Labor Day...Milo's Birthday!

Got up with Zoey a little before 7 and we cuddled, she enjoyed her morning attitude adjustment(aka "Mummaz & Bit" or if you don't speak Zoey's version of Toddlerese I'm talking about nursing and her blanket)...I had a contraction that I blamed on dehydration and/or the nursing for the next 10 minutes until the next one came. Had a few more contrations so we got up made breakfast, did laundry, made beds, dressed Zoey, took a shower...by about 11 I called Becky to watch Zoey and we were off to Sunrise Birthing Center in Ventura. The possibility of traffic was a huge worry for me but we flew up there in record time. I think we got there around 11:30 or noon-ish.

This the midwife, Karni. She was awesome. And so was her assistant...but we didn't get any pictures of her. Here she's listening to Milo through a contraction.


Here's me between contractions...at least until the last few of them.

Here's another one and now it's time for...

Ahhh, the tub!

According to the time stamp on our camera, this was THE push. Water broke and suddenly, his head was out. Karni couldn't get a good angle to rotate his shoulders so she ordered me out of the tub in a surprisingly urgent voice...one I'd never heard from her so I thought something dire had happened. I literally hurdled the side of the tub with his head out. In retrospect, I don't know how I managed that.

But here he is, just seconds old! And everything A-OK.

We're resting in bed again and he's still screaming...what a roller coaster ride he must've had! Poor little guy had a bruises on his face and even on his eyeball from that trip. It happened so fast!

And best of all, we're back home and he's only a few hours old. I got to finish the laundry that night. Woohoo!!

Missed Momma!

Zoey Photo Installment

You are all SO lucky that I cropped myself out of this picture!

Zoey helping Lidia...or rather, Lidia helping me by entertaining Zoey while she works. :-))

These were taken by Becky while I was in labor...She looks like she knows things are going to be different very soon. Thanks Becky! It was great to have you looking out for our #1 while #2 was on his way. I never worried once!

Or maybe not...everything seems OK with Zoey in this picture.

Just being a ham for the camera...

And this isn't the best video...in her defense, she can recite her ABC's in English and Spanish (or Smamish as she calls it) but she's a bit distracted these days.

Last installment from Zoey's 2nd Birthday

OK, grandpa Don and Judy took tons of pictures but I'm assuming they sent the best ones first. This is Zoey at the campground at Lake Casitas showing off her skills.


Here's me driving the boat back to the marina in Santa Barbara after whale watching...I got really queasy and it was hard to tell if it was because of the boat or the movement in my belly.

I think I speak for all when I say that the score is whales 2, humans 0...we didn't see any whales this time either but saw a pod of Pacific White-Sided Dolphins and a ton of seals. Zoey didn't see anything because she (mercifully) fell asleep.


Love those giraffes!


C'mon folks! She SOOOOOO looks like Momma! This is Zoey on the train at the Santa Barbara Zoo...trains are the newest obsession thanks to Charlie and his parents.

Baby Brother

Here's some of the latest pictures of him. We've decided to name him Milo Vincent. We have a month (give or take) before his debut.

The Big 2.0!

Yes, she did build them herself...I just handed her the blocks and told her where to put them...sort of a general contractor/laborer relationship I guess.


OK, lemme put on my painting face.

Wow, looking back on some of my old posts I got a little nostalgic....also had to really laugh at myself. One post I boasted that she was "officially weaned". Yeah, right! Still requesting "mummuz" a few times a day and every time I agree (how could I refuse anyway?) I'm wondering how, logistically, I'm going to nurse a toddler and a newborn without her crushing him, him kicking her and both of them draining me of all life! We'll see. Adapt or die, right? On the bright side, just think of all those calories I get to guiltlessly eat to feed the three of us!

Bottom picture, that's a frosting mustache. Balloon bouquet from Unkie Kev and Auntie Tootz! Luv'd it! And a cool presents from Ever and her Mom. Outfit (and more goodies) from Sally & Sean...and to my surprise, it stayed white even after a day at the zoo. Pictures from that (and whale watching) are on Grandpa Don's camera so I'll post those later.

She actually looks older to me.

Blowing out 2 candles. Still need some practice on this.

Easter photos

And just to be fair...I ran Vince's too.

More fun stuff

Just what you've always wanted to know. What celebrity does Lisa look like? I saw this on Allison's blog and had to play around...I'll take those matches any day...if I had the guts to take a photo of myself at 6AM and try this fun little game the results would be crushing albeit humorous and probably more realistic!

OK, it's finally settled...but I don't necessarily agree!

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family search - Free genealogy

22 Months Old

I know, I'm pretty late with this post. She'll be practically 23 months old by the time I get this published so depending on how many worthwhile pics I get between now and February 9th this may be a dual post...what a slacker I am. But, in my defense, Zoey and I went to Orlando to visit Grandma Cheryl, Ken, Uncle Kevin and Aunt Kristin. I don't have any photos from that trip as of yet. Kevin is supposed to make me a CD and I didn't take along a camera because it was just one more thing to keep track of... But I'll make it up with some VLog.

We went skiing...here's a quick video of two runs of that. We only took about 7 runs down the bunny hill but I'm certain that if we had a week in Aspen she'd be blazing her own path down at least a blue run. After only 2 runs I could almost let go.

We just took this video tonight. Please excuse the piano accompanist (aka Mom). This was taped on the 3rd time through this Nocturne and I laughed so hard each time I almost peed my pants...plus it was really hard to concentrate with Zoey's singing...almost sounds German, which is appropriate for Chopin (or was he French? I can't remember.).

And one last photo...a tribute to Lidia. Zoey adores her (so do I). She's teaching Zoey Spanish and giving me a break a couple times a week.