YUMMY....

Thank you Lisa for the green smoothie recipes!

Who would have ever thought that spinach in a smoothie would taste so good.  Don't knock it 'til you try it.  :)

One of my running partners turned 4 years old...

Champ turned 4 this weekend...I can't believe that he's been in our lives for four years already.  He is the world's best dog, I believe...and a few of you think so, too.  No barking, no chewing, listens better than the others boys, loves us unconditionally, let's Andrew crawl all over him and pull at his hair and paws, plays a great game of catch (although, he doesn't always want to give you the toy back), and he will even give you a "licking pedicure" if you are up for it.  I can not imagine our lives without him...even though their are plenty days when I wonder why we got him.  His only things that he asks for ALL the time are to go for runs, take the boys to school in the back of the Sequoia with the window down of course, and to be able to touch someone...

Oh, I forgot...ice cubes, too!

Happy Birthday Champers!

Sam's newest hobby...

Collecting and arranging flowers.....

Bouquets, wild flowers, potted flowers, orchids (his summer project to see if he can keep it alive).  He even uses his own spending money to buy more flowers.  He is a big hit with all the neighborhood girls...they even have their little "flower planting group" that Sam is the leader of.  All the neighborhood dad's think that Sam is the smartest little guy here..."all the girls will remember in a few years which boy it was that hung out with them when all the others were busy playing sports."  :)

I love this kid...even when his toes are painted purple like mom's.  I love his individuality, free spirit and carefree attitude.  Only Sam can pull this off...

Baseball season has come to and end...

I'm so sad to announce that the 2010 Dodger Little League Season has officially come to an end...and a very teary end it was.  Jack and his teammates lost their semifinal game on Friday evening.  It was a hard one for them to swallow and I think that all of them were so sad that they weren't going to be playing together anymore.  :(  They had an awesome group of boys and a terrific coach and helpful dads.  Jack can not wait for Fall Ball to begin!  Bittersweet as we had a blast with the games and practices, but definitely looking forward to a little more free time.  Now, on to swimming!

The "Itch"...

I SO MISS THIS...

But, I SOOO LOVE THIS...

He's said goodbye to the baby tub and has graduated to the good 'ol kitchen sink....absolutely loves his bath time.  

DODGER PLAYOFFS ARE ON!!!!

AND THEY ARE HERE TO TAKE THE CHAMPIONSHIP!!

Sam's season ended last week...and he is not a happy camper.

Jack's team obtained a "W" today on their first game...they will play again either on Tuesday or Wednesday evening.  Anxiety was very high today and it showed.  Better game this next week.  :)

I never knew 8 year old baseball could be so serious and nerve wracking!  Opposing coaches scouring the games...heated umpire conversations.  Chill everyone, chill...I guess they do breed them young here in the OC...

Andrew is 7 months old...

 

Where, oh where does the time go?  Selfishly, I have been loving this little guy to pieces and haven't been sharing hardly any photos or milestone moments with you.  Let me tell ya...it's been amazing.  He is one of the happiest babies ever.  Jack and Sam love him so much and Andrew loves them the same.  He's been rolling for about 2 months, sitting on his own, scooting mostly backwards, getting on all fours and rocking back and forth or launching forward.  The day is coming when the older brothers love with start turning into a bit of frustration when the little LEGOs and such are no longer allowed in the main family areas.

Here are a few more photos from today...

  

My seven month leave has come to an end!

7 months...

I can not believe that this amount of time has pasted since I last blogged...I even had to request my password as I had forgotten it.  I think that the majority of you have given up on checking for any updates...so sorry.  There is so much for me to catch up on...I have no idea where to begin.  So moving forward, I'll keep up-to-date and if and when I have a moment, I'll recap some of the highlights that we've encountered since last October.

Notice anything different?

It's been a fun and definitely memorable week.  Here Sam is after a visit to the dentist.  He was accidentally kicked in the mouth by a neighbor kid with roller blades on while playing football...yes, roller blades on while playing football.  Over the two days while I was in the hospital, his gum started to swell.  This tooth has been an issue since it came in...it was a "gemini tooth"...baby tooth merged with a tooth bud that didn't go away in the womb...and an expensive tooth at that.  But now, no more tooth.  When the dentist stated that his recommendation would be to extract it and Sam heard that it should be taken out...he piped up with an "Okay!"  He's been wanting to be like the big kids and join the "No Teeth Club"...this wasn't how I expected it to happen.  :)  I got to watch the whole procedure...wish it wasn't my kid that it was happening to...but it was really cool.  He was a super trooper and is very happy to share a smile and the story with anyone that will listen.  

Introducing Andrew James...

A baby is such an amazing miracle and blessing.  I have been spending countless moments just staring at him and enjoying every moment with him and the family moments that we are all sharing together.  Could it be that my husband is on the way out the door to the "V" doctor and this could be/is the last?  I know that I'll get a comment from him on that!

After a very quick delivery...9 minutes from the time I got on the delivery bed to the time he entered this world...I look back at the morning and chuckle...a lot.  Some might think that I was trying to break my mother's record of not making it to the hospital and giving birth to my sister, Misti, in the back seat of their car.  No, it just so happened that Eric was having an early morning international conference call that he was the head of that morning at 6am.  We both thought that Nugget just might wait until this time to make his grand entrance.  Sure enough...I started having contractions before the call started and I went downstairs to eat breakfast and was timing them.  They stayed steady and 3 - 4 minutes apart.  I wasn't for certain if they were the real deal or not as I had been having contractions for about a week and they would stop after an hour.  An hour passed and they started to get a little more intense.  Called the doctor.  Went upstairs to tell Eric and you can imagine the look I got from him.  Woke up Jack and Sam so they could get ready for school and told them that I was heading to the hospital.  Woke up Eric's mother...thank goodness she was here already.  Planned on driving to the hospital by myself...then started to think that perhaps that wasn't the best idea.  Went back upstairs to make sure Eric couldn't come (was going to have Rose come with me). He was trying to transfer the call over to someone else so that they could take over for him...got that done and out the door we went.  I knew and was preparing myself on the way to the hospital that an epideral was pretty much out of the question.  Arrived at the hospital...checked in dialated at a 6...went to the delivery room...started yelling "shit" and people started flooding into the room...and there he was...

So perfect.

Everything was done.  I looked at Eric and wondered if he was going to make it.  Seriously.  I remember the nurse asking him if he was going to be alright, too.  I then introduced myself to my delivery doctor.  Told Eric that I would do that again and he said to not go there.  :)

A day's work all before 8 o'clock.

Tooth #5 is gone...

I couldn't resist this one...

Sam's first day of Preschool in Cali...

For all of you that either got to see Sam's first weeks of Preschool last year or heard about it...well, I am so happy to announce that this year...was the complete opposite.  He was looking forward to school starting and whenever Jack would say that he didn't want to go back to school...Sam followed up with a "I can't wait!"  Crazy, I know!!  He has gone for one week now and is still absolutely loving it.  Helps a lot that the school has bunnies and a classroom Chinchilla that they get to take care of...and babysit on the weekends if the parents are up to it...haven't gone their yet, but thinking that it might be a nice little good behavior reward.  Alright, Eric says no way, but he won't be able to disagree once they are at our home on Friday.  :)  Sam has his innocent and shy costume on right now, but I believe that will be gone in about one week as his classroom is all boys...poor Mrs. Keller!  We are very impressed with the school and can not believe that next year he will be at Jack's school with him!  YIKES!!!!  My baby is growing up way too fast...

Jack's first day of 2nd Grade...

Another year older...another grade higher...where does this time go?  2nd grade...I can not believe it.  Jack now has 2 weeks under his belt and seems to be adjusting well.  He did have major "deer in the headlights" the first two days of school.  First being I suspect just getting back into the routine.  Second, he commented "Mom, they talk so much faster here!"  Third, new school, new kids, new everything.  I think...alright, I know that I would have crawled into a hole if I were to have to go thru this as a kid.  I see my personality and shyness in Jack so much and both Eric and I are trying to get him thru this.  This is a hard thing for Eric to comprehend.  Overall, Jack is doing great...wondering when the math problems are going to get harder and absolutely loving the fact that he has an English class this year.  :)  He misses his great Minnesota friends...brings tears to Eric and I.  To hear him speak to his Grandpa on the phone and random people that we encounter that I make them speak to him in Spanish...I love it and am so proud of his accomplishments.  Before we know it...another year will be completed...

Mallary & John in the OC!

Hip hip hooray!!!!  Great friends and our Bahama traveling partners Mal & John came out for a weekend of fun.  We had a great time venturing to Huntington Beach and some chill time at our home.  A very quick but great time!  Eric was "buried" by the boys...they tried to give him some breasts, too.

Thanks for visiting us Mal & John!!!!  Until next time....

Jack's "double tooth pull"

One month ago, Jack decided that he would like both of his extremely loose top front teeth pulled.  He was really wanting to see how much money or what the Tooth Fairy would leave him for two teeth at one time.  Eric performed the duty as Sam, a neighbor kid and myself looked on.  It was quite humorous.  We used string this time.  It was overdue as you can see his other teeth were already coming in.  Look at the fear and tense body on both Jack and Eric in the action photo.  :)