Final Month

35 weeks today, about a month to go until we meet our third princess. We can't wait!
Here is a pic at 30 weeks:

Mr. Thirsty

What kind of mommy blogger would I be if I didn't post child's first visit to the dentist......

She did a great job and even got her front teeth x-rayed. So proud!!

Here is a bonus pic from a recent beach visit:

Country Fair

We had a great time at the fair at our church.

 Eden's favorite part is painting the pumpkins. Oh, and she rode the "Wacky Worm" roller coaster with Steve and loved that too!

 Anna was a little disappointed she couldn't ride most of the rides but she loved dancing to the band! And the food!

 Eden on the mini ferris wheel

A brief getaway

Last week, we were able to take a couple of days off and head north to Guerneville. We started with a stop at the kid's museum just beneath the Golden Gate. It was a little chilly but the kids didn't care. They loved the outdoor feature the best.
Here is Anna with her buddy George:

We were excited that we were there at the one time a week the "actual" George was making an appearance and he was like a rockstar! But our kids could have cared less.......
Very close to our cottage near the Russian River was this great state park
The hike was perfect for the kids. Wide, flat trails and wonderful trees!

No pictures from our time at the river. But this was a fun spot! It had a great 2 ft roped off area that the kids could play in, fun!
This is where we stayed and we had a great time there! Recommend it for kids if you need a getaway too!

CDM and Fair

I'm finally able to venture out on adventures with the kids. Here are some pics from the Museum:

And we rode the bus and light rail to the fairgrounds:

Eden's Favorite Bridge

Eden loves the Golden Gate Bridge. I tell her how lucky she is we live sooooo close to it. We spent last Saturday at Crissy Field.

Inspiration

Another month gone by and no posts.... Not that there wasn't blog worthy stuff going on around here I just never found the inspiration to write it all down.
But there were two posts in my reader today that I wanted to pass on:

From SFGate:
When the Pope visited San Francisco

Considering I wasn't even Catholic in 1987 and 12 years old, this was not in my memory banks. A very surprising blast to the past with one of my favorites!

From Archbishop Dolan:
A Blessed Pentecost Sunday 

 I love Pentecost because I love the Holy Spirit. And I always love the words from Dolan.

JP Two, We Love You!

The upcoming beatification of John Paul II has brought me back to my visit to Rome in the Jubilee year 2000. I feel so grateful and blessed that I was able to see this great man in person. I can't believe it has been 11 years.....

This was a photo from his Wednesday audience in May 2000.

Thanks to Cathy's friend, Fr. Joe Fowler, we were able to sit above the square just to the left of where JP II sat. We were so close to him, it was awesome!

This is my "posed" picture with the Swiss Guard. I LOVE those guys! My favorite part of the picture is his strict gaze on the pope.

We also happened upon his appearance at the Colosseum for an ecumenical service. Since we didn't know it was happening, we are very far away but I promise he is there on that stage.

We had such a great time!
We love you Papa!!

Some Easter Pics

Let's get shopping.....

Ironic that I read this blog post when I did:
http://www.bettybeguiles.com/2011/04/no-more-yoga-pants.html

As I was coming up with an ode to my yoga pants because I loved them so...
But no longer!

Ha, schedules.....

So I lasted three weeks on a blog writing schedule and then nothing......
Two weeks ago, everything started out great, hence the Coco mini-vacation post. At the end of the week, we were dealt two not so good news that has taken some time for me to process. I needed last week to process.
But now I am out of that funk, kicking those bad newsies to the curb and moving on.
We are really looking forward to Easter as I'm sure many are during this stage of Lent. We've been sneaking a few chocolate eggs or as Eden calls them, "candy easter" and jelly beans.
I've forgotten to update a few things about Anna that have happened in the past month or so: she is officially down to one afternoon nap and no more bottles. Kind of convenient for these to happen right around 18 months, makes it easier to remember. She had no problem transitioning away from the bottle. We just started to give her one a day for a week and then none but she didn't even care. We couldn't remember when Eden stopped the bottle, probably around the same time. We were thrilled that her two naps lasted as long as they did because Eden gave up her morning nap around 11 or 12 months and then nap altogether around 2 years. Here's hoping Anna can keep hers up awhile longer.
I will expand more on our news as I gather more information.....

We love Coco!

Wow, what a great mini-vacation we just had!
Steve and I were so impressed to see the Conan show in person. It all seemed to go so fast for me but it was the normal hour. It was funny to watch him do the monologue straight into the camera instead of looking at us in the audience because when we watch at home it is like he is talking just to us. He is very professional yet still so funny. Like I said, we loved it!

Photo: www.teamcoco.com

I did a little research for a restaurant to eat post-show. I thought seafood would be a good choice so I choice this place in Hollywood.
The layout was a look into the kitchen behind the bar. I instantly saw a picture of Padre Pio hanging in the kitchen and I was so moved. I asked the waiter about it and he didn't even know who he was. The host told me the chef hung it because he was a saint for the working man. I love it when God shows up in the most unexpected places. Oh, the food was really good too.

Third Sunday in Review

• Wow, it rained a lot here this week. We got out for a few walks in between storms to get some energy out. One night we got caught in some heavy sprinkles but Eden walked all the way back from the hardware store which is almost a mile!

• Anna is still saying so many new words! Her favorites lately are apple, ice cream, George (for Curious George), Bobo (for Elmo) and Hey Sister (when Eden comes home or is outside)
• So excited for my birthday trip to see Conan! It feels like it has been a lifelong dream but really just since college! Happy that he is closer to see now that he films in California instead of New York.
• Went shopping for a new outfit to wear to the above mentioned show and I have NO idea what my style is anymore. I'm still drawn to stuff I wore in my twenties but that style does not work for me anymore. I looked longingly at beautiful heels at Nordstrom Rack that I can no longer wear. What is a mom in her thirties supposed to wear these days?
• I went off the wagon and read blogs last week. It was like reading one led to another and another but I'm back on track for the rest of Lent.
• 
  

Second Sunday in Review

We had a great St. Patrick's Day. Here is a slideshow:


Thanks to OnDemand, I was able to catch-up with Parenthood by watching three episodes in a row. It is a great show, I recommend it!

Before all the rain came, the kids loved playing outside for extended times thanks to DST. The sleep schedule hasn't changed too much except for a little longer bedtime. And I loved taking Hipstamatic pictures of them playing:

I didn't make it to Berkeley for the Rebels NIT game, which was for the best I suppose since they lost. :(

My Dad is in Mississippi this week and I'm pretty jealous, especially since he will be in Oxford. But because he is so generous and loves the girls so much, he is securing an investment that will hopefully pay for them to study at Ole Miss in 16-18 years!

First Sunday in Review

I gave up reading blogs and Facebook for Lent, except for Sundays which is supposed to be a break from the fast anyways. I'm going to post some bullet points of our week on Sundays during Lent.

• For some reason Eden decided to wake up at 4 a.m. on Ash Wednesday which means EVERYONE was up. We made it to 7:30 Mass no problem and as usual I think they were the only small children there. The other bright side was they were asleep by 7:30 and we were asleep by 8.
• I read a recommendation on another blog about the Leapfrog Letter Factory video. I got it at the library and didn't think Eden would be interested in it but she LOVES it.
• Steve is re-reading The Artist's Way this week and is considering starting it again in order to jumpstart his creative side. I'm reading A Million Miles in a Thousand Years even though I said I was going to read Jesus of Nazareth for Lent. I bought it at the Border's Clearance so I'll have plenty of time to get to it.
• I heard Fr. Corapi talk about how Mary was his "broker". He trusts her with his spiritual "investments" and he likes his ROI. I like that.
• Steve took a gardening class in Palo Alto by the guy that wrote this book: How to Grow More Vegetables and Fruits (and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine. I accused him of hanging out with "the hippie, liberal elite" but he said they were just "apocalyptic".
• When I heard about the tsunami on the radio, I turned on the TV to see the coverage. This was during Eden's usual PBS time and I tried to explain to her about a tsunami and all she could say was, "I don't want to watch the tsu-mami" but imagine that said super whiny.
• We ate yummy blueberry pancakes with my parents on Mardi Gras. I still have my Mardi Gras decorations up. This means the St. Patrick's decorations will still be up well past the 17th.
• I got to hold two super sweet little baby boys, Jack and Colin. Maybe a glimpse into the future??
• Anna says so many new words and sings along to almost all of the Cat in the Hat songs that Eden (and me!) sing over and over.
• When I'm making dinner, I make up new lyrics to this song and Eden sings it too!
 

 That is it for this week!

His side of the story

Steve took a break from planning his summer garden and seed buying to submit this entry to my blog:

It didn’t seem like a good idea to me when the producer told me that he planned on making a reality TV show about a film crew making a documentary on the NFL mascots. However, I hadn’t worked in about 3 or 4 weeks and my landlords/ roommates were wondering when I would be paying LAST month’s rent, so I figured I could do worse than an all expenses paid trip to Jacksonville the week of the Superbowl and $600 to boot.

After 2 full days of running around Jacksonville, it became really apparent that this whole project was an exercise in futility. Our last location before the DP and I were to be sent home (we refused to camp out in the van for the remainder of the shoot days) was this media party at some golf course called “Saw Grass. “ The DP was grabbing pictures of the mascots teeing off from the 17th tee box when I realized that I had seen this place on TV before. Eventually the DP and I got totally fed up with the whole thing. He handed his camera off to one of the production assistants (the producer’s nephew who was working for free) to do some shooting and we made a break for the bar.

It was my last night in a city that was 1500 miles from my home, I was at a party with lots of free top shelf booze and beautiful women, and I have to admit I did not have the purest intentions in mind. But as usual, when I have less than pure intentions in mind my ability to “close the deal,” --who am I kidding, my ability to even get a woman to engage in a two way conversation with me much less “close the deal”—was extremely weak at best. Eventually I gave up, enjoyed the free booze, gourmet food and Hootie and the Blowfish playing live until the crew was ready to head back to the hotel. Just as we were about to leave I looked up and saw this really cute woman laughing with her friends just a few feet away. I decided that if I could accomplish only one thing that night, I would be doing well to leave this woman knowing that she has a beautiful smile. So I walked up, excused myself , said my peace and began to walk away. She stopped me, asked who I was, struck up a conversation and asked me to join her and her friends for dancing.

I FREAKED. If there’s one thing the world (much less this cute little lady) does not need is to see more of me trying to dance. “Uhhhh…. I have an early flight back to Denver tomorrow,” was all I could think of to say. She handed me her card and we parted ways. Nothing could have prepared me for the ration of sh— that I would have to tolerate from the rest of the crew or from my family after I got home. “You said WHAT?!?!?” said my sister in law, knowing how badly I wanted to meet someone, get married and start a family.

At least I still had her business card. We would exchange a few emails and then phone calls and, well… here we are today. Funny thing is, that was the day before my birthday. It turned out to be the best birthday present EVER!

Empathy

Eden's teacher told us this story about her from last week:

A boy in her class wanted to help everyone put on their jackets to go out for playtime. When he got to Eden she told him "No" but only because she was wearing a sweatshirt that day and didn't have a jacket. He didn't realize that and was sad that he couldn't help Eden. She saw his sadness and gave him a little kiss on his arm and then they hugged.

So sweet!

So it begins......

Well, I couldn't just let him walk away after that kind of compliment, so I went after him.
Turns out he was in town with a camera crew that was following around all the NFL mascots for a show. (All the mascots come together for Superbowl week apparently, did not know that.)
We were still celebrating our chocolate fountain high, so I invited my new friend to come out with us but he declined, hmmph, something about leaving on an early flight back to Denver the next day. I gave him my business card and he left. I went back to my friends and they were wondering who I was just talking too. Maria said he looked like my "type of guy", which was quite prophetic because he turned out to be "my guy"!
Happy Birthday Steve!