The birth story

Well, she decided she didn't want to come on her own even though I tried everything "natural" to get her to come... We even went to the mall the day after Christmas! My blood sugar got really low but little Cranberry did not want to come. So, we left Nate with Nonna and headed to the hospital at 7am on the 27th.

They put us in our room right away, so I was in bed and watching Today by about 7:10. They had to ask me a bunch of questions and fill out all of  the "paperwork" (which is now mostly electronic). The Dr came in and measured me (I was around 3-4cm) and broke my water around 9, then they started the pitocin. The contractions started kicking in around 9:30. Unfortunately since I was on pitocin I had to be monitored, so I couldn't get in the tub or walk around... I had to stay in or right next to my bed unless I needed the bathroom. I tried everything I could but when they came and checked me at about 12:30 and I had only progressed 1cm, I caved and got an epidural. I was really hoping to be strong enough not to need it, but I couldn't really bear the thought of another 10-12 hours of labor stuck in bed. I'm really glad that I did though. :) I was able to sleep a little bit and started progressing much quicker at that point. I don't know if it would have happened anyway, or if my being able to relax helped to speed things along, but in another 2 hours I had progressed and was ready to push! Unlike with Nate I didn't feel like I HAD to push NOW, so the hour or so I had to wait for the Dr (he wanted me to labor a little longer to make sure she was nice and low) was much better. And, I guess she was ready to come out at that point because it only took 3 pushes and we were done!

Her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice and her body once, but it was so long (unusually so) that there was plenty of slack. So, it wasn't cutting off any of her needed supplies or nutrients and never registered any sort of stress during labor. Thank God for that! They did their initial quick tests and got her cleaned up just enough to give her to me for some Koala time. We were very happy to welcome our new little girl to our family!

Introducing...

Amelia Diane Morris

born Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 3:53 pm

8 lbs, 5 oz

20.5"

She's going to come out giving The Fisher Look!

Cranberry is a stubborn little girl. She does not want to get out of her comfy little womb. We had our 40 week (read, due date) appointment yesterday. Luckily everything is still looking good, so we don't need to worry about trying to get her out of there faster for any reason. My blood pressure was a little higher than it has been, but I think that's to be expected at this point in the pregnancy, and the Dr didn't say anything about it. Her heartrate was in the 150s. I had progressed a little from last week and am 2-3 cm dilated. He said my cervix is "favorable" and her head is in position. I guess he stripped my membranes to try to speed things along, which they did with Nate too and I went into labor that very night. Unfortunately she is not being as easy going as her big brother and has decided not to come yet.

They don't like to let us go over 42 weeks, so, right now we are scheduled for an induction on Tuesday if she doesn't come on her own sooner. At this point, unless she comes today, I'd almost she rather hang out until then. That way we aren't in the hospital for Christmas and she doesn't come on a day she will have to share. (Dec 22-Grandpa Jack, Dec 23-Cousin Kat, Dec 24-Christmas Eve, Dec 25-Christmas, Dec 26-Daddy)

So, right now we are playing the waiting game and I'm making plans by adding "if we're not in the hospital" when I say we're going somewhere. But my mom comes on the 24th, so at least I have that to look forward to - the first time I've been able to spend a holiday with anyone from my side of the family in six years! Peter thinks my body is subconsciously waiting for that to happen.

So, hopefully this is not a sign of things to come. Some ladies at work were asking if anyone in my family was really stubborn. I can definitely think of a few...

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

So, while we are waiting for Little Miss Cranberry to make her appearance, we are trying to let Nate enjoy this holiday season as much as he can if she wasn't on her way. That started with putting up all of the Christmas decorations and going to pick out a tree. He didn't care a lot about which tree we got (though he did give final approval) but he got a coloring book and a candy cane out of it, so he was happy! When we finally got around to decorating it he seemed to be more interested in playing with all the ornaments than putting them on. But he LOVES the lights!

Nate putting on his tractor ornament from last year 

I end up putting on most of the decorations while the boys...

Have to have a little fun too!

Casey wants in on it!

We have also been having fun putting stuff in the advent calendar for him. Mostly its been coins, but he's also gotten a pair of Mater Christmas socks that he never wants to take off, and a couple of puzzles. He really seems to like doing them and he's impressing both me and Peter at how well he does all on his own. (These are the real deal interlocking piece puzzles-Rudolph and Charlie Brown, not the Melissa and Doug wooden peg puzzles he seemed to master awhile ago.)

Last week we went and walked around a little town a couple minutes from us that is known as "Christmastown USA". All of the houses along the main street decorate for and they light up the lake, have bells ringing Christmas music... People wait in line for hours to go through it. Both this year and last year we decided to do it on a weeknight right when it got dark so the line wouldn't be too bad. That seems to be a good way to do it as we haven't had to wait at all either year. We park our car and walk through the town instead of just driving it to make it more fun for all of us. To be honest I've seen better decorated neighborhoods and if I had to wait in line I probably wouldn't, but its a local tradition and something to do. I think the best part is that people who are driving by us with their windows rolled down or van doors open will yell out Merry Christmas or wave. That's something that seems to be unique to the south!

Nate seems to be very into Christmas lights this year because he kept asking to go again. We gave in last night but only drove through this time. (Although maybe we should have walked because last week I think I was having some contractions as we went through.) Then we went to see Santa (we wanted to make sure he got to)! We have an awesome Santa here, he really looks like the real deal, and his wife dresses up as Mrs. Claus. But I think the best thing is the photographer. He really works with the kids to make sure gets a good picture. Last year Nate wouldn't sit on Santa's lap so we had to take the picture with him on a stool. This year we had no problem! He was laughing at everything the photographer did to get the other kids to smile and even tried his own techniques. So, by the the time it was his turn he was ready to go!

Merry Christmas! All I want for Christmas is that school bus behind you and a sucker... since all the other kids have gotten one!

Now we are kind of in a waiting game and just hoping we don't end up spending Christmas in the hospital. Also trying to figure out what Nativity fixture he can dress up as on the off chance we go to a  Christmas Eve children's mass. His cow costume is probably a little small this year and I'm pretty sure there weren't red engines around back then.

Nursery

So, now that we have Nate's room all set up, we were able to get to work on Cranberry's room. We (or Peter) were able to get the crib taken apart in no time of course, but then had to wait a little bit longer to get it put back together. This was another thing that has been a long process of things. First, in May, we took out one of the desks when we had a neighborhood yard sale. Unfortunately it didn't sell until a couple weeks ago after posting it on craigslist - but at least it's out of the garage. Then we got rid of the bed, moved out the other desk... So we were fairy empty for the painting, etc. Oh, that was a really fun experience - the painting! We had no problem picking out the colors we wanted... that trip to Lowe's went surprisingly well. But then we had to actually do it! And let me tell you that trying to put up straight lines of tape with a laser level is not as easy as it seems like it should be. But, we (again, mostly Peter) got it done and it looks awesome!

So, that room has sat pretty much empty minus a cubby (see Nate's room), lots of clothes and painted walls for a few months. You'd think this would be a great time to start going through all those boxes in the closet that were going to have to be moved eventually right... Well, I guess not because that didn't get done until about last week... and in fact we still have remnants of them around the house. But, since some of it is Christmas stuff I can't get too upset about it. Anyway, we got the cubby moved into Nate's room, the changing table/dresser moved into Cranberry's room and the crib put back together. Peter hung the butterfly mobile I made and the fan and we are now good to go! People keep asking me if I'm ready now that the room is and the answer is a resounding no! She really could come anytime, but I still feel like I'd like at least another week. We have everything we need (food - built in, diapers - couple packs of newborns to get us through until we know that we need diapers, car seat - up in the attic waiting for Peter to bring them down), so when she comes we are set.

All of her clothes wouldn't fit in the dresser, so the left side is all pjs. All the boxes on the right (plus more you can't see) are the clothes we have sorted and waiting for her to grow out of the newborn and 0-3 month sizes. The tub underneath is all the stuff we have leftover from Nate, but probably don't need quite yet.

Cranberry got an early Christmas present from Nonna too! This awesome fan. Funny story about that - I had seen it in Lowe's a few months ago when we went to look, then when we went to CA in October, what fan do we find in the guest room/grandkids room? The exact fan we want for Cranberry' room. She sent it early and said it was OK to go ahead and set it up so we didn't have to wait until Christmas (and she's likely already here). Thanks Nonna!

Our bedding did not come with a mobile like Nate's did, so I was trying to come up with cute/cheap ideas for  one that would match the theme. I found something very similar to this on etsy, but decided I could make it myself for about half the price. I think it turned out pretty well! This will be Cranberry's view.

37.5 week belly photos

Don't I just look awesome?!

Big boy bed

So, we FINALLY have Nate's bed all set up. It has been a slow process of a little bit getting done very couple of days. We got it two weeks ago and Peter got the bed set up, but not the trundle. He finished the trundle a couple days later, but one of the drawers was broken. Also, we had gotten a rail assuming it would work with our bed, but because we don't have a box spring we had to get a piece of ply wood to put under the mattress so that it would be stable. And actually, the rail is still not ideal for our type of bed. It does it's job, we just can't fold it down or tuck it under for daytime use of the bed. So, that didn't get put up for about a week. In the meantime, Nate fell off the bed the first night (although he had rocked his first nap time!) so we moved the mattress to the floor so if he fell (and he did, at least once) it wouldn't be quite so far. We were also using an old quilt to cover him for awhile, until we got the new bedding Nonna sent for Christmas (but said he could open early). When he opened it he said it was "magical"! Then once we got that all set up we had to rearrange his new dresser and cubby fixture so the room doesn't feel quite so crowded. We haven't gotten all of the room's accessories quite figured out yet, and he has some more coming for Christmas in addition to the magical bedspread, but those will wait until the 25th. Take a look at the process...

Nate helping Peter put his bed together. We wanted to make sure he had some involvement in this process hoping it would help with the transition. I don't know if it made a difference, but it definitely didn't hurt! 

Looking up to dad!

Nate sleeping in his bed for the first time (see the missing trundle and non-magical quilt)

All set up and ready to go - "magical" bedspread and all!

Saved by the rail!

This cubby used to be downstairs, but because of a lot of changes that had to be made due to Cranberry's upcoming arrival we had to move it. We don't really love it in Nate's room, but love the piece and really don't want to get rid of it. He doesn't play in his room right now, but once he starts it will be a good place to store his toys. And it's a great little holder for all the stuffed animals he doesn't have to sleep with and some additional room decor. 

His dresser - definitely holds a lot more clothes than the changing table dresser does. 

The final product. Don't judge me for it not being made! That rail makes it kind of difficult.  It might be hard to tell, but under the regular bed is a trundle. It looks like there are six drawers in the trundle, but the top three are just for show - that's where the trundle mattress is. The bottom three, though, do actually have storage space. Love it!

So, he's been doing very well sleeping in the bed. The first couple nights, and at least one nap time, he tried to come down before he went to sleep, but we just showed him his way back upstairs. We've gotten a gate at the top of the stairs since then so he can't come down anymore (also hopefully he won't fall down them if he wakes up in the middle of the night still a little groggy). The only downfall to this is that he hasn't been sleeping in quite as late as he used to. He does play in his room for awhile some mornings, and before we put the gate up he actually came downstairs once. That kind of freaked me out, but as far as I know all he did was pull out all of his dinosaur flash cards and spread them out on the table. Luckily he didn't try to go outside or anything. But now he just makes his way to our room and says that it's not dark outside, so it's time to wake up! Can't wait for him to learn to tell time so I can tell him he has to stay in his room until at least a certain hour. Of course, by then I'll have another one to deal with... I hope she's as good of a sleeper as her brother!

It's a Guessing Game!

We are exactly one month away from Cranberry's due date! That means it is time to look into your crystal ball and tell me everything you know about her. This is a pretty serious pool (I stole from our friends Collin and Clare) that accepts guesses for everything from time and date of birth, hair and eye color and you can even put your guesses in for her name! Everything is judged a little differently for the point system, but they explain that on the main page below the survey. Again, this is just for bragging rights (I won Collin and Clare's pool!) but maybe we'll throw in an extra special picture of Cranberry or something. There's a permanent link in the bar to the right or you can find it here: http://bebepool.com/sjmorris31

Just in case you find it helpful here are some stats about Nate:
Estimated Due Date: March 7, 2009
Actual Birth Date: March 4, 2009 (39 weeks, 4 days)
Time of Birth: 1:04pm (Eastern)
Length: 20.5"
Weight: 7 lbs, 5 oz
Hair color: Blonde
Eye color: Blue

Also, our guidelines for picking a name are:
Can't be in the top 20 for the last couple of years (Nathaniel was 76 in 2009)
Has to be something we can make a nickname out of (Nathaniel ---> Nate)
Both given and nickname have to sound good with Morris alone and as her full name (???????? Diane Morris)

Good luck!

Sibling class

On Thursday we took Nate to his very first class - a preschool sibling class so he can learn all about being an awesome big brother! Of course, I don't think he needs to learn that, I'm pretty sure it's just built into his being, but still. So, first thing when we walk into the hospital he got so excited about the outdoor waterfall. Then we go into the class and they talk at first a little about how babies can look different, the umbilical cord, etc. They asked everyone if they were having a boy or a girl sibling. When it got to Nate's turn he said, "Sister, and she's just in my mommy's belly." Then they got to make their thumbprints just like the babies get their feet prints. Nate really liked that part. He also really liked practicing putting a diaper on Charlie so he can be my helper. They then watched a video and had apple juice and graham crackers.

We really think that most of it probably went over his head. He was the youngest kid there because it was geared for kids 2-5. BUT there was one part that I think will be very helpful. That was the tour of the maternity ward where mommy and the baby will be staying when we are there.  He got to see a room and check out the tub, fridge, tv...
And they let him push all the buttons to make the bed go up and down! I will hopefully not pay the price for that when I'm there. They also showed them the play room and the library they have set up just for the big brothers and sisters that come visit their new babies and the nursery where they take the babies if mom decides she needs a break. Luckily there was even a new baby there for them to see. All the kids were very excited about that!

So even though I'm not sure how much he got out of it I think at least the tour of the hospital was good and will hopefully make him more comfortable when he comes to visit. It also served as a little bit of a refresher for me so I definitely know where to go when the time comes.

Cranberry update - 35 weeks!

Well, another week, another doctor's appointment. We are now officially on the weekly appointment schedule. This is also when they tend to get a little more exciting. And I really mean A LITTLE. Because really, unless there are issues (knock on wood) they still take maybe 10 minutes instead of 5. Unless your doctor is running an hour behind like ours was today! That was very frustrating. And it didn't help that I'm stuck in an exam room with very little air flow when I already run warmer than the average person. Peter's sitting there in his leather jacket and long sleeve shirt and is perfectly comfortable, and I'm sitting there half undressed and burning up! Come on people, you know you've got pregnant ladies in here... Anyway... vent over. :)

So today they did all the regular checks - Cranberry's heart and size are healthy and right on track, as are my weight and blood pressure. Then we did a test for Group B Strep and he offered to check my cervix for signs of progression, but I declined. I think Peter was kind of upset about this but I told him it wouldn't matter because even if I was dilated I could be at that point for another 4 weeks and we still might not have a baby, so what's the point! But I did tell him if he was getting nervous he could start doing some of the things that need to be done around the house that he keeps putting off! :)

The other frustrating thing is that for some reason they never want to schedule our appointments until the one before it, so now leading into a bunch of appointments only one week apart we start to feel a time crunch. We asked if we could make an appointment for 2 weeks from now and they only had one time slot available on both Thursday and Friday - and nothing at all on our normal Wednesday appointment day. I don't know why they couldn't just schedule us now for everything leading up to week 40. Oh well...

But I'm very happy that we are both doing so well and we will see what next week brings!

In other news I would just like to mention again how much I love my job! I decided now would be a good time to sit down with my bosses and discuss everything that needs to be done leading up to my leave, during my leave and after I come back. They said they are happy to have me as long as I am comfortable staying (which right now is until I give birth) but that if I start getting less comfortable and need to work less than full time they would be fine with that too.

I also talked to my female boss about pumping when I get back (the male boss stepped out of the room at this point, not feeling quite so comfortable with the subject matter). She is a major proponent of it and did with both of her kids for more than a year! So she is very willing to work with me to do what I need to do to make it work. Of course it's kind of the law now, BUT I think she'd be willing to anyway. She's giving up her conference room since it's pretty much the only available space that can be completely closed off. Of course, if it's needed there are other places I can use in a pinch (or I can just drive the 4 minutes home) but this will be the best bet. And she's letting me work a more flexible schedule so that I can get those in without having to work too much earlier or later to get in a full eight hour day. Hey, I still need to be a mom! This is all sounding better than the dirty bathroom stall I had to pump in while standing up (and sometimes trying to eat) at BN... And will hopefully result in Cranberry and I being able to keep up with breastfeeding for longer than I was able to with Nate. I'm so happy they are so willing to work with me for what's best for both me and my baby!

Feeling the love

For the second time in two weeks the wonderful people at work have shown how much they love me by throwing a baby shower for Cranberry! I knew this one was coming though, since they wanted to make sure that Peter and Nate would be able to attend and have all of my pregnancy cravings on hand. They did an absolutely fabulous job putting it together! Since they are forced get to hear the day by day stories of getting everything set up in the nursery, etc. they knew exactly the right colors and theme to make it fit.

Purple, pink, green and butterflies!

I even wore a "Cranberry" dress

As things usually do, we started off with a great food spread - everyone brought something and it was ALL delicious.

Nate and Peter digging in

Then we headed back to open our gifts and have some yummy cake.

Nate helping to open the stroller 

I like this one because you can see Nate (very excitedly) playing with his new Hot Wheels!

Everything we received was great. We got a bunch of cute little outfits, much needed toiletries, diapers and wipes, books, toys, stuff for the nursery, and a bunch of them pitched in and got us the stroller we had registered for! A few of the ladies (who must have some experience) even got a few things for Nate so he wouldn't feel left out.

Nate trying out his new ride!

Of course now Nate probably thinks that all I do at work is eat and party. Finance, shminance! But I really feel very lucky to have coworkers like these! 

Binky intervention!

Since potty training was kind of a no-go when we started a few weeks ago, and we can't move Nate to a big-boy bed until we can get it (Nov 10 + delivery time - yay bonus!), I've decided it's about time we got rid of binky. I think he got a little more attached to it while we were in CA because of our weird schedule and traveling. I kept giving it to him hoping he would fall asleep in the car or stroller, but usually he'd just stay awake with a pacifier in his mouth. I didn't want to do it the first weekend we were back because he was still getting back in the groove of things, so I had my mind set on starting on Friday night. And then he fell down the stairs.

He was/is totally fine! I guess he tripped over Casey somehow and pretty much went end over end 3 times until he hit the floor at the bottom. He hit his head on the floor, but luckily not the shoe bench that's right at the bottom. Peter said he was about one step behind being able to stop him all the way down the stairs. When he finally reached me an hour later (I was in a meeting) and I convinced him to call the doctor (and gave him their number) they pretty much confirmed that he was fine, but to keep an eye out for some things that might spell concussion.

Well, none of those things happened and he was acting totally normal, so I figured why not? If I wait for a perfect weekend when nothing is going on, it will never happen. So we started Friday night. If you read any parenting books, magazines, websites, etc - and I do, they all give suggestions for ways to get kids to give up their pacifiers. Things like taking them to the store to buy a train, building them into a teddy bear, sending them off on a balloon, sending them to another "baby", cutting off the tip so they don't want to suck... Well I didn't do any of those things. I figured if we did those things they'd be fine at the time, but come 8pm bedtime he'd still be asking for his binky, so what's the point? I've been telling him they're lost! He still wants the binky, but I didn't have to go to much more effort than hiding all of them in case of an emergency.

Friday was definitely the worst night to get him down to begin with. He fought it for over an hour then woke up a couple of times through the night looking for them. Saturday was a little better, but really just a little. Sunday night was the worst! He went down alright, but then kept waking up... probably 6+ times. It definitely got old, and of course HAD to be on the night we both had to be at work in the morning. One of the times Peter was up with him that night and asking what was wrong he said his head hurt and his legs. Of course, that made me feel kind of guilty because of the whole falling down the stairs thing, but then he said something else that made us realize he was probably just making it up or feeling the residual bumps and bruises, not anything major. Monday night was a little better - he only woke up 3 times! But it got much better after that. Tuesday night he didn't wake up once and last night he only woke up long enough to get me out of bed before calming himself. I didn't mind too much because I pretty much have to get up at least once every night anyway, so not too much out of the ordinary. He got his first nap since Friday this afternoon and went down without an issue. We'll keep our fingers crossed he contines to do well without them. And I'm really debating even getting Cranberry started on them. Life will probably be easier if she just never starts the habit.

Maybe I should have just shown him this!

Cranberry update

So, as of yesterday I am 33 weeks along! Seven more weeks to go! Everything is still going very smoothly. I'm measuring exactly as I should and her heartrate has ranged from 145-155. I started swelling on our trip to CA (thanks to 6+ hour flights!), but it hasn't been too bad since I got back. But Tuesday night my left ankle looked like a marshmallow, and it didn't get much better yesterday. The doctor said it was pretty normal at this stage and that since my blood pressure, tests and weight were all within the healthy range he wasn't too worried. So, that's very good. I have definitely started to waddle though!  :)

I'd also like to add a fun aside about this particular doctor (I see a different one at every appointment so I know them all by the time labor & delivery come along). He loves to wear fun prints on his pants and socks. Last time he wore some red and white striped socks and this time he was wearing pheasant print pants and socks with dogs on them... I guess he was going for a hunting theme! We'll see what he wears next time.

Cranberry has definitely been moving around a lot lately. She even had her first case of the hiccups yesterday afternoon, and then again last night. Really, hiccups are not one of the cooler things about pregnancy. I know a lot of pregnant women think they're really cool, and to some extent I guess they are, until they start waking you up at 5am! Like I don't have enough things keeping me up at night.

Halloween fun

This was the first year we've really celebrated Halloween with Nate. He's dressed up for each of them, but at 8 months he was a little young to care, and last year we were in California and he just wanted to follow the other kids around that were coming to the door at Nonna's house. This year he was pretty excited though. He got to go to the pumpkin patch and pick out his very own pumpkin and we let him go to Party City and choose his own costume! We were pretty much giving him free reign since it's kind of hard to find something that will work for a family theme with a dad, a toddler and a pregnant mom. So, he decided on Wilson from Chuggington. I had no idea who this character was and hadn't even heard of Chuggington before that! I'm not sure he had either because he always just said he was a "red engine". I was very surprised that he didn't choose Thomas, which was displayed right next to Wilson, but he really like the red train. And he got to wear it three times - at our neighborhood party, the town "faire" and, of course, for trick or treating.

Hmmm...

This one might be a little big

Perfect!

Peter and our neighbor/friend, Jason, playing "Cornhole"

I took him trick or treating while Peter stayed behind to hand out candy. We only went up and down our street, and unfortunately only 8 houses or so had their lights on. But I really think that was enough for the both of us. When we got back home I let him eat a couple pieces of candy (which impressed my mom!) and he "helped" Peter pass out to the rest of the kids who were still coming around. He definitely had a fun night.

Look at the red train's loot!

Speaking of Halloween... it was my 30th birthday. It started with a surprise birthday breakfast at work. We generally celebrate birthdays with a monthly birthday lunch, but for the big ones (those ending in 0) we do something special. Everyone brought food and we had a delicious breakfast feast. They even invited Peter and Nate to join in. Nate has really been wanting to come see me at work, so he loved it. (And they love him, of course!)

My cubicle - kind of hard to duck under with the belly...

Being silly

Me and the boys

The rest of the day was pretty much taken up by work and Nate, but Peter did have some apple cider waiting for me when we got back from trick or treating, which was very nice. I figure until Nate and Cranberry get past the trick or treating age I will pretty much just have to give up my day to them. So... only 13 or so years to go! ;)

My little photographer

In the last few weeks Nate has become very interested in taking pictures with my phone. I have A LOT of blurry shots, but some of them actually turn out pretty decent.

Here are a couple of the better ones:

And some of the not so good ones:

Nothing comes close to the Golden Coast!

Nate and I had the chance to visit my family out in California in October. It was such a great trip! It seemed like the beginning of the trip went a little slower, even though we had more going on, but the second half just flew by even though we weren't really doing much! Isn't that how it always goes though? Here's a quick rundown of what we were able to do.

Friday night: Flew in late and grabbed a hotel in Irvine. Nate did not sleep one wink on the plane and didn't go to sleep until midnight (3am Eastern). He was a pretty good trooper.

Saturday: Reid family get-together with my mom's side of the family. Lots of love and great food!

Nate digging in!

Sarah at 30 weeks and Katie at 24 weeks (approx)

Sunday: Museum of Natural History in Balboa Park (my favorite SD locale) so Nate could see some dinosaurs, then La Jolla Shores (my favorite SD beach) for some sandy fun. Nate kind of got freaked out by the in and out of the waves, but he at least got to put his feet in and had a ton of fun digging in the sand. Then I got to have dinner with my good friend Megan and meet her boyfriend.

Nate and Katarina doing the penguin waddle

Monday: Sea World! He loved the whale show, but I think a lot of the rest will probably be better for him in a few years. We then headed up to Bakersfield.

Tuesday: NOTHING! We, well mainly I, needed a break so all we did was hang out at my mom's house. We got to eat some Reid Tacos (my all-time favorite food) and homemade ice cream. That's the great thing about coming to CA... getting all my favorite foods, and introducing them to Nate (and Cranberry).

Wednesday: Pretty much nothing... did a little shopping, but otherwise just hung around my mom's house, went to have some Chinese food, then went to see my dad for awhile.

Thursday: Again, not much of anything. We did a little browsing for strollers, had dinner, then I went to my sister's to sort through 3 HUGE tubs of clothes that her daughter, Katarina, is donating to Cranberry.

Friday: Hung out with my dad, had Basque food, then headed out for some frozen yogurt. FINALLY got my peanut butter, and it was better than I remembered it.

Saturday: Met my brother, sister in law and niece in Calabasas for their annual pumpkin festival, then hung out with them for the rest of the night, which included some yummy Italian food (with a Malibu ocean view) then more frozen yogurt! This time Chocolate Coconut.

Nate and his cousin Lindsay

Sunday: Had breakfast then had to head out to the airport. Again, Nate did not sleep a wink, but was a pretty good trooper.

Of course every time I get to go home I don't want to come back, and definitely miss the people I get to see when I'm there. But I know, no matter how long I'm away, I will ALWAYS be a California girl at heart.