Category Archive: family

Sirena’s birth story

Posted by Lisa On June 18th, 2012

Friday, June 1

5:00 AM

I woke up to the sound of the ticking clock in our bedroom and I remember hearing the faint, faraway sound of the Amtrak train horn going down the tracks about a mile from our apartment.  I had to use the restroom (something that I had gotten well-accustomed to during the pregnancy).  When I returned to bed, I thought about the few baby items I wanted to take care of on my very first day of maternity leave and about the possibility of getting a pedicure.  I quickly fell back asleep.

6:15 AM

I woke up again, this time to the sensation of what turned out to be my water bag breaking.  I sat up and immediately made my way to the restroom.  I told Kevin on my way out the door, “I think my water broke.”  Kevin’s reaction may or may not have included a curse word which, thinking about it now, I find hilarious.  I took a shower to get cleaned up and got back into bed.  We laid in bed for a while, trying to figure out what we should do next.

7:15 AM

After snoozing in bed for a while we decided to call our doula, Lauraina.  She said that we still had plenty of time to get some rest, eat a good breakfast, and get things together before calling the hospital.  After hanging up with her we decided to call the Labor & Delivery line just to make sure and the nurse who answered told me that I needed to be there in thirty minutes and that we would most likely be admitted to the hospital right away.  This really stressed me out—I hadn’t pictured our birth story starting out this way (very few women actually have their water break before going into labor, unlike what the movies show) and I had hoped to labor at home for as long as possible.  We knew that it was relatively safe and acceptable for a baby to remain in the womb for 24 hours after the water bag breaks so we decided to nap and then take our time getting to the hospital.

7:15 AM – 1:30 PM

For those few hours at home we slept, showered, ate a significant breakfast and lunch, and cleaned our apartment.  We even took Lola on a walk up and around the block.  It felt good to do normal things because at the back of my mind I was terrified of what was to come.  I didn’t feel 100% prepared mentally or emotionally to give birth within the next 24 hours and I am so glad we decided to stay home to get things taken care of and for me to work things out in my head before heading to the hospital.
My contractions had started within those hours at home but they were very mild, like menstrual cramps.

1:45 PM

We arrived at the hospital parking lot and sat there for about 10 minutes—I was still terrified and Kevin helped talk me through my fears.  I told him that I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to give birth naturally and unmedicated like I had hoped and that as soon as we were admitted I would be pressured to do things on their schedule, their way.  He assured me that the nurses and doctors were there with the best interests of me and Sirena at the forefront and that I had to be positive and give everyone the benefit of the doubt before making any assumptions about them.  After some deep breaths, we decided to make our way down to the hospital.

2:00 PM

We were admitted by a very friendly nurse name Cathy in triage (the room where laboring women are evaluated before being officially admitted to the hospital) and she immediately calmed my fears.  She wanted to determine if my water had actually broken and tried to do a few tests which turned out to be inconclusive.

With a smile on my face in triage!

The doctor on duty came in to check me—she said that if my water had broken they were going to limit the amount of times I was checked internally by a doctor because the more times I was checked, the more times I and the baby would be subject to new germs being introduced.  She determined that my cervix was 4 centimeters dilated (a very good number to be at so early on!) but that it needed to thin out some more.  She also said that she was pretty certain my water had broken even with the inconclusive tests because…she could feel Sirena’s hair!  She said that they were going to admit us to the hospital and that, in the next couple of hours if my contractions didn’t start to pick up in intensity, that she’d like to start me on a pitocin drip (pitocin is a synthetic form of the natural hormone oxytocin and it is used to induce labor).  I was very honest with her in that pitocin was not something I was interested in so early on (the reason being that, generally, contractions are extremely intense after pitocin is started and it can lead to a “snowball effect” with interventions, possibly leading to an epidural and/or c-section) and that it was my hope to induce labor naturally.

3:00 PM

Cathy led us down the hall to the Labor & Delivery (L&D) hall, we were in Room 11.  The room was, to our surprise, HUGE and although it was most definitely a hospital room we were encouraged to make it our own (even being encouraged to rearrange some of the furniture if we wanted to).  The most surreal moment was when Cathy said, “And this is the room where your daughter will be born.”  Incredible.

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM

The nurse on duty for the evening, Anissa, was amazing and we really took to her quickly.  I shared my concerns about the doctor’s recommendation to start the pitocin that afternoon and asked her opinion–she said that we still had plenty of time for labor to start naturally and that the best thing for me at the time was to walkwalkwalk the halls to try to get things moving along.  She had to hook me up to an IV, though, for an hour—I tested positive for something called Group B strep (a very common bacterial infection found in many pregnant women that can be passed on to babies during birth so they had to give me penicillin via an IV every six hours)—so I couldn’t walk around much in the beginning.  While I was hooked up to the IV they also put a fetal heart monitor on my stomach so that we could hear Sirena’s heartbeat (to make sure that she wasn’t in distress) along with a monitor to time my contractions and monitor their intensity.

The number on the left is Sirena’s heartbeat, the number on the right is the intensity of my contraction (very low at the time Kevin took this photo)

Kevin and I were on our own for the majority of this time—we kept ourselves busy setting up our room, eating snacks to stay nourished for the long night ahead, trying to relax, and talking about the little lady that decided to grace us with her presence a week early.  I couldn’t get over the fact that she decided to begin her arrival on the very first day of my maternity leave–for the 2-3 weeks leading up to my maternity leave all I kept telling her was to “wait until June 1!” and guess what?  She listened.
My contractions were coming pretty regularly by this time, about five minutes apart but still very mild in intensity.

4:30 PM

My sister Jessie arrived at the hospital with a huge smile on her face—she was so excited to be a part of the birth but obviously very nervous too.  The three of us sat in our room and talked for a while.

5:30 PM

Our doula, Lauraina, arrived at the hospital to check in with us—because things were progressing pretty slowly she wanted to come in for a visit to try to help things move along naturally with massage.  She enlisted the help of Kevin and Jessie and all three of them worked on me while I laid in the hospital bed.

7:20 PM

My mom and her boyfriend Steve arrived at the hospital after having taken a last-minute flight from Long Beach to Oakland.  Generally they only allow three other people in the L&D room but our nurse said that until things started progressing they didn’t have a problem with the number of visitors.  Mom jumped in to help with massage and acupressure and we all passed the time away talking about the night ahead of us.

My massage team getting to work!

9:00 PM

My contractions had actually started slowing down by this time and I was starting to get nervous again.  Lauraina asked me if I noticed that they started slowing down once everyone had arrived and it seemed that they did.  She asked if I thought it might be better if Kevin and I were left alone to rest and focus on the baby and the birth ahead of us and although I didn’t realize how much I needed it at that time it was such an appreciated suggestion.  Jessie and Lauraina both went to their respective homes to get some sleep and my mom and Steve went out to the lobby.  Before Lauraina left I shared my fears about potentially being induced with pitocin and I asked her if she had ever witnessed a birth where a mom was given pitocin and things were still able to progress naturally and, luckily, she said she had.  This gave me an extra boost of confidence and set my mind at ease if we were to eventually go that route.
When everyone left, Kevin and I decided to take a nap to see if things started picking up when we woke up.

10:45 PM

Kevin’s parents, Dorothy and George, arrived at the hospital after the long drive up from Long Beach.  We were afraid that they might not make it in time and we were so happy to finally see them!

Dorothy so obviously elated that they made it in time!

11:00 PM – 1:30 AM

At this point we were feeling more rested so decided to get up and out of the hospital bed to walk the baby out!  The loop we had to walk was pretty short and we must have walked that hallway over 100 times.  At one point we decided to switch things up and go in the opposite direction, just to keep things interesting.  It was great that the L&D halls were so empty during these hours so there wasn’t a lot of foot traffic to have to walk around.

Kevin and me on lap 79

In the center of the loop we walked was the visitor’s waiting area so my mom, Steve, Dorothy and George were all hanging out and watching us walk around and around and around.  My mom and Dorothy joined me for a few laps to give Kevin a break.

Dorothy going for a lap with me

The family was starving at the late hour (since none of them had eaten dinner) so they decided to order pizza around midnight.
After walking the hall for a couple of hours and talking things over with the nurse, Kevin and I decided to start the pitocin drip at 1:30 AM.  She was going to start me at 2 drops per hour and increase it two more drops every hour until everything was at the level it needed to be.

Saturday, June 2—Sirena’s birth day

1:30 AM

The nurse began the pitocin drip but told us it would take thirty minutes to kick in so it was advised that we try to get some rest.  Kevin got onto his reclining chair again and I laid down in the hospital bed for one last pre-baby nap.

2:00 AM – 4:00 AM

Right on schedule I was woken up by much more intense contractions at 2:00 AM.  At first they were pretty manageable just with the use of deep breathing.  Kevin and I were in our room together with the lights kept down low, working through each contraction one at a time, just the two of us.
Kevin would keep his eye on the monitor to see how far apart the contractions were coming along.  The funny thing was that on our monitor we could also see the contractions of the other laboring women who were also hooked up to the monitors–it was hard not to compare where we were at with all of the other women’s contractions we were seeing on the monitor.
At 3:00 AM the pitocin drip was increased to four drips per hour.  This ended up being as high as the pitocin needed to get–my body got the kick-start it needed and basically took it from there!
Towards 4:00 AM I was starting to have a harder time coping with the intensity of each contraction.  I had read a lot of books about natural childbirth and there were a few things that stuck with me that helped me a ton–I would wrap my left arm around Kevin’s shoulder and lean into him sideways, rock back and forth, then I would relax my jaw, take a deep breath, and on the exhale I would make a low “ahhh” sound.  This is what we would do every few minutes for a few hours, over and over again.  We were honestly living life in five minute increments, just getting through each contraction together, one at a time.
There were a few thoughts that kept going through my mind during this time–I would keep in mind that Sirena was working just as hard as I was to come into the world and that we needed to continue to work as a team to get through this experience together; I would also imagine life with Sirena, camping with our family, playing with Lola, spending time outdoors in the sunshine–these thoughts helped me get through the brief moments of relief in between each contraction and helped me prepare mentally and emotionally for the next big wave.

4:00 AM

We called the nurse in because things were feeling a lot more intense and we wanted to know how we were doing.  She said that things were coming along and that we should call Jessie and Lauraina to let them know and that they should start making their way back to the hospital but that they could take their time.  Kevin called them to let them know our status.

4:20 AM

Within 20 minutes (about four contractions) things became extremely intense.  I was having a harder time standing during the contractions and began feeling the urge to push.  We called the nurse back in and told her how I was feeling–she said that things weren’t far enough along for me to be pushing and that I should try other coping techniques but that things were definitely progressing and that Jessie and Lauraina should really make their way to the hospital.  Kevin texted Jessie and Lauraina and told them that they needed to get to the hospital NOW.

4:30 AM

The intensity of my contractions was overwhelming–I felt such an incredible pressure and a need to push that I couldn’t get relief from.  We called the nurse in again and she suggested I lie down on my side and she said that she would call the doctor in to check me.  As I was lying on my side I felt so many different sensations that were overpowering–I felt nauseous, like I was going to throw up, and Kevin held up a bag next to my face just in case I did; and at the same time I felt such an urge to push that I could not control.  The nurse suggested to Kevin that he help me with quick, shallow breaths so he sat in front of me and mimicked the fast breathing that I was able to follow (and this helped a ton with keeping me from pushing as much as my body really wanted to).
Dr. Gray arrived to check me and said that I was only six centimeters dilated so I still had a ways to go.  Hearing this was so incredibly frustrating and I began feeling overwhelmed and defeated.  I didn’t know how much longer I’d be able to keep myself from pushing when the urge was so incredibly overpowering.
Neither Jessie nor Lauraina had arrived yet so Kevin texted my mom and told her to come in.

4:40 AM

Within 10 minutes (about three contractions) I could no longer control the urge to push and told the nurse.  She called Dr. Gray back into the room and the doctor quickly noted that I was ready to begin pushing.  They had me lie down on my back and put my feet in stir-ups.  By the next contraction, I began pushing.

4:45 AM

Jessie arrived just as I was placed on my back and she joined me opposite Kevin at my right shoulder.
This time is both extremely vivid in my mind but at the same time, a blur.  I was aware overall of my sister arriving and my mom being in the room but I also was only focused on what I was feeling and how I was going to get through each push.
At first I didn’t really know how to focus my pushes, it was just an urge I had but I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right.  Dr. Gray placed her fingers on me and told me to focus my pushes there which I tried but I still wasn’t sure I was doing it right.
They brought a standing mirror into the room and Dr. Gray asked if I was able to see the top of Sirena’s head.  I tried to focus enough to see her clearly but there was so much going on in those moments I really couldn’t focus on anything other than what my body was doing.
For each contraction I was able to get about three pushes in–when the urge would arrive I would lift my knees up (which Kevin and Jessie helped with),  take a deep breath, then push with all of my might for around 10 seconds (which Kevin and Jessie would count out for me), then take another deep breath and do the same thing two more times.  After three pushes I would get a break of around 45 seconds when I would relax my legs, try to breathe and relax my body, Kevin would pat my head with a cold washcloth, and I would prepare myself for the next set of pushes.

5:00 AM – 5:15 AM

Lauraina arrived at this time and went to my left shoulder while Kevin went to my feet with Dr. Gray.
By this time there were so many more doctors and nurses in the room, just standing around and getting ready for Sirena’s arrival.  In between the contractions I remember glancing around and taking note of how many people were standing there in the room while I was lying there with my feet in stir-ups wearing nothing but a sports bra (but of course, I couldn’t care less in that moment!  It’s completely true that any and all modesty goes straight out the window when a woman gives birth).  Luckily no one thought to tell my mom to leave the room but she stood in the back and tried to blend in with all of the other people in the room as much as possible just in case.
I continued the cycle of pushing three times in a row with about 30 seconds of rest in between each set of pushes.  Lauraina told me later she noticed that I had gone very much into myself during this time and I couldn’t agree more–I was semi-aware of what was going on in the room but was mostly focused on the work my body was doing.  I had to close my eyes shut during each push and all I remember listening for was the countdown to 10 Jessie would say aloud during each push and Dr. Gray saying, “That’s it, that’s it” which was so helpful to hear while I was pushing, hearing validation that I was doing it right and that things were coming along.
Kevin was having a completely different experience while at my feet with Dr. Gray–she asked him if he wanted to touch Sirena’s head while it was crowning which he did and he says it was amazing.

Kevin’s smile here makes it so apparent that he was having an amazing experience while watching his daughter be born

As her head was emerging, Kevin continued to have his hand on her head and Dr. Gray was supporting it with her hands.  Then as the shoulders emerged, Dr. Gray began to help pull them out while Kevin continued to hold Sirena’s head–it was at this time that Kevin barely dodged a stream of fluid that came out with one of my pushes (something that Sirena and I had been planning all along 😉 ).   Once the shoulders were out, it was with one more big push that her entire body squirmed its way out of me and into Kevin’s and Dr. Gray’s hands.  I remember a very warm, wet sensation (and a huge relief) when she was finally born.  The nurse looked at the clock and declared her time of birth as 5:15 AM.
Dr. Gray had to remove the umbilical cord from around her shoulders and then Kevin immediately placed Sirena on my chest, umbilical cord still attached and allowed to finish pulsating as we requested.

Kevin and Dr. Gray lifting Sirena to my chest

I cannot quite describe the feelings I had when I first saw her.  It was an extremely surreal moment that I still have not found the words to describe (and I’m not sure I ever will).  This photo that my mom took captures the moment beautifully and it makes me cry every single time I see it.

I was in total and complete awe of this creature that had just come out of me, this creature that had been growing inside of me for nine months, this creature that I had wanted and dreamed about for so long, this creature that was me and Kevin.

Love at first sight

First family photo.  Head over heels in love.

She was finally here and our lives have not been the same since.

A baby story: Week 35

Posted by Lisa On May 10th, 2012

Week 35: Baby’s the size of a coconut!

The weeks seem to be zooooming by now that we’re getting so much closer to the due date!  A LOT has taken place in the last week and it feels good to be getting so many things done in the baby department. But before I get to that I just need to shout at the top of my lungs that I AM OFFICIALLY DONE WITH STUDENT TEACHING!  Friday was my last day with those 7th grade knuckleheads and although it’s completely bittersweet since I enjoyed my time with them so much, it is such a major relief to be done and only have to work full-time for the next few weeks.  😉  I want to write a post reflecting on my experience once my credential course and my CA state assessment are done (should be all finished up with everything next week) so I’ll leave it at that for now.

This week Kevin and I did some major work on the baby’s room and it’s coming together quite nicely!  The fire was under our rears because our Bay Area shower was being hosted at our apartment so we worked from early morning hours both Saturday and Sunday to get the room and the entire apartment in tip-top shape.  We’ve still got some work to do on the baby’s room but we are almost done!  Here are some sneak peek photos of our progress so far:

Mars relaxing in the glider we got from Craig’s List!  We’re going to dye the fabric a dark brown but this is what we’ve got for now.

Here is a little something I made for her–a picture of our very first ultrasound at 8 weeks (seems like a lifetime ago!) with the words “Love at first sight” written on the bottom.

The top of her dresser/changing table with another plant, her mermaid candle holder from my mom, an art print of a bear + constellation, a little mermaid finger puppet from Jenny and Neil, her first spoon with a little mermaid on it, and last but certainly not least–a framed picture of her big sister Lola!

We went to IKEA and purchased two bookshelves to begin her little library.  Here are some shots of some of the shelves:

The top of the bookshelf with some flowers, her cute little Vans shoes (courtesy of Kim and baby Amelia!), her Ariel doll (one of four Disney dolls my Aunt Tina got us for our shower last week!), and a mirror I purchased years ago at an antique store

So many good books!!

Two of the shelves with a Peter Pan pop-up book that mama and daddy bought for her months ago sitting atop a stack of children’s story/song records from the 60s we scored for cheap during our babymoon, and the second shelf has her Shel Silverstein book collection (we received Where the Sidewalk Ends from her Aunt Judith, A Light in the Attic from Jayme, and The Missing Piece Meets the Big O from Kim, Frank and Amelia) and two cute teddy bears (one from Steve and one from Brianne and Brian wearing a cute little hat from Lisa and Josh)!

She’s already got a shelf dedicated to her bilingual English/Spanish books!  I only told one person that I wanted to get some bilingual books but quite a few people thought of it on their own and I am so happy they did!  Kevin’s looking forward to practicing his Spanish with her too.

We had a great time at our Bay Area shower and we can’t thank Carleigh enough for throwing such a fun party for us!  We had around 17 people there total and Lola and Mars were the perfect hosts.  🙂  My mom and her boyfriend Steve crashed the party and surprised us that afternoon, here’s a link to a fun video she put together of their sneaky plan to surprise us. And here are some photos from the afternoon (courtesy of my mama):

One of the games Carleigh had the guests play, they had to create a baby out of Play-Doh and I chose the one that I liked the best! Some very interesting creations here…

The pink one on the bottom is the one I chose (Carleigh’s)!

Second and third place winners for the other shower game

Me and Kevin opening up some gifts. We were reading a super sweet poem written by our friends Terri and Scott that was inscribed in the inside cover of the book.

Some of the party guests + doggies

Family photo!

Tonight I was treated to an amazing prenatal massage and it was so appreciated.  Our doula is a massage therapist and I had been looking forward to this massage for weeks! This one was included in our package we got from her and my mama bought me a few more to take advantage of before and after the little miss arrives.  THANK YOU mama!  It was beyond relaxing and I feel like I’m on cloud nine right now.  🙂

And last but certainly not least today we had our 36 week prenatal appointment.  It was a little stressful because our OB/GYN’s office called me yesterday afternoon letting me know that she was cancelling all appointments for the rest of the week, including ours.  Kevin and I had been looking forward to seeing her one last time today and I was definitely upset by the news.  Luckily this morning I was called with some good news, that another OB/GYN had an opening to see us at 11:30 so we were able to have our appointment after all!  The doctor was able to confirm that Sirena’s head is down (woohoo!) and although the ultrasound was short and sweet, we were so happy to see her little arms and fingers and long legs stretching out.  The funniest thing was that the doctor could tell that her bladder was full, haha.  The picture we got wasn’t the best but I thought I’d put it here anyways just for posterity’s sake.  🙂  This is a picture of her pretty lil’ head:

The doctor said her head is nice ‘n round!

Belly shots!

She is definitely groooowing!

Can you tell how much more relaxed I am after my prenatal massage? Ahhh…

The best Lola photo bomb to date!

Other pregnancy updates

  • Total weight gained so far: 13 pounds
  • Number of baby-related classes/appointments we have this weekend: Four! Friday we’re meeting with the Labor & Delivery team to ask questions and get a sneak-peek as to which resident doctor might deliver this little munchkin, Saturday we’ve got a Newborn Care Class at Kaiser and we’re meeting with our doula again, and Sunday I’m going to an event where mamas get together to share positive birth stories which I’m really looking forward to.
  • Fun baby developments this week: She measures around 20 inches now and weighs a little over 5 pounds.  At this point she probably won’t grow much longer so all of her attention will be focused on packing on the pounds! Her kidneys and her sense of hearing are fully developed and at this point all she’s got left to do is allow her lungs to mature.

A baby story: Week 34

Posted by Lisa On May 3rd, 2012

Week 34: Baby’s as heavy as a cantaloupe!

This week has been super busy and exhausting but exciting and rewarding all at once.  Most notably, we made the trip down to Long Beach for our long-awaited baby shower hosted by the women of our family!

We left at 11:30pm on Thursday night after Kevin got off of work and arrived in Long Beach at 6:45am on Friday.  After catching up a bit with Dorothy and Sarah we took a 2-hour nap and, after a total of around 5 hours of sleep the entire night, we got our weekend started mid-morning on Friday.  A few months ago I decided to get my belly henna tattooed for our maternity photo shoot and our baby shower so we made our way over to the Long Beach Town Center to Ziba Beauty to get ‘er done.  It only took 30 minutes and cost $35 (I was expecting a lot more money and a lot more time!) and I was super happy with what the henna artist did.  She had actually never done a pregnant belly before and when Sirena kicked her the first time she asked me, “Are you okay?”  It was pretty funny.  🙂  But Sirena sure liked getting tattooed (a sign of what’s to come perhaps??) because she was kicking around a ton the whole time.

Later on while I was waiting for the henna to dry I took a quick video of her crazy kicks…this is one of the better videos I’ve taken so far showing just how active this little girl is…here’s the link!

That night Kevin went to hang out with Brian and I joined Kevin’s family to see my niece Katelyn in her acting debut…Alice in Wonderland at her school!  It was a joint high school/middle school production and it was so fun seeing Katelyn up on stage doing her thing.  We were so proud of her for auditioning, landing two parts, and spending all these months at rehearsals…I hope she continues to follow in her Aunt Lisa’s footsteps!  I absolutely loved being a part of theater productions growing up and in high school.

Katelyn’s the duck in this scene

She’s the two of hearts on the far left in this scene

So proud of the little actress!

We stayed with my mom that night so that Kevin’s family could prepare for the party early the next morning and after catching up with her and Steve we ended up getting to bed around midnight…just to wake up 5.5 hours later to get ready for our maternity photo shoot!  My friend Beka from Redlands is just starting her photography business (here’s her website, check her out if you’re in Southern California!) and she and her boyfriend/assistant Omar met us at 6:45am for our photo shoot on Cabrillo Beach.  My mom tagged along and was able to capture some behind-the-scenes shots.  I can’t wait to see how Beka’s photos turn out!

Beka and Omar hard at work!

I lovelovelove this one…can’t wait to see how it’ll look with Beka’s shots

Happy and exhausted after the shoot!

Beka and Omar after the session

Getting some well-deserved chow after the shoot

After breakfast with the gang in San Pedro, Beka and Omar went out to explore and I took a much-needed nap in preparation for the main event…our baby shower!  Kevin’s sisters Sarah and Judith and his mom Dorothy did an amazing job with the decorations and food and Kevin’s parents had spent months getting the house and garden ready for the festivities…I cannot quite express how appreciative I am of all that they did for us!

There were so many people that came out to shower this little mermaid-in-the-making with adorable clothes, incredible books for her library, and wonderful baby things.  And I think she really felt the love!

The early birds…the Edmonds gang and Emily

Derek, Dorothy, Judith and Kevin getting ready for the hordes of people to show up!

Meeting Amelia (Kim’s baby girl) for the first time!!

Mom and Derek

Diane and my Aunt Kathy

Derek, Aunt Tina, and Guy

So many babies at the party! The Millikan gang–Lara with Audrey, Brianne & Brian, and Lindsay with Rylan

Shani with Sadie and Kim with Amelia (these two are only about a week apart and the mamas shared the same due date!)

Alison, Heather and Beka

Seth, Steven and Omar…I’m sure they were trying to figure out what they were doing at a baby shower! Hahah.

With Claudia and Susan, friends from my time working at the Girl Scouts in OC!

With Lindsay and Jenny

Kim and Amelia!

The Redlands gang!

My favorite onesie handmade by Monique–we were in a sistahood together at Redlands called WRW

Kevin trying out the Ergo baby carrier that Derek got us…looking good! 🙂

We packed the car to the brim with all of the baby goodies and got home on Sunday evening.  It was pretty surreal on the way home, I kept thinking that the next time we’re in Long Beach we’ll have another little lady in tow (not just Lola)!  🙂

We had such a great time in Long Beach with all of the baby festivities.  I keep telling her that there are so many people that can’t wait to meet her and that she is one lucky little girl.

Belly shots!

Me and the zoo we’re currently living with! Lola and her cousin Mars playing nice while I take my weekly photo.

Other pregnancy updates

  • Total weight gained so far: 12 pounds
  • Fun baby developments this week: 34 weeks is a pretty big milestone for baby’s development–she’s around 18 inches long and weighs around 5 pounds, she keeps her eyes open most of the time while she’s awake and only shuts them when she’s sleeping, and she can now determine the difference between sweet and sour tastes in the amniotic fluid surrounding her.
  • Days until our 36 week ultrasound: Seven! We have our final ultrasound next Thursday morning to see if Sirena’s in the heads-down position and not breech (fingers crossed!) We can’t wait to see her one last time before the big day!  I’ll be sure to update the blog that night to post her photo. 🙂
  • Days until our Bay Area baby shower: Three! Our friend Carleigh (who is expecting a couple of bebes in the fall!) is throwing us a shower on Sunday for our small group of friends up here…can’t wait!

Cities that start with an “S”

Posted by Lisa On January 26th, 2012

In mid-January I visited three cities that start with an “S” within a week’s time–San Diego, San Francisco, and Sausalito.

I went to San Diego for work a few weeks ago for an amazing (can you sense my sarcasm here?) three-day training at our San Diego campus.  The best part of it all was that I was able to make a quick visit with my good friend Heather, her husband Steven, and their adorable pup Jack since they live so close to where I was staying.  Heather picked me up after work and she made us an amazing vegetarian dinner which was enjoyed while telling stories about what’s going on in our lives (she’s a runner and a blogger too!) and commiserating over working at universities.  😉

The best part of the visit (just don’t tell Heather and Steven)?!  Getting to spend some time with Jack!  I met him a couple of years ago and he was just a little rascal then and it was great seeing him in person after following his blog for all this time.  I didn’t realize how small he was, he always seems bigger in pictures (he’s just about the same size as Lola) and he is such a sweet dog!  We’re hoping to get him and Lola together in the nearish future…they would have so much fun together!

Check out those ears! And yes, one of them is always folded over to the side…so cute!

Kevin’s mom Dorothy and his sister Judith came up the following weekend for a visit (and to be present at our 20 week ultrasound!) and we visited two cities that start with an “S” together.  We were only in San Francisco for a couple of hours but those hours were well spent…we went to Zante’s for Indian pizza at the request of Judith who had never been there but heard such good things from my dad-in-law George.  Even though I didn’t take any photos during our shotgun trip across the bridge I can confidently say that we made another Indian pizza convert out of an Edmonds!  🙂

The last city on our tour was Sausalito.  We hadn’t been there since January two years prior when Kevin’s brother Thomas and our nephew Joshua came up for a visit so it was about time to make another trip up to Marin County to take a stroll along the coast.  It turned out to be a gorgeous day and we thoroughly enjoyed our time out in the sun with the yummy and refreshing sea breeze.

Beautiful day in the Bay!

I have like 15 of these candid photos of Kevin…I should make a slideshow of them all, what do you think?? Hehe.

Kevin, Lola and a sea lion statue.

Judith, Dorothy and the San Francisco skyline in the background…it was such a clear day!

Lola spotted ’em first…she’s thinking “C’mon, Dad, let me at ’em!”…

Kevin, Judith and Dorothy trying to get a good look at ’em too…

What exactly were we looking at?

Sea lions!

Relaxing in the sunshine

We ended the day getting some ice cream (or sherbert, if your name is Kevin) and eating it in the sunshine.  Here’s a fun animated slideshow of Kevin and Lola…check out her eagle eyes on that sherbert of Kevin’s!

Holiday visit to Long Beach 2011

Posted by Lisa On January 1st, 2012

Kevin, Lola and I were lucky enough to spend 9 full days in Long Beach visiting with family and friends over the holidays.  Here’s a recap of our visit!

Christmas Eve with the Delmars

We spent Christmas Eve with my family this year so that Christmas Day wouldn’t be so stressful going back and forth between the two families and I think it worked out great!

Jess and Kevin trying to get Mars and Lola acquainted. I’m sure they’ll be best buds before you know it!

We had a non-traditional Chinese buffet for dinner that filled us up just right and a delicious assortment of See’s candies and brownies for dessert.  Some photos from our evening…

Jess and Auntie Tina

Jess, Auntie Tina, and Uncle Joey

Me and Tina

Most of the group: Jess, Tina, Steve and his daughter Lacey and his grandson Christian, Uncle Joey, and Derek

Santas Jessie and Derek

Derek and his new ukulele

One of the highlights of the night was when the Delmar kids presented my mom with the gift of a song.  Every year she tells us that all she wants from us is a song, no gifts, so this year we took her up on it.  We decided to sing the theme song of the old cartoon “David the Gnome” that used to show on Nickelodeon and that we used to love as kids.  After a couple days of rehearsing we were ready for our big debut!  Here’s the link to the video of us singing on YouTube!

Christmas Day with the Edmonds

We woke up bright and early to accompany Thomas for a drive up the 91 freeway to pick up our adorable niece Sophie to spend Christmas Day with the family!

The little lady ready to celebrate with the Edmonds!

She loved taking photos with my camera, here’s a self-portrait and a photo of her dad Thomas in the rear view mirror (can you see her?)

Goofy picture of me, thanks to Sophie the photographer

Silly photo!

Say “Cheese!”

After making it home it was all fun and games until the feast was ready.  Lola sure got a workout with Sophie and Katelyn around…

Sophie with Aunt Sarah and Rob

Me and my adopted kiddos, Joshua and Katelyn

We spent a good hour or so opening tons of gifts…

Kevin with his gift card to Best Buy…such a creative way to give a gift card (from our brother-in-law Luke)!

A few last photos outside before Sophie had to go back home…

Me ‘n Sarah with Sophie and Lola

Sophie showing off her Cinderella toy

Last goofy photo of the day!

Hike in Whittier Hills

Brianne, Brian, Brian’s sister Lisa, Kevin, Lola and I went on a nice long hike in the Whittier Hills the day after Christmas to burn off some of that holiday feasting we all took part of.

B & B overlooking the amazing skyline with Palos Verdes at one end (and Catalina even further off, out of frame) and downtown LA at the other end

Big hills and winding trails made for a very fun (and tiring) hike

A beautiful Buddhist temple in the Rose Hills Memorial Park

A quick little detour we took to visit a huge water tower…

…covered in graffiti.

The “slide” Kevin and Brian took down the hill (just kidding)

More fun with the Delmar family

On Tuesday night we made it to our annual Chinese massage with my mom, this time accompanied with Jessie, Derek, and my mom’s boyfriend Steve too.  I didn’t get the full treatment this time around, though, because of the little bebe in utero but the masseuse did a mighty fine job of working out the kinks in my shoulders, arms, legs, and feet.  Kevin got beyond the full treatment from a little lady who was working on him (NOT what you’re thinking…he was in the massage bed right beside mine of course).  Here’s what I’m talking about…

Linda (yes, her name was Linda) walking all over Kevin

Then we went across the parking lot to chow down on some Vietnamese food (which, unfortunately, was not as good as we had had in years past.  I ordered a crab soup and the pieces of meat were anything but crab and Kevin actually got food poisoning from it!  Blech.)

On Wednesday I spent the entire day with my mom and Jessie.  We spent the morning in LA exploring Grand Central Market–a really neat, open market with tons of food stalls.

Jess enjoying the market!

A really neat chalk drawing at MF Gourmet (where I had lunch)

Can you tell we’re related??

That night we met up with Derek, Steve and his grandson Christian at At Last Cafe in Long Beach for some grub.

The Delmar kids: Derek’s beer, Jessie’s wine, and my lemonade (can’t wait to partake in some yummy, non-pregnant drinks in the near-ish future)

Christian goofing off (encouraged by Jessie and Derek, of course)

Me, Derek, and mama (notice Christian’s photo bomb? Haha!)

Piggy back ride!

After dinner we dropped Derek off at his new place and took a quick tour through the house.  We then took a gander at his motorcycle (he’s had it for a while but I had yet to see it for myself)…

Jess, Derek, and Vanna White checking out the bike

My mom: “Jesus, I have a big head” (hahaha!)

Fast-forward a few days…we met up with my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Clay (my dad’s sister) on Saturday morning for a nice visit.  We always enjoy spending time with them and we were so happy we were able to squeeze in a quick visit with them.  We talked lots about teaching (since they’re both teachers) and also about family history (since Kevin’s really interested in genealogy and my Aunt Kathy is a wealth of information).  Afterwards we met up with my mom, Tina, Steve, and Derek for lunch down the street.

Kev, mama, Tina and me

Miniature golfing date with Joshua and Katelyn

Part of our Christmas gift for our nephew and niece was to take them out for a morning of getting their butts whooped in miniature golf (or at least that’s what I told them in the beginning).  We used to spend a lot of time with those knuckleheads but since we moved up to the Bay Area we don’t get to spend as much one-on-one time with them as before and I miss ’em a bunch so it was a great opportunity to spend some time with them during our visit.

Mini golf courses crack me up

The creepiest metal monkey you will ever see

Pancho’s Fish Tacos, anyone?

Joshua taking his turn, Kevin looking dapper

My beautiful niece…she’s getting so big!

Nerding it up…me and Katelyn pretending to look out at the pirate using our golf clubs (although it looks more like Katelyn is playing the flute, but I’ll forgive her this time)

Working on my form

Me taking an awesome shot

Kevin and Joshua were obviously impressed by Katelyn’s amazing form

Our group’s rainbow assortment of golf balls

Proof that Joshua’s butt didn’t get whooped too bad (at least by me, anyways). Katelyn, on the other hand…

I love that these three always go along with my crazy suggestions

After a round of golf we met up with almost the rest of the Edmonds family at Lucille’s for a lunchtime feast at one of me and Kevin’s favorite places.  Dorothy, George, Judith and Luke met us to enjoy each other’s company at the end of our week’s visit.

Ringing in the new year

We spent a fairly quiet evening at Kevin’s parent’s house with the folks and our good friend Alison as well.  We enjoyed some dinner then got started on some board games that kept us entertained (and awake!) until midnight.  On the game menu for the evening: Bananagrams and Sequence.

About as exciting as our evening got!

Lola, reluctantly waking up for the countdown

Clinking our glasses of Martinelli’s sparkling apple cider as the clock hit midnight (photo taken by Alison)

After a delicious breakfast of homemade waffles and pancakes (care of George), we packed up the car and made our way up Interstate 5 back home to Oakland.  Lola sure seemed to enjoy her new ride…

Snoozing all the way back home

Kevin, Lola and I are very excited to begin a new year and we know that 2012 will bring some very exciting changes our way.  Can’t wait to celebrate Christmas/New Year’s at the end of this year with the newest addition to our family!

A baby story: Week 16

Posted by Lisa On December 28th, 2011

Week 16: Baby’s the size of an avocado!

Last week our little lady made it through week 16 while visiting family and friends in Long Beach!  I’ll put up another post specific to Christmas festivities later this week but other than the holidays we’ve been keeping ourselves pretty busy down south.  Things in the pregnancy department have been same ol’, same ol’.  It’s been interesting while down here with so many things to do and so many distractions, I haven’t thought too much about it and haven’t been stressing myself out about being in this limbo period.  Once a week when I receive some pregnancy updates in my e-mail inbox (the ones from The Bump, Baby Center, and Babble are my favorites) I check out the message boards and it’s nice to read about other women in the same boat as me.  I can’t wait to start to feel Sirena moving around in the belly–they say it will start to feel like fluttering butterflies or a swimming fish at first.  Can’t wait!

We made a pretty major purchase this week which we’ve had our eyes on for months now that will make a huge difference when the baby arrives…a new car!  We’re keeping our 4-door Honda Civic but we had to trade-in our 2-door Ford Focus (which we loved and were sad to say bye to) for something a little bigger to fit a car seat, Lola, and all the baby junk.  We’ve gone to a few car dealerships in the past four months up north but the selection of larger cars is pretty minimal since most folks up north drive smaller sedans.  We decided to check out a dealership near Kevin’s parent’s house (the same one we purchased our Ford Focus at) since they had 150+ SUV-type used cars on the lot.  Kevin’s mom Dorothy tagged along and after 4 hours of negotiating we have our hands on a cute little 2008 Ford Edge!

Our little lady will be riding in style!

Lola checking out her new ride

The biggest news on the pregnancy front this week was that we made the public announcement to someone very special about Sirena’s middle name (which previously was kept a secret from most folks).

We decided to honor my mom and name Sirena after her so her name will be Sirena Linda which, in Spanish, translates to “beautiful mermaid”.  I bought her a picture frame and put in a photo of Sirena’s ultrasound then wrote “Sirena Linda” on the bottom.  We gave it to my mom as a Christmas gift and videotaped the reaction…I knew she would be emotional but nothing could have prepared me for her reaction!  Here’s the link to the video on YouTube for your viewing pleasure.

Belly shot!

It’s looking a lot like last week’s belly but I’m sure in the next month or so we’ll start to see some pretty major developments…

Fall visitors & a mostly vegan Thanksgiving

Posted by Lisa On December 8th, 2011

A pre-Thanksgiving visit

We were privileged with a visit from my lovable, adorable, stinker-of-a-brother Derek the week before Thanksgiving.  We spent a lot of time together, just hanging out and eating our way through Oakland and San Francisco.  🙂

We made a couple of visits to Fenton’s Creamery in Oakland, a cute ice cream parlor, for some delectable ice cream.

We also discovered this awesome ale house in Oakland called Cato’s that Derek likes to describe as a “classy dive bar”. Even though I couldn’t partake in the beer (boo!) the food more than made up for it.

And we spent an evening at Jessie’s pad eating some amazing food and a game night.

Thanksgiving weekend

Unfortunately he couldn’t stay for Thanksgiving, but fortunately for us we had another couple of visitors right on his heels: Kevin’s parents, Dorothy and George.  Dorothy flew up a few days ahead of George to spend some time together (and to prepare for the big feast that we were going to make and eat later that week) and it was nice having her around!

One evening that week we drove up to Richmond to visit Point Isabel (where Lola experienced her first open water swim!) so Lola could stretch her legs and so that we could watch the sunset over the SF city skyline.

We were so happy when George arrived from his long drive up from Long Beach and it was doubly nice that Kevin got four days off for the weekend as well!  We spent one of those evenings revisiting Fenton’s Creamery for some ice cream sundae goodness (or, in Kevin’s case, pie).

My idea of heaven (and don’t think for a minute that I didn’t scoop up some of that hot fudge from the plate)

George taking a good, long look at his and Dorothy’s chosen treat

Me, Kevin and George ready to dig in!

This was our third Thanksgiving spent up in the Bay Area (the first was spent with the Julian clan and last year’s was spent with Jessie in San Jose) and it was great having the Edmonds family in town to celebrate.  Dorothy and I got a lot of the work done the day before but we still got an early start on Thanksgiving day to make sure we were ready in time for our other guests (Jessie, Carleigh and Scott) to arrive.  Since Jess and I are vegetarian and Carleigh is vegan we decided to make it a mostly veg-friendly meal.  There were only two things that the vegan of our group couldn’t indulge in: the turkey (obviously) and my Aunt Tina’s infamous corn (made with lots of cream cheese and butter).  But other than that, all of the sides (including one of the pumpkin pies!) were made with no animal products whatsoever!

Kevin and George spent some time working on Kevin’s bike so that they could go mountain biking together later that weekend.

And Dorothy put the finishing touches on the dead bird…I mean, the turkey.

The group arrived and were ready to chow down!

The group minus George

The group minus me

Overall I think it was a pretty successful Thanksgiving meal, especially given that we were cooking for seven in the teeniest kitchen ever!

We had a really busy Friday, starting off with a long hike through Joaquin Miller park (a place Kevin and I have frequented many a time and were excited to share with his parents).

Dad, son and grandpup

Can you spot Kevin and Lola?

K + Lola braving the log

Beautiful trails!

Surprisingly beautiful mushrooms on a log

K + me

George + Dorothy

We rushed home so that we could meet with up our favorite friends from Irvine, Alison and Seth!  We hung out at our apartment for a bit (or until Seth’s stomach yelled at us to leave, haha) and then took them to one of our favorite Mexican places, Taqueria Monte Cristo in Berkeley.  It was SO nice seeing them, even if only for a couple of hours!

The Redlands gang (minus Seth!)

That night we were off again…to the Christmas tree lighting in Union Square!  Kevin and I had gone in 2009 with the Julians and we knew his parents would enjoy it as well.  I think once every two years is about as much crazy Christmas crowds I can handle.  😉

Macy’s all decorated for the holidays

George + us

Dorothy + us

Dorothy + me

It was surprisingly not as cold as it was two years prior but it still warranted my winter fuzzy hat.

This kid had it made: a helmet with straws feeding into two Starbucks’ hot cocoas! Hahahah!

The main event!

Kevin and George ended the weekend off right by spending a morning mountain biking in Joaquin Miller park with Lola.  I was a bit nervous about Lola going out with them but apparently she kept up pretty good!  Kevin hadn’t gone riding in a looooong time and I’m hoping it becomes more of a habit for him (hint, hint!)  🙂

We had a great 10 days full of visitors and we couldn’t have asked for better people to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with!  And now we’re sooo looking forward to Christmas…only 15 more days until we drive down to LB for a week full of family, friends, and food!

Edmonds family camping trip!

Posted by Lisa On August 5th, 2011

The Edmonds gang spent months in anticipation for our camping trip to Taylor Creek and the time had finally arrived!  Kevin’s family has been camping at this spot for nearly 30 years (!) and this was my third trip to TC.  The last time the whole gang went camping together was at Granite Creek in 2009 (just a couple of months after moving to SF and a few weeks after adopting Lola, see the post here) and the last time we as a family were at TC was in 2007 so it was definitely time for another camping trip!

This campsite is about as rustic as you can get: no running water (except for the spring up the road), no cell phone service, and no toilets (not even an outhouse).  But it’s got everything else that other campsites are missing: it’s quiet (rarely do we spot other campers when we’re there), there are unobstructed starry nights, we’ve got a private creek and private hiking trails.  And that’s why the family keeps coming back after all these years.

Wednesday 7/27

Kevin, Lola and I woke up earlyearlyearly and got on the road at 7:30am.

Lots of fog over the Oakland Hills to greet us

Beautiful views of countryside and clear skies (somewhere off of Hot Springs Road)

Kevin and Lola in the car

We passed a ton of cows on the drive up the mountain…

Mama cows and their babies

Moo.

Lots of meadows–I think this one was aptly named “Big Meadow” (so creative, I know)

Pancake rock!

We arrived (9 hours later!) and were sad to find out that the family’s favorite spot was already taken.  🙁

We drove up the road a bit and found another spot that wasn’t as good but we were pleasantly surprised that it worked out as well as it did.  Kevin, Lola and I held down the fort for a couple of hours before the next group arrived.

We read a couple of short stories to each other with Lola listening in

Beautiful day!

The swimming hole right next to our campsite…perfection!

The next group to arrive was George, Dorothy, Judith, Joshua and Katelyn and it was just us until the third group arrived on Friday.  Our first evening was mostly just setting up camp, eating hamburgers and hot dogs (and veggie burgers/veggie skewers for the vegetarian in the group!) and hanging out around the campfire.

Kevin and George with the bonfire

Thursday 7/28

The group woke up bright and early for another fun day of camping.  Except for this little girl who did not want to get up…

Lola, snuggled up

We were finally able to encourage the tired pup to get up and get the day started!

First thing on the to-do list?  Gather fire wood.  George, Kevin, Joshua and Lola were in charge of that item (thank you guys!)

Alley oop Lola!

While the muchachos and Lola went to get fire wood, the rest of us muchachas got dressed for some creek time…

Katelyn and her genius innertube

Dorothy and Judith hanging out by the creek

After the guys got back with the firewood it was creek time for them too!

Lola’s favorite thing to do was hop/jump/leap across the creek to fetch her ball (oh yeah, and shake and get all of us sitting on the bank wet too)

Kevin, George and Katelyn (the brave ones) in for a dip

After some time by the creek it was time for lunch and time to put up the hammocks!  Kevin and I purchased these hammocks in Nicaragua in 2004 and had yet to use them so it was about time!

Can’t get much more relaxing than this

Bliss.

Kevin squished into the seat hammock (and his butt was about 1.5 inches above the ground, haha)

Dorothy and Kevin relaxing in the shade

Lola couldn’t wait to test out the hammock either, haha

Lola guarding our campsite (her favorite place to be: the kitchen)

Katelyn keeping cool in the shade

Friday 7/29

Another bright and early morning!  After breakfast (breakfast burritos, mmm!) we went for a short hike to another swimming hole down the creek.

Pine cones covering the ground

George, Kevin and Lola trying to find us a nice spot to sit and relax

Lola again loved jumping over the creek to catch her ball.  We got her in the creek for a bit too, here she is jumping to catch a ball.

Beautiful skies!

Can’t get enough of these rock formations, trees and sky views

Lola looking back at Joshua and Kevin

My favorite photo of the camping trip!  Lola in the foreground, Joshua and Kevin in the background.

Can you spot Lola?

Back to the campsite to wait for our third group to arrive (Sarah and Rob!)  We spent the time eating lunch and putting reading glasses on Lola (just what any normal family would do, right? You can blame Katelyn for this one, haha)

Lola, the librarian

We were expecting them mid-day so when they hadn’t arrived by mid-afternoon we started getting worried and sent out a search party.  Ten minutes later the search party spotted their car and back to the campsite they went.

Just a little after they arrived the group got dressed and took a 20 minute hike to what the family calls “Flat Rock”–a really awesome spot where the creek has a waterfall and it flows down huge, flat rocks making great spots for sitting and relaxing.

Flat Rock

The girls: Katelyn, Sarah, Judith, Dorothy and me

Tall rocks and bright blue skies

Sarah and Rob

Lola biting the mini rapids

Katelyn and Josh building a damn, Lola biting the rapids

Kevin, George and Joshua decided to hike up the mountain a bit while the rest of our group made our way back to the campsite.  Here are some photos that Kevin took on the hike…

The view of Church Dome (where we’d be hiking to the following day, yikes!)

I love this miniaturized (is that a word?) photo that Kevin took

Lola with her hiking backpack

After the two hikes and three swimming holes that day Lola was pooped!

Proof of above statement

What makes a good evening while camping? Talking around the campfire of course…

George and Sarah

Dorothy and Kevin

Sunset

Saturday 7/30

Another early morning camping (our last full day, waah!)

Kevin putting on his shoes, enjoying the view out our tent

After breakfast the group packed into two of the cars and made our way upupup the road to the trail head for our hike to Church Dome.

Joshua, Sarah, Kevin, Rob and Lola sizing up Church Dome

Lots and lots of water breaks…

My cute little hiking husband

Sarah and Rob

Family photo!  Me, Kevin and Lola

What a view!

Beautiful flowers in between rocks

Kevin and Lola looking out onto the meadows and forest

After hours of hiking upupup we finally made it!  Time for lunch.

Group shot at lunch (thanks Sarah!)

While half of the group was satisfied with the hike and ready to make our way back down, the other half didn’t get quite enough and wanted to push on a little farther.  Can you guess what group I was in?  😉

While Judith, Dorothy, Katelyn, Lola and I stayed back to take a short nap, the rest of the group made their way up to the top of Church Dome.

Lola digging a hole (first time I’d ever seen her do that!)

She was trying to get to the cooler soil for her nap, so adorable.

From our spot down below we could see a few ants walking at the top of Church Dome–they looked a lot like the rest of our family (click the photo to zoom in; Sarah, Rob and George on the left, Kevin and Josh on the right).

Once the other part of the group met up with us it was time to make our descent off the mountain.  But first…a group photo!

Beautiful.

Although the hike down was much faster, it wasn’t necessarily any easier (let’s just say that a few butts slid down the rocks).

Lola was pretty exhausted too.  I had never seen her so tired before!  Every few hundred feet she’d make her way to a shady spot and lay down.  Poor girl!

Lola’s 198th break

So Kevin, being the great dog dad that he is, decided to help our little girl out by giving her a piggy back ride!

She only stayed on for about 10 minutes but I think it helped the tired pup out a lot

View of Church Dome…I can’t believe that just a couple of hours before we were on that peak!

Happy (and tired and sore) hiker Lisa

Not five minutes after backing George’s truck up on the road his back tires got stuck in the soft dirt.  D’oh!

The group trying to get the truck out by digging holes and putting in big rocks behind the tires.

When that didn’t work, George had the whole group (minus me and Lola) pile in the back of the truck to weigh it down and hopefully get the tires to grip the dirt to move on out.  That didn’t work either!  So the last resort was hooking Rob’s Ford Escape SUV up to the front of George’s truck and with luck we were able to pull the truck out of the dirt!  None of us could believe that the little Escape could pull out such a huge truck but hallelujah it worked!

No one can say that we didn’t deserve a nice dip in the creek by the time we got back to the campsite and that’s exactly what we did.  We can’t say that the creek wasn’t any cleaner after we got out, but at least we were.  🙂

Dinner was massive burritos and dessert was peach/blueberry cobbler (well-deserved after our long day of hiking!)

Judith serving up the cobbler…yum!!

Our last sunset

And we spent our last evening around the campfire enjoying each other’s company…

Joshua, Katelyn and Judith

Joshua, bright fire, and grey skies

Writing with light in the dark–that’s me writing out “Taylor Creek” using a flashlight (I was writing in cursive backwards while Kevin took the photo, see our “Earth Hour” post with other photos like this here)

Sunday 7/31

The rain finally decided to make its full appearance on Sunday morning as we were packing all our stuff up.  Although it didn’t make for a very pleasant last morning (especially since we were trying to keep all our junk dry while packing it up) I’m just happy it otherwise stayed dry the whole week!

On the drive home…until next time Taylor Creek!

Catalina with the Girl Scouts

Posted by Lisa On July 25th, 2011

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was lucky enough to spend two days and two nights with my niece’s Girl Scout troop in beautiful Catalina!  We jumped on the Catalina Express and an hour later we were in Avalon.

The last time I was on a boat to Catalina it was 1998 and we were in the middle of El Nino.  And the boat was full of 100+ seasick 9th graders.  This trip, luckily, was a lot less eventful.

Like aunt, like niece–me and Katelyn!

The only time I had ever been to Avalon it was at the Catalina Island Marine Institute (CIMI) in Toyon Bay so I hadn’t been to Avalon before.  The town is super cute and I quickly fell in love with it.

Welcome to Avalon!

Views of the boat and the island (see the casino in the background? I think I’ll have to check that out next time around because, as you can imagine, there is no “Gambling” Girl Scout badge to be earned, haha)

We were too early to check into our hotel so after leaving our luggage at the front desk we went to explore the main drag on foot.

Three of the girls…and a giant hamburger.

J…and a giant buffalo.

The girls looking out onto the water

The troop!

Feeling adventurous?

Like I said earlier…like aunt, like niece, am I right? 😉

J being contemplative

We stayed at the Hotel Atwater…it was very cute but the windows and walls were paper thin!

Mr. Ning’s…it’s what for dinner.

I had the shrimp egg foo young…I’ve never seen egg foo young served like that before! It was beyond delicious, though.

After dinner we walked around some of the neighborhoods taking in the sights…

“No Turkeys Allowed”?!?

S and B with the mermaid/man/cat bench!

I love this bench

We went back to the hotel pretty early to get some rest before the big day of snorkeling…

Rest? Did I say rest? I meant to say goofing around.

We were up bright and early to get to our appointment at Catalina Scuba Luv a few blocks away.

The girls looking out on Lover’s Cove, our snorkeling destination

Me and Katelyn getting suited up!

S and her giant flippers

Mom and daughter in wetsuits

The clouds were parting just as we were walking to the snorkeling site, so cool!

Lover’s Cove

Following our snorkel guide down the steps

Mom and daughter in wetsuits again but this time *with* their masks on

Hot, I know.

Much better.

The group! Katelyn, Judith, B, S, J, the snorkel guide guy, and me

It wasn’t easy getting out of the water as Katelyn is demonstrating above

The group post-dive

Since the girls were already soaked we decided to stop off at the little beach to let them do some swimming

S taking a dive off a floating platform

Katelyn’s cannonball!

S post-swim

After getting cleaned up we decided to head out on foot again to check out the town.

An adorable dog in a golf cart! So cute.

We  decided we were ready to take or exploring to the next level so decided to take a little trolley around the island (yes, we were those people).

The girls gave the trolley a thumbs-up! Or at least Katelyn did.

Me and my fabulous niece!

One of the stops on the trolley route was the Wrigley Memorial Garden…it was totally news to me that Mr. Wrigley, as in Wrigley gum and Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field, had a huge part in the preservation efforts on Catalina Island and for that reason his memorial and a beautiful garden are located there.

Cacti, cacti everywhere!

The girls were fascinated by the heart-shaped cactus (and apparently so was I)

The mosaic ceiling on Wrigley’s memorial

Judith down below!

More trolley fun…me, Katelyn and J

Maureen and Judith

B enjoying the ride

J acting like a goofball

We also did our share of shopping (because there ain’t that much to do!)

Hahaha, these two crack me up!

Yes I told them to jump in the golf cart. But they did so willingly (as you can tell from their facial expressions)

View of the island near sunset

Our final morning we were there Judith, Katelyn and I took a long walk up, up, up a steep staircase to get a good view of the bay.

Katelyn and Judith enjoying a scrumptious chai tea before jumping on the Catalina Express back home

I was so so so so happy when Judith invited me along to the troop’s Catalina trip, it’s so nice being able to still be connected with the girls and the troop in the two years since moving up here!  And I really miss those stinkers a ton.

Trip to Long Beach!

Posted by Lisa On July 22nd, 2011

Thursday, June 16

That afternoon I set off on a week-long trip down to Long Beach.  Lola and I jumped in the car and made our way down the too familiar 5 freeway.  This time, though, we went a slightly different, more scenic route–we went down the 101 until we hit Gilroy and then took the Pacheco Pass (highway 152) through beautiful winding roads and around the San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area until we got to the 5.  This was at the suggestion of Carleigh and I’m glad we did it since it made the drive a little more bearable.  🙂

Our only real stop on the trip down was at Casa de Fruta (also at the suggestion of Carleigh) which is a huge compound with a farm, train track, pond, and tons of fruit/nuts/gift shops.  Lola and I walked around a bit and then quickly jumped back on the road.

Casa de Fruta farmhouse

Casa de Fruta railroad

Casa de Fruta peacock (that Lola desperately wanted to get a hold of, haha!)

Casa de Fruta rusted and beat-up jalopy

Casa de Fruta carousel

Casa de Fruta’s Casa de Choo Choo

Friday, June 17th-Sunday, June 19th

The main reason I went down to Long Beach this weekend was to join my niece’s Girl Scout troop (the one that I used to be a co-leader for) on their trip to Catalina!  I took a ton of photos so I’ll make a separate post for the Catalina trip.  Stay tuned!

Sunday, June 19th (Father’s Day)

As soon as I got off the Catalina Express I was off to my in-law’s house to celebrate Father’s Day with my dad-in-law George and my brother-in-law Thomas (dad to Sophie).  With me to celebrate were my mama-in-law Dorothy, sis-in-law Sarah and her boyfriend Rob, a good family friend Judy and Sophie!  Sarah and Rob had just returned from living in New Orleans and it was so so so good to see them.  And I realized that I hadn’t seen Sophie (my other niece) since Christmas 2009 (1 1/2 years!) so it was a special treat to see her after all this time.  She has grown SO MUCH!

She had lots of fun playing with her buddy and cousin Lola…

Sophie and her sidekick

Sophie gave Thomas an adorable gift: the card was in the shape of a fish that said “Dad, you’re a great catch” and inside was a fishing pole with a bag of fish bait (trail mix) attached.  So cute!

Sophie and her Auntie Judy playing with the iPad

Mmm…strawberry shortcake!

On the way back to her mom’s house, just chillin’

Monday, June 20th

The weekend following the Catalina trip was my 10 year high school reunion so I asked my boss if there was any way I could work from home (Long Beach) during the week so that I could stick around for the event and she graciously said yes!  Lots of appreciation for my job that week. 🙂

Here’s my view from my laptop each day in my mom’s dining room:

Aren’t those stools so cool?

My work buddy

I worked a full day (with a few walking breaks here and there with Lola) and that night I met up with Brianne & Brian at Open Sesame on 2nd street.  I’ve been to this restaurant a handful of times before and I can’t get over how amazing their food is!  Their dolmas (grape leaves) leave a little something to be desired but other than that the food is incredible.  It was so nice catching up with two of my favorite buddies too!  Lots of laughs and story-telling was shared over dinner as well as plans to catch up again during the week.

Tuesday, June 21st

Vacation detour: I actually came down with a really painful health issue so took part of the day off work to visit the doctor’s office.  After seeing the doctor, though, I didn’t feel any more confident about the condition and had to anticipate another doctor’s visit the following day in Norwalk (with Dorothy) and then another doctor’s visit again in Norwalk on Thursday (with my mom).  After being bounced around between doctor’s offices and feeling scared because I didn’t really know what was going on luckily the issue cleared up on Friday evening and the rest of the trip was spent much more comfortably.  The main lessons I learned from this experience: advocate for yourself with the doctors and receptionists/phone operators and read any online forums about the issue that you can find!  That’s where I read about the at-home treatment that ended up helping with the problem.

After going to the doctor’s on Tuesday I spent the rest of the afternoon resting up so that I could meet up with my brother Derek that evening.  We went first to visit my lovely Auntie Tina which included a couple of hours of hilarity (both by Derek and Tina and even the nurses at the front desk!)

Tina and her favorite nephew

Wednesday, June 22nd

Like I mentioned earlier, Dorothy accompanied me to my second doctor’s appointment and after getting the run around again we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening together.  We checked out a couple of new (to me) scrapbook stores and then spent a couple of hours just hanging out in the garden with Lola and talking.  I was invited to dinner with her and George and I had an amazing shrimp and asparagus pasta…mmm, mmm, mmm I can taste it right now!  🙂

Thursday, June 23rd

My mom accompanied me to my third doctor’s appointment and we then spent the rest of the afternoon/evening together.  She took me to Ranchito, an AMAZING Mexican supermarket in Westminster.  At first we went there specifically to get a giant fresh squeezed juice but then ended up buying a bunch of food and inviting Derek over for dinner at my mom’s house.  This supermarket is incredible–they have an entire counter dedicated to the jugos naturales (natural juices).  There are a few options available to order–I got the Azteca with orange, spinach, nopal (cactus), pineapple and honey and it was SOOOO GOOD!  My mom got the Vampiro with pineapple, orange, beet, celery and apple which was good but a little too beety for our taste.  The woman behind the counter throws the entire piece of fruit or veggie into the juicer so no nutrients are lost.  I wish there was a Ranchito by our place in Oakland!  We’re on a mission to find something like this since it sure beats Jamba Juice!

The huge counter dedicated to fresh juices!

Take yer pick!

Mmm, mmm, mmm!

Although I didn’t buy anything from the meat counter I couldn’t help but take a photo of the HUGE chicharron–they fried up the entire skin of a pig!  Crazy and so gross at the same time, hahah.

Friday, June 24th

I had intended to go to my friend Alison’s yoga class in Irvine at Yoga Shakti (she teaches a few times a week, check her out if you’re in the Irvine area!!) but my health issue became extremely painful that day so I slept for a long time that afternoon.  When the pain didn’t subside I finally followed the advice on the online forum posts I had found and after taking a second nap the issue had begun to clear up!  Again, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of doing your own research and trying to heal yourself naturally.

That night I met up with Dorothy, Brianne and Brian at Judy’s house for some dinner and games.  We used to go over to Judy’s to kick each other’s butts on Wii and hadn’t done that in a long time so we had a blast.

Saturday, June 25th

I was so happy that I was down in Long Beach for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Manazar Gamboa Community Theater!  I was honored to have known Manazar through my mom (he was my mom’s writing mentor at the Homeland Cultural Center in LB, directly behind the new theater) and it was so perfect that I was able to attend such a wonderful event honoring his life 10 years after his death.  Here’s a Press-Telegram article which talks about Manazar’s life and the theater (and my mama’s even quoted!)

Beautiful mural of Manazar on the side of the theater

The entrance

The program–see my mom’s name? 🙂

My beautiful mama

Mom with some of the Homeland staff

The growing crowd

African drummers

A very cool belly dancer who shook her hips while balancing a sword on her head.  Now that’s talent.

My mom reading Manazar’s biography and two of his poems

She is at home in the spotlight!

Right after my mom finished talking I had to take off to meet Carleigh at the Long Beach airport!  She flew down for the day so that we could go to our high school reunion together.  It was lunch time so we rushed off to Open Sesame (yes, the same Open Sesame I went to on Monday) for some more amazing Mediterranean food.  Then we took a stroll around Colorado Lagoon with the Lola-meister.  It as such a beautiful day and I had never walked around the entire lagoon before!

Carleigh and Lola

We dropped Lola off and went to get our nails done for the event.  I’ve only gotten a pedicure a handful of times and I always forget how nice they are!  Then we went home to get dressed for our reunion!

Me and Carleigh all dolled up

The reunion was interesting but definitely not the highlight of my week in Southern California.  It was nice reconnecting with a couple of folks and I just hope that more people attend our 15 or 20 year reunion.  🙂

Sunday, June 26th

Carleigh, Lola and I packed ourselves into the car and after a quick breakfast at Grounds we were on the road!  7 hours later we pulled into San Francisco to unpack and ready ourselves for another week in the city.

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