And the Baby is....

Thanks for voting. So far the results are close, most people think it's a girl but only by 2 votes! We had our second ultrasound yesterday and the baby looks happy and healthy. Mike and I had been going back and forth about weather or not we wanted to find out the sex of the baby and we've decided that we just aren't ready to find out yet. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl so the poll is still open. I'll try and post some of the new ultrasound pictures soon.

Hawaii Trip Highlights

We had a great time in Hawaii. Some of the highlights include:

• Olivia's behavior on the plane. This was the first time we had to purchase a seperate seat for Olivia and she was very well behaved on the 6 hour flights there and back!
• The weather. We're still not used to the cold Seattle weather so we all really enjoyed the hot, humid weather in Hawaii!
• Our hotel. The first night the air conditioning wasn't working well in our room so they moved us to an ocean front mini-suite with a beautiful ocean view!
• The pool in the hotel was very nice. There was a sandy kids play area made to resemble the beach which Olivia loved. There was also a huge 2 story slide into the pool which Mike and I enjoyed and then a little mini slide that Olivia enjoyed.
• The beach. While our hotel wasn't right on the beach we really enjoyed visiting several different types of beaches on the big island including beaches for snorkling, state parks, and a black sand beach (which was quite the experience, it merits a whole seperate blog post later)
• The Manta Rays at the hotel. The Manta Rays would feed in the ocean right outside the hotel and we could see them from our room. They were huge and it was amazing to watch them floating around.
• Our trip to the Volcanoes National Park and our hike through a lava tube.

While we had a great time I certainly don't want you to think that every aspect of our trip was perfect I'll also share some of the not so plesant moments:

• We discovered that Olivia gets car sick. This happened quite a bit on our drive from New Orleans to Seattle but I (never having been car sick before) dismissed it as a stomach bug. Now that I'm 6 months pregnant I think that my stomach is a little more sensitive and I noticed that I was feeling a little queasy and I looked back into the back seat just in time to see Olivia start throwing up all over her car seat. Without going into more detail by the end of our drive every member of the Leiva family had "lost their breakfast," Olivia and I because we were car sick and Mike because he had to clean up the vomit from all over the rental car and rented car seat.
• The weather wasn't constantly sunny. It turns out that for the last 2 years the area we were staying in has tended to be a little hazy because of all the smoke from the volcano. While we did have a few nice days we were a little disapointed.
• The first night in the hotel was miserable. When we initally got to our room it was a little warm but we just thought that was because the air hadn't been turned on so we cranked it up and decided to head to the pool. By the time we returned Olivia was exhausted so we put her down for bed but the room was even warmer than before so a maintnence man was sent to investigate. The ac was broken and the hotel offered to move us to a different room right away but we had finally just gotten Olivia down to sleep and I'd unpacked everything so we decided to try and tough it out for a night. Some of you may remember that during my last pregnancy I had central ac installed in our home (in Colorado) so me pregnant without ac in Hawaii is obviously much worse.....

Overall we did have a fantastic time and we all agree that the best part was being able to spend some quality time together without any distractions--no tv, no cell phones, no email!

We've shared more of our photos through shutterfly, please check them out at:

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In the mean time Olivia LOVED the beach, she would try to run into the ocean. Our child had no fear, meanwhile I was terrified that she'd somehow be washed out to sea or something. Here's a clip of her enjoying the sand (and waves)

Hawaii Here We Come

Okay now it's finally time for our family vacation! We traded in our timeshare in Vail and actually got two weeks elsewhere (it's a long story but that's how Mike was able to stay at a beautiful resort in Cabo last week) and we've decided to use the second of those weeks in Hawaii! We spent Olivia's second birthday on the big island of Hawaii. While we're not right on the beach it looks like we'll be staying at a beautiful hotel and after the 2 weeks of not really seeing eachother we're all very excited to spend some time together with just the 3 of us! I'll be posting some pictures of our trip soon!

Mexico

So while I've been busy all week trying to get ready for vacation and recouperate from Gamma Phi Beta Convention, Mike has gotten a head start on vacation. Mike had initally planned to spend a week in Cabo with dad and brothers but for one reason or another their plans fell through. We had already made the reservation so Mike decided it would be a good opportunity for a mini-Phi Psi Reunion. Even though I'm slightly bitter he's off in beautiful Cabo while I'm stuck here in rainy Washington I really am very happy that he is getting a change to hang out with some of his friends. We've moved so much over the last couple of years I know it's been hard for him to keep in touch with them as much as he would have liked to. So here's to Mike and the guys, I hope they're having a great time (and that they remember to use sunscreen)!