After a beautiful stay in Hawaii with Jenn, Jerry, and the kiddos, we were off to our next long(er) term stay. We’d decided to head back to Playa del Carmen, Mexico to enjoy a couple of months of beautiful weather, catch up with wonderful friends, and simply take it easy for a while. We had an absolutely great time reconnecting with Vincent, Georgina, and Lucca as well as taking time to enjoy some of our old favorite spots. We even had some surprise visitors! The two months we spent there were magical, and the perfect first move for us with Everett. We think he enjoyed it pretty well too!

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Just after Everett turned three months old, it was time to head on. We’d spent an incredible nine months in New Zealand, made amazing connections with new friends, created beautiful memories, and truly cherished our time there. We decided to make our first stop in a place that wasn’t too far away, that was new to all of us, and that was filled with people we love. We made that stop Hawaii – with Jenn, Jerry, Tobias, Chloe, and Phoebe. We had such a nice time catching up with them (it’d been close 1.5yrs since we’d seen them, aside from Jenn who’d come to be with us during Everett’s first week). It was a great first adventure for Everett and a wonderful opportunity to catch up.

Then, after a quick landing in Mexico (more on that in the next post), we headed off to Puerto Rico. Ross had won a trip through work, and since none of us had been there before, we took the opportunity to go and see what it was all about. We spent all of our time at the resort, which was a totally different type of travel than we’re used to, but really enjoyed ourselves. It was truly relaxing and the perfect type of vacation for a family with a four month old.

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These photos were taken just five days after Everett was born. We wanted to be sure and capture the wrinkly newborn moments. It also gave the three of us a wonderful opportunity to simply be together in the moment – a beautiful excuse to stare in amazement.

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In the middle of the night, the day after finishing a big project at work, and three days before the “due” date, Lindsay started to feel something happening. After waiting a few hours to ensure this was the real thing, she woke Ross and let him know the little one was on its way. The rest of the day was the most amazing, incredible, and beautiful day. We welcomed the most perfect little boy at 11:45pm.

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Even though we’d been taking our own belly photos each week, we knew we wanted to have some official photos done to make sure we captured the pregnancy in the beautiful form it had taken. About a month before we were due to meet our baby, we went out with a great local photographer, Emily Adamson, to record this most incredible moment in our lives.

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Each week, throughout the pregnancy, we took a photo of the belly growing. We figured it’d be a fun way to capture where we were and the growth of the baby. While we missed a couple of weeks in the beginning, we actually ended up with a pretty great collection. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

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After a quick month in the north island, we headed south to Queenstown – where we’d be spending the rest of our time leading up to the birth of the baby. We took those months to explore, enjoy, and simply soak in the magic of the place and that time in our lives. We couldn’t have hoped for a place or time as perfect as it ended up being for us.

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After spending the summer of 2012 touring, we headed south to New Zealand. We spent the first couple of weeks in the south island, a month in Auckland, and weekends exploring the north island. It was our first glimpse of the beautiful landscapes, incredible people, and amazing encounters that have made New Zealand such a magical place for so many – including ourselves!

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P.S. We realize this post is severely delayed. We’re doing our best to get caught up.  🙂

After wrapping up our European tour, we headed back to the U.S. for a long overdue visit. While there, we found ourselves wandering through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Washington, Idaho and California. It was a fantastic time where we caught up with family, spent time with dear friends and even explored new frontiers.

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After wrapping up our time in Barcelona, we ventured out on another European road trip (much like our adventure back in 2010). This time around, we decided to spend five weeks and head up through eastern France, wander through southern Germany and then pop over to Prague before catching a flight out of Frankfurt in mid-July. What an adventure it turned out to be!

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