Happy 4 year anniversary!

Yesterday was our 4 year anniversary. We went out to Saugatuck to spend the evening walking on the beach, exploring downtown Saugatuck and dining at Salt of the Earth in Fennville. Since we are expecting baby Raegan any day now (we have 2 weeks until our due date), I packed up the car with everything I could possibly need for the hospital. You may have guessed just by the fact that I am writing this that we are still waiting. Ohwell, we had a wonderful time and savored every moment of what was likely our last date night solo for a while. I am so lucky to have such an amazing man as my husband and I cannot wait to see him as a father. :)

10 months is a long time!

Well, this pregnancy thing should be coming to an end soon and we cannot wait to meet sweet little Raegan Adele. As the last two weeks tick down, it is becoming SO HARD to wait! I have been hoping my due date was off by a couple of weeks all along, setting the expectation that I would be delivering early. The doctors of course are sticking to my due date (the second one - Sept. 9th, not the first - August 20th) so we might still have a couple of weeks of anxiously waiting.

It has been a while since I have posted anything so I thought I should post a few belly pics to bring you up to speed on the growing bump.



16 weeks and finally starting to show! This was a pic I had Jack take as I was headed out the door to prenatal yoga. I took yoga through the entire pregnancy and really loved it.










Here I am at almost 19 weeks.


About 26 weeks, visiting Lindsay out on Lake Michigan

Around 27 weeks? Not sure but one of many outings hanging out with Kristin & Shad (friends expecting roughly 3 weeks after us).

30 weeks - kayaking with Abby during a weekend with friends in Greenville





33 Weeks - whoa belly!

38 weeks, about ready to pop and celebrating our 4 year anniversary in Saugatuck at Oval Beach.

Babymoon Bliss

Jack and I have been taking advantage of our new found free-time now that I am done with school. We have been spending far more time with friends and family and even gone on a few local weekend excursions. By far our most notable adventure was an 8 day trip to Hawaii for a babymoon getaway.

A few highlights/memories from this trip:

• Jack driving us up Haleakala Volcano at 4am to watch the sunrise - He was NOT a fan of the steep, twisty turn drive but once we got up there it was well worth the early morning rise and white knuckles. We loved the views and our volcano-side breakfast at the Kula Lodge on the way down.



• Snorkling at Lanaii - It was a pretty amazing experience to snorkel in Hawaii, off the coast of a beautiful, remote island, while pregnant! Baby A seemed to love the whole experience as she was VERY active the whole day. Her strongest kicks were when we were surrounded by over 100+ spinner dolphins on the boat and the captain turned the sonar on so we could listen to the dolphins and a humpback whale communicating. Very cool!



• Oceanside table for two on Kaanapali Beach - We had many amazing water-side meals in Hawaii but nothing could beat our romantic, private, table for two on the beach at Tropica at the Westin. We watched the sunset and the cheesy "diving ceremony" at Black Rock before snagging this amazing tables by the crashing waves.



• A day trip to Oahu - We did a tour of Pearl Harbor and visited Waikiki Beach. Both the Arizona Memorial and the 70 year old bullet holes we saw on one of the hangers was sobering.



• Hawaiian Luau - Obviously a Luau is a cheesy, tourist attraction but I figured hey, you can't go to Hawaii and not do a Luau so we tried one out... and LOVED it. We had a blast. It was absolutely beautiful, the food was great, we met an interesting family from WA and baby A seemed to love the drums during the show. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
  

All in all, this was an amazing and relaxing trip with many walks on the beach and hours at the pool. We hope to go back to Maui soon with baby A and family for more fun in the sun.

More pictures from our trip:
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It's a girl!

We had our 20 week ultrasound on Friday. What an amazing day! We got a clean bill of health from the doctor. All 10 toes and all 10 fingers seemed to be in working order. And boy were those little fingers cute! After about an hour of trying to get our little spunky baby to sit still and open it'd legs, we finally found out it was a girl. As the ultrsound tech said, "We have a hamburger, not a hotdog." :) Although they did not officially change our due date, our baby weighs over 14oz (not 10.6oz like she should at 20 weeks). This probably puts us at more like 22 weeks than 20 weeks. It will be interesting to see when our little girl decides to make her big debut.

Here are a few pics...

Our little girl's first photo shoot. With me as her mom, she better get used to it. :)

Moments after we left the doctor's office. Lunch at Irving's market...

After a competitive game of "battle of the sexes" (grandmas vs. grandpas), they got to go into the dinning room where news was awaiting them...

Just after finding out the big news...

Dinner @ Cosmo's to celebrate!

Week 19!

Although I have been reading baby books galore ("Origins: How the nine months before birth shapes the rest of our lives", "You having a baby", "Heading home with your newborn: from birth to reality", "Our babies, ourselves: How biology and culture shape the way we parent", etc.), baby apps is where it's at! Yes that's right, I am so over picking up "What to expect when your expecting" or checking my e-mail for a weekly e-mail from BabyCenter.com to see the latest on my baby's development. No, I just pick up my iPhone and I have all that information at my fingertips. I love it! Pretty much any question I can dream up, I can get answered, whenever, wherever. My love affair with smart phones has been raised to a whole new level. :)

So... today we are officially at 19 weeks. Almost half way there! According to my baby bump app, this week the baby is the size of an heirloom tomato (6in from the top of it's head to its rump). The baby has been moving A LOT and I love every little movement I feel. Anytime I get home from yoga or the pool and sit down for a bit the baby decides it's his turn to get in a good aerobic workout. The kicks/movements are still pretty subtle and Jack hasn't been able to feel anything yet but in the meantime, I have been on cloud nine. I can't wait for Jack to be able to share in this wonder with me. :)

Next Friday is our 20 week ultrasound where we will find out the sex of the baby. Jack and I are both so excited it seems to come up at least a few times a day. It never gets old speculating the sex and talking about names. We'll just have to be patient for one more week before we know for sure!

P.S. This is a bad photo taken with my iPhone but you get the idea... the bump is growing! I think I look much bigger in person though.

Getting ready for baby!

Spring is here and so is an intense urge to nest! We have been busy enjoying this beautiful weather AND getting ready for baby. :)

I need to get back in the habit of taking pictures. I realized the other day that I had almost NO recent pictures of Jack and I. Here are a few random pics that I forced myself to take. In no particular order....

Jack taking down the floral granny wallpaper in the baby's room...

Exploring at the Kellogg Forrest with Chandra, Adam & Jude after brunch at Frona's Pantry...
Practicing ;)...

Is this not how to old a baby? Uh oh, I better read a few more baby books...
Grandma-to-be, checking out the merchandise and dreaming of sugar and spice and everything nice. Less than two weeks until we find out!Ok, this picture is almost 3 weeks old now (I was about 16 weeks here). Let me just say my baby bump seems to be growing exponentially lately. I'll post a new pic soon.

Holding baby Evan at the hospital and telling him about all the play dates we will have. :)

A new chapter...

Friends & family,

It has been almost 2 years since I last posted. In that time a LOT has changed.

• I got my MBA from Michigan State (while working full time)


• I changed jobs - still in marketing, but focusing on innovation


• Jack went to work for his Dad


• Amy (Jack's sister) moved out to Oregon to teach


• My Dad moved out of state for work and should be moving back to MI any day now (we are all SO excited to have him home)


• and the list goes on....

But... by far the biggest news... Jack and I are expecting a baby! That's right, you read this right... I have a bun in the oven! We can't even begin to express how excited we are. We are 14 weeks along now and due to meet our little one around Sept. 9th. We feel so incredibly blessed and cannot wait to begin this new journey and grow our little family.

So... this blog that was pretty much forgotten will now be back in full swing. As you might expect from me, I will want to capture some of the precious (and not so precious) moments of pregnancy and parenthood. Feel free to check in and get the latest scoop on our adventures.

Hugs & Kisses,

Lauren