5 weeks left!

We’ve been in preparation mode around here! This last weekend we got the baby’s room all together for her. The crib is re-adjusted and clean. All of her clothes and toys are washed and ready for her. Now we just need baby sister. Maisy keeps getting more and more excited about her arrival. We think she’ll be the sweetest older sister there ever was. All that’s left to do is to get all the cloth diaper gear ordered and ready and to pack the hospital bag. Oh and a name- we’ll have to for sure decide on a name. We are working on that and hope to have a for sure name prior to bringing her home from the hospital. I know the suspense was just too much for some last time, if you remember we didn’t decide on Maisy’s name until she’d been home from the hospital for 5 days!

I had my last routine OB appointment today. My weight is good- I’m actually below what I was at this same point with Maisy- although, one might never know by that bootylicious picture above!

The doctor says baby girl is still measuring about a week behind and guesses she’ll be a smaller, although healthy, baby. She thinks she’ll be below what Maisy (7lbs 7oz) was- YAY!! I go back in two weeks (8/10) for an ultrasound and my Group B strep test. Then I go every Monday after that until the baby is born (8/23 and 8/30).

It is amazing how quickly this pregnancy has gone. It really has been a breeze and much smoother than Maisy’s. Just this week I decided that I was ready to go ahead and get this baby going! Prior to that, I was happy to leave her inside for as long as she wanted, but now that we are ready and I’m getting slightly more uncomfortable, worn out and am not sleeping well anyway- I figure we might as well get to meet her!

Maisy continues to do well at her afternoon learning sessions. Her retention on what she has learned is pretty good too! We are up to letter P today. Below are some pictures of past Letter days. I was surprised at how much she enjoys her lessons and looks forward to them. Often when we are done, she still wants to keep going.

Maisy and her Kite on “K” day

Addressing Envelopes for “M” Day for our Mail Carrier Activity

Getting ready for our mail route

Mail Delivered!

A "N"est made with Dada

More later!

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

Happy Family finishes AIDS WALK SF 2010

What a week! We were in LA to celebrate the impending arrival of our new nephew- Kim, Rigo and Elijah are the proud family awaiting Evan and our friends Perla and Marc’s celebration of the coming arrival of baby Luke. It was quite a day of baby love! It was a smooth trip there and back- an hour flight into Long Beach is just the about the most ideal way to fly. Maisy did wonderfully. This was our last trip out of town before baby girl arrives. I’m now not allowed to fly, so I was cutting it a bit close and it was perfect timing!

At Perla’s baby shower with Mr. Minton, Perla, Sarah and Mykah

Luckily it wasn’t as torturously hot as it has been during some past visits to LA, although it was still nice to cool down in the jacuzzi. The kids had a blast and Kim and I were on strict orders to stay in for only 12 minutes at a time so we don’t over cook the new little ones.

In Mom’s new jacuzzi also known as a “cool”

Maisy and Elijah hanging out

We are continuing our alphabet lessons and tomorrow is “J” day. Maisy is doing very well with learning the letters and looks forward to waking from her nap to fun lessons. The picture below is of her finding “H” items Hidden in a tub of rice. She liked that as well as the “H” swimming pool.

“H” Day activity

Maisy’s new favorite book is, Kipper’s A-Z: An Alphabet Adventure. It is actually a really cute book and I don’t mind reading it at all. I would highly recommend it!

What’s in the pool? Hand, hot dog, horse, H

AIDS Walk was next on the agenda. We started off around 10:30 and quickly met up with Uncle Steven, Jiri and Sherri. The walk was great fun and seemed to go by swiftly. Time flies when you are walking and talking! It was a lot of fun for a great cause. Jiri knew of a tiny short cut, so we did end up cutting off about a mile- but with the walking to and from the car, I’m still claiming a 6 mile walk day! It wasn’t too hot or too cold, it was just right. At the end of the walk, I was slightly sore and had some sensitive feet, but all in all it was great and I would totally do it again. We were so proud of us :-)

Maisy in her cap

Uncle Steven, Maisy and Todd

Maisy on the walk with Todd, Jiri and Sherri

We also went up in the attic and got all of the infant clothing and gear out. Maisy thought this was just the best thing ever. She was constantly exclaiming, “OH- CUTE, So TINY!”. Now my task is to wash everything, sort it all, put it where it belongs and then we’ll be ready. I can’t believe there are only 6.5 weeks left! My next doctor’s appointment is July 27 and then again on August 10, where they will do another ultrasound to check the baby’s size and position.

Here is the most recent belly shot.

33 Weeks

More later!

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

A grilled cheese

Well this month I decided we needed a challenge. I challenge myself to teach Maisy (and challenge Maisy to learn) the alphabet. So as a part of this challenge, I will teach Maisy one letter per weekday in the month of July. Today was A day and I brought my A game!

“A” Worksheet

We started out coloring an “A” worksheet that I got off an internet preschool site. For a few days I’ve been cutting images and letters out of magazines to make letter collages, so that was next on our agenda. We then went around the house and collected all of the items that began with the letter “A” that we could find and of course we had an Apple snack. Surprisingly enough, not that many things start with A that just lie around our house….

Apple Snack A game

After all that fun, we took a break and Maisy took a nap. After Maisy’s nap, learning time continued! I made an “A” stamp for painting out of half of an apple. (I’d like to claim this idea, but it was actually Todd’s).

Apple A Stamp

Maisy thought this was great fun!

Awesome Apple A stAmp!

Check it out A!

To top it off we had an alphabet pasta salad for dinner tonight. Tomorrow we are on to the letter B.

I think A day was a success. Check out the video below:

In other news, baby girl keeps growing and growing. She is super active and is always dancing around. We go to prenatal yoga each Wednesday night, which is one of my favorite times of the week!

Here is a picture from today. I can’t believe there are only 9 short weeks left!

31 Weeks

SF AIDS Walk is approaching soon, July 18th. If you are able, Todd and I have yet to reach our fundraising goals and would love your support. Just go to http://www.aidswalk.net/sanfran/ and click on Sponsor A Walker. Todd is registered under Todd Matthews and I am registered under Rebecca Matthews. Your generosity will be appreciated by many!!

More later!

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

Happy Birthday Cupcakes

Happy Birthday, Todd!!

We celebrated this morning before Todd took off for work. He got a nice new hat, a bottle of wine and some tea.

Todd trying on his new birthday hat from Maisy and me

After the morning festivities we headed over to my doctor’s appointment where Todd got to hear baby girl’s heartbeat for the first time. She is now exactly where she should be in terms of growth. My next appointment is July 27th.

Todd then went to work and we met for dinner at our favorite restaurant, The Wood Tavern, where we had a speedy early dinner. Maisy decided to completely not sleep today at nap time, but instead play for 2 and a half hours in her big girl room. So, she was not up for a lengthy dinner and we weren’t up for dealing with her through a lengthy dinner. Needless to day, she went to bed at 7 and missed the cupcake festivities.

Steven came over after dinner to help us sing and eat Todd’s special birthday egg-free, vanilla-free cupcakes. It was quite an undertaking to make them from scratch! Steven and Todd seemed to like them after we learned the trick of heating them first to moisten them up.

Here is a picture from today. I can’t believe there are only 10 short weeks left!

30 Weeks

More later!

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

Family photo at Toy Story 3 on Father’s Day morning

Happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful Father’s in our lives!

The day started out with yummy pancakes and a present that Maisy and I made for Todd on Friday. It was quite a task to complete, but we did it!

About to dip into the paint

Some of the mess

Cleaning up

Finished product

After morning festivities, we headed over to the City to catch an early 9:30am showing of Toy Story 3. Maisy behaved wonderfully!! We were very proud.

After the movie we headed over to a spot very special to us, the Park Chalet, to enjoy a lunch in the sun.

Enjoying the day

Digging in the dirt holes- what a perfect lunch spot!

On the way home, eagle-eye Todd spotted a Bakfiet at a used bike store, so we had to stop so he could test drive it with Maisy.

Sorry- the Bakfiet stays at the bike shop

The rest of the day went smoothly and has been nice and relaxing. Now to start the week. Friday is our next visit for the new baby. More then!

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

Sassy Maisy after her shots this morning

Maisy had her two year well baby appointment this morning. The doctor was very impressed with her language skills and calm and trusting nature. She is now up to 26 pounds and is 2 ’ 11" in height. She is in the 48th percentile for weight and 78 percentile for height.

She received her last 3 shots (Hep A, HIB and Pneumococcal Conjugate-13) today. Maisy will not need to go back to the doctor again until she is three and won’t need shots again until she is four! She was NOT happy with getting shots. It’s so hard to hold her down while someone pokes her, but it’s all for her and others’ in our community’s good! She’s a bit sore and mentions having a hurt leg, but she’ll be better in no time.

Maisy is now taking her first nap in her big girl bed. She slept like a princess last night. Hope this sticks.

I’m now 29 weeks pregnant- only 11 weeks left to go! I can’t believe how fast it’s gone. Here is a picture of me today. It seems that the baby has just grown by a lot in the last week.

29 Weeks!

More later-

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

Celebrating Grandma’s 100th Birthday!!

We took a trip all the way across the country to Lake George, New York. We were out to visit and celebrate Grandma Alice Urband’s 100th birthday on June 12th!

On the way out Maisy did well on the first flight and got a bit restless in the airport. Luckily a nice janitor over heard Uncle Steven and I talking about wishing there was something to do when he pointed us the most perfect play area in the airport. These should be mandatory in ALL airports. Maisy loved playing after being cooped up for so long! Maisy and I were so very thankful to have Steven come along with us.

Playing in the Chicago Airport’s Kid’s area

Climbing on structures

We arrived on time and picked up Todd the next day from the airport. We were so happy to see him again!

On Friday we had a small celebration for Maisy’s birthday. Maisy got the most beautiful handmade clock and wooden robots made by Papa J. They will be treasured for decades to come. Thank you Papa J!

Maisy’s new clock for her big girl room

The next day we celebrated Grandma’s 100th birthday. It was a very happy occasion for friends and family to reunite.

Todd and Grandma

Unfortunately it rained pretty much each day we were there except for the last day. We were able to fit a good deal of summer fun in just one day! We took a boat ride on Lake George, played on a beach, ate lake side and went swimming in the pool all before we boarded our plane for back home. It was a wonderful day.

Maisy and Dada in the lake

After our sunny day we left on a 7:30pm flight out of Albany. Maisy did very well on the ride home with the exception of a very confused and exhausted 15 minute crying jag about an hour and half before we landed at SFO. She recovered well though and fell back asleep for the remainder of the flight. We didn’t get to bed until after 2am pacific time. We were all a bit sleepy today…

Today is also a big day. It’s the first night that Maisy is sleeping in her big girl room! She said that’s where she wanted to sleep, so we did it. She’s been asleep in her new big girl bed for about an hour, so far so good. She went down with very little issue. Let’s hope it stays that way!

Dada and Maisy reading before bed time

Good night big girl!!

Tomorrow Maisy has her two year well baby appointment, so we’ll have more growth stats then. I’ll also update with a new belly shot soon. I feel like all of a sudden I’ve gotten much larger in the belly. I think I’m good with this size—- no need to keep on expanding! I feel baby girl move several times a day. Maisy continues to be completely into and excited to be a big sister.

More later-

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

Maisy hanging out in her ball pool waiting for guests to arrive

Maisy turned TWO today with family and friends. It was a beautifully warm day and we had a fun party at our house with yummy burrito lunch from Los Cantaros and a DELICIOUS cake from Hopkins Street Bakery in Berkeley (thanks again Emily!). It was a perfect garden birthday party.

Before the party kicked off

Blowing out the candles

Maisy loved being serenaded by all of her friends and family. She even joined in the singing herself!

Family Photo

Maisy got a very cute Snow White costume from Auntie, Uncle Rigo and Elijah. She also got some very squeaky sandals from Mike and Janet. The squeakers were fun to watch her figure out, but not so fun on the ears! Somehow the squeakers got removed after she went to bed….

Nana and Papa got Maisy a dollhouse for her birthday and it’s just adorable.

Looking through the dollhouse

Elijah and Maisy plotting where to set things up in the dollhouse

Everything went wonderfully! It was a great day. Maisy is very lucky to have such fantastic family and friends.

Here is a picture of me and my sister due just two weeks apart. I’m 27 weeks and Kim is 25 weeks.

Cousins in utero

We finished Maisy’s big girl room and are so happy with it and so is Maisy! We have moved the bedtime routine into that room and we are doing lots of playing in there, but for now she’s still sleeping in her crib. When we get back from vacation, we’ll move her into her big girl bed. She’s been asking to sleep in there, so I hope the enthusiasm sticks!

Big girl bed

Dresser and decorations

Dresser and decorations

Todd is off to Baltimore for a conference early tomorrow and next week Maisy and I will head off to NY for Grandma’s 100th birthday! Todd will meet us there later in the week. Luckily Uncle Steven is going to fly out to NY with Maisy and me- whew!

More later-

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

Family of camping hikers….in Oakland, yes, that is Oakland!

We decided to try camping again after a year, while we still could. I’m not too pregnant and there isn’t a newborn yet around, so we teamed up with Matt, Abby and Evan and made the trip to Lake Chabot in Oakland.

Nestled about 40 minutes away from our house, in the Oakland Hills, is actually a very nice camp ground. Maisy and Evan had a hoot playing together around the tents and gathering sticks. Smores were a highlight!

Matt’s culinary creation- Bacon Smores

It had all the familiar sounds of home…. airplanes over head, BART whirring by, cars on the freeway and even the occasional siren blaring. What this camp site had that home doesn’t are raccoons trying to eat your marshmallows and the same inquisitive raccoons playing with your potty. If this wasn’t enough to keep a camper awake, surely a 2 year old would be!

Hanging out in and by a tree

The trip was going well. Maisy went down to sleep in her Pack and Play all alone at a respectable 9 o’clock. We thought- GREAT, this could work…. fast forward to about 3am when Maisy woke up and wanted nothing more to do with sleep. Ugh. We brought her down with us in the sleeping bags and she’d settle for a bit and then try to strike up another conversation or a wiggle worm fest. It was quite a challenge to keep her quiet and still. After two and a half long hours of being kicked by Maisy on the outside and kicked by baby girl on the inside, Maisy finally settled down for a nap at which time my hips and back started ACHING. We “slept” in until almost 9 when we heard coffee being brewed. Ahhhh… rescue!

Still big and bright eyed after a night with no sleep, waiting to take a hike

After a delicious pancake and bacon breakfast we packed up and decided to take a hike. It was a 3 mile hike, that somehow seemed much longer. It must have been all the hills! I carried baby girl, while Todd had Maisy on his back. Maisy and Evan enjoyed being in their packs and our picnic lunch.

After our hike, Maisy was pooped, so we headed home for an afternoon nap.

Too Tired

What a great way to spend a beautiful Friday evening and Saturday day- with great friends and some adventure!

Hikers over Lake Chabot

In baby news had a doctor’s appointment Friday morning for my Glucose testing, regular clinical labs and my thyroid. All tests came back within normal range. The doctor’s appointment was quick and Maisy got to help hear the baby’s heartbeat again. Dr. Perry says baby girl has a perfectly strong heartbeat. She did say that the baby is measuring a couple of weeks smaller than usual, but she’s no worried. I wish I felt small! At 26 weeks, I’m feeling bigger and bigger, but not super uncomfortable yet. I’m feeling great actually.

More later-

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

Todd was working on my new bike and Maisy was dying to help, so she jumped right in there, grabbed some tools and got to it!

Like father like daughter

“Fixing” the crank by putting many allen wrenches in the holes

Here is a video of Maisy working on the bike. Super cute, a must see.

Tomorrow the painters are coming to paint Maisy’s big girl room lavender. We’ve purchased an old green dresser, some rustic letters for her name and a cute blue mirror. All of the purchases are from a new shop on Shattuck in Berkeley called Home 101 where local artists are showcased and rare finds are found! So excited for her super cute, original big girl room! The theme for her room will be from a quilt that Todd’s Aunt Melissa handmade for Maisy. I can’t wait for her to see it.

I’m feeling great. The baby’s kicks just keep getting stronger and stronger and more frequent. We are all really looking forward to getting to meet the new baby girl!

Me at 24 weeks- it’s going fast!

More later-

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

Frontier Family at the Oakland Museum of California on Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day was lovely. I didn’t lift a finger and we had the most fabulous day that started at Sweet Adeline’s, meandered to a walk along Lake Merritt, a look around the new Oakland Museum of California (wonderful by the way- it’s a must see) then a bike ride to dinner.

Todd being super Dada flying outside of a 1960’s plane and Maisy playing with an ashtray

Super en vogue Maisy as the newest and most amazing exhibit at the new Oakland Museum of California

Todd surprised me with a fantastic new bike, one I never thought I’d have and it’s a dream to ride- it’s like floating down the road. Now I understand why so many folks really ENJOY this biking thing! Betty (the bike) has been a wonderful addition to our family.

Taking the first spin on Betty!

Maisy was very tired after the museum and before dinner- we were even able to take her picture while sleeping, a rare opportunity!

Knocked out Maisy

Today we had our prenatal appointment and it all went just fine. Maisy helped to hear the heartbeat again and she did a great job. My next appointment is on May 28, when I’ll also do the glucose test and have my blood checked again.

More later-

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

After a nice walk down to Sweet Adeline’s for some treats and playing at the park, I was trying to figure out how to fill the time before dinner.

So I made up a game called, “What’s in the bag?”.

I took different objects that Maisy is familiar with and put them in an opaque bag and had her feel them. She then had to guess what the item was. After she guessed, she could take the object out and see if she was correct. She only got it wrong once, but it was a tricky one…

What’s in the bag?

Feeling it out

It’s a BOOK!

Maisy LOVED this game and kept wanting me to help her find more things. Great way to keep her entertained.

Here is a youtube video of her finding something. Sorry, I cannot figure out how to rotate it.

More later-

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

That face just melts my heart…

My make up prenatal appointment was scheduled for today, but my doctor was sick, so she cancelled on me. I’m now rescheduled for Monday, May 10. So we had some free time today.

I got Maisy a little beach chair that someone was giving away and she likes it very much. She carried it all around the yard.

Crawling in and out of her chair

After playing in the yard we went inside to play a little game called pour water from one container into the other. She thought it was the best game ever!

Happily pouring

WATER!

Then we played a quick game of will it float or will it sink? The upside to this is that now this particular portion of my kitchen floor is spotlessly clean!

Will it float or not, oh who cares? Let’s drink the water!

Here is an updated picture of me today at 23 weeks. Maisy is adorable with the baby. She asks to see my belly and will talk to the baby, tickle my belly, try to look through my belly button to see the baby, she also hugs and tells the baby how much she loves her. It’s just so sweet. We will have to be sure to get a video and post it.

23 Weeks

We are very excited to have gotten rid of the extra furniture in the guest room- soon to be Maisy’s big-girl room. We will spend the weekend getting all of the rest of the stuff put into the attic and then we’ll move on to getting the room painted.

More later-

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

Done laying butterfly eggs, now coloring in our butterfly life cycle sheet

We were reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar today, when I got the idea to turn it into a fun art project/learning experience….so off I went to our craft drawer!

Building our caterpillar

We learned the four stages of metamorphosis in the life cycle of the butterfly. 1. Egg, 2. Larva (caterpillar), 3. Pupa (chrysalis), 4. Adult Butterfly. We made all four stages.

Our finished Larva

Maisy had fun building and coloring the different parts. She’s getting very good at following instructions and her dexterity is improving greatly!

Our Pupa cocoon

Maisy decided to give herself a little 80’s make over while decorating our caterpillar. She’s so retro!

A butterfly emerging

Not too sure how much she got of the actual lesson, but the road getting there was fun!

It’s a beautiful butterfly!

Potty training is still going perfectly- no accidents. We are completely diaper free during the waking hours.

When I asked Maisy for her latest input on baby names, her newest suggestions are- Huggie, America and BooBoo. Maybe toddlers have much greater insight than we know, but still I doubt these will make the cut!

As for the new baby updates, I was supposed to have an appointment yesterday, which I completely forgot about and was happily shopping in Target instead- oops. Pregnancy brain is emerging! My appointment is rescheduled for May 6th, so more info then!

More later-

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

Gathering flowers in a basket

Today is a beautiful and warm day. After our walk to the grocery store, Maisy picked up a flower and asked, “Who is that?”- It means what is this? She was pointing to the inside of the flower and I got the idea to do a little flower lesson today. So we started out taking a walk and collecting lots of flowers to examine and learn about.

Looking for flowers

What we found

After we came home, we checked the flowers out and divided up all the parts. Petals for attracting bees and butterflies (who help to pollinate the flower), Stigmas/Pistils for catching pollen, Anthers/Stamens for making pollen and the Stems for supporting the flower. Then we placed them in the proper squares on the paper and taped them down. I found a large flower diagram online and printed it out for coloring. Maisy enjoyed coloring in all of the parts- and picking apart the flowers.

Coloring and learning about flowers

Proud girl

After all that learning it was time for a nap to recharge!

Finished product

Maisy continues to do well with potty training. She tells us when she has to go and she wears panties all day, even when we are out and about. I bring her potty and just make sure she goes about every 45 minutes or so and that seems to work for us. She has had no accidents in over a week! She still is wearing diapers for nap and bed time. But it’s great we are down to only 2 new diapers a day!! :-)

Here is a picture of me taken yesterday at 21 weeks. We asked Maisy the other day what we should name the baby and she said, “Cracker”. We asked why and she said, “Baby is tasty.” I’m pretty sure we’ll get a second opinion on that Cracker name!

21 weeks

More later-

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

Side View

We had our “big” ultrasound today. Nana and Papa are in town, so they stayed with Maisy while we had our appointment.

Papa, Maisy and Nana

It was very exciting and emotional. It’s strange how much more emotional I am about this pregnancy than the first. I think it’s because I KNOW how amazing it all is now. I was fighting back tears while just checking in for the ultrasound.

The baby’s face

The baby was very cooperative and quite mellow during the ultrasound. I think maybe this baby will take after Todd in personality.

Different view of baby’s face

They checked for the sex last. They said it was to keep our interest :-) They did guess at 12w 6d that the baby was a girl- and they were right! Maisy is going to have a baby sister!

It’s a girl!!

We are all thrilled!

Maisy is so excited for the baby to come. She loves playing with her babies and reading books about babies. She especially loves it when I hold her finger like newborn babies do. She just giggles and can’t wait to meet her sister.

Maisy practicing being a wonderful big sister

Here is a picture of me today- 20 weeks pregnant. Only 20 more weeks to go!

20 Weeks pregnant

Maisy is also doing very well at potty training. She’s been in training for 8 days now. The first days brought lots of puddles, but by the third day she got it. She now will tell us when she has to go and she goes regularly. We have puddle free days and still the occasional accident, but those are rare. She wears pull ups when we are out, but usually comes home dry. I take the potty with us on certain outings and she will use her potty out. Maisy still wears a diaper for nap time and bed time, but she is well on her way to being potty trained. We are very proud of her to be doing so well so young! (She won’t be two until June 5.)

More later-

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

Dyeing Easter Eggs

We dyed Easter eggs for the first time as a family on Easter Eve. Maisy thought it was a lot of fun. Although, she was not fond of the idea of having to share her eggs. She kept saying, “No thank, you, Maisy no share.” At least she was polite about it…

Maisy sitting with the eggs

Maisy was interested in the basket that the Easter bunny left for her. She thought it was okay (there was no candy in it), but then she got to the Easter bag with toys and goodies that Nana and Papa sent (LOTS OF CANDY IN IT) and she changed her tune and got super excited! She gobbled up the loose pieces of candy like they were going to run away.

Trying to get candy

Maisy hatching eggs to grow more candy to STUFF in her mouth

After the basket and present opening this morning- we had friends and family over for Easter brunch. It was good to see folks and to watch the kids all play and hunt for eggs in the yard. Luckily the rain held out for us to get a quick Easter egg hunt in. Maisy is really becoming a big kid and is completely able to play with other kids now. It was especially nice to see friends and family that we haven’t seen for a while.

The kids heading out for eggs

Group family photo (minus the photographer, Steven) Shreyas, Elizabeth, Satya, Todd, Maisy, Becky, Angie, Reid, Rowan and Mike

On a baby related note: I got to feel the new baby kick for the first time last night at 18 weeks 2 days. It just happened to be while I was starting to check out Todd’s new iPad. Maybe this baby will take after Todd and his interests because the baby sure seemed to get a “kick” out of the iPad! ha ha kick get it!?

More later- Happy Easter fun!

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

In the aquarium tunnel

Lots of fun stuff happened in March. Kim (my sister- also pregnant due end of Sept.), Rigo and Elijah came for a long weekend and we had great trips to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and to Children’s Fairy Land in Oakland. We were so happy they could come. We miss them lots!

Maisy meets Snow White

Maisy and Elijah got along really well. Maisy looks up to Elijah very much and now knows who Michael Jackson is and asks about him (MJ) often.

Kissing cousins

Since the weather has been more pleasant we took a trip to Tilden Park to ride the steam trains. Maisy is a big fan!

Steam Trains in Tilden Park

Waiting to take off

We celebrated Uncle Steven’s 30th birthday as well! Maisy was very excited to show off her “Happy Birthday” singing skills and especially enjoyed the happy birthday cake. She wishes every day was Uncle Steven’s Birthday.

Happy Birthday Uncle Steven!!

Maisy and I are doing a lot more fun projects at home. We’ve done maps, play doh, wand making (out of a stick and yarn) and baking. She is learning and learning- She can now confidently count to 3 and can pick out about 5 letters. She got her last two canine teeth as well. So now she has a full set of chompers. She is very into “baby” and loves reading books about babies and older sisters. It’s adorable- if you ask her how old she is, she replies, “Older sister.” Also a cute Maisyism- we have a Buddha on our window sill in our kitchen. She likes to kiss the “baby Buddha”. One day Maisy and Todd were dancing to some music and Todd said, “Yeah, shake your booty!”. Maisy said, “Yeah, shake the Buddha!” So she now refers to dancing as, “Shaking the Buddha.”

Little Geographer

And last but not least update on the baby to be news. We had two appointments in March, the last one being today and they have both gone very well. They had to up my thyroid medicine because my levels were a bit high. The doctor will have to test me every 6 weeks to make sure my levels stay within the normal range. Maisy comes to the appointments with me in her stroller and is a very good girl. She wants to know exactly what everyone is doing and where they are going, usually saying, “Who is that guy?”. That’s her statement for pretty much anything, (What is that? Who is that? Why?). So, we are working on that. Maisy holds the doppler for the doctor while we listen to the baby’s nice strong heartbeat. She is a very proud big sister helper! We go on April 15 for our big ultrasound, where we will find out the sex of the baby. So more then!

Here is a picture taken today at 18 weeks. I’m finally starting to look a little big pregnant and a little bit less like I ate February.

Self Portrait (the best I could do) at 18 weeks pregnant

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

Side view of new baby at 12 days 6 weeks

We had our nuchal translucency (NT) ultrasound on Friday, Feb. 25. The appointment was bright and early. Todd and Maisy were both able to come. Maisy was a perfect big sister and just hung out with Todd on the couch while we all watched the baby TV. It was a long appointment because the baby was being quite active, so it took a while to get the right measurements. It was fine with us, it meant we got a longer peek at the baby. The tests all came back fine and the baby is doing perfectly well. The baby’s heart rate was 140 beats per minute (BPM). I have another regular appointment on Monday and we find out the gender on April 15th!

Face shot of the new baby- I’m told the baby will get cuter

In other news, we ventured up to the mountains to visit Todd’s parents who had a vacation spot there. We made a long weekend of it. Unfortunately, it took us 8 and a half hours to get there (it should only take 3 and a half). There was a huge storm and we had to put chains on (ok TODD had to put chains on) and I could only drive about 15 MPH up the mountain. Slow going! Boy were we glad to finally get there, especially after a few slippery slidey times trying to get up some steep snowy passes. Todd was happy to get some ski days in with the boys and Maisy was happy to get to visit with her Mimi and Papa J. She got to play in the snow and go swimming at the pool.

Maisy all giggles with Mimi on the swing

Papa J and Maisy swinging

Maisy’s language skills are really blossoming. She understands pretty much everything and can speak in sentences. Her vocabulary is growing each day. She is becoming much more assertive and she will let you know exactly what she wants and how she wants it! We are working on “please”, “thank you” and “no, thank you”. She has suddenly become EXTRA picky about food. (No idea where that would have come from)! She pretty much just wants to eat waffles, fruit, PB&Js, applesauce and yogurt. I suppose she could want worse things. We still encourage her to eat other things, but if you aren’t careful or quick enough- she’ll send the plate sailing to the floor. We are not pleased with this trick at all. We are working on breaking this horrible habit.

Way messy yogurt face

Just today I also noticed two more teeth coming in (the canines). After she gets these two, she’ll have only two more canines to come in and then the big molars.

Maisy has now gone potty on her potty training toilet 3 times. Each time has been right before bath time, but she’s really good at letting us know when she needs a new diaper, so we are hoping it may be possible to get her good and potty trained by the time the baby arrives.

Today we turned Maisy’s car seat from rear facing to front facing. Although technically we could have turned her at a year old. There is mounting evidence that keeping a child rear facing for as long as you can is most safe for a baby. We decided that Maisy would like to see the world- her legs were also getting pretty cramped!

Family driving home from Tahoe with a big girl!

More next time!

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

Big sister in training

We are lucky enough to be adding another member to our family. The new little bean should arrive around September 5th.

New Baby’s first photo shoot

Our first ultrasound was Monday and it was very exciting to get to see the baby on the “baby tv”. Everything looked good and the baby is growing on schedule. Maisy and Todd were there for the visit. We kept trying to explain to Maisy that it was a picture of the baby in Mommy’s tummy. She looked at us like we had obviously lost it. She did take an interest in the baby on the tv screen and wanted to kiss and hug it. Then she pointed to my belly and wanted said, “Oten”- which in Maisy language means open. We explained that the baby had to stay inside for a long long time to get bigger then it would be ready to come out.

Maisy giving the baby kisses

We asked her if she liked the baby and if she could point to the baby and she did, then she quickly named it, Nemo. I doubt that name will be on the birth certificate.

Maisy and Todd find Nemo

We have our next ultrasound, the NT scan, on February 25. Other than that, I’m just tired and feel kind of nauseated a good portion of the time- but that should all resolve in a couple of weeks.

More next time!

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

Snow family

This weekend was Maisy’s first trip to the snow that she can remember. Our friend, Angie, got four families with adorable children to come out and play in the snow.

Angie, Reid, Becky and Maisy in the SNOW

Kiddies walking through the snow

Maisy was not too sure about the snow at first. It was a lot of, “No way, No touch, Maisy up, Messy.” After a walk on solid ground and some getting used to the snow, her opinion of snow had shifted to the positive side of tolerable. She even braved the sled a few times.

Maisy on a sled

The snow did not come without some complication. We got the car stuck in the snow twice and ended up bringing someone else’s chains with us- so we had to quickly scrounge some more (thanks Mike!). Just as we were leaving I backed us into a snow bank (where a driveway SHOULD have been) and got us stuck again. Maisy kept asking, “What’s happening?” followed with, “Be careful”. I guess she’s heard that a few times! Todd was able to wiggle us free and we were on our way home.

playing in the snow

Snooooooow!

We had another big achievement today as well- Maisy went on the potty like a big girl before her bath tonight. We were very excited and rewarded her with coveted stickers! Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of diapers.

Hope you are enjoying winter, more later!

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

Maisy in her holiday get up

Well it’s been a while since we’ve updated. I guess the holidays just took off and we went a long for the ride.

We enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving at home with friends and family with a deep fried turkey! Yum. Maisy wasn’t too keen on the turkey- she’s not really a meat fan. I’m beginning to wonder if she’s actually my child! ha

Christmas morning #1

Joan (Mimi to Maisy) and Joel (Papa J to Maisy) came for an early Christmas at the beginning of December. Uncle Steven came over and we all had Christmas morning in the first week of December. We had a great visit and it was a wonderful way to kick off Christmas!

Maisy and Papa J

Maisy had her first meeting with Santa at the Oakland Zoo for Zoo lights. She was NOT a fan. As a matter of fact, she was down right upset about the meeting. She calmed down to check out the Zoo lights, which she LOVED, however on the way out, Todd asked, “Do you want to go see Santa again?”. She burst into tears and said, “No, No, No way, no way!” We couldn’t use the “S” word around our house for a few days, but she eventually got over it and by the time Christmas rolled around, she and Santa were on good terms again.

SANTAAAAAAAwaahhhhhh!

Maisy had her year and a half doctor’s visit in early December. Maisy is now 2’ 7’’ tall and weighs 22 lbs and 5 oz. She’s talking constantly and has more words in her vocabulary than we can count. She is making sentences and likes to “sing”. We continue to go to music class and library group each week. She really enjoys seeing the other kids. The only issue is that she gets a little too excited and ends up being too rough. We are really working on “gentle hands”. Maisy is really into babies, drawing, Snow White, books and her tea set.

Living the life!

We headed off for warmer weather about mid-December for LA. We were lucky enough to get to leave Maisy with Nana and Papa for a week while Todd and I went to vacation in Ilsa Mujeres, Mexico. It was a wonderful childless vacation. Maisy didn’t miss us a bit, although we missed her terribly- however it was nice to get away. Maisy never freaked out or even looked for us when we were gone. Actually when we called she wasn’t even interested in talking with us. I’m glad she was so happy and getting along so well with Nana and Papa.

Maisy and Nana playing stickers

We arrived back in LA on Dec. 23 just in time for my birthday and Christmas. My mom made me and Kim our favorite dinners (lasagna and stroganoff) and got us some cakes. It was so fun to celebrate with my sister just like old times!

Happy Birthday to US! Becky- Dec. 24, Kim- Dec. 19

Maisy had a great time Christmas morning with her cousin Elijah. Santa was very good to both kids. They must have been extra good this year. Elijah is going to be Michael Jackson when he grows up and all he wanted for Christmas was a Michael Jackson hat and an MJ microphone and Santa delivered! Maisy got a Skuut walking bike that she’s still a bit too short for. But she was still very excited to see it.

Maisy and Elijah AKA Michael Jackson

The New Year began in our living room with friends and their little ones. We celebrated the New Year New York style at 9pm. The kids were all losing it and getting quite silly by that time. Maisy had a great time with all of her friends. By 9:15, all the families had returned home and we were in bed well before midnight.

Happy New Year!!!

More later! Hope your year is off to a good start and that you had a happy holiday season.

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

m aisy is wonderful at seizing todd’s drawing tablet while he’s drawing. Download her latest creations as a printable PDF. Download PDF (322k)

Trick or Treating

U nfortunately Maisy came down with her first cold EVER the day before Halloween and being the responsible parents we are, we decided to not infect other children, so our big plans of Trick or Treating with all of Maisy’s friend’s had to be cancelled. Boo!

Carving pumpkins

We went ahead with carving pumpkins anyway and Maisy just looked miserable with a cold. Her poor eyes and nose would not stop running. After carving, she settled in on the couch to watch some Mickey Mouse, better known to Maisy as, “Mousssss”.

Watching the Mouse with Baby Polly

“Puntkinsss”

We were happy that Erik and Ari were brave enough to join us for a night of Trick or Treaters and yummy food and too much candy!

Maisy returning home from Trick or Treating to try to get more candy

Maisy actually kind of “got” Trick or Treating this year. She said, “knock, knock, knock”, while knocking on doors and then would say, “Tic,toe, tee”, for the goods and of course, being the polite girl she is, she’d follow up with, “Tanks. Bye-bye”. She loved it and had a huge smile on her face the whole time.

Us in front of our very scary house!

Hope everyone enjoyed their fun day of costumes and candy!

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

Trying Todd’s new ski boots

W e had a very busy and fun filled Sunday. It started off with Maisy trying on Todd’s new ski boots. She thought it was very fun. We then rode bicycles to Habitot in Berkeley. This kid’s museum was having a free day sponsored by the Berkeley Fire Dept. We all got to go on a real Fire Engine, not a fire truck. Do you know what the difference is? A fire engine has water and a truck does not. I learned something new today.

Maisy sitting on the front of the Berkeley Fire Engine

After chatting up the fire fighters we headed inside the museum to do some running around, painting and water play.

Baby Painter

Water play fun

After all of the museum activities we went for a bite to eat and rode our bikes back home and Maisy napped. We got a new baby carrier and decided to take Maisy out for an evening stroll after she woke up from her nap. She wasn’t so sure about it at first, but after Todd made all the proper adjustments she seemed to enjoy looking at things differently.

Discovering the world from a different perspective

In other news, we were all lucky enough to receive our H1N1 flu vaccines just last week. We all tolerated the shots wonderfully. We are looking forward to this weekend for Maisy’s friends coming over for some Trick-or-Treat Halloween fun!

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

Family photo at the pumpkin patch

W e took advantage of the warm sunny day and visited the pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkins. Maisy was more concerned with the hay on the ground than she was with the pumpkins, but did take a special liking to rides in the wagon. She’s also not a scaredy cat. She just laughed at all the spooky Halloween goodies around the patch.

What’s this guy’s problem?

Wow, hay!

All of the pumpkin hunting got us in the mood to do some scary decorating to the new front backyard, so we will be nice and spooky for all the kiddies. We are having some of Maisy’s friends over on Halloween for dinner and neighborhood trick-or-treating. Maisy took a spin around the block in her lion costume last week and she makes the most perfect and sweet lion roar. She’s all ready for the big day!

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

Maisy loves the new garden

M aisy had her 15 month doctor’s visit just yesterday. She is doing wonderfully. She is up to a whopping 20 pounds and a whole 2 feet and 7 inches tall. She got two shots yesterday one being the flu shot. She didn’t like getting those very much at all. Luckily, I was able to get the inhaled flu vaccination- so no shots for me. Around bedtime poor Maisy’s leg was so sore she didn’t even want to stand on it. Some Tylenol and rest had her feeling tip top by morning though.

We are almost done with our garden and Maisy likes to go out and make sure everything is in order. Here are a couple of pictures of her today checking it out. We hope to finish the garden up this weekend.

Plopped in the garden!

Maisy and Becky are taking a trip to LA next week. It should be a fun though HOT adventure. It’s supposed to be sweltering.

Hope you are all having a great September!

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

Walking with Daddy along the path by Old Faithful

M aisy came through just in time with her walking skills. She took her first steps on August 12th. It was perfect timing as she was set to be the flower girl in Todd’s cousin’s wedding (Congratulations Daniel and Theresa) in Montana just a week later. She walked down the isle like a pro. Todd dropped her off at the end and I snuck around front and she walked down the isle with the biggest smile on her face. It was adorable!

Swing me Daddy!

Uncle Steven, Maisy, Daddy and Grandpa J

Getting our dance on

We took the opportunity to make a family vacation out of our trip to Bozeman, MT for the wedding. We stopped and saw Yellowstone along the way. Truly an amazing and very unique place!

Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone

Waterfall in Big Sky, MT

Upon returning home Maisy and I joined a music class for little folk. Maisy enjoys playing with the instruments and other kids. We also enjoy regular driveway play dates with Maisy’s good friend Evan. We are so sad to see them moving next month!

First Music Class

Going tap-tap-tap on the stairs with Evan

We were only home from Montana for a few short days before heading to HOT HOT HOT Los Angeles for cousin Elijah’s 4th birthday! We had a great time.

Happy Birthday, Elijah!

Bye, Nana and Papa!

As the saying goes it’s good to be away, but it’s good to be home!! We are happy we are home for a while now to really get down to work on our front back yard, which has been in the state of torn up for over a month! We are lucky enough to celebrate our 9th anniversary of dating (today actually) and next week our 3rd wedding anniversary. Time flies when you’re having fun!!

Maisy goes for her 15 month shots later this month. She’s also getting her two top 1st molars in and doing really well with them. Not too much fussiness. Maisy’s language skills have just really exploded! She can say so many words now- and imitate almost anything you ask her to, although not always on command. Time to really pay attention to what comes out of OUR mouths!

Lesson of the month: Don’t go into a store with a child that can walk (who is not yet under voice command) without some sort of restraint, like a stroller or a cart. Trying to chase Maisy down or hold her hand while she squirms away, while my hands are full of Hardware goods is not an easy task. Paying at the check out is even more tricky- as every time I tried to get my wallet, Maisy tried to escape. Finally the checker lady, a grandmotherly looking woman, asked if it would be helpful if she held Maisy while I paid and yes it was helpful. Whew. Won’t do that again!

Hope you are all having a great September!

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

Maisy in her toy box, poor thing is starved for toys!

T ime again has rushed by. A lot has happened in the last month and a half. Maisy is still the happiest, sweetest and most expressive little wonder. She is using lots of words now. Some of her favorites are “butterfly- said buh-erh-by”, “barrette- said bahh-reh”, “up”, “uh-oh”, “bye”, “ni-nite” along with her favorite animal sounds of a roaring lion, impression of a gorilla and don’t forget the moooing cow! Maisy’s signing abilities continue to grow- she signs “more”, “milk”, “all done”, “hat”, “dog”, “cat”, “butterfly”, “open”, “food” and her new favorite past time “drawing”. In the biggest and greatest accomplishment she is WALKING!! Today she took her first few steps, which quickly turned into strolls. In just one day she has turned from a cruiser to a walker. What a difference a day makes. Video is on Facebook if you are my “friend”, you can also hear Maiy’s lion roar in a video on Facebook too.

Maisy asking for “more” umbrella that she never had in the first place

Drawing with Daddy in our fancy art smock

Daddy and Maisy cuddle on the beach near Uncle Steven’s house

Another really proud moment was us participating in the SF AIDS Walk 2009 on July 19. We walked with Uncle Steven. It was a great day for a 6 mile walk in the park! Maisy did really well even getting out of her stroller to walk with us. We felt great we were able to help raise 3.5 million for the foundation.

Half way through our walk

Maisy walkin’ the walk

Our fence was built and we are now working on landscaping. We are so thrilled to have a place to enjoy outside and for Maisy to have a place to play. Here are some pictures of our before and after.

Before the little white fence came down

After our fence was built with our addition of birdhouses

Other than those things, we are getting ready for our big trip to Montana this Sunday.

More later! Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

Giving Love at the Aspen Maroon Bells

W e had a great start to June with a trip out to Colorado to visit family in Denver and to celebrate the marriage of a very good friend in Aspen. We had a fantastic time! Congratulations Matt and Kim! We did so many fun things on our trip and Maisy did quite well considering all of the moving around and schedule disruption she had

Family photo with the Urbands

Maisy and Daddy getting down with the hula hoop at Matt and Kim’s Wedding reception

Maisy was due for her 12 month shots after we got home. She did really well! No reactions nor fevers. She now weighs 18 lbs and 8 oz. She is 29 inches tall. The doctor continues to give her a thumbs up on her health. She is eating pretty much all table foods now, although bland. Maisy is a bottomless pit. She is a champion eater!! She has 3 teeth on the top and two on the bottom. She’s working on the 4th top tooth now. She is doing okay with teething- she has her moments! She isn’t walking yet, but will take your hand and walk around that way or will cruise around furniture. I think she could do it, if she gave it a shot, she’s just very cautious. She’s still sleeping through the night wonderfully. She usually is asleep by 7:30 and then doesn’t wake up until about 8/8:30 and she still takes two naps a day around 10 am and 2:30 for about an hour and a half to 2-3 hours. She is starting to talk a little. She says Mama, Dada, Oh Wow, Ni-Ni and Uh-oh. She signs a lot though- so we communicate quite well and if nothing else works, she just squeals loudly- and that usually gets her point across!

We are excited that we have no trips planned for the month of July, so we are just going to relax and enjoy our new “back yard in the front yard”. We are enclosing our front yard, because we don’t have a back yard. We’ll show some before and afters…..

Also exciting in July is the SF AIDS walk this July 19th that Todd and I have signed up for. This will be Maisy’s first AIDS walk. We are very happy to be able to bring her along to join in the cause. We are still gathering donations, so if you are able, it would mean so much to so many if you would be able to donate. Todd needs more donations than I do- Here is the link to donate. http://aidswalksanfran2009.kintera.org/toddmatthews This is a fundraising event that we have been committed to for years and really want to do our best to create funds for helping to find a cure or at least stop the spread of HIV, that affects way too many.

Us at Kim’s Wedding. That fancy bruise is self inflicted from a heated tennis match using the Nintendo Wii.

Much love and more later- Todd, Becky and Maisy

Happy Birthday, Maisy!

M aisy was lucky enough to have all of her family come to town for her big birthday event. We reserved a place in Cordornices Park in Berkeley where we bbq’d chicken, veggie burgers and sausages. Maisy got to play in the dirt and have CAKE for the very first time. The party was a success- no melt downs by anyone. The one downside was that it was really cold!

Trying to stay warm! So much for our “heat wave”.

Playing in the dirt

Cake was a favorite after she figured out what to do with it

We opened presents the next morning with the grandparents, aunt, uncles and cousin. Maisy had a great time!

Maisy giving love to her new monkey “Uncle Fred”

After presents we all went out to Little Farm and the Merry-go-Round in Tilden. Maisy and Elijah were a bit spooked by the animals, but all the adults had a great time!

Getting ready to leave the farm

On June 5th, Maisy’s birthday, we took her to the California Academy of Science in San Francisco (the aquarium). She loved it! We are now members so we can go anytime- which will be fun for us all! Maisy wasn’t as excited as she could have been because we had her skip her morning nap to go- next time, we’ll take her after a good nap!

Fishies!

Maisy finally got her two front teeth on her actual birthday. She “finger walks” quite well and can stand on her own for about 15 seconds at a time, longer if she doesn’t realize she’s doing it. She goes for her one year check up in a week and a half to get her 12 month shots.

We are all doing well and heading out to Colorado next week for a good friend’s wedding where we will also get a chance to catch up with some family.

Todd is loving his new job and we are lucky that he is often able to work from home or at least go in after Maisy is down for her first nap, so Todd and Maisy get to spend some time together. She is just goo-goo over her daddy!

Those are all of our updates for now. Can’t wait to see what the next year has in store for us.

Much love and more later- Todd, Becky and Maisy

The Easter bunny visited!

M aisy was very interested in these baskets and the goodies they held. We didn’t dye Easter eggs this year, but hope to next year.

Egg Fan

Bow Fan

Then we had a heat wave for about 3 days and Maisy enjoyed our “pool” in the front yard.

Oh Wow!

Maisy’s skills seem to surprise us each day. She loves DOGS and gets very very excited when she sees one. She knows the sign for dog, which is slapping your leg like you are calling a dog and she’ll do that if you even say the word dog. She says, Mama and Dada, she’s said Ball, and “Oh Wow”. Her favorite rambling these days is “odie-odie-odie-odie”. She signs all done, and waves hello a lot- and I mean a lot. She waves to the pictures in the hallway, she waves to everyone while we are out, she waves to the cats, to the trees, to the windows, etc. The all done sign and the wave look very similar. She also does those signs if she wants something, so they are kind of difficult to interpret. Maisy loves flowers and gets super excited if we are walking by a pretty flower and makes us stop to admire-it’s so cute. She’s going to make a wonderful dog catching gardener some day… I thought she was going to blow a gasket at Michael’s today in the silk flower section!! She didn’t seem to get that the flowers were fake…. She sure made a scene. Too cute.

Pig Tails?

Maisy is working so hard on getting her top to teeth. She still only has her two bottom ones. She is a drooling queen and has had some cranky days, but other than that she’s doing great! Not walking or standing independently yet, but getting more and more confident in her cruising and standing with only one hand holding on. Cross our fingers Maisy has still yet to encounter her first cold- and she has been sleeping through the night consistently for 3 months now. Life is pretty good.

We have been pretty lucky in April. I am now working part time from home for a non profit doing clinical research and Todd found a full time job in the city for a company called Heroku. YAY!

Those are all of our updates for now!!

Much love and more later- Todd, Becky and Maisy

We decided it was high time we took Maisy camping.

My tent!

T he car was packed and we were heading out to Mt. Diablo near Walnut Creek after Maisy’s afternoon nap on Saturday. We were approaching the camp’s south gate from the winding road in when Todd looked back and said, “Uh-oh, you gotta pull over, she’s car sick.” And sure enough the poor little Maisy was- all over herself! We took her out, cleaned her up and showed her the very pretty valley below and after a bit she was ready to continue the journey, which we took VERY slow.

Mommy, I don’t feel so good

W e arrived at the camp ground at Live Oak near Rock City in Mt. Diablo state park and picked our campsite and started setting up. Maisy ate her dinner and we all enjoyed looking around. We got a big 4 person tent that is tall enough to stand in and to fit Maisy’s pack n play in. We thought the whole thing would just go off without a hitch. As we were putting her to bed we realized we forgot two very key items- Her lovey and her blankie! We even wrote out a list, so we wouldn’t forget anything and of course these items weren’t on it, because we KNEW we had to bring those. Lesson Learned! We did remember her big Blue Pooh that is a fuzzy warm bear outfit- so at least she’d be nice and cozy.

Todd the tent builder

Maisy was not happy being put to bed, so she got to stay up and hang out with us around the campfire. She finally fell asleep exhausted in her font pack that I was wearing her in. At 11 we decided it was time for us all to retire. We crept into the tent and set her down in her crib and she stayed asleep, for a whole 45 minutes before the crying started again. Poor thing! Nothing worked. Finally as I was rocking her from my sleeping bag she fell asleep. The trick was convincing her that my sleeping bag was her lovey. So I carefully placed her between Todd and me on the floor of the tent and we slept again, for a while, until she woke up once more very confused and again, I’d convince her that my sleeping bag was her lovey and she’d drift off. This happened about 3 or 4 times. Luckily she didn’t wake up for good until 8:30am. We were all pretty tired though! There was also another baby in the camp ground that helped share the tears. I was glad we weren’t the only folks going through the whole adventure. Todd was joking later saying, that it was so cute how we actually thought we were going to be able to play the game of scrabble we had brought along. We both just laughed at that!

I’m so tired, where’s doggy?

In the morning we broke down camp and headed to Rock City, a trail of very cool very old (like 45 million years old) sandstone rock formations. We walked around there for a bit and then decided to head home.

Rock City Rocks

We still had a great time and would definitely do it again- but would be very careful to remember all of the crucial items!

Maisy had a big day yesterday, she went on her first longish bike ride and a camping trip- so we are taking today slow and easy.

Much love and more later- Todd, Becky and Maisy

let’s roll, dad!

A fter a short trip to REI and local bike shop, the Missing Link, I returned hands full with a child carrier, bike rack and helmet for little miss. It’s about time.

You can’t hear it in the video, but Maisy was laughing almost the whole time we were riding. She loved it, and I can’t wait to go on a longer ride – next time as a family. :)

A nother milestone!

Maisy did her first wave March 8th to Grandma J- at lunch! We were all pretty impressed. Her wave is a simple very “royal” wave. I’m so happy that Maisy was able to share her first wave with Grandma J. It’s so special especially because they live so far away! We are hoping that this means Maisy will finally start to use baby sign language with us. We have been signing to her since she was only 4 months old. So far- the fancy royal wave is the only “sign” we’ve gotten.

“Howdy-do”

We’ve had a great 9th month. Maisy is cruising all over and getting more and more sure footed. We were lucky enough to have Todd’s parents come stay with us for the second week of March. We did lots of fun things! We all went on a fun trip to the Steam Trains in Tilden park to ride on a train. I think I may have been more excited than Maisy- but we all had a good time!

Choo-chooo!

Just in the last day Maisy has really started babbling and babbling. It’s like she’s actually speaking complex words- it’s just not from any language we have heard of. It is adorable to listen to. She has also become very excited by dogs and bigger walking kids. She SQUEALS in delight on walks at dogs from down the street. So, I take her to meet the doggie and she squeals gleefully the whole time until the dog is out of site. It is just hilarious!

Because she’s taken such an interest in dogs, we thought she’d dig some big farm animals, so we took her to Little Farm again. We started off with a fun picnic in the grass.

“Lunch outside always tastes better”

“uh- not so sure about this huge Moo Cow!”

“Yay- Daddy!”

The day was so warm and nice that we finished it off with a walk to Berkeley Bowl with Abby and Evan and topped that off with a burger and dining out in their backyard.

As for other updates, Maisy’s next doctor’s appointment is Monday for her 9 month well baby check up. After that visit we’ll know her new stats.

She is eating all sorts of table food now. There really isn’t anything she refuses to eat. She eats, deli turkey, plain grilled chicken, broccoli, grapes, potatoes, peas, all cheeses, egg yolk omelettes, bread, cheerios- it’s really cool. She is also sleeping through the night regularly, which means a whole new world to both Todd and I. Maisy has turned into such a happy girl, providing we keep to her schedule of sleeping and eating.

Ballerina Maisy

We can’t wait for all the fun new things she’ll do in her next month!

Love,
Todd, Becky and Maisy

“Hello There!”

We have had a major break through this week. Maisy slept through the night for the very first time. She didn’t do it the next night or the next, but we are working on it! We are doing what is called “sleep training”. We are no longer reinforcing night time waking with picking her up or with milk and the theory is that she will realize there is no need to get mom and dad up in the middle of the night because they can’t do anything for me anyway- and then she will just fall back to sleep and sleep like a little baby. Right?

Nap times have gotten a little bit more difficult now that Maisy can stand. She thinks it’s much more fun to have a standing party than to nap. She has also discovered the blinds that we had custom made for her room. She thinks they are perfect for sharpening her two tiny teeth on!

We had a very lovely first family Valentine’s Day together. Maisy made Todd a card. It was her first art piece.

Baby Painter

Maisy and Todd started the day with a nice book on the couch.

Reading time!

As Todd got laid off at the beginning of January, he is now working a temporary job in the city through the end of February. We hope that a full time position will come along soon! Maisy and I ventured into the city today to meet him for lunch. Meeting for lunch was such a treat. Todd doesn’t always get home before Maisy is in bed for the night, so it was good to give them a bit more time together. It helped that it was a beautiful day in the city and a fun day for a walk.

Later in the day Maisy and I met with Angie and Rowan at Lake Merritt for some play time in the park. It was the first time Maisy had been involved with duck and geese feeding. She thought it was okay, but then that one goose got a little too close and she started to get nervous.

hmm birds eating bread… interesting.

Tell that silly goose to back the duck up!

Maisy is a swing fiend- which is so adorable.

This is Maisy’s happy place

Maisy continues to become more steady when she pulls up on EVERYTHING. She is doing very well eating larger chunks of food and is feeding herself like a champ even though she only has her bottom two teeth. She’s gotten very quick too! It’s difficult to expect her to stay in one place these days. The good thing is that she understands when we tell her not to touch something and she so far respects that. We’ll see how that progresses.

She goes for her 9 month appointment the second week of March, so we’ll have more height and weight updates then.

Much love-
Todd, Becky and Maisy

“I loooove bath time- hey check out my two bottom teeth!”

Maisy has been growing by leaps and bounds before our eyes. It truly is amazing.

Last Tuesday January 27th, Maisy learned to do the big girl crawl instead of a an army scoot.

Finally crawling with belly off the floor!

She’s moved onto bigger people finger foods like, small pieces of cheese, whole wheat bread and very cooked carrots. This week she managed to feed herself her first zweiback toast-mmm.

Okay, but how do I eat this?

1st Zweiback down

We knew she was getting close to being able to pull herself up on things, but yesterday when I went to get her from a nap, she was standing in her crib and holding onto the side. She now tries to pull up on everything- which means, we really can’t take our eyes off of her- as she is really not that skilled at this new trick.

Our standing Maisy

Happy girl

This week Maisy has actually shown interest in a book that you read to her- by responding to the pictures and trying to touch the images. This is much more than the tactic of eating the book she was so fond of just a week ago.

Maisy likes to go to the park and swing. Last week we met a little friend there. We are completely taking advantage of this amazingly warm January!

Maisy having a laughing good time!

Today, she mastered putting cereal in her mouth without our help. This has been such a crazy developmental week for her! She has mastered eating out at restaurants. We have to go early- but she sits in her highchair and eats her dinner, just happy as a clam.

Out for a steak dinner with Mike, Angie and Rowan mmmm tasty!

Today was a beautiful day out. We took a nice walk before heading over to Matt, Abby and Evan’s for the big game.

Todd and Maisy getting their shades on for a sunny stroll

Just too cute not to share!

We are loving all of the new stages Maisy is going though- If this is this much fun, I can’t even imagine what the future has in store for us.

Much love-
Todd, Becky and Maisy

Happy Maisy watching Obama’s inauguration

Maisy and I woke up and headed straight for the television to watch the big event! I was so proud and utterly pleased to share this moment with Maisy. I know she is way too young to understand what a huge moment in history this is, but it made me feel good and gave me such a feeling of hope for the country and for Maisy’s future.

Proud mini American

Much love and happy new President to all-

Todd, Becky and Maisy

Happy Maisy sitting in our livingroom- better known as Maisy play world- Do you think she has enough toys?

M aisy just keeps on growing- faster than we can even fathom. She is already outgrowing her 9 month old clothes even though she’s only 7 1/2 months old.

She had her two bottom front teeth break through on Sunday, so she’s very busy with all the teething. She’s also busy with all the new foods to try, some she likes and some she has to get used to.

Yogurt was a bit of a shocking flavor to her at first. She’s used to it now and even likes it.

Cottage cheese had a rocky beginning, but now she’s cool with it.

Ew…cheese that comes from a little cottage!?

Maisy got her last flu shot a couple of weeks ago and now she’s all up to speed with her shots. She doesn’t love them, but does pretty well with them. (It’s getting easier on me too!)

Maisy post shot

Maisy took it out on the informational pamphlet

Not much else is going on here. We’ve had strange and unseasonably warm weather, so Maisy and I have resumed our walks to the park and strolls to the grocery store. Gotta love winter in California!!

More next time.

Much love to all-

Todd, Becky and Maisy

Todd and Maisy taking a walk down the grandparents’ street

W e headed east for Christmas on Dec. 23 and after 17 hours of travel we finally made it to our destination! Maisy handled the trip like a trooper with NO meltdowns. We did find out that Maisy is a food snob. I bought her some jarred baby food for the flight and she refused to eat even her favorites if they came out of a jar. This girl has quite the sensitive palate.

In Lake George we celebrated Christmas with Todd’s parents, brother and grandmother. It was nice and relaxing to all be home together. It’s rare that we are all there at the same time, so that made it extra special! Todd’s Grandmother came over on Christmas day for the festivities and a yummy Christmas turkey dinner prepared by Steven and Joan. Mmmmmm

Christmas Feast

We enjoyed a nice leisurely day of opening presents and enjoying everyone’s company taking time out for naps and playing with new toys. It was a beautiful snowy view of the mountains and Lake George through the living room windows.

Maisy reached the very exciting milestone of sitting on Christmas Day! She continues to add syllables to her babbling and now says, Da-da-da, Ma-ma-ma, La-la-la and raspberries.

A Maisy sitter

While we were visiting we were able to catch up with Uncle John, Aunt Dee, Thalia and Lonny for lunch. We were also lucky to see Uncle David several times as well as Chris and Aunt Rebecca. It’s so nice that we were able to see so many folks in such a short amount of time!

As always time passed quickly and we found ourselves back on a plane heading toward home. Our trip home was smooth and uneventful. The next day was new years eve and we celebrated with Mike and Angie over at their place. It was Maisy’s first night out passed bedtime. She went down for bed at their place without a problem. Todd and I made it just past midnight, rang in the new year with friends, gathered Maisy and headed home for bed!

Happy New Year!

We wish everyone love, peace, happiness and health in the new year. The past year has brought so many joys and wonderful firsts, we cannot wait to see what exciting adventures await in 2009!

Much love to all-

Todd, Becky and Maisy

Maisy’s First Haircut from seaofclouds on Vimeo.

L ittle Maisy is growing up. Here she is, seated in her Bumbo, and getting her bangs trimmed. :( Her poor hair. I’ll miss her cute little bows. Enjoy a quick, four minute video of this first.

Maisy taking her first ride in a wagon

M aisy had her 6 month doctor appointment at the beginning of December. She got all her 6 months shots including her first dose of her flu shot. We are trying to stay as healthy as we can! She now weighs 15 pounds 6 ounces and she is 2 feet and 1.75 inches tall.

Maisy has lots of new tricks! She can roll over both ways, grab toys and move them from one hand to the other, she can grab anything and everything within reach and shove them with confidence into her mouth. She is eating like a pro now and the variety of foods she is eating just keeps growing. So far there is nothing that she refuses to eat. Pears are definitely her favorite.

Maisy is close to sitting, she just has to get that whole balance thing down. There is no stopping her though when Maisy is on the ground! She scoots all over, forward and backward. She gets up on her knees and rocks back and forth. It’s just a matter of time before she’s off and crawling. Maisy has a bunch of sounds she likes to practice vocalizing. La-la-la-la seems to be her favorite sound at the moment.

On Dec. 11 we flew down to LA for the first part of the Christmas celebration. We all had a great time seeing many family and friends and staying at Mom and Charlie’s.

Auntie and Maisy

Kim, Rigo and Elijah were able to spend a couple of days and a night with us there too for a fun sleep over. Elijah is a constant source of hilarious entertainment!

Cousin Elijah and Maisy playing in the “extra-saucer”

We were so thankful and lucky to get to visit with Perla and James at Perla’s for lunch, it was delicious! We had a great time on Sunday with the whole family at a large family photo shoot and our family Christmas celebration. It took months to plan to get everyone the day off and to try to figure out what to wear, but the pictures came back and they look wonderful and it was all worth it.

Maisy opening her first Christmas presents

On Monday we had the chance to go visit with Auntie Pam, Uncle Bob and Cousin Sarah. It was so good to catch up and have a visit. Then on Tuesday we got to go out to lunch with Aunt Diane and Jim. It’s always a pleasure to see them! Maisy was a trooper through all of our outings. Unfortunately upon our return home, we all came down with colds and we think Maisy is cutting her 2 bottom teeth, so she has been especially touchy. Poor baby!

Next Tuesday we head back east for the Christmas holiday to Todd’s hometown. We can’t wait to see everyone and have a white Christmas! We have 3 connecting flights out there- we are just hoping the weather cooperates and we don’t get stuck anywhere in airports along the way! We also are hoping that we are all nice and healthy by then.

Much love to all- we hope your holiday season is off to a great start!

Todd, Becky and Maisy

Maisy’s maiden voyage on a merry go round

T ilden Park in Berkeley has a merry go round that they do all up for Christmas. We took Maisy there on Saturday for a spin. She seemed a bit concerned about all of the lights. There was so much going on and she spent most of her time just trying to take it all in.

The wild wild west tree

All in all, we had a wonderful first Merry Christmas Go Round and hope to make it a family tradition!

Lights!

Much love to all- we hope your holiday season is off to a great start!

Todd, Becky and Maisy

Lasers in the eyes kinda hurt

F or those of you who haven’t heard, Todd took the plunge and got himself some bionic laser eyes. He is recovering well and can see almost perfectly. His vision should continue to improve. Right now his newest hobby is putting eye drops in his eyes and being amazed at all the stuff he can see unaided. He is especially thrilled about peripheral vision.

Maisy helped Daddy recover on Thursday when he got home from the eye zapper, uh I mean, doctor.

Daddy and Maisy hanging out

She seems to have noticed there is something just a bit off.

Where’s all that face jewelry?!!

Much love to all and more later!

Todd, Becky and Maisy

Get in Shape Girl

M aisy decided to start early on her new years resolution to get out and take better care of herself! The day after Thanksgiving- she put on a track suit, pulled back her hair and put her sneakers on. She grabbed Nana and headed to the front yard for some walking exercises.

Maisy was so happy to have Nana help her out in the yard! (notice Lilly in the background again- it’s hilarious. She’s like a little picture crasher!)

Happy Maisy and Nana

She became quite confident and later in the evening was showing off her sitting abilities, when all of a sudden she took a head dive right into the alphabet work bench. OUCH! Maisy got her very first bump on the head. She recovered quickly and I think Todd and I were more shaken up than she was. By the next morning the bump was gone and she now only has the tiniest bruise.

I’m a tough girl!

Much love to all and more later!

Todd, Becky and Maisy

Maisy’s first Thanksgiving!!

W e all had a lot to be thankful for this year and it was very nice to share that with friends and family. Unfortunately not everyone could make it, we still had a super tasty feast with a deep fried turkey, bacon stuffing, mashed potatoes, mini macs, candied sweet potatoes, bacon green beans, salad and gravy….mmmmm. I’m full just thinking about it. Todd has the turkey bones in the crock pot to make a super turkey stock for yummy soup and we are waiting to have lunch of left over turkey!!

Fried Turkey

We were so lucky to have Mom and Charlie, Steven, Erik, Mike, Angie and Rowan over for Thanksgiving this year. Everyone really pitched in to help to make it a very enjoyable day and evening. Thank goodness my mom was here- it’s not as easy to multitask things in the kitchen with a Maisy.

The Thanksgivingers

We were so lucky to have Mom and Charlie, Steven, Erik, Mike, Angie and Rowan over for Thanksgiving this year. Everyone really pitched in to help to make it a very enjoyable day and evening. Thank goodness my mom was here- it’s not as easy to multitask things in the kitchen with a Maisy.

We thank you all for being in our lives and are so lucky to have wonderful family and friends.

Much love,
Becky, Todd and Maisy

mmmm milk….

T odd snapped this photo while feeding Maisy before an outing on Sunday.

It was just too precious not to share.

Enjoy,
Becky, Todd and Maisy

I went out to run an errand while Todd was at home and Maisy was taking a nap. This is a wonderful opportunity for me to cross some tasks off my list and usually I come home to a still sleeping Maisy. Today, Maisy must have not been all that tired, because I walk in the door and find- SUPER MAISY!

Todd had tucked Maisy’s purple blankie in the back of her pajamas and was flying her around. I was greeted at the door with giggles from Todd and big smiles from Maisy. It was too cute and I had to grab the camera.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Super Maisy!!

On another note, Maisy has broadened her horizons in the food department. She has now had butternut squash, pear, sweet potato and apple. So far I’ve been making all of her food and freezing the food in cubes to be defrosted before meal time. Just today we started her on three meals a day. She’s getting the hang of eating, but still seems as if she could take it or leave it. She’s definitely not one of those kids that screams for more and more, faster and faster.

While Maisy was taking her next “nap” (I use the term nap loosely because she actually did not sleep at all, but ended up playing with daddy), I was lucky enough to get to visit Alison, Maynard and new beautiful baby Mila in the hospital. Alison is doing amazingly well and Mila is a precious adorable little girl!

Sleeping baby Mila

Maisy is so excited to meet baby Mila. It’s so amazing to think that Maisy was this small just 6 months ago!!

She’s so tiny and sweet

It’s so fun to see all of our friends get married, have children and watch all the kids grow up together. It’s great to get to share the experience of parenthood with so many wonderful people.

Much love to all- Todd, Becky and Maisy

Maisy on a walk with Daddy showing off her cute pony!!

H appy Veteran’s day everyone!

Today was also the first day that Maisy sported a pony tail, not any normal pony tail, but a sassy side pony tail! She’s bringing the 80’s back! Just wait til you see her in her leg warmers (seriously she has them!) ha ha. Todd and I think it’s just the cutest. She doesn’t love that every time she goes down for a nap I take it out and then put the pony in again when she wakes up, but I’m slightly paranoid about leaving it in unattended.

We also have started giving Maisy her special lovey (named Froggy) that a family friend gave her when she goes to sleep. Maisy loves it and goes to sleep with it day and night. She likes to hold on to it while she sucks her right index finger. Thank goodness we have 2 other loveys given to us as gifts that we can trade out when Froggy needs to take a bath.

This morning we tried bananas alone, without the cereal, following Nana’s suggestion, and she liked them more but still didn’t like them. I made her a sweet potato today and froze most, but fed her a few teaspoons for dinner. She ate a few bites, let me rephrase, she tolerated a few bites. We’ll just have to keep on trying- she’ll eventually have to eat I imagine, because, dang, those kids at school are really going to be making fun of her if she’s still breastfeeding in kindergarten!

Speaking of eating, Maisy and I went to meet Angie and Rowan for lunch today. I’m glad we were in loud California Pizza Kitchen, because as soon as the food showed up Maisy started fussing/yelling. I’ve never been out to a restaurant with Maisy without Todd. I can guarantee I won’t be taking her out alone without my tag team partner Todd again anytime soon! Despite Maisy’s protest, it was still good to catch up with Angie and see Rowan, who was perfectly behaved and a coloring genius, by the way.

I see you!!

Maisy is still not sleeping through the night. She usually goes to bed between 6:30 and 7 and wakes up between 10:30 and 11:30, then again between 3 and 4 then is up for the day between 7 and 8:30 (I prefer 8:30). So I usually only have to get up once between 3 and 4, so it’s not so bad, but not so perfect either- but we are getting better.

I seriously cannot believe how time is flying. I love every day and every moment I get to spend with her and just immensely enjoy watching her as she does anything!

Much love to all- Todd, Becky and Maisy

Hooray for OBAMA!!

I took Maisy with me on this historic voting day down to our polling location at the elementary school down on the corner. She was very good while I was voting. She was so nice to even hold my voting receipt.

Todd and I are so happy to have Maisy be there to witness a real movement toward change in our country. We are so proud and hopeful for her future- that anything can happen- anything is now possible! We are a bit saddened though- it looks like Prop 8 (ban on gay marriage) is going to pass in California. It’s heartbreaking that there are people out there who believe that it is okay to deny anyone the right to get married- deny anyone the right to love who they want. We are beside ourselves wondering how you can put discrimination into law like that. Yesterday’s elections have shown how far we have come and still how far we still have to go.

On a different note, Maisy still does not like rice cereal, even if the deal is sweetened with bananas.

This shh is bananas B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

Much love to all- Todd, Becky and Maisy

O ver the weekend Maisy expanded her travels from LA, Portland, Santa Barbara and New York to include Las Vegas. We went to celebrate my cousin Sarah’s wedding. Congratulations Sarah and Tim!

Becky with cousins Sarah and Stephanie

So here’s how it went in Maisy’s words:

Mom and Dad woke me up so early at like 6 am and then we went in the car and to this very busy place where they made me and Mom walk through this huge scanner thing. Then we got into this big tube with wings that flies. I slept pretty well on that thing. Then we got out of the tube and got into another car. We ended up at this HUGE green hotel called the MGM. My Mom and Dad were hungry so they took me out into the casino and to the shops and restaurants to get food. I wasn’t interested in them eating so I just yelled and yelled and told them I wanted to go home. Everything was so loud and blinky. I just didn’t know what to do. Mom and Dad took me back to our hotel room and put me in this really cool short little crib and I played for quite a while and then took a little nap. As I was just getting so comfy Mom and Dad woke me up to go to a church and watch cousin Sarah get married.

After the wedding we went to cousin Steph’s house. There were so many people there and everyone wanted to say hi to me, but I just wanted to sleep, but couldn’t relax! So Mom put me in the baby carrier and I finally fell asleep while she was wearing me. I got to sleep for a couple of hours and my Mom and Dad got to do that eating thing again. I woke up and smiled, cooed and visited with family for a little bit, then I got tired again and I decided it was time to go. Luckily Mom and Dad were listening to me and we left promptly.

Back at the hotel we walked through more and more blinky lights and many sounds. I didn’t like this. We got back to our room and I went to sleep right away. At about 4 am after my feeding I decided I was not tired anymore, so I just talked and talked and talked for about 3 hours. My Mom and Dad thought I was saying, “Ahhh, Ahhh, OOoh, ummm”, but they can’t quite understand me yet. I was really saying, “And the lights they were, blinking and blinking and blinking and blinking and those machines were dinging and dinging and dinging and dinging”. Finally at 7am I fell asleep again, but Mom and Dad woke me up at 8:30am because we had to go back on that tube with wings! I really don’t like that tube! I screamed almost all the way home. Mom looked really frazzled too. But we finally got back to our house and I was so happy to take a nap in my own bed and now I’m all happy, but I still don’t like rice cereal.

Much love to all- Todd, Becky and Maisy

M aisy enjoyed her first Halloween with a few friends and a bit of Trick or Treating. Halloween kicked off with pumpkin carving on Wednesday when Uncle Steven came over. Maisy was unfortunately in bed by then, so Todd and I helped her carve her pumpkin on Thursday. Maisy liked to play with the squishy inside of the pumpkin.

Maisy was a bunny for Halloween. Here we all are dressed up for the tour of the neighborhood on Friday. Maisy was joined by two pals, Evan and Satya. I’ll post those pictures when I get them (those pictures are on our friend’s camera). Maisy likes walks so she enjoyed the tour of the neighborhood in the dark. She didn’t quite like having to stop to chat on neighbors’ doorsteps though. We didn’t have too many Trick or Treaters at our house as the weather was rainy.

This is a picture of our very spooky front yard. It was really fun to put together. Tomorrow will be graveyard demolition day.

We had a wonderful first Halloween and cannot wait for next year!

Much love to all- Todd, Becky and Maisy

Maisy had seemed to be slightly interested in what Todd and I drink and eat lately- so we decided it may be time to start some rice cereal. We were hoping this would have the added benefit of helping her sleep all night as well.

As you will see from the video below, Maisy does not concur.

We tried for a second time tonight- this time in her bumbo chair thinking it was really the high chair that she had a dislike for, but she didn’t seem to love it anymore. We think we’ll keep trying for another couple of days and if she doesn’t take to it, we’ll give it a couple of weeks and try it again.

Have a great week,
Becky, Todd and Maisy

T oday was an amazing really warm day here in Berkeley. We took the opportunity to take a couple of trips outdoors. I took Maisy to the park in the middle of the day where she sat on my lap while we went swinging and sliding down the slide. She seemed to have a good time, but was good and tuckered out when we got home. Maisy went down for a nap.

When Maisy woke up we decided to take an evening stroll and did some geocaching. This is where people hide things in public places and post their coordinates online by GPS. So it’s like a big treasure hunt that anyone can partake in. We found two! It was really fun. Here we are after our second find of the day.

As we were walking back home Maisy found a lovely orange flower that she had to investigate.

After we got home, Maisy was just about ready for bed and Todd fired up the grill. We had yummy grilled chicken and fresh steamed veggies for dinner. A perfect end to a warm and fabulous day.

Much love to all- Todd, Becky and Maisy

A s Halloween is approaching, we decided to take Maisy to the pumpkin patch today. Uncle Steven joined us on our adventure! Here are some pictures from our day.

We went to a little cute pumpkin patch in Oakland/Piedmont just down the street from the old and beautiful Mountain View Cemetary- which we took a tour of before the pumpkin patch, just to get in the mood!

Maisy really seemed to enjoy pumpkin hunting and picked a very cute little pumpkin all for herself.

We were so inspired that when we got home we got to work on our very own graveyard and body guard “Jake” to sit on our porch.

Maisy is going to be a bunny this year for Halloween. We are going to go trick or treating with friends Rowan and Evan (both monkeys). We’ll be sure to post pictures of the big night!

Have a happy Halloween season!

Much love to all- Todd, Becky and Maisy

M aisy continues to grow and become more and more aware of her surroundings. Last week she discovered her voice and now squeals and yells – often! It’s kinda funny and kinda weird to have your 4 month old child yelling at you. The pictures here were taken today in our front yard. For some reason whenever we are outside in the front taking pictures, Lilly our nutty cat, decides to slip into the back groud.

We had quite a night last night. Maisy had woken from a 5 hour sleep stretch from 12am to 5am (good)! I went in to get her and realized she had pooed through her clothes, even though I had changed her at 12am (bad). So I changed her diaper, put some nice clean jammies on her and fixed up her crib. I began feeding her (good). She was almost done with a long 15 minute feeding when she started to cough like something had “gone down the wrong pipe”. I sat her up and gently rubbed her back waiting for her to clear her throat. Well she cleared it alright- all the way down from her toes- everything came up in a nice warm projectile fashion IN THE DARK (bad!) So after I got over the moment of shock (what the heck just happened!?) I decided I needed Todd for this. I went and got him up and he was in charge of changing her jammies AGAIN- and I went down to make a bottle for her- as my milk was all over me, her, the glider and the floor. The good news is, that I came back upstairs with the bottle, fed her and put her right back down without a hitch and she slept until 9am with no further incident (good).

That’s all for now.

Much love to all- Todd, Becky and Maisy

M aisy enjoyed her first trip to the Berkeley Botanic Gardens last Saturday in Tilden Park. She seemed to enjoy looking at all the trees and what was left of flowers. We went a couple of days after it had rained, so the smell in the wooded garden was just fantastic and earthy!

Not much else to report, no further chuckling moments- a few more roll overs and definitely a ton more smiles!

Just wanted to share a couple of pictures.

More later!

Much love to all- Todd, Becky and Maisy

Maisy’s name in concrete corner of Ellis and Woolsey

Maisy has made her mark

I n our neighborhood they are putting in roundabouts in our “intersections”. Yesterday the men were working hard at creating this roundabout and they were pouring concrete. I wondered if they would let Maisy leave her mark. So she and I walked down there, looking ever so cute and asked very nicely. At first they were reluctant and then they agreed saying, “It’s like Hollywood!”. So Maisy left her mark for ever and ever and ever. We think it’s so cool that years from now we can come back and see Maisy’s little handprint from when she had just turned 4 months old.

Yesterday was also a big day for all of us… we got to hear the first hint of a laugh. The video below is Maisy’s first chuckle. We hope to keep practicing to get a full belly laugh going soon.

Everyday is such a new adventure and she is getting so much more interactive and responsive. I LOVE to see her staring back at me, just smiling as if I’m the only person in the universe…. just melts my heart.

Much love-
Todd, Becky and Maisy

M aisy is now 4 months old. She continues to amaze us everyday with her new tricks and her ability to connect with us. She is smiling a lot these days, but we have yet to hear the sweet sound of baby giggles. Maisy is getting to be a pro at grabbing at toys and has even rolled over a couple of times (both front to back and back to front) but I think they are just “accidents”.

Maisy took her first very big trip last week. We unexpectedly decided to head out to Lake George, where Todd grew up, to visit the grandparents and very importantly Todd’s amazing 98 year old grandmother, Alice. Maisy took to Grandma wonderfully. It was such a happy moment to see them together. On the trip Maisy also had her first boat ride down Lake George. The sound of the motor, water and the rocking of the boat put her right to sleep.



Being 4 months old also means more shots. Maisy had her 4 month old appointment today and she got a clean bill of health. She weighs 12 lbs and 14.8 oz and her length is 23.75 inches. She did not like her shots at all and she screamed and cried (and broke my heart). These round of shots seemed to hurt more than her last. However, by bedtime, she was smiling and kicking her cute little legs again.

More later!

Much love to all- Todd, Becky and Maisy

M aisy is now 3 months old and as everyone said- it is getting easier and she is getting less fussy. I think this is probably due to a couple different factors. #1 She’s sort of just getting used to life #2 I’ve actually read some books on how to give an infant what they need.

If there were only two books on babies to get you through the first few months I would have to highly recommend, “The Happiest Baby on the Block” by Harvey Karp which got us through all of the colicky moments and “Secrets of the Baby Whisperer” by Tracy Hogg. This second book we have been loosely following for a week and it has taught us how to spot Maisy’s sleepy cues and to get her to a nap ASAP. Further, it taught us how to get her to settle down in her crib to actually sleep. It’s really amazing- I put Maisy down in her crib sleepy, but awake and sometimes she just goes to sleep silently and other times she’ll cry for a few minutes while we soothe her saying “Shhhh….shhhhh…shhh” and brushing her hair. This soothing never takes longer than 4 minutes. So Maisy is now napping regularly in her crib and is actually happy when she is awake. It has made all the difference. Maisy isn’t yet sleeping through the night, but she is easy at night. I get up feed her and put her back in her crib and she just goes back to sleep. I’m hoping these sleep habits form now and will stick with her through childhood. (We’ll see!) I hear kids can throw you curve balls just when you think you have it down!

Maisy is now liking to look at the world from an upright position. So Angie was kind enough to let us borrow Rowan’s Bumbo chair. This is Maisy’s first ride in the chair and she seemed pretty happy with it! I’m excited to have somewhere other than the swing to put Maisy down for a bit.



We also took pictures of Maisy to commemorate her 3 months. They can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/gp/33005083@N00/a896n2

Much love to all- Todd, Becky and Maisy

M aisy went for her first set of shots on Aug. 5th at her 2 month old appointment. The doctor gave her a clean bill of health. She weighed 10 pounds 11 ounces and was 23 1/2 inches long. Maisy has been quite colicky since about 5 and a half weeks of age. The doctor said it was possible it could be acid reflux- although she doubted it because she seems to get fussy most only in the evening- but just in case she prescribed baby Zantac. Maisy hates taking it, but it does seem to be helping (I think). Maisy slept like a champ and was a model child the day of her shots. She handled actually getting the shots like a tough little girl. It was harder on Todd and I than I think it was on her. I literally had to hold back tears to be strong for Maisy- I’m such a softy now!

The next day Maisy was back to her cranky self- however she seems to be out growing her fussiness just a bit. We have discovered naps and Maisy seems much happier now. We are continuing to give her the baby Zantac drops because it seems to help her out in the evenings.



The above picture is Todd and Maisy after she was all healed from her shots.



The above picture is of Maisy just last week. She is growing each day. Her newest trick is putting her hands in her mouth and then making a face like she doesn’t like the way they taste and then doing it all over again.

Maisy and I are now down in LA at Nana and Papa’s house and Todd is in Munich for work. Maisy and I both miss Todd very much and are excited for him to come home on Friday. We will stay here a bit longer to celebrate Elijah’s birthday and visit and then drive back to the bay.



While Maisy and I are in LA we are busy catching up and visiting. On Sunday we had a chance to visit with James (not pictured) Sarah and baby Marly who is about 3 weeks older than Maisy (Maisy is now 10 weeks old).

More later……….

Much love to all- Todd, Becky and Maisy

Our first trip on an airplane as a family

W e went up to Portland to attend a wedding and visit some family. The above picture is of Maisy as we de-planed in Oakland after we had returned from our trip. We think she knew we were on our way home.

We had a lovely time, rented a house and stayed together with Grandma and Grandpa (Still working on a name?) Matthews and Uncle Steve-O.



We were up in the Portland area to celebrate the wedding of Todd’s cousin Jason to Laura- Congratulations! While we were up there we had the chance to re-connect with my cousin Sean and his wonderful family (Debbie, Austin and Dylan). There we met with Grandpa Steve who was very happy to see Maisy for the first time.



During our first night in Portland, we visited with our friend Lisa in the Hawthorne neighborhood where she lives. Though I saw her a few months ago, it’s been nearly a year since Todd saw her last. It was great to catch up!



Maisy did great on the plane. She loved the sound and the movement. She did not do so well with driving around and meeting lots of new people. Poor Maisy is having a bout of colic! We hope it resolves soon. Maisy is pretty happy until about 6 or 7pm and then it’s a 3 hour soothe fest until we can get her settled for bed time.

All in all we had a great trip!

Much love to all- Todd, Becky and Maisy

The family at Kehoe Beach

The day was beautiful and warm so we decided to take a drive to the coast.

W e drove for more than two hours to a beach just north of Point Reyes named Kehoe Beach.

We had to hike in, which is just what we were looking for- a good walk and a bit of time to relax.

What kind of kid doesn’t love the beach- sand, sun and waves? Well the kind of kid like Maisy- that’s who! (Okay, granted she’s only an infant- but come on!) We walked 25 minutes to reach the beach from where we’d parked. We scouted out the perfect spot after 10 more minutes of walking and set ourselves up. Within seconds Maisy was protesting. We tried feeding her, distracting her, making her warmer and bouncing her. The only thing that worked was for me to stand half bouncing half dancing on the beach. Thank goodness I was holding a baby otherwise I would have looked like some strung out love child on the beach with horrible rhythm. We quickly realized this was going to be relaxing for no one. After about 10 minutes we decided we should pack up. So we packed up our goods we hiked in and set out for another 25 minutes back to the car and another 2 hours home.

Our outing didn’t go quite as planned- but we think it’s important to keep trying!

She’s been a bit grumpy since we’ve gotten home and the only two things that sooth her are me holding her in my arms while dancing to inappropriate hip-hop in the living room, or todd sitting in the glider rocking Maisy to the wonderful tune of purchased vacuum cleaner noise (thank you itunes!!).

So I type from Maisy’s room in the dark with vacuum sounds blasting in my left ear.

At least Maisy is happy!

Maisy in her Rain Forest

Life is starting to return to “normal”

W e have had a couple more weeks with many new adventures and firsts!

Since I’ve had a couple of questions about the pronunciation of Maisy- it’s said Mazey. Now that that’s out of the way- here is our update and some pictures.

Grandma and Grandpa J came to visit from New York when Maisy was 2 weeks old and that was a very exciting adventure. It was the first time Maisy had ever been to a restaurant. Jupiter in Berkeley was her very first dining experience. She did pretty darn well if you ask me!

The following week we drove down to LA to attend a baby shower. It was hot as heck in LA. The car ride both on the way there and on the way back went super smoothly. Luckily she just slept the whole way. While we were there Maisy was able to meet lots of new people. She had her first trip to Santa Monica 3rd street promenade and the boardwalk. She liked it. She also really enjoyed meeting Elijah, her big boy cousin, Uncle Rigo and Papa. She also loved to see Nana and Auntie again.

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top left: Maisy and big boy cousin Elijah, top right: Todd attempting to take Maisy swimming on July 12th, bottom left: On the boardwalk in Santa Monica, bottom right: Out to lunch on July 11th

Becky and Maisy at the pool- it’s her first bathing suit!

Last week we just got more into our “routine” if we can call it that. We have started to try to ensure she is awake for at least a half hour after each feeding during the day and Todd gives Maisy a bottle of milk every evening around 8 which is the beginning of her bedtime routine. She’s been sleeping for a good four hour stretch after we first put her down- then she wakes to feed again. It’s sometimes hard to get her back to sleep after that, so she often ends up in bed with us. Usually she’ll be asleep for another three to four hours- and wake up at about six or seven. If it’s a fantastic day, we can get her back to sleep- if not, it’s time to get up and make the coffee! She is definitely getting more fun. She is smiling and enjoying looking at toys and being played with by us. We sing and dance a lot with her. Those are Maisy’s hobbies for now. We went to the doctor last week about her belly button- it wasn’t drying up- and she is now up to 9 pounds (and her belly button is all good now too).

She had her very first bath on July 12th. She wasn’t super sure about it.

So we all just keep learning and growing together! It’s getting more and more fun everyday. We will have our first airplane adventure later this month when we go up to Oregon for a wedding and to meet some family and friends.

Much love-
Todd, Becky and Maisy

Maisy being a little cradled sleeper in Mommy’s arms

We’re starting to figure it out…

T he first two nights were crazy, and filled with a crying baby and two exhausted parents who had no idea what to do. I am happy to report that Maisy has since gotten better with her sleep cycles. (Phew!) She now sleeps for two to four hours at a time during the night, so that way I only have to get up once or twice to feed. She’s been good at eating quickly and going back to sleep right after feeding.

We began going on short family outings/errands every day. The car and the stroller make Maisy nice and calm and getting out of the house makes me nice and calm. We never go out for long because I’m still terrified of trying to feed her in public. I think she and I both still need a little bit of practice in that first! We are still trying to learn all the tricks to make Maisy feel content and thus not cry. She LOVES shower sounds, static and vacuum sounds, so Todd has made her a nice little iPod mix of her favorites and that seems to calm her down most times. We also started letting her have her pacie (pacifier) for a few hours during the day when she is super fussy. We are pretty firm, though, on no pacie at night, which she doesn’t seem to mind. We don’t want to be getting up every 20 minutes to place it in her mouth again if it falls out!

Maisy seems to be growing every day. She is getting a bit more interactive and is now starting to focus on objects and practicing using her smile muscles. She also lost her umbilical stump! She has her first doctor’s appointment with her pediatrician on Friday.

 
 
 

The announcement out-takes

Todd was lucky enough to have his very first Father’s Day last week. Since I wasn’t able to get out and about to do much for him, a nice book and a home-made card was his gift. Todd seemed to enjoy it- he wanted to bbq chicken for dinner, and we had our first family grilling experience.

Maisy is so lucky to be able to have Todd’s mom and dad come for a visit this week. Both Maisy and the grandparents are super excited to meet each other!

The following week Todd, Maisy and I will take our first road trip to LA to visit my family and to attend a baby shower (someone else’s for a change!). Todd and I are very excited to have Maisy meet Elijah (big boy cousin), Papa and Uncle Rigo and to see Nana and Auntie again! While we are down there, we’ll be sure to go to RSM and meet Maisy’s little friend- Marly, born to our good friends Sarah and Drew just a few weeks before Maisy.

We would like to again thank everyone for their well wishes, meals and support in these first couple of weeks. All of you are very special to us. Having a wonderful support system really helps get through the first bumps in the road.

Much love -
Becky, Todd and Maisy

Maisy Adelyn on her birthday

Maisy finally made her appearance in record time on 5 June 2008! Todd and I both over joyed and completely in LOVE.

The birth story

I had been having regular contractions (tightening of the stomach nothing painful) the evening of 3 June. At about 10 minutes apart, they continued through the morning of 5 June. Luckily, they never hurt; they were just noticeable. Todd and I spent June 3rd and 4th walking, walking, walking. We looped through our neighborhood, walked to the market and looped through the neighborhood some more. At about 6am on June 5th the contractions grew closer together, and began hurting more. I still didn’t believe this was labor. By 10:30am, the contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart, lasting for over two hours, and really started to hurt. we picked up the phone.

We called into the Labor and Delivery Line, and they said to come in. We thought THIS IS IT! Todd called my mom and sister who were on their way from LA. We arrived at the hospital around 11:30 and I went into Triage to see if I would be admitted. I hung out there for a while in a bit of pain and the hospital staff determined I was only 3cm dilated (although I was very close to a 4). They will not keep you in the hospital unless you are a good 4, nearing 5, or your water has broken.

Todd and I had planned on having a medication free birth, but the doctor offered me a shot of morphine which would help me relax, nap and let the contractions progress. After discussing with Todd, we agreed to take the shot after initially declining. After my shot, they sent us home, and said it could be much later in the day and possibly three days before “active labor” began. We called my mom and sister, who turned around and headed back to LA.

After returning home, I headed to bed for a nap and Todd went out to run errands. It was about 12:30 at this time. I was able to doze off very contently in between contractions. Morphine was very kind to me. After about only a half hour of dozing, my water broke and I rolled out of bed to save our mattress. :) I called Todd, told him the news and back to Labor and Delivery we went. Todd called my mom and my sister and they turned around once again, to head back to the Bay.

I went into into triage (again!) and by around 2:30 we were in our birthing room. I was now dilated to 5cm. There, the contractions were getting stronger and stronger and coming almost back to back. Unfortunately the morphine had run out. The hospital staff explained that I could get a shot of fentanyl that would take the edge off, similar to the morphine. I said, “yes, please” and about that epidural? “Sign me up!” They said I couldn’t get an epidural until I had finished an IV bag of fluid, and I told them to turn that puppy up! That bag took forever to drain! Around 4:45pm the epidural was still no where in sight and the contractions were so fierce that they were pushing for me. The staff was very surprised to see me in this state and decided to check me. They were shocked to see that I was already dilated 10 cm! 5cm in two hours without major drugs or any inducing agents!

At this point they said I would not be able to get the epidural as I was already set to push. The hospital staff kicked it into high gear and got set up for a delivery that they thought was hours away. At 5pm I started to push and 19 minutes later, she was born. Todd held her slimy little hand and cut the cord. I was relieved to have a happy, healthy daughter and to be DONE!

Maisy was born at 5:19 pm, weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces, was 20 and a half inches long, with an APGAR of 7 at birth and 9 five minutes later. All good signs.

7 pounds 7 ounces

Unfortunately my mom and my sister missed the birth and arrived at the hospital just 10 minutes before visiting ended, so we got to see them just shortly. Todd’s brother was also able to sneak in under the wire, so they all got to see Maisy for the first time that day.

The following day we were ready to go home and able to leave the hospital around 2pm. We were barely there for 24 hrs!

Our first family photo

At home

W e left the hospital with out having a name for her. We, in fact, just decided on her name this morning. (It was our deadline for the birth certificate!) At home we tried out all our favorites and Maisy was the only one we could actually say. She is one little spunk bucket I tell you! She knows what she wants and when she wants it.

We’ve been taking shifts at night caring for her. I’m breast feeding, so there is only so much Todd can do, but he’s been very helpful with diaper changes and trying to get her settled down again -not to mention, just hanging out with her for a few hours, so I can get some uninterrupted sleep! Mmmmmm sleep. As a family, we’ve left the house for short outings which is a lot of fun. the key here is short outings. I’m still healing, and being on the move still isn’t very comfortable.

Rest, time, the love of friends and family all help.

Much love -
Becky, Todd and Maisy

The days keep passing and there is still no baby, which I suppose is okay because we still don’t have a name! Nesting is in full effect, and you can see the results in our (nearly) finished nursery!

Becky tries out the nursery

This is Todd right after we first put the crib together. He (and I) are very proud!

My most recent doctor’s appointment was six days ago and went well. There is progress being made, but only until I can hold Her, will I feel like progress has been made! I have another appointment for May 28th, unless she shows up before then.

I’ve been talking walks daily and am continuing to go to yoga. I’ve been on a cleaning/laundry kick and every couple of days, I start all over again. Todd thinks I’m crazy. I still feel pretty good. I’m starting to get a little bit more tired than I have been. I am starting to feel the baby getting lower and lower which is NOT so comfortable, but I just try to keep myself busy so the days pass more quickly. We are both so excited to meet this little girl! I have been having contractions off and on. Some not so painful, some kinda hurty- so hopefully this means we are getting close.

ps. The bathroom is still not completely complete and so- this is why we have not posted pictures of this, but this will also come with time.

posing with the poses

We are almost there!

T oday we had the last baby class before our big day, this one specific to childbirth. Our teacher would say that we are all “ready”, but if you ask me, there’s still a lot to get ready for! After seeing some of the videos, it looks like a whole bunch of crazy! To lighten the mood, Todd and I went out to dinner, and afterwards saw Baby Mama, yet another pregger movie. That makes three that we’ve seen during my pregnancy. (also Knocked Up, Juno).

Tomorrow, I have a doctor’s appointment to see if we’re any closer to her arrival. I’ve been feeling a little cramping and notice mild contractions – hopefully that means some progress!

On the homefront

We’ve gotten the nursery pretty well put together. The molding is up, the crib assembled, linens looking cozy, and the 0-3 month clothes washed and waiting. New blinds should arrive next week, and then the nursery should be done. Well, we will have some decorating to do, but she won’t notice that! We are keeping the house nice, neat and vacuumed – just in case we have a surprise baby arrival!

where does the baby go in this boppy?

This is a picture of Todd being silly, and trying on the very complicated Moby wrap . Believe it or not, it’s a giant piece of fabric that is sold to hold a baby. Needless to say, we did not end up buying it!

The bathroom project is still pretty much where it was. The vanity is finished and the toilet is working. We still need to get a bathroom mirror, vanity light, paint the door, get a door knob and paint the door jams. We also have a cabinet/closet specialist coming next week to help us with the storage creation next to the laundry.

That’s all for now!! Hope you are all well. Hugs- Becky, Todd and baby

M y bay area shower was April 26th thrown by my good friend Angie. Thank you, Angie! The shower was wonderful- with all of the personal touches brought to it. Many friends and family from far away were able to attend. Angie threw a “green” shower, so all of the take aways, juice pitchers- almost everything including the gift wrapping was all able to be re-used or recycled. It was a very cool concept and even more cool to pull it off! We played a fun game where you hold a card above your head (so you can’t see what you are drawing) and then you draw what you think the future baby Matthews will look like. This is the winning drawing by my friend Andrea. The love and kindness of all was definitely felt that day- Thank you to everyone who was able to participate!

We’ve also been busy with the home remodel project. In retrospect, perhaps it wasn’t the best time to decide to tear up our house! Todd’s dad was here to help us with the project. They gutted the bathroom, laundry room and water heater room down to the studs and rebuilt it again. Originally Joel was only going to stay a week, but thank goodness he extended his stay- because we weren’t close to done after a week! So we had Joel with us for two weeks. They accomplished so much in a very short amount of time. We could not have done it without Joel’s help and guidance. Thank you so much! It was really cool to see the father and son team in action :-)

Here are a few shots from the progress. Hopefully the next post will show a completed bathroom. We are actually really close. The walls are up and painted, the floor is installed and the fixtures are back in place. The washer is now fully functioning- Yay! We still need to affix the toilet, put the finishing touches on the vanity, install and find the vanity light and mirror. After that we need to get the custom cabinets made for the laundry area. Then we’ll be done!

We still have some other projects going on as well. The nursery is still not together. Todd has to measure, cut and install the moulding. I still need to paint the moulding. I’ve started washing all her clothes and getting all of the wonderful shower gifts put away. It’s all happening- slowly but surely.

Todd and I feel like we’ve been at Kaiser constantly! They have so many classes… last Thursday we took our first installment of the newborn care class, then Friday morning we had the meet and greet the labor and delivery staff, that was a very informative session where you got to ask all sorts of questions. That was definitely helpful. Then Sunday we had our labor and delivery class- which we got stood up on! I hope they come through better when it’s show time. So we rescheduled for the 18th- let’s hope little miss decides to stay put that long. Last night we had our hospital tour- which was kind of a weird experience. It’s odd to think that the next time you are in this room or on this floor- you are going to be having A BABY! It was good to see though and also very helpful. Today we have our last ultrasound to make sure the baby is in the correct position (which I’m pretty sure she is) and to do my Group B Strep test. After this appointment, I’ll start going weekly. Time has flown. Tonight we have our second installment of the newborn care class.

My last day at work was Friday, May 2nd. I’m very fortunate that my work has such a great policy. All were very sweet and we went to lunch to celebrate. I’m very happy to not be working and in the 3 days I’ve had off so far, I haven’t been bored once and I’m really shocked at how fast the days go by. There is so much to get done at home- I can’t believe I used to go to work and take care of things at home. It is a relief to not have to wake up and get to work everyday and then sit all day long. It was getting quite uncomfortable. The baby has now decided to move down to my lower areas and I can’t say it’s my favorite position for her.

Well I think that’s plenty of update this time- sorry it’s so long- but lots has happened. Take care- hugs, Todd, Becky and baby

W e had our first baby shower this weekend hosted by my Mom (and Charlie) and my sister. THANK YOU!!!

It was a wonderful gathering with many friends and family in attendance. The food was great and everyone was in happy spirits. As luck would have it, it was one of the hottest weekends yet this year, so we were all looking for a little reprieve (see picture below of Todd and Elijah in the kiddie pool!) The gathering was very special to Todd and me. We were so happy to see so many lovely folks show up to share their well wishes with us. This is going to be one special baby to have so many wonderful people in her life. Thank you everyone for the thoughtful gifts and company.

I had my doctors appointments last Thursday and everything is going just as it should. My next OB appointment will be May 8th and they will do another ultrasound to make sure the baby is in the correct position and do my Step B test. After that, I’ll start going to the doctor’s every 2 weeks, then every week. I also went to the neurologist to check out my little vision problems. He said, well the good news is that I’m neurologically in tact. (I thought that was excellent news!) and the bad news was that they can’t give me any medications for what he calls optical or retinal migraines. I don’t mind much, since they don’t really hurt and they are just more or less annoying.

Todd has begun the demolition on the downstairs bathroom. It is almost down to the studs. We (or the plumber rather) has removed the old water heater and installed a tankless water heater on our storage shed. Now I’m just starting to get a little bit nervous, hoping that this will all work out like we have planned- we aren’t by any means experts and we definitely don’t want to be throwing money away.

Next week Todd’s mom and dad (Joan and Joel) will be coming out. Joan is coming out to attend my bay area baby shower – and to celebrate a birthday (HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY!!) and Joel is coming out to help Todd to figure out how to get this remodel finished.

I have also decided to leave work a bit earlier than I had planned. My work is okay with that. I now only have 2 weeks left!! I can’t believe it. I don’t know if I should be over-joyed, scared or feel bad for leaving! I’m sure I’ll get over it somehow- as there will be plenty to do.

More next time- Hugs and love- Becky, Todd and baby girl

O nly about 8 weeks left now! I cannot believe how fast time has gone. I know I promised a perhaps more fancy shirt and I thought this was a fancier shirt, until Steven said to me, is that the same picture as last time, and then Todd said, no, but the shirt is still blue…. Fine! I like blue! :-)

So let me fill you in on what’s been going on. Todd left for Australia and New Zealand to have a fun vacation with Steven on March 20th. He just got back home today!! I’m so happy to have him home. We’ve had a great day of catching up and even had time to squeeze in a movie. The pictures are spectacular and Todd can’t wait to take me and the baby back with him for a proper family vacation.

I had another doctor’s appointment on March 27th. The baby was measuring right on schedule and progressing just like she should. I had only been gaining a pound or two per month, but apparently this month… I made up for some lost time and they said I gained a whole 8 pounds! I was a bit shell shocked and vowed to stop eating ice cream every night and try to make sure I get in 2 good walks a week along with my regular yoga twice a week. I’m doing okay with it so far!

Something that hasn’t been so fun is that I’ve been having migraine-like events without the headaches. They think they are Ocular Migraines. I feel “off” for about 15 minutes then I get weird blind spots for about a half hour- then they turn to weird gray crystal spots and then it resolves and I’m left feeling a bit dingy. Then it all just goes back to normal. I had had a couple of these (one per week) so I called my doctor. They had me go into the ophthalmologist to have my eyes checked and yes all my nerves and retinas are okay. They also had me go into the OB to have the baby re-checked and she’s fine too. Since then, this has happened one more time and they are just becoming the way it is for me. Very strange. My next doctor’s appointment is April 17, where they have also scheduled me to see the neurologist, just to be sure.

I have started painting the nursery and got one coat up and then my back started ACHING… so I think Todd will have to finish that up now that he is back :)

We are very excited to be having our first baby shower in Los Angeles this next weekend hosted very generously by my mom and sister. This will be a couple’s shower and so fun to see every one and see all the wonderful baby goodies. I cannot wait to oooh and ahhh. Our second shower isn’t until a couple of weeks after that in good ol’ Oakland thrown by my very good friend Angie. Todd’s mom will make the long trip out to attend along with some other family members. We are so lucky to have fabulous family and friends! I will be sure to post pictures of both events.

We have a lot going on. This week Todd needs to start tearing up our bathroom to make way for the remodel (along with finishing up painting the baby’s room). Todd’s dad is very kindly coming out when the bay shower is to help Todd along with the bathroom remodel. We are very grateful to Todd’s dad for sharing the knowledge and really helping out (read – really being the guy that knows what the heck is going on!) It’s very cool to see Todd and Joel going at projects together :-)

So finally… we still cannot choose a name… it is so darn hard. That being said, if you are so inclined here is a website where you can vote on names that have crossed our minds. We may choose one of these, we may not. If you have a super favorite, let us know. If you super hate one… don’t tell us… we just might pick it!

here I am at 28.5 weeks

N ot much has happened since the last post. Last Saturday, Todd and I joined about 20 other couples in a prenatal yoga class. There, we learned yoga poses that we could practice to help alleviate some pregnancy pains and also relaxation and breathing techniques like deep belly breathing. It feels odd doing them, but if it helps… I don’t care! My teacher says we should practice together often.

Todd is busy preparing for his trip to Australia/New Zealand where he’ll get to travel and backpack and avoid deadly snakes and caterpillars and jellyfish with his brother. It looks like REI moved into our house! Soon, it will all be gone, and on a nice vacation!

We spent the last weekend on home improvement planning. Todd has been selling items on Craigslist to clean out the small room upstairs – soon to be the baby’s room. Today we took another trip to Home Depot to collect color swatches so we can get to painting. We think we’ve found it; and I hope to paint the room (using low VOC paint) while Todd is away. We’ve also been moving on the bathroom remodel, and earlier this weekend, we found the perfect old vanity at a corner antique store that we plan to turn into a sink cabinet counter. We still have to purchase a lot of items for the remodel, but we are both very excited to get this project moving too!

Even though it’s getting notably harder to get up and down and bend over, I still feel completely capable. I do seem to be getting tired a bit more often lately – naps are definitely my friend. The baby is still moving a lot, and the movement has changed from kicks to a more sliding like feeling and the baby feeling around like feeling. This week I start “kick counting” for my doctor. I have my next appointment on March 27th. I can’t slouch as much as I used to because she is needing a lot of that room, so I guess good posture is a nice side effect. I have noticed an unfortunate side effect and it’s my growing butt and thighs! I definitely need to stop indulging my sweet tooth.

All in all, everything is going just wonderfully.

H ere I am at 26.5 weeks. Time is flying by! I still feel great although bending over is getting more and more difficult. Todd actually had to buckle my shoes for me the other day. He got a kick out of that.

I had another doctor’s appointment last Friday. The baby sounds great and measures right on schedule. I had my glucose test on Saturday, thankfully Todd could come with me so I didn’t have to sit around for an hour by myself after I drank my prescription strength sugar drink. It actually didn’t taste as bad as I’ve heard. I had an orange drink that kind of tasted like a melted orange otter pop. I can’t believe I’ve already heard the results but, I have and luckily I am all in the normal range, which means no gestational diabetes or the big ol’ baby that comes with it.

Cassidy the wonder filer

We’ve all been pretty busy lately. I’ve still been working like crazy. I actually need to fly up to Portland for a one day meeting on Tuesday that I’m not too thrilled about, but it’s not much longer that I will be working, so I suck it up and do all I can in the in between time. My last day at work will be May 14. It’s already circled on my calendar! Todd’s been busy around the house and has also picked up another short gig creating a website for a book. Mostly Todd and Cassidy have been preparing for tax season. He’s been teaching the cat to file and to master long division. Luckily they got that task accomplished and our taxes are now done, whew!

Mudflap and Brownie

The weather has been spectacular lately. Today we decided to go out for a walk, have a nice lunch (then I had to go to work for a bit), but then after I got home we went for a nice bike ride. It was the baby’s first bike ride. We were sure to stick to smaller back roads and be super vigilant about cross traffic. Our bikes were so happy to be out together again. Later we enjoyed going to dinner with our super neighbors Matt, Abby and baby Evan. It has been another wonderful weekend.

T odd and I have been busily preparing the house for baby girl (still yet to be named). Todd re-did his office, to make it much more open for baby watching and working :-) I’ve been re-arranging closets to make room for all the new things we will have for the baby.

i think todd is going for an ‘i love lucy’ impression, what do you think?

We celebrated Valentine’s day by me leaving work early and surprising Todd and taking him on a tour of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Factory in Berkeley. We got a tour of the chocolate factory with yummy samples to boot. After our tour we headed over to North Berkeley Farmer’s Market for a snack of cheese, bread and butter- YUM! From there we drove over to the Berkeley Rose Garden to hang out, eat our snack and watch the sun set over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a wonderful afternoon.

Work has been very busy for me, so the weeks are flying by! I cannot believe I have less than 15 weeks left! (that’s what I say now, huh?! I suppose that’s why they call it the “golden trimester”). My next doctor’s appointment is on the 28th of February where I think I’ll take my pregnancy glucose test. Everything is going great. I feel wonderful and have tons of energy. I feel her move more and more strong and often. I’m keeping up with my twice weekly prenatal yoga classes and enjoy them more and more each time I go. Todd and I have signed up for a couples prenatal yoga birth preparation course through my yoga studio. I’m very excited for Todd to see and experience some of what I’ve been learning. I hope to use some of the yoga techniques I’ve learned along the way during the birthing process. I plan to have a drug-free birth and hope that using some of these relaxing techniques and poses can get me through and if not, oh, well… we tried! We’ve also signed up for all of our birth/baby/breast feeding/hospital tours preparation sessions. Hopefully we’ll be as prepared as we can get for our big arrival.

It’s funny… I still don’t think I look super pregnant but others are definitely noticing and it is absolutely having its benefits. I had to use the restroom in a drug store the other day and I asked a woman very politely where the restroom was, and she was about to tell me I had to go get some key from some customer service area when her eyes set upon my belly and said, well come here, I’ll take you to use the employees restroom. Score!

I hope you enjoy the update and that everyone had a great start to the year- Hugs, Becky, Todd and Baby

T odd was the most fantastic husband and surprised me with a spa day today. He made appointments for both of us at the Claremont Resort and Spa. I got a prenatal massage and Todd got a Shiatsu. We enjoyed the lovely spa facilities and relaxed with the multiple head showers, steam rooms, and deluge showers. The good stuff didn’t end there! Todd had made lunch reservations at Chez Panisse, where I had a yummy pasta bolognese and Todd ate a local rock fish. After a delightful relaxing first half of the day, we took a walk around North Berkeley through a redwoodsey park, where we repeatedly remarked, “we LOVE where we live!” It was nice to have a day in The Bay without rain, and a perfect end to a very busy couple of weeks. Todd and I have both been over, over, over worked. (yes, I said over 3 times and meant every one!)

So, here is a picture of me at the end of this day all happy and content. I am now over half way though my pregnancy. It has gone by really fast! I feel her move often and Todd also enjoys feeling her kicking around in there. I still can’t believe myself every time I look in the mirror. I still feel like I’m just a slightly larger version of what I was, but then sometimes I actually see the transformation going on and I’m blown away! I feel great, have plenty of energy, have no symptoms or funky body aches to complain about. I hope this lasts for quite some time.

H ere I am at 18.5 weeks pregnant. I still feel like I just look “fat”, but I’ve had at least 3 comments from strangers wishing me congratulations, so that makes me feel better. Since it’s winter time and I’m a wimp when it comes to being cold, I can’t wear a lot of my stretchy skirts and flowy-type shorts, so I’ve now resorted to wearing all maternity pants. They are very comfortable, but still not as tight as I would like them to be- they tend to sag, so I still use the Motherhood Maternity’s Tummy Tube to keep them nice and tight. Old Navy has been very kind with their maternity sales- so it hasn’t broken the bank either!

I’ve felt the baby move since about 15.5 weeks . At first it just felt like twitches or quick popcorn kernals popping. It has gotten stronger and more frequent each day. Todd keeps trying to feel her kicking around, but no luck yet. Todd leans his head down to have chats and listen to her. He says she’s a very good listener. He also swears he can hear her in there. He says it sounds like “swimming”. I’ll have to ask my doctor about that one!

We had to switch insurance companies this year, so I had my first appointment at my new doctor’s office last Friday. Everything is still going just as it should be. It’s always a treat to get to hear the sweet sound of her heartbeat on the doppler. This new system seems to have a lot of classes and support for families, so that should be a big plus. They actually took the time to talk to me and answer all my questions without making me feel like I was wasting their time. My next check up appointment is Feb. 1.

We purchased our crib bedding just this weekend. We found it at the most unlikely place for the most affordable price- YAY! Walmart, if you believe it- I think I can count on one hand how many times I’ve been there, but hey, if they got what you need… take advantage! We both adore this bedding. The baby’s crib is a pretty light green color and this mod-nature theme will go perfectly with the nursery decor we have planned. As you can imagine, we are not into the typical frilly and charactery baby stuff- plain, simple and natural is our theme.

people would often ask, “are you gonna find out if it’s a boy or a girl?” and i would reply, “i hope so!”

Well, today we went in for an end-of-the-year sonogram, second tri-mester style, and were asked by the nurses tech if we wanted to know the gender. “Of course!” Here’s how it went:

YouTube Video

14 weeks

T hought we’d start giving you the belly shots, so here you go. This picutre was taken last Sunday at 14 weeks. I just feel kind of blobby and my clothes are all tight and uncomforable – the maternity clothes are still too big and saggy, so this is a really fun stage! [Note the sarcasm :-) ] I’m excited to start looking pregnant instead of like I eat everything in sight.

Other than my clothes not really fitting, everything else is going very well. I seem to have my headaches under control now. I am taking prenatal yoga, which I really enjoy, and I’m trying to eat well and get some exercise every now and again. My energy is back up and the nausea is now long gone. I do seem to get weepy quite easily. I cried twice… TWO TIMES… while watching two separate lame television shows last night. Todd finds it amusing, and I just tell him it’s not nice to laugh at your pregnant wife! We are really having a blast and are looking forward to our next appointments on New Year’s Eve.

Baby heartbeat.aif (100k)

t oday we got to hear the heartbeat. our appointment was brief, and a continuation of our last appointment. no stirrups or oven mitts involved this time, instead, lady doc positioned a fancy tummy mic over becky’s belly, and projected our baby’s swooshy heartbeat into the air. with iphone at the ready, i recorded the sound which you can hear too!

after the sound test, we went back to the doctor’s office, had a seat, and chatted for a bit. she asked us all sorts of questions about our genealogy, diet, and physical activity – then she gave us the low down on what we should do during the first few months of pregnancy. call me crazy, but shouldn’t this sort of conversation have taken place a few months ago?

long story short, everything seems fine. although we didn’t get all of the labs back, those we did review were in good order. the baby is alive and kicking, and becky is ta ‘boot. we may even find out if it’s a boy or a girl around christmas time!

more soon!

Yesterday was our diagnostic screening day.

To our happy surprise they did another ultrasound. The baby looks very content in its little cocoon. The baby would be lying on its back and then get up all of a sudden and do a few fancy moves and lay back down. We could have sworn at one point the baby just turned and waved to us.

I was actually able to see the heartbeat this time and the heart rate looks excellent. The baby was up on the monitor for quite a while since they were taking measurements. By the way, the baby is also measuring right on target. Already a straight A student, passing all the tests!

We should be able to find out the sex of the baby by mid January- yay!

O ur first doctor’s appointment was on Thursday, Nov. 8th, and it seemed like forever for that day to come. As you can imagine, we were both very excited. Once the ultrasound machine was fired up, it was pretty amazing to see someone in there! The doctor said the baby looked perfect and that there was a good strong heart beat. The baby even started to do a little dance for us, showing Todd and I just how she or he can tear up a dance floor! I couldn’t believe the baby was moving, since I can’t feel a thing!

At the time of this photo, the baby was about 3 cm long and she or he will continue to grow rapidly. The doctor confirmed the baby should be arriving around June 3rd.

The rest of our schedule seems pretty packed. I have an appointment for diagnostic first trimester screening this Friday, Nov. 16th, and I hope they do another ultrasound so I can see our little baby again. Our next offical appointment is Monday, Nov. 26th, and the doctor was saying it is a continuation of the first appointment. It’s then that we get to listen for the heart beat with the doppler – if they can’t hear it that way they will do another ultrasound. We also discuss the results of the blood tests and screenings I have had. Hope all goes well!

%(caption)hick’s apple orchard, ny%

h ere we are in new york; enjoying the autumn air. nothing satisfies quite like a healthy dose of apple picking. pretty soon, our little package will be the size of an apple, and we’re looking forward to telling you all about it… and that’s exactly why we put this little blog up.

our hope is that we can commit to at least the seven more months of blogging before our baby arrives – that’s more than what we can say for our italy blog which sadly, dwindled off in late march. one day, we’ll update that, really. for now, we’re in baby land!

We can expect to meet the new addition June 3rd!

O ur weekend started out with a journey to volterra on saturday. there, we enjoyed seeing the ruins of the roman amphitheater, and walking along the windy brick laden roads.

during our walk, we saw a nice fort-like structure, which seemed to be part of the cities wall. we headed in that direction, and through a nice park where we could see ourselves having a picnic had it been a nice day. when we reached the end of the park, we stood at the base of the fort, but there was no way in. our trip to the castle had me wondering if we should do some climbing, but instead we followed the base of the fort around to the other side. there has to be an entrance somewhere, right?

it turns out that this “fort” was the state prison. no doubt there is a way in – getting out might be the real challenge.

S unday, we forgot about the time change and woke up an hour after we had thought. Siena is once again nine hours ahead of California. We were thankful to sleep in, but quickly got ready and headed out for Pisa. After a two hour drive, we arrived to rain as we hit the streets. We were starving, and since it was Sunday, most places were closed. A little wandering led us to a small Osteria filled with Italians, so we decided to dine.

we should have eaten here instead

The Gnocci al roquefort was good. For our segundis, I ordered the Chingiale (wild boar) and Todd ordered Tonna (tuna). The second courses came. My Chingiale was sparse, and overwhelmed by olives. There must have been at least thirty olives to each bite of meat! I couldn’t eat it, and turned to Todd’s tuna. He let me have a bite, and I convinced him to trade me the very over cooked tuna for my plate of olives. I gobbled town the tuna telling myself, it will all be over soon, and Todd did his best to force down the chingiale dish. The kicker: an Italian man next to us ordered the same Chingiale dish I did, execept he was served big pieces of wild boar and only a few olives. We had been shorted!

on to the tower.

After “lunch” we strolled toward the piazza that has the famed tower. It was actually very cool to see something that large and solid be so oddly shaped. It kind of has a banana curve. We examined the tower and visited the Duomo (cathedral) and the circular bapistry and the old cemetery. We strolled with the tourists for a while and then hit the road for home.

We made it just in time to go over to our friend Alessandra’s house for a wonderul home cooked Italian spread. It definitely made up for the cruddy lunch.

from left to right: good, great, gone.

C how asked me to go on a food finding expedition for florentine (call it tuscan) fare. among the food on the list is an assortment of deserts, pastas, and meats. how could i say no.

alessandra, becky and i went to antica trattoria papei, a smallish restaurant in siena known for their meat. when the bistecca arrived, we knew we made the right choice.

for an upcoming chow story about tuscan food, becky, alessandra and i embarked on a food finding mission at city center.

the first day we were in italy, i asked our landlord to recommend a place for lunch. you know, a small dish of pasta, a panini, or maybe a salad. he replied, “well there’s a bar across the street from the mcdonalds, but it serves italian sandwiches, not american sandwiches, like mcdonalds.”

there’s a lot wrong with what andreas said, but who’s to argue. it’s been years since i’ve been to mcdonalds, so i figured what better time to go than when you’re running on empty and in another country. filet of fish, fries and a coke – sure i’ll take a large. done and delicious, thanks ronald.

After a relaxing Saturday, we were ready for an adventure, so on Sunday we headed out to an old walled city called Perugia. Perugia is located in Umbria, a small province East of Tuscany. The outskirts of Perugia are industrial, developed, and not very appealing, but once you reach the city center, it almost looks like the place time forgot. I say almost, because amidst the wonderful ancient arches, worn cobbled streets, and beautiful buildings are shops. Lots and lots of shops.

We had read that there was a park with old Roman ruins, but we walked around and around and could not find it. Finally, we found a cave like entrance on the side of a hill, and decided to just go inside and check it out.

As luck would have it, this was the “park”! We had stumbled up an old underground street system! It was amazing, arches and iron fixtures jetting out of the wall to hold torches. The streets wound around and around. In ancient times, they provided protection from war, as the people of Perugia could carry on with life, underground! We imagined the streets bustling with shops and people as we rounded the corner…

It turns out that Perugia was hosting the Umbrian Wine Festival in the very underground streets that we stumbled upon. We each paid 10, and tasted wines from all over Umbria. We had a perfect chance to practice our Italian and the wine makers got to practice their English :)

It was a very lucky and happy find.

the side door of the castle, which we wouldn’t see until crawling through a briar patch

T the same group of trekkers that we joined for our tour of Giardino dei Tarocchi invited on another “walk”. Ready for a little exercise, and a little tour, we accepted, and began our day early with a drive through the beautiful rolling Tuscan hills. We passed old villages that time forgot and about an hour or so later arrived at our destination.

The second we got out of the car, I realized I didn’t dress warm enough… but that problem was quickly solved by “walking”. I use the term loosely because, man, it was a HIKE. Along the way to the top of the mountain, we stopped at a couple of marble quarries, where once upon a time, they mined the rose colored marble for the floors Siena’s Duomo.

After we arrived at the top of the mountain, we enjoyed the views for a brief moment. I sat down on a rock, and noticed beside me a million lady bugs, all nestled in the cracks of the rocks. i’ve never seen so many! Our guide pointed out that we still had some hiking to do, and the Castle, our destination was another mountain away.

We walked back down and around the ridge, when we lost the trail. We ended up having to crawl (yes I said it CRAWL) up an animal path back to the main road. It was very entertaining… it would have been down right funny if the little bushes weren’t covered in mean prickly thorns!

Finally, we arrived at the abandonded Castle and had a nice picnic lunch, complete with some “Saint’s Wine” that our Italian friend’s father made. The castle is now abandoned but once housed the powerful Bishop who oversaw the silver mines don’t think we didn’t go there too. down below.

We had our picnic and wine then all laid around in the sun for a quick siesta. Re-energized, we began our quick “walk” up ANOTHER mountain to find the silver mines. By the time we had arrived it was late afternoon (we started climbing the first mountain about 9.30am) and the wind was whipping around something fierce. It didn’t stop us… no siree! We all got out our flashlights and headed into an old abandoned cave-like mine. It was very cool.

By 5pm we were all tuckered out and ready for the trip back home. Needless to say, Todd and I were in bed by 9.30!

T here are tons of torn up posters lining the walls of siena. the artist in me is drawn to the chaotic mix of color and type, and i love words in different languages. it’s the fonts. seeing these posters in italy strikes an accord with the film buff and cyclist in me too. while walking the tuscan streets, formed from dirt and cobbled marble, it’s hard to ignore images from “Ladri di biciclette.”

the film tells the story of a man who has been unemployed for months, and is finally given a job pasting up posters. the only catch is that he needs a bicycle to get from wall to wall, so his proud wife pawns the linens off of their own bed to purchase a bike. translated, the title “the bicycle thief” gives away what happens next. the poor man loses his new bicycle during the first day of work. without it, he and his son search the crowded streets of rome for the only thing that can give him back his dignity.

pasting up posters, and readying the ride

a tale of pride, enduring hardship and overcoming loss, this film is one of my favorites, and not just because of a bicycle. pick it up from your local video spot, netflix it, and share with a friend. note: it’s subtitled, but will not disappoint.

laundry at our flat.

it costs seven euro to wash and dry one load of laundry.

flowers in hand, mimosas given to ladies everywhere

We went out to dinner with our neighbors on Thursday night and all of the women at our table had these little yellow flowers with them. As soon as I joined the group and took my seat, the waiter rushed over and gave me some the flowers. One of the women told me that today was a holiday, although, none of us realized it because we still had to go to work.

Festa della Donna is a women’s day celebration. Authorities don’t agree how or why, but the custom started in Italy, some sources say in Rome in 1946, of men giving their wives, mothers, daughters, and other women friends sprigs of bright yellow Mimosa flowers on March 8. – It was a very nice surprise.

the gardens are very surreal, so after a few hours, and just before we began to question if we were having a bad acid trip, we picked up some paninis, and headed for the beach.

romans carve aqueducts (left), and nature carves hearts (right)

on our way, we found an ancient aqueduct, carved from a mountainside. to see first hand what the romans accomplished is amazing. without dynamite; only pick axes, and time, they carved with delicate precision. the aqueduct would divert water away from ships that would moor at the nearby harbor. now, all that remains of the harbor are piles of rubble, reavealing where the slips once were.

we made our way to the beach, where we finally ate our sandwiches and tossed a frisbee. we were playing with a guy who didn’t understand english at all, yet we had no trouble communicating, or having fun. it reminded me of how toddlers can just walk up to each another, not knowing the language, and still being able to connect.

after a little frisbee, lunch, and a getting our feet wet in the sea, we stopped by the small vacation town of orbotello. there, we checked out the antique flea market, window shopped and stopped for a gelato, where everyone generously offered a lick to share. no germophobes here!

the sun was about to set, and we were ready for the drive home. the people from becky’s work have been so kind, and have really helped us get aquainted with the area. we’ve been invited for another trek next week, and look forward to covering more uncommon ground with our warm hearted friends.

nothing get’s you ready for a drive on the autostrada like four beers. better make it eight.

On my way to work today, I saw this cute little older lady carrying bags up the long pathway to our flat.

“Buongiorno”

I said to her. she smiled, said it back and then started talking to me. To my surprise, I UNDERSTOOD her! We didn’t have a very deep conversation, in fact it consisted of, “oh, where are you from,” “what’s your name,” “are you here for work or school,” “how long are you here”…etc… but still! I was quite pleased with myself. I’ve only had 2 lessons. I do listen to Italian language lessons on my ipod during my walk to and from work, and try to study a bit every night, and boy, does it pay off! So our chat ended with, “Arivaderci” and off to work I went… strutting like a proud little peacock, smiling the whole way.

the scarecrow from the wizard of oz would have been as confused as becky and i when we first began driving the roads of italy. “should we go left to siena, or should we go right?” we’re learning that the saying, “all roads lead to rome,” holds quite a literal truth for most cities here.

d uring our stay in siena last year, we lived in the city center, and very close to the piazza del campo. unlike the hustle and bustle of san francisco and new york, free of trolleys, street cars and honking cabbies – del campo echoes with song, chatter, and people enjoying the public space until the wee hours of the morning. we were just far enough away, that the sounds of del camppo were dulled to an ambient roar.

our current flat is a long walk from the city center, and on the backside of a woodsey hill where a few other homes are nestled. without much traffic, be it by car, scooter or foot, it’s quiet here. our nights are silent and serene, with an occasional hoot from our neighborhood owl, as if to say – “it’s okay, i’m keeping a lookout.”

as dawn breaks, the silence of night is broken, and the birds begin to sing.

i don’t know much about birds, other than when it’s dead silent and they start chirping, it will wake you up. during our first week here, i found myself awake at 4:30 or 5 in the morning. refusing to stick things in my ears, i would lay there – either until i fell back asleep, or until my thoughts about the day carried me out of bed. usually, the latter.

so good morning, siena; buon giorno, world. i’ve got some coffee to brew and a bird to draw.

it hadn’t occurred to me, at all, that we were in prada land. i’m not big into labels, but i do appreciate fine, locally crafted goods. when i heard that one of becky’s co-worker’s was making his second trip to the factory this week, i figured it oughta be good.

i joined the road trip.

from siena, we drove for forty-five minutes through a few small towns, along the autostrata, and windy roads. during the ride, i imagined a structure as beautiful as the prada aoyama boutique in tokyo, and nestled in contrast to the green tuscan hills.

we approached a blinking light; the only landmark.

there, we turned right, and towards a seemingly out of place, and out of view industrial complex. we had arrived.

i guess in terms of factories, there are worse views, but i expected more than a tan metal structure. some glass, maybe a little concrete, and definitely some color. there’s lots of green from the hills to work with, but i digress. we got out of the car, walked through the gate, and got to shopping.

before i left siena, i told becky that i was gonna buy something completely rediculous; practical, yet gratuitous. prada hiking boots or running shoes came to mind, and so i explored. i was joking with becky, of course, but when i found the prada skis i couldn’t help but laugh. it wasn’t the fact that prada has their name on ski equipment. it was the fact that here i could buy skis, poles and boots, for less than the price of the jacket that i was eyeing. sigh, it was a nice jacket.

i kept looking.

through racks of denim, neckties, and shirts; shelves of handbags, wallets, and yesterday’s high fashion – there it was. a small, locally produced, fashionable and useful souvenir from our trip. the prada phone strap, complete with charm. in black with a brown heart (not pink), and a safe distance from the original price of 140.

done.

now get me outta there before i think twice about letting that jacket go.

H ave you ever imagined what it would be like to walk a tight rope with an ipod booming with cars zooming along side you? Well folks, that’s my walk to work. There’s nothing like exhaust fumes and adrenaline to get you through the day. I just never knew how much I appreciated sidewalks.

This picture actually isn’t the most narrow part. Poor Todd didn’t want to stop and take a picture with all the cars racing by. We should wear a crossing guard vests, especially at night!

Our first road trip was a success with no crazy events and we didn’t get lost once! I was scared to get on the Autostrada, but as it turns out (some may imagine) I have no issues with driving like a bat out of hell with a bit of disregard for the posted law.

After our trip we came home for lunch – Big surprise I made hamburgers!

Finding places for our new plants, candles and putting our bed pad over our mattress is how we spent the rest of Sunday. The beds in Europe are terribly hard. You wake up feeling like a twisted pile of bones. Hopefully our bed pad helps!

So Todd got to blogging and I got to relax. Now we are sipping wine, enjoying the evening and awaiting dinner time.

here’s a typical view of becky while we were in boston. at foureen below with wind chill, this was the coldest becky’s ever been. in fact, before we left the bay, she freaked out, mugged an eskimo, and scored herself a wintery parka.

please note: no eskimos were harmed in the making of this post. tutqiksuq!

I didn’t think work would have had a car prepared for me so soon- but they did. I didn’t really know how to get home from work in car. I only knew how to get back and forth walking. Two friends at work volunteered to help me try to find my way home. (you can’t get there driving the same way you would walking because the path is too small for a car). We drove around for and hour and a half. Went down dirt roads we weren’t supposed to and got stuck in very small alleys that required about 20 minutes of maneuvering to get back out of. All in all it was a bust. The car ended up being driven back to work and a co-worker drove me home.

The next day I had to call the landlord to find the proper way. He told me the very unintuitive way home (we live down a dirt road that isn’t on any maps). A co-worker went with me to make sure it was the right way and it was. And I finally found my way home.

The checker said something to us we didn’t understand…. then he held up grocery bags and said “Quattro?”. Todd said, “si” and I said, “I don’t know how every many it takes”. As it turns out you have to buy grocery bags, that’s why he was asking. So we got 4 bags.

Then it was time to pay for produce. He picked up our pear and said to me, “Kaiser”. I had no idea what he was talking about. “Is he German?” So I went back to where we got the pear and found number on the sign. I came back and said “14” then drew a one and a four in the palm of my hand. He just kept saying, “Kaiser”. Then with a frantic grin, he motioned for me to follow him. He took me and Todd back to produce and showed us there is this little weighing machine that you put that number 14 into and it prints a sticker to tell you how much your produce costs. He printed our sticker and another lesson was learned. The pear was a Kaiser pear, by the way.

Besides Todd’s barley coffee mishap, we made some other interesting purchases. When we arrived home, we realized we had bought:

• Laundry softener instead of Laundry soap
• Barley tea instead of coffee
• Liquid dishsoap instead of the dishwasher detergent

the dishsoap, by the way, made a lovely rabid, foaming at the mouth, dishwasher in our kitchen – a good tip that we bought the wrong soap.

Our second trip to the store was yesterday. This time we brought and used our little Italian language book.

once the moka quieted down, i poured myself a cup and took a sip. this can’t be right, i thought. did i put too much in? did i burn it? why does it taste like i’m eating burned dirt? becky woke up, and came into the living room.

this coffee is awful, want a cup?

“no thanks,” she replied, “i’ll have some at work.”

for two days, i’d sat there, sipping my mud, struggling to get through each cup. “it’s okay,” i thought, “at least it will wake me up.” but it never woke me up. i tried brewing it differently. i’d brew it weaker, stronger, and even with different water. i criticized siena for it’s poor taste in coffee, and protested the idea of having to go to a bar for a decent cup of espresso. i was longing for a cup of capricorn’s moka java when it dawned on me.

this is not coffee.

i went back to the package and translated:

our toasted barley is roasted on wood coals using traditional methods passed on from generation to generation. it makes a light and delicious natural drink containing no stimulants, to be enjoyed by both adults and children, and particularly by those involved in sports. add milk to it and you will get a delicious drink called “cappucino senesino”

this mishap is right up there with the first time i tried kombucha, and chugged it like it was a cold; refreshing iced tea. moral: beware the temptation of appealing packaging, sometimes it has a bad aftertaste.

well, we don’t roll like that. i’m a fiend for lightweight keychains. i don’t like to carry a lot of stuff with me, and i don’t like the added bulge of keys. a hardware shop is a short walk from our flat, and so off i went. just up and over the hill, about fifty meters and i’m there.

the shop is small and cluttered; charming in my book. a man greeted me, “sera”. it was about four o’clock in the afternoon. “sera,” i replied, and paused. how the hell am i gonna ask for a keyring? i sifted through my pocket, and began, “vorrei due…”

i held up a key and formed a ring with my fingers.

“ah, uno anello chiave.” the man smiled, and signaled to follow him. through a maze of racks and shelves and benches, he led me to a chest where he opened four or five draws. there, as vanna white would, he presented an assortment of keyrings large and small.

“perfecto! due piccolo.”

it may not have been perfect italian, but it got the job done. two small keyrings, in the pocket. now, for adapters.

our flat has two types of electrical outlets. i’m calling them little ones and big ones, but i’m sure there’s a right name for each. since we brought an adapter and a standard american surge strip with us, we were off to a good start. however, with phone chargers, cameras and computers and the lot, a couple extra adapters are good thing to have around. i looked around the hardware store for an outlet, but none were found. instead,

i stood there, with a fist and two fingers stabbing madly at the air.

“una adattatore!” the man scurried over to another part of the store and held up a few examples. the smile on his face said it all – this was the most fun he’d had all week. after all, how often do you get to play charades at work?