Goodbyes! :(

We had such a great time in Canada with the Claphams and it was really hard to say goodbye. Especially for Brennan...he was so sad that Uncle Spencer was leaving (Aunt who?) that he couldn't bare to take a picture with us. (its a cute funny picture anyway!) Thanks for everything Chelsea, Blaine, Brennan and Kayla! We love you guys!

Assiniboine Park Zoo

Today we went to the zoo! (Can we really go ANYWHERE without going to the local zoo? I think not.) It was a cute little zoo, a quick trip and really fun!

We got back a little late for naps so we got a little crazy....Brennan decided his Easter basket is now a hat

And Spencer became double duty Uncle:

Looks good on him don't you think? ;)

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny came! Brennan got lots of goodies, had a blast finding (and re-hiding and re-finding) his Easter eggs and Auntie Heather and Uncle Spencer got lots of chocolate from Brennan and snuggles from Kayla. It was a very relaxing day and great to be able to spend it with some of our family! Happy Easter!

Uncle Spencer is HERE!

Spencer had to work Thursday and Friday so he came to Canada a little later than I did. He got here today and Brennan couldn't have been more excited (I was only a little jealous)! After meeting Kayla, Uncle and Brennan got to work coloring Easter eggs in preparation for the Easter Bunny's arrival tonight

!

Kayla's Blanket

Here is the blanket I crocheted for little Kayla:

And here is the little sweet pea all snuggled up using her blanket. Awww.

Meeting Kayla!

I arrived in Winnipeg safely this afternoon, despite my fear of flying topped with my fear of flying while pregnant AND lots of flooding in North Dakota and Canada. I was greeted with a big hug from Brennan and some snuggles from little Kayla. They are BOTH so stinkin' cute. Since I came up two days before Spencer, I have bragging rights to being the first O'Neill to hold baby Kayla. Woohoo!

Float Your Desires

"The Wright brothers didn't contemplate the staying on the ground of things. Alexander Graham Bell didn't contemplate the noncommunication of things, Thomas Edison didn't contemplate the darkness of things. In order to float an idea into your reality, you must be willing to do a somersault into the inconceivable and land on your feet, contemplating what you want instead of what you don't have." ~ Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

The Power Of Intentions

Creative, kind, loving, beautiful, expanding, abundant, and receptive ~ Visualize these as your intentions and they will be.

Be reflective ~ A mirror reflects without distortion or judgement. Consider being like a mirror, and reflect what comes into your life without judgments or opinions.

Expect beauty ~ Expect kindness and love along with beauty to be in your life by deeply loving yourself, your surroundings, and by showing reverence for all life.

Meditate on appreciation ~ Cherish the energy that you share with all living beings now and in the future, and even those that have lived before you.

Banish doubt ~ When doubt is banished, abundance flourishes and anything is possible. We all tend to use our thoughts to create the world we choose.

From "The Power of Intention" by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Make Way For Baby

"Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles....it empties today of its strength."

Just before we left for our babymoon, we made an offer on a house in a really nice neighborhood here in Las Vegas (yes, we are staying here for awhile and decided not to throw away money on rent for an apartment that is too small for us and a new baby anyway). It was a foreclosure and we knew there was one other offer and with my general luck, I just assumed the bank would pick the other offer. But they picked ours! We literally found out as we were pulling out of town on Wednesday evening. So we are buying a house. Which is no small feat. And with it comes a lot of money spending and general worry...especially for me since my experiences with house purchasing and owning and selling have not been good ones. And because we have a baby on the way, which I also hear costs a lot of money. And because I am just a worrier in general. So this quote seemed appropriate for me to read today. The article it came in goes on to say that 90% of what we worry about never comes true. How much of my life do I miss because I am spending time agonizing over what might happen down the road? In buying this house, we will be generally happier. We will have room for a baby and all the stuff that comes with him or her. We will have more space in general. We have a backyard and a garage and no noisy neighbors upstairs. We have a guest room for our family and friends to come visit and stay comfortably. Yes, this is going to cost a lot of money and things will be tight for awhile, but we are probably not going to go broke, starve, and get kicked out of the house only to live on the side of the road in a cardboard box like I often worry about. I am excited to have a place to make and call our home...not just the place where we live. I'm excited to have a comfortable place to raise our child (and more space for our territorial animals to roam and hide once the baby arrives and they are ticked off at us). So yay for being grown ups and buying a house. I'm not worrying about it...too much. :)

Babymoon Day 4

Today was our last day in San Diego. We checked out of our hotel and went across the street to Balboa Park again, this time to go to the San Diego Zoo. The zoo was huge so our attempts at relaxing were few and far between, but we still had a really nice time. We just walked around casually (and a lot) to find all of our favorite animals or animals we hadn't seen at the Wild Animal Park or Sea World. We did have a few repeats, but only because they were our favorites. :)

After lunch at the zoo, we are on our way home to Las Vegas to pick up our other "baby" Tank and sleep in our own bed. We had a really great time and are so glad we spent some time away together for us before I get to huge to travel and before our little one arrives and busy takes on a whole new meaning in our lives!

Happiness

"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet." ~James Oppenheim

Babymoon Day 3

Spencer and I have a soft spot in our hearts for the Sea World and Busch Gardens parks since we both used to work at and even met at Busch Gardens in Tampa. So we were both pretty excited to go to Sea World in San Diego today. We had both been to the one in Orlando before, but not this one. Although we managed to have a great time anyway, our visit was bittersweet. The park was in shambles (construction and mess everywhere), there were lines for EVERYTHING as if there weren't enough employees working, and lots of exhibits and shows were just closed for no apparent reason. The parks we knew (before they were bought out) were so different and so much more aesthetically pleasing. But they are still taking great care of the animals and doing good things for conservation, which is probably the most important thing to both of us, so it wasn't all a bust. The dolphins and pilot whales were impressive and Shamu is always awesome. The Shark encounter was very well done and Spencer managed to have a staring contest with a huge grouper. It was an overcast beautiful day at Mission Bay (the bay that Sea World is build alongside) so we enjoyed ourselves regardless!

We finished off our evening with a delicious dinner at Buon Appetito in Little Italy and a relaxing evening in our hotel room for our last night in San Diego.