Mom Moments

Well yesterday was Cora's three week birthday.  It is crazy how much changes when you have a baby.  I am not complaining just noticing that there are some very big differences between my life ten months ago and my life today.  For example ten months ago I never would have forgotten that I was wearing my slippers and walked out the front door.  Ten months ago I would have noticed that my shirt was on inside out way before my sister had to tell me.  Ten months ago I would be one of the people sleeping right now instead of sitting in the dining room while the rest of the house is sleeping writing a blog post, because when else is it going to get written.  Ten months ago I was in nursing school.  I am still processing through the last one, I am not quite sure how I feel about not going back this fall (they didn't give me much of a choice, but that is a whole other post.)  I can't remember the last time I turned on the TV and watched the Cubs, or How I Met Your Mother, there just doesn't seem to be time. Also I hate being late to anything, I prefer to be super early than late but since Miss. Cora arrived I seem to be leaving the house when I am supposed to be somewhere.  I have started to figure out how long it takes me to get out of the house with her, so hopefully I will be back to my early self soon.  Being a mom has changed so much in my life and part of me is mourning my old life, looking back it was pretty great.  I am glad that I didn't take for granted the ten years Greg and I spent just being a couple and now I am determined not to take this new adventure for granted either.  Here are some pictures from the new adventure we are on...it is pretty great. 

PS: I started this post on Saturday, but am just now getting around to publishing it. 

We were on TV...

Greg and I were invited to a Dodger game and our seats were amazing! So amazing that we were on TV! More on that later... First our night started with a great dinner in the Dugout Club, where we ate dinner surrounded by (this is the name dropping part)...

Rob Reiner

and Mike Ditka 

Then we went out to our seats where we realized we were just a couple of rows away from... 

Matthew Perry  

John Cho 

and Tommy Lasorda.

Here is the view from our seats as well as some pictures taken during the game.

Here are some pictures of us at the game. I should warn you, I never feel like I look tired, but apparently at nine months pregnant there is not an angle on the planet that can make me look well rested.

Before the game. We thought the camera was on a ten second timer...nope! 

After the game.

As promised here are some pictures of us on TV... Oh sure you can hardly see us, but we are there.

Baby Mace making her TV debut!

After the game Francisco (the batboy) was nice enough to give Baby Mace a ball!

I promised Greg that I would do my best to wait until after the game to have this baby. Now all bet's are off... Come on Baby!

In case anyone out there is starved for some Pico pictures here is his latest "Pound Puppy" pose.

Getting Close...

Just a quick update for those of you who are curious as to how Baby Mace is coming along.  I am currently 35 weeks and so we should be meeting our baby very soon.  These pictures were taken at 34 weeks.  Yes, I am as tired as I look in these pictures, but it is for a good cause.  Greg is currently in Hawaii and I am anxious to get him home safe, I don't like to be separated from him for too long and it seems that being pregnant has only intensified those feelings.  As for Baby Mace, she is doing just great she likes to stretch out and pushes her little booty forward when she does.  She also responds to Greg's voice so I am pretty sure she is already a daddy's girl and let's just say I think Greg will be wrapped around her finger with in seconds of laying eyes on her...if he isn't already.  When Greg gets back from Hawaii we will start getting the house ready for her...that is so crazy.  If you are wondering about our first baby, Pico, he is doing great although he does not love the fact that I can't bend over and play fetch with him, or have dance parties with him as easily as I used to.  Pico is enjoying having a back yard to sniff around in and big windows in the front of the house so he can bark at anyone who dares to walk by.  Yup, everyone is happy and healthy in the Mace household.       

Update...

Lately inquiring minds have wanted to know about how Baby Mace is doing, so I figured I would update everyone as we head into the third trimester!  Baby Mace is doing well and kicks a lot, and she responds to her dad's voice, which is a lot of fun.  Greg and I are getting excited to meet the little one and find out if she will have red hair, which seems to be a super gene in his family.  Guess we will just have to wait a few more weeks to see.    

Here is the latest "belly" photo, enjoy!

Special Delivery!

Life around the Mace household was just not busy or exciting enough so the stork decided to surprise us...

We are in love.  Baby Mace's due date is May 13, 2012...Mother's Day.  

(Although neither one of us thinks it will be born on that day.)

Also Baby Mace has it's mother's dance moves...somewhere between convulsions and Bill Cosby.  I decided this song was what it was dancing to...

Just in case you were wondering... here I am at the end of the first trimester and the beginning of the second.  

Hodgepodge...

This is such a hodgepodge post...  Here goes!

We have a new favorite dessert place!  It is Hawaiian shaved ice and they put Dole Whip in the bottom of the bowl!  

Y-U-M!!!!!!!!!!

On October 21st we went to a LA. Kings vs.  Dallas Stars hockey game.  We had a lot of fun, and I hope to get Greg to go to some more games with me!

On October 27th, Greg passed his Qualification Exam which means that he is in the final count down. In other words he is a PhD candidate!  Pico and I are super proud of him!

The day after Greg passed his exam we decided to take a weekend trip up to Morro Bay.  Here is the sunset at Morro Bay.  Unfortunately this is the only part of Morro Bay that we got to see...

When we got to the hotel we found this waiting for us...Yes, that is a bed bug.  We grabbed our suitcase that we had just wheeled in, and wheeled it right back to the car and made the decision to drive back home rather than risk getting bed bugs.  Oh well.  Better luck next time?

A View From Above The Clouds

by Greg


I spent 3 nights observing the night sky in Hawaii, remotely from Los Angeles. Long nights (3 hour time difference!) and clouds made the time go by slowly.


I found a webcam on one of the telescopes that takes beautiful pictures! The movies are especially entertaining. You can see it here:
http://cfht.hawaii.edu/en/gallery/cloudcams/


Here are a few pictures I saved:

Sunrise to the east of Mauna Kea, clouds below and stars above.

Full moon makes a bright night. Lights of Hilo peak through the clouds.

More bright clouds.

Sunset.  The shadow of the mountain stretches out over the clouds and the ocean.

Sunrise.

Time to say goodbye...

I thought long and hard and came to the decision that in order to try and update this blog more regularly, I am not going to be updating "Side Show Slide Show" anymore.  If there comes a time when I have a ton more pictures I will update it again.  So if this goes according to plan you should be reading a lot more posts on this blog in the future.  Thank you for visiting "Side Show Slide Show!"

Yodelayheehoo

A couple weeks ago we were able to escape from the city and go up to Mineral King at the southern end of Sequoia National Park. We had thought that it would only take 4 hours to get there, but it took 6! Also, we learned that the clutch on the car needed to be replaced by driving steep mountain roads for a few hours.

On the way up the single lane road we crossed a few old bridges.This one crosses the Kaweah River and was built in 1923.

Our campsite was at Cold Springs, an old mining area at ~7000ft. Here is some moss on a tree.

When we arrived at the campground, all the sites were taken, except the walk-in ones.  This means we had to carry our stuff ~1/4 mile, which wasn't fun. 

Right next to our camp was Mosquito Creek.  It was appropriately named and we got many bug bites, despite bug spray and candles.

Greg set off cataloging the plant life. 

And here is some more moss on a tree. Not much of that in AZ.

Here is a pretty flower next to the Upper Kaweah River, next to our camp.  Our tent was on a hill overlooking the confluence of Mosquito Creek and the river.

At the end of the first day we were kind of disappointed in the bugs, the difficulty in setting up camp, and the bad clutch on the car. But it was nice to sleep with the running water and crickets nearby.

The next day we drove around the corner and found a few deer. 

And the vast Mineral King Valley. It was like we were in the Alps, with the peaks at 14000ft.

Walt Disney tried to turn this valley into a world renowned skiing area, but was blocked by environmentalists.  Yay! 

Greg found a moth. 

Janet found a creek. 

We both found some yellow flowers (and then decided we need a book that identifies the plants that we come across).  Mostly because we were sure we had walked through several patches of poison oak.

Finally we looked at some flowers, an old cabin that was built ~100 years ago, and then made the 6 hour drive back. The clutch survived, but we had it replaced right when we got back. It was a long trip for 1 night, and next time we will get there earlier and stay longer...maybe next summer.