16 weeks!!!

Yesterday marked my 16 weeks of pregnancy!  Time is flying by so quickly!  Not only is my belly starting to grow, so is my appetite.  The second trimester has been much easier than the first in the aspect that I am not as tired.  I am able to do more than 1 thing without feeling wiped out.  At my last doctor's appointment the doctor did another ultrasound and Baby Ray was dancing once again which brought a smile to Dave's face.  It is always a joy seeing our baby!

I have only gained about 2.5 pounds which my doctor said for a women my size is normal.  Dave and I have an appointment scheduled on Aug. 15th for our "Anatomy ultrasound" which they do a comprehensive ultrasound of the bones, organs and hopefully determine Baby Ray's gender.  We are very excited to find out if the nursery will be heading in a pink or blue decor direction.

We have our crib and changing table!  We love love love the set we picked out.  I think it will complement the different nursery ideas I have in mind.

Well, until next time!  Hope you all are doing well!

VACATION!!!

At the beginning of this month Dave and I went on vacation to the East Coast for 6 days.  All of our West Coast family came out and we all shared a house that Dave's parents rented in Ogunquit, ME.  It was nice having the whole family under one roof and needless to say we had a great time hanging out together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our living quarters in Ogunquit, ME

Grandpa Ron with the grand kids Dylan and Nash.

One of the reasons we went to Maine was for Ryan and Alicia's wedding.  They had their beautiful ceremony in York Beach and had their reception at an adjacent hotel.  Everything was spectacular and I had a great time meeting all of Dave's East Coast family.

The Ray and Carter Families before the wedding ceremony

Alicia and Ryan's wedding ceremony

Ryan (the groom), Dylan and Dave at the ceremony

In addition to meeting Dave's East Coast family and spending time with our West Coast family, my parents and brother who live in Connecticut came up to visit for the day.  That was a nice treat to see them and hang out!

My brother Peter, dad, mom and Dave

In addition to all the family time, Dave and I were able to spend some time alone and explore the local attractions.  One of my favorites was Perkins Cove.  Dave and I walked on the Marginal Way trail that went around the cove and through some of the beaches.  Can we say B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!

ME at Perkins Cove

This was yet another eventful vacation where many new memories were made.  We were sad to leave but glad to come home to our 2 pups!

Skydiving, Lobster, Sushi...(warning long post!)

Hi Everyone!  I know it has been way too long since we did a blog update.  It has been very busy in the Ray household.  We were still trying to unpack all our boxes from the move that happened in August, in addition to Dave going to school and working full time.  I really missed writing in this blog and we will try our best to keep it updated!!!

This summer is full of plans for us.  This is the first summer that we are not planning a wedding or buying a house.  I am ready to do the following:

We are going to the East Coast to the wedding of Ryan and Alicia who are on Dave's side of the family.  The wedding is on York Beach in Maine and I am geared up for an awesome time meeting all of Dave's family that didn't make it out to our wedding.  I am also geared up to INDULGE myself on some fresh Maine lobster! Will the lobster gorging happen????

I

I wanted to go skydiving this summer!  I think convincing Dave was my biggest obstacle...or is he??

I wanted to learn how to make my own sushi and sashimi.  I love eating this very fresh Japanese meal which is also full of healthy nutrients.  However, I have come to find out that raw fish isn't good for everyone....

CHICAGO!!!!  This trip is planned in August for one of my dear friends bacholerette party weekend!  A whole weekend of QT with a group of some of the best gals I know and fun in the sun as it was on Lollapalooza weekend.  This trip had to be planned with one less girl...me...

Why???  Because  I AM PREGNANT!!!!

I had several health obstacles this past year.  I did not get my period for almost a year and was very scared that having our own child was not going to be an option.  I visited many specialists with one being a fertility doctor who found out that I have Poly Cystic Ovaries Syndrome (PCOS).  He also found the reason as to why my periods were not regular.  During the process of all the testing, he also found out that I have less eggs than other women my age.  This put a lot of things in perspective for us.  With my diabetes, we knew that we had to treat all of these issues aggressively and fast.

I received the clearance to get pregnant from all my doctors on March 31st of this year.  Dave and I had decided that if we were not pregnant by August/September, then we would look into other options such as Invitro (IVF).  On May 8th (Mother's Day), while I was looking up flights for my Chicago trip, I decided to take a pregnancy test because my period had been late by 4 days.  Then it was confirmed...I was pregnant.  After 7...yes people SEVEN home pregnancy tests, the shock of the news set it.

This is the first ultrasound picture from my 8 week 3 days appointment.  I know there is not much to see but I am proud to show of my little peanut!  Our official due date is January 14, 2012, however they warned me that they plan to induce a week early, which is a common practice for my Perinatologist.  They stated that delivering diabetic patients earlier will reduce the risk of complications during delivery.

Today I had an ultrasound and Dave was able to come with me!  Dave was able to see the baby for the first time.  We saw the strong 163bpm heartbeat and saw the baby move.  It actually looked like Baby Ray was dancing!  All arms and legs were moving and groovin'!  It was amazing!  Below is the ultrasound pic from today (11weeks 6 days)

So that is our big news...much more to come!

It's been awhile...the last 9 months in a nutshell...

So I didn't realize that it has been 9 month since our last blog entry!  This year has been so busy!


Here is the last 9 months in a nutshell...

Dave has gone back to school to earn another degree!  He is a full time student at the University of Phoenix.  He is majoring in Marketing and will complete his Bachelor of Science degree in Business with an estimated completion date of Fall 2012!  He is doing so well and we are so proud of him and all his hard work!

Our pups Toby and Nala had a rough year health-wise.  Toby had another mass removed from the bottom of one of his back paws.  He also had a mass on this shoulder that turned out to be cancer.  We were fortunate that the vet was able to remove it all with a good margin.  We have to continue to check him daily for any new masses, but so far he is back to the healthy pup he always has been!  Nala has had some severe allergies and now is on a custom mixed serum.  She has been doing better and hopes that the serum will continue to do it's job.

We have been on a couple of trips this year also.  In May we went to Tennessee to visit Dave's best friend and his family.  We had a blast!  It was nice catching up with Keith and Mary and playing with Sofia.  Mary cooked a lot of good food and we even exchanged some recipes!  We also played Rock Band for the first time and are totally hooked!  We have that on our list to buy soon!

Mary making us her delish pizza!

During the same vacation we also went to Virginia to visit my best friend Donna and her family (her daughter Kate is my God daughter.)  In Virginia Dave and I visited my family's old stomping grounds in Yorktown.  There we visited the Yorktown Battlefields.  During this trip Dave met several of my friends that were not able to make it to our wedding.  The humidity was a bit rough, but seeing everyone made the trip well worth it!

Dave at the Yorktown Battlefields.  I even got him to wear and ODU shirt!

In September we went to visit his side of the family for a couple of days.  During our visit we we met his sister Jody's new son, Baby Nash.  He is such a cutie!  We were also able to help celebrate Joe, Dave's brother in-law, birthday.  It was definitely a fun time.  The party was at Jody and Joe's new house which was beautiful!  Along with all the family activities, Dave and I still were able to find time to relax and even indulge in a couple's massage!  Visits with family are never long enough, but it was great seeing everyone again!

Dave and Baby Nash

Dave and Mom

Joe's surprise birthday party

Joe, Baby Nash, Ella, and Jean

Dave, Mom and Dad at Crystal Cove State Park in Newport Beach, CA.

Jody and Dave

Family shot

Dave and I at The Cannery Restaurant in Newport Beach, CA

At the end of the summer I also received a promotion at work.  I am now a Housing Specialist.  I am responsible for all the vouchers that port into King County.  The training period was a little rough, but now I think I have the hang of it.

Last but not least, our biggest blessing this year is that WE BOUGHT A NEW HOUSE!  As many of you know this home buying process was a hard one for us.  We have been searching since after our wedding.  So after 4 different houses and 1 year later we have moved into our new home!  It is located in an established neighborhood in Issaquah, which is a great school district.  The neighborhood has tons of amenities (i.e. 2 pools, several tennis courses, trails, lake, playgrounds, shopping center, and an elementary and middle school!) We are glad we moved here because there are tons of young families here just like us. 

Front of the house

Our Kitchen

Formal Living Room

Formal Dining room looking into Formal Living Room

Well that is the short version of the last 9 months.  I PROMISE to keep our blog updated from now on.  Keep checking back!

 

The Common Sense Guide to "Organic" and Other Food Labels - Labels - Lifehacker

Here is a quick guide which offers some insight in to the reliability of many terms you will find in your grocery store. |
Such terms as:

• Antibiotic free
• Free range
• Free roaming
• Hormone free
• Natural
• No chemicals

How reliable are they?

The Common Sense Guide to "Organic" and Other Food Labels - Labels - Lifehacker

Life is so BUSY!

So sorry everyone, this post is more like a "catch up" post.  It has been so busy with work, family gatherings and visitors I have had no time to update our blog.  Since I left work early due to a pulled muscles in my foot and feeling under the weather, I figured I would make good use of my time at home.

Valentine's Day was very much "us."  With our new food lifestyle we found it hard to find a restaurant to eat at.  Dave decided to make us Osso Bucco for dinner.  I had never had it before and boy was it divine!  I also bought special cookies for the pups.  Needless to say we all had a satisfied tummy.

 

Below are some pictures from one of our family dinners.  Toby and Nala even came to my parent's house to join the festivities.  Toby and Nala even dressed up in their polo shirts.  (note:  The couch Toby is sitting on is the new couch we've been wanting and finally bought!)

 Wedding DVD's have arrived!  I know it took longer than expected, but our videographer had her baby in January so we told her not to rush.  It was packaged so nicely and the video was PERFECT!

Sorry so late!

It has been awhile since we posted an entry but we have been very busy with our "lifestyle change."  We are blogging all about it on our food blog, www.lifepreservatives.com.  Dave and I watched some movies about the origins of our food and we were so horrified that we decided to move to an all organic food lifestyle.  So far so good.  Check out the blog for more details!

Below, I posted some pictures from our wedding.  I know its 6 months later, but better late then never right?  Enjoy!