Talan Sledding

He does not get his fearlessness from me, that's for sure!

The reason I hate asking strangers to take my picture...

One of the gifts from my sister for Chistmas was for the two of us to see Wicked at the Orpheum Theatre in SF. We wanted the token shot of the two of us in front of the marquee, so we asked a nice couple nearby to take our picture...this is the best one? Proof that I finally saw Wicked!

30 + Weeks and counting!

T took this one!

And here's the belly...the first and last time I'll probably show you "au natural!"

Hard to imagine I have about 10 weeks left...doesn't that mean 10 more pounds! I already feel like my body is stretched beyond its limit, but I'm sure this little man will find a way to make room!

Getting to 30 weeks has been relatively uneventful. I am very thankful for having a generally easy pregnancy, with fatigue in the beginning being the only major symptom the first 3 months. This pregnancy has been different in that this baby is in a completely different position than T had been. T was stretched out from side to side. This baby is low and pushing out in front. Up until about 22 weeks, he was positioned very low in my pelvis, causing me to feel like I had to pee constantly anytime I was standing, which is not entirely comfortable, but could be worse right!?

Since Halloween, my belly has definitely made its presence known and I blame it entirely on the holidays and all of the wonderful comfort food that goes with it. Last week my OB told me he would like it if I only gained another 5 lbs. by term, and I laughed at him and said that would be impossible since the baby himself will gain 1/2 lb. a week for the next 10 weeks, not including the fluid retention I'm sure I will develop towards the end. I am on track to gaining 10 pounds less than I did with T, which I am comfortable with. It's always nice when your own physician perpetuates such unrealistic standards.

I did have a little snafu if you will, when I accidentally fell off of a small chair the day before Christmas Eve. I fell on to my tailbone, not my abdomen thankfully, but within minutes I began experiencing contractions that became consistant every 5-10min over the next few hours. Jason was fast asleep when this all happened, even after the loud crash I'm sure my body made as it thudded against the floor, and T and myself yelling for him, his hibernation apparently couldn't be disrupted. I am thankful I wasn't seriously hurt otherwise who knows how long I would have been on my own. It was my dad's birthday lunch which I did not intend on missing so I put off calling L&D, hoping that after eating and walking around a bit, the contractions would subside. They didn't slow down, so my family, who were not very pleased with my putting it off, had me call L&D who asked me to come in for observation. I was admitted for the evening, and my contractions and the baby were monitored closely. Thankfully after about 6 hours the contractions went from about 8-10 and hour, to 4 or less which meant I was stable enough to go home. There was no sign of cervical dilation so the contractions weren't actually stimulating labor. Leave it to me to be clumsy enough to begin all of this drama!

Christmas Day

Christmas and New Years have come and gone in one swift fleeting moment it seems, so I am only now downloading the pictures!

Christmas morning, T woke up to find a huge red bag left for him by Santa himself! And a letter from the big man too!
T waiting patiently for Daddy to get himself out of bed so we could all go downstairs together!

He climbed inside the bag to find his gifts!

A new racetrack

Big boxes from Uncle Matt

Christmas Day in Tracy with his cousins

A Very Brady Christmas

Yesterday we spent the day with my best girlfriend Kim and her 4 kids and cousin Maddy, building gingerbread houses and exchanging the kids' gifts. It was a wonderful mix of organized chaos getting the children to sit long enough to not only build the houses but also decorate them. The older girls were very patient with the younger boys losing interest easily so they would go off and play with them while the Mommy's finished the construction. T absolutely adores the time he spends at the Brady house, so whenever we are over there it is hard to get him to stay in one place! Allie was the best helper for me, decorating T's gingerbread tree with him. T did finally settle down and sit at the table to decorate his house, he mostly did the roof, and was very proud of his creation!

A Zoo Birthday

The weekend after T's official 4th birthday, we celebrated with friends and family at his official party held at the Oakland Zoo! Although it was barely 50 degrees that day, the kids were bound and determined to have a blast, and they sure did. It was quite a task keeping everyone somewhat close together as we made our way around the zoo, but everyone was able to see what they wanted and play where they wanted for the most part. After we visited all of the animal exhibits, we made our way to the rides area, where we also had lunch followed by his very green frosted cupcake cake, which was a hit with the kids. T had so much fun with all of his little friends and cousins that day, and every day since he has said, "Mommy, that sure was a fun birthday at the zoo! We should do it again sometime!"

He calls himself a wilderness explorer, so of course he would get to hold the map!

T and his buddy Cayden getting a closer look at giraffes

Mommies trying to keep up!

He loves the tiger roller coaster...he must have gone on it 3 times that day

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Here we are making his zoo cupcake cake the day before his party

A little Picasso-inspired art on his Pasha's computer

T playing the photographer! After all, we take enough of him he says!

Catching Mommy in all her frumpiness!

Whipping up some very green frosting for his cupcake cake!

More reasons...

A compilation of photos from our others visits to S.F. last month...



For T's birthday, we opened his presents at Kate's place, then ate at Patxi's Chicago Pizza. Yummy, hit the spot that day! Then we walked back to Kate's apartment, but not before visiting a Christmas tree lot at the Marina Middle School, and enjoying all of the christmas decorations in the windows on the way back.



Here's the birthday boy...

Impatiently waiting for his pizza, he was past hungry...as was I!

Another one of our warm Autumn days...

After a late lunch at North Beach cafe for authentic Italian cuisine, and seeing Carlos Santana a few tables away!! we stopped at the famous Victoria Pastry Company in North Beach for some cookies and pastries! Of course T wanted one with lots of sprinkles!

Here he is on the cable car....waiting patiently!