who's who?

the trip home...

it felt like such a different kind of "new"... a refreshing new as we start our adventure as a family of four.  here's to all the days ahead, just the four of us.

introducing... cole lewis besmehn

on tuesday, november 13th... God blessed our lives with another miracle.

and then there were four!

a first... halloween parade at pre-school

my little piece of heaven

pumpkin' pickin!

 it's that time of year again... time for our third annual visit!

our lil guys

 

bubba loves his cousin and had a great time playing with him this past weekend.  lots of cousin love!!!

week 35... counting down.

happy (almost) halloween

gearing up... flashback to last year... and a preview of this year.  the link is to a video of his best iron man impression!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10101189829219534 

nesting. and i'm making it a family affair.

so i've been at this for a few weeks now... going through bubba's old clothes, toys and gear... cleaning things that i've neglected for too long and making lists of lists of the things that i need to do to "prepare" for baby besmehn #2.  but what's nesting if you don't get the whole family involved.  

bubba helped me make the paint color selection... and the name is kind of fitting "graceful gray".  i love the way he says it in his cute little voice (i'll post up some voice notes if i can figure out how to do that soon).  

big thanks to gma and gung gung for helping us do a professional job and for a yummy lunch this past weekend!

reaching a billion

a few months ago, i made a bit of a daunting decision to make a career move that would be incredibly beneficial for me and our family in so many ways.  but the thought of leaving a comfortable 8 year career, people and friends that had been like family to me for that period, and the "known" world of levi's was tough for me.  really, really tough.  

but i suppose if there was anywhere to make a move to... in this technology, social driven age - what better place than facebook!  and i've been fortunate to have joined during a time that the company has celebrated a few really historic and epic milestones.  and just recently we hit 1B monthly users.  pretty impressive to think that i get to be a part of something that touches 1/7th of the world's population on a regular basis.  

it's been a great ride so far... here's to another career chapter where i can make a difference, learn, grow, and have impact on the others around me.

here's to putting in the work to reach the next billion mark!

determination.

gotta give him credit... this had to have been about try #20, and he worked through a decent amount of frustration with himself (and with me) to make it happen.  gotta love the perseverance.

gung gung's birthday

bubba is also a great helper... he loves to help out in the kitchen and together we had a chance to scratch bake a fall, apple cake for gung gung's birthday!

and of course... what's a birthday without candles :)!!!

all about bubba

almost three and a half years ago, my first born came into this world and blessed me with his amazing charm, witty humor, stunning smile and incredible love and empathy.  i love him with an intensity that only a mommy could love her son.  he drives me nuts some times... because he is stubborn, strong willed and persistent, and suffers from an inability to be more flexible (all of these wonderful traits... come from me; of course!).  

each day i work on developing the kind of patience that will nurture his spirit, feed his soul and help him develop into the strong, godly, driven and passionate man that i am hopeful he will become.  but for now, it's all about the day to day.  and in just the last few months, we've hit some amazing development milestones, experienced many firsts, and wanted to share just a few with you.

what a difference four months makes...

week19

 and week 21... 

 

hopefully this will be at least a 7 lb baby, and it'll come off as easily as other beautiful women who have recently had babies that i know!

week 33 - round two!

well, here we go... my commitment to be a little bit more frequent about these posts.  and the fun part is that while some will be dedicated to baby #2... i'll also get to share all of the fun developments happening in bubba's life too.

here's a quick run down of the pregnancy to date:

due date november 18, 2012

everything has been as smooth as can be expected.  a sonagram early on,

one ultrasound at 20 weeks (it's a boy!), normal glucose and blood tests

and we're on the home stretch

baby is expected 1-2 weeks before then

that means, that i've got about four more weeks of work, 

and potentially 5 more weeks until i'm completely 

outnumbered in the house

we're well-prepared, thanks to the fact that our first was also a boy

plenty of toys, clothes (and some really cute new clothes from ma'amma - thx!),

and all the gear we need (and we get some "baby cash" from my new gig - COOL)

we're going with color scheme vs. characters this time around

 green/brown/gray

we've upgraded our "rides" for the kids 

(bob duallie - thanks grandpa and grandma b - and a newcity mini double)

the front room is set up - crib, changing table... which also meant bubba got new furniture too in his room too

p hung the blinds and window coverings a couple weeks ago

we just need to paint, and get to do that with ma'amma and gung gung

this weekend

i think we're also trying to mentally and emotionally prepare ourselves, and the fact that we've done this baby thing before has been both a blessing and well... 

it's a mixed bag on how chaotic a second child makes the household.  so, we'll see and we're ready for anything :)!

life is full of many blessings, and we're on the verge of getting to experience the miracle of life all over again.  i'm so excited personally, for our family and especially for bubba.  he talks to my tummy, kisses is it, and wants to "po-po" or hold the baby already.  it's really, very sweet.  hopefully that will continue when we're on the other side of this journey too!

lot's more to come... stay tuned.

family day at the beach

web slinging!

besmehn clan and counting...

an awesome game of "i spy"

just like mommy

a new chapter...

it was hard to imagine my levi's chapter coming to an end... but it did in april 2012 after 8 incredible years.  i'm fortunate to have a new chapter to look forward to, and my fb journey has a fun and wild ride already.  what a time to join a company!  here's to the next professional chapter.

 

mother's day 2012

a bit behind on this post... but the celebration and brunch was yum just the same!  celebrating moms everywhere, especially ours!  lots of love.

 

tai tai turns 92

a photo from celebrating tai tai's birthday.  look at how young she looks!

 

deck loungin'

summertime... here we come!

my little man... he's a big boy now.

hanging out and struttin' with dad in the park!

week 17...

 and almost at the 4 month mark.  can hardly believe it, but my body is def. letting me know that there's a baby in there!  i think i've noticed a few flutters, and when i was trying on swim suits for the summer... i started thinking maybe i'd revert back to shorts and a tank!

a three year old's interpretation of "so you think you can dance"

watch and enjoy!

you be the judge... 16 weeks and counting!

ok, so... here we are on this adventure again.   funny thing - that i still have that same gray tank.  so, why not go with the documentation.  there is definitely one cute addition that will show up in every photo though :).

at first he said sister, now his tune is brother... 4 more weeks and we all get to find out.  place your bets now!!!

already walking down memory lane...

i ran across this and couldn't help myself.

i'm a big boy, not a baby.

although, some times it's fun and comforting to play with my old stuff!

jammie time

he kinda looks like he's mean muggin' the camera... but i think it was just the moment in time. bed times in our house can go either way...

Celebrating the new year at one of our favorite places!

... at the oakland zoo! thanks daddy for the great photo.

the first of the year... still opening the plethora of gifts

thanks a. tam, kai and moi. can't wait to play a game of match with you!