so....what happens when you have a baby is you no longer have down time! so ill try to give the quickest most thourough update to our new life.  Our darling girl is 3 months old and absolutely the light of our lives.  shes very strong and very mellow. only cries when she is hungry or fighting sleep.  shes usually full of smiles and starting the oh so irresistable baby cackle.  im working 2-4 days a week, which gives her lots of quality time with her nani and her daddy.   she loves her hands and starting to suck on everything that comes close to her mouth. she sleeps really well, though not quite through the night yet.  ill post lots of great pictures as soon as i get a second.  unfortunately, thats all you get for now...shes waking up from her cat nap!!

Living in southern california, we are all pretty much guilty of neglecting our surroundings.  ive never really spent a whole lot of time along the coast of the southbay.  so billy and i headed up to palos verdes for a day trip to abalone cove, conveniently located accross from wayfarers chapel.  a beautiful chapel built by frank lloyd wright in the 50's. and the bluff was the perfect location for lunch. we will definitely be going back when i can walk down the bluff to where the actual coves are.  needless to say, it was a nice day. 

we recently got a new super high quality fancy button camera.  ive been enjoying figuring out all the different functions, speeds, etc.  and managed to get this picture of our precious little boy milo.  he really is too precious for words....when hes resting

heres a few pictures from our baby shower at my momma's house hosted by all of my amazing aunties.  we had an amazing day visiting with everyone and came home with a ton of loot for franki!! shes such a lucky girl to be surrounded by so much amazing family.  thanks to everyone for a fantastic day

SEVEN WEEKS TO GO!!  and i am certainly gettin anxious.  Franki is gettin big and is a very very active girl.  she should be around 4 pounds, and quickly plumping up.  Im still feeling pretty good. though the heat spells (it was over 90 today) lately really drain it out of me.  Her room is basically finished, just fine tuning things. we have our family shower next weekend, which will hopefully result in a lot of time spent floating in the pool!.  were both getting really excited for grandma angie to get here. shes coming from st louis in early june to stay and visit with the little one. and is the best to have around!! we have a doctors appointment this friday, so ill be sure to let you all know if we have any exciting updates.  till then....enjoy what little breeze there is!

so...the other day, jaxs nuzzled his sweet little head into my bump and napped right next to the little girl. he loves her already!  and i certainly think he is precious. the most handsome boy! we love him. 

shes a happy girl already!!!

kinda bizarre...very blurry and blobbish,  we went and had a 3d ultrasound on friday with my mom.  we got to watch a whole video of her moving around in there and got an entire cd of pictures.  i was not so sure if i was into having it done at first, but i have to say it was pretty neat.  and now that ive seen her sweet face. its the ONLY image my little brain can seem to come up with. and its neat to be able to really visualize her in there in a completely different way.  And although she will look different in person, so far im gonna say she has a maddox nose! and i cant wait to kiss it!

I think Billy is nesting!!   putting together his girls crib and couldnt be happier!

so, were at about 29 weeks now.  minus occasional back pain, im feeling pretty good. still on the ever so constant project of preparing our house for a baby. Franki's room is coming together, and looking cute. She should be fully developed now, just gaining weight. about 2 1/2 pounds and 15 inches long...or so.  She is extremely active. i often just sit on the couch and watch my stomach ripple around with all of her movements.  its bizarre to wonder what she is up to in there.  still working lots. as is billy. he hasnt had to do any traveling which is really great.  And as if he needed it...hes working on a new project in his garage. His motorcycle.  Given to him by our friend Dave, he is completely infatuated!!  and as it turns out, very mechanically inclined.  i think its in his blood!! we have our first baby shower next weekend, and are super excited. it will be nice to see everyone and spend a day enjoying this amazing weather we have....its amazing to me that people would want to live anywhere other then here. its pretty much amazing out everyday.  

26 weeks

so.....the little bean is about 13 inches long (approximately the length of an English hothouse cucumber) and weighs around a pound and a half! Her little ears are developing to where she should be able to hear billy and my voice now. I'm still feeling good, though I have begun to notice the effects of carrying around this belly. Billy is working a lot as usual and spending almost all of his off time helping me get things done for the nursery. we are trying to keep ourselves busy, so that we don't get too anxious! Looking forward to our upcoming shower (a month away!). well be back at the doctor next week just for a routine check up. My dear dear granny is not feeling so well and was admitted to the hospital today with pneumonia, which at almost 90 isn't good. I'm really hoping i get to see her with little Frankie. It would do my heart good, so keep her in your thoughts.  Here's a picture of the ol belly....and a painting (his first!) that billy just finished for me. 

her profile and her facing forward....isnt she great!

Lets get started

so here it is. its blog time. 

Billy and i are settling into married life quite well. Constantly working on our place, mainly because of my obsession with change and gearing up for the impending arrival of our little bean, Francesca "Franki" Louise Maddox. We are beyond excited! im about 24 weeks pregnant and so far everything has been fantastic, im very fortunate! I get a weekly email update, and according to them she weighs almost 1 pound and is about the length of an ear of corn. I took billy to Babies r us today and the first thing we looked at was breast pumps....he didnt know quite what to make of it all! Very new territory. By the end, i had to peel the pink sundresses out of his hands. Its gonna be interesting, and i cant wait!  Were both dealing with head colds, which when youre pregnant is a real drag. i sure do miss my tylenol pm!  

Feel free to check in on us here whenever. ill try to update as much as i can. and hopefully there will be some photos soon!  we love you all.