December 9, 2007 It's a Boy!

Well apparently everyone was right and we are having a boy. All the blood tests came back with great results and so far so good. Check out our little guy

He's a little shy I think!

It's been a hectic few weeks with our Capoeira events (workshops, batizado and anniversary party) and adobe.com's site reskin launch. I'm off to San Jose for a work conference this week, and hopefully for a little relaxation. While I am away the final work on the house will be wrapped up so we can finally get everything together and clean up for the holidays. Tom's dad is coming into town and we hope to have everything comfortable for then.

November 7, 2007 Little One

Yup- we are going to have a baby. Looks like it will be late April, early May. We find out what it is at then end of the month. Meanwhile, here are some ultrasound photos from when I was 13 weeks. Not sure if they are scary or cool- maybe both?

Not sure if it's doing a little capoiera ginga in this image or fending off evil spirits with the sign of the cross. But it has arms and fingers- event at 3 1/2 inches long!

I think it's on a cellphone here. Holla!

November 6, 2007 October Photos

Went to Connie and Brian's new house in Plymouth, CA over my birthday. This day we went for a hike in the Sierra's, which are about an hour 1/2 drive from their house.

JP went up and we hiked with Brian, Connie and their dog Louie and our dog Beijo.

We are pretty sure this was the first time Beijo saw snow. She loved it! I just couldn't believe there was snow that early in October.

Tom's mum came to visit at the end of October. We took Beijo to McClaren park, which is really close to our house. We finally found the man-made lake where dogs can swim. Beijo was a chicken and would only get her paws wet.

Views from the top of McClaren park.

We also went to Fort Funston beach quite a lot. We were dog sitting Marcus and Beijo LOVES him. They ran around like maniacs.

Sunsets on da beach.

October 8, 2007 Nicole and Mike's Wedding

Got back from Detroit last week and it was a really great trip. The weather was amazing. I believe it broke records for that time of the year. It was sunny, warm and gorgeous. I wanted to show Tom the fall leave colors, but there wasn't much to see. BUT, we almost didn't make it to Detroit at all. Let me tell you a little story...

Just say 'NO' to Spirit Airlines. Also, please say 'Screw you, piss off, and &#!@ your momma'.

We had a Spirit Air flight booked three months in advance. I received a notice via email that my flight reservations had changed and I needed to call or login to their website to check on the updates. Well, when I would log in, it would direct me to call the 1-800 number, and when I would call, I got a message saying, "We are experiencing a high volume of calls right now, hang up and call again later". For reals. Either that or I was on hold, sometimes for over an hour and I would have to hang up. This went on for two months or so. Finally a week before my flight I called and selected 'new reservation' rather than 'check or cancel my flight' and I got through after 45 minutes. The operator confirmed my flight and sent me another confirmation email. The day before our flight we received yet another confirmation email, along with flight numbers and everything. So on Friday night we drop off our dog at our friend's crib and packed our bags. We hire a $45 taxi to get to the airport only to find that Spirit doesn't even fly to SFO anymore!!!

What?!?!? We sat and stared at our confirmation email in belief. There is no Spirit counter or anyone to ask so we dial their 1-800 number again. Again on hold for an hour until we get through to a guy in India who tries to line us up with a flight from LA, departing in two hours...uh, ok, how are we supposed to get to LA in an hour? He had no solution for us. Only to have us call back tomorrow morning to get our money back. So we had to call United Airlines and book a flight for the next day using miles AND paying. Another $45 taxi ride home to get up the next morning and do it all again. NEVER EVER EVER USE SPIRIT AIRLINES. THEY ARE FRAUDULANT and I am pretty sure they are going out of business. It took me 5-6 tries all the next week to get through to someone and they wouldn't help me at all. They only refunded the ticket- wouldn't refund any of our other costs, wouldn't even take a complaint. I had to force them to go through the reimbursement process while I was on the phone, and after a lot of wrangling, finally got a mailing address to send letters to. Unbelievable.

So, finally we arrived in Detroit. My family was doing alright- Michigan is in a pretty serious recession and you could see the effects on everyone. It's not good for my family and for a lot of people invested in the Detroit Metro area. When we were leaving Detroit at the end fo the trip, the state was actually closing down, meaning that the DMV shut down, and there was no longer liquor control which meant it was possible that the bars could no longer serve, and once party stores were out of booze, they couldn't get more. Been too busy to check up on what has happened since, but it sounds like the Governor wanted to raise state taxes to fix the problem, and the people didn't want to pay more. UAW also went on a nation-wide strike while we were there, it looks like negotiations were settled pretty quickly, but I've heard they are threatening to strike again (Chrysler). This also affects all of the Detroit area economy. It trickles down to every industry. Sad to see the state in such a mess.

My niece and new nephew-in-law's wedding went really well. There was a great deal of anxiety over it all, but in the end the day was just perfect. My other niece, 17 year old Brittanie got in a fight the week before the wedding. Some crazy ex of an ex sucker punched her in the eye and she had to have surgery. She was ok in the end and ended up participating in the wedding. (I have a photo of her botched eye, but she would KILL me if she ever found out I posted it online).

We spent the week before the wedding traveling around a lot and visiting my older brothers and sisters and their families. We stayed over at their houses and hung out with the kids. It was really great to see everyone. We stayed mostly at my oldest sister and brother-in-law's house (the mother and father of the bride). Their house is pretty empty since both of their kids are grown and moved out. And I helped out a lot - cleaning and prepping for the big day. We didn't stay at my parent's house because as usual it was full. On top of the four (five?) adopted kids they have (all under the age of 12), they also had two other foster kids. It's a bit crazy over there.

It was good to come home. We've got a lot going on in the house- painters came while we were away and finished painting the back rooms. We now can start moving everything in and putting it all away. It is a great feeling! So much to do though, before Tom's mum arrives in a little over a week.

Here are some photos from Detroit and the wedding:

My brother's daughters Carly and Stephanie and their dog Teddy.

My little sister Michelle (number 0) at her middle school basketball game.

The four Toms- my nephew, brother-in-law, husband and brother. They would make a killer musical act. I'm thinking jazz ensemble.

My brother-in-law Nick (father of the bride) and my nephew Tom (brother of the bride).

My niece Shelby, the flower girl.

Saying the vows. I just fixed Nicole's dress. I think that is why I am staring at it.

I had to give a speech as the maid of honor. I think Amy next to me is praying for me. Not sure.

They had a table of pies instead of wedding cake. I like very much this!

(Left) My sister Jill, le bride Nicole and my niece Brittanie.
(Right) My nephew Tom and my niece Brittanie poking fun at her fight. Her eye cleaned up well. Proof that my family may be crazy, but at least they are fun.

Tom, my sister Jackie and my sister Jill.

My nephew Tom dancing with his mother, my sister and mother of the bride, Julie.

Mom and dad with my niece Brittanie. I have no idea how she got the 'tall' genes in the family.

I went around and took polaroids of everyone for the guest book. Tom put them in the album. This is me taking a photo of my Aunt Olga and Uncle Phil.