Happy Birthday, Mark!

For Mark's 40th birthday, I decided to surprise him with a trip to Las Vegas! It was his sister Lynn's idea, and unfortunately, she wasn't able to meet us, but I was thankful for the suggestion! Fortunately for us all though, Mark's dad (Mike), his sister, Ann, and her husband, Matt, all flew out for the surprise trip (Mike from Florida, Ann & Matt from Chicago)! I was SO excited, it was hard to contain it!

Friends of mine where kind and GENEROUS enough to loan us their loaded Toyota Highlander (drool)! It saved us since it had a built-in DVD player in it. I can't imagine driving 7 hours to Las Vegas with a 3-year-old and no DVD player. NO WAY. She called it "the movie car". :-)

When Mark arrived at home from work on Thursday evening and saw the Highlander in the garage, he was (needless to say) perplexed. I told him it was his "surprise birthday vacation transportation". It took him a while for things to sink in, then he kept calling me sneaky... and he was right! He kept trying to guess where we were going, but I wouldn't budge. The mystery was half the fun!

We had a GPS in the Highlander that kept pointing to Vegas, so he figured it out around St. George, which was fine. He also kept asking who was meeting us there (sometimes he's too smart for his own good), and although I thought I had done a good job of acting as though they weren't, he wasn't buying. Sigh. At least he didn't expect to meet up with people when and where we did, so I DID pull something over on him! :-)

We went straight to a park (for Karina's benefit, of course... wink-wink) where his sister and brother-in-law were sitting on a toy, and his dad at a picnic table. It was a glorious reunion and Karina acted as though she had just seen her relatives a couple of weeks prior.

Mark's sister, Ann, with Karina and Mark (nice park!)

We went to one of my father-in-law's favorite places on the planet, Red Rock Canyon. It's breathtaking!

I had a mild heart attack when Mark and Karina were up on this rock, but it certainly was gorgeous.

Uncle Matt

Uncle Matt and Karina the climber

All of us "party animals" on the strip... Matt's sister, Anne, also joined us from New York.

I would say watching Karina watch the fountain at Bellagio was a *major* highlight of our trip! She was so thrilled and giggled like we had never seen or heard before... we were elated!

We had fun walking around the Bellagio hotel. Karina loved all of the great sights (very much including this "talking" tree)!

Karina having a long overdue cuddle with Grandpa. She misses him and told us recently that she wants to live in Florida... :-)

Karina treating Aunt Annie to a free hairbrushing... What great smiles.

Mark and his "baby sister"....

Our last night there we went to Fremont Street downtown. What a light show!

Second Ultrasound

Being that the first trimester is volatile, my nurse practitioner wanted to do a second ultrasound at 9 weeks, just to make sure the growth and development were occurring on schedule. I love seeing the life that's growing inside of me, so she didn't get any resistance from me! It often makes the nausea and complete exhaustion more justifiable... ;-)

This one shows a better image of the yolk sac than that of the embryo. It's all so miraculous!

Here's decent shot of the little sweetie I was so convinced was a boy (they still look so alien at this stage)...

I'm not exactly sure what was going on here, but I think Karina was upset because she wanted to play "Doctor" with the equipment and wasn't permitted to do so. She always wants to help and participate... sweet thing. I'm sure there will be plenty of stories made up about this shot as the years go by. She really does want a sibling! Or at least she thinks she does... ;-)

Halloween 2008

Karina has been SO excited for Halloween to come... most days I hear "is it Halloween yet?". I love how exciting the holidays are for her. It's so much fun to participate in that and make it special! I'm so grateful to my own mother for doing that for us for soooo many years...

She was Belle this year, and if I do say so myself, a mighty pretty Belle at that!

Trick or Treat!

Assessing the loot with Dad...

Sampling the loot with Mom!

First Ultrasound (counting embryos!)

Myspace Graphics, Pregnancy Graphics at WishAFriend.com

I had my first ultrasound today after a positive pregnancy test on the 2nd to count embryos to see how many took (three were implanted). Worst case scenario, all three could have take, and all three could have split (YIKES!). It's a little unnerving before that first ultrasound. However, just as Mark and I had strongly affirmed... PHEW!! One little tiny precious life, heart beating strong, preparing to make his/her journey into this world. :-) The Universe truly knows what we can handle, and what we could not (at least not very well)... Thank you!

Tears of joy... we are SO blessed and fortunate! As the saying goes, "good things come to those who wait." And BOY, did we wait!

Wee Witches' Weekend

Every October, there is a festival called "Wee Witches' Weekend" at this great place called Gardner Village. I love it! Karina really loved it, too.

I took this shot in honor of the chocoholics in the family. :-) Like father, like daughter!

She really enjoyed decorating her own witch's hat.

Too bad we didn't get a shot of her wearing it! Our photography skills need some work. :-)

Karina, camera shy? In this particular moment, yes.

She loved this witch (what a great costume!)!

Black Island Farms

We went to a local pumpkin patch where they have hay rides, face painting, a petting zoo, some activities for kids and really good kettle corn. Karina had a blast!

We each got to pick a pumpkin and Karina had so much fun choosing one for herself.

So proud

She then got to have her face painted for the first time and actually sat still quite well!

Ta-da!

Karina's Birthday Party

We had a really fun "Princess Party" for Karina this year. I had so much fun planning around that theme (especially with the food). It was going to be a "Princess in the Park" party, but it rained. Our house was slightly cramped... next year, fewer guests. I still need to learn to simplify (I think this next baby will help!)...

Our friends' daughter, Izzy, was KIND enough to come up and play the role of "Princess Monarch from Butterfly Land" for the kids. They (especially Karina) LOVED it (and fell for it hook, line and sinker!)! Karina received pink sparkly shoes from her and thought that was just the greatest thing. Izzy was a beautiful princess!

We were happy to have Karina's half-sister, Jaclyn, with us. Here Karina is getting ready to blow out her candles.