Floods and a black eye...

Midday Wednesday, Kristen told me that she needed to go pee-pee. So I told her to go ahead and go in her bathroom. She was gone for a few minutes and came back in and then left again. Next thing I know she is flying into my bathroom telling me that something is leaking! I thought oh no biggie just the sink or something! Oh NO...her entire bathroom floor, toilet and sink space, was covered with water half way up the baseboards...my carpet in the hallway was beginning to get soaked...aaaaahhhh! I couldn't believe it, the toilet was overflowing like a waterfall, no joke, around the entire rim! I looked into the toilet and saw that 2/3rds of a new toilet paper roll was blocking the water from going down. My girl is known for this, we call it toilet paper stuffing! I finally got the toilet to stop running. In a panic I tried to throw every towel down to sop up the water...it wasn't working. There was so much water that the towels were just sinking to the bottom of the bathroom pool...it was pathetic. So i called Paul because I had no idea what to do to get all the water up..he's so SMART...he said SHOP VAC..and I hung up the phone. I don't think I even said goodbye. I got the shop vac and started vacuuming up the water...genius..pure genuis, my Paul is.

While I was vacuuming up the water, Austin somehow fell onto the vacuum and got his 1st black eye! Through lots of tears, tons of water we got through the craziness of the flood.

"Jesus, Help me!"

Tonight I was trying to get Kristen to eat a part of her dinner before i gave her an artichoke (one of her favorite's) and it turned into a bit of a fit. She was throwing a bit of a fit, and I told her to go into the hallway and finish her fit there. She ran to the hallway threw herself on the floor and cried some more. After a few minutes she starts crying out, "Jesus, help me, Jesus, help me!" My heart sank instantly. I felt horrible and joy all in the same moment, horrible because I had pushed her a bit too far for unexplained reasons, and joy because she was crying out to Jesus..I love that she is calling on the One that will always be there to help her! God is good!

Getting blood drawn

Today I took Kristen to the doctor to get her leg checked out. She has been having chronic pain in her knee for about six months. So, Dr. Jim recommended that we have an x-ray, and blood work done. The x-ray went really well. Kristen thought it was very cool that mommy was wearing a green costume (lead jacket) and that we were taking pictures of her bones. Next we went to the second floor to get her blood drawn. I tried to tell Kristen what they were going to do when they drew her blood, but you can only do so much telling. Kristen's name was called and we went back to endure the needle. She got the first poke in her right arm, but no blood. She was such a trooper, the tech moved the needle around a bit but still missed the vein. I couldn't believe Kristen didn't cry. Of course, all I could think was now we have to poke the other arm. I was right, and thankfully the blood came quick! Kristen felt the pinch of the needle this time and cried! She was such a trooper! The technicians gave her bandaids and tons of stickers. Afterwards, Kristen continued to tell me, "Mommy it hurt when they take mud (blood) from me". I was so proud of Kristen, so I told her we could get something special. Her first request was M&M's, and then it was a doll. We went to Toy's R Us and she picked the baby she wanted..I love my girl.

Last day in SF

We had decided that on Wednesday we were going to go to some museum in SF. We thought that both Kristen and Austin would totally enjoy the Aquarium of the Bay. So, down we went on a Cable Car to Pier 39. We first ate lunch at La Salsa, and man did we eat. Kristen and Austin ate so well. It was wonderful that they had full bellies! After eating we were off to ride the double decker carousel. Wahoo! Paul took the kids up to the second story and put them each on a horse. They loved it! It was so fun. Austin was so happy that he kept clapping the entire time.

After the carousel, we were off to the Aquarium of the Bay. Kristen had an absolute blast running from fish tank to fish tank showing us each of the fish, crabs, seaweed, sea anemone, etc. Austin enjoyed sitting in front of one fish tank and saying, Loo, loo (look)" while pointing at all the fish. The best part of the aquarium was the archway aquariums with huge sharks and enormous fish in them. We went through these aquariums about three times. Kristen could not get enough of it! Austin fell asleep on round one, which was a bummer because he wasn't able to see the sharks. After the archway aquariums we went upstairs to the tide pool tanks where Kristen was able to touch leopard sharks, bat rays, skates, many starfish, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins. She throughly enjoyed this touching everything! We had the best time at the aquarium!

After the aquarium we went to Ben and Jerry's and had some yummy ice cream. We sat around the pier and watched people. Really we watched Kristen eat chocolate ice cream and get it all over the place...total entertainment!

We then went back to the hotel for our rest time. After rest time we went to dinner and Puchinni and Pinetti's. It was italian food and it was absolutely delicious! Then we walked up to Walgreens and bought Austin a cable car, and then to the Disney Store because Kristen saw it and really wanted to go there. We left there with a Beast and Lucy. We then hopped on the cable car and went back to the hotel, packed up and fell asleep!

Thursday we took a shuttle to the airport (much better than our adventure in getting there). Got on the plane and came home! It was so nice to get home, but we all miss SF a little bit.

Two days in and we are having a blast!

Yesterday we set out for a boat ride. All Kristen could talk about before we left was going on the airplane and riding on a boat. So, we thought doing a boat ride in the bay would be perfect. Well we were in for a new adventure and that was figuring out the MUNI system in SF. The concierge gave us a map that had all the bus lines, trolley lines, street cars, etc., little did we know that this map was over a year old and some of the bus lines and their routes were changed. AAAAHHHH, is all I have to say. We walked around for I don't even know, probably an hour trying to find line 15 and it didn't exist. It was changed into 9x. Go figure..so once we figured this out we were doing pretty well, but could of course still improve our MUNI skills. We got to Pier 39 and ate at Boudin, which was delicious. Then we waited to get on the boat. We got on the boat and we were off. At one time, Kristen was crawling over the side of the boat to "get in the water Mommy". Whoa! Overall, we all really enjoyed the ride, especially going under the Golden Gate Bridge.

Afterwards, we went and checked out the Sea Lions. Kristen and Austin loved them! They just watched, and Kristen tried to find all the Mommies, Daddys, and babies. Then we were back to the hotel for a rest. We rested, Kristen took a nap and Austin played with his trains. After rest time we went to a restraunt called Umbria. It was an Italian restraunt and it was delicious! So yummy..we enjoyed every bite! We walked back to the hotel and hit the bed. (Pictures to come)

Today, Tuesday, we were in route to go and fly kites. This is one of Paul and Kristen's favorite things to do together. First we went to find a good MUNI map. None were to be found. Then we went to get on a Cablecar and talked to a local man who helped us tremendously. We got on the Cablecar which was so fun, and were off to the Ferry Building for a little lunch. We cruised down the building looking at all the vendors, and settled on a little Mexican food place called Mijitas. It was very yummy. Before that we walked past a vendor who had PB&J sandwiches for sale, and approaced us by saying it was National PB&J sandwich day. We couldn't pass this up, especially because it was an easy lunch that we knew the kids would eat..and boy did they. After the ferry building we went to the Marina greens, which was a long strip of grass with nothing to interfere with the kites. (this area was recommended to us by the local guy that helped us earlier) We spent a couple hours picking flowers and flying kites..what fun. It was nice and relaxing, all we were missing was Raleigh to play fetch with. After kite flying we got back onto the bus and came back to the hotel for a rest. We tried to rest but our energy was high. After trying to rest we took the bus down to Mel's Diner for dinner. It was yummy as always (a place Paul and I have frequented before). Kristen had a great time eating a pancake for dinner (it's amazing what you do on vacation that is you wouldn't normally do at home, but that's what makes it fun right??) and Austin slept throught most of it. We then had some dessert (banana split and a Black and White shake) and were back on the bus to go back to the hotel and sleep. So everyone else is asleep now, and I am off to join them. (pictures will hopefully be up tomorrow)

San Francisco, here we are!!

Oh my what a journey today has been. We left out of John Wayne airport and thought we were in for an uneventful plane ride. Boy were we wrong. Austin didn't stop moving the entire hour and twenty minutes. He wanted up, down, to lay sideways, see who was behind him, crawl under the seats, spit pretzels at the people behind him (or maybe he was sharing :) ), and of course sing Old MacDonald, over and over. It was super cute, all of it, but extremely exhausting. So, we thought we were good when we touched the ground, but who knew the fun had really just begun.

We flew into Oakland, which is a bit of a ride to the city of San Francisco, and decided to take the BART into the city. Well from the airport we took the AirBART, which was basically a big bus that shuttled us to the actual BART station. Picture this, Paul and I each pushing a stroller with a child in it, Paul carrying the pack n play, and our largest suitcase, and I was carrying the medium suitcase. (Don't forget we were both pushing an individual stroller..with child in tow..funny picture!) So, we tried to get onto the AirBART..and that entailed getting up in the bus with all our stuff, putting the suitcases away, folding up both strollers, and putting the children on our laps. Needless to say, people were waiting...patiently. Finally the AirBART is on its way to the BART station. We get off the AirBART...last ones off of course and go to buy our tickets for the BART. A few homeless people were at the ticket stands to kindly help us figure out where we wanted to go and also, of course, to make sure we got the right tickets...all in exchange for a ticket for themselves! What a deal!! What is crazy about this, is that the homeless man that helped Paul buy his ticket was the most helpful person at this station, everyone who worked there just stood and watched us...probably laughing inside..we were a funny sight! Then Paul tried to go through the exit of the entrance into the BART. (If you have every been in a subway this will make sense) After a few minutes of trying our tickets in the exit we soon realized we needed to move over to the gates that actual were for the entrance. We got through the gates to find that no one was there to help us figure out what line we needed to take to get to the address of our hotel. So, we resorted to college students...they are so helpful! We got on the right line and were on our journey, very quickly. We didn't even have time to get situated and sit down before the BART driver was off! Paul and I nearly fell over! Once seated we thought..sweet we are good for at least 30 minutes. A sweet lady sitting in front of me waved and talked to us the entire way..which was nice...We got to Montgomery Street where we needed to get off, and got off, amazingly. The BART driver had a tendency to shut the doors before people were completely off the BART. So we found our elevator, and were on our way up to the street. We got up to the top and in front of us were more gates to put our tickets in. Paul put his ticket in, took it out, and the gate didn't open. So, after a few tries the BART worker came over and asked us where we were trying to go. Paul told him we wanted to get to the street and go to Kearny St. The BART worker then told us that we were trying to re-enter into the station..who knew..now we were trying to go in, instead of going through the exit...we were so confused! He helped us to the exit of the BART station (rocket science I swear!) and we were blessed with escalators and no elevators in sight (remember what all we are carrying, luggage, two strollers, kids). So, up the escalators we go, and a nice man asked Paul if he needed help..Paul of course said YES please! This man, from El Salvador, helped us up the escalator and then up to more long flights of stairs with all our valuables!!!! Lord bless him! We then got to the light, had no idea which way was Kearny St. so we pulled out old faithful, the AAA map! A kind lady with a full mustache (even trimmed, no joke) told us we looked like we needed help. I told her we did and asked her to help us find the way to Kearny St. Kindly, she pointed us in the right direction...7 blocks later in downtown SF (again pushing and pulling everything) we made it to 750 Kearny St., the beautiful Hilton Hotel! We stuck out like sore thumbs and got a lot of funny looks, but who cares right? It was a time of building a serious memory we won't forget. What a day...I have never been so happy to see a hotel..let alone a bed. Goodnight!

1st Haircuts

Today Paul and I took Kristen and Austin to get their first haircut. We went to Sharkey's over by Costco...and it was a great experience. Austin sat in a jet while getting his lovely locks trimmed, and Kristen sat in a Barbie jeep and got a about two inches cut off! We were so proud of both of them. They both did great, sat there, tried not to move, and came out with great style! It's amazing to me how much older Kristen looks now that we have had her hair cut. Austin actually looks a little bit younger to me. Overall it was a great experience..and if you are looking for a place to get your child's hair cut, try Sharkey's.

The Movies

Today we took Kristen and Austin to see, "Horton Hears a Who". It was so fun to watch them be totally engrossed in something while stuffing their faces with popcorn! They shared a seat, so through part of the show Austin put his head on Kristen's shoulder...it was adorable..I wish i would have had my camera, but people probably would have been annoyed with the flash going off in their eyes. They both had a blast, and literally ate as much popcorn as they possibly could! It was a super fun afternoon....and also Austin's first time to the movie theaters.

American Idol

Paul and I went to the American Idol (AI) dress rehearsal last Tuesday. It was so much fun, especially to spend the day with Paul and be able to just hang out. It was also very neat to see the boys sing. The craziest part of it all was how tiny the stage was! They can fit only about 75 people into the first studio that they use. The only bummer about going to the AI dress rehearsal and not the actual taping was that we didn't get to see the judges. We saw Ryan Seacrest, and all the contestants but no Randy, Paula or Simon...sad. They actually had fake judges, real people that were suppose to represent each judge and the fake judges somewhat resembled the real judges...funny! Anyway, to sum it all up, it was super fun and very surreal. Can't wait to see who's gonna win it this season..who do you think??

Singing and Humming

Austin's favorite song is Old McDonald. He loves to sing the EIEIO (more like OEIOIEO) part, and snort like a pig. He gets the biggest laugh out of it.

A couple of nights ago I was putting Austin to bed and as I hummed a tune, he hummed right along with me. It was so cute, and totally warmed my heart.

Screaming and Ssshhing

Today Kristen was screaming (throwing a fit) in the back of the car. Don't ask me why because quite frankly I don't remember. Anyway, Austin began to SSSSHHHH her, and it made me laugh. Trying to laugh inside is not easy, but I succeeded and laughed out loud later.

Backtalk

Today at gymnastics Kristen was jumping on her side of the trampoline while another girl was jumping on the other side. Well Kristen decided that she wanted to jump on the other side so she just moved on over. Miss Elaine asked her to go back to her side and Kristen replied, " No I want to jump on this side!". Then mommy stepped in and used her stern voice and Kristen got back on her side, needless to say, quickly!! Wow, I have got some hard days ahead..she's only 2!

Preschool

Today I registered Kristen for preschool for the fall of 2008!!!! YAY!!!! I can't tell you what an exciting feeling it was to walk out of the building and know my little girl will be starting her school journey this year! YAY Kristen!! Can't wait for you to begin your school year at Hope Children's Center Preschool!

Sleepyhead

This is what happens when you try and get your child to eat his dinner when it's past his bedtime.

Gran and Grandfather

The past three weeks we have had the pleasure of having Gran and Grandfather in town! Kristen and Austin loved having them here. Of course they are missed! Gran and Grandfather would come and play all sorts of crazy things with the kids. They got pretty good at knowing the kids schedule and would take over so that I could errands run. It's amazing what you can get done without having to carry your children with you. We also got to go swimming at the resort they were staying at. It was a blast! Kristen remembered a lot from last summers swim lessons, which was of course a moment to be proud! Austin loved the water and anytime we would take him out he would get upset and try and walk back in the pool. It was hysterical. We dry him off and he would try and walk right back in, he had no fear. He also wanted to jump off the side like Kristen, but he soon realized it was much harder for him to get his feet off the ground! It was too cute. Pictures to come....

Why

The past few days Kristen has been asking "WHY" after everything I say!!!! AAAHHH!!! I wasn't expecting this to happen until she was about 3 or 3.5...? WHY now?

Biting

Today Austin got frustrated with Kristen while they were sharing toys. They started to push and shove with the toy, and I sat back and thought, "Let's just see where this goes." Bad idea. It ended up that Austin eventually bit her, and she screamed like I have never heard her scream. I tried to run over before he bit her but of course I was too late. He didn't break the skin but she has 4 nice teeth marks in her little wrist!

Beach Party

Tonight we went over to Orange County for a beach bonfire with family. It was very fun to just relax..watch the sun set and hang out. The best part of the night was watching Paul and Kristen roast her marshmallows to make her first ever S'mores. She loved eating her S'more and when asked if it was good she gave us a thumbs up!

Austin enjoyed a little roasted marshmallow, but most of all he was fascinated with the sand. At first, he wasn't so sure how to get his bearings on the sand. But after a few times of not getting to where he wanted to go, he just started going for it and was walking just fine looking for sticks and other treasures! It's so neat to watch them be fascinated with simple but pleasurable things in life..like the sandy beach and yummy S'mores.

New hair = New Mommy

Funnies

Today Kristen randomly said, "Mommy, I need chocolate." I said, "What for?". She responded, "My mouth."