I have to sit down and put my feet up out of the San Diego sun from time to time anyway, so I figured I may as well post a blog while I'm at it! We're having more and more fun each day we're out here. Yesterday (Monday) we went to the San Diego Zoo. It was amazing. We toted Nora around in the wagon the whole time...well except when She wanted to get out and push it. I was tempted to jump in and take advantage of her kindness, but thought that might look a little wrong...well, and...not...work. So I wanted to post some good zoo photos, as there are many. I think the only animal we didn't see was a giraffe. We see those at the Phoenix Zoo when we go though so that's not too big a deal. OK, here they are: One happy kid at the zoo...





We also went to the beach a bit yesterday morning and made a few good memories. So I am posting a couple pictures of that. We've been having great breakfasts at this cute place called Cafe Mono. Sooo good. They make this fresh 5 dollar breakfast wrap that we just can't get enough of, until we saw the tiny breakfast cafe on the boardwalk that had COCONUT BANANA PANCAKES with MAPLE SYRUP. Hubba Hubba. So that's where we went this morning (Pics should be posted tonight or tomorrow). Nora chose to eat sand instead. Here's yesterday morning's pics to leave you with. You'll love the shot of Nora punching my lights out. Enjoy!

Nora at the Beach

I'm sorry to everyone (if anyone) who has been expecting a blog for a long while now. I'm sure that's poor "blog etiquette." Please forgive me in my tired busy pregnant-ness...= ) Mark, Nora and I are in San Diego right now. We are on a family vacation for the first time in way too long. I haven't been to a beach in about 5 years, and I've never been to a Cali beach, so this is quite exciting to me. We are having a blast!

We arrived last night around midnight after a six hour drive with a one-year-old who doesn't approve of sleeping anywhere but in her crib. The drive was a little rough, and the parking was even worse. It took us an hour to park. Yes we have a garage in our cute little beach house, but we decided to borrow Mark's folks' minivan so we could fit all Nora's "gear" we wanted to bring, and it didn't even remotely fit in the garage. What a long night that was. Then, to make matters worse, Nora screamed probably 45 minutes after we put her down in the pack-n-play...I didn't sleep well.

But this morning we woke up to the sound of the Pacific Ocean waves and beautiful cool foggy weather (at the earliest 7AM I can remember in a while). We walked down the street to a cute little cafe with great coffee and very fresh breakfasts then strolled back on the beach. So life is good again. And later today after a good lunch, we took Nora to the beach, only about 100 feet from our cute little red front door. She had a blast. Loves sand. Cold ocean water not so much...but we did get some great photos. She was towed around like the Queen of Sheba in her red wagon, ate her first whole apple (not a fragment went to waste), hugged some poor random sleeping guy she thought was Dad, and helped build--and destroy--her first sand castle. It was great. Now she's sleeping after all her accomplishments, and we're just kicking back having a beer or gestating a fetus, depending on which one of us you are talking about. Good times.

Oh, and I'm finally 3rd trimester--28 weeks and change now. I feel like I am looking huge again already, and am rocking the contractions many times a day. Maybe this kid isn't going to wait a week after her due date like Nora. Eh...we'll see. For now, I'm just going to thing about the sand in my toes and my lovely family. How's that?
First WHOLE apple ever (sand, seeds and all)...
Queen Nora...
giving baby sister hugs....
Our cute little "red door" beach house we're renting...

Just another day in paradise...

Nora's sleeping so I'm blogging and cooking. She seems to be getting back into her two-nap schedule after a few weeks of only one a day. She was sleeping in until almost 9AM, but now she's up at 7 or 7:30 daily. I, myself have been unbelievably tired these last few days. I slept through her entire 2 hour first nap today, and I'm tempted to lay down now, during her second. She's been out an hour and a half now though, so I'm sure she'll be up soon.

Mark and I just can't believe how much she is growing up. She does sign language now very consistently for "more", "I'm hungry", and "please". Usually "I'm hungry" is the first thing she tells me when she wakes up. She's a good eater, what can I say? She's always poking my tummy now, saying "baba", which I'm pretty sure is nora for "baby", and when I tell her to give the baby hugs, she lays her head on my belly and pats it. It's gotta be the cutest thing ever. I need to get pictures of that. Most of the time she runs around saying DADA, and I know she knows who Daddy is, and that that is what that means, but she likes to say it all the time too. She'll say MAMA when I encourage her to, but DADA is definately her favorite word-ish thing.

Mark had the day off yesterday so the three of us spent the day together. We cleaned and cooked and got the car serviced for almost 3 hours, and it was PARADISE! I love the time we spend together. MArk was saying the other day that we are lucky because we have a lot of those moments that you just long for when you're bored or having hard times, but really just about every time we are together ends up being one of those times. I love seeing him with our little girl, and I absolutely can't wait to see him with our newest little girl (due now in 14 weeks). We are so lucky to have the relationship that we have, and our daughters are so lucky to have parents this much in love. I thank God often for this.

I am so excited. We are going to San Diego on the 22nd. I haven't been to a beach in 5 years and it's killing me! We got a great deal on a beach condo, and we are going to the San Diego Zoo. I've not been to California since I was to young to remember, so it will be very exciting. I hope Nora enjoys the ocean. I'm thrilled that we're gonna have a chance to kick back and make some good memories together.

Back to life

We are officially back into the swing of things here in the desert. The wedding was beautiful, and EXHAUSTING. But watching Kristen and Chris so in love and having the time of their lives together and being a part of it all was so worth the work. I'll put up some wedding pictures when I get some. I couldn't exactly manage to take pictures while juggling my baby girl and my matron of honor duties.

Kristen was absolutely stunning. The rehearsal dinner at Wisteria downtown was a blast. It was so nice to have some time with Mark after all that time apart. And man did he look handsome! I love this picture my aunt took of us outside of Wisteria. How I got through the night in those heels I still can't figure out. I will say, it was not very graceful. I felt like a Goodyear blimp in stilettos. My toast that night to the happy couple was nothing like what it was supposed to be. Strange things kept coming out of my mouth. I think I said something about not being a "toaster" and how I "don't even like toast much." Well, give me the floor when I am nervous and I just start making stupid jokes. I just hope Kristen and Chris heard a small fraction of what was on my heart, which was how overwhelmingly happy I am for them.

The trip to GA was slightly surreal. I'll say it had me and Mark into another bout of really wanting to live there again. The weather was so inviting and it was just amazing to see our old dear friends like Toby and Angie with their little boy, Patrick. Here's a picture of the little cutie bug. He just turned one, and I was SO lucky to have been in town for his birthday party. His mommy and daddy threw a heck of a party. Nora and I had a blast--even though she was WELL overdue for a nap. He and Nora has several "dates" at the pool and playground while we were in town. We miss them so much.

Another great memory from the trip was Nora's first taste of chocolate. Mind you the timing was not of my choosing. My dad and I were in the kitchen working on wedding stuff of course when I noticed Nora had gotten awfully quiet in the next room over. My dad went to check and found her completely covered in chocolate. She had found a low-lying dish of wrapped truffles for the wedding. She was eating her fourth when he brought her into the kitchen to me. OH MY GOSH, I had to get some pictures. It was hilarious. Th poor thing got so nervous because we were laughing at her for so long and taking pictures that she started crying. Here's a few we took...showing the progression...
Is it bad for a mommy to think a picture of her baby crying is hilarious? Oh well...It cracks me up.

So now back to life here in Arizona. Mark and I are celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary this week. We went out Saturday while his folks watched Nora, though it's actually the 29th of July, which is this wednesday. But of course he works until 8 and I have to go to vocal rehearsal anyway that night at church. Saturday was very nice. we went to Gordon Biersch and sat under the misters on the patio, looking out over Mill Avenue then we walked a bit till my ankles started to swell (UGH) then we got frozen yogurt and went home before ten. That's about as romantic as it can get anymore. Although after his folks left he gave me my anniversary gift...for the second time ever, he wrote me an AMAZING song. I love it. No one can hear it yet. Just me. That's cuz it's my song and I can do that. It's so good. You're gonna love it one day when you hear it. The guy is good. Here's a picture of us out on Mill Ave...


Here's a cute shot of Mark playing guitar with Nora climbing all over him. We got a cute family. I like these two...



Until next time...

Ahh, the blushing bride...

Today, I saw my sister in her wedding dress for the first time. I know she's had a lot of anxiety about getting the dress to work out for her, but I must say...

She was exquisite!

I am so excited for her. She's just so beautiful, and I'm flattered that she wants to use my veil. This wedding is going to be just breathtaking. My sister's attention to details and type A personality are really going to show. Her colors are great. I wish I'd thought more about my own wedding colors now that I see all she has done with color. Her brides maids are all over everything. I just am amazed at the work they are all doing for her. She's got some really dedicated friends. She's a lucky girl. And I'm pretty certain that Chris is a lucky guy. I wish them all the best. I hope they have all the kids they want, and all the success in the world.

I am so excited that it will only be a week before Mark flies in to GA. I love it here and everything is just perfect--even the cloudy days--except that the thing that I am most passionate about, my husband, is not here. It is so hard to sleep at night without him, and so boring to wake up alone. I love that these times can show me how much I love him, but I am feeling ready to show HIM how much I love him. I wanna be next to him again so badly. I actually found myself saying today that being a bride is fun and exciting, but I am so much happer just being married now. I think a lot of people just want to be a bride and get married for the wedding, overlooking the years and dues of marriage. I know I didn't do that. I am so happily married and I never doubt that I found the perfect guy for me...well maybe when I can't get him to clean...no I'm kidding. I couldn't imagine a better match for my spirituality, my musicality, my mind, my heart, my body. We see eye to eye on finances, parenting, even style. Usually. =) I think I am the luckiest lady I know.

I wish the same joy for my sister. I pray that her marriage brings her frequent moments of looking at her husband and wondering how she ever deserved such a blessing. For me, Mark's love for me is proof that God knows my heart through and through and wants the absolute best for me. Everyone needs love like that. Everyone deserves it.

Just another day in the ATL

Hello friends...I just put Nora down for bed an hour earlier than she has been going down as of late. A whopping 8 o'clock! I think she is enjoying her stay here in Woodstock. My dad and I took Nora and the dogs for a good three mile walk. Wow! I forget how tough it is to climb all those hills. And last time I was here doing that regularly, there were no babies involved and I was in MUCH better shape. It did feel good tho to kick my own butt a little and sweat.

Well, last night my dad and I were driving through the neighborhood running an errand, and we noticed a toy ride-on car sitting in a drive way on the curb for the garbage men. Ya know the big yellow and red plastic kind you drive around with your feet pushing you along like the flinstones? It looked like it was in perfect shape so we stopped the car and snatched it right up. No, I'm not above dumpster diving! We have no shame I suppose. Oh well. We cleaned the thing up and wow, Nora LOVES it. It's in perfect condition! I don't know why someone would want to throw suck a thing away. We got some good pictures, shown below...

trying to honk the horn...

I am missing Mark so much and I know Nora is too, but she definitely has found a strong attatchment to her Grandpa since she's been here. She is always running to him and pulling on his shorts to pick her up. It's cute. Maybe she is just looking for a daddy figure. Maybe he'sjust really good with her. I think he is. And Grandma has been giving her baths every night. I hear the two of them laughing up a storm and squealing every night before bed time. She is a happy girl. She has even been playing around with her Aunt Kristen and soon-to-be "Uncle Chris". I think Chris's bald head throws her off a little, but she's started to warm up to him. She has a blast with Kristen though, who is just plain good with kids. Here are some more pics...

Bonding with Grandma...

asking Grandpa to read to her...Aunt Kristen's lap...And considering playing ball with Uncle Chris...And then there's Cousin Bear...

Y'all come back now, ya hear!

My girl can SLEEP!

So I'm here in GA on the fourth of July, and the redneck neighbors across the street are setting off some REALLY expensive, REALLY loud fireworks right in front of our house. Nora Went down for bed about 30 minutes ago and I am SHOCKED, but she has not made a peep. What a good girl.

Now the airplane ride, however, that was a different story. We gave her a good dose of Benadryl, and ran her around the airport for an hour. She fought. And fought. AND FOUGHT. She was rubbing her eyes, and getting fussy, and laying her head down a few seconds at a time. She was sooo not gonna fall asleep though she was drugged and way overdue for a nap. Finally, she could not take it. She dosed off on Grandma Rox's chest. AW so sweet...until 3 minutes later they announced, "we are now approaching our initial decent into the Atlanta area." UUUGGHH, Nora! She slept right through the bumpy landing and woke up when everyone was exiting the plane. So that day, she got a 20 minute nap. Whoopdee doo. She is one strong willed little girl. I still like her though.

We are missing our man back at home very much. Mark misses us too I know, but man it's not showing at the office! He is ROCKING the SOCKS OFF of the sales floor! In the last three days he has sold 24 policies, which DANG! If he can keep that up, we're getting a heck of a paycheck this month. Maybe we can actually afford the trip were planning next month to San Diego! What a novel idea. Hehe. We're proud of our big strong man.

We are working hard to get things ready for Kristen and Chris's wedding. It's coming up soon: July 18th, about 2 weeks! She's driving her slave labor team efficiently. Last night I was glueing labels until midnight. Oh pooh, it's 11:30pm now! I'm just glad Nora's been sleeping till 9 or 10am. Well I'm off to bed. Until next time...night y'all!