The Girls are Getting Big!

The baby kicked Thomas! We were so excited ;) She's not the mover that Caelen was (hopefully a good sign!) so to feel her kicking strong enough was just a great reminder that she's in there and getting big! She's about 6 inches from crown to rump (longer when she kicks) and she's had a few really good nights in a row where Thomas could feel her going to town.

Caelen is potty training herself LOL. I have NOT looked forward to potty training and wanted nothing to do with all the accidents and "Mom I have to pee" while we're going 65 miles an hour down the middle of the freeway, or asking over and over "Do you have to pee? Are you sure?" But she started going through diapers like Grant through Richmond. Now I don't know if anyone else's child has ever made it to size 6 diapers but they're the biggest size and for some absurd reason are WAY more expensive than a size 5. So we're in diapers made of gold and she's making me change them every time she gets a little wet!! So I left her diaper off one afternoon and told she had to go in the potty because she had no diaper and she did!!
We've had a couple accidents but she's getting better and better at telling us "Dee Dee Pee" and she's also super excited about her little Kandoo wipes (flushable wipes for potty trainers.) She also gets a candy corn (if she remembers) after going and the cutest thing is she always goes and finds Papa and tells him she went potty (every time!) and he makes a big deal out of it and she's just so proud.
So we bought some undies to get her all excited about it. She picked out some Tinkerbell and I got some cute Hanes as well. We're still doing diapers for outings and sleeping, but around the house ( and hopefully Grandma's house soon too) we're using the potty.
I'm excited for the result of course! It would be great to only have one baby in diapers. Less expensive, and convienient. So hopefully she'll get the hang of it pretty quick :)

Wonderful and Terrible Twos

A couple of weeks ago I was cleaning out Caelen's drawers to get rid of whatever she didn't fit into anymore. She took no time in hopping in an empty drawer and declaring it a boat. She then piled her stuffed animals in with her saying, "Come on bear, bear in the boat!" Then she told me Bye and that she was going to the store. I asked her if she was really going to the store in her boat and she said YES! So I provided her with an "oar" so she could get around and we sang Row Row Row Your Boat for awhile. (That's a backpack on her back as well.)

And have I mentioned she's just a little mommy? I hope the enthusiasm for babies carries over to her baby sister! In this pic she's feeding her baby lunch.

Yesterday I told her some friends were coming for dinner. All she cared about was whether Austin was coming or not. When the answer was an affirmative she ran to the hall closet to get the blanket that Austin's mommy always lays out for him when he's over. She lay it down in the living room and as soon as he got here she wanted to hold him! Like I said, I hope this carries over to her sister :)

So I'm going to be brave and post a belly shot for anyone whose curious and hasn't seen me in a long time :) This pic was taken Thursday so I'm a little more than 18 weeks along. Almost half way there.

Today at the outlet mall in Petaluma my child completely melted down. I was THAT mother, the one with the kicking & spitting 2 year old whose arching her back and falling on the ground just to keep from getting in her stroller. I must have pushed her too far and tried to cram too many things into our morning. I did it all in just 3 hours but I had to run to Oliver's to get some pasta for dinner tonight, then I did the drive through at the bank, then we went to Target to get her another potty seat for her Grandma's house and some big girl undies (did I mention yet that she's potty training?), then we went to the outlets. I had to exchange some pants for her and I needed new maternity clothes desperately. Then I let her play on the playground at the mall. That's when things started to go downhill. She wasn't being as agreeable as usual but I was starving and about to faint. I got her in the stroller and we went to a little cafe. I got her a muffin she picked out but when she saw my bagel dog and chips that poor muffin got completely abandoned.

Then it happened. She asked for a piece of hot dog, when I said, "Sure, take a bite" She flipped out! Apparently she had wanted it in her hand. Now she's doubled over, hanging out the front of her stroller screaming "NO Mommy! No!!!" (Yeah, no more bagel dog for you!) I calmly packed up and took her outside. She had wanted to look at the water fountain but was a wreck. I asked her to calm down and ask nicely. Well she managed to stop crying and say "Please Water." really pathetically, so I took her over and let her out to walk around.

Then it happened Take Two. I told her it was time to go now and she needed to get in the stroller so we could go through the parking lot. Well, I've never seen anything like it. She literally crumbled to the ground in a fit, screaming NO NO NO NO, crying hysterically, kicking me, spitting, twisting. Anything to stay out of the stroller. There was no way I could let her win like that!!! So I managed, looking quite foolish I'm sure, but who cares? to get her in the stroller. She screamed No at me for the next 30 minutes until she was in our house. I had her in her crib pretty much immediately and she fell asleep in about 5 minutes. Holy cow.... can you say Terrible Twos? LOL

Oh and I have no picture to go along with that story, thankfully!

She's Healthy :)

Thanks for all your prayers everyone! Today we had our ultrasound down in San Francisco and our 2nd DAUGHTER is perfectly healthy! YAY :) What a relief. I cannot even begin to tell you the weight that has been lifted off our shoulders. I could hardly sleep last night and couldn't decide whether I wanted to just get it over with or was too scared to go. Well these things come whether we think we're ready or not.
It was a very detailed 45 minute ultrasound. I could see a lot of good detail on the screen and from what I could tell and what the tech was pointing out, the baby looked perfect to me. But she wasn't authorized to give any diagnosis, she could just point out hands, feet, etc. It's one of the best experiences of pregnancy watching your little peanut on the screen at about 20 weeks. Anyway she thought it was a girl, wasn't 100%, but was pretty sure. Then the docotor came in and continued the ultrasound but started by saying, "Rumor has it everything looks good!" I was so excited as she pointed out a perfect spine and I just had tears rolling down my face. She then said it was definitely a girl!
My whole pregnancy has changed now. I know my baby is healthy and I know she's a girl! I feel her moving everyday and yesterday while touching my tummy, I felt a little pop on my hand!Luckily I'm feeling a lot better now. I'm still sick every morning, but the rest of my day I feel almost back to normal! Life is good, God is good and Caelen is going to have a sister :)

Casini Ranch 2008

Finally getting around to putting some pictures up from our camping trip last weekend. We were out at the river with my folks and the trip went all together too quickly but we had a great relaxing time!

In the doggie part of the new tent.

Helping Grandpa set up the canopy.

Gabbie hates her sweater more than anything in the world, seriously!

Caelen torturing a small animal.

Who needs naps? Let's go to the river and play!

Our friends The Bishops happened to be there the same weekend (total coincidence!) So Caelen got to play with her friend Ty for a little bit. Here she's trying to copy him because he has been laying in the water a few seconds earlier.

Making sandcastles with Grandpa. Let's be honest, the best part is knocking them down!!

Adding a flower to her castle.

And Caelen torturing antoher small animal.

Where's the Tums?

You Know You're Getting Old When:

1.Pizza gives you heartburn
2.You cannot for the life of you stay up past 9:30
3.You draw a blank on one of your high school friends' first names....

Wait a minute, maybe this list is the You Know You're Pregnant When List


Do you ever find yourself just completely wasting time? Wondering why am I doing what I'm doing? and what the heck else could I be doing? I'm home by myself tonight while Thomas is out with a couple friends, and Caelen is asleep. The 2nd Pirates of the Carribean (which I own, still in it's little wrapper on my DVD shelf) is on my TV and I am fresh off a 30 minute surfing session of pieces of flair on Facebook.
Seriously? And am I getting any enjoyment out of it? Not really. It's actually all boring me. But do I have enough energy to lift the laptop off my lap, turn the TV off and do something else. No! Because I'm pregnant.... maybe I should add that to the list.
4. You're too lazy to move.

Miracle of the Moment

Love this song right now:

Steven Curtis Chapman - Miracle Of The Moment

It’s time for letting go
All of our if only’s
‘Cause we don’t have a time machine
And even if we did
Would we really want to use it?
Would we really want to go change everything?

‘Cause we are who and where
and what we are for now
And this is the only moment
we can do anything about

So breathe it in and breathe it out
Listen to your heartbeat
There’s a wonder in the here and now
It’s right there in front of you
And I don’t want you to miss
The miracle of the moment

There’s only One who knows
What’s really out there waiting
In all the moments yet to be
And all we need to know
Is He’s out there waiting
To Him the future’s history

And He has given us a treasure called right now
And this is the only moment
we can do anything about

So breathe it in and breathe it out
Listen to your heartbeat
There’s a wonder in the here and now
It’s right there in front of you
And I don’t want you to miss
The miracle of the moment

And if it brings you tears
Then taste them as they fall
And let them soften your heart
And if it brings you laughter
Then throw your head back
And let it go, let it go
You gotta let it go

Listen to your heartbeat
So breathe it in and breathe it out
Listen to your heartbeat
There’s a wonder in the here and now
It’s right there in front of you
And I don’t want you to miss
The miracle of the moment

Our Baby Needs your Prayers This Week

I got a call yesterday afternoon that no Mommy-to-be wants to get.
"Your AFP test results came back positive for a nueral tube defect in the baby. It doesn't mean they have a problem, they're just at a higher risk for it and so we need to get you into the San Francisco Kaiser for an ultrasound next Tuesday so we can see what's going on."
If you are a praying person, we would convet your prayers for our unborn baby right now. We're just praying that there's nothing wrong at all!! But it is weighty news and I know it's going to be bouncing around in my head all week. So pray for peace for Thomas and I as well if you would :) Thank you and we'll keep you updated on the health of our baby.

This better be tasty!

Today I bought a tomato for $4.98. A, ONE, UNO tomato for almost $5. I didn't know they sold such magic tomatos, and had I known I most certainly would have tsk-ed at such an outrageous price, shook my head and walked away.
So how did that glorious tomato end up in my cart? Especially considering the 25 tomato plants sitting in my backyard right now? My loosed toddler ran up to the basket with a sign reading "Organic Heirloom Tomatos $2.99 per lb" grabbed the biggest one in that darn basket and took a bite before I could open my mouth to shout "Caelen Abigail!" There were at least two witnesses who then wanted to begin discussing the event, so all hope of pretending my child didn't really take a bite and putting it back and walking away was out of the question. That massive 2 lb tomato minus one bite mark went right into my cart.
Luckily I was on to her before she went to do the same to a hot chili pepper.

I've Seen it Raining Fire in the Sky

Well I can check off a few more places on my 1000 Places To See Before You Die list ;) And I now know how to make a composting toilet, what an elk sounds like in the middle of the night, that 11,000 ft elevation is a bit too high for me to function normally, and that had I been a cliff dwelling native, I probably would have never moved for fear of falling off. Oh and my daughter is a super trooper.


I had my first experience of Colorado these past 10 days and I think it was done justice. I have never seen such a beautiful area as the Rocky Mountains. Telluride in particular is absolutely breathtaking and I understand why such a remote spot has become a celebrity favorite. I saw a two bedroom townhome for sale for 1.6 mil. Almost every home is perfectly gorgeous, and had I the money, I'd live there too. It was a last minute spot in our trip (a favor bestowed upon me as I didn't complain when the hunting males asked to stay in the log cabin one extra night) and I'm so glad we didn't miss the oppurtunity!

This is Caelen enjoying some ice cream in a shop on Main St.

After driving in a motorhome (thank God!) 24 hours from CA through NV, and UT we finally arrived in Delores CO. Just northwest of Durango. Our final destination was a log cabin at about 11,000 ft in the rockies. The woman who owns it bought it from her parents and now rents it out as much as she can. It's on 328 acres and although you can hike the 2.5 miles from the road up 1000 feet to the cabin, we had her escort us and all our luggage in a 4 wheeler. The much better way to go I think. It put Caelen right to sleep even though we were bouncing all over the place.




As we arrived and she happily pointed out the outhouse about 50 feet from the cabin I tried the sound grateful, "Oh great!" when really I was thinking, "Are you flipping kidding me?"

It was pretty rustic. The lights were solar powered and as most of our experience was rain, thunder and lightning, and cold cloudy days, we were definitely conserving the little light we had.
Thankfully, after a lot of uncertainty about whether or not they could make it, Thomas' step brother Elijah, his wife and their three girls ended up coming. I was so happy to have company for me and Caelen as the men spent the mornings (5-10ish) and the evenings (5-9) hunting in the mountains around our cabin.




The sound of elk in the middle of the night during a thunder storm was extremely eerie. It's a high-pitched, lonely sounding cry but I knew what it was right away because of all the elk calls the guys had around the house. The sound was good news for our fearless (maybe a bit crazy?) hunters, who left before light the next morning in a storm to try and bring home the big one. Unfortunately for them, after 5 days of hunting they never caught one and Thomas is pretty sure his bow-hunting days are over as quickly as they had begun.

After Elijah and the girls left Monday afternoon, we were planning on leaving the next day. But when Thomas and his dad got home after another unsuccessful morning they proposed staying one more night and leaving the next day. They promised me Telluride and the Cliff Dwellings and I agreed. I really enjoyed the comfort of the cabin, with nothing so much as a radio. It was cozy but big enough for cabin-fever to be kept at bay during the many storms we had. I did crosswords and Caelen did a lot of coloring and reading to pass the time, but I don't think we were ever really bored.





I don't think I'll ever take a shower that is battery powered and only heats 5 gallons of water at a time again. After we went down to feed the horses in a rain storm, I was pretty wet but warm from the hike and thought, "Heck, I'll take a shower, why not, it's been 4 days since my last one and I'm already wet." So in a rainstorm I get this shower going out on the back deck. Just a little Cabela's tent shower. It felt so good! I got my hair shampooed, stuck some conditioner in, started to wash the rest of me and that darn thing went straight to cold. No, not cold, I'm sorry, Freezing! That was it, I had used my 5 gallons just trying to get my hair wet! I had conditioner in my hair and soap all over my body, with 5 virtual strangers in the cabin who probably wouldn't appreciate me running naked through the house screaming. So like a bad a** I rinsed off, rinsed my hair and got out of there as fast as I could. Yeah, they laughed at me when I told my tale. You probably did too ;) 5 gallons, what a joke!



This is us going down to take care of the horses.

So after fun mountain living, we left the cabin, drove to a local campsite and took a semi-normal shower. This one could have sandblasted Caelen into a wall had I let her stand under it, so that was some tricky manuevering. I found my makeup and we had a nice evening in Telluride. We camped at the bottom of our mountain again only to wake up to ice on the insides of our windows and that the battery had died on our heater in our motorhome. It was below freezing and poor Caelen's hand were so cold she kept crying and crying. We did everything to heat them up but she didn't want anyone to touch her oowies.



Our final hours in Colorado were spent at the Mesa Verde cliff dwellings. These were really worth the 19 mile drive from the highway in through curving roads that had me in the bathroom. So was the Navajo Taco we purchased at the food shop.








And that's our Colorado tale. If you ever get the chance to see this part of the country for yourself, do it! I have never seen anything to match the beauty of the Rockies in my opinion. Of course I love mountains and their rocky rivers and year round Chirstmas trees.