April 27th Baby Shower

Jan and Leah, Kyle's mom and sister, hosted my first baby shower last Sunday.  They did such a wonderful job decorating the house and it was so wonderful to see so many people I hadn't seen in a long time. As Stephanie and I were getting ready, I was telling her that it was finally settling in that Katelyn is going to be making her arrival in just 7 weeks! It's hard to believe how quickly time has flown by, and it seems like only yesterday that Kyle and I said to each other, "ah, no biggie, we have plenty of time.... she's not coming for 9 more months." Now we look back and laugh at how fast the time is passed and now we're talking about where we want to set up the crib and what furniture we can sell or give away to make room for a nursery. Kyle had been on a business trip to Nashville, TN, and didn't arrive home until Sunday afternoon, so he arrived at the shower around the same time I did. Kyle had plans to kick it with some friends of ours during the shower so that he could help me pack up the car and bring stuff home. We were able to fit everything we received, except the crib and pack n play into my car, so it was a good thing we had his too.

At the shower we played a game where each person had to cut a piece of string the length they thought would fit around the biggest part of my belly. It was really funny to see the looks on some faces when they realized how big they cut their piece of yarn. Some even apologized. But I wasn't offended, I feel like being pregnant is the one time it feels okay to measure your circumference. The food was fabulous, prepared by a wonderful chef, Marguerite, who I worked with several years ago at Soiree Catering. She now has her own company and their food is phenomenal. If you want her number just ask. I took pictures of the yummy food and the gorgeous cake, prepared by Cinderella Cakes. It had a vanilla and a chocolate layer. Boy, my family knows me so well!! =)

I tried to take several pictures of the cake, presents, decorations and centerpieces. Here are some that I took.

Jan's friend Betty made me a diaper cake, yes you read correctly, a diaper cake. She hand rolled 80+ diapers into 3 layers and created a beautiful cake. Here's a picture of it.

It was so great because my mom just got an iMac that has a built in camera and she was able to join us at the shower via a program called iChat. She got to see me open all my presents, too bad she didn't get to sample all the tasty food we had at the shower. The shower was 2 days ago and I already have all my invitations ready to go out and all the presents sorted in the nursery. I know I'm crazy! Since the nursery is still partially Kyle's office I felt he deserved more than 6 inches of walkway going in and out of the room. He's working at the dinning room table today!

Thank you to everyone who came to the shower, you have truly blessed Kyle, Katelyn and I in more ways than you know!!! Thank you for your continued prayers and we look forward to counting down the arrival of our bundle of joy! 

Santa Barbara County Wine Festival

Last weekend Kyle and I attended the Santa Barbara County Wine Festival with Kyle's parents and sister. We went, not only to attend, but to launch the wine from the new family vineyard. Don't worry, I didn't do any drinking, I poured the wine. Sierra Madre Vineyard is the name of our family wine label and we currently have a Pinot Noir and a Chardonnay available. We received wonderful reviews from the people at the festival, and can't wait till next year. Here are some photos from the festival.

Saturday night we were fortunate enough to be able to stay on a 3100 acre ranch. Yes, you read right, 3100 acres! It was beautiful. The ranch has not only beautiful rolling hills and babbling brooks, but you can see Angus cows, horses, bobcats, red tipped ravens, and if you're lucky, one of the 2 bald eagles that live on the property. The ranch house we stayed in was beautiful and there was truly a sense of the serenity God must have been feeling when he looked at his creation a long time ago. Here are some photos of the ranch.

On Sunday we all piled in the car and visited several vineyards: Kenneth Volk, and ABC were just two of the 5 we visited. We ended the afternoon visiting the Sierra Madre Vineyards to see where the grapes growing our highly praised wine are grown. The vineyard is 500 acres of beauty.

Thanks Doug and Jan for allowing Kyle and I to share such a wonderful weekend with you guys!! Can't wait till the crushing of the grapes in September.

Maternity Photos with Tosti Studios

We got our maternity pictures in the mail today. YEAH!! I'm so excited. I look at the web link Dave gave us so many times, I already know which ones I'm going to print. Here are a few of my favorites.

A Prayer for Julie

I just got off the phone with my friend Julie. She and her husband Tim just recently moved from California back to Michigan. Julie suffered a miscarriage in October of last year at 11 weeks, and we rejoiced with her in January when she announced that she was expecting again. Before she moved we celebrated her finding out she was having a baby boy. Now at 19 weeks she's in the hospital because she has lost all her amniotic fluid and despite the fact that her little man is fighter and still has a strong heart beat, it's a waiting game. The doctors gave her a bleak outlook, but I have to believe our God is bigger than all this, and what an amazing testimony of faith Julie and Tim and their baby boy would have if we believe for a miracle. While they are unable to tell where the rupture occurred in the membrane, our God is the great healer.

I know that many of you don't know Julie but I would just ask that you pray for her, Tim and their little baby boy. Pray for strength, pray for a miracle, pray for a healed membrane and a reappearing of amniotic fluid. The Bible says that when 2 or more gather together in prayer that God hears their prayers and answers them. I know that God doesn't always answer our prayers in the ways we hope or expect, but I believe He has great things in store for Julie and Tim and their unborn baby boy.

Father,

We thank you that you are the healer, and that we are able to come to you in times like these and cry out to you for strength and for help. Right now Julie and Tim need your peace and your strength and their unborn baby boy needs your help. We just ask that your will be done in this situation. Lord, you are the ultimate physician and you can heal the ruptured membrane and replenish the amniotic fluid so this baby can continue to grow and thrive in Julie's womb. Through all of this I pray a hedge of protection around this family that they enemy will not be able to get in and thrive there. That satan will know that he has no place in their lives or their families. I pray protection from any lies that the enemy might be trying to dilute their minds with right now. Remind them through others and with scripture that you are the almighty one and you make no mistakes. Remind them that this is nothing that they have done. I pray for wisdom for the doctors. I pray that in the mist of the healing process that they would come to know you as their savior. I truly believe Lord that with you ALL things are possible!! 

I pray all these things in your precious name, Amen!

We love you Julie, you are in our prayers!!

Lazy Sundays...

Don't you just love being lazy on a Sunday? I do!! Kyle and I had a really busy weekend with my students putting on a Talent Show on Friday night and then taking maternity pictures on Saturday. By Sunday morning, I had such a bad headache and backache from being on my feet so much, Kyle let me sleep in.... resulting in my not waking up till 1:15 P.M.!!! I have to admit, part of me was bummed that we missed church, but the other part was relieved to have caught up on sleep. After sleeping the day away, Kyle and I headed to Downtown Disney to see a band called Family Force 5 play at House of Blues Anaheim. As always they put on an amazing show, leaving the audience exhausted and fully satisfied that their money was well spend. If you get a chance, check out their Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/familyforce5.

On a side note, Kyle and I had so much fun at our maternity shoot on Saturday. David Tosti, of Tosti studios (http://www.tostistudios.com) took our pictures and he did an amazing job!! We are hoping to have the digital images in the next couple of weeks, hopefully in time to print some for my first baby shower on April 27! We shot down in Corona del Mar at the beach during sunset and then inside Kyle's parents beach house. The architecture in the home is so amazing that we were able to use several different "locations" inside the home for the shoot. Thanks Dave, and thank you Ali for letting me borrow some of your maternity clothes for the shoot! If you get a chance, please check out Dave's website and share it with your friends. He is a wonderful photographer and makes you feel comfortable through the entire shoot. We highly recommend him!!!

Blessings....

New Camera!!

I've been wanting to get a new camera for a while, and having a baby was the perfect excuse to ask for birthday money so I could make that dream come true. I was on the yearbook and newspaper staff in high school and college and really enjoyed taking pictures so I had invested in a Canon EOS SLR camera with a 18-55 lens and a 28-210 lens. Since all Canon SLR cameras are interchangeable, I decided, this time around, to buy the Canon Digital Rebel XTi. She a beauty!! I'm going to have Kyle take some pictures of me with the camera soon. 

I'm off to get a manicure and pedicure for our maternity photo session this Saturday.

Peppino's with the Castons

On Thursday night Kyle and I met up with our friends, Casey & Meygan, and their little one Kylie Rae for dinner. It was so great to see them! Kylie has grown so much in the last 5 weeks and she's beginning to look like her daddy. Now that we're 29 weeks pregnant and the reality that the baby is coming in 11 weeks, it's so great to have friends we can talk to who have just experienced the birth of a baby girl. Plus, our little girls are going to be so close in age. 

I wish you could've been there to see Kyle interacting with Kylie. He held her and made cute faces at her... he even pushed the stroller on the way to and from the restaurant. He's going to be such a great dad!!

Tomorrow I'm off to register at one more location; a boutique called The Flying Pram. Now Kyle and I are registered at:

 The Flying Pram (http://www.theflyingpram.com); 

Babystyle (http://www.babystyle.com); 

Babies r' Us (http://www.babiesrus.com); and 

Potterybarn Baby (http://www.potterybarnkids.com). 

Registering has been so much fun!

Here are some pictures of our night out with the Caston's:




Kyle and Casey sat next to each other at the restaurant, and Meygan and I joked that they looked like a couple with a newborn at the restaurant by the way they were interacting with Kylie. So cute!

Joy Wilson Photography

While we were in Nashville, TN, we stayed with our friends Brad and Joy. Joy has her own photography company, called Joy Wilson Photography. She took some cute pictures of me in their apartment as it rained all weekend so we didn't get to take pictures in downtown Franklin as we had originally wanted to. If you click on the title of this entry you can check out her website.