Slusser Adventures: Our 2nd Anniversary in Seattle

In July we celebrated our anniversary. It's hard to believe we've already been married two years, time definitely flies when you're having fun!

A couple of days before our anniversary, Scott spilled the beans and shared that he'd planned and made reservations for us to have Dinner at Sky City, a restaurant located atop the Space Needle (500 feet in the sky). I was so excited because neither of us had ever been and I had heard really good things. The food was delicious and the views were beyond incredible. Sky City rotates 360 degrees while you're dining so you get to see the entire city of Seattle and the surrounding area. It's seriously the best place to see all the beauty that Seattle has to offer. I was amazed by the views and we were there on a perfect day.

If you haven't been, make sure you go for your next special occasion! Here's a few pictures from our day!

July

How on earth is it already July 1st?! I swear just yesterday we were celebrating Christmas and New Years and now it’s Summer! A really hot Summer at that!

Our month coming up is so full. We’ve got Fourth of July, two weddings, two baseball games, maternity pictures, our annual family camping trip, multiple birthday’s to celebrate, our second anniversary, softball, a work party for Scott, and final prep before baby Slusser comes!

But most of all, we have to do our best to soak up our last month of being a family of two (it feels so weird to say that)! This month I plan to enjoy the quiet moments and take full advantage of sleeping in and starting the day slow.

While I can’t wait for the excitement and changes that August will undoubtedly bring, I am sitting here feeling reminiscent about the last 8 months. They’ve been a blur to say the least and I can't believe my due date is only 38 days away! Some days it feels like I’ve been pregnant forever, and others it feels like it has only just begun.

Here’s to a month of new memories before our little one joins the family! Happy July y’all!

Our Long Beach Babymoon

I have to start this post by saying I use to think a babymoon was a super silly idea, but after taking one I will admit they're wonderful and every expecting couple so make time for. For Scott and I, the idea of a babymoon became appealing when we hadn't had a weekend away, just the two of us in almost a year. And that it wouldn't ever just be the "two of us" again so why not use the excuse to get away!

We wanted to go someplace we hadn't been before but was close enough for just one night away from home. After much deliberation we landed on Long Beach! If you haven't been, you should plan a weekend there now.

Scott and I also hadn't spent much time in Astoria, so we decided we'd take the long way to Long Beach and make a pit stop for some lunch and sight seeing. Note to any other folks like myself who aren't big fans of bridges... The Astoria bridge is SUPER long, like miles long. It made me a bit nervous both times we crossed over, but it really is beautiful.

Once in Astoria we used our handy Urban Spoon app and ended up at Bridgewater Bistro for lunch and a great view. A BLT for me and a burger with cajun fries for Scott filled our tummies and fueled us for a walk along the water.

We visited the Goonies house, the elementary school featured on Kindergarten Cop, and stopped at the marina to visit some vocal (and smelly) sea lions.

After all of our exploring it was time to head towards Long Beach!

We stayed at a super eco-friendly, modern yet rustic place called Adrift and would highly recommend it. They have bikes available for free use, fun games, movies, fresh hot cocoa and coffee and cold beer, all right in the lobby. Plus, they're super doggy friendly so we'll be going back with Lucy in the new future! Here's a few pics of our room:

The view wasn't too bad either!

Adrift is walking distance from town (even if you're pregnant) and even closer to the boardwalk, discovery trail and beach front. They also have a restaurant in the hotel (Pickled Fish) with live music, great food, fun beer and a phenomenal weekend brunch. I still dream about this oatmeal...

The little town of Long Beach seriously has something fun for everyone. Every place seemed to be dog friendly, there's a big arcade, go-karts, horses, mopeds, miniature golf, and great shops. We enjoyed a chocolate cookie from a little bakery, then overindulged a bit more with a scoop of ice cream from Scoopers (who can say no to 64 + flavors?). I could've easily sampled 10 different types but I tried to practice a bit of self control. As you can see, my hubby gets pretty happy whenever he gets ice cream!

After lots of walking around town we headed back to the room to relax. After a nice nap, we started getting ready when I quickly realized I had forgot the string for my dress that makes it look more like a maternity dress and less like a moo-moo. I was super bummed and started thinking of what I could possibly use to gather the dress, when I looked down and noticed Scott's shoelaces were black (the color I needed). Off they came and around my dress they went. It worked great and no one even noticed!

The highlight of our trip was definitely our dinner at The Depot Restaurant in Seaview (thanks again for the recommendation Megan!), a super small and quaint restaurant with the sweetest owners who treated us like family.

We made reservations for the Chefs table and got watch the Chef and Sous Chef work their magic.

I ordered the Southern Comfort Pork served with yam mashers and jalapeno cream corn and Scott opted for the Rib-eye. We both savored every bite of our meals and couldn't believe how good it was. The Depot is seriously a hidden gem, if you leave town without having dinner there you're missing out.

Blue cheese drizzled with balsamic reduction = delicious.

Seriously I'm drooling just looking at those pics... Aren't you?!

The rest of the weekend was lots of beach walking, laying around in the hotel doing a lot of nothing and talking a lot about the next few months to come and how excited we are for Baby Girl Slusser to join our family. This weekend was just what we needed before a busy Summer and before becoming a family of three!

This more accurately sums us up.. Total goofs

24 Week Update

Wow it has been a busy four weeks (almost five since this post is taking me forever to finish and I'm now 25 weeks along)! I feel like we've gotten a good dent in our endless "to-do" list which is super exciting. I've been trying to be more productive during the week after work since my energy is back. Staying active with lots of walking and prenatal yoga has made a HUGE difference in energy and mood. My Aunts, Mom and I have officially started sewing for little miss. In fact I've learned how to make crib sheets, which is super easy!

 

And I have to share this picture because out of all my maternity clothes, that tank is my favorite! I ordered it from Etsy and will be perfect for this Summer!

The Nursery.
Our nursery is well under way, we built her crib one night last week, assembled her dresser and crib and got her closet almost complete! I wanted to add more storage in there along with a second bar for hanging things so we went on a hunt for a closet organizer but ended up settling for a cube storage shelf from Target. It was only $40 vs. $240 and will work great now and when little miss gets a bit older.

Ok super cheesy moment coming, so you've been warned. Putting the nursery furniture together with Scott was so much fun! We kept looking at each other with these big smiles thinking about our little one sleeping soundly (we hope) in there in just a few months. Even Lucy had fun!

It's hard to believe how fast time has gone, but everything we're doing these days makes it all feel more real. She is just going to love her room!

Photography.
Some other exciting happenings... We've officially scheduled our maternity and newborn photographer. We selected Christina Mae Photography after seeing her work through some friends that had their photos done by her. She really captures emotion and the way she uses light is so beautiful. We're excited to have her capture these memories for us! Next step- pick outfits to wear. That has to be like the second hardest thing to pick after you've selected a photographer! ;)

Registering. 
One word- overwhelming. But right after that comes exciting! We actually took two days to register, mostly because the night before day 1 Scott came down with a nasty bug. Although he tried to power through the day I could tell eh was miserable and I really wanted the day to be fun for him too. So we knocked off some big items then called it a day. The next time we went he was way more cheerful and we had a blast. It was exhausting, and the rest of the night we mostly relaxed on the couch with our feet up but it's so fun thinking about the stuff we'll need once baby girl is here!

I think the most overwhelming part of the whole experience was the number of options Baby's R' Us has. There had to have been 30 different kinds of strollers, 10 different pack and plays, 10 different high-chairs and a million different types of diapers and wipes. We ended up just trying to test each big purchase as much as we could and picked what we liked best. Everything has to meet the same safety standards so we decided reviews wouldn't be as helpful as just trying it out!

Once we get some parenting under our wings, if we love what we selected I'm sure I'll blog more about them in hopes of helping another future momma some day!

Scott even had to purchase his favorite book from his childhood so he can start reading to her. He was so excited, it was heart warming to watch him light up over some of the things we selected. Love that guy so much and am so excited to see him become a Daddy!

Here's the monthly down low...

Maternity clothes? Is there anything else?! Love feeling comfortable in my clothes and I think it's super important for any other preggo Mommas out there as well. Your body changes so much that some days you can feel very self-conscious. Having clothes that fit well and make you look pregnant vs. over stuffed is definitely helpful!

Sleep: I've been sleeping ok despite multiple trips to the bathroom at night. The pregnancy pillow is still my life saver along with regular prenatal yoga. I usually wake up feeling ok but can tell I'm starting to get more and more hip and lower back pain when I'm in bed too long!

Best moment this week: Scott feeling her kick for the first time! His face was priceless and I know it's starting to feel even more real to him now. We also got to see her kick so hard the other night that it moved my belly. Seriously, that feeling is the best ever. 

Miss Anything? Coffee.... Real, caffeinated coffee.

Food cravings: Still loving ketchup on everything that it can go on (without being gross), eggs and avocados.
 
Symptoms: I have been so lucky and haven't had many ailments. I definitely get tired a lot easier than I use to but staying active has seemed to help. I've also noticed the varicose veins in my legs are back which is a bummer but she'll be worth it!

Have you started to show yet: Yep - no hiding this baby bump!

Wedding rings on or off? Still on!

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy

Looking forward to: Our birthing class and decorating the nursery

Gender Reveal Party!

A couple of weekends ago we gathered our families and hosted a gender reveal party for Baby Slusser. My Mom and I spent  few weeks prior to the party planning all of the details. Party planning is seriously our thing, we had so much fun! And while we normally have the full entourage of my Aunts helping, we didn't this time and it still turned out great!

We had light appetizers and lots of pink and blue treats. My cousin baked blue and pink cupcakes and was the only one who knew Baby's gender so she put together the reveal box.

While I thought it might be hard to have our appointment then not find out the gender until three days later, it wasn't at all! We had already waited a few months and knowing that our families would find out with us was so exciting! Plus, just as my pregnancy has gone so far, time flew by and before I knew it we were opening the reveal box.

Oh, and in case you're wondering... IT'S A GIRL!!!!! We are so excited and can't wait to start planning her nursery, preparing for her arrival and then finally meeting her in August!

Here's a few pictures from our party that I snapped with my phone. We haven't had a chance to get the pictures from my Uncle who took a bunch that day, but these will give you a glimpse into the par-tay...

I hope our daughter and I have the same relationship I have with my Mom. Love her so much!

Lucky to be going on this adventure with that guy by my side. He is going to be a wonderful Daddy.