Sea World!

Last week my mom, Ace and I ventured on down to San Diego for a few days. When we arrived it was BLAZING HOT. Seriously, Point Loma was 106' on Monday. Seriously?!  Of course our plan was to go to Sea World after driving down - and that we did in the excessive heat. We only stayed about 4 hours.

We arrived at Sea World around 1pm and man was it HOT! I think that assisted in contributing to really FEELING 25 weeks pregnant. Oye! We visited a LOT of gift shops between stops. Ace was excited to see whales! (If you recall last Monday he woke up saysing 'I see whales!') We attempted to visit Shamu in the under water tank - but we sat there for 15 minutes awaiting his appearance and no killer whales were to be found, but it was shady and we were sitting, and the boy was eating so it was still nice. They also had a great informative and interesting video about Killer Whales so it wasn't a total bust.

We did get to see some dolphins and sharks though and Ace was excited and thrilled to see both of those species. We saw the Sea Lion show, and Ace took it all in. It was an amusing show - I always love to see how they switch it up over the years. But man that was REALLY hot to sit through. After that we headed over to 'see Elmo' and let Ace get wet and cool down, before we headed out to go to Aunt and Uncle's house. Ace had a blast at the splash pad.

Tuesday, we took a leisurly pace to get dressed and eat breakfast and then we headed back to Sea World, for a MUCH cooler day, but still pretty warm at times. We wandered through all the aquariums looking at fish, frogs, octopus, and all things that live in tanks. We'd get to one tank and Ace would almost immediately point to the next tank and say 'more fish.' so our time in the aquariums didn't take too long. :)

After that we headed to Shamu Stadium to watch the show. Ace took it all in - overall wasn't too thrilled with it. Honestly mommy wasn't either. It's so sad they aren't allowed in the water with the whales anymore. It makes for a lack luster show for sure. However, they are still beautiful animals and it's always nice to see them.

Next up was what Ace had been requesting all morning: PENGUINS! Oh boy! He was so excited to see all the penguins. He also got to see manatee and polar bears. He had a good time running around that area. After that we headed to another show with trained cats and dogs. It was cute, but Ace crashed in the last few minutes of the show. Grandma and I found a good shady seating area and sat for about an hour while he snoozed.

Our final stop was the kid's play area again and let Ace play on the bouncy pad and play with blocks. He actually ended up collecting them all and lining them all up and then climbing on them. It was adorable, and if some kid came and took one of his blocks, he simply would push the others together and keep going with his 'bridge' he was building. It was pretty cute to watch him work so hard.

We headed out and back to Aunt and Uncle's after that with our penguin in arms and lots of fun memories stored up!

Pictures coming whenever BLOGGER decides to flipping LOAD them! GRR

Double Digits

Yes, we are down to 99 days (roughly) until Mae arrives, and how better to celebrate than with a shower in her honor! It's hard to believe that so much time has passed so quickly, or that we only have (roughly) three months left before her arrival. Lots of things are happening in that time frame so time will certainly fly. The holiday months usually do.

I am 26 weeks pregnant (tomorrow) and Mae is happily squirming around inside. Today is my shower is SoCal and I am so glad that I am able to celebrate with friends and family that have known me for so long. It's a blessing to be able to come back to town as often as we are able to.

I've 'held up' pretty well. There was a definite distinction between week 24 and week 25 though and I could feel it from when I first went to Disneyland to when we went to Sea World the next week. Mae is the size of a English hothouse cucumber (who comes up with these things?) or about 14" from head to heel ... although if she has my genetic inclination, she's much shorter than that ;-) and weighs about 1.65lbs. The nerves in her ears are continuing to form and become more sensitive and she is inhaling and exhaling the amniotic fluid. Next week mommy gets to take a glucose test to ensure that blood sugars are happy for mom and baby. Oh boy, what fun!

Palm Springs Getaway

We've had a lot of milestone birthdays as of late - and thus us girls decided to come together and celebrate them together. Becky was kind enough to delay her celebration until I was already 'in town' and save me some airfare, and thus we celebrated this past weekend with a trip down to Palm Springs. Grandma kept the boy, and I was going to enjoy 24 hours of freedom, before he joined us for dinner on Saturday night!

Shelley and I headed out after she got off work around 4pm, Ace was happy to venture off with Grammie to Auntie Dawn's for a bit - no fuss at all (PROGRESS!) They had a good time, but something was looming (siiigh) as for Shell and I we arrived in Palm Springs and met up with Becky and Jamie and enjoyed some dinner in downtown. After dinner we went upstairs and started to enjoy some pool. That's when I checked in to see how our little guy was doing... Grammie said he had just thrown up... siiiigh. So we wrapped up playing the last game of pool and headed back to the hotel, where I took Shelley's car and headed back to my mom's.

Ace threw up a total of 6 times before I got home, and once more after I arrived. After that last time he wanted water ... while I am always hesitant to give him a ton during rounds of vomiting ... I figured it would be something to throw up. He drank about 6oz in no time flat and then was his ol' perky self and wanted to play. Really?! So I let him play for 45 minutes and around 11pm took him to lay down to go to sleep. He slept pretty 'normal' and woke up bright and happy. Ate his normal breakfast and seemed totally fine. So I returned Shelley's car to her house and got in my rental and headed back to Palm Springs. Ace and Grammie went to the store to buy some bananas.

After arriving back, I joined the gals at the pool and we relaxed in the desert heat and coolness of the pool. We then enjoyed relaxing and watching some Gilmore Girls in our hotel room and then got ready for dinner at Kobes! It's our favorite place in the desert to eat ... well anywhere, let's be serious. :) My mom and Ace joined us for dinner and we had a good time. Ace ate a good meal as well.


We returned to the hotel and Ace wanted to go swimming, and so we did. He had a great time running around on the 'seat' that was all the way around the pool. He was in there for probably 30 minutes before he started to shiver. So we got out, said goodbye to Grammie, who headed home, and Ace and I got in the shower. It was a good time and I was so glad he was feeling better.
He slept well, and we got up, enjoyed breakfast and then departed ways. Shelley, Ace and I headed back in my car and enjoyed lunch with her family. He had a good time. After that we were off to Derek and Jen's place to enjoy some cousin playtime and dinner with them and Grammie. It was a good weekend, in spite of that slight hiccup with the sickness for 3 hours on Friday evening.

Mickey Park

On Monday of this week Ace, Grammie, Aunt Shelley, and myself ventured off to Mickey Park (or more commonly referred to as Disneyland and CA Adventure.) Ace awoke bright and early a little after 7 and said 'I see whales!' ... hehe while we are planning to venture to Sea World next week ... nope *today* we get to see Mickey! Oh boy did that get him jumping out of bed.

We arrived and went into CA Adventure first and got my mom her season pass figured out. Then we headed to wander around. Ace really wanted to 'run around' but we had to find a 'contained' area to do that in. That's easier said than done :) We headed over to A Bug's World and got in line for Ace's first ride of the day. It was a new one for him (since it was his ... and Grammie's first time in CA Adventure.) He loved it so much he didn't want to get off the ride when it was time to go. He quickly recovered from his protest and we continued to wander around - oh and I got a craving for cotton candy. Yum! So we made a stop and I got some. Ace enjoyed eating some as well.

We then collected our purchased 'picnic lunches' which also reserved us a seat for the World of Color show at 8:15pm - and ate an early lunch with those. Ace had a great time playing with Shelley's reflective sunglasses that he could see himself in - and then of course requestingn to ride on her shoulders - which she happily entertained. We walked around the park on our way to see Mater and Lightening McQueen!

After a somewhat skiddish and hesitant visit with the 'life size' Cars pals we headed on into Disneyland! First stop was of course the Mad Hatter store. I was hopeful since it was roughly 1pm that perhaps Ace would fall asleep as we strolled around the park - but he wasn't too interested in that so after the mad hatter store we headed to Toon Town! Ace had a good time running through Mickey's house and said he wanted to meet Mickey - which he did until the minute it was our turn. :) He cautiously observed as mom giving Mickey a hug and we took our pictures.


After that we attempted another long stroll for a nap - which did not happen - we went to find some rides to go on! Buzz and Nemo, Ace is a seasoned pro on (he's been to Disenyland twice before.) So we started with those. He enjoyed them both - and then we decided to try out a new one (for him): Autopia! He had a good time getting driven around and even helping with the steering wheel some. Ace did great (for 99%) of the waiting in line process, and even at times entertained himself by 'styling' Aunt Shelley's hair.

Next up was a ride on the train which we took from Tomorrow Land - over to New Oreleans :) which meant we got to 'go through' the Grand Canyon and Dinosaur Times! Ace enjoyed the brief stop at both of those and then it was onto Pirates and the Jungle Cruise (a favorite of Ace's.) next on the list after that was dinner time! Headed back to Tomorrow Land - where they have the chicken nuggets for the boy - and enjoyed some dinner - followed by some good dancing around by the boy... which was good since we were about to head back to CA Adventure to wait for quite a while for the World of Color show to start. Before heading over - I changed the boy into his pjs and then we were off!

Ace did great waiting for the show to start - he remained in his stroller (since our space was excessively limited) and played with his 'toy' that he had gotten in his World of Color picnic meal. Had fun with that and playing around with Shelley. When it was time for the show to start he got to get up on Aunt Shelley's shoulders so he could see. Which is good - since he's about the only one that could. I could see because I used my camera above my head and tilted the screen down - but unless you're in the 'front row' your full view is obscured. They need to come up with better seating arrangements. From what I could see it was GREAT!

 Ace had a BLAST - seriously loved the whole thing - screaming out the colors he saw or saying 'boom' for different 'scenes' :) He was happy and awake through the whole thing - but as soon as it was over - as you can see in the final picture of the 4 of us - he was on his way out. He finally crashed at 9pm as we were walking out of the park.

He remained asleep even on the tram - was awake once we put him in the car for a little bit - but then was out even as we took his car seat out of the car and brought him in the house. Then even after that the stripping off his flannel pjs (much hotter at Grammie's than outside at Disneyland) and placing him in bed. He had a great day at Mickey park!

24 Weeks

6 months pregnant! I've been feeling really good lately - I am still able to pick Ace up with no issue and I can holding as well I ever am able to. :) In fact I spent Monday at Disneyland all day and walked around and stood for a long time and didn't feel that I needed to stop any extra than usual. The belly is ever expanding and more weight is going on me and baby (4oz in a week!) both - I can feel it - but that's ok!

Baby Mae is about the size of a ear of corn (8.7 inches) and weighs almost 1.5lbs. Right now her brain is developing rapidly - need to eat more Omega-3s, leafy green veggies, and protein! And things to stimulate those smarts! :) Our baby girl also stands a fighting chance now (about 50%) if she were born this minute. We're obviously hopeful and confidant that she's sticking right where she is for now. Her lungs are developing branches, her eyes are completely developed.

She is quite a squirmer in the evenings - at the moment she still likes to be lower rather than higher in the kicking department - having had Ace in my ribs/lungs kicking me all the time - I'm not sure which is preferable. I think the ribs/lungs FEEL more resilient -so I might have to go with that. I suspect she'll move upward as her space begins to lessen. :)

Ace has been doing great getting ready to be a big brother. He's been helping me clean out her room (formally the office and dumping ground of all things that have no home.) We'll be painting it soon after we get home from California. I'm sure he'll be happy to help do that. He loves to come over and say 'hi' to the baby by rubbing my tummy, and often talks about my stomach moving (regardless if it is) it's great he's so interested in his new sister.

We are all healthy and happy - and I'm enjoying my numbered days in the honeymoon stage! :)

California!

Ace and his mommy are off on another adventure while dad is busy working! :) We are enjoying California once again. After a successful flight - Ace's first at accumulating his own frequent flyer miles - we arrive on Saturday at Grammie's house. Ace was excited to be here! Grammie has some pretty cool toys to play with and he enjoyed playing with all of them more or less on the first day.

On our second day we got to visit Grammie's church and attend her Sunday School, and a visit from Aunt Becky, whom he stole an apple from out of her purse. :) Silly boy - but man did he inhale that apple! In under 5 minutes, for sure. He loved seeing Aunt Becky, and mom always does as well! Later that night Shelley came over and watched a movie with me after Ace went to bed.

Sleep wise he is sharing a bed with me, so while he's sleeping through the night so to speak he still rolls over and hugs me from time to time - so I don't count that as the same thing. He isn't taking too much to get to sleep, which leaves my evenings pretty open and free to spend some time with my mom.
Upcoming posts to look for... Day Three which was Mickey Park day!!! And in less exciting and more discouraging news, he appears to be having a set back with his C. Diff bacteria... more on that later.

Sleeping through the night!!

Wait, didn't you blog about this yesterday? Didn't you already tell us that he slept nearly 12 hours?! Didn't that happen two nights ago? It did and guess what it happened AGAIN! Last night, we again started the bedtime routine at 7:30 - we brush his teeth, get him in pjs, read a story in the chair, another one in bed and then we say prayers, sing songs, and chat for a few minutes. The process is about 20 minutes, and last night it involved no revisits to his room (often there is usually one.)

I actually woke up at 7am and was done sleeping, I don't think my body is used to uninterrupted sleep. Don't worry body, you don't have long to enjoy it anyway. :) But I woke up at 7 and enjoyed laying in bed until about 7:40 when Ace started to stir, and I went in with the camera and captured the little guy awake and starting to stir.



There was much praise and hugs and high fives for another great night of sleeping. Mommy is so proud of her little guy!