Time is Flying!

This past Friday (March 25) marked 11 weeks in the pregnancy - only 29 to go!  While that may seem like a lot of time left I feel that it will go by in a hurry.  We're trying to enjoy every moment of this experience, which has been made a bit easier to do with the prescription my doctor gave me for morning sickness!  :)

While there still isn't much to see, I thought we'd start the "baby bump" pictures so we can see our little one growing.  Below is a picture taken at 11 weeks. 

At 20 weeks we can find out what we are having and we are oh so excited!  Of course Justin wants a boy; someone he can take to gun shows and hopefully one day see him off to the Naval Academy and I want a girl, someone I can doll up with bows, pink, and tutus.  Above all we're praying for a healthy baby, all else will just be icing on the cake. 

Justin and I frequently stop by a local baby store in Monterey called "Sweet Child of Mine".  On our most recent trip I ran across the most adorable pink dress that I knew our little girl would just look precious in - to not jinx what we are having one way or the other I had Justin pick out a boys outfit, a sweet navy blue and white romper. 

We are absolutely over the moon with excitement and cannot wait to welcome our little one into the world... for now we dream about that amazing moment and thank God for all of the blessings He has given us.  We can't wait to meet you "Baby K"... 199 days to go!

We Left Our Hearts in San Francisco

We totally know what Tony Bennett was talking about when he sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"....

I left my heart in San Francisco
High on a hill, it calls to me.
To be where little cable cars
Climb halfway to the stars!
The morning fog may chill the air
I don't care!
My love waits there in San Francisco
Above the blue and windy sea
When I come home to you, San Francisco,
Your golden sun will shine for me!

The energy of the city is unreal.  There is so much to do... Cable Cars, Painted Ladies, Alcatraz, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, Coit Tower, Lombard Street, Union Square, Chinatown.  The list could go on and on.  It's a friendly, colorful, and exciting city and was the exact place that I chose to take Justin to celebrate my sweet husband's 27th birthday.  Yes, his birthday was February 18 but due to his big birthday present (tickets to see "Rock of Ages"), we were forced to celebrate in March - which Justin didn't mind since it prolonged his birthday celebration. 

We intended to make the two hour drive on Friday morning so that we'd arrive in the city early and have all day to explore before the show.  The tsunami that devastated Japan, caused 7 ft waves to crash into beautiful Waikiki Beach on Oahu, and that threatened the West Coast had other plans.  After learning of the huge wave expected to touch down at 8:08am PST, we decided to wait it out at home and leave after all was clear.  We left Pebble Beach near 1pm on Friday and made it to our hotel around 3:00pm.  We stayed at the gorgeous Marine Memorial Club & Hotel on Sutter Street only a block from Union Square/Powell and two blocks from the Curran Theater where our show was.  It was perfect.  We checked in and set out to investigate the fun city.  We headed to Chinatown first where I found a great deal on beautiful pashminas and Justin enjoyed a delicious authentic egg roll.  We spent hours climbing up and down the narrow streets that were still decorated for Chinese New Year which was a couple of weeks ago. 

Next stop was Union Square where we went into a few shops before making our way back to the hotel for Happy Hour.  Happy Hour was served on the 12th floor of the hotel which the most amazing views of the city we'd ever seen. 

We ordered room service for dinner.  Ordering room service is something fun that we started in Republica de Panama when I'd visit Justin during deployment.  It has become one of our favorite parts of any vacation that we take.  Soon, we were off to see the musical "Rock of Ages" starring Constatine Maroulis from American Idol: Season Four.  It was a fantastic show about rock n' roll in the late 80's set on the Sunset Strip in LA.  The 80's music they sang included some of our favorites and we enjoyed clapping and singing along all night. 

Saturday we spent the day walking around Powell Street and Union Square, shopping, watching some of the St. Patrick's Day Parade, driving down crooked Lombard Street, visiting the World War II submarine USS Pampainto, eating lunch in Fisherman's Wharf, and topping off the "sweet" trip with a hot fudge sundae from Ghiradelli Square. 

Elle waiting for valet at our hotel



After lunch at the Fisherman's Grotto

Justin and Elle at the USS Pampanito

We had a truly wonderful weekend together and look forward to visiting again very soon!

We're Adding A Limb To Our Family Tree

Introducing the newest member to our little family.... Baby K.  We couldn't be more excited to share this special time in our lives with those we love the most.  We absolutely cannot wait to welcome our little peanut into the world in October 2011 and are thrilled to have you along for the journey, oh what a wild ride it will be! 

Justin and I found out we were expecting a precious little one on Sunday, January 30, 2011.  To share the big news with the soon-to-be-Daddy I wrapped up a tiny little Naval Academy football jersey onesie and attached a card "To Daddy, Love Navy's Littlest Fan".  We hugged, we cried, we laughed, and we instantly fell in love with this little peanut that we have yet to meet. 

Since finding out that we were expecting and sharing the news with family and friends, our days have been consumed with morning/"all day" sickness, unusual cravings, food aversions, and most recently our first ultrasound.  On March 3, 2011 we excitedly went to Dr. Alexander's office, hand in hand, absolutely thrilled to see our baby for the first time on the ultrasound machine.  Our baby is a lively one!  :)  Baby K's tiny arms and legs were kicking all over the place and the tiny heart beating at a heart rate of 160.  We heard the words we longed to hear all day "your baby looks great!"  Ahh.... OUR BABY! 

We hope that this blog will become a place that you can visit to get updates on our growing family.  Thank you for being as excited about our little one as we are.  We look forward to sharing this special time with you all.

Lots of love,
Justin, Lauren, Elle, and the little peanut :)