Mr. and Mrs.

The BIG weekend is past us now, but it was so much fun! It started on Wednesday night and lasted all the way to Monday. Two very wonderful things happened. First, our ultrasound revealed my husband and I are expecting a BOY! We are thrilled and have already begun registering at various stores. It is overwhelming, but exciting. Second, I have a new sister, Kala. She married my husband's brother and it was an honor to stand up at her wedding to celebrate their marriage and new life together.

Here are a bunch of photos from the weekend. I'll provide a link at the bottom of the photographer's site where you can find their AMAZING wedding day photos! You HAVE to check them out!

I was in charge of getting all of Kala's getting ready photos for the day as well. And later down in the blog, you will see my obsession with her wedding shoes... gorgeous!

See, they are gorgeous! As was the bride :) To see some ridiculously great shots from the wedding, head on over to Alison Lea Photography blog.

Location: Saint Cloud, MN and surrounding areas

it is a BIG weekend

Well, here we are at 19 weeks already. The time is going so so so fast. I'm feeling BIG! A lot has changed since the last picture I posted of my growing belly. I sort of actually look pregnant now instead of chubby. I've also felt the baby move and wiggle around!! I'm still feeling great, but have to remind myself every now and then that my body is working hard... I need to slow down! Here is my 19 week photo taken yesterday. Please excuse the gross-ness, but it was in the 90s and we don't have our a/c installed yet. I was hot. I found a great and comfy (most importantly) pair of shorts at Target that I think I'll be living in this summer. OH, and tomorrow is our ultrasound!! We are totally finding out the gender of this kid... as long as he or she allows us a good view! I'll be posting the good news!

Another reason this weekend is so BIG, my brother-in-law and his fiance are tying the knot on Saturday! Do you remember these guys? We are so excited to be part of this special day. Both my husband and I are in the wedding (yes, the dress fits) and we couldn't be happier!!

I love 5 day weekends!!

18 Months and Counting

Doing shoots for return clients is great especially when they have young kids. I get the chance to see them at different stages as they're growing up. I did a shoot for Grant when he turned one last fall and a couple weeks ago, we got together again for his 18-month session. He smiles more, talks more and runs way faster, but it was a lot of fun keeping up with him! I caught my breath (keep in mine that I am 4 1/2 months pregnant and totally out of breath all the time) when he sat down to read a good book. This family is great to work with... so laid back and up for anything I want to try! Love it!

Location: Mpls Sculpture Garden

Growing

Well, my ticker does not lie. I am just now 2 days past the 4 month mark and wow, time is going so fast! Our future nursery still looks like an office/clothes drying area/guestroom/anything else that doesn't fit in our tiny little place room. Four months have come and gone so fast, but it has been wonderful. I was never sick and am pretty darn proud of it... although I know it had nothing to do with me, but the way my body responded to pregnancy. I just feel fortunate. Maybe that's a better way of putting it :) Because I nag my friends to post belly bump shots, I thought it was only fair to post my own. So, here it goes...

11 weeks (disclaimer: this was taken right after dinner, so I probably thought I was showing more than I actually was... ugh... but who cares, I was excited!)

15 weeks, 3 days... kind of a weird shot, but my husband laughed at how funny my feet looked, so I thought I'd post it for you.

15 weeks, 3 days... sorry for yucky background. This outfit was my first maternity clothing purchase... Gap jeans and Old Navy shirt. Love them. I was hoping to make it to 16 weeks before going the maternity route, but comfort was calling. I like to squeeze into my normal jeans still using my trusty rubberbands connecting the button and the button hole, but that probably won't last much longer.

bG (baby Gray) is growing and there is no stopping him/her/them.

Family Vacation: Seattle, WA

My Seattle photos are finally here. Back in March, my mom, dad and my middle sister, L, took a trip out to Seattle to visit my youngest sister, T. Sister L had never been to Seattle before, so we took her all around the city showing her all the coolest places we could find and remember from our trip out last spring. It was absolutely wonderful to visit T, see her dorm room, meet some of her friends and just spend time together. The whole trip kind of reminded me of family vacations when we were lots, lots younger... sharing a bed with L and fighting over who touched whose foot first while we tried to fall asleep, T sleeping on the floor in the hotel room on a bed made of pillows and blankets, dad waking up early to go workout in the hotel gym and returning before any of were awake, and mom creating the shower schedule so we were out the door on time. The list goes on. These photos aren't necessarily anything to be proud of technically, but I guess it is more of a personal post to share the photos with my family. Have fun enjoying our vacation with us!

Upon arrival in WA, we picked up T and went straight to the 5 Spot restaurant in Queen Anne.

L enjoying some pastries at Macrina Bakery in Queen Anne. I think we went here 3 times and the same staff was working every time. They knew us.

T sipping on a vanilla latte at Macrina's. You'll notice a trend. We eat a lot on vacations.

L's first visit to the Public Market. The photo is dark, but I was trying to cross the street at the same time and not get wet, so please, no judgments on this photo...

At the market, L got picked to catch a fish. Her goal for the whole trip was to be a part of this little show the guys put on at the market and it worked out! She caught the fish!

You can't go to the market without drooling over the produce. If I lived in Seattle, it would be hard to not buy your fruits and veggies here fresh every day.

Mmmm...

We also visited the very first Starbucks store down by the market. This little band was playing outside and they were impressive. The girl was even tap dancing on that wooden board while playing and singing.

A dreary view of the market, but it was kind of rainy and cloudy that day. Thank goodness for rain boots!

Brighter days ahead! We took a walk around a grassy area known as gasworks where the views of the city are amazing.

Mom and dad on the shore at gasworks. The water homes behind them were incredible and one of them is even the house from "Sleepless in Seattle".

At gasworks, my dad still finds time to mess around.

If you ever find yourself in Seattle, you must go to Thai Tom's restaurant. It's located on the campus of the University of Washington and was the dirtiest restaurant I've ever eaten in. It was also some of the best food I've ever had. We sat at the counter about 3 feet from the hot stove where I assume Tom was creating about 7 dishes at one time. The line was out the door and the restaurant only held about 20 people. We were all stuffed, but agreed we'd go back when we're in Seattle again. And yes, that menu is on a piece of wood. Delicious.

Dad thoroughly enjoying his red curry at Thai Tom. And L being a goof.

Our hotel was pretty close to the space needle, so one night we drove by and took some shots of it. The building on the left is the musical experience museum place.

There is a certain street in Seattle that has two huge retaining walls with bright lights shooting upwards. The lights continuously change colors and there are benches for people to just sit and hang out in this park. We thought we'd take some photos of us in front of the wall. It was hard to kneel down in the rocks to get my camera perfectly ready for this picture and get the timer going, so its a bit lopsided. Oh well. Left to right, we have T, mom, dad, L and myself.

T making her own special shape.

L making her jumping move. Her favorite thing about this picture is you can still see her shoes are pointy :)

And that is the end of the vacation.

Crazy Good Things!

If you haven't noticed the ticker at the top of the page, look now! The little chick is my favorite part. Thanks to thebump.com, I was able to post a ticker on here announcing that my husband and I are expecting our very first baby! It's a bit scary and crazy, but we're so excited! So, here's a couple photos from the day I found out to the day we told our families.

First, a photo of the actual test. Trust me... it reads positive, but it was a faint line. We had it confirmed a week later at the doctor's office. I kept it a secret all day from my husband and told him later that night after work by wrapping up a onesie with airplanes on it.



A couple weeks later, we hosted a dinner for my family and my husband's family. It's not unusual for everyone to see each other, so we didn't think they'd have any idea of what we were going to tell them. My husband broke the news right before dinner and everyone jumped up and started screaming! My brother-in-law and his fiance brought a jar of baby food because they were 95% certain that was what the dinner invitation was for. How did they know?? It was a really great night full of hugs and questions. We reenacted the expressions for the camera.

Unfortunately, some of our family lives out of state, but we had to tell them the news that night. So, we logged on to Skype and told my husband's sister and her husband. I managed to snap two photos in that quick moment. One of my mother-in-law holding up the onsie to the webcam and the second of my sister-in-law's reaction.

My youngest sister goes to college in Seattle (yes, those pictures are still coming...) and she was working this night. With the time change, it was hard to connect with her, but my husband and I finally were able to call her late that night. She was on the bus riding back to campus and we asked her if she'd be interested in babysitting for us next Christmas when she's home on break. She said, "What?..... whaaaat???....." and I'm pretty sure she broke into tears. She's been on us about having a baby since our wedding day, so we know she is thrilled! We were sad to not share the exciting moment in person with those couple people, but it was good to just share the news! And that's the story. The number one thing I've been asked so far is "How are you feeling?" and the answer is... Great! I haven't been sick at all and feel very fortunate about that.

More to come in the months ahead...

A bit more C...

I'm back! Refreshed and ready for spring... if it ever comes. Anyway, here's more from the shoot with C a few weeks ago. Seattle photos to come soon!

C being very independent

Singing "Baby Beluga" in the swing to wrap up the afternoon...