Anniversary getaway.

After Officer L and I stuffed ourselves at our favorite restaurant, we picked up Haven from grandma's* and headed over to Wildwood Lodge for a little overnight getaway.  

Haven was so excited to go to the hotel we'd been talking about and of course to go swimming!  There's something special about swimming in the middle of winter, with snow pouring down outside of the windows.  The water was warm like bathwater, and the hot tub was nice and steamy and filled with bubbles!  Haven absolutely loved it.  She's developed a new vigor for swimming since the summer.  She was a little nervous this summer to do anything but sit on the steps.  But not this time!  She wanted to "swim" back and forth between L and I, jump in from the sides, and even dared to go "underwater"** a couple times.  

After we finished swimming, we headed back upstairs and got in our warm, cozy pj's.  Isn't there something special about getting cozy and warm after swimming?  It's sooo nice.  I was jealous of Haven's footie pajamas.

We tried to find something on TV that was both entertaining AND 2-year-old friendly.  That's hard to do, which means we had to watch kid tv until H's bedtime.  It was a fun family-time, that couldn't have gotten much better until....  Knock, knock, knock!

A man appeared with this:

Warm cookies and cold milk.  Perfect.

Haven convinced us to swim one more time in the morning, and after that we packed up and headed home.  After a stop at the Juice Co. of course. ;)

*YES, I am a big wimp about leaving Haven anywhere overnight.  L knew I would just worry about her the whole night so he was nice enough to include her in the hotel stay.  But hey, at least we went to dinner by ourselves. ;)

**"Underwater" to Haven is different than underwater to the rest of us.  She put her face in the water up to just above her lips and thought she was pretty smooth.

Merry {Belated} Christmas!

A very belated Merry Christmas to you all!  

Here is our Christmas card in case I wasn't able to send you one.

Also, you've got to check out Photojeania.  They're the best.

If you click on 'families' OR 'babies and bellies' you'll see some old pics of us on there.

3 Years

Today is my 3 year anniversary.

3 YEARS!!

Wasn't I just in high school?  How is this possible?

Anyway, it is, and I couldn't be happier.  3 years (so far) with my best friend, and working on baby #2.  We decided we're going to try for another 77 years. After all, you don't hear about people being married for 80 years very often!

Officer L has a job that often takes him away from important events.  So today, we are apart.  

We decided to exchange gifts this morning before he left for work and I am really feeling outdone...

I got him this for us to play together:

And this:

A 16GB Flash drive.


I know, totally not romantic.  But I knew he really wanted the flash drive, and I thought if I got him something we could do together that would be nice.  Because, let's face it, I don't play any of our other games with him.


So, I thought I did pretty good, until he whipped out these bad boys:

That's right.  Beats by Dr. Dre.

If you don't know what they are, they're just the best headphones made.  Period.  I've always thought they were really cool, but never thought I'd actually own some.  

Officer L really racked up some cool points with that gift.

And since we can't spend today together, he informed me that on Friday, we will not only be having dinner at our favorite restaurant, but staying at a hotel afterwards.  Babysitter all lined up!  What a fantastic man I'm married to. 

New Baby Wants

Since "Baby Yellow" (as Haven has affectionately nicknamed her) is officially a girl, there aren't that many things I will need to buy to accommodate her.  But there are a few odds and ends that I wouldn't mind if they dropped on my doorstep. ;)

Item #1.  

The first thing I know I want is a double stroller.  

I love my mall outings with Haven and that would just be impossible without a double stroller in a few months.  There are many options when it comes to double strollers, but the one that keeps catching my eye is the 

Graco Quattro Tour Duo Stroller.

I know I'm a nerdy mom (I was already told so by a certain two friends of mine...), but check out all the cup-holders and the storage underneath!  Big sister Haven can sit up big and tall in front and little Baby Yellow can snooze in back.  And it's a pretty color.

The only problem is, I have a different brand carseat from when Haven was born and I might need to buy a Graco carseat as well if I want it to attach... Ugh.

BUT when I looked into the stroller that is compatible with my carseat (see above), I saw that the pricetag is close to $1000!  It would be less expensive (by almost $700) for me to buy the Graco stroller AND the compatible carseat AND the carseat base for the car than to buy that one stroller.  SHEESH!  And the reviews for that stroller aren't even that good.  

Needless to say, I'm not sold.

Item #2.

A new diaper bag.  

I loved my old diaper bag, and it was a gift from my bestie.  But after a couple years of wear-n-tear I think I need a new one.  I found the coolest brand of diaper bags - Ju-Ju-Be!  

I'm pretty sure I want this color, called "Shadow Waltz."  I didn't get very many girly things when I had Haven since we didn't find out the sex with her, so I am drawn to the pink lining.

And here's the inside:

So cool!!

Item #3.

A co-sleeper bassinet.

As a nursing mommy, I know how difficult the middle-of-the-night feedings can be - absolutely exhausting.  With Haven I just got a pack-n-play that doubled as a bassinet.  Not only did it seem like the "mattress" was incredibly hard and uncomfortable, but I had to climb out of bed every time Haven needed to eat.  It doesn't sound like that big of deal, but getting out of bed multiple times during the night seems almost devastating when it's actually happening - not to mention the hormonal rollercoaster you're already experiencing after giving birth.  Yuck.

All that to say, I heard about these great little inventions called co-sleeper bassinets.

It's made to line up flush with the side of your bed, so that when little one wakes up all I have to do is roll over and grab her - never once getting out of bed.  Woohoo!

There it is, my list of wants.  I guess we'll see if my dreams come true. ;)

Sugar and Spice

It's another girl for this family!  

We're so excited for Haven to have a little sister!

Abby gets hitched!

Over the past couple years I've had the privilege to be a part of a few friends' big day by doing their wedding hair.  Although admittedly very nerve-wracking on my end, I always feel very honored to be a small part of the whole package.  Yesterday was no exception - after two practice sessions we finally had the perfect bridal hair nailed down.

This girl has a LOT of hair, so it was fun to work with and stayed put exactly how I wanted it.

She looked beautiful, but that wasn't because of me!  She's always beautiful. 

And anybody that in love has a certain glow. ;)

Here's my girl on her big day, lookin' gorgeous!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Carbajal!  Have fun on your honeymoon!

Countdown to Monday

Baby Yellow.

Here I am, 19 weeks 5 days.

Yes, preggo ladies usually know EXACTLY how pregnant they are.  

Nothing more fun than to keep up with baby's growth via pregnancy books and websites!

Right now baby is as big as a mango.

And in only a few days, we get to find out whether Baby Yellow is team PINK or team BLUE.

As for now I'll just enjoy the little kicks that are barely able to be registered with my hand.

Wait and wonder.