We've Got A Kicker

Little Baby Hansen was kicking like crazy on the screen today. It was absolutely incredible. At 9 weeks 4 days gestation, the baby is the size of a prune and yet astonishingly, on the grainy screen I could see its head, brain hemispheres, jawline, heart fluttering, arms wiggling and legs kicking like crazy. I cheered for the baby (we think it's a boy) and said GO Little Dude GO!! Due date is April 13. We continue to be elated. Lucia has informed us that she only wants a baby sister, and has already started talking to the baby, which is slightly awkward given the baby is currently located in my pelvis. She also announced this morning that her baby is already out of her tummy and she's feeding it milk with her breasts. Side note: Lucia's fascination with breastfeeding is riddled with irony, given the Herculean efforts I endured to try to get that kid on the breast. C'est la vie. 

A Series in Silly

So silly.

Little one

We went to the hospital today and are very happy to announce all is well with the little one. Yes, only one (1) and with a good heartbeat too. Estimated Time of Arrival: Early April. After a very long difficult time with many ups and downs, it is a true relief to see this finally happening. We hope all our friends (who are still trying) will get there soon also.

Pictures from Gilroy Gardens

At the entrance.

Riding the Carusel.

Another carusel, her favorite.

All aboard the train. 

The photo Lucia took of me. 

Test Drive

So our trip to Disney World is coming up quick, and thanks to our beloved guide book, they suggested going to a local amusement park and test driving sunblock, socks, shoes, hats, strollers, who tires out first (raises hand), etc. etc. So off we went today to Gilroy Gardens. We found a coupon so with our ticket price came all-you-can-eat BBQ, which is always a losing game with us, since our food allergies cancel out about half the food, but I digress. 

Off we went. Lucia wore a $6 comfy dress I found on the sale rack at Target, with a long-sleeve T-shirt over it. Apparently Gilroy has bizarro weather, as it was 46 this morning and 97 when we left this afternoon. Seriously. I wore new sandals to get 'em nice and broken in. 

On the way down, I realized I forgot my sunglasses, so we made a pit stop to Target and I ran in to get sunglasses for me and Lucia, bottles of water and maybe some peanut butter cookie Larabars for me. Maybe. I came out to the car with these for Lucia, and I don't think I've ever seen Pete so horrified. Dude, I said, they were only $1.78! He was not amused. 

We arrived, FINALLY, despite Lucia whining almost the whole way, I'm hungry. I'm thirsty. When are we going to be theeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeee? Off we go. I had packed a bag with a first-aid kit, plenty of snacks for us, a change of clothes, sunblock, hat, wipes, etc. etc. We paid and went in, but wait! We forgot the water! Pete made a dash back out to the car. THEN off we finally go. We headed to the carousel first. Lucia refused to ride on the horses, saying she was scared, so we rode on a bench the first time. Then she warmed up asked to get on a horse, and wanted me to get on a horse too. Fun! 

We rode a few more rides, then it was time for the BBQ. Which was kinda a disaster. I was grumpy hungry, so once I had my plate full and sat down there wasn't much distracting me, but then ALL THE BEES. TRYING TO GRAB MY CHICKEN. Bees! Everywhere! I looked around, and it seemed like everyone else was not affected by this! What the what. So we tried to finish our food, but it was just kind of a disaster. We figured out they wanted chicken so we left a chicken bone with some scraps on it further down on the empty table as bait to keep them occupado while we ate. It kinda worked. 

After "lunch" we decided to ride the train so we could see what else was in the park. Which was awesome and totally the highlight of the day, except for the fact that we could see we hadn't even seen a 1/4 of the park. So we started walking, and tried to get Lucia to sleep (no dice). We saw tons of cool stuff and Lucia played on the playground for forever as I broiled in the sun. We found an air-conditioned spot and cups of ice to help us cool down, but man it was hot. We found a waterfall area and hooboy was it refreshing. We surveyed what we still wanted to do and made a complete loop around the park. Lucia wanted to have her face painted, and I'm not sure why, but there was like ONE lady staffing the booth and pushy parents in front of us insisting on full-face painting (read: takes a zillion hours) but fine, we got it done. She got a unicorn on her cheek. Which Pete and I laughed about later, saying it looked like a dolphin with a pink wig on.

Pink-wigged dolphin picture to come

We headed home as we all reached maximum exhaustion, and she and I slept on the way home. Overall, we learned some good lessons today:

1. Lucia doesn't like our new minimally-toxic-as-possible-but-still-effective spray sunblock. Gah. 
2. Naps = mandatory. The plan for Disney World is to go back to the hotel everyday from 1-4 or 5 for naps and a swim. Sounds dreamy. 
3. Snacks = mandatory. 
4. Extra water = also mandatory
5. Having a game plan with a map and knowing where to go for the day = essential. 

Brains for dinner

Guess we have a zombie fan?

Sleep Tight!

I came home from a one-day business trip to Fresno and saw this when I came in the door. Sweet dreams, Cinderella. So sweet.

Easygoing weekend

Last week I was out of town for work, which was beyond exhausting for both of us. Me = traversing across towns, holding public workshops in sometimes hostile communities in 108 degree weather. No big deal. Pete = preschool pickup/dropoff, making lunches and commuting three hours for at least some days this past week.

By Friday we were spent and ready to do absolutely nothing. So that's what we did. Saturday we made muffins, walked to the farmers market and got a balloon flower from the clown, tons of fruit and vegetables and a different kind of muffin and cookie from the bakery. Followed by naps and just hanging out. Sunday was more of the same plus swimming lessons and a much-needed trip to the car wash. Batteries recharged.

Fun with Ninny and Farfar

Ninny and Farfar went home last week. We miss them. We had tons of amazing food and Lucia got to stay home from school most days to spend time with them. I know she really enjoyed it. We loved having them visit. Thanks for coming over Ninny and Farfar! We love you.

So I guess we are doing that now?

I guess she can write her name now. Uh. Guess they taught her at school?