Sunday, June 3, 2012

Guess What?









13 Weeks

Baby Barlow Arriving Late November!

We are very excited to share the news! We are expecting our first child in late November. We first found out we were going to be parents in March and its been a tough secret to keep. Last December we met with a fertility specialist and decided we were going to try IVF. We started treatments in February and a month later the results came back positive. I was the first one to receive the call from the doctor at work and I waited to tell Steve in person. On the way home I stopped and bought a Daddy baby bib and a pregnancy book. We went out to dinner that night and halfway through I pulled his gift out of my purse. I wish I would have gotten his reaction on camera, it was priceless. He was in shock and utter joy. There were a lot of smiles, tears and hugs shared that night.



Steve has been wonderful these last few months. Talk about fatigue, I couldn't stay up past 7:30. Nausea kicked in pretty quickly too, but luckily I never got sick. Needless to say, Steve cooked most of the meals, did the grocery shopping, cleaned and maybe put up with one or two of my emotional outbursts. I couldn't stand the smell or taste of chicken. Saltines, cheese, orange juice, ginger ale and In'n Out burgers were my favorite. Around week 11 I started feeling somewhat normal again. My bedtime is now 8:30 and I have re-introduced fruits, vegetables and poultry into my diet.

We had our 13 week ultrasound two weeks ago. The baby was in a headstand position in the beginning, but quickly started moving. We saw its hands, fingers, feet and what looks to be long legs. Baby is healthy and growing as expected. It's all beginning to feel so real now, a baby is on the way! We are very much looking forward to becoming parents and enjoying our time together during this process.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Texas Barlows Visit Orange County

The week after the Barlow Anniversary Party weekend, Mike (Steve's older brother), his wife Elaine and their two kids, Zachary and Hailey, came down to Orange County to spend a week with us. We were so excited to have them and wanted to show them our local hangout spots.

We spent a day with Mickey at the Happiest Place on Earth, swam in the pool, made s'mores on the beach in Corona del Mar, played golf, had lunch at Ruby's on the Balboa Pier in Newport and they visited the Discovery Science Center to checkout the new hockey exhibit.



Come back and visit us soon!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Jim & Joan Celebrate 50 Years of Marriage

On the weekend of June 17th, Steve's parents Jim and Joan, celebrated 50 years of marriage. To celebrate, all of Steve's siblings, Janna, Kelley, Mike, Amy, Jeff and Diana (with their spouses, children and grandchildren) flew/drove in from Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. It was a packed weekend complete with dinners, photo sessions, picnics, pool time, reminiscing, dancing, flipping through old photo albums, constant singing followed by laughter and happy tears. Kudos to Steve's youngest sister, Diana, for taking the lead with planning and organizing such a memorable weekend. Jim and Joan's anniversary party was lovely and celebrating with EVERY family member made it even lovelier.











Kelley, Steve, Diana, Mike, Janna, Jeff, Amy, Jim & Joan
Ember, Kevin, Megan, Janna, Dan, Brad, Elise, Weston, Kelly, Lorraine, Cate
Grace, Joan, Jim, Claire, Cora
David, Trent, Ryan, Kelley, JJ, Brooke
Joan, Tenney & Jim

Mike, Elaine, Hailey & Zachary

Us



Will, Sara, Craig, Amy, Jeff, Rachel, Ryan
Jim & Joan

Garrett, Amy, Lola, Jeff & Isaac

Christiana, Diana, Jason, Jimmy, Joan, Jim & Jacob

Grand Finale!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Fultons Visit

Amy, Rachel, Sara and Joan came down to Orange County for a quick visit. We celebrated Rachel's birthday with a day at the beach and the girls spent a day at Disneyland.