*The Family 4th of July & Shower!!! *

The reason Andrew and I came home around the 4th is because my parents have been hosting the family 4th of July party for years and years, and it has turned into a family reunion. We figured there was no better time for us to come visit and be able to see EVERYONE!! My wonderful Aunt Kathy, Aunt Dorothy and Sister Alison threw us a family baby shower after lunch during the 4th of July. There is no way to express how overwhelmed by all the love and good wishes we were.

Several of my family member took pictures and I will post them as soon as I get them. (trust me there are a ton :) but until then ...here is a small preview!!!

Aunt Dorothy, Alison, me and Aunt Kathy.

Thank you again ladies for the beautiful shower!!

Ali and I under all the cute baby goodies

The cute baby goodies!!

The cake that matched the invitation...too cute :)

HOLLYWOOD Bowl with Friends :)

What would a trip to LA. around the 4th be without the annual Hollywood Bowl Fireworks extravaganza!! Andrew and I were so excited to see our old gang and to spend some time together. Thank you all so much for coming and spending the evening with us! We miss you and are so grateful for you and the blessings you have been to us :)

Pretty in Pink Girlfriends Shower :)

My wonderful girlfriends threw us a beautiful baby shower on our visit. It was at Becky's house and all the girls contributed and went WAY above and beyond. Everything was PERFECT!! We had my favorite Mexican food, wonderful pink cupcakes and pink chocolate dipped strawberries. The house, luncheon and decorations were all beautiful!

We all had to stitch a square for a Baby quilt that Becky and her Mom are putting together. I can not wait to see it all finished!

I can not tell you how blessed and loved I felt to see my friends. I cherished the time we were able to spend and I am so overwhelmed by the loved they poured out on me and the little girl that is going to make them all Aunts!

Thank you again so much Ladies...you are precious to me :)

Baby Girl Bains' California Nursery :)

When Andrew and I arrived home for our visit my family had a big surprise for us! My Mom, Dad, sister (Ali), brother in law (Andy) and Grandma had turned my old bedroom into a nursery for our little girl when she comes to visit :) There were gift tags on everything in the room stating who was giving her each item. My sister being the decorator that she is designed the room and coordinated everything. Everyone pitched in to surprise us and make a beautiful home away from home for our little girl :)

The crib and changing table with my old stuffed animals.

The crib and adorable "Nursery Rhyme" bedding. The clothes on the hooks were also gifts for the baby. The USC rocking horse is a gift from my Dad.

Close up of the baby quilt, and my old Winnie the Pooh.

Another baby quilt and some of the amazing "quilt" paint job Alison and Andy did for her!

The bed for Mommy (me) to rest on while she is taking a nap! (wishful thinking :)

The Cherry Blossom Tree

Andrew spent most of Saturday painting the tree for the nursery. It is so beautiful and I know that Baby Girl is going to love it (and her Daddy) :)

Yum Yum !!!

Lauren just tagged me for this food game.

So here are the rules: 1. Link to name of person that tagged you. 2. Include state and country you live in. 3. List top 5 favorite local restaurants. 4. Tag 5 other people and let them know they've been tagged.

I lived in L.A. for 26 years and then moved to Raleigh N.C. So I am going to cheat a bit and list a couple of my favorites in N.C and then favorite and current cravings back in the City of Angeles!

Tito's Tacos -L.A.

OK..right now this is my craving! I have been craving Titos since I was still in my first trimester (Im now in my third)! They have the BEST TACOS in the world!! Its a tiny little shop, you have to wait in line (always) and place your order at the window...then good luck finding a seat :)

Gyu-Kaku - L.A. Mmmm...Yummy...this is a great restaurant to go with a couple of friends. They bring you delicious thinly sliced pieces of Kobe beef, veggies and all kind of other goodies. You cook the food yourself. It was Andrew and my favorite restaurant, we are praying one comes to Raleigh soon!

The Peak City Grill- N.C. A great little restaurant! They change their menu monthly so that they only use fresh, in season ingredients. They have the most incredible Sunday morning brunch. My favorite appetizer in the Down South Shrimp Hush Puppies. They are AMAZING!! So if anyone wants to come visit, I'll take you there :)

NoFo at the Pig- N.C. This is a restaurant/ amazing gift shoppe. Its called at the pig because the building used to be a Piggly Wiggly. Now its an amazing cafe. I have only eaten lunch their and I keep getting the same thing (shrimp BLT) but no all the other dishes are wonderful as well.

Sushi-Thai- N.C

Fantastic sushi and tempura!! They have a full menu for Japanese food and then a full menu for Thai. Andrews new favorite is the shrimp tempura roll. Yummy!!

Painting the Nursery

With our little girl on the way, Andrew and I have started to put the nursry together. We had already bought her crib and changing table and the bedding. On Memorial Day weekend we began decorating the room. Andrew installed a ceiling fan and then we painted the room pink!

Pale petal pink to be exact...the room looks fantastic, we still need to put up crown molding and Andrew is going to paint a cherry blossom tree over the crib, but we got a lot accomplished and it is starting to look like a little girls room :) I hope she likes it!!

Prepping

Painting...

Painting continued...

Finished product with crib...

Finshed product with changing table and bookcase!

Belly Update

As requested here are some updated picture of my belly :) Baby Girl is doing great, she is kicking to her little hearts content. Its such a wonderful feeling to know thats she's in there. The first time Andrew could feel her, she kicked him in the jaw :) whoops!

Tummy...

Tummy...

and more tummy... :)

It's a Girl!!!

Andrew and I went to the doctor's this week and found out that our little miracle is a little baby girl!!! We are so thrilled!!! She looked beautiful and healthy!! We saw her suck her thumb and we were able to look at her heart and see all four chambers, we saw both of her kidneys, her little fingers and toes. It was just amazing...we already feel so blessed to have this little girl as a part of our lives. I can't imagine how much more we will love her when we finally meet her face to face :)

This is her side profile...isn't her nose so cute :)

Another side profile.

Now she is sucking her thumb.

Here are the pretty pink flowers my Mom and Dad sent us !

We will keep everyone posted on Baby Girl Bains progress and we will let you know her name as soon as we are certain what it will be :)

Spring Break!!

For our spring break we headed down to Florida to relax in the sun. (Can you tell we barely survived our first "winter"). David and Sue were wonderful hosts and we had such a great time. We drove from Orlando to St. Augustine, stayed in a fantastic hotel and relaxed the days away in true Florida style :)

Andrew enjoying the sand and sun at the beach.

OK...here is an updated picture of my belly...happy now ;)

What is a vacation without a trip to the worlds largest Alligator farm? It was so much fun, they had some HUGE alligators and I think we found where Andrew wants to work when he retires :)

Me...standing in front of a lovely old building...very interesting.

Our gracious hosts, Sue and David :)