Weekend Update and The 4th of July

We slipped in a little walk on the 4th as well. London decided she wanted ride her new trike!

We had a quiet weekend planned at home the weekend before the 4th of July. Cameron did some work on the office remodel, which I will go into more detail later, while London played and I worked on finishing her Stocking and creating some black-out curtains for her/soon-to-be Sydney’s room. I ended up completing both on the 4th.

We tried to host a BBQ for the 4th but it seems all our friends had the same idea of staying close to home, which didn’t bother us at all. We had some fireworks left over from last year that we planned to light that evening in the street out front versus battling the crowds to take in our city’s professional display.

It all worked out well. We barbequed and Lynde joined us. When it came time to do fireworks, we discovered many of our neighbors were out front getting set up for fireworks as well, so we walked a few doors down to join the crowd and we all pulled our fireworks together for a long display. I think we had at least 5 houses from our street represented by the number of neighbors and their friends lined up along the sidewalks. Most of the men handled the entertainment. And we all just sat and chatted while we watched the colors and flames, making fun of the short, sad displays and saying our ooohs and aaahhs for the good ones. At one point, a ladder did catch fire, but nothing we weren’t prepared for. We joked that our neighbor should save the ladder for next year for the sole purpose of helping us display our fireworks again!

Unfortunately, London didn’t do so well with the fireworks this year. The first one she saw and heard pretty much scared her stiff – she didn’t know which way or who to run too until she found me. Cameron and I both tried to calm her down but it was useless. She was exhausted from the day, not taking a long nap like we had hoped. I put her to bed after the first few fireworks. Luckily for me, her baby monitor reached Lauren and Woodrow’s driveway where some of us were gathered, so I was able to watch the fun without worrying about London.

Tulley and her puppy Molly, on the other hand, did fantastic. Tulley wanted to be next to Cameron all night long as she kept thinking the fireworks were gunfire and she desperately wanted to be told to go get a bird! Molly was not fazed by the noise at all, just running around playing with Tulley and saying hello to everyone.

After all the fireworks had exploded, many of us stayed out front catching up more. It was a reminder to Cameron and me about how lucky we are to be on our street surrounded by such wonderful, friendly neighbors.

~ Sarah

Weekend Wrap-up: A Reunion Unlike Any Other

The weekend after Father’s Day found us back in Chico. And what a difference a week made. When we went up for my hair appointment Father’s Day weekend it was hovering around 105 degrees. That weekend? 75! It was a beautiful weekend to be in Chico. The reason for our visit was for Cameron’s fraternity’s reunion. And by the time the weekend rolled around every one who was attending was eagerly anticipating it while those that could not must have been thoroughly bummed. It wasn’t just our core group of friends meeting up in Chico. It was any one who had been in the fraternity since it started in Chico back in 1983!


Luckily, Vicki was able to watch London for us, so I could attend the festivities up in Chico with Cameron and act as a Designated Driver for him and for our friend Miller, whose wife was unable to attend.

We started our day in Chico at the brewery and before long Fraternity members and their significant others had filled up the entire bar section of the back porch – both sitting and standing room. We got to meet several members of the original pledge class as well as one of their fathers, a father who was responsible for getting the Chico chapter established – he was a member of the Fraternity through the ASU chapter! It was pretty awesome to learn some of the history and see what a bond all these people still had after all these years. We spent most of the afternoon on the back patio of Sierra Nevada before heading over to Joe’s.

Good old Joes. It’s been remodeled since Cameron and I were last there yet it hasn’t changed all that much. There’s still saw dust on the floor. Instead of peanuts, they serve chips and salsa and instead of one TV there are several. The only other noticeable difference was the hall to the back patio, the updated bathrooms and the front of the building being extended maybe 5 feet. Most of our core group of friends met at Joes to take care of some fantasy football business, which was settled in 10 minutes, tops. Then it was all about catching up and reminiscing; nothing unusual for us. And just after 5 we headed over to the Bear for the main festivities.

An older alum of the fraternity had rented out the top floor of the Bear for the actual reunion. The bar was open and the drinks began flowing. After grabbing a quick Bear burger downstairs, we headed up. Before the reunion was over, a group photo was taken. I’d say there were 40-50 fraternity members crowded on the dance floor for that moment where they lingered to celebrate their fraternity. In was quite a sight for all the wives and significant others watching from above on the steps.

And people still lingered after 9 PM, when upstairs was opened up to everyone. Of course, at that time the music was turned up even more and college-aged kids started to swarm. A group of us made it outside to the back patio to cool off. There, we took in the current college crowd. In some ways we felt really old and in other ways we were all glad we weren’t in that phase of our lives any more. The girls and I mainly wondered if we’d ever really cared what we looked like when we went to the bars nightly. Some of these girls were dressed to every last trendy detail. I used to go out in summer wearing tank tops, shorts, flip flops and my hair in two braids. These girls were sporting the current trend of ankle boots and messy up-dos. And some of them were not pulling it off at all!

At some point people were getting hungry again and we split into even smaller groups as we made our ways to different late night eateries. Cameron and I found ourselves at Woodstock’s Pizza. Someone had made the mistake of mentioning it earlier in the day and I could not get it out of my mind. It reminded me of when my roommate Heather and I would order a pizza for delivery on our way home from the bars. We always walked home from there and arrived just in time for our pizza to arrive nice and hot.

We made it back to Vicki’s by 1:30 PM. Cameron and I were joking that last call was going on back in town. But good thing we made it to bed by 2 AM. I think Cameron was up by 5 AM with the sun that came streaming in, right on his face. I was up by 7 AM as the room was heating up – it had been cool when we went to bed so we didn’t turn the fan on and Cameron had actually turned the heated mattress pad on. I was roasting by the time I woke up. And soon London would wake up too.

We made it home just in time for lunch and naps. Unfortunately, London had fallen asleep in the car so she took a short nap. I would get up with her and then go back down for a longer nap once Cameron woke up. To sum up Sunday, it was a lazy day of lounging or napping. I did somehow get 3 loads of laundry done and our room picked up, which was more than I expected to accomplish so I was pleased all the same.

It did remind me why as parents we don’t go to the bars and party very often. It was a lot easier to live that lifestyle when you could be lazy and sleep all day the day after! Still, it was fun to relive our younger days a little, even if I couldn’t partake in all the activities of the day.

~ Sarah

Baby Bump Wednesdays: Weeks 23, 24 & 25

Ok, here are the last 3 weeks of Baby Updates:

How far along: 23 weeks

What Fruit or Vegetable size is Baby: Large Mango
Average Size: 11 inches, 1 lb
What’s going on with Baby’s development: Sydney’s sense of movement is well developed and her hearing is increasing – time to get Tulley barking and vacuuming so these sounds don’t phase her when she arrives.
Total weight gain: 13 lbs.
Stretch marks: Loving the Bio Oil as still no new ones – we’ll see what happens in the last month
Sleep: Same old, same old.
Best moment of this last week: Having a fun night out with Cameron and friends when we attending the Lambda Chi Alpha reunion and London using the toilet at home for the first time!
Miss anything: Wine, Corona, running, spicy tuna rolls
Movement: Definitely feeling Sydney more. Last night while watching a movie I felt her shift to one side of the belly – a pretty funny sight to see.
Food cravings: Sushi, nectarines
Gender: Girl!
Labor signs: Nope.
Belly button in or out: working on that outtie, or the 3rd nipple as Cameron calls it
Wedding rings on or off: engagement ring only and luckily, still!
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy most of the time
Looking forward to in the next week: A quiet weekend at home for the first time in ages!

How far along: 24 weeks
What Fruit or Vegetable size is Baby: Ear of Corn or Cantaloupe
Average Size: 10.5 – 11.8 inches, 12.7-20.8 oz
What’s going on with Baby’s development: Sydney’s body is filling out proportionally although she is pretty lean these days and her brain is quickly growing as her taste buds continue to develop. Her lungs are developing the branches of the respiratory tree.
Total weight gain: 20 lbs. The doctor says I have little hope of not gaining 40 lbs. just like I did with London. Guess I’ll just have to focus on losing it once Sydney is here.
Stretch marks: Bio Oil Baby!
Sleep: Difficult this week thanks to a summer cold or allergies. I’ve been laid out for two days now.
Best moment of this last week: Celebrating our country’s independence with our neighbors setting off fireworks. We had 5 or 6 houses represented.
Miss anything: Wine, Corona, running, spicy tuna rolls
Movement: Definitely feeling Sydney more. And Cameron got to feel her kick for the first time last week as well. This was the first time we tried to get him to feel a kick and Sydney obliged. London would always stop kicking whenever Cameron had his hand on my belly.
Food cravings: nectarines, jelly beans
Gender: Girl!
Labor signs: Nope.
Belly button in or out: It’s all the way out now.
Wedding rings on or off: Sadly, my engagement ring came off just after the 4th of July. I’m not swelling like I did with London, but I swelled enough to leave ring indentations on my finger one day so as soon as the swelling went down, the ring came off. So sad!
Happy or moody most of the time: Moody – this cold isn’t helping
Looking forward to in the next week: Feeling better!

How far along: 25 weeks
What Fruit or Vegetable size is Baby: Rutabaga/Cauliflower
Average Size: 13 ½ to 14 ½ inches, 1 ½- 2 ½ lbs
What’s going on with Baby’s development: Sydney is starting to add some baby fat to her body and if we could see her hair we would know what color it was. Sydney also has a sense of equilibrium, knowing which way is up and which way is down – that may explain the drastic movements I feel when I switch positions quickly!
Total weight gain: 20 lbs.
Stretch marks: Bio oil – need to get some more too as I’m down to my last few drops just as I am feeling bigger and bigger every day. Time to stay diligent on it.
Sleep: Beginning to feel the searing or burning hip pain when I haven’t moved in a while.
Best moment of this last week: Watching London and Evan play at Evan’s 2nd Birthday party.
Miss anything: Wine, Corona, running, spicy tuna rolls, being able to put shoes on without hurting my belly
Movement: More and more. I think she was moving a lot the other night as I had dreams about it.
Food cravings: Junk food unfortunately. Luckily we made a rule last week that we wouldn’t eat out for the rest of the month – and that includes lunches.
Gender: Girl!
Labor signs: Nope.
Belly button in or out: out
Wedding rings on or off: no more rings – oh how I miss them! And oh how I feel like an unwed hussy when I’m out by myself, which is rarely ever, thankfully.
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy now that I am feeling better
Looking forward to in the next week: Starting Sydney’s stocking!

~ Sarah

Weekend Wrap-up: Father’s Day! And Wicked! And Office Remodel Update – Carpet!

Father's Day weekend was fairly mellow, even though we were hardly home. Saturday was spent in Chico so I could get my hair done.

Then we headed back down to Biggs for a visit with Vicki and Joe, as well as Dhawn and Amanda who had just arrived from Phoenix. We caught up over dinner and made it home just as it was getting dark and put London straight to bed.
That Sunday, of course, was Father’s Day. Cameron received his gift on Wednesday when it arrived – a Shutterfly photo book containing only images of Melody. We recently read an article that suggested creating a photo album of a pet after the loss of it, so I did. While it does make us sad to look through it, it also reminds me of how happy Melody appeared to be with us and confirms for me that we provided her with a good life. As odd as it sounds, we’ve been keeping the book in our bathroom and I think we both flip through it whenever we are in there.

London woke up pretty early on Father’s Day so I got up with her to let Cameron sleep in. Not that he slept in long, as he had some things he wanted to complete before it we dropped London off at Lauren’s for the afternoon. I also made him a Dutch Baby for breakfast as he had recently requested one. We slather ours with butter, powdered sugar and lemon juice. The lemon juice what had sparked Cameron's craving for it.

And the reason we needed to have London watched by Lauren that afternoon? We had tickets to the musical Wicked! The Thursday prior, one of my co-workers was walking around looking to unload 4 tickets as he and his family could no longer attend the performance. And he didn’t want anything for them! They were fantastic tickets – Row U in the Orchestra section, smack dab in the middle of the seating and priced at $83 each. Matt & Lynde were the lucky friends that spoke up first saying they could go when we started asking people to fill the last two tickets.

When we arrived at the theatre we learned that the show was ending that very day. It had only been performing in Sacramento since May 23. And it was fantastic, though the sound guy failed a few times here and there – they literally forgot to turn a mic on during a key line! The woman playing Elphaba also wasn’t as good as the one Cameron and I saw in London, but then again, the performer was the stand-by and not the usual performer. The biggest difference Cameron and I noticed was in the crowd. Apparently Sacramento is a bit rowdier than London, even San Francisco, clapping at the end of almost every song and erupting after a key scene at the end.

After the performance, the four of us grabbed some dinner in downtown before heading home. Of course, London had a grand time with Lauren and Woodrow. In the end, we had a fairly low key Father's Day weekend, which we were due for.

~ Sarah

Weekend Update: London’s 2nd Birthday Party!

Ok, so I am waaay behind on my posts between Weekend Wrap-ups, the office remodel and Baby Bump Wednesdays, so I am going to try and do my best to get us caught up. Let's start with the weekend before London's birthday, June 2 - the weekend we held London's birthday party!

Of course, we didn't just celebrate London's birthday as the three of us at the aquarium. We did throw London quite the birthday bash the week before she turned two.
My dad had spent the majority of May up in Chico covering for a pediatrician friend and it made more sense to have my mom fly in, celebrate and have the two of them drive home just as my dad was finishing up work, versus having them stay an extra week so they could be here to celebrate or have them miss the party altogether (which would never fly!).
The party came just in time, too. We really needed something good to focus on with Melody and the daycare drama that happened the two days leading up to the event.
The theme was bubbles. London loves bubbles, though this love has waned recently. And, we got lucky that it wasn’t a scorcher of a day. It was warm, but a there was also a strong breeze coming through. This allowed most of the kids to be outside and made for some easy blowing of bubbles for the toddlers. All they had to do was pull the wand out of the solution and bunches of bubbles would go flying away.
Unfortunately, it was too windy for the giant bubbles I had planned on doing. I couldn’t get the yarn-covered hanger out of the bubble solution with the solution fully intact before the wind would pop it. Oh well. All the kids seemed to have a grand time.
In all, we had 37 people in attendance throughout the afternoon, but by 7 PM it was just my parents, Cameron, London and I. And London was definitely ready for bed early. The best surprise of the day was the arrival of Emily and little 2-month-old Elijah from San Francisco. I know it was a long drive for Emily, but it was so awesome to see her and meet Eli.
This year I focused only on the decorations, having fun decorating the family room and kitchen for the party. Here's what it looked like:

While the streamers have come down, the balls still hang in both the family room and kitchen. This is partly because we've been busy or I've been lazy and partly because, they don't look that bad.
For a long while the bubbles also drove Jake nuts, which is a form of entertainment for him, and us, right?

I’m also considering spray painting the balls in my holiday décor colors and hanging them in a similar fashion for the holidays. I’m sure Sydney will enjoy looking up at them!  Maybe I will even paint and hang a few over her crib as well.
London received many wonderful gifts – boy is she loved! Some of the highlights included a new table, just her size. It came in handy to seat the kids at for cupcake time.

Then there is her new tricycle that includes a handle that we can use to push London in for walks until she really can turn the pedals on her own.

Another favorite is her new baby doll and a stroller that London can push her in, as well as a singing cake with candles. She barely grasped the concept of blowing out the candles after we sang to her at the party, but by the next day, after playing with the cake for a good hour, the girl has it down!
And then there is the little piano. London goes over and plays it a couple times a week.

~ Sarah