My Second Shower!

My amazing Mom and sister were kind enough to throw me a second shower on June 6th! This shower included family and friends. They hosted the shower at my parent's house in my dad's beautiful backyard. My dad spends so much of his extra time and energy in creating this tropical landscape and it was the perfect backdrop to our event.

My Mom and sister did an excellent job of entertaining my guests. We had some food catered from Alicias (one of my favorite places), and my Mom and sis made the rest of the food, including the delicious desserts!

Thank you so much to my Mom, Dad and Sis for a lovely shower and to all of my guests for attending!

My wonderful sister and Mom. Thanks so much you two for hosting such a beautiful shower!

THE GAME - my sister had our guests play a crossword puzzle. Here are some pictures of the ladies seriously concentrating...

My family and friends

My good friends and their families

Angela's family

Josh's family and friends

The Iwai Family


GIFTS - I received so many wonderful gifts! Thank you so much ladies for your thoughtfulness and generosity. Here are some highlights...

Along with many other gifts, Josh's mom--Alison--made sure to purchase a Lakers jersey for Logan!

And of course, a Dallas Cowboys onesie--Daddy's favorite football team!

Beth made this beautiful stroller blanket and matching beanie. I just love handmade gifts!

I am so excited that my Tia purchased the artwork for Logan's nursery! She got him the "LOGAN" letters and four wall pieces that are bright, educational and go with the tropical theme in his room.

Nancy knows how much I love my wine, and she knows how much I'm looking forward to having some once Logan has arrived!

My best friend, Angela, and her family got me my jogging stroller. I'm so excited! Angela is an instructor for Stroller Strides (a fitness program for mothers and their children) and although Logan isn't here yet, I've already taken the stroller out for practice.



PHOTOS - Here are some pictures of me and my guests

My best friends, Joelle and Angela.

My best friend, Angela's family--Alexa, Susan with Ellie, Ang with Lillie, Andrea and Gaddy.

Josh's side of the family--Alex (my niece), Morgan (Josh's cousin), Alison (my mother-in-law), Grandma Maria, and Brooke (my sister-in-law).

My best friend, Joelle, and her mom, Kristine.

Our dear friend, Jim's mother, Debbie.

My cousin, Mia, my grandma Olgui and Polly.

My good friend, Emily, and her mother-in-law, Kathy.

This is Beth. She is Matt's (Josh's best friend) mom. She made the beautiful stroller blanket!

My friend, Kristy, and her mom, Nancy.

My best friend, Jamie, and her mom, Brianna, and sis, Breaz.

My Tia Linda and cousin Alexis

My amazing mother and Logan's Mimi!

My cousin, Dakota, and my Tia. Thanks for making it girls!

My wonderful girlfriends--Jamie, Joelle, Emily, Kristy (and Ang, not pictured)--who attended both of my showers! Thanks ladies, you're the best!

My sister--Logan's Tia-- and me.

Growth Update!

Many new and exciting things have happened since my last post! I am currently in my third trimester and many changes have occurred. For starters, I have definitely grown. My belly button has officially popped! Logan is growing and moving much more frequently. In fact, he wakes me up in the morning. However, he seems to be busy moving around mostly during the evenings after dinner. I not only feel kicks, but I can feel him rolling his body around inside my stomach! For the first time in my life I've experienced heartburn--not a fan; however, I am a fan of ice cream, more specifically Thrifty Rocky Road ice cream! Seriously, if you haven't experienced Thrifty Rocky Road in a while, you need to treat yourself! As for aches and pains, I occasionally have shortness of breath, heartburn, and back pains; however, everything has been manageable. I just have to remind myself to slow down a bit and that can be difficult.

Recently I finished work. Yay! I decided to take the last four weeks of the school year off and it has been amazing! I feel like I've been able to concentrate on myself and getting ready for the baby. In fact, I've been able to work out more. I'm trying to attend Zumba classes twice a week with my mom and sister. These classes are so much fun! The entire time you are dancing and shaking your booty! I'm determined to make Logan a man that loves to dance, even if I'm starting as early as the womb. Lately, I've been attending Stroller Strides. Stroller Strides is a great program that allows moms to bring their children to class in a jogging stroller so that they can work out while their children hang out! My best friend, Angela, is an instructor and I've been fortunate enough to attend and get some exercise.

I've officially entered my "nesting phase", in which all I want to do is prepare the house for the baby's arrival. I just recently had my baby shower, so Josh has been assembling baby gear and I just washed five loads of Logan's laundry! He's not even here and he has more laundry than Josh and I. Josh and I are busying ourselves every weekend in order to prepare Logan's room and the house for his soon arrival.

The other thing that Josh and I have done to prepare for Logan's arrival is begin taking our baby classes! The first class we took was a set of three classes that prepare parents for childbirth. WOW! Josh and I are in for the surprise of our lives! It was funny to see Josh's reactions to some of the videos that we were shown, especially the video that showed the baby being delivered. I looked over at Josh during this video and his mouth seemed to drop to the floor. My emotions are mixed because I'm so excited for him to be here, but I'm also terrified of the labor and delivery process. I just keep reminding myself that millions of women do it everyday and most of them do it more than once. Today we start our newborn baby care class, which I think will be very beneficial for Josh and I, especially Josh (read on to see Josh's responses to questions about babies and you'll know why I say this).

Please scroll down to view pictures of me and my growing belly during my pregnancy!

18 weeks--Logan weighs about 7 ounces and his length is that of a bell pepper!


23 1/2 weeks--Logan is weighing just over a pound (large mango)!

27 weeks--my belly button has just started to pop out! Logan is about 2 pounds, the size of a head of cauliflower.

32 weeks--Logan is about 3.75 pounds (the size of a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches in length!

April - May Fun!

During my 25th week of pregnancy, I was on Spring Break and had a week off from work. Josh and I decided this was a perfect time to take a pre-baby vacay. Josh took a couple days off of work and we drove up the coast. We decided to take the scenic route and first stopped in Solvang, an old Dutch town. We walked around, had lunch and dessert in Solvang. It was so much fun! We then continued on to San Luis Obispo to check in to our hotel. We stayed at the Madonna Inn, a very fun and well-known hotel. The Madonna Inn is known for each of its hotel rooms being themed and unique. We had a delicious steak dinner at the hotel. The next day we drove to Hearst's castle. Josh and I had never been there before and had a lot of fun touring the amazing grounds. Afterwards, we stopped in Cambria for window shopping and lunch by the beach. It was beautiful! Lastly, we spent the night in Santa Barbara and went to a movie and late night Italian dinner. Overall, we had a wonderful time! We were both able to take a break from our busy lives, enjoy the scenic views of the ocean and relax.

Our fabulous hotel room at the Madonna Inn. Our room was called the "Lucky Rock" because it was made up of rock walls and a rock shower!

A picture of us touring Hearst's castle. This picture was taken in front of the beautiful Neptune pool.

A picture of us in Cambria after lunch

Since I was 27 weeks pregnant for my 28th birthday, I was in the mood to do something more mellow. I went to dinner at one of my favorite Italian restaurants, La Betolla. Afterwards, we invited our friends over to our house for game night. We had so much fun playing games and hanging out! And to top it off, my amazing husband baked dessert for me and my guests! I love you honey!

Some of my lovely ladies that joined me on my birthday--Angela, Emily and Jamie.

My wonderful husband baked me two cakes this year!

Making a very special birthday wish!

Blowing out all 28 candles!

A very happy birthday girl!

The Dowdee's housewarming party was the first summer activity in which bathing suits were involved. I decided to be brave and show off my pregger belly!

All of us ladies trying to catch a few rays at Kristy and Jared's housewarming party!

At 28 weeks, Logan has been moving a lot more frequently. The girls all gathered around to try and feel his movement. However, once all of their hands were on my belly, he stopped moving. Although he's in the womb, he's trying to get the attention of the ladies!

My Baby Shower!

My amazing best friends (from left to right--Jamie, Joelle and Angela)! Honestly, these ladies are such a blessing in my life. They have been there for every important moment and this was no different. Thank you so much girls for throwing me such a beautiful and memorable shower.

The beautifully-decorated table where we all sat and had lunch.

The lunch menu

Cute decorations!

The adorable name cards for my guests and beautiful center pieces!

The yummy spread of sandwiches, salads and fruit!

The yummy spa water, wine spritzers and delicious cupcakes! In the center of the table are the favors for my guests. They are little bottles of champagne that have a sonogram picture of Logan on the front with a note that reads, "Thank you for coming to Lauren's shower!" On the back of the bottle is a note that reads, "Lauren is about to POP! Celebrate with us when you hear the news of Baby Logan's birth!" These were such a cute and creative favor; thanks girls!

Logan's first and middle initial hanging on the door to the entrance to the shower! My best friend, Angela, did this and I thought it was such a nice touch.

After we ate lunch and before we opened gifts, we played a game! Unbeknownst to me, Angela had contacted Josh earlier to ask him some general questions about babies. Josh was supposed to come up with the first answer that popped in his head. The game was that the ladies had to write down the number of Josh's answers that I would guess correctly. Now, the answer didn't need to be the correct answer (as many of these are not), I just had to guess what Josh's answer was to each of the following questions. I wound up guessing six of his answers correctly and these are marked with asterisks by them. My favorites are numbers 1, 2, and 10! Wow, do I have my work cut out!

1.) How many diapers does a baby need each day? One
2.) How many diapers do you plan to change each day? None*
3.) How many hours does a baby sleep each day? Twenty hours of sleep
4.) At what age does a baby start sleeping through the night? After one year
5.) At what age does a child stop needing naps? After three years*
6.) At what age does a baby start eating solid food? After one year*
7.) Do you think your baby will be born with a lot of hair? Just a little bit of hair*
8.) How many kids do you want to have? Three kids, 2 boys and 1 girl*
9.) Who'll be the firm parent, and who'll be the pushover? I will be the pushover, and Lauren will be the enforcer*

10.) A newborn should be given a sponge bath until what happens? Until he can hold his breath under water???
11.) What can a baby do up until 7 months that an adult cannot? Breast feed??

An adorable outfit purchased by auntie Marcie. It has a matching plaid visor that I just went nuts over!

Auntie Emily purchased Logan's first monogrammed blanket! The blanket is blue and his initials--LJM--are stiched in white.

Two of my girlfriends--Jackie and Lindsey--were very thoughtful and purchased a pregnancy massage for me at my favorite spa, Burke Williams. Thanks so much ladies; I can't wait to indulge!

My friend Kristy's mother-in-law is extremely talented and was kind enough to make this beautiful quilt for Logan. Since his bedding is Hawaiian-themed, she created a tropical quilt that will fit perfectly with his set.

My amazing girlfriends from work presented their gift in the most adorable way. My gift was made up of two baskets. The smaller basket contained all sorts of baby essentials--nail clippers, creams, ointments, and bath stuff. The larger basket contained many articles of baby clothing, bibs and burp cloths; however, they were each individually pinned on a clothesline. It was the cutest thing ever!

Since my mom knows how often I cook, she purchased this bib for Logan that reads "I love take out".

I had completely forgotten about this book. Thanks Stefanie!

This onesie was purchased by my hilarious friend, Sally. Pre-pregnancy, I was known to engage in many flip cup games (beer drinking game). It is believed by some that Logan may have been conceived during the evening of one of these tournaments; therefore, the onesie reads, "I'm the result of too much flip cup".

A group of my girlfriends purchased my Pack-N-Play filled with tons of baby goodies!

In order to help build Logan's library, my guests brought me some of their favorite childhood stories. This one is from my precious 3 1/2 year-old niece, Ellie, and she signed her name on the back of the book!

My sister and mom

The soon-to-be mommies! Tammy (on the left) is due two weeks ahead of me and Kristy (on the right) is due in November.

These lovely ladies (Vanessa with baby Jack, Alexa and Steph) make it easier to get up and go to work each day. I love them so much and don't know what I'd do without them!

Here is a group shot of all the beautiful ladies that attended my shower!