Happy Birthday to me!

It was my birthday yesterday, but I don't yet feel a year older.

I bet I feel a year older when this kid decides to pop out though. ;-)

On Tuesday, a friend of mine at work took me out to lunch for my birthday (thanks Amanda!) and knowing how much I love good food, and cheeses in particular, she introduced me to this cool little European open air market, called Milk Pail, near our work.

I was immediately stuffing delicious fruit, nuts, fresh bread and cheese! OMG. THE. CHEESE. in my basket. It reminded me of my days in Italy when I was a poor starving student and survived on virtually nothing but bread, water and cheese the entire time.

So yesterday, when my dad called to wish me a happy birthday, I told him he and my mom would need to stop by for dinner that night to have a little impromptu Euro dinner with us. Always looking for an opportunity to try out new cheeses himself, he gladly accepted the invite.

I left work early to pick up Logan so we could get home and start getting the meal ready. I coaxed him away from school by telling him that Zabuton and Zafu were going to be visiting us at home. While I sliced and prepped in the kitchen, Logan propped himself up at the front window, on the lookout for his grandparents.


Here's our lovely spread. I thought of my friend Chelsea when taking this pic because she always posts pics of what she is eating each day - she likes to call it food porn. Isn't it though? :)


Logan snuck several nibbles of cheese, chowed down on some grapes and apples, and loved the cashews (but spit out the almonds). His refined little palate also got away with too-many-to-count fig newtons.

Notice Odin waiting for any scraps that might fall his way!

After dinner, we put Logan to bed and then visited for a bit before calling it a night. Here's some silly Mommy/Logan time captured on camera before saying good night.


What a wonderful ending to a great day - hope everyone had a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A mischievous little leprechaun smirk!

A second Texas A&M fan just found in California

Photo courtesy of Jon, who snapped a shot of Logan this morning. I absolutely LOVE this capture of Logan! Adorable as always, and really starting to grow up! :)

Old wives' tales strike again

I always find it curious how people feel the need, no the right, to dish out unsolicited parenting advice the minute you become pregnant (whether this is your first or third pregnancy, it seems to happen all the same). They also think it's suddenly okay to violate your personal space and touch your belly. Or perhaps comment on your weight and growing midsection.

I don't think too much about it - I know these people mean well. So, I try to let most of that just roll off my shoulders since what can you do anyway? What do you say when someone comments on your weight? And, what do you say when someone asks to touch your belly? Or, worse yet, touches your belly unasked? (without appearing like a total bitch whacked out on hormones of course)

But what I find truly amusing, are the constant old wives' tales I hear from people, guessing whether I'm having a boy or girl. That I'm carrying high, or low, wide and round, or sticking straight out, to indicate one or the other sex. And they are very certain of their prediction. Every time.

I don't believe in any of it, so it's quite the entertainment. Really.

Case in point.

I was at my fave Falafel's Drive In stand the other day, minding my own business, grabbing some lunch to go and talking to the owners about our upcoming baby (they know my family well, as my parents started going to this joint even before I was born!).

An older Hispanic gentleman, standing next to me waiting for his food, decided to hop in on the discussion.

You're having a girl, right?

No, we're having a boy.

I think you're going to have a girl. Nine grandchildren and I've never been wrong.

Okay. Well, thank you.

Alas, I didn't have the heart to tell him (I never do), that I think I'll place my bets on the amnio results instead. ;-)

Another fun filled weekend!

Jon's parents and sister, Sarah, arrived Friday afternoon to visit for the weekend. We met up with Jon's other sister, Catherine, and friend Nadia, for dinner that Friday night at one of our fave places, Vive Sol. Catherine surprised me with a(n early) birthday cake that she made from scratch! It was gorgeous and super duper yummy :)

One of the rare childless shots of me these days! ;-)

Thanks to Catherine for remembering her camera and taking these pics! :)

After dinner we headed back to our place where Logan got to show off his brand new bed to everyone. Tia Catherine immediately jumped in and snuggled with Logan under the covers to read a few bedtime stories. Is he spoiled or what?!?


Saturday we had a full day! Jon woke up early to snag some donuts for everyone, and once Abuelita ("Ita"), Abuelito ("Ito"), and Sarah arrived, we took off to hang out at Vasona Park. Logan rode the train with his grandparents and Aunt, a BIG hit, and also took a twirl on the carousel.


I know it may not look like it, but he actually did enjoy the train quite a bit. Still, check out the stern face, especially in this series of rapid shots! I couldn't stop laughing. :)


We also walked to one of the nearby playgrounds with a big airplane and firetruck to climb up and on and all over, which he enjoyed doing.


Since we were so close, we decided to lunch at a little cafe that Jon likes in Los Gatos. Unfortunately, the wait was a bit long and by the time we got seated, Logan was at his melting point. He was just too damn tired and hungry to enjoy our company - so Jon took him home to put him down for a nap (it was 2pm after all!) while the rest of us polished up a delicious lunch before heading home to rest ourselves.


That night, we met up with my parents at another place we love, the Taiwan Restaurant, for some delicious Chinese food. Logan was MUCH better behaved thank goodness and we all enjoyed some time visiting and catching up. After dinner, Jon and I took Logan over to the hotel that Alicia/Paul/Sarah were staying at since they wanted to have Logan spend the night. We got his bed set up for the night, got him in his pj's and then snuck out while he was distracted and exploring the hotel room. Apparently, he was a BREEZE to handle - reading his books a few times over and then turning in for the night without a fuss. He didn't wake up once through the night and even slept in the next morning, so late that Ita and Ito had to wake him up in time to meet us for breakfast! :)

Jon and I took advantage of the Logan-free night and caught a movie after we left the hotel. The movie, Cop Out, was about as good as you'd expect but it was wonderful to be able to turn off our brains for a couple of hours and have a few hearty good laughs.

Because of the time change however, we didn't get to sleep in! Oh well :) We met up with Ita, Ito, Sarah and Logan at Stacks early Sunday morning for some delicious breakfast to start off the day. Afterward, the three said their goodbyes, hitting the road back to LA about noon-time. Jon, Logan and I spent the rest of the day running errands, re-arranging some furniture in his room and taking care of a few chores before the work week hit us again.

A less crowded room - yippee!

We had a fantastic weekend visiting with Jon's family and so glad they were able to make the drive up from LA to see us! I know Logan really enjoyed all of the attention and love, as always. :)

Would you look at the linea nigra on that girl?!

I've noticed over the last week or two that at the end of every day, my belly (specifically the area right around my belly button) hurts like hell. I feel stretched to the max and bruised from the inside out.

My OB and PT both think I've probably torn the linea alba and surrounding muscles. It's a pretty common pregnancy symptom (or rather, injury?), referred to as diastasis recti and the only real suggestions are to wear a brace (hello - already doing that) and to lie down frequently to rest. My PT has also added kinesio tape to that routine, to help manage the pain and hold things together.

Yes, I'm falling apart at the seams. And only 32 weeks along.

This is probably the only belly shot I'll ever post online by the way. Gah!

Speed Racer

At the mall picking up a few things. Forgot Logan's stroller so we splurged on one of the mall "car" strollers instead. Still, so worth the (ridiculous) $5 to keep our kid happy!

27 months old

As you can probably understand - I haven't been as interested in blogging this week. HOWEVER, we did pass by Logan's 27 month old mark on Wednesday. And, I have been saving up a few pics to share. :) He's also said a couple of funny things over the past month, as his vocabulary continues to improve, which I should probably memorialize here, in case I ever need to embarrass him down the road when he takes his future girlfriend to the prom.

See future girlfriend? You think he just turned charming for you, but he's actually been GQ-Charming since day one!

He has picked up his Mack Truck car carrier on more than one occasion and carries it around the house like it's his little briefcase. Sometimes, he's been known to carry it to the front door yelling out "I'm going to work now!" Daddy carries his toy(s) to work, I guess my son figures he should too?

Other things that make us smile -

A couple of weeks ago, he was chasing a ball under the dining table and ran into the corner and hit his ear. It hurt quite a bit (he smacked it pretty hard) which caused quite a bit of crying.

That didn't make us smile. Don't worry, I'm not that mean.

What made us smile was when he stopped crying for a split second, sternly looked at the table, pointed at it and yelled "Bad Table!" hehehehee

He's doing great with the potty training, telling us when he has to pee and usually pees the minute he sits down. He still prefers pooping in his diaper rather than the potty chair, however he is fast to let you know. "Mommy, look, poopoo!" while turning around and wiggling his butt at you (as if I didn't know where his poop has landed).

Logan's been identifying with the new things I'm bringing into the house as "the baby's" vs. "Logan's" more and more. For example, he makes it known which high chair is his versus the baby's, which car seat is his versus the baby's and, when I recently snagged two used potty chairs on Craigslist (mwahahahaa) for my parent's house (upstairs and downstairs bathrooms), he made sure to let me know that one was for him (the white one) and one was reserved for the baby (the grey/blue one).


When he tests out a new word he's learning, he always phrases it in an adorably cute question, like he's still unsure about its application. A couple of his recent words are "scared" (Logan's scared?) and "fart" (Logan farted?). We all know where he's picked up the latter (*cough* Jon! *cough*), but I'm not as sure about scared. I finally realized he learned it from school, when I dropped him off during story time and the story was about a little animal who was lost and scared, but then found their way home. Interestingly, he doesn't yet seem to feel scared. But is learning when it's appropriate to use the word.

Of course, the big milestone this past month (in addition to his first dentist visit) was his two new beds! I haven't yet captured a great picture of him lounging in his own bed at home, but here's a fun one that my dad took of him napping on his new bed at my parent's house. His transition to the big beds has gone tremendously smooth - and I couldn't be more relieved!


Obsession with airplanes has taken on new proportions. EVERYTHING is an airplane these days. He'll often make use of his thumb and index finger, with both hands, pointing toward you and swooping them around "flying high, in the air!".

Planes don't take a break for potty time.

But, in addition to his hands, he'll "find planes" in pretty much any object he sees. Like, our shower squeegee.


My little monster continues to enjoy making messes and getting into trouble. The other morning, as we were getting ready to head to school/work, he wandered into the bathroom, shut the door and became verrrrry quiet. After a few minutes, I went in to find him doing this.




Let me tell you. I cannot wait until we have TWO boys to clean up after. Can you hear my exasperated sigh Internet?

CANNOT. WAIT.