4 Months of Catch Up and Welcome Lily

Okay, so I am really terrible about this. I can't believe I let 4 months go by with NO updates. I would promise to be better about it...but life has become busier this month with the arrival of Lily...so let's just say I will try.

Let's back up...and see what I remember.

April-Nate enjoyed his first Easter Egg hunt (put on by us) and the family all came down for a BBQ at the Bay. It was a beautiful day and fun to see how much Nate is getting into things. He had a great time "hunting" for his Easter basket when he woke up by following clues around the house.

May-Nate turned 3 on the 15th and had a great birthday party at school with all his little friends. Miss Jodi was great to host it at school and I just provided all the goodies so he could have a "kid party" this year...I was just too tired and pregant to want to try to host one myself! We had a family Mother's Day and birthday party at a Padres Game (which Nate really wanted to attend after becoming an official Jr. Padre). Mo-mom, Popah, Aunt Cristina, Morelia, Suz, YaYa (Brian), Godfather (Quigley), and Hee Hee Ha Ha (Lowell)--what a slew of nicknames!!! all came and Nate was spoiled rotten...AGAIN. I took the day off on his birthday and we went to SeaWorld for a mommy/son day of fun. This was his last birthday as an only child.

June-Doctor's appointments progressed without any problems (other than getting appointments) and the pregnancy was getting exhausting, but overall uneventful. We put an offer on a house and were dealing with Escrow through the month of May. Everything went through and we were able to move into our first home June 6th! Yeah!! To go from 700 sq. feet to 1700 sq. ft. has been fantastic!!! I waddled through the month of June, just waiting for the last day of school, which meant VACATION and Lily was due! We found out Nate's daycare (which we have loved this year) was closing...so there went my plans for part time care during the summer after Lily's arrival. Luckily, Mark and Nancy love where Eva goes and it looks like she will have room for him come the end of August. Jodi was sweet to watch Nate an extra week and a half after her daycare closed to get me to the end of the school year. Grammy came for a visit at the end of June to spend time with Nate before the baby arrived. Nate joined me for the last 2 days of school and was exhausted, but had a good time! Boy was I glad to be done with school this year. Now I was just hoping Lily would arrive on time so I didn't waste too much of my vacation being pregnant, since I have to go back to work at the end of August.

July-Nate and I had a busy first week of vacation doing fun stuff, working on the house, and getting ready for baby Lily's arrival. I had a doctor's appointment on June 28th and there was no progress. I had another appointment on July 2nd and found out we were on the home stretch and I was 3 cm. I was told it probably wouldn't be more than another few days and that it would be surprising if I made it to my post due date appointment the following Thurs. That day Nate and I had gone to Home Depot and picked up the paint for Lily's room and then spent the morning at SeaWorld before my doctor's appointment. That night at Girl's Night all the girls coaxed Lily to arrive the next evening (everyone had crazy schedules and this would be the beginning of a long weekend...the following weekend people would be out of town). The rest of the evening/night was uneventful. I slept as well as a 9 month pregnant woman can sleep and awoke at 6 am as usual. Bob left for work and Nate and I started our morning. At about 6:30 am I felt what I thought might be contractions, but wanted to be sure so I waited a while, cleaned the kitchen, took a shower, etc. They felt stronger...but I never had any contractions at home with Nate and I didn't want Bob to rush home if it was a false alarm. I finally called him at about 7:30 a.m. and told him to be ready to come home if the contractions got stronger. He said he was on his way now...he wasn't going risk them not being real. I also called Suzanne and told her to be on call. She called back to say she was just going to come over about the time I was having a strong contraction and explaining to Nate I was okay, just had a tummy ache and may have to go to the doctor so they could get baby Lily out. Thank goodness they both ignored my doubts and came home. By time they arrived, contractions were about 5 minutes apart and getting pretty strong. I called the hospital and told them we were on our way. We left the house around 8:45 am. We made it to the hospital just in time. Contractions were very strong and only about 2-3 minutes apart. A nice man brought us a wheelchair and they got me up to Labor and Delivery. I was checked in immediately and given an IV. I found out I was a little over 8 cm at that time. I was quickly given a epidural and Lily was born about 30 minutes later at 10:44 a.m. What a quick delivery! It was wonderful to see her pink and screaming (after Nate's scary birth). She arrived before my family could even hit the road to come down to San Diego!

The First Month-We had a 24 hour required stay in the hospital and checked out on the 4th of July. My whole family stayed at our house (thank goodness for more space!!) and we had a wonderful BBQ with family and the Starrs. Suzanne and my dad surprised me by painting Lily's room during my short hospital stay and it looked beautiful. Lily has quite a cry when she wants something...usually food...but once she is full she is quite content. Godfather Joe came to meet her on Sat. and the craziness of 2 kids officially started. Lily had her first outing Sun. morning at 3 days old to Country Waffles for breakfast. The next few weeks flew by and were very busy, although Lily slept through most of it. There is no stopping with a 3 year old! Lily is the easy one!! In her first two weeks home we went to the zoo, Pirate Ship park with Lowelly, had a doctor's appointment, Nate's first soccer practice, another park with Suz, Michele babysat her for a few hours so Nate and I could hang out, cord fell off, Godfather Quigley came over to meet her, T-Ball practice, the beach, Reily's dog park, the Children's Museum and Sea World with Mark and Eva. Boy...we have been busy!!! Grammy came to meet Lily and see Nate. We went to the Victoria Garden Farms and had a good time. Suzanne hosted a wonderful post baby baby shower/house warming at my house and Mo-mom and Grammy did a great job sharing baby Lily.

Lily slept with us for the first 2 weeks and pretty much just wakes to eat. She tends to get a bit gassy which can make her unhappy, but overall she is eating well and sleeping in 3 hour stretches. We moved her to her own room on Monday, July 21st after grandmas were gone. It didn't go so well the first night since she had not been put down all weekend...so mommy spent most of the night dozing on her floor. The next night went much better and she went down from 7-10:30, ate, down from 12-3, ate, down from 4-7. Yeah!!! She had her 2 week doctor's appointment (at 3 weeks) and is doing great. She now weighs 8 lbs. 6 oz. and is healthy and looking good. Nate had his 3 year appoinment and is growing like a weed. He did such a good job at his first big boy appointment. He is 38 1/2 inches (67th percentile) and 33 lbs (60th percentile). He can do all the things he should be able to! He is an AWESOME big brother and loves his baby sister!

July 29th-Charlotte Starr was born! Yeah!!! 7lbs 12 oz. Probably a fluke...but Lily slept through the night!!! 10:30 pm.-5:30 am!!! I feel great!! August is right around the corner and it doesn't seem that it will be getting any quieter her around here. We have a string of visitors coming in August and then it is back to work. Again, I will try not to let so much time pass by before posting again.

Nate sayings: "Baby Lily is eating from mommy's arm again! Daddy, baby Lily is trying to eat

your arm!!!

Told the doctor, "My baby sister poops a lot!"

"Hi, beautiful girl!" "Hi sweetheart!"

"Mommy, baby Lily is so cute! She is my best friend! I love her"

"When I am sad, baby Lily makes me feel better."

"Mommy, say Baby Lily your big brother is so silly!"

What a blessing to have our wonderful family!

Spring Break and Potty Trained!!!

We had a great visit with Grammy at the end of February. She and Nate had a blast, despite the rainy weather the last day. We spent a day at Belmont Park going on little rides and playing games. Then Grammy and Nate hung out on Sunday and Bob and I escaped for lunch and a movie. I don't think Nate ever stopped talking and dragging Grammy around to see all his new stuff!

March hit quickly with only 2 weeks before my 2 week Spring Break and lots of events at school. So, I am thrilled to be on vacation! My last week we started putting Nate in pullups at home and he tried them a bit at school. We got him a new potty seat for the big potty and he was semi interested and doing pretty good at home, but reluctant at school. Then my last day of school I got off early and decided to just go and buy him a bunch of big boy underwear and try it out whenever we were home, since accidents were bound to happen. Sat. he started wearing his new underware and in 2 days we only had 1-2 accidents a day. My Monday he was doing awesome! We weren't sure how it would go at school, but he made it through his whole week at school without any accidents and only in pullups at naptime...but he woke up dry every day!!! YEAH Nate!!!! We are so proud of him and he loves his new freedom! A little too much at times...he has become quite the stripper lately and is very interested in shaking his bare bottom around the house and discovering his little body. Funny, but a bit awkward at times!

I took 3 days of the first week of my vacation to take care of stuff around then house and relax, as well as go to a doctor's appointment. Since then, Nate and I have been very busy! We hit the Wild Animal Park to see the Butterfly Exhibit that is only there for 3 weeks each Spring. Saturday we started swimming lessons again and Nate has become a pool addict. We spent Easter Sunday with family and friends at the Bay. We had a nice BBQ and Nate had a little Easter Egg Hunt (it will be more fun when there are more kids! But Nate had a blast!). Now we are enjoying our last week with walks, trips to the park and dog park, more swimming, etc. Thursday we will head up to Momom and Popah's house for a couple of day and then back to work. It goes by too fast!!! But with a busy 3rd trimester at school, hopefully the end of my pregnancy will fly by too. The baby is due the week after school gets out, so it will be a busy couple of months.



We are actively looking to buy a home and hope that all will fall into place in the next couple of months. We are bursting at the seams here, but it has been a good home for us for the past 7 years. We will keep everyone posted!

Hard to believe Nate will be turning 3 in a month! He continues to be very sweet and thoughtful. He loves giving his baby sister hugs and kisses and talks about her and being a big brother all the time. Hopefully he maintains those happy thoughts about her when she arrives.

Hope everyone is doing well. More news to come soon!

Oh, How Time Flies!

Well, I can't believe I haven't posted on here since Oct. Life has been a whirlwind! Our home computer is about done and that is where I have everything saved, so I only get on Bob's computer these days to check email and look at what is available in the housing market. So...let's see???

October flew by with the October wildfires that ravaged communities around us (although beach communties dealt with little more than lots of smoke and ash). During that week, schools were closed and I was able to confirm my suspision that I might be pregnant. We celebrated Halloween with a short walk up the alley pathway to Greg's house to trick-or-treat with "Fireguy Nate" and then Grammy came for a weekend visit to start of Novemeber. I am sure I am now forgetting TONS of stuff...oh well.

November was busy with the birth of my niece, Morelia on Nov. 12, a Girl's Night reunion trip to San Francisco the next weekend, and Thanksgiving the following weekend. My sister was a trooper with a 36 hour labor, but mom and baby came out great. Suzanne and I were up for the weekend and were glad our niece decided to arrive before we had to return home. We had a blast in San Francisco, I only wish my stomach hadn't been so quesy so I could have enjoyed more of the food! Thanksgiving was spent at my house hosted by Suzanne and myself, and my parents, Cristina and the baby, Lowell, her mom and aunt, Bob, Brian, and Nate of course were there too. We had way too much food, AGAIN! but it was fun. I let my family know about my pregnancy and all were excited to hear the news. Then a few more weeks of school to finish my first trimester and wow! December was here!!!

Nate is LOVING daycare, although we have had a few biting incidents (he has been the biter) and that is awkward. But overall, it has been such a good switch and he is practicing sharing and getting along with other kids his age. He likes to help out with everything and his language has continued to blossom. He basically never stops talking!!! It was nice to have a break from school and get to spend some quality time with Nate, although I did have him stay at daycare my first week off so I could clean, Christmas shop, and pamper myself a little. We spent Christmas at my parents house the weekend before Christmas and to celebrate my mom's birthday. Nate was spoiled rotten, of course, and Popah and Momom got him a train table with all the fixins. We spent Christmas Eve at our little cabin in Julian that we rented last year and had a nice time. It is very peaceful and relaxing. Nate was thrilled that Santa found him there and came out in the morning exclaiming, "Oh my, Oh my!!!" to all that he saw. This was the Transportation Christmas and all he wanted was a HUGE rocket ship. That took some work!!! In the end, he got lots of rocketships, trains, cars, and a scooter. He got a big car track rug for his room from Grammy and Grandpop, which he has grown to really love and a train table with all the fixings from Popah and Momom! New Years wasn't too eventful, but we spent a nice evening and dinner with the Starrs and were home by 9 pm. Life with a toddler...it takes too long to get back on track if we get too off schedule so we were fine with our quiet New Years Eve.


Then January hit and we were back to work and in the swing of things. I hardly had time to think about being pregnant and started to feel a bit better overall. Everyone at Nate's daycare got hit by a nasty high fever bug, so a few weekends of not feeling great and rainy days made for a long and uneventful month. I finally let everyone at work know I was pregant once I was about 17 weeks along. Good thing too, because shortly after that, I my clothes all started getting tight and my belly popped out quite a bit. We attended our good friends Mark and Nancy's daughter, Eva's, 2nd birthday at the end of the month and we excited to hear that they too are expecting, due only one month after us. Nate and Eva are such good friends, it will be fun to see the two new ones grow up together as well!

February has come and is almost gone in a flash! Nate had taken to sneaking out to the couch in the middle of the night and then it got earlier and earlier. He never tried to come into our room, but he wasn't sleeping as well and was tired and grumpy. We had a few rough nights where we had to lock the door on him to emphasize that we meant it when we said he had to stay in bed. After crying for 20 minutes he usually said he was done and we could crack the door the way he likes it. I made a sticker chart for him and he now earns stickers for going to bed without a fuss, staying in his bed, and sleeping until 6:30! 2 out of 3 isn't too bad! When he gets 15 he earns a small prize. He loves it and it seems to be working. Funny kid!!! We are still working on potty training...well, sort of...Nate is good about getting out of the bath to go and goes through phases when he is interested in trying to go on the potty, but we aren't pushing him too much. I think we will work on it a little more actively over Spring Break. But, I have heard if they aren't interested and ready, then they just aren't. So, we'll see! It would be great to have him out of diapers by time our new arrival gets here!

We had our sonogram on Friday, Feb. 15 and found out that we will be having a baby girl! We are very excited, although for some reason I just assummed I was having another boy, so it took a little while to sink in. But one of each is a perfect way to round off our little family...I think 2 will be fine! We are now looking into buying a house and trying to become a bit more knowledgable before we contact someone to start really looking. But, I have Spring Break in a couple of weeks and I think we are going to try to get things rolling. We are already pretty tight in our little home, so one more will be quite a squeeze! Grammy is coming into town next weekend and we are excited to see her again. Nate will talk her ear off!!!

WHEW!!!! I think that wraps up what I can remember, at least at this point. I will try to be better about posting. I hope that all of you are doing well!

A Very Busy Month and a Half

I can't believe it is October and I haven't signed in since I went back to work!

August ended quickly with a great visit from my cousins Tami and Jesse. We had a great time taking the boys to Legoland and just hanging out at their hotel pool. That was also my first week back at school for my prep days. And so the adventure begins. Upon deciding to return full time this year, I was bumped from my position at my old school. My new school is only about a mile away and so far everyone has been great. But after 7 years in 5th grade in the same classroom, at the same school, the adjustment to everything has been a bit overwhelming. I am now teaching a 2/3 combo class and although I am enjoying the new age group, it is a lot of new curriculum and behaviors to familiarize myself with.

Additionally, Nate has gone back to daycare fulltime. We decided to switch him to a family daycare closer to the house so Bob can pick him up whenever possible. We are really liking his new school. They are doing a lot more "preschool" type activities and they have a HUGE yard with lots of fun stuff. Nate seems to enjoy going and is beginning to make some friends his age. We are having on and off struggles with sharing, hitting, and grabbing, but he is 2 so that is not too surprising. He loves having daddy pick him up in his trup (truck) and the 30 min. to an hour they have together before I can get home. I miss seeing him and spending such quality time with him, but we are trying to make the most of our evenings and weekends. Nate is talking up a storm and his new funny line is "That's what I said! or I said _____!" when I don't understand something. He also gets frustrated and just pulls my hand and says, "I show you!" and leads me to what he is trying to say!

We had a fierce battle with the stomach flu that seemed to come and go and then come and go again for over a week. We are finally well again and I can almost see the light as we are entering October and I am getting a handle on things at work. After our Legoland trip, Nate has been even more facinated with firetrucks and "fireguys". That is what he wants to be for Halloween. If you ask him what a fireguy does, he says they put out fires. If you ask how, he repeats what the Legoland fireguys said in their show, "Put the wet stuff on the hot stuff, and put the fire out!" It is pretty cute! He is also becoming a big football fan. I got Nate and Bob matching Steelers jerseys and he loves to wear it like daddy and yell, "Go Chargers!" Wrong team for the jersey, but he is working on "Go Steelers!" He likes to procrastinate at bedtime a bit more by asking for more stories. I made the mistake of reading him There's a Nightmare in my Closet one evening by request, and we had a hard week at bedtime after that. Nightmares and closet checks every night. He now says when we check the closet, "No monsters, just clothes." We have put that book away for some time!

Other news:

We just said a sad farewell to "Auntie" Stephanie and wish her the best of luck on her new chapter of life. We will miss her tremendously!

My dad celebrates his 60th birthday this weekend and will be coming down to spend the day with us. He called today to say he found Nate a "fireguy" costume for Halloween. I will post pictures of that soon.

My sister, Cristina's husband, Juan will be returning from Mexico next week, just in time for her baby shower and the their Nov. 4th due date! We are prepping Nate to meet his new baby girl cousin very soon! How exciting!!!

How Is It That Summer Is Almost Over?

I can't believe how quickly summer has gone!

I was attempting to clean the house the other day and found Nate's 2 year doctor's appointment information from the end of June and realized I never posted it. Nate has finally climbed out of the 20% weight percentile and moved up to about the 35%. He now weighs in at a wopping 27.4 lbs. Still a light weight, but healthy as can be. He is 36 inches tall (which has been great since 36 inches is the height requirement for the only rides he can go on at the amusement park outside swimming class). His head remains large...but we will continue to support the "big brains" theory. Other than that, he is on schedule and the doctor said he looks good and seems developmentally on track. What more can you ask for?

Summer has been busy! I decided to sign Nate up for 2 sessions of swimming lessons, so we schedule both Monday and Tuesday mornings around swimming lessons. I am glad we did though because his comfort level seems to have increased quickly. Since no one else signed up for the Tues. spot, he gets private lessons for the same cost! What a bargain. I really like the instructor and feel they are much more competent and prepared than where we went last summer. Nate has perfected his "balloon face" and likes to dive (with assistance) to the bottom of the pool to pick up rings. He also likes to swim through the "hoop of fire" but continues to resist floating on his back a bit, since he doesn't like the water in his ears. At home this all translates to "Maniac in the water!" It has been hot so we have his blow up pool filled. He jumps and falls in with reckless abandon when the pool is uncovered, and dives and stunt rolls across when the cover is on. He has also continued his gym class, but moved up to the next level class, which we are both enjoying. His buddy, Chase, moved up so after a few classes with Nate looking for him, the instructors asked if we would like to move up as well. It has a little more structure and Nate has always liked being with the older kids, so it has been nice.

Bob and I enjoyed a rare mini vacation up to San Francisco in late July and Nate spent a wonderful weekend with Popah and Momom. He was spoiled rotten and we enjoyed dining out, walking around the city, and sleeping in. Nate had a little spill at the park and scraped both his knees, and immediately said, "I go call Da." So we got a teary phone call and then he bounced back. What a treat it was! We will have to do that more often!

The following weekend Nate and I flew back up to the Bay Area to visit my good friend, Alison, and her family and to celebrate the soon-to-be addition to Laura and Thang's family. That was my first flight with Nate since last summer, and although he did great, it is a challenge traveling solo with a toddler and all the extra stuff. Since he is now 2, we did have to purchase him his own seat and carried on his carseat. That and a DVD helped keep him settled for most of the flight. My mom flew up for the baby shower as well, so that helped when we arrived. We spent a nice day with Alison and her girls, Violet and Greta, and then were joined for dinner by the Toledo clan. We spent Sat. morning at the Oakland Zoo, followed by a very special trip to the Oakland Fire Station, to see Dan. We not only got a tour of the Fire House, a hat, the opportunity to climb in and around the fire engines, but we got a ride in the fire engine around the block! Nate has been addicted to the show on PBS Kids called "Fireman Sam" ever since, although he was a huge fire truck fan before the trip. We has a great time seeing Laura pregnant and spending time with the whole Wilson clan. We had a busy trip, with late nights and short naps, so we were exhausted by the end but had so much fun!

Then home and trying to get back on schedule. We also decided to switch Nate's daycare closer to home and were able to find someone less than 5 minutes away who has space for him come the first of Septemeber. Since I am returning to full time work, this will give Bob the chance to pick him up on days when he is off before me. Additionally, it will be nice for Nate to start making some little friends near where we live. His new daycare will have 6 kids, four of them will be 2 year olds. We have visited several times and I think he will be happy there. She has a HUGE yard. So although we could have a tough first few weeks of school due to all the changes, I think it will work out for all in the end.

I had a work meeting and Popah was nice enough to take 2 days off to come stay with us and take care of Nate while I went to work, since I don't have care for Nate until next month. He took him to swimming lessons and they had a fantastic time together. I think they were both exhausted by the end of each day, but they sure had fun!

Now, we are entering our last week of vacation, swimming lessons, gym class and mommy/son freedom. I am excited to be teaching 3rd grade next year, but the reality of going back full time is starting to hit me. Although Nate stays up a little later these days...7-7:30 (mostly because it is summer and why not?) I have a feeling he will crash out earlier once "school" starts and it gets dark earlier, so I won't get to see him very much. But my plan is to work late Mondays and then leave earlier and earlier as the week progresses. Nate will be my reason to stay focused and get things done so I can get home to see him.

We are excited to have Tami and Jesse coming to visit in a week! I will post more soon!

Hope you all had a wonderful summer!