early christmas celebration

dennis' family came over today for lunch and to celebrate christmas with us since we'll be in CA for the actual holiday. we had a lovely meal (everyone brought something--thank you!) complete with mimosas, honey-glazed ham, sweet potatoes with pecans, green bean/broccoli casserole, salad and dinner rolls. and for dessert we had lemon/chocolate chip bundt cake (my favorite) and a peppermint ice cream pie...it was all delicious. we all got a lot of fun and useful gifts and overall all it was a great day!

some homemade hummus and tzatziki

my handsome husband; his brother howie and his girl, michelle;
dennis' mom, darlyene; her sister ilene; and dennis' stepdad, dave.

me after a long day of festivities...

and sherman after a long day of festivities...

karyn's kia!

after 8.5 years, i finally said good bye to my sweet, reliable audi A4. as dennis said, it was time for a "baby mobile." we found this great mid-sized SUV, the kia sorento. not only does it have great safety ratings, it's pretty luxurious and fun to drive! now i'll look forward to the LONG drives to CA!

as far as "baby mobiles" go, this one's not too bad!

i know these rims are a little "pimp my ride,"
but they'll do for now!

25 weeks!

ok, i know this isn't the most flattering photo but dennis just snapped it and i thought i'd post it so you could all see my incredible belly! still feeling good...and according to the doctor, the baby is growing on target and i have approximately 15 weeks to go! yay!!!

Annual Holiday Boutique

every year my mom and i have a holiday boutique. i think i've been participating with her for 7 years and she's been doing it for a lot longer than that! it's a fun opportunity to see our friends and sell our wares. here are a few photos from the event.

homemade doggie treats, chocolate and caramel
dipped pretzels and marshmallows, fudge
and hot-n-spicy chex mix...yum!

the humpty dumpty santa i made
and my baby bump (23 weeks)!

lots of handmade creations...

until next year...happy holidays!

20 weeks down...

20 weeks to go! i'm at the half-way mark in my pregnancy and friends that i don't get to see on a regular basis have been requesting photos of my "growing belly." here you go...to date, i've added 13 lbs to my frame...fun!

oh baby...

we're SO excited that in 4.5 short months, we'll have a new addition to our family...a baby boy! to give the news to our families, i created onsies for everyone with words on the front that read "baby pacifico debuting april 2009" and on the back they said different things for different family members...for example, "i love my nana and papa." everyone was stunned...it was so wonderful to share the news and have the people we love, share in our joy and excitement! here are a few photos from those announcements...enjoy!