Happy Birthday Daddy!!

or should I call you Gramps??

The Weekend

On Saturday, my grandparents from New Hampshire came to visit us in DC. I haven't seen them since our wedding so it was great to get to spend the day together. We went to the National Archives, the National Gallery of Art, and walked around the mall a little. They also took us to lunch and I ate the biggest burger I have ever seen... no lie, I actually felt sick the rest of the evening. Anyways, it was a really fun day and I'm so glad I got to see my grandparents. Thanks for coming Papa Dennis and Grandma Ann!

Later that night, our friends Matt & Mary came over for games and popcorn. Huck always acts really strangely whenever we have company over. He always latches on to the new male that's hanging around and won't leave the poor guy alone. Here he is cuddling with Matt.

Later, Huck decided he wanted to play cards with us, so he alternated between Matt & Mary's laps.

On Wednesday we totally lucked out! I found the exact stroller I’ve been wanting on Craigslist for half price and we saved $30-$40 on shipping too! The lady who sold it to us was super nice and she even gave us a FREE Pack n’ Play!! Nothing beats free! And, as an added bonus, it turns out she is a breastfeeding counselor and lives only about 10 minutes away from us. Does it get any better? I’m really excited about these two finds!!

Told you!

See, here's the little stinker giving us a thumbs down while his older brother hides his face and gives us a lovely view of his back and butt.

These kids are going to be trouble, I can already tell ;-)

Whatever am I going to do with my life...

...now that I finished the Twilight series?

I picked up this book at the airport on my way back from Idaho and have become obsessed- to put it mildly. At first I was really embarrassed to tell anybody what I was reading; I made Brandon promise not to laugh. But then I convinced him to give it a try (I think he was just bored because I refused to talk to him or do anything at all for an entire week while I read the rest of the books) and he actually seemed to like it. Of course he'd never admit it since they're "teen romance novels" (he says that like it's a bad thing), but I have a feeling that he secretly loves them! And I know he's as excited for the movie as I am!

But until then, I'll just have to sit here bored and anxious and let my excitement build!

Pregnancy Update

Alright, 22 weeks down, only 15 to go! I’ve been feeling great lately. No exhaustion, no nausea, no ravenous appetite. Everybody was right, the second trimester is awesome! I had another doctor appointment on Monday and everything looks great. The babies are exactly 1 pound each now and about 8 inches long. I can also totally feel them kicking and flipping around in there lately! It’s incredible to think that little people are living inside me and I can feel them!! It was really weird at first because it feels like little tickle/flutters, then it starts to feel like a little fish is swimming around inside you. And now they move so much at night when I’m sitting or reading that it’s almost annoying. I want to tell them to stop distracting me because I can’t focus on my book when they’re doing gymnastics inside my belly!

At the sonogram, they were not behaving themselves very well though so we don’t have great pictures of them from this visit. Baby A was either in a headstand hiding his face or flipping around so much we couldn’t get a clear picture of him. Baby B was slightly more photogenic, although not completely cooperative either. In one of the sonogram pictures, he was lying on his side and giving us a big thumbs down! You have to see the picture to believe it! These are totally Brandon’s and my children seeing as how stubborn and mischievous they already are!

Good news, I didn’t get in trouble for being dehydrated again! Bad news, I got in big trouble for gaining twice the amount of weight I should have in the last month! Oops! I swear, I’ve actually been eating less than before! And very healthy too, I might add. I have no clue how this happened! My doctor said it was probably because I've been eating too much fruit. Darn! My one craving and I have to cut back! Luckily, one of my co-workers who had a baby last year gave me several pregnancy books, including one on what to eat when you’re pregnant. I think I will put myself on a strict diet and start weighing myself at home to make sure I’m not gaining too much again.

More bad news, my doctor told me I’m not allowed to fly West for the campaign and election, darn! I was really looking forward to one last hurrah of being a working woman. I actually really enjoy campaigns and all the excitement surrounding election day. Plus, if I stay here, I’ll be literally the only person in the office for a couple of weeks and I’m sure I’ll get stuck with front desk duty. Great, I’m not only missing out on all the fun, but now I’m also being demoted back to my old job. I was really looking forward to being on the West coast too. Even though I wouldn’t have been home, it certainly would have felt more like home than Washington, DC does. And I’m scared to tell my boss that I can’t go. I don’t think they’ll be very happy with me. Maybe there’s some way around this, maybe I could go for only the 1^st week or something… Hopefully I can figure something out because I don’t want to be the loner in the office for a few weeks. Anyways, that's all for now!

Our Idaho Vacation

I finally got Brandon's computer to work! It was without a power cord for a while and then it refused to upload my pictures for some reason, but with a little patience and creativity I tricked it into uploading them.

We had such a fantastic time in Stanley visiting the O'Malley's. It was so nice to be outdoors in such a beautiful place. I think majestic is a good word to describe where Brandon's parents live. Stanley is in a valley right next to the Sawtooth mountains and it's gorgeous! You can truly see God's glory prominently displayed anytime you're outside in Stanley. I haven't been there in three years and I had forgotten how beautiful it was. Brandon's parents also have a gorgeous new cabin and it was fun to finally see it. Gary built a lot of the furniture (including all the beds) with his own two hands!

We mainly relaxed and played board games and cards most of the time. But we also went fishing, hiking, swimming in ice cold creeks, and hot-tubbing at night with a million stars. We went on one hike up to Goat Lake which I had done 3 years ago but was much harder than I remembered :-) It was 7.5 miles and labeled an "expert" hike. The last mile is incredibly steep and up a rocky slope. We had to stop alot because every 20 feet or so, my heart would start pounding so hard I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. I also needed to guzzle water every few minutes, but I made it to the top!! I was so proud of myself! If my kids ever whine when we make them go on hikes, I will tell them to shut it because I did that hike while 5 months pregnant with both of them! (Except I'll obviously say it slightly less harshly than that) Anyways, that was my big adventure of the trip. Don't worry Mom, the babies are still doing fine and I probably won't be doing any more hiking. I have suddenly ballooned out and it's getting more difficult to even hoist myself off the couch. Oh the joys of pregnancy!

Idaho Pictures

Redfish Lake

Me about to jump into the freezing cold swimming hold

Brandon trying his hand at fly fishing

In a picturesque meadow

This is us embarking on the 7.5 mile hike

When we finally got to the top, we rested for a looong time

But it was worth it, there was a glacier lake at the top!

Scott and his girlfriend Ashlee

The whole family

On the way home I had a layover in Seattle and I got to see my favorite girls of all time! It made my whole month!! Renee gave me super cute gifts from Janie & Jack and the twins' first classical cd's of course! Thanks Ne! Love you both so very much!

Baby Shower!

My lovely sisters threw me a baby shower while I was in California. And they gave me SO MANY baby clothes... I'm so blessed!! They all baked and decorated to their hearts' content and the result was a perfect shower. Thank you to everyone who came and especially thank you to my sisters for the best baby shower I could ever have asked for! I loved it and I know you guys did too! Here are the pictures:

We're all playing Renee's "Baby Trivia"

I got most of the answers wrong...

Here's all the food they made... not to play favorites, but Rachel's Brownie Chunk Cookies were to die for.

Opening all of my presents. I could hardly believe how many there were! Thank you again to everybody who blessed me with gifts!

Notice how Renee just can't keep her hands off of my belly!

Thanks Juli for coming all the way to California for my shower and for getting me a free flight, I can't thank you enough!

We went to visit my Grandpa Ortiz in his retirement home after the shower.

Then my Daddy took us to Downtown Disney

I had such a great time in California, it was hard to leave. I miss my family so much!! Hopefully, someday soon I can be close to them again.

Next up... our Idaho pics!

The Happiest Place on Earth

It certainly lived up to it's name once again. My Mom, Grandma, and sisters all came and we had such a great time! It was slightly more difficult getting around this time since we had a wheelchair, a stroller (Rachel is a nanny), and a pregnant lady but it was fun nonetheless. We rode only a few rides because so many of us couldn't go on them, but we saw the parade, the Aladdin show, the fireworks, shopped and ate a ton of yummy snacks.



Disneyland will always be my favorite place because of all the memories there. It was always our thing to do as a family when we were little and we have just continued the tradition by going each time we're all together again in California. I love that I feel like a little girl again every time I'm there. The fireworks are my favorite part because I always get tingles every time Tinkerbell flies. It takes my breath away and I can hardly wait to share this with my children!

Here's me on one of the few rides I could actually go on

I am so pitifully pale, this is an act of humility to actually post this picture... especially while I'm standing next to Rachel!!



Another children's ride...
YESSS!! We found Mickey & Minnie!!