The Curtis Family

Aliyah is 1.5 now!

2010-01-24T19:25:00.000-08:00

Aliyah's been growing up so much! She's been talking up a storm, most of which only mom and dad can understand. But she'll try to repeat anything you say. She has such a beautiful and spunky personality. She is very loving, nurturing, if you get hurt, she will come over and pet you then give you a kiss. She dances anytime music is played, LOVES reading and coloring and going "outside." You tell her "outside" and she will go get you her socks and shoes. :)

Enjoy some photos! (Christmas pictures are next!)

Here's some from today!!!

Look mom, a tree!

Rainy days at Grandma & Grandpa Murray's house

She did this herself- LOVE IT!

Playing at the park after the rainy week.

Poor lil bug got Roseola, a bad rash following a fever. And at the same time she was teething not 1 tooth, but 4 teeth! and was healing from a cold! Super Bug!

Huggin' the daddy after church.

Time for sleep- she didn't even mind me flashing my camera in her face ;)

Family Canada trip

2009-11-02T09:43:00.001-08:00

We recently flew up to Saskatchewan, Canada to visit Dad#1. Saskatchewan actually means the “Land of the Living Skies” and it’s where I (Austin) was born. This was my first time going back since I a kid. The landscape, colors, and fresh air couldn’t have felt better – especially since we got to enjoy it with “Grandpa”! We brought one camera, one lens, and about 20 memory cards.

Family walk around SB

2009-10-19T10:20:00.000-07:00

Aliyah is 15 months!

2009-10-17T00:12:00.000-07:00

"Aliyah, where is your head?"

Sorry for the super lag on this blog. Aliyah is getting big so fast and between her and wedding season, they have been keeping us pretty busy. Okay okay okay, enough about us, it's about Aliyah hehe.

She walks & runs all over the place, is really great at playing by herself so mommy & daddy can work and likes the cold. She loves outside, plants & flowers, splashing her hands and feet in water, and testing her limits. She doesn't seem to be afraid of much, she bounces back from things that should make her cry and even does some yoga moves while she's throwing a tantrum (<----pretty, stinkin cute!). She sits forward in her car seat, only takes one nap, still nurses to sleep and sleeps pretty good when she's not teething (when ISN'T she teething?! hehe). She has definitely picked out her favorites (friends and family that is) and prefers females, most guys she gives her "stink eye" to (which is pretty cute and funny). Speaking of faces, the girl has a few of them! She rolls her eyes, gives the glare, the testing her limits look, blows kisses, the look of questioning and the most beautiful smile you've ever seen! She can point to a bunch of body parts, make some animal noises and can sign more than 20 words! Though she still only says "mom mom" and "dada." She will repeat words in her own way too, which is awesome! "Whoa!" is "wooooo" for example. :)

Hmmm anything else? Yes, she LOVES dancing, especially when daddy beat boxes and I clap for her. :)

Enjoy the pics!

Aliyah's 1 year Portaits

2009-07-27T23:23:00.000-07:00

by Meg Fish Photography www.megfishphotography.com

Aliyah is ONE!

2009-07-02T04:38:00.000-07:00

10 and 1/4 months update

2009-05-12T22:18:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Sorry I have been lagging on this blog so much.
Aliyah is growing up so fast. She can stand, walk holding onto someone's fingers, she says "mama" and "dada," but mostly "dada." :) And she's always getting into something new exploring and learning about the world that she's part of aka flushing the toilet and then playing with the water haha.

Here are some fun new photos in another family dress that my mom, me and now Aliyah! Doesn't she look adorable?!

She's standing!

2009-04-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

Our little bug pumped her legs a bunch and then popped right up! Good job Aliyah!!!

Playtime with her clothes

2009-03-28T21:16:00.001-07:00

Aliyah has discovered her dresser!
It was so adorable watching her take out all of her clothes
and put them into different drawers (or on the floor hehe).
Here are some pictures of her new favorite game.

Aliyah's 1st time at the zoo

2009-03-28T21:10:00.001-07:00

Talking to daddy

They were talking to each other. Or screaming hehe.

Lori and Aliyah checking out the gorillas

Passssed out!

The much awaited update!

2009-03-10T12:19:00.000-07:00

The past 2 months have been really busy in the Curtis home. We have been doing alot of engagement shoots, going to Vegas for the WPPI Wedding photography convention for 8 days, visiting cousin Michelle and Ryan in Mesquite, going to Redrock in Nevada and to Oceanside to visit with Austin's dad, Jerry this past weekend. It's been quite an adventure, but we're glad to be home for awhile and get back into the swing of things.

Aliyah is 8 months and 1 week old! She is doing lots of cool stuff now. Like crawling, pulling herself up on to everything, saying "dada," crawling under things, baby talking and screaming ;), chewing on big carrots, and eating baby food that I make for her. Avocados are her favorite!

Here are some fun photos of the past 2 months. Enjoy!

The Curtis family at Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

Break time

Aliyah discovered the TV at Michelle and Rya's house.

Playing with Grandma Val's keyboard

Discovering new things daily.

Me trying to feed her, but she's more interested in Grandpa Jerry.

Being her cutie self

She spent alot of time in that car seat this month!
(Ps total poop face here)

She is so amazed by the beach, ocean, palm trees, seagulls and especially that yummy sand.

6 month portraits

2009-01-22T15:59:00.001-08:00

Aliyah's 6 months and got her 1st tooth!

2009-01-08T09:25:00.000-08:00

Aliyah got her first tooth this morning! It makes total sense because sleeping has been ridiculous the past 2 days-every hour she woke up, sometimes more! I thought that she was coming down with something, but nope-she was coming UP with something!
Yay for my little bug!

Aliyah's 1st Thanksgiving

2008-12-31T13:57:00.000-08:00

We had Thanksgiving with my parents down in Anaheim. We had alot of fun and Aliyah got to take the train. This was also Austin and I first time together on the train as a family-good times! Aliyah like the rest of us came to Thanksgiving one weight and left a whole size bigger!

Reading her Thanksgiving card from Grandma Val.

On the train to Grandma and Grandpa's for Thanksgiving!

Aliyah met another Aliyah!

Napkins are so tasty

Uncle R and Austin

so talented ;)

Aliyah's 5 Month Portraits

2008-12-04T12:47:00.000-08:00

Introducing....the Godparents!

2008-11-24T19:42:00.000-08:00

After a lot of prayer, Austin and I asked Jen and Joseph Dalton to be Aliyah's Godparents this past week.
They are an amazing couple who loves Jesus, Aliyah and have such beautiful hearts for everyone. Aliyah is blessed and so are we that they said "yes."
We love the Daltons!

Jen and her sister, Mali.

Some fun pics.

2008-11-24T19:29:00.000-08:00

Halloween & Updates

2008-11-21T22:20:00.000-08:00

Halloween pictures...

Aliyah's babysitters ;)

Best face award

Austin was Garret for Halloween

Aliyah was a bunny

And I sported my costume from 5th grade! Didn't quite fit the same ;) And Ander dressed up like her husband Kenny!

UPDATES:
Aliyah is 4.5 months now and we just had her 4 month check up. She weighs 14 lbs 13 oz and is 24 3/4 inches tall. And she absolutely LOVED the crunchy paper that they lay on at the doctors. Aliyah can now roll over onto her stomach, but can't get back. She always wants and usually gets our water glasses and is pretty good at drinking out of it too! I sat her down to show someone that I wish she could sit up and Bamm, she stayed that way for 5 minutes until I picked her up. Pics coming soon from a friends iphone. She makes bubbles with her mouth like crazy and has started trying to talk, but all you get is bub bub bub bwoooo haha. Though a couple weeks ago she belted out mom mom mom mom at 3am from her crib! Bathtime is still her favorite time next to her and I's nap time (well that might be mine!). She will lay on her side and hold my face nose to nose, its so precious!!! Here's some pics and hopefully the videos will upload.

Aliyah looking like Grandma Val!

Many more pics to come and a video section soon!

A Day in the Life of Aliyah

2008-10-31T16:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, get ready for ALOT of pictures! But then it wouldn't be the "Day in the Life of Aliyah."

So here we go!

We woke up at 7:30am, and daddy left for work, we got up and ate some food, change some diapers, got dressed and had some fun play time!

I had so much fun, I scared myself because some how I scootched off of my play gym!

And then we went on a walk to go shopping for cousin Randee's birthday present, but it was during my morning nap, so I missed out on the walk, but it was very soothing.

Mom took me to Saks to see Auntie Romina and fun goodies for Randee there.

I was sleeping very peacefully, but all the smells in there must have woken me up.

I always wake up with smiles because I'm so cute!

Taking a picture with Romina! She's one of my favs!

Tomiko likes to hold me too!

Then we went strolling down State St. to do some more shopping.

On our way back home...

I started to get a little fussy, so it was good we were so close to home!

Yup, a dirty diaper was the culprit!

This is my favorite toy. I gnaw on this all day long!

Play time yay!

These buttons either sing songs or count numbers and light up.

A little too much action makes me pass out for my afternoon nap!

But as soon as I wake up, it's go time. I have been learning my computer skills lately. I even typed dad a cool coded message that only he knows how to read.

I like to stand on my parents legs. Everyone keeps telling me how cute my chubby lil knees are. I think so too!

My mommy and I!

More play time on my tummy.

And then mommy sings to me and plays with flashing sun friend.

She will even get down and join me, but of course I have to wrap my fingers all in her hair first to make sure she doesn't go anywhere!

Yup, I did it again! I ended up on the other side of the room!
I really got to learn this crawling thing!

More diapers (there are ALOT more of these, but we'll spare you-same with nursing).

Getting ready for bath time means playing in my crib on my tummy!

I have some SWEET toys!

Oh ya and I have the best toes ever! I think I prefer these to almost all of my toys.

Yay, bath time with mommy!

I LOVE swimming! I even put my mouth in the water and wave my arms all around.

Aunt Bev made me this robe out of mommy's old towel from High School. Isn't is pretty!
She sells them too!

And then mommy gives me a massage, puts me in my pjs and nurses me in her rocker chair until I fall asleep. This picture is actually in the morning time when mommy pulls me into their bed, but they didn't want to take a picture in the pitch dark and startle me in my crib.

Thanks for joining me on my fun day! We'll have to do this again soon! Love, Aliyah Sky Curtis

3 Month Portraits!

2008-10-06T17:51:00.001-07:00

Our amazing friend Megan Sandu aka Meg Fish Photography took some beautiful images of Aliyah this morning. Great job Meg! www.megfishphotography.com

And one of our other baby...Penny!

And a few snap shots that I took while Meg was holding her...

Beach Day!

2008-10-04T16:59:00.000-07:00

1st time in the sand. So fun!

All that fun wore her out! ;)

Dinner at Grandparents house

2008-09-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

2 Month Portraits

2008-09-08T13:59:00.001-07:00

This is my personal favorite!....

Aliyah & Colten

2008-09-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

Our friends Jessica, Tim and their new baby boy, Colten James just got a new house in Carpinteria, so I went out to visit them and brought Aliyah so that she could play with her new friend Colten. They are exactly a week apart (and 3 lbs difference). Toooo cute!

Here are some of the pictures....

This is them watching the "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" Fish Mobile....

Aliyah REALLY liked Colt's crib...

She was passsssed out!

Week at the Grandparents in Anaheim

2008-08-28T15:10:00.001-07:00

Aliyah and I had a blast in Anaheim with my parents this last week. We went shopping, hung out at the house, played alot and just totally bummed out. It was great! Thank you so much to my parents for letting me come down and hang out and for letting Austin and I go hang out alone longer than just sleeping. :) We got to hang out in the back yard and go swimming, lay out, do cannon balls and kartwheels off of the diving board. Good times! I LOVE hanging out with my husband. I really took it for granted before. Well here are some pics while Austin was in SF and some with our good friends Kristal & Chris and I think I have one somewhere in here of Auntie Lori and Aliyah.

Shalla (20 years old!), Grandma & Aliyah

Look at her go!

I spend alot of time like this.

Uh oh, it's hereditary!

Daddy's home! She was so excited! Every night he would talk to her on the phone and she would turn towards his voice and smile.

Our friends Chris & Kristal

She LOVES Grandpa!
Everytime he could get her to smile, go to sleep with just one touch, it was amazing!

Lori & I

Aliyah's new bouncer-the best thing EVER!
We're getting rid of the other one if anyone needs one!

Happy baby says "HI"

Aliyah in the ER

2008-08-28T14:24:00.000-07:00

Yup, that's right! Aliyah got a fever while her and I were in Anaheim staying the week with my parents while Austin was in SF at a Flash conference. We ended up going to the pediatrician the next day. She was worried because Austin & I weren't showing any sick signs. So, she highly recommended we go straight to ER to have tests to make sure that she was ok. I guess when a newborn has a fever without reason, it's a really big deal. So they gave her an iv, took blood, had a chest x-ray, gave her a catheter to get a urine sample and gave her saline into her blood. It was extremely hard to go through and watch.

I was there from 9am-4:45pm, without food or drink and it was effecting me big time because what we didn't know was that I was already sick! I wish my symptoms would have shown before Aliyah's so that she didn't have to go through any of that. It feels so pointless because there was nothing to be shown. Her fever even stopped just from baby Tylenol before the tests ever got started, but that didn't stop them from super pushing us to do "protocol." All for a fever, so crazy how fragile our babies are, yet they can experience more medical "protocol" than the average adult in their lifetime all within 8 weeks of life!

So even though we had a natural birth out of the hospital, I couldn't save my baby from ending up there eventually. It makes us extremely sad.

Aliyah did REALLY good! Everyone kept complimenting on what a good baby she is. But they didn't like me too much because I questioned everything they wanted to do. Like I would them do things just because, I don't blindly trust people, especially not with my baby!
Unleash mama bear on them. Grrrr! ;)
Look at her smile! It's amazing how much our children trust us and will endure anything we allow them to go through. That's why I'm a mama bear! :)

Montana Wedding

2008-08-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

We have been all over the place these last couple of weeks. And so much has happened.

We had the pleasure of going to Montana for Mike & Amanda's wedding. Aliyah was so great! Our flights were at 6am out of LAX (fun!), which we missed because of LAX's bad planning. Only 2 lines (massssssive lines) for their busiest time. Everyone missed their flights! But they got us on the next one and in first class which was great! Oh by the way...TSA makes you take your newborn out of the car seat asleep, remove all blankets, hats (everything to keep them warm) and totally disable to whole stroller, car seat system. It was pretty intense, but we made it and we had a spinach omelette waiting for us on the plane with our big, comfy seats! :)

We stayed in this rad retreat center that Austin found and totally be-friended the owner and even went on a drive together.

The wedding was great, here's a pic of the beautiful couple!

Here's some shots Chad Riley took of us too!

5-7 weeks and counting!

2008-08-11T23:16:00.001-07:00

Lots of smiles

Daddy and his little girl

Daddy's touch!

Mommy and baby taking a nap (well I was trying hehe)

I love when she does this!

Great Grandma Roxy and Great Grandpa Gar seeing Aliyah for the 1st time.

Great Grandma Roxy

Uncle Garret

Grandma Mel (Gigi) & Grandpa Dave

She loves this ball

Our little poser

1 month old today!

3-4 Weeks old

2008-08-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

Dancing with daddy

2008-07-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

It's a little dark, but still totally worth watching!

Aliyah is now 4 weeks old!

2008-07-28T11:36:00.000-07:00

Wow, has time flown by! Our little Aliyah who started off so teeny is now 8 lbs 4 oz's and growing everyday. It's amazing to watch her grow and to be honest, it's a complete trip! We've literally watched her head grow! And her eye lashes! She is so amazing and totally loveable and snuggable.

She has learned to hold her head up for a decent amount of time and this morning she moved it to her left all on her own-so cool! She is discovering how her hands and her tongue work and she smiled at me yesterday in response to my smile!

And last night she slept through the ENTIRE night!- oh ya and I woke up at 6am, fed her and we went back to sleep until 9:30am! Very cool!

Look at me life my head!

I'm smiling now!

Austin's Painting

2008-07-21T08:57:00.000-07:00

Austin made me the most beautiful painting ever for my birthday (June 21st). Him, me and Aliyah, isn't it amazing?!

Aliyah is 2 weeks old!

2008-07-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

Aliyah is 2 weeks old and is sleeping lots! She even sleeps through the night (with 1 feeding sometimes). Other than that, we cherish the times when she is awake and looking all around. She is so precious!

All the ways Aliyah sleeps...

Mommy & Baby

Our 2 Year Anniversary!

2008-07-16T14:24:00.000-07:00

Austin and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary yesterday, July 15th, 2008. It was such a great night. Grandma Mel came over and watched Aliyah while Austin and I used a gift certificate from our friends Meg & Ben to go to this nice Italian restaurant called C'Dario. It was so hard to leave Aliyah, I definitely stalled big time and then cried all the way to the restaurant. But once we were there, the Lord really blessed us with an amazing dinner. We had so much fun talking and encouraging each other, cracking jokes and eating amazing food! Austin, my super amazing husband, pulled out his journal and read some entries from when we first met. It's so amazing to see how we got to where we are now. We are so in love and I am so thankful for all that we have. I am blessed to be married to such an amazing man of God. We were totally designed for one another and being able to take the time to remember that was awesome! Thank you Mel for watching our baby girl so that we could fall in love all over again!

Aliyah's 1st Week

2008-07-10T15:11:00.000-07:00

First of all, Austin & I are so blessed by friends and family for bringing us meals and checking on us to make sure we have everything needed.

This first week has been so much fun! Having a newborn is amazing, she is so sweet and fragile and the poor girl has to try to communicate to 2 people who have never done this through crying only. She does a great job and makes things very easy on us. She sleeps lots, usually through the night. I have to wake her up to feed her! She was having a hard time the first couple days waiting for my milk to come in, but thankfully my mom stayed 2 nights with us to help with rotations of making her little life a little easier. She is now a super happy, well fed little bug who still sleeps lots. But when she is awake, she is so much fun! She looks all around and makes lots of cute faces and is so curious.

Also,to make life interesting, our power went out periodically 3 of the 5 first nights. As our friend, Ander put it, "nothin' like roughin' it with a newborn" ;).

Austin's work gave him a week paternity leave and also a week from working from home so that he could be here to enjoy this new time in our lives. Thank you Postition Tech!

Pretty much our lives consist of breastfeeding, diaper changes, getting rid of gas bubbles in poor Aliyah (aka no more beer for Dara, sad days), Austin & Aliyah going on walks or sitting on the patio getting sun and Dara & Aliyah taking lots of naps. There is not much room for anything else, though we try. I try to get a call/email or two in a day and Austin is trying to get the Curtishots blog updated (blog.curtishots.com) before he goes back to work.

She loves to sleep like this.

Aliyah's 1st bath

This little outfit I thought for sure was going to be too small and is wayyyy to big, but she looks so cute in it anyways. :)

Grandma Mel & Austin playing with Aliyah

Welcome Aliyah Sky Curtis!

2008-07-05T10:56:00.000-07:00

Aliyah was welcomed into the world Wednesday, July 2nd at 4:26am. She weighed in at 7 lbs 1 oz. and 20.4 inches. She is absolutely beautiful and we are so happy that she is here! Here are just a few of the pictures that we have taken...

Day 1

Snugglin' with mommy.

Proud daddy!

She really loves her hands and is already interlocking her fingers, it's so adorable!

Daddy getting her some sun on the patio.

This is just the cutest thing ever! She is so tiny that her hats are a little bit big ;).

Aliyah LOVES her daddy!

We'd love to have lots of visitors, but we're still getting used to things, so we're asking people to patient and promise that everyone can see her very soon!

Thank you all for the prayers, we definitely felt them during her birthday!

Less than a week 'til due day!

2008-06-27T20:11:00.001-07:00

We're getting REALLY excited now! All of our friends who were due around the same time have all delivered and had their babies, we're next up! It's awesome to hear their birth stories, I wonder what our story will be like...

The really exciting news is that I had my 39 week check up today and I'm dilated 1 cm! Not much, but I'm dilated! And that's so exciting! It's really happening, we're gonna have a baby! All of this work isn't going to be for nothing. They are estimating that she will be 7.5-8 lbs and tall (just like her daddy!). But no guess on when she'll get here, only that she is trying to make her way down and I have to let her. ;)

So the bags are packed, the house clean, her room ready, Curtishots photos are almost all done and I have been reading like crazy. We are ready to welcome our daughter into our arms!

We will be sending a Jott message to everyone to let them know when we go into labor (depending on what time it is) and one when Aliyah is here! Jott is a voice mail that we leave and it translates to text messages and emails. If you would like to be on the list, please email me at daraloves@gmail.com ASAP.

Please be praying for us during this transitional time and for God's perfect timing and plans.

Much love, Dara & Austin (& Aliyah)

Some pics from the Happy Hour Shower June 8th

2008-06-24T18:56:00.001-07:00

Austin graduated from UCSB!

2008-06-20T17:29:00.000-07:00

New photos added!

Congratulations to my amazing husband who is DONE WITH SCHOOL! He is officially a graduate from UCSB with his BA in Global Studies emphasizing in Africa. Here's some pics from that day. My mom has some really good family ones that I'll get soon too!

38 weeks and counting!

2008-06-20T16:57:00.000-07:00

We've been having fun during this pregnancy. Learning alot about ourselves and each other daily as my body, mind and home has been changing. We're in the home stretch now and it is all very real now. My braxton hicks have almost disappeared and have now turned into more real contractions that are lower, stronger and are accompanied by low back pain like cramps. The nursery is pretty set up, though we still have a corner to clean out, but it's all heavy stuff. Other than that, I think we're ready. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us and have gotten us & Aliyah presents to help welcome and prepare us for Aliyah to come into the world.

Here's some pictures of our home ready for Aliyah:

Our new couch!

Our new office!

Aliyah's room

The beautiful changing table/dresser that my dad made!

Very soon!

Updated Anaheim Baby Shower (May 18th)

2008-06-15T16:27:00.001-07:00

36 weeks

2008-06-06T12:04:00.001-07:00

Austin took some amazing shots the other night- he is so talented! I love them!

And to think we were just getting ready for bed. He's the best!

34 week Ultrasound

2008-05-19T15:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Life Network Santa Barbara we got to do an ultrasound this afternoon. They called us this morning to see if we would be willing to volunteer my belly to teach one of their nurses their new ultrasound machine. We went in and found out that Aliyah is tall like daddy, weighs 4.7 lbs and that my due date is right on time for the first week of July.
Here are a few of the pictures!

Aliyah's profile (mouth closed)

Aliyah's profile with her mouth opened and is practicing swallowing (see the white ball in her mouth-that's her tongue!)

Aliyah's profile with her mouth and eyes opened.

OC Baby Shower

2008-05-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Thank you so much to everyone who came to our baby shower at my parents house yesterday! We had so much fun and are completely blessed by your love and generosity. It was such a perfect day...family, friends, the pool, and lots of food thanks to my amazing mom! Pictures are coming soon (Kristal and film cameras).

Love you guys!

Austin, Dara & Aliyah!

My mom did such a great job! Thank you mom!

Lori & I

Lori, Dara, Erin

Aunt Marian & the cupcakes

Kristal, Dara & Shannon at the shower.

Shannon & Dara

Updates

2008-05-09T14:41:00.000-07:00

We are almost at 33 weeks and things are definitely creeping up on us fast. I feel like we went from 20 weeks to 32 weeks over night! I am enjoying being pregnant though even with all the fun stuff that comes with the 3rd trimester.

Aliyah likes to move around and Austin & I get lots of entertainment watching my belly move like a wave pool. The midwives said that she is super active and we can hear her heartbeat from anywhere in my belly! She was the same at our 18 week ultrasound. In the 10 minutes we were in there, she moved into so many different positions and in the 3d picture, her hands wouldn't stay still-she's going to be fun!

As for the pregnant side of me, I am no longer working as a nanny which is great because I have been able to concentrate on our own home, my husband, Curtishots, getting prepared mentally and physically for having a baby and just being able to let my body be on the schedule that it needs to be. I mean this is the only pregnancy that I am going to be able to take a nap whenever I want to or go get a massage (Thanks Abby & Leslie for my gift certificate!).

Austin is working full time at Position Tech as a web designer. He gets to work with his friends and grow as a web designer. He is also still working at the dojo (Martial Arts Family Fitness), which means he works from 8am-2:30 at PT, then goes and teaches at MAFF, rides his bike back to PT and works until 7:45/8pm and then rides his bike back home. To say the least, he is working his butt off and realllly providing for us. So please be praying for him for strength and joy. He comes home and pretty much passes out. So when you see him, give him some love!

Hmm what else....We're having an Orange County baby shower at my parents home in Anaheim on Sunday, May 18th at 2pm. It's for guys and girls and Austin and I will both be there. It's going to be pretty awesome, so you should come! Contact me or my mom.

Blessings to you all!
Dara

May 3rd Babyshower Pictures!

2008-05-04T12:58:00.001-07:00

Christen & Tara threw me a great shower at Leadbetter beach yesterday. Here are some fun pictures from our day!

Pismo Sunday

2008-04-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning and decided to head up North for an ACDCJC sunday to escape the heat from SB and our upstairs home. We ended up in Pismo and had a wonderful day of antique shopping, ice cream, mexican food and playing on the beach. Here are some pics from our day!

31 weeks by Austin Curtis

2008-04-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

Austin took some pics of me at Pismo Beach today. I totally do not feel like my belly is this large! I don't feel like it's small by any means, but omigosh! :) I have been blessed with all the joys of the 3rd trimester ie swollen hands & feet, being a poofy lil bubble, a little bit of nausea. However I don't have to use conditioner and I get to eat yogurt now!

Okay here are some pics for you guys!

House Warming Party Pictures

2008-04-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our House Warming party yesterday. We forgot to get the camera out early so hopefully other people have some fun pictures. These pictures were are all at the end of the day, the end of a GREAT DAY! Thank you all for coming, for the presents and most of all your love. We are so thankful!

Baby Showers & Registry

2008-04-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

The invitations for the Santa Barbara ladies haven't been mailed out yet, but I want to make sure that everyone knows when and where it is. It will be this next
Saturday, May 3rd at 1pm at Leadbetter Beach.

We are registered at:
http://www.thethingsiwant.com/austindara/list/baby%20curtis%20wishlist/

We hope to see you there!

If you have any questions, call Christen at 570-1457.

House Warming Party/30 weeks

2008-04-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

Hello all! We're all moved in and want to celebrate with everyone at our new house! We'll be BBQing and hanging out at 324 W. Figueroa St. this Saturday, April 26th from 2-6pm. Walk to the right side of the house and come on up the stairs to our new place! If you want to BBQ, bring your own meat or meat alternative and beer if you want it. See you there!

25 weeks

2008-03-19T14:11:00.001-07:00

Moving into a new place

2008-03-15T13:42:00.000-07:00

Austin & I are moving into a new place at the end of this month. It is a 2 story duplex and we will have the 2nd story with 2 bedrooms and 1.5 bath. All the floors have been redone in bamboo, there are windows everywhere making it very bright.

Our landlords/friends have installed W/D hookups for us, so if anyone knows of anyone that would like to donate a W/D to our little, growing family, let us know!

Also, we're recruiting people to help Austin move on Saturday and Sunday, March 29th & 30th. So give us a call or email, thanks!

24 weeks Preggo Pics by Austin Curtis!

2008-03-08T02:26:00.001-08:00

News updates

2008-03-07T23:34:00.000-08:00

Austin & I have decided on a spelling to our baby girls' name... Alea Sky Curtis!

Also, God provided the most perfect place for us to live in Downtown Santa Barbara. Our place is the upstairs duplex to a sweet SB house. There is a gentleman who lives down stairs and from the sweet surf shack with a built in shower that he has created in the back yard, I'm guessing he is a surfer ;). Which you know I'm cool with!

Our place is 2 bedroom and 1.5 bath with laundry hookups. So if any of you know of an extra W/D out there, let us know!

We are so excited and feel so blessed to be able to have the chance to live in this new place. Please pray for us as we move in (April 1st) and establish a new relationship with the guy who lives downstairs and our landlords (who are family friends). Thanks Jane & Ken!!

Also...This will be Austin's last quarter, so if you haven't heard from him, it's because he is living in his books and writing papers. But after March 21st, he's free!!! He is super over school, especially in this last stretch. Please pray for him.

As for baby news...Alea moves around alot doing flips and twirls and who knows what in there. She loves the sound of daddy's voice. She will be silent and still and then Austin comes home and she is all over the place! What can I say, my husband just has the effect on us Curtis ladies. ;) I have grown out of alot of the maternity clothes that I was wearing and am now venturing into the things that I never thought I would be able to fit in. It's amazing how the only way she has to grown is out! I'm a poofy little bubble right now, but am still loving every minute of it! Austin takes super good care of me and is always reminding me that I am beautiful. I love this man that the Lord has given me! He's so cute too, he reminds me every meal, "did you get enough protein?" "There's only ____ grams of protein in that! Let's add some more." haha What would I do without him?!

Our next doctor appointment is the 21st, so more to come! Also, Austin just took some impromptu preggo pics of me today, so those will be up too very soon!

Baby names

2008-02-25T16:06:00.000-08:00

Alrighty, so we have come up with a name for our cute little girl in my belly.
(Though we are not sure on the spelling yet of either name.)

Aliyah Sky Curtis
Alea Sky Curtis
Aleeah Skye Curtis

22 Weeks Picture

2008-02-25T16:04:00.001-08:00

Here is our 22 week picture.

The Unveiling!

2008-02-24T13:31:00.001-08:00

Pink or Blue drink?! (5 blues, 2 pinks!)

It's a Girl!!!

Happy grandparents

The ultrasound/18 weeks

2008-02-24T13:22:00.000-08:00

standing and walking around

laying down

Baby's first headshot (leaning to the right)

Look at those muscles! (its really of the top of the babies head, but it looks like he or she is flexing some guns!)

Me at 18 weeks preggers

Austin & I went in for our ultrasound today. We were going to wait to find out what we were having, but our parents REALLY wanted to know so we asked the doctor to write the exciting news on a paper and seal it in an envelope so that we could all open it together.

The ultrasound was super exciting itself. Dr. Poliactin is awesome, but is all the way down in Thousand Oaks. He has us turn our heads when he was scoping out the goods so we didn't accidently see anything. :) We got to see our baby move all over the place. It was very exciting. I felt an instant connection and all of us sudden it clicked that I have our child growing and developing inside of my belly. God is so amazing! He designed us so fascinating! I wanted to stare at the screen forever. We even got to see the baby in 3D. When he froze the image it didn't quite capture what the baby really looked like, but still what crazy technology! Here are some pictures of our little one!

We're pregnant!

2007-11-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

Austin & I are having a baby! Our due date is July 2nd! We are super excited!