{Our Babymoon}

I know not everyone is into the whole “babymoon” idea, but let’s be honest, Corey and I will take any excuse to go on a vacation! I, being the obsessive travel planner that I am, thought long and hard about what kind of babymoon I wanted to go on....

Due to work obligations, other travels we had planned, and the fact that I was getting more pregnant by the week, we only had a tiny five day window in December for our trip. I knew right away I didn’t want to go somewhere cold and adventurous (read: ski trip or anything like it). I knew I wanted sun, mostly because by that point in Portland you are really ready to escape the dreary rain and cold. I also wanted the vacation to be no-fuss, easy to get to (direct flight), and incredibly relaxing. 

Usually when we go on vacation we are planning out every day, choosing restaurants, hikes, attractions, etc etc. We wanted the opposite for our babymoon. Pure relaxation. No agenda. Just the huz and me and me and the huz. We knew we wouldn’t be taking a vacation like that as often once Elodie arrived, so that was our plan.

We ended up going back to our honeymoon destination because we knew how great the Hyatt was and were dying to stay there. We loved the food on the hotel grounds (which was great since we didn’t plan to leave). It was in hawaii – so hello, sun! And there are direct flights from Portland to Kauai, so boom – Kauai it was!

Minus one day of torrential thunderstorms and lightning, the trip was a dream. It was exactly what we had envisioned – pure relaxation and good quality one on one time. I couldn’t recommend the Hyatt in Poipu enough for any vacation – but especially a babymoon or honeymoon! A few photos from our trip below!

{Photos © Liz Denfeld Photography}

{We're Having a Baby!!!}

So....

{It says "We're Pregnant!!! - Too bad the flash blew out the handwriting!}

Yippee!!!! Oh my goodness, I can't even tell you how happy and excited I am that I finally get to shout our news from the rooftops! We've known for over two months now that little baby Denfeld is on the way, so it is such a relief to finally get to share the news with the world :)

I'm 14 weeks along and am just now finally starting to feel better. The first trimester was pretty miserable (aside from the first two weeks where I felt nothing and was convinced I couldn't actually be pregnant!). But all-in-all, I know it could've been much worse, so even though I was nauseous 24/7 for 6 weeks straight, I wasn't in the hospital and I only threw up, like, 10 times or something. So I'll consider that a win!

So that should cover the "How are you feeling?" question, and as far as the second question we always get - will we find out the gender. The answer is h-e-l-l yes! We can't find out soon enough! We should know by the end of this month, so stay tuned. And no, I have no "mothers intuition" of whether it's a boy or girl... I seriously have NO idea! I wish I did! So we'll all just have to wait and see :)

More to come... For now I'll leave you with my sorry excuse for a bump photo. I vividly remember when Ashlee was pregnant she would say how her baby bump would be so much bigger after eating a burrito, and I couldn't believe that could be true. Could food really make the baby belly come out? And now I can tell you with great confidence.. YES it does. This was the day after I enjoyed a huge Italian dinner, hence my more curvy state. When I woke up the next morning it was almost like it never happened. Boo! I'm excited for this little one to make more of an appearance in the next few weeks!

{First photo by Laura Nelson Photography - can't wait to share more of our shoot with her! She is ah-may-zing!}

{Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Graham!}

Our weekend in Scotland was absolutely perfect.

Megan and Stephen tied the knot on a rare + gorgeous sunny day in Glasgow.

We then wined and dined and celebrated the happy couple at the ridiculously amazing Cameron House in Loch Lomond.

It was an incredibly beautiful day that honored an incredibly beautiful couple. 

Keep an eye out for wedding photos and recaps over on Megan's blog.

Once she's finished recapping I'll post some photos over here too!

Thanks again to the Grahams for letting us be a part of their special day - and an even bigger thanks for trusting me enough to photograph this momentous occasion. I truly hope I did your wedding justice - it was pure perfection!

Love you guys and congrats again!

{Photo © Liz Denfeld Photography}

{Our Two Year Wedding Anniversary}

Happy Monday everyone! How are you all doing? It’s been snowing buckets in Amsterdam and it’s been causing all sorts of chaos – with trains and planes – and worst of all.. with me! I guess biking in 23-degree weather was a bit ambitious for me, because this weekend I came down with a nasty bug that has me bed-ridden today. Husband is taking great care of me and it’s not so bad having a beautiful snowy view out the window. I just wish I could go outside and enjoy the wintery white weather!

Speaking of the huz… Corey and I are creeping up on two and a half years of marriage! Now, I know that’s not a super long time, but what I will say is boy does time fly!! I feel like we just celebrated our two-year anniversary, which I realized I never blogged about!

While I wish we could’ve done something extravagant and luxurious to celebrate our wedding anniversary, I was flying out to Portland the next day and work was crazy busy at the time, so we settled on a romantic dinner at a gorgeous restaurant. We got dressed up and headed to De Kas. This place is so awesome. It sits on the edge of a lush city park in Amsterdam and is probably the coolest looking restaurant we’ve ever eaten in. It also happens to be one of those super fancy restaurants that doesn’t really have a menu. Each day the chef has a three-course dinner planned that consists of three small starters, a main course and dessert. The best part is everything is made with local, fresh ingredients grown in the restaurant’s very own nursery.  We decided to fancy things up even more and get the wine pairings with dinner. The whole things was a fun and special experience and the perfect way to celebrate two years of wedded bliss. Here are a few photos from the occasion.

And P.S. Yes, our wedding anniversary was in August and yes I am wearing tights and a blazer... Why? Because there is no summer in Amsterdam. Yeah, I guess you could say I’m bitter about it :)

 {Photos ©  Liz Denfeld}

{Fancy Up Date Night!}

Corey and I love dinner and a movie as much as the next couple, but we're always looking for fun ways to change up date nights. A couple weekends ago we decided to buy tickets for a beautiful cello show that was playing at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam - it's a stunning venue known for it's great acoustics. We thought it'd be a fun excuse to get dressed up and do something different. We had a delicious dinner and shared a bottle of red at this cute italian place just blocks from the concert hall. Once arriving for the show, we realized a free glass of wine came with our tickets - score! The fun continued! We finally sat down to enjoy the beautiful music of Amber Doctors on the cello. It was a night to remember! Here are a couple tips for classin' up your next date night - enjoy!

 {Photos ©  Liz Denfeld}

{Meghan + Jeff 10.19.12}

I was finally able to make some room on my computer and edit the photos from Meghan + Jeff's gorgeous wedding! Yay!

Meghan and Jeff got married at a gorgeous venue out in Canby, Oregon - Postlewaits Country Weddings. It was truly stunning inside an out - the grounds were perfectly manicured and the barn was heartstoppingly (made up that word?) beautiful. Since I was in the wedding I didn't get to take as many photos as I would've liked - but snapped as many as I could! I wish I could've gotten more of the details. They left no DIY undone - from the photobooth to the wishing stones, to the readings to the cocktails, to the grooms cake... I mean, the list goes on and on. It was such an honor to be a part of their day - they are such a genuine and beautiful couple. The laughter they share together is contagious. And best of all, they made the cutest little baby girl you ever did see. Enjoy the photos!

{Photos ©  Liz Denfeld}