Babymoon in Hawaii!

Justin had a week off from school after final's and we thought that was a great opportunity to go to one of our favorite vacation destinations for a "babymoon"... a little getaway before our precious baby girl arrives!  We left for Hawaii on June 23 for 8 days of sun, fun, and relaxation.  Because we've been there before, we didn't feel the need to be typical "tourists" so instead, we visited a few places we had not been to before, went on two hikes to waterfalls, visited with Justin's friends - the Jacinto's,  and took an entire day to drive around the island, stopping at fun places and eateries.  A relaxing vacation in paradise is just what the doctor ordered.  We can't wait to take Morgan Belle there some day on a family vacation!

After arriving on the island, we headed to the hotel, unpacked, and headed across the street to Waikiki Beach.  Diamond Head is in the background.

24 week picture on Waikiki Beach, Hawaii.

Our second day we hiked Manoa Falls.  I had hiked this with my Mom in 2007 and when Justin and I were here in 2009, they were filming the TV show "Lost" at the falls so we were unable to hike to it.  We were excited to get to go on the hike during this visit though it was incredibly hot!

Dinner at one of our favorite places on the island, Dukes!

The fourth day on Oahu, we packed up our convertible and headed east on our drive around the island.  This was taken at a beautiful overlook while on our drive.

Our friends Molly and Sam, who recently were stationed in Hawaii, told us we had to have breakfast at Boots & Kimo's in Kailua.  Justin enjoyed the macadamia nut pancakes!!!

While on North Shore, we stopped at one of the famous "shrimp trucks" that line the road.  We enjoyed a delicious lunch at Romy's!

We found this great little beach last time we were in Hawaii and were lucky enough to see sea turtles sun bathing, yet again!  Such a cool sight!

At Turtle Beach on the north western side of the island.

Our favorite thing about Hawaii?  SHAVE ICE!  We enjoyed Aoki's in Haleiwa - a town known for their shave ice.  (This was only one of our two shave ice stops for the day!)

On the western side of the island, Disney is building a beautiful resort.  While it's still under construction, they invite you to visit and swim in their lagoons.  We enjoyed an evening swim in the clear waters at sunset after a day of tooling around the island in the Mustang!

Our hotel, the Sheraton Waikiki, had wonderful daily classes you could participate in.  We enjoyed making leis with wonderfully smelling plumeria and orchids.  :) 

We enjoyed breakfast and lunch on our balcony overlooking the Pacific everyday!

The ONLY time I smiled on this hike - at the beginning.  Little did I know Justin was taking me on a long, difficult hike that I was sure would put me into early labor. 

On the hike after seeing the (disappointing) waterfalls.

Justin redeeming himself after the hellish hike, we went to a Japanese Steakhouse!  :)  Justin's a proud papa - can you tell?

We had so much fun making leis at our hotel, that we did it twice! 

On our balcony during our last full day in Hawaii.

Our last night in Hawaii, we got ice cream at sat on the sand talking about our wonderful vacation and the exciting things that await us in the months to come...

Our last day in Hawaii, we spent ALL day on the beach, soaking up the sun, playing in the water, and...

catching up on reading!  Justin is reading his "Daddy Handbook" so he knows just what to do when his baby girl arrives!

25 week picture on Waikiki Beach!

Hang loose! 

We'll visit you again soon, Hawaii, we promise!  :)



Mom and Nana visit Cali!

As I mentioned in my earlier post, my Mom and Nana flew to California to be a part of the gender-reveal ultrasound.  Though that was certainly the "main event" of their visit, we had other fun things in store for them.  They arrived in San Francisco on June 14 and were ready to go exploring our new home state.  For the next eight days, we traveled, ate delicious food, and enjoyed one another's company.  Some highlights of our trip: Big Sur, Bixby Bridge, Napa Valley, 17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, the Monterey Peninsula area, San Francisco, Sausalito, and the list goes on... 

When we talked about moving clear across country to California, I asked my Nana if she'd come visit.  She does not like to fly and hadn't done so since the 70s.  She assured me that she would - thought I highly doubted it.  I swear it was like seeing a mirage when we met them at baggage claim at the SFO airport.  It was amazing.  We felt so blessed that my Mom and Nana had traveled such a long distance to come spend a week with us and to witness with us one of the most special moments in our lives - the ultrasound of our baby girl. 

While we hated to say "goodbye" to them at the end of their visit - we will hold on to the memories that we made together while they were here... and in three days we are off to Hawaii!  :) 

Hanging out with the Naval Postgrad School mascot!

At Bixby Bridge

In Big Sur

Drinkin' Buddies at a winery in Napa

At Sequoia Grove Winery in Napa

At V. Sattui in Napa

At V. Sattui

23 weeks pregnant - with new purchases for baby Morgan Belle!

Justin's first Father's Day!

With the Lone Cypress off of 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach

Nana's first s'mores!  On Pebble Beach

The 18th green at Pebble Beach

Lunch at Doris Day's in Carmel-by-the-Sea

Mom and me in San Francisco



We're having a......

BABY GIRL!

June 15th at 2:15pm was supposed to be a truly memorable day for our little family.  My Mom and Nana had flown out for the big reveal and we had been counting down till this very day, this very time that we would have the gender revealing ultrasound to tell us what we would be welcoming into our family in mid-October.... a boy.... or a girl!  That morning started out early for us all as none of us could sleep with the exciting news that awaited us.  We had breakfast, went for a walk to the beach, hung out at the beach for hours talking and fantasizing about a baby boy or a baby girl and how much we already loved this little peanut.  We all got dressed in pink and blue, placed the beautiful pink and blue cookies on a plate to take to our wonderful doctor/staff, and loaded in the car headed to the doctor's office in Monterey.

The beautiful cookies Justin and I made for the big reveal!



We are less than 5 minutes away from the doctor's office when I get a phone call on my cell that Dr. Alexander had an emergency c-section and had left the office.  Not expected to be back that day, our appointment was rescheduled for July 16th at 2:45.  My goodness, I was hysterical.  We were so close to finding out what this sweet baby was that I have been carrying around for 23 weeks only to be rescheduled for over 24 hours later.  I swear these 24 hours went by at glacier speed.  But eventually, they passed and once again we dressed in blue and pink, took some pictures, got the cookies ready for the doctor's office and hit the road headed towards Monterey. 

Our little family :)

4 generations :)

The gang - and best family anyone could ask for :)



Soon we find ourselves in the exam room, I am up on the examining table and Dr. Alexander is rubbing the ultrasound machine on my growing tummy.  He points out key features on "her" body... my Mom catches his subtlety and exclaims "HER?"  That's right, we're having a girl - a sweet baby girl we will name Morgan Belle.  We couldn't be more thrilled and absolutely cannot wait to meet her. 

The proud parents of a sweet baby girl!

4 girls :)



The rest of the day we spent fantasizing about all of the pink that would be overtaking our home and the wonderful things that we'll get to share with our baby girl.  We already love this little girl more than we ever thought was possible.  Morgan Belle, we cannot wait to meet you in October.  We are already so in love with you and cannot wait until you join our loving family.  xoxo

Croquet in the Park - 1920's style!

Our dear friends, Molly and Sam Fromille host wonderful parties.  They also tend to get a bit creative when hosting parties... most recently - a 1920s themed croquet match.  We scoured the nearest vintage shops, thrift stores, and Goodwills in search of the perfect outfits... and in true US Naval Academy vs. St. John's fashion, we all dressed up in our best 1920's attire and set out for an afternoon full of croquet, good food, and wonderful company.  Though the Monterey weather never quite cooperates with us, we still managed to have a delightful afternoon!  Justin really enjoyed playing croquet with Molly and the boys while I enjoyed talking "baby" with the rest of the girls.  What a super fun day!

Justin and me at the Croquet Match

The gang!





Elle

Snapped these shots of Elle today as she played in the backyard.  Oh we just love her to pieces.  :)

The Name Game

Justin and I named our "to-be" children way before we were even engaged.  We always knew we wanted kids and we quickly agreed on the names of our future little ones.  When we found out I was pregnant on January 30, we started talking about the names we had talked about years ago. 

We find out the gender of our sweet little peanut one week from today and we are so incredibly excited to know.  My Mom and Nana get to town on Tuesday - and then Wednesday at 2:15pm we will be anxiously awaiting the big news in Dr. Alexander's office.  We could have found out what we are having at 20 weeks but are so glad that we decided to wait until my family came in town.  Being across the country from our loved ones is difficult, especially now, so my family will be here for the big gender reveal and Justin's family will be in town for our labor and delivery tour at the hospital.  :)

So without further adieu, let me introduce to you the names we have chosen...  If we are blessed with a little boy, he will be Maximilian "Max" Franklin.  Max is a name that we both had always liked - while we know we have just given our baby boy the longest name in the history of names, Justin was set on "Maximilian" but we will always call him "Max" - and I like it too; it sounds like we are totally setting up this kid to be something super famous when he grows up.  Franklin is my family's last name and it will be incredibly special for me to honor my family by giving our child the "Franklin" name.  Justin figured we were already honoring the "Kirkpatrick" name since that will obviously be our child's last name.  If we are blessed with a little girl, she will be Morgan Belle.  Morgan is named after Morgantown, WV where Justin and I grew up and met.  Belle is a name that just kind of hit us one night and we really liked it - it honors our first little girl, Elle and Lauren's favorite childhood movie of Beauty and the Beast. 

We look forward to letting you all know which it will be here in a week!  Stay tuned!  :)

Megan Visits California!

Justin's sister, Megan, flew out to visit us in Pebble Beach!  Her first real trip to California, we had SO much to show her and were thrilled that she came out to spend some time with us pre-baby.  :)  We drove up to the airport late Wednesday night and in true California fashion, our first stop (at 12:30am) HAD to be In and Out Burger.  Megan totally enjoyed it and understood what the hype was all about after enjoying a late night snack at the famous fast food joint.

Yum!

Thursday was THE most beautiful day; the kind of day that, if you're visiting, you call back home to your work place and tell them you are never coming back.  After a day of shopping and lunch in Carmel-by-the-Sea, I thought Megan just might make that call!  It was the most perfect day and we enjoyed every second - from our delicious lunch at Portabella (for all you locals, try the roasted corn and crab bisque) to a great sale at Coach - it was simply wonderful!  After Justin got home from class we took her on a sight seeing tour of 17 Mile Drive through Pebble Beach and then hit up Monterey, grabbed a beer (well, they did) in the Trident Room at Naval Postgrad School, and then came home for a yummy dinner, prepared by Justin and Megan because I was sleeping! 

Justin and Megan at The Lone Cypress, the symbol of Pebble Beach.

The school mascot, the peacock, putting on a show for us at Herrman Hall.

Gorgeous peacock!

Friday we took Megan to Castroville to this fun little farmer's stand on the side of Hwy 1.  It's a place we've always wanted to stop; their sign promoting their fried artichokes that were featured on the Food Network.  After a yummy snack, we went and had a wonderful lunch at our favorite place on the Wharf, Abalonetti's and then came home and had a quiet evening watching movies and playing on the beach with Elle.

Megan in Castroville, the artichoke capitol of the world

Saturday unfortunately rained but it didn't dampen the fun that we had!  :)  We went to the La Mesa Yard Sale in the morning, laid around the house watching TV in the afternoon, and loved going to the movies to see Hangover 2, ice cream at Myo, and a wonderful dinner prepared by grill-master Justin!  Such a fun day! 

Sunday we showed Megan all around San Francisco, hitting up all of the major spots in town that a visitor should see.  We started in Chinatown and my favorite little pashmina boutique then Union Square, before finding out that the Cable Cars were not running that day due to maintenance!  Though a trip to San Fran is hardly complete without a ride on the famous cable cars, we made the most of it and in sticking with "public transportation" took the bus down to the Hyde Street Pier/Fisherman's Wharf.  After enjoying a delightful Ghiradelli ice cream sundae in Ghiradelli Square, took in the gorgeous views of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Pier and then hopped on the bus to Coit Tower where we rode the tiny elevator to the top and were able to see the most amazing views from high above the city.  After dinner in Union Square at Tad's we headed back to the car and took Megan to the airport.  All good things must come to an end.  We had a wonderful weekend with Megan and were so happy that she made the trip across country to visit us before Baby K arrives in October.  :)  We know we all made fun memories that we won't soon forget.

Justin, Baby K, and me at Hyde Street Pier with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

Group picture!