Ultrasound #2

On January 5th we got to go in for our second ultrasound. It was pretty amazing to see what a difference a month made in the size and development of our baby. Dave came with me to the appointment and we were both shocked by how big it was! The pictures don't really do it justice but when we saw it on the screen it was moving all around and Dave swears he saw it wave at us. (He also swears it was a very masculine wave, but we'll have to wait and see about that!) These brief glimpses into our baby's little world are so miraculous and help us to see the amazing power of God in this process. It is also special because I've had a pretty easy first three months so I don't always "feel" pregnant. I'm not complaining, mind you, I appreciate the fact that besides being exhausted I'm feeling pretty great but it's neat to go into these appointments and see that there really is something happening inside my body. So for now these little peeks are how we're experiencing what is soon to come!

On a side note, we found a place here in Redondo Beach that will do a gender check 3D sonogram at 14 weeks! That milestone happens for us this Saturday! We have an appointment at noon to see what we can see. It seems a little early to me, but they offer as many free trips back until we find out if we can't tell this first try. We'll see... I guess we could know what we're having by Saturday!

We're Pregnant!!!

That's right! The Lockridges are expecting a little Lockridge in the end of July.

We found out the good news the during our Thanksgiving trip up North. After traveling from Dave's parents house to my parents house, I ran upstairs to take a pregnancy test and sure enough it said "PREGNANT" instantly. I calmly called to Dave and asked him to come upstairs, which he protested a bit for my lack of reasons, then he entered the bathroom and in complete shock asked, "Whose is that?!" In hindsight, I could've come up with a better way to tell my husband that our lives are about to change in a big (but GREAT) way but then I wouldn't have his priceless reaction! We managed to keep the good news a secret until we told both of our families over our Christmas vacation.

We pulled a few strings and got into the doctor before Christmas so we could see our little baby before going home. Here is baby Lockridge's first picture at about 7 weeks.

We slyly wrangled a dinner with both sets of parents the Sunday before Christmas. This is the restaurant they met at right after Dave and I got engaged (in 2006) to celebrate. We thought it was appropriate to go to the same place to announce our news.

The two happy Grandmas!

We're so excited and are trying to catch up on all the great books that people have loaned us. Stay tuned, we'll find out if baby Lockridge is a girl or a boy in the end of next month!

Snow Trips

After Christmas we drove to Yosemite with Megan's family. We saw some snow, had lunch at the Ahwanhee hotel and enjoyed seeing this beautiful place in all of its winter glory. Can't wait to go back this summer and enjoy some of the hiking trails and bike paths!

Then we went up to North Tahoe to celebrate the New Year! About 16 of our good friends from LA met up at our friend Tim's cabin and we played a lot of games, ate some amazing food and skied. (And I need to mention that this cabin is a lot less "cabin" and a lot more beautiful house nestled up to a golf course covered in snow. WOW!) Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures with anybody in them but I promise that we had a ton of fun. Dave tried snowboarding for the first time and enjoyed himself. We both stayed at the cabin the second day and Dave needed to get out some energy so he spent most of the day building an elaborate snow fort on the front porch. Here are some examples of his architectural skills:

He constructed chairs and cup holders and decorated with icicles.

And for protection he needed a mound of snowballs.

Here he is very proud of his creation. A fire pit in the snow!

Thanks to Tim for an awesome end to our 2009! Can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for us...

Christmas Vacation

This Christmas Dave and I headed up to Northern California to visit with our families and friends. We spent five days in Merced with the Lockridges and then five days in Modesto with the Hardens. We had yummy food and great laughs and we feel so blessed to have such amazing families that want to spend time with us.

Stockings are my favorite!

Chipotle gift cards! Santa knew exactly what we wanted! :)

We are always overwhelmed by our families' love and generosity and are so blessed to have them in our lives. We enjoyed our two weeks at home but it always goes by too quickly. Can't wait to go back and visit soon!

Outlet Christmas Party at Our House!

This past Saturday Dave and I hosted the Outlet Christmas Party at our house! The Outlet is the Sunday school class that we attend. It is a group of 20's and 30's singles and married folks that meet together to learn more about the Lord. It's a great group filled with people we love and it is growing! On any given Sunday we pack out the room we have at the church, and now we invited them all into our home! It was a little bit crazy, but definitely fun!

Here is our decorated Christmas tree. We picked ours up on our way home from the Thanksgiving holiday at the Home Depot. We picked the first tree we saw, got a great deal and were out the door in about 20 minutes. I love our tree!

With 100+ people invited to our tiny town home we had to get creative with our space. We used tablecloths to cover up the shelves in our garage and used our washer and dryer as a dessert buffet. It worked out pretty well and kept the flow of traffic moving from the kitchen to the garage.

My sister Sarah and her college friends came by to help us all celebrate! Here is Heather, Whitney, Sarah, and then Outleters: Me, Tara, and Lacey.

The hosts with the mosts! We had so much fun opening our home to about 80 people on Saturday night. There were lots of people, lots of yummy food and lots of Christmas spirit. Merry Christmas!

Chargers vs. Chiefs

We came back from Thanksgiving a day early to celebrate our friend Jonathan's birthday (belatedly). His wife Lacey wanted to surprise him with tickets to see his favorite team the Kansas City Chiefs, and employed Dave's help in making the ticket selection and keeping it a surprise. It worked! We picked them up Sunday morning and told him we were going to breakfast before church. Then we got on the freeway and Lacey gave him the football tickets. He was so surprised!

Our tickets were 5 rows back from the KC bench. We had great seats!

Here are Lacey and I showing off our team spirit. (The Chargers won!!!)

It was a really fun day in SD and a great way to celebrate a birthday. Way to go Lacey with the great surprise!

Week of Thankfulness

Dave and I left the Saturday before Thanksgiving to head up North to celebrate with our families. We spent a few days in Merced with Dave's folks and got to celebrate his brother's engagement to our soon-to-be-sister-in-law at her parents house up on a mountain in Mariposa. We also spent a few days with my family in Modesto and doing our annual traditions (or "coincidences" as Bryan calls them.) We had so much fun getting to visit with everyone and have so many reasons to be thankful this year.

Here we are in Mariposa celebrating our first thanksgiving of the day with the Nordmans. Here is Dave, Charlie and Christina's brother Brandon doing what boys do best: watching football!

Now at the crazy Harden house with Sarah and Dad putting the finishing touches on their famous sweet potato casserole. It's so yummy!

Sarah and I toasting with her amazing pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

She's so good!

My parents brought home their new puppy Molly right before we came home. Hannity was not thrilled with the new arrival but eventually they became friends and spent many hours chasing each other through the house. This is the best picture I could get of both of them together. They move too much!

On Friday we went to our Columbia (a small, old mining town in the foothills) to celebrate our day after thanksgiving tradition. Apparently no one checked the weather report and it rained on us. Here we are making the best of it! Jessica, Sarah, Mom and I using our scarves to keep out of the rain.

Then Dad decided to make fun of our ingenious head scarves. I told them this should be their christmas card picture this year. :)

Here is Sarah bowling in the Columbia bowling alley.

And Dave and I in front of the blacksmith shop.

It was a whirlwind week of family, food and friends. We are so thankful to have such amazing families to spend the holidays with. We love going home and we love eating two thanksgiving meals!!!