Halloween 2012

Today was Micaela's first Halloween! It was a great morning as Dennis took the day off to be with us. At noon I was off to Mommy and Me because I did not want to miss out on the Halloween picture. It was adorable how cute all the babies looked. We then had a lady come in to teach us about baby massages. We came home and Micaela napped to get ready for the rest of the day.

Hosting our SBSB group...Micaela, Harper,  Sophie, Tommy

Carving our Pumpkin...our little one sound asleep.

The results

Mommy and Me Halloween Celebration

Our buddies Jenn and Caden

Our neighbors Todd and Ever

Daddy and Micki

Mommy and Micki

Happy Halloween!

We got ready to go "trick or treating" which consisted of a few houses of the neighbors we know. Dennis aka Daddy was vampire, I was an egyptian princess, and Micaela was our sweet little pumpkin.  Caden also stopped by to visit! Halloween ended early with a nice bath for our pukey pumpkin. Cant wait until next year when she will be able to walk from door to door!

Family Fun w/t the Stumps and VanAukers

It was so great spending time with Laura and Merve and Aunt Tina and the boys. I want Micki around the family as much as possible so she grows to love them. We had breakfast here then headed over to Redondo Beach Pier to hang out. Micaela refused to nap..despite that she pretty well. I hope we can see them more often. These babies are growing up too fast!

Love Micki and Flynn staring at each other!

Kangaroo Daddy...Micki Loves hanging with D.

I love us!

30 Weeks Maternity Photo Shoot

I'm 30 weeks now and overall I still feel good. My belly is in full effect though! hahha. I love that people notice and ask if it's my first or how far along I am. Before I looked pregnant but it still makes people nervous to ask if they arent 100% sure. It's hard for me to bend at the waist and I get short of breathe walking up stairs. I still have occasional heartburn but these last couple weeks my back has not been hurting like it did a few weeks ago. The thing I LOVE about this time is all the moving Micaela is doing! I feel her all the time. It feels like she rubs against my stomach walls and it sometimes makes laugh out loud. She is especially wild at night around 11pm then early morning. I've been pretty good about taking my vitamins and eating healthy...the one thing I swore I would always do is exercise. hahaha! Well its been 7months and I have not done a thing. I just don't really feel like it. For the first time in my life I would rather lie down or clean up. It's like my exercise hiatus...because I want to come back after she is born. My body has changed quite a bit though...My belly is obvious...my belly button is starting to pop out which is kinda hilarious until I try on clothes and its like an extra nipple...hahaha! My arms, and legs, and back have some good extra fat that I had never seen before. I dont have stretch marks on my belly but the side of my thighs have some red lines so I know those will be good baby battle wounds. My face is a bit rounder and although I feel like I look the same when I take a picture I look chunky. I have a pretty good muffin top and it shows when I wear tight clothes. The one thing I can say is my hubby is nothing but sweet to me about my body...he always tells me he loves my preggers and that I look beautiful. He rubs my belly and just makes me feel pretty. He always tells me to eat more..which is so funny! I'm a lucky girl!

My good friend Charla had told me she wanted to give me a maternity session as a gift and before I got this big I was so excited. I love her work and I know how expensive her sessions are so I was soo flattered. Well when time got closer I really wanted to back out...I mean who wants to look at pregnant pictures. Maybe just me and Dennis and someday Micaela but until then maybe just some point and shoot pictures with our canon would be fine. I told Dennis and he was not having it. He said that it was such an important time in our life and it only happens once or twice so why would I not want to capture it. Its true we take pictures of ourselves out at dinner or at a bar why would I not want to take some pics of our baby in my belly. The shopping was on and it was so hard to find something I liked! Finally I decided. Check out some of our pictures.

Thank you so much Charla for taking the time to capture this time in our lives!! I am so so happy with images. You made me feel so beautiful and always make it easy and fun. This is truly the best gift! I cant wait for my baby girl!!

The first Month in our new home.

I have not blogged in soo long but we have been sooo busy with all the house stuff. I seriously am loving it!! We have had so much help from friends and family that I just can't believe how blessed I feel.

* My Mom and the boys came to help during the week and then my Mom brought two helpers to help me move the kitchen and clean and organize my house! They were soo much help. Gracias Mami por siempre ayudarme en todo lo que te pido. Te quiero tanto y prometo ayudarte mas!

* Our movers...I was so thankful to have all of the boys come over to help us move. Dennis and I prepped everything so that they could just come and move everything. They even mad fun of how we wrapped everything up. It was suppose to rain and we were not taking any chances. Fortunately that morning it was clear skies! Steve, Stephan, Jose, Kelvin, Ian, John, Michele, and even Heather showed up to help. We were done in a few hours and then enjoyed the day together! They saved us a ton of money but I know we are getting to old to move ourselves. Amazing to have friends like this.

*Mom and Dad P: I loved having them over on the first Sunday. Mom P helped me line the cabinets while Dad and Dennis went to clean the apartment. I felt so bad but they did such a great job we got our deposit back. $2025 worth!! They also came back with some Pink's bbq...it was delish! It was so nice to share our first Sunday with them. They left us a nice card and the suprise for our LG Washer and Dryer! We love them! I love that I don't need quarters and no one takes my stuff out o fthe dryer. Best gift ever...thanks Mom and Dad!

* Mami y Papi: Mi Papi le pregunto a mi mami..."Y nosotros que le vamos a regalar?" I thought that was so cute since he can be a grouch. We did not need there help for our house so that was good and I know they did want to help us. Dennis and I wanted to do it alone as it means more that way. They were very generous though and sooo we have now purchased a New Dining Room Table, New Buffet, and the invisible bedroom set: This weekend we bought our beautiful Amherst Mahogony table at the Pottery Barn out et. It is gorgeous and on sale for $690. We have yet to find chairs so we are on a man hunt. We decided we would need a buffet to hold our china and we purchased one from a rich Manhattan Beach family for $460. It is the Laurel Pottery Barn Buffet and weighs a ton! Froy and Dennis picked it up and it was amazing that they were able to get it up the stairs. The search for our bedroom set continues!!! After going to see the Valencia set from PB in person we decided it was too red. I love the Hudson set but it's so expensive and I think Larry St. John could make one for a little cheaper.I hoping Dennis will give into my favorite the Ashby set. I love that my mom and dad even went looking for us. haha. Gracias Mami y Papi por ser tan lindos con nosotros!

*John and Michele have always been so supportive of us and this time it was no exception. They were awesome to come help us move and then bought us Wine Goblets from Pottery Barn. She noticed we were using the free sample ones from our Santa Barbara wine festival trip! hahaThey know we love Pottery Barn so they went there. It was a little embarrassing that Dennis broke one right away in front of them but it was easily taken care...oh and any excuse to go to PB!

* Lisa came to work with such an awesome surprise. A Welcome Door Mat, Candle and Bed Bath and Beyond. I love how sweet she is to always think of me. I loved my new door and so did Dennis! I still have not used my BBB card because I am waiting to decide on colors for my bathroom.

* Aunt Tina, Uncle Ron, and Sean bought us a gift card from Lowes. I can't say this enough but Dennis loves Home Depot and Lowes. He can look for stuff for hours..toliets, cabinets, saws, windows, you name it! haha. It's the perfect gift for the new home owner. We went to purchase our smoke detectors with wit this card. Thanks Stump family for keeping us safe!

* Karla and Froy came to visit on Sunday. It was a short visit but we had fun. Froy was so sweet to empty out the van and help us pick up our new buffet he then helped lift it...ouch! We even managed to go to In N Out for dinner. When we came home we discovered a card on the computer with cash money. It brought me to tears because they are so sweet to do that! I was just glad they came to visit! I want to buy my dining room rug with that.

Our family and friends have been so incredibly supportive.

1639 Goodman...Offer Accepted.

Wow what a whirlwind this has been!!!!!

Sunday: dinner at Lucilles
Monday : Find the house on Goodman!
Tuesday: Put the Offer in for 675,000
Wednesday: We get it! Sign Counter to pay 2,900 for tenting.
Monday: Inspection...Mami comes to see it...we need a new roof..WHAT??!!
Now it's official! Monday of Presidents Day we did our walk-through!

Wednesday...IT'S OURS!!!! So the moving begins. Mom and the boys come to help!
Thursday....Dennis and I take a few more loads.
Friday: More loads and some wrapping of furniture.
Saturday: MOVING DAY!!!!



It's really kind of surreal! D and I have our own little home....and it's not so little!