So, I’ve been asked to show some pregnancy pics…guess it shows how different this blog is the 2nd time around. With Britton there were the weekly updates, and our readers probably knew a lot more than they cared to about fetal development.

Sorry Kaia! We really do love you and are excited for you to come. There just seems to be other things going on now, and I’m not sitting bored behind a desk all day.

Luckily, we have been taking weekly photos to document our progress. ( Don’t let my gorgeousness overwhelm you…we take them in the morning, which usually means before “getting ready for the day”)

Week 5:

Week 15:

Week 27:

Now, we’ve got 12 weeks to go! Feeling pretty good. Some days I have more energy than others. My exercise is taking care of Britton, unless he insists on “playing a game, baby stats” which means ME doing the games on the Wii Fit Plus.

She’s growing well–according to how much weight I’m gaining and my size.

Thankfully it hasn’t been too hot yet here in LA. Sometimes I feel like I’m roasting!

Whenever it’s Mark’s special occasion and he gets to choose dinner or dessert, he likes to challenge my baking abilities.

Usually he chooses some cake or something that I’ve never made before and is kind of elaborate. Remember the White Chocolate Raspberry Cake and Flourless Chocolate Cake? Well, this Father’s Day was no different. We made Raspberry Lemon Tart. It comes from one of our “Bride and Groom Cookbook” (from Williams Sonoma of course) I like it because using it makes me feel sophisticated and grown up.

Anyway, here’s the final result:

Technically, it’s a pie, not a tart since I didn’t have the right pan, but it turned out delicious!

Side view

Both of my guys seemed pleased.

Britton loves his daddy, and often prefers him over me. Which I don’t mind so much, since I’m with him all day. Sometimes he actually cries when Mark goes to work, and loves to run up and give him hugs when he gets home. Sign of a great daddy for sure.

Happy Father’s Day sweetheart!

A couple of weeks ago when Mark was out of town Britton and I went down to Newport beach with my family. Even my great aunt and uncle came, so we had a nice group. What we didn’t have was sun.

It was beautiful and sunny as we were on our way; we figured the marine layer would burn off by noon. It didn’t.

This was our view until we left at 3:30 when the wind picked up and it got chilly.

We did have fun though. Britton loves his aunt Chezney.

And…

Swimming in the sand

Dumping sand on himself

Playing with Shells

Throwing dice

The girls…and boy.

Britton fell asleep as soon as we backed out of the parking space. Thanks for the fun day mom!

We go on field trips.

Last week we went with a bunch of friends to Underwood Family Farm. This place is great! There are so many things for kids to do and see. Britton fed animals, rode on a tractor,

sat in a train, ran up and down hills, climbed a hay pyramid,

and even picked a few strawberries!

These were maybe the best strawberries ever. So sweet and juicy.

Britton approved!

I quickly picked 2 pints. I could’ve been there all afternoon. I just kept seeing more and more delicious-looking bright red berries. I even picked my own cilantro and a few carrots. Plus got lots of additional goodness they picked at the market they have there.

He was asleep about 2 seconds after we left.

This week we visited the Zimmer Children’s Museum. The whole thing is full of exhibits the encourage kids to play, learn and discover. Britton was exhausted by the time we left!

The green circle is a button that activates lights in the bigger silver-looking circle. He loved it!

An interactive display where he could make different musical instrument sounds and have it play back. I’m sure you can imagine how long we sat here.

Playing with food in the restaurant (or market) There was also a big magnetic board with foam letters. He liked that too.

We’ll definitely have to go back. There is a lot more planned in the weeks ahead…and we can hardly wait!

With a three-day weekend ahead of us, and an itching for a vacation, we headed up to South Lake Tahoe for Memorial Day. It was a little chilly, but was sunny most of the time.

We started off well…haha. It took us 40 minutes to get on the freeway, then another hour to get to Santa Clarita (normally it should take less than and hour from our house) so, we were not nearly as far along our drive as we’d planned by the time Britton woke up from his nap.

Then I chose poorly for dinner. We stopped at a little town (little did we know there was a bigger one 5 miles further) and we ate at a Mexican place that looked really authentic, with half of its menu in Spanish. Those places are usually delicious. Well, not so much.

Stopped off for the night in Sacramento. Not so nice of a Holiday Inn. And we thought we were going to have to backtrack 10 miles in the morning.

Thankfully, the rest of the trip went well. The mountains are gorgeous, with lots of waterfalls and still a bit of snow. It made me miss Utah a bit.

We couldn’t check in yet when we got there, so we looked around the town. It’s a lot bigger than I’d thought it would be. A little over 75,000.

Britton found a fun play-place.

Nice bench

Climbing

Made it!

Yay water!

We got settled, had dinner and went swimming. Brit loved it! Those lessons are paying off.

The next morning we went up the Gondola (or helicopter as Britton calls it) at Heavenly.

Our route.

Very excited.

The Lake from the observation deck. Sooooo beautiful!

Though, at the top it was cold and snowy. All that was missing were skis. Unfortunately, snow and crocs don’t really mix.

Then we headed for a drive around the lake. We heard it was a good idea. It was. This is Emerald Bay. Apparently Kodak says it’s the 2nd most photographed place in the US after the Grand Canyon.

It was really greenish and lovely.

Monday we planned a hike, and a visit to Tallac. It’s one of the first luxury summer homes on the lake. The homes are large and beautiful. Britton had fun with a couple of favorite past times.

Running Away

Attack of the Giant Pinecone

So, the directions to our hike were a little confusing, so we decided to go on a different one. But, we didn’t really follow those directions either. We were supposed to end up along the opposite side of the lake, but we drove around and saw all the cabins along the right side of the picture and had our picnic lunch here instead.

Fallen Leaf Lake

Lounging

Sadly, it started to sprinkle a little as we left. Isn’t it a rule Memorial Day is supposed to be nice and sunny?

I really want to go back and get in some bike riding and more exploring. Maybe in a couple of years. It made me miss the mountains though, and I’m determined we’re going to get out more. (Not that I was a big hiker/out door girl before LA, but for some reason I feel like I want to be now.)