Ahhh, the best of intentions (oh, and some happy news!)

The thing is, we had very good intentions this year of writing a New Year's letter to go with our New Year's cards. And then our lives exploded with busy and we just didn't get to it. So the cards went out with no letters.

That would be fine, except that we have very exciting news that we wanted to share in an official capacity. So, we'll share it here. (And this is not going to be a shock to many of you.)

We are expecting another baby in August! I am 12.5 weeks along as of today. On Monday, we heard the heartbeat for the first time and everything sounded great. Very strong and very FAST! The heart rate was 168 bpm. That's exactly what Carolyn's was at 12 weeks. So.....it seems like there's a good chance this little kiddo is another sweetie pie! (But really, this is not a science by any means -- predicting gender based on heart rate -- so who knows.)

While the only thing we truly want is a healthy, happy baby, I must say that we both are hoping for a boy. We've even taken to referring to the baby as "he," even though we won't know the sex until 20 weeks. That glorious day will come on March 22. So, some time in the fourth week of March, we'll get our answer!

This pregnancy has been quite different from my pregnancy with Carolyn thus far. I was more nauseous and MUCH more tired. However, I'm not sure if the more tired was because of the pregnancy or just due to the fact that I had a 2-year-old to chase after during those fatigue-filled early weeks. I'm happy to say that my energy is coming back, just in the last week or so. And I'm FINALLY kicking the nasty, horrible, no-good cold I've had ever since I got pregnant. Looking forward to energetic, healthy days ahead!

Oh, and I'm absolutely huge this time around. Already. I really throw people off when I tell them how far along I am, because they're easily expecting me to be two or three months ahead of where I am. What can I say, second pregnancy! And I really think my body loves to be pregnant. It knew exactly what to do and was more than eager to go right back to being big and belly.

In addition to the baby, Brian had some great news of his own with his project debuting at the NAMM show this month. Read his post right below this one for the exciting details and an awesome video.

Anyway, we hope all our friends and family had a wonderful holiday. And we wish you all a healthy, happy New Year.

NAMM 2010 - My project is demo'ed

It's been a while since I've posted anything, but after tons of hard work this past year(and lots of longs days) I'm pleased to say that my work project was finally unveiled and demo'ed last week at NAMM (our Musical Instrument Industry trade-show) in Anaheim. I was actually out there for 5 days assisting with everything and was so pleased to see a smooth showing. You can find more info about the G-DEC3 on www.fender.com or from me but on Wednesday USA Today actually ran a big article talking about the amp. Fun Stuff!!!

Carolyn's second birthday

Today, our baby girl turned 2! So hard to even believe! But here we are, parents of a beautiful, healthy, head-strong 2-year-old.

I took the day off work to spend with Carolyn, and my mom took the day off to spend with us, too. It was so nice to have her along for all the day's festivities.

We started out at the doctor for C's two-year checkup. OK, this wasn't exactly a highlight, but it was good nonetheless because we learned that she is healthy and growing like a weed! She remains in the 90th percentile for height, in the 50th for weight and the 25th-50th for head circumference. (I was very grateful for that small head on this day two years ago.) :-) She did have to get one shot, but took it like a champ and didn't even have time to cry before it was over and she was demanding a sticker!

After the doctor we headed to the zoo for the Farm Tots program. It's an early childhood program that the zoo puts on. We played in the zoo's schoolhouse and learned about sheep. Then we played on the playground next door and cleaned up the sheep's stall (pictures to the right). Then we got to see some real sheep and feed them tree branches. Carolyn liked it, and even was brave enough to pet one of the sheep!

After the zoo we went to lunch at Red Robin where Carolyn got her very own pink balloon. Unfortunately, the balloon didn't come home with us as she developed an aversion to it halfway through our meal. So I left it with the hostess and told her to give it to someone else. :-) After lunch it was home for a much-needed nap (for C and for me).

After her nap we went out to get C her first haircut! We ended up taking her to this rock-and-roll place called Floyd's Barber Shop. She loved it, and did so well! No tears or meltdowns. And the new cut is adorable. Most importantly, her bangs are now shorter so that Daddy can't do the Donald Trump comb over on her anymore. Always a plus.

After dinner we had birthday ICE CREAM! I capitalize that because Carolyn. Loves. Ice cream. It was mint chocolate chip, which we think is probably her favorite (we know it's her godmother's favorite). When she was all done she demanded more, and the only way we got out of that one was to entice her with presents.

Presents were plenty! From her Auntie Niser and Jeffrey, she got the quilt for her new big-girl bed and an owl pillow, and the cutest little Christmas dress (complete with faux fur collar). From her godmother, she got sheets for her big-girl bed and another owl pillow (which is great because I want to pad her new headboard with lots of pillows). From Melissa, Luke and Jeremy she got a really big doll, which she calls her Barbie (more on this below). Aunt Gina and Uncle Danny sent her a card and some money, and our neighbors gave her a book and a gift card to Gymboree. We gave her an owl purse (do you see a theme here?). I tucked her birthday letter inside. Here is what it said:

Our dear sweet Carolyn,

Happy 2nd Birthday! What an incredible, amazing, joyful year it has been. Daddy and I have had so much fun watching you blossom into a little lady. We learned this year that you are stubborn and have quite a mind of your own. You get that from both of us. :-) Your curiosity has bloomed, along with your language and your sweet personality. You've just recently become quite the little hugger, and there is nothing we love more than getting sweet hugs from you. You are an endless gift of laughter, smiles and joy. We are so blessed to be your parents. We love you so very much, sweetie.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

On a sentimental note for just a minute, I spent this entire day just watching Carolyn, absolutely amazed at how beautiful, smart and full of life she is. She is a miracle, and we are so thankful for her every day. *tear*

Shifting gears now, I want to share one of the funnier (perhaps the funniest) moments from C's birthday. It involves the big doll that Melissa got her. Needless to say, Carolyn was instantly enthralled with the doll and began carrying her around everywhere. This is what ensued:





We are having a birthday party for Carolyn on Sunday and will have more to share and more photos to post after that. But for now, we're calling the second birthday a huge success! Hope you enjoy the photos.

Video of C Learning to Talk

I've been meaning to splice these videos together for a while, but haven't had the time or a decent program to use until now. Here's a collection of videos from earlier this summer when Carolyn was first learning to talk:


BTW, modern technology is great!!! I actually was able to shoot, edit and post this video all on my phone. Expect some more videos from C's upcoming birthday party and Christmas ;-)

Happy Holidays!!!

Plans for the big-girl room

It's hard for us to believe, but Carolyn's days in the crib have become numbered. We are hoping to transition her into a big-girl bed during the last two weeks of December, when Brian and I will both be home with her. (Mommy and Daddy are gearing up for that now, preparing for many nights where we'll have a small, blond-haired, blue-eyed visitor peering at us as we sleep! We might be doing a lot of walking those nights, as in walking C back to her bed.)

With the new big-girl bed comes another transition -- to Carolyn's big-girl room! We are going to turn my current office (for those of you who have been to our house, it's the peach room) into her room. I thought I'd share our plans with you on how we will make the transformation from office to C's big-girl haven.

We are not planning to repaint the walls, although the jury is still out on whether we will paint one wall white (to tone down the color a bit). She will get a new ceiling fan, new closet doors and new laminate flooring (all the same things we did when we readied the nursery).

After all that "constructiony" stuff (of which Brian will be largely in charge of) comes the fun DECORATING! Yay, Mommy's turn!

Being the uber planner that I am, I have most of the decorating plans set (although that doesn't mean they're not subject to change as we actually get into the project (NOTE: no work on this room has actually started yet)). :-)

This is the bed we're going to get her. And this is the bookcase we're getting for the room. For now, we'll use storage boxes in the bookcase to serve as her dresser.

To corral her stuffed animals, and there are plenty, we are going to get this animal bag from Boon.

And finally, the most adorable bedding in the world. Specifically, the Love and Nature quilt set, the matching sheets and the owl pillow. We'll also get the matching mushroom night light, because really, it doesn't get any cuter. I want to send out a huge thank you to Carolyn's godmother (Jessie Booh) and Auntie Niser, who have purchased all the bedding for C's birthday. Thanks so much, you guys!

I'm so excited about this room, and so excited to create a space that Carolyn will be able to play in and enjoy for years to come! Stay tuned for the finished photos! (Although I'm not promising them on any kind of timeframe, because who knows when we'll get it all done between work schedules, the holidays, travels, etc.) I just hope C likes the finished product as much as I already do!

Life has been nuts, but we're still here!

I know we've been absent from our blog, and very remiss in posting new photos, but let me tell you. We've had some good excuses. I'll start at the beginning (feel free to sit back for a bit, this is a long one).

In late August, probably just a few days after I last posted on the blog, Carolyn came down with her first-ever case of croup. Other than knowing that I had it when I was a baby, I knew nothing about croup. Turns out, it's a viral infection of the voice box, vocal chords and trachea (or something like that in that general area). Yes, it's pretty common in kids, but it's also pretty scary. Because the vocal chords swell, they can block the airway, and you have to be vigilant to listen for when your child is laboring to breathe. In which case, they need to go into a hot, steamy bathroom so that the steam can relax the swelling and open up the airway. We had to do this only once, thankfully. C stayed home from school for a few days until the barking cough stopped (which means I stayed home with her). She got all better and went back to school.

Then, about a week or so later on Sept. 8, I unexpectedly pulled her from the school she had been attending since June 1. It was one of the most stressful, emotional days of my life. I pulled her for several reasons, the biggest one being an incredibly harsh response that I witnessed one of the teachers in the room give Carolyn when she was crying and looking for comfort. I had walked from my office to the school (never intending to leave the school with my 23+ pound child in tow). After gathering her hat and her cup of water, I walked with her across campus back to my office. I turned off my computer and left, taking her home for a nap and to try and figure out what the hell I was going to do next for daycare. I had divine help on my side that day, and we ended up getting her into a new school, the very next day, that turned out to be a blessing. She has thrived there for the past two and a half months, and we are so grateful they were able to take her when we really needed it. I later wrote a letter to the parent company that runs the old school, and received a very genuine response from the COO. She reimbursed us for overlapping expenses, and also informed me that they were taking corrective measures at the school. (I have since learned that Carolyn's teacher, the one who was so awful to her, has been fired.)

So, that brings us into September. The second week of which, Carolyn broke out in a mysterious rash. I took her to the doctor, who assured me that it was a sign that her body was fighting a virus but that there was nothing to worry about. I kept her home for one day because she was pretty tired and uncomfortable. But then she was better and we were back to school and back to work.

The month of September was extremely busy and stressful, with Brian and I both carrying big loads at work. Brian especially, who is under a massive deadline at work that has kept him in the office until 7 or 8 at night most nights for the past month. It's been very hard and draining for him, and I have to say, it's been the same for me. Because it means I've been doing the afternoon, dinner, bedtime routine by myself. And with C, who wants to be held the entire time I cook dinner, that's a tricky task.

The end of September brought double ear infections for C (who had never had an ear infection in her life up to that point). They were pretty bad ear infections on the spectrum, and they really threw us for a loop the night before because she was inconsolable all night and then threw up (this was the very night that I returned home from a bachelorette party in San Francisco that had tuckered me out). I spent that whole night doing the only thing I could do: hold her and pace up and down the hallway because she wouldn't lay down and sleep. I was thinking she had a stomach bug, so the double ear infections were a big surprise for both Brian and I. C stayed home from school a few days so that she could rest and get her strength back.

So we headed into October with both mommy and daddy feeling pretty exhausted. Thankfully, we had a vacation to San Francisco in the second week of October for Laine and Nick's wedding (C stayed home with the G's). We had such a great time in San Fran (pictures are to the right in the September/October category). We relaxed, enjoyed each other's company, and had a great time at the wedding. On the day we were to fly home, a huge storm rolled into San Francisco, complete with fog, rain and driving winds. That morning, as we tried to get a cab to the BART station, we really weren't sure we were going to be leaving the city that day. When we got to the airport, I got a call on my cell phone. From Carolyn's school. She had a fever of 101.6 and they needed someone to go pick her up. Worry immediately set in (and it turns out it didn't let up for a good week and a half). I called my mom to go pick up C, and we arranged for Brian's parents to meet mom and C at our house to watch Carolyn and take her to the doctor that afternoon.

Brian and I made it out of San Francisco, and when we landed in Phoenix I had a message from Candy on my phone. Carolyn had Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. (????) Again, this was something I had never heard of. It involves blisters in the throat, on the palms of the hands and the bottoms of the feet. Although Carolyn only had blisters in her mouth, the doctor said the blisters would probably show up on her hands and feet the next day. Because HFM is highly, highly contagious, C could not go to school for the next few days. So, Candy was kind enough to stay home with C the next day. When I got home from work that day, Carolyn was pretty warm with fever and had a very raspy, barky cough. It was right around 101/102. Back to the doc we went that evening. And she had croup.

I filled her prescription -- steroids -- that night and put a very exhausted, warm little girl to bed. But she didn't sleep long. About three hours later she was up, and she remained up for the rest of the night. We went into the bathroom twice so that she could sit with the hot steam and breathe easier. It was scary.

I was home with her the next two days, which were filled with fever, croupy cough, sleepless nights. Then, on Thursday night, I couldn't get her to sleep, again. She was inconsolable and I just had a feeling that something wasn't right. Back to the doctor we went the next day, and home we came with another ear infection. More misery, more medication. She was sick that whole weekend, with her fever peaking at 103 on Saturday night. On Sunday, she started to feel a bit better, but she became extremely congested and had a wet cough. So, Monday comes (I don't go to work, again) and we go back to the doctor. Our wonderful pediatrician listened to me recount the whole story, and assured me that he thought all of this was related to the same tenacious virus (not flu) and that it was running its course. The ear infection was a bummer of a secondary bacterial infection. He said the only thing she hadn't manifested that she might was a rash. And that the rash would actually be a good sign, because it means the virus is almost done. He gave us a prescription for a decongestant, which helped her immensely and finally helped her get some good sleep.

The next day, she got the rash. On that day, when we knew she was finally getting better, I got sick. It was good timing that Brian could stay home from work the next day with her, because it allowed me to stay home and attempt to get some sleep (which I had gotten none of the past seven days). That night, a week after we came home from San Francisco to a sick little girl, she slept through the night at last. And went to school the next day. And I still didn't go back to work, because my throat had swelled up to five times its normal size and I could barely talk.

I spent the entire week at home sick with fever, sore throat, congestion. I went back to work the following Monday. So, in total, I was gone from work (including vacation and sick time), for about two weeks. I am now on the mend and have been back to work for over a week. Carolyn is back to her usual, happy self.

Which brings us to today. When Brian is sick and at home. He has been battling allergies, serious congestion in his head and chest, and general feelings of crappiness. None of it is helped by how exhausted he has been with his crazy work schedule. The good news is, he's feeling much better after staying home yesterday, as well. If we can just get him healthy, and keep me and C healthy, I think we will make it!

Anyway, that's been our crazy life. On to happier, healthier things.

Carolyn is a talking machine. She puts together as many as six words and speaks so clearly. Not to mention she says the most hilarious things. Like "Move this, Mommy" (when anything is in her way), "Bless you, Daddy" (on one of the many occasions that Brian sneezes), and, my personal favorite yet, "Brian, bring me a bag!" (this was an exact parrot of me when I was asking Brian to bring a trash bag so I could empty the shredder). Life with her is so much fun, and you just never know what's going to come out of her mouth!

As I mentioned briefly above, there are new pictures to the right that Brian posted. Be sure to check them out. And join us in our amazement of how big Carolyn is getting.

We love you all, and we will try to get back on some sort of "regular" schedule with the blogging and picture posting.

She says her words

Carolyn’s vocabulary is absolutely exploding. It’s hard for Brian and me to keep track of all of her words! But I did my best to update our “bragging-rights list” and it’s now 100 percent more alphabetized. Current word count is a nice, round 55.

You’ll notice she doesn’t have many words that begin with “c”, with the exception of “cheese” and “cup” (which is pronounced “bup”). We are really loving the "bup" thing. We will be sad when the day comes that she actually says "cup."

She amazes us every day and we are loving this stage!

The word that comes out of her mouth the most right now is “ya.” She says it with gusto every time.

Us: “Should we put on your shoes?”

Carolyn: “YA!”

Us: "Do you want to eat your dinner?"

Carolyn: "YA!"

Us: "Are you the cutest little girl ever?"

Carolyn: "YA!"

(Of course that answer is a given.) :-)

Here is Carolyn's list o' words. We will try to post some video of her talking soon.


1. Are
2. Arm
3. Baby
4. Back
5. Bag
6. Ball
7. Banana
8. Big
9. Blue
10. Book
11. Bowl
12. Brush
13. Bug
14. Bus
15. Bye (bye-bye)
16. Cheese
17. Cup (bup)
18. Dad
19. Dog
20. Done
21. Door
22. Down
23. Dress
24. Duck
25. Eight
26. Eyes
27. Feet
28. Go (first word)
29. Grandma
30. Hi
31. Hug
32. Mess
33. Milk
34. Mine
35. Mom
36. More
37. Nana
38. Nice
39. Night night
40. Nine
41. No
42. Off
43. On
44. Papa
45. Please
46. Poop
47. Shoes
48. Stuck
49. Teeth
50. Truck
51. Two
52. Up
53. Ya
54. Yellow
55. Yes