A long awaited, very long post...

So we've been pretty busy over the last couple weeks. On June 25th we met our friends Brenda and Terry Bland, from Augusta, in Seattle and got to hang out. Of course I was a complete dummy and forgot to get the camera out to get pictures with our friends, but here's a couple of John down at Pike Place Market. We all hung out there for a couple hours, ate some great pasta at the Pasta Bar, and then went over to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert. MMMMMM, is all I can say. I'd never been there and it was fantastic! I had some sort of raspberry cheesecake that was to die for. The Blands were in town because they were leaving from Seattle on an Alaskan cruise, lucky them! It sure was nice to get to see some old friends again though, we miss everyone in Augusta so much!

Last Sunday was so hot! Isaac and I planned to take John down to the Taste of Tacoma Sunday afternoon and boy did it backfire on me! (I spent all day Monday recuperating from the heat and being so prego!) We caught the bus down to Point Defiance where it was located and when we got there around 2pm it was over 90 degrees outside! The event was a lot of fun and we'll definitely be going back, but hopefully next year it won't be so hot. There were over 150 food vendors there, a huge farmer's market type area set up, an area with booths for arts and crafts vendors, and 5 stages with live bands and all different types of music going on. What an event! We walked around and relaxed on some grassy areas at times, we all got a little sunburnt, even after 2 applications of SPF50 sunscreen, and had some awesome food! I am really starting to LOVE the weather here now though, especially after a very unwelcoming, inhospitable, and super LOOOONG winter.

So with John's 2nd birthday coming up, and the weather finally getting nice, we decided to give John his "big" gift early this year. We got him a Spiderman theme Big Wheels tricycle. He LOVES it! I tried so hard in Toys R Us to convince my kid that the Batman tricycle was much cooler, but he wasn't hearing it! After a lot of coaching I finally gave up, deciding that it was his birthday and that he could pick out his new bike, lol! I think the clencher was when he pushed one of the buttons on the Spiderman bike and it said "Let's go catch some bad guys!" That's his favorite thing to say these days!

On the 4th of July, we also had another great outing! Isaac was working his Cutco booth down on the Ruston Waterfront at the Tacoma Freedom Fair, so we went down to visit daddy and experience the fair. Boy what a loud, long, fun, and exciting day! John and I took the bus again since parking is really expensive and far away from the actual event. There were over 50 food vendors, lots of commercial and artsy booths to visit, some fun kids play areas, and a really neat airshow with planes from McChord Air Force Base. John had a blast seeing all the new exciting stuff going on, and really liked the planes. It was interesting that he had a hard time following them through the air though, since the sound of the plane was often following it by a few seconds. He kept trying to follow the sound instead of the plane! Here's a cute picture of him sleeping through the second half of the air show, under daddy's booth tent.

Just yesterday we had John's birthday party at the local Tot Lot with Grandma and Grandpa Stegman and Isaac's sister Abby and her husband Jahmar. It was a lot of fun! We brought John's trike for him to ride, and everyone brought yummy food and presents for John. He really loved the cake (after some coaxing to leave his bike and actually come eat it); we just got him a 4th of July cake that was half price the day after, lol! Decided that at 2 years old he'd never know the difference, haha. He got some good loot and will have lots of fun playing with his new tools and blocks and trains for quite a while. I am most excited for his second birthday present from Abby and Jahmar; they're going to take him off my hands for a few hours and take him to the zoo or ChuckECheese! I'm very excited about my mommy alone time, woohoo! Thanks you guys, we'll set it up soon!

One last thing before my hand falls off from blogging so long...I had an ultrasound this morning and baby girl Stegman looks great again! She's perfect, just small (not a bad thing when you're planning a homebirth with no meds, lol)! She's growing just fine and there's nothing to worry about, so for those of you who've been worrying, STOP IT! We can't wait to meet her in just 5 more weeks! (plus or minus) We still can't decide on a name...I think we'll just put Baby Girl Stegman on her birth certificate and call her "hey you" for the rest of her life. Why is it so hard to name girls? I am meeting with my midwife weekly from now until the end, so I guess just pray we continue to grow this baby to term.