A Visit with Family and Friends

Well, we made it to San Diego! We are still waiting for our stuff to arrive, but at least most of the hard work is done. Blake was a champ at flying. He got a little fussy before the plane was moving, then he played on the iPad and slept the rest of the way on all of our flights. Here he is checking out the planes:




Blake and I spent a week in Indiana visiting our family and friends. We had a great time and really appreciated all of the effort everyone put in to helping us out through this transition. We couldn't have done it without everyone. Here are some pictures from our visit:


























































My mom flew out to San Diego with Blake and me to check things out and help out. We loved having her! Here are some pictures from her visit:




































More pictures to come once we get our stuff and get settled a little more!

House Hunting in California

Alex and I just got back from California. The goal for our few days there was to find a place to live and become familiar with the area. We had a general idea of where we wanted to be from Internet research and opinions from friends. Ideally, we wanted to rent a house (at least 3 bedrooms, fenced yard, good area), but upon looking online, we found that things rent super quickly. Many places we liked we're taken quicker than we could get out there to do anything. We ended up finding a couple houses and a couple apartments to look at once we got there. Alex found one that was perfect. A nice house, nice neighborhood, the best school district, 3 bedrooms, 2 car garage, fenced yard.... We figured there was no way this would still be available once we arrived. We scheduled the appointment for the same day we got there. We loved it! We were so nervous through the whole "waiting" process until we had a singed lease with deposit because we were certain someone was going to come in and steal it! We didn't even want to look at anything else, because we liked it so much. We consider ourselves pretty lucky that it all worked out! Our lease starts on August 18th, and we really can't wait to be in a house again. The only downsides about the house are that we have to get a refrigerator because one is not included (manageable!) and there is no air conditioning. The latter sounds bad at first, until you remember the location. The high temperatures in this area of San Diego (Rancho Penasquitos) range from 69 degrees to 85 degrees. This is also manageable! We were there when it was 85, and the house felt fine. There is great airflow because the windows and screen doors are so large. We will only be about 15 miles to downtown San Diego, 6 miles to the beach, and a 10-15 minute drive to Alex's work, which just so happens to be right by the Torrey Pines golf course. Blake and I are leaving Boston on August 10th to spend some time in Indy while Alex manages most of the packing, the movers, the car shipment, and driving out with the dogs. Luckily, Lauren will be helping. They should arrive on the 18th, and Blake and I, along with my mom, will be arriving on the 19th. Flying with Blake is going to be super interesting since he will be sitting on my lap while I'm 6-7 months pregnant, but at least my mom will be able to help on the flights from Indy to San Diego. We will just have to manage on the Boston to Indy flight! Here are some pictures of our trip, house included! Pardon some of the house pictures, the current renters were in the process of moving out.

Baby Names

Choosing a baby name is one of the hardest things about being pregnant, in my opinion. We chose a name for our baby girl after much consideration. Most of the same factors were used in our determination of her name. Not too old-fashioned of a name, not too trendy of a name, not insanely popular, nothing that could be turned into a nickname, etc. We also, like with Blake, avoided choosing any names that were after any family members so we didn't have to choose one side or the other. With all this being said, her name will be Claire Harper! We love it and think it fits well with the rest of our names. I'm excited to have something to call her rather than "the baby." :)

Baby News and More!

I haven't updated the blog in a while because I was waiting on the big announcement! We are expecting baby #2, and it's a girl! We are so excited that Blake gets to be a big brother. He and his little sister will be 22 months apart (she is due December 2nd, 2012). We have had a few ultrasounds, and so far, everything has looked great! We were able to see face, her little hands and feet, and a few great profile shots! I haven't been feeling much movement, but I didn't with Blake until a little later.

We have been keeping pretty busy. We signed Blake up for The Little Gym. He loves it! He gets to play with other kids, sing songs, play on gym equipment, work on a few gym skills, and practice rhythm! We go to a weekly class and will start going to a weekly open gym next week. We have also have been visiting the beach and pool when it's not too hot. Blake loves playing in the sand and floating in the pool. He is a little afraid of the ocean, but who can blame him!? I got a maternity suit (ugh) and have even been out in it. And we can't forget our visits to Boston! We went to see the tall ships during OpSail and Chowderfest. It was delicious. We have a trip to the outlet mall planned for next week, of course, because there is a Ralph Lauren outlet (and Carter's and The Children's Place)... baby girl is about to get her first shopping trip!

Now that our news is out, I will try to be a little better at updating the blog! We will see how that goes... In the meantime, here are some pictures from the last few months!