Week 18--Baby Bump Meets Grandma & Papa, family friends, and lots of cousins!

This munchkin is gettin bigger and moving all over the place! I don't always feel him in there, but more and more now I'm feeling the tiny flutters and bumps that make me believe something is living in there! There's still no way anyone could feel anything from the outside of my stomach but there's a little somebody practicing her gymnastics and using her little umbilical cord as a trapeze or something like that!

Baby K is now the size of a bell pepper and getting bigger every day. It's crazy to see how much bigger my belly has gotten even in the past 2 weeks--by the time my husband sees me again in another 15 days or so I'm guessing it will be even bigger! Maternity clothes are pretty much a necessity now, especially for comfort's sake, and I am grateful my parents came into town and took me shopping yesterday for a bunch of new pairs of pants and tops that I can wear while growing these next few months.

It's been fun having Mom and Dad in town--I wish my husband were here to hang out with us as well, but it's been great having them here! Here's a bit of what we've been up to this week:

Monday was Dad's birthday & we celebrated by heading over to visit friends of ours on Bainbridge Island for the day. We took the West Seattle water taxi across to downtown so we didn't have to park, and caught the ferry over to Bainbridge from there.These are our friends, Bob and Debbie. They used to be our neighbors in Granite Bay growing up, but this summer they bought an incredible house on the water out on Bainbridge Island and so of course we had to head over and check out their new stomping grounds! We enjoyed a delicious lunch on the porch overlooking the Puget Sound, Blake Island, and watching the ferries go in and out. It was clouded over, but just to the left of that island that you see is Mount Rainier--they have a FULL view of the mountain when he chooses to come out of the clouds!Okay, I will NOT take credit for this photo! The amazing Bob Towery took this the next morning after we left, that was when the Mountain decided to come out and say hi--so this is what their view is from their back yard. Check out more of Bob's photography at his website here.Yeah, not a shabby view!Part of their back yard garden Dessert on the upstairs porchMom and I on the ferry headed back to SeattleView from the ferryTuesday morning my cousin Jason (who lives in Colorado) was in town for a conference that his wife had so he came by with their adorable 11 month old daughter, Ellery. I was SO excited to finally meet this little cousin of mine--last time I saw her parents her mom was super pregnant with her! We enjoyed a breakfast of Oma's pancakes (a Hanson family favorite) before they had to head off to the airport. Hanging with her Great Aunt Sue
Chillin with her daddy!Such a sweetheart! I adore her already!Tuesday afternoon we went shopping for maternity clothes & then headed north up to Everett to meet my mom's side of the family for dinner. It had been 2 years since I've seen some of my cousins, and at least 8 months since I've seen the rest of my family so it was wonderful to catch up a bit!

My mom and her sister PattyUncle Bill, my cousin's husband Gil, my dad, and my cousin Jeff
Mom and her brother, BillRandom table shotMy cousin Cori and my cousin's girl friend MichelleToday we played tourists in downtown. Even though my parents both used to live here it's been awhile since they just came to Seattle to play. So today we explored Pike's Market, went on a tour of the city, and wandered around. We found this super cool fountain that you can walk behind, so dad bravely did for a photo op!I chose to stay a bit drier!Tomorrow we head to breakfast with one of my college friends & then are driving north again to spend more time with some of mom's family members before meeting up with more family friends for dinner. They take off Saturday morning and then I get to take off Sunday afternoon for my next adventure...so stay tuned!