My cloth diaper addiction

So, I realize I haven't been keeping up the blog as regularly as I should BUT we've been super busy. I'll have to post another one of my condensed posts w/Jacob's birth and pics but unfortch, I don't have the time right now...maybe in the next couple of days (I'll carve out some time and just do it)!

Before I had gotten pregnant with Jacob I had been helping out other girlfriends with their pregnancies and questions about diapering came up. The more research I did about the different options, the more I had regretted not going cloth with Evan. Honestly, I just didn't have the support system and being that he was my first and no one around me was CDing, it was just too overwhelming for this then first time mom. Well, I have become a convert and an avid supporter of the cloth. This being said, I was encouraging to a few new moms and even helped to do a lot of research to find options that would best suit their lifestyle. Fast foward to my pregnancy with Jacob...I wanted to go green with as much as I could so I made the decision to do cloth, even with Evan still in diapers (ok, training pants), I was willing to do it. Since Jacob was my first in cloth, the options were dizzying!! BUT, I bought a few different dipes and after a few months, I have FINALLY found a system that works for us. YAY!!!! I am however, constantly adding to our stash b/c I like to have different options for him for day time, nighttime (esp. important) and of course, have enough for the grandparents to use when I'm away (hasn't happened yet but I'm planning a girls trip soon...YIKES). Along with choosing a diapering system another important system is the washing routine. GOOD LORD!!! Thank goodness for ALL of the GREAT feedback from moms out there because they've helped me from accidentally ruining my dipes (these babies aren't cheap, might I add)!! I'm using a great washing routine, but I'm always looking to improve it and I have heard rave reviews of an all natural detergent, Rockin Green which I have been dying to try!! So, I'm SUPER excited about this giveaway that I want to share the wealth with my nearest and dearest who share in the cloth love. Check out All About Cloth Diaper's blog to learn more about how you can enter to win a bag of their Hard Rock! And if you're dying to get your hands on them, you'll find a list of retailers that carry the goodies on the blog as well.

Well, I know this isn't much of an update on the kids front (which I know is one of the main reasons a lot of you come to this site), but I PROMISE I'll have a great post with tons of pics and hell, maybe even a couple of cute vids of the boys. Seriously, tons of cuteness on its way. With that, I've gotta get back to the grind so keep checking back for updates!

Home Stretch!!!

Life has been busy, busy, busy for us but we're not complaining one bit! =) July 1st was Evan's first day at his Montessori school and it was rather difficult to say the least...both for him and me! I couldn't stop crying on my way to work after dropping him off and both Ed and I called to check in on him throughout the day. The calling hasn't quite stopped yet, but we're trying to keep it at a 2 calls a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Evan is still adjusting so we're waiting for the day when he actually gets excited to go and no longer says, "Me? I don't want to go to school today, Mommy. I want to stay with you." Heartbreaking. It truly is. And it doesn't help that my hormones are all over the place so, I'm already an emotional nutcase! *sigh* But, let me get off of this negative rock and highlight all the great changes we've seen in him!! He is DEFINITELY talking A LOT more...and by a lot, I seriously mean NON STOP talking. Its wonderful because before he started school he was already a talker but now he's engaging and participating in our conversations rather than mimicking what we say. Its CRAZY!! He also can count to ten in Spanish and label his eyes, nose, mouth, ears, head, hands and feet in Spanish. Its seriously too cute! And he's even more social at the parks, at parties and when we're out and about doing errands. He's always been a social butterfly (hmmm, a lot like his daddy) but he's gained quite a bit of confidence and more of a personality when he's around other kids and adults. He surprises us with new words, phrases and abilities everyday!! =) Just this morning, we were having breakfast and he took a bite of his waffle and said, "mmm, mmm, Mommy! This waffle is scrumptious!!" I about fell out of my seat laughing! But I simply said, "Thank you, Evan. I'm happy you like your breakfast!" Too cute! Seriously!!

On 4th of July weekend I ventured to Orange County sans Evan & Ed to hang with Mel and celebrate her bridal shower! Its so hard to believe that her wedding is just 2 months away!! Time really does fly!! Ed and I decided that I leave Evan behind because he already had a pretty hard week starting school and thought it best to let him hang out with dad and just simply have some fun. Its a neighborhood tradition that our block is closed down and everyone gets together for some good food and fun fireworks right in front of our houses. I was sad to have missed out on our 1st July 4th with them, but there's always next year!! =) It was nice to have some time to myself and do sister/girlee stuff with Mel. We of course hit shopping as soon as I landed but we've become SO efficient over the years that we hit 2 stores, got all our items bought and still made it down to Vista in record time. Yeah, we're pros at this by now!! =) The shower had an awesome turn out and I have to post pics another time because for whatever reason, my computer won't read my sd card. BOOO!!! Her gifts were awesome and I hope she and Ernie will use ALL of them at some point!! =) =)

On July 6th, I had my OB appt and decided that I will be going forward with a scheduled C-section to bring baby Jacob into the world. We talked about the difficulties we faced when I was in labor with Evan and since the likelihood was high that I would come across the same problem, we opted to save both baby and myself the unnecessary pain and I'm scheduled for an August 20th surgery date. I had initially wanted to do a VBAC but its looking like Jacob will be a bit bigger than Evan and a VBAC may not have been an option anyway. *sigh* Oh well! I just want to make sure Jacob is healthy!!! =) Currently, I'm 34 weeks and its getting harder to keep my energy up, especially with the heat that we're having. *sigh* Just trying to elevate, hydrate and relax. =) I seriously can't believe that we're going to have another little boy in our house in just a few short weeks. BUT, can't get ahead of myself. There's still TONS to do in preparation as well as some parties to attend!! woo-hoo!! Really quick, here's the ultrasound pic of Jacob (i'm SO bad for not doing a separate post for this...maybe I'll add one later)!

On the weekend of July 11th, we celebrated with DJ & Mariela Madarang in the baptism of their first child, Brody! He is SOOOOOO cute!!! And not to be bitter or anything but Mariela is lookin' hot...like she never even had a kid. Life just isn't fair sometimes! lol!! Again, the pics are stuck on my sd card and hopefully, I can get them uploaded sometime this week! On the 12th, we celebrated the baby shower for Jane Briones who will be welcoming baby #4 on July 31st. She was looking radiant and too cute in her maxi dress!! Evan couldn't get enough of her daughter, Jailee who he played with the majority of the time. It was a hot afternoon in Suisun but lots of fun!!!

This weekend we're going to be camping at Lake Berryessa with Scott, Letitia, Christine, Jay, Todd, Vern and Mel and Ernie are coming down to join in on the fun. Its Evan's 1st camping trip so we will be taking LOTS of pics and they'll be posted at some point next week.

As for the rest of July, we have relatives flying in from Australia this weekend, Philippines and Canada next week to gear up for Elroy & Alia's wedding on July 25th in San Francisco. I'm super excited to participate as a bridesmaid for them and Evan will be the coin bearer. I cannot express just how happy I am for the two of them!!!! Elroy has always been like the baby brother for me (he's my 1st cousin on mom's side) since he literally was born and raised along side me and Ryan seriously all our lives!! I can't believe he's gettin' married and will *hopefully* start a family soon so we can add to the kiddies in our family!! =) He lived with me while he was in college and I was venturing out on my first job. It doesn't feel like we're grown really, I still feel like we're kids just doing our thing but we're not. lol!! I can't wait to get all gussied up and party harty!! lol!! =)

And that about wraps up our plans for July. We're DEFINITELY taking August easy with just TWO functions and nothing more. Ed has to paint and put together some furniture for Jacob's room and I know my nesting instincts or OCD will kick in and I'm going to have to wash EVERYTHING, clean EVERYTHING and wipe down just about EVERYTHING! lol!! The good thing is that we have most of our things either boxed away or stored somewhere so there's not a lot of have to go through. I'm just hoping the heat doesn't get any worse cuz it makes being in the house (upstairs more than anywhere else) really unbearable. *sigh* I'll provide July update posts with pics of the above events as time and energy allows. Hope everyone is well and enjoying their summer!!!!

So You Thnk You Can Dance??

Its been a busy busy couple of months for us with activities, trips and special events. We just got back from a weekend packed with a wedding and baby shower, but I haven't had the time to upload pics from those events yet. In fact this will be just a short entry showcasing Mr. Evan and his dance moves. He's been my sidekick and comic relief during Dancing With the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance nights and I think a little of that dancing has rubbed off...but I'll let you be the judge. He's a super cutie and always has me smiling and laughing. Hope you enjoy the clip!

Ooooh, its HOT!!

It has been a hot couple of days and with the weekend upon us, we're looking to soak up some sun!! Ed went out and bought a bike trailer with Evan Saturday morning so he can ride along Ed's now regular "Saturday morning bike rides." After searching and testing out various makes and models, Ed settled on the Schwinn Trailblazer Trailer. This is what it looks like (except that ours is blue & yellow). Evan was so excited when they got home that Ed had to put it together right away and take him on a spin in front of the house. Here are a couple of pics of the boys doing a "test run." (In these pics he's not wearing a helmet because it was just one loop in front of the house. He does wear one when they go out...safety first!)


Evan skipped his nap altogether since right after this ride, he had to go to soccer practice. He made 3 goals during practice and was able to kick the ball through an obstacle course. It wasn't until practice was over and he took a quick bath that he finally fell asleep. We all cooled down indoors and took it easy the rest of the day.

Sunday morning Evan had tumbling class and I decided to skip it and sleep in, so Ed and Evan biked over to the high school gym a few blocks away. We headed up to Vallejo for a farewell lunch for my dad who was leaving for the PI for a couple of months to take care of some business. We decided to check out this new sushi buffet in Hiddenbrooke. We were super hungry by the time we got there. The food was SO good. The only downside was that the restaurant's air conditioning broke down so we ate in oh about 100 degree weather. The manager gave us free ice cream for the inconvenience. =) Here's a couple of shots of the fam:
We wished my dad a safe trip and headed home to enjoy the remainder of the day. It was still super hot so we all changed into cooler clothing and let Evan have a run through the sprinklers before taking a quick bath and a much needed nap. It was another busy but enjoyable weekend!!

Here's Evan playing with his beach set before heading outside

Sprinkler time with Evan

Hope the warm weather lasts so there'll be more sprinkler time for me!! =)

Happy Mother's Day!!!

My mother's day weekend started on Saturday. We got up early to hit the farmers market and grab some yummy frozen yogurt and took Evan to the park to play a bit too. Ed cooked up a yummy dinner and I headed out on my own to watch "Wolverine" while Ed bathed and tucked Evan in for sleep. I have to say, it was an awesome movie and it was nice to get out and have the night to myself. I of course gorged on candy, nachos and an icee during the movie. YUMMMM!!! =)

Sunday morning Evan woke me up with the sweetest Mother's Day greeting and an awesome card. Check it out:


Ed cooked another awesome breakfast and we all got ready to head out to Monterey to spend the day. We attended mass at San Carlos Cathedral and the priest's homily totally made me cry! lol!! After mass, we grabbed some lunch at the Lopez Restaurante Y Cantina, a local favorite. We weren't disappointed in the least bit!! I ordered the chicken enchilada plate and had a virgin strawberry mango margarita. YUM!! We finally rolled our stuffed selves outta there and headed to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Evan had a BLAST!!!! =) Unfortch, I don't have any pics from the day since my other Mother's Day present was still charging. Needless to say, he was amazed at all the animals we got to see as well as touch! In the touch pool, he was able to run his hands over a batray! A definitely highlight of the visit! Afterwards, we ate some seafood along Cannery Row and of course, I got some yummy ice cream! It wasn't long before we pooped ourselves out and decided to make the trek home. Evan and I passed out and Ed drove us home.

Before I forget, this was waiting for me next to my breakfast when I woke up in the morning...my sweet Mother's Day present! =)I had been looking around for a new point and shoot digital camera to replace my worn Casio Exlim and Ed remembered that I had talked highly of this one. I can't wait to break it in and take some pics and vids with it!! To learn more about it, click here (Olympus Stylus 1010).

I hope every mother out there felt as much love and appreciation as I did this weekend. =)

*Blink* There went November

I honestly can't really remember much of November other than Thanksgiving. Ed's family came up to celebrate with us. Thanksgiving afternoon was spent in American Canyon with my side of the fam and then we hightailed back home to get things in order for the Vista crew to roll in. They arrived at around 9pm and we had another chow down. YUM! =) I have pics somewhere but can't locate them at the moment so, I'm just going to give a few things I'm thankful for to wrap up this post.
1) My health
2) My husband and beautiful, healthy son, Evan
3) A cozy and wonderful home
4) My job...even though I hate it (sometimes)
5) My family...even though I want to strangle some of them more times than not. Eh, its family
6) My husband's family...its a blessing to have crazy, loving and fun people to add to the already crazy bunch of fam I already have. Ed lucked out cuz its part of the reason why I married him! lol!
7) Supportive, funny and super fabulous friends...they keep the weekends exciting and my days off occupied
8) The invention of video...I can view heartwarming and hilarious vids of Evan anytime, anywhere. LOVE IT!!
9) Chocolate. Its always good. It never disappoints or complains. And I can have it anytime without having to have a reason. Thank God I'm not allergic to it!!
10) Talented writers...The only pastime I choose to have when I have a moment alone is to read. Its a great escape to be somewhere else, someone else and live through a different life for just a little bit. And the characters in my head ALWAYS look hotter than any actor out there! =)

Breezing through October

So, I'm going to do a condensed post for the last quarter of 2008, starting with October. The first set of pics are of Mike & Dell Abadie who came up for a quick visit to San Francisco. We hung out in the city for an afternoon and spent some good time w/a great couple!!

The Blue Angels were performing in San Francisco during fleet week and we wanted to let Evan see them live and up close since he LOVES planes!! The set of pics below are from the day, but unfortch, we don't have ANY pics of the actual planes. Sad, I know!!

Evan has been expanding his collection of books and has taken a liking to the classic, "Where the Wild Things Are." Here's a couple of pics of him reading me the story (his version) all by himself. Its pretty cool how he can memorize a whole book!!
In October 2009, this classic comes to the big screen. We can't wait to bring Evan to see it!!! I hope it'll come out in IMAX!! =)

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October 15th, we celebrated our 3rd year wedding anniversary. It was low key and included a day at the park, a quiet dinner and of course, some pics. =)

October wouldn't be complete without an annual trip to the pumpkin patch to pick up some pumpkins for us to carve. Evan and I went on my day off and had the patch pretty much all to ourselves!! SCORE!! =)
Being our first Halloween in Dublin, we went around the neighborhood and said "hello" and "trick or treat" to everyone we knew. Evan totally came away with some good candy!!! YUM!! He was a St. Bernard and I was a baby. =)

One of our neighbors had a scary cemetery set up in front of his house. Needless to say, Evan was TOTALLY freaked out! He didn't want any candy from the house. We found a pint sized pumpkin at the patch which fit right in his hand. He was mighty impressed by it.


Just a few up close shots of Evan in his costume. The last pic of him was after all the trick or treating and he was a sweat ball!!
We had some leftover candy from the night and Evan dipped his hands into the candy bowl. He kept asking, "This one?" And when we gave in a said, "You can have this one, " he studied it to see how he was going to get that sucker open!! It was an awesome month and that about wraps up October!!! =)

On the road again

Last week was extremely a stressful as I was in the throws of our fiscal year end and without going into painful detail, it basically means I was up to the yin yang with numbers and reconciling. YUCK YUCK YUCK!!! I will be totally brain dead when all of this is over. Thank God I only have to have a 1 1/2 year old level of thinking when I get home! =) Anyway, the light at the end of that week was our turn around trip to San Diego for Laurie and Andrew's wedding. We left our place Friday at 6pm and arrived at 12:30am in Vista...definitely tons better than 3am!! Since the week was super crazy, I didn't have time to shop and so, Melanie, Evan and I went to TWO BBB's to find a gift...and yes, there was still something pretty good left on the list! Yay! We decided on this beautiful set of professional mixing bowls:

In the San Marcos plaza where one of the BBBs were, there just happened to be a Nordstrom Rack and so...we HAD TO go in...AND look for dresses because Mel just wasn't happy with what she had at home. I scored a cute one too...hee hee! =) Here's a pic of us in our snazzy outfits! =)

We made it to the church just as the ceremony was beginning and although it was SUPER hot, it was a very beautiful ceremony. We hung out a bit at the church and mingled then proceeded to the reception site where we hung out and mingled some more. Here are some pics of us at the church. (All of the pics are courtesy of Mel cuz I haven't uploaded my pics and I think I didn't take as much as she did. So, THANKS MEL!).

Here are some pics we took at the church while waiting to leave for the reception site.

As we made our way to the reception, Mel and I were lucky to run into Lori (the bride) and snag a pic with her before she was whisked away! =) She looked SO beautiful!!!

Mel & Ernie took pics w/the Castillo brothers, Ryan & Ronnie.
Ed is also posing w/Ronnie. We were about to catch up w/the two of them before the reception started and then it was food, dancing, drinking and yes, MORE fun!!! =)
I'll try to update this post w/some of the photobooth pics we took as soon as I get around to scaning them. For now, lemme get ready for October!! =)

San Diego celebrations

Melanie's birthday landed on a Friday this year and she took a day off to enjoy herself...a bit of sleeping in, a relaxing massage and a lunch with all of us! Ed and I took the day off too and spent the majority Friday relaxing and catching up with mom and dad. We had to be at Vera Cruz at exactly noon for lunch with the birthday girl. Ernie had work so he was meeting us there.

Here's Mel and Ernie with the beautiful flower arrangement he got for her.

Here's a nice montage of the entire fam. Its not very often that we get to celebrate Mel's bday altogether so this was a great treat!

After lunch we headed back to mom and dad's. I thought I would get a nice nap in after all the great food, but we had another stop on our agenda. Ed contacted Adam to see if he and the fam were available for a visit. They welcomed Gavin Chong on Tuesday, September 16th. Lucky for us, they were available so we made our way over to the Chong residence in San Marcos. Here are a couple of pics of cutie Aiden and one of the two boys together. Why don't I have a pic of Gavin? I have NO idea! I think I was just too happy to get a chance to hold him that I totally forgot to get a pic of him!! Evan and Aiden kinda played with each other but mostly played next to one another. lol!! Evan has GOT to be around more kids!!

The rest of the day included a MUCH needed nap and of course, gearing for Saturday's festivities!! There was LOTS to do!!! =)

So, I don't have any pics from the party for Lola on Saturday but will be getting some from dad, when he gets a chance to upload all of them. But I will say that there were A LOT of people and it was just a fun party, which is nothing new when it comes to any Salvador get together! Evan got to see the Vales side of the family, which isn't very often so it was a great opportunity. Evan also played with his cousins, Gavin and Leila so he thoroughly enjoyed that!!

Before the party however, we were able to get together with the Bouchers at Peggy and Jerry's house. Micah and Evan had a blast playing with one another. Here a few pics of the boys hanging out.

Evan still calls out for "Mikey, mikey." That's his version of "Micah." And then he goes, "want, want." Its pretty amazing how he remembers him and he even says, "Mikey...car." Micah had two wind up cars that Marc was revving up and making them run back and forth and the boys LOVED them!! Its too cute. Lastly, here's a family pic of all of us. We'll have to try to visit them again the next time we're visiting Vista. We left for home Sunday morning at 9am but not before stopping off at Alberto's for 5 rolled tacos (for me) and a California burrito (for Ed). Yuuuummmmm!!! We got home at 5:30 which was great since we had made two stops so Evan can stretch and handle some "business." We were able to get things cleaned up at home and get ready for the work week.

Oh! On Saturday, on our way back to mom and dad's from Peggy's, we stopped at a garage sale and picked up a sweet drum set for Evan for $3!!! OH YEAH!!! So, we had him go at it when we arrived home and well, the pics say it all...ladies and gents, we've got a ROCKSTAR in the making!! ;) This is Evan warming up...And here's Evan totally rockin' out...even losing a drumstick in the process!! WOOT! WOOT!!

What an eventful weekend!! And guess what? We're gonna do it again next weekend! Oh yeah, that's right! We're heading back down to SD...AGAIN! lol!!

A packed week

On Wednesday, our good friend, Charles Bradshaw was coming to the bay for work and naturally asked what we were up to. We invited him for dinner and that usually leads to enjoying beverages of the alcoholic kind so we also extended our home to him for the night. It was a great midweek treat to have him over and hear all about his new career venture, love interest and the latest with his sister and nephew (who is now FOUR). Evan was totally loving his Uncle Charlie and showed him his soccer skills, batting skills and basically cornered him for playtime for about half an hour. We had a wonderful dinner filled with great food and conversation. As the night drew on, Evan and I turned in and left Ed and Charles to do what they do best...drink and talk the night away. Yes, it was a Wednesday night but like that ever stops them (4 bottles of wine and at least 8 beers between the TWO of them)! ;) Here's a pic of the boys...

Incidently, we were making the drive down to San Diego after work Thursday. Yeah, Ed was definitely still hurting! I took the last leg of the drive and we arrived in Vista at about 3:00am. We were there to celebrate Lola Doring's 1 year death anniversary and to celebrate Melanie's birthday.

Warm summer nights

On September 11th, Ed was able to get off of work early so the three us headed to Walnut Creek to grab a bite to eat at Chili's and then took a stroll around and eventually parked ourselves at the fountain area in the Broadway Plaza shopping center. Evan was of course, fascinated with the water and kept pointing at it saying, "Wa wa!! Oooooh!" Here are some pics of him hanging around the fountain.

On September 12th, Evan and I woke up unusually early and decided to take our time getting ready for work and lola's house. Evan has been a lot more vocal and when I'm unable to understand what he wants, I simply ask him, "Please show mommy what you want." He takes my finger and takes me to what he wants. Its awesome. This particular morning, he kept saying, "rock, rock." So I replied, "All the rocks are outside and its too dark to find the rocks." He immediately said, "no no no. rock, rock." and started to get a bit agitated so I asked him to show me what he wants. Well, he brought me to this...and he "rocked." =)

On Saturday, September 13th, we celebrated the upcoming arrival of Baby Akramy at Anita (Mariam's bff) and Pat's place in San Jose. My camera was acting up so I only have one picture of the happy couple. I will post more as I get them. We were able to *FINALLY* catch up with and see our old friend, Steve Wright!! He was lookin' good and it was nice to see him!! He is also part of the ProBusiness group and this year marks our 10 years of friendship. We have DEFINITELY done and seen quite a bit of things in our time together!! =) And I'm sure with all the weddings and babies in our future, we'll have another crazy 20 years ahead! OY!!

Here' the glowing Mariam with her loving hubby, Tim.

A midweek city dinner

On September 8th, Evan and I decided to meet Ed in the city since he was working a little late and Ed wanted to see Evan for a bit before he went to bed. Evan and I hopped on BART (Evan's 1st BART ride) and met Ed at the Embarcadero station. We walked around Justin Herman plaza and let Evan run around the Embarcadero Centre before deciding to eat at Tony Roma at Embarcadero One. It was pushing 8:30pm and I had already fed Evan his dinner on BART so I knew he was ok but getting a little tired. We were able to sit in the back of the restaurant which gave us the privacy for Evan to be loud w/o disturbing anyone. The challenge was keeping him entertained while waiting for dinner. We drew pictures, played with all of our utensils and had some fun with a couple of rubber bands which is dipicted in the pics below! =)

Fun times!! We made our way back home on BART and Evan fell asleep. =)

Another year older

On Ed's actual birthday (September 2nd), the three of us headed to Half Moon Bay to spend the day and explore the Fitzgerald tidepools. It was a fun filled day for everyone! But as you will see in the pictures, it was mostly Evan's day at the beach! =) I will say that all 3 of us got an awesome tan from our beach day! Yay for summer days!! =)

You can't tell from these pictures but Ed and I pointed out a sea lion that was swimming close to the shore and Evan finally spotted it. He was also VERY excited to see the water.

Ed brought Evan for a closer look at the ocean. He wanted to jump in so badly but it was seriously freezing!! He brought some sea kelp to show me.

A large group of kids parked next to us on the beach and Evan couldn't wait to join them for some fun! He made himself quite at home with all of their toys, but the kids didn't mind him at all!

Evan found himself a red pail to play with and he decided that filling it with sand was of HIGH importance!! He did glance over at us to make sure we were 1) still there and 2) going to acknowledge his efforts. =)

Finally, at about 6pm, the ocean retreated to reveal the tidepools which we waited the WHOLE day to explore! Evan's energy level stayed up and was excited to touch and see everything!!

Evan's biggest discovery was a sea anemone which he touched and felt it close up. His reaction? "WOW!!!!"
Just a couple shot of Ed and me with Evan at different places in the tidepool!!


We had a long and fun filled day at the beach! Here's a last look at the beautiful tidepool and a pic of me hoisting na exhausted Evan back to the car. It was a great way to ring in another year for Ed!! =)

August

So, August also came and went and without one post BUT again, it was a VERY busy month!! We had Ed's mom and dad with us for 3 weeks and a slew of events to attend. The most significant one was Christine and Will's wedding on August 16th. It was beautiful and fun!! Evan was the coin bearer and apart from a few stumbles down the aisle, he did a great job!! It was on a private estate in Portola Valley and the day was just perfect! Chris and Will looked so happy!! It was a beautiful wedding! Here's a pic of our boy all dressed up in a barong.

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Here is one of the happy couple. Chris looked gorgeous!!! Oh and Will looked good too, but as we know, its ALL about the bride! ;)

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Before I close out our August post, here are a couple of pictures of Evan and me on August 30th. Now let me get to September!!

This is a funny pic of Evan trying to squeeze his BIG head through the stair rail. Obviously, lots of effort but no go! =)

I snagged a shot with Evan and the little ham all by himself. He's my cutie patootie! =)

What happened to July??

I know, I know, I said I was going to be better about keeping this this current but in my defense, we have had a CRAZY couple of months and yes, July flew right on by without a post to save my life. So, here goes a condensed month's recap.

July 4th: Got together at Auntie Belle's house in American Canyon, DJ and Mariella hosted a bbq and got all the folks together. Ronnie and Mike were up from Socal so it was nice to catch up and see them since we don't get to do that very often. Randy came by sans Jaime & Ben but we got to hear all about Ben. The babies were all there too...Logan, Isabella and Alexis. They have all gotten so big and are just so YUMMY!! I'll post pics later. Apart from the homies, we also met some of DJ's and Mariella's co-workers and family who were all so cool and fun! The guys spent most of the day playing drinking games (flip cup, what?) and the ladies hung out in and out of the house, it was a great way to spend the day. We didn't even have to go very far to see some fireworks. American Canyon's firework display was right behind Auntie's backyard!! So cool! Evan LOVED it!! He sat high on Ed's shoulder and kept saying, "WOW!!" Too cute! Again, pics to come later. The party kept on keeping on into the early morning hours. Mariella introduced me to this WONDERFUL massage chair where Evan and I both fell asleep on. It was heaven!! After an hour's nap for me, I put Evan down and rejoined the party. The boys thought it would be a good idea to stair surf which led to a crazy pile of guys falling down the stairs. Hilarious! Ed and I decided after watching their 3rd attempt that it was time to go home.

Here are the cutie twins and their awesome parentals. =)

Cutie pie Logan is in the left pic with Christine & Oli, the middle one has Mike and Oli and the one on the right has Christine, sleeping Logan, Randy and Mike. I heart them! =)

July 8th: EXCITING NEWS~After months of house hunting, our efforts finally paid off and we got the keys to our new home in Dublin. We had talked about moving for a very long time and looked at A LOT of places but found that we were always drawn to the Pleasanton/Tri-Valley area. Maybe because that's really where it all started for us so it was a good place to come back to and settle in for awhile. We love our neighborhood, location and city. We are just excited to be able to give Evan a good place to call home and a great community to grow, explore and learn from.

This is a shot of the front of the house taken by our realtor at the time of purchase. I can't tell you just how happy we are to be living here. The house has everything we want and was totally move in ready. Green Valley was a wonderful home to start our lives together but we can see ourselves staying here for a VERY long time!

July 12th: Packin' it up and headin' out! Ed and I had been slowly packing up Green Valley and decided to make the move to Dublin in one shot. With the help of Scott, Jay, Tim & Vern, we had enough man power to make the transition to Dublin in one trip. It was exhausting but the guys did a great job!! =)

July 14th: I left for a week long training in Austin, TX. It was a nice break/mini vacay for me to unwind and not have to do a single thing other than attend classes. I met some really great people from the different VAs across the nation and got to check out a couple of places around Austin. The weather wasn't all that bad either!! =)

July 19th: We celebrated Scott and Jay's birthday at Tim and Mariam's house. It was a sleepover so we were totally excited and looking forward to it. Everyone came out and we played poker, drank, talked babies/work/cooking, drank, watched Atonement, drank and discussed future business plans. Its always a good time when you're around great people! =) Here are some pics of the festivities. **The yummy strawberry cake was made with love by Letitia...Chef Letitia! ;)**(Clockwise): Here we have Evan checkin' out the key, a friendly game of poker, the hosts Tim and Mariam with Chef Letitia, and Todd with Ed and Evan. =) We have to include some pics of the yummy food!!! (Clockwise): There's Jay waiting to get some grub, the yummy birthday cake for Jay and Scotty, posing before blowing out the candles, and a group shot of Scott, Letitia and Christine. =) And there just HAS TO be pics of the fabulous and beautiful girls!! Hello! =) On the left we have Mariam with baby Akramy (in her belly), Letitia and Lilian. On the right, its me with Lilian! I heart her!! =)

The remainder of July was spent unpacking (which we did in a week) and hosting family and friends over. We still have a few random boxes but we're taking care of those a little at a time. The move has been great for Ed's commute since we have a BART line 2 mins from the house so now it only takes him 45 mins door to door and hardly any driving at all. As for my commute, I went from a 15 minute drive to 45 mins, which means I lose an hour of sleep but I guess its ok. I'm working on getting transferred closer (either Walnut Creek or Oakland) but considering that I work for the govt, this could take awhile. What a great month!! =)