My lover turned 30!

This post is quite overdue...but, c'est la vie!

Jordan turned 30 on July 5, so I knew we needed to do something memorable to celebrate! On his actual birthday I made him his favorite birthday cake, chocolate with marshmallow frosting, took him to eat at one of his favorite restaurants, Costa Vida, and gave him his FAVORITE game, Marble Wars (courtesy of some of our FAVORITE friends)!
He had already bought himself a nice, new mountain bike (which I informed him would be his Birthday, Christmas, Anniversary, etc. present for the next little bit), but I think the excitement he had over receiving the Marble Wars game rivaled the excitement he had when the UPS man delivered his bike! We LOVE playing Marble Wars!

A couple weeks after his "Official" birthday we hosted a "Totally Awesome '80's Party" in Jordan's honor. It was ALOT of fun, mostly because almost everyone came dressed in totally awesome 80's outfits! We played the 80's Newleywed Game, 80's Trivia, Nintendo RBI, and listened to one of the best 80's mixes I've ever heard (thanks to Jake, the 80's Master)!

A BIG thanks to all our friends who were able to make it! You made the night really special for Jordan! And a HUGE thanks to one of my BEST friends from High School, Heather, for coming down early and helping me get everything ready! I couldn't have done it without you!

Finished with Baby Project #1

I started the project of making my own nursery bedding back in April...and finished it a couple weeks ago! It was quite the undertaking, but what I spent the most time on was just picking fabric! Once I found the owl fabric, the rest was easy! I love the owls, I think they're so darling!

Then I bought a pattern and used it to make 3 crib sheets and the crib skirt (which I think is darling, and it's a shame it's mostly covered by the crib!) Thanks, Kristin for coming and helping me with the skirt, you really got me rolling!

Next I had to decide on a pattern for the bumper. That was not an easy task, but thanks to my Seamstress Goddess friend from work, I was able to make the design I wanted come to life! Another big thanks to Natalie and Ellen for coming over and helping me with the bumpers! It may not look like much, but each block on the bumper has 9 pieces of fabric that had to be cut out! Multiply that by 24 blocks, and you've got a lot of pieces to cut! Thanks to Ellen, all the pieces were cut in a couple hours and ready for me to sew together!

While Ellen was busy cutting, Natalie (aka Seamstress Goddess) was working out the kinks in my bumper design (remember, I made my own pattern for this bumper!). Natalie was able to figure out the fine details of how to put my very vague idea into an actual pattern I could follow, and like magic...it actually worked!
I love it and am so excited to see our little Baby Bartlett in it in the next little bit!

Baby Project #2...

Paint & reupholster these bad boys! They were quite the find of KSL. Lucky for me, I've recruited Jordan to do the painting, and some fabulous upholstery shop to do the sewing! That's my kind of project!

And one final picture...32 weeks on 8/1!

7.4.2010

While we were in Kauai I had mentioned to Jordan that I thought it would be fun to go to Stadium of Fire, since Carrie Underwood was performing, and I LOVE her! I'm sure you can guess, but Jordan's not such a huge fan, so the subject was dropped and forgotten.

A couple days before the event Jordan called and asked, "Do we have plans for the 4th?" Since we didn't, and he knew that, I was confused as to why he would ask, but then he followed with, " 'cause I bought us tickets to see Carrie Underwood!" I was so excited!

I love (good) surprises, and this one fit the bill! Thanks, lover, for a fun night! Even though Carrie never really entered our line of sight, the concert was alot of fun (remember the 8 year olds singing along, word-for-word, at the top of their lungs to EVERY song?!) and the fireworks were awesome! Hope everyone else had as much fun as we did this 4th!

PS: Here's another pregnancy shot just for fun! 28 Weeks on the 3rd...getting closer!

Our final day in Kauai

Thursday was our last day on Kauai, but our flight home was not until 8:30 PM. So I made arrangements with the condo owner to let us check out at 6:00 PM so we could spend the whole day at the beach! (We did the same thing on our last day in Maui, and loved it!)

When Jordan asked me where I wanted to spend our last day, I told him without hesitation, TUNNELS! We had been there a few days previous, and although the snorkeling was great, I had been dealing with a case of the "Pregnancy Paranoia" and hadn't spent as much time actually snorkeling as I wanted to.

On our way to Tunnels, we stopped at picturesque Hanalei Bay so we could take a few pictures in front of the famous pier with the gorgeous Kauai cliffs in the background! And then we continued north.

So, our last day on Kauai was spent snorkeling with giant sea turtles and beautiful, bright fish, and basking in the Hawaii sunshine! And of course we threw in a "shave ice" for good measure! I loved it! It was the perfect way to spend our last day! We were so sad to be leaving that Jordan couldn't even force a smile for one last pic!

All in all, it was a FABULOUS "last hoorah"! We loved spending time together, away from the daily grind we face back home, and the fact that we got to spend that time together on one of the most beautiful islands in the world is just an added bonus!

As Jordan informed me, "It will be a LONG, LONG, LONG, LONG, LONG time before you're ever back here (Hawaii)! So you better enjoy it!" I'm sure it's obvious that we did REALLY enjoy our time in Kauai...so, until that time in the (aparantely) FAR distant future when we are able to return to her beautiful shores...Aloha, Hawaii! We'll miss you!

Wednesday in Kauai

Since we got another late start today, we stopped at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican diner called "Red Hot Mama's" at got some of the best burritos in Kauai on our way to the "end of the road"! Although, when we were ordering we were told, "You can have steak or pork. We're all out of chicken; there's no chicken to be found anywhere on the island!"
Umm, HELLO! Have you people seen the innumerable hoards of wild chickens and roosters wandering all over this tiny island?!? Why not just kill some of them, no one would miss them!
So, that's exactly what we said to the little restaurant owner. To which she responded, "Do you want to pluck those things?!" Good point!

So, we gathered our burritos and headed up for a picnic at Ha'ena Beach Park, which we think is just the northern section of Tunnels! I LOVE that beach! After lunch, we headed across the street to check out "Dry Cave" which supposedly was carved out "many millions of years ago" when the oceans were at higher levels" or something like that! Jordan ventured in, but the thought of spiders and bats kept me back near the entrance.

After Dry Cave, we headed up to the "End of the Road" (literally) at Ke'e Beach. It must've been a great beach, because there was no where to park, and since it was still drizzling, we decided to make a stop at the "wet cave" across from the beach and then head further south until we found some sunshine!

On our drive south, we stopped at a beach in the heart of Kapa'a, and although it was beautiful the waves were so ferocious and the beach was a little too shallow, so we decided to keep on driving.

Our final destination, Lydgate Beach Park. We had been here several days earlier, and I figured since the beach is enclosed, it would be the safest water we would find this far north. So, we spent the afternoon lounging in the sand, watching the waves crash over the boulder enclosure. It was a splendid afternoon!

A Rainy Day in Paradise...

...Is still better than a Sunny day at Home!

I think we've finally adjusted to island time, because after waking at 7:00 AM each previous day, we slept until 9:30 AM and didn't get out the door until around 11:00! Now that's what I call being on vacation!

We spent the first part of our day at a famous "pool" carved out of lava rock just down the road from our condo; it's called Queen's Bath, and it was fabulous! There was a short hike down to it, which I'm happy to report, I managed without incident, and the end result was stunning!

I loved being able to snorkel in a protected pool with no ocean waves smashing over and around me! Jordan was a little bored with it after a while because it lacked the diversity of the other spots we've been to. But, overall, it was worth the hike, and alot of fun.


After Queen's Bath, we drove to 'Anini Beach and had a picnic lunch (our lunch of choice here) and tried to avoid accidentally catching a shot of the two lovers in the water in front of us, who obviously forgot they were no longer in the privacy of their hotel room!

It started to rain right after we finished lunch, and continued pretty much off and on the rest of the day. We tried hitting up several different beaches, Hanamalu and Larsen's, but the surf was too strong at both, so we gave up and headed into tiny Kapaa for some souveneir shopping. And as a bonus, we found a tasty local bakery where I was able to satiate my sweet tooth!

As a side note, and since I do this blog as a journal for myself, poor Jordan has been suffering from horrible pain in his mouth due to some dental work he had done a little while ago, that obviously didn't "take." He was in so much pain by the end of the day, I almost insisted we go to the emergency room so he could get some pain pills. Of course, when I told him about the $150 copay he refused. I've decided to just call the dentist in the morning and have him call in a prescription over here. Poor Jordan! At least he's still a good sport!

The Monday Blues...Not!!!

Monday's in Kauai are SO much better than Monday's at home!

Today was our first full day on the North Shore of the island, and it is beautiful! So lush and green! As a side note, the tall pointy mountain peak in the background of the pictures is the famous Bali Hai! (Refer to "South Pacific" for an explanation.)

We spent the day at one of the BEST snorkeling spots on Kauai (and in my opinion, one of the BEST snorkeling spots I've EVER been to!) called Tunnels! The water was pretty shallow for a long way out, and it was filled with more varieties of fish than I have ever seen, not to mention, Sea Turtles every time we turned around!

Of course, Jordan did his daily run...during the heat of the afternoon! He's crazy! But, determined to get fit. So, I support the craziness!

On the drive back from the beach we stopped at a scenic overlook that was very pretty, of course! We've come to expect nothing less!