It's About Me!

Update

2009-09-06T16:28:00.001-07:00

Jake is out shopping with Dean so I have a few minutes for an update.

School started for me last week and so far it has been great. It already feels so much easier than it did last year. I hope, hope, hope that my kids don't get crazy. I remember then being good in the first few weeks and then showing their true colors, so I hope that things are good when my kids finally get comfortable enough to be themselves.

The whole family is doing great. Dean has been sick a few times recently but is generally happy and pretty well behaved. No sign of the terrible twos yet. I've read a few book to get ideas on how to handle disciple so I feel more prepared than I did before. Dean's a real cutie pie and just absolutely love him. I can't stop kissing him and giving him plenty of attention. I worry about spoiling him. Going back to school wasn't that difficult but I do wonder if he misses us during the day. Last week he actually didn't cry and beeline it for me when I walked in. He kept playing with his toy. My, how things change. :)

We also have an addition to the family. Jake's niece, Katie, is staying with us this year. It was a last minute thing to get her away from a bad high school with gang problems. She moved here from North Carolina and I really enjoy having she. She's a lovely girl. Now, we just need to figure out how we are going to do more permanent room arrangements.

I also had great news from Wendy but I'll let her make a post about it before I say too much. And for those of you who might jump to crazy conclusions about that.... she is NOT pregnant. Exciting stuff - my life just got BETTER!

Dean Walking

2009-08-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

Dean started really walking about 2 weeks ago. I think he just needed to build his confidence. I've posted a video below.

Update

2009-07-27T21:35:00.000-07:00

It's been so long that I don't even know what to write about. I've been having a good summer of no work getting a lot accomplished that I put off last year while working way too hard on my new job, taking classes, and spending time with Dean.

So far this summer we've gone to Las Vegas, hung out at the house, and we're going camping up north with Wendy, my Dad, and families. I really need to get around to posting pictures.

Dean happens to have been sick today and I'll take him to the doctor if he still has a fever tomorrow.

Dean is my super cutie pie. Let me tell you some things. He's currently 14 months and still not walking on his own. I really think he could but just lacks the confidence. He's constantly jabbering just like Jake does and he has a huge stubborn streak. It seems like he's constantly smiling and every day just get easier with him. I'm hoping things will continue to go uphil rather than down.

The cat that we have at the new house has been absolutely amazing with Dean. Dean hits her, hugs her by laying down on her, pulls on her paws, and she keeps coming back for more. They are best buds. I think they love each other.

I'll try to post more pics later.

Parking Car

2009-03-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh so funny. Watch this person try to park her car. If you notice the amount of time running at the bottom, we don't see the whole fiasco. It actually takes more than four minutes. I also wonder why the person started to video the car. Maybe she was having problems for a few minutes before that. So funny!

More Dean Pictures

2009-03-02T20:37:00.000-08:00

Dean's Helmet

2009-03-02T20:22:00.000-08:00

Yes, I do still exist. I feel like I don't even have time to post this, but I figure it's probably to important to keep everyone posted. :)

Since Dean was born with congenital torticollis he's been sleeping on the right side of his head. He still keeps his head to one side most of the time. Because of this he has developed a flat spot on the back of his head. His left eye (to us it's his right) is also slightly squinty still, even with all the work we've done to put him on his left side during naps.

Jake and I went to see an orthetist about this and we ended up getting a helmet. They told us we could go either way. There were four things they measured. On a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the worst, Dean was a 2, 2, 2, and 3. He was on the lower side, but they said his eye probably wouldn't get any better if we didn't do this and it's better to get it done early so we just decided to go with it.

Luckily Dean doesn't even seem to notice his helmet. It hasn't been too much of a problem at all. We will likely decorate it over the next couple of weeks, but I wanted to get some picture right away so everyone can see his new look. :)

Pictures

2008-11-16T22:36:00.000-08:00

At the zoo.

At the park with friends.

Dean giving me love.

Sleeping....

This is the best shot I could get of the tooth. It's impossible to get a good picture. :)

I saw dean's first tooth

2008-11-08T15:16:00.001-08:00

I saw dean's first tooth today!

Dean rolled over all by

2008-11-07T07:04:00.001-08:00

Dean rolled over all by himself last night!

Quick Update - I'm not Dead

2008-09-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

I'm just taking a moment to check in to let everyone know that I'm still alive. I've been extremely busy in my first month of teaching and next week I start my credential classes again. I'm not sure if I'll be able to blog much in the upcoming months.

We are good. Dean is as cute as ever and I am VERY SORRY that I've been so bad at getting everything updated. Maybe I'll try to blog a bit from my phone when I have some time - just to get something new up.

Not much time to say anything else right now. I start my next class on Monday and I actually have to drive into Los Angeles and go in person. What a drag.

Dean's Sleeping

2008-08-19T14:20:00.001-07:00

Dean has started to be able to lift himself up and turn his head when he's lying on his stomach. Once he turns his head to the left it looks like he might get stuck and he doesn't turn his head back to the right very well. A couple of times it looked like he might end up with his face down in the mattress, so we've started him sleeping on his back again. He still sleeps pretty well, although not as well as he used to.

My friend Brixie made me some things that have been very useful. They are posted in the picture above. They are very heavy, the outside is a very soft material and I think they are filled with rice although I'm not sure. They not only keep Dean in place really well, but they also make it possible to prop Dean on his side a little bit so he doesn't always have the same side of his head on the mattress. If you remember I said that Dean is getting a flat spot on one side of his head. He seems to eventually wriggle himself back to the side he likes, but I think his flat spot would be worse if we didn't have these to turn him the other way a little bit. Thanks Brixie! They have been very cool.

Good Things for Dean

2008-08-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

Dean still loves to play under his hanging toys. Jake is brillant and put the mirror obove him so that he can look at himself. This can keep him entertained for over half an hour which is really good for Dean.

Hair Loss

2008-08-19T14:10:00.000-07:00

I know it's normal after pregnancy, but sheesh, I'm sure I'll be bald in no time with the rate it's falling out. Jake is complaining about my hair being everywhere. It's even worse for me since it's coming off of MY head. It's getting all over everything!

Pictures

2008-08-12T17:41:00.000-07:00

I am once again way behind in getting up pictures of Dean.

Resignation Letter

2008-08-12T17:32:00.000-07:00

Today I turned in my resignation letter to Cal Poly Pomona. It's kind of sad considering that I've worked there for eight years. I really will miss the College of Science. It was a good job.

It turns out that my supervisor is on vacation until the 25th so I didn't have to face him yet. I might try to go over to CPP tomorrow to pick up all of my things. How sad. :(

2008-08-03T16:34:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already August. I haven't been doing a whole lot between working and taking classes. Today is my day off before I begin my next class tomorrow. I think I'm going to try to do a very fast switcheroo on Monday to change the class that I'm in. I'm supposed to teach two lessons in a class next month, but I don't know anyone who has a class. Besides that I'm way too busy with school. I'd rather use my own classroom in the future to do my lesson. I'll have to see how fast I can get another book if I can switch to a new class.

I just wanted to check in and post this cute picture of Micah from when he came to visit last week.

Below is Dean at his two month doctor visit.

And these are two pictures of dean from last week.

Doctor Appointment

2008-07-24T15:39:00.000-07:00

Dean had his two month doctor appointment on Tuesday. It was terrible to have him get his shots. He cried during the shots and then quite a bit that night. Jake has said that Dean won't sleep in our bed with us, but guess where he was that night - right in the middle of us. It was so sad to see him not feeling well. Someone suggested that next time we get some baby tylenol. I wish I would have heard about that before so I could have helped him to feel better. Poor little guy. :(

Dean Smiling

2008-07-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

Pam Update

2008-07-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

On July 3rd, I went back to work three days a week. I was offered some hours counseling over at West Los Angeles College. I got back into the flow very quickly. I really like my job over there - it's interesting and is usually fun as long as it's not too busy. Jake has been working from home the three days that I go to WLAC and he seems to have an easier time with Dean than I do. I've been taking notes on the weekends to see if I can get some tips on how to get more done when I'm home. I hope no one thinks less of me when I say it felt good to go back to work. I think I don't get out enough when I'm at home since I need to do schoolwork and am way to stressed about that to go do anything fun. After I'm finished with these classes I'm probably going to have to go find new friends. I've alienated the ones I had and if I have a lot of free time I'm going to have to find something to do. Jake doesn't come home until 7pm or later every night and I'm not going to sit at home waiting for him.

Anyway, I wasn't going to say anything here until I told my Cal Poly job, but I figure the chances are low that anything will get back to them before I have a chance to turn in my notice. I just accepted a teaching position at Sierra Vista High School in Baldwin Park for the upcoming school year. I will be teaching 9th grade Biology. I'm excited and scared at the same time. It's going to be an extremely difficult year, but I'm sure I can get through it. It's strange to realize that I won't be going back to Cal Poly Pomona. I had a really good job over there and I'll miss everything. I hope I won't regret leaving!

As for this month, my class is much easier than most of the ones in the past. Last month I had the instructor from hell. This month our instructor seems pretty laid back and seems to be a nice guy. I might actually have time to breath a little bit - which is why I'm able to take time to blog right now. And how I was able to visit Emilio and Andrew last night for a barbeque. :)

Things are going pretty well. This week I get to observe in a Biology summer school classroom which should be interesting and Wendy and Micah are coming in next weekend so we get to see family which will be very nice. I'm going to pick Wendy's brain to try to prepare for teaching next year.

Our Pasadena house is back on the market. We finally got the 2nd unit thing cleared up (at least I think it is) with the help of a friend who knew some people to talk to in LA county - thank goodness!! The bad new is that the JERK who caused all these problems for us likely cost us a ton of money. We had a previous offer to purchase the property at about $100,000-$150,000 more than we will be able to get for it right now. With the drop in the housing market we will likely make nothing on the project even with all the work we put into it. I'm just trying not to think about it so I don't get too upset. I just want to sell it and be done with it!

Lastly, I seem to have stalled with 15 pounds to lose to get back to my pre-pregnacy weight - and I just ate a reeses pieces ice cream flurry. I really need to get my act together. Maybe when Dean is old enough I'll take him out in the jogging stroller.

That's all for now. I'm typing one handed now since Dean woke up and it's a lot slower. :)

Dean Update

2008-07-12T09:02:00.001-07:00

Dean is getting bigger every day. At some point I stopped picking out his smallest clothes for him to wear because I assumed they wouldn't fit. I didn't say anything to Jake and last week he put Dean in one of the onsies and it was ridiculously small. He came out to show me and then went back to change his outfit. So last week I went through Dean's dresser and pulled out about 10 things that don't fit anymore. It's kind of sad to see how much he's changed, but at the same time there is a lot of good things to go along with how much bigger he's getting.

Yesterday Dean also got his first hair cut. Actually, Jake cut his hair. Dean had a mullet going on with long hair at the back of his neck. It seemed like it kept getting pulled when we held him or changed his clothes, so Jake decided it was time to cut it. It was so sad to watch his hair go - I actually thought about keeping a lock of it. I decided against keeping the hair, but I will definitely keep one of the onesies that we had to put in the too small pile. I'll keep the "Dean Jacob" shirt that Wendy made me since no one else would probably wear it anyway with Dean's name on it.

Dean has also begun to smile somewhat often. It's very rewarding to entertain him when I see him smiling back at me. He's definitely not at Kiya levels of smiling, but I hope he will be someday. :) He's been so much more aware of the things going on around him. It's getting interesting to interact with him.

On the subject of his neck turning, he's looking to the left about an inch further than before, but we're still trying to get his appointment with the physical therapist. It's been impossible to work with the doctor's offices. They're slow and don't always call back when I leave a message. I think we're going to change our pediatrician because of our bad experience with that office. Dean has started to get a noticeable flat spot on the back of his head because he ALWAYS sleeps on the side that he can look toward. I really don't want him to have a flat head on one side so Jake and I have put him to sleep on his stomach the last three nights. I know that we've been told to always have babies sleep on their backs, but for years and years and years, it was the other way around (including for most of us) and we are all alive and well, so I'm not too worried. It's hard to know which is worse since I haven't been able to talk to Dean's doctor - a flat head or sleeping on his stomach?

Dean Pictures

2008-07-07T22:04:00.000-07:00

These are some current pictures of Dean. He's getting bigger and bigger every day. I wish he was wearing a more flattering outfit. I'll have to take more pics when I change his clothes.

This weekend we went to Las Vegas and Jake and I went to a play and out with friends for about six hours while Diane's mom watched Dean for us. We had a really good time and got to see friends that we don't get to see very often. I'm hoping to steal some pictures from Emilio, but I'll have to see if that happens.

Shoes

2008-06-28T10:05:00.000-07:00

We put Dean in shoes for the first time last night. I had to get a picture of his cute outfit. :)

Jake Bought Me a Present

2008-06-21T16:57:00.000-07:00

Jake bought me a Coach purse for my b-day. How fancy! Thanks Jake!

Driving

2008-06-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

We're driving

B-Day Present

2008-06-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

Lisa sent me an edible arrangement for my birthday. thank you lisa!

They Meet

2008-06-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

They meet... kind of

Doctor Appointment

2008-06-19T16:27:00.000-07:00

When Dean was born his foot seemed a bit crooked so we made an appointment for him to see an orthopedic doctor.

This last week we've also noticed that he doesn't really turn his head to his left. I planned to make another appointment with his pediatrician.

At his orthopedic appointment today the doctor said his foot seemed just fine. We should exercise it regularly to make sure it has full range of motion, but this is very common for babies that were a bit squished in the uterus.

He then asked if he was having any trouble turning his head - weird! I asked how he knew and he said they are related when a baby is squished. He checked out Dean's neck and said we need to start making him work to turn his head the other way. We are going to put him the opposite way in his crib and talk to him from the other side so he has to stretch to see what is happening on his bad side. The doctor thought he might actually need a bit of physical therapy, or at least have us get some training on how to gently turn his head to work on stretching his neck muscles. I'm hoping his neck will be fine after awhile for him to get things worked out. Poor little Dean must have been really smashed. We joke about how he didn't want to come out of me, but maybe he was just stuck/wedged in there and couldn't get out. :)

Anyway, things seem good so far. Looks like it's time to do some neck exercises.

Pictures

2008-06-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

These three were taken today. Dean is getting chunkier in his face. :)

Blanket and Onesies

2008-06-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

Sarah recently sent Dean a blanket. It's very cute and even has his name on it. The pictures above do not do it justice since they were taken under florescent light with my cell phone. Thank you Sarah!

I should also take this moment to mention that Wendy made some onesies for Dean with his name on them. They are adorable and we use them all the time. They say "Dean Jacob", "Buddy", and "DJ". I don't remember what the last one says. There is a picture below of one of the shirts. It's the one where he is crying. Thank you Wendy!

2008-06-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

Weekend in Big Bear

2008-06-17T22:28:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to Big Bear for Jake's family get together for his grandmother's 80th birthday. Everyone was really excited to see the baby. Unfortunately Jake's mom couldn't make it so she still hasn't met Dean.

The only reason we were able to go is because Mom and Jim let us stay at their place on Saturday night. There was no way we were going to go camping which is what most of Jake's family did. It worked really well to be able to hang out a little bit with Mom and Jim and to visit Jake's family at other times.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures. My mind has been on other things lately. Oh well. :(

Currently Dean's Favorite Toy

2008-06-17T22:22:00.000-07:00

This is currently Dean's favorite toy. He lays there for quite awhile looking in the mirror, waving his arms, and hitting the hanging toys. He really seems to like it. Thanks for letting us borrow it Aunt Wendy. :)

Pictures - Not in Dated Order

2008-06-11T23:12:00.000-07:00

Pictures

2008-06-09T23:03:00.001-07:00

Wendy, regarding your comment/demand for more pictures... I keep meaning to get pictures from Jake since he has them all but it's hard to remember when I feel like there is so much to do. I did take a couple with my cell phone, but I know they aren't really very good. I'll try to post better ones later. The last two are from yesterday, so they're more what he looks like right now.

2008-06-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

Jake went back to work today. I hope it's not too difficult to take care of Dean by myself.

Yesterday was not a good day. I think I might have mastitis and I had a temperature of 103.3. I felt horrible but luckily Jake was awesome and took care of Dean all day. I got some antibiotics that are supposed to fix the problem, but i still have to go see the doctor tomorrow to have things checked out.

Dean was fussy for a long time last night when we were trying to go to bed. I hate hearing him cry and not being able to make him feel better. Hopefully it will be easier to put him to bed tonight.

Update

2008-06-02T11:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, a few updates on what's been going on....

First, I have had almost no time to do anything with all of the visitors coming and going. I've loved having people over, but I'm hoping that this week I'll start to get some stuff accomplished since it's bound to get a bit quieter.

On the diaper changing subject, since my last post, Jake was changing Dean's diaper on the floor in the living room sitting with Dean's bum facing him and made sure to keep him covered the whole time until the diaper switch. Well, guess what Dean was waiting for - that exact instant to let loose with another explosive poo. This time Jake himself (jeans and t-shirt) were poo splattered. Dean is sharing the love. We now are EXTREMELY careful at every diaper changing and although he often poops during the change, we've been able to catch them all since we've been more aware. Additionally, he pees at almost every changing and we are going through changing pads and clothes like crazy.

So far Dean is a very good sleeper and I have to wake him up at night to eat. I've been letting him go for at least four hours, sometimes five if I wake up too late, so Jake and I have been able to get a pretty good amount of sleep although I'm still pretty tired most of the time. It's a lot of work always thinking about what Dean might need, although I think I'm finally starting to get into the grove. I actually feel like I accomplished some things this morning. Of course, Jake was helping by holding Dean. I don't know what I'm going to do when Jake goes back to work. It's nice to have someone else here to help out.

I'll try to keep posting, but I'm going to get really busy when Jake goes back to work. I'm also starting a class today which takes a lot of time.

Here is one of my current favorite pictures of Dean...

Diaper Changing

2008-05-29T03:38:00.000-07:00

Before Dean came along I think I only changed one diaper in my entire life. And for the first few days of Dean's life, Jake was on diaper duty while I was recovering. But eventually it was time for me to learn and I've found that it's true that my own baby's diaper changes are much different than changing someone else's baby. I know this is true because I wasn't too grossed out by the following events:

For Dean's first diaper that I changed, Jake went in with me to instruct and explain what I should be doing. Dean peed on me in the middle of the diaper change and Jake was shocked and said he'd never done that to him before. He also assured me that this was not the norm.

The second diaper change he peed on me again. Jake assured me that this is not the norm. Uh huh.

The third diaper change he pooped when I put down the new diaper. Jake assured me that this doesn't happen often.

The fourth and fifth I came away unscathed. I'm getting comfortable and thinking that maybe the previous instances really are odd.

The next time Jake wasn't home when this happened. I went to change Dean's diaper which was only pee and as I lifted his legs to put the new diaper down, he let loose with a bowel movement. I don't even know how to explain what happened. Poop went shooting out of his bum, flying across the room splattering everything in it's path. I swear the wall five feet away was hit with runny poo. I put his bottom down as quickly as possible and A LOT more came out. Needless to say, runny poo was on everything. Next I tried to move Dean so that poo didn't get all over him and he started to pee which went the opposite way than his poo had. It got on my sweater as well as everything that he hadn't been able to get his poo on.

Jake now firmly believes that Dean knows it's me and will do this again. He had me wake him up tonight to change Dean before I fed him because he didn't want any messes in the middle of the night. So far Jake has not been peed or pooed on even once. Dean has been saving these special gifts just for me. :)

Labor Experience

2008-05-27T17:01:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, May 21st at about 10am I started having some pretty regular contractions about 10 minutes apart. I called Jake who came home, but the contractions never really changed and weren't very painful, so we decided to just wait until the next day since we were being induced anyway. On the way to the hospital the next morning, the contractions started getting a little painful, but again, didn't really get very bad.

We got to the hospital at 6am on Thursday, May 22nd and they induced labor at 8am. They began increasing the amounts of pitosin and the contractions began to get very painful. Sometime later, I began having extreme back pain and it turned out that it was back labor since he was facing the wrong way. They let me have an epidural at only 3 cm because of this.

After a little while, Dean's heartbeat was dropping during the contractions, so they took me off the pitosin and waited for two hours, then began again to see if it would help. This time things worked a bit better, but Dean still took forever to slowly work his way down. Eventually I was at 10 cm, but my water hadn't broken yet so a doctor came in to do it without waiting for it to break on it's own.

It's too long of a story to tell, but my evening nursing was absolutely horrible and kept telling me to wait an hour, then another hour, then another and so on until I finally couldn't take it anymore and told her to call the doctor to see if there was anything we could do that didn't require waiting for hours without anything happening. An example of my nurse's stellar abilities came sometime that evening when I told her that I would like to get more epidural because I was feeling pain. I could even move my legs a little bit and was starting to feel my lower body. She didn't really want to, but finally called the anestisiologist who told the nurse that when one of the lights was red, that meant the epidural had stopped and that she should call him. My epidural had been off for at least an hour or two. I was not impressed with her abilities or her attitude.

Another nurse came in to help out sometime later since nothing was happening and my nurse was not helping very much. She had me try to push to see what would happen. Dean's heartbeat would drop each time I pushed, so the doctor decided to come in at that point.

The doctor told us that she wanted to see if we could get Dean out in three contractions (three pushes per contraction) using a vacuum pump to help get him out. If that didn't work, we would need to have a c-section. The vacuum slipped off his head a few times. The last time, his head was part way out already and Dean's heartbeat was dropping, so she gave me an episiotomy (a pretty bad one) to get him the rest of way out. Poor Dean was born with a big lump of spongy blood under his scalp because of the vacuum. It will get hard and then slowly dissolve over the next year.

Otherwise, Dean is beautiful and a very good baby. I have some time to blog right now because he is sleeping. :) I'll add more if I can think of anything else.

Dean Jacob Hester

2008-05-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

I feel very guilty about waiting this long to post some pictures, but I've been super busy, as you can imagine. :)

This is going to be short. I'll try to post more later....

Dean Jacob Hester was born on Friday, May 23rd at 3:27am. He was 7 pounds, 9 ounces and was 21 inches long.

Labor Will Be Induced on Thursday, May 22nd

2008-05-19T14:43:00.001-07:00

Jake and I went to the doctor this morning and have set up an appointment to have labor induced on Thursday morning (May 22^nd) at 6am. Yuck, is the sun even out at that time?

We also confirmed that Baby Hester is indeed a boy. We got a good ultrasound view of that important part of his anatomy.

I'll keep everyone posted.

May 18th - No Baby

2008-05-18T18:34:00.001-07:00

I have another doctor appointment tomorrow at 11am. I'll keep everyone posted.

Eye Infection :(

2008-05-16T18:31:00.000-07:00

Poor Seven has an eye infection. Although she kind of opens her eye sometimes, she often ends up squinting and seems to have a bit of eye goobers. I'm wondering if I should bring her to the vet or not. It's probably something simple that will work itself out, but I'll feel really guilty if she gets worse and I haven't done anything about it.

If Melissa was here I'd ask her for some of her breast milk. :) For those of you who didn't read her blog, it seems that breast milk has been known to cure eye problems in infants, so hey, why not in my cat?

May 16 - Doctor Appointment

2008-05-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

Today they checked the movement of the baby and the amniotic fluid levels. Everything looks great. I have another appointment on Monday to do the same thing. I have a feeling that they will induce next Friday if the baby hasn't come yet. I can't believe I'm only three days late right now. It seems like he should have come weeks ago. I suppose we are getting impatient. :)

May 15th - Still No Baby

2008-05-15T15:04:00.001-07:00

I have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow at 10:45am. I'll let everyone know how that goes.

May 14th - No Baby Yet

2008-05-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

Just an update for anyone who's wondering. Yesterday was Baby Hester's due date but he's being stubborn and has refused to be born. Jake says he's taking after me.

For those of you who knew that I took a test for preeclamsia, the results came back negative, so we don't need to worry about that. Jake was a bit disappointed since I might have been induced and we could have seen Buddy sooner. :)

I'll try to remember to keep posting on Baby watch 2008. I know there are a lot of anxious people out there.

almost time

2008-05-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

Target's Return Policy - It CAN Get Worse!

2008-05-07T21:55:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone remembers my previous post regarding Target's crappy return policy - you can't return anything more than $20 and you can only return items twice a year without a receipt.

At the Target by my house they let me complete two returns up to $20.

Today I decided to get a few more things returned so I called up my dad and asked him to go with me to Target. But this time I went to the one by his house. I won't get too much into my experience, but by the end of the fiasco I found that the Target in Fullerton will only let you return two ITEMS under $20 twice a year. So at the end of that experience I finally told them to void the transaction that Dad was helping me with and I dragged him over to the Target by my house where they still let us return more items per transaction.

I really couldn't believe it could get any worse, but there it is, it actually can. Can you imagine needing to return items from a baby shower and only being able to return two items per person?! There's no way! I am so upset with Target right now. No one should EVER register there. I'm definitely warning people away from them in the future.

About Me

2008-05-06T09:43:00.000-07:00

For the last three months I've been taking classes and getting ready for the baby. I've been sooooo busy that I really haven't had time to do a whole lot. Well, Saturday was the last day of my class and I have the next month off to get ready for Baby Hester and then to have Baby Hester. Next month I then start my next class.

Since I finally have time, I figured a blog a bit.

First, baby Hester has been pushing, pushing, pushing on my right side. When I drive or sit, I usually try t0 keep my hand there because it's so weird to feel him pushing that hard. I feel like I'm trying to hold him in.

He's been moving more and more lately. I even feel him sometimes at night even though I really couldn't before.

I just went to my last night working at West Los Angeles College and I won't be working there again now until this summer - if they hopefully have some hours for part time counselors. I'm glad to have the driving over with since I drive one handed and hold Baby Hester in with the other hand. Plus it's just not that comfortable to drive anymore.

Jake has been very nice to me and has been driving us most of the time when we go places. Neither of us likes to drive so it's been a treat to get to sit in the passenger seat and brace myself for bumps and turns when needed.

As far as taking off work from Cal Poly Pomona, I'm considering whether I want to keep working or take off at the end of this week. I'm due on Tuesday, May 13th, but if I stop working and stay home, that's just more days that I won't be able to take later. So I might just stick it out and keep working. I haven't really decided yet. I just hope he's born soon - I'm hoping for this weekend sometime.

That's all for now....

More Baby Shower Pictures

2008-04-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Susan for taking these pictures at my shower!

Cat Fight at 1am

2008-04-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

Last night Jake and I woke up at 1pm to hear a huge cat fight going on on our back patio. Jake jumped out of bed - I moved much more slowly - and ran out the door to save Seven. He saw the other cat go into our garage while Seven hightailed it out of the patio into the front yard for safety. Jake went into the garage while I got our squirt bottle and we proceeded to scare the living daylights out of the cat that had trapped itself in our garage. I actually felt really bad because the cat looked so scared, but I'm hoping that he won't be coming back to bother Seven and eat her food. And for those soft hearted folks out there, this cat did not look he needed Seven's food. It's obviously owned by someone who takes care of him.

So Jake used the water bottle and chased the cat around squirting him while I remained out of harms way. This lasted less than 30 seconds before the cat realized that the best escape was to exit the open garage door and exit back out of the patio through the hole. It was kind of funny to watch Jake running after the cat trying to squirt it as it lunged through the hole as quickly as possible. And again, for you soft hearted folks, the temperature probably was somewhere around 60 degrees, so I don't think it hurt the cat at all to be squirted. Of course, he probably thought we were trying to kill him.

I tried to call Seven to give her some comfort but she was nowhere to be found, so I figured she was probably OK and we went back to bed. Jake was tossing and turning for an hour and neither of us could sleep. Then just after 2am Jake finally got up (he couldn't sleep) and went back out the door to the patio and called Seven over and gave her some pets and sweet talk for a few minutes. I asked how she was and he told me Seven seemed to be doing really good and was actually pretty happy.

The next day Jake mentioned that he couldn't sleep for that hour and I said that the cat fiasco didn't help either of us to get to sleep. He then said that he couldn't sleep because he kept thinking that another cat could come back at any time to bother Seven and she shouldn't have to worry about that since it's her back yard area. He had been trying to think of what he could do to keep the other cats out. Now I think that's very sweet that he was so concerned about Seven that he couldn't sleep. It also could have been that he doesn't want another cat in the backyard eating the cat food that we have to pay for, but I like to think that it's because he was concerned about our cat. :)

Target's Policy Sucks - Warning Not to Register There

2008-04-20T18:31:00.000-07:00

I just had my first opportunity to return some of the gifts that Jake and I found that we didn't need from the baby shower. There are always a few people who forget to tell the people at the cash register to take the gifts off of the registry, and there were some items that Jake and I realized that we really don't need since we got so many from other places.

Jake and I registered at Target because I've always loved them and I thought it would be very easy. I've heard a few bad stories about Babies R Us being difficult to deal with. Up until now, I've never known a bad thing about Target, however, after yesterday I'm ready to boycott.

For presents that were bought outside of Target, most we had to either keep, or donate if we didn't want them. Which kind of stinks, but what else are you going to do? But for the presents I knew came from Target, I thought, there will be no problems with returns - YA RIGHT!

We went to return our Target extras and were told that new store policy since August is that you can do a return for up to $20 twice a year (without a receipt). So what this means is that I could only return a couple of items (up to $20) for one return, and then another return (up to $20), and that's it - I could only return about $40 worth of stuff. Luckily, Jake was with me, so we were able to return up to $80 with both of us combined.

So today I called my mom who was able to return another $40 for us, and now I need to go with one more person who will be able to return the rest of the items for me. How much of a pain in the butt is that?!!!

All of this is extremely annoying, but at least I could complete these returns by getting around their horrible system. But there was one item I was given for $70 that we can't return at all. Two days before the shower a friend of ours gave us a used high chair, so I would like to exchange this item for something else, but I can't. I talked to the return counter, talked to their supervisor, talked to customer service for Target by phone, and talked to the gift registery by phone. I asked to talk to their supervisor and the person said they were a supervisor and there is no one in the entire Target company that can help me. How horrible is that?!!!

Now, I know that I could call my Uncle who purchased the chair for me to see if I can get a receipt, but that seems so tacky after he spent such a generous amount of money on me. So I guess we'll just keep it and get rid of the used one. It just really sucks. I suppose that I'm extremely lucky that that was the only item I had over $20 that I wanted to return.

Another thing that sucks is that I've made no effort to keep any gift receipts (although I really only got a few anyway) because I didn't think I'd have this problem. But there was one item - a car seat - that was sent to us by mail from one of Jake's friends. We registered for two since we have two cars, and I thought I'd just take one back later if it turned out we didn't need it. I didn't keep the gift receipt that must have come with the package a few weeks ago because I didn't think I'd need it. I just assumed that I would exchange it for Target merchandise since we ALWAYS shop at Target. Well not anymore! I don't know if I'll be able to completely boycott since they're my favorite store, but I will definitely get the word out that they are not a good store for a baby registery. What a horrible experience.

Lastly, when I went to Target today with my mom, they told us that soon they won't let anyone return anything without a receipt (rather than the 2 times for under $20 rule). Can you believe it? How could you ask all of your baby shower guests for a gift receipt just in case? You can't! How tacky would that be. So my final thought is.... Don't register at Target!!!!! You could end up regretting it. Maybe Babies R Us is the way to go?

I'm thinking about typing up a paragraph and posting reviews to the target site under their baby items to warn people. I wonder if I'll be able to keep my anger long enough to do that. Probably not, but I want to.

Baby Shower Pictures

2008-04-11T09:57:00.000-07:00

I might end up with more pictures in the future, but I figured that I'd post the ones that I've received so far from my sister who was taking pictures for me at the shower.

Me talking to Jake's Aunt Barb, Cousin Cambria, and her son, River.

My step-mother's Mom and sister-in-law, Vanessa.

My mom holding my niece, Kiya.

Cameron's mom, Momma Pat.

A whole group of people.

My good friend Becky and her daughter, Lily.

Jake's Aunt Barb, Aunt Moe, Grandma Michie, and cousin Cambria.

Emilio's cousin, Carina, and two sisters Gaby and Kristi.

I had a really great time at my shower. Everyone was so generous and the day was perfect. My mom and step-mom were the main contributers and I'm so thankful to everyone who helped out and attended. I usually don't celebrate my special events, but I couldn't resist on this one. :)

Micah

2008-04-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

I stole these picture from Wendy.... sorry Wendy!

Micah loved showing off his Disney tatoos to everyone - anything to get his shirt off. In fact, it seems as if he was happier the fewer clothes he had on - running around naked in the house. :)

And in this picture you can see that Uncle Jake was very forgiving about any drool that might have ended up on his shirt.

Eight Months - Egg Hunting

2008-04-07T21:09:00.001-07:00

Here is a photo of us hunting for Easter eggs with Micah last weekend. I'm posting this picture because it's a good one of me at about 8 months. I'll try to post baby shower pictures soon but I've got to wait to get the pictures from everyone else since I wasn't taking any.

Jake's Sprained Ankle

2008-04-07T20:33:00.001-07:00

We were playing tennis on Saturday morning and Jake sprained his ankle pretty badly - poor guy.

The picture below is later the first day...

The picture below is about a day later...

The picture below is about two days later...

Cow Birth

2008-03-29T22:46:00.000-07:00

I was driving by the cows at Cal Poly on Friday when I saw a baby that had just been born so I stopped to take a look.

Funny how things work out sometimes

2008-03-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

It's funny how things work out sometimes.

I've been a little bit worried about money lately - we've got a baby on the way with expensive child care, I might teach next year which means a potentially huge pay cut, and our Florida house hasn't had tenants in months since the last people abandoned the property (a whole other story).

So Jake and I have started saving as much as we possibly can to get ready for a TIGHT year coming up. Of course, we can pay the bills, but I like to have a buffer when I know that money is going to be scarce.

Anyway, last Friday we got a call from our management company in Florida saying that someone wanted to move in on Tuesday, so we actually have tenants now (as of two days ago) on a one year contract. I really hope nothing goes wrong since it seems like the house is cursed.

Then another interesting thing happened. A couple of days ago we got our security deposit refund from our previous apartment complex. I looked at the check and realized they had paid us too much - $550 too much!

And then I'm ashamed to say that I started to rationalize why I should just keep the money. Here are some of the things I said to myself... 1) They made the mistake, 2) It's not like they're a person, it's just a company, 3) We didn't like it there, 4) They towed Jake's car which cost us $220. So what if it was parked illegally? 5) They charged us too much when we moved out. They took $381 out of our deposit for painting and cleaning.

Then I was mad at them for making me think about doing a dishonest thing. So today I called them and told them I thought our check was made out for too much, she checked on it and verified that the refund was for the wrong amount. And then she said something I was thrilled about - it's too much trouble to change now, and the books are balanced, so go ahead and keep it.

So to make a long story short, we get to keep $550 that really isn't ours and I can feel like a decent person because I did the right thing, even though I'm probably not because I thought about keeping the money dishonestly. Dang them for tempting me anyway!

Emilio's for Easter

2008-03-24T09:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we spent Easter evening with Emilio's family. We had fabulous carne asada and then got to hide easter eggs for the kids. Alex took some pictures for me. :)

This is the bad dog (growls at me sometime).

This is the sweet one. :)

Emilio is the handsome one.

And Then There Were None...

2008-03-24T09:18:00.000-07:00

Jake was coming out of the garage yesterday and scared the last hummingbird into flying away. She was thinking about it all day, standing up in her nest and I guess we gave her an extra little push. She wasn't that good at flying yet, so she couldn't leave right away. She buzzed around in the tree a little bit and finally settled on another branch to rest. We left at about 5pm and when we came home later that night she was gone.

I wonder if the mom is sad or happy to begin looking out for only herself again. :)

Cat Gate

2008-03-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

Jake and I decided that we would let Seven into the kitchen area sometimes so I bought a baby gate from someone on Craigslist for $25. It even has the extensions so that it can stretch to fit the doorway. The only problem we ran into was that the length of the doorway was the exact wrong width to fit the door with or without the extension so Jake had to use the hacksaw to make it work. He's really handy. :)

Anyway, Seven seems to really enjoy being allowed in. Of course, if we see any evidence of fleas or destruction, she'll be banished to the outdoors again.

And then there was one.

2008-03-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

On Friday morning there were two hummingbirds in our nest and they looked about as big as the mother was. On Friday evening there was only one left. Either the bigger one flew away or it was eaten by Seven. I'm thinking that he flew away - I didn't see any evidence of a bird slaughter. My babies are leaving me. :)

7 1/2 Months

2008-03-22T21:39:00.001-07:00

Melissa was nice enough to take a picture of me so that I could post something. It's been too long...

I'm just about 7 1/2 months right now.

And this is me and Kiya. She was very good today, just a little bit hungry. :)

Dancing Walrus

2008-03-21T11:05:00.001-07:00

The Dancing Walrus:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDg7kWgs5e0

Seven and the hummingbirds

2008-03-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

We were trying to figure out what to do about Seven at the new place. We want her to be able to go outside the back patio to the front, but she doesn't climb fences. We're keeping her bed and food inside the garage because we don't want her stuff to get rained on. So in order to make it possible for her to get to everything, Jake dug a hole under the fence so she can go back and forth. So far it's working really well, with one exception. She likes to use the restroom in the dirt right out side our kitchen door instead of going in the front yard. I have no idea why she does this, but it can get stinky sometimes. Jake gets very irritated when she does this.

Jake went to Petco and bought a $15 bottle of stuff that was supposed to cure her of the problem if you just spray where she wants to go. Jake used the stuff that night and she had used the restroom on that very spot by the next day. Jake tried again and practically emptied the bottle on the area. Within 15 minutes she'd used the restroom in the same spot. So much for that manufactures empty promises! If we'd had the receipt readily available we'd have probably brought it back to the store.

At this point, Jake started talking about closing the hole under the fence for a few days to force her to use the front yard area. I think he mentioned leaving the garage door open so she could still go in there, but I didn't really like that idea. Then I remembered someone saying that cats don't like foil, so I laid a few pieces down over the spot that she was using and voila, one day later she hadn't used that spot as her litter box. When Jake realized that this could work, he went a bit crazy foiling the patio. The pictures below show his handiwork. We'll probably keep it for about a week and then take off foil from a part of the patio to see if she's broken the habit. Anyway, I thought the pictures were kind of funny. Notice that he left the foil off where Seven goes under the fence.

I also got a couple of pictures of the hummingbirds. They are getting big!

Regina's Classroom Observation

2008-03-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

Today I did a teacher observation in Regina's class. How cool is it that I know two people that are junior high school science teachers? Last month I was also able to do my two teacher interviews with Regina and Wendy. It's very nice actually knowing the teachers that I'm working with.

I had a good time today and definitely feel like I learned a lot. Regina's was so awesome to spend the time with me today answering questions on her prep and lunch periods. I'm very grateful!

Not sure, but something isn't quite right...

2008-03-11T16:09:00.000-07:00

I've caught up a little bit on my class for school, have a moment to breathe a little bit, and am noticing something that sucks. I actually feel a little bit lonely. There's been so much excitement in my life with moving, studying for tests, taking classes, and getting ready for the baby that I think two things have happened. Number 1, I'm so used to being busy that when I'm not I don't know what to do with my time. I supposed I could start a book (it's been awhile since I read), but that seems like such a waste of time. I feel like I should do more with my spare time. Number 2, it seems like our friends are gone or not available. Jake and I really need to make more of an effort to see friends sometimes. I was so desperate to feel like I had a social life that last Friday night I found out that Emilio was going to a comedy show with his sister and I invited myself to go along. It was fun, but it still feels like something is missing in life. I'm not sure what it is, but I don't like this feeling. Maybe it's that there's so much expectation for the baby in a few months that I don't feel excited enough about the "now". I don't know. I suppose I'm not really sure what it is, but I don't feel completely satisfied. I'll have to think some more about this.

Lay Offs in Teaching?

2008-03-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to feel a bit worried about becoming a teacher next year. There's been a lot of talk about layoffs to make up for the 10% budget cut that our governor has proposed. All this work and I might not even be able to get a job next year. I really hope that doesn't happen. :(

Settling In and the Hummingbird

2008-03-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

This last week has been horribly busy. We're still getting a last few things settled into the new place, but everything is looking really good. The crib and glider arrived and have been put together thanks to Jake's handiwork. We also bought a dresser and a kitchen table from Ikea last weekend. The table is almost put together and the dresser is still in the box. We've been so busy that we haven't been able to get everything completed. Part of the problem is that Jake and I are both trying to get studying done along with getting the house set. I'm taking classes that are very time demanding and Jake is studying to take his Professional Engineering exam. So we worked on the house on Saturday and studied on Sunday, which worked out pretty well for us.

An update on the hummingbird... I was feeling very worried on Saturday because I didn't see the hummingbird sitting on her nest all of Friday evening or Saturday. Jake told me it was probably fine, but it was VERY weird for her not to be around. We had been out of the house for most of the day, but it was still strange not to ever see her on the nest. Finally, at dusk that evening Jake agreed that it seemed like something was wrong and we should probably look on the internet to see what to do with hummingbird eggs if they have been abandoned. As we were going into the house Jake gently pulled down the leaf the nest sits on to look at the eggs and we got a surprise. There were no eggs, only live babies. We actually didn't look long enough to see if there were one or two babies, but that did tell us why the mother hadn't been on her nest. We had seen her buzzing around a bit, but hadn't been sure it was her. I looked on the internet and they explained that the mom will now come give her baby regurgitated food that she gets by eating insects and stuffing it down the babies throats. We started to notice her around the nest more that evening and constantly while we were home on Sunday. Sure enough, it looked like she was stuffing food down their throats. We were quite relieved.

Moving

2008-02-27T10:25:00.001-08:00

About 6 months ago Jake and I moved from Pasadena to Anaheim, which is the city that Jake works in. We rented our houses in Pasadena and moved into an apartment. This cut off over an hour from Jake's horrible commute (each way). But recently, my mom found out that the tenent in her town house in Brea was going to be moving out, so she offered us the opportunity to move in - and at a discount from what the last tenant was paying. We considered the benefits - a garage, plenty of parking, washer/dryer, nice neighborhood, bigger layout - and said heck yes, we'd love to move in. So on Saturday Jake and I have a truck rented and we're moving again. Thank goodness we don't have much stuff because moving sucks. What a pain in the bum. But I'm really excited about getting everything unpacked and getting the place ready for the baby. Jake will have to drive a little bit farther to work, but it won't be too bad, and my commute will be shorter for the time that I'm still at Cal Poly Pomona. There is also a high school right across the street. Maybe I can get a job there as a teacher? Wouldn't that be crazy to live within walking distance of where you worked. I've definitely never been in that situation before.

So that's the scoop. Mom called yesterday to say the new carpet is in and the place is ready for us. Mom and Jim have gone above and beyond while getting the place ready. It all looks fantastic! New carpet, paint, blinds, washer, completely cleaned (inside and out), etc.... That reminds me, we're going to have a hummingbird with her nest in a tree in the back yard. Mom told us how she was picking the leaves out of the palm tree, pulling them down one at a time. She pulled down that leaf and saw a perfect little nest with two eggs in it. That goodness she saw it because if she'd let the leaf go it would have catapulted the eggs out of the nest. Later on we saw that the hummingbird was back in her nest. We're going to have to be really careful of the tree while we are moving in.

So on Saturday I'm going to try to help Jake as best I can without lifting anything too heavy. Dad will likely come over to help too. We've already taken a few loads of stuff over and stashed it in the garage, so it shouldn't be too bad getting everything else taken care of that day. I'm getting excited!

Will I Be a Teacher in Fall 2008?

2008-02-12T10:06:00.000-08:00

Up until this point I haven't really talked about my possible change of career because I wasn't certain if it was really a possibility, but I just found out that I passed my third test required to teach science and I feel safe talking about teaching since it's a real possibility.

I've been thinking for a long time about what I could do for a career change. I was promoted into a higher level position about a year ago and have discovered that I really don't like it. I don't have enough direction and I don't really like what I'm doing. The only students I work with are probation/disqualification students, and it can quickly become depressing seeing only failing students.

I considered looking for another position in my field, but with a baby on the way I didn't like the idea of working all day and coming home at 6pm. It's not even light outside anymore at that time.

I started think about teaching like Wendy has been doing and realized it really wouldn't be a bad deal - off before 3pm every day, summers off, and it turns out that I'd make more money than I do currently! Of course, I'm sure there is bad to go along with it, and I might regret even trying this, but I'm going to see if teaching is for me.

So I took and passed my tests, I'm just starting my credential classes, and there is only one other catch that I've got to try to work through. I've got to see if I can be hired next year as a teacher without actually having a credential. I'd have to be hired into an intern position. This is the last real barrier to me changing my career.

So wish me luck and I'll keep you posted.

Child Care

2008-02-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

Jake and I went to look at child care centers today. We found one that we both like for a decent price - thank goodness. The only problem is that their wait list is a little bit long. Unfortunately, we might have to go with one of our other options until a spot opens up if we haven't moved to the top of the list by the time Baby Hester needs child care. We probably won't need child care until September but they said the wait list might be more than 6-9 months. I had started looking for child care a couple of months ago but had gotten so busy that I put it off until now. Thank goodness we hadn't waited any longer or it might have been impossible to find a place.

Fire Hydrant Accident?

2008-02-04T09:59:00.000-08:00

Fire Hydrant Accident?

2008-02-04T09:48:00.000-08:00

We were at John and Vanessa's house for the Super Bowl and someone across the street hit the fire hydrant. At least, that's what we think happened. I think that if the hydrant had come completely off the water would have been shooting really high. It was kind of interesting.

6 Months

2008-02-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

I have been seriously lagging on the prego pictures. This is me at about 6 months. I'm starting to look quite chunky!

Venus Fly Trap

2008-01-23T09:14:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I walked outside in the morning on my way to work and saw a cylindrical container lying on it's side just outside our front door. I was curious to see what it was so I picked it up and discovered that it was a Venus Fly Trap. I had no idea where it came from so I set it upright on the walkway and went to work, hoping that the owner might claim it that day. By the way, it had been extremely windy the previous day and night, so I'm pretty sure it was blown in our direction somehow.

Anyway, I came home and the thing was still sitting there so I took it inside. Now this is where I think it becomes a little bit strange. If it had been anything other than a Venus Fly Trap, I probably would have left it outside. But because this plant eats bugs, it kind of goes to the level of a lizard in my eyes. I can't leave it there because it might die. It can't even go find food because it's in a container, so I feel like I've got to take care of it.

So I read the directions on the outside and wait for Jake to get home. After all, I can't adopt a pet without consulting with him. So he gets home and I'm waiting for his typical response about how plants don't have feelings and that I should get rid of it, but instead he asks some questions and I tell him what I've read on the side of the container - that it's supposed to be in hibernation and should be kept in cold temperatures until March. So I express that I don't know what to do about that and he sticks a thermometer in the refrigerator to see if it's cold enough. He even went over to look at the plant. We discovered that the fridge was at the upper limits of the allowable temperature for the plant, so he told me to wash off the outside of the container and we put it inside the fridge. Now, for those of you who know Jake, that's the last thing that I thought he'd be OK with - a plant (with dirt) in the refrigerator. Who knows, maybe we are both in a nesting phase. So now we have a bug eating plant hibernating in our refrigerator.

I should ask the neighbors if the plant is theirs, but I've forgotten the last couple of times I've seen them. But also, I've got this thought going through my head - what was the plant doing out in 70 degree temperatures when it should clearly be in a colder place. If they've had the plant out for the last few months when it was supposed to be in the fridge, what makes me think they'll take care of it if I give it back? What if they don't even feed it later? I don't know if I want to give it back. Maybe I should just kidnap the plant and take it with me when I move in March. They would never know it was me.

And this is where the craziness comes in because remember? - It's a plant! A plant for goodness sake! Just because it eats flies doesn't mean it will feel hunger or pain, right? I'm crazy because I can't help to think, but what if? Maybe Venus (my name for him) would get hungry. But could I even feed him a fly anyway? Does it hurt the fly to be eaten by the plant?

This will definitely take some more thinking.

Cat Stowaway

2008-01-23T09:12:00.000-08:00

I thought this story was kind of funny:

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - Some kitty math: How many lives did little tabby Gracie Mae use up when she crawled into her owner's suitcase, went through an airport X-ray machine, got loaded onto a plane, thrown onto a baggage belt and mistakenly picked up by a stranger far from home?

"She's got to be at four or five now," Seth Levy said after his 10-month-old pet was returned Sunday night by a kind stranger who went home to Fort Worth, Texas, with the wrong bag and Gracie inside to boot.

The last time Levy's wife, Kelly, saw Gracie was before she took her husband to the airport. The 24-year-old went back to her house in Palm Beach Gardens late Friday to find the bottom step, where Gracie would usually be waiting, empty.

She tore the house apart looking for the cat, who had been spayed just days before. She and her dad took out bathroom tiles and part of a cabinet to check a crawl space and papered the neighborhood with "lost cat" signs.

Then she got a phone call.

"Hi, you're not going to believe this, but I am calling from Fort Worth, Texas, and I accidentally picked up your husband's luggage. And when I opened the luggage, a cat jumped out," Kelly Levy quoted the caller saying.

Rob Carter said he made it home with the suitcase before realizing it wasn't his — and there was a big surprise inside.

"I went to unpack and saw some of the clothes and saw it wasn't my suitcase," he said. "I was going to close it, and a kitten jumped out and ran under the bed. I screamed like a little girl."

Carter said that he eventually was able to get the cat to come out from under the bed.

"In the morning, I got close enough to see its collar and the phone number on it," he said. "So I called the number and got a hold of the crying wife of the traveler."

The tabby made the 1,300-mile trip home on an $80 plane ticket. Carter said he considered keeping the cat before he knew she had a home.

"We were going to name it Suitcase," he said.

Groovin' Cockatoo

2008-01-11T08:59:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness, this bird dances better than I do!

It's a Boy!

2007-12-21T09:40:00.000-08:00

Well, it's official. We are definitely having a boy. When we got to that part of the ultrasound I didn't even need the technician to say it. I was the first to say "It looks like it's a boy". It sure did to everyone else too.

I had to go to the bathroom two times at gas stations on the way home (what a pain in the butt) because for some reason they still have us drink water before an ultrasound. I've heard some people say that with some machines you don't need to do that anymore.

In January we are officially done with Kaiser and I say good riddance. I won't even get into the last few times we were there, but this time we had a grumpy counter person in the OBGYN who let me know I was at the wrong place. She promptly sent me to Radiology which also turned out to be the wrong place. Luckily the guy in Radiology was able to send me to the right place, just 15 minutes late.

Once there they took me inside for about 20 minutes without letting Jake go in with me. I asked if he could please come inside with me and they said no without giving us a reason. It kind of ruined the experience a little bit. I told her not to say if it's a boy or girl until Jake was in the room and she agreed. She was kind of cold and impersonable and I didn't really like her. When Jake finally was allowed inside the room she started showing us the baby and when I asked if it was a boy or girl she said "we aren't on that part yet" and continued showing the head, face, chest, heart, kidneys, arms, legs ... I kind of think that the rest could have waited since I'd asked the question. Maybe I'm being picky, but couldn't she have rolled over there for a minute?

Anyway, later on Jake told me some poor lady had to pee so bad she used the restroom before they called her in. When they found out what she did, they told her she had to wait for an hour now before they could see her. She assured them that her bladder would fill up quite quickly but they made her wait anyway. I'm glad they didn't make me wait because I'd used the restroom 10 minutes before I went in for my ultrasound because of the mix up in where I was supposed to be for my appointment (they have a sign upstairs that says "Please have your urine sample available BEFORE checking in"). I agreed with the lady they made wait for her ultrasound. After all, if I had to stop at the restroom before leaving Kaiser and twice on my 30 minute drive home, I was filling up my bladder every 10 minutes.

Anyway, I hope my next doctor is better than Kaiser has been. So that's the news. Now we have two more important decisions to make - what's the name and will he be circumcised? We'll keep you posted.

Hockey Game

2007-12-13T10:36:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to a hockey game with Jake's boss who had free tickets. I'd never been to a professional hockey game before as far as I can remember. It was actually pretty fun - a lot better than the baseball games we've gone to in the past.

I've heard that the guys at work won't give Jake tickets anymore to the Angels games because the three or so times they did in the past, the Angels lost. I'm not sure if that's a joke or not, but the Ducks lost last night and I'm worried we might not be invited back to another one. :)

I would have taken more pictures, but my phone died on me right after this one. Oh well.

Happy Cry

2007-12-07T10:19:00.000-08:00

Alan sent this to me and now I have a small headache and puffy eyes from trying unsuccessfully not to cry while watching the video.

http://cjcphoto.com/can/

Seven's New Bed

2007-12-03T14:03:00.000-08:00

It's been getting really cold outside and I was feeling sorry for Seven who didn't have anyplace warm to go. She hasn't been using her house lately and I have a feeling it's become too cold. It doesn't even have carpeting around the entire inside.

She been hanging out on our back foot mat, which at least gives some extra comfort over the cement, but I still felt like she needed more so I bought her a small fleece blanket at the thrift store for $2. Originally I was going to put it inside her house to make it warmer, but it didn't quite work, so I laid it out on the back mat to give her some extra warmth and she seemed to like it better, but I still wanted something better. I wanted her to have some warmth on her sides as well. Plus I wasn't thinking about it and bought it in cream which has quickly become disgustingly dirty.

So yesterday we stopped at Walgreens and I saw a fleece cat bed - two for $10. I bought them and put one out when we got home last night. She got right in it, curled up, and was still in the same place when I got up this morning. I'm quite excited that I got something so perfect for such a good price. And I feel much less guilty about her being in the cold. :)

Sarah Budd and Brad Pitt

2007-11-29T15:23:00.000-08:00

Two nights ago I dreamed that Brad Pitt and Sarah Budd were together/dating. We were all sitting in our old house in Norwalk. So bizarre. I think I had just seen Brad Pitt on the cover of a magazine at the grocery store a couple of hours before I went to bed. I had also just been looking at Sarah's blog that day. It's so strange how our brains work, huh?

Sorry David Budd, I have no idea what I was thinking, but it sure was funny once I woke up and really thought about it.

16 Weeks

2007-11-29T15:00:00.001-08:00

I tried to take a picture of myself to post for Diane and this is the best I could get. I'll have to see if Jake is willing to take a picture for me next time. :)

Micah in Jake's Shoes

2007-11-29T14:53:00.001-08:00

Last week when Micah was here he thought it would be fun to try on Jake's shoes. I thought these pictures were really funny.

New Pillow

2007-11-20T16:41:00.001-08:00

I have been very uncomfortable lately trying to go to bed. I always sleep on my stomach and I even joke about having the "sleeping position". Not that I don't turn over at night, but in order to fall asleep, I usually have to be on my stomach. Sleeping on my side as all of the sites suggest has not been easy. Lately I would use about three to four pillows (before I only needed one) and I would try stuffing them around me - between my legs, under my side, behind my back etc. It would take me about 10 minutes to get comfortable and Jake was not happy about my movements keeping him awake. And of course when I got up to use the bathroom I could never find the same position again. So this weekend we went to Babies R Us to buy a Baby Shower present and found this sleeping pillow. Not only has it been wonderful the last few nights, but I can also zip it up and use it for the baby eventually. Of course that's only if I'm willing to give it up at that point. I really like this pillow. I just hope that it continues to be comfortable as I get bigger.

Preview Day

2007-11-20T16:35:00.000-08:00

We had another tour of the greenhouse for preview day so I thought I'd post another couple of pictures of our Caimen.

Great Pregnancy Website

2007-11-13T09:07:00.000-08:00

Melissa and Wendy told me about this fantastic site (babycenter.com). I can put in my due date and it will tell me what's going on with the growth of the baby every week. I've pasted below the message I got this week. How cool is that?

By the way, I just started to wear some of the maternity clothes Wendy brought down for me this weekend, which is a relief since the my pants were starting to get uncomfortable. I think I might finally be starting to show a little bit, so I'll have to start taking some pictures. Specifically, Diane asked me to post some. I'll try not to let you down Diane. :)

Your pregnancy: 14 weeks

Click to enlarge

How your baby's growing:

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

See what's going on in your uterus this week.

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing:

Welcome to your second trimester! Your energy is likely returning, your breasts may be feeling less tender, and your queasiness may have completely abated by now. If not, hang on — chances are good it will soon be behind you (although an unlucky few will still feel nauseated months from now).

The top of your uterus is a bit above your pubic bone, which may be enough to push your tummy out a tad. Starting to show can be quite a thrill, giving you and your partner visible evidence of the baby you've been waiting for. Take some time to plan, daydream, and enjoy this amazing time. It's normal to worry a bit now and then, but try to focus on taking care of yourself and your baby, and having faith that you're well equipped for what's ahead.

Halloween 2007

2007-11-06T16:49:00.000-08:00

Halloween was fun. I didn't get any pictures of the actually trick or treating, but I got some of us before and after we went out.

Caiden was having a good time swinging his glow stick. I'm glad he had a helmet on most of time (although not in the picture) because he could have really hurt himself. He even hit himself in the eye a few times. It looked painful, but he just kept right on swinging/thrashing it about as hard as he could.

Mom and Jim were ready to serve hot apple cider and candy. I wish I'd gotten a picture of them in their chairs on the front driveway holding a bowl of candy. :)
Melissa and David out kicking it on the front driveway before the official trick or treating began. Isn't Caiden's costume cool?

Back at WLAC One Day a Week

2007-10-30T15:58:00.000-07:00

West Los Angeles College called yesterday and said they have one evening a week (3 hours) available until the end of January. This will be good because I can leave a little bit earlier than I did when I was working two days a week. This will help me to not be stressed about time while driving over there. Plus I'll have more time to do what I want to and I won't pay as much for gas as I was when driving two days a week. I'll be able to keep up on student requirements and won't feel lost by being away for so long. And the extra money doesn't hurt either. :)

Spinning Woman

2007-10-24T23:09:00.000-07:00

This website is really cool. The woman who is spinning never actually changes, but it looks like she does. You can see her going both clockwise and counter-clockwise if you look at her in a certain way. So far I've only seen one person who was not able to see her spinning both ways. Let me know what you see.

http://www.switched.com/2007/10/15/the-trippiest-optical-illusions-on-the-net/

Also, sometimes it helps to look away and then look back again, or maybe try to not look directly at her to see if you can get her to change directions.

Alex's Bike Riding Injury

2007-10-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend Jake, Alex, and I decided it was time to step up the bike riding, so instead of going to the park, we rode to the riverbed and rode on that for awhile. Alex was doing really well and was going up and down the parts that go under the street. He was even able to get up the far side without stopping almost every time. We rode down the riverbed quite a ways and decided to turn around to come back home. Everything was going really well and we were having a good time.

Then... disaster struck. While going down a particularly steep hill, Alex lost control of his bike and fell HARD. I was quite impressed with his skinned hand, elbow, hip, and knee. He didn't move for quite a while, was screaming/crying. It looked like it HURT.

So we then spent the next two and half hours in the emergency room to get his arm x-rayed. Of course, part way through our wait he was using both hands to play his game boy, but there was no way we could chance sending him home with a broken arm, so I suppose it was necessary.

So, anyway, poor Alex was probably hurt more badly with us this weekend than he's ever experienced in his 12 years of life. And I'm wondering if we'll ever be able to get him back on a bike again. It's too bad considering it took us so long to build up his courage to ride in the first place. Oh well.

But I assume he's doing fine, and of course his arm wasn't broken. He got banged up pretty good, but he'll hopefully be recovered pretty well by next weekend. Good thing he was wearing a helmet too.

Laid Off

2007-10-11T13:42:00.000-07:00

Well, they finally did it. West Los Angeles College has not been giving hours to part time counselors. The new important person in charge at the school has decided that she doesn't want any part time counselors working. I'm not sure if this will be forever or if we might get a few hours during the busy times, but any way you look at it, it sucks for me. What's especially unfortunate is that I think she went about this badly. Ideally, she should still have a few part time people working for a few hours a week so that we retain some of our knowledge. Instead, if we are able to get some hours in a few months, we're all going to be straining to remember certain things. Of course, there might also be changes during that time that we know nothing about. How frustrating.

I suppose I understand that they're trying to save money, but for me, I'm losing money by not working. I guess that I should try to use this time wisely and enjoy the fact that I'm not driving to West LA two times a week. I think I'm going to save about $100 in gas by not making the drive.

So there is my sad story. I delayed blogging about it for a few weeks because I was hoping that they might have us come back, but so far no luck. :(

Bike Riding with Dad and Susan

2007-10-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we finally had the opportunity to show Dad and Susan the Fullerton Loop bike ride. They had asked a few times about seeing where it is since they actually live in Fullerton and might like to ride it every once in awhile.

We had a really good time, and to be honest, I was very impressed with how well they did. We actually finished in a decent amount of time and although they were tired, they stuck with it the whole way. So good job to them. Now we'll just have to see if they liked it enough to do it again.

We also went over to their place for dinner last night. Afterward me, Dad, Randy, and Dan all played Euchre. I forget how much fun that game is (even if I did lose :). I hope we have a chance to do that again soon.

My First Appt and Serious Nausea

2007-10-03T09:50:00.000-07:00

Until yesterday, I wasn't really entirely convinced that I was actually pregnant. OK, I suppose I'm exaggerating, but it didn't seem quite real. But then they did the ultrasound which I have posted below and confirmed that it's true. I really do have a blob growing in me. They even let us listen to the heartbeat. It could hardly believe that only about 5 weeks after conception it would sound so strong. It was at 160 beats per minute.

To confirm matters even more, I was closer today than ever before to actually throwing up. I hung around in the restroom for about 5 minutes trying to decide if it was going to happen, but luckily I think I'm getting over it and am currently eating as I type to try to get my stomach settled.

One last thing, my due date is May 13th, although the second one based on size is May 17th. They say if it's not more than a week off, they stick with the original one. So let's see what actually happens. :)

The Fair

2007-09-25T16:20:00.001-07:00

I really need to get some pictures from Susan. All I had were a couple pictures on my phone, and obviously they didn't come out very well.

I took the second picture because Jake's name is on the Rabbit Hut. You can't really see it well in the picture, but Susan's shirt says "I Love My Hubby". She got a few comments on her shirt from people at the fair who thought it was funny.

Some highlights of the day were the animals, a squishy thing that splats on the the ground and slowly pulls itself back into it's original shape, and spending time with everyone: Dad, Susan, Caiden, Vanessa, John, Steven, and Matthew.

It rained pretty hard toward the middle of the day, so we stayed inside quite a bit, but the booths were fun to see and I was much more entertained then I thought I would be. So that was my day - good times!

Oh My Goodness, I'm Pregnant

2007-09-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

So here is the official "I'm pregnant" announcement, just in case anyone who reads doesn't know yet. I'm a little freaked out, but happy. I'm probably only about 4 weeks along and I've got my first official doctor's visit on October 2nd. I'll keep everyone posted.

Another Cute Story

2007-09-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070913/ap_on_fe_st/surfer_saves_dog

I thought this was a cute story

2007-09-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

It's dove at first sight

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

All together now: Ahhhh

It's a tale straight out of Disney – an abandoned baby monkey, close to death, is revived by the love of a bird.

The 12-week-old macaque was rescued on Neilingding Island, in Goangdong Province, China, after being abandoned by his mother.

Taken to an animal hospital, he was weaned back to physical health but still showed little appetite for life.

It was not until a fellow patient, a white pigeon, took him under her wing and showed him love and affection that he perked up.

Now the two are inseparable, say staff.

They are not the first odd couple. In March, we told how a tiger cub in China was being raised by a sow along with her piglets because his mother didn't know how to feed him.

And in 2005 Mi-Lu the baby deer became best friends with lurcher Geoffrey at the Knowsley Animal Park, in Merseyside, after being rejected by her mother.

Our New Fence - Not Such a Great Idea?

2007-09-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

I'm so upset.

Jake and I had a great idea - build a tall wood fence on the side of the back house to make the whole house surrounded by the same type of fence. It would also block out the uglyness of the rest of the street.

We spent over $400 building this fence and it's beautiful.

But then the problems began last week. I guess the neighbors don't like that they can't see over the fence anymore and can't see what's going on in the neighborhood. So they have begun to congregate on the street at the end of their driveway. They talk somewhat loudly, drink beer, and look like gang members the way they are dressed. To be honest, most of them probably are.

I really don't think the new tenants are going to appreciate this, and I feel guilty like it's our fault that they are going to have to deal with it. I don't need this stress right now! And I have absolutely no control over the situation.

This sucks!

It turns out that we

2007-09-07T18:42:00.001-07:00

It turns out that we are now moving tommorow. what a pain in the rear moving is. wish us luck.