It's a...

BOY! 

YAY! We are so excited. I can't even believe it. From the first time I heard the heart beat I had a motherly feeling it was a boy. Don't ask me how or why, I just had a feeling. So I guess my intuition is right so far!! 

Such a bad picture of a picture but here is his cute little profile. 

And there are the family jewels. Ha this poor kid. already nothing is sacred. 

Birthday!

I was just going through my posts and I guess I uploaded these photos but didn't post them. 

Chris surprised me with a trip to Disneyland for my birthday! I seriously was so excited. I thought we were going to Park City but when I woke up he handed me a card. 

Out fell our itinerary with tickets to Disneyland. I have been bugging Chris to take me to the happiest place on earth for a while so I was so excited. 

These pictures are not in order. 

This duck was psycho! Eating that bread as fast as possible. 

The first night we stayed in Burbank with our good friends Lauren and Aaron. We love these two, they are up for a good time always! 

Chris's artistic attempt at the matterhorn

Thunder Mountain, arguably one of my most favorite rides. 

Love these guys! takes a lot of confidence to pull this outfit off. 

Chris is a goofball and threw away his fast pass so we waited for the other two. 

This is so mean but check out this lady's beard. She was very nice though. 

I wanted that cookie. 

I got that cookie and it was so disappointing. 

After Disneyland we headed to Huntington Beach. I loved this place, pretty jealous my cousin lives right there. 

A little beach cruising fun! Aaron was on a skateboard.

I was the only one who had not been on this ride and I was crouched down behind the dorks with their arms up. I could not catch my stomach and I may have peed a little bit on this ride. 

We went and saw my fist Cirque Du Soleil show in Hollywood. It was so stinking cool. 

The boys think the swings are stupid...not even, they are the best. 

Our hotel in Huntington. I would totally recommend it. It was so amazing. 

From the pier. 

Don't worry I fell off the cruiser and this was my battle wound. it was so much worse than this. I somehow manage to leave everywhere with a lovely wound. 

We seriously had the best time. I am so lucky to have Chris, he treats me so well. I am a very lucky lady. 

WHAAAT?!

You guys I can not even believe I am writing this right now. But I am pretty dang excited to announce to my blog friends (do I have any blog friends?) That Chris and I are expecting our first little Okland in January!! Holy Cow that is crazy and thrilling all at the same time.

This is how we told our families:

Poor guy hated this little shirt. I think it was made of short fat puppies not tall skinny ones! hehe

So we put this shirt on him and went to my parents first (i'm sure no one cares but I want to have this all written down somewhere so that someday I can reread it) 

We went to my parents house and told them to come see our new trailer, when we got outside they ignored Ralph and couldn't stop talking about our cool new trailer. Then finally my mom says: 

"are you guys getting a puppy" My thought, are you crazy woman!!! 

Chris says "Lauren might be having a puppy" Hugs, kisses, etc.

My dad is still staring at the trailer cause he can't hear what is going on. 

Finally my sister wrangles him up and says "dad, this is not about the dam trailer, look at the dog"

My dad has a bewildered look. 

My sister mumbles to me "oh my hell" says to him "they are having a baby!!!" 

Immediate tears flow from his sweet little eyes. Softest guy ever! I love him. 

It was pretty fun!

We told Chris's parents on a friday night because they wanted to go to dinner and I was so sick. Instead of them thinking their daughter-in-law was the crankiest person ever, we thought we better tell them. 

They were really excited! But when Sandra (Chris's mom) saw Ralph she said 

"Is Ralph in his pajamas?" Hilarious! 

Then she read the shirt and everyone was happy!

On Monday, Sandra and Randy were nice enough to help us get everyone together so we could tell them. They told everyone to come swim and eat homemade ice cream. 

So we were all sitting around hanging out and waiting for everyone to arrive and Sandra kind of winked at us. like "its time" so we put the shirt on Ralph and let him wander. It was pretty hot so he just laid under the table where no one could see him. So Sandra started calling him and kind of walking him around pointing at him, I think she was done waiting for people to notice. Finally Chris's sister read it out loud and Chris's Sister-in-law screamed!

 it was funny but kind of scared the crap out me at the same time. 

Sandra brought out ice cream with little babies on top! She had gone all out and we all just thought we were having ice cream. So nice of her. 

Anyway, that is the story of telling everyone.

We are really excited to meet Ralph Jr. (as Chris calls him/her) on January 4th. We are 11 weeks along and so excited this first trimester is almost over! ;) 

Strange feeling its a boy but I'm sure I'm wrong. 

Sweet Ralphy Boy!

Ralphy, where do I possibly begin with this little guy? He is the MOST unique dog ever! When I married Chris, I knew he and Ralph were a package deal and I love dogs but I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive about being a full-time mama to this guy. He has some unfortunate habits that make him...difficult at times. (that is a very nice way of putting it). This poor dog has more anxiety than me, my little brother, my mom combined, that is a LOT of anxiety. He can whine for 5 hours straight on a road trip because he is so excited to be going somewhere. He will have a utter meltdown when someone walks to the door because he loves people sooo much. If you hold him back from something he wants, you will get clawed and possibly bit. People always tell me how crazy Ralph is, they think he is nuts because they only see him in high anxiety moments. My mom tells me on a daily basis that Ralph has mental problems, she thinks that is a nice way of say he is psychotic. 

However psychotic Ralph gets he has somehow managed to claw, bite ( literally I have scars) bark, scratch, jump his way into my heart. He is seriously the hardest dog I have ever had. That being said, Ralph has some of the sweetest and funniest habits. He will slow motion walk towards you with a toy in his mouth until you clap your hands and he knows you're ready to play, then he runs full speed directly at you. If he does something he knows is naughty ( he always knows when he is naughty) and he gets caught, he immediately runs and puts himself in timeout. He is scared of EVERYTHING. I sneezed so loudly this morning and he ran under the bed. If I make any noise that is somewhat loud or somewhat foreign to him, he freaks out and hides. I came home with balloons that other day....PETRIFIED! He spent the next hour under the trailer in the back yard. 

This dog is a sleeper. If he doesn't get lots, I mean LOTS of naps during the day he is a different dog. In the morning he gets up with Chris and comes back to bed with me, then when I get up he follows me to see what I'm doing then goes back to bed. When I leave for work at 10:45 he is usually asleep under the bed. He is the biggest snuggler! He has to have his rump right against you, if you move he moves until he has the whole bed. His favorite thing is to get in Chris's warm spot in the morning and put his head right on Chris's pillow. He also has to be tucked in every night in his blanket on his bed. 

Got too excited and got too many burs in his fur

Captain Ralph loves to have his picture taken

fresh haircut

trying to tell me there are too many pillows on his bed.

all tucked in and ready for bed

so tired. 

doggie xanax, didn't do a thing for him. 

LOVES to go for a ride. 

not sure about this baby thing. 

testing out our new floor pillows, that are not for him. 

always in my grill in the car. 

laying at his look out spot. 

This dog is so much work but he is the best. I'm not going to say we don't often think of sending him somewhere far away but at the end of the day when he has us pinned against the edge of the bed, we love this little dude more than anything. I love to pal around with him on my days of and watch him run with sheer glee at the park. People at the park always tell us "he is having so much fun"! He is the craziest/sweetest dog you will ever meet. Happy 4th Birthday Ralphy Boy!!

Birthdays

As I look back on the last 29 years, its hard to not be pensive and self-reflective. 29 is an odd year, it feels like the last year of my adolescence. I'm sure you're thinking that was 10+ years ago but really I just now feel like an adult. I have to say being an adult is FUN. Of course it comes with its ups and downs and lots more responsibility but also FREEDOM. I love my parents but they were "hands-on" {that is a nice way of saying a bit controlling. Love you mom and dad ;)!}. The freedom one has as an adult is so nice, liberating if you will. There were definitely a few years...ehemmm 25 and 26! That were difficult. The last thing i wanted to think about was getting older. But now, with grey hair, a few wrinkles and 10 or maybe 15 extra pounds (that will not budge), I can honestly say getting older feels nice. I don't love everything about it like the previously mentioned list but overall I wouldn't trade what I have been through and the lessons I have learned for anything. I have learned that being happy is a decision you make every single day. A decision no one else can make for you. Chris and I are newlyweds but we both came into this marriage with lots of life lessons under our belts. We definitely don't have it all figured out and not everything is perfect everyday but I look forward to learning the rest of life's lessons with him by my side. 29 is going to be a great year, maybe the best so far, well 28 was pretty amazing. 

Here are a few quotes I found about getting older. 

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams. ~John Barrymore

Could this be any more amazing. I totally love this and plan on applying its idea to my life.   
   Regret can be paralyzing. 
Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, But beautiful old people are works of art.                         ~Eleanor Roosevelt
I love Eleanor Roosevelt, she was so wise. 
Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many. ~Anonymous 
Wow, never thought of it this way. I am so lucky! 
Grandma's are little girls with wrinkles.~Anonymous
This just makes me smile. I LOVE this! 

I have some very fun pictures coming of the trip Chris surprised me with for my birthday but I wanted to have a bit of a serious birthday post. 

Chris you are such an amazingly huge part of my happiness. Thank you so much for always having a positive attitude, for making me feel so loved and blessed on my birthday, and every other day too! I love you! 

Love is in the Air

There is nothing as fun as having someone to love on Valentine's Day! Chris made me feel very loved. Oh Sunday it snowed and snowed and snowed. So, when we were getting ready for bed Chris said "do you want to ski tomorrow or tuesday?" I was pretty excited to ski since I haven't yet this year but I was mostly excited to spend a whole day with my love minus all the fur balls we have at home. Watching my mom's dog has been a bit stressful to say the least and when we are together, one of us is yelling at the damn dogs!! 

Isn't he handsome! He even makes goggles and a helmut look sexy!!

We saw the sun a little bit but we had a good time being together all day doing something fun!

Usually when Chris calls me cutie, I am in trouble. "CUTIE!!!" is a name that i know means business, if I fit I would run and hide under the bed like Ralph does when he's in trouble. But this time I wasn't, so I had to take a picture.

Look how beautiful these flowers are. He came home from work and I could smell them when he walked in. So pretty. 

Ralph was very interested in these flowers. He followed me around while I found the perfect place for them. I also got a new pair of BOOTS! He does listen to me, if only on occasion. :)

Chris, thank you so much for making our first Valentine's, as a married couple, perfect. I love you with all that I am. You are the best!!!

LASIK!!

Very grainy and not very flattering picture, but the reason...AMAZING! I got LASIK friends and it has been so amazing. I am so happy to be done with the itching, the scratching, and the grainy feelings in my sockets! OH how great to wake up and go, to not be wishing i could tear my eyes out at a late nite movie. I.N.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E. I got mine done at HOOPES and had a great experience. My eyes did get a little dry one night and I actually felt my little flap rip open a bit...it hurt like you know what. But after a few extra weeks of extra drops, these suckers are seeing 20/20 and i could not be happier about it. I am so excited to camp and waterski and such things without putting my dirty paws in my eyes. 

Note about the picture...i took this after Chris taped these lovely things on my face. He was talking and doing it at the same time when all of the sudden he spit all over my face, by the time i figured out what was going on, he was in a full blown laugh attack. VERY FUNNY CHRISTOPHER!!! then he says to me "have you looked at yourself in these"...another outburst of laughter. I took this picture to see what was so dang funny. I guess it is funny but really it was funnier watching him laugh at me. 

If you are thinking about LASIK, do it. But get a referral from a doc to save some $$

Holy Crap!

I just signed up for an art class that i have signed up for and chickened out of for about 5 years now. i don't know why i am so damn scared, just am...oh well! i am really going to do it this year. we'll see how it goes.  if any of you want to join me for a monday morning sesh at the petersen art center i would love to have a friend to ease the tension a little. wait, i just got more nervous at the thought of someone i know seeing my work, scratch that, you are uninvited. at least until i have some warm-up time. seriously though there are lots of great classes there. check them out here. after reliving my study abroads, i remembered why i love art and why i want to create my own. here are a few reasons.

Of course Degas. The problem with Degas is choosing your favorite.

Berthe Morisot, so feminine and beautiful

Klimt's landscapes are so incredible but not necessarily what he's known for

Egon Schiele, this man changed so much about my love for art. 

Alexandr Onishenko, an artist i happened upon in Prague and am so glad i did.

wish me luck folks. i am petrified.