Grammie, soccer and the patch

So Grammie is visiting, flew up on Friday so she can attend Emma's 'Grandparents Day' at school on Monday.  She flies up every year for this, Emma is always so grateful.  Grammie was able to see Emma in action on the field on a beautiful fall day as well, and then the team walked next door to the pumpkin patch.  We did a little 4x4 driving in the parking lot (serious bog of mud and water) but it was kinda fun.  Carl and I went out with Kristy and Dave for dinner and bowling later Saturday night - I always forget how much I enjoy bowling until I actually do it again.

Soccer weekend

We enjoyed a late afternoon game on Saturday up in Redmond, the fall colors were absolutely gorgeous (in between the torrential downpours).  It would rain buckets, and then clear up, alternating throughout the game.  The girls love to play when it's wet though, go figure.  Emma's team is wearing pink jerseys for breast cancer awareness month, it's a nice burst of color on the field for a change.

We beat Crossfire 2-0!  That helped us move up a spot in the standings.  After the Redmond game Emma and I joined two other moms and their girls for a trip over the pass to Yakima.  Since we were already on the east side of Seattle, it cut about 45 minutes off of our trip had we left from home.  We joined the gold team at a really nice Hilton Garden Inn downtown to play in their game on Sunday afternoon.

We got adjoining rooms and of course the three girls claimed one side to themselves - which was just fine, they had a really fun time together.  They all play defender positions, so they got a chance to bond together away from the rest of the team.  Emma enjoyed a dip in the indoor pool, we had a scrumptious breakfast at IHOP, and then played a quick game before coming back over late Sunday.  Funny, I didn't get any pictures of the girls on this trip, but I managed to get one of my friend Amy and me.

Sweet Seranade

And I use the word "sweet" loosely here :)  Emma has been practicing her clarinet today, very well I might add, with only an occasional squeak so shrill that it feels like my funny bone has been hit... but... when Carl got home from Montana last night and heard her he went into the garage immediately.  And out he came with his trumpet from the rafters.  So the two of them are playing Go Tell Aunt Rody, Hot Cross Buns, Jingle Bells and the likes from the kitchen.  Cooper is curled up in my lap with his paw over his head, but it really is fun to see them practicing together.

Emma's "Amazing" Birthday "Race"

Due to our family's love of CBS's Amazing Race, we duplicated it for part of Emma's birthday party this year.  We brainstormed how to implement the race within the confines of our neighborhood and I think we were pretty successful!

Carl took the logo off of the website and created clue envelopes with Emma's name on them for the teams. We had 2 teams of 6 that ran for the next "clue boxes" and had to perform challenges in order to move on.  Some things they completed:  skipping or walking backwards the entire way to the next stop; completing a 100-piece puzzle as a team; climbing the neighborhood park apparatus while all tethered together; putting a golf ball in a bucket; eating 3 saltine crackers each within 1 minute: very fun.  The pitstop was our front porch, and Kenton was very excited to play the host and stand at the mat.

Just a few pictures from the day:

October 4th, 1998

Today is our baby's birthday.  Eleven years ago today she was born on a Sunday, 10/4, at 4:11 pm - much to our surprise.  The nurses in the delivery room were all cheering on the doctor to get her out at 4:10 to match her birth date, but they didn't quite make it.  They all thought it was so cute that a young police officer was having his first child on 10-4.

My perfect pregnancy, complete with 0 days of morning sickness or fatigue, and an honestly blissful 8 months had a hiccup that Friday the 2nd.  I wasn't feeling my baby move.  I tried all the tricks they gave me (drinking orange juice, lying on my left side) and nothing woke her up.  We went to the doctor and they put a fetal heart monitor on me and watched the baby for about 20 minutes.  "Nothing great, but nothing bad either - kinda so-so" the doctor said.  "Come back to the L&D section of the hospital on Sunday for a quick check before you go to work that day." I truly wasn't very concerned, as they didn't appear to be either.  This baby had never moved a lot in the pregnancy anyway, I never got those jabbing kicks or legs stuck up in my ribcage like you hear other mothers complain about - she simply was content and snuggled in in my opinion.

So Sunday came, Carl and I woke late as usual (we were both working swing shift), and we decided to run up to the L&D before a quick lunch together, and then head up to work.  I had no idea it would be my baby's birthday.  Once we got buckled in on the monitor, the baby's heartrate dipped down into the 40's (it's normally in the 140-160 range).  The nurses quickly, yet not in a panic, started flipping my body all around the bed to change the baby's position.  They requested an ultrasound.  Then the ultrasound became a biophysical profile.  The ultrasound tech requested the doctor look at the results, not giving us any information.  We started feeling anxious.  Worried.  Why won't they tell us anything?  Finally the doctor on-call came in and sat down.  He said the baby was in distress, the amniotic fluid was low, and she had to come out today.

We were given two options:  induce labor, but I hadn't even started dilating yet, and the baby was pretty high.  He said it would be a long labor given those facts, and could result in needing a cesarean section anyway. The other option was to do a cesarean right now.  I didn't even blink.  Cesarean.  Get my baby out.  I was kind of excited... my baby was going to be born... I wasn't very worried.  And then I looked over at Carl.  He was sitting on the ledge of the window.  Crying.  Scared.  It was all happening way too fast and not as we predicted, for him to process.  I told him "this is exciting - she's going to be fine - let's just get her out".  And he got on board.  Within a minute we had nurses in the room prepping me for surgery, and within 10 more minutes I was in the operating room.  The doctor told us to prepare for about a 5lb baby, with probably immature lungs.  That didn't sound so bad, I thought.

They got my epidural set, gave me something to make me a bit loopy, and Carl was sitting with me at my head.  It was so cold, my entire body was shivering.  I felt like if I breathed deeply I would fall off of that table it was so stinkin' narrow.  (Why do they have to be so narrow?)  Time went by, I'm not sure how much, but we never got the "raising the baby in the doctor's hands over the privacy curtain" thing to say "it's a girl!".  It was very quiet.  Carl saw that they had pulled her out and whisked her over to the heating lamp/bassinet and were checking her over.  Finally I heard a squeak.  A little squeak like from a dog toy.  And I said, "is that my baby?"  And yes, it was.  Carl had walked over to her and watched the nurses dry her off, clean her up.  They brought her to my face.  What a little monkey I thought.

Later when I awoke, Carl told me how he stayed with her through all of the examination, the first bath, the drops in the eyes, everything.  He got to hold her and be with her, and she held his finger.  He then told me the vitals:  3.4 lbs and 16" long.  WOW.  That is tiny.  When do we get to go home?  He then tried to explain to me that it would three to four weeks before she could leave.  I smiled wide and said "nuh-uhhhhh, come on" thinking he was joking.  That would be just like him.  But he wasn't joking, and I couldn't see her until the next morning at 5:00am.  So Carl brought me some polaroid shots of her (okay, they have stopped making polaroid cameras/film since then!) and I slept my day away dreaming of how I would get to hold her in 12 hours.

She was tiny, but she was strong.  She was a beautiful little monkey. Perfect.  Not needing a breath of oxygen, or an IV for anything.  She simply was tiny and hadn't developed her sucking power yet to go home and nurse or feed.  Plain and simple, she just needed some time to do that, and after she could suck on her own for 24 hours straight, we could take her home.  That didn't seem so bad.

Twelve days we visited her - five times a day.  The hospital was only about 25 minutes away, but we went to every feeding - exactly 3 hours apart.  Sometimes we cut it close, and we'd run as fast as we could into the hospital so we wouldn't miss it - and the nurses, bless their hearts, would say "we held her off as long as we could" to allow us to get there.  I could go on and on about the nurses, but they were the most wonderful, caring, helpful people in the world.  I think they loved Emma as much as we did. They all fought every day for who would get assigned to Emma (1 nurse per baby per shift).

So 12 days later we took her home.  Kind of scared, she was only 3.6 lbs now - she didn't fit in the carseat.  We had to roll up towels and surround her body and head with a cusion to make the harness work.  But she came home and made this couple a family.  And we have loved every single minute of it. There haven't been many bad moments... this child is full of grace, compassion, empathy, and goodness. She is our pride and joy.  She is our world that we revolve around.  And today's her birthday, and we will celebrate her coming into this world at 4:11 today with a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" with 13 of her girlfriends.

Yesterday she and I went to a gourmet cupcake shop to pick up cupcakes in lieu of traditional cake.  Cutest little shop ever. We're totally going back in the next few weeks, just she and I, to enjoy a cupcake at the window seat underneath a curtain of crystals.

Here she is in all of her 11year old glory:

November kit and add-on previews!

Novembers kits at www.coordinatescollections.com are awesome as usual!  I put the basics together for the first kit, a very fun color combo that features gray - love it!  And this month we have a wonderful Autumn kit with blues... a nice switch from the October Enchanted's predominant pinks.

Here are the add-ons for each kit - embellishments and then paper packages:

Home for a 5-day weekend... not so fast....

It was only supposed to be a 3 day weekend, with the beginning of my new 4/10 schedule beginning on Monday (and I just so happened to have Monday off next week!)  But, I had pulled a muscle in my back under my shoulder blade that was nagging me (like it always does, because I don't use good posture when sitting and typing, I know.. I know..) anyway... and then I woke up a few days ago with my shoulder really hurting on the same side.  Well, that radiated down into my arm, all the way to my middle fingertip.  So I didn't sleep at all on Wednesday and called in sick yesterday.  Thankfully there was a massage opening at my chiropractor - and she worked me so hard I cried on the table.  I've never done that before.  This is not a pleasant massage people, like you would get at a fancy schmancy spa - it's a deep-tissue-painful-but-in-a-good-way massage... except for yesterday.  Just plain nasty and painful.  Anyway, they didn't want me going back to work on Friday and typing all day and undo what they corrected, so I now have a 5 day weekend.  I have another massage scheduled on Tuesday upon my return to work.

So Carl's parents are in town - got in late yesterday afternoon and Carl and Emma visited for a bit after her soccer practice.  I heard Grandpa was a major tickle monster.  That's what Grandpa's do I guess :)  Tonight they're coming over for dinner, and then tomorrow we will enjoy a double header soccer match. Emma is playing up on the black team tomorrow - she's so excited about the opportunity - and then will play with her regular team immediately afterward.  She then has a swim party to go to at Lake Tapps that results in a sleepover - what a crazy busy life she has - but in a good way :)

My kits arrived yesterday from Coordinates Collections - oh my... are these ever drop dead beautiful! Even the Halloween kit is beautiful, as much as a Halloween kit can be - more cool-beautiful :)  I will be posting a reveal video later today at the site:  www.coordinatescollections.com.

I can't leave you without a picture, that's almost sacrileges in blog world, isn't it?  A pic of Emma from last month's tournament - I love the black uniforms :)  And then one of Cooper in front of the Golden Gate Bridge, although you can't even see the bridge - but it's there... I luv him :)

Miley Cyrus ROCKS!!!

Okay, I don't normally award myself the Best-Mother-EVER award, except when I score tickets to see Miley Cyrus ;)  Last night Emma and I had a date, along with Tracy and K-Sue, to see Miley Cyrus/aka Hannah Montana at the Tacoma Dome.  Here's the cute Best-Mothers-EVER...

And the girls before the show started - they were SO excited - we had awesome seats!

And a pic of the great screens with Miley in my favorite outfit of the night - the dress originally had a huge bustle on the back with a long wedding type train, but was still really short in front - very fun.  I was also a huge fan of her black leather jumpsuit hotpants - seriously!  

And then this remarkably great shot (from my pocket camera!) of Miley singing on this lift in the center o the stage.  This was right before she flew around the room on a suspended Harley Davidson motorcycle (of course those shots didn't turn out) rockin' out to "I Love Rock and Roll" by Joan Jett.  That was a serious woot-woot to the mamas in the audience :)

I had the brilliant idea to take the Sounder train from town to the Tacoma Dome (so that we wouldn't have to endure the awful traffic and ensuing $30 parking), then we walked to the Harmon Brewery where we had a great dinner (and yes, I did indulge in one of their beers, and Tracy had a strawberry lemon drop -we were going to be subjected to screaming adolescents all night people....).  Carl picked us up outside of the Dome - it was perfect!

Father-Daughter Bonding

It will begin at approximately 4pm tomorrow. After the soccer game, they are getting all packed up. Carl was hunting last Sunday-Thursday (yesterday) - he bow hunts elk. Yum. Not. Anyway, the rest of his crew was home for a day and then headed back this afternoon. Emma really wanted to go, so they were going to go for a day hunt on Sunday. And then Sunday turned into a Saturday night stay. And so now, there will be 3 dads there with their 3 kids - of course, Emma is the only girl. But he made sure to get her all decked out in Walmart's finest camo today. I think she's ready. P.S. that's K-Sue in the bottom picture - she was in some of Carl's hunting clothes acting as a decoy in the backyard when I got home - she scared the crap out of me! :)

Rain, rain, don't go away...

I know, most people hate the rain - hate thunder and lightening storms - not me. What a welcome change this was this weekend. I love the rain, even the "hairy-pouring-buckets-windy-raining-sideways" rain. Especially when it's accompanied by thunder and lightening. It's that kind of day today. Makes me certain that Fall is coming. Soccer is coming. They go hand-in-hand. My lawn won't need to be watered, the leaves will soon be changing glorious colors, I can't wait.

In other news, Emma wanted her hair straightened this weekend. I rarely say yes, because I would kill for her natural waves and curls, and she looks so cute in them, but I took an hour and straightened every layer. She does look so cute with it straightened, but it so goes against nature and the beautiful hair she was given. Had to take a picture so she can remember it, instead of me having to use the straight-iron again soon! HA! p.s. I have no idea why this is all underlined.

First day of 5th Grade

ere are some recent pics of Emma on Wednesday. Oh yeah, she started playing the clarinet - just brought it home yesterday. Good Lord, save us all - LOL!

Coordinates Collections - Bewitched & Enchanted

Ahh, October kits at CC. I had a hand in coordinating both of these kits - and good thing I don't have to decide between the two, because it would've been impossible! The first photo is the majority of the kit, and the second photo are optional add-ons - enjoy!

Sounders Game

We went to our first professional soccer game yesterday, the Seattle Sounders (we're soccer geeks now if you didn't guess). We went with another family, took the Seattle Link train to the stadium, and had a great time! They gave us these fun headbands with green and blue hair on them - Emma's keeping hers for Silly Hair Day at school. I'll say this - this group of 32,000 soccer fans had more spirit than any baseball or football game I have been to - it was awesome!

Seaside, OR

Well, we're two years behind on our annual vacation - due to the houseboat and Cabo trips - but we're back on track. We have all missed the beach, the regular spots, the familiarity that Seaside brings to our family. We mixed things up a bit this year - by having the J's join us, and bringing Kennedy Sue along. It doesn't need to be said, and those of you that have met Kennedy already know this, but she is a joy to be with - and so very easy. She's like a second daughter, a natural extension of our family. As are the J family - such good friends.

This year we tried a new activity with Emma - golfing! She and Kennedy did very well, we only played 9 holes, but they both had great swings and really good shots. The highlight of course was that we rented two carts - and as soon as we were out of sight from the clubhouse, the girls got to drive. Surprisingly, Emma was the more cautious one, and Kennedy took me for a good ride.

We also spent each day with a little bit of arcade time. We have been going to that arcade for probably 8 years now, and we were pleasantly surprised to see that they went "coinless" - with an electronic card to load up and play as you wish - very nice. Each day started with an air hockey match, and we only incurred one minor injury to Kennedy's pinkie on the last visit.

The weather did not look great as a forecast, but turned out to be gorgeous the entire time. A bit breezy here and there, but what would a visit to the ocean be without an ocean breeze? The girls braved the cold water a few times, dug several holes (hoping they'd be there the next morning, disappointed that they weren't), Carl chased down a razor clam at low tide (dang those suckers can retreat fast!), took several long bike rides, played several games of Bananagrams (buy this game if you don't already have it), and ate a TON of great food (including the tradition of one breakfast at the Pig and Pancake).

This year we went all out and stayed oceanside - the closest we have ever stayed to the beach. Totally worth it, very relaxing on the deck to see the waves rolling in and the unmistakable sound of the sea. Even though there were 7 of us, the house was very comfy and spacious. We would totally stay there again.

A Great Hangover

No, I wasn't drunk, just saying that we thought the movie "The Hangover" was hilarious!!! Although I did enjoy a blueberry lemon drop at dinner before we saw it :) Now I will say, it's a bit raunchy - there is more male nudity in this film than any other I've seen before, and a lot of choice words - but it was hilarious! We walked out of the theater saying "I want to see that again!" We went with the Robi's, and Tracy and I were laughing so loud - in that high pitched shrilly irritating laugh - from the back of the theater - the kind of laugh where people usually turn around with a sneer and say "seriously lady?!!??" But they were all laughing too :)

Emma has a friend from school spending the day/night with us. She is very excited to reconnect with school friends before the new year starts. I made some fun "how's your summer?" cards last month and she mailed them out to several friends, so there are lots of connections planned for the next week or two. We've also done quite a bit of school shopping already, I think we're set for clothes and school supplies. She's just looking for a hip bag for her binder - backpacks are out, didn't you know?!?

We're all getting very excited about taking off for Seaside, Oregon in a few weeks. We are doing our usual gig of renting a home with another family, except this year we are closer to the beach than ever! I will be sure to get lots of pictures. Oh, and Kennedy Sue is coming with us too... thank goodness! :)

Champions of the Blast Off Tournament!

Wow, so proud of Emma and her soccer team - what a fantastic weekend at the Federal Way Blast Off tournament! We played in three tournaments this summer, with a new team, guest players, and trying to just feel our way. The first one was on our home field where we went 1-2. The second tournament in Redmond right before we went to CA last month, we were 3-1 and made it to the quarter finals. This weekend, our girls played with determination and improved skills and finished 4-0 with the championship medal for their division!! We loved seeing the improvement - confidence - heart of these girls. Extra special was having Kennedy participate as a guest player, making the win sweeter for Emma having her best friend with her.

Some highlights (or lowlights): Kennedy scored a goal as a defender (she has a rocket kick!); Emma got new cleats after Friday's game and Coach commented on Saturday that she must've had an odometer in her shoes - because she covered more ground and faster than anyone on the field; Emma and another teammate were chosen to hand out the medals to their teammates - hanging them around each girl's neck just like the Olympics, before a crowd, calling out their names; and sadly, we lost a guest goalie player after Saturday's first game to a nasty injury. She had control of the ball on the ground in front of the goal and an opposing player kicked her in the face. It was not intentional, but no foul was called either - she sat and screamed as blood poured out - and ended up breaking her jaw on both sides of her mouth. Man, we have felt really bad for her the last 2 days. Of course, after she got home from the hospital, her first question was "did they win?" That's a great player :)

Where has July gone??

That seems to be the theme on our blog lately - a month in between posts. Bad blogger. Bad. Here are some photos from our recent road trip to California. We powered through on the first day and arrived a little after midnight on Monday. We swam and enjoyed Grammie's house on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday we took off about noon for Mendocino, with a brief stop in San Francisco. Emma really wanted to drive over the Golden Gate bridge, and we thought, "hey - we're on vacation - why not?" It turned out to be one of the most splendid days I've ever seen in SF - and I've been there a LOT! We all decided we would love to fly down for a weekend of exploration in the next year or so. Stayed in a bed-n-breakfast Thursday night that was pet-friendly, then headed through the Redwoods all day Friday. We stopped at the Eel River for a dip, watched some kayakers, and gave Coop his first dip in water. He did NOT like it. My pictures are in a bit of reverse order, but this first one of Carl holding Cooper is in Crescent City after a brief stop at the shore.

We cleaned out my mom's rafters in her garage while we were there - brought everything down, went through it all, and made a huge donation to goodwill. Along the way we found some childhood things that brought back a lot of memories. Emma of course was into everything, and decided to pair up my last pair of tap shoes with a ukelele that I got in Hawaii in 5th grade.

We had to do it. Had to go to the drive-through tree. It was $5 but it's just one of those things you gotta do, right?? Of course our truck wouldn't fit through, or at least we weren't willing to try after seeing a minivan squeek by. But we managed a picture:

Emma and Cooper outside of Mendocino in an inlet - Coop was not too sure about seeing this water come and go in front of him.

We got this same shot of Emma on the slide in my mom's pool about 5 years ago - but this time her legs are hanging off the back - lol!

Carl and Em in front of the Golden Gate - bad pic, but I sure loved the park there.