Our little baby girl, _______!

For everyone who has been asking to see my belly, here is the beach ball. It appears to be well done according to my belly button thermometer. I am 30 plus weeks at this point and feeling every bit of the 20 lbs I have gained. Sleeping is hard, breathing is hard, exercising is hard.....but all worth it to feel that little girl jump kick and punch my rib cage (I forgot to mention getting up every night 5-10 times to tinkle). But, Josh and I couldn't be more greatful for a healthy pregnancy thus far.

(FYI the only reason I am allowing people to see this lovely bump is to prove I am actually pregnant. For many of our family members and friends, I didn't look pregnant when we saw them at Christmas or we didn't get to see some people at all. I don't want anyone to think Josh and I kidnapped some child off the street! ENJOY!)

The day after this picture was taken, Josh's mom and Larry arrived at our house. They were for a long weekend and helped us with some major house renovations. We had a wonderful time. Josh and Larry put up a shed for the back yard and Pam and I worked in the yard and in the baby's room. We also sampled the taco/burrito stand on wheels in Plumas Lake (literally the only food place in Plumas Lake and it was DELICIOUS).

We finally gave our laborers some rest and relaxation and took a drive through the Napa Valley. We went on the Mondavi wine tour and tasting. CHEERS! My juice was amazing by the way, when I swirled the juice it released all of the esthers and the aroma was really intense. Best, most expensive juice I have ever had the pleasure of tasting!!

Sadly, the in-laws had to make their way back to the blizzards and cold temperatures of North Dakota. We are so happy and thankful they came to visit and to help get the house in better shape. We needed a little family rejuvination. It gets a little (I mean SUPER) lonely always being so far from family and friends.

I think my growing belly and perhaps the obnoxious winter in MN guided my mom's decision to come for a visit too! Only 3 days after Pam and Larry left, my mom rolled into town. Right off the bat we really made her trip an experience she will never forget....

CRAIGSLIST detour...oh yeah, for those of you who don't know, Josh and I are Craigslist addicts. Seriously, it is crazy to be able to buy practically brand new stuff for little to nothing. I think my mom had a good time, she at least found it entertaining that Josh and I were having the worst communication ever....

1. The dimensions of this couch were given to Josh 2 days prior to picking it up. When I asked Josh " Will the couch work?" he answered, "yeah, no problem". The morning we picked up the couch, Josh informs me the couch won't fit in the Enclave. GRRRR. When I asked him why he told me there wouldn't be a problem with the dimensions of the couch he said "JoAnna, I was busy doing something and I wanted you to stop talking and bothering me". Real nice!!

2. We both thought the other person had grabbed the cash....nope, we showed up to this poor woman's house without any money. Seriously, unbelievable.

3. Because we weren't able to use the Enclave, we borrowed a 2 door truck from Josh's co-worker/friend. Needless to say, we looked quite hilarious smooshed into the back seat with all of the cushions, mom's luggage, and more cushions.

                                             4. Did I mention it was down pouring!

                       Regardless, we ended up with a beautiful couch and Josh and I are still married! HAHA

After the adventure, we worked on the house, enjoyed the company, went to a play (I love you, you're perfect, now change) and.......... got to have a 3d ultrasound.

These pictures are pretty amazing......

Josh thinks she has my "big" lower lip. Do I really have that big of a lower lip? I know I have big teeth, but a big lower lip....I don't think so. Considering my extra large teeth, I was concerned she was going to have teeth already! (kidding)

From right to left of the picture above...you can see her nose and lips. I would't call this one cute, actually it is a little creepy!?

It was pretty amazing to see our little girl. Although, she looks so peaceful in all of these pictures that it seems hard to believe she is the critter kickin' and punchin'. She was so precious and so big, wieghing in at just under 3 1/2 lbs. I think mom enjoyed the ultrasound as well....technology has really changed since she last had one done.

Mom left and now it is just Josh, myself, Turtle and the bun in the oven. Only a few weeks left to go. We are both excited and freaked out of our minds...which I think means we are normal, newly expecting parents! Stay tuned...we will have more pictures to come!

Aloha!

Aloha means "Hello" or "Goodbye" or "Holy Smokes We're Gonna Be Parents in 3 months, We Have Time For 1 Last Peaceful Vacation."

We spent 8 days in Hawaii (aka Hawai'i if you really wanna get proper), mostly on Oahu with a day trip to Kaua'i.

We stayed at the military hotel, The Hale Koa, on Waikiki beach. Our hotel resembled a retirement community with all of the silver-haired retirees shuffling around. We felt like extras on the set of "Cocoon." Most of the conversations we overheard walking the hallways pertained to blood pressure meds, cholesterol levels and the early-bird discount down at the buffet. They were a very friendly bunch and loved sharing their military experiences with us. I hope we're that happy when we reach their age.

Outside the Hale Koa on Waikiki Beach. That's Diamond Head in the background.

Sandy Beach in Oahu......this was our favorite beach, we went on our 1st day and on our last day.

This was a blast, these waves were so powerful. Jo was angry w/ me that I wouldn't let her get tossed around by Mother Nature.

Waimea Canyon on the island of Kaua'i. Mark Twain called it "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific."

On Day #2 we hiked up  Diamond Head, then enjoyed some Shave Ice as we cooled down afterwards.

Oahu's finest dentist, Kevin Leong, served as our informal tour guide. It was good to see Kevin again, we met up w/ him several times including a Valentine's double date.

One day we showed up to his office unannounced. Jo was holding her jaw, pretending to be writhing in pain. I told the receptionist that "Dr. Leong did a root canal on my wife Monday and now her face is swollen, she can't swallow, is having difficulty breathing and she tastes bleach coming out of that tooth. We get married in Maui tomorrow and if he doesn't fix this I'm gonna wring his neck!" 

Stock photo of Hanauma Bay. We went snorkeling here----it was probably the highlight of our trip. We got to swim w/ all of those neon colored tropical fish.

You're not supposed to touch the coral reef in the bay. As we floated along the surface, Jo's belly bottomed out on the coral a few times---she didn't find it nearly as funny as I did.

USS Arizona @ Pearl Harbor

This was alot of fun too. We hiked up to Manoa Falls, a 100+ foot waterfall near Honolulu. About 5 mins before we reached the falls, the guy in front of us proposed to his girlfriend. They were spalshing around beneath the falls looking pretty excited.

One night we went on a dinner cruise. The food was terrible and the entertainment on the main level was poor so we hung out on the top deck and enjoyed the sunset and the skyline view of downtown Honolulu----so pretty.

Baby on Board!

The Pacific

Needless to say, Josh, Turtle, and myself get a little tired of looking at the same thing all the time......whether it be the base, my urgent care, the house, Josh or Turtle's face (I love my puppy).....it was getting old and Josh agreed! Instead of tearing up thinking about our friends and family back home and in MS....we decided to go for a drive north of San Francisco.

STINSON BEACH here we come. It was absolutely beautiful. We enjoyed the beach and the ocean waves all day long. Turtle loved chasing the waves around and playing with other dogs.

Getting her to take a timeout for a photo wasn't easy

I particularly did not enjoy chasing the turd she dropped off in the ocean waves as they went in and out.....I'm sure Josh enjoyed watching me dodge getting hit by the bombs and then chasing to pick them up.

Here are some picks for ya'll to enjoy!

Moving right along, we went to Point Reyes National Park. Despite it's beauty, we were only able to enjoy a picnic in the sun. Turtle was uninvited to join us on the trails and most of the beaches.....but of course we got her a little more beach time down the road.

Turtle made friends with people, dogs, and even a horse (it was taking a stroll on the beach).

Our little girl enjoyed her day at the beach and then enjoyed closing her eyes all the way home. I unfortunately did not have an enjoyable ride home. I guess if you put a pregnant woman in a car and drive up and down and zig-zag the nausea returns.

All in all, it was a gorgeous day spent with my favorite puppy and my wonderful husband! I can't wait to go again, but maybe when car rides don't make me sick!!

" I wish they all could be........."

.........California GIRLS!

If you couldn't guess it.....we are having a baby GIRL!

Josh and I went to have our very first ultrasound late last week. I was certainly nervous for quite a few reasons....

#1 Seeing a healthy baby on the monitor

#2 Finding out the sex of the baby

#3 How in the heck do these people expect me to not relieve myself after

drinking 32 oz of water an entire hour before the ultrasound.......impossible. Even more unbelieveable was the radiology receptionist guy telling me that I could only let a little out before the ultrasound....also impossible.

Well, everything turned out (even if I did squeeze out a little too much). Josh and I found out the baby looks super healthy, active, and quite girly! We both were just hoping for a healthy baby, but Josh had a feeling that the boy/girl ratio was becoming more and more unbalanced everyday.

Below are some ultrasound pictures for you all to enjoy. It turns out she has quite the personality already.....

Happy 2011!

Well I guess 2011 is here right on schedule. How did the Bredings ring in the new year you ask? Times Square? Wild house party? Trendy club in S.F.? Nope, nope and nope. We watched a movie ("The Assassination of Jesse James" w/ Brad Pitt & Casey Affleck), high-fived each other @ the end as this was the 1st movie in recent memory that one of us didn't fall asleep 1/2 way through (although Turtle did sleep from the opening lines to closing credits), then we hit the sack at like 10:15. Pretty crazy night all around----one for the ages. This is the 1st N.Y.E. I can ever remember not being up to watch the ball fall on another year (apparently I turn 30 in two weeks right on cue???).


I think we'll look back at 2010 as a hectic year and a wonderful year both. We saw some of our good friends get married/become parents, said goodbye to great friends we met while in Mississippi, celebrated Breding Auto's 100th year in business, finished residency, celebrated our 1st anniversary. We got a new state, a new car, two new jobs, a new puppy, a new house and news of a new addition to the family all in the span of just over 100 days.


We're looking forward to 2011 for obvious reasons. We're expecting in early June and Jonathan/Kelsey are expecting in late April. We also have a trip to Hawaii slated for mid February, a trip back home in April and we'll be busy making trips to see several friends take the big walk down the aisle.

We hope you're looking forward to 2011 as much as we are. Happy new year!

Finally.... We're (Empty) Homeowners!

Well, our long national nightmare is over.

We closed on our house on Wednesday after a long and arduous battle with the not-so-fine folks down at USAA Mortgage Dept in San Antonio. They seemed hell bent on keeping us out of this house, but we persevered---not w/o a few battle scars.

They tried all the tricks in the book. They refused to answer our calls/emails, paired us with an incompetent mortgage processor, refused to answer our calls/emails, fired said mortgage processor and didn't bother to inform us (we found out via a telephone extension that no longer worked 4 days prior to our closing date), refused to answer our calls/emails, sent ALL of our paperwork to the wrong title company (in Pennsylvania) on the day of our closing, refused to answer our calls/emails, missed our closing date, refused to answer our calls/emails, missed the day AFTER our closing date, refused to answer our calls/emails, missed the day AFTER the day AFTER our closing date, refused to answer our calls/emails while the semi's w/ our household goods sat idling at our curbside waiting to unload, nearly missed the day AFTER the day AFTER the day AFTER our closing date, etc......they suck.

Anyways, we're homeowners. We're over it. We're happy.

Our house will be empty until next Friday, so an extra 10 days here on Ratsville Lane. USAA took full responsibility for all the screw ups. They requested we submit them a bill for all of the charges we incurred. The charge for the movers showing up and not unloading was $660 alone. They seem like they're just going to pay whatever we submit and forget the whole thing happened. That's what happens when I let the pitbull (JoAnna) off the leash and tell her to "Attack!"

We have tons of extra room so everyone is welcome to come visit.....2 hours to Tahoe, 90 mins to San Fran. Our new address is 985 Tiburon Way Plumas Lake, CA 95961.

Baby on Board!

Big news: we're going to be parents! We are expecting a new bundle of joy this summer---June 4th to be exact. We couldn't be more excited.....or anxious or alot of other things, but most of all thankful. We are 11 weeks along, almost done with the 1st trimester already.

So far our journey has had its ups and downs...good days and bad days both. Jo has been a trooper  throughout---even ponying up to do a 8.9 mile hike yesterday. She has already been busy stockpiling baby clothes, baby books, baby toys, etc. Finding bargains is somewhat of a game to begin for her--so now its like she has a whole new challenge on her hands. She works Craigslist pretty hard....she's well known at the Latin flea market and of course she has drug (or is it dragged?) me along to a ton of rummage sales.



(Jo thinks the baby looks like a squirrel)



We only had the opportunity to tell Kelsey, Mom and Jager in person so we did so last weekend. We picked them up from the Sac airport and brought them by the new house (we close this Friday by the way) to check it out. Part way through Jo, Jager and I snuck into one of the spare bedrooms. Jager held the ultrasound in his hands and when Mom and Kelsey walked in he said "Pam, this is going to be the baby's room."......followed by 5 seconds of silence and bewilderment on their faces....followed by Jager repeating his line....followed by hugs and congratulations.

It will be an exciting road ahead for us. And Jo will have a sympathetic ear to turn to in Kelsey--they're due 5 weeks before us...that'll be fun.

Our New Abode (hopefully)....

At last...... we have found a house! We found this house (located in Plumas Lake, CA) about 2 weeks ago and went into contract last week. We will be reunited shortly with all of our wordly belongings that we haven't seen since July. Our closing date is Nov 19th, so we should be all moved in by Thanksgiving----cannot wait.

Plumas Lake is a new development (circa 2004) with a unique set up. Imagine if you took your average suburban sub-division and airlifted it out into the country and dropped it down next to a state highway---that's Plumas Lake. The neighborhood is great....very quiet, very clean, lots of parks, lots of running/bikings paths. There aren't any retail stores in sight other than a Walgreens, so shopping/dining will require a drive into Sacramento or Lincoln.

We will be located about 20mins straight north of Sacramento and about 15 mins south of Yuba City/Marysville where we are now. It will be a 15min drive for Jo and 25 mins for me to base.

985 Tiburon Way Plumas Lake, CA 95961