While I was on vacation, so was my blog!

Wow, I am so sorry for my extreme absence! I can't believe I haven't blogged for two weeks! That is the biggest lapse in my blog writing ever.

Thankfully, I have a good excuse. 10 of those days were spent in Oregon. Aaron, Ella and I drove up to Gleneden Beach, Oregon, to visit my beautiful sister and brother-in-law, who recently bought a fixer-upper two minutes from the beach. And no, that's not a two-minute drive...it's a two-minute WALK! My happiness for them outweighs my jealousy, but gosh, who wouldn't be jealous of that? :)

Ella and I at the beach near Lincoln City, Oregon.

After a couple days there, we headed inland to my in-laws' place in Canby, Oregon, where we spent six, fun-filled days, ending with a huge BBQ/baby shower get-together with family and friends. It was a perfect ending to a perfect week. Not to mention how exciting it was to officially announce our son's name to everybody (I will do that in a future post - the name reveal is worthy of its own post!) and how amazing it was for Aaron to feel the baby kick for the first time (also worthy of its own post!).

I guess I should update you all on where I'm at in this pregnancy. Today, I am 21 weeks 3 days pregnant! I am well into the second half of the pregnancy and still can't believe how fast time is flying. I still remember the emotions I felt when I got my first positive home pregnancy test. The sensations my entire body felt, shaking in utter excitement, disbelief and happiness. My heart feeling like it was going to explode from beating so fast. Tears of sheer happiness uncontrollably falling. That was one of the purest moments of my life. Nothing around me mattered. Knowing there was actually a baby inside of me, growing, was all I needed.  All of this still feels so fresh like it was yesterday, and really, time is going by so fast that it might as well be!

But, here I am, growing by the day (or so it seems!), feeling the baby kick more and more, and the disbelief is still there. I have a real live baby growing inside of me! I am so grateful. I am so happy.

And, now I am rambling. :)

I guess I'm just in good spirits. I'm typing this with a smile on my face. Not sure why, it's just there! I guess I'm just really starting to see how good my life is. Like, deep-in-the-gut, swelling-of-the-heart, shout-it-from-the-mountaintops, good!

I think a lot of why I feel so great today is because we received news that my father-in-law's scans revealed no new cancer. And, to top of that already great news, it looks as though an old cancer spot completely disappeared! With his cancer being so aggressive, the doctor's goal was to stop it from spreading, but for the chemo to completely erase cancer from his body? We couldn't have asked for more! God is so good!

Dan and Janice (my in-laws), Aaron, Ella and me at the world renowned Rose Gardens in Portland, Oregon.

I plan to post many more pictures sometime this week, along with my 20-week and 21-week pregnancy updates. I'll probably combine both weeks into one, though, because I don't think I'll be able to differentiate the two!

Captured Memories of Monterey

 Beautiful Monterey, California.

Aaron walking Bob when we first got there, after being cramped in his crate for over 2 hours.

He came back to where we "set up camp," grabbed Ella and ran to the water. :)

Bob is very confused about this water business.

Then, onto sand digging!

Always smiling, always happy (except when she's not!).

Curling her toes in the sand.

Sitting down for a nice sandy lunch. Eating on the beach without taking in some sand seems to be a near impossible task.

Clearly Bob ate some sand, too! :)

Look at that face!

Beautiful little girl. That is for sure!

She was attempting to build Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse.

Looking out at the water while seriously contemplating getting her feet wet.

As you can see, she decided to go for it!

This was our first trip to the beach where she wasn't scared of the waves. She didn't ask to hold our hands at all. Just goes to show she's growing up. :(

This is likely my favorite picture from the trip.

Happily screaming while the water crept its way up to her. She patiently stood in one stop for the longest time, waiting for the water to reach her. It eventually did! 

More waiting. :)

Smiling, while keeping an eye on the ocean.

Inching her way closer to the water.

She found what looked like fence board and, being Daddy's daughter, knew exactly what to do with it. Throw it in the water, of course! Well, she tried to, at least. :)

Finally getting smart and rolling up her pants.

Pretty sure she's calling out to the ocean in this picture.

As you can see by her penguin stance, her upper body is fully bundles with a long-sleeved shirt and two sweatshirts to compensate for her colder bottom half.

She never complained about the water being cold, but I'm sure it was freezing! Neither Aaron nor I put our feet in to find out. :)

Believe it or not, a rose washed up to shore, so they exchanged it. It was so cute to watch, almost like out of a fairytale story. :)

Then, it was onto kite flying! It was perfect weather for it. Just the right amount of breeze. Aaron is showing Ella how to hold the kite properly, while she's seemingly not listening. What's new? :)

So much fun!

The kite got really up there!

Disney princess kite. That's the only way to roll as a 4-year old girl.

Flying, just like her kite. :)

Running to me, kite in hand.

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At some point during the afternoon, a luminous rainbow of fog made it's way to us. It was the strangest thing.

The fog only lasted a short while, though.

And, of course, we couldn't leave the beach without digging to China. :)

It didn't take long until Ella's little arms couldn't reach the bottom. Aaron takes digging holes very seriously. :)

There's always time to smile.

Once the hole was deep enough, in went Ella! And, after gaining her permission, Aaron proceeded to bury her.

She loved being buried (as you can tell by that smile).

Okay, Ella, now try to get out. :)

Strong Daddy to the rescue!

And, last but not least, I will leave you with some scenery shots Aaron took.

I especially like this one. :)

Fortune Cookies Always Know

We had Chinese tonight and, of course, with that came the infamous fortune cookies. :)

(Photo courtesy of Google Images).

Fortune #1:
Get away from home awhile to restore your energy.

Holy cow! We already had a day trip planned to head to Monterey tomorrow! Lunches are packed, destination is certain, gas tank is full. Aaron and I have been wanting to get out of town for awhile now...to regroup, reenergize, refresh, renew, rekindle...you get the picture. Ever since the failed IVF cycle, things have been a little less bright, if you will, so we're hoping tomorrow brings back that spark in our lives.

Fortune #2:
From a past misfortune good luck will come to you.

I immediately thought of our unsuccessful IVF cycle and how we have three frozen embryos, just waiting to be transferred. The misfortune of not getting pregnant the first cycle has now led us to an upcoming frozen embryo transfer. Despite our first cycle failing, we were still fortunate enough to be left with three potential babies. And, this fortune makes be want to believe that luck will be on our side this time around.

Do I actually believe in fortune cookies? No, of course not.

But, it's still fun! :)

All You Need Is Love

After spending the last three days with family, I have come to a conclusion...

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE!

However sappy it sounds, it's the truth! Being surrounded by family just reaffirms how important my loved ones are to me. Carrying conversations and laughing with family members I don't see nearly enough holds a special place in my heart.

Wednesday evening, my parents, Aaron, Ella and I went to the fair in town. We all had a blast! I absolutely LOVE hanging out with my parents. They are such hams and we always laugh and have a good time.

Ella loved the small ferris wheel. We were concerned it'd be too high for her. Her response, "I'm not scared. I'll be brave. I can do it!" Yes, ma'am!

Gotta love the black & white shots!

Jumping on the lily pads into the rainforest adventure, where a zoo of snakes, parrots, monkeys, etc. awaited.

I spy with my little eye a TURTLE!

My parents soaking in their favorite little girl.

This same artist drew caricatures of Sister and me when we were young. Cartoon Ella is so cute (but I think the real Ella is cuter!). And, please disregard my half-blinked smile. It was the best picture we got.

Caterpillar rollercoaster time!

This swing is a lot bigger than the swing at the park, huh Ella?

Ride #2 on the swing. Aaron decided to take the camera this time.

Everybody loves the Tilt-a-Whirl, including Ella!

This ride didn't look that high up, but once up there, Aaron was nervous. He said he was really scared falling! See for yourself!

Aaron wasn't scared at all on this ride, he was just having fooling around. Oh my gosh, he had my parents and I cracking up! He really fits in with the 12-year olds to his left.

My beautiful mom and Ella.

Ella sat down on the motorcycle the wrong way at first. Haha!

Aaron's fastest pitch was 70 m.p.h. He was kinda disappointed it wasn't faster, but I thought he was great!

There were a ton of "car rides"...ranging from Monster Trucks to Corvettes for the kiddies to ride on. Ella just went from one ride to the next. She had a blast!

Weeeeeee!!! For some reason, the slide's lights weren't on.

Aaron got off this ride and asked, "How old am I?" Going on these rides and looking around and only seeing young teenyboppers made him feel really old.

Yesterday, Aaron's cousin, Vicki (who Ella calls "Mickey") and her new husband, Derek, visited from Bend, Oregon. They went on a late week-long honeymoon in Monterey, and being the awesome people that they are, decided to stop by for a visit and stay overnight. I didn't take any pictures (I know...shocking!), but it was really great having family visit us in our home. We shared stories, laughter and good times. Thanks for coming, guys! We loved having you. :)

Then, today, Aaron, Ella and I headed over to my grandparents' place for some swimming and yummy dinner. I absolutely love my grandparents. Their stories and warmth always make me feel so happy and comfortable. My grandpa has so much knowledge with geology that Aaron just craves to absorb. Grandpa loves talking about rocks, wood, etc. and Aaron loves learning about things like that. My grandparents have a whole cottage of collectible items that grandpa loves to share details about. Aaron always has an eager listening ear and is willing to learn new things.

And grandma has such a sweet soul. She always goes above and beyond for family. We had snacks, a full course dinner and then cheesecake for dessert. All just for us! I can tell she loved having Ella take to her right away. In fact, Ella didn't want to leave "great grammy." Ella cuddled, joked and hugged my grandma like they were best buds. It makes me so happy seeing that!

Give Aaron and Ella a body of water, and there will be throwing!

Ella being brave in the deep end. Don't worry, Aaron was close by.

Where we chitchatted. I love my grandparents' yard!

Beautiful, breezy Ella!

Crazy Ella!

Great-Grammy and Ella cuddle time!

Great-Grammy and Ella joke time!

So, if any of you out there are going through a tough time, just remember that at the end of the day...the greatest gift is to love and to be loved. I am very thankful for my family. I love you all!