest and funniest thing! What a great memory that will be for me. Playing nicely with her little brother before he even gets here. I think she is just as excited for him as we are!

33 weeks! Yikes that is scary!

Please disregard my orphan shirt and the fact that Karly is once again in her recital outfit (she loves it and it was definitely laundry time)

CA trip installment 3...the last one!

The Easter Bunny Came!!!

We left our Easter baskets at the Ragen house so we wouldn't confuse the Easter Bunny too much! We woke up much more rested after a great nights sleep. The kids took a few trips through the hotel breakfast area and we all got ready to head to Easter brunch with Brian's family.

I will admit that we got a little lost finding the Country Club, but we made it! The Easter bunny was there to greet Jake. It was so cute! Karly has never been a fan of creepy costumes so she kept her distance! The food and company were great! We all chatted, and ate and ate some more!

We headed back to the Ragen house and had an Easter egg hunt in their gorgeous front yard! Truly their house is beautiful...the yards are to die for! It is not at all what you think of when you think of cramped up California. After all the eggs had been found the kids finally got to dig into their Easter baskets! Lots of goodies for everyone!


More visiting...most of Brian's family left and Karly and Jake couldn't wait to try out the pool! Jake even went down the slide! Shortly after mom, Kate and Jake had to hit the road :( Very sad. Karly and I weren't flying home until the next day so we hit up the nearby outlets and bought Sawyer a ton of cute outfits...gotta love the Carters outlet! We had a nice home cooked meal with Brian's parents before heading back to LA.

I had quite a few pictures, so I tossed them into a slideshow! I hope you enjoyed taking our California vacation with us! It was so great to have my mom and sisters all together again! It was also nice to finally meet Brian's family! A lot of effort and secret keeping went into making this trip work! I can't thank Brian and his family enough for having us and helping pull together all the loose ends, sleeping arrangements, meals, etc... Thanks to Mom who of course wouldn't have missed it! Thanks to Kate for making the mighty trek out of Wickenburg! and Thanks to Daniel for sacrificing the holiday weekend with your son so we could see him!

I can't say enough thank you's to everyone!!!!

CA trip installment # 2c

Finally...the reason we went to California after all! Erica's Baptism, Communion and Confirmation.

Brian (and Erica) all spiffy.
(sorry Erica wasn't paying attention...innocent victim in the background)

My little diva always ready to model for the camera. Jake looked so handsome in his tie!!!

Saturday evening we met up with Brian's family at a great Italian restaurant. This was the first time we all met...after 3+ years of E and B dating! (Well, my mom has met his parents) Dinner was lovely and quite delish! I think there were probably about 20 people there to celebrate with Erica! She is definitely a loved girl! After dinner we had to walk to the Cathedral. All of this walking was really getting to me and at this point my ankles were the hugest things you have ever seen! My braxton hicks were so strong and close together I actually debated going to the hospital worried that maybe I was in labor. Karly says, "mom you look awful, please don't have my brother in the Holy waters"...thanks Kar :)

It was a very beautiful, very traditional...and very long! Almost 3 hours! My mom loved every second of it. Karly and Jake fell asleep. Erica looked beautiful and smiled through it all! We are so proud and happy for her and her Godfather Brian...she says to call him her sponsor :)

The pics all kind of suck but I still wanted to share them. The video clips are shaky...you may want to go take your Dramamine before watching :) I had a great clip of Erica actually getting dunked. It was great and she looked so cute...unfortunately I am an idiot and accidentally deleted it. I feel awful.

This is right after she steps out of the pool or whatever it is called and they talk a little walk down the aisle and back

We drove up to Camarillo, California that night to wait for the Easter bunny. Brian's parent's house was packed with out of town family. They were so kind and put us up in a lovely hotel right down the road. We all crashed so hard the second we got there.

Only one more California post left...EASTER!

CA trip installment # 2b

As previously mentioned before we aren't the most time efficient family. We finally made it to the beach and shopping area! We didn't have much time and spotted some great things! Unfortunately for Karly we didn't have time to actually shop and buy...unfortunately for me...I am huge and didn't want to waste my money on California Muumuus!

They had this huge popsicle that I am assuming was for an ad of some sort since there was a photographer taking pictures of it. It was pretty cool looking!

Jake of course had to go in for the taste! I missed him actually licking it, I was laughing too hard. This is right after though...he said it was "good".


Random balloon making man working for tips; he probably makes more money than any of us. He called everyone "my friend"...
Overly Nice Man: "and what can I make for you my friend?"
Karly: "a monkey"
Overly Nice Man: "and what color monkey would you like?"
Karly: "brown"
Overly Nice Man: "I'm sorry my friend but I don't have brown...how about orange?"
Karly: "sure"
Overly Nice Man: "here you are my friend...one orange monkey"

Ok so he was actually super nice to the kids and actually pretty good. Jake got a puppy.


Really unsure why sometimes blogger flips pictures...drives me crazy!



Off to the beach we walk! One stop for a quick picture with Arizona Avenue in the background...HELLO TOURISTS! Where is my fanny pack!?!

So I am pregnant and slow. Jake has short legs and well, everyone else seems to just slowly cruise along; this is pretty much the view we had of Erica and Brian most of the day :) them half a block ahead of us all!


Almost there...yes, we are still walking! You think I can put one of these fabulous little beach condos on my baby registry? Christmas list maybe? Seriously there were some really cute ones!

and we finally made it!!! By the time we got there we literally had about 15 minutes to play. Then Brian and Erica in their smart thinking realized how much faster they are and offered to walk all the way back to the cars so the kids could play longer. They came and picked us up MUCH MUCH closer. I know Karly and Jake appreciated it almost as much as I did ;) It gave the kids a lot more time to enjoy the beach!


I can just hear Karly...this is it Jake...this is the ocean! It was Jake's first time and Karly is a certified beach bum at this point. She truly could stay there all day every day!

Jake getting brave and venturing out...this is about 5 seconds before falling in and getting completely soaked. Hence the naked baby below :)


Karly follows suit and ditches her pants too. How did we raise such little nudists?!?!


Jake had some ummm...issues, using the bathroom away from home...that is until we got to the beach. Notice the girls tanning in the background? Thank goodness they were all laughing and Erica was off to get the car because she probably would have died from embarrassment! Poor Jake really had to go!


and what happens after you poo on the beach? your mom wipes your sandy butt with no regard for the sandpaper effect...doesn't look like that feels too nice!


A few more random pictures to leave you with!


Not sure why I forget that I can't turn my camera sideways when recording :)




Jake running from the water



and one more!




See you next post with Erica's Baptism...you know...the reason we actually went to California!

CA trip installment #2

After a busy hectic day of travel and not much sleep we got started with Saturday...our busiest day of all! I have a lot of pictures and video clips so I will break Saturday up into 2 or 3 posts so it is not too much at once!

This is some art museum that is right next to Erica's apt...hence the large strange metal "art"


We started our day by heading off to Starbucks for some morning coffee. Yes my mommy wore that...look at Jake, looking like a barista pro already!

Aunt Erica always ready for the food pose :)

Good kids carrying the Starbucks

Erica had rehearsal for her church stuff and we all were supposed to stay home and be ready for a quick trip to the beach when she got back...of course nothing with our clan is ever quick. Clearly we chose to screw around and take pictures and play instead.

Is my nephew not the cutest kid ever!?!


Nini stealing some Jake Monster loves!


We all finally made it to the 3rd St. Promenade area and did some touristy wondering around...more on that in the next post...if I can be super productive it may even be up today!! If not, tomorrow I promise :)

CA trip installment #1

I just uploaded all my pics and realized I have about a million and one I want to share! In hopes of not overwhelming myself and my lovely readers I am going to post it by day/topic.

Day #1: Friday...heading to California and the random pics that entailed.

My day started off less than lovely and peaceful. We had dropped Chris off at the airport the night before which meant I was responsible for taking the dogs to be boarded...enter hell. It was super sucky, I cried twice and truly considered dropping them off in the woods! They loaded up so well and just went bonkers halfway there! Still dropping them off with their sad eyes made me feel quite guilty. Karly and I rushed home to finish packing before Aunt Gay picked us up to head to the airport. I am the world's largest procrastinator! I always promise myself that I will get better yet I never do.

The flight from Dallas to Tyler was fabulous...short and easy! We had an hour layover in Dallas which gave us time to get to the necessary terminal and buy a magazine...and then we had a 2 hour delay. The delay completely ruined our plans to surprise Erica at work. My mom and Katie had plenty of delays as well...mainly stopping every 45 minutes because Jake was puking.

We all made it to LA around 5:30!! Erica was in her apartment completely weirded out because my mom lied and said she was walking around (which is not like her at all) and my phone had been off much of the day. Either way, Brian called Erica and said my mom was in his apartment to come on up. Kate, Karly, Jake and I all hid in Bri's room. Erica came in squealing and hugging my mom and perfectly she had her back to us. We all quietly rushed up and stood behind her. The hug ended and my mom said I brought you a present....TADA and around she turned! YAY...lots of hugs and squealing! It was so great to all be together again! The sucky travel paid off in this moment alone!

We pretty much chatted for a few and headed out for dinner. Everywhere you go in LA you park in a parking garage and take an escalator or elevator up to where you want to be. Yes even in Erica's apt and at the grocery store! The grocery store was totally weird to hop in an elevator to get to! We went to the Yard House and had dinner and back to the apartment for some rest! None of us slept well; probably the combination of excitement and a new place!

It was so great to see my family! Here are a few pics from Day 1.

I hope you enjoy!

Jake playing hide and seek

K & E

Jake & Karly dancing

Come back tomorrow for Day #2a: Saturday (the first half) a little bit of tourism and the beach (TONS of pics and video clips!)

Hello from...

Hello and Happy Good Friday....from Los Angeles, California!!!

This is the SURPRISE post!!! I love the power of post dating blogs so they magically appear when I want them to!!! I also love surprising people though I truly despise being surprised! I hate it!! Weird right?!?! Your surprised though aren't you?!?!

If you haven't followed my blog for long, or if you have forgotten go back and read THIS POST...go ahead...ok, a great surprise right!!! Well....we turned the tables on Erica! Karly and I flew out today to surprise her with a visit! Erica knew my mom was coming in to town, but had no idea anyone else would be there! (actually as I am writing this I am on facebook with her and it's only Thursday...ha ha)!!

This took a few weeks of planning and enormous self control not to spill the beans! I tell Erica EVERYTHING!!!! So to not share my excitement with her was truly torture! I didn't tell anyone!!! A few people did find out, but I was so scared if the words came from my mouth even once they would slip again!

The double surprise is while she knew my mom was coming we hit her with the second part...Katie and Jake drove out with my mom as well! My poor sister Erica may have a heart attack! First Karly and I show up at her work!!! Then later we meet up with my mom and again! I seriously am so excited!

I am typing this Thursday with the assumption that everything will play out just as planned! I am hoping and fairly confident that all of the pieces will fall right into place!

Did I mention why we are going to visit? I guess not...Erica is getting baptised Catholic. She has been going to classes for what feels like forever! She has put a lot into this and we are all very proud of her. She is truly the most amazing sister and truly a great woman! I adore her completely.

My thanks ahead of time to Erica's boyfriend Brian for scheming with me for weeks, picking us up from the airport and plotting the attack :) Thanks to Brian's family for welcoming Erica into their family and for all the help coordinating this trip! Oh yes, and the place to stay!

Happy Easter Weekend!!! I will be back early next week with lots of pictures and stories for you all!

Happy Thursday!

Happy Thursday everyone!!! I hope you all have lovely Easter weekend plans! If you are off Friday CONGRATS!!! I am so looking forward to the long weekend!

Karly’s class had an Easter party today so we had to get some clever treats together! Of course she tells me at 5:30 yesterday. Thank goodness I have a lot of down time at work and stumbled across the cute idea of smooshing (yes, that’s a word) rice krispie treats into plastic eggs…quick, easy and cute! Yes we, ok Karly, washed and dried the eggs thoroughly before using. Please forgive my messy kitchen and dishes in the sink! I never claimed I was perfect!

My darling hubby is off to AZ tonight!!! He has a busy weekend ahead with TC’s wedding and all that weddings entail. I know he is so excited to go home for a visit! I must admit I am a little jealous! I have some very homesick moments! Hopefully this summer after Sawyer makes his debut! I forgot how hard it is to see him leave me even if it's only for a few days! The majority of the first 6-9 months we were together we were actually seperated...now I am used to him! The trip will be great for him!

I hope everyone has a great Easter weekend!!!

PS

If you check in on me often I have another surprise post for you!!! Check back tomorrow night!! It is oh so fabulous! Until then I leave you in suspense! See you tomorrow!

Mail Call!

Who doesn’t love getting mail…not ads and bills, but real mail!?!?! My Grammi sent me the best present I have received in a long time!! She emailed asking if I wanted her old camera….ummm hello?!?! OF COURSE!!! I love old cameras and would love an even older one! I have no idea how to use this camera but lucky me she still had the manual! Yes! Can you believe it!?! After all the years she has had this camera she still has the additional lens, flash, and manual! Even the totally rad bag and camera strap! I am excited! Karly helped show it off for picture taking purposes :) My child is definitely not camera shy!

Thanks Grammi!