It's been awhile...

Ok Ok...so It's been awhile...I've been asked to post pictures of the Nursery so here we go. I've been so swamped the past two months preparing for the little ones arrival I have had absolutely no time to update our blog. So I'll give you a quick synopsis now.


Tamera threw us a Baby Shower back on April 12th. We had the party at Alfy's Pizza in Lynnwood. It was a fun day! Mom and Dad came up from Oregon and my Ladies came into town from Idaho...My girl Cidney even flew in from San Fancisco! We had a lot of fun. Especially after the beer and wine started flowing...I felt so blessed as one of my best friends Chris Shoemaker and his Mom, Marilyn, even made a guest appearance as it was his very first baby shower ever!! I never thought I'd see that guy Scrapbooking in my life...but I thank you for doing so!!
Thank you Tamera for all the hard work you did and to Ray's parents for taking care of the rental of the space and all the pizza!!
And, Yes Chris...I will make sure that Noelani knows you bought her her first car!!

Then on April 18th my work threw me a Baby Shower which was also a ton of fun!! We gathered in the conference room after work and played some games and ate some food and cake. Again I had a few guys that came that had never attended a Baby Shower before...Thank you Russ and Peter for taking part!

Ray and I took all of our classes at Swedish hospital during the month of April and I think we both learned a lot....even Ray learned some things at the Breastfeeding class...Ray took lots of notes and will be there to remind me of everything I will have forgotten...My brain is shrinking daily remember?? :)
We toured the Swedish Hospital on May 3rd which was a lot of fun. There will be plenty of room in the room for everyone!! I'm still trying to find out if my 'Guests' can partake in the jacuzzi tub or not...I'll keep you all posted. :)

Also on May 3rd my Step-Sister Teresa and Step-Mom Barb threw me another Baby Shower at Barb's house. It was a fun afternoon. Ray got to meet a bit more of our crazy family and again I'm left feeling like he fits like a glove! Especially now that he's found a fellow Packer he can bond with...Thank you Jacob. As soon as I get some pictures from the this last baby shower I'll post them here for you. Thank you Barb and Teresa for all your support!!!
Noelani is going to be one very spoiled little girl!!!


Even Kea is ready for this little girls arrival...Ray installed the car seat in the car this week and Kea is already waiting for her arrival...



As of this coming Monday we are down to 3 short weeks before her arrival!! We have the time and date scheduled for Monday, June 2nd at 2:30 PM at Swedish in Ballard.
Thank you everyone for all your help and support these past 9 months!! We could not have done it without you.

I'll post some more belly pics this next week so you can all see my at maximum capacity...It's the only time I'll ever be proud to be this big!!

Here's the little lady!!!

Last week on March 20th we had another ultrasound and we decided to splurge and buy some 4D Ultrasound pictures and boy was it worth every penny!! You can see her beautiful little face so clearly! It's easy to say at the moment she's got Ray's nose and my lips and oh yeah...my long legs too!! She's gonna be tall! Ray has accepted the fact that not only is his woman but his little girl will be taller than he is too.
I did the gestational dieabetes test and got my RHoGAM shot on that day as well so it looks like we're in the home stretch now!!

I spent most of the weekend cleaning up the crib and dresser that Scott and Tamera gave us. Then spent the other half going through clothes and finding places for everything. I'll take some pictures and post them next week so you can see what the baby's room is looking like thus far. I couldn't help but imagine that soon our little girl is going to be here!!!

We set the date for the planned cesearan as well at our last appointment. Noelani's arrival date is going to be June 2nd!! Unless that is she decides to grace us with her presence earlier than that...I'll do my best to keep her in until then but as we all know women have a mind of their owns!!
I keep catching Ray and myself going into her bedroom and just looking around in awe of what's to come. We can't wait to meet her!!

New Pictures of the Belly!!!

So everyone has been dying to see pictures of the belly so here you go!!!

Tamera's husband Scott has his own Photography business and he took a bunch of pictures of Ray and I and Tamera and I as well. Hope you enjoy them as much as we are!

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I'll get better I promise.

Not much new to report aside from Ray's 35th Birthday coming up on Thursday (6th).

I'll post some pictures of the birthday celebration next week.

We're back...

I apologize for not updating our blog the past few weeks. It's been a busy time for both of us. I've started a part time job at the YMCA and was busy fighting off a cold last week. It sucks being pregnant and sick...you just have to ride it out. But alas I am feeling better this week and am ready to do it all over again...as Monday is here already.
I can't remember if we told everyone but we've changed our mind on the baby's name...I said it could happen and it did. We've decided on Noelani (for those of you Hawaiian challenged people out there it sounds like No-eh-la-ni). This is Hawaiian for 'Gift from Heaven'. We decided on that name as that is what she truly is...a gift from heaven. We haven't decided on a middle name yet but at the moment we're leaning towards two middle names which would be Lola Aponi. Ray loves the name Aponi which is Native American for 'Butterfly' and I of course love the name Lola as it's a family name and my Grandma Lola was such a wonderful caring woman I'd love to pass that name along to my little girl. We will of course keep you updated with the middle name status but as of now Noelani is the first name and we're sticking to it.
I've been doing a lot of 'nesting' as they call it. Tamera and Scott are giving us a crib, dresser and changing table so I've been busy making room for all of that. I can't wait for the bedroom to start looking more like a nursery.
As of this week we are 23 weeks along...according to my website only 118 more days!! The belly is starting to pop out more and more every day. I love it and so does Ray! I've been enjoying bumping bellies with him. Speaking of bumping bellies...I was over at Tamera's house last weekend and if I have failed to mention Tamera (my best friend and self proclaimed Sister) is also pregnant and about 4 weeks behind me!! Tamera finds out on Friday (15th) what she's having...we're hoping for a girl...How much fun would that be??? It's great to have your best friend to walk this journey with.
Talk is in the air of a baby shower. Stay tuned for details. We've finished registering at Target and Babies R Us...that was fun and scary at the same time as there is so much out there that we need and don't have yet.
I'll post more pictures soon as we're actually doing a photo shoot on February 24th.
For Valentines Day Ray is going to cook me dinner...I'm looking forward to that!! Who am I kidding Ray cooks dinner most of the time but hey it's a holiday!!
On a side note I'm doing a bit of planning myself as Ray's Birthday is coming up on March 6th. He'll be turning 35!!!
Our next appointment is scheduled for February 21st. I'm looking forward to the appointment after that on March 20th as my doctor is going to give us an opportunity to take some 4D ultrasound pictures...if you haven't had a chance to see these before they're are very cool and extremely detailed.
We've also just scheduled an appointment to tour Swedish Hospital on March 8th. We'll be having Noelani at Swedish Hospital in Ballard. I'm looking forward to that as I'm told Swedish is the best place to have a baby in Washington!!

It's a Girl!!!!

It's official...We found out late yesterday afternoon that we're having a beautiful baby girl!! Look out world here comes mini-me!!
Ray's still trying to figure how he'll live with two of me...
The most important thing is we saw all 10 toes and all 10 fingers and everything looks perfectly normal! She's got some big hands...I can't wait to put a basketball in them!!

I'll post some more belly shots as it gets bigger but here's a few for now to tide you over.
We can't wait for her arrival on June 8th!!!

The anticipation is killing me...

Not much new to report on this week aside from being ready for our ultrasound appointment tomorrow (Thursday 1/24) to find out what we're having. The anticipation is killing me. It's pretty much all I can think about.
My appetite is starting to pick up a bit...I was wondering when that would happen. For those of you that are wondering pickles have definitely entered the scene.
I'm still working on getting some pictures of the belly posted. Ray's off this evening so I'll try to get that accomplished tonight. I'm growing out of my first pair of maternity jeans and have discovered today that my bra can no longer contain my new found friends...
I'll keep this short and sweet as I'm sure I'll be posting again on Friday morning to let you all know what we found out.
For those of you wondering Ray is still recovering from the Packers loss on Sunday.
Ultrasound is tomorrow at 4:00 PM...stay tuned!!!

Packers Rule...There I Said It!

So much to my dismay my Seahawks didn't show up to play on Saturday and now I must listen to Ray go on and on about Brett Favre and how good his Packers are. Hence the headline of this post. I promised I would not only put my money where my mouth is but that I would post on our next blog about how much his Packers rule!!! There it's over now. We're moving right along...We'll get em next year!!
My best friend Tamera and her son Spencer came over yesterday and we baked a Peanut Butter and Jelly Cheesecake and decided to soak up some of the sunshine that was out in abundance at the park down the street from our place. We couldn't pass up the opportunity as I don't think we've seen the sun at all over the past few months. There is a park just two blocks down from our house we decided to check out. All I kept thinking about was how great it's going to be to just pack up baby and head down with the stroller to the park. It's official...the baby is in every one of our thoughts. We played at the park and then strolled through Redmond Town Center for a bit. It was great to get out and get some fresh air! Oh yeah and by the way...the Cheesecake is to die for!!! Baby likes cheesecake...
Officially I am 19 weeks along now and we're just about half way there...Only 147 days to go!! I can't believe how fast it's going. I'm going to take some pictures of the belly this week and post them so you can all see the bump. So far I've gained about 12 pounds and seems as if most of that is boobs! There are some perks to this whole pregnancy thing. I guess the baby is about the size of tomato now and is beginning to hear and recognize my voice.
We can't wait for next Thursday (24th) to find out what we've got growing inside. We're still feeling like it's a boy but we'll find out soon enough.
Not much else new to report on this week so I'll wrap this up.
Go Packers!!! (We're even now Ray...)