Waiting for Olivander

 Kate is becoming so much more of a beautiful little person every day.

 Sometimes I just can't believe how grown up her face looks.

She and Jon are good buds. I love seeing how much Jon teaches her. Kate can identify all her facial features as well as her belly button and her tushy, thanks to Jon's guidance. He quizzes her daily on her nose, eyes, ears, forehead, chin, teeth, mouth, lips, hair, etc. I love watching her run up to him saying "hi, hi, hi, hi, hi!!" She signs "daddy" and always asks where he is when he is at work. They make a great pair.

 Margo is just a little over 4 years old now, and seriously as cute as ever.

I am always so thankful for my pomeranian pup. Jon and I have both noticed lately that she's been craving more attention. Unfortunately splitting time with our ever growing human-children-family makes being the only dog-child a little lonely. She is still the snuggliest pup ever and wants to sit on my lap all the time (even though there is increasingly less room by the day). We haven't had her sleep on the bed with us in the past month because I am just too big and every time I roll over she grumbles. Because of this we've tried to make sure and show her as much family love as possible during the day.

Since I started maternity leave last Monday we have been going on daily family walks around the block to help Olivander's motivation for birth. Kate can walk herself the whole way! This makes for a perfect pre-nap activity. All our walking made Kate realize that Margo has a magical leash which will keep her near you. It has now become Kate's number one priority to walk Margo herself. As long as Margo keeps going and exploring, Kate follows closely behind (gently guided and untangled by mom and dad from time to time). We absolutely LOVE it!

 March has also brought a number of other fun family and friend activities.

We have a brand new Target in Rocklin about 5 minutes from the house. This is the closest we've ever lived to a Target, and it is sparkly and perfect! I know it sounds silly, but we went on their soft opening day, and there was NO one there, the staff were incredibly friendly, and there was every color and every size of everything, perfectly lined up and perfectly in place. It was like going to a Target store in my dreams. Kate and I had to try on many pairs of sunglasses.

I have to try really hard to keep myself from going to Target every day since it is on my way between home and work.

We have also been LOVING Fancy FunnelCakes in Rocklin. We had talked it up so much to the DePaolas that they agreed to join us for a family night of deep fried sugary goodness :)

It still hasn't put me into labor - but Emmett and Kate sure had fun flirting over deep fried oreos :)

 We've had some great friends visit us this month, too! Baby Jackson Collette came by on Saturday at only two weeks old, to which Kate was VERY enthralled. She wanted to give him hugs and just stared at the "baby!" with amazement that he was real and much cooler than her baby dolls.

Lynsi Barfuss (previous sister missionary in our area) came all the way from Idaho on her spring break with a friend on their "tour de california". Even though we just saw her briefly, she and Kate had a super fun time playing together!

Olivander wasn't as willing to come out and play just yet, but hopefully we'll make another trip to Oregon soon and then we Alstons can visit the whole Barfuss clan :)

We were also excited to welcome Michelle O'Keefe after over a month of planning for her visit the week of Olivander's due date! Of course we had to make sure to get a bump picture together since in a couple days the moment will be over and we could possibly never be pregnant at the same time again.

Her little strawberry is due in September - just 6 months away!

Michelle and Kate of course bonded right away:

 

 Kate's first selfie:

Kate spent the morning with Gram while Michelle and I went out for pedicures. My nails are all around perfect now for baby Olivander's arrival! Michelle and I also went fabric shopping (always a favorite past time) and then picked up Kate for a combined ladies lunch at Jack's Urban Eats, window shopping at the Fountains, including some walking for baby Olivander's benefit, and then a fun jaunt to Old Navy for maternity clothes for Baby O'Keefe II.

Kate and I loved looking at the accessories and of course trying on more sunglasses together. We also found an AWESOME swimsuit for Kate on sale! She seemed pretty excited about it, but I think I was even more thrilled than her. It's so refreshing to see adorable baby girl clothes that are NOT hot pink and covered in Hello Kitty and Dora nonsense.

After some yoga outdoors this afternoon in the perfect March sunshine, I could not feel more personally prepared for Olivander's arrival. This past week off work has really given me time to prepare, nest, finish some projects, and just feel pampered and loved.

We are really thankful for all our friends and family that have done so much to support our growing family! Hopefully the next post will be all about our new arrival. Due in just 3 days on March 27th!