Yoooooosemite

Tom's parents were here last week. We had such a great time with them. Our big adventure for the week was 4 days in Yosemite. Now, we are NOT campers by any means. Vacations for us usually end in a place with an ocean. :-) We found a great camp site, Yosemite Pines, with these really nice cabins. The campground had a pool, a playground, a petting zoo with alpacas and was pet friendly. We were about 30 minutes away from the park. The cabins slept 6 so we had a good amount of room. I'm just glad it wasn't a Yurt. :-) It was nice to have a bathroom and shower in the cabin. There was a little kitchen and 1 bedroom and a loft. Tom and I slept in the loft with the kiddos. Ty was in the Pack 'N Play and Jack was tucked nicely into the corner on a mound of blankets and stuffed animals. The ceiling was only about 4ft high but it was cool. We had a deck and a charcoal grill and were right next to the pool. If I'm going to camp, this is definitely the way to do it! :-) "roughin' it"...not quite.

The Cabin.

Living room.

The Loft.


Tom's parents, the kids and I drove up Monday morning. It's about a 4 hour drive from Monterey. We went through lots of little farm towns. It was a neat drive until we got about 20 minutes away. We're in the mountains people and with mountains come narrow winding roads with NO guardrails! I was in the back seat with the kids while Sandy was driving. The long road up the mountain was a little hard to take. Rounding every curve made me feel like the car was going over the edge. It wasn't Sandy's driving but when you're in the back seat and there's no rails....holy crap!!! Anyway....we made it and Tom was able to join us that night. After his finals were finished he made the drive with the dogs, who both got car sick, not such a great ride for Tom.

On Tuesday we made our way through the Yosemite Valley and up to Glacier Point. It was breath taking! We saw water falls, Half Dome, Bridalveil, tons of forest (green and burned). It was A LOT of driving in the car. I wasn't really sure what to expect once we got in to the park. I thought there would be trails where we'd be hiking to see everything but it was more of a drive and get out and look and drive again kind of park. There were a lot of hiking trails of course but things were so spread out it took us an hour drive to get to the next site. It was really amazing to see these things though. My highlight was Glacier Point. You're at about 7000 feet and can see the whole valley and Half Dome, it was incredible. Jack's highlight was the waterfall at Bridalveil. He got very upset when we told him he wasn't able to climb up the waterfall. For some reason he was determined that he could. Hahahahah.

On Wednesday the plan was to drive to the Giant Sequoias. The plan was changed once we figured out it was a 3.5 hour drive to the sequoias from where we were and the park was repaving roads and delays were to be expected. Since we spent about 6 hours in the car the day before Tom and I thought we'd just walk around Groveland (the town we stayed in) hang out at the cabin and the pool and give the kids a break from the car seats. Tom and Sandy took one of the cars and went back through the Valley. After grilling out that night we had some roasted marshmallows, yumm! The next morning we packed up and started the drive home.

The drive didn't start off the best....Jack was the one who got car sick this time. I guess breakfast and watching Elmo's world while driving down the winding mountain road did not mix well. Poor kid had no idea what just happened to him.

It was a great trip overall. Even though we didn't see any mountain lions or bears (I'm OK with that). We had a blast and the park was beautiful!

Thanks Boobie and Oprah! :-)


The Tractor/Back Hoe at the campsite.

Feeding the Alpacas

On the bucket.

At the pool.

At the bottom of Bridalveil Falls.

Looking at Half Dome and the Valley from Glacier Point.

Bridalveil Falls that Jack wanted to climb.

Bridalveil falls, El Capitain (the big pointy rock...not Tom) and family.

Bridalveil.

Happy Birthday Tom!!!

Today Tom joins me in the 30s! Happy birthday babe! I of course could not top the gift he got me. I did have an amazing gift ready for purchase but the dates didn't work. HUGE bummer. I found a 3 day bull riding class about 3 hours away from here. The class is only offered next summer and we're not sure about the dates and where we'll be.....so my great idea was a bust. :-( I'm totally disappointed, but how could I ever top what he got me? He's always better at gift ideas. I'll get him at Christmas though....just wait! :-)

Tom's mom and dad are in town visiting us. They got in yesterday morning and we took full advantage of them being here and went out for a late dinner and drinks (that's right...drinks!!! I pumped and dumped.... just fyi). Tom's mom dropped us off at our favorite place on Cannery Row, The Chart House. It's a chain but it's soooo yummy! After that we went walking down Cannery Row and ended up at Bubba Gump's bar and I had a crazy fruity drink called the.....Big Easy! And what happens when a girl who hasn't drank in a VERY VERY long time knocks a few back????.....She gets goofy and embarrasses her sober husband. :-) Poor Tom! And it was his birthday! That doesn't seem right does it??? We love you Tom and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!


(There was a GREAT picture of Tom and my Big Easy drink that was going to go right here but it didn't make the final cut.)

Tomorrow we're heading to Yosemite. The first car leaving in the morning is me, the boys and the grandparents. Then after Tom finishes up his finals he'll be meeting us there with the dogs. I'm so excited! It should be a lot of fun!! Hopefully we won't run into any bears! Seriously!!!

Spider Boots

About 3 months ago my parents came for a visit to see Titus for the first time. During this trip my mom got Jack a pair of spider rain boots. We all tried to get him to wear them the whole entire week they were here. I tried again and again after that and while my mom was here last week she tried to convince him to at least try them on.....with NO luck. Funny thing about 2 year olds.....they just have to do things in their own time. This morning when Tom went in to get Jack he was standing there so proudly wearing the spider boots we've been trying to coax him to wear for 3 months now. AHhahahah! He even had them on the right feet. In his own time....lesson learned kiddo, lesson learned! (That may even be him hinting at how potty training's going to go since we're starting off pretty much the same way. :-) )






And of course I can't leave Ty out....here's Tubs...

Read the Box!!!

So a funny thing happened while my mom was here last week. Something very "typical Niki".

Now, for my male readers out there, this might be too much info for you all, just a warning...

There's a little myth out there about not getting pregnant while you're breastfeeding. I'm not sure if this is in fact myth or truth, but I've been told by 2 doctors, a mother-in-law and a few friends that it does happen. You see I breast fed Jack for almost 11 months. I didn't have a "cycle" the whole entire time. I wasn't on any type of birth control because I hate taking the pill and Tom and I both wanted more babies and went with the thought that if it happens, it happens. Why try to take all the fun out of it and plan it. Hahahha! So for a whole year I breastfed and didn't get knocked up. After Ty came along my OBGYN gave me the talk along with my family doctor and it's come up in a few conversations with parents and friends. And you know how you can jinx things if you talk about it enough right??? Well I thought that it was weird that people kept bringing it up to me.
Anyway, The Monday that my mom was here, I noticed that I was breaking out really bad on my cheeks and forehead. This is exactly what happened when I was pregnant with Ty. (Tom was the one who pointed that little factoid out. How sweet! hahah) So with Tom's reminder of my skin condition while preggers and all these random talks about getting knocked up while breastfeeding I thought....could it be? Holy crap-olies could I be pregnant?? So Monday night before bed I took a nice little at home test. As Tom's all nestled into bed ready for a good night's sleep, I'm anxiously waiting to see the results. And in super sonic speed those two little lines popped right up. HOLY CRAP! I busted out of the bathroom and showed Tom the test and said, "Baby, I think I'm pregnant". Now at this very moment a million things ran through my head. My quick math skills showed that I'd be due around Ty's first birthday! OMG!!! Next June is going to be a crazy month anyway....you see, Tom graduates, and we move who knows where with an almost 3 year old, a one year old, 2 dogs and now possibly a new born.....Let the deep breathing continue.... Tom looks at the test, sees the 2 lines and says in his calmest voice ever...."really? Ok. Ok.Wow. really?" HAHAH! I then hand him the box and I pace around the room for awhile thinking who should I curse for jinxing my fertileness???? And wow, how amazing! Then Tom says..."Ummm....Niki, this is an ovulation test". WHAT??? That's right people, NOT pregnant.....just ovulating!!! (The next morning started off with a trip to the grocery store and taking an actual pregnancy test...it was NOT positive) So what lesson did we learn from this???? ALWAYS READ THE BOX!!!!!

Fun with Oma

My mom, aka Oma, flew back to PA yesterday. We had such a great week with Oma here. She spoiled Jack like crazy! Go figure! Even Ty got spoiled...so much so that I had to retrain him on not being held every minute of the day. Hahahahha!! But that's what Grandmas are for, right? We did have an amazing week...here's a few of our favorite moments....

Playing with his new train set in his Thomas jammies...

Oma and Giggles...

On the air mattress reading the Thomas the Train book for the 47th time that day...

Playing Red Rover in the front yard...

Someone found their thumb this week....

We found a real train....yippee!...

Jack showing Oma the ropes at Gymnastics class...

Could that be Thomas the Train AGAIN???

Who else would clean walls and windows on their vacation??

Oma and her boys.


Thanks Mom for everything this week! We had such a blast with you here and you spoiled all of us rotten! We miss you and can't wait until Christmas!

Rolley Polley and the Clippers

Titus rolled over today! YEAH!!! 9/9/09, I won't forget that date. Just like I remember that Jack's first tooth broke through on tax day, 4/15/08. Anyway....Ty rolled over and we all got to see it. So proud!! He did roll over from his back to belly a week ago but hasn't done it since so I'm thinking it was fluke. Plus Tom and I both missed it so we're not counting it as happening. We were getting ready for dinner and the next thing Ty's grunting and on his belly. Who knows! At least we're consistent. We also missed Jack's first roll over. We're counting this one though, we saw it and it's belly to back :-) Here's our Rolley Polley Ty....



In other Murtie happenings Jack got a haircut. Not just any haircut, a haircut with the clippers by daddy. We always take him to Super Cuts but thought we'd try one on our own. I have to say it turned out pretty darn good. I can't believe how a haircut can make him look so grown up!

Before....


During....



After....

Mondays

Monday is garbage day here in Del Rey Oaks. Jack is obsessed with the garbage truck! The crappy thing is that it comes at 6am. He usually sleeps til 7 but NOT on Mondays, oh no....we're up at 6 when the first garbage truck comes through, then about 15 minutes later the recycling truck comes by and then around 10am we get the 3rd and final truck. His face is glued to the window watching the trucks unless we're outside for the 3rd one. The guy who runs the 3rd truck always waves to Jack and actually shows off the truck. He always dumps the huge collection bin at our house so Jack can see then gives him a friendly wave and is on his way. It is the sweetest thing and I want to thank the garbage man for it. Not a lot of people have the patience for kids and this guy takes a few seconds to make Jack's day every Monday...pretty cool in my book!! So THANK YOU garbage man! And of course there's a toy to support every child's latest obsession....






Thank you Oma for the garbage truck!! Jack LOVES it! (Just so you know....the toy garbage man's name is Henry (sorry dad!)) What started as a joke has now stuck so we have Henry the garbage man! :-)

Vamoose and Chuckles

For many years I've been using a word that Tom was pretty sure wasn't a word. It was just one of those things that was embedded in my head the wrong way. I would want to say "vamanos" but would say "vamoose". I would always say it to Jack for some reason, telling him to move or get going or something. Don't ask me where I got this from, it's just something I do. You could chalk it up to old age (now that I'm 30....oh my!) or baby brain, who knows. The funny thing is the other night I said it again and Tom and I got in a laughing fit over it. So what do you do when your husband thinks he's right and you don't want to admit it??? You google it! Just for fun, maybe it was a word and I'm not making up my own language. Well wouldn't you know it....it's a REAL Freakin' word! Hahahahahah!!! There's 2 spellings and 2 different meanings, however I was actually using it properly too. HAHAHAH! Tom couldn't believe it, or me for that matter.

va·moose (v-ms, v-)
intr.v. va·moosed, va·moos·ing, va·moos·es Slang
To leave hurriedly.
[From Spanish vamos, let's go, from Latin vdmus, first person pl. present subjunctive of vdere, to go.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Seriously??? Score: 1 for Niki...0 for Tom. :-) Eat that Mr. Smartypants!!

Now if you spell it "Vamousse" it means... "combination hair styler and delouser" AKA: Stylin' Cootie Remover. Hahhaahahhah! Because if you have cooties, there's no reason you can't be stylin' Hahah!!! Oh how I love google!!!

My mom's flying in today for the week! We're so excited for Oma to visit! Jack's been talking about going to the airport for 3 days now. Hopefully I'll get to blog, I'm sure I'll have a ton of pictures. So with all of that I gotta vamoose....I want to leave you all with a video. To keep in theme with the laughter in this house this week....Here's Ty cracking up as I tickle his pudgy little ribs! And of course a picture or 2 of Jack!

Get in my Belly!!!

We started Ty on rice cereal a few nights ago. I know it seems WAY too soon for rice with him only being 3 months old today, but the kid's hungry. He power feeds from 7pm til bedtime every night. I actually have to cut him off so he can get a bath or he'd eat fro 2 straight hours. We've been putting a little in a bottle of milk before bed then we tried it by spoon. Now, it is mixed really thin, just for those who are thinking I'm crazy. He did pretty well with it. He even slept last night from 9:30 to 7:15 this morning. I have no idea if that's helping or what. I actually read somewhere that babies don't wake up because they're hungry. I think that's a load of bull dookie, but who knows. I think we'll be having cereal before bed and maybe even once during the day. We'll just have to see. :-) If my memory serves me right we started Jack on cereal around 4 1/2 months with green veggies starting at 5 months. Did I mention Ty's 3 months old today??? When did that happen?

Here's a few pictures of the boys together. Jack is demanding to hold Ty a lot lately. Gotta love that, right? I'm sure it won't last long so I'm taking lots of pictures while I can.


Jack's pretending to sleep in this one...hahahhah!