4th of July 2010

We spent the 4th at my parents house with our family - it was a nice, low-key night of fireworks, food, and good company

It was VERY VERY cold...

... but we still enjoyed the fireworks

Beautiful view of Commencement Bay from my parent's deck

Grandma Clarice's 90th Birthday

We spent the last weekend in June back in Reno celebrating Grandma Clarice's 90th birthday and helping move her into her new assisted living home.

There was a lot of work to be done, but we had fun doing it...

Grandma Clarice's new place was absolutely beautiful. Kathleen kept joking that she was ready to move in! The staff was so helpful and the room was lovely.

The last day we were there, the staff threw Grandma Clarice a beautiful birthday party. It was a tea party theme and they put together an adorable table and delicious lunch.

90 years old and she still looks so beautiful.

Grandma Clarice and her good friend John

The LeMay clan - love these guys!

Father's Day 2010

Baby Shopping!

I was a very patient wifey while Stephen prepared for his lecture ... but, I DID make him promise to take me baby shopping as soon as it was all over as a "reward" for all that patience :).

So, we spent the weekend after his lecture drowning in gear, furniture, and all things baby. I did do my homework before we went, but we were still TOTALLY lost and overwhelmed. How can such a tiny little baby need so much stuff! Needless to say, we registered as best as we could and then I spent the next week doing more research and revising the registry online. I think I've finally got a handle on this baby stuff, but I'm sure I will have much more to learn when baby girl actually makes her appearance.

Lecture is Done - Let's Party!

We started out with friends at Vons....

Dinner at Wild Ginger with the McPhees

And a little nightlife

Stephen's Big Lecture

Stephen lectured at the Pacific Northwest Dental Convention on June 17, 2010. He was speaking to other dentists, hygenists, and assistants on the issue of BPA in dental composites. All his hard work definitely paid off. Not only did he give a lecture that was easy to understand (even I could follow the material), but he was funny too! He had us all laughing throughout the lecture.

He spoke to a completely full room. By the time he really got underway, every single chair was full and people were standing in the back and out the door. I was so proud of him. It couldn't have gone better.

"Are Composites Really Safe?"

Stephen with his staff...

Organized Chaos

Stephen spent the entire first half of the month of June in the office surrounded by this .... total organized chaos. He was scheduled to lecture at the Pacific Northwest Dental Convention and worked incredibly hard to prepare for his presentation on the effects of BPA in dental products. Although I was a little bummed to be "husband-less" for the first two weeks of June, I was so proud of him for the hard work he put into it and couldn't wait to see him in action. When that man puts his mind to something, there is simply no stopping him!

Gender Reveal Party

We couldn't wait to share our exciting news with our friends and family, but we decided to wait until the weekend when we could celebrate properly AND surprise everyone. We threw a "gender reveal party" at our house and had so much fun.

When the guests arrived we asked them to guess whether we were having a boy or a girl. If they thought "boy" they were given a blue necklace and if they thought "girl" they were given a pink one. There were more pinks than blue guesses ...

We decorated with gender-neutral yellow colors and served lots of lemon treats (lemon has been my strongest and most lasting craving throughout this pregnancy)

We loved having everyone over. This baby is going to be blessed with lots and lots of people who love her!

Stephen worked the BBQ for the first part of the party until he convinced one of the guys to take over for him.

The big reveal!

It's a girl!

A picture with the aunties

Miguel surprised us with a beautiful song he wrote for our baby girl.

We are so blessed to have him as a life-long friend. He wrote a song for our wedding, and now he has written another for the birth of our first born. We are so thankful for him.

I have a video of the song that I will post soon.

The grandparents

After most of the guests had gone, we opened a few presents from one of the only people who knew to buy pink - Grandma Hansen. Look at that sweet little hat!

It's a GIRL!

We had our second ultrasound on May 25th and were lucky enough to have a cooperative little punkin giving us a clear view of "her parts" - Yes, we're having a little girl. We could not be more excited! It's been so nice to finally be able to refer to our baby with a pronoun ... "'she' is kicking" ... "what should we call 'her'?" ... unfortunately, we have not been able to choose a name yet. It is such a huge responsibility to name a person, and I think it will be much closer to the due date before we finally make that choice.

We took the grandmas with us to the ultrasound - it was so fun to have them there. We heard lots of gasps from my mom and plenty of ooohs and ahhs from Kathleen as we stared at the images on the screen. It was a really great day.