Photo Shoot at Pinecrest Gardens

There is this amazingly talented photographer that is in Junior League with me named Shanna Nye. We purchased from her a "Bellies to Babies" package that photographs the four "seasons" of a new baby's life: starting with pregnancy photos, then 1 week, 6 months and then 1 year.

Shanna was such a trooper as we all sweated it out at the beautiful Pinecrest Gardens. I think it was 101 degrees. (Note to self: Never, ever have your last months of pregnancy in a Florida Summer.) To see a couple more shots of Shanna's great work, go check out her blog at Shanna Nye Photography.

Olivia gets ready for Baby

We've been trying to think of ways to involve Olivia in the preparation of the arrival of the new baby in order to make the transition to sisterhood a little easier on her. So when Lamar started getting out the carseats and strollers from Olivia's early days, we thought we'd show her how to strap in the "baby" with one of Olivia's dolls. She was pretty good with the five-point harness, I must say! But as soon as she tried to pick it up, she said "Oh it's too heavy. You can carry the baby." Gee thanks. (No real babies were used/exploited in this exercise.) Editor's note: You can click on the pics to enlarge them, use your "back" button to return to blog.

The 4 Pregnant Wonders

These are three of my friends and we're all going to be having (or just had!) babies within a month of each other. Sarah (far left) had her baby girl last Thursday. Katie (second from right) had her baby girl today, though she was due a week after me! Ivon (far right) is due to have a boy in October. As for me, I'm already planning my strategy because she needs to get out already! I've gotten lots of good advice on how to help her along, like sitting in a warm bath, checking the full moon schedule...got any suggestions??

My First Day of School, 2008

This was Olivia's first day of school last year when she went to pre-school at the Early Childhood Center, part of the Coral Gables Congregational Church. This year she will be attending Pre-K 3 at St. Stephen's Episcopal Day School (with her Daddy!!) She starts next Tuesday and we'll post a picture of her first day for you then.

Just Hanging With Santa

This is one of my favorite pictures of Lamar and Olivia, at one of my favorite places. It was last December when we went to see Santa Claus (the best Santa I have EVER seen) at the Deering Estate, a fabulous park and historic site in Dade County. We love to take picnics there and eat under the Royal Palms overlooking the Bay. (Click on the bottom photo to enlarge, it's so cute!)

A Baby Named Vanilla

Our daughter Olivia has always maintained that the new baby's name should be Vanilla. Nevermind that all of her stuffed animals are already named a variety of confectionery flavors... she wants her baby sister to be Vanilla. Hmmm. We're about a week and a half away from the expected delivery, and we still don't have a name! For those of you who will actually check back on our blog, you will be the first to know the real name of our new baby girl as soon as we can come to some consensus.

Our First Blog Entry

Could we not make a better statement to start off our new blog than by showing you the Orange and Blue?? This was Olivia, about 8 months ago. Her grandparents, Babo and Mimi, got her the super cute cheerleading outfit up in Gainesville. Good to know she's getting started on the right foot. After all, it's GREAT to BE a FLORIDA GATOR.