Bella's first....

I've dedicated this post to a list of Bella's first in California...her first trip to the ocean and her first book from her mom and dad. I am thoroughly enjoying being more and more pregnant these days. I wore tight shirts and enjoyed watching people look at my belly...finally!! We were on the bus ride home and I heard a husband whisper to his wife "how long" and his wife said "5 months". So, I made small talk with them and told them we were actually 7 months! But, at least people can tell!! Woohoo! We had a really fun time at the bookstore in Santa Barbara with all the great books. Shel Silverstein, Dr. Seuss, the New Kid on the Block collection, GoodNight moon...and other books we both read as kids. Although we could have spent gobs of money just on books, we decided to buy one at a time. So, we bought 'Oh, the places you'll go' by Dr. Seuss. We thought it was appropriate to read to our little girl and begin the dreaming process for her life.


The rest of the pictures are of her first trip to the ocean! And, she was active! She must have my dad's genes of loving the ocean!

Santa Barbara business trip...and vacation time!

I recently went to a conference on Geographic Information Systems for Behavioral Research at the University of California Santa Barbara for a week. I think Bella may be a little scientist because she was ACTIVE during most of the workshops! And, since this will probably be the last time Mike and I can get a vacation in before he starts school and Bella arrives, he went too!



























The last three days of the trip were spent staying at the Orchid Inn in Santa Barbara, where we walked to the beach for our morning runs (and, yes running in the cool weather with the sea mist and the mountains in the background was stunning!) and where we walked to the downtown area for the rest of the day.















Most of the days we were there we went shopping downtown Santa Barbara and ate really really good food. We also went walking along the beach at night or early morning which was beautiful, and a nice change of weather compared to the hot, humidity of Central Texas. Here are some pictures of us at the ocean or around Santa Barbara.
While I was in class and lab all day, he was reading by the pool. So, don't judge when you see he's the one with the better tan in the pictures!
I was very impressed with the healthy-atmosphere of California. Inside the store on campus, they had every type of soy chips, hummus, veggie smoothies, and other fantastic choices of healthy nutty stuff. And, there were bicycles everywhere! I was certainly in my earth-hippy heaven!















Here's my yoga pose on the beach!! Beats Texas any day!

Grandmothers and friends...coming full circle

We traveled to Lovington, NM, my hometown, July 11th-14th for another baby shower. We had a fantastic time with my parents and spent most of the time outside in the gazebo until the grape vines. (For those of you that don't know, my dad is the king of plants and all-things-green...that's where I get my earthy-genes). Grandmother and Seymour (nickname for Granddaddy) came on Saturday for the shower which was a huge blessing! Grandmother gave me a handmade blanket with a precious story behind it. Her mother, my great-grandmother, and Bella's great-great-grandmother, Maw Maw, started crocheting a quilt, but only finished a little section of it. Grandmother recently finished it and gave it to Bella as a present. So, the hands that touched it are her precious great and great-great grandmothers. Needless to say, it was the best present we received that weekend. I definitely look forward to putting it in her room and wrapping her in it when it's cold outside. Thank you grandmother!



After the teary-eyed moment of the crocheted blanket, we headed to the shower. Part of this blog's title is 'coming full circle' because some of then women hosting this shower were actually hostesses and attendees at my own baby shower. We had a great time of laughing and ooohhing and awwwing and all the sweey baby items! Notice the cute swimsuit, hula skirt, sunglasses, and flip-flops! Priceless!!! It was fun to be there with my mom and be oohhing and awwwing over all the fun gifts!








To end the shower, I sat in grandmother's lap which is a tradition i've done for years...even though i'm 27 years old. We decided that my baby weight gain was still ok to sit in her lap. She usually rocks me and sings "hush little baby don't you cry..." but we can't ever remember all the words so we make it up. It was another sweet time with her and I look forward to Bella growing up rocking to that song too.

Christie's Wedding!

We had the great joy of traveling to Amarillo for Christie's wedding day, where Mike officiated his first wedding. And, he did a great job. But, the best part was the beautiful bride who looked stunning! They had the wedding at a beautiful outside place with lights in the trees and flowers everywhere! It was fun to be able to spend time with family again. Plus, we now have a new brother in the Smith clan!