Midwife appointments

We are super excited for another homebirth with baby boy!  We continue to have wonderful prenatal visits with our midwife (same as the one I used with Eliana and same one my sister used!), Kathe.  Eliana's favorite part of the visit is when she gets to help Kathe find the baby so we can listen to him!

And of course, she always wants to see if she has a baby in her belly too.  Geoff always says "hopefully not for another 30 years!"

Getting in the spirit

A few days after Thanksgiving we got all set up for Christmas!  It's so fun seeing it through Eliana's eyes.  The tree, lights, stockings... it's all magical.

Class Photos

Eliana has never been one to pose for a picture, especially when asked by a complete stranger.  Between that tendency and her prop, I think it's a real winner.

Her class picture is pretty precious though!

Daddy's in heaven

If only she'd do this every Sunday morning with him...

Hawaii Babymoon

Geoff and I had a whole FIVE DAYS to ourselves in beautiful Hawaii! It was the perfect babymoon and just what the doctor (well, midwife!) ordered!

Our days and evenings were relaxing, we had NO schedule to follow & were able to spend some nice husband and wife time together.

We went to the island of Oahu and stayed in Kailua, a small town about 20 minutes from Waikiki.  The pace was perfect for us, the beach was ideal and plenty to explore in the area.

Most days we were up early enough for sun rise (time change) and this was steps away from our cottage!

Nice morning hike

THAT IS RELAXATION!

Perfect ocean temp!

We feel so lucky that Geoff's mom, step-dad and my parents were happy to take care of Eliana while we were gone.  Everyone had a good time & from what we heard Eliana didn't ask about us once ;-) She's so lucky to have them in her lives.

Grow baby, grow

Baby boy keeps growing, kicking and twirling!  At 24 weeks I've come to realize that the 2nd pregnancy just isn't as glamorous as the first.  All in all, I'm still enjoying the pregnancy and unbelievably happy to have a little one growing inside, but it's just a little bit more difficult this time! Between work, exercising and taking care of a toddler... there just isn't as much time to kick the feet up!
Eliana continues to be more of a "caretaker" everyday.  She rocks and shushes her babies, "mothers" her lovey, and is obsessed with all my friends babies.  Besides being slightly concerned she may totally smother baby boy, I KNOW she's going to be a really great sister and helper. :-)

24 weeks!

We try to take belly shots fairly often, and Eliana insists on being in all of them often saying "I'll hug baby brudder."

Halloween 2013

We had a great Halloween this year!  It took Eliana a little while to warm up to the idea, but once she realized that if she said "Trick or Treat" to complete strangers, she'd get a candy, she immediately got into it!

Her school does a parade every year and it was lots of fun once again!

Between the school parade, the downtown Campbell trick-or-treat event, and trick or treating with our neighbors that evening, Eliana was HOOKED!

Now, how do you explain to a 2.5 year old that Halloween is only one time a year?

Our first home

Purchasing our home was one of the best decisions we have made!  It was SO much time, effort, money and stress... but we have created so many memories and put in so much hard work that it has been an incredible process that we are so thankful for!

BEFORE

AFTER

Coming soon: backyard before and after!

A Waffle Bar Shower

My girlfriend and I hosted a baby shower for a dear friend who was expecting baby boy #2!  We did a Waffle Bar and it was a total hit!

 

The mama-to-be looked stunning!

Since the shower Melissa and Matt have welcomed baby Reid - he's precious!  Their oldest son, Quinn, and Eliana have been buddies since birth and I can't wait for Reid and baby Boy Beckstrom to be best buds too!

Rainy day activity

We FINALLY had a rainy day a few weeks ago and it was heavenly!  We enjoy hanging around the house, which since that is only fun for so long to a toddler, we did a few crafts.  This one was the favorite for sure.

Just drop vinegar tinted with food coloring onto a pan filled with baking soda and you get plenty of colorful fizziness!

Thanks, Pinterest!

Big news!

In late June we had big news to share!

And in late September we found out: (let me know if you can't view the video!)

Cannot wait to welcome him into our family!  ETA: March 4, 2014!  Between now and then we prepare for the CRAZY ride that it will be!

Potty Training

While we were home together over the summer we had lots of fun going potty on the toilet!  Eliana made huge gains, picked it up extremely quick (only had a few accidents) and was really enjoying wearing big girl undies!  It was actually a lot of fun for all of us!

She got a pouch for every #2 in the potty! 

Crack kills, girlfriend.

She was doing such a great job at home and while out with us we decided to give it a shot at daycare!  Well, 2 months and 1 week in I'm sad to report that she has not gone ONE time with her teacher.  But get this... she HOLDS it!  In the morning she waits until they put her nap diaper on and in the afternoon she waits to go with us when we pick her up.  This girl kills me!  SOMEONE is stubborn and I do not know WHERE she got it! ;-)

Oakland Zoo

Over the summer we went to the Oakland Zoo with the Amazquita family.  It was a perfect half day trip!  Looking forward to going back to this zoo or maybe the SF Zoo!

Seattle summer 2013

Eliana and I took a trip up to Seattle for 5 days when Geoff was at home working hard.  We had a wonderful time hanging with Sitti & Giddi, seeing old friends and enjoying the Seattle sunshine.

Giddi teaching Eliana how to safely cross busy city streets. 

This is how you skip rocks, Gid

Saw our friends Stacey and Mason! 

Visited the Seattle Aquarium 

Hung out with the Wallace twins & fam in Snoqualmie! 

Played at a park in West Seattle with the Whooge family.

Enjoyed lots of special treats.

Since she LOVED watching the boats from S&G's condo we decided to take a taxi ferry over to West Seattle - we took it there and back, not even enough time to get off!  Very thrilling ;-) 

Summer days

Mommy and Eliana had almost 5 weeks off together!  Daddy was home for about 2 of those weeks (he was the assistant principal for summer school - what a job!) and each day we did something fun.  We feel so lucky that our schedules allow us to have summers together!

Many days at the beach. 

A fun weekend at Pine Mountain Lake with our good friends.

Enjoyed the bounty of our garden.

Geoff and I got away for 2 nights for Geoff's bday - we went to a Beer Festival in Paso Robles and then headed to the coast and stayed in Cambria.  Such a fun getaway! 

My dear childhood friends came to visit!  It was a REALLLLY fun weekend filled with laughter, food, drinking and incredible company. 

Lots of trips to Happy Hollow Park and Zoo!

Spent some last moments with her dear friend Haley before the moved to Portland.

Cousin play dates! 

Chores!

Play dates with the day care crew while we were all on summer vacay.

Stayed cool during a heatwave in our $4 pool from Walmart

Danced the night away at Campbell music in the park

Spent the 4th of July up in Sonoma with my brother and family.  Fun cousin bonding time!

And this is only SOME of the fun stuff we did! Phew! It was a busy, fun summer!