Spring Wedding

Here's a cute story for you: Once upon a time a pretty young girl named Annika was a bridesmaid in her college roommate's wedding. Walking her down the aisle was a handsome young groomsman named Zach who was a childhood friend of the groom. Although separated by distance, Zach knew this girl was worth pursuing and pursue he did! A little over a year later Zach and Annika were married in a lovely spring wedding.

Isn't that a sweet story that you should hear more often? The couple who get all the credit for introducing these two are by brother and his bride Jaclyn. Jaclyn is 2nd from the left below. Isn't she lovely?

Annika and I had met a few times before Ben's wedding and a couple times after and she sweetly asked me to help coordinate her wedding, something I was elated to do. To me there is something so fun and special about being able to help behind the scenes at a wedding. Mrs. Gronewold, the church wedding coordinator, knows all the ropes, the wedding party was very relaxed, and Annika was the most organized bride I have ever seen, so the wedding went very smoothly and it was definitely a relaxed weekend to be coordinating.

Aren't these two adorable? They were long distance for most of the relationship between Tacoma and Chicago so I know they are thrilled to be married and also living in the same town. :)

Congratulations, Zach and Annika! Wishing you the best in your happily ever after!

16 weeks

I turned 16 weeks a week ago (so now I'm 17) and blueberry grew to the size of an avocado. Conveniently, my mama had some avocados on the counter and I was up there visiting so I had her snap a shot of the bump and the avocado before the wedding that I went to.

16 weeks was an interesting one. First of all I came down with a yucky yucky virus on Monday that lasted the whole week and eventually turned into a full blown ear infection which led to an ER visit because the pain was so bad. I was miserable. I haven't had an ear infection since I was a kid--and I haven't been to the ER since I was a kid either! Thankfully they were able to give me some relief and meds that I can take while pregnant. I really try to avoid medicine at all costs even when I'm not pregnant, but this time I definitely needed something so I'm just praying that baby will continue to grow fine while I try and get better. My ear has improved a lot since Friday afternoon when it was at its worst but I'm still coughing a bunch. Poor blueberry probably can't get any sleep with mama hacking every few minutes. Chris has managed to stay healthy so far although we wonder if he brought the yuckiness home since it has affected a lot of families at his unit. He has been a sweet sweet encourager to me through the tough nights. Being pregnant, sick, tired, and tired of being sick has meant some emotional nights.

The other part of 16 weeks was that I had a consultation with a maternal fetal medicine doctor to talk about my blood pressure which has been slightly high through my pregnancy. She had me do a few tests this week (blood work, urine samples, thyroid check etc.) to rule out the beginnings of preeclampsia and so far everything has come back with good results. So mostly it is just a mystery right now why I have slight hypertension. The doctor wasn't too worried though since it is somewhat normal to see this in pregnancy and I seem healthy in all other areas and she wants me to continue exercising and doing things as normal. They'll just want to keep an extra close eye on my growth and it may mean some extra ultrasounds throughout pregnancy to make sure baby is growing and doing ok. I'm having an ultrasound on Tuesday to make sure my kidneys are okay and I'm wondering if we may get a glimpse at the gender then too which would be fun. So those are things you can pray for for me if you think of me in the next few days and weeks. Now at 17 weeks blueberry is the size of an apple and I'm just barely starting to feel some little movements. It's pretty special!

Welcome Baby Isaac

Somehow this post got lost in the draft pile but it is not for lack of excitement that baby Isaac is here!! Isaac is my bestie's second boy and he was brand new and super cute and sleepy when I got to meet him a few weeks ago. I went to high school with his parents so it is fun to see what is coming out of their friendship turned courtship turned marriage.

Aren't those cheeks to die for?? Congrats Autumn and Seth!

And while I got to play inside, Wolfie got to play outside with Autumn's dad's shepherd, Winston. Wolfie and Winston... :) It was a dream come true for him.

Easter

So far every Easter since we have been married has been different. This year we are at a new church (our last had to close) and we were really blessed by the services there. I went solo (husband was working) to the Good Friday service but sat with our sweet Pastor's wife and her girls and was really thankful for the mediations of the evening and the fellowship afterward.

Our weather was glorious this weekend ~sunshiney and above 70 in March! We'll take it! So I tried to balance being outside and also doing some Easter baking for our feast at the Mack's.

I went hunting all over our property for daffodils that are popping up just about everywhere it seems. I cut this large bouquet to bring along with us and there are still plenty more outside!

The one with the orange center is the only one of its kind.

And aren't these mini dafs and bells just the sweetest things? These are all from the yard too. And they were oh so fragrant.

To give some perspective, these mini daffodils are about the size of a quarter.

I was tasked with bringing dessert to the party on Sunday and when I showed Chris a few ideas that I was thinking of, he requested the carrot cake. It was the first time I made it from scratch and I used this recipe that I found on Pinterest. It was somewhat intensive but the end result was delicious!

Little carrots added later in the night.

Chris came into the kitchen and serenaded me while I decorated. Wolfie adores him and must always be by his side.

Okay these little babies were a cute Martha Stewart idea, but I think the moral of the story is never to trust Martha because my bluebirds did not come out as cute as hers.

I changed the eyes because it was impossible to do it how she suggested making my birds resemble angry birds. Oh well, they were still a hit. I think if I did it again, I would just use jelly beans for "eggs."

And ladies and gentlemen, we are finally getting a bump around here. Here we are at 15 weeks in my new Easter dress thanks to the giftcard from my sister Debbie.

And here's my hunky husband:

We didn't end up getting a photo together and I didn't pull my camera out at the Mack's, but we had a great time being part of the party over there after our morning service at church. What a wonderful day to celebrate the resurrection and all that we have in and through Christ Jesus! I hope you had a special day of celebrating too.

Happy birthday, Mom!

Happy birthday to my sweet and loving Mama! We couldn't ask for a better wife, mother, and grandmother. You are loved by all of us and we thank God for you!

Spring Blooms

Spring is here and the weather is fickle. Showers one minute, hail the next, then some sunshine. Here's what is blooming around my house--none of which I planted. It's been fun to see what is popping up.

Mini Vacation

Chris' summer deployment has been pushed up a couple months so that he will be back in time to be by my side in September so the next few weeks are packed tight with training and preparations. Thankfully, we were able to fit in some much deserved (for Chris) leave over the last week and Chris had 10 days off to enjoy some rest and vacation.

We started the vacation off right with a sushi date. I don't eat it but it's my husband's favorite and I'm always happy to oblige as there are other tasty options for me there as well.

We then had a couple days with my niece and nephew who stayed with us for a couple days while their parents had a fun little get-away. This was followed by a really relaxing visit from Chris' parents who flew out from New York to spend a long weekend with us. They were really sweet to just lay low with us over the weekend and we spent a lot of time at home, walking the dog, chatting, napping, and eating out. I didn't do dishes for several days and it was fantastic. We had a really fun time catching up and they are excited for their first grandchild so it was a special weekend together...but I have no photos to show for it!

A couple days after they left, we decided to hit the road on a mini vacation. We didn't have too much of a plan but headed northwest to Kalaloch on the Washington coast. It rained our whole way out there and we found a place to stay at the Kalaloch Lodge in their cabins along the beach.

No internet and little to no cell service out here but we had a view of the ocean and enjoyed some beach living for a couple days.

We loved our woodstove in the cabin!

In the morning, the skies cleared up and we had a beautiful day to enjoy! I have been to Kalaloch in the summertime more than once and have never seen it as lovely as it was for us last week.

Climbing around on the "Big Cedar Tree"

Ruby Beach

12 weeks pregnant...not much to show you yet. :)