Due Date

Today I am 40 weeks pregnant... which means from here on out, I (like a misplaced library book) am over due. I went into labor the day before Ella's due date and she was born right on her expected arrival day, so this is a new feeling to go beyond the expectant date. In fact, it is sort of a let down. You anticipate something big to happen by a certain time (a baby to be born), have your mom come to town to help out with the toddler while you are in the hospital, try to get things in order around the house, bags packed ... and then ... nada. So today, after meeting friends for our walking group and then taking Ella to the library for story time, I did what any rational girl would do in my situation; I went shopping. A pound of See's Candies, new place mats and napkins from Pottery Barn, a new Janie & Jack outfit for the baby and some nursing essentials later, I would call today a productive afternoon. We'll see what tomorrow has in store (no pun intended:)).

Showered with Love

Alittle over a month ago some very dear friends threw a surprise baby shower for me and our expectant little bundle of joy.

I was very surprised (I thought I was meeting a couple of ladies and kids for a play-date) and touched by every one's thoughtfulness and generosity: THANK YOU.

The decorations, flowers, balloons, and gourmet Sibby's cupcakes were all incredible.

For a group gift we were given the add on seat for the Phil & Teds. Let me just tell you how much I love this stroller: so much! I use it everyday, and it has been everywhere with us (Rome, Ukraine, Maui, Portland, Wisconsin, UT, AZ,). It's great on walking trails, gliding over cobble stone and even holds it's own in the mall. The best part is that with the add-on seat it converts to a doubles stroller but isn't double wide or double long- how great is that? So, I can still walk side-by-side and chat with friends while pushing the stroller (I'll include pictures soon).

This is a picture from over a year ago with Ella and Jack in the P&T (though you are not technically supposed to use it as a double stroller this way:)). Anyway, if you are in the market for a stroller (single or double), I whole heartedly recommend this one.

Thanks to all for making us feel loved and special; for the add-on seat, generous gift card, and everything else!

Bye-bye Budds

Congrats to John for finishing his 23rd year of school on Friday and becoming an orthodontist. Unfortunately, for us, that means our good friends (John, Nicole, Jackson and Savannah Budd) are moving to Arizona this week and they will be really missed.

Before leaving, Nicole wanted to do some shopping in the city... a request, I was happy to tag along for. However, when she suggested we ride BART I got a little weary. I'm not adverse to mass transit (used it daily in Hong Kong, traveling in Tokyo, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Prague, London, Paris and even once on my own took a train and then a subway from New Jersey to New York City for Natalie's graduation), but I had yet to ride the Bay Area Regional Transit system.

BART scares me. I don't know why. I guess when you are traveling and out of your regular element, subways and trains are just part of the adventure. But I live here, and any time I need to go to the city, I drive or carpool with a friend (which, if you have 2 or 3 people and split the parking cost is less expensive than BART).
Armed with the advice from an experienced rider (Bethany) that BART is just like SFSU but mobile, and in the safe environment of friends, I and my very pregnant belly took my first BART ride Saturday.
Not only did I survive, but it wasn't that bad... ample seating, relatively clean, no gangs or scary happenings... in fact, the whole event was pretty uneventful and the hardest part was buying the ticket:)

I will certainly miss the loss of my friend as she moves back to AZ (though I anticipate seeing her when we go there for holidays). However, because of Nicole and her parting request I have a new sense of BART empowerment that will stay with me even though she will be far away.

Super Skills

Who has the best skills? Benj and I had this conversation after recently re watching Mission Impossible 3, so I thought I'd get some outside input on the topic. Turns out, Benj's top pick of Jason Bourne was the most popular. Though I agree Jason Bourne has great skills, I think it's worth noting:
1. Bruce Wayne: a selfless ninja fighting for justice and a safer city. He has a super cool car that he basically rigged himself and he's really resourceful (turned the hole under his inherited mansion into the Bat Cave). If those facts aren't enough, two words: Christian Bale... enough said.
2. Ethan Hunt: I'll admit it, I grew up with a crush on Tom Cruise, so I am a little biased toward the Impossible Mission Force point-man. However, Ethan Hunt knows what is up and in the end gives up the force for marriage family life. He reads lips and single-handedly breaks free from being strapped to a gurney in an elevator with 4 huge men so he can go jump from building to building in Shanghai, retrieve the "rabbits foot" and save his wife.
3. Peter Parker: we just threw this one in there for fun. He sort of doesn't count on this list though, since he has super human skills from that crazy spider bite. If we were to really consider Spider Man, we'd have to also consider Super Man and other extra-human planet savers.
4. James Bond: skilled, smooth and great cars. He can show up at a poker game right after saving himself from cardiac arrest with a defibrillator and act like nothing has happened. But, he's a womanizer and so does not get my vote.
So, yes, Jason Bourne wins the poll; but for the record I'd like to say Bruce Wayne and Ethan Hunt are definitely two other guys I would want on my team if I were in a pickle.

Happy Father's Day to the most giving person I know

We love you Benj.

For the last week + I have been trying to come up with a great Father's Day gift or activity to show Benj how much we appreciate him. I listened to friends who bought cool electronics, favorite chocolates, clothes, a boat? (Betsy), Wii, etc. ... and I just plum could not think of a gift. So Ella, Baby #2 and I are giving him a homemade card with our picture, a few new Dutch-oven recipes and copy of the Giving Tree.

I actually think it may be a fun tradition to give each other children's books for Mother's/Father's Day; I love children's books. We'll see what next year has in store, but for now it's tradition:)
In the spirit of Father's Day and family time, we went swimming today as a family which Ella absolutely loved, and made backyard smores for dessert.
Our backyard is more cement than yard. One of the cement blocks was missing, so Benj decided to turn it into a fire pit and we had our own little smores party. It was actually a lot of fun and we are anxious to use our Dutch-ovenin the new pit too.
ps- Here is a great smores tip: use Ghiradelli's Carmel chocolates in the smores instead of plain chocolate... it gets really gooey when it is warm and super tasty.

Swing Set

This was our backyard;

76 pieces of wood, 154 washers, 297 screws and 64 t-nuts with a combined 12 hours of measuring, marking, drilling and labor later Ella has her own swing set!

Complete with a kids picnic area under the slide tower, and rock climbing ladder.
Thank you Grandma Susie!

Here are some other recent pictures:

at Vista Park, Ella helping me find a resort in Santorini, and dancing.

Ella's current favorite song is "Down Town," (can you blame her?) and she loves to request it by name and sing along with the "down town." She turns on the radio in her room and listens to R&B (she doesn't have a lot of reception, so her options are limited). Ella Jane is also very good about folding her arms for prayers and making sure all her babies get plenty of naps (as you can see they are all sleeping in her chair, shh).

For real?

Yes, which is why I buy gas at Costco or Arco.

This is the Shell station off El Camino and 20th Ave in San Mateo (by Benj's office).
Talk about "costs of living"... CA fuel taxes make you think that a hybrid Prius is the only way to go. Yikes.

Crafts

Last week was my first week without class, homework, or finals, so I was able to get to a couple of projects I've been anxious to do.

I made flower hair clips for the girls, put together a magnet board for the baby's room, and letters for Ella's room.

Benj lovingly jokes that I am a person who goes through 'phases,' and he may be right. I haven't used a glue gun at home in years, and I think I used it everyday last week; maybe this week I'll pull out the knitting needles:)

This is a picture of Ella and I at SFSU on the last day of finals.

I actually love the campus. It's not BYU, in fact it's sort of ghetto... I call SFSU a school of misfits, and it is, but it is also a lot of fun and super diverse. Fortunately I finished my "Project Reach Out and Adoption" video just in the nick of time, I'll let you know as soon as it is up and running on the PRO website.