My Grill

Finally a picture that shows off my pearly whites. I have seven teeth now. Four on top and three on the bottom!

House Hunting, RJ, and other news

As you know our family is growing. Almost exponentially, we were two, soon we will be four...and next time will we be eight? (Let's hope not for sanity sakes!)

With a growing family; comes larger living expenses, a shrinking living space and our comfort level is slowly becoming uncomfortable. To make a short story shorter, we are house hunting. Not to buy but to rent out here in Redondo Beach. There was a beautiful home down the street at a very affordable price that was rented out two days after it was listed. That place would have been perfect. It was right across the street from our good friends, the Facers, it had a gated front yard and back yard, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, and a large living space and beautiful kitchen. Anyway, the best thing about the place was it was in our price range. Hopefully another gem becomes affordable.

And without a transition sentence let's just jump into the next topic. (That's what I love about blogging; you can suck as a writer and you still have readers.) We're calling baby # 2 RJ. He/She will have those initials, so that's why. Don't worry, their names are different their initials just happen to be the same. RJ is healthy and has passed the down syndrome test. March 18th is when we will find out if Bruce is having a sister or brother, brother, cross fingers* brother! (Actually we will be happy with whatever, but we would also be lying if we said we weren't leaning a certain way.)

And the last news I have to share; I got a job! It just fell into my lap yesterday and it's perfect for our current family dynamic. It's only 20 hours a week, I get to work from home and it brings in a little extra money each month. We are really excited!

Handy Man

I decided to let dad help me build a desk the other day...
It wasn't an easy job...

afterwards I took a much needed break and drank a bottle of root beer...It's not easy being me!

Twinkle Toes

Bruce jumps on his toes, stands on his toes and walks on his toes. With his build his chance of being a ballerina sure is slim but he still likes to practice ...

Guy time, family time and lot's of drivng time...

For the past five days we've been hanging with...well, all of you!

Kiel wanted to go to Utah for some quality male bonding. I wasn't there but I'm sure it consisted of a lot of conversations with the word "dude" used over and over and over again, fast food and secret handshakes. The only part I'm sad I missed is when Kiel got to see Bruce's newest cousin, Erica Allison Brown. She is a doll, wouldn't you agree? She and Bruce are nose twins!

While Kiel was doing his "man" time. Dude, Bruce and I made a trip to the bay area to see friends and family. On the way there we broke up the drive to two nights. We stayed the night in Fresno with my friend Joanna and her beautiful family. The next morning I packed up and drove two and half more hours to Oakley, where the Allens reside.

Bruce had a blast playing with all of his cousins. Luke and Bruce play really well together. We were able to see Katie, Mickey and Gerry for a day. Bruce LOVED Katie. He's great with people, doesn't mind strangers and mostly loves men with deep voices. Friday night, Omi and Opa watched Bruce while I had sister time. Bruce played with his cousin Sydney that night and Saturday morning. Last, Bruce , Luke and Avril had a play date at Aunt Diane's. Unfortunately, Bruce's nap time got in the way of play time.

Can you tell we all look like our daddies?

I was able to have fun as well. I saw my friends Sarah, Marci and Rachel on Wednesday. Thursday my friend Jenn finally met Bruce. Bruce went to his first "white table cloth" restaurant and behaved very well. Friday I went to dinner with Frances and Katie, minus the children and had much needed adult conversation. Saturday, Frances hosted a family dinner and everyone on my side of the family was there. When Sunday finally came around it was time to pack up and go home. We stopped in Dublin to have breakfast at my dads and then we were back on the road.

It was a rainy drive home so Montana ended up sitting in the front passenger seat next to me the whole drive home. He made it hard to see out of my passenger side mirror but other than that it was a cozy drive. Bruce slept most of the way which made it easy. He is a really good traveler. Unfortunately, every time we travel he brings back a virus. So today I've been taking care of a cranky baby with a low grade fever and a bad diaper rash. Poor guy. He has a Dr.'s appointment tomorrow for his rash. I hope it goes away soon.

This morning we picked up Kiel from the airport and Bruce has been saying "dada" and "daddy" all day. I'm not sure if this counts as his first word but Kiel says it does.

Well, that was our "mini" vacation in a nutshell and once again I didn't take very many pictures.

Something Smells Funny...

Every time I look at this picture I "LOL."

Bruce was crawling around in his birthday suit to air out his rash and Montana decided to stick his nose where it doesn't belong (big surprise) just as I clicked the camera!

Notice Brucey's right eyebrow go up?

Classic!

Baskets

Bruce is much more willing to play with his toys if they are put away neatly in baskets.

Exhibit AExhibit B

The only basket safe is the one with the stuffed animals... And here we are enjoying the after math ;)