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.

How to get a free coffee at Starbucks

Now I want to preface this by saying that this is a dishonest thing to do if done on purpose.

So anyway, I ordered my usual drink the other day at Starbucks, a Tall Toffee Nut Latte with Whipped Cream. When the drink was ready, I noticed it was a Grande. I thought maybe they had made a mistake, but I didn't remember if they had charged me for a Tall or Grande. I probably would have noticed if they had charged me for a Grande.

But I decided to just keep it and I took a sip. It tasted kind of bad, at least compared to what I was expecting. Here it was not my drink. It was for someone who had ordered a plain Grande Latte. All the hundreds of times I have been to Starbucks and this was the first time I made that mistake. (wow, hundreds of times, how much $ have I spent there??)

The Starbucks "associate" was just finishing my real drink, so I grabbed that and apologized to him and to the customer for my indiscretion. They said no problem, he would just make the guy a new Latte.

I did not want to see the full Grande Latte go to waste, so I asked what they were going to do with it. Since they were going to throw it away, I asked if I could take it and give to someone at work. They said no worries.

So that is how I got a free Latte. Of course, when I gave it to one of my buddies at work, I didn't mention I had taken a sip. Oh well, what he didn't know, didn't hurt him. At least not that I know of...

Newest Addition to our Family

I have been spending most of my work life over the past 8 months on the launch of a new router at Cisco. It is a midrange router sold to enterprises and service providers. Most will not know what that means, but that is ok. Suffice it to say it is Cisco's largest product launch this year and is destined to be a multi-billion dollar product. And without routers, you would not be reading this post, because the Internet would not work!

It is called the ASR 1000 Series. Check out the site at www.cisco.com/go/asr

I am a product manager for the ASR, which means I am involved with everything from working with engineering, finance, and manufacturing, to developing the marketing plan and presenting to customers and partners.

Very cool stuff, but also very stressful at times. It is always nice to remember what really counts, which is easy to remember when I walk in the door coming home from work every day to a chorus of "Daddy!" from the boys and get to see my lovely wife.

The most important thing to remember about the ASR is that you should never try to lift one by yourself. I made this mistake. They are unbelievably heavy. The biggest one (6RU, or 6 rack units, which means it is 21 inches tall) fully-populated weighs over 100 pounds!

Hayden Visits the Hospital

Last night was a rather eventful evening for our family. What started out as an enjoyable time sharing a potluck dinner with friends ended as a tiresome and stressful night in the ER. Just as Hayden finished his dinner he suddenly started crying and fussing. At first we thought he was cranky from being tired and simply wanted to get out of his seat. But after taking him out of the booster seat, Hayden continued crying harder and harder, and then was bringing his legs up and arching his back.

It soon became clear that he was having abdominal pain. We left the potluck, hoping that Hayden would calm down in the car. But he just cried harder and was writhing in his pain. We made the decision to head to the hospital. Soon after arriving in the ER, and about 30 minutes after the crying began, Hayden started to calm down. He was agitated at being prodded and poked by the nurses and doctor, but was no longer writhing around. The doctor wanted to do bloodwork and check his urine. The results looked fine for the most part, and it appears the pain was probably due to a virus.

We were relieved that everything was basically fine and that it wasn't appendicitis or something like that. It was hard spending 3 hours in the ER, especially as it was late and BOTH boys were tired prior to our arrival at the hospital. Caleb tried hard to be a good boy, but it was difficult keeping him entertained. (Of course, it was the ONE time I had no Matchbox cars in the diaper bag!)

It figures that this whole ordeal happens just a few days after Hayden got a black eye. Over the weekend he slipped and hit his eye on an end table. He got a nice gash and his eye swelled and bruised immediately. So when we walked into the hospital the cause of the black eye was of interest to everyone. The staff even asked Matt and I separately about it to make sure our stories were consistent! It's good that they're vigilant, of course, but we felt terrible that they had to ask in the first place.

So that was our evening yesterday...*yawn.*

First post

Here it is-- our first blog entry. A bit lackluster, as I have nothing in particular to say. Just wanted to give blogging a try, and see if it might be a good way to share some of our family's goings-on. Stay tuned for more...