easter egg hunt and spring celebration

Our first real event in our new town was the Spring Celebration today.  The town hosts a huge event at a big park with egg hunts, the easter bunny, bounce houses, face painting, food, cotton candy...you name it. But prior to the event, our friends hosted a brunch and mini hunt for the little kids. Laila got to hang out with some of her buddies and meet some new friends, as did Collin and I. It was a really lovely morning and the best part was that Laila tired herself out and took a 3.5 hour nap, allowing Collin and I to get a lot of much needed work done around the house!

laila and her buddies...holland, hayley and harper!

checking out the egg hunt sign

you want some marshmallow, mama?

family shots...a rare occurrence!

peanut butter eggs...piece of ice...both are pretty exciting

attempted photo with the easter bunny turned into a forced family shot. 

oh well, there's always next year!

she recovered from the bunny trauma quickly after seeing this cool carrot balloon!

pet owls

So, on our first night living here we were welcomed to our home with the VERY loud hoots of two owls.  We have heard them every night since, but you kind of get used to it after a while. Even Laila hears them and says "owl" and when they stop, she says they're taking a nap. The other night, Collin was driving up the driveway and saw a huge bird flying away from our front fireplace chimney.  We have seen them since at night, but drove home today just at dusk and were able to see them clearly! They definitely appear to be living in our chimney...and they are creepy and gigantic.

things you might find in my backyard

The last week's happenings in photos

auntie coco came to visit for the weekend and got lots of snuggle time with laila

we lit a fire on a chilly night, which collin claims made the house colder somehow

trying on daddy's ridiculous patriots slippers

eating some blue peanut m&m's

new position for reading with daddy

looked too cute today to not have a mini photo shoot

working on her smiling...hasn't quite figured that concept out yet

Pre-term Labor

On Sunday afternoon as I was getting things organized in the nursery, I started to have some lower abdominal aching. I figured it was just "growing pains" as the baby is getting bigger and bigger by the day. I had to drive my sister to LAX for her flight back to Boston, and on my way there I realized it seemed a lot more like contractions. On the way home, I called Collin and our doula to check in and let them know what was going on.  We ultimately decided that I should call my doctor and probably get checked.  At about 10:00pm, after calling my good friend Sara to come watch Laila, we headed to the hospital.  I was hooked up to the monitors which indeed showed I was having contractions and after an exam and some testing, I was given 3 injections of turbutaline which is supposed to help slow them down. I was also hooked up to an IV, and ended up spending the night being monitored.  Collin went home at around 2:30am to relieve Sara and be with Laila, and they picked me up around 10:30 the next morning.  The doctors did a hormone test which can pretty accurately determine whether or not my body is preparing to go into labor within the next 2 weeks, and that came back negative which is a great sign. It was also good that my contractions weren't progressing or causing any dilation, which is why they felt OK to send me home.  I am supposed to take it easy for the next few days and see how things go. I have a routine checkup with my OB on Friday so we'll see how things go until then.

Please be praying for the health of our baby and that I can manage to rest and stay off my feet as much as possible with a 19 month old to take care of.

Tanaka Farms Strawberry Picking

Laila and I got to join our old HB Stroller Strides gang at Tanaka Farms in Irvine for a Strawberry Picking tour.  A huge group of mommies and kids got together and we loaded up on a tractor that took us out into the fields. The guides stopped at different points and showed us all of the vegetables and herbs and fruits that they grow, and we all got to try different ones, straight from the ground.  They are all organic and amazing! It was so fun to watch Laila be interested in eating carrots, snap peas and spinach, among other things.

hugs for hayley and adam

 hanging with her besties, adam and hayley on the tractor

 eating a snap pea

 showing mama a green onion. she tried it but wasn't too impressed

 eating a carrot fresh from the ground

 she liked the long green stems

We then showed up at the strawberry fields, unloaded from the tractor and got to pick our own strawberries. At first Laila did a great job of picking them and putting them in the container I had, but then she quickly learned it was way more fun to just eat them.  The first time she put the entire thing in her mouth, stem and all. I fished it out and showed her that I needed to take the green part off first, so after that she would pick a strawberry, hand it to me, I'd pull off the stem and give it back to her to eat.  After a few times like that, she figured out she could remove the stem herself and she was off and running...picking as many strawberries as she could and stuffing them in her mouth. At one point she decided to sit down and take a break...strawberry picking is hard work! (P.S. she also has something against looking at the camera right now. She simply refuses, as you can tell.)

photo op with mama - a rare occurrence! thanks sara for the pic :)

enjoying their pickings on the tractor ride back

the best part of the day was that we got to spend it with these ladies and their kiddos...

and their pregnant bellies!