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!

a journey

we are leaving for a month long journey tomorrow morning, bright and early!

i am very thankful we are going to be able to leave on time because i got crazy sick over the weekend. sick like i can't remember the last time. it was some kind of lovely virus that brought with it extreme aches all over my body, fever, and a croup cough. matt was out of town on his annual boys golf weekend in palm springs. :( he felt so bad being away when i got sick. so, today (monday) i am slowly recovering...aches are gone, fever is gone. now i am left with a nasty cough that makes me gag when it gets going, and an awesome manly voice.

despite the rough weekend, we are very excited to embark on our adventure! we are headed up the 101 with three destination spots before we arrive at the beach in Oregon. Cambria is first, then Fern Grove (along the Russian River), and finally Crescent City. Looking forward to each spot, and only about a 5 hour drive each day! The dogs are watching us pack and crossing their fingers we take them with us when we go. of course we are taking the kids!

anyway, i am very thankful my health has mostly returned and we are able to leave as scheduled. I will post our journey but probably not until we get settled up in Oregon. Can't wait to spend quality time with my family!!

Until then...

TheBabyHarveyGame!

Come on over and play:

http://www.expectnet.com/games/TheBabyHarveyGame

Maybe I will have a prize for the winner...wait, I know... we will name our child after the winner. Ok, probably not that but will you play anyway?

Thank you Anne for the fun idea! :)

158 bpm

a heartbeat. the undeniable signal of life. a beautiful miracle!

today, we go to hear our sweet babe's heart beating fiercely a mile a minute! it was going 158 beats/minute! (which matt made sure was totally normal by asking our doc what "normal" is)

i can't quite explain it, but i will try. this ride called pregnancy has been a series of stages-both mental and physical.

first, i saw the POSITIVE on the stick i just peed on and could hardly believe it was true! it really did take a few days for the thought alone to sink in.

over the next few weeks, i convinced myself to believe i was actually pregnant. (and the ridiculously sore boobs for weeeeeeks on end helped me believe it.)

then after what seemed like an eternity, we finally get to go to the doctor for an ulrasound at 9 weeks! this was unreal to actually SEE with our own eyes a tiny human inside me. we also got to see the heartbeat...which was a little flicker on the screen going really fast! i cried.

and now today...4 weeks later and back at the doc (13 weeks now), we got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. incredible. we knew it was beating all along and we know we are growing a baby, but something about that audible reminder of life in there was absolutely amazing! at that moment, i felt a connection to this little being, and i felt like i can't wait to meet him or her.

we also got to meet our OB today, dr. goldstein. I love my nurse practitioner, but was very excited and anxious to meet our doc today! he came by great recommendation by my friend joy olson, and now i see why. he delivered baby olson by chance because he was on-call and joy said he was amazing...especially because their little guy had a tough entrance into the world. dr. goldstein is older and has probably delivered a bazillion babies! he was so nice and caring and made us feel like he had all the time in the world for us. thank you so much joy for having titus when you did so dr. G could be our guy, too! :)

oh yeah, and somewhere in that time frame above, my pants started getting tight and uncomfortable. but somehow i lost one pound in the last 4 weeks? weird.

that's all for now!

i gotta quit

i gotta quit watching reality tv.

ok, the only reality tv i watch is the bachelor/bachelorette. but this is getting ridiculous! i don't know what it is about that show that draws me in. maybe i find something enjoyable about watching strangers falling in love with each other in a matter of weeks in exotic places.

i just get too wrapped up in it, and i get all emotional! (no, i know what you're thinking. not because i am pregnant. i was extremely emotional last season of the bachelor and i was not pregnant then!) i am a little sensitive about the emotional thing, considering the other day i cried in the car at a country song i have heard a thousand times. oh brother. but that's another story.

you see, i am a little fired up tonight (hence the blogging) after the finale of the bachelorette because i reeeeally liked the guy who didn't win the girl in the end. i liked him all along (from SD too!) and it came down to him and one other guy (who was also cool) but i just liked the one who didn't win more. so i turn off the tv shocked and bummed and a little mad, because i have been waiting in suspense all week to see who she picked-hoping she picked the 'right' one. as if i know who the right person is for her? hardly.

why am i so upset? i am already married to my best friend and don't have to live her life. and she is totally happy! gosh, the whole thing is just stupid how wrapped up i get, hence back to my point: i think i need to quit watching the show. we will have to see who the next Bachelor is for the next season. i have a feeling i am not going to be able to quit the show.

i suppose there are worse things. maybe i should just get a hold on myself and my emotions.

12 weeks!

i am officially done with my first trimester.

nuts!

some days, i feel like i am showing more than others. it is kinda weird! but don't worry, according to babycenter.com i should be noticing my "waist thickening."

lovely.

and they say "you may be showing already, especially if it is your second baby." oops. first baby. oh well...bring on the baby bump early!

here is my 12 week photo. (i only made matt take about 7 and this is as good as it gets)



can you see the bump? trust me, it's there. and i can't suck it in anymore!

delaying gratification?

how do people wait 40 weeks in order to be surprised at birth with a boy or a girl?

that amazes me.

good thing we are having a baby in this day and age with all this technology, because we are dying to know what we are having. it's a good thing matt is the same way. we can't even wait until 20 weeks like normal people, to find out from our doctor! so following the footsteps of several of our friends, we are going to try to find out with an extra ultrasound as early as we can, between 13 and 14 weeks! (provided of course that baby is not being shy and cooperates by showing the goods.)

i think it is cool when people wait until birth, but i also think the surprise of finding out when we do will be just as sweet.

i'm kinda bad at delaying gratification. i'm also kinda bad at surprises. drives me nuts!

sneak preview

I told you I took "before" pictures of my new classroom. It is still a work in progress, but I hope by the end of next week it will be done and ready for September! (I plan to go in for a couple hours here and there...don't worry, I won't be working all next week.)

Here is a sneak preview for you of the mess I had on my hands:



and because this is a nice bulletin board (not faded at all), it was so nice of the previous teacher to not take it down. euw.


of course i care about fairness.caring.trustworthiness.respect... but that hot mess went straight in the garbage can!

I will post the rest 'before/after' style and can't wait to share my new digs when it's done!

keeping it real

since this blog is called, "a day in the life" i thought i should capture some happenings around here.

buddy finishing off the jar of peanut butter while we are laughing at how determined he is. aaaand how his lips curl up bearing teeth when he is licking. not to mention the foaming of the mouth.




zoe letting matt stack all her babies on top of her back

matt snuggling with his leading lady



i mean really, what would we do without our dogs?

matt's new murse

for those of you unfamiliar with the term, let me define it for you.

murse = man purse

if you know my husband at all, you would know that he is never thrilled to hold my purse for me. i need him to hold my purse for a variety of reasons at various times and locations. he complies begrudgingly, but usually holds it far away from his body and is thrusting it back at me, before i am actually ready to have it back. thank you. geeesh! i usually say "cute murse" as he is holding it, which probably doesn't help.

today, between the hours of 8am and 7pm (nice short window there) UPS was bringing matthew a new toy. he was prepared to wait all day for the man in brown, because his package required a signature and he wasn't about to let the man walk away from our door still carrying his package. thankfully for matt, they came mid morning and he didn't have to wait until 6:55pm.

matt was sooOooOo excited to show me his new toy AND the "carrying case" it came with. I told him his "carrying case" closely resembled a murse. but did he care? nope! because that murse had a brand new range finder inside. he immediately trotted off to the golf course with his murse over his shoulder to go show off, ahem...try out....his range finder.

maybe i'll put his range finder in my purse next time i want him to willingly take on the task of holding it.

look how excited he is!

transformation

a massive transformation is what i need in my new classroom. i wish they had an extreme makeover-classroom edition. They should have that! i would totally sign up.

it was a complete disaster as of this morning, combining my stuff just plopped in the room everywhere and all the left behind crap (not so thrilled about that). now it is just a minor disaster, thanks to an entire morning devoted to cleaning, getting trash/old nasty furniture out, bookshelves moved, and my furniture set up. The beginnings of how i want my new room is taking shape nicely! matt came with me, to move all the heavy stuff and i i finally got vision of the set-up that utilizes my space the best. as much as moving rooms sucks, it is a good way to get a fresh start and purge crap you've been holding onto for years and not using!

don't worry, i took before pictures. and i can't wait until i am done and can take after pictures!!

...lil peanut...

There were two things I personally wanted to accomplish before having kids: 1.) finish grad school with a MA, and 2.) run a marathon.

It's a darn good thing I ran the marathon this year, because we've got a peanut on board! Yep, that's right...take a look for yourself :)



We decided to start trying after our anniversary this year, and were pleasantly surprised with how soon it happened (and a little shocked and in disbelief for a while!) It was so surreal and hard to comprehend at first! I took 3 tests just to make sure the first one wasn't lying :)

The day before the marathon (May 30) I woke up at 5am and knew I wanted to take a test. It was a few days before I was actually supposed to miss my period, but I was just too curious and felt like I might be (ie. sore boobs for 2 weeks-what?!) So....5am, I wake up, and go pee on a stick.

Matt is soundly sleeping in bed. In the next room over, I anxiously await the little blinking hour glass trying to look away and not stare at it. When it read PREGNANT and there was no 'NOT' in front of it, my heart started beating sooOoooOoo fast! I couldn't believe it, i wasn't sure I did believe it!

Nonetheless, I went straight back to get in bed with wide eyes and a pounding heart! Matt stirred and I quickly said "hi!" and he groggily answered "hi babe." I said "are you going back to sleep?" (as if he wasn't clearly still sleeping to begin with) and he said "yeah, I am tired...are you okay?" to which I quickly replied, "yah. I'm great. but I don't think I can go back to sleep!" Then I just blurted out "I'm pregnant!" It was adios to all the cute ways I had previously thought about telling him when the time came. It was 5 o'clock in the morning, and I certainly wasn't able to wait for him to go back to sleep for a couple hours! He flipped over, opened his eyes, looked at me and said "really?!" Then, he said "Yes! My boys can swim!" That's my baby daddy right there. We shared some time of excitement and almost disbelief and then more excitement!

The whole time I was running the marathon the next day, I was thinking to myself, "dang, I'm awesome. I can't believe I am doing this pregnant!" (haha) and "I get to tell my kid that they ran a marathon with me in the womb!" :)

the same verdict :)



daddy to be


me


It was so hard to hang out with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law all day at the expo and not tell them! We just wanted to confirm it, and believe it ourselves before telling everyone!


we got this cute idea from our friends, dust and kimmie, to have our four-legged kids help us with the announcement to our families! Bud and Zoe were champs for sporting the BIG BROTHER and BIG SISTER t-shirts I made for them (even though they hated every minute of it).




Both our families could not be more excited! I am almost 10 weeks, and I am due February 4th! I will keep you posted with info and photo documentation of me expanding as the babe grows :)

oh blog, how i have neglected you recently.

it's funny because i really thought i'd post more in the summer because i have more time. i have gotten so far behind now, it takes some serious energy and time investment to get caught up. and, boy do we have a lot of things to share! lots going on lately! if you read my blog, just wanted to let you know i still remember the URL address and will get all caught up very soon!

promise.

hope everyone had a great 4th of july!

like a glove

i was so proud of my parallel park job, i had to bust out my phone and take a picture so i could remember it always. and i'd be lying if i said i didn't also fully plan to brag to matt about it with photo evidence. i got in the spot the first try. both cars were still there when i was ready to leave and that was a different story. it took about 78 point turns to get out. for your viewing pleasure:

...s u m m e r...

oh how i love you, summer! you came so fast this year..i can't quite believe you are already here.

i plan to do so much in my time with you:
read books
read magazines
go to the pool and lay my white-ass out (while engaging in the first two items listed)
go to the gym and go running at whatever time i please
sit around and do nothing
hang out with my homeboy
go to breakfast
go to the beach
go to the dog park and on long dog walks
watch useless daytime television if i please (i'm quite sure i won't do that but it sounded fun to say)
have a second cup of coffee and lounge in my PJ's
and i'm sure we will think of more things to add to the list!

awe, summer. you have arrived and i couldn't be happier!

letter

Dear eighth graders,

Two years ago I made the jump from teaching 6th grade to teaching 8th grade. If I must be honest, I was a little nervous to teach you because many of you are bigger and taller than me. A part if me wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, that my classroom management was strong enough to handle big bad 8th graders. While yes...some of you are very challenging, I absolutely adore you! I love how you are mini-adults who can think for yourselves and carry on good conversation. I like that when I say "how are you?" or "have a good weekend" most of you return the regard to me and genuinely care about my answer. I love how you get my sarcasm and laugh at most of my jokes. I really like how if you are messing around, I can give you a look and say "really?" and you will realize you are being ridiculous and stop. I love how many of you take responsibility for yourself. All of you have taught me things along the way and I am grateful. Be confident in who you are, both as a student and a person. Remember you have all the power in the world to do whatever you want to do and be whoever you want to be. Don't give your power away by letting other people or circumstances keep you down. It has been SO fun watching you grow and mature and get ready for high school. It is the last day of 8th grade and you are ready now. You will go on to do great things I'm sure! I sincerely hope you come back to visit me, because I will miss you. I hate that I only get to know you on campus for one year and then you're gone. Embrace change because it helps you grow as a person. Enjoy every minute of the present! Stay focused on your goals and dreams and your future will be bright! You better come back and visit me!!

Love, Mrs. Harvey

hard questions

bad things happening to good people is just so hard to understand. maybe impossible. several months ago i read "The Shack" in hopes of being enlightened on this very issue in a spiritual sense. i certainly got a lot out of the book and found it an amazing a unique way to look at God. and how humans and one-size fits all religion has done a really good job of turning people away from God for good reason. the book does address the topic of bad things happening, but i did not get a good enough answer that i can wrap my brain around. especially when it comes to something like cancer. it is so so unfair. and heart-breaking and ruthless. and recently, has been all too prevalent.

my friend and former colleague from Wilson just passed away from cancer Sunday. she was a strong and beautiful and funny and confident woman and mother of three. she was a selfless person who genuinely cared about everything about my life. she was so fun to be around. she won her first battle with breast cancer more than 2 years ago. it came back in her bones and quickly spread. megan, i know i told you often how you inspired me and we had many conversations about your strengths and weaknesses in your battle. you are amazing and i miss you.

this photo is megan and her husband, chris, at our wedding. she was rockin' one of her fabulous wigs!



i am sorry for the downer, but it was on my heart and the least i could do is honor the beautiful person she was. Keep her family in your thoughts and prayers if you think about it. Her kids are Kyle, Patrick and Kate (the baby girl who is 4).

Rockin' n Rollin'

i will be running my first full marathon this sunday, and matt will be completing his sixth! matt will finish about 3 hours before me, but that's okay!! thankfully, i will have my buddies kirstin and mack with me to provide lots of encouragement for each other. kirstin has been encouraging me this whole time of training, when i was thinking i probably couldn't actually end up doing the marathon. now, i am so thankful for her encouragement and sooooo excited for the challenge (okay, and a bit nervous also, but mostly excited!!!)

i am fairly certain this event will be the single most challenging thing, both mentally and physically, that i have ever done in my life!

i told my students that if for some reason i didn't show back up to school for the next two weeks...then i probably died.

i couldn't be more excited to experience it with my most fabulous sister-in-law and brother-in-law!!! oh, and don't worry...kirstin and i have matching outfits and we will look cute, no matter how tired and haggard we are by the end :) i will post pictures for sure!

until then, here is one of my lovely hubby in marathon number three (his fave photo).

he's a rockstar

photo fun

hhhmmm...am I am Oregon girl or a Cali girl at heart? Can I be both? This WWII Memorial was amazing.


Here are some of my best shots of the week on the East Coast. I have had fun learning my camera and look forward to having more time to practice this summer!

Washington Monument


State Capitol Building


The Metro


A banner I liked in the Library of Congress


I found my next anniversary present. The Hope Diamond


Sunset on the Potomac River (and a couple of kayakers)


A White House and a Brown Bird. ok, the White House and a regular bird.


Arlington. Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers


Intense.


Yes. I concur.


Mt. Vernon. George's ol' stomping grounds.


Lightpost in Central Park


Resident New Yorker


I could spend some time here.


A peek at the City


Little in the Big City


Curb Your Dog? Was that necessary?


what's your favorite picture? I'd love to know!!