Go Cougs!

Looking forward to a sweet victory this Saturday!

11-22-33

Today on 11/22, I turned 33. I think that is pretty magical, so I had chocolate cake for breakfast!

Where did my baby go?

Parker: 2 weeks; David: 5 months

Last night . . .

The house was quiet, Lucy was already in bed, David was asleep in my arms and I was staring at my handsome husband as he sat across the room fixing his old pair of glasses. His suit and tie were draped over the chair he was sitting on so he wouldn't wake up the baby the next morning when he left to go to the temple. As I sat there, I couldn't help but to smile all the way down in my tummy.

I love my life!

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff . . .

A few nights ago Lucy woke up in the wee hours of morning. As usual, my wonderful husband jumped up to see what was the matter. She had wet through her diaper and her sheet and PJ's were all wet too. Marc quickly took control of the problem, laid Lucy back down and returned to bed.

When I got up with Lucy later that morning the picture above is what I found. I laughed and laughed. I mean why put a fitted crib sheet on the bed when you can lay down a car seat cover that covers at least 1/2 of the mattress? And who needs pajamas when you've got a dry diaper and blankets?

Sweet, sweet Daddy. And you know what, she was just fine!

Blessed while on The Lord's errand . . . .

This story is even better if you know my friend, Karissa. I'm not sure it will ever get printed in The Ensign, but it is definitely a reminder that we are being watched over while in the service of God:

You really owe it to yourself to read this, it is crazy! In her words:

So, I've had a LOT of time on my hands lately and I've been volunteering a lot with several different churches and companies. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the bishop's storehouse in the valley. I volunteered to drive and there were 2 other ladies coming with me. One, Deyonira, I know quite well because we take her to church and the other, Betty, I'd never met before. Betty lives in the projects (welfare complex) downtown. A lot of people who volunteer are people in need of assistance provided by the storehouse. I was assuming that Betty was in that category. After talking to her on the phone, we agreed on a time and she said she'd be waiting outside. I pictured a nice little old lady.

I pulled up to the housing complex and there was one woman waiting outside. Betty waved at me and I waved her into my car. She really didn't look like anything I had imagined. She had a huge tattoo on her forearm that read "RIO" a well known gang in here in Oxnard and she had another tattoo under her ear that said "805", which is our area code and the name of another gang here in town. She reeked of mary jane and vodka but I looked over it thinking to myself, "good for her...trying to turn her life around". When she got in the car she looked in the backseat and then looked at me and said, "where's Daniella?" I assumed she was talking about Deyonira (a lot of people mispronounce her name). I informed Betty that we were going to pick her up right now. I should have picked up Deyonira first but having never been to this part of town, I thought I would backtrack less if I picked up Betty first. Then Betty questioned, "why didn't you get Daniella first?" I told her I should have but I didn't know that she wouldn't be on our way. Seemingly content, Betty asked, "you got the stuff?" Thinking she was talking about her storehouse order form, I told her she'd get it when we got there. I told her I'd only been there once and I wasn't sure how things went down. "I'm sure they'll have a little orientation for us or something", I explained. "I don't need no damn orientation! I know how this s#!t goes down!" I was a little thrown off guard, "Well...I'm not sure how it works...we'll just see when we get there". Then Betty starts acting weird and asked me, "Why the hell didn't you get Daniella first?! How can I trust you without Daniella?!" "I'm sorry", I said, "I should have picked her up first, I didn't realize you guys were so close" (even though you don't know how to properly pronounce her name). I told her it was stupid of me. "How many people are gonna be there?" she asked. I told her I wasn't sure and we'd find out when we got there. Then she yells, "HOW IN THE HELL CAN I TRUST YOU?!" I had no idea what to say...I was pretty speechless, but I kept driving. As I turned a corner she yells, "This isn't the way to Daniellas!" I told her I wasn't sure the best way to get there...I was just following my GPS. I kept driving and she says, "I really don't think I can trust you without her here." A little confused, I apologized again and told her we'd get to her friends house soon. She screams, "YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!!" I was so confused and starting to get scared and I yelled back, "DO YOU KNOW A BETTER WAY?!" Then Betty starts breathing really fast and her eyes got really big and she screamed, "ARE YOU A COP?!?! ARE YOU A MOTHER F-ING COP?!?!" "What?! NO!" I yelled back (everything started to click into place...this was NOT Betty). Then she continues to scream, "DAMN DANIELLA THAT B!**!!! SHE SET ME UP!!! THAT MOTHER F-ING B!**!! I'M GONNA GET HER!!! DANIELLA GONNA BE SORRY!!! REEEEEAAAAL SORRY!!!" It was all happening so fast and I was coming to a stop at a light and was planning to make a U-turn to take her back home, I was breaking but still moving at about 15mph when suddenly she swings the door open, AS THE CAR IS MOVING, and bolts. I've never seen anyone run so fast in my life.
I like to talk a big game and put on a tough face but I seriously could have crapped my jeans after I realized what just happened. She totally disappeared and left me in the drivers seat in the middle of the road with my passenger door wide open. I was shaking so bad and had to get out of my car and walk around to close the door. I then thought to myself, "Holy crap...I just got accused of being an undercover cop by a hardcore drug dealing gang banger."
I then turned around and went back to the complex and was relieved when I saw a cute little old white haired lady with a cane waiting for me. When she walked toward my car I asked, "Are you Betty?" She said she was indeed and when she got in, she explained, "I'm glad you just pulled up, I felt bad for being late but I had to go to the bathroom...and when you're my age you GO when you gotta go."
I was here on time...you have no idea grandma...
I've had a lot of frightening moments in my life, but this one is right up there with the scariest. I ended up driving about 6 blocks with that hardcore gang banger in my passenger seat yelling at me. Thinking back, I realize how lucky I am that I didn't get shot right there after she realized I might be a cop.

I'm just hoping Daniella was equally as lucky...

Lucy's 2-year-old Birthday Party

The night before Lucy's birthday, I couldn't wait for Marc to set up her awesome tee-pee so she would see it first thing in the morning. Wouldn't you know the stick pony we got for a dollar was her favorite thing! She quickly started to love the tee-pee too.

David also enjoyed the tee-pee . . .

The horses were a big hit! Marc couldn't believe I got one for each kid. When I told him I spent $5 bucks total on them, he then thought it was a great idea ;)

We had a nice system, Lucy's friend, Alessia, would bring a present to Heidi, Lucy would open it, then all the little kids would play with it. Repeat.
I was so excited for these head-dresses and of course none of the kids wanted to wear them . . . oh well.
Lucy requested a "yellow and red cake". She got her wish! We even added some plastic horses on top too.
In the end, I think the day was magical and I loved seeing Lucy being old enough to play with all her little friends. This Mom thing sure is fun!

*A funny side story: One of Lucy's friends got her a tea-set which was a big hit with all the kids. I just had to laugh as I watched all these caucasian kids having their tea party in the middle of a tee-pee.

Happy Sabbath

Love, David

Two years-ago today . . .

Little Lucy Kay joined our worldand things have NEVER been the same!

What a wonderful journey it has been.
Happy 2nd Birthday Goose!

David's 1st Solids

David was about 1 1/2 months younger than Lucy was when he had his first taste of solid food (he just seemed ready). With Lucy we had to ease into this idea, but David instantly thought it was great! He ate all I had fixed and then ate some more!

He would hold my hand in order to help get the food in there faster!

One satisfied boy . . .

Post-baby brain

When I was pregnant with Lucy I can remember (frequently) not being able to recall something. Often my absence of thought would be followed by laughter and some other seasoned Mom saying something like, "Get used to it," with a chuckle in their voice. I knew that "memory loss" was a part of pregnancy, but it really hasn't seemed to go away. It is so frustrating!

I used to learn all my students' names on the first night of class, since having children-I can still draw a blank on a name at any moment. I used to wonder why people made lists for the grocery store-now I would not survive without one. Just the other night I went to buy three things at the store and I had to call Marc because I couldn't remember what the third thing was! I have been known to leave the burner on the stove on well after dinner is over. I space appointments and even fun outings with friends. In meetings, if I don't write down exactly what I am supposed to do later-it will never happen. These are all things I used to be very good at.

This all came to a pinnacle last week when I showed up for a Primary Program I was supposed to watch as a representative from the stake. The meeting began and there was no program scheduled for that day! I asked the Primary President what was going on and she said that it had been changed to two weeks later. I walked home almost in tears wondering if I would ever have control of my life again. In this case, it turned out that they had rescheduled it without letting us know so it wasn't my brain's fault after all. At any rate, it is still very symbolic of how things seem to be going these days.

My husband (who also happens to be a Dr. of the brain) informs me that it probably has a lot more to do with how much more I have to juggle now then actual brain loss. Either way, I had no idea when everyone told me what a sacrifice I would be making to be a mother that it meant a big piece of my brain would no longer work.

Halloween 2009

We're off to see The Wizard . . .

What is Dorothy doing with that axe???

The cutest Tin-man I have ever seen . . .

Lucy kept saying all night, "Daddy, Lion. Mommy, Scarecrow. David, Tin-man. Lucy, Dorothy".

It was so fun to see Lucy actually "get" Halloween this year. She had a great time at our neighborhood carnival, showing off her costume to her grandparents and of course, she LOVED getting candy whenever she would say, "Trick-or-treat".