Halloween and other things

I realize it's a little late to be blogging about Halloween, but I wanted to post some pics from the night so you'll have to bear with me. Jake had a good night scaring the kids, although we didn't have very many this year. Perhaps it was because it was extremely cold. Anywho, that's really all I have to say about Halloween. We took a picture of the cutest kids in the land, which happen to be parented by our friends Sunny and Joe.

Let's see, what else? In baby news, all is going much better in this second trimester. I can hardly tell I am pregnant. I have gained no weight and have not yet started to show. Last week I got both my flu vaccination and pneumonia vaccination so I have two very sore arms. Since I had both the flu and pneumonia last year the doctor felt it would be a very good idea for me to get the shots. Fine by me! Otherwise, we are just waiting to find out the gender. The chinese lunar calendar says it's a girl, but there is also a disclaimer at the bottom stating that the test is only accurate 50% of the time. I found a kit online that tests my blood and can tell me the gender within 48 hours and it's 100% guaranteed. You can do this when you are only 5 weeks along! Fantastic, except for it costs $275. We could do that, but then the baby would have to sleep in the bottom drawer of our dresser because we could not afford a crib. So, I suppose we will patiently wait for the ultrasound which is still 5 weeks away. The suspense is killing me, although my strong hunch is that it's a boy.

And now for some of my favorite one liners from the Coffee News, which you can find in just about every restaurant in Boise.

"I went to a restaurant that serves "breakfast at any time." So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance."

"For my birthday I got a humidifier and a dehumidifier... I put them in the same room and let them fight it out. Then I filled my humidifier with wax, and now my room is all shiny."

"When I woke up this morning my girlfriend asked me, "Did you sleep good?" I said, "No, I made a few mistakes."

A Sunday Drive

We decided to have our Sunday dinner in the mountains, so we drove up to the Sawtooths. It was a beautiful day, we hung out by the river and then Jake built a really big fire. He ate hotdogs and I had a green apple, a granny smith green apple to clarify. On the way home we saw a vending machine at the side of a gas station that said LIVE BAIT. We were intrigued so we drove over to it. Sure enough, for one dollar you could buy yourself some live worms straight out of a vending machine! I am wondering how they stay alive as it has dipped into the 20's lately. Part of me wants to buy them all so a. they don't have to suffer in a cold vending machine and b. they don't have to suffer as someone's live bait. Are these my maternal instincts kicking in? Anyway, enjoy the photos, especially the one where Jake is being one with nature.

5 Things I Can't Live Without

This morning I was driving to work as usual when I encountered some very heavy traffic on the freeway. Now for you folks who reside in major metropolitan areas and are not familiar with Idaho, this is not a normal phenomenon. People here think they have encountered serious traffic when the speedometer falls below 40. Anywho, I was completely stopped on the freeway and realized that I would probably be very late. I called my secretary to let her know that I would be late and tells me to tune into the radio to hear what is going on. Now I don't listen to the local radio because I have XM Satellite Radio, which used to be a fantastic thing until they started playing commercials. So I tune in to the radio to hear that 2 Afghani men are leading police on a high speed chase (which i suspect is only able to occur because they have chosen an Idaho freeway to have their chase at 7:30 in the morning) down the freeway and that they are side swiping cars and acting all kinds of crazy. Obviously this has happened ahead of me, because I am sitting on the now closed freeway listening to the report on the radio. The over excited news guy on the radio is giving a blow by blow as to how the police have managed to stop the men and are now holding them at gunpoint, on the closed freeway. The men surrender and everything gets back to normal, although I have now spent a good hour and a half in the car.

My point to this story, which was probably not even necessary for this post, is that after the craziness subsided I was still listening to a local station and the next segment was titled "5 Things You Can't Live Without". Callers would call in and say their 5 things and I have been thinking about my 5 things all day. Here they are, in no particular order, although Carmex has to be near the top.

1. Carmex
2. Green Apples
3. Jake
4. The Internet
5. Music

Now obviously these could change on a daily basis, although this has been my top five for at least a month, ever since my craving for green apples has become almost insatiable. I am pretty sure I would hurt somebody for a green apple. Luckily, that hasn't happened yet. Anyway, I am interested to hear your "top 5".

Halloween Season's Greetings

Hello once again. It is that time of year again where it is legal, sanctioned and encouraged to scare the poo-poo out of four-year-olds in fairy costumes. We truly live in paradise. First I will have a black light on my front porch and this scary pumpkin guy as well. The entryway into my house will be as dark as possible with the use of the shower curtain rod and my dark red bedroom curtains. I will be wearing all black; black leather trench, black leather gloves, black pants-socks-shoes and a black Russian military hat. Even parts of my face will be black. Only my eyes will glow bright white in the black light. I want to get one of those plastic pumpkins to dish out the candy. My hope is that it will fluoresce a bright orange.
If you hadn’t noticed, I (Jake) am writing the blog today. Steph is… Well, Steph is pregnant, nuff said. May your children’s hunter gatherer instincts reward parents with heaps and mounds of candy that you need to “inspect” for razorblades.

Rest in Peace, Grandpa!

Jake's grandpa passed away on Sunday so we would like to dedicate this entry to him. I only met him once, but the meeting was very memorable. He lives on a large plot of land in Tucson and Jake and I went to visit him a couple of years ago. Jake was out in the garage with his uncle Bob and I stayed in the nice air conditioned house with Grandpa Bud. We played about 40 hands of Gin Rummy when Gramps asks me how long my hair was. I had it all pulled up in a clip and it was fairly long at the time. I pulled the clip out of my hair to let it down and grandpa let's out a whoop and says "amazing, do it again!" I found this to be amusing the first time, but several requests later, I was beginning to get creeped out. I was looking around for Jake to save me but he was nowhere to be found. The only thing I could think of to do was to grab the little device that tests your blood sugar on the table and I asked him to show me how it works. A couple of finger pricks later, I learned that I have a normal level of sugar in my blood. The other memory I have of that day is when it was around 5:00 p.m., Grandpa says to us "If you want something to eat, you are going to have to go get it yourself, we don't feed guests here". I looked at Jake and he said "well alright, let's go get something to eat!" That was the last time we saw grandpa, but we were the recipients of hundreds (and that is no exaggeration) of forwards throughout the years. We'll sure miss you, Grandpa!

"That peanut there is your kid"

So we had our first ultrasound yesterday. Our doctor moved it up a few weeks because he was concerned about how sick I was last week. It was an amazing experience, to say the least. Since I feel so good this week, I was skeptical that I was even still pregnant, given how sick I was last week. It was a very welcome sign to hear that heartbeat beating at 175 beats a minute.

Our ultrasound tech was not exactly what you would call "warm and fuzzy". When we first heard the heartbeat Jake says "is that the baby?" and she says "well I certainly hope so" in a slightly sarcastic tone. I was immediately amused by the whole situation but the best part of the whole ultrasound is when she says in her gruffest truckdriver voice "that peanut there is your kid". I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. What she said after was almost as great..."you are definitely only having one kid this time". Oh thank you Marge! (I imagine that to be her name)

As we left the doctor Jake says "I am really excited, I'm excited like when I was a little kid and it was my birthday". Priceless. I wasn't sure he would ever be quite as excited as I am, but now we are on an equal field.

Here is the obligatory ultrasound picture that every new parent shares with everyone they come in contact with. Jake was so kind as to label it because unlike most ultrasound photos where you can almost pick out a leg or the head, you will recognize nothing with our little 4 centimeter bundle of joy. It is truly a bean, or a peanut as Marge would say. And we are proud to say that that peanut bean is our kid.

Click on the picture to make it bigger so you can read the labels.

The Train, Tamarack, and 2 Fabulous Years

We'll start with the train. Grandma Portela, aka Peggy, came to visit us last weekend and took us for a train ride. We were wildly excited to take a crazy ride through the mountains. Imagine our surprise when the train never reached 30 miles an hour and really never provided what we could quantify as excitement. It was a lovely way to spend a saturday afternoon though!




















Since we just couldn't get enough of the mountains, we decided to spend our 2 year anniversary at the beautiful Tamarack Resort. We had a lovely time swimming, playing Pente (our favorite board game) and relaxing. It was a nice end to an otherwise not so nice week, as I was quite sick and extremely tired. I don't mind it much though, I understand it's all for the cause.

And now for the big finish...The best two years of our freaking lives. Let's play a little game. I am going to guess the top two reasons my husband loves me and he will guess the top two reasons that I love him. I'll go first.

1. I am hilarious.

2. I love him.

Ok, and now for Jake's turn...

1. I am abnormally patient.

2. I am funnier than she is.

Ok, this is Steph and I must say that his number 1 is dead on, but ain't no way he's funnier than me!

Jake here, I wish I could think of something funny to say, but I just can't.