Christmas and Caleb's Visit

It's about time to turn the page on 2009, and there sure are some exciting things to look forward to in 2010! We've managed to pack a bunch of things into the last two weeks of this year though, with a special Christmas and Caleb's visit from Kansas City.

Dan didn't waste any time planning things for us to do while Caleb was here...we headed out to Alpine and went ice skating with Dusty, Paul and Dustin. Only Caleb, Dustin and Paul did any ice skating, but the rest of us had fun watching.

Caleb taking a break

Paul and Dustin taking a break

Back on the ice

Nick also came down for an overnight visit and Dan took the boys to the Wild Animal Park where they seemed to enjoy themselves...

The best day had to be Christmas day though. We started to morning by opening presents from Dan's side of the family, and then headed over to my mom and dad's to spend the rest of the day with them, my brother and my sister-in-law, Jessica.

Caleb opening gifts

Band Hero! My mom has some great pictures of us playing this over at their house.

Even Lani enjoyed her gifts.

Dan and Caleb

All and all it was a great couple of weeks. I'm tired, but I really enjoyed the season as I usually do. I think Dan was a bit more into it this year also since Caleb was here and he's enjoying a nice 10 day vacation from work.

Now we're onto cleaning up and preparing for little Kendall. Will she make it to the 11th? I'm not so sure anymore. I'm feeling like it may be a bit before that. I'll leave you with me in all my pre-Christmas glory. This was a couple of weeks ago, so if you can believe it, I'm a little bigger now. Saved the biggest one for last...

Nursery Photos

The nursery is finally finished! We've got a few touch up items to take care of in the bathroom, but the actual room is done. I'm really happy with the way that it turned out and think that it fits us. I hope Kendall likes it too!

Here are some photos...

We have a date!

It's hard to believe that my pregnancy is coming to a close, but it is quickly ending. Little Kendall will be born on January 11th via C-Section! I can't believe that a date has been set and it's less than 4 weeks away. Now let's hope that she doesn't decide to come early!

Latest Baby Pictures

As the weeks fly by, I realize that I'm getting worse and worse at posting new pictures. Here are some photos from our 4D ultrasound 2 weeks ago, at 31 weeks. At that point she was measuring about 4 pounds 13 ounces and the kind of strange ultrasound tech confirmed for once and for all that she is a girl. No surprises here!

We had hoped that the pictures would be a bit clearer, but the fact that she's big and where she was hanging out at the time, made it a bit hard to get outstanding pictures. Nevertheless, it was great to see her and we got to share the experience with family and friends, which made it a special day!

Baby Shower!

This past weekend my sister-in-law, Jessica, threw a baby shower for us at her house. She did such a great job with everything and I really couldn't have asked for anything more. I had a great time and am so happy that so many friends and family members came from all over. We're going to have one spoiled little girl as she already has so many clothes, toys and necessities. I have a feeling it's probably a look into the future.

Thank you to Jessica and everyone else that helped make the day so special!

New Photos - 30 Weeks

Another good visit at the doctor's office yesterday. The baby is looking great - surpassing all of her growth milestones and measuring 1 - 2 weeks ahead of schedule. She's got quite a bit of hair and big feet according to the ultrasound tech. She's also practicing breathing and swallowing the amniotic fluid. Here are a couple of pictures - one profile and one of a gigantic foot!

Painting, Jewelry Making and Laser Etching

I know I haven't been the best about updating the blog lately, but the truth of the matter is, I haven't had a whole lot of free time. Let's see...first we've been working hard to grow our laser etching business, Tagged Industries. We're finally getting some steady work in and have been etching everything from travel mugs to Kindles. Everything has been going well and I hope that it continues to do so. It would be great to have a little side business. Plus, I'm having a good time doing it. I'll post some pictures here from time to time, but check out our blog at www.taggedindustries.com if you want to see more photos.

Second, I've been doing some freelance jewelry work for EK Success and Spotted Canary.com. Our friend Nicole introduced me to the group (Thanks, Nicole!!) and although I've only done a couple of projects for them so far, I'm hoping to become a member of their 2010 Creative Artist Team. I think it would mean more projects and jumping more into the jewelry making industry. I'm also really enjoying this and can't wait to do more!

Finally, we're having a baby in just 8 short weeks!! Doctor's appointments and trying to prepare for the little girl have keep us busy. In fact, I have an ultrasound this afternoon! This past weekend we painted the nursery, but we still don't have everything back together. Here are a few pics of the process...

I'll post more pictures of the finished product soon!

No Gestational Diabetes

YEAH!!

Pregnancy Update (almost 27 weeks)

I realized this morning that I'll be 27 weeks along tomorrow and that it's been a couple of weeks since I posted an update. Everything is going along pretty well, and although I complain about the complications I've had so far, I know it could be a lot worse.

I was already considered a high risk patient because of my previous history of blood clots and pulmonary embolism that I had a few years ago. Unfortunately, in addition to these risk factors, I've now also developed Tachycardia. Essentially it's a rapid heart rate. I wore a monitor for 24 hours, which allowed them to discover how high my heart rate was actually getting. So, now I'm on medication which is helping a bit, and have had to reduce how much I actually do. I stopped exercising for a couple of weeks, but am trying to get back into it, although I have to keep my heart rate below 130, which is proving to be no easy task. As long as the baby and I are monitored frequently, everything should be fine.

I'm also waiting to hear back on my 3 hour gestational diabetes test, so fingers crossed on that one. Yes, I failed the one hour, so I had to do the three hour. It's over now and we'll deal with whatever the outcome is. I have a number of risk factors (PCOS, family history), so I always knew I was at a higher risk for developing it.

One good thing about being monitored more frequently is that we get to see the baby more often! She looks great, although she's measuring a bit big (about 1/2 a pound or so bigger than she should be). The doctors confirmed again that she is a little girl, so hopefully I'll stop having dreams that she's actually a boy! I'll finish with a profile picture from last week's ultrasound...

25 Weeks!

Well, I've made it to the 25 week mark of this pregnancy. As of right now, the plan is to induce me between 38 and 39 weeks, meaning I only have 13-14 more weeks to go! I know it will fly by. I've enjoyed reading about all of the development milestones, and apparently the baby is now the size of an eggplant. Getting bigger!

Sean and Jessica's Wedding

Last weekend we celebrated Sean and Jessica's wedding at the Rancho Valencia. Everything went off without a hitch and was absolutely beautiful. The wedding did seem to have it all though - the Beatles, a guitar shaped cake and wedding crashers. The guy dressed in jeans gave it away.

Here are a few pictures Jenny and I took...I wish I had better ones of people dancing though...

Congratulations to Sean and Jessica and welcome to the family Jessica!

It's a Girl!

Late last month we found out that we are having a baby girl! We're so excited and can't wait to meet the little girl. I don't think that Dan's going to know what to do with all of the pink and dolls around the house!