Thursday Date Night with Something Extra to Celebrate!

Recently Evan & I instated that Thursday night be deemed "date night". We have had 3 so far and each time chosen a different restaurant. Although I am starting to see a seafood theme. Sadly no sushi. At first during the pregnancy even the thought of sushi made my stomach turn, now I am starting to really miss it. I would have much rather had a severe food aversion to sushi than miss enjoying sushi dates with Evan. Thank goodness there are a few restaurants near his work so he doesn't have to go without, because it would be torturous if he ate it in front of me!

Well, yesterday's date night was something extra special. For the past few weeks we have been dealing with the possibility of Evan not having a job. The major cuts in the state budget resulted in Evan's program being dissolved. So many positions were cut that the department was then undergoing restructuring. So we were forced to wait to hear if in the restructure there would be a position for Evan. In the mean time Evan searched out jobs to apply for, joining me in the activity that has been the vain of my existence for the past few months. Finally the our fate arrived. Evan will have a position!!!! What a huge burden to have been taken off our minds. The experience has been a strengthening one for our relationship. Teaching two very impatient people to have patience. A trait that will be more than handy in the coming months and subsequently years to follow. What relief. It is one thing to have one of us unemployed looking for work, but the thought of both of us searching for jobs was overwhelming. Now, however we don't have to go down that thought path. Right now of minds are focused more intensely on Bumpkin, the growth of our relationship, planning a Celebration and enjoying the next few months.

So over a dinner of Lobster & Dungeness Crab Cakes with a glass of wine & strawberry lemonade we toasted the results of the day, the strength we gained over the past few weeks, and having that all consuming thought finally off our minds leaving us free to really enjoy where we our in our love and life together!!!

Wedding Photos by Derek Pearson

On a very brisk December day under the bluest of skies Evan & I declared our love and commitment to one another. These are our favorite images taken by Derek Pearson. Enjoy!

Belated Birthday Post

Presents from Evan

Great Baby Book from Eric & Shandel

Birthday Cards!

Two-toned Wrapping Paper!

Love, love, love body pillows- even more so now!

This is one thing I won't be sharing. :)

Who wants cake when you could have peanut butter pie?!

26 candles OUT.

Happy Birthday to me! Why should a birthday only be celebrated on one day? Thank you Steve for playing photographer on my birthday. I really don't know how a photo junkie like myself managed to leave the camera at home. :) We shall blame it on the prego brain. First birthday celebration with Evan (many many more to enjoy in the future), first birthday as Mrs. Oderman, last birthday before Bumpkin arrives and just that much closer to 30. I hope my 26th year is as great as my 25th.

Saturday Photo Shoot on Sunday

Our Saturday tradition of photo documentation had to take a backseat to our Saturday plans. Evan woke at 5:30 AM to get ready for his "man date" with Andy and Crystal Mountain for some much needed skiing. First day on the mountain for the 2009/2010 season. He's been dying to hit the slopes, but with the craze that came with the end of 2009 and the lack of snow on the mountains never gave him the opportunity. So while the boys played Alysha, Lucas (Andy's wife & son), & I had a date with IKEA! This was my first trip to the Renton IKEA, although I have been wanting to check it out since I moved nearly 3 years ago. We had a great day fueling at Applebee's before exploring the massive store. As we walked in the entrance I began to notice that I wasn't the only baby bump- it seemed every 5th person also sported a little stowaway. :) I never realized until this trip just how much baby stuff IKEA carries. Gave me some great ideas of little Bumpkin.

Some notable changes of this past week.

I no longer have hips. Well, they are obviously still there just covered with more padding.

Clothes that I wore pre-pregnancy look/fit so differently now.

Sleep that use to come so easy during the first trimester is becoming a thing of the past due to discomfort.

My fingernails have grown out and aren't cracking and breaking under the slightest pressure. FINALLY I have strength in my nails!!

My back looks like a pubescent teenagers face. :( -thank you hormones.

Frontal- 18 wks 1 day

Side View- 18 wks 1 day
(the bump is overtaking my boobs)

Standard Pregnancy Photo Bare Belly- 18 wks 1 day

Standard Pregnancy Photo

Belly Love Squeeze- 18 wks 1 day

According to What to Expect When You are Expecting little Bumpkin is the size of a Mango (mmmm tasty)- about 6 inches in length and 1/2 lb.

Exploring Westport

This past Sunday Evan & I packed up the Escape with Wayne puppers in tow and headed to the beach. Destination: Westport! Within a scenic and rather quick hour and a half we were at the coast. Once at the local beach access State Park we discovered although we packed the camera all charged up it was missing its memory card. Ugh. iPhone to the rescue. So with the memory capturing covered we started out towards the beach. What a day. Luck would have it that we had a 2 hour window of calm warmth before a storm hit. We spent those 2 hours walking the beach chucking the tennis ball for Wayne into the water. Wayne had a blast running, swimming and playing in the sand. As Wayne scampered ahead Evan & I kept our eyes out for the fast encroaching waves that we had to keep running from. I am looking forward to making return trips with the boys and Bumpkin later this summer!

17 Weeks!

Upon our return from our honeymoon it was quite obvious that something needed to be done regarding my pants situation. I wasn't certain what would be the best route, whether to just buy regular pants a bit bigger or jump right into maternity pants. To say the least it was quite an interesting experience! Conveniantly my dear friend Trinady called right as I was pulling in to Kohl's parking lot. She having been pregant two years ago (still can't believe my neice just turned 2!) has been full of so much great advice! So there I stand in Kohl's facing racks of pregnancy garments when I notice there are no zippers or buttons. I really hadn't given it much thought. I am cracking up and Trinady just adds perfectly that "during pregnancy we revert back to toddlers!!". Hilarious. In the end I thought it best to buy one pair of maternity jeans and this great find called The BeBand, which will extend the lives of many of my pre-pregnancy pants! The maternity jeans at the moment are a little too big, not enough belly yet, but are super comfy! I thought it would be fun to occassionally throw in some pre-pregancy photos from this past summer to really show the growth. :)

PrePrego Picture taken on 5.28.09 at Rosario Beach

Side View- 17 weeks

Bare Belly Side- 17 weeks

Standard Prego Pose- 17 weeks

The BeBand Saved my PrePrego Pants!

A Great Pre-Birthday Gift :)

Today we had our second appointment at with our doctor. However, Dr. Burtner was called in for an emergency surgery so we had the opportunity to meet another doctor (there are 4 total) within the practice. Dr. Bell, the only male doctor in the practice, started the appointment with a warm introduction and proclamation of the love of my name. Apparently Kate is the middle name of their daughter. We asked a couple of questions and then the gel came out we got to hear Bumpkin's beautiful heart beat. 151 beats per minute. :) We also scheduled our next appointment for 8 AM (yes I am going to have to drag myself out of bed early) for not only a "regular" visit but also an ULTRASOUND!!! We will not only get another chance to see little Bumpkin, which it seems like its been years since we've had our eyes on the dancing cutie! (Last ultrasound was November 25th) Keeping our fingers crossed that Bumpkin will cooperate and we will be able to tell if we are having a Mr. Bumpkin or a Miss Bumpkin :)

The Honeymooners :)

December 29th, 2009 - January 8th, 2010


Here is a sampling of our Honeymoon adventures in various places throughout Florida. The first portion of the trip we spent on the east coast of the state at Jensen Beach on Hutchinson Island. While there we enjoyed lounging on the beach, walking for miles on its compact sand, braving the chilly air temperature to dive into their heated pool, and ate some amazing food. We really lucked out in finding some phenomenal restaurants. We also took a couple of day trips. One day we ventured to Key Largo to catch a boat for a snorkel trip. This was the warmest day we experienced reaching 80 degrees before a little rain shower cooled the area down with a light shower while we were exploring the second snorkel sight. Loads of beautifully colored fish, reef formations and I even saw a sting ray! A couple of days later we look off to Miami to see Lolita, the Orca, and the other creatures that call Miami Sea Aquarium home. That night we stopped off in Fort Lauderdale for a delicious dockside meal. On Sunday we left the eastern portion of the state and headed back to Orlando.

The second leg of our trip brought us to the Gulf side of the state. Mom picked us up at the Orlando airport where we dropped off our rental car. The following evening we surprised the socks off Auntie Jen for her 70th birthday. Our remaining time in Florida we battled the weather to keep warm since most days didn't see the 50's. We walked miles of the beach, swing into John's Pass to shop, took the trolley up to Clearwater to visit with Winter the dolphin at the Clearwater Aquarium, played a few games of scrabble with the family, and even got the opportunity to visit with my dear friend Emily and her husband Ian who were also vacationing in Florida.

We returned well rested, armed with beautiful new memories and excited with the promises of the upcoming year!

Changes on the Belly Front

Home sweet home. We have returned from our honeymoon down in Florida. Although the entire state was experiencing the longest cold spell in history we were quite happy to have escaped the rain. During our first leg of the trip we reached the 15 week mark and took the opportunity to take advantage of a beautiful backdrop to document my every changing body.

15 weeks from balcony in Jensen Beach, FL

Bare Frontal- 15 weeks

Side View- 15 weeks

It wasn't however until our second leg of our trip when we trekked over to the west coast of Florida to surprise my Aunt Jen for her 70th birthday that my belly "popped". The pants that I had brought and was especially relying on since the temps only broke into the 60's one day were no longer fitting so comfortably! It is so nice to begin to look pregnant rather than looking like I've eaten a dozen too many donuts! Time to pack up the pre-prego pants and make a trip to the store to find replacements that won't squish bumpkin.

Bare Belly - 16 weeks

Side View- 16 weeks

Side View- 16 weeks

16 Weeks