Living in Earthquake Territory

As many of you have heard from the news today, there was an earthquake this morning in So. Cal near L.A. It has been reported that the quake could be felt as far south as San Diego. Well, at 11:45 this morning, I was rushing around trying to get lunch made for Kaitelyn and I and I don't believe I felt anything from our 3rd floor apartment. However, around the same time, I was trying to make a phone call using our land line and use the Internet and all phone circuits and Internet connections were busy for a few minutes. I just blew it off until I heard the news; then it all made sense.

I have to say, I'm just a teeny bit nervous about the recent activity. My BFF Monica from Kansas, is coming down to visit with her family tomorrow and we're going to Disneyland this weekend. I really don't think there will be any major activity while we are there, but I'm sure it'll definitely be in the back of our minds.

We're Expecting!!

For those who don't know already, we are expecting another addition to our family in January. The dates keep changing, but he/she will be here around January 26th - 30th.

I had my 2nd appointment today along with another ultrasound to make sure the baby was okay. This second pregnancy has been a little bit chaotic. We found out we were expecting weeks before we had to leave for San Diego. Knowing that we would be in Washington for the delivery, I needed to establish myself at a new office before we left because my doctor was no longer delivering babies. Hence for the first ultrasound. Now that we're in San Diego, I needed to find another office that would see me until we went back home, hence for the second ultrasound. Didn't want anyone to think there were any complications.

Like my friend Sarah posted on her blog, this second time around has been harder on the body. I started suffering from morning sickness around week 5 and have had no energy what-so-ever. Now that we're about to enter into the 2nd trimester my energy is starting to pick up and I'm finally getting my appetite back. When I was working, it was really tough. I got really sick for about 2 weeks and couldn't tell anyone why I was truly so sick. Since we've been in San Diego, I have been able to take naps with Kaitelyn and lie down when I really didn't feel well. The thought of food would make me want to hurl and I was really weak and shaky up until this week.

I'm pretty excited about this pregnancy and it's been fun talking to Kaitelyn about it. Although, I know it just goes in one ear and out the other. That's okay though.

The belly is still looking just fat, but there is some form developing. I'll have to post a picture when Luke takes one. Kaitelyn and I went to SeaWorld the other day and the girl assisting people to ride on the Abbie Cadabby (it's a teacup ride) ride denied us. She said "expecting mothers" weren't allowed. So Kaitelyn and I turned around and walked away. I was embarrassed because there was a crowd of people were staring. I should have said I was just fat to see how she would have reacted, but then I still would have been embarrassed saying "I'm just fat". I just don't understand why so many people are so rude. Don't they ever think!!

A Day At SeaWorld

Today, Kaitelyn and I spent half a day at SeaWorld. I think today was the busiest I've ever seen it at 10am. It was so busy, that we had to park in the boonies and walk because there are no shuttles. But before we could park, we waited like 15 - 20 minutes to get through the pay booth and make a slow crawl to a parking spot. Besides the hiccup in the very beginning, we had a BLAST!

Kaitelyn enjoyed her time playing inside the Bay at Play kiddie area. Then we were off to finally see a show that I've wanted to see, but never found the time to see it. It's the Cirque de la Mer show, you know the people who do all the fantastic acrobats on ropes and such. It was pretty cool and Kaitelyn enjoyed the entire show. The very beginning was a little corny, but it turned out fun. At the end of the show, they turned on a bubble machine - a big hit with Kaitelyn.

And of course, Kaitelyn made a new friend. We were hanging out at a hill chasing seagulls when another girl came along and wanted to play with Kaitelyn. They were like 2 peas in a pod. Within minutes they were holding hands and running around together.

Here are some pics from our day :-)

Cirque de la Mer performers

Kaitelyn and her friend chasing seagulls.

Mission Bay

We often enjoy taking strolls along Mission Bay. It's a great place for walking, riding your bike or flying a kite. There are lots of places to have a picnic with playgrounds and fire pits. It's pretty cool!!

Kaitelyn hasn't taken to the cold saltwater yet, still afraid of it. But, she does enjoy walking and playing in the sand.

Kaitelyn with her daddy getting their feet wet.

She figured she had enough of the cold water.

Ahh... the joys of "Apartment Living"

So, living in an apartment definitely has it's pros and cons. Here are a few pros: no yard work, less space to clean, no need to worry about home improvements, and convenient free pool access. Now here are a few of our cons: nosy Nettie neighbors, the need to share parking spaces, dealing with a teeny tiny garage, and the mailbox location.

It's not a bad deal, it's definitely better than last year. The pets aren't under our feet constantly, we don't have to worry about the cat litter smelling up our clothes hanging in our closet and since we're on the 3rd floor, we don't have noisy neighbors above us. However, the not wanting to take the dogs down 3 flights of stairs to potty is annoying, having to carry 5-10 bags of groceries up 3 flights of stairs is dreadful, and having to squeeze beside the van to get in or out of the garage is a pain, but it could definitely be way worse.

.....................................................

This evening, Kaitelyn was bored so she decided to play dress-up with "Freckles" the kitty and "Triton" the beagle. It was fun! Just one of the fun things we do to pass time in our new "Crib".

Kaitelyn's thinking:
"Okay, who should I tackle first...mom, dad, a cat or a dog"?

Looks like the cat lost. Poor Freckles!
She's such a good sport.

Ahhh....look at the kitty, kitty. Even giving us a pose :-)
She may be old, but still has a sense of humor.

Ahh...poor Mr. Beagle

Mr. Beagle sucking it up and taking it like a man dog - yeah right!

Look at those sad, sad eyes. (hee, hee, hee)

Old Town San Diego

Thursday, Kaitelyn and I spent a few hours hanging out in Old Town San Diego. It's a pretty cool place. Lot's of fun shops, places to eat and shows to see. Old Town is all about the Mexican Heritage.

So lately, I've been craving Mexican food (enchiladas mostly), but it's so hard to come by a place that will make good authentic enchiladas. Kaitelyn and I picked a place and of course I ordered the enchiladas. They were not anything that I was craving, they were awful. I've found so many places, even here in San Diego, that will use shredded beef and fake enchilada sauce for their enchiladas. That's not an authentic enchilada!! You must used ground beef and make your own sauce made from Mole'. When we lived in Kansas, I could order enchiladas and I knew they would be authentic. You're probably thinking, "Why don't you make your own"? Well, I would make my own, but it can take a day to make a nice big batch of them, it is very time consuming. That is why I leave it up to the restaurants to get it right. The only place I've found that has good enchiladas, is Puerto Vallarta in Port Orchard, WA. They have the best yet outside of my hometown.

So after we had our lunch, we walked around Old Town more and decided to play in this little park area. Kaitelyn enjoyed running around in circles, playing on an old cannon and chasing after the big kids. It was a good day :-)

checking it out - Kaitelyn thinks it is a "choo choo"

"mommy, choo choo"

look, she's riding on the choo choo

"is that a choo choo I hear"
"look, it is a choo choo"
"where did it go"
Kaitelyn looking lost after all the kids she was running around with had to leave :-(
She loves to run with the big kids.

Life with our 2 year old:

I have to say, "I feel like the luckiest mommy in the whole wide world". Everyday with our little Kaitelyn is a treat. We definitely have our moments, but those are so minute when compared to all other moments we have together.

These days, Kaitelyn has learned to say "Yes", but she'll say, mmhmm (yes) or u-ahh (no). She has learned to say, "Thank you" 90% if the time. She's doing so much better when we go into public, she'll hold our hands, stop when we ask and overall listens soo much better.

She loves airplanes, helicopters, choo choo trains, the moon, motorcycles, boats. But they're not just a helicopter or boat, they are a BIIIIG helicopter, boat, etc. And when she's reading a book or notices something fascinating to her, she will repeat over and over until you confirm what it is that she sees.

For example, she will say, "Momma, BIIIG boat....Momma, BIIIG boat...Momma, BIIIG boat...Momma, BIIIG boat" until I say, "Yes, that's a BIIIG boat, baby". Then, she is satisfied until she comes across something else.

Emotions: She definitely wears her heart on her shoulder/arm. If we talk sternly to her, the crocodile tears start flowing down her little cheeks. She's become very sensitive lately. Also, she's picking up emotions of character in her books or on cartoons. Her favorite is in her books, "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" or "The Ugly Duckling", she will go directly to the pages where "j & k" are about to cry or when ugly duckling is crying. She knows when a character is sad, mad, or crying and she will tell you. It's so fascinating being a parent and watching your little one(s) learn.

There's a difference, between a momma, daddy or baby quack quack. With her stuffed animals, or in books, she will point out and say, "momma quack quack" or "baby quack quack". Or she will say, "daddy raffe" or "baby raffe". If she has more than one animal, there's a difference, but if there's just one, it's a "baby". This goes for the characters in her books or in cartoons too.

I could go on and on, but I'll stop now.

Here are a few pictures of our apartment:

The view walking into the apartment.
They gave us decent rental furniture, pictures and flowers this time.

Looking from kitchen into living room and balcony.
Kaitelyn loves to play on the balcony and we have a wonderful breeze all the time.

Don't need A/C right now. We've used the fireplace a couple of times already.

Looking from balcony into living room. We have micro-suede this time.
Last time we had an old dingy rough couch from the early nineties.
I always covered it with white sheets because I didn't know what I'd be sitting on,
it was sooo gross!

The second bathroom, it's our main bath.

Laundry room, we have room for storage and the stinky kitty litter.

My biggest upset about this apartment is the carpet was not cleaned after the last tenant(s). So we have to spend $$ up front to clean it right away - immediately after a couple of days, the stains in front of the couch began to appear. But, at least it doesn't smell like pets or dog urine. I'm so relieved.

Here's some fun stuff:

When Kaitelyn goes down for a nap or night night time, she will gather all of her animals and baby dolls and put them to bed with her. It's soo cute, here is the first time she did it.

A couple of months ago, I made the extra effort to break Kaitelyn's habit of sleeping with mommy and daddy. It took about 3 sleepless nights, but she and I have been sleeping beautifully since. Here is a picture after our first sleepless night. Kaitelyn got so fed up, that she grabbed 3 diapers and slept the rest of the night with them. She's sleeping on top of the 3rd one.

Recently...

We have packed up and moved to California once again for the time being. I had to say goodbye to a job that I absolutely loved and Kaitelyn said goodbye to daycare. My last day of work was one of the saddest days in my life :-( I cried a lot and when the time came to say that goodbye to my co-workers, all I could do was give them a hug and walk away. It was the best job I ever had and I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to be of a great organization.

So, remember that dirty/mildewy apartment we stayed in last year in California? Well, we are in a much better place this time. We have 2 bedrooms that are furnished and lots more living space. It is however, on the 3rd floor, but we have a great breeze and no noise from our neighbors. Just some traffic from a road outside our place.

We packed up our things and took a 3 day road trip. We drove along Hwy 101 most of the way, it was quite interesting. We got to see Northern California, lots of Redwoods, the Golden Gate Bridge and a helicopter working to extinguish fires. On the way down, we stayed in a couple of Motel 6's and when they say, "We'll leave the lights on for you" they mean it. In the first motel, the lights were so bright that our room was glowing all night. The second Motel 6 wasn't as bad. I'm not gonna lie, the rooms gave me the eebie jeebies, but I kept telling myself, it's only temporary and I'll get through this.

So we approached the Golden Gate Bridge on our 3rd day of traveling and it was cool to see it in person. An interesting fact: There is a $5.00 toll to cross the bridge, but no where does it say, "Cash Only". We crossed the bride and whipped out some plastic, to pay our toll but was told they only accept cash. Who in this day and age accepts cash only? Anyway, we were told they will send us information in the mail to pay the toll, but that we will incur a $25.00 fee on top of the fare. In reading the disclosures, our vehicle is not registered in California so hopefully we're exempt.

Here are some pics...

Hanging out on a bridge with daddy.

Check out the cool view, daddy!

N. California coastline. I've never seen big rocks, only in pics or TV.

Traveling along 101 blazing through the smoke from the wildfires.

Enjoying a cupcake and posing.

Approaching the Golden Gate Bridge

Here is the only sign that tells us there is a toll, besides our road atlas.

View on the bridge, going 45 MPH.

Alcatraz on our left as we are exiting the bridge.

Anyone up for a "joint" sandwich?? They're original at Tommy's in San Francisco.

Check out the art!

Scott and Allison, June 21, 2008

Our good friends, Scott and Allison married a few weekends ago. It was such a fun and beautiful wedding. I've just barely known Allison for a year, but feel like I've known her all my life. I was able to hear about and see some of the planning Allison went through this past year for her very special day.

Kaitelyn had an absolute BLAST! She made some friends that evening, but one friend stood out from all the rest. His name is Bryce, they both danced the night away.

Our friend Tony (literally) was pickin' up the chicks. Here are some fun pictures from that evening.

Kaitelyn and Bryce's first dance, so cute!!

I love it!! They even danced in sync.

Tony with the little ladies that evening, such a gentleman.

Kaitelyn stepped outside to cool down, but still continued dancing and twirling.

reading a birthday card from great-grandma Lansford

Okay, Okay, Okay..... so we've been a little busy/lazy


Let's catch up on what has been happening for the past month or so. Kaitelyn turned 2, we had a BBQ a couple of evenings prior to Kaitelyn's actual B-day with some of our close friends. It was fun! We made HUGE hamburgers, veggies tater salad and of course everyone's favorite. Birthday cake and ice cream. Kaitelyn was a bit tuckered out that evening, but she still had fun.

Here are a few pics...

Kaitelyn giving Clara a few pointers on Thomas the train fun. Her favorite thing right now is Thomas and Friends, hence the Thomas balloon and party favorites.

It's a monkey cooler pack, mamma