Nicely Outfitted

Nicholas' wardrobe has increased in size again. This is probably good since he's getting close to moving into a new size also. He's starting to approach the 6/9 mark. He's hit in in many cases height-wise, but the waist is still too loose on most things (in fact, I still have some 3/6 pants that are too big for the little guy!).

At any rate, last weekend, I took advantage of a sale at Gymboree (one of my favorite stores) and got him a couple of nice holiday outfits and quite a few other things. Then, because they didn't have all that I wanted to get for him, I ordered the remaining pieces online. They're pretty reasonable shipping-wise so I don't mind getting clothes from them in that manner (as long as I've had a chance to check them out in-store first).

As luck would have it, Nicholas actually will have one more bodysuit than planned when all is said and done because they made a mistake with the order. I called them to see how to make an exchange in such circumstances and they told me just to keep the extra. I love companies when they do stuff like that. :) So, all in all, I'm thrilled with the way things went.

The shopping spree on Sunday, by the way, was with my friend Lisa. I haven't hung out with her for quite some time so it was awesome to get to see her. She was quite a helpful shopping buddy, too. :) I drug her to my other favorite store as well...the one I rarely buy stuff from because I feel a little odd spending the kind of money they're seeking (until they've had some serious sale markdowns!) on clothes that Nicholas will go to the bathroom in, spill food on (especially now with the solids!) and spit up on. Maybe once Mark is doing really really well, it won't bug me, but I think I'll probably still go for the sale stuff and use the extra for college savings, cool toys, etc...

At any rate, the store I went on and on about is called Janie and Jack. It's actually a subsidiary of Gymboree. Did I ever mention that I interviewed with them before? That was quite some time ago. I wasn't so into them then...funny how things change when the product a company sells actually is one you need in some way. Ha! I am full of tangents tonight. Anyhoo, I found a couple of really nice pairs of shorts for Nicholas there for under $15 total. I was quite thrilled. :)

Allergy-wise, we've been just going to town here. Mark is through the first 4 of the first 15 and I am on my redo of the 2nd after having cleared my allergy to Pixie. :) We're a little less than pleased to discover that on many of these I was weak..given that we already had them treated and I'd passed, but we've also discovered that the lady who was treating me also cheated by not doing all of the first 15 treatments. She only did the ones that showed up positive but by doing so she may have lessened the effectiveness of the treatments as a whole. Oh well..we're fixing it now.

As for Nicholas, we've started with him as well. He is finished with the Egg Mix treatment and has moved onto calcium mix which is tricky given that his formula is something he's not supposed to be eating while being treated. We're probably going to have to do extra treatments since we can't really avoid it completely. Hopefully this one will help the formula be a little less grumpy to his tummy.

By the way, if you're curious about the technique we're using to eliminate our allergies, have a look at www.naet.com. It's pretty nifty stuff!

And How Could I Forget That?!

I started to write this post on Sunday but didn't have a chance to finish it I assume because Nick was having "a day." I can't actually remember why to tell you the truth.

The reason for my post was that I had totally spaced telling you that Nicholas ventured into solids...and loved them. Here I was thinking he wasn't ready and he practically grabbed the spoonful of rice cereal out of my hand and shoved it into his. Huh. Well, okay then! He's been eating it for a while now and seems to be doing great...if anything, our only problem is that I can't seem to get the spoon to his mouth fast enough. :)

As far as our little adventure to L.A., I did end up returning to Knott's but not that same night. I discovered that you can get a "shopper's pass" and go in for 45 minutes to get everything done. You just have to buy a full-priced ticket and then when you make it out in time, they refund your money. Perhaps the most amusing part of the deal is that they stamp "shopper" on your hand when you go in. So, yep, it's official...I have been branded as a shopper. Ha ha!

At any rate, I bought a little outfit for Nick, some snoopy lovees and a couple of tops for me. One of the tops I bought because I was dressed entirely too warmly. Can't say that I was all that sad to buy another top, though. ;) Oh, and I also got some copies of the professional photos with Snoopy and Peppermint Patty. I was a happy camper!

Mark also really was pleased with his seminar. It looks like this could be a very profitable part of his business. He now has all the training and implements to start treating me which is good because it seems that I need another treatment on a few of the items. Eggs and wheat still seem to be problematic, for example...a point which was reinforced multiple times during meals while we were out and about.

Once we were done with his seminar, we headed to Barstow to visit my Uncle Max. We stayed with him until yesterday (Wednesday) when we returned home. It was a nice visit though we didn't do a whole lot. We did make a trip to Ontario where we visited the mall and Babies R Us but that is about it other than various trips out for meals!

It is nice to be home again (even if Pixie is neurotically meowing at all hours). Hopefully we'll be calling another place home soon. We're scheduled (again) to have our moving container come at the end of this month, but who knows if it will happen or not. We're basically working on a either the house needs to sell or the business loan needs to go through basis as our trigger to move. I hope it happens before Christmas...

A Berry Good Day

Nicholas and I had a great day today. While Daddy was at a seminar learning how to do the allergy technique that has helped me enjoy several foods I previously couldn't without rather unpleasant results, Nicholas and I had a nice visit with Snoopy and Peppermint Patty at Knott's Berry Farm. I will eventually post the cute picture we took with the two of them on his website.

It's safe to say that now poor little Nicholas is wiped out. So, we'll see if we're able to go back this evening with Daddy which was the plan. I surely hope we are since there was a cute outfit for Nick I couldn't decide upon, as well as a cute one for our neighbor Cassie (a cute little bundle that came a couple of months after Nicholas) and I suppose I should be honest and say there was a shirt I was eyeing for myself as well. ;) And, there were also the professional shots they took of Nick with Snoopy and Patty...which I'm not sure I want, but I'd at least like to have the option of checking them out!

We didn't actually ride any rides. At one point, we were going to go on the Carousel, but Nick needed his diaper changed and we never really made it back there. Perhaps if he'll allow us to go back tonight, we'll do so and we'll catch a couple of others, too. We did go to a cute little show where Charlie Brown was the captain of a pirate ship. Nicholas really liked the songs...and during the play, Snoopy came over and said hi to Nick. This is what ultimately prompted me to get his picture taken. It's his first visit and Snoopy came to see him...had to commemorate that!

Oh, and I started a little tradition for the little guy, too. I've always thought those little penny things you can make at various theme parks were pretty neat, but I've never gotten one...I decided though, that Nick might find them nifty when he gets older so I started him off with one there. In honor of his namesake, we went with the Christmas-themed one. :)

Other than that, we've been busy bees at home working on a business plan for Mark and such. We finally got the first draft done and we've done a lot of other things for the loan he's trying to get to buy the practice he's found in Colorado. Hopefully it will all come together soon. :)

Home-sale wise, we're still waiting. There was supposed to be an open house today. Our first since we dropped our price (gulp) $50K. We decided we'd just drop the price and take a small gain rather than have to keep making payments on a place we weren't living in any more. So, hopefully something will happen soon.

And then, of course, Halloween gave us some amusement! Nicholas, for those who are wondering, was a peacock for Halloween (pictures will be on his site when I have time to get them there). Feedback was AWESOME re the costume! So many people were just taken aback...as a first time Mommy that is just what I wanted - a huge wow factor. So, I'm happy. :) He was the cutest little peacock ever, too...except when he got really tired and started screaming. That wasn't so cute, but oh well. We showed him off at the college for their trick or treat street. :)

And, with that, we'll wrap this up. I need to take a walk (I put Nick down to sleep in his stroller so I wouldn't have to wake him) to go get Mark so we can discuss whether we want to go do more Knotty things. Ha ha. I'd really like to go if little man will cooperate. :) I hope you all are doing well!

And, don't forget to set your clocks back....

Long Lost Update

Sometimes you have every intention in the world of doing something. Then life gets in the way. That's my excuse for why I never got an update out to you - life. :)

It has been super busy as of late as you can no doubt imagine. And, thanks to some recent developments, I can finally be open and frank about a lot of things I've been skirting around so we'll just jump right in to what promises to be a post that resembles a novel (but then, my posts often do, don't they!)

First, we'll start with Mark since he's been the center of a lot of activity lately. He's a doctor without a license as of yet, but hopefully that will all change with a good set of test scores tomorrow on those Part III exams he took in September. He's been a busy little beaver working to find himself a "home" once he has that special piece of paper (his license - we have the diploma in our possession!). He found a practice in July and we visited it and now, finally, several months later, it looks like it is still a great opportunity. It is centrally located in Colorado Springs which is just perfect and it is what he's always wanted - a practice with multiple disciplines. Whether it be chiropractic, sports rehabilitation, or massage (and other stuff), this practice has it. We're currently investigating funding options since we've had an appraisal and the doctor is willing to go with the appraised value as the price. I'll provide more details as time goes along...

In other Mark news, he should also be getting his guide dog when we are established in Colorado. He's received notification from a training school in New York that they'll send a trainer and a dog to work with him once we know where we'll be living, etc. So, there's another positive thing.

As far as living arrangements go, we'll be renting for the first few months so that we can find a house that we are pleased with and that meets our needs near his office. The idea is to get something relatively close such that he can walk to and from work. We have quite a few options since the housing market in Colorado Springs is simply not the best.

Speaking of houses, ours here in California is on the market. Much as I feared when we first purchased our home, the market here has also slowed and so we're not seeing a lot of activity at this point. We're keeping our options open, whether they be reducing the price or renting it out - whatever way we go, we're pretty likely to come out ahead in the venture.

With respect to me, I'm still at home with Nicholas. My doctor has been keeping tabs on me and didn't think it best to send me back to my job when the time came and so he's extended my maternity leave. Since I have always really wanted to stay at home with Nicholas, it was an answered prayer in a sense. Thankfully it hasn't been a detriment financially since in California we do receive disability pay while we're out after having a baby as long as our doctor feels we need to be and can provide reasoning behind his decision.

Because the doctor didn't give any indication as to when he'd release me to work, I was actually let go by my accounting firm. That was a little uncomfortable...especially since they didn't extend me the courtesy of calling me with their decision. I received the news via a Fed Ex letter. Granted, the letter did say that they were pleased with my work and would hire me back if they had space, but it just really left a bad taste in my mouth. And, of course, it presents another challenge since Nick and I have health insurance through them. We've decided that we're probably not going to do a COBRA thing since the plan we were on would not work in Colorado (other than for emergencies) and since Mark is trying to get group health coverage set up when he gets the practice going.

In other health news, I have knocked a few more foods off my allergy list - soy (believe it or not, though, I'll still avoid it as much as possible since it just isn't the healthiest substance), wheat/gluten, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and joy of joys peanut butter! We've actually been able to go out and have some food at some restaurants and it has been great. Today, in fact, we went to Macaroni Grill and I had a yummy salad and a tomato, basil and italian sausage soup that was fabulous...if only it hadn't had crushed red pepper in it, it would have been perfect. Ah well, we'll get those on another treatment.

The chiropractor that has been helping with my allergies has also been trying to help me with my milk supply and I believe we're making some headway. I've been helping the process by feeding Nick or pumping every 2 hours. I can actually sort of measure progress since I am feeding him via bottle first and then I breast feed to top him off. When he gets to a point where he doesn't seem to need to empty both breasts to be full, I take him down a 1/4 of an ounce. We started at 4 ounces about a month ago and we're currently at 3 ounces every two hours (except at night). In addition, he's started to have 2 "dirty, dirty" diapers per day (at least the past two days) and so I think we're finally really making significant progress here. If we keep things up, with the introduction of solids coming around the corner, I'm hoping that maybe we can really minimize his formula intake and avoid the gassy problems he has. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me on this - please keep them coming!

Mark and I have also started excercising every morning. We try to walk and then lift weights daily. Since the rainy season has started here, it is difficult to make it on our walks sometimes which is unfortunate because Nick usually takes his morning nap via that route. When we don't walk, he becomes a pretty grumpy bear by lunch time. I have a goal with respect to all this activity (aside from losing those last 19 pounds of pregnancy weight) - sculpted upper arms. I've always wanted them but have never really put in the effort that needed to be put in to have them. This time, though, I'm going for it...and I will succeed. It essentially means (according to my personal trainer, Mark - hee hee!) that I have to do push ups every day and that I have to get to the point that I can do real military style pushups. I'm already doing better after just a week or so doing them using the ledge that divides our kitchen and dining area...I'll be on the floor in no time!

And, now, for the update you've really been wanting, The Sprout is doing very well. He is such a little person and has such a sweet disposition. He's also pretty easy going other than when he's having that gas attack stuff. He's currently sporting his two front bottom teeth and looks as cute as ever with them. I did get some pictures up on his site through his 3rd month "birthday" - go check them out.

We have the little guy's costume as well. It is quite neat and something you've probably not seen before. We've been giving him a little time in it most days so that when Halloween arrives he'll be okay with wearing it. I can't wait to show him off! :)

Nick is getting closer to crawling and has actually come to enjoy tummy time. He really didn't like it in the beggining. He'd cry and cry when you put him on his tummy. Now, though, he can lift himself up and he grins quite a lot. He's also figured out that he can bat at things and grab things which is pretty fun to watch and yet a bit scary given that it makes me think of what trouble he might get into.

I almost forgot to tell you about our Adventures as of late. We've all had some it seems. Mark went on a tandem bike ride a couple of weekends ago with a group toward the Marin headlands. His partner and he never made it because they got two flat tires, but he really enjoyed the experience. We will look into getting a tandem bike ourselves at some point in the future. On that day, Nick and I bummed around Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. We also went to Ghiradelli Square. We didn't do too much other than wander around, but Nicholas did get to see his first parade. Funny, since he does have a nice bit of Italian blood, that it was an Italian parade of some sort...

Then just a couple of days ago we all went to Alcatraz. Can you believe that during the time we've lived here, we've never gone? We picked a doozy of a day, but we still had fun. It was very wet, though. With all the feeding and caretaking we have to do for Nicholas, we barely made it out of there at closing time. We're lucky we didn't have to spend a night on "the rock." ;) It was a really neat outing - I only wish we would have made it before Mark lost his sight. I think he really would have enjoyed it. I tried to describe things as best as I could.

You know, I think I'm running out of stuff to talk about here...which is good because frankly, this post is out of line! ;) So, we'll leave it be at this and if I have anything else, it will make it into our next marathon post (or not, if I actually succeed at keeping up with the blog again). See you next time!

Walking in Memphis...

We did a lot of that. :) We didn't see the ghost of Elvis on Union Ave...but we did stay on Union. We didn't go to Graceland...being a bit too young to really appreciate Elvis and being with Mark's parents who'd already been, we decided to spend our time elsewhere.

Now what we did do while we were in Memphis was...eat a lot of ribs. I kid you not, we had them at least 4 times while we were there. If we'd had the time, we would have had more. We've even talked about having some FedEx'd to us from Rendevous whose ribs I believe both Mark and I liked the best...too bad we only got to have them once since we missed the little piece of info on the menu that said they were closed on Sunday and Monday...doh! What a bummer it was to find that out on Sunday night! We had Corky's and the Blues City Cafe for our other ribby ventures...both were tasty but with the exception of the cole slaw which we thought was weird, Rendevous is our top pick. :)

The flight to Memphis was interesting. I can now say that I have changed a diaper in an airplane bathroom. That was a challenge....especially since sweet little sprout decided to have a real whopper of a diaper for me! Then I tried pumping...don't if you don't have to. It's more trouble than it is worth. I can't say how many times I was panicking because the blankets I'd rigged up were trying to fall and expose me. I'll never try that again (I wouldn't have in the first place if Nicholas would have cooperated!).

Other things we enjoyed while in Tennessee included riding in a little horse drawn carriage. This was a treat since I'd wanted to have one for our wedding but couldn't due to where we decided to have our reception. So, since our anniversary was on Tuesday, the 31st, Mark, his parents, Nick and I all climbed in. We went for the Cinderella carriage with lights...and it was a neat ride. We learned a little about some of the historical sites in Memphis and enjoyed ourselves. We also made a stop in at the Hard Rock for a pin for my mom and at Hooters for a shirt for my Uncle. We even got Nicholas a little hooters outfit to make the uncle smile...I still think they should have had something that said "my mom's hooters are the best" or something like that, but no. By the way, just in case you don't know me well, getting the outfit for Nicholas was Mark's idea. I get embarassed going into the joint to get my uncle a t-shirt. Maybe it is because I am jealous of some of those girls.... hee hee

As promised, we made our stop in Colorado. Nicholas, not surprisingly, was a big hit. We were able to hang out with the two brothers and Lea, Doug's girlie, when we arrived on Monday night in Denver and then we got to spend time with my parents on Monday for a good part of the day. We had lunch at Monica's in Colorado Springs. It wasn't the plan - we were supposed to go to Marigolds for salad and some yummy dessert since it was our 3rd anniversary and we got our wedding cake from there. Alas, we didn't even make it over there for dessert. I'm glad we'll be able to go back there more often very soon!

We were able to go visit a chiropractor's office that Mark is interested in and that went pretty well. He has a couple of options now as far as where he will practice. He just needs to iron out details and decide which way he wants to go.

And, then it was time to come home....we went to church this morning and that was interesting since Nicholas had yet another gas attack. :( It was kind of nice, though, because I got a lot of ladies who were thrilled to give me support and pep talks and who showed me a few little tricks that I can hopefully use some other time to calm the little guy down.

In other Nick news, he has begun learning how to roll over from his back to his tummy. I thought I made a little note somewhere on the blog that he had done this so that I would be able to remember when this happened, but I'm not finding it anywhere. :( It's been a few days since he's done this so maybe it was a fluke. ;) He also has really gotten quite strong as far as his head goes. He can hold it up by himself for the most part now, though, he has his moments of being a floppy neck still, too.

One final bit of news is that the adventures in breastfeeding are going well. I have actually succeeded in increasing my supply thanks to an herbal preparation I started taking last week. Nicholas' consumption of formula has decreased by a few ounces and everything seems to still be working out. I still don't have a full supply but just to have some success is wonderful. I will see if the herbalist who recommended the nursing tincture to me has any other tricks up her sleeve to help me be even more of a cow.

Hope all of you are having a nice August so far. Mark's parents and his brother are supposed to visit us mid-week this week....not sure where they're going to sleep (I would have opted for a hotel if I were they), but I'm sure we'll figure something out.

It's Been a While....

hasn't it? I am sure everyone knows what or should I say who is occupying my time. Yes, that little Nicholas keeps me busy!

He's just growing like a little weed, but thankfully not too terribly fast (though, I still think it's too fast sometimes!). He's flashing his adorable smile and smiling eyes on a regular basis now. He has quite a few smiles actually to amuse his mommy. One of my favorite activities as of late is watching him while he sleeps (okay, it's been one of my favorite activities since he came out!) because he smiles intermittantly. I often wonder what he's dreaming about. He seems to have lots of little baby dreams...very cute!

He also has begun coo-ing. He is sooooo cute when he "talks." You just want to pick the little guy up and kiss him and kiss him and kiss him. I'm definitely making up for the teenage "eww, Mom...not in front of the guys!" episodes that are probably in my future. I can't help but kiss those little chubby cheeks.

And, yes, they are getting chubby. He even has a bit of a double chin now and his legs seem to have filled out as well. He's still a small little guy, though....he weighs about 10 pounds and still doesn't quite fit into size one diapers. I think it is kind of funny that I had bought one box of newborn diapers before he came home thinking he'd probably wear them for a week yet he's still in them. I said I wanted a baby that looked like a baby and I think I got one! :) Actually, I get asked a lot whether Nicholas was born prematurely because he is so small for his age. I think people are just so used to seeing bigger babies now days for some reason!

Let's see what else can I think of to update you on what's going on. Oh, well, the gas problem is still around. Thanks to everyone for the tips. We have tried pretty much everything. We've even tried, on our pediatrician's recommendation, a couple of different formulas. Lactose free formula was a big mistake. The poor little guy just did not take to it well. So, now we're trying the other hypoallergenic formula on the market Nutrimagen by Enfamil. It's supposed to be slightly more broken down than the Similac Allimentum we have been using. I can't tell honestly...and he's still not feeling well though it is an improvement over the lactose free stuff.

It's quite distressing watching him suffer through the gas stuff. He just looks and sounds like he's in so much pain (and he probably is). So, we're still looking at ways to help him out. I found a formula that is geared for infants and children with food allergies...it is free from both milk and soy ingredients. We may give that a go at some point in the future, but it is expensivo stuff - $35 for a 14 oz. can of powder. I also wrote our health insurance to see if they would pick up the cost of feeding him donated breastmilk. They didn't say they would, but they didn't say no either so Nick's pediatrician is in the process of trying to get it authorized through his medical group. This is actually a bit bittersweet since I had planned to donate whatever milk I produced that Nicholas didn't need...

For now, I am making an effort to increase my supply to decrease what we do need to feed him in formula thus hopefully decreasing his overall discomfort. I can't say that I've seen much improvement at this point, but I recently came across a little technique that I think could be helpful and I am taking various supplements to promote milk production as well. The other thing we're going to try is using a goat's milk formula. Goat's milk is the closest to human milk so we are hoping it will work better with Nicholas' system. It will only require that we give him a vitamin supplement and some fish oil (joy....unless I can find an odorless kind!) to ensure that he gets all the nutrients he needs to grow up big and strong. It comes highly recommended by many of Mark's instructors.

Other than this, we are trying to get ready to go to Memphis this coming Thursday. It should be a fun time. I'm not sure what all we'll do there - we might visit Graceland...maybe if for no other reason than to see crazed Elvis fans. Oh, and of course, we'll be tossing the allergy list to the wind and having lots of yummy BBQ ribs and what not. I plan on taking a lot of claritin with me...

I think I mentioned that we're stopping in Colorado on our way back. We are going to let my parents have a little time with their grandson and look at a couple of chiropractic offices that Mark is considering. Since we'll be there on our 3rd anniversary we're also going to go for lunch at Marigold's Cafe...if you're in the mood for some of that triple chocolate mousse cake we served at the wedding, please join us. :)

Well, until we get back (assuming I don't make it back to the computer before then), I hope all is going well for all of you!

Beef. It's Still What's for Dinner...

Believe it or not, the 1/2 cow that we bought last year is gone except for 2 packages of stew meat and a london broil. Our freezer was looking mighty sparse for a while there, but no more! Today we picked up this year's cow just outside of Sacramento. This time around we went for more steaks and fewer roasts. We like roast, but it takes some planning and frequently results in way too many leftovers.

We did get a lot of hamburger again this year and I am thrilled. After having to eat hamburger from the store again (and it was even fancy schmancy Whole Foods hamburger), I am very happy to have a stockpile again. I grew so accustomed to hamburger with minimal fat content (so little that any attempt to drain it after cooking is futile) that when I ate the stuff from the store, I found it quite "icky." So yea for good hamburger again.

At any rate, I have to say I am slightly disturbed by the 1/2 cow this time around. Only slightly, but nevertheless disturbed. Why? Because I know what its name was. I hope that everytime I tear into a burger or steak I am able to forget. I will spare you in case you happen to come over for dinner sometime the name...if you really want to know, you can always ask, but don't say I didn't warn you about the possible disturbance in your brain.

To celebrate our now well-stocked freezer, we'll be having some very tasty burgers for dinner - anyone want an invite? ;)

All Clear!

Yea! At my doctor appointment today I was given the great news that everything is finally healed up and can be left alone. No more sticking long q-tips or sticks into my wounds. Thank goodness - I was just waiting for the time when one of them would break off!

We also did a little weigh-in for Nicholas today and are happy to report that he's all the way up to 7 pounds 14 ounces. This is about a 14 ounce gain since he was at 7 pounds even last week at our weigh in. Given that Nick has been eating like a horse these past few days, we're glad to see some of it is sticking with him.

Speaking of eating, we discovered why dear Nicholas was having "colic" symptoms. He was HUNGRY! We were giving the little guy the amount of formula (and breast milk, of course) that he should be eating to enjoy a steady weight gain, but we discovered on Sunday that it probably wasn't enough at the moment...he really wants to get big and strong folks. So now that he's in a little growth spurt we're making sure he's getting enough and we're really enjoying having our little angel baby back.

Finally, we enjoyed a nice little outing today to the San Francisco Botanical Garden. Since we arrived about 15 minutes to closing time, we plan to return soon. It was a great place to stroll with Nicholas...

And Now...

The rest of the story...

The next morning the day began with a pitocin drip and a wonderful process called breaking my water. All I can say is I will be wary of crochet hook looking things in the hands of others for a bit. And so, the real fun began...

Contractions. Fun? Not really. In this case, even less so because every time I had one, Nicholas' heart rate decelerated...not a good thing. I tolerated them by getting up and moving around with the help of Mark and a good friend of mine, Cassie (who was made an "honorary Auntie" due to her role in the birthing process). We made it to 13ml/hr. of pitocin (I may be off on my units here, but go with me) at which point the baby's heart rate was really decelerating and so they stopped the drip, ordered me back to bed and started monitoring again.

At this point, the doctor came in and discussed with us our options: 1) get an epidural and try the pitocin drip again to see if a normal delivery was possible or 2) get an epidural and go in for a C-Section. As I see it, going in for a C Section was pretty much a last resort sort of thing so I opted to try the pitocin again. Lemme just tell you how much I hate epidurals - it wasn't pleasant at all. The part I didn't care for the most was that I felt paralyzed from the waste down. I don't know if this is normal, but I did...though Mark and Cassie assured me that I could wiggle my toes when I tried despite not feeling them wiggling. Enough on that, though.

So, we began the drip again and this time I was forced to lay, yet again, on my right side so they could monitor the baby and I most effectively (is it any wonder that my right side was terribly sore the next day - my shoulder was totally the worst). This turned out to be a waste of time. They gradually increased the dose and we waited to see what would happen. In a word, nothing. At 10 ml/hour (3 away from where we'd ended the first round), I was having no contractions...none. Furthermore, I had not dialated any further...2 cm was still the call.

After some contemplation regarding the implications surrounding us, we decided to call the doctor in and discuss the C option. After learning that, given all factors present, we had a 5% chance of actually making it through a normal delivery, and after considering how long it was going to take to even get to the delivering part, we decided to go for the C-Section. Apparently, this was a good decision since, about two minutes later, little Nick's heart rate started decelerating rapidly with no contraction present.

What this meant for me, though, was that instead of being prepped and taken to surgery in a calm way, I was rushed with shouts and all manner of excitement (if I've said it once, I've said it a million times - excitement is WAY overrated). And, of course, as luck would have it, once they got me there, everything stabalized.

So, they got everything ready to go and Mark and Cassie came into the OR and away we went! Once baby Nicholas was taken out of my tummy (which I am so grateful Cassie actually took pictures of the event - a little bloody perhaps, but oh so magical!), Mark helped to cut the unbilical cord (which, by the way, we found out from the cord blood people, they like to get 100 million cells and Nick's had 190 million - go him!) and then he was bundled up and given to me to say hello. I held him, best as I could for a bit, and then let him go see daddy because I just didn't feel like he was very stable where he was and it made me nervous. Then Mark, Cassie and Nicholas went for bathing and screening and I "hung out" with my doctor and the rest of the staff to get stitches and such...

We all met up again in my recovery room where Nick and I made our first attempt at breast feeding. We did pretty well all things considered I think. Then we returned to our room for some much needed R&R and bonding time.

With that, I'll take another pause for a nap (I'm just absolutely exhausted at the moment) and try to get back here soon to give you some of the details of our time in the hospital as well as what's gone on since we left! Hope you're all doing well.

Yes, Saint Nick,,,

The Sprout has finally arrived! :) And, if we do say so ourselves (and we do...) he is one of the cutest sprouts we ever did see! So, without further a-do, we are happy to announce to you the birth of our precious little boy:

Nicholas Makana Rocco was born on Saturday, May 26, 2007, at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, California, at 5:01 p.m. He weighed in at a perfectly pleasant 6 pounds, 12 ounces and was 20.5 inches long - wow! He was named if you haven't already guessed after one of my favorite saints - good ol' St. Nicholas (which is appropriate because he's not only the patron saint of children but of scholars, but also because we found out he was a he on December 20!). His middle name was chosen by Mark (known to our little guy as Daddy of course!) and means "gift" in Hawaiian. We truly do feel blessed with this gift that the Lord has bestowed upon us so we really liked this name. It also holds special meaning for us because on our honeymoon, MeLissa swam with a dolphin named Makana.

And now, for those of you who are interested, the rest of the story:

As seems to be the case, Mark and I never do things low key and so you can probably classify our son's birth experience as an adventure! It all began on Friday evening. I went to the clinic for a last minute adjustment and then we went to dinner at Mimi's Cafe. After our yummy meal, it was a surety that we'd be late, but we figured we'd have to wait anyway so no big deal. As things turned out, we should have just waited until morning...

We got to the hospital and after finding a solution to the problem of too many bags and not enough coordination and talent to get all of those and the two of us to labor and delivery, we finally made it to check in. They showed us to our birthing suite and we began the process of getting me ready for the "marathon" that lay ahead. Once I was all dressed up with no place to go but a birthing bed (ha ha!), I crawled in and was hooked up to monitors that checked whether I was contracting and how the baby was reacting to it based upon his heartbeat. I was supposed to be in monitoring only state for about an hour...3 hours later after being in many uncomfortable positions and despite not getting a picture perfect grade on how we were doing (the sprout's heartbeat was being difficult to track often cuz being the little wiggle worm that he is he couldn't stay put), the doctor finally told the nurse to put in the Cervadil and get going. So, she did...

But, it came out before too long (by the way, I'm typing this one-handed with lots of drugs in my system so keep this in mind if there are lots of weird things) because the sprout (aka Nicholas), was again looking a little less than perfectly happy with the process. They decided to wait until morning and give me pitocin (yea! ha ha)..hence why I say we should have stayed home until morning. What I failed to mention is that the rest of the night was spent "enjoying" the periodic influx of numerous nurses when the baby's heart rate went off the monitors. So, I can't really tell you I had a pleasant night's sleep...

Morning finally came and a whole 'nother bit of exciting happenings...unfortunately, dinner is about ready and so you'll just have to tune in to the next installment to find out what transpired during the rest of the adventure...sorry for the additional suspense!

Today Is Really The Day...

Well, tonight...to start the process at least of coaxing Mr. Sprout out of his cozy quarters. I sure hope he's ready. I am and I'm not at the same time. That list yesterday made me a bit less eager to move from preggie princess status to marvelous mom (I hope) status...if there's one thing that always gets me it's being too sentimental.

Nevertheless, tonight at 8 p.m. PDT (or perhaps a bit earlier), we will be arriving at the hospital for our Memorial Day weekend adventure. I can't think of a better way to spend it...I imagine this may be the best Memorial Day weekend I'll enjoy in my lifetime. It's going to be tough to match that's for sure!

The plan, I think, is to get me adjusted (gotta have that nervous system souped up and ready to go) around 5:30 and then go grab a nice big meal at Red Lobster (assuming we can get in - maybe they'll have pity for me when we tell them I won't be eating another large meal until I'm finished pushing something the size of a watermelon out something much smaller...I hate that Red Lobster doesn't take reservations). After that, we're heading to the hospital...for what is sure to be an experience.

I've still been having a good number of contractions (still for practice, I think) and so I'm hopeful that the body is pretty close to being ready on its own and will just get in gear with a little persuasion by the cervix softening agent they're planning to use. If it is, I escape the joys of pitocin. If not, well, we'll manage!

So, here's to all of you having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend of your own! Hopefully by Monday or Tuesday we'll have arrived at home and will be able to share a little picture of our bundle on his little totsite. We probably won't post any pictures here since I'm feeling a bit protective of the little one so if you don't have the site and password info, drop me a note and we'll get it to you...

Birthday Recap...

I wrote this post yesterday during a break by hand in the hopes that I could just type it out quickly this morning before heading to my appointment. Let's see if we can do it!

I had a great birthday and birthday weekend...and it started off with Thursday. This was the last day I was home sick last week. I should mention that I'm feeling much better and that Mark made a super speedy recovery (wishing the same for you LP!). The night after he was ill, he was eating normally while I could still barely manage to eat anything due to an almost non-existent appetite. Thankfully, it returned and I've recovered most of the pounds I lost during that ordeal.

All the sickies aside, though, we jump started my birthday weekend on Thursday night when a surprise package from Mark's parents arrived in the mail. I was going to wait to open it until my actual birthday (only had about 8 hours anyhow!), but Mark told me I should open them so I didn't argue. :)

Inside of the package (actually there were two) were many fun goodies but my most favorite was a cozy pair of fleecy fuzzy slipper socks. They are heavenly and will be put to good use now and in the future (I'm definitely thinking birthing room wear though maybe not when it's time for delivering...we'll see). Other goodies included a neat necklace, a dip and spreader set and a festive wreath pin that blinks.

On Friday, I returned to work - not feeling 100% but well enough to go and earn some money again. It was a pretty easy work day as things go with no real excitement to speak of.

Afterwork, I headed home to make it in time for a birthday party Mark arranged for me. Funny thing is I ran into my friend Lydia who was on her way there, too when I was on the train. :) We came together and enjoyed a fun party complete with sweet gifties and cards from our friends here. Another neat surprise was that Lydia had made some yummy brownies which were wheat free and so we had those and some ice cream. The brownie mix had come from Mark who bought what can be described as a "chocolate fest" for one of my gifts. It had tons of soy-free chocolate for me to try...and I've been trying it. Last night I had a fabulous dark chocolate with orange essential oil in it...yum!

Mark's other gifts to me were a heating pad to warm up my side of the bed before bed-time (I get really cold and have trouble getting to sleep) and tickets to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra perform. This last one was a combo birthday/Christmas gift...and absolutely awesome.

On Saturday, we spent our day attending a seminar for chiropractors about business-type things. We gained some great knowledge that should help Mark make a good start when he opens his practice. Of course, I was close to yelling "stop!" at one point because the financial advice the speaker was giving was at times not the best, but well, I'm a financial professional and I guess I just "get" this type of stuff better than most people. Regardless, if you're paying down debt folks and want to give as little of your money away as possible, the interest rates you're paying dictate what debt balance you pay off first...enough said.

On Saturday night, we puttered around San Francisco's Union Square to see if there were any gifties we could find for those we love. I had briefly entertained the idea that buying gifts this year might bring less stress, hassle and frustration to the process. This is adventure reminded me why we ususally make most of our gifts and so we're back to plan A.

On Sunday, we went to church and then out to lunch with our neighbors. It was nice to finally get to sit and spend some time chatting with them about their careers, etc. After lunch, we ran errands...including one that was integral to our gift making. I'd tell you what it was, but then I'd have to kill you since some of our recipients read this blog! :)

That evening, we again flew the coopy to enjoy my birthday/Christmas concert. It was so awesome. If you ever have the opportunity to go see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra - go! My only suggestion is that you bring sunglasses. After a whil, the light show (mainly the bright white ones) starts to wear on you...we nevertheless hope to see this ensemble again.

After the concert, we headed home (thankfully, via BART!) and crawled into bed to be at least somewhat rested for work and school the next day. Not too much in the way of excitement this week so far, but as I mentioned, I am going in for a blood test this morning. Other upcoming excitement includes my office Christmas party on Friday (which Mark will miss out on :( since they do it for lunch) and on Saturday, a graduation party for a friend who's on her way back to Colorado to be a chiropractor (we're right behind you Diane!) and a Christmas celebration at the Lion's Center for the Blind. Though I have no idea when, I am also hoping to finally get started on making Christmas gifts this weekend. I may need to call in reinforcements...

Enjoy your week. I'll try to get back to tell you about anything noteworthy soon!

Congratulations Jackie and Jason!

We just returned last night from visiting Maui - another lighting fast weekend trip. We had a nice time as always and a lot of fun at our friends' wedding.

They were married Saturday evening at the beach by the Maui Sunset...it was lovely of course. I even helped out a little here and there.

We didn't really have time to go to the beach or to relax, to be honest, but it was nice to see all of our friends and to celebrate J&J's marriage which has been a long time coming! :)

I'll post pictures once I find time to do so...and then everyone can see my new hair do as well.

So, quick recap - Friday we arrived in the morning and to our surprise Mark's dad was waiting for us. There was apparently some confusion over whether we were going to rent a car or what not. I suppose we should have called when we made the reservation but I've been pretty busy lately and little things that aren't work-related seem to slip my mind easily (like forgetting that I'd given Mark's shoes to his dad...at the wedding - we spent a good amount of time calling around looking for those!).

We had lunch with his parents and then headed over to rent Mark's tux. I made a nice connection at the tux shop and will be referring my destination Maui clients there. They're also going to pass my info along to those who might wish to be married in SF. Once we had Mark's tux we rushed home for a quick shower and then really rushed to get out the door when we discovered (at about 4:30) that rehearsal was at 5...

Stayed at the rehearsal location for a good little bit conversing with various friends and the bride and groom's family members. Then went to visit our friend Keola who has, unfortunately, experienced the loss of his mother recently. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Saturday we spent running a few errands and then getting ready and attending the wedding. Fun was had by all and I have some new great contacts and a new tasty drink as well. :) New contacts include the president of the Maui Wedding Association who owns the catering company as well as a DJ services, table, linen and and tabletop company, etc. Also, I met a couple from the Bay Area (Sacramento and Manteca areas I believe) who just got engaged. They're looking to plan a nice luau reception which hopefully I'll be able to be a part of. As for the drink - when Shirley Temple isn't in the house, a nice mix of sprite and strawberry daiquiri mix does the trick! :)

Sunday we spent running around trying to find Mark's medications (which I'll have to refill today along with getting one of my own). Then we headed out for our flight...and oh what a fligh it was.

There was this little girl who screamed the entire time minus maybe 1/2 an hour. This was before we left the airport to after we landed. I was doing my best not to take Mark's can and whap her upside the head. Seriously. Sounds bad, I know, but I think it's safe to say 80% of the passengers on the plane agreed with me.

So, this week, I am going to keep up with my business stuff...especially calling people about my services (and sending email communications as well). I'm also going to look into maybe doing a little bit of tax prep services just to help us sustain ourselves a bit longer while I'm working on brining my business to life. We thank everyone for their prayers as we do our best to make everything work out! :)

Mark, on the other hand will be taking tests and working in the clinic...it's pretty much the same story every week for him. :)

And, finally, on the island of Maui there is much celebrating today as a very sweet lady turns another year older - Happy Birthday Mom Rocco! :)

Wow - I Must Have Been Busy!

I just realized I never posted anything about what we did for our anniversary. On July 31, I know you all remember. :)

For that matter, I noticed upon looking at pictures in my camera that I've just totally not been the best recapper lately. There are pictures I never even shared with the world like our walk in the "perfect for a horror movie" woods tha we like to walk through. So named, by the way, because one time when we went walking there I was feeling a little "scardy catish" and it was right at dusk and there were lots of shadows and stuff. Yeah, I'm a bit paranoid sometimes. At any rate, here's a little pic of that place. As you can see, it isn't terribly scary....in fact is has birdies. Of course because blogger is inherently evil, I have to post the pictures elsewhere. I think mark-n-melissa.com is the place. Go here. And yes, I do know that I shouldn't be taking pictures while driving...trust me, these were all lucky shots given that I wasn't really focusing on aiming or anything...

I've added a couple of bonus photos from Santana Row in San Jose as well. I figured you all might enjoy seeing them...especially the Grand Marnier vehicle and the license plate. How cool are they?

Then there was the "I'm bored again" day in San Franscisco. I had one of these a few weeks back and did a little picture tour for a few select friends (I know I'm playing favorites - sorry). :) To make it up to you, the most recent version of said tour with pictures is on the mark-n-melissa site of course. Maybe I'll even hunt down the old tour...

And now onto our Anniversary....

It was a pretty nice day on Sunday, July 30 (which is when we celebrated which was good because Mark came home around 8 on our actual anniversary). We didn't go too far away from home this time around since we are trying to watch our finances given that there's no $$ coming in at the moment. Still, though, it was a great day.

We started it off with a little jaunt to Santa Rosa. While here, we grabbed a ton of infomration on fun touristy things to do all over the Bay Area at the Visitor's Center. We also began our quest to see as many Woodstock statues as we possibly could. I think to avoid the annoyance that is blogger, I may just post these pictures to a little photo service and let you all take a peek because, well, Mark is a loon and made many of the pictures quite fun to look at. I especially like the one where he's trying to eat Woodstocks marshmallows...and am sort of giggling thinking about it since he kind of bent in a bit too far the first time (bad guide wife!) and bonked his nose. I was afraid we were going to break the statue or something, but no. The disco woodstock is pretty cool, too. Which are your favorites of the ones we've seen?

We enjoyed lunch at a little restaurant called Checkers. Highly recommended if you get the opportunity to go. We had salads that were very yummy (and allergy free!). :)

Then we headed back down toward San Francisco for a tour of Sausolito, but we took a detour. We thgouht it was a short one to Stinson beach, but no. We ended up going through a good chunk of the Muir Woods (including past the Pelican Inn where MeLissa had once attended an off-site meeting with the Capital Recovery group at PG&E (very cool place!). We took a little bit of a break half-way through to enjoy a scenic overlook. As you can see from the beautiful pictures (also in the yahoo folder), it was a great idea stopping! Once we'd traipsed around a bit, we kept on toward Stinson beach. We finally go there and man, it's definitely a nice (and busy!) beach. We took a little stroll and then jumped back in the car to go to Sausolito.

In Sausolito, we enjoyed wandering and taking photos (on the other site of course) and we even bought our yearly anniversary Christmas ornament. This year we bought a cute little lighthouse. Last year it was a cool little glass ball with sand and shells from Monterey.

Now, at the end of the Woodstock, Stinson, Sausalito slideshow, there's an added treat - a couple of pictures from when my friend Lucie and I went to the Brides Magazine launch party and pictures from my last bridal show. I didn't have time to get flowers this time around so I brought our big martini glass and flled it with lemon drops. It was a simple table decoration and people loved it. :)

I think that is pretty much the recap. Head on over to the pictures for the fun part of the post. :)

The Bridal Show....

Well, it's finally time for me to let you know how the bridal show went last weekend (and we'll throw in a few other choice tidbits, too).

We'll start off kind of backwards. I learned today that the elevator pitch I gave last Friday (I think I told you about it) is an entry into an American Idol style elevator pitch contest at www.startupnation.com. You all have to go sign up on the site for membership and vote for me! :) Also, they apparently pre-record shows. The one I recorded will air on 8/12 and you can find where/when at www.startupnation.com/radio. I'll give more details as I get 'em! :)

Mark and I went to see the Broadway musical "Rent" on Tuesday night. Interesting....that's all I'll say because there are many people who are fans of it. We weren't really...we left halfway through. Since we'd won the tickets, we didn't feel to guilty about leaving especially since I had to be up early the next day. At any rate, it was nice to go and do something together so we're not complaining too much.

Another couple of details, I now have a partial business website (still under construction in many ways!) and I'm advertising on two online wedding planning sites - Wedplan and Wedding Solutions. If you're feeling like taking a peak, please do....for the ad sites, you'll need to give a zip code of 94541 in the consultant/coordinator section (or on Wedding Solutions alone, the financial services section) to find me. I'll be pretty easy to spot in both cases once you get there. Please let me know what you think! :)

And, now a little info about the bridal show - it was great! I received 85 entries for my bridal emergency kit and newlywed financial planning package gift certificate. They will all be receiving the first edition of my newsletter as well as a quick phone call to follow-up and answer any quesstions they might have about planning their wedding, using my services, etc. In preparation for this task, I just signed us up for long distance today. We've pretty much always just used our cell phones for this purpose, but now we're going to go way over our minutes if we adopt that strategy!

Now as far as logistics, we did have some frustration over the business cards and magnets I ordered not showing up on time. And, then, there were the brochures which were folded backwards. I'm not feeling too confident in the abilities of Kinkos, my friends. Luckily, I had Mark to help me refold enough brochures for the show. And, at least I won't even need to contemplate whether or not I need business cards, magnets or brochures for the next.

At any rate, overall things went well...so much so that I'm signed up for the show in January as well. If you're interested, there's a picture of my booth which you can see by clicking here. There was a great response to the newlywed financial planning as well. In fact, I may be doing a workshop at the next bridal show One of the ladies who works for the show loved the service and thought it would be perfect as a workshop. This same person also was in disbelief when I told her this was my first show ever. There's a compliment if I've ever heard one! :)

The show was also an excellent networking opportunity. I met with tons of great photographers, venues, videographers and even a muscian who I may work for part-time managing the business side of his wedding performances in exchange for access to all of his bridal leads and expertise in the business. I tell you, some people gave me "the look" when they heard I was a CPA and MBA, but most, were absolutely on board. I have so many appointments I need to schedule now with vendors as well as people I need to call back.

It was also a great time to check out the competition. There were two other wedding consultants there. One was right on the other side of the curtain from me. I actually picked up her information and I have to tell you, I don't know how she lives with the rates she's charging! They are about a third of mine...but then, the services she offers aren't as inclusive. She also may not be trying to tap into the affluent market as I am.

I also have several people who seemed quite interested in discussing my services with me further. One was a mom who was checking things out for her daughter. She adored my booth. I hope to hear from them soon...which I will or they'll hear from me. For the most part, the people who were interested in my services signed up for the bride's emergency kit. So, I have their contact information... I had another couple who wants a destination wedding - they want to take a cruise and stop at a port with a mission and get married and then continue on their way. Another is looking for someone to just step in on the day and handle things (they have the planning under control since the groom is an event producer). I could go on, but you get the idea that I was well-received...and it gave me some great confidence.

So, I'm looking forward to the next one on August 6 and I'm thinking it should be a lot less hectic than this one. I need to get another emergency kit put together as well as some door prizes. I may also do some little "favors" to get people to stop by my booth. Anyone want to suggest something inexpensive that I could put together in the next week? I had a suggestion of bobby pins in tulle, but I'm not sure I'm interested in that. If I had tons of time or tons of friends to put to work, I would love to do some fizzy bath bombs like I did for Christmas, but I'm not sure I have the stamina to make 300-500 of those by myself. If anyone would like to volunteer, feel free to come on over and help out with that! :)

So, more details on a lot of things....to come! Hope all is well with all of you!

Our Weekend!

We had a pretty good weekend, but it wasn't perfect. Everything was peachy keen until we found out that MeLissa lost her wallet in San Jose - bummer! That kind of put a bit of a damper on things.

But, let's not focus on the unhappy things shall we? Rather, let's discuss all the good stuff that happened beginning with the fact that the Winsome Events stationery is done! Done, done, done! Woo Hoo. It's very nice and we'll probably share it with you eventually, but for now, hopefully you'll enjoy a peak at her new logo. Pretty in pink...just like the wallet we're not going to mention anymore. ;)

So, this weekend was pretty nifty in that we visited the Before-I-Do bridal show in San Jose. While there we met quite a few great vendors...one of whom MeLissa plans to form a lasting partnership with. We'll be discussing that more in the future probably. We also learned that there is another bridal show in a couple of weeks. MeLissa is going to try to get herself in as an exhibitor...it's down to the wire, but they might just go for it, and if so, it will be an excellent way to meet some potential clients and let them know how she can make their day (and hopefully their marriage!) a pleasant affair with as few hassles and financial squabbles as possible.

In conjunction with this outing, we visited a diner called Peggy Sue's (the last place we saw the wallet we're not mentioning) for a superb strawberry shake and rootbeer float refresher. They were super good. :) We also just wandered around San Jose a little bit.

Today, Mark started back to school. He's pretty excited since (once he's passed one more test), he'll be able to start helping patients. That's pretty exciting!

MeLissa was a busy bee today, too. She is writing up her business plan (it's in her head but she'd like to have it on paper!) and she also set up an arrangement to advertise on Wedding Solutions' website for the next year - now we just need that website which is coming, we assure you - it will be here before you know it and it will be wonderful! As soon as it's available for viewing, you can be sure that you'll be invited.

Another piece of very exciting news - our half cow is ready! We're terribly excited about all yummy beef we'll be eating very soon. We'll probably be taking a bit of a road trip this weekend using the GPS (nicknamed the "precious" by Mark) so we won't get lost. Then we'll bring it home and put it in the trusty freezer we bought last weekend. And, then, the fun begins...we're going to be eating around 300 pounds of cow over the next year - when can we expect you for dinner?

The Final Colorado Pictures (and some other interesting tidbits!)

Here's the last set of Colorado pictures - yea! :) I think I may have figured out what has to be done to get more than a few pics in a post, too...so this may have been a good lesson for future trips! Onto the remaining photos:


We'll start out with a few scenic shots (some of which are slanted, but given that Mark took them, we know you'll agree it just adds to the beauty of the photo...very photojournalistic, don't you agree?





These photos are primarily of our trip to Colorado Springs from Canon City via Hwy 50 and then Hwy 115 on our last day in Colorado. They aren't really in order, but they're all beautiful in their own way. The more "prairie"-looking shots are on Hwy 50...




































MeLissa loves the look of red clay with tons of greenery. It's probably why the Garden of the Gods (which we were unable to visit this trip) is one of her favorites places. Speaking of the Garden of the Gods, that was the location of our engagement photo shoot.



We had some truly lovely scenery...you can see one of the pictures here (at what used to be the welcome message on our site). And, speaking of our engagement, today marks the 3rd anniversary of the day that Mark made MeLissa get up much to early so that the ring he'd been holding onto wouldn't burn a big hole in his pocket! You can read all about how romantic it was as well as how we became a couple here.


More scenery...









Here's a shot of General Palmer on his trusty steed in Downtown Colorado Springs. What you can't see is that people drive around it every day....it's kind of a nuisance, but he'd sure be missed if they ever moved him (and they've thought about it on several occasions!)




Here's a shot across from the Souper Salad where we had lunch twice. You can see (if you look closely) the mall behind the pine trees. :)








Last but certainly not least (just ask her!) here's Pixie experiencing the bliss of some kitty love after "mom and dad" were gone for so long. She's one happy kitty in that picture. :)

Colorado Pictures - Part II

In the much awaited (well, okay, it's only been a couple of minutes probably) sequel to our 1st set of Colorado pictures, you'll notice, perhaps, a recurring theme...a lot of them were taken while we were driving. In most cases, Mark did the photo taking (which we do realize is probably best and which explains why many of the photos are crooked...he did his best without being able to see what he was taking a picture of). There are a couple, which we aren't sharing where MeLissa tried...they're pretty funny....especially the one of Mark's nose in close-up. Nevertheless, we figure we'll show you those photos you might actually want to see...so on with the show already!
First up - the promise picture of Doug and Leah from our wedding. See, she's a cutie. We likes her.








Scenic views on the way home from Denver and Castle Rock









More scenery...this is why we love Colorado...when you're stuck in traffic, you have pretty things to look at.








MeLissa driving...as usual (and wearing a CSU-Pueblo Alumni shirt...a very nice addition to the wardrobe - Thanks Laura!








Mark's photo of himself...reminiscent of The Fonze...don't you think?






Okay - this is annoying...blogger isn't going for more pictures...so one more post or two and I'll get the rest of the good ones up. Patience is a virtue, right? ;)

Colorado Pictures - Part I

Here's our solution to blogger being a pain and not letting us post pictures in the post. Buggers.

Here's Mark the last night of our trip eating the last of the allergy-causing gelato.









Here's Chris at dinner our first night in Colorado. We went for the uber-classy Village Inn just so we could enjoy one last meal in the "Non-Smoking section that has more smoke in it than the Smoking section which is all of 20 feet away." We're not going to miss it when we come back for Christmas (God willing) and we don't have to answer the question "smoking or non?" (Colorado has been smoke-free for 3 days folks!)




Here's Mark, Laura and MeLissa at the CSU-Pueblo Alumni office.







Here's a picture of "The Doug" from our shopping trip to Whole Foods. We have a picture of "The Leah" but it doesn't do her justice so we're keeping it to ourselves. Perhaps in part two we'll put up one from our wedding of her...






Here's the lovely velociraptor we drove by every time we returned to Christopher's house in Canon...he's ferocious.








View from the cute house with baggage that we saw in Canon City. Perty, eh?








Mom at the house with baggage.








Dad at the house with too much baggage.









Grandma








Mark and Christopher







More to come in Part II (blogger won't let us add anymore to this post).

Our Adventure to Lovely Colorado...and what we've been up to since.

:P Blogger is yet again preventing the upload of pictures so another post with the pretties will be forthcoming. Grr.
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We had a wonderful time in Colorado visiting family and friends. Our only complaint about our trip? It was, as usual, much to short. We missed a few people and so we'll just have to come back and do it again. ;) We were in Colorado from June 20 through June 27, but we have some pre- and post-trip photos we think you'll also enjoy including this one of Mark enjoying the last of the allergy-causing gelato. We think it was the marscarpone flavor.

And now, on to the trip - we flew out Tuesday morning. Our flight was a bit late and MeLissa wasn't feeling so well. We made it to Phoenix for our lay over and MeLissa went out to see what our next gate was. Denver, Denver, Denver she was saying as she looked for it. She found the gate and since we had a 20 minute window to make our next flight we started hot-footing it. We made it to what MeLissa thought was the correct gate and then she realized we were next door to the appropriate one. We maneuvered over and the flight attendant said they'd start boarding for Denver. Has anyone yet caught on that we were in the wrong place?

Yep. We were supposed to be flying to Colorado Springs. We tried, but we didn't make it to the right gate in time. Ooops. We had to go stand-by for our next flight. Thankfully, we made it on that flight and didn't have to wait for the next one which would have been arriving pretty late. During our wait, we decided we should eat something. Silly us, though, we didn't actually bring much food with us so we had to go through the torture of finding something - anything - that MeLissa could eat.

This food foraging was no easy task (surprise, surprise!). We know you're all just amazed about that one. ;) MeLissa bought Mark a sandwich from Quizzno's. And, then, after searching high and low, she found Nachoes with "normal" (rather than processed) cheese at the Fox Sports bar in the airport. MeLissa did her usual grilling of the waitress and was assured that there was no garlic on the grilled chicken. So she ordered them. Naturally, when they arrived (as is frequently the case), MeLissa immediately smelled garlic, but she was hungry so she ate them knowing that that next flight was not going to be a fun time. And, it wasn't. Nausea and an allergic reaction...not a good combo, friends.

We finally made it to Colorado where MeLissa handsome little brother, Christopher, (dressed in his dress whites which we really should have gotten a better picture of - darn it all!) was waiting at the airport to pick us up. He took us to his house where we began to settle in.

Anyhow, we hung out and then went to dinner and came home and watched Wedding Crashers. Very funny flick....and perfect for MeLissa, right? We watched another, Just Like Heaven, a couple of nights later and it is one of MeLissa's favorites now.

We think it was the first night that MeLissa also took the ASVAB just for kicks. Chris been pretty frustrated with the potential recruits lately. He had one person get an 8. You need a 35 to get into the Navy. These are not hard questions folks. We're talking basic vocabulary, paying attention and math skills for the most part. At any rate, MeLissa took the test late at night when tired and scored a 90. She qualifies for nuclear stuff. Very cool. ;) Chris had other setbacks that week as far as recruiting went. He had two guys ready to go in and then one came down with gall stones and the other's father wouldn't sign the consent form. We felt pretty bad for the guy. He is seriously missing his ship!

The next day (Wednesday) we went to Pueblo to visit people from MeLissa's college including Laura in the Alumni office who kindly gave MeLissa an Alumni T-shirt, sticker and bandana. Then we had a nice visit and dinner at a Mexican restaurant with some of MeLissa's friends - Amy and Doug. They had just had a baby a couple of days before. Little Nathan and his big sister Olivia came along for dinner, too!

The other activity for the day was outfitting the brother's kitchen with a bunch of useful stuff like baking dishes, mixing bowls, etc. He was a happy camper when he saw all that....especially the grilling tools!

On Thursday, we went to Colorado Springs (so much for MeLissa not having to drive all over during this trip - she did almost every day) and visited an Optometrist that specializes in low vision aids just to see if there was something he could recommend for Mark. Unfortunately, there wasn't, but we're looking forward to networking with him when we get back. The interesting thing about this doctor is that he is actually losing his vision. He is legally blind like Mark, but just like Mark he hasn't let that stop him. In fact, he just won Optometrist of the Year in Colorado...how's that for inspiration folks?

We then had lunch with Marilyn at Mimi's Cafe (yum, yum, yum!). Before lunch, MeLissa found a couple of really cute purses for $10 total. Gotta love it. We then made a visit to Pat, another friend of ours. Finally, we visited Aunt Jo and Uncle Clyde. They had some koi living in a water fountain and were a little grumpy that raccoons were coming to feast. Mark tells the story well - be sure to ask him about it! He definitely found humor in that first meeting!

The next day, we headed back up to Colorado Springs for another day of fun. My youngest brother, Doug, and his adorable girlfriend, Leah (whom we also don't have a great picture of other than from our wedding), came with us. We took a tour of the north end of Colorado Springs which is much further north than it used to be and visited a coffee shop owned by one of our friends for a little Italian Soda (he actually provided these for our wedding). We also made a stop at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory to pick up some caramel apples - one of our favorite treats! We then stopped by Whole Foods and grabbed stuff for dinner and our BBQ the next day. We ate dinner and sent them on their way.

On Saturday MeLissa's family came up from Lamar and we had a little BBQ and Christmas in June. It was fun getting to open Christmas and wedding presents that they'd been saving for us. We roasted a chicken on the grill and made pasta salad, cucumber salad, zucchini and other goodies to accompany it. It was an attempt to show MeLissa's dear family that despite her allergies, she's hardly starving! :) It was a great day - we even went on a little drive and found this cute little homestead (which we've since learned comes with some unwanted baggage).

On Sunday, we headed to Denver to see MeLissa's buddy Laura and her mom. We bummed around Park Meadows mall (one of MeLissa's favorites!) and then after a bit we returned to Colorado Springs (with a stop at the outlet mall in Castle Rock where we partook of some Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory goodies) to see another set of friends, Buck and Lyndsay, who'd just had a baby boy, Ridge. Apparently boys are "in" this year. ;) It took us a while to get there since traffic was pretty bad due to a couple of accidents on the highway. We made use of our time by snapping various shots of beautiful Colorado (and the top of the car, noses, fingers, etc. - Mark was taking photos and it yielded some amusing things). :) We stayed at Buck and Lyndsays pretty late and then drove back to Canon City in a really icky rain storm. It was a little scary...but we made it okay. We were sure tired when we got there.

On Monday were back in Colorado Springs again (as you can see, MeLissa's goal to minimize travel all over pretty much was a bust). We visited with a few people on this day. First, we visited with a chiropractor (Dr. Scott) that Mark considers one of his mentors. Then, we caught a glimpse of Brent, a friend who handles graduation stationery and what not for most of the southeastern part of Colorado. Then we took a little visit out to Peyton, Colorado to see Sarah who was the MOH in our wedding. She, too, had a new baby boy - Bryson. What's different about her story is that they were expecting a girl! Apparently Bryson is a trickster (or very modest) and did a great job of hiding a very important part of his anatomy during ultrasounds and what not. He and his brother Carsen were fun to watch and it was nice visiting with Sarah in their new home.

Then was the best part of the day - we had dinner with MeLissa's parents. This was our solution to keep grandma from totally going nuts on Saturday (she was quite eager to get home!). We enjoyed a nice long talk after and got home pretty late, but it was worth it.

We came back to California the next day after lunch with Pat. She gave us a lovely pillow (that MeLissa thinks she might try to make a few more of) as a belated-wedding present. With respect to the trip home, things were a bit tense at times (late flights and such), but everything worked out okay and we made it home, if a little late. We're not too sure we'll be flying US Airways again after all the fiascos, though...

When we came home, we found Pixie pacing the floors as usual. She gets to be a bit neurotic when we're gone, but thankfully, our sweet friend Bonnie had volunteered to visit her and feed her daily while we were away. Bonnie was rewarded with an assortment of Rocky Mountain Chocolates (what else?!) and our gratitude. Pixie was rewarded with a lot of petting from Mark. According to Mark she's gotten all the petting she's going to get for the next 3 months. ;)

One of the most exciting things that has happened since we returned is MeLissa now has a business card. It has a couple of little tweaks that need to be taken care of but that is it. It is just perfect for the image she wants to portray and will really make a great website design, too, with minor modifications. We're very excited about that and we'll share at some point.

This weekend, we were very productive (it's not over yet, but we were!). Yesterday we bought a GPS system (which MeLissa then proceeded to show how much she needed by getting lost twice in the next two hours) and a freezer for the half of a cow that should be coming to stay with us (cut and ready to eat - yum!) in the next week or so. We were pretty fortunate on the freezer (we didn't do too poorly with the GPS either) because we found a clearance model at Home Depot.

The only issue was that they couldn't deliver it. You had to haul it yourself using one of their rental trucks (or your own if you had it, but we don't!) and so we did that. This provided MeLissa's first opportunity to demonstrate that the GPS unit was a good buy. We made it home, unloaded the freezer with the help of Ladarrin our newest neighbor (who's earned himself a good steak). We were very fortunate that he came out when he did because the dolly we'd bought to get the freezer out of the truck had a flat tire. This wasn't the only fiasco related to the freezer, though. Before that, we'd realized we'd left our "clicker" in the Saturn and therefore had to wait for someone to open the gate to our community and, since MeLissa doesn't have a key to the house on her keychain (she just uses the clicker usually), we were going to have to leave it in the driveway. Silly gooses that we are.

On our way to returning the truck was when we got lost the first time (not much but a little) and then, when we were coming home was the second. We figure there will be a lot less of that with MeLissa's new toy which we figured we'd better get her since she's going to be driving all over for the wedding and event business.

We hope you enjoyed this dissertation about our trip and what's been going on since. We'll try to be a little more timely in posting things in the future. :)