oh my!

so, in the past week we have moved into a house and put our condo on the market!

we found a great 2 bed/2 bath craftsman house to rent in South Park. from the second we walked in to look at the place, i could see the potential and we could just picture ourselves living here. we moved this past weekend, with the help of fabulous friends! I have been having a hay-day with designing our new space and making some fun purchases :) with the help of my amazing friend deed, who most certainly has an eye for these things. it is already starting to feel like home and we have only spent 3 nights here. we are just so excited to spread out and have some space, including a yard for our furry family members! matt and i have been non-stop trying to get ourselves settled and we are doing a great job, if i do say so myself. matthew is so awesome, he puts in an 11 hour day at work (4 days a week) and comes home with a good attitude and says..."ok, what needs to get done?" and then he's on it! love him :)

photos to follow as soon as we are all settled-hopefully very soon!

August 5th and 6th

The next day, we left Cambria and drove North on the 101 to Sonoma County and stayed in a cabin along the Russian River. It was a great idea in theory (one in which I was VERY excited about...taking the dogs on the trails in the Redwoods along the river, etc). Too bad I felt like complete crap (totally not recovered from the flu) and barely made it to dinner. And my dinner barely made it to my stomach before coming back up. Oh details.

The front of the place...Fern Grove Cottages

Here was our little cabin...so cute!

tired traveling dogs enjoyed snoozing by the warm woodstove

Feeling MUCH better the next morning, sitting on the porch with the pooches.

We headed out toward the last city in California along the coast...it was nothing to write home about. So much so that I can't even think of the name of the place right now. In fact, the lady at the hotel did circle the local Walmart on the map for us, as a main attraction. You think I'm kidding. The only cool things were the seals around the corner from our hotel, the fact that we got to get out of the car and sleep in a bed, and obviously the beautiful Pacific coastline.
Buddy was beside himself when the seals were making noise, it was hilarious.

Oh, and how could I forget? We drove through a tree. A BIG tree. We saw the sign and needed gas desperately, so we pulled off. why not drive through a tree if given the chance? When in Rome. It was not nearly as cool as we thought, but nonetheless a huge tree (that my Jeep barely fit through.) We made a 5 dollar donation to the Park Ranger or something like that.


I'm going to have to take a break from this summer trip revisited (however invigorating it may be for you) because there is just way too much going on in the present! Stay tuned.

August 4th

In looking through iPhoto, I decided to back it up and post our trip north this past summer. Our trek began early in the morning on August 4th, when our first stop was Costa Mesa to find out the sex of our baby! The suspense was killing us, and I just happened to be 13.5 weeks pregnant when we left for Oregon...the early ultrasound place will take women who are at least 13 weeks. phew :)

me THRILLED after we just found out a baby boy would be joining our family!

proud papa sharing the good news


We left Costa Mesa and headed toward our first destination: the beautiful coastal town of Cambria. The Cambria Shores Inn was an adorable, pet-friendly B&B that was perfect!

Doggie biscuits outside the lobby to welcome our furry family members!


cheers! an afternoon martinelli's toast to our baby boy and relaxing vacation


after a walk along the boardwalk with this amazing backdrop, a cup of tea and coffee for Matt, and a gigantic homemade brownie. could this get any better?


Heart to Heart. Matt and his boy, discussing the addition of a baby brother. Buddy was okay with it.


heading to dinner... but not before my artistic attempt at the doggie on top of the mailbox silhouette. Look at this sunset!


The next morning, we got up and headed North along the 101 toward our quaint little cabin along the Russian RIver. To be continued.

highlights

Mr. Wyatt Parker Smith was born on September 29th. Healthy and adorable!


I am 24 weeks...and our little guy is a mover and a shaker!


Trip to the Pumpkin Patch this past weekend on the hottest freaking day ever...it was seriously 95 degrees. Good idea in theory, wished it was cold and fall-ish.


Who needs pumpkins, when you can wheel around this?

older and half-way there

holy moly, do i have some blogging to do! i have so many things to write about, but don't have the energy right now for any of it!

thank you to everyone who made my birthday a fabulous one. for making me feel so loved :) matthew took me out to dinner at one of my favorite spots...il fornaio in coronado, looking across the bay to downtown-beautiful! (plus, realllllllly delicious italian food)

oh yeah! and i am 21 weeks pregnant today and have started feeling our little man move! it is the coolest thing ever-i can't wait for matt to be able to feel him too! these 2 pictures are me at 20 weeks, half-way!

couldn't resist

who could resist this purchase? matt's shoe serves as a comparison to show how tiny these Vans are!! our little man is gonna be kickin' it in style :)

goodbye to summer

let's see, over the past month we have:

-found out we're having a BOY!
-driven 1,200 miles up the coast all the way to Lincoln City, OR staying in fabulous places along the way
-hung out on the OR coast for a weekend
-gone to 3 weddings collectively (we went to one together, and each went to one separately!)
-had an ultrasound with my family so they could get a sneak peak of our little man in there
-vacationed in Eagle Crest and Lake Billy Chinook with my sis, Roo, and his fabulous family!
-floated in the lake with coors lights (sprite/water) by day and played games by night
-Had a party at my parent's house to celebrate baby boy Harvey
-helped plan and attend a fantastic engagement party for Kels and Derek
-spent lots of time drinking coffee and relaxing with good family
-met baby Piper, Court and Sean's beautiful new little girl
-hiked the beautiful Oregon wilderness
-watched our dogs LOVE spending so much time outside
-watched my belly grow to a noticeable (yet still questionably pregnant to a stranger) size
-driven 1,100 miles straight down I-5 all the way home in one day
-gone back to work and spent time preparing for our students and the opening of the school year

I'm positive I must have missed something, but the bulleted list was a tactic used to make the recall seem less daunting. I have pictures to share and more details to come...perhaps, this weekend when I take a much needed break and welcomed distraction from lesson planning! Overall, it was a wonderful and relaxing break. It is hard to say goodbye to summer!