If you don't already know, Dana's 33rd birthday was on July 28th (Wednesday).  Rather than buy each other gifts (although I can't resist getting him something), we like to celebrate our birthdays together and try to get away.  Since we planned a whole weekend getaway for our anniversary (next weekend), we didn't want to do anything that involved traveling.  But, Dana left the planning to me.  My planning went well because we had an amazing two days together.  We woke up yesterday started the day off with a family walk and opening gifts.  Rocky gave his daddy his card first, which you can see if you are on facebook  here.  They had a good time opening it together and daddy was quite impressed with Rocky's hard work of finding that card for him.

We then dropped Rocky off at his friend, Frito's house, where Frito's dad, John, watched Rocky for the night.  We took off to go downtown where we had a room at Se Hotel booked for the night.  We dropped our luggage off and took a walk around to get lunch and enjoy the day.  We never go downtown because traffic and parking is always a hassle, so not having to worry about driving made it such a nice adventure, and so relaxing.  We ate lunch at Neighborhood, which is known to have a great beer selection (something Dana was really looking forward to).  Dana got his birthday beer and burger (and I ate, too, of course), then we walked over to Heavenly Cupcake for birthday cupcakes.

Once we got back to the hotel, we unpacked and checked out our room.  Surprisingly, we got a room on the 15th floor, which was amazing!  We were looking over all of downtown and got such a view!  Here we are right when we got there:

(By the way, I'll have to apologize for all the pics, but I was a bit snap happy)

Anyway, we enjoyed the pool for a few hours before the sun went down.  Dana also enjoyed a few poolside cocktails, as you can see. 

We then got ready for dinner, which we had in the restaurant in the hotel named Suite and Tender.  We definitely didn't restrict ourselves from anything, for we had a starter salad, our entrees, and two desserts. 

And, check out the view from our balcony when we got back from dinner!  This really is from my camera.

We then ended the trip by enjoying a walk down 5th Ave this morning, where we had breakfast at Mary Jane's, which Dana was super excited to get their Corned Beef Hash that he said was simply amazing.

It was a fantastic two day adventure that I am so happy that we got to do.  We realize that in just a few months we will have far less opportunities to do things like this together, so we are so glad we get to squeeze them in now.  And, I actually don't think Rocky minded his sleepover very much either.  He seemed very happy and well taken care of while we were away....although, he sure was happy to see us today.

Happy Birthday to my amazing and loving, strong and caring, super terrific husband!  I am looking forward to spending today with you, hoping it is everything you wish for it to be.  You deserve the best, I love you!!!!!!

After adjusting the days to get on track with my new due date (Nov 30), I am officially 5 months pregnant tomorrow!  It is crazy to think about it because I am now over the half way point...whoa!  Good thing I still have 4 more months because I don't even feel like I am prepared yet, but are you ever really prepared?  Probably not, from what I hear.  Anyway, the pregnancy right now has been going very smoothly.  I still do get sick and spend some time with the porcelein god in the mornings (about 3 days a week), but once I relieve myself of whatever needs to come up, I tend to start feeling better for the rest of the day.  I still have my energy and am pretty active during the day.  I am at the gym 3 days a week and spend the rest of the days walking 2 1/2 miles through our neighborhood with Rocky.

I was excited because while I was working at my friend's boutique last week, a woman asked me if I was expecting.  I was so excited that she asked.  Turns out she was expecting as well, so I'm sure she had babies on her mind.  Many other people have already begun celebrating our little girl as well.  We have received some fun packages in the mail of little onsies, sleepers, blankets, and other clothes.  I was so excited about them that I have already washed and folded them into drawers, getting ready to dress our little girl.  My mom also surprised me with a box filled with things that she kept from when I was a baby, including the outfit I wore home from the hospital and my baby book.  It was so fun to read through the book and see everything my parents did in preparing for my arrival.  One of my favorite things to read was a peice of paper that my dad was writing my mom's contractions on.  The nurse had asked him to write down the time every time my mom had a contraction and my mom included it in the book.  It made me think about how my parents, too, were doing it all for the first time once, and it was with me!  I could tell their excitement was exactly what Dana and I are feeling.  My dad also sent me a package and included a CD that read "listen and enjoy".  At first I didn't know what it was, but when I popped it into my computer I heard a collaboration of recordings of myself when I was little.  The beginning was my crying as a baby, then talking to my dad, then saying my ABC's and 123's.  It was so cute to hear and brought tears to my eyes instantly.  It is hard to believe that both of my parents have held on to these precious things for the last 30 years.

So, a little more about Baby Nevins.  She has been much more active lately.  I've been feeling her kicks much stronger now and more frequently.  Sometimes I can just sit and watch my belly move around while she moves.  I'm not sure that is a feeling I can ever sick of.  I'm pretty sure she's been having some growth spurts as well.  The other day my lower belly was hurting for quite a while.  It wasn't in a way where I was concerned to go see the doctor, but more a feeling of stretching and stabbing.  I did, however, call one of my cousin's to get affirmation that it was ok and normal.  It was bothering me for so long, though, that I thought for sure I was going to balloon over night.  It's hard to tell if one day made a significant difference, but I definitely know she's in there :)

Anyway, here is a pic of my belly at 5 months:

After Dana had been teasing me for "taking it easy" for the past couple weeks (I beg to differ), I was swept up with a whirlwind of a weekend...but as you will later read, it wasn't all that bad considering it was a lot of quality time with good friends, even though I didn't see Dana all weekend long (and if you ask him, I'm sure he was quite alright with that, as you will see down below).  On Saturday, I spent the day at my friend, Ruth's, bridal shower.  It was so much fun because I have only seen her once since Dana and I got married and I had never been to the house she has been living in with her fiance, Ben.  We caught up like the good ole days and I got to meet all the women in her family, who were all too much fun to be around.  It was a gorgeous day outside, so it was a perfect day to picnic in the backyard and celebrate the soon-to-be nuptials of Ruth and Ben (They are marrying in October).

On Sunday, I was participating in a fashion show that was held by the students at the fashion school that I graduated from.  Check out my blog post about the event if you are interested by clicking here. Two of my designer friends, Jen and Michelle, and myself set up a trunk show to sell our clothing, which was also used in the fashion show.  What better way to sell your pieces than to show what they look like on a model on the runway.  It was held in this gorgeous garden yard of a couple who allowed us to use it for the fashion show.  It turned out so beautiful and I made many connections and possible clients. 

And, as I was out and about being a social butterfly, Dana was....well, can you guess?  You got it, he was working away in the backyard.  He must almost be done by now you ask?  Hahahahaha, yeah right.  While he is working on one thing he is always brainstorming on the next thing because he just doesn't want it to end.  So, he started off the weekend by getting some bird feeders and hanging them in the backyard.  He was anxious to attract some hummingbirds close to his flower gardens, so he set up a hummingbird feeder on the edge of our patio and it didn't take long at all for the birds to find it.  The whole feeder was empty in one day!  We were lucky to catch a couple pics of a bird feeding while we were eating dinner last night, check it out:

And, his big project of the weekend was building a retaining wall in the very back of our yard where he felt that "it would erode very soon", so he went to get some bricks and away he went to put it together.  One thing I really do admire about Dana is that whenever he does projects like this, he really takes his time to make sure that he does it right the first time.  He leveled all of the bricks and made the wall look just perfect!  Here was the end of day one (yesterday), which he actually finished today.

And, yes, he really does wear that hat all the time.  I can't blame him, for it does cover his back and neck and prevent them from getting burned, but my gosh he sure looks ridiculously silly, wouldn't you say?   He sure is turning into an old man pretty quickly.  hahaha. 

So, after weekened upon weekend of working on the house, I was finally able to convince Dana to get away for the day and enjoy the hot summer weather.  Being that we live east a few miles from the beach, the temperature is almost 10 degrees hotter than near the ocean.  This last week was filled with some pretty hot days, reaching the 90's.  So, what better to do than to cool off with the ocean breeze and catch some rays.  We spent the day in Pacific Beach for some much needed fun, together time.

We ran a couple erronds, treated ourselves to some acai bowls, then layed at the beach and people watched.  We ironically sat right next to another couple who were expecting, but it looked like the other girl was further along than I was.  We wanted to find a good way to strike up a pregnancy conversation, but never did...so we just kept to ourselves and played the guessing game "How old do you think they are?  How far along do you think she is?, etc."  You know, all the things you wonder, but you maybe shouldn't ask.  :)

Anyway, since we were in our old stomping grounds, we wanted to take as much advantage of it as we could.  We ate at one of our favorite lunch spots, Cass Street Bar and Grill, where we both got their infamous stuffed baguettes.  We parted ways so that I could meet with my girlfriend, Jennafer of Jennafer Grace Clothing, and we could go shopping.  I've been on a lookout for comfy maxi dresses that my belly will allow me to grow in to this summer.  And, while we were on our shopping adventures, Dana met up with Jennafer's boyfriend, Jack, for a nice cold beer.  We rounded out the day with an ice cream treat at Mr. Frostie's, compliments and Jennafer and Jack.

It was a perfect day, and so much fun!!  After our fun-filled Saturday, though, apparently my body couldn't handle much more so I spent Sunday napping and watching TV, while Dana did...well, what do you think he did?  Yup, thats right, he spent the day outside in his garden, cutting away dead branches, adding more vegetables and trees and building his irrigation system (yes, that means that each and every single thing that he has planted has its own water supply set to the desired amount that it needs daily).  I'm telling you, this guy don't mess around.

Here is a general picture of what is going on at 21 weeks:  You can see the baby is so close to being fully developed

Today I had a check up with my regular midwife.  We went over the results from the ultrasound, listened to the baby's heartbeat and went over any questions that I had.  First, we did a weigh in.  I have now gained 4 pounds overall, which I am no longer worried about.  The doc said that was very healthy and there is nothing to worry about.  It was good to hear it from her.  She looked over the ultrasound results and everything was normal, normal, normal.  Good, good, good!  She did say, however, that my baby measured to be about 3-4 days different than what we originally thought.  So, she moved my due date from November 26th to November 30th. 

Other than then my doctore check up, we do have other exciting news.  Yesterday morning while we were still laying in bed, I started to feel the baby kick.  While I have been feeling the kicking for a while, I wasn't sure how long I was going to have to wait until Dana could feel it.  But, in the morning, I put my hand on my belly and felt it from the outside.  I immediately grabbed Dana's hand and rested it in the same place.  Sure enough, about a minute later, he felt the kick.  But, nothing more after that.  Then, last night, she was moving around more than I have ever felt before.  I rested Dana's hand on my belly for about 10 mintues and he could feel all the movements and commotion that I could feel.  It was such an amazing moment that we got to share.  I think it made Dana very proud and excited, for it did for me.

We finally have pictures of yet another room that we have worked hard to decorate since we have moved in.  We are excited to show you our bedroom!  It was actually the very first room that we painted and started working on, and now it is complete.  Here is the before picture:

Not really much to see....but we did alot.  After painting, we also put in new windows and bllinds.  We tore out the closet doors and replaced them with curtains, new light and outlet plates, then all our furnishings and decor.  And, here is the end result:

Dana and I couldn't be any happier with how everything turned out.  We worked hard together to get it to this point and now we love our new bedroom!  :)

Another weekend, another addition to our ever-growing garden of trees, flowers, and vegetables.  While I painted the baby room pink and kept everyone fed and happy, along with hanging out with my friend, Dana, who came from LA to visit, my husband seemed to disappear deep into his other world, our backyard.  He claims it was to finally finish up his ongoing project, but seriously, will he ever be DONE?  Doubt it!  As you can see, Rocky has also been hard at work.  He is the one who looks over everything and makes sure daddy doesn't overdue himself.  Aren't my boys just the cutest ever?  Even with all that dirt and grub, you just gotta love 'em!

Anyway, one of the beautiful additions to our backyard has been the flowers that Dana has been adding.  He has been spending many nights researching the best and most beautiful flowers for us to plant and keeps adding them as the days go by.  I have to admit, I was very impressed, for I love flowers!  And, once he found the perfect placement for the flowers and the other plants and trees, he added mulch to perfect the garden's look.  I think he did an amazing job (but don't tell him I said that, or he will keep spending all his days and nights outside and I will never see him again!).  The first pic below is his section specifically for "Native Southern California flowers that draw hummingbirds".

(and keep in mind, this is just the beginning--I can't wait to show you once they all start to grow and bloom like crazy)

The next pic is of the other side of the garden where I got to help pic out flowers I liked.  They are so colorful and beautiful...and yes, that is a big rose bush with a ton of roses on it!  Gorgeous!)

Dana also added more vegatables to the back.  He made a seperate box to plant onions and a mix of lettuce, making sure the slugs don't get in to ruin our fresh food.  Oh, and exciting veggie update; We ate two zuchinis fresh from the garden for dinner last night.  Boy were they tastey.  :)  Here is our new mixed greens box:

Be on the look out for our next house update, I will be revealing the before and after of our bedroom.  It has finally been completed, now I just need to take the pics.

Today was a very special day for Dana and I.  Being that I have been completely worried about my baby and wanting everything to be ok, today was like a god-send,  it was our big ultrasound.  Not only were we excited to see the sex, but most importantly, we really wanted to see that it was really in there and growing like it should be.

The whole process began with the ultrasound tech taking a look at my cervix and all that other stuff that wasn't very exciting...but, as she moved the wand over my lower abdomen, we started seeing baby parts.  The baby was moving so much that the lady could barely get a good shot of anything, but you could make it all out.  You could see the little heart beating, including the little ventricles.  We saw the hands moving, the mouth opening and closing, the brain, and of course, the most exciting part--the sex part.  Ha!  We could see clear as day that we were having ourselves a little baby girl.  The moment was so touching and something that I will never forget.  My heart had always felt like it would be a girl, but to hear the lady say it, it made everything so real.  I think within a minute of hearing the sex, Dana started spitting off like 5 different girl names.  It was so cute and funny.  I could tell he was really excited, too.

I can't express the feelings of relief and joy.  My emotions took over from that point on and I have been on a super high.  To see 10 fingers and toes, its just a joy!!  And speaking of fingers and toes, she already takes after her daddy.  It looks like they have the same feet, heehee.  Now, lets just hope hers don't grow to a size 14 like her daddy. 

Since we didn't have time today, we will be spending time on our date night tomorrow to celebrate our little girl by buying a little something special for her.  I'm thinking a little dress and a baby book.  By the advice from a friend, I will try my best not to get too overwhelmed in the baby store.  But, it feels good to start planning for our precious daughter.  Pink baby room, here we come!!

Below is a pic of our baby's profile and my belly at 20 weeks :)

Check out the progress I've made through the months.  Can't wait to see what the next few months have in store.

After many days and weeks of worrying and waiting, we were finally able to confirm a healthy baby girl.  Dana and I are so happy to be sharing this wonderful experience together and glad that we have so many supportive family and friends in our lives.  As soon as I have the time, I will post some scans from the ultrasound, but until then, help us celebrate our little baby girl on the way.  :)

To hear more about our ultrasound experience and see the ultrasound pic and my belly, click here!