christmas

We can't believe that Christmas is right around the corner! We have our tree all adorned with decorations, lights, and presents. We've sent out our presents as well (thank you Amazon Prime!). Our holiday cards are almost ready to go out too! 

Ollie met Santa Claus at his play gym and would not crack a smile for the camera. He was dead serious the entire time. We finally got an okay picture after snapping about 20 of them. I guess his serious face is better than his cry face. I was hoping for a fat jolly Santa but instead got a skinny Santa that didn't say a word to the kids. Oh well, better luck next year. 

We spent Thanksgiving with friends here in Charleston and will be doing the same for Christmas. We've traveled so much last year that we just wanted a nice and quiet holiday. But of course, that can only last so long right? 

After Christmas and before New Year's Eve, we'll be spending a long weekend in Atlanta, GA. We're not sure what we are going to do there yet. We heard that the United State's biggest aquarium is there. We also learned from the Food Network that there is an amazing international market there as well!

Ollie and I will be heading back west to California in a month to meet his new baby cousin Alexander. We're only there for a short trip. I really didn't want to travel again until the spring but I'm anxious to meet that little nephew of mine. Oh well… I promise this will be the last trip before April when we head up to Washington DC / northern Virginia for a wedding.

since finding out...

we found out we were pregnant in late october right after doing a two-week cross country road trip from san diego, california to charleston, south carolina. 

while on our road trip, we hiked zion national park as well as arches national park and several other places in utah. we spent some time in new mexico and texas. surprisingly we found good vietnamese food in oklahoma. then we made our way through arkansas and stopped in memphis, tennessee to visit "the king" as well as nashville and knoxville. our last stop was in asheville, north carolina to visit a friend before we finally made it to charleston.

since being in charleston, our lives have not slowed down one bit! A's mom came to visit for christmas and we headed back to vancouver, bc with her to celebrate new year's eve with her and A's family. i was about 16 weeks along with baby O at this point.

while in vancouver, we were lucky enough to be a part of a good friend's wedding too! here i am about 17 weeks along. obviously, this was not my best photo, but hey, the day wasn't about me!

although things have settled a bit more since january, i've been nesting. i know, it's a little early for that but a girl's gotta keep herself busy! baby O will either love or hate all the little crafts i've been making for him. i've spent way too much time on pinterest!

A and i haven't taken many photos since october. but here is one of me showing off my baby bump. it's not the nice perfectly round belly i had hoped for but baby O is healthy and his kicks are getting stronger and stronger by the day. so here i am at 24 weeks at ace basin, a natural estuarine research reserve. baby O really wanted some sun! oh, not only did we see an alligator that day but we also saw a bald eagle!