Hello 2009

Historically I haven't been big on New Year's Resolutions, but this year I decided that setting some goals for the year isn't such a bad idea. So here are some personal goals for 2009 (in no particular order):

1. Go to the dentist. Do I dare admit publicly that I haven't been to the dentist since I was pregnant with Caleb? Time for a visit.
2. Do a better job of keeping up on current events.
3. Eat more vegetables.
4. Improve my listening skills.
5. Lose that baby weight. I think a New Year's Resolution list HAS to have a weight loss goal to be complete. Bonus points if I lose the weight before my 10 year high school reunion =)

As 2008 quickly draws to a close, I am dutifully trying to eat up the delicious chocolates that Matt gave me for Christmas. I need to get rid of them so I can start working on #5 right away in the new year. I love it when a plan comes together.

Goodbye 2008

Our family finished out this year with quite a bit of fun. After an enjoyable Christmas in San Jose (with my parents visiting), we headed down to southern California for a mini vacation. On Sunday we took a leisurely drive to Disneyland, stopping at San Miguel Mission, Solvang, and The Getty Center along the way. The stop at San Miguel was unplanned, but very valuable to us as we learned that a mission is a GREAT place to stop on a Hwy 101 roadtrip when the kids need some time to get out and stretch. Caleb enjoyed it so much that he asked to stop at "that old church" again on the way home. Solvang was nice to see (though we only drove through), and we really enjoyed the Getty Center for the brief time we were there. It's definitely a place we need to visit again when we have more time.

We spent Monday at Disneyland... along with everybody and his brother. It was extremely crowded, and therefore too difficult for us to do much. The lines were quite long and the streets were so jammed with people that it wasn't even fun to walk around and enjoy the sights. A bit disappointing for us, although the kids still had a good time. We took the monorail to Downtown Disney in the afternoon to get away from the masses. We ate an early dinner at Rainforest Cafe, and that worked out perfectly! The kids did great, the food was decent, and our friends Daniel, Mika, and Mia joined us mid-meal! It couldn't have worked out better. We crashed with exhaustion Monday evening and decided to spend Tuesday first at Downtown Disney and then relaxing and checking out the area. It was one of those trips where we felt like we didn't "accomplish" a ton, but one where we truly enjoyed being together as a family. That's what it should be about anyway, right?

Matt already posted some pictures on facebook, maybe someday I'll add more here. But it was a great way to end the year. Looking forward to 2009!

Celebrating One Month with Avery

Avery June Eubanks joined our family on October 20 at 3:29pm weighing 8lbs and 21 inches long. It's hard to believe an entire month has already passed since her birth. Avery has been a great baby. She only cries when she is hungry and tolerates her brothers' energy quite well. (As I write this, the boys are shrieking as they have "Monster Time" with Daddy... Avery is just sleeping away in her bouncer seat in the kitchen.)

We've all enjoyed having a baby girl here with us. Caleb and Hayden love to hold her, touch her, and give her slimy kisses. Caleb is very kind and gentle with Avery, and really looks out for her. Hayden is not so gentle, but just as well meaning. The adjustment to 3 kids has been ok. Adjusting at home has been relatively easy, but adjusting to taking 3 kids out of the house has been the challenge.

And for those who want to know: the labor and delivery went well. I went in at 4:30am to be induced. The pitocin was started by 6am. By 1pm I was really feeling the pain of the contractions (to say the least), and when the nurse checked my cervix I had only dilated from 3cm to 5cm during the previous 7 hours. At this point I asked for an epidural. I was so relieved when the anesthesiologist walked through the door a short time later. The epidural was started successfully. Within the next 2 hours I dilated the remaining 5cm. And with one push, Avery was born! She was blue and bruised from coming out so quickly, but otherwise everything was perfect.

My recovery was easy this time. In fact my biggest complaint was the sore spot on my back from where the epidural went in. My hospital experience was good, and it was a treat to just phone in my order for every meal. If only it was that simple at home...

It was great to have our family's help for the first few weeks. We've also been blessed by the many meals our friends have prepared for us. They say the first 6 weeks are the hardest, so we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! (At least, I think so.) We are definitely still short on sleep, but I guess that is par for the course. It's also my excuse if any of my sentences are less than coherent!

Oh yeah, we have a blog

Yup, it's to the point of being embarassing! Baby Avery has been here almost a month, and we have yet to do an official welcoming blog post. Poor third child! We will try to do better about updating the blog... maybe for her one month birthday she will get a proper blog welcoming.

In the mean time, we are enjoying our 3 wonderful children and wishing we were getting more sleep. =) More glorious details to follow!

Budding Interests

One of the fun things about parenting is watching our boys' interests develop over time. Caleb has been a car kid from the start. Since he was 18 months, he's loved kneeling down to drive toy cars on the couch. One of the first words Caleb said clearly was "wheel." He used to drive his Matchbox school bus on the couch and focus intently on the wheels, saying, "wheel, wheel, wheel." The Matchbox collection has grown to about 100 cars now, and, honestly, he really treasures about 80-90% of those cars.

Caleb's interest of course extends to real cars too. When he meets new adults, he says, "Hi, what kind of car do you drive?" To answer "a black car" is not acceptable. Caleb wants to know the make and model. And if you say, "I drive a black Honda Accord with fog lights and a sunroof" you'll score extra points for the additional details. Caleb can identify over 30 models of cars on the road. I'm sure he would know more, but unfortunately he's limited by his mother's knowledge of cars. (I just don't know the different types of Mercedes, Lexuses, Volvos, and BMWs very well. Though, in my defense, it would help if they had more creative names than letter-number combinations like XC90!)

Hayden has been a sports kid since he was just a few months old. He LOVES balls. Recently Matt was watching baseball on TV and changed the channel to a different show, and Hayden started protesting saying, "Baseball!" Right now Hayden's favorite is basketball. And I will admit that I am pretty excited about that. We recently bought him his first full size basketball, and Hayden grinned the whole way home, holding tight to that ball. Actually, he also bounced it off the back of my seat in the car playing catch with it, and for Hayden that was great fun. (Not so fun for me though.) We have a Little Tykes hoop and Hayden will take real shots, rather than just walk up to dunk the ball. He holds the ball over his head and says, "Ball Shot!" It's too cute. Though sometimes the words come out sounding like he's saying something different and not so cute =)

I used to think that when young children showed such a strong interest in things that the parents must push it on them from a young age. But I'm realizing what a strong role genetics plays. It's exciting and scary all at the same time.

Car Manufacturing in Silicon Valley?

Some interesting news here (and here) in San Jose. Tesla is a new car company, started by the founder of PayPal. They currently make $100,000 electric cars. They are purely electric (not hybrid), and have a range of several hundred miles. Plus they go 0-60 MPH in less than 4 seconds! More info on the cars is at http://www.teslamotors.com/.

They are pretty sweet, and a few can already be seen on the streets of the Bay Area. The waiting list is so long that they are sold-out for the next couple years of production.

The good news is that Tesla is going to move down the price scale and start building a $50-60k model, called Model S. And they are going to be built right here in San Jose, just a mile from my Cisco office! The plant will be built from scratch on some empty land by San Francisco Bay. Interesting that they chose one of the most expensive cities in the US to build their new plant.

Anyway, I hope to get on the waiting list soon :) The Model S cars won't ship until 2011, but it will be so worth the wait!

Home Sweet Home

Life's fast pace has continued for us during the past few weeks... We decided two weeks ago on Friday that we wanted to move before our house sold. The next day, Saturday, we looked at a few houses and found one we really liked. We signed the lease the following Wednesday and moved in on Sunday. Did you catch all of that? I can barely keep the days straight in my head right now.

We like our new house quite a bit, and it has a lot of advantages over our old one: a yard in the front and back, more square footage, cozier layout, bigger garage, a very nice and friendly neighborhood, etc. The only downside is that we don't have A/C anymore, but somehow we've survived several days with temperatures in the high 90s. All in all, it truly seems like things are working out for the best.

The boys are adjusting to things, but it's been hard on them. They've had quite a few meltdowns in the past week and it's clear that they are sharing in the stress that Matt and I have felt. Some days Caleb says he likes the new house and other days he says he wants the moving truck to take our stuff back to the old house. Overall though, I think we made the right decision. I'm sure the boys will settle in nicely just in time for the baby's birth, when life will be crazy again in a new way. =)

House For Sale

It felt sort of like a bomb had been dropped on us (or maybe it felt more like an earthquake? Given that we're in the Bay Area...) when our landlords announced last week that they needed to sell our house ASAP. Our lease runs through the end of October and we were expecting to stay in this house well beyond then.

The past week and a half has been packed full of preparations for showing and selling the house: painting the exterior, re-landscaping the front and back, inspections, cleanings, packing up many of our belongings to de-clutter the house, staging the furniture, etc. And thus the past week and a half has been extremely stressful on all of us. We've tried to be very accomodating to our landlords, mainly because they are good people and we're simply just trying to live by the golden rule. But it has been difficult.

On top of the stress of having strangers in and out as well as now living in a "model home" more or less, is of course the pressure of finding a new place to live. Although the lease ends October 31, we feel our best option is to move prior to that date (regardless of whether the house sells) because... um, yeah... we're also having a BABY in October.

Sure, we moved to new homes (new states, even) when each of the boys was 3 months old. But this time is different because there is more uncertainty in the timing of the move AND we don't even want to move in the first place AND we aren't getting anything out of all this hassle we are enduring.

So life is less than glamorous around here these days. We are hoping the house miraculously sells (and closes) right away so that we can get out of our lease and move to a new place without worrying about paying rent on two different houses. If you'd like to buy our house, you can find information here: www.6025fairhope.com

But don't be fooled by the pictures and give us credit that we don't deserve...our house has never looked this pristine since we've lived in it. =)

Surprises Around Every Corner

When it comes to life with little kids, I've learned that you never really know what each day might bring. Remember how a few weeks ago we were desperately trying to find something Hayden would watch on TV in preparation for our long flight to Buffalo? Last night I sat down next to Hayden on the couch and he handed me the remote and said/whined, "TV." I said, "You want to watch TV?" "Please." Then Hayden started barking and saying "doggie", so I knew exactly what he wanted to watch: Animal Planet. [BTW- Barney DID come through for us on our trip-- Hayden sat still to watch it on several occasions!]

This afternoon it took longer than usual for me to get Hayden settled for his nap. Caleb was downstairs by himself playing, but eventually I heard him saying quietly, "Mommy, Mommy." Thinking that he was just getting lonely, I came out of Hayden's room to tell him I'd be with him soon. Well, the real reason Caleb was calling to me was to tell me there was poop on the floor... as in, Caleb pooped on the floor. He said, "I'm sorry, I was just too busy. Next time I'll stop playing and go to the bathroom." This is the kid who was the easiest potty-trainee in the world! In the last year, he's only had one or two accidents, and NEVER with poop. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the floor.

So, yes, there are surprises around every corner at our house these days. Just watch your step.

East Coast Trip- July 2008

We've recently returned from a great visit to the East Coast. The primary reason for our visit was Ryan (my brother) and Jodi's wedding. It was a beautiful celebration and we were so happy to share in their special day. Caleb was the ring bearer and amazingly he walked down the aisle! We really didn't know what to expect from him, but when the time came, he did a perfect job.

We also made a whirlwind trip to Pennsylvania to visit Mike (Matt's brother) in Philly and our friends the Stauffers in Lancaster county. It was fun driving around Amish country and the boys enjoyed seeing different farm animals at our various stops. The Stauffers took us to Shady Maple where we enjoyed the best breakfast buffet ever! In Philly, Mike treated us to a bus tour of the city. Caleb loved riding on the top of the double decker bus, right up front. Afterward we dined at Pizzacatos, delicious!

Matt and I made a 2 day trip to Raleigh, NC to see our friends Mike and Kara Meiners. It was nice to visit with them and to have some time without the kids! We enjoyed seeing the area, and I think we are starting a new tradition of visiting Ben & Jerry's whenever we get together with Mike & Kara.

Back in Buffalo, the boys enjoyed playing in our parents' yards almost all day long some days. Mostly they drive their ride-on toys in the driveway and play in Grandma & Grandpa's cars. Gramma & Grampa Ceroky took them to a nice playground a few times, and Caleb and Grandma Eubanks had fun blueberry picking together. Aunt Grace took the boys to the Clarence Center firehouse and gave us a tour. It was really neat! Both Caleb and Hayden enjoyed seeing the trucks up close and they loved it when cousin Kevin turned on some of the lights. What a treat!

The other highlight of the trip for me was meeting baby Marissa, Alicia & Bob White's new baby. She was just a week old at the time, and I was honored that she decided to make her entrance into the world while I was in town. =)

Monkey See Monkey Do

For the past few months, Hayden has been especially interested in everything Caleb does. If Caleb takes off his shirt, Hayden wants his off. When Caleb goes to the bathroom, Hayden follows. If Caleb takes medicine, Hayden wants some too. (We've actually used this to our advantage at times when Hayden needs tylenol but refuses it.) This goes for other things like standing at the window, taking vitamins, spitting, whining, putting on shoes, riding bikes, dancing while waving a spatula in the air. You get the idea.

Yesterday Caleb dropped a matchbox car on his toe and was crying. Hayden saw Caleb sitting on my lap while I consoled him. Apparently Hayden decided he wanted to be consoled too, so he laid down on the ground and deliberately banged his forehead on the floor. He stood up rubbing his head and said, "Ow," and then promptly came over to sit on my lap for some comfort. What a guy.

A little excitement in South San Jose

Over a thousand wildfires are burning across California. Two weeks ago the air in the Bay Area was heavy with soot and the sun turned some strange color for several days. It smelled like a campfire outside and our vehicles had a thin film of wood ash. All this was from the wildfires that are over 100 miles north of us. The wind happened to be blowing in our direction all week.

A few weeks before that, there were some fires a bit closer. These were still over 15 miles away, but we could see the smoke rising in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

But on July 5, we had a wildfire just a few hundred yards from our house! Granted, it only was a half-acre brush fire that was quickly brought under control. But it was still quite the site with a fire helicopter scooping water out of our lake and dumping it on the flames. I got some great video! Here are some pics I took:

The helicopter was a lot lower than it looks in the photos. When it first came through our windows rattled much like they did in the earthquake we had last year.

We could see some smoke but it is not evident in the photos. Oh well, at least we didn't have to evacuate.

A New Family Friend

With our upcoming cross-country flight to Buffalo this month, we have been trying to find things that will entertain our boys on the trip. Caleb handles the long rides pretty well, but Hayden has a hard time. He's squirmy, doesn't like sitting on our laps, and has a short attention span for toys and books. We've been searching for a DVD that will captivate him for more than 60 seconds at a time. Who knew it could be so difficult to get your kid to watch TV? We've tried Baby Einstein, Caillou, Sesame Street, and a bunch of other shows. The other day we turned on Barney, a show that we don't typically watch. Much to our surprise, Hayden started dancing, clapping, and clucking his tongue with the music on the show. He watched most of the episode! While I'm not sure that he will enjoy Barney as much on the airplane (when the volume is lower and he isn't free to dance around), it's our best bet so far. Hopefully the big, purple dinosaur can come through for us. Below is a picture of the boys dancing during the show.

I am so jealous

Silicon Valley is famous for giving employees great perks, as I can personally attest to. At Cisco we get free drinks (including Mt Dew, which is a serious problem for me), gym membership (to counteract the free drinks), flexible work schedule, four weeks of vacation a year (!!!), and a myriad of other ones that I don't even use or know about.

But this one over at Google tops them all...

Google Employees Even Get Japanese Space Toilets


I did find the next best perk here at Cisco... streaming High-Def cable stations on my computer. One of our areas of technology is used by cable companies to stream HD video to subscribers. So the Cable Business Unit has been streaming about 15 channels in HD over the Cisco intranet. I was able to watch the Euro 2008 soccer semifinals live the last two days. How sweet! And it doesn't even affect my productivity ;-)

Back Into the Swing of Things

It's been almost a month since our last post, so I suppose we're overdue for another. Caleb, Hayden, and I spent most of June in Buffalo visiting family while Matt did some business travel. We had a great trip. But only a few pictures from my parents to show it--- we got no pictures with our camera as we took it out of the suitcase only to find the battery dead. =(

Probably the best part of our visit, aside from spending time with family, was hanging out in our parents' spacious yards. We have a large concrete patio at home, but no yard, no grass. Okay, we do have about 20 sq ft of grass in the front, but that hardly counts. So the boys loved running around in our parents' yards, which are huge in comparison! They spent hours driving their riding toys in the driveway, as well as playing in their grandparents vehicles.

We also had some nice opportunities to catch up with friends, eat Buffalo pizza & wings (yum!), and do some other fun activities. We went to Explore N More discovery museum, Bounce Around- an indoor place with a bunch of bounce houses and slides, Chuck E Cheese, Strong Museum of Play, and the Niagara aquarium. Caleb also went with Grampa Ceroky to the "headlight store" to buy a new bulb for the headlight on the car, which he found very exciting. Both boys went with Grandma Eubanks to Greg's to get strawberries, and while they were there they watched a bunch of small farm animals. Needless to say, the boys were well entertained.

On the way home we were able to get bumped for our flight from Chicago to San Francisco- and in doing so we got 3 ticket vouchers! That made all the hassle of flying with young kids completely worth it. We've already booked tickets with those vouchers for our trip back to Buffalo in July for Ryan's wedding. I can't believe we're making the long trip again in less than a month-- we're still barely recovered from this last one.

It's nice to be back home and settling into our usual routine. And though the pizza in San Jose isn't as good as Buffalo, who can forget how perfect San Jose weather is? It's nice to enjoy sunny days every day and not give a thought to the humidity level or the wind.

Anatomical Ultrasound Today

...maybe! I'm now 18 weeks along, and this morning I went for my big ultrasound. The baby looked really good and healthy. But its legs were crossed. Bummer! The ultrasound tech did say he thought he saw girl parts, he just couldn't be sure. He apparently has a good track record for identifying a baby's gender, however. While we're not painting the nursery pink quite yet, we are mentally gearing up for a girl. Whatever that means =)

Memorial Day BBQ

For the first time I made baby back ribs on the grill. Overall, they turned out pretty good. But there are so many different combinations of cooking time, temp, bbq sauce, dry rub, etc. that I think it will take me quite a while to perfect.

Criss-Crossing the US

Well, time to hit the road again. Not as nice as my "business trip" to Hawaii, but still not bad. And technically I am only driving to one location: San Francisco, which is only an hour away. Everywhere else is from one airplane to another.

Fortunately, Robyn and the boys will be able to stay in Buffalo with the grandparents and I will be back there in between my trips. Let me know if you are in town any of these places, because I'd like to drop by (if there is time). Most of these places I will only be in for a day...

May 28 - San Francisco
May 29 - Los Angeles

May 31-June 3 - Buffalo
June 3-4 - Boston
June 5 - Richmond, VA
June 6-7 - New York City

June 8-9 - back in Buffalo
June 10 - Kansas City, KS
June 11 - Chicago
June 12 - Detroit
June 13 - Minneapolis

June 14-16 - back in Buffalo
June 17 - Atlanta
June 18 - Ft Lauderdale
June 19 - Dallas
June 20 - Charlotte

June 21 - back to good 'ole San Jose

I might be skipping Atlanta and Charlotte during the last week, just to take a break. I will really miss Robyn and the boys, but at least I know they will be having fun at the Ceroky and Eubanks grandparents' houses. And being June, hopefully it is safe to assume they will be able to play outside, but hard to say being Buffalo ;-)

The one good thing is that this secures me for Premier status on United again, now through the end of 2009. The benefits are so good, including auto upgrades to Economy Plus and First Class, plus priority check-in. But it sure takes a lot of miles to get there (25,000 flown in one calendar year).

Baby Kicks!

At least I think so. They are so small right now that I've only noticed them when I'm resting and not distracted by anything else going on around me (a rarity around here, as you can imagine). I expect to be more certain of it in another week or so. For now I look forward to the few moments in a day when I can feel them. Yay for a growing baby!

Hopefully, I'm not just reporting gas pains to the world...

Hayden at 15 months

Today I took Hayden to the doctor for his 15 month check-up. He's holding steady in the >95 percentile for height (34 in), and has slimmed down to the 80th percentile for weight at 27lbs 8 oz. Hayden is slowly adding more words to his vocabulary and currently he says Hello, Bye, Uh-Oh, Cheese, and No fairly clearly, with several other words that are only recognizable by their context ("thank you", "there it is"). (He learned to say cheese in Hawaii when we were taking so many pictures!) Caleb and Hayden actually sometimes both wear 3T shirts. Caleb wears the 3T brands that run big and Hayden just started wearing the 3Ts that run small! It's amazing how much sizes can vary between brands.

Hayden continues his monkey antics around the house and wherever we go- climbing and pulling up on anything, with no fear of falling. He's been very creative in finding objects to use at stools. I don't know how many times a day I say, "Hayden, the chairs stay at the table!" It's tiring trying to keep up with him! The fun part is watching his verbal comprehension grow exponentially... like the other day when he was whining at the kitchen sink, and I said, "You don't need to wash your hands right now" and he then threw a tantrum right after I said it. =)

The amazing Honda Civic

Since a lot of people and the media are complaining about high gas prices and a depressed economy, I thought I’d share a true automobile success story.

It all began several years ago when we still lived in good ‘ole Buffalo. In October 2004 we traded in our 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid for a new 2005 Honda Civic EX (non-hybrid). We actually made money on the Hybrid, since we received federal and New York State tax benefits and had no repairs and very little gas during the time we owned it. So that is success story number one.

I paid about $17,500 for the new Civic EX (not including trade-in value of the Hybrid). That was a fair amount for a Civic, and the only thing that would have made it more expensive would have been automatic instead of manual transmission. But anyway, even though it was relatively expensive, it was really worth it.

All along I have been checking the Kelly Blue Book value and also the estimated value on Edmunds.com. It has barely depreciated at all since I bought it. Even three and a half years later, it is still worth over $15,000! Add to that the fact that it gets 35 miles per gallon city driving (I avoid highways on my commute, but still get great gas mileage). Plus, I have not spent a single penny on maintenance except routine oil changes and tire rotations (so about $50 a year).

And in California used Civics are in even higher demand, especially with gas prices continuing to go up. I have seen my exact car selling for $17,000!

I know we are not talking tons of money here, but it still amazes me that it is possible to buy a new vehicle that you barely have to spend any money on. If I sold it today, it would be like I had driven the vehicle for almost four years and it cost me basically nothing (except some gas and insurance).

I also want to point out that this will only happen with a Honda, or maybe a Toyota. So even if they cost a little more upfront, it is well worth it in the long-run. Not to mention all 4 of our Hondas over the years have absolutely never had a single mechanical issue. Only a few parking garage mishaps :)

What I Like Most About California

There are a lot of things I like about California, and the Bay Area in particular. But this morning I was reminded of one of the best things California has to offer: strawberries! And its other produce, of course. We live less than an hour from Watsonville, the nation's strawberry capital. As we drove home from church today, I was quite happy to see the migrant worker standing on the street corner with his huge boxes full of large, ripe, fresh strawberries. And cheap too! I just might make some strawberry pie...if and only if there are enough berries remaining when I go to make it. All of us love eating them plain, and it won't be long before our big box is empty. Yum.

2nd Trimester Begins

I am 13 weeks now, and had my 2nd OB appointment today. I was able to hear the baby's heart beating away strongly, yay! My nausea has subsided, and my only complaint now is how hungry I am. The baby should be about 3 inches long at this point.

Caleb is starting to understand the concept of a baby inside my belly. The other day he was concerned that the food I ate would be resting on top of the baby's head. And today while I was at the doctor he asked Matt, "Is the baby coming out today?" Matt said, "No, the doctor just wants to look at it." Caleb was perplexed and said, "Are they going to look at the baby and then put it back in?" Below is Caleb's 13 week belly shot. =)

Caleb the Airman

About every week or so Caleb finds a new toy to play with, typically one that is not even a toy in the first place. This past weekend he got his hands on a tire pressure gauge.

At first he used it to look in my ears and mouth like a doctor's otoscope. I asked if he wanted to be a doctor like his Grandpa. He said, "Yes, and an airman." I thought he said fireman, so I asked if that was what he said. "No, I am going to be an airman, so I can put air in people." It was very funny, but just the beginning of his imaginitive streak with the tire gauge.

The next use of the tire gauge was as a magic wand (not sure where he learned that). First he turned me into a rooster, and then a "real cow". After that he turned the house into a rooster, and then back into a house again (thankfully).

The next day, Caleb showed a rare interest in music, and started using the tire gauge to conduct the rest of us and told us to make some music. We were just slapping our knees or something and Hayden really got into it, swaying to the so-called tune.

At night, Caleb went to sleep with the tire gauge at his side. He woke up 3 times that night crying when he couldn't find the gauge in his bed. (It kept falling on the floor or making its way under the pillow.)

Yesterday, I finally showed Caleb what the tire gauge was really for, and he was quite impressed :)

Noooooo!

It's the day I've been dreading for weeks now. Recently Hayden figured out how to climb on top of the kitchen chairs. We've been struggling to get him to sit on the chairs, as well as get on and off without smashing his head on the hardwood. It's a challenge to say the least. The morning after he discovered his new climbing skill, I found Hayden standing on the kitchen table with an open marker in his hand.

Things just got worse. Hayden has now discovered how to drag the chairs around the kitchen and use them as a tool to reach higher places- such as the kitchen counter. I watched him deviously (yes, he knew exactly what he was doing) push the chair over to the counter to reach the computer and a few other things on the countertop. It's an exciting new world for Hayden. Not so exciting for Matt and me.

Serenity now!

Hawaii Trip 2008 Continued

I suppose it's a good thing I'm writing these things down, as our days in Hawaii are already starting to blend together in my mind! Picking up where we left off...


Day 5: Matt's longest day at the convention- almost 10 hours. By the end of the day he was tired from being on his feet all day long talking to people, and I was tired from trying to keep the boys reasonably happy all day. To make a long story shorter, I tried passing time with a yummy snack that nobody ate. Then we went down to the beach (a chore in itself since I had to push the stroller through the sand), only to have Caleb say he was done at the beach after just 15 minutes. So we started walking to get lunch, but Hayden started falling asleep so I rushed back to the hotel for naps. We had a few light snacks instead of lunch and then it took a LONG time to get both boys to sleep. Grrrrr. We did get ice cream in the afternoon-- the only thing the three of us enjoyed all day! But things got better after that as Matt was able to join us for dinner (went to Tony Roma's) before returning to the convention. We were all glad to have survived the day =)



Day 6: While Matt was at the convention the kids and I walked down the Waikiki strip and did some souvenir shopping. It was fun, except that we were walking in the rain most of the time. When Matt returned, we headed up to the Polynesian Cultural Center with Amy and Chris. The PCC was a great place, but we arrived so late in the day that we really didn't have enough time to make the most of our visit. We did try authentic poi though (a very bland carbohydrate- like a potato with less flavor) and I tried a spear tossing game. Amy & Chris took a hula lesson, but Matt & I couldn't bring ourselves to try it (dancing is not our thing, in any form). We took a canoe tour of the grounds, and then ate a buffet dinner on site. It cost $15 for the buffet, and let's just say we got what we paid for. =) We were glad to go to the PCC, but it would have been much better if we had more time there.



Day 7: Our last day in Oahu. Matt had to be at the convention for the morning, so the boys & I ate a big breakfast at Denny's (other mornings we ate cereal in the hotel room), and then walked to the Honolulu Zoo. This time we had ponchos to keep us dry, but the boys weren't interested in wearing them. However, Caleb told me I looked "perfect" in mine, lol. The zoo was fun and we saw some animals that we haven't seen in other zoos, such as galapagos turtles, different species of pigeons (that didn't look anything like the ordinary pigeon), and the nene bird- an endangered species found only in Hawaii. In the afternoon we all went to Waimea Falls. It's a park with a paved trail through a tropical valley. The different plants and flowers were amazing. The trail ends at a waterfall, and that was neat to see. On our way home we stopped at Matsumoto's for some famous shave ice. Of the different flavors we tried, the cotton candy was my favorite.



Day 8: Returning home. It was a loooong flight, as Hayden slept about a half hour. He "needed" about 2 hours of sleep though. Caleb did great, but doesn't it figure that the two times he needed to use the bathroom were times when Matt was walking around with Hayden-- that meant I had to take him potty. I DESPISE public restrooms and it doesn't get much worse than an airplane toilet. We survived though, and I guess I'm a better person for it =) Okay, maybe not.



The next day, the San Jose high temperature was 87!! It was warmer at home than in Hawaii. Crazy! We're slowly readjusting to the time zone change. It seems to be hardest for Hayden. On the night we returned home, we got home around 11pm. Hayden slept from 11pm to 11am. Unheard of. But any of those little troubles are well worth it, as we had an excellent time together in Hawaii. Look forward to going again sometime!

Hawaii Trip 2008

Late Friday night we returned from a wonderful trip to Oahu. Matt was able to get a spot at Cisco's annual Partner Summit in Honolulu, and we decided to take the opportunity for a family vacation. We had a great time checking out many of the things Oahu has to offer, and the boys did well the entire time. (They even slept well at night, and avoided becoming overtired--- hooray!) It was extra special to be able to spend time with our friends Amy & Chris from NY, who planned their vacation to coincide with ours. Here's a synopsis of our adventures:


Day 1: Arrived in Honolulu around lunch time. Checked into our hotel, stocked up on snacks and beach supplies at Walmart, went to a local park near Waikiki, met up with Amy & Chris for dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise, then walked down to the beach for sunset. We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, which was perfect for families with young kids-- there were penguins, fish, and fun birds on the grounds, plus there were a bunch of shops, restaurants, and nice walkways throughout.



Day 2: Toured the Dole Plantation with Amy & Chris, then went up to the North Shore. We ate lunch at a cute restaurant near the water, but the food was only so-so. Then we drove along the coast and stopped at one of the beaches to watch the biggest waves we've ever seen in person -at least 20 feet. The water was extremely rough, but the boys had fun in the sand away from the crashing waves. Hayden was ready for bed by 7:00 that night (and almost every night), so we don't have any exciting stories about Waikiki night life.



Day 3: Went to Hanauma Bay, in spite of the rain and wind. The bay is actually an old crater that filled with water when ocean levels rose. It's a great place for snorkeling as the fish are abundant and the water is calm. Matt took advantage of the chance and rented some gear. Later in the day we stopped at a "blowhole"- it's a hole in the rocks where water shoots up when big waves break, resembling a whale's spout.



Day 4: Matt finally got his chance to go surfing in Waikiki. He had to paddle out so far to reach the waves that I couldn't even pick him out among the other surfers from where I was standing on the shore. Caleb & Hayden had a great time on the beach digging in the sand with other kids. At times it was hard to keep Hayden in the shallow water- he wanted to keep walking into deeper areas. The kid has no fear. Caleb tends to be quite cautious, but even he had fun splashing in the water. Unfortunately, Matt's surfing fun was short-lived as he stepped on a sea urchin. It left a bunch of black slivers in his foot and his foot started hurting immediately. A guy at the board rental shack said Matt needed to either dip his foot in vinegar or see a doctor asap, or else it would get worse. Thankfully we were able to get vinegar from the hotel and that seemed to neutralize the sting. Matt is STILL working on pulling out all of the slivers though.
Afterwards, we checked out Ala Moana shopping center. By that time, the boys needed a good nap in the car, so we drove to Ko Olina to see the JW Marriott resort. The Cisco convention started this day, and Matt had to be around for some meetings. Bummer!

Okay, I'm a bit worried that if I write too much more no one will read to the bottom. So check back tomorrow for the highlights of the remainder of our trip =) Mahalo.

Newest *Real* Addition to Our Family

It's a baby! I visited my OB today for the first prenatal check-up for Baby #3. Everything looks good so far. They did an ultrasound and the baby had a good heartbeat of 174 bpm and measured 9 weeks 3 days, which is exactly what we estimated. That puts the due date around October 29. It was great to see the baby and its heart beating away. We're quite excited about the baby, but a bit nervous about parenting 3 kids ages 3 1/2 and younger!

So far the first trimester hasn't been too bad~ at least not compared to the previous pregnancies. I've had mild morning sickness and a fair amount of fatigue, but I'm not complaining, especially after having hyperemesis with Caleb! I'm anxious to make it through the next few weeks and into the 2nd trimester when presumably I'll get some energy back. Check back for periodic updates =)

How We Almost Ruined a Surprise Party

Tonight we're headed to Darren & Julie's for dinner. Which reminds me of a recent happening...

Julie's 30th birthday was several weeks ago, and Darren organized a surprise birthday party for her. Darren, Julie, and a couple friends were to go out to dinner and then come back to the house afterward where the suprise party would be. The surprise party guests were to arrive around 7:00.

We drove up to the house promptly at 7:00 and parked around the corner. But something didn't feel quite right. Matt and I sat for a moment in the car trying to decide what to do. Just then someone zipped into the driveway. We couldn't see who it was, but could tell there was only one person in the car. We realized it was Darren. Hmmm...

Matt got out of the car to head off Darren, who was now in the garage. Darren looked at Matt and said, "You're kidding me, right?"

Apparently we were 24 hours early for the party! Matt had even said to me that he thought the party was on Saturday, but I was pretty sure the party was Friday. And since I'm usually quite good with remembering dates, times, and such--- well, we just figured it was Friday. (I had mistakenly deleted the Evite already, so we couldn't doublecheck the date that way.)

A big oops on my part. So I spent the next day worrying that I had ruined everything and that Darren was never going to speak to me again, afraid that Julie overheard Matt and Darren chatting in the garage. Plus, it was hard breaking the news to Caleb that he had to wait until tomorrow to play with Jenny at the party. Not cool.

Julie did look surprised when she walked in the door. And the party was a lot of fun. You know, the one on Saturday.

Family Fun

This past week we enjoyed a too-short visit with Matt's parents. It was great to have them here with us and the boys LOVED spending time with them! Caleb started shrieking with excitement as he saw David and Gwen approach the house when they arrived. Hayden quickly overcame any shyness and was eager to give and receive hugs, much to David & Gwen's delight. =)

We packed a lot of fun into just a few days. One day we drove up to Napa. There we had a picnic lunch at Clos Du Val winery, then we checked out the Amorosa winery (it's an as-authentic-as-can-be Italian style castle), then visited a petrified forest, and then stopped in a park to run around and use the new t-ball set Caleb received for his birthday. The route we drove home took us through San Francisco- it's always fun to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge. The skies in SF were perfectly clear (a rarity there), so we had a great view of the bay and city.

It was also nice to celebrate Easter with family. On Saturday our church organized an egg hunt in a local park and the boys participated in that. Caleb quickly caught on to the idea of tossing stuff into his basket. Hayden, on the other hand, could hardly be convinced to pick up an egg off the ground. (Probably had something to do with the fact that the hunt was during his usual nap time.) That evening Caleb colored and decorated Easter eggs for the first time, and we all shared a simple Easter dinner together. On Sunday we all went to church and had fun relaxing at home afterward.

Here are a few pictures from our time with the grandparents.

Birthday Party for Fireman Caleb

Yesterday we celebrated Caleb's 3rd birthday. It's the first "real" party he's had- with friends, games, goodies, all the traditional stuff. Jacob, Jenny, and Nathan came with their families and we had a great time jumping through 'fiery' hula hoops, rescuing kittens from a tree, decorating firetruck-themed take home bags, and playing Pin the Fire Helmet on the Dalmation (though the kids didn't get the part about closing their eyes before trying to pin the helmet on--- no big deal though).

Caleb was super excited about the party, but I guess you will have to take our word for it that he had a fun time. Afterward, when we asked him to tell Grandpa about what we did at the party, all Caleb said was, "Jacob took my bulldozer and it made me feel sad." LOL Enjoy the pictures.

The ill-fated governor

I have to admit, I really liked Spitzer, especially with his actions against corporate corruption. So I am terribly disappointed with what he's done. Walter Shapiro on Salon.com says it well:

Spitzer had the dream and the reputation, and he was on the cusp of getting the votes to finally move New York state politics out of the Erie Canal era. But now it all lies shattered, whatever short-term decision Spitzer makes. Reform politicians who hold themselves up as moral exemplars run the risk of not living up to their own self-proclaimed ethical standards. The financial transaction that was supposedly conducted in Room 871 of the Mayflower Hotel seems so tawdry in light of the glowing portrayal of Spitzer as "Wall Street's Top Cop" on the 2002 cover of Time magazine. The feeling of tragedy is unavoidable as the intense and wired Spitzer has gone from lion to laughingstock in just 14 short months as governor.

Nice ATM

We spent the weekend in Santa Barbara two weekends ago. In a nice outdoor mall, called Paseo Nuevo, we came across this ATM. It is a nice ATM.

New Set of Wheels

Yesterday we decided to order a new double stroller. I've been eyeing this one for awhile, but didn't want to make any hasty decisions. I think we will be quite happy with the new stroller. The best part about it is that we have a stroller that seats two kids, but is the width and length of a single stroller.

We currently have a side by side double jogger which is excellent in a lot of ways. But the one huge negative is that it's 31.5" wide. Anyone who's researched side by side double strollers knows that a standard doorway is 32". That leaves .5" for error. When you're strolling through the park, it couldn't matter less. But when you're a frazzled mom hurrying to get out of a store before the kids have a complete meltdown, .5" just isn't enough! I can't count the number of times that I've rammed our side by side into the doorposts. (Sorry, boys.)

This new puppy is 24" wide. it steers with one hand. The 2nd seat is removable so that it can be used as a single stroller. Admittedly, the stroller isn't perfect and there are a few cons. All in all though, I think it's a good pick and I can't wait until it arrives!

Say Hello to Khumbulani

Khumbulani is the child in Swaziland we've just begun sponsoring. Here is some info about this beautiful little boy:

Khumbulani lives with his grandmother and has no brothers or sisters. His grandmother struggles to provide for the family.

Khumbulani and his family live in a community severely affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis. In some communities, AIDS affects the entire social structure as a generation of hardworking adults is being wiped out. Frightened children and exhausted grandparents rarely have money for food, school, or medical care. Through sponsorship, you can help with these and other basic needs for Khumbulani and his family.

Khumbulani is not in school at this time. He likes to play with dolls. He helps at home by running errands. He is in satisfactory health.

Khumbulani and Caleb share the same birthday! We hope to use this experience to help Caleb become more aware of the world around him and the needs of others. And we plan to continue the tradition when Hayden celebrates his 3rd birthday.