{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!}

{Kynsa Elephant Park}

Let's talk about elephants. Prior to our trip to South Africa I really didn't know much about them, but after a trip to the Knysna Elephant park I learned a lot about these gorgeous creatures. They're extremely smart and have the self-awareness and cognition similar to what we've seen in apes and dolphins. They are quick learners and will glady show off some tricks for a piece of fruit. They love attention and cuddles. Really, they're friendly giants. Within their packs they truly care for one another, and if something happens to an elephant in the pack, their loss is visibly mourned. I truly fell in love with them the more I learned about them. They are so fascinating and sweet! 

After our stay in Franschhoek we ventured along the Garden Route. One of the cities we stopped in was Knysna. We had read about the Knysna Elephant Park in our guide book and knew we definitely wanted to check it out and get the opportunity to pet and feed the elephants! The Elephant Park is actually an orphanage for elephants in need - who have either been abandoned, fallen ill, etc. My favorite part about the park is that they practice a "free-range controlled system of management" - which basically means the elephants range freely and they only interact with guests on their terms. We definitely saw this as they were not herded over to us by any means. We simple drove up into the park and waited to see what would happen. Luckily, they know we come with food, so they love to come get treats and get attention from the visitors! It was one of my most favorite travel experiences to date to interact so closely with these beautiful animals! I'd highly recommend it if you're ever in South Africa.

{Photos © Liz Denfeld Photography}

{April in Paris}

Well hello there blog land. Per usual I popped in quickly and then didn't make a return anytime soon. Oops! I always have the best of intentions to give this space attention, but somehow it always gets pushed to the bottom of the neverending to-do list. If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter you already know that we bought a house (more on that later)! And that's what's been taking up all of our time on evenings and weekends. We've also taken a few fun trips to Los Angeles (to meet my adorable new nephew) and to Vancouver, B.C. (you know, because we were really missing using our passports!). I have so many photos from the past months and even year to share and I fully plan on getting them up here!

I'll start by looking back on an amazing trip I took to Paris back in April. I got a call from one of my best friends at the beginning of the month telling me she will most likely be coming out to Amsterdam and Paris for work (we work at the same company, score!) and would I be interested in joining her in Paris? I mean, you just don't say no to that! So even though we had just gotten back from South Africa and had many more trips planned that spring, I booked a train ticket to Paris for a weekend away with one of my dearest friends. We had an absolutely incredible time touring the city, eating delicious food and catching up after being oceans apart for far too long. These are memories I will cherish forever and ever.

A few highlights from our trip:

-Hot chocolate at Angelina -- how did it take me four visits to Paris before I made it here? You can't miss it if you're planning a trip!

-Brunch at Cafe de Flore - a Parisian institution. Amazing people watching!

-Dinner at Le Coupe Chou (not pictured, but trust me it's incredible!)

-And of course, pink champage and sweet treats at Laduree - as girly as it gets!

{Photos © Liz Denfeld Photography}