A Whole Lotta Shaking

I'm starting to feel like the earthquakes are following me. When we were in Tahoe this weekend, we all thought we were going crazy when we felt the couch moving while we were hanging out. And then, last night, I was listening to a telemarketer talk my ear off when my kitchen table started shaking and creaking. I stepped away from it, and it continued to creak, and the windows made some popping sounds. I decided I was crazy, two times in four days in completely different Mountain Ranges- that doesn't happen. Well, it did- 4.0 in Tahoe, 5.2 in Trinity. Nothing major- but enough to make me think, if things are starting to shake where we are- where earthquakes RARELY happen, maybe we should all start thinking about earthquake kits and all that. Man, I haven't thought seriously about an Earthquake since the bay area's one in '89, and now I have kids to "teach" about them. What's the rule these days, do we still "duck and cover." Are doorways still the safest place? Hmmmm... I'm sure Kylee will learn the new age safe stuff at preschool today, and then she can teach me :)

Tahoe Weekend

This year Wes and I are both turning 30, and so are many of our good friends from college. So, we all decided to to something extra special- to forget about gifts for one another, and instead take a little time away from our busy lives and have a getaway weekend together. We all decided to find babysitters for the kids, petsitters for the pets, and rented a "not-so-Executive house" in Lake Tahoe for an "adults only" great time! Wes and I drove on a back route- through Lassen County to Susanville, and entered Tahoe on the Nevada side. It was an incredibly beautiful drive... and was 6 hours of piece and quite, enjoying the comedy channel, grown up music, and great conversation. We had a blast with the group, as well. We had made great meals at the house, an exciting hike on The Rim trail, and then, of course, a highly competitve tournament involving the house's fooz ball, pool, air hockey, ping pong, pocker chips and a scavenger hunt. Though the house itself turned out to be a little less-desirable than we imagined, we had so much fun there that we vetoed going out on the town to continue hanging out enjoying each other's company. The weekend went by fast, and we'll never forget all the fun we packed into it. Thanks everyone for taking the time out to make it so special- and a big, HUGE Thank You to Wes' family, especially Grandma, for taking such great care of Kylee and Owen while we were away! They can't stop talking about all the fun they had! Here are some pics from Tahoe...

Numero Tres

I'm writing this post listening to "Go, Diego, Go!," and it's inspiring me to use my spanish numbers today. So, here it is, for those of you who know and have yet to find out- here's my BIG post about our new baby on the way! That's right, numero tres. I found out just over 2 months ago... and kept the secret from the kids for eight hours while we waited for Dad to get home from work. While we waited, they helped me make cookies and a card!







The whole time, the kids thought the big surprise was the cookies- they had no idea what the cookies said.

After we finished eating all the cookies, we told the kids- even though it was still VERY early. Kylee was beyond excited, Owen said "Yay!" and continued to play with his tractor. We were going out that night, so we knew we had to tell Wes' family- pretty much because if I'm not drinking when we go to a bar- they know I must be pregnant. When we got to Grandma and Grandpa's house, Kylee blurted it out right away to the babysitters, their mom, and everyone! So, the secret was immediately out. We knew she was excited, and thought it was cute how she told them. But, we knew that we'd have to do a little bit of talking before she headed to school on Monday and told her all friends- which would mean the whole town would know! We let her put a sticker on her calendar for everyday she could go to school and keep our secret- at the end she would get a present. It totally worked! We gave her the ok to tell her class last week, and she excitedly told them. Her teachers we amazed a preschooler kept such a big secret for 2 months!

I'm happy to be done with my first trimester, though I can't complain because I was lucky again, minimal nausea, and discomfort! The only setback was EXTREME EXHAUSTION. I'm hoping to have much more energy in the next couple of weeks. So, that's our news- we are very excited, and are getting used to the idea that we'll be a family of 5 this November. We believe the due date will be November 2- just two days before Kylee's 5th Birthday! And big sis is more than happy to have a new baby for a birthday gift... she's just really hoping it'll be a girl this time around!

Picnic Day Weekend

We had a great weekend! We visited UC Davis for our annual Picnic Day on Saturday. It was great to see my old teammates and roomate, and have our kids hang out. It was a beautiful day, and we loved sharing our college with the kids. We only stayed for morning activities, then moved on quickly to West Sacramento for my cousin's baby shower. Katie and Jimmy are waiting for the arrival of their first baby, and it was awesome to be with their friends and family as we celebrate this new bundle of joy! Next, we stayed the night with my friend, Jen, and got to enjoy time with her family... especially her 9 month old, Jimmy, as he is getting big so fast!

Check out our slide show from our great weekend with great loved ones!

Hot Days

Here are some photos from our "fun in the sun" weekend. We had an all-day playdate with our friends, the Bradfords- while Dad went to their house and helped their dad do some electrical wiring. Then, we went to a really fun bonfire bbq by the creek at the Novak's House. (Forgot the camera for this one, so no pics.) Today we were so sure it'd be hot again, that I planned a walk to pick up Kylee followed by a day in the park... but the CRAZY windstorm made it a bit unbearable and we cut the park short. So- it's not quite summer yet, but it was nice to get a taste of it this weekend!

Sad Day for this former Torch Bearer

Not the Torch Relay Photo I was hoping to see! This is in SF. Unbelievable.



Like most people, I am a huge fan of the Olympic spirit, I love how the world comes together every four years to celebrate athletic accomplishment, the blending of cultures, and all that. I was especially excited as a senior in High School- when I was nominated by our very large inner-city's FOOTBALL coach (no, I did not even play football...) to be a torch bearer for the Summer Games of 1996. I traveled with my mom, dad, lil bro, and good friend from our home in Oakland that morning, to my track meet in Sacramento that afternoon, then to Redding, CA for my big torch moment at 1 am! It was a small town, I didn't know anybody but the few that traveled with me- but the spirit of the Olympics was so strong, I will never forget all the cheers from hundreds of wonderful strangers who surrounded me as I ran through the crowd, up the stairs of the train, and lit the huge cauldron as it dropped down. We all waved good-bye as the train headed south to it's next destination, and we were all unified in that moment, in the middle of that hot night in May.

I have been watching with anticipation as the big torch relay has been set to take place in San Francisco today. I was in Oakland, just across the Bay, this weekend- and since Kylee is on spring break, I thought how great it would be to stay in town for a few more days and show my kids this history that I had been lucky to be a part of. But, for the safety of my family, I didn't give it a second thought. Back home, we don't have live coverage of what has been taking place in San Fran today. Through some web video, and my mom in the Bay, I've heard that thankfully, things have been relatively peaceful. The SF police and Olympic officials didn't want to take any chances after what had happened with protesters at Paris and London's relay's this year, and stealthfully changed the course of the torch at the last minute. This was the smartest choice to keep the peace, but I can't imagine how dissapointed the thousands of on-lookers must have been. I just can't help but think about those torch bearers, who just are good people who wanted to be a part of Olympic history- and how their own families couldn't even get a snapshot of them because of the circumstances of these Olympic Games. My Olympic experience seems like a make-believe fairytale compared to what these runners and Olympic supporters experienced today. I don't feel like much time has gone by since I carried the flame, but I sure do feel like we live in a whole different world. I hope one day I'll be able to share the joys of the Olympic spirit with my children, today- that is just not the case.

If I was TWO I'd totally be napping right now...

Besides coughing, sneezing, LONG nights and exhausting days- not much has been going on since Easter. Having sick kids is no joke. Everytime one of my kids get sick, I know the other will follow, and I start prepping for the days and weeks of extra tears, extra tissue boxes, extra whines, extra kids in my bed, extra bolts to the toilet with the gagging child... and I think "I can't believe my mom did this with 6 of us." It must have been MONTHS out of commission trying to nurse children back to health and get everyone back to school and our normal activities. So, for me, a tough part about the whole "sick" issue, is knowing when I should allow my kids to be around their friends. I'm no Doctor, so judging whether or not they are healthy enough to join society is tough. I know they just have colds, but I don't want to spread the sickness, so I keep them home. But, I don't like Kylee missing too much school, because I think her preschool is very important for her development. And, when I do take them to the Doctor- I ALWAYS feel stupid because they ALWAYS say, "It's a cold, we can't give 'em anything, it'll run it's course." Great. Thanks. I love spending lots of money to have you give me NOTHING.

Another major contributor to my funky mood is the fact that Owen won't nap. Owen has always been my sleeping champion- he plays hard, and he crashes. Now we just have play hard, sick, cranky Owen, WHO WON'T SLEEP. I am totally blaming the Easter Bunny for his nap rebellion... because, if you were here Owen would tell you, "The Bunny stole all the Binky's." That's right, Owen has spent the past 12 days since Easter without a Binky (Pacifier, Paci, Fafi, Nuk... whatever you like to call them). Somehow, all the Binky's mysteriously got lost on Easter, and we just told him that the Bunny must have collected them and brought them to the babies who need them. It SEEMED like a relatively good story- though, we have yet to see if he will hold this against the bunny as future Easters approach. And, while I am proud that he has been surviving without this lifelong crutch of his, I REALLY, REALLY JUST WANT TO GIVE HIM ONE SO HE'LL REST FOR GOSH SAKES. Wes is happy, he's all for the cold turkey method- but I miss the good old days where I could hand him a binky and a blankie and lay him on his bed for a rest. He'd generally fall right to sleep. Now, he's like a crazed maniac, just tossing and turning and screeching until he comes bolting out of his room running wildly through the house. I lay him back down, lay with him and read another story, and he gets more and more wound up. After hours of this, I give up, he wins, and we've missed another nap. Come 8 pm, we start the bedtime routine, he's been up for 14 hours straight- and it is the SAME battle at bedtime. He eventually breaks down and passes out, but only after sneaking down and getting Daddy out of his office and convincing him to "Peas, lie down with me?" Which, at that point, I am totally fine with because now Mommy can rest, too.

I apologize for the ranting in this post- I definitely feel for the kiddos and wish I could take all the sickness away from them. But usually by this point in their colds, I feel like my only role in life is to be a human snot rag and I feel the only line coming out of my mouth is "Cover you cough." Oh yeah, and, "Go back to bed."