Mark gets surprised!

Marks work will often have BBQ days where all the people in the warehouse get together and bring food and they spend their lunch BBQing. Well, two weeks ago, Mark sent out the email saying it was time for another BBQ. This time, the office employees decided to get involved. Mark asked me if I wanted to come down and join in on the grub, so naturally when I hear about a free buffet of food, I am there! I got there around noon and there was hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, fruit, chips, dip, salad and other stuff I probably couldn't even see because of how full the table was. Anyways, we got done eating and were sitting inside at Marks desk when one of the warehouse employees told Mark to come back out cuz there was an accident. When he walked outside, there was a cake and a pile of presents waiting for him. Turns out, they turned Mark's BBQ into a Mark's surprise baby shower. It was so cute seeing Mark open all the gifts and asking what a onsie was. :-) Some of the employees got together and got us our bathtub, clothes, diapers, wipes and pacifiers. Vestal actually bought us our stroller and infant car seat....So COOL of them to do that! I have attached some pics....enjoy!

My baby turns 10!

Josh has finally reached his double digits! Seems like just yesterday he entered this world weighing in at 9lbs 11ozs. My parents wanted to see Josh for his bday since my mom was going to be out of town for his party...so, I asked Josh...where do you want to go for your bday dinner? I explained to him that he can pick ANYWHERE he wants. Guess where he picked?!?! Soup Plantation! I was like...are you sure?! He said yup! Soup Plantation. So, we met my parents and my sister there to celebrate the big 1-0! I figured that would be as good as time as any to give Josh his bday presents from us... We decided to get him the Nintendo DS, which actually was good because everyone has gotten him games, accessories or gift cards for more games. Here are some pics from dinner...

Who says it has to be real!!

So last weekend I went to Courtney's house (sister-in-law) for a purse party. They had Faux everything...Coach, Dooney, Marc Jacobs...etc. Well, I had found a really good deal on some brown Coach shoes at Macy's a while back and was now in the market for a matching Coach purse. As much as I love the real thing, I just don't wear these shoes enought to warrant spending $300 a a real Coach purse. Well, lo and behold...the second I walk in the door, I found the PERFECT purse!!! I have attached a pic for your viewing pleasure!!!! The pic with the shoes is the Foach (faux coach) and the other is the real Coach...not too much of a difference if you ask me...

Water Polo

Carlie started water polo yesterday! I was able to cath the last 15 minutes of practice and it looked VERY tiring. By the time I got there, it had already been over an hour since practice started. They were in the deep end (12 feet deep)and had been treading water the WHOLE time. I guess its called "doing the egg beater"...that is water polo talk for treading water. They were learning how to pass and dribble the ball so they opponent can't steal the ball away. All I have to say is Carlie is going to be one tough cookie after two months of water polo and one month of Junior Lifeguards, which starts immediately after water polo ends. I will keep everyone updated with Carlie's scrimmages. GOOOOO CARLIE!

Josh has ants!

For christmas, Grandma JoAnn and Papa Ken bought Josh a cool ant farm. Well, we had to send away for the ants, so on December 28th, I mailed off a check for the shipping and handling. The box said 6-8 weeks for delivery. Well, anxious Josh started asking to check the mail about a week later to see if his ants had arrived. I knew they weren't there, but we would always go check. About mid February, he started getting frustrated...so I told him...how about I check bank account every day and when they cash my $4 check, then I know the ants will be on the way. So, he began asking me, almost daily, if I had check my account. FINALLY, on March 3rd, THEY CASHED THE CHECK. I couldn't WAIT to pick up Josh and tell him. I picked him up from Kids Klub and gave him the news...he was SO excited and wanted to check the mail as soon as we got home. He checked it every day that week, but no ants. I had to explain to him that since they cashed my check, that meant that they were probably packaging up the ants and then had to mail them. So, saturday, I go to check the mail and guess what was there.....ANTS. They came in a tube in a bubbled envelope. There were seriously about 20 HUGE ants in this little tube. So I ran in the house and Josh saw the look on my face and asked if I had good news and I showed him the envelope. He RAN upstairs and got his ant farm and as inpatiently as a 9 year old can be...he dumped the ants in. Mark, being the responsible one, asked if he had even read the directions. Of course Josh didn't, but I have to admit, I was just as excited to see the ants get to work. come to find out, we were supped to refrigerate the ants for about 15 minutes first, to calm them down, but oh well... The ants got to work pretty fast. It has been a week now....take a look at the cool pics. It is a gel ant farm!

FINALLLY - Brooke kicks her daddy!!!!!

For the last couple of weeks, Brooke has been kicking really hard, but unfortunately, not hard enough for Mark to feel her. Well, last night, we were laying in bed watching TV and Mark put his hand on my stomach for about 5 minutes. He kept saying..."was that it"? I was like...no...you'll know! A few seconds later..."was that it"? NO...you'll know! Then finally she really did kick and it was a nice and hard one too. Mark's eyes lit up as he knew...THAT WAS IT! I asked how he felt or what it felt like...he said "it felt like when my heart came out of my chest when I saw you for the first time!" Not really.....he actually said..."it kinda felt like a muscle spasm". Oh well, at least he felt her and I got to see that sparkle in his eye that only a new daddy can have.

Josh's FIRST game!!!

Last night was Josh's first baseball game of the Spring 08 season! He got to play some 1st base and outfield. He did great and looked super cute in his Dodger Blue uniform! I guess I a little biast towards the uniform since I was brought up a Dodger fan! :-) One of the parents even topped off the evening by bringin Hot dogs as the kids post-game snack. What a GREAT idea. I have snacks in April, so I am going to have to think of something to top that!

100% GIRL!!!!!!

On Monday, February 24th, Grandma JoAnn, Aunt Courtney, Sister Carlie, Brother Josh, Daddy and me all went to find out if the baby was a boy or a girl. My last ultrasound only gave us a 80% chance that it was a girl. As you know...I am a need-to-know kinda gal, so I had to verify the last 20% so I can go shopping!!! We went to a really nice place in Ladera Ranch called Show Me D Baby! The technician spent about an hour with us and we got to see "girl parts" in 3d, so there is NO DOUBT...it's a GIRL! We also got a nice little video of her too! Let the shopping begin!!!! woo hoo!!!

2ND ANNUAL DAYTONA 500 PARTY = GOOD TIMES

So our 2nd Annual Daytona 500 party was this past Sunday. We had around 30 people show up. Some stayed in the garage and some stayed in the house. We had lots of food and the main dish was of course....Hot Dogs! Everyone brought some sort of domestic beer and of course most people had a Jello Shot or 4. For those of you that had the Jello Shots last year, the recipe consisted of 1/2 water and 1/2 vodka. After receiving some minor complaints about the weekness of the shots, we changed things up for this year. This years recipe consisted of 1/4 water to 3/4 vodka. From what I understand, they were quite strong and quite warming to the stomach. We also had a pool this year which made things a little more exciting, especially for the non-nascar fans. Here were the results:

1st place driver $95- Darren Reynolds (Newman)
1st place at 100 laps $47.50- Nicky See (K. Bush)
Last place $47.50- Alex Lutkus (K. Wallace)
Best Dressed Redneck - Rob (I'm not gonna even try on his last name)

All in all....it looked like a good time was had. I can't wait for next year! Here are the pics...enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our Valentines Day went PERFECT! I had flowers, pizza (with a heart made out of pepperoni) and beer delivered to Mark's work. When I got home, Josh gave me a cute heart he made me in school with flowers on it. Mark gave me my gift too...it was a beautiful bracelet with a heart charm and two other charms with the Carlie and Josh's birthstone on it... I LOVE IT! We gave Carlie some make-up from Sephora. (Now she doesn't have to use mine) and we bought Josh his moon sand that he had been wanting. Unfortunately, Lucy tried to eat it and gagged a few times, but all is good. We had a yummy spaghetti dinner and then let the kids make sugar cookies. I was too full to eat one, but they managed to eat only one because they were sooo sweet!

Bathroom is FINISHED!!!

After almost a week of being trapped in a tiny bathroom with no windows....Mark has finally finished his bathroom! Let's just hope people don't come over and out of habit write on the new clean walls.

Not 1, not 2, but THREE!

Carlie had a game last night and did absolutely GREAT! She was VERY aggressive and played a variety of positions. She has really come a long way in the 2 seasons she has played...and I am not just saying that cuz I am her proud mom....her coach even commented. Anways, she proceeded to make THREE goals last night. The game before, she made two goals. I have promised her a Jamba Juice every time she scores a goal....good thing I didn't promise money...I would be going broke! WAY TO GO CARLIE!

....and the house search continues!

So now that little Brooke is on the way, we have been thinking about the space, or lack thereof, in our condo. We have been looking at a few houses here and there hoping to find a nice four bedroom OR three bedroom plus den. It is pretty crazy what people considered a den these days. My parents house has a den and it has four walls with a door! Not these places... So Saturday we looked at a four bedroom...perfect size, perfect location, not so perfect price. Upon Mark's approval, I emailed the landlord and made him an offer. I offered him $350 less than his asking price in hopes that he might bite since there are several 4 bedrooms sitting vacant in Irvine right now. I told him what great tenants we are and would be, naturally. Well, all day goes by yesterday and all day goes by today and no word. Being the impatient pregnant woman I am, I decide to call him around 4:30pm. He answered and I told him I was following up to an email I sent yesterday...he says, "okay". I said...we are the ones that viewed the property on saturday. He said "is this the $2500 offer?" I said yes it is! He replied with a harsh, nope, not interested! RUDE!! How about a nice reply to my email that I sent YESTERDAY!!??!? Or how about a nice.....let me give it some more thought or see if I don't get any other offers on it?? You better believe that I am keeping an eye on this property and if it is still vacant in March...I am sending an email saying "how does my $2500 look now buddy?" ...so, onto the next property!

Mark thinks he's pimp!

So Mark has a green bike right? The other night, he was looking around on the internet and was like....BABE....look!! They have gold bike chains. YES....he said it! GOLD BIKE CHAINS! I was like...yah, whatever babe..haha, funny! Guess what he comes home with today!?!?! A GOLD BIKE CHAIN!! It looks like a gold teeth on his bike...yet he is so proud. If you don't believe me...check out the picture!!

Downstairs Bathroom

So this past friday night, I was peeing for about the 10th time that day and I happened to glance at the wall and I saw a slight tear in our wallpaper. Most of you reading this know that we had hideous wallpaper in our downstairs bathroom and had every intension of tearing it out years ago, but then everyone that came over started signing it so it has stayed up....well, until Friday that is. Anwyays I see this tear and have to give it a little tug. Lo and behold....a WHOLE strip comes off. So I keep tearing and pulling and tearing and pulling. Meanwhile, Mark is out walking the dog and has no idea what he is going to come home to. I had close to half a wall torn down by the time Mark got back from his walk. He walked in the door and said "Well, I know what I am doing this weekend!" Unfortunately, the wall paper wasn't coming off completely, only the top layer was. So two trips to Home Depot, a few grunts and moans from Mark and $200 later, the wall paper is all off it there are only some minor touch ups left to do. Oh yah, and most importantly, hopefully tomorrow, we can bring the toilet back in from the patio. Can we say GHETTO? Poor Mark will have his evenings back soon as he has been doing all the work because A) the bathroom is too small for two people to work in and B) he doesn't want me (and Brooke) smelling the fumes. Isn't he the best!?!