First Grader!

Here's Andrew on his first day of First Grade! This was on July 20, 2010. He was really excited to be heading back to school; especially with his new shoes and messenger bag!

He's been enjoying school the last couple weeks (except when they can't go out for recess because of the heat).

I have been enjoying my new work schedule which allows me to take Andrew to the bus stop before heading in to the office and being home before he gets off of the school bus. It's nice to have the extra couple hours at home each day, as well. I can actually get dinner on the table before 8:00 pm! In fact, it's on the table around 6:00/6:30. That's crazy!! I love it!

Diamondbacks Game

A couple Saturdays ago, Jeremy, Andrew and I headed out to Phoenix for a Diamondbacks game. It was Jeremy's Father's Day gift from Andrew. It was really cool this year, Andrew told me he wanted to get his dad baseball tickets for Father's Day. All his idea! It's so cool that he is old enough and sweet enough to think of gifts that he wants to give. And something that Jeremy would really really like, too!
We had pretty good seats in left field. We were about 6 rows back from the fence. In fact, while Jeremy was taking Andrew on a bathroom break, a ball came flying right at our section, it was going to be a Home Run for the Dbacks, but the Left Fielder of the Marlins barely caught the ball, robbing the Dbacks of another Home Run. The woman in the ball cap in the picture above had her hands on that ball, too, but let go so the Left Fielder could have it. Of course, the Dback fans razzed her for that, but I think she would've been kicked out of the game if she would've interfered like that. However, the play was on Sports Center the following Monday, Jeremy saw it and said he could see my pregnant belly in the shot. Haha!

I didn't take many pictures, but here is the Father and Son in honor of the Father's Day baseball outing.

It was 80s night at the game. We saw the Ghostbusters, including their car, Mr. T., Star Wars characters, Dukes of Hazard characters, including the General Lee, and Pee Wee Herman.

Summer Fun Friday Update

Jeepers
Last Friday we went to Jeepers Indoor Amusement Park in Mesa. Andrew really enjoys this place! We were so lucky this week because Jeremy had an early work day and was off in time to join us! That really made Andrew's day special!
We started with his favorite treat - a pretzel with cheese! Notice his top two teeth are missing!

Jeremy and Andrew in line for the bumper cars. They only had 3 working so it was kind of a long wait/boring only bumping in to two other people.

The spinning Monkey Barrel ride that Andrew loves! Jeremy - not such a big fan. Especially since he wasn't feeling well to begin with.

And, of course... the roller coaster! Andrew rode it a couple times with Jeremy and a couple times by himself. He loves it!

We made a pit stop at Dairy Queen for Blizzards. Yummy!

Peter Piper Pizza

For his last Summer Fun Friday of 2010, Andrew chose to have his buddy Brysen stay the night Thursday and go to Peter Piper Pizza on Friday.

They stayed up late playing Lego Batman on PlayStation, but they weren't too tired for Peter Piper Pizza!

They each helped each other play the games and earn tickets.

They pooled their tickets together for a prize. They had 116 tickets total.

Therefore they each got one miniature tiger animal toy. =/ They were so excited though!

We stopped at Target for some school supplies for Andrew and they were so well behaved that I just had to treat them to McDonald's ice cream.

Andrew is all set to venture back to school on Tuesday.

I can't believe how quickly the summer flew by.

Thankfully, my boss has allowed me to change my work schedule so I will be home before and after school. Andrew won't have to go to a sitter's house any longer! Yay!

Surprise!!

Last Saturday we had plans to go to dinner and a movie with Mindy and Josh (or so we though).

The plan was to drop off our kids at Kristi's house and head out to dinner from there.

However, when we got to Kristi's house, her driveway was full of vehicles from our friends and family!

It was so sweet that everyone had gone through so much planning and hard work to make this such a great surprise for us!

It was a nice relaxing evening. Us women hung out, ate, played a couple baby shower games, and I opened all the wonderful gifts from everyone. The guys were down in the basement playing poker. The buy-in was a bag of diapers; that's a HUGE blessing for us! And, of course, the kids ran wild all over the place! It was all so awesome! Now I feel quite a bit more prepared for this little one, and if you know me, you know that is a huge relief for me!

First Glimpse of Baby Dalmacio

This past Friday I had my first ultrasound of this pregnancy.
With Andrew, my first and only ultrasound was at the hospital when I was in labor. They wanted to be sure Andrew was head down and I don't think I even looked at the screen... I did remember, through my pain, to tell the nurse that we didn't know what we were having so please don't spill the bean now. Actually I told Jeremy to tell her because I didn't want to talk (I do recall I didn't want to roll over from my side to my back for the ultrasound either - I was a little uncooperative until I got my epidural...).
I got off track - sorry! Let's get to the point - the pictures!
This is the profile.

This is my little claymation baby. Notice the bumpy skull? The ultrasound tech said that means the baby has quite a bit of hair already. I see Andrew in this picture; the cheek and nose especially!

I liked this one because it reminds me of when Andrew would fall asleep in his car seat with his arms behind his head and he looked like he was just relaxing or "chillin.'"
We didn't find out what we are having again. The appointment went well and it was a really cool experience! It took about 30-40 minutes total and the tech never messed up and said "he" or "she" even though she admitted about halfway through that she had already seen what the baby's sex is. I have to admit that it was a little hard to not say, "OK OK what is it??," but I'm so glad I resisted the urge. We'll see in less than 12 weeks...

The baby appeared to weigh about 2 pounds 7 ounces and the other measurements put the baby at 28 weeks when my due date put me at 27 weeks. So, my due date may be off by a week, or the baby may just be on the big side for his/her age. We'll see!

Summer Fun Friday (3)

For Summer Fun Friday this past week, Andrew wanted to go watch Alice in Wonderland at the Dollar Theatre. Since the movie was at 5:05, Jeremy was able to come with us!
I had heard that the movie wasn't very good (and I didn't really want to see it in the first place), so I went in to it with very low expectations. Maybe that was a good thing, because I didn't think it was that bad of a movie. Different, but pretty good.
Andrew now says he liked it, but during the movie he had said he doesn't like it. I think it was darker than he expected and a couple parts made him a little scared.

Here is a picture after the movie of Jeremy and Andrew on a fake turtle outside the movie theatre. =0)

Summer Fun Friday (2)

Andrew was given the choice this past week for what he wanted to do for his second Summer Fun Friday and he chose... McDonald's! All he wanted was a cheeseburger Happy Meal and to play on the play equipment for a little bit and he was done. If only every kid was so easy to please!

Summer Fun Friday

Andrew and I headed to the Phoenix Zoo yesterday around 1:00 pm. This is the last weekend they are open until 5:00 pm and probably the last weekend of the summer that will be under 100 degrees. With me working until noon, I had to be sure to get us to the zoo this Friday so we wouldn't miss out on the later hours. During the summer they are only open until 2:00 pm.

Andrew was so excited to go! We did what we did last year; saw the first half of the zoo, stopped at the water play area to let Andrew cool down and for me to take a break from the heat and walking, and then we saw the second half of the zoo, grabbed a sno-cone and then headed home.

I love how Andrew wants to see every animal, but he doesn't want to linger. He'll peak in the cage, look at the animal, show his excitement properly, and then we are moving on to the next. Just how I like it! I think he rushes through because he has the water play area and the sno-cone to look forward to. Works for me!

We had a fun time and we've agreed to do indoor activities for the remainder of the summer! If we are outside, it will be because we are swimming. =0)

Andrew's Promotion

Andrew is done with Kindergarten! He had his Promotion this morning at school and now he's done; home for the summer!

Shaking the Principal's hand.

This is his teacher, Mrs. Conrey. She did a fantastic job teaching him! She challenged him to continue to learn throughout the year, continually worked with him on his reading abilities, along with everything else, and he really succeeded in Kindergarten because of her teaching style! We are so glad he had such a great teacher!

The proud parents of this handsome boy!

First Grade here we come!!!

21 Weeks

Well the belly is protruding now to the point that strangers are not afraid to ask if I'm pregnant or when my due date is. Now's a good time for a recap of the first half of my pregnancy.
Weeks 0-6:
Had no idea I was pregnant. We had Andrew's birthday, Christmas and New Year's during this time.
Weeks 7-13:
Basically it was a matter of stuffing my face at the first sign of hunger or I'd be dry-heaving pretty dramatically. I learned quick to keep a stash of granola bars or fruit nearby in case the sudden urge to eat hit. At some point I think I just ate something every hour. I was really surprised no one at work figured out I was pregnant by the constant eating.
I was very sleepy, but I think that was pretty normal for me, too. I'm not one to keep a regular sleeping schedule so I am usually found exhausted and yawning when not pregnant.
I was surprised at how quickly my stomach began to protrude this time around. I had always heard that you begin to show quicker after you've had a baby, but it's been 7 years since I was last pregnant and I thought my abdomen would've shrunk all the way back in that time frame. I distinctly remember what my belly looked like on our vacation to Wisconsin when I was 20 or 21 weeks pregnant with Andrew and how big my belly was then is how big it was at 12 weeks with this one!
The quick growth may have been from having a lot of tummy troubles in the first 12 weeks. Maybe it was all the food I was eating. I was constantly feeling bloated and gassy. Eeewww! I don't recall any of that in my first pregnancy!
Weeks 14-20:
My tummy problems went away and I began exercising again. Just 30 minutes on the elliptical or the stationary bike. My stomach looked more pregnant than "I just had a really big lunch" toward the 19 week mark. I started getting the "oh you are starting to show now" comments a couple weeks ago.
I was happy to put the jeans and work pants away with the warmer weather because it was becoming just too uncomfortable to fit into them. I am now sticking to skirts and dresses and plan to live in those for the duration of this pregnancy.
I have no weird cravings yet and don't have to constantly stuff my face with food. I am eating more regularly.
I have gained 10 pounds in the first 20 weeks. That's right where I should be, but I am noticing some back pain if I am on my feet a lot. I have been due to clean my house for a couple weeks now and I am really regretting not doing it before the back pain began.
The last couple times I went to exercise I felt crampy and worn out afterward so I decided to take a break this week.
Week 21:
The last couple of days I have been feeling pretty crampy and just all around yucky. I think my tummy problems may be back and I feel like I can't do much of anything without having to sit down or lie down to make the crampiness go away.
I'm a little bummed that I am feeling this way. The second trimester should be the time that you feel your best (without morning sickness and before you get too huge). I am really worried of what the next 19 weeks have in store for me. I am also a little overwhelmed with all that needs to be done; the everyday maintenance of this house and the people in it (husband, kid, animals) and I have been feeling not capable of doing any of it the last couple of days. Hopefully, the crampiness will go away or give me a break and I can do little things off and on. I would really like to continue with the exercising, as well; especially since I just read that I should expect to gain a pound a week from here on out.
Hopefully this yucky feeling from the last couple days goes away soon and I can enjoy the remaining 7 weeks of my second trimester. (And get stuff done).

ASU Game

We had a fun time at the ASU game!
We bought lawn seats so we brought a blanket for Andrew and Jeremy to sit on and a chair for me to sit on. We could only find one chair in our hurry to leave the house before the game.

Andrew and the other Little League players got to speak with some players and coaches and ask questions.

Andrew and his buddy listening intently.

All the Little Leaguers lined up along left field for the National Anthem.

Me and Andrew after the game.

ASU lost to the Washington Huskies. We left a little early and stopped at Denny's for dinner (the same Denny's that Jeremy and I ate at when we were first dating - a little nostalgia for our anniversary night).

Happy Anniversary

Today marks mine and Jeremy's 6th wedding anniversary!

We don't have any big plans, which is normal for us.

In fact, Jeremy is at work right now, and I am getting ready to head out of the house to run some errands. Later on tonight we have tickets to the ASU baseball game for Desert View Little League night. That should be fun!

Jeremy and I wanted to make a big deal of our 5th anniversary; a cruise or something, but we weren't able to plan anything so we've postponed it until our 10th anniversary.

Today I am reminded of our wedding (which seems like a long time ago and kind of like a blur) and what it means to me to be married to Jeremy. All I can really say is that I think of this often, I am so lucky to have found him and so thankful that he actually fell in love with me and wanted to marry me! I have never met anyone so selfless, loving, laid-back and good-hearted as Jeremy! I am so blessed to be able to say he is my husband and I am thrilled to have our whole lives ahead of us to spend together.

Final Eclipse Trailer on the Oprah Show

In Other News

Andrew took his first swim of the year on Sunday at my parent's house. It was cold, but he got all the way in (eventually). He's been bugging me about NOT taking swim lessons this year so I asked him to swim the short length of their pool which he did. However, when he was almost back to the steps he was getting tired and then he freaked out. He went under for a second and it scared him. He cried and I thought to myself; yup another summer of swim lessons is inevitable. It'll give him his confidence back and he'll be swimming the long length of the pool again before we know it!

Scrapapalooza 2010

Another year has passed, another Scrapapalooza under our belts!


This was our 4th or 5th year heading up to Kristi's cabin in Heber (just us ladies) to get some work done in our scrapbooks.


For most of us, it is the one time out of the whole year to be able to really get some pages done and play "catch up."


Everyone that went this year has been up in the past. We knew what to do, how it works, and we busted out some great pages!


We leave Friday night after getting a quick bite to eat in North Mesa at Tropical Smoothie Cafe and we usually get to the cabin around 8:00 or 8:30 pm. A lot of die-hards get right to work scrappin'. I think a couple girls were up until 3:00 am the first night!


Saturday we enjoy a nice breakfast prepared by whoever signed up for it ahead of time. This year it was Gail and she made a hearty quiche and biscuits and gravy. Yum yum! Again, a lot of the girls are already hard at work (or back at work) on their albums.


We scrapbook and eat treats prepared by Kristi this year. Fruit, veggies, brownies, Puppy Chow or Muddy Buddies, candy bars, chips, etc. We also have an assortment of beverages provided by Victoria this year; soda, water, wine, and an energy drink thrown in there in case of an emergency!


Before we know it, it's time for lunch. We are ready for a break, and even though we aren't hungry, we can't stay away from the next delicious meal. This year Tammy made a delicious Taco Salad with a frozen strawberry dessert to follow! Double yummy!


Now it's the long stretch. Scrappin' from noon to 7:00 with an occasional break for more treats and drinks. Just about time for dinner. I made the usual chicken dish that I prepare ahead of time so I just need to throw it in the oven. I also made rice and salad to go along with it. Now most of us are to the point of exploding from all the food and getting a little bit tired of scrapbooking. Yes, that's right! Tired of scrapbooking! We want to continue and do more, but our pages are starting to look the same, or we are having trouble putting objects on the page straight, etc.


By the time dinner was ready, I had completed all of the pictures I had brought and a few of us were anxious to watch New Moon (Jeremy bought it for me the day we came up - aaahhh so sweet!). So half of us watched the movie and the other half continued scrapbooking.


Sunday mornings are spent cleaning up; our scrapbooking stuff, the cabin, and ourselves (usually we are all scrambling to shower since most of us bypass it on Saturday with all the excitement of getting to work on our albums). We load up the vehicles and head out around 11:00 am.


In the past we've stopped in Payson for lunch at Chili's, but this year we agreed that none of us were hungry in the least bit! Especially after the breakfast that morning, prepared by my mom: breakfast burritos, homemade blueberry muffins, and homemade fruit cups. Triple yummy!


So we said farewell to the cabin until next year! We had a great time and got a lot done!


Changes this year:

• I believe we had less women come than in previous years (we had 8 scrapbookers).


• We had a young lady join us (5 month old Landrey who did very well just hanging out, but didn't want to miss anything so she kind of fought the naps). In the past we've had 4 month old Mikey and 3 week old Kamryn join us.


• Women did some exercising this year; walks/jogs. Very smart!

Changes anticipated for next year:

• Delete lunch on Saturday


• Delete breakfast on Sunday


• Add in exercise time (maybe a yoga video Saturday morning or whenever we need to stretch)

Easter 2010

Easter weekend came quickly this year! Maybe because it was early April and 2 days after Jeremy's birthday.
Jeremy and I made it a point to prepare as much as we could before Sunday so we wouldn't be rushing around and eating late.
I cleaned on Friday and Saturday and Jeremy did all of the grocery shopping Saturday. Andrew dyed 22 hard boiled eggs on Friday. We were exhausted by Saturday night and couldn't move from the couch. But it was worth it Sunday when we woke up and all we had to do was stick a ham in the oven and babysit the Prime Rib on the grill.
We had everything ready by 2:00, before the majority of our family arrived, and I believe we were eating by 2:30. Not too shabby!

Let's back up to Easter (early) morning. Andrew woke up at 6:30 to see if the Easter Bunny came. He did, of course! Here's a sleepy Andrew with his bucket and his bugs (Saturday he decided to hunt for bugs and had a little makeshift ant farm in that container) ready to find the eggs he had dyed on Friday.

The Easter Bunny brought him Madagascar 1 and 2, a new Junie B. Jones book (titled Dumb Bunny), his favorite candy: a big box of Nerds and a lot of Fun Dip packets and, of course, a chocolate bunny that he ate for breakfast (along with a hard boiled egg).

With all of the kids here, we did an Easter Egg hunt with plastic eggs stuffed with candy. I think there were about 180 eggs hidden out back and out front. There were about 15 kids hunting for eggs. It was mass chaos - hilarious! Jordan found the most eggs this year by finding 23!

Hope you had a fantastic Easter, as well!

T-Ball

(click on the pictures to view them larger)

This weekend was the start of t-ball season. This year we put Andrew in Little League in San Tan Valley. He was allowed a boundary exception since we live only 1/2 mile out of the boundary and where they play is closer to us than where Florence plays.
His team is the Kansas State Wildcats. Purple and white (although his shirt is black and purple). He is playing with his buddy Brysen so he's happy for that!
Saturday started with pictures and the opening ceremony/parade. Everyone was cute in the parade; waving their hats to the crowd!


Andrew's on the far right (under the speaker) - it's kind of dark...

Before their game, the team ran through their parade banner. Andrew's on the right again with the sideways hat (his daddy's son, I tell ya!).

They play 3 innings and each kid on each team hits during that inning. They don't keep score or keep track of outs, etc. Andrew had a decent first hit. He had a great hit his second time up. It would've been a home run if they would've let him run all the bases. He was very proud of himself for that (and so were we!).

He made it to first without getting out (well, we keep track of outs...).

When the next kid hit, he was off to second!

And here he is running home for the first time this season.

He played first base the first time out on the field. He did a great job at that position and really paid attention to where the ball was.