Mini Milestones and Achievements

* Today marks six months of pregnancy (24 weeks for pregnancy - yes I'm fully aware that pregnancy is 40 weeks).

* This past weekend Patootie Muffin's movement escalted in strength so that we could see her movement through ripples on my stomach. Josh and I got a huge laugh out of that. (we've adopted that nickname until we decide on her real name).

* Its time to transition. Maternity clothes here I come. The biggest reason being that when she gets a movin it can get a little uncomfortable in more fitted clothing. The bella band has been great but as it gets hotter layering is just not ideal.

* Today Lola surprised the heck out of a raccoon that was hiding out in a storm drain. Lola LOVES to inspect storm drains and on our walk this morning this raccoon (about 2x as wide as Lola) came barreling down the drain and met with Lola's face stuck to the drain and nose sniffing like crazy. The raccoon ran back down the drain as quick as he could.

* After years of dreaming of learning how to mountaineer and months of preparation, Josh departs for Mt. Shasta, the 14,179 foot peak in Northern California. He'll be summitting sometime this weekend. Please pray for his safety as they travel to and from the Bay Area and their health and safety while they are on the mountain.

Back on the Grid

Thank goodness for modern conveniences like running water, hot water, indoor plumbing, electricity and insulation. I take all of these things for granted until one day I am "deprived" of one of them. A heat wave has marked much of the state this week. I am thankful that we didn't have to deal with the 110+ temps that our southern California friends had to put up with. We have hit 100+ though. Recently Josh and I were the recipients of a portable AC unit compliments of our next door neighbor Paul who got a new unit and wasn't using the old one. We have enjoyed being able to sleep in relative coolness thanks to our new AC unit, it cools our room quite nicely. You can imagine how puzzled we were to wake up in stifling heat on Tuesday night. What in the world? was my comment. Josh noted his alarm clock wasn't working. Power outage right? Well...sort of. After a couple minutes noting all the things in our room that weren't working (ceiling fan, alarm clock, etc.) Josh looked out the window and discovered that our neighbor's porch light was on so it was not a broad power outage. He checked our circuit breaker downstairs and discovered that we had power downstairs but no circuit was tripped and he couldn't find any evident reason for our outage. While Josh was scoping out things downstairs I tried desperately to get back to sleep but was distracted by Lola's huffing and puffing from inside her crate, she was roasting I'm sure, poor thing. Josh returned and was able to fall back asleep but not me. I retreated to the somewhat cooler downstairs to make an appointment with PG&E and try to unwind. After a couple episodes of throwndown with Bobby Flay and Golden Girls I decided that 3:30 am was a good time to try and go to sleep. Needless to say, neither of us slept well that night. Wednesday and Thursday brought no answers and so we put a call in to our friend from church who is an electrician. I am SO HAPPY to report that Nick our electrician friend came through today. Turns out one of our outlets in the spare room was badly wired and had fused together and shorted out everything upstairs. I am so thankful for electricity!

Father's Day/Dad's Birthday

This weekend we celebrated my dad's birthday with a washer's tournament. Washers is catching on as a family sport with first timer grandma getting two ringers one after the other and Uncle Jody (also a first time player) advancing to the finals with my mom as his partner. Unfortunately they were beat out by washer pro, Brandon and semi pro, Josh. Enjoy the photos from the weekend.

Names

Cabbage patch kids come with names so when I was given Marlena Georgia, Cleo Dulce, Boyce Aaron and Cleveland Hughes, I didn't change their names. I mean those ARE their names, it says so on their little certificate. Even though I'm not actually a fan of any of those names, Cleo Dulce started to look like Cleo and the same is true for the rest of them. I do have to wonder how you could name a preemie cabbage patch Cleveland Hughes when it sounds like a chubby President from the 50's.

When we decided what kind of dog we wanted, we picked through names and decided on Hazel. Later, when we actually got our puppy she had a name (Lola) and I couldn't even picture her as a Hazel.

Needless to say, Josh and I have been pondering names for quite some time. There is a definite no name list which consists of people of whom we are reminded when we think of that particular name (for example, no Jasons because I think of the boy in my kindergarten class who teased me mercilessly about my eczema). Josh and I lean towards more classic names (Prudence, Florence...just kidding) and I wonder if it has anything to do with our names. Joshua and Jennifer, for example, are common. My sister on the other hand, leans towards more alternative/exotic names. Her name, Brieanne, is not super common and was even less so when she was younger. Are we less adventurous because of our names, is she more so because of hers? How are we influenced by our name or are we?

Fortunately, we are on the same page as far as the names we do like. I lean towards having it narrowed down and deciding for certain when I get to see her face. Josh would like to have it decided before then. At least we still have 3+ months to figure that out.

I have a doc appointment on Friday and I am going to take the ultrasound bottom shots for my doc to see and weigh in on baby gender, if she'll indulge me. My mom is concerned that maybe (because this has happened to friends of hers) even though ultrasound indicated a girl, I'll deliver a boy. She wants to be prepared.

Yeah-Its done

The three family garage sale ended up being a four family garage sale. My grandma had a few things she brought over to sell. We either sold or donated all of the stuff we had so that is a GREAT feeling. Baby girl Smith kicked both my parents (orange juice and strawberries really get her moving).

I got to catch up with my parents and both grandmas so that was really fun. A family friend also stopped by to say hello and introduced me to his fiance so that was really awesome too.

Josh ended up not running but did take his test and feels good about it. That's the Monday update.

3 Family Garage Sale...or is it

This coming weekend has been set aside for over a month as the Taylor-Smith-Marshall garage sale. We're all trying to simplify our lives and get out of the storage unit we've been sharing for the past two years. As chief purger in the family, I love orchestrating this kind of thing because it feels so good to sell and donate stuff that we no longer use or have space for. I have the added encouragement this year of adding a person to the family and who knew there is so much baby stuff out there? I want to make as much room as possible. That and I'm married to gear man (you need a javelin? we have it. Scuba equipment you say, we can help you out. Going back packing? Give us a call we've got gear to lend you. Starting a track team? We can outfit you and get you a discus and shot put to train with. ) Ok, I digress.

So we set the date, June 7th, 3 family garage sale. Early on I became aware that Brieanne and Brandon, with their packed summer schedule, would not be able to be at the actual sale. No matter, four of us will press on(baby girl smith can't carry anything or barter so at this point she doesn't figure into the count). Only this week did I realize that Josh's seventeen mile (yes that's 1-7) training run and his test are on Saturday so good bye Josh. Then my mom gently reminds me that she's happy to help and provide stuff to sell but the actual sale part is not her thing...So, its a three family garage sale with 2.5 people (my mom being the .5).

In other news, I guess you could say I've "popped" this week. Since Friday I've been getting "oh belly", "there it is", and "finally." Let me just say that since I'll be sporting this belly right through the heart of summer and for the next 19 weeks, aproximately, I was in no hurry to pop out. You can all think of me when the mercury hits 100+ around here.

Lovely Lola

Lola after her first birthday, me at 21 weeks.