My Vacation

So I'm here in San Jose visiting Adrianne....she very kindly had me up for a visit, (and generously paid for me to come), and Jeff very kindly agreed to watch the kids for me while I'm gone. This is probably the only time for the next couple years that the stars align like this to enable me to go off alone, so I'm appreciating & enjoying every moment of it. We've done some fun things...not the least of which is decorating her new apartment, pictures shown below. We also drove into San Francisco & walked around these great streets together...all sorts of interesting shops & things to see. Of great culinary interest to me has been the raiding of the Japanese market, as I've been craving Japanese food all my pregnancy & haven't been able to indulge, as El Paso doesn't have anything like that. Today we went to the beach, brought our lunch, and hung out together on the sand. It was so relaxing! I was telling Adrianne that a big part of the vacation is the ability to just get myself ready & leave the house in a matter of about 15 minutes, without packing everything but the kitchen sink & just KNOWING that you forgot something vital for the young ones. Today was my last full day, I fly home to my babies & my "Beauty" tomorrow. Thanks for a wonderful time, Adrianne!
Anyway...below are some pics. Enjoy.

Aint we fine? I had to use Adr's umbrella because the sun was too much for me...90 degrees!

Beautiful sis in a great new dress, just bought that day...a vacation treat to herself.

Barefoot & pregnant & in cooling off in the freezing water.

A sunken ship that had been "exhumed" and was on display at the end of the pier.

Adrianne the beautiful, again.

Suz the pregnant & parasolled.

A beach a little farther down...had a great little boardwalk with terrific shops. We walked around & I got a harmonica & kazoo as omiyage (gifts) for the kids.

One of the great pieces we found at Home Goods for Adr's apartment.

A rather artistic view of her wall as seen from the kitchen "bar"

The living room & kitchen

And...the living room again. Better Homes & Gardens, here we come.

Pix

Mr Pickle giving you the eye

At the aninmatronic dinosaur exhibit...Dilly was clinging to me for dear life in fear of them.

Noah "digging for bones" at the fake dig site.

Noah poses by his beloved "spiketails".

1st ever watercolor (with some help from Mom)

And below are some pics from our recently rejuvinated yard, courtesy of springtime. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Chris

Chris, I didn't forget about posting for you on your birthday...I was just wrapped up in other things (see below). However, I must say a little something, however belated, for my dear brother. Happy Birthday to you, my son. Sometimes I think about you & remember all the good times we've had over the years. It's weird to think I used to be your "teacher" (term used loosely) at Greenfields....looking back, I was too young to have done anything of the sort. But we had some good times reading those "Little Women" books..."a soupcon of rouge" and all that. Remember Hortense the rabbit? Good times. I remember smuggling bags of oversized jelly beans home for you when you lived in Arrowhead, after walking to that convienience store that was about 4 miles away.
And now you're unrecognizable as that little boy, all grown up with your own life. Well, I think we still get along great, which is a blessing and a sort of minor miracle....so many siblings don't. I love you very much and wish you so many good things for this year. May things continue to get better and better for you in every way.

Recent Happenings:

So we've had some high drama since my last post...never a dull moment and all that. Actually, here in El Paso my life has been FILLED with dull moments...or maybe we should say "relaxing" moments. Things don't necessarily happen all that much here. As the moving guy put it when he heard we were going from CA to El Paso, "Living there is like watching paint dry". However, I would probably take a little boredom anyday over the following:
Firstly, Jeff's job became a victim of this terrible economy last week. He was laid off. At the time it seemed like the end of the world, and now it doesn't seem quite as bad, but still pretty s****y.
I will say this, however....Jeff is just the kind of husband you would want to have in this sort of situation, taking all sorts of initiative and really "going for" the job search. I feel like if there's any job to be had, he will find it. Which will hopefully be very soon, before there is an axe murdering "spouseicide" incident in this house. Ha ha ha. Ahem.
Also, a few days after we had that gem of news from the stellar guy who was Jeff's boss, I found out that "baby girl Doss" had a cyst in her brain. They found it on our last ultrasound. Apparently it's actually a common'ish' thing to have appear in babies, and only in very rare cases is it indicative of something bad and serious. So our doctor referred us to a high-tech ultrasound place for a 2nd opinion. And I could drag it out and tell you about the agonized week of waiting...but lets just skip all that and tell you the good news, that baby girl Doss is A-OK. Thank God. You would have been proud of me...throughout the whole week I was full of faith and confidence that everything would be fine....and then when we got the clean bill of health I promptly broke down and sobbed like a child in the car.
Also, it's pretty certainly a "she". We are taking name suggestions. This is what we have so far:
Jeff: "Jaqueline"
Susanna: "Zoe" or "Ava"
Noah: "Miu Kitty" or "Toothbrush"

Here she is, in all her 5 month glory. Don't worry, the appearance improves as time goes on. I thought it was so cute how she was all cuddled up on her placenta. AWWWW.