A Picture Paints A Thousand Words

9 Months

2012-01-28T16:31:00.000-08:00

Today Raleigh is 9 months old, but seems to us to act more like a 2 year old. He's at a stage where if he doesn't get what he wants, he sticks out his lower jaw, shows his bottom teeth, closes his eyes and whines. For example, if I'm working at the computer, he'll crawl over, pull himself up, hold onto the armrest and whine until I put him on my lap. I laugh and love this little attitude, but I could definitely see it becoming a problem down the road.

Here are a few things about our sweet boy...

- He loves to dance/listen to music. He started a little music class at Redmond Town Center this week that he'll go to every week with my mom for a few months.

- He grinds/clenches his teeth and it drives his dad crazy.

- He loves his new play area we built for him a couple of weeks ago and will play alone, but would prefer for Steve or I to play with him.

- He's a wonderful eater. However, he had fresh blueberries for the first time yesterday, loved them, but got a horrible diaper rash.

- He still wakes up a couple of times each week in the middle of the night, but we're in the process of letting him cry it out and it seems to be working.

- He loves to go out to dinner with us. He sits in the highshare and waves at everyone around us.

- He says dada, baba, gaga...haven't really heard a mama yet, but I"m sure it's coming soon.

- He crawls and pulls himself up onto everything. He has stood by himself for a split second, but will immedialy grab onto to something close by. He'll fall down and pull himself right back up...he seems to be a pretty tough kid.

- He'll let anyone hold him. Separation anxiety usually starts at about 8 or 9 months, but we haven't seen it yet.

- The other day we were outside in the sun and I thought his hair looked gray and panicked for a second. I looked closer and his roots are coming in blonde.

This afternoon before his nap I took a few photos of Raleigh in one of my very favorite sweaters. As you can see from his eyes, he was on the verge of falling asleep and was out about 2 minutes after these were taken.

We Love you Raleigh John!

SNOMG...Snowmageddon...Winter Freeze

2012-01-22T18:47:00.000-08:00

Whatever you want to call it, it was the real deal of winter storms. By the end of my 4 day lockdown, I felt like I was trapped in the twilight zone and on the verge of losing my mind. Thankfully, I was able to work from home Tues, Wed, Thurs and Fri and Steve was conveniently scheduled to do a remodel on a home next door so life wasn't too difficult. Raleigh had a horrible cold all week so I'm glad I was able to be with him, but it was tough holding him on my lap, talking on the phone with a co-worker and writing an email all at the same time. Unfortunately, we didn't spend much time outside, but below are a few photos to re-cap my week.

Here are a few things that I learned this week...

- I am EXTRA thankful for Raleigh's weekly caregivers - my mom, my mother in law and the fabulous Miss Ali. It is a tough job watching a very active baby all day.
- As much as I thought I wanted to be a stay at home mom, I'm not quite ready. However, I desperately wish that I could be a part-time/stay at home mom.
- I must get out of the house at least once a day.
- Power outages with a baby make me a little nervous (thankfully ours was only out for 3 hours).
- I need/want new snow clothes.
- If you pull a plastic sled with a baby, they'll immediately tip over.
- The NoseFrida is a lifesaver! If you're a new mom, going to become a mom soon or have a baby with a cold, you must invest in this contraption...it seems gross, but it's worth for your baby to breath.
- Raleigh needs a mouth-guard...he grinds his teeth on and off ALL.DAY.LONG - any one have a remedy?

Below is a little video of Mr. Raleigh from this week...

Weekend Update

2012-01-08T20:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we spent the day downtown...we parked at Pike Place Market and walked around for a couple of hours, enjoyed lunch at Beechers, shopped and then happy hour with my parents at rn74 - great ambiance, excellent drinks (Steve had a "shot and a beer" which was a Rainier in a beer coozie with a shot of Fernet Branca), and better food. Afterwards, I dropped Steve off at the Thuderbirds game and Raleigh and I came home to snuggle on the couch.

Today, I ran errands, Steve worked around the house and Raleigh attempted to get in to everything he's not supposed to touch...we're still working on the baby-proofing. Along with putting cords, cell phones and tv remotes in his mouth, he's on the verge of eating us out of house and and home. I also think he's already trying to figure out how to talk back to me. But, whenever he looks at me with his sweet baby blues and smiles his big smile, my hearts melts all over again.

Just before sunset tonight we went down to the park and took a few photos...he's my favorite model.

8 Months

2011-12-28T20:34:00.000-08:00

I'm now at the point where I feel like I'm starting the countdown until Raleigh's first birthday - how is it possible that he's only 4 months away from turning ONE?! Time needs to slow down a bit. Each month I say I've reached my favorite age with my boy, but where he is right now is absolutely my favorite. Every night while I feed him his bottle, I can't help but stare at him and just think about how lucky I am to have him in my life. Raleigh is truly one of a kind and makes my heart beat just a bit stronger when he is near me.

Here are a few highlights from the past month...

He knows his name - we say Raleigh and he turns and smiles at us.

He crawls all over the place and pulls himself up onto his toy trucks. I've always thought I've kept a clean house but his white socks and white onesie's would suggest I need to mop a bit more often.

The crawling and climbing have led to a few bumps and bruises, but nothing a few snuggles can't cure.

He says Dada and gaga...and we think we may have heard him say kitty.

His laugh is the sweetest sound I've ever heard in my life.

He waves and smiles at strangers (someday soon I'll teach him about "stranger danger).

He slept through the night on his 7 month birthday and is slowly becoming an all night sleeper.

He'll feed himself a pouch of food, Mum Mums or a handful of puffs in about a minute flat. He has quite the love for food with the acceptation of peas.

He's an excellent dinner date when we go out to a restaurant.

He had no issue with Santa, but that may have been due to the fact that Santa didn't say a peep and for all that Raleigh knew he may as well thought he was sitting on his Dad's lap.

When he doesn't get the immediate attention that he's looking for he lays belly down on the ground, tucks his hands and arms under his face and cries. I usually laugh and try to grab a camera, as I have yet to catch this fit on film.

He has 8 teeth! 4 on the bottom and 4 on the top. When I brush my teeth in the morning I now hand him his toothbrush at the same time and we "brush" together.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

7 Months

2011-11-28T07:55:00.000-08:00

Today my baby boy turns 7 months old and yet again I find myself wondering where the time has gone. I'm absolutely loving this age and at times wish that I could push pause and stay right in this moment for a bit longer. Raleigh is becoming his own little man with his own personality that I admire with all of my heart. He's become quite vocal and will let us know when he's hungry, when he's finished eating, when he's bored, when he's happy and when he's mad. I love the way he wakes up happy from a nap - he peaks his head over his crib and is all smiles. Balloons get my boy very excited. I love our nightly routine of dinner, bath and books. Yes, I comb his hair meticulously each night when he gets out of the bath.

Raleigh now has his two bottom teeth and has four top teeth working their way in. He is this close to crawling and is currently scooting himself around the room, but sometimes is completely content in the push-up/plank position. We're slowly working on childproofing the house, but I'm thinking this task may need to be accelerated as he is putting anything within reach (especially cords/phone chargers) immediately into his mouth. He's an eater! Loves his food. He's quite social. He loves his naps, but has yet to sleep through the night, we know we're getting close...fingers crossed I'm not writing this same line next month.

Raleigh - there is nothing in the world we wouldn't do for you. You continue to amaze us on daily basis and have made me and your daddy so incredibly happy. You are one in a million and we are so thankful that you chose us. We love you!

6 Months

2011-10-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

My blog has obviously been neglected, considering my last post was exactly a month ago today, but we've been busy...real busy. Hence the reason I'm writing this post at 10pm.

In the past month, we've been to Black Butte, Oregon for the Rinabarger Family Reunion (fabulous time), we've been to Pullman for the WSU Homecoming game (we're currently working on Raleigh's college application) and we celebrated my first birthday as a mama (Raleigh spoiled me). Each of these events deserve a post of their own, but unfortunately, there aren't enough hours in the day for me to do everything that I want to do PLUS sit down and write a post.

In other news, today my baby turned 6 months old...that's half of a year people, that's 180 nights that we have yet to sleep through the night (it's coming soon...) and it's a lot of dirty diapers, but most of all it's the best 6 months of our life. To Steve and I, Raleigh is every bit of the definition of perfection. He is so incredibly happy, has such a huge personality, loves to laugh, enjoys everything we've fed him thus far (except for peas and green beans) and has made us a family. We love our boy more than anything we've ever loved before and remind him of that on a daily basis. So, to celebrate his 6 month birthday, we fed him an extra big dinner, read a few extra books, played a bit longer and let him stay up past his bedtime. Happy 6 month birthday to our handsome boy!

5 Months

2011-09-28T23:17:00.000-07:00

Happy 5 Month Birthday to my baby boy! Raleigh is growing up so quickly that I kind of wish I could just hit pause and bask in everything about this current time. I'm anxious for the next few months as many of my girlfriends have said that these months were their most favorite time with their little ones, but I'm just loving how Raleigh is at 4/5 months old. His two bottom teeth are almost fully in, he's learning to sit up, he's a wild man in his crib, he squeals with excitement while I fill the bathtub, he's still getting the hang of eating with a spoon and seems to have developed a liking for oatmeal (was not a fan of the rice cereal). The one thing he has not yet mastered is sleeping through the night. Every night I go to sleep thinking "tonight is the night he'll sleep for 7 or 8 hours straight" and everynight around midnight my dreams of a deep sleep are shattered....fingers crossed this day comes soon. This past weekend Raleigh had his first experience of the Puyallup Fair and his first Seahawks game. The fair was good...the game, a bit tough. Even with the giant headphones on, the noise was too much. We figured this was a good preparation for the two or three Cougar games we're planning on taking him to this year.

Raleigh - I love you more today than I did yesterday...And tomorrow I will love you more than today. The last five months with you have been the best 5 months of my life. Thank you for picking me - I feel like the luckiest mama alive. I love you.

The "Boys BOB Brigade" at the Fair - Rocco, Raleigh and Easton

Here's a peek into what it's like to feed a constantly distracted 5 month old.

Tonight was the first time he sat and ate in his highchair.

Updates

2011-09-20T22:57:00.000-07:00

We're in the process of teaching Raleigh how to eat...literally. I had no idea that teaching a baby how to eat from a spoon could be so difficult/entertaining/messy. I realize for some kids they immediately pick up eating from a spoon, not this kid. I think I just assumed that Raleigh would open his mouth and immediately know what to do, but that is absolutely not the case. As you can see from the look on his face (aka a deer in headlights) he really doesn't have a clue of what's going on, but something we learned tonight is that he does like the oatmeal cereal and he wants it scooped into his mouth fast...so we'll just keep practicing.

As we finish up feeding/scooping oatmeal into his mouth, I get the bath going and through the excitement on his face, Raleigh seems to know exactly what the next step is - tub time! He loves the bath! After his bath, I comb his hair, put lotion on his tiny body and let him play for a little bit before it's time for a diaper and jammies. I had to share our little nightime routine as this is the highlight of my day.

I realized earlier today that I forgot to mention Raleigh's 4 Month stats from his doctors appointment a couple of weeks ago...

Length: 25 inches - 50%

Weight: 15lbs 6oz - 65%

Head Cir.: 17 3/4 inches - ummmm technically off the charts, but the doc chose to stick with 99%.

We always knew we'd have a baby with a big head, but never imagined the day that our son's pediatrician would ask to measure our heads after taking his measurement. In case you care, Steve and I both measured in the 95%. For precautionary measures, we have another appointment in a couple of weeks to re-measure Raleigh's head to make sure it's not growing too quickly. Big head means big brains, right? Maybe we just have a child genius on our hands....that hopefully learns sooner than later how to eat from a spoon.

These Two...

2011-09-11T22:09:00.000-07:00

Melt my heart

Cougar Football Saturday!

2011-09-03T10:04:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that I LOVE college football season...I woke up this morning feeling like I was 5 years old and and it was Christmas morning. I love laying in bed with my Starbucks, watching ESPN GameDay and hearing all about the games ahead. This morning was extra special as I was able to share this love with both of my boys. Raleigh slept in until 8 and was immediately put in his Cougar jersey, which will be the routine every Saturday morning for the next 3 months. Besides for seeing my boy in crimson and gray, my other favorite part of the morning was seeing the Cougar flag flying behind Kirk, Chris and Lee.

This top photo is a bit blurry, but his two bottom teeth are visible!

GO COUGS!

4 Months

2011-08-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

This past month has been a month of change, as I returned to work and Raleigh began to spend his days with both of his Grandmas and friends. As hard as it was to leave him, I was happy knowing that he was in safe hands. My absolute favorite part of the day now is picking him up after work and the huge smile that I'm greeted with from my sweet boy.

Raleigh loves to giggle when his daddy dances for him or makes funny faces, he's ticklish on his neck and in his armpits, he kicks his legs in the tub like a natural born swimmer, he rolls over, he loves to socialize, loves walking around the yard with us to check out the progress on our (out of control) garden, AND he's got teeth! I haven't been able to snap a photo of the teeth yet, but I'll post once I do.

This may be creepy to some, but I love laying in bed in the morning and watching him on the monitor in his crib. I can hear him chatting to himself and enjoy watching him kick his legs and swing his arms. This morning I did this for about 5 minutes and then couldn't take it any longer and had to scoop him up for some cuddle time in our bed. I know I've said this before, but I love this boy more and more each day. Throughout my pregnancy I imagined what motherhood was going to be like, but I honestly had no idea how much it would truly sweep me off of my feet. I am crazy, madly, deeply in love with my son.

Baby Blue

2011-08-23T23:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry to have abandoned you, blog, but my priorities have shifted and this blue-eyed boy of mine has completely stolen my heart and any spare minute that I used to have.

To say I've been a bit busy would be an understatement, but I promise I'll be back soon.

Indianola Days : 2011

2011-07-31T22:07:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up, I'd spent weeks visiting my cousins Matt and Mike, my aunt, my uncle and my grandparents at their homes in Indianola (10 minute drive from the Kingston ferry on Puget Sound). We'd play at the beach, have bonfires, go on long bike rides, jump off the dock, go crabbing and on boat rides...for me it was the perfect summer camp. Each summer, the people of Indianola celebrate their little community with "Indianola Days." I hadn't participated in Indianola Days for about 15 years so it was fun for me to get back this weekend, but even more exciting to share this memory of mine with Steve and Raleigh. I can't wait until next summer when Raleigh can run around with the older kids and swim in the Sound.

We randomly ran into Steve's good college buddy, PJ and his wife and kids who were attending a family reunion at the house next to where we were hanging out on the beach.

Cousin Mike and Raleigh

Paul, Olivia, Lauren, Raleigh and Henry

Cousin Matt bought his wife Lisa a golf cart for her birthday - best.gift.ever! Steve and I went for a little spin up to check out the country store and the salmon bake.

The infamous Indianola Dock

Somtimes you just need a little assitance going to the bathroom when you've got wet swimtrunks on.

2011...The Year of the Boy

2011-07-29T22:37:00.000-07:00

Honestly, there are so many boys that have been born or are going to be born in 2011 that I'm wondering if the graduating class of 2029 or 2030 will have any girls for the them to ask to prom. Let's see...here are the boys born this year to my friends...Nadine had Wyatt, Megan had Brady, Karli had Liam, Steph had Riley, Max had Wyatt and Smith, Rauh had Jack, Lynne will have baby Pete soon (fake name) and Stacie will have baby boys 2.0 by the end of the year.

Today, Raleigh spent a few hours 'hanging out' with sweet baby Jack. Not sure how much Jack wanted to hang out with Raleigh, but I think Raleigh enjoyed his time.

I can't wait to see what the future has in store for each of our boys. From knowing their mama's, I'm sure they'll each grow up to be pretty amazing guys that hopefully have a chance with some of the adorable girls out there...Parker, Charlotte, Emma, Avery, Addi, Addy, Eden, Maddy, Hayden, Taylor, Sloane, Delaney, Allie and Ava (if she's in to much younger men) just to name a few.

3 Months

2011-07-28T10:01:00.000-07:00

This month-birthday is bittersweet for me as it marks the end of my maternity leave and my return to work. At three months old my sweet boy is happy and healthy, but come August 1 I'm going to be one sad mama when I head back into the office. For the past three months, I've spent just about every waking moment with Raleigh and have honestly cherished each of those moments (even the tears) together. I will miss him tremendously throughout the days while I'm at work, but will race home at night to snuggle him and kiss his sweet cheeks.

Since his 2 month birthday, we've successfully driven 11 consecutive hours to Montana and have flown to LA, I'd say this boy of ours is well-traveled and we definitely plan to keep it that way. I also left him for the longest period of time this past weekend while we shot a wedding - 12 hours away from my boy. Thankfully, I was completely distracted by the bride and groom so I didn't have much time to miss him, but once we got home, I woke him up just so we could catch up a bit and I could kiss him goodnight.

Here are a few of the things that I love about Raleigh, at this very moment...

I love that he doesn't mind tummy time and rolls from his stomach to his back - going both directions.
I love that he doesn't mind the camera in his face and actually looks at me when I take his photo and sometimes even smiles. I really hope he doesn't grow out of this phase, but I have a feeling, at some point he's going to be annoyed by me constantly taking his picture so I'll enjoy it while I can.
I love his nightly bath ritual. He smiles the second he gets in the tub and loves kicking his legs and splashing his arms.
I love his laugh...my heart melts when I hear a little chuckle out of him.
I love the way he smiles his slightly crooked smile (thanks to his Dadddy) when I talk to him and call him by name.
I love that he's ready for bed at 8:30 on the dot...I don't love that he doesn't sleep through the night...we're working (very tirelessly) on this one.
Most of all, I love the joy that he has brought to my life. Along with Steve, we love our boy more than anything in the world. We truly had no idea the affect Raleigh's little life would have on us at just 3 months old, but the love we feel is truly one of a kind. A couple of times this past month, I've cried just looking at him and thinking about how special he is and how perfectly he fits into our family. I 100% feel that he was meant for us and we were meant for him.

Here's just part of a conversation we had this morning.

Happy 95th Birthday

2011-07-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

Today, my wonderful Grandpa Ralph turns 95 years old and still feels and looks great. A month ago, we had dinner with him and introdued him, for the first time, to Raleigh. My Grandpa is my only living grandparent so introducing him to my son and his fourth great-grandchild was extra special for me. I couldn't help but imagine how different my Grandpa's life was 95 years ago when he was a newborn compared to how Raleigh's life is now...times have sure changed ☺

Happy Birthday Grandpa! We're looking forward to celebrating with you and the rest of the family tonight. We love you!

4 Generations

Annual Trip to Bozeman

2011-07-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

This year marks my third annual, summer trip out to Bozeman, MT to visit the Johnsons and the Weedins. The difference between this year and years past is that Steve joined me for the first time and rather than flying, we drove...11 hours straight through with a 3 month old. I was a bit nervous subjecting Raleigh to this 650 mile ride, but Jenny assured me that everything would be fine and right she was...he did great. She's made this same drive many times with her girls so I knew we could do it. Besides for all of our wonderful friends that live in Bozeman, there's just something extra special about this beautiful place. I love the small-town feel, the surrounding mountains, the rivers, the people, the 360 degree unbelievable view, the restaurants, the beers, the die-hard MSU Bobcat fans - you get the idea. This trip was planned last summer when Dusty & Gina hired Steve and I to shoot their wedding...I shot their engagement in Bozeman last summer. I used to say that Maui was the most beautiful place to tie the knot since that is where I was married, but after witnessing my first Bozeman wedding my mind may have been changed. Here is a photo recap of our trip and a shot from the wedding.

Sunrise view of the Bridgers from the Johnsons guest bedroom at 5am when we got into town on Thursday morning

Palisades Falls hike at Hyalite

Music on Main

Jenny, me and Ali at The Cannery aka the first real bar that Raleigh ever hung out in...babies are allowed in the bars in MT.

Raleigh, Greta, Maddy, Brekken and Taylor

Jenny and Nick's guest bedrom had the perfect natural lighting for a little photoshoot of our little man.

Sunset from Cle Elum on our drive home

The lovely Mr. & Mrs. Daws

I'm already looking forward to Bozeman 2012 and hopefully a side-trip through Yellowstone. A huge Thank You to Jenny, Nick, Maddy and Taylor for letting us stay with you - we had such a great time!

Beautiful Little Girl

2011-07-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

This past week, there was a tragic accident on I-90 at the 405 interchange involving somewhere around 14 vehicles. My immediate thought when I heard the news was that I hoped everyone would survive and that I didn't know anyone in the accident being that it occurred during a common commute route for some and near my office. Turns out, that the one person that passed away from injuries caused from this horrible accident is the daughter of a friend of mine from jr high and the daughter of a co-worker of mine. As with many people in the Seattle/Bellevue area that have heard this story, they can't get this beautiful little girl, Rachel Beckwith, out of their mind. In her short nine years, she has subsequently changed the lives of thousands of children in Africa all because she requested no gifts for her birthday last month and instead requested that her friends make a donation to a charity that provides safe drinking water in developing counties. When Rachel was taken off life support on Saturday, she had officially reached her goal of $300. Since Saturday, the total that Rachel has raised (as of a few minutes ago) is at an astonishing $125,000! In honor of Rachel's memory, I've made my donation. If you're interested in making a donation as well, you may do so here.

I unfortunately never met Rachel, but those that did should feel very lucky. I have kept her parents Sam and Jacob, family and friends in my thoughts and prayers over the past few days as the loss they have experienced absolutely breaks my heart. Please be sure to take a moment and hug your family and friends just a bit tighter because I can only imagine that Rachel's family and friends would give just about anything, at this moment, to give her one last hug.

The latest article on CNN reagarding Rachel and lives she has changed may be read here.

Wedding Weekend Getaway

2011-07-18T21:53:00.000-07:00

This past weekend our friends Diggy and Ryan tied the knot at the beautiful Alderbrook Resort at Hood Canal. Despite the wet weather, their nautical themed wedding was beautiful. From the sailing rope lining the aisle to the guys sailing knot boutineers, every detail was perfection for this sailing loving couple. The afternoon and evening were a blast. Lots of wine, lots of dancing and lots of laughs. We even had someone to watch all of the kiddos for the evening so we could let loose. However, from the photos, you might think differently as Raleigh spent quite a bit of time in the arms of friends.

Steve and I stayed about a mile up the road from the resort at an adorable cabin in the woods that our family friends so graciously let us borrow for the weekend.

Congratulations Diggs and Ryan! Hope you two have a wonderful time on your honeymoon.

California Dreamin'

2011-07-12T16:53:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday morning, Kristi and I braved the friendly skies and took our boys (Easton 13 months & Raleigh 10 weeks) on their first plane rides...they did better than we could have imagined - thankfully! We flew down to LA for four nights to stay with our dear friend LSpry (Thank You for having us!!) and hang out with our girlfriends - Carrie, Avery, Lori, Lyndsy and Christy. We didn't want to leave the CA sun and the ocean air, but we knew it was the right thing to do with our husbands waiting at home for us and our boys. Our days were busy and filled with , lots and lots of laughs, trips to the beach, wine tasting in Malibu at Sip, early morning and evening walks to the ocean and along Montana Ave (always accompanied by a coffee from Caffe Luxxe and a sample from Nothing Bundt Cakes - AMAZINGLY Delicious!), BBQ's, treats from Menchie's, breakfast at Huckleberry, dinner at C&O (a Venice favorite of ours), lunch at my new favorite spot Lemonade on Abbott Kinney with Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds, a long overdue/much-needed visit with the Petyo Family and lunch at Sweet Lady Jane. So in other words, we basically ate our way through LA and dragged our boys along for the ride.

I love these girls and I especially love how much they adore my boy - we feel so incredibly lucky to have these auntie's in Raleigh's life. This getaway with Raleigh and Easton was perfect. Both boys made new friends and were spoiled with love...pretty sure each of the girls were smitten with these two blue-eyed boys and will most likely miss them more than they'll miss Kristi and me. Here are just a few of the 300 photos that were taken during our SoCal adventure. Can't wait to go back!

4th of July Weekend Recap

2011-07-06T23:15:00.000-07:00

Friday - Raleigh and I hung out on Jeremy's boat in the Kirkland marina with Marge, Jeremy, Leslie and Guy. After the sunset we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Zeeks.

Saturday - our new trailer took it's maiden voyage to Harstine Island. We spent the day and night relaxing with Mike and Mo and left Sunday mid-day to head back home.

Sunday - we had dinner at Robbie and Nicole's house with the Poorts, the Johnsons (in town from Bozeman) and the Northcotts. The kids played and the adults enjoyed some amazing food, good company and a few cocktails. I'm pretty sure Raleigh left with a bit of a crush on Taylor, Maddy and Sloane...he's become quite the little flirt. You know times have changed when there's a baby bottle sitting next to a Four Loko on the table.

Monday - Happy 4th of July! Summertime calls for the "Galen Special" aka a buzzcut for Steve so that's what we did first thing Monday morning. We also worked in the yard and around the house and then went to my parents so Raleigh could spend some quality time with my mom before she left Tues morning on her 21-day adventure through Europe with her best friend. That night, Steve and I went down to Kirkland and hung out on Jeremy's boat to watch the fireworks with the soon-to-be Youngs, the Bunyards, Wexler, Guy and Leslie. The night was perfect minus the drive back to my parents (to spend the night). A drive that usually takes 10 minutes took over an hour...traffic was miserable.

Tuesday - Raleigh and I continued the long weekend with a long walk at Greenlake, watching the kids play in the wading pool (I think he was a bit envious) and a playdate with Jamie at the Laurelhurst Beach Club...perfect Seattle day!

New Friends!

2011-07-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

This week Raleigh and I got to meet a couple of new friends. First we went up to Snohomish on Thursday to hang out with Becki, meet Miss Allie and hang out with her big brother Carson. Allie was born on June 11 and is so precious! Not sure how Raleigh feels about Allie leaning so close on him...

Then, on Friday, we went to Kenmore to hang out with Steph, meet Mr Riley and hang out with his big brother Jake. Riley was born on June 29 and was just the tiniest/sweetest little guy. Even though it was only 2 months ago, it's so hard for me to remember Raleigh as a newborn at just a couple of days old.

Congratulations Steph and Becki on your adorable new babies - we're already looking forward to our next play dates!

A Brief Hiatus...

2011-06-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

I'm sure just handful of you noticed BUT I haven't posted on my photography blog in ten months. I guess I was just been a bit preoccupied planning for my boys arrival...and to be honest, it really just kinda fell to the back of my mind. Well, enough excuses, I'm back and Head Over Heels has been updated. The only difference between now and then (besides gaining some additional photography equipment) is that I now have a wonderful assistant. In honor of this new position, I purchased him a gift off of Etsy. Only stipulation is that he'll have to earn it, as it won't fit for another 3 months.

I'm currently booking summer sessions - newborn, family, engagement, etc so please feel free to contact me if you're interested.

And maybe I'm just a bit biased about my assistant, but he's pretty darn good...

Let the Summer Wedding Season Begin!

2011-06-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night, we dropped Raleigh off at my parents and he enjoyed a fun-filled evening (errrrr and maybe somewhat of a cryfest for our boy) with both sets of Grandparents and their friends the Beckers while Steve and I attended the wedding of our friends Kristi & Ben at the Januik - Novelty Hill Winery in Woodinville. Every single detail of this wedding was perfect...especially the Molly Moon's ice cream truck, the cake pops, the photobooth, the late night milk and cookies. And not to mention the bride and groom looked gorgeous.

Also, I now have a new favorite song. The bridal party walked down the aisle to The Cure's "Just Like Heaven" but it was a cover done by Katie Melua - you can listen below. I downloaded on iTunes and can't get enough.

Congratulations Kristi & Ben...you two make such a perfect couple!

2 Months

2011-06-28T14:22:00.000-07:00

Today my sweet boy turns 2 Months Old! Once again, I'm left wondering where the time has gone since April 28. The two of us have spent almost every single hour of the 1,440 hours of his life together and I have learned more about love during that time than I ever could have imagined. The most important thing I've learned is that there was a place in my heart that was saved specifically for this boy of mine and it makes me an extremely happy mama.

Here are just a few things that I love about Raleigh, at this very moment...

I love the way he coos and smiles especially in the morning and before he goes to bed.
I love the way his tiny little arms look in his pj's.
I love the way he prefers to cuddle with his burp cloths than with any of his blankies
I love the way he stretches (and the noises that come along with it) after a nap and first thing in the morning.
I love his ginger hair.
I love the way my parents and my in-laws love on him.
I love the afternoons when we sit outside on the deck and I read my book while he lays next to me completely mesmorized by the the clouds and trees.
I love when I change his diapers and sing crazy, made up tunes to him, he laughs and smiles. In other words, he's impressed with my singing...unlike anyone else in the entire world. Well, except for my 5th grade music teacher who asked me to be in choir, but I think he may have truly been out of his mind.
I love to think that he knows Steve and I are an important part of his life...just by the way he looks at us.

This morning we (I say we because I felt like I was going in for shots with the anxiety I was feeling) had his 2 month check up and according to our pediatrician (whom we absolutely love), his measurements are "boringly average." Thankfully, they only took his measurements and weren't doing a personality test, otherwise we'd be concerned.

Length: 22 3/4 inches = 50% for his age
Weight: 11 lbs 7.5 oz = 50% for his age
Head Cir: 16 1/4 inches = 75% for his age

He survived (and so did I) the 2 month shots and now we're spending the day at home relaxing before it's time to head out and meet his 94 year old great-grandpa tonight. I was worried what the side effects would be from the shots, but from the look on his face in this photo that I just took, I think he's holding up pretty well.

I attempted to capture his cooing this morning on video and unfortunately didn't have much luck, but figured I'd post was I was able to get. I've never posted a video before so this may become a common occurence.

Catching Up

2011-06-23T18:44:00.000-07:00

Prior to my maternity leave, I remember thinking that I'd have all the time in the world to work on projects around the house, etc. Little did I know how much of my time my little boy would would really take up. I'm not complaining as I love spending every day with him, but instead of getting stuff done around the house we head out on the town, exploring the city and meeting up with friends.

University Village aka The Mecca of Mothers and Children

I have been to U.Village more in the past two months than I have in the past year. The Village is a good meeting spot with great shopping and lunch options and apparently I'm not the only one that feels this way considering I've run in to quite a few people I know and quite a few people that I feel like I know, but I really don't...I just read their blogs. I met up with Megs and Brady last week and we ended up having to change the boys in the back of my car in the parking lot.

Lunch Dates

This week has been the week of lunch dates. Tuesday at Red Robin where Raleigh met his new friend Declan who is 3 weeks younger than him. Wednesday at MOD Pizza with a co-worker of mine and today at Nordstrom Cafe downtown with Lynne (baby boy P in utero), Tara and Jackson. After lunch, we took a few photos of Raleigh and Jackson on the random Nordstrom bed display. Maybe it was the setting, but Jackson snuck a kiss and Raleigh seemed a bit confused - it was pretty cute.

Visitors

My friend Kim and her boyfriend Zach flew out from Chicago and stayed with us for a few days. Kim grew up in Seattle and Zach had never been here before so they spent the days touring the sites (Raleigh and I joined for a few excursions) and spending time with us. We had a great time having them out and look forward to their next visit.

My cousin Mike and his wife Shannon were in town from Vegas so they stopped by to meet their newest relative. I have a feeling Shannon is a bit smitten by her new "nephew."

Raleigh also met Kevin and Stacie for the first time this week, but unfortunately I didn't get a picture of them together. We love when the Mullins come to town from Boston...especially when they come for 10 DAYS!

Summer Soltice

As most Seattlites are aware, Summer is here...sort of. We have one 80 degree day and the next day the temps fall to the low 60s. I'm really hoping that with the true arrival of Summer (according to the calendar), that the sun will stick around a bit more. Raleigh and I spent the first official day of summer enjoying a BBQ at my parents house with some of our family friends while Steve enjoyed a night of sailing on Lake Union for Duck Dodge.

Upcoming Travel

Two weeks from today, Raleigh will be taking his first plane ride down (with me...can you imagine if I put him on the plane alone? I'm sure it's been done by some crazy parents) to LA to visit my girlfriends. We'll be flying down with Cabe and Easton and staying with the lovely L.Spry in Santa Monica. Spry even told me that she "wants to be Raleigh's mom for one day" so I will absolutely be taking her up on this offer and will allow her to do all of the duties that I do on a daily basis. I have no concern at all as I know Spry will make one fabulous mama one day.

RinaCamper Part II

So, it's been just around three weeks since we sold the original RinaCamper and Steve has already bought her replacement. This 23 ft, 1976 Ideal Travel Trailer is in such great condition it blows our mind. It's over 30 years old and has such great potential...once we're finished Couging it out, it will be better than it's predecessor. I mean, for starters, it has a BATHROOM!!

Hand Sucking and Napping

Raleigh has taken a liking to sucking the back of his left hand. He's tried his thumb but has a tough time keeping it in so he's moved on to the back of his left hand and I love it (does this mean he's a lefty?). I also love the way he'll situate himself in the most comfortable of positions on his stomach (don't worry Mom's, I'd never leave him alone on his stomach) and take extra long naps.

Happy Dad's Day

2011-06-20T14:43:00.000-07:00

There are so many amazing Dad's out there in the world, but I have to say that the three best Dad's I know are my Dad, my father-in-law and my husband. This year was extra special because my adorable husband was added to the list. And by adorable, I mean he has just gotten cuter and more handsome in my eyes since becoming a daddy. Fatherhood seems to work really well on Steve.

Steve - As we both know, Raleigh seems to be on the verge of talking and has become quite the chatterbox. Well, last night before we went to bed and you two were chatting, I'm pretty sure I heard "I love you Dad." You may have mistaken that for any other coo or smile, but I'm 98% sure the huge smile on his face as he stared at your face was that exact statement. Thank you for agreeing to go on this wild adventure called parenthood with me and thank you a million times over for being Raleigh's daddy - I wouldn't want it any other way.

We've been pretty busy this past week with friends in town, sightseeing, visiting family, a baby shower and an engagement party so we spent Father's Day doing exactly what Steve wanted - a relaxing day at Harstine Island with his mom, dad and brother.

Sometimes, he just gets tired of having his photo taken. Unfortunately, he should probably get used to it because this is how things will be for most of his life.

Grandpa Mike with his favorite boys

Here are some photos from the Bainbridge Island ferry on Friday. Being outside, feeling the fresh air on his face, seems to be one of Raleigh's very favorite things in the world. So, the breeze on the ferry deck made our boy quite content.

I've been able to get so much done today because this is what my sweet boy has been doing for the past 2 hours...

Sunday Morning

2011-06-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

Laughs, coo's, cuddles and a blowout on our duvet cover is how we started off our Sunday morning. While I was dozing off, Steve was playing with Raleigh and I was startled awake by "don't move!" So, we quickly striped the bed, for the second time of the week, and tossed everything in the wash. I laid Raleigh back down on our duvet and he fell asleep almost instantly. All of this occured before 6:30am. Our weekends of sleeping in until 8 or 9 (sometimes slightly hungover) are behind us (for now), but we're perfectly happy with this change.

Snuggled up with his WubbaNub from Grandma Mo.

And this is Raleigh's (current) favorite spot in the entire house. He espeically loves laying on his changing table, naked and after a bath.

Lake Chelan...Paradise

2011-06-12T15:55:00.000-07:00

This past week, Megs and I took a mid-week trip out to my Grandpa's condo at Wapato Point - just us and our kids and it was pretty perfect. We met in Ellensburg, loaded up my car and got to Chelan around 2pm. My parents had been there for the weekend with some friends so they stuck around and hung out with us for a couple of hours. Since Raleigh's arrival, they'll do just about anything to spend some time with their grandbabe.

We had a couple of firsts on this trip...Raleigh, Ava and Miles first time to Chelan and a first of rain. In all of the years that I've been going to Chelan, I don't ever remember it raining. Even with the rain (rain is meant to stay on the west side of the state), we made the best of it...took the kids for a drive, they immediately passed out, found a liquor store, bought a fifth of tequila, got corndogs at the the drive-thru, played a couple of games of Rummikub and drank Megs favorite margarita (equal parts limeade, beer and tequila blended together and poured over ice - Deeeelish!)

As you can see from the photos we had a pretty amazing time. Besides for lounging in sun, I think Raleigh's favorite part was the special attention he received from his Bend besties...especially Ava. I look forward to the day that we can take Raleigh to Chelan when he can run around and play in the pool and at the beach.

Mister

2011-06-10T15:12:00.000-07:00

Despite the newborn tag on some of his clothes, in my eyes, this boy is no longer a newborn. In the past couple of weeks he has become my little boy and is no longer my newborn baby boy...I miss my newborn, but I love where things are going for my little mister.

And yes, his face is a bit brighter than usual...he got a bit sun-kissed while we were in Chelan for the past couple of days - the vitamin D was great for all of us. More on that little getaway next.

Must Haves...Baby Edition Part 2

2011-06-08T07:15:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more items that I just had to share with all of you soon-to-be mama's. I've been thinking about items that I use on a daily basis and figured these might come in handy for a few of you out there.

1. Moby Wrap: This wrap is the perfect way to carry and child that sometimes just doesn't want to be put down. I've gone on walks, worked around the house and on the computer while carrying Raleigh in the Moby. I bought mine at Babies-R-Us, but they're available at most maturnity/children's stores.

2. Diaper Champ: Some people swear by the Diaper Genie, which I've never used, but I'd swear by the Diaper Champ. The main reason being that you can use normal garbage bags (ie the Kirkland bags from Costco for cheap) rather than having to buy the Diaper Genie specific bags.

3. HALO SleepSack: I received a HALO SleepSack as a gift from a girlfriend and also received a free one, embroided, from the hospital. Oh wait...free from the hospital? Nothing is free...not even the tiny bottle of Johnson n Johnson shampoo I took home - can't wait to see the charge for that. Ok, enough of my complaining...we don't swaddle Raleigh during the day, but at night he will break out of it in two seconds, no matter how tight we wrap him up so this SleepSack is perfect for our strong guy. You zip them up and then velcro them in - the best part is that the zipper goes from the top to the bottom so when I change him in the middle of the night, I don't have to take him completely out of the swaddle.

4. Day & Night Light Musical Mirror: I had a rental car for a couple of days last week and didn't bother to transfer this mirror over and hated not being able to see my guy in the rearview mirror. This is a must have for your primary car. The music doesn't seem to do much now, but the light has come in handy a couple of times.

5. Lorex - Live Snap Video Baby Monitor: We received this monitor as a gift from my in-laws and absolutely love it. It's wireless, has night vision and is incredibly easy to use. My mother-in-law bought it in the electronics section at Costco (not sure if they still carry it) after Steve read some reviews on it and suggested it as gift. I don't have much additional knowledge on monitors, as Steve did all of the research on this, but from what he found the Lorex was the best one out there for the best price.

6. BOB Stroller: Ok, so this is the only stroller I've ever used (so far), but I will say that it is hands down the best stroller on the market. I use this stroller every single day to go on walks or to go shopping. I love how easy it is to maneuver, fold up and get in and out of the car. Our two car-seats attach to it perfectly with the car seat adaptor.

7. Dr. Brown's Bottles: So, I realize in my last 'Must Haves' list I mentioned the Playtex Drop-Ins, but since that post we have switched to the Dr. Brown's bottles and think they're even better. They're a bit on the pricey side, but worth it. They help reduce gas, collic, burping and spit-up.

First Trip to Harstine Island

2011-06-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day weekend we took a little roadtrip out to the Rinabarger's property on Harstine Island for the day. They own three lots, that they'll eventually build a cabin on, but for now they keep their trailer out there and try to spend as many weekends as possible during the spring and summer months. We had a great time playing on the beach, eating some great food and hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. Raleigh enjoyed the sun, the fresh Puget Sound air and was wide awake for most of the visit, which made for a very happy Grandma and Grandpa. I think he's already counting down the days until his next Harstine Island adventure.

Tomorrow morning, Raleigh and I are off to Chelan with this fabulous gal and her kiddos - can't wait!

Farewell RinaCamper

2011-06-02T17:12:00.000-07:00

Last night was a heartbreaking night at our house as we sadly said goodbye to our trusty 1967 Aristocrat Travel Trailer. After much thought and a growing family, Steve decided it was time we sell our 16ft RinaCamper with the hopes of eventually (soon) upgrading to a larger trailer. We never had a chance to take Raleigh out in the trailer, but we know it would have been a bit tough in the confined spaces.

Over the past four years, we've put hours and hours into fixing up this trailer to make it a cozy home-away-from-home and that's exactly what it has been for the two of us. We also had the privilege of traveling to some great places and make some wonderful memories with our trusty trailer - Deception Pass, Lake Chelan, Friends of Fitch (Port Gamble), Harstine Island, Whidbey Island and Pullman. Along the way, on each road trip, we'd always receive a honk or a wave from fellow Cougs which always made us extra proud.

Probably the hardest part about selling the RinaCamper was the person we sold it to - he was very nice and was ecstatic to get his hands on an Aristocrat...BUT...

Buyer: So, what's the deal with the Cougars on the trailer?
Steve: Ummm where are you from? (thinking this guy must be from out of state)
Buyer: Olympia
Steve: No, I mean where did you grow up?
Buyer: Olympia
Steve: The Cougars...as in Washington State University it's where my wife and I went to college.
Buyer: Oh, that's the mascot of the state school? Is it a baseball or football team?
Steve: Yes...

Breaks my heart that the highest bidder on our DIE.HARD.COUG'ED.OUT. TRAILER had no idea what he was truly purchasing. I guess on the brightside, Steve and I know that we won't ever go to Pullman and see the trailer in the tailgating lot as that would probably break our hearts even more.

* One Month *

2011-05-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

It's so hard for me to believe that 4 weeks ago tonight, I gave birth to my handsome boy (not sure if we celebrate his one month birthday on the 28th or today...so I'll go with today). Steve and I left our house a month ago as the two of us and came home two days later as a family of three. Because of Raleigh, our lives have changed for the better and we like it...a lot. As with any major change, we've had our ups and downs, but each perfect day and each rough patch are completely worth everything that we have in this moment.

Here are just a few of the things about my son that make me swoon...

His alert/attentive eyes. We spend at least some time everyday outside (his favorite place besides for his changing table) and I swear he hardly blinks. If he could talk, I think he'd tell me that he loves the sun and fresh air...just like his mama.

The way he smiles when he's dozing off. The other day I was laying next to him out on the lawn in our yard and actually heard a little laugh...melted my heart and I can't stop talking about it now.

His stretches when I unswaddle him in the morning and then the cuddles in our bed just before his Dad leaves for work.

The way he stares at me when I feed him. I chat with him while he eats and constantly wonder what he's thinking about.

Raleigh - we love you for so many reasons, but mainly for the happiness and joy that you've brought to our entire family. At 8:21 tonight, your dad and I will be toasting you and remembering that moment when we first laid eyes on you - happy 4 week birthday, Snugs.

A couple of nights ago we got dinner to go and ate at Cove Beach in Normandy Park on Puget Sound. The photo of Steve and Raleigh is my new favorite.

Playdates Galore

2011-05-24T18:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I get that my sweet boy doesn't really know how to play yet...or make eye contact with anyone for longer than a second, but we've had ourselves a boatload of playdates over the past few weeks and I really don't want them to ever end. One day he'll understand what a playdate actually consists of and will most likely wish that I weren't tagging along, but until then I'll use these get-togethers to catch up with my girlfriends and swoon over the kiddos.

Raleigh celebrating his one-week birthday with his buddy Brady

Hanging out (I think he slept through the entire visit) with his cousins Paul and Olivia

With his #1 girl Miss Ava

At Kelsey Creek Park with Tristan, Addi, Eden and Ava - Raleigh was a bit tuckered out from this adventure, but not tired enough to enjoy his first experience at Red Robin later in the day.

With the two boys that are the closest in age to Raleigh - his twin buddies Wyatt and Smith who were born 12 hours after him. I'm sad I didn't get a photo of Wyatt and Smith's older brother Walter with all of them.

Megs was so sweet and came up with Ave from Bend and spent the weekend with us - it was perfect and exactly what this exhausted mama needed. She nurtured Raleigh like he was her own, made dinner and just relaxed with us. Thank you Megs for give this new mama the perfect weekend.

Quality time with Auntie Megs

At less than 3 weeks old, Steve decided it was time to teach Raleigh how to work in the garden and potentially take his first steps...not sure how much interest he had in either activity.

Love For My Boys

2011-05-19T07:32:00.000-07:00

Five years ago today (when I least expected it) my life was changed forever when I met the man that I would spend the rest of my life with.

Because of that chance meeting, today we also celebrate the birth of our sweet boy - three weeks ago.

As each day passes, I fall deeper and crazier in love with these two. Thank you to my husband and my son for making me the wife and mama that I am today - I love you.

Must Haves...Baby Edition

2011-05-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

I'd feel selfish if I didn't share a few of my current "Baby Must Have Items"...so here they are...

1. Fisher Price - Newborn Rock 'n Play Sleeper: This item was first introduced to me by my dear friend Rothie (who is a mama to twins) and then we received one as a gift from my other dear friend Court. This is Raleigh's current bassinet - he loves it and so do we. It fits perfectly next to our bed and is easily accessible for me to get him in and out in the middle of the night.

2. Mommy's Bliss - Gripe Water: In our house we refer to this as holy water because one rough night (the first day we introduced Raleigh to formula) our boy decided he needed to scream/cry for two hours straight due to an upset tummy (we're assuming) and this wonder juice saved our family. A huge thank you to my savior Megan for mentioning Gripe Water and for responding to my text at almost midnight to confirm what we needed to buy during our midnight run to Walgreens.

3. Playtex - Drop Ins: The best bottles for a newborn that is both breastfeeding and eating from a bottle. Quick to clean and excellent for sucking, swallowing and breathing for a newborn baby.

4. NoseFrida - The Snotsucker: Best invention ever for a baby with a stuffed up nose. The idea seems a bit far-fetched...sucking snot out of your babies nose with your mouth, but it's seriously brilliant and MUCH easier to use than one of those blue ball suckers that the hospital gives you. Thank you again to Megan for this fabulous gift.

5. Simple Wishes - Hands Free Pumping Bra: If you're going to use a breastpump, that isn't hands free, you'll definitely want to purchase this bra...for your sanity. Otherwise, you'll end up sitting there for hours on end with your hands confined to holding the pump bottles. With this ~~sexy~~ ridiculous contraption you'll be able to take care of odds and ends while you pump. You may also want to purchase ear plugs to avoid the horrible sound of the pump.

6. Mustela: I've only used the foam shampoo and the vitamin barrier (butt) cream so far, but I'm in love with these products and so is my boy. He smells just oh-so-good and his dry skin is thanking me for just a bit of hydration. I look forward to trying out the rest of the products soon.

My Little Snugs

2011-05-10T17:51:00.000-07:00

In the past 12 days since Raleigh's birth, I've called him about 10 different names, but the one that seems to stick the most is Snugs. I mean look at this little guy...he's the snuggiest babe I've ever seen.

I feel so lucky that I get to snuggle and kiss his sweet cheeks all day long and feel even more thankful that I get to call him my son.

Thank You Mom!

2011-05-08T14:18:00.000-07:00

I’ve only been able to look you in the eyes for 10 days, but we’ve bonded for the past 10 months. Word has it that you have dreamt about having me as long as you can remember, and I could have only wished to come in to the kind Love you shower upon me.

You have taken every precaution to help me grow into the healthy little man I am today – even though it resulted in great sacrifices including missing your Stevie Nicks concert, less ‘Journey performances’ on the dance floor and a shift in your social life to accommodate more ‘growing time’ for me.

I look around my room and see your love expressed in so many ways. You have devoted so much energy into creating the perfect nest for me. How did you know that I would share the same nautical taste as my Daddy? And watch out ladies - my wardrobe is out of this world!

Your tender love for me in the past week and a half has made me realize that I am truly the luckiest little man. You have shown amazing patience as I figure out life beyond the womb. You have been there to comfort me with a warm kiss, embrace, and smile when my patience wears thin. Thank you!

I know we were meant to be together. I look forward to growing with you, bonding with you and for you to show me how to get along in this world…

I LOVE YOU MOM!

~Raleigh

P.S. Dad - Thank you for helping me write this.

True Love

2011-05-04T23:46:00.000-07:00

As I sit down at the computer for the first time since last Wednesday, tears of joy and happiness stream down my face. I look down to see my sweet boy staring up at me with his gorgeous eyes and big pursed lips. I collect my thoughts and try to put my emotions to words.

Last Wednesday, Steve and I dreamt about the changes and wonderful things that the following day would bring - we had no idea about the love that was about to enter our lives.

You can't truly imagine what parenthood is like until it happens to you and last Thursday evening all of those imaginations became reality and it was the greatest feeling I've ever had in my life.

Here's the story of our sweet son's arrival...
7am Thursday morning we checked in to Overlake Hospital in Bellevue for my scheduled induction (41 weeks - a week past due). Soon after arrival, I was hooked up to the heart rate monitor and contraction monitor and given an internal pill to get my contractions going. By noon, I had dilated to 2cm and was then given Pitocin to speed up the process. Around 3pm I was given an epidural for the contractions and only dilated to 4cm. Immediately after the epidural was administered our boy's heart rate dropped drastically and caused for a bit of commotion and urgency in our room. Suddenly, the Anesthesiologist, my doctor and five nurses were in our room contorting me into various positions in an attempt to stabilize his heart rate. About five minutes later his heart rate was back to normal and things were good. This scared both of us, but we knew we had to stay calm for our boy. At 7pm my doctor came back in to my room to check my progress and not much was going on. I was on track for contraction, but had only dilated to 4cm and did not seem to be progress and every time I laid directly on my back his heart rate would drop, slightly. My options were to continue as we were and see how the contractions would continue or go in for a c-section. Steve and I were concerned that a vaginal birth would cause too much stress on our boy because of the slowing heart rate so we opted for the c-section. Both of our families were already at the hospital, waiting on pins and needles for the news of the arrival of their sweet grandson and nephew.

At 8:21pm on Thursday, April 28, our lives were changed, for the better, forever and Raleigh John Rinabarger made his grand entrance at a whopping 7lbs 1oz and 19.5 inches long. This first photo is the very first look we got of our handsome boy and I've never seen anything more perfect in my life. The love that filled our hearts at that split second is indescribable. Of my 31 years of life, I can say with all of my heart that the moment I laid my eyes on my son was the greatest moment of my life.

Mr. Raleigh is now requesting that we head off to bed (at least for the next few hours), so I must sign off, but I'll post more photos very soon. A million and one thank yous for all of the love and support we've received from our friends and family. Raleigh is a lucky little man to have all of the amazing people that we have in our life now in his life.

Water for Elephants

2011-04-26T12:33:00.000-07:00

If you read that blog title a little too quickly like my dear friend Steph did, you may have thought my water broke...nope...not yet. Since my water is still in tact, we went and saw Water for Elephants last night and LOVED it! I considered leaving the theater a few times due to being extremely uncomfortable, but then was able to relax a bit after stretching out across three seats and leaning against Steve. Reese is stunning and Robert is much more handsome and grown up from the Twilight saga and both did a wonderful job. If you've read the book, like I have, you'll definitely see the parallels, but there are some differences as well.

As most pregnant women know, you get a weekly email update throughout your pregnancy on the growth of your unborn child. Well, today I received an email titled "Your Baby: 1 Week" which went on to congratulate me on the "big thrills" that I've been experiencing this past week...hmmmmmm...the only thrills I've received in the past week are some extra sharp jabs to my sides. My boy is officially 5 days late, BUT the end is near and Mr. Raleigh will be arriving on Thursday. Until then, I'm staying busy at work and running errands.

A huge THANK YOU to our friends and family for the emails, texts, Facebook messages, comments - we love hearing from you all and will keep you posted on our sons arrival.

A Little Bit of Sun...

2011-04-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

Made the people of Seattle VERY happy yesterday

I swear the sun comes out (for the first day in 2011) and people come out of hibernation and decide it's time for shorts, tanks and flip flops - not sure if that attire is necessar in 65 degree temps, but whatever makes you happy. Along with the sun, comes a lot of happy people with smiles on their faces. The sun in Seattle just has a way with the locals unlike any other city...maybe you'd have to be a local to completely understand it, but it's a great feeling. I hoped the sun might entice my son to join us, but that was not the case - he's still enjoying his carefree life nuzzled directly under my rib cage and has given me zero direction as to when he'd like to join us.

The weather made for the perfect day to have a bridal shower with friends to celebrate our dear friend Diggy's wedding. Congratulations Diggy and Ryan! We can't wait to celebrate with you at Aldberbrook in July!

Here are a few things I've had on my mind lately...usually around 4am after I've struggled to get out of bed for the 3rd time of the night to go to the bathroom and have the toughest time getting back to sleep:

My love affair with ice cream MUST come to an end sometime in the the next week.
In the last month I've become HOOKED on shows about jail..Lockup Raw being my favorite...yes, I'm weird.
Less than a week from now, I will be a mama.
I want Tina Fey to be my celebrity best friend. I bought her new book Bossypants yesterday at Costco (BTW - excellent prices on books, but you probably already knew that) and am already halfway finished - she is one amazing writer and woman.
Our yard is in complete shambles. Steve decided a week ago that our lawn wasn't quite up to par. Therefore, every night after work this week and most of the weekend has been spent on the tractor, tilling, laying a "miracle fertilizer", planting new grass seed and working on the garden...he loves this kind of stuff and I feel like I'm married to a farmer.
I've always liked a clean house, but this "baby nesting" phase has taken my cleanliness to a whole new level. I clean and do laundry every.single.day thinking that that day or the next just might be the day my baby arrives...this has been going on for a month now.

Happy "Due Date" RJR!

2011-04-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

Well, the day has arrived, and from the results of my doctors appointment this morning (1cm dilated and 20% effaced), it doesn't sound like our boy will be making his debut today. I'm assuming he's just be a bit too comfortable, which is not comfortble for his mama and is making his parents more anxious than ever. If nothing happens this weekend, I have an appointment scheduled for Monday morning and my doctor will induce next Thursday.

In honor and celebration of this day that we've been counting down for over nine months now, I made cupcakes to share with my co-workers. They all think I've completely lost my mind and don't understand what I'm still doing at work, but to be honest, I'd rather stay busy than sit around the house. I mean I can only rearrange the nursery, do laundry, vacuum and clean so many times a day.

Happy Due Date Raleigh! Your Grandparents would love for you to arrive before Easter so you can celebrate with us, but we're fine with you staying put for as long as you feel necessary.

Steve and I haven't had a photo together in months so we took one this morning before we left the house...maybe not the best idea...this photo is deceiving...we look miserable and appear to be half awake, but I promise we are the most excited we've ever been in our lives.

39 Weeks ~

2011-04-15T14:40:00.000-07:00

Here I am this morning before work. Maybe this is my last day of work for a few months, maybe not? Unless my boy decides to join us this weekend, I'll be back on Monday. Also, I've let Raleigh know that I have a birthday party to attend for my dear friend Jamie this weekend so we'll see if he holds off long enough for us to celebrate JOAT and go to the Leary Traveler one last time.

The Nashelle necklace I've been been wearing for the past few weeks (the one in this photo) was a gift from my lovely Megs. She's had the same necklace with Miles and Ava's names and birthstones on it for a while now and I've always told her how much I love it so she bought one for me! Have I ever mentioned that I have the best girlfriends in the world?

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Waiting Game...

2011-04-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

To pass the time during these final week(s) I'm staing busy and doing a bit of the following...working, going to lunch and dinner with girlfriends, shopping, cleaning and enjoying every moment with Steve as just the two of us. Everyday we find ourselves talking about the changes that are about to happen in our lives and I don't think we'll truly know how to process/embrace these changes until we're faced with them. The main thing we talk about is how we will soon be 100% responsible for another human life - we're both very independent so it's a lot to take in, but we're ready. The question now - is Raleigh ready? I had my weekly appointment this morning and he's apparently a bit too comfortable and not ready for this crazy world...yet. My next appointment is on my due date - April 21, exactly 40 weeks so we'll just wait and see what happens. My guess is that he'll arrive on April 23.

We're sort of dying to know what he's going to look like so we've gone through our old baby albums and pulled out a few photos of us as kids. As with all parents we hope he's healthy, but I also hope he's as handsome as his dad.

Full Term?!?!

2011-04-01T17:15:00.000-07:00

As of today, I'm 37 weeks pregnant...say what?? In the pregnancy world 37 weeks equals FULL TERM - wowza!

My doctor at my appointment yesterday: "So, you realize that your baby boy could potentially be arriving any day now, right?"

Me: "Ahhhhhh...Seriously?"

The thought that my boy could be arriving at any moment is a bit perplexing. I feel like we're ready, but at he same time I'm not 100% sure we're ready. Good thing we're spending TEN HOURS at the hospital this weekend attending our birthing class...I really hope we leave on Saturday afternoon chock-full of knowledge otherwise we may not be going back on Sunday...

I have zero desire to take time off before Raleigh's arrival so my plan is to work until I can't work anymore, BUT if someone offered me a trip to Palm Springs, I wouldn't refuse...if the travel were approved. The rain outside is driving me nuts and the thought of the summer sun rarely leaves my thoughts these days. My parents are going to Maui on Monday for 6 days and I wish so badly that I could join them...however, I'm not too keen on the thought of delivering in a Hawaiian hospital...no offense Hawaii.

Special Delivery

2011-03-29T16:38:00.000-07:00

A HUGE Congratulations to Megan, Ryan and Addi on the arrival of their handsome baby boy, born yesterday. I met Mr. Brady today and immediately fell in love. I mean look how flawless his sweet little face and lips are!

Brady Thomas Baumgartner

Born at 12:48pm
Weighing 8 lbs. 14 oz.
22 inches long

I remember the day Miss Addi was born (on my birthday - lucky me!) like it was yesterday and now I can't believe Megan and Ryan are the proud parents to TWO gorgeous kids. Going through our pregnancies together has been a special experience for the two of us and now that her boy is finally here and mine still has approx. 23 more days (not that I'm counting) it makes me even more anxious and excited than before for his arrival! I love that our boys are destined to be friends and grown up together. If Raleigh is half as perfect and cute as Brady, I will be one lucky mama. Congratulations Baumgartners!!

Flying By

2011-03-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

My pregnancy seems to be flying by - I really hope the last four weeks continue on this same pace. I truly feel blessed to have had such a great pregnancy, but yesterday was tough. From the moment I woke up from when I went to bed last night I just didn't feel very good (I'm thinking it was something I ate), but today is a new day and I woke up feeling like things were back to normal - thank goodness because we have a full/fun weekend ahead of us...Sounders game, dinner with friends, concert and photoshoots.

How on earth am I one month away (or less!) from becoming a mamma? I'm excited (can't wait to meet my boy and to see Steve as a dad), nervous (really hoping I don't give birth in the car like my friend Nadine) and emotional. My hope is that Steve and I are able to give our son the world and pray that we will exceed the expectations as parents that we currently have for ourselves.

Nursery Update

2011-03-24T13:24:00.000-07:00

The nursery is officially ready for our little mister...I realize he won't necessarily be utilizing the nursery for a while, but it's still fun to get everything put away and ready for his arrival. The closet on the otherhand is prepared for his 2nd birthday. I have promised Steve and those close to me that the shopping has ceased...it just took a while. Steve likes to say "so when we're living down by the river, in a tent because you've spent all of our money on our sons clothes, we'll just be thankful that he looks good, right?" At least I can say that I have a problem and I'm working to fix it.

I like to think the RC nautical flag stands for Rinabarger-Coffey, but it actually means Race Committee. The shadow box with the various letter R's are something we've been collecting from various antique stores.

I got the idea to make these adorable beeswax canvas signs from here. They're so simple! The quotes on each of the signs were taken from cards that I've give to Steve over the years and figured they were fitting for our boys room.

These bookshelves/collector's shelves can be found at Pottery Barn Kids and various other stores, but we didn't want to spend too much on them and wanted a specific color so we found plans on Ana White's site (LOVE this site for homemade projects) and built them ourselves. Very simple and cheap project. If any of you are interested in a specific dimension of shelf or color, Steve would be happy to build them for you at a reasonable price.

The shelf in this photo is just a piece of driftwood that we found out at Harstine Island. We collected about 8 pieces, brought them home, dried them out, cleaned them up and voilà we have a free shelf!

This was an Etsy find and I just had to have it - too darn perfect for the theme of the room. Ahhhh how I heart Etsy.

The bedding! After a few weeks of searching for a masculine/non-baby fabric (not easy to do), I finally found some samples at The Quilting Loft in Ballard that I loved and went online to find it cheaper. I ended up purchasing the fabric from Quilt Home and could not be more thrilled with the results. One random night out, my talented friend Kelly offered to make the bedding for us and my reply was YES PLEASE! She did such a fabulous job - thank you Kelly - we love it! The fabric I chose for the bedskirt and bumper is by Joel Dewberry (Modern Meadow - Cool Stream) - officially my favorite fabric desiner (is that what he's called?). If you're in need of a fabric, check his stuff out - his designs are gorgeous.

The baby blanket - a precious gift from Raleigh's Auntie May May (Thank You!) that I'm currently sleeping with and may have a tough time parting with to give to my son. Let me just say that it's 1 million times better than my poor, 31 year old, threadbare blanket, Idaho. Baby blankets have sure been come a long way since 1979.

Me And My Boy...Showered By My Girls

2011-03-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday was my baby shower with my girlfriends and it could not have been more perfect. Since my fabulous hostesses were both from out of town (Megs and Cabe - I can't thank you enough!! Love you two!), I offered up my house as the location, which worked out great. It forced Steve and I to do some major spring cleaning and to finish up he nursery (more on that soon). The weather was ideal, the food was excellent and the friends that were able to make it made my day perfect. As I've said many times before, I feel like the luckiest gal in the world to call these girls my dear friends. Raleigh is going to be one fortunate little guy to call all of you his aunties. Thank you all for making the trek south and spending a couple of hours with me - it means the world to me! And an extra special thanks to the friends that flew in, drove long distances and took the train to come out and celebrate with us!

All of the friends!

JOAT's red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting - Delish!

All of the pregnant Mama's! (L to R) Becki (girl), Max (twin boys), Me (boy), Megan (boy), Steph (boy), Rauh (boy), Lynne (finds out tomorrow!!), Delane (doesn't know yet), Katy (doesn't know yet).

Opening Stacie's package - mailed from Boston with 80 - $0.23 stamps

The soon-to-be Grandma's

Weekend Update

2011-03-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful weekend. Friday night was spent enjoying a delicious dinner and hanging out at my parents house celebrating Megs 26th birthday. I swear this girl doesn't age one bit and is still as gorgeous and perfect today as she's ever been.

Saturday morning we had to drop my car off at the shop and decided to head up to Seattle in Steve's Suburban, which turned out to be such a bumpy ride that I thought at one point along I-5 that the bumps might send me into labor. First stop was to check out the 2nd Saturdayz Flea Market at Magnuson Park. If you're into antiques, homemade items, etc, I'm highly recommend checking this event out. We left with a couple of great finds for the nursery.

Next stop was Second Wave in Fremont, or as Steve likes to refer to it as "his mistress." I had never been to Second Wave before and knew the instant we walked into the freezing cold warehouse why he loved it so much - nothing but used boating/marine devices from floor to ceiling. I lasted about 10 minutes before convincing him that we needed nothing. This is the store where he purchased the boat cleats for the nursery closet. Since we were so close we had to stop next at the Armchair Sailor on Westlake to see if there was anything we possibly needed for the nursery. I swear Steve knows the hours and location of every single boating supply store on the west coast. Since we were just down the street from the new LunchBox Laboratory restaurant in South Lake Union Steve decided it was a must since he's been telling me about their burgers for the past 4 years and I had never had the pleasure of enjoying one.

His favorite has always been the Dork Burger (half pork, half duck), but I opted for a Kobe beef burger. I have to say that it was pretty much one of the best burgers I've ever had - they're huge so you can save some for later. They even serve tater tots and malts! We're suckers for anyplace that serves malts. If you haven't been yet, give it a try - you'll thank me later!

After all of this running around, it was time for mama to get a massage. About 6 months ago I bought a massage off of Groupon for Lemon Drop Skin Care & Massage in Kent. I had never heard of it, but read great reviews and couldn't pass on a one-hour massage for $30. Best massage I've ever had - I'll definitely be going back.

Saturday night and all day Sunday were spent doing some major spring cleaning and preparing for our house guests this coming weekend - The Reynolds! Steve also built a book shelf and a shelf out of driftwood for the nursery that I'll post later this week. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I'm hoping this week flys by because I can hardly wait for my girlfriends baby shower this coming Saturday (and Marge Madness) and for all of my girls that are flying in to town!!

Side note: I'm currently loving the band Foster the People and looking forward to their show at the High Dive in a couple of weeks. If you haven't heard of them, check them out.

Showered with Love

2011-03-09T13:10:00.000-08:00

Two weekends ago my aunt Kathleen and one of my mom's closest friends, Sheila, hosted a baby shower for Raleigh and I at my aunt's house with all of my aunts and my mom's girlfriends. There were about 18 women that attended and absolutely spoiled my baby boy and I with so much love and fabulous gifts. I've always told my parents how fortunate my sister and I are that we were raised among their incredible group of friends, but it's times like this when everyone comes together that you truly see how special of a bond this relationship is - thank you to everyone that was able to attend!

This past weekend was my shower with twenty of my mother-in-laws friends and Steve's aunts, hosted by the fabulous Alison and Carol Becker, but unfortunately I don't think any photos were taken. Just as my sister and I have been so fortunate being raised around such a wonderful "village" of our parents friends, Steve and his brother Scott have had the exact same relationship with their parents friends. The similarities between my parents friends and Mike & Mo's friends is pretty remarkable. My cup (and Raleigh's) overfloweth. Thank you for already spoiling my boy with love.

Raleigh's Future Living Quarters

2011-03-06T19:05:00.000-08:00

Over the past couple of months, we've slowly but surely been putting bits and pieces together in the nursery. And even though we're not finished, I decided it was time to share. Being that Steve is a sailor, the only theme we really could go with was nautical. When we first started the project I said "let's not go overboard with the theme" and I'm happy to say that I'm really impressed with where the design has gone and the ideas that Steve has come up with.

We purchased this window pane at an antique store almost two years for about $15 and knew we would find something creative to do with it - well, two years later we did! Steve (very carefully) removed the glass and then had three mirrors cut to size at McLendon's Hardware and sealed them in with an epoxy. Total cost = $22. The antique glass fishing nets floats were purchased at various antique shops for about $3 each.

Steve ordered this wooden sailboat mobile about three years ago after finding it on clearance for half off on an online sailing supply store that was going out of business. Being that he purchases just about anything sailboat related with the intention of eventually using it somewhere, he decided this was a purchase he needed for his future child.

This framed photo was a Christmas gift from my sister this year. If you look closely, you'll see that each photo is a letter and spells out Raleigh. The frame was black so Steve painted it to match the door frame and floor boards. Megs - we absolutely love this photo - thank you so much!

Here are a few more tidbits about the room...

Wall paint color: Behr Premium Plus - Little Pond
Crib: Bratt Decor (amazing hand me down from a family friend). The white of the crib didn't match the white of the dresser so Steve took it apart and painted it the same.
Dresser/Changing Table: Craiglist find for $125. Solid wood and Pottery Barn Kids cira 2005 Here's an original photo of it...
Closet: ClosetMaid Storage from Home Depot.
Furniture paint color: Rust-Oleum Universal - Satin White.
Window Valence: Pottery Barn Kids.
Dresser knobs: Anthropologie. I saw these knobs a few months ago and loved the teal, which matches the crib bedding. Bedding is currently being made by my crafty friend Kelly.
Rocker Recliner: Presley Cafe Rocker by Ashley Furnture (purchased on sale at Fred Meyer).

Upcoming projects:

Make wall shelves out of driftwood that we picked up at Harstine Island last weekend
Make a couple of bookshelves similar to these

Fingers crossed Raleigh enjoys sailing and the water as much as his Dad does otherwise we may be switching things up a bit.

Wishing I Were a Braverman

2011-03-03T12:58:00.000-08:00

Are you hooked on Parenthood, yet? If not, join the bandwagon as it is currently the best show on TV.

Don't let the title of this post confuse you...I love my family and I love the family that I married in to, but there is just something about dreaming about being a part of this fictional family that gets me really excited. Honestly, the acting/cast, the character portrayal, the family dynamics, the soundtrack, the story lines are all pretty much remarkable. It's a bit emotional - at least for this pregnant mama that has cried during the last couple of episodes, but the laughter definitely outweighs the tears. I really don't watch that much TV so I guess I'm not the best judge at determining that this is the #1 show, but I just love it! I anxiously await the start of the show each Tuesday night and get sad when the hour is up. If you aren't watching it yet, give it a shot, I can assure you that you won't be disappointed.

Loving the Celebrations

2011-03-01T22:32:00.000-08:00

February and March in the Rinabarger house calls for a lot of celebration. Today is Steve's 29th birthday and being as indecisive as I am (moreso than ever with the pregnancy), I had the toughest time deciding on what to get him. Saturday I had my first shower (more on that soon) and that night we got all dolled up and enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Barolo (Ahhhh-Mazing! make your reservation now) for our anniversary so it was time for me to get creative for his special day. Thanks to my dear friend Jenny (whose husband did this for her birthday), I was given the perfect plan - order pizza from a famous Chicago restaurant. I mean how many times do you honestly get to eat a meal that has been sent via overnight FedEx? Rare...right? So, I ordered pizza on Friday from Giodano's and it was delivered today. Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo of the meal because we were too busy savoring each bite, but to see the contents of the box below, click here. Definitely one of the best pizza's I've ever had.

The second part of his gift was four tickets to the Seattle Thunderbirds game (tonight) for birthday boy, his brother and two of his buddies. So, before they left, they enjoyed a few birthday shots from the shotski.

I've been a bit of a "nester" with the nursery lately, which means every night after work I've had Steve working on projects. Therefore, a night out with the boys was the perfect treat for him. Steve - I hope you had a blast tonight - I Love You. My night was spent catching up on Ellen, Oprah and One Born Every Minute (wowza!)

The Best is Yet to Come

2011-02-26T08:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Two Year Anniversary to the man that has made me a better woman. Two years ago today, I married my airport love, my sailor, my younger man, in the most beautiful atmosphere among our nearest and dearest family and friends.

Steve - I love with you all of my heart. I will say "I Do" to you one hundred times over today, tomorrow and forever. Thank you for continuing to fulfill every expectation that I have for you as the man of my dreams.

I Love You
Today I get to celebrate our two years of marriage AND the upcoming arrival of our baby boy at my first baby shower. No wonder I had a tough time sleeping last night, today is going to be a fabulous day!

In Love with Lush

2011-02-18T14:31:00.000-08:00

I've been obsessed with the Lush Bath Bombs for a few years, but now that I'm pregnant and enjoy a bath more than ever, I've been using them more often. The four that Santa put in my stocking this year are already gonzo - I'll definitely be buying more soon. The scents are amazing and your skin has never felt softer after you step out of the bath.

For Christmas, I also received the Lush Fair Trade Foot Lotion and LOVE it! My feet aren't too swollen (yet), but a good foot massage is always such a treat. At first thought, I assumed this was a gift just for me, but Steve has been fortunate enough to reap the benefits as well. Spearmint, peppermint and Arnica (I used this stuff on a daily basis while training for my marathon - miracle worker) are combined to make the perfectly soothing and wonderfully smelling lotion.

And finally, my newest obsession is the Lush Brazened Honey face mask, which I was introduced to by a friend at work. The mask works as a detoxifier and exfoliant and smells of the key ingredients - lime, ginger, parsley, sage, rosemary and tumeric. The exfoliant is made of crushed almond shells. If you're looking for a mask to brighten your skin and clear your pores, I highly recommend this one.

Because this is a fresh mask and must be refrigerated (zero preservatives), it is not available online, otherwise I would have linked.

Happy { Heart } Day

2011-02-14T12:52:00.000-08:00

Personally, I feel that you don't need one special day of the year to celebrate your love for someone as this should be practiced on a daily basis, but I figured I'd take today to wish my special Valentine a Happy Heart Day. Unfortunately for Mr. Rina, he has THREE holidays within the next 15 days - Valentine's, Wedding Anniversary and his birthday. Plus, with the fast approaching arrival of our boy in two months, we've got a lot to save for so gifts will not be as large as years past. Therefore, we're planning on celebrating with an extra special heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's and continued work on the nursery...which by the way, is turning out better than I ever could have imagined - all thanks to my handy husband.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!

In Awe and Deeply In Love...

2011-02-11T11:37:00.000-08:00

With pregnancy and everything that comes along with it. How on EARTH does a 3 lb. 15 inch boy (according to BabyCenter) currently reside in my belly? Everyday he moves, making himself just a bit more comfortable, but I just don't get it - science in general amazes me, but the fact that there is a life inside of me amazes me even more. I could go on and on about the questions and thoughts that race through my mind about my boy on a daily (and middle of the night) basis, but I won't bore you with those details.

Here I am this morning at 30 Weeks (in the nursery)...ummmm...most women give birth around 40 weeks...errrrrr...that's TEN.WEEKS.AWAY people! Chances are, that in less than TEN WEEKS, I will be a mamma and Steve will not only be my husband, but a father and also my baby daddy...awww that has such a sweet sound to it, right? This week, we've been anxiously working away on the nursery and furniture - we're loving the results so far and can't wait for the project to be finished.

What's in a Name?

2011-02-09T15:15:00.000-08:00

For Steve and I, we knew years ago that we'd be naming our first boy after his paternal Grandfather who was a World War II veteran and a member of the famous Black Sheep Squadron - his name was Roland "Rollie" Rinabarger. Unfortunately, I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but fell in love with the idea of naming our son after him. So, since the day we found out we were having a boy, we've referred to him by his name and every time I hear Steve say it, I get a smile on my face. We've altered the spelling a bit, but the full name of our son is...

Raleigh John Rinabarger

I took this photo when we spent the weekend out at Seabrook, two weeks ago, for my mother-in-laws birthday. I hadn't been to the WA coast in years and despite the rain absolutely loved it. This "new" town is adorable! Can't wait to go back when it's sunny out.

As you can tell, I'm a bit behind in blogging as our office is in the process of being transformed into the nursery (more to come on that) and our guest room, living room and dining room have now become our temporary storage. All in all, Life is good and I'm counting down the days until I get to meet my baby boy.

Sleeping Through the Night

2011-01-27T10:46:00.000-08:00

Because of my beloved Snoogle

Seriously...if you are an expectant mom and experiencing any sort of sleep deprivation, buy this pillow - it's a dream come true (pun intended). It's so dreamy, that it may become a permanent fixture (or blockade as Steve likes to refer to it) in our bed. I bought mine at Babies R Us, but you can also order online. Speaking of Babies R Us, we had to get some registering done and went last night at 9pm (after stopping and buying our rocker/recliner - woohoo!) and it was perfect...we were pretty much the only people in the store - made things very easy. Made me realize (once again) how lucky I am to have such an easy going husband - his only request was for a bag of microwave popcorn waiting in the car for the 15 minute drive.

Now I'm curious...in a few months when my sweet boy wakes me up in the middle of the night, will the Snoogle get me back to sleep? I sure hope so!

* A huge thank you to my mamma friend Courtney for the advice on this gem.

* Happy Birthday *

2011-01-12T21:59:00.000-08:00

To my Dad...J.Coff...Father John...John-Boy
The Best Dad and soon-to-be Best Grandpa in the World

Along with 35 of my Dad's nearest and dearest friends and family, Megs and I (with the help of some of our parents friends) threw our Dad a surprise birthday party on Saturday. For anyone that knows our Dad, they know that he is a modest man that would never want to be the center of attention especially to celebrate him. Thankfully, this surprise went off without a hitch and he was shocked when he walked through the door. The evening turned out to be perfect. Everyone that was there to celebrate with us holds a special place in my Dad's heart and I'm thankful that they were all there to celebrate this amazing guy.

Happy Birthday John-Boy...hope you enjoyed your day off today. We Love You!

Thank you to JOAT for the fabulous cupcakes and thank you to Steve for finding the half pint carton's of milk (my Dad loves milk...especially with dessert so it was only fitting to serve it with the cupcakes).

* 25 Weeks *

2011-01-06T17:59:00.000-08:00

You'd think as a photographer, that I'd take a bit more of an effort in working on my personal pregnancy photos, but I haven't...I'll work on that in the upcoming weeks. I'll also work on moving "updating my blog" further up on my priority list.

Here I am before work this morning - 25 weeks tomorrow and feeling awesome. He's definitely become quite the active guy. Highlight of the past couple of weeks was when Steve actually got to feel some of his movements - Melted.My.Heart.

I put on one of my two pairs of maternity pants for the first time on Tuesday and fell madly in love. I truly didn't "pop" until about a week ago so I've been sticking with my pants from the previous post, but these pants are a dream!

Next post might be an update on my fabulous holidays spent with friends and family, etc, but we'll see about that because after work I sometimes just prefer hanging out with my hubby, and catching up with my friends Chelsea Handler, Ellen and Oprah instead of more time in front of the computer.

A New Fad?

2010-12-16T18:06:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: I love fashion, but I'd never consider myself a fashionista...

But apparently, now that I'm into my 5th month of my pregnancy and my normal clothes are a bit snug, I'm now officialy "with the times"...at least according to the teenagers that shop at Brass Plum at Nordstroms BECAUSE as of this past weekend, I'm now an owner of three pairs of ELASTIC WAISTED JEANS! Seriously...whomever from the fashion world decided that elastic waists would be back IN could not have timed this more perfectly for me. Also, a huge thank you to my dear friend Michelle (who is not pregnant) for introducing me to these jeans. I oftentimes copy her fashion ideas and can not thank her enough for grabbing these jeans off the rack for me.

A few key words in the online description that made me smile...

Second Disclaimer (Marge - I sound like you): These jeans are not for pregnant women only as a few of my non-pregnant friends have gone out and purchased them (per Michelle's advice) and love them as much as I do. Check them out here...rumor has it they're currently on sale.

Holiday Season is in Full Swing

2010-12-09T22:26:00.000-08:00

It's no secret, I LOVE Christmas and everything about it...actually I take that back...the one thing I don't love is the Christmas Shoes song. If the options in a game of "Would you Rather" were to listen to Christmas Shoes on repeat OR listen to nails on chalkboard for an hour - I'd pick the latter. Is that mean to say I don't like a Chistmas song? Hopefully, this comment doesn't prevent Santa from showing up at my house this year. As I've mentioned before, I have my Pandora set to Christmas music, all day, everyday so it was of no surprise to me when an email appeared from Pandora today asking me to take a Christmas music survey. I thought the questions were kinda cute and figured I'd share...so here you go...(if you're bored, I'd love to see what your answers are - I've put an * next to mine)

What song would you most like to hear while being kissed under a Mistletoe?
Santa Baby
*All I Want for Christmas is You
I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
A Holly Jolly Christmas

What song would send you running out of the mall store the quickest?
Anything sung by a Muppet
*Anything sung by a Chipmunk
All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

What song is most likely to make you book tickets home for Christmas?
I'll Be Home for Christmas
Wonderful Christmastime
*It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
Orinoco Flow by Enya

Where do you most like hearing holiday music?
*At home in front of a fire
In the car
In the mall
While shopping for gifts online
Outside, Christmas tree shopping

What holiday song are you most likely to sing along to?
Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer
Frosty the Snowman
*It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Silver Bells
Hells Bells by AC/DC

Overall, holiday music makes you feel:
Jolly
*Merry
Cozy
Eggnoggy
Full of Good Cheer

After recomendations from a couple of friends, I finally make the trek out to Trader Joes in Kirkland (Higher-ups of TJ's: if you're reading this, PLEASE bring one to Kent!!) and bought the Chewy Eggnog Cookies - honestly, the most chewy delicious-ness ever...the box needs to be taken away from me, but I think baby is really enjoying them and who steals from a baby? I also caved and bought the Milk Chocolate Salted Caramel Butter Cookies and I'll be giving those a taste test tonight...the name alone scares me, but I can't pass up a new treat.

Each year we add new ornaments to our collection from trips we've gone on throughout the year. This year we added about four different boat ornaments bought during our trip back east - any sailboat or fishing boat we come across is usually purchased. BUT the coolest ornament on our tree this year was a gift from my brother-in-laws girlfriend Chelsea - how cute and thoughtful is this??

"Ohhhhh We're Halfway There..."

2010-12-03T12:19:00.000-08:00

Woah Livin' on a prayer
Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear
Woah Livin' on a prayer- The sweet words of Bon Jovi

Today marks the official halfway point (20 weeks) of Baby Rinabarger's life in utero. So, in honor of his tiny little body and this milestone, I figured I'd post a photo of my progress. As I've said to many that ask, there isn't much to see, but here you go. Please forgive the cell phone photo quality - I was going to have Steve take a photo, but he left before I was ready this morning. As I'm typing, he's quite active right now - probably curious as to when he'll be fed lunch.

In other news, I'm proudly sporting my Cougar shirt today amongst a large group of huskies and hoping that every bit of Courgar pride, I can contribute, will help them pull out an upset victory tomorrow in Pullman.

It's a...

2010-11-29T21:38:00.000-08:00

From the very beginning, we had a strong suspicion that the bean in my belly was a boy {good parental instincts, I guess} and today those predictions were confirmed! Come April, he'll be making his debut and we could not be more excited. After taking measurements, multiple times, and looking at measurments from previous appointments, my due date is officially confirmed for April 21.(and has not changed once). Baby Boy Rinabarger appears to be growing strong and in excellent health - two statements from the technician today that gave us an overwhelming sense of happiness.

People keep telling me "let the shopping begin" but little do they know that the shopping began about 4 years ago when my obsession with childrens clothing (and just about anything involving babies) truly took off...it's a serious condition, that I will gladly take to a new level with my boy. I think it's time to invest in a larger "bin" for all of my finds.

November "Arctic Blast"

2010-11-23T19:24:00.000-08:00

Ever since I can remember, the local news has gone to town with their extreme winter weather coverage. I believe yesterdays storm has been referred to as Arctic Blast 2010 so that's what I'll call it. Friends across the country laugh at our inability to maintain any sort of normalcy during one of these "freak" winter storms. It's almost like the people and the city of Seattle can NEVER quite be prepared for yet another crazy/sudden storm. Yesterday,I had a brief flashback to past winter commutes home so I left work at 1:30 and was home faster than normal. I finished my work day from my home office and worked from home again today. I have a feeling we're going to be in for a long, cold winter...maybe by the time the next storm hits the city will be a bit more prepared - ah probably not. As I write, it's currently 14 degrees out and only twenty days about it was 74 degrees.

Here are a few of my photos re-capping my past 24 hours.

The sunrise this morning

Sunset out our backyard

Hope everyone enjoyed their snow day and weren't one of the thousands stranded on I-5 for 5 hours last night.

* Random Ramblings *

2010-11-21T21:25:00.000-08:00

I caved...I listened to Christmas music almost the entire weekend while I was in the car, which was a large part of my weekend with my day trip adventure down to Longview on Saturday. I couldn't resist - I whistled, I sang, I smiled - it made me happy and I realized that I could no longer deny myself something that was going to keep me entertained during my alone time in the car.

During my roadtrip, I passed a restaurant with a sign just like this one (I didn't stop to take a photo so I borrowed one from the googles)...

WHAT ON EARTH WOULD MAKE YOU THINK THAT $1 CHINESE FOOD WAS ACCEPTABLE??

Nothing about a $1 Chinese meal sounds good to me. My stomach hurt just at the thought of what might be included.

Have you tried the Limited Edition Haagan-Daz Peppermint Bark ice cream?

OH.MY.G

If you haven't, PLEASE buy some tonight for dessert - you'll thank me later. P.S. It's only available until January.

Too Early...

2010-11-15T12:27:00.000-08:00

For Christmas Music???

In my option, YES! It's way too early! Have people forgotten that we have another holiday to get through...otherwise known as Thanksgiving...BEFORE Christmas, which is still 40 days away? This past Friday, two of my twelve preset stations in my car started their Christmas coverage. I start my "continuous holiday favorites" playlists the day after Thanksgiving...Pandora at work, 106.9 and 95.7 in the car and Comcast 'Sounds of the Season' at home. I've got it down, but I'm not ready...just yet. So, for the time being, I'll cringe each time I scan through my preset stations and end up hearing one second of my favorite Carpenters or Johnny Mathis tune...or maybe it's just time I learn how to use my cd player.

In other news, our little RinaCoffeyBean is healthy AND two weeks from today we find out if our babe is a boy or a girl!

Halloween Weekend in Bend

2010-11-02T22:43:00.000-07:00

Friday night I flew down to Bend to spend the weekend with Megs, Galen, Ava and Miles. As always, the trip was perfection. We took a bunch of photos, wrestled/begged/bribed Miles to smile in a family photo, relaxed, talked about my babe, watched (some pretty horrible) football, shopped, watched as my friends drank Deschutes Jubelale (favorite seasonal beer) while I enjoyed water and capped off the weekend with dinner and trick-or-treating with the Vigelands. Only thing missing was Steve as he opted to stay in Seattle to celebrate Halloween...and boy did he get into character...shaved off his beard and his hair to play the part of Popeye...I'm anxiously awaiting for his hair to grow back (fingers crossed that the hair isn't gone for good).

Ole dressed up as turkey leftovers

Weekend Update...

2010-10-26T22:05:00.000-07:00

...with Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers

I wish my weekend involved Amy and Seth...in fact, if I could choose 10 celebrity best friends, these two would definitely be on that list.

Despite the fact that Amy and Seth will most likely never play a roll in my weekend, I had an excellent weekend. Saturday night was spent celebrating Court and my birthdays at the back bar at Bastille in Ballard - if you've never been, go now...or for your next date night or girls night. The food is delicious and the ambiance perfect. The night was spent with a few of my favorite girls - Court, Rothie, Delane, Jamie, Ruthie, Cabe, Michelle and Crystal. Dinner, drinks and catching up with these girls was the perfect wrap-up to my birthday celebrations.

Saturday morning I had a photoshoot, ran errands and saw a movie with Steve...errrrr...Jackass 3D. I'm not gonna lie, it wasn't the most thought provoking, inspiring or educational movie ever, but it was pretty darn funny.

Sunday we went to our first Hawks game of the year and had a great time...mainly because of the win, but also because we got to spend some time with our friends Lynne and Joey and ran into a bunch of other people we knew from college. Thank you Marge for the find on the undercovered seats! The rain on Sunday was the type of weather that I think out-of-towners believe to be the typical "Seattle weather." Thankfully, our seats were undercover, but the walk back to King St. Station was WET - torrential downpour kind of wet, but it was all worth it to see our team clench the top spot in the NFC West.

A favorite game to play during the game is "Where's Marge?" Marge works for the Hawks, therefore, she's at every.single.home.game - always to the stadium bright and early and always dressed to the nines. She is usually in the same spot, so finding her isn't too difficult, but this time we had our 300mm zoom lens so we had to take of pic of her in action.

Musical Trifecta

2010-10-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

Most everyone knows that Seattle is a hot spot for musical talent and venues. And after living in Seattle for years, I finally had the chance to check out the famous Crocodile and see three spectacular bands perform, last night for the Seattle Heineken City Arts Festival (10/20 - 10/23). A huge thanks to my sister Megs and her boyfriend Branden for letting Jamie and I weasel our way up to the front row.

First up was Lucy Schwartz. Her sound is a bit old soul/low-key/jazzy-pop combined with drums, harmonica, piano, guitar and percussion. She has a beautifully unique voice and puts on a crowd pleasing perfomance. Next time she's in the area, I'll definitely be back to see her.

After Lucy's trio performed, the hottest band to come out of Seattle, in most recent memory, The Head And the Heart, put on an awesome performance. If I were an A&R manager for a record label {dream job!}, I'd sign this band in two seconds...seriously...mark my words...they're gonna be big. They opened for Vampire Weekend a few weeks ago at the Paramount! They remind me a lot of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. Check out Jamie's post from a few weeks ago on this newfound musical love here.

Next up were the shows headliners, The Weepies. The singer-songwriter/husband-wife duo put on a great mellow folk style show. The cheery lyrics, acoustic guitars and tambourines made for some fun audience interaction. Unfortunately, as the night went on, and after 3 hours of standing, this pregnant mama and Jamie called it quits mid-way through their set and I missed my favorite song by them, World Spins Madly On (check it out here).

BUT on the plus side of an early departure, as we walked out of the Crocodile, we crossed paths with this musical icon as he stood amongst the normal folk, enjoyed the same awesome tunes as us.

{ New Scent }

2010-10-21T17:26:00.000-07:00

For my birthday this week, my co-worker Justin bought me a new perfume that I had never smelled before - Gucci Guilty - which just came out last month. One spray of this Guilty pleasure (pun intended) and I was hooked on a new scent. Gucci Guilty has notes of mandarin, peach, pink pepper, geranium, lilac, patchouli and amber (ideal scent for fall and winter)...no, I didn't sniff out those notes out myself, I got that from a bit of googling.

When it comes to perfumes, I'm usually a one or two scent kinda gal, but the perfumes I've most recently purchased and will have around for quite some time are as follows:

1. Bvlgari - Amethyst
2. Carolina Herrera - Carolina
3. Nanette Lepore -
4. Versace - Versus
5. Calvin Klein - Euphoria
6. Thierry Mugler - Alien

* If you're looking for a scent to add to your Christmas list, I would highly recommend Gucci Guilty.

* 31

2010-10-18T21:26:00.000-07:00

Turning 31 yesterday was better than I ever could have imagined...

I originally looked at 31 as the 10 year anniversary of my 21-run and then felt really old when I thought about the difference between 21 to 31 being the same as 11 to 21...have I lost you yet? And now I'm 31 and my husband is 28! Age ain't nothin' but a number, right? In my 31st year, I'll be celebrating a lot, but most importantly the arrival of my first child. I used to think (maybe around 12 years old) that I'd be married no later than 25 and probably have 2 or 3 kids by 30...boy have times changed. The thing is, I'm perfectly content with how my cards have been played and can honestly say that I'm now counting down the days until my 32nd birthday when I can celebrate with my 6 month old.

I was completely spoiled rotten this weekend by my adorable husband...a new lens for my new camera, massage at a spa downtown, dinner at the Space Needle, a night at the Edgewater Hotel, shopping, coffee and flowers at Pike Place, brunch with my in-laws, relaxing at Carkeek Park and dinner with my family. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to my loving family and friends for the sweet messages over the weekend - I feel so blessed and fortunate to have each of you playing a special part in my life.

Me and my birthday twin - Miss Addi - at her 3rd birthday party Saturday morning. I love her wavy hair, huge smile and dimples. She'll most likely be taller than me by her 5th birthday.

My handsome man

Our room at the Edgewater

View from dinner

Complete relaxation - perfect end to the perfect day

Sunday morning sunrise, looking west from our room

Carkeek Park

Huge shout out to the Sun Gods for providing the most picture perfect fall back-drop for my already ideal weekend.

Flash back...me...31 years ago with my parents at Evergreen Hospital...I think my mom might be clenching her teeth wondering what she's gotten herself into.

Favorite Eastern Washington Town...

2010-10-15T10:23:00.000-07:00

Once again...Pullman did not disappoint

Everything about the weekend was perfect...the drive over, the RV tailgating lot, the good friends, the new friends we made, a not too shabby showing by the Cougs, Sellas, new crimson and gray attire, Cougar Gold cheese, the Coug, Valhalla, the view from atop the library, the completely renovated CUB, walking along the mall, the leaves, the smell of the Palouse air...ahhhhh I love this place and am so happy that we finally made a trip back. I may have even enjoyed Pullman a bit more than usual considering I was sober for the entire weekend...Steve made up for my soberness.

Of course we had to pick up some gear for our future Cougar

You know you're old, when you'd rather stay in on a Friday night to play your favorite game than go to the bars

Marge, Searight and me walking into the game

The highlight of the game - at one point we were BEATING the #3 team in the country!

Steve may have been the most popular fan at the game with his partially homemade Incredible Hulk hand

Marge and Jeremy

In honor of one of the best Cougs of all time and my second cousins husband, Drew Bledsoe, Steve had to sport his jersey

Valhalla with Steve James and Scott - so fun to see some of my old co-workers from the bar

Searight and Jeff

Pretty sure this photo was taken right after Steve had repeated the same story to Eric and Jumbo for the 50th time...ahhh the things you realize when you're the only sober one around

The mall on a Sunday morning

The newly renovated Martin Stadium

Dupus Boomers - the new full service restaurant and bar with 40 beers on tap at the CUB...apparently this is the new place to study

Heading home...

Need I say more?

Thank you Pullman for another successfull weekend...hopefully the next time we're back, the football team will be just a bit better

* and then there were three *

2010-10-11T22:56:00.000-07:00

After months of keeping the biggest secret of our lives, mostly private, we've decided it's time to share...

We're Having a Baby!

And feel completely overjoyed about this next adventure of our lives. When I think back to the day I took the pregnancy test and we saw the word 'Pregnant,' I immediately began to think about how our world was only going to improve from here on out. The two of us cherish and love our time together and now eagerly await for the day {sometime in mid April} that we can share our love with our baby.

I've dreamed about becoming a mom for most of my adult life and since falling in love with Steve, I have dreamed about having children with him. It's simple...I LOVE children...my friends children, my cousins children, strangers children, I love them all. And now looking at the ultrasounds and seeing this tiny little RinaCoffeybean growing inside of me, I get a smile on my face at the thought of loving my own as much as I love all of these other children.

* The fortune on the ultrasound was one that Steve brought home from dinner, two months before we got pregnant. I kept it...in hopes that out of all the fortunes in the world of promising wealth and luck, that this one fortune (in the way we had deciphered the meaning) would come true for us...and it did.

Road Trip!

2010-10-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow afternoon, we'll be leaving work early and heading to Pullman for Homecoming - first time back in three years!! I would prefer my Pullman fix to happen more often, but I'll take what I can get. We're loading up the Cougar trailer, for it's maiden voyage, and heading off for the beautiful wheat fields of the Palouse. I think most WSU alumni will agree with me when I say that the feeling of going back to Pullman is so incredibly nostalgic that it brings a smile to my face - there's just something about the fresh air and scenary in Pullman that make me happy.

These two will fabulous Cougs (Jeremy and Marge) will be driving over and bunking up with us in the RinaCamper.

This is the last time we were in Pullman together...as the photo illustrates it was slightly ridiculous as Steve ended up in bed at Sigma Nu's around 5pm.

Here are a few of the MUST DO items on our list of things we will accomplish while in Pullman...is it weird that most involve eating?

• Eat at Sellas...duh
• Eat at Cougar Country
• Get Daily Grind
• Tailgate
• Attempt to enjoy a Cougar football game
• Go to Valhalla and the Coug
• Check out the new CUB
• Buy Cougar paraphernalia
• Take photos of the beautiful Eastern WA fall foliage

* East Coast Adventure *

2010-09-23T22:57:00.000-07:00

SEA → BOS

Kennebunkport, ME → Cape Elizabeth, ME → Portland, ME

Portsmouth, NH → Newburyport, MA → Waltham, MA → Marshfield, MA → Downtown Boston

The points of this trip were to visit a new place {Maine}, play at the beach with our dear friends the Mullins and celebrate Stacie's birthday. We covered a lot of ground and accomplished more than we had planned, which to us meant a successful trip.

I have always wanted to visit Kennebunkport...not because it's home to the Bush family compound, but because it's such an adorable New England beach town. We stayed one night at the cutest bed and breakfast - the Captain Fairfield Inn - and, despite the lack of sleep from the red-eye, forced ourselves to keep truckin'. A brief snooze in the car definitely helped.

After exploring quite a bit of the Maine coastline and all of the New Hampshire coast, we anxiously headed south to Waltham, Mass (25 mins outside Boston) to see the Mullins. We enjoyed catching up, eating a delicious Italian meal and getting a great nights sleep in their beautifully remodeled basement. Saturday morning we drove 45 minutes to Kevin's family beach house in Marshfield. Ever since our first time to Marshfield 3 years ago, this place hold a special place in our heart - it's the picturesque New England beach town with a whole lotta love. We walked the beach, hung out with Stacie's grandpa and mom and Kevin's parents, played a few rounds of Rummikub (my new favorite game) while the boys went boating, ate, drank, watched flight patterns (maybe that was just me), shopped and breathed in every bit of ocean air that our lungs could handle. On Sunday, we celebrated Stacie's birthday at the beach with a BBQ, cake and ice cream and then headed back to Waltham to watch the Patriots game and be lazy.

On Monday, Kev dropped us off at Quincy Market and we ventured through the historical streets of Boston - we have our favorite spots from past trips, but on this trip decided to do something new and ride the Ducks. So happy we did this as we got a chance to see the city from the Charles River and learn more about the history of this amazing town. We also did part of the Freedom Trail, Fanuil Hall, saw Paul Revere's house, ate lunch in Little Italy, enjoyed a treat from the famous Mike's Pastry shop and relazed in the sun. We couldn't have asked for better weather on our last day touring around the city - blue sky and 75 degrees.

Until next time...thank you Kevin and Stacie for the wonderful weekend. And thank you New England for another successful adventure.

* A Favorite *

2010-09-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

Check out a few more photos of this gorgeous couple over at my {temporarily abandoned} photography site. I promise the weddings and other shoots I've been working on will be added soon.

Dusty and Gina - Engagement Session - Bozeman, MT

* Big Sky Country

2010-09-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

Is nothing less than perfect

I can't say enough wonderful things about this perfect hidden part of the country. I feel like people have no idea how amazing Montana is...espcially those that laughed and asked twice why I was flying to Bozeman to spend my Labor Day weekend. The people, the scenary, the fresh air, no traffic...the list goes on. I spent the weekend with Nick, Jenny, Maddy and Taylor in their brand new, BEAUTIFUL house and enjoyed my best trip to Bozeman yet. Steve and I already have out trip planned for next Summer at the end of July.

We tailgated at the Bobcats game, BBQ'ed with friends, snuggled with the babies, celebrated Maddy's 2nd birthday, drove up to Big Sky, ate Hawaiian shaved ice, did 3 photoshoots (and booked a wedding), basked in the sun while playing in the backyard with the kids, got pedicures and relaxed.

Here's a photo recap of my five-day getaway from reality...

The Weedin Family

Bobcats are definitely not fans of the Univesity of Montana Grizzlies

The littlest and cutest Bobcat fans - Maddy, Brady and Livvy

Jenny and I were shocked to see that Randy Johnson's son played for the opposing tream. I mean, these two have an uncanny resemblance, right?

Note to Cougar fans...I was only 'acting' as a Bobcat fan in MT. And this upcoming weekend when the Cougs play the Bobcats in Pullman, I hope we kick their butts...as it sadly may be our only win of the season.

The spectacular view of the Bridger Mtns from my room at the Johnson's

Miss Taylor

This RV most likely belongs to some distant relatives of mine

Random Ramblings Part II

2010-09-09T15:23:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, in a previous life, I worked in Hollywood for four years. What some of you may or my not know is that I once had the ~~honor~~ task of walking the legendary James Brown, his wife and business partners down the red carpet at the Grammy Awards. I hoped and prayed I would end up with Gwen Stefani or The Killers, but someone else beat me to them. Sort of like the time I could have wound up with Leo, but instead ended up with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and received an earful from her - that's another story. Back to the Godfather of Soul...the day after the Grammy's this photo was posted in all of the trades. I guess you can tell by the excitement, or lack thereof, in my face that I wasn't thrilled with my assigned job.

Do you ever go grocery and decide you can't wait until you get home before diving into whatever it is you've just purchased? If not, sounds like you have self-control. If so, you're in my boat. This problem for me most commonly occurs after a trip to Whole Foods with items like dried mango, almonds, popcorn, pumpkin seeds...I need to pay closer attention to the road and forget the snacks. Lesson learned - groceries belong in the trunk, out of arms reach.

Have you heard of or tried the new Pinnacle Whipped Cream Vodka? I learned about it this past weekend during the Montana State tailgate - deeelish! Think about the endless opportunities of tasty beverages that could be created with this treat...orange juice, rootbeer, etc. Apparently, there was also a Cotton Candy flavor made by Pinnacle, but the alcohol officials felt that it was targeted to appeal to children.

It's that time again...

2010-09-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

via

For my annual trip to Bozeman, MT...well, it's only my 2nd year in a row, but still I'm planning on making this an annual tradition for many, many years. This year I'll be staying with Bozeman's newest residents, the Johnson family, in their brand new home - they just moved two weeks ago and I'm sure Jenny already has the house beautifully decorated (no pressure Jen - ha!). Just like last year, Steve (unfortunately) won't be joining me, but instead he'll be enjoying the drunken debauchery at the Gorge for Dave Matthews. Mark my words - he will be joining me next summer.

I can't wait to BBQ with the Weedin family, play with all of the kiddos (Maddy, Taylor, Brady and Olivia), hike Hyalite Canyon, celebrate Maddy's 2nd birthday, relax and enjoy the beautiful Montana landscape.

:: Congratulations ::

2010-08-31T10:05:00.000-07:00

To my friends - Lauren and Rich on the arrival of their baby boy, Brayden on August 18 - he's perfect! This past week I got a chance to meet him and take a few photos. As most of you know, older brother Tristan has always been absolutely darling and now baby boy #2 is just as cute. Just like his mamma, Brayden has the most perfect lips. Is it bad to be jealous of a 2 week old baby boys lips?

Flashback...12 Years Ago

2010-08-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

So, last weekend while we were driving Steve goes "do you realize that the freshman class starting at WSU this week was starting kindergarten when you started college?" After a brief lapse of hyperventilation and doing the math five times over in my head, I realized he was right.

Next thought...

Damn I'm Old

Therefore, in memory of this TWELVE year reunion and my first few months in Pullman, I dug DEEP into the photo archives. Nope, not through the Snapfish or Kodak Gallery archives, instead through the Bartells, Rite-Aid and ShopKo photo sleeves.

Bid Day...the day I joined Pi Phi's and the day I met girls that I will be friends with forever

The Pi Phi house

My girlfriends from the dorm before I moved into the sorority 2nd semester/freshman year.

Gangster Night - duh

Grout, me and Max - I'm guessing this was for the Studio 54 party

Skiing at Schweitzer with Grout, Lo, Max and a few of the ATO boys

And to reminisce just a bit more, here are a few things that were different about our lives TWELVE years ago...
- Internet/email was rare.
- Burning cd's was brand new and one of the coolest things to hit Greek row.
- Cell phones/texting were non-existent. I thank God that we didn't have texting or phones as I know for a fact I'd probably be locked up in a loony bin. BUT I was just a bit cooler (or nerdier - depending on how you want to look at it) than the rest with my pager.
- Blue eye-shadow and white eye-liner were very popular.
- Hmmmmm were fat faces in??? Or was that just the way a handful of us started off in college?

Friends of Fitch 13

2010-08-24T15:50:00.000-07:00

Was held (for the 2nd year) in a giant field, this past weekend, in Port Gamble. For the past 13 years, my cousins, Matt and Mike, have hosted this camping trip for their college friends, highschool friends and family. Despite the fact I've only attended the last four camp-outs I think I'm still the favorite cousin...actually, I take that back, Steve definitely surpassed me this year as the favorite. Megs is not the favorite since she missed FOF for the Lady Gaga concert...not sure if they'll ever let her live that down.

The weekend was a blast, but thank goodness for the trusty RinaCamper keeping us sheltered from the pouring rain Saturday night. One of the reasons Steve is such a good man is that he knows as long as I'm comfortable, the happier I'll be. All I need is a hot shower (propane Coleman shower - check), comfy bed (memory foam and down comforter - check) and warmth on a 45 degree night (propane heater - check). We drove out on Friday night and returned mid-Sunday...stopping on the way home at our favorite antique shop in town and Matt and Lisa's new house in Indianola. The weekend consisted of the meeting our newest relative baby Olivia (Matt and Lisa's daughter), playing with baby Paul, the annual game of sloshball, campfires, mid-morning bloody marys, flip cup tournaments, and catching up with friends we hadn't seen since FOF '09. And since we didn't have quite enough time with Mike and Shannon - they brought over fresh dungeness crab (which my uncle caught on Saturday) and spent the night at our house on Sunday.

The highlight of the weekend for Steve - the ultimate gift from our friend Brenda...a REAL Seafair Pirate hat - no joke, I thought he was going to shed a tear when Brenda told him the story behind it and told him he could keep it. Throughout the weekend, the hat only came off when he went to bed...errrr passed out.

Current Favorite Snack..

2010-08-18T16:09:00.000-07:00

popchips

have you tried them yet??

if not, pick up a bag or 3 like I did

Popchips are an all-natural chip like you've never experienced before. They're not fried (unhealthy) or baked (killer stomach ache). The creators of popchips take the whole potatoe, apply heat, pressure, and pop - it's a chip. Chips have always been a downfall for me...ever since I started snacking (eating a bag of this or that) after school in jr. high while watching the Rosie show...but I've digressed. Popchips uses a blend of natural seasonings (I'm a huge fan of just about anything seasoned) for a snack so tasty, crispy and dip-able, you won't even notice it's healthier. And we're always looking for healthier snacks, right?

And I can't do a snack post without going back to a previous post regarding the ridiculously noisy SunChips bag...check out this video done by the Wall Street Journal today {thanks for the tip Al!}. So, apparently, I'm not the only crazy one with sensitive ears that could probably sue for hearing loss.

A Weekend of Seattle Firsts

2010-08-16T23:55:00.000-07:00

Friday night I went boating on Lake Washington for the FIRST time this summer with Steve and his college friends. When Steve had his boat moored on Lake Union we'd head out a couple of times a week, but now that the boat is out of the water and we live a bit further south I don't get out nearly enough. After boating I met up with Jamie for my FIRST experience of Franks near U-Village. For Christmas this year, Megs and I bought P and J a gift certificate to Franks (per Jamie's advice) and they loved it, so it was only fitting that I test out a restaurant that I had purchased a gift certificate for. We had a great evening sitting outside enjoying Processco, great conversation and a delicious meal.

Saturday morning I had a shoot at Parsons Garden on Queen Anne and this trip to the park was another FIRST for me. If you've never been to Parsons Garden, I highly recommend it. Beautiful grounds and a spectacular view of Puget Sound and Downtown. Later that afternoon, I had another shoot in Bellevue and then was off to Jamie's house to get ready for dinner and Brooke's birthday party. Cheryl met up with us and the three of us enjoyed an amazing dinner at Ravish (another FIRST) on Eastlake. LOVED the ambiance, decor, food (salmon sliders, pigs in a blanket, flank steak satay skewers), cocktails, waitstaff and location. If you're on Eastlake and feel like you've enjoyed one-too-many okay meals at Eastlake Bar and Grill and are in search of an excellent restaurant, be sure to check out Ravish, I promise you will not be disappointed

After dinner we went to Black Bottle for Brooke's 30th and you guessed it...this was my FIRST TIME to Black Bottle {Lesson learned, I need to get out more and experience new places in Seattle}. Brooke's boyfriend Andy, hosted the perfect party. Despite the no A/C in the private room, we had a great time celebrating with Brooke.

Months and months ago I bought the last two banana cards I could find and stashed them away for Brooke and Jackie's birthdays so we could relive Avery's laugh.until.we.cried.peed birthday card experience...this card will never get old.

While I was out enjoying a night on the town with the girls, Steve was at his 10 year highschool reunion at Pyramid...sometimes he makes me feel so old...but no matter what I still adore.

PS...currently on repeat...Ryan Adams 'Two' and Alice In Chains 'Nutshell'

There's a secret in Bellevue...

2010-08-13T09:50:00.000-07:00

And I'm not sure if I want to share, but I'd feel a bit selfish if I didn't.

A brand new hot yoga studio { Hot Yoga, Inc. } has arrived in downtown Bellevue

If you grew tired of the horrible smell and cramped quarters at 'the other' hot yoga studio in Bellevue (like I did...errrrrr 2 years ago), then you're in luck! I did the power hot yoga class with Cheryl last night and LOVED it. I'm not gonna lie, it kicked my ass, but felt oh-so-good once we were finished. Cheryl and I considered indulging in frozen mojitos, as we did last Thursday (the nice weather screams happy hour), but quickly decided a work-out was a better idea. Unfortunately, I had left my gym bag at home, which meant racing after work to TJ Maxx and Target to buy a towel, mat, yoga pants, shirt and sports bra. Perfect - an entirely new wardrobe for my first day back! The instructor and studio were awesome. I purchased the 10 sessions for $10 so I'll definitely be back...maybe tomorrow with the master yogi, Marge.