Dana Point, California

This weekend, Mike and I celebrated our 10th anniversary a bit early by taking a weekend getaway to the Pacific Coast. First of all, thanks to our wonderful friends, Jeff and Renee, and to Grampy and and Grammy for taking great care of Dane while we were gone. While we enjoyed our time away immensely, it was difficult to leave Dane behind for our first "couple's trip" since he was born. We really missed the little guy!

We stayed at a cozy little place called the Blue Lantern Inn in Dana Point, California. It came highly recommended by Jeff and Renee, and we were not disappointed!

Blue Lantern Inn from near the harbor.

Looking out the door of our room onto our little balcony and the beautiful view beyond. We enjoyed Saturday morning breakfast at this little table, although it was getting a bit warm already. The forecast had predicted highs around 77 degrees, but it reached almost 95 by the afternoon!

View from the balcony.

Roses from Mikey waiting for me in the room.

Very welcoming!

Saturday morning we walked around the harbor after breakfast.

Then we headed south down the Pacific Coast Highway and stopped at Capistrano Beach. Mike

braved the cold water all the way up to his knees! Capistrano Beach

After spending some time in the sun, we headed a little further south to San Clemente where we caught lunch. We then headed back to the inn for a wonderful afternoon nap, followed by afternoon tea and hors d' oeuvres. Then it was time to explore a little more of the beach of Dana Point. I can hardly wrap my arms around Mike these days, thanks to my expanding "swimming pool" (see next post).

The fading sunset above the Pacific Ocean.

And the real reason that we couldn't take Dane with... the roses and teddy bear had to have a seat on the way home!

I'm sure Grammy and Grampy will put some pictures up of their weekend with Dane soon. It sounds like they had a great time, and Dane hardly noticed we were gone! Thanks again to everyone who helped make this a great weekend for us!

Baby update

Pictures from Friday's check-up. Still looking lots like Daddy and Big Brother Dane!

The ultrasound showed that I have some excess amniotic fluid for an unknown reason. My OB ruled out most common causes for this condition immediately, so we are not too worried. However, this does mean that I have to go in for weekly fetal monitoring, probably for the rest of the pregnancy unless it resolves. Maybe this baby just needs a bigger "swimming pool" for all his/her extra activity!!

Fun with Daddy

Dane loves to play catch with Daddy. Dane won't wear his little glove, but he always insists that Daddy wear it instead! Daddy treated Dane to a little go-kart ride on Sunday afternoon. I don't know which of them had more fun!

New Friends

Our good friends Tyler and Kim from Idaho stopped at our place last weekend on their way through town. When we lived close to them and spent lots of time together, none of us had kiddos. Now we have Dane (and Joey), and they have sweet little Avery. It was so fun to catch up again and to watch the little ones become acquainted. Dane kept trying to smother Avery with kisses!

Dane and Avery.
Kim, Tyler, and Avery. (Sorry the exposure is so bad here, but the picture is still great!)

Happy Birthday, Mike!

Some pictures taken approximately 34 years ago!

2-year photos

This is the trike he got from Daddy and Mommy for his birthday.

Some pictures of my expanding waistline (26 1/2 weeks pregnant).

Another party!

We had another little birthday party today for Dane to share with all his buddies here!

Dane wore his party hat just long enough for this picture!

Practicing his "big brother" skills on baby Jhett.
Carter oversees the construction in the sandbox.
Camden was the only one who wore the hat for more than 2 seconds. Then he realized it was more fun to pull it off and tear it apart!

After blowing out the candles on his cake. Now every time Dane sees this picture, he says, "Happy Birthday, Dane!"

Dane and Alyssa, his babysitter who lives across the street.

Dane opened this remote controlled loader from Bryanna first. It was such a hit that we had to take it away so that he would open all the other fun presents!

Wow- a basketball hoop! Just what Dane has been wanting! Thanks, Carter and Camden!

Playing with the racetrack from Alyssa.

Shooting some hoops!

Thanks to everyone who came and shared the afternoon with us. Dane had a blast!

Dane and Bree dance 'til they drop!

Grandpas and Grandmas

As I was going through our pictures from last weekend, I realized that they are mostly of Dane with his grandparents. Sadly, I didn't get any good ones of him playing with his cousins (whom he adores!) or aunts and uncles.

Grammy bundles Dane up to play in the fresh snow.

Shooting hoops with Grampy.
A kiss for Grammy.

Smiles for Great Grandpa and Great Grandma.

Riding the 4-wheeler with Grandma and Ellie (peeking out from behind Grandma).

Sharing a burger with Grandpa after some skiing at Andes Tower Hills, Daddy's old hangout.

Driving one of Grandpa's tractors.

A snowy walk with Grandpa.

Happy 2nd birthday!

We can't believe that our little baby is two already! Here are a couple of pictures from this date in 2006 and 2007.

We just got back late last evening from a weekend in the cold and snowy North. It was wonderful to be with family, but it was also nice to come home and sleep with our windows open last night! I will be posting lots of pictures sometime soon, but for now you can check out Grampy and Grammy's!

Baby sister?

No- we still didn't find out, but I thought I might catch your attention. Here are a couple of 3D images taken at our appointment this morning. Little Joey appears to be so calm and peaceful here, even though s/he was practicing all kinds of boxing maneuvers just before we started the ultrasound.

Same picture, just a little different angle.
Dane still insists that this is a baby girl! Hopefully he's not too disappointed if he's wrong! His little friend Bryanna (just 4 months older than Dane) couldn't wait to see pictures of "Dane's baby sister" when I picked Dane up this afternoon. Funny kiddos! We find ourselves referring to this baby as a "he," mostly because this baby already looks so much like Dane that we can't imagine anything else.