One baby gift to rule them all...

In honor of football season...
If this is not a most excellent and worthy baby gift, I don't know what is:

Thanks to our great neighbors Brian and DeAnn and Brianne for this great gift!
Go Packers!!!
A note to future baby J:
When it comes to football, your mommy and Opa are ALWAYS right, your daddy and Uncle John and Auntie Trina are ALWAYS wrong!!

A lovely baby shower...

My lovely sisters and dear friends threw me a beautiful baby shower disguised as an afternoon tea party last week. Everything was perfect, from the gorgeous flower arrangements,

to the delicate vintage tea cups and saucers lining the table,

and the perfect little favors, hand-made with special California-imported treats!

to the hand-frosted iced sugar cubes, (which may well have been the most expensive item there.)

There were delicious scones, tea sandwiches, petit fours muffins and pastries, which tasted even better than they looked! (hard to believe, I know!)

Most excitingly, I was so blessed by all my dear friends who came, some who came all the way out from MI or MN just to celebrate with me!

 Everyone in attendance commented that the place looked like it belonged in a magazine article detailing how to throw the perfect tea party, which is always a high compliment. I got many wonderful gifts, and simply didn't have time to take pictures of all of them, but had so much fun combing over them again that night as I showed them to Kyle, and then again the next day as I tried to picture my own little cute (hopefully), bald (probably), chubby (definitely) baby utilizing them in the not-so-distant future.

If any of you know me well (or read by blog regularly), you know I love me a good tea party and this was the mother of them all. A HUGE thank you to my frriends and sisters who arranged this lovely afternoon and all of my friends for giving up their Saturday afternoon to join us.

 I, Kyle, and the growing baby inside of me are incredibly grateful for this shower of love, celebration and affection.

9 weeks to go!

We are now 31 weeks into our pregnancy.
It has gone by so much faster than I anticipated it would. I am so thankful for this little life inside me, and the closer I get to meeting it, the more desperately I want to remember to uphold my friends in prayer who are struggling to start or expand their own families. The pain of infertility is starting to become only an unpleasant memory for me...because of that, I want to remember all the more to be sensitive to those who are facing the grief and often isolated hurt brought about by infertility. With that being said, before I dive into baby bump pictures and baby shower updates and all things babies, I want to let my readers and friends who are still in that struggle know that I empathize with you deeply, and I pray my excitement over my pregnancy does not cause you additional pain. I have tried all along to not be insensitive, and I want to continue that way. I pray the Lord blesses you with the miracle of new life very soon.

Overall, this pregnancy has been great, and there has not been much to complain about. Although I still don't look very large, I do believe there is a 3 pound, 17 inch long baby inside me, because I feel him shifting and moving under my ribcage on a frequent basis. And no, we still don't know the sex, and yes, I am still convinced it's a little guy :)
Some of my friends have been bothering me for belly bump pictures, so I am finally posting some. For progress' and comparison's sake, I will re-post a few.
Here is baby at 15 weeks:

At 21 weeks:

At 27 weeks:

At 29 weeks:

And at 31 weeks:

Now yes, I know what you are thinking. I should really clean that mirror before I use it for self-portraits. Yup. you're right. Oh wait, you mean you were actually thinking, Wow, her bum has made almost as much progress as her tummy! Yup, right again. But I was quite happy that this afore-mentioned bum still fits into my pre-pregnancy skinny jeans! Somehow. It's quite funny, they tell you to get bigger tops and that your bra cup size will increase 2-3 sizes, but nobody warns you that you'll also be increasing 2-3 underwear sizes! Ah well, I have faith that good old breastfeeding will help remedy that situation sooner rather than later.
Anyways, I had a lovely shower that my sisters and friends threw for me last week - since this post has become quite long, I will do that in a separate post, soon to follow. Stay tuned!

Walking among the Ents

One day when we were in California, we headed up north, crossed the gorgeous bridge

and traveled a lovely, windy portion of highway 1 to end up at Muir Woods

Many of you may recognize this as featured in the recent summer blockbuster Planet of the Apes.
Yes, we did indeed stand on the same bridge that James Franco stood on. omg.
Anyways, it was one of my favorite days of the trip, and of course my pictures don't even begin to do any justice to the beauty and the grandeur of these amazing redwoods.But as always, that didn't stop me from trying:

After a 1-2 mile hike (seemed like 10 miles to my pregnant self) up a big hill (up and up and up Mt. Everest to my pregnant self), we were rewarded with some amazing views. Yes, my first time to Northern Cali, and I was impressed with it. For sure.

A lovely morning in Fog City

We recently arrived home from a wonderful trip to California. We spent the first half of our stay in northern Cali near the bay area. We spent Saturday exploring San Francisco, and started off the morning at Pier 1 taking in the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the Ferry Building Farmer's Market. This morning was one of the highlights of my trip, which is why it's the subject of my first Cali trip blog entry.
I love everything about farmer's markets, from the beautiful fresh flower arrangements

to the free samples of luscious fruits and veggies, and the plethora of unique locally grown organic produce. I've been to many farmer's markets in the midwest, and I'm pretty sure I've never seen these for sale (and I got to taste one for the first time too!)

I was delighted by these lovely fresh salad blends, which the merchant would frequently replenish with a new sprinkling of nastirtium and other edible flowers - what a unique and beautiful touch!

In the midst of browsing the many vendors' products (which my manly husband and brother just loved), we sacrificed a half-hour of our time to wait in line for a cup of fresh-brewed coffee here:

My goodness, was it ever worth the wait! An interestingly attired barrista (who just looked like she belonged in the Fog City) took our orders and prepared each cup which was individually brewed on the spot (hence the long wait in line)

I do believe I have never had a better mocha latte in my life. And check out the beautiful swirl-leaf pattern in the foam

Wow - that cup of coffee paired with a scrumptious brownie..mmm...perhaps THE highlight of my trip. My compatriots agreed I think...

As we continued to walk along the pier, we came across many local fisherman

and crab catchers (I'm guessing there is a more accurate name for them), one of whom was kind enough to show us his catches of the morning

and let my brother hold one (possibly a highlight of his trip?)(my brother, not the crab catcher)

And we got a nice view of the city and a great group shot from the pier

Indeed, what a lovely morning in Fog City it was