Ooops

We were caught completely off guard when someone asked us late Christmas eve what we were giving Little Bug for Christmas. We stared back with blank faces, we didn't get her anything! In fact we didn't even give it a thought! It's an even funnier thing that everybody else remembered to give her a present. As you can see, she can hardly contain her excitement about this present from Grandma and Papa D! And we're just excited cause she was the best Christmas present ever!

You are missed!

Thanks for coming Grandma and Papa D! We sure do miss having someone to hold Little Bug all afternoon long!

Christmas pictures

"Turn your head on more of a slant.
   Now, make a fist...
   and slowly ease it up underneath your chin.
-This is looking really good.
-You can say that again."

How exciting, our first family photo shoot! And "wow, that felt really relaxed." Andrew had this 'insert adjective here' idea to take a family picture in the most Christmassy sweaters we could find. His shirt actually lights up and mine even had a snowflake hanging from the zipper. Stay tuned in case this becomes a new family tradition. And don't worry, Little Bug is not being smashed between our two arms!

2-3 feet tall at Lucky's

Last week, we bundled ourselves up to brave off the ridiculously moderate temperatures and made a trek to the Christmas tree farm. After an exhaustive search, we discovered a Christmas tree jewel. Miraculous! Andrew chopped the beast down and manhandled it into the car. It may have been tedious work, but in the end it sure was worth it. In other words, we went to Lucky's and snatched up the last tree left.

It's a hard knock life

Since the arrival of Little Bug, we have learned mounds of new things. For example, we have made two precious discoveries that are fail proof in calming Little Bug; Foot massages and the creme de la creme the blow dryer. The simple sound of the blow dryer being turned on will hush the smallest to loudest cries in an instant. What three week old can resist such toasty warm accommodations? And here's the video that proves it!

Not a good idea

I know I shouldn't have, but as I was staring at my closet I couldn't help myself. I tried on some of my pre-pregnancy cloths. It didn't go well. However, I did feel a little better when I looked down and saw this;

Here's a Little Bug update. She had her first doctor's appointment a few days ago and is already back to her birth weight! Little oinker! She's waking up a bit more and it's fun to see her big eyes staring back at you. . . they are starting to look brown. She also lets us sleep a couple four hour blocks a night and we're not complaing about that! All in all, she's a keeper and treating us pretty well.

"I love that she came with an instruction manual"

I noticed from our last entry that Andrew forgot some crucial details. For those interested, here is a more detailed account of how our little bug arrived.

After a disappointing BYU loss to Utah, Andrew and I decided to console ourselves with some ice cream and a movie. After the movie, I hopped up from the couch and felt a little gush of fluid. I thought "that was odd" but decided to ignore it. While I was getting ready for bed more fluid kept gushing out. I was starting to worry about the problem but the reality of the situation never really clicked. In fact, it was Andrew who came up with the idea...Maybe your water broke? ... Of course I quickly shot down that idea. I was probably in denial that the time had now come and I was going to have to push her out. It didn't take long before I had to accept the mounting evidence that in fact my water had broken.

The doctor advised us to go to the hospital where they confirmed that my water had broken, that I was having mild contractions, and that the baby was doing well. We had the option to check into the hospital or go home and come back in the morning. It was about 2 AM at this time. We decided to head home and, needless to say, it was a long night. The contractions weren't strong enough to cause real pain, but they were uncomfortable enough to keep me awake. By 8 AM, I was having contractions every 4 minutes for about 40 seconds and the pain was increasing. It was time! By 9 we were all checked in at the hospital.

Unfortunately, the adrenaline from the drive to the hospital disrupted the regularity of my contractions. At this point the doctor told us that women whose water has broken often have long, slowly progressing labors. Since my contractions were no longer regular and I hadn't slept well the night before, she advised speeding up the process with some pitocin. I agreed, but in hindsight this was a bad idea. My contractions were already increasing on their own and I headed into active labor. The pitosin just put my contractions right on top of each other and seemed to increase the pain. By 2:30 PM I was exhausted, only dilated to a three, and getting no rest between contractions. At this point, I went for the epidural. It felt like a dream and my only regret is that I didn't go for it earlier! So, for the first time since 2:30AM I was able to relax, sleep, and most importantly like Andrew again:)

By 7:30 PM I was fully dilated and feeling the pressure to push! I was all excited, thinking that we would finally get to meet her in just a few minutes. Three very tiring hours later I was still pushing and we were no closer to meeting our little one. Not only was she facing upwards with her head bearing down on my lower back/tailbone area, but her head was also at an odd angle. At this point, the doctor gave me a choice. She could try to suction her out, with %50 chance of success with failure leaded to a c-section, or we could just go straight for a c-section. It wasn't more than a split second before I decided to try the suction first. Now, I don't think I'd really mind having a c-section if I hadn't just gone through 24 hours of labor. In my mind it's gotta be one or the other, not both. So, I was pretty grumpy that if the suction didn't work, I'd be wheeled into surgery for a c-section. The good news was that this fact provided me with excellent motivation to push her out! Thank heavens the suction worked and a few pushes later we finally met our little bug for the first time.

There you go, the most painful thing I've done! A few hours after delivery they took us down to the recovery room. On the desk was a half inch thick booklet on newborns and parenting. Andrew happily exclaimed, "I love that she came with an instruction manual!" Apparently we're all set and ready to go!

And here is Little Bug enjoying her Thanksgiving feast and post dinner slumber.

Presenting . . . our little bug!

She is finally here and, in our very objective opinions, she is very cute. Nora Marley was born on Nov 23rd at 10:39 PM. She was 7 lbs 1 oz and 20 inches long. Well, Enough with the words already here are the pictures.

Baby update

I really can't complain about my pregnancy. Granted the first trimester was not fun, but since then I've been feeling great. That was up until about a week and a half ago, when suddenly I realized moving around was...difficult. Walking, sleeping, sitting, and standing up, all of it, uncomfortable. I decided that it was time for our little one to come out. As of late, I've been trying to talk her into it, but she has yet to be convinced.

We did receive a little good news from what will hopefully be my last prenatal doctors appointment, but I'm trying not to jinx myself by saying that. At the moment I have dilated to 1 cm! I know, it doesn't sound like much but I'm 1/10 the way there and that's something. Granted it's the easiest 1/10, but I'll take it. The really interesting part was while the doctor was checking me, she actually poked the baby's head; hopefully it was more like a gentle touch. She said it was in a great position. Of course Andrew wanted to know if that meant she was coming in the next few days, but basically all it tells us is she's on her way. I guess we already knew that, but it's still fun to hear progress is being made.

Since my first pregnancy is coming to a close, I have been recalling all my little pregnancy nuances that I never knew would be coming my way. I feel they should be recorded and since this blog is as good a place as any, here it goes.
My favorite quirks and lessons learned:
1) I had no idea cravings would suddenly feel like needs. I no longer simply craved things, I needed them.
2) I never really knew how good soda was. Before, I would walk down the soda isle at the grocery store, passing by all the six, twelve, and eighteen packs and wonder, who bought this junk. Suddenly I found myself pregnant and smacking my lips at just the thought of walking down the soda isle. If it were up to me, I would have had the fridge stocked my entire pregnancy. Luckily (or maybe unfortunately), Andrew stepped in on that one and squashed all my soda dreams. I have to admit, I was still able to sneak a few six packs past him.
3) I had no idea someone could work up a sweet going down a flight of stairs.
4) Who knew that flip flops could become too small.
5) And that brings me to apples. I didn’t know anyone could become an apple addict. I had to stop myself from devouring apple after apple. One time after a trip to the grocery store, Andrew saw me putting away multiple bags and different varieties of apples. I watched as his eyes got bigger and I think he was slightly confused as to why we had so many apples.

So there you have it. I wonder what the second time around will bring? But until then, I think I'll focus on coxing our first little one out because, I'll be honest, it's time.

Celebration...nope, no baby yet

Our anniversary was election day Tuesday and since I was in class until 10pm that evening (Andrew was glued to the computer watching election updates), we decided we would celebrate later. It took us a while, but we finally celebrated this past Friday by going on the night tour of Alcatraz. I haven't been to Alcatraz since I was six and Andrew hadn't been at all. Although these two pics suggest it was mid-day, we spent most of our time wondering around the island in the dark. Much more creepy at night. At least it would have been if not for the hundreds of other people wandering around too. The dim lighting added to the ambiance, but for an even better night tour experience, I think they should add muted sound effects and muffled groans from hidden speakers in darkened cells. Oh, and then they need prison actors escaping from cells, terrorizing unsuspecting tourists with chain saws. . . Well . . . maybe not, but Alcatraz would make a great spook alley. In any case, we enjoyed a very warm and pleasant night on the Rock and of course it was great spend it with each other.

Sneak peak

They are a little blurry, but here are some 3D pics of our nameless little one. The technician tried and tried to get her to move her hands away from her face, but she held her ground. I don't blame her, I think it's getting pretty tight in there! The middle pic is of her feet in case you can't tell:)

Here's to us

Well, we've officially been married for two years! That is, since yesterday. And to commemorate the moment we'd each like to share our top three reasons of why we like being married. I'll start with mine; 1) I like having someone to share my life with, 2) I get as many back scratches as I want, and 3) the garbage is miraculously always taken out and a new liner is always placed in the trash can. Andrew's top reasons are; 1) He likes having someone to share his life with, 2) is always amazed there is a packed lunch waiting for him in the fridge when he's off to work, and 3) that there is always toilet paper nicely placed on the dispenser. Married life is truly wonderful!

Miss Pac-Man

Recognize this little girl?

What is a blog for other than to reveal information about ourselves that otherwise people generally would never know. Well here you have it. Melissa has a medium size addicted to Pac-Man and I guess it started when she was a little girl. I caught on to her little fetish the last time she got a new cell phone. First thing she did was download pac-man. Now I catch her playing in all sorts of random and inappropriate places. Don't worry, she got in trouble the day I caught her playing in church. Turns out she is really good at it too. Just a warning in case she ever tries to hustle you at pac-man.

What's going on here?!

As of late, I feel like reorganizing everything. Such as, having these strong urges to clean our apartment from top to bottom. And I don't just mean clean here. I mean, tear apart the apartment and put it all back together again kinda urges. You know, like taking on the linen closet by refolding each towel and sheet. Which I did try to do at 12 o'clock last night, but was sadly thwarted by a tired Andrew telling me to get into bed. Now, they tell me this tendency is called nesting and this is what Pregnancy Weekly had to say about it;

Nesting brings about some unique and seemingly irrational behaviors in pregnant women and all of them experience it differently. Women have reported throwing away perfectly good sheets and towels because they felt the strong need to have "brand new, clean" sheets and towels in their home. They have also reported doing things like taking apart the knobs on kitchen cupboards, just so they could disinfect the screws attached to the knobs. Women have discussed taking on cleaning their entire house, armed with a toothbrush. There seems to be no end to the lengths a nesting mother will go to prepare for her upcoming arrival. (http://www.parentingweekly.com/pregnancy/pregnancy_information/nesting_instinct.htm)

Now, I never use to believe in such a phenomenon, but I guess I've been bitten by this strange bug. A few weeks ago, I just had to buy a pumpkin and decorate for Halloween (I've never been inspired to do that before). More recently, I actually became strangely jealous of some friends who moved simply because they got to go through everything they owned and reorganize it. I'd have to say, I became a believer in this so called nesting instinct. Time to go organize and clean - I better cash in on these feelings before it's too late.

Oh baby

As of late, Andrew and I have been having conversations about what our baby will look like...I'm assuming this is a common conversation for expectant parents to have. Turns out, Andrew then spent an afternoon playing with some pics of us and a few morphing programs to figure it out, all scientific like. Here are the results! I think she looks pretty cute, despite the scary looking adult teeth she amazingly seems to have at such a tender age! We also figured out she'll grow up to be around 5 feet 5 inches (supposedly you figure this out by adding together the mother and fathers height, divided by two, minus two inches for a girl, plus two if you're having a boy). And we're also assuming that she is doomed to have short stocky legs, seeing how Andrew and I both have them. Sorry kid, those are the breaks.

Reality

Well, we just got back from our hospital tour. We know our root to the hospital, where to park the car (so we don't get a ridiculously large parking ticket), how to register, and most importantly all those little details one never thinks of...like bring a toothbrush and your favorite pillow. However, on our ride back home we were both deep in thought. I was contemplating the reality that there is really only one way this baby is coming out and Andrew was pondering whether or not he would pass out trying to cut the umbilical cord. All the while wondering what happened to the good old days when the father just waited in the lobby. So here's good luck to us both!

We finally decided it was time for an official belly shot (or as official as you can get taking a picture in an apartment). I'm 33 weeks along and still happy with the fact our little one is safely tucked away in my belly.

Family, water skiing, tootsie rolls, and swimming

Well we just got back from our four days of Utah fun! It's sad to be back to real life. Andrew had to get up this morning and, for me, another quarter of school is just around the corner. So, it was most certainly nice not to think about the daily routine, if only for a few days. The highlight of course was being able to see family, but second to that (for Andrew) was getting some watering skiing in. It was beautiful and we were the only boat on the lake! Translation: Andrew was the only person crazy enough to go water skiing at Lake Jordenelle near the end of September. Besides the cold, it was perfect glass and very relaxing.

The second highlight for me, of course, was being able to stock up on flavored tootsie rolls (why do they not sell them in California!?) and orange rolls. (Strange they both have roll in the title.) I just happened to discover the orange rolls while we were having dinner with Andrew's Aunt Darlene and Uncle Ray. They used to live in CA and taught us how to smuggle the frozen rolls home. All it took was a box lined with newspaper and some dry ice! I'll have to let everyone know if I am even able to get these pre-made rolls to rise!

Another highlight I would have to say was using Andrew's parents indoor lap pool! It was fun to see Andrew swim and I'm sure Andrew enjoyed seeing me attempt to swim. I'm positive the wheels were just spinning in his head on how I could improve my technique. Andrew was so excited he smelled like chlorine again that he could not stop smelling himself afterward! The pool was a ton of fun and it is now our goal to convince my parents to put one in their garage! I'd be willing to drive ten minutes up the road for a good swim! Anyways, all in all it was a very fun and relaxing trip!

Things you forgot to tell your mother

Andrew just got off the phone with his mom and was trying to think of events/stories to tell her. . . he just happened to forget to tell her about our weekend trip to Hearst Castle! Details are just not one of his strong points. My favorite forgotten detail was when we landed in Hawaii for our honeymoon and Andrew could not remember the name of our hotel.

Anyway, we have been wanting to take a little trip to see Hearst Castle for a while and last Thursday we decided to just go. So, Andrew booked a cute hotel room and late Friday afternoon we were off! Off to a glamorous freeway crawl. We probably could have waited another hour to leave and still arrived at the same time. Rotten Bay Area traffic. Luckily we stopped for dinner along the way and had a nice break from the car.

When we woke up on Saturday we realized our hotel was literally right next to the beach (we arrived at 10pm the night before and could not see a thing). So, we took a walk along the boardwalk, enjoying the beach, and then we drove the remaining five miles to Hearst Castle. It was a fun tour and we highly recommend it to anyone in the area. Too bad they have about four tours, each showing different sections of the "castle." Great tactic for increasing business earnings, but sad for all the tour goers. I am also little bitter because we got all these pictures of us at the beach and then our camera battery died after one shot at Hearst Castle! I tried to blame Andrew for it, but really we're both at fault. We were just so infatuated with this one little bird and were compelled to take multiple pictures of it. After our little wildlife-photographer kick we realized there was not much battery power left. We were resolved to save the battery for the castle, but then we spotted this strange jelly thing on the beach. . .We couldn't decide if it was a Jelly Fish or some sort of mutated, evil, supernatural, silcon blob. We were afraid to touch it in case it would devour our arm, but, naturally, we took a picture. Luckily the one shot we did get of Andrew at Hearst Castle turned out. So at least there's some sort of proof we were there!

Storage Close

With a little one on the way and a one bedroom apartment, we realized we would need a little more space around here. The problem seemed easy enough to solve. We figured we'd throw up some shelves in our garage, close it off, and put up some doors. A trip to Home Depot, a Saturday afternoon, some whiz bang, and presto, a new storage closet! Of course, it never happens as quickly and as easily as you think. After a Saturday afternoon and four evenings of work, not to mention a few more trips to the hardware store, we finally have our new storage closet. There are a few flaws, but at least it is nice and big. We are still working on moving our boxes out to the garage, but we've got ~11 weeks and counting!

"I'm pretty good at this!"

This is for all those loyal Andrew fans out there. Sunday night we were playing the wii fit with my family and we discovered a hula hoop game. It was an instant hit! For those who are unfamiliar with the wii fit, it's this little board you stand on that senses your movements. For the hula hoop game you have to swing your hips as if you are really hula hooping. The object is to keep the hula hoop going while you catch additional hoops being thrown at you. The person with the most rotations and hula hoops wins.

It just so happens Andrew has some major hula hoopin' skills...maybe it's because he has 3 sisters. The best part was watching him swing his hips to keep the hula hoop going, it's the closest I've seen him to dancing. I hope you enjoy the video. Andrew was unaware I was recording him. You have to listen quite carefully, and maybe it's only me that thinks this is hilarious, but he proudly states at the beginning, "I'm pretty good at this!" Unfortunately, the lighting is bad and my recording skills worse, but you can still his hips swinging enough to get a taste of his mad hula hooping skills!

Another bust!

Homemade bread was always one of life's mysteries to me. Growing up, the closest encounter I had to fresh baked bread was driving past The Rainbow Bread factory off the 980. Somewhat pathetic, but it would always smell so wonderful, especially in the early evening hours. On Thanksgiving, my mom would go all out and buy the ready to bake rolls, which were always a treat for us. The point is, we were not really a bread making family.

For our first Thanksgiving, Andrew and I were on our own and decided it would be fun if we did the whole Thanksgiving spread. We each had requests of what we wanted to have for dinner and one of Andrew's was homemade rolls. Since I was tackling my first turkey (stuffing and all), Andrew was in charge of the home made rolls. His rolls turned out beautifully. So light and fluffy.

It seemed easy enough, so a little while later, I started a series of sad attempts at making homemade rolls. I have tried four times and each time time was a slight variation on disaster. Now, four times may not sound like I've given it much effort, but I can assure you that each attempt has been given calculated concentration and the old college try on my part. At first, I thought maybe it was our apartment that was the problem, (our first apartment was quite cold and damp and I came to the conclusion this is why my rolls would not rise). After all, I followed the recipe to a T. Considering that our new apartment is not cold or damp, I was excited that somewhere down the line I could finally make rolls that would rise. However, this past weekend I attempted making rolls again with the same unfruitful result, flat as pancakes. Quite the opposite of light and fluffy. Here are some pics to prove it. Unless anyone has some tips that will solve all my bread making problems , I think I'm about to throw in the kitchen towel. I'll just have to make sure I drive my kids by a bread factory so they know how wonderful the smell of freshly made bread is.

Cal Shakes

While commuting to school, along the freeway I always pass this sign that says, 'California Shakespeare Festival.' I have been curious about it for years. Mostly thinking as I quickly pass by, 'that'd be fun to go to sometime.' All I really knew about it was that it is an open air theater and you can bring a picnic to eat before hand. Well, Andrew and I are still on our old single ward's emailing list and about a week ago we got an email stating they would be playing An Ideal Husband that week. I love that play! I should make the disclaimer that I have never actually read the play, but I've seen the movie and it is hilarious! I mentioned the idea of going to Andrew and he quickly made the disclaimer he has been wanting to go for a while now. Allegedly, he has even mentioned it several times to me. I can't believe I missed the opportunity to go earlier! I swear I'm a good listener; isn't that suppose to be the number one trait of a therapist?! Anyways, we ended up getting tickets, packing a tasty picnic, and heading off to the play with my parents.

If you're gonna eat some calories, I suggest this treat!

Years ago, my sister Melanie came up with this REALLY great tart recipe. Besides being with family, we all loved it when we got together because she would usually make some tarts. It was kind of this big mystery how she did it. One day, while I was having a pregnancy induced craving, I needed some tart! So, I called her up and got the recipe and she was very glad to pass it on. And truthfully it is not that hard! It is just a two step process. As a warning, it does call for a lot of egg!

CRUST (this makes two 9 inch crusts)
-1 cup butter room temperature
-1 cup sugar
-1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-4 egg yolks
-2 3/4 cup floor
-1/8 teaspoon salt

*you mix the butter and sugar together for about 3 minutes. add vanilla and one egg yolk at a time, mixing together in-between. add salt and floor all at once and mix together (it will be crumbly). divide the dough into two and you can immediately roll it out to make two crusts or you can freeze one portion of the dough or both and save till later. I find it easiest to roll out the dough on some wax paper. It makes it easier when flipping the dough into the pan.

FILLING (this only makes filling for ONE tart. What you can do, since the dough recipe makes two crusts is, freeze one portion of crust dough and save it for later or just double the filling recipe if you want two tarts)
-1 cup milk
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1/2 cup sugar
-3 egg yolks
-1 tablespoon cornstarch
-1 tablespoon floor
-1 teaspoon butter
-1/2 cup un-whipped heavy whipping cream

*Take dry ingredients and mix. add milk and cook over stove top until boiling. take part of boiling mixture and put into a separate bowl and add egg yolks. mix egg mixture with a fork quickly. then add egg mixture back to stove top mixture and boil. take off heat and add vanilla and butter. place in fridge until cooled completely. then whip 1/2 cup whipping cream and add to filling mixture when it is completely cooled (if not you're whipping cream will melt and the filling will be runny).

*Then of course you put the filling into the crust and decorate with whatever fruits you love! It works best if you have a tart pan, but you can do it with a pie pan. If you use a pie pan, the crust won't go all the way up the pie pan edges. It will probably only go up about halfway, which is fine because there isn't enough filling to fill a whole pie pan. Tart pans are much shorter. ENJOY (and if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them)!

We're not getting bigger, the room is getting smaller!

Here's a conversation Andrew and I had today. I was talking about this pregnancy book I've been reading and how they described an expectant mother's weight gain. For 2nd trimester it is described as, "gains weight easily" and for 3rd trimester it is, "starts to pack on the pounds." Not too encouraging word choice for someone who is about to launch into their 3rd trimester.

Then I said, "You know, my shirts are getting smaller."

Andrew replied, "I . . . uh . . . don't think that's the case. There is another explanation."

It was actually quite funny. Of course my shirts are not getting smaller...I'm just getting bigger. Only when I'm pregnant is Andrew allowed to say such things!

From DC to Oakland

So my sister and her family came to visit this past week. We had loads of fun and ended up going all over the bay area. We hiked in the red woods, well took a stroll, after all the kidlets aren't that old, went to San Fran, had some tasty pizza, visited the trolley museum, shopped in China Town, went to Marine World Six Flags, and had plenty of family dinners and game nights. Here are some pics, mostly of Marine World. That was the only day I remembered my camera. I also find it interesting we've gone to three amusement parks since I've been pregnant. What's the deal with that?! Not that I don't love dolphin and whale shows, but I find it somewhat ironic that as soon as I can't go on any rides we go to all the parks.


This is Andrew and my nephew David. It was his first roller coaster and he barely made the height requirement (David that is)...we think he liked it.


This is my Dad and David on another child appropriate ride. David said he couldn't look up at the camera because he was too busy driving the car. He was pretty excited about this one.


My Mom and I relaxing while we wait for others to go on a ride.

Andrew and I with George in the background.


And finally this is my niece, Abigail and I at our slumber party! After her pedicure, we stayed up late watching a movie and eating way too much ice cream. We're going for favorite Aunt and Uncle!

Andrew was right!

So let me explain this picture. About a month ago, Andrew saw me sitting on top of our pedestal sink. Your first question may be, 'why were you even sitting on a pedestal sink?' Well, it just so happens there are lots of reasons to do so. You can clean the mirror better, putting on make-up is easier, and plucking is a hundred times more effective. However, Andrew immediately started freaking out, which he never does, so this was quite the phenomenon for me. He explained that it wasn't safe for me to be doing such a thing because the sink was actually not very stable on the pedestal (it is a very big sink for such a small pedestal). Unfortunately, about a week later, he again caught me doing the same thing. That didn't go over to well either. So we came to an agreement; I would never sit on the sink again and he would never be allowed to stand underneath waterfalls (I'm afraid a rock is going to come loose and land on his head or maybe even a big fish...strange thought, but there you go.) However, a couple weeks later I found myself climbing onto the pedestal sink again. As I was sitting there, I suddenly remembered that I had promised never to sit on it again (bad habits are hard to break). Just as I was about to get off, I suddenly felt myself falling down! And the next thing ya know I'm on the floor with the pedestal sink collapsed next to me. It turns out the sink was never actually bolted to the wall, but instead only glued to the layers and layers of paint. I had to call Andrew and sheepishly confess. I felt like a five year old telling their mom that they snuck some candy. With four trips to Home Depot it is finally fixed. Now, it is not only glued to the wall, but also safely bolted into some nice solid wood. It's just too bad that Andrew has a free pass to stand underneath waterfalls, I hope he doesn't get conked on the head. Although, then he'd have to tell me I was right!

Whacha got in there?

IT'S A GIRL!

Take me out to the ball game!

Well, we finally got a picture of us at a baseball game. Andrew and I have been going to games for a couple of years now and I can remember going to baseball games since I was in the second grade. The best was when my mom dropped me off at school and asked, "Hey you want to go to a baseball game this afternoon?" Of course my response was "Yes." With a convincing note about how I had to go to the doctor that afternoon, we were off to the game! At the ballpark, I always got to choose one special treat. I always went for the red ropes because they were the biggest of all ballpark treats. What kid wouldn't use that rational when buying candy? So, the point of all this rambling? I have many fond memories of baseball games on both fine afternoons and cold nights alike, with no pictures to show for it. This marks the first picture I've taken at an A's game and I have the blog to thank for it (what's a post without a picture?!). I'll have to make sure we don't wait so long to take a pic of our little one at an A's game.

We went with my family to last night's fireworks game and had quite a nice time. Good company and a great game. We won 9-2 with a very exciting 3rd inning filled with home runs, triples, and fun errors made by the other team! To top it off, there were some great fireworks to celebrate. Go A's!

Food, fireworks, fog and the plumber's apprentice

Happy 4th of July! Although, it's a little late to say it, it is not too late to tell you about how we celebrated. We had a nice relaxing day that ended with us heading out to San Fransisco. We took a nice long walk from the Bart to the farthest pier and had a picnic before watching the fireworks. We arrived about an hour before dark and found a nice spot with a view of Alcatraz and the bay. We were all set to watch the show when this showed up and the fog rolled in to obstruct our view. Instead of seeing bright fireworks we just saw colored fog. Not to complain, because on our way back home, a firetruck parted the crowd with siren blaring and stopped right in front of us. The firemen then casually put out a dumpster fire. The crowd cheered louder for the extinguished dumpster than for the fireworks. In fact, I do think it might have been the most entertaining part of the evening. Here we are right before we staked our claim for the evening.

Giant Stinky Flower

So Melissa read in the paper that the UC Berkeley botanical gardens had a giant corpse lily in bloom. Well, we went up there to check in out, but we missed the rotten smell by a few days. Evidently, these flowers only bloom (and stink) for about 10 hours every 13 years or so. Melissa was able to get close enough to smell remnant odor and concluded that the botanists were right about the rotten smell. After the flower blooms, it starts to close back up and this is the stage that we saw. Even folded up, it was still pretty impressive.


Moreover, I got a real kick out of the head botanist who was talking about the flower. Excluding the evil villain part, he was just like Stefano played by Count Olaf played by Jim Carey in Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events. I just couldn't get over the similarities.