Maternity Shoot

Our family photo shoot during week 35 of Maycee's pregnancy, shot by the very talented Kendyl Hawkins. I love love love the way they turned out!

Colorado & California

Life comes in huge swells sometimes it seems.

James and I were able to take our "babymoon" to Breckenridge, Colorado last week. After flying through tornado turbulence over Denver (seriously), I was in tears because of the effects. We were pretty much strapped to our seats for hours and I was incredibly uncomfortable. We eventually made it to Denver after being diverted to Albequerque. It was a crazy day to say the least.

Our condo in Breckenridge was amazing. With all the crazy weather we have been having on the West Coast, we had SNOW in June while we were there! The temperature didn't rise above 65 degrees. I was in heaven. I tried to soak up every last moment so I could think back to them when I was miserably hot and pregnant in Phoenix. We hiked almost every day while we were there and saw some pretty incredible views. Wow. We hiked along the Continental Divide a few times and drove on the highest road in North America, at 12, 200 +/- feet. We hiked to 12,005 feet (me at 7 month pregnant!) and saw conditions that parallelled the Arctic.

It was an amazing week to spend with my favorite person in the world.

The next day after returning home, EmmaLee and I set out for California to attend a family reunion for my side of the family. We played on the lake and pretty much had a blast. The only downer was when EmmaLee stepped off the boat toward the dock and the boat shifted, causing her step to land in mid-air and she fell down between the boat and dock. She banged herself up pretty bad. She had a scraped up nose and lip, 2 black eyes and a fat lip. Her tummy and shins were scratched and her arm was scraped and bruised where she was able to catch herself from falling all the way into the water (thank heaven!). We stripped her down and bundled her up in a blanket. She fell asleep for an hour while I rocked her in the swing, but she woke no worse for wear, commenting on the ducks floating on the lake! We took her out for a ride on the boat and she was totally fine. Whew! I felt so bad for her! Thank goodness for uncles that were there to pull her out.

What a wonderful week! I am very blessed (and very tired! lol!)

EmmaLee's 3rd Birthday

"Princess Marianne"... it was actually supposed to be EmmaLee wearing the crown, but the weather was windy and I used it for a headband since she wasn't really interested in wearing it until cake and presents time. This is pretty much the only picture I have from this pregnancy so far...






All of her friends were so sweet.
Joshua Fenstermaker was there
and EmmaLee obviously loves him! :)












For EmmaLee's 3rd birthday, we bought her a "big girl bed".
She was thrilled and took right to it. (Yeah!)

I love how she is so content with simple pleasures.

Names...

This one has us stumped. We're having a girl. This we know. What we don't know is what in the world to name that girl! With EmmaLee, we had her name picked out from the time that we were dating. EmmaLee Anne. I had always wanted that name for a girl and James had always wanted Ryan James for a boy. I guess we just assumed that we'd have a boy next and we didn't pick out any girl names because we were so convinced that this one was a boy. Surprise! Now what do we do?
Every name that I pick, James shoots down. Every name that James picks, I don't like. We have tried out Meg, Addyson, Addylyn and Marguerite, but we're not agreeing. We asked EmmaLee what to call her baby sister and she thought about it for a moment and then replied, in all seriousness, "Baby":) How simple that would be until about... Kindergarten!
James likes what I term as "cheerleader names". Names like Brittany, Tiffany and Ashley. I have a hard time imagining her in 50 years being called "Grandma Brittany". It just doesn't sound right. But the names that I have submitted for his approval he says are too short (Meg) or sound strange for a little girl...
My biggest hangup in the naming process is that I want it to be something different, but not weird. I want a name that isn't popular. I had a name like that- I've met only one girl in my life that was my age and had my name. After we named EmmaLee, we heard that it was the most popular name for girls the year she was born. Ugh. Being a teacher, I know how much it stinks to have multiple kids with the same name in a class and having to call them Ashley C. and Ashley R. and I don't want that for my kids.
Maybe we should open it up to everyone else in a name pool or something like that. Everyone submit a name and if we choose yours, you win the pot. Any takers? :)

Hormones & Hairspray

My sweet husband. I am so sorry for him! He will always be outnumbered in our family. We found out yesterday that our newest addition, whom we were CONVINCED was a boy, is in fact a girl. She gave us a clear view and there was definite lackage of the appropriate parts.
It was an interesting moment for sure. We were really expecting a little boy we had already named Ryan to smile and wave in this 3rd ultrasound and instead were greeted by a sweet girl sucking her fingers and dancing around on the screen.
I had to smile and chalk it up to a learning experience. Never think you have it all figured out because that's when God laughs and puts something in front of you that He had in mind the whole time just to remind you of who's in charge.
Now to figure out how we are going to have not one little self proclaimed Diva... but two. Good thing my wonderful husband is so patient and even-keeled. What would I do without him?! What would I do without him in 15 years when "my girls" are hormonal and as stubborn as we both are? I don't even want to think about it! :) I'll just plan to buy him some more Rogaine (or a razor, the jury's still out on that one) and myself some gourmet chocolate and ear plugs, and we'll make it to their 18th birthdays for sure! :)
I must admit that I like the sound of "our girls"... I can see James coming home and being greeted by the ladies that own his heart. How sweet with that be?

Hugs

How is it that our children know the times when we need their love the most? Last night (after another long day in a very stressful week of standardized testing in my classroom) I was putting EmmaLee to bed. We had finished our nightly routine- story, potty, tucking in and song- and I was reassuring her that it really was time to go to sleep and that she wasn't going to miss anything because Mom & Dad were going to sleep too.
She studied me silently with those big, beautiful brown eyes from her position on her pillow and then reached up and hooked her arms around my neck. Without even a word, she hugged me as tight as she could- complete with an "uhhhhUM!" to let me know that I had gotten one of her special "EmmaLee Loves". My heart melted. How can they know that things like that mean so much? This is true love- being in tune with the needs and feelings of those around us and doing what we can to make it better. There is nothing better than my family. How very, very blessed I am.

Babymoon time...

As the 2nd trimester continues and we approach the horrible heat of Arizona's summers, James has proposed that we take another babymoon. Bless him! With EmmaLee, we traveled to Del Mar, California. It was beautiful and relaxing and I loved it. This time, he wants to go to Breckenridge, Colorado. We have found a gorgeous place to stay that is a brand new condo at the base of the highest peack in the area and found affordable airfare and car rental. The only thing standing in our way: me! We've finally decided that we want to go (after a lot of indecision & worrying on my part, what can I say!) and now there is the issue of being pregnant. The altitude there is about 10,000 feet (roughly 9,000 feet higher than our beloved Phoenix) and with an altitude change like that, many suffer altitude sickness. Apparently it's especially rough for those of us with extra issues, like pregnancy! So, we have to talk to the doctor today at our appointment to see if this is even doable for us... If you know of anywhere else that's cool in the summer and pretty to look at- and not California!-I'd love to consider some other options.

Our Family

We are the typical "American family"... Dad, Mom, 1.5 kids. Yes, 1.5 kids! We are expecting our 2nd child on August 22nd. Surprise! This one was eager to get here, that's for sure. It's taken some getting used to, but we are excited.