Not my finest.

You should know I'm not proud of this story. It is embarrassing and lazy and really one of my lower moments... which is why of course I decided to share it.

The other night Jazz made a hot dog. Just a regular hot dog in the microwave- nothing special. He let me have the last tiny end bite so I didn't get any gross cheese or relish. Of course after tasting such a delicious meat treat, I wanted one of my own. Jazz offered to make me one, and I accepted.

And I micro-managed from the couch.

"Make sure the bun doesn't break when you open it!"

"I like my hot dog wrapped in paper towel when you cook it!"

"I like it cooked about 50 seconds!"

But, cmon people this is nothing new. My patient spouse cooked my food accordingly.

"ONLY ONE STRAIGHT LINE OF KETCHUP, PLEASE."

Jazz brought me my hot dog. It looked like this.

This is approximately seven hundred times more ketchup than I would put on my hot dog. There is no straight line. Only a series of w's and scribbles. NOT A STRAIGHT LINE.

"Jazz, this has so much ketchup on it. I can not eat all of this ketchup or I will die."

I looked around on the side table for something to scrape 95% of the ketchup off of my precious hot dog. TV remote. Glass of water. Coaster. And then I spied it. A silica packet from one of Isabelle's dress up purses that I found in the toy box earlier in the day.

Perfect! I used this tiny poison packet to scrape my dog until it looked like this:

And I ate my hot dog, while my husband stood by me apparently shocked at my laziness resourcefulness.

What we have learned:
     -I like my hot dog with one single line of ketchup. One.
     -I am very lazy.

     -A silica gel packet touched my food and I didn't die.

And then I turned 27

A week ago today I turned 27, and to celebrate it, we did a few of my favorite things. I woke up to this:

My favorite part is that all the mini air heads and perfectly spaced and facing the correct direction. Attention to detail, my friends. A few weeks before my birthday, Jazz just kept hinting he needed help knowing appropriate gifts for me. Luckily, I keep a bookmarked folder for just an occasion, and emailed him a bunch of crap that I would love to receive. None of which needed to be wrapped in a large odd shaped box, so you can imagine my surprise when I opened my gift.

You guys. It was a Dyson. The kind with a ball. The Mercedes Benz of vacuums. The end-all to housework tools. Ecstatic would be an understatement.  If you know me, you know I hate vacuuming. Of course now that has totally changed- I VACUUMED AT 7:30 AM. ON MY BIRTHDAY. I love my new Dyson so much and Jazz was SO SNEAKY pretending he needed gift ideas. Totally had me fooled, well done sir.

And then we had breakfast. Rice Krispies for Iz, and my favorite marshmallow mateys for the adults. I don't usually eat MM because I'm always hungry like a half hour later, but it was my birthday and I pretty much do what I want. Ever noticed that rice krispies are the most difficult food to clean up? Like they get all soggy and stuck down in places and if you miss them they harden into concrete.



Then, for MORE birthday madness, we went to the lake and ate tuna fish sandwiches. Totally a staple in my childhood- lake water and tuna. PS I looked on Isabelle's life jacket and it was made in 1987. The 80's!

Isabelle had her first jetski ride. And was unimpressed.

Jazz surfed, which btw is his favorite thing ever.

Mostly I sat with my tuna sammy and kept the weight distribution of the boat correct.

AND THEN AFTER THAT. We got all ready and dropped the babies off for a night of adults only. Morgan and JR were in town, as well as my Uncle Kerry (and his cripple eye that dad had to fix) so our group numbered 9. I've been wanting to try that new tepanyaki steakhouse downtown called Kobe, so we ate there. I wore maternity pants, 75% because I needed them because I'm four months pregnant, and 25% because I knew I would eat too much. Win win.

AND THEN AFTER THAT.

We saw the 8 pm showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I feel like the movie producers had me in mind special when they scheduled the release of this movie on my birthday weekend- I'm not kidding. We arrived at the theater two hours early, were first in line, and spent the time chatting with one another like normal people do. No diaper changes, no fruit snacks stuck to my clothing, no milk smears on my pant leg. Harry Potter is special to me, and to most of my family- we've been reading it since the beginning, we have all grown up with Harry.

In case you don't believe me, here is a phone July 2007, when the final book was released. Morgan and I may have dressed up slightly, mom may have created and shipped us our own personal wands, and we may have waited all day and night with the other children to be one among the first few to read the book. I opened the book in the car on the way home, and read through the night until 7:30 in the morning- finished the book and turned it over to read it again. As Sabrina would say, "I literally devoured the book."

The movie did not disappoint. Of course I believe the books are true works of art, the movies at best a poor mans substitute, but it was still a really great film. It captured all the important parts of the book and really made it SO EMOTIONAL. I have not cried that hard in maybe six or eight months- really it was embarrassing I felt bad for the people around me as I sucked in air and did the UGLY CRY. You know what I'm talking about. And when it was over we sat in our chairs and collectively exhaled with total satisfaction.

You can see from all the girls faces that there had been some serious sobbing. Morgan will love this picture.

It was a perfect ending to our perfect day.

I sure felt like a special girl.

Happy Birthday to me.

rockabye my baby

I fully intended on blogging about my big birthday weekend tonight but just as I plugged in my memory card I heard a little voice on the baby monitor.

"Mama mamamama MAMAAA mama maaam."

I went in to her dark nursery where she was waiting patiently for me, a big smile on her face, her hair all fluffy and light.

"Isabelle, do you want me to rockabye you?"

"Yeahhhhh."

And so, despite her age and her size and it being way past her bedtime, I picked up her pajammied body and lifted her out of the crib. She pointed to the glider, and we sat down together. She laid on my lap, with Olivia and Leilani and her blankie, and we talked about the events of the day. She answered questions until she was too sleepy and then she asked me to tell her a story. So I did. And I tried so hard to drink in her smell and memorize the shape of her lips as she ran Olivia's fringed hair through her fingers and tried to keep her eyes open. Her tiny toes peeked out from underneath the blanket and I tucked them back in. She reached for my hand, wrapping her fingers around my thumb.

I whispered to her, "Isabelle, are you happy?"

"Yeahhhh," she said with a sleepy smile.

Her breath became slow and even, her body limp and still, and she slipped into sleep. And though Jazz makes fun of me for regularly rocking my almost two year old to sleep, it is my most treasured favorite time of the day. And sometimes I cry- for my tiny newborn who is getting too big to fit across my lap. For that little baby that couldn't hold her head up but now calls me by name. For my 7 pound 4 ounce froggy infant who wears Nikes and requires sunglasses and is learning to swim. I cry for the time that I have with her and cry for the time when I won't have moments like these anymore.

I cry because if Isabelle could ask me if I am happy, my answer would be "yes" every time.

Celebrating Cindy

My mom turned 39 (again!) on Sunday and we celebrated the only way we know how- with food. Big dinner, cake, ice cream, the whole nine yards. I've been terrible with taking pictures lately, I mean really honestly bad and I promised myself I would do better.

There are a thousand things I could say about my mom- how shes the life of the party, she has great style, she is amazing for raising at least one perfect child, how she sings and dances while she cooks, that she is the best grandma ever, on and on and on really. She always makes us laugh. Some of my favorites from my twitter feed: (She will kill me for posting these.)

"If contemporary dancing had been around when I was a kid, I would have been all up in that!"

"Wouldn't it be great if for church...there were aerobeds."

"All we need to do to the back yard is add a zipline and Thunder Mountain from Disneyland and I'd be totally good."

"Sometimes I wish I was a lounge singer."

"Feel my lips, we can play Helen Keller!"

"If you tweet that, you don't get dessert."

"I did a cartwheel in the family room today just to make sure I still could. Don't worry, I can."

"They're nasty good!"

"Sometimes at night before I go to sleep, I turn into Eddie Murphy."

"I don't fight, I just party."

"Alright honey, go spanx it up."

"What happens in Utah, stays in Utah."

"Hey look, theres a po-po. That's what you call them! What's the big diff?

"Ohhhh yeahhh I left him in the dusssst."

"I am having a really hard time figuring out if that is a man or a woman."

"You know who I love and just think he's part of my family? Barry, from storage wars."

"Okay, I'm gonna need a 100 watt light bulb and some goo gone."

"You know what I've been thinking about a lot lately? That guy in the mall that does neck massages."

"Just call me Mr. Limpit!"

"Oh, I totally want that robot right in front of my house."

"If only I could pull my skin up like stockings."

"That's the problem with tweets and texts, you don't get any context or inflection!

Mom, you continue to entertain us with your vivacious personality and your constant stream of energy.  Keep talking, cause I'll keep tweeting. Happy (blog belated) Birthday! 

official sponsor of this pregnancy.

Mexican food.

She Swims.

Today was Isabelle's first swim lesson, and I think she did pretty well-ish. We have a group of about seven kids that come over to mom's pool, and then two instructors take them and teach them stuff about swimming. Like blowing bubbles and holding their breath and kicking.

Isabelle's turn.

So far so good, nice and easy.

Holding on for DEAR LIFE.

Aaaaand time for her to go under.

Not so happy now. Is that the saddest face ever or what. And I'm the worst mom ever for taking pictures of her screaming.

This was perfect, one instructor had Izzie, the other had Madilyn.

And because this kind of applies to swimming, Isabelle on the boat. In Morgan's dino life jacket from 1992.

I could eat her legs for a snack. Really.

14 Weeks, yo.

So I'm about 14 weeks now, which puts me technically in the second trimester. You would think that since I've done this whole thing before, I wouldn't be such an amateur about it and know what to expect/how to handle stuff.

But it's way different. (Which is totally why I think it's a boy, btw. A boy!)

Food is gross. Pizza is gross. Hamburgers are gross. Chinese food, taco bell, ALL SO GROSS. Which is in comparison to last time, when I ate everything in sight, edible or not. Just hoofed it down, banking on my crazy stomach acid to take care of the rest. This time, more fruit, plain bagels, pasta, are all on the okay list. Also not okay- cake, ice cream, most candy, chocolate- because come on that stuff is just so gross. I guess it's good because the unhealthy things taste absolutely horrid to me- hopefully I won't gain 467 pounds like I did last time. Sometimes at night before bed I get my teeth brushed and everything and then I have to spoil it with a piece of toast. (Which Jazz fixes for me. And if he burns the top, he cuts that part off with a large knife, because he is a boy and thinks it's okay. Boys are so funny!)

This is the fluff stage. Well, for me the fluff stage came back AS SOON as Isabelle was born and pretty much stayed since then. This is the awkward "is she pregnant? or just super fluffs?" part where maternity clothes are too big and my regular clothes cling to not so strategic places. I'm sure the people that see me regularly are like, hey micci, get some more shirts- you wear the same three over and over. One of which, I purchased christmas of 2008. I feel very up to date and trendy, as you can tell. Tonight I got all gussied up to attend a show for one of my friends- (shes an independent musician touring the west coast). I wore makeup and lipstick and heels and everything. Anyway, while I was there I got my first bump pat...except I have less of a bump at this point, and more of a fluff jiggle. Nope, sorry that's not the baby, just the three enchiladas I totally devoured half hour ago. I'm always slightly jealous of the super slim girls who have an instant basketball after they get a positive pregnancy test. Some of us take a little longer to appear pregnant, OKAY? Of course, I'm super grateful that I am pregnant at all. I had to say that so anybody reading this blog knows I'm happy to be sick/nauseous/fat/whatever for awhile in return for an infant. See? not ungrateful.

Last night we heard the heartbeat for the first time. I know we should have heard it by now, but both times I have seen my OB he has given me a quick ultrasound. The first one was scheduled, the second one I think he felt guilty for making me wait almost two hours so he had me hop up there for a look-see. So we've seen the heartbeat, just haven't heard it. We are those kind of people that have a fetal doppler in our bathroom closet just so we can listen whenever we want. If you are nervous/anxious person, get yourself a doppler. I recommend craigslist. Anyway, so we were watching SYTYCD and paused for a few minutes to try to find a heartbeat, and low and behold, a little whoosh whooshing just popped out of no where. And I was all, there's a baby in there! And Jazz was all "Yeah there is!" and then we turned the show back on.

Now it's almost midnight, and I haven't been up this late since senior prom. Jazz is on a man date seeing Transformers and I've been watching a marathon of whale wars. Anyone else not really clear on what their goal is as they chase the giant japanese whaling fleet? I mean, yes, save the whales, but like you are in a teeny boat shooting a water hose at basically an oil tanker. Let's reevaulate here.

Also, just so you know. Our air conditioning is back, thankyouverymuch. Isabelle threw a giant fit today because I wouldn't let her eat a red otter pop on the carpet. And my birthday is in one week, suckas!

the one without ac

We are celebrating the 4th of July this weekend by forcing my parents to host us at their new house.  Approximately 4:55 on Friday evening, our air conditioner started making noise. Not a good noise like "hey I'm gonna keep your house so cool!" More like a horrible, terrible no good very bad day kind of noise. Jazz hurried and called every AC company in the area. They all said the same thing- we are closed for the next three days for the holiday weekend. Happy 4th! They may have just said "you will suffer for the next four days and there is nothing you can do about it.We had family in town, so we turned the air off and left for the night. We returned about ten pm, and the house was only moderately warm. I was raised in the polar ice cap house so I'm used to subzero temperatures at night. I sleep in a mummy bag, usually.

We braved the night- and it wasn't too bad. Our house is well insulated and it didn't get warmer than 73 degrees. We slept without our comforter and did just fine. The next day, (Saturday) things just got worse. Outside temperatures reached 105 degrees. Temperatures inside the house reached 86 degrees. My internal temperature reached "intolerable." We jumped ship and came to moms, clothes and diapers in tow, where we have been nestled cozily for the last few days. Isabelle is totally thrilled to have sleepovers at Grandmas. The food is excellent, the company is great, plus they have a pool. Basically we have decided to move in indefinitely! Just kidding. 30/70.

Jazz took apart the air conditioner thingy, and concluded that the part that is broken is the fan blower thingy, and he thinks we can get a part Tuesday morning and have it working by Tuesday night. IF THINGS GO TO PLAN. Otherwise, we will be at the Sumsion Compound for a few more days. Not that I'm complaining! I took a great picture of Jazz with his body in the attic and his feet dangling down but of course my phone is so 1999 and didn't save it so I have no visual for this post. Just pretend in your mind, ok? Or Jazz to the rescue with a good visual of what broke, notice anything out of place?

Our plans for the day include laundry, naps, and a possible trip to the lake, which is exciting. Hope you all have a fantastic holiday weekend..and that your air conditioning functions!