Baby Names

So now that we know our little one is a boy, we have to decide on a name. Currently Scott and I are unable to decide between two names, although we haven't limited them to only these names, we may find another that we like better. But for now we are "arguing" against two names. What do you think? I have added a little poll to the side so you can vote on your favorite name!

Evan James

-or-

Brian Joseph

Tell us what you think!

Congratulations! It's a.....

Well, we have told our family and closest friends the sex so I thought I would share it for the rest of the world to know. I am currently 15 weeks pregnant. Into my 2nd trimester and feeling pretty good. Except for still being tired. As you know, I went to my doctor's appointment for the California Pregnancy Screening. While I was getting the ultrasound done, we found out the sex! I was surprised to know so early, and it could still change since it was very early, we will confirm at my next appointment. But I am thinking they were right when they told us that...

It's a BOY!

We are very excited to have two boys so close in age! Scott loves the fact that I will be in a family of "Men". I think it is great, plus, we already have a bunch of boy clothes! Although our niece was very disappointed not to be getting a baby girl cousin, I'm sure she will survive with two boys. Now we just need to pick out a name...

Doctor Offices and Shots

Last week I had quite a hectic afternoon. It all started last Monday morning, well I guess you could say it started about a month ago (October 15th). I took Brendan to the doctor for his 15 month check-up. While they were doing all of his immunizations, I asked if he could get the Flu shot (just seasonal, not H1N1) as well, being in a day care, I know he is exposed to germs every day and the healthier he is, the better we all are. When they gave him the shot the nurse instructed me that I would need to come back in one month for his booster flu shot.
“Since the 15th will be a Sunday, just come in on Monday. No need to make an appointment, just call and make sure we still have it.”

So on Monday morning, as I am driving to the Doctor’s office, I remember to call and ask if they still have flu shots. The receptionist tells me. “We only do flu shots Tuesday through Thursday, just come back another day, no need to make an appointment.” Frustrated, I go to work, now late. I didn’t have another opportunity to take Brendan back for his flu shot until Thursday (Dentist appointments, work appointments and everything else). So Thursday, I drive to the Doctor’s office at 8:15, when I get to the parking lot I realize it is pretty empty, so I call inside before unloading my son to ask when I can get a flu shot. “We only do flu shots from 2:00 – 4:00.” Why couldn’t you tell me that on MONDAY when I called?? Okay, I didn’t really yell at her, instead I just got flustered and hung up on her. I don’t think I will have another opportunity to get him a flu shot next week, today is my last chance! So once again, I arrive late at work for no reason.

The night before I spoke with my Mother-in-law on the phone, we had a nice conversation and the topic of the H1N1 vaccine came up. Since I am pregnant, I am at high risk for the virus; she encouraged me to get the shot, which I had been avoiding before. I finally gave in and decided to get it done. I call my doctor and they set up an appointment at 2:00 to get the shot. A middle of the day appointment is always stressful with leaving work so early in the day, but I felt I needed to get all these things done before the Thanksgiving break. So I make the appointment, I figure I can also get my blood work done and pick-up my prescription form my OB all in the same office at the same time. I call my OB’s office on the way to ensure they will be open so I can finally come get my prescription. I tell them I am about to go get my blood-work then I will come upstairs to pick up the prescription (since they refuse to call it in and insist I have to pick it up myself). Last time I came by to pick it up, the office was closed. She tells me that someone was there; I probably didn’t wait long enough.

So I am shot in one arm, blood drawn for the next and run upstairs for my prescription. When I get to my OB’s office, it is dark and no one is at the front desk. Very frustrated, I call the office again telling them I am at the office and no one is here. The woman tells me “oh no, there is always someone there.” Again I tell her that it is empty and the computers are shut down. “Oh wait, what office are you at?” The one whose number I called, the one I always visit, the one at Raincross! “Oh their phone lines are transferred to us, we are at the other office, Raincross is only open part time; you will have to go across town to our other office.” Why are the hours not listed on the business card, why don’t they answer the phone with what office they are at if the phone is forwarded?? So leaving Raincross I went back to pick-up Brendan from daycare so I could take him to get his flu shot (seasonal).

Brendan was such a trooper, when the nurse came in he started o cling to me a bit. I'm not sure if it was because he remembered her (and the shots) from last month, or if he is just getting more sensitive around strangers. He was such a trooper! Brendan didn't even cry, he let out a whimper and held me close but was fine after 10 seconds. No big deal!

I had one more stop to make before going home; I had to pick-up my prescription that they won’t phone in for me. I go by my OB's other office, and wait for the PA to write me a prescription. After spending 10 minutes in the waiting room just to pick up a prescription, I am finally done with all my doctor visits!

So I started my doctor runs at 1:45 when I left work to quickly get to 2:00 appointment, and didn't get home until 4:15. Just in time to put Brendan down for a late nap, finish my Bible Study homework and take a quick half-hour nap. Poor Brendan didn’t do so hot with his shot unfortunately, he was “sick” when he got up from his nap, very fussy and I ended up missing Bible Study. Oh well. I have my H1N1 shot, Blood-work done and prescription, and Brendan has his Flu shot, I guess we are taken care of. Still...What a day!


P.S. Sorry this post was so much longer than I expected! I need to learn to write shorter stories!

Family at Christmas

One of the Radio stations in town has started playing endless Christmas music, and I love it! As I was listening yesterday on my way home from work, there was a woman talking about her Christmas experience. “I just love Christmas time,” she explained “it was the one time of the year when my family got together and we hardly ever fought, everyone just got along!”

She defiantly did not come from my family! I laughed to myself as I thought about my family at Christmas. I feel like this was the time of year we were at each other’s throats! It just wasn’t Christmas without my mom nagging us to help around the house, help with the decorations, do the dishes, my dad stressed out about the Christmas service at church and the things that needed to be done around the house, all four of us kids with our stubborn and over-dramatic selves fighting with each other, my sister and I yelling at each other, with a constant competition around our parents. It was just a part of home.

I remember one year, my sister and I were driving home together for Christmas, an 8-hour drive across the state. I remember distinctively, we had just gotten on the freeway after fighting the mall a Christmas present for our brother. I don’t remember what it was about, but we were fighting. (My mother will tell you we were always fighting). Not just a discussion here, we were yelling at each other at the top of our lungs. When we stop and are dead silent, my sister turns up the radio, that same station with the endless Christmas music is playing. All of the sudden my sister starts laughing out loud.
Still mad (but curious at what is so funny) I snap “What!?”
“The song, listen”
*Radio* “…It’s the Hap-Happiest season of all!...”
Still mad at her, I try to hold it in, but it is rather funny, I can’t stop the smile. Happiest season of all and we are yelling at each other.
And like that, the fight was over. Until we got home I’m sure.

And that’s how it was, we would fight, yell, I don’t know how many times I stomped upstairs to my room, making sure to hit every step. But we were a family. After the fighting was over, there we were; each other’s biggest allies and enemies all at once. My Christmas memories don’t include everyone “getting along” or peace on earth in any sense. But we were a family, and the love was always present.

I guess the song is right, “There’s no place like home for the holidays.”

Yum! Taco Bell

Today, some friends of mine from work and I went out for our usual Friday lunch. Due to my blog post earlier this week, we were all (or Janelle and myself) craving Taco Bell. So we loaded up the car and headed to the closest one to us. Unfortunately, this Taco Bell is not the top pick of elegant Fast Food restaurants, but it met our need. I had a wonderful crunchy taco and standard bean burrito. Oh, and Cinnamon twists, can't forget those! (A much better choice than french fries with tacos). It was a great lunch!

We are defiantly switching to Taco Bell from now on!

Del Taco

This weekend, we went to Del Taco’s drive through for lunch. I didn’t grow up on Del Taco as my husband did. In fact, I had never heard of Del Taco until college, and to be honest was never really a big fan. I grew up on Taco Bell, much better in my opinion. My Husband though, claims that Taco Bell is "gross" and Del Taco is much better! Come on, a taco place (Del Taco) that serves French Fries? That is just wrong! You should sell Tacos and Mexican food! (Just so you know, I have the same opinion with a Hamburger place, Jack-in-the-Box, selling Tacos) Stick to what you do best!

Anyway, we went to Del Taco because like I said, my husband grew up on the stuff and I am learning to tolerate it. As we get to the Order box (not sure what it is really called) I look at the menu for just the cheap ordinary taco, the cheapest one listed is called the “Classic Taco”. Perfect I think, just their run-of-the-mill ordinary, classic taco, that’s what I want. I then look up on the window of the restaurant and see a big sign, no words, just “59¢” and a picture of a taco. Great! My classic Taco is only 59 cents! But when we order, they charge me 99¢. I question them on the difference, not because I am worried about the 40¢ but it is the principle! You have a huge sign that shows a taco saying it is 59¢, why is my taco coming up as 99¢?? She tells me that I ordered a Classic Taco the one in the picture is the Regular Taco (which by the way is not listed on the menu, nor specified on the advertisement. “Are you kidding me?” I ask, “you have a classic and a regular taco? They should be the same thing!” Then my husband politely thanks the woman and drives off telling me it’s not a big deal. IT IS A BIG DEAL! They didn’t even have the regular taco listed! What could possibly be the difference in the two??

Turns out, the Classic Taco has slightly more meat and 6 diced tomatoes on top. Great. From now on, we are eating at Taco Bell, they have better Taco Sauce anyway.

P.S. I understand that my outrage with Del Taco could very well be my Pregnancy Hormones getting the best of me, but it is still the principle! The husband will just have to learn to tolerate Taco Bell from now on!

Dentist Follow-up

Today I took Brendan back to the dentist for his follow-up to his problem from two weeks ago. The dentist, once again, was wonderful! He looked at his mouth, where the "black" spot was earlier is now a tooth! Brendan has three of his four molars in, we are just waiting for the last one! Dr. Beam then brushed Brendan's teeth and walked us out to set up an appointment in 6 months. He questioned me on some of Brendan's habits, how often we brush his teeth, if he was still having a bottle before bed and so on. I told him we didn't have bottles anymore, just a sippy-cup of milk about an hour before bedtime. He was very impressed, "It is better for his teeth that way!" he was pleased with Brendan and his "habits".


Although Brendan was not happy at all with having his teeth examined, he still gave his dentist a high-five on the way out. Dr. Beam was also impressed at how advanced Brendan was, he said not many toddlers at 16-months are that capable at high fives, picking out toys and saying "thank you". Brendan got to pick out a toy from the drawer, today he picked up a foam baseball, Daddy would be proud! They also took him to the back room and let him pick a movie, I was thinking it was going to be a movie about visiting the dentist, or teeth care. But Brendan walked out with Horten Hears a Who. I couldn't believe how much they gave Brendan over the standard toothbrush and toothpaste (which we got again this visit). Brendan left happy and ready to go play with the other kids at daycare. I am a little sad that when our insurance changes in January, we will most likely need to find a new dentist for Brendan.

Pregnancy Screening Tests

Monday afternoon I went to the doctor for my 12 week appointment (a little late as it kept getting rescheduled). They told me that I needed to do my “Screening” before the end of the week while I was still in my first trimester. I was actually pretty upset about this. During the screening they check for birth defects and genetic disorders in each of my trimesters. That means I have to have extra blood work done each trimester, and extra doctor visits to a specialist. It probably isn’t a big deal, and most pregnant women probably get it done, but it was a bigger deal to me.

With Brendan, when this screening was offered, I signed the paperwork to deny the tests. But with this pregnancy, I switched doctors. Now I have a brand new set of policies to follow. The PA told me at my last visit that if I choose to deny the tests, they are going to send me to a specialist because they will consider me a “high-risk pregnancy”. With feeling like I didn’t really have a choice, I went ahead and did the test. Although, I haven’t yet done my blood work…I hate needles!

My appointment with the specialist was today at 1:30. When I went in, they gave me an ultrasound. I am in my 13th week of pregnancy and have already doubled the ultrasounds for this kid compared to the last! I wasn’t very excited going into it, but seeing your baby on a large screen really calms you down. She took the measurements, then showed me the arms, legs and head. Then she asked me if I wanted to find out the sex. I said “sure, why not”. She told me that we would confirm on my next appointment.

I am so excited, I didn’t expect to know so soon into the pregnancy, although I am 2 days away from being officially out of my 1st trimester, wow, time is going fast! Of course, she may be wrong with the sex, so we will find out for sure next time.

Aren't you all dying to know what it is??

Good Chocolate

Last weekend Scott and I went to See’s Candy to get a pound of chocolate to take home. We were given a 1 pound gift certificate from my grandmother last April, and finally decided to use it. Scott had never filled a box before by picking out our favorite pieces, usually he just buys either a pre-filled box of nuts & chews, or he will by me a box of molasses chips.

As we are filling our box, we were each given a free sample. Mine was a butter-cream with walnuts covered in milk chocolate. She also gave me some molasses chips to give to Brendan, but I was thinking they would probably be too hard for him to eat. Her reasoning was “they aren’t as messy”. That might have been the case. As I am holding Brendan and looking at the chocolates behind the glass I notice that he as bent down and taken a bite of my chocolate. I let him have a small bite, move the chocolate further away and keep filling the box.

When we are all done, I look at my son, who is in my arms, and realize he has gotten my chocolate and eaten the entire piece! Chocolate is now all over his hands, face and of course, my shirt. I really wish I had taken a picture, but at the time, all I could think about was getting him to the car and cleaning him up with baby wipes! At least my son knows good chocolate when he has it!

Real Parents

After Brendan was away from Day Care for a week, plus two weekends of course, I knew Marion was a little worried at how Brendan would react coming back, getting back into her routine and adjusting back to his “normal” life. When I picked Brendan up on Monday afternoon, I was surprised at her reaction. Not the typical “It was a rough day Mum” (remember the English accent), or “He’s cranky today Mum.”

Instead, we had this conversation:

Marion:“I don’t know what you’re doing, but you’re doing something right”
Rachel: “What’s that??”
M: “You are doing something right, he came back to me like he never left.”
R: “Oh?”
M: “I had no problems today, he just fell right back into his routine.”
R: “Well, we try to keep him on a pretty consistent routine at home too, nap times are around the same time, and bed time is always at 8:00.”
M: “A lot of parent’s are go, go, go, with no routine. You guys are real parents.”
R: “Thank you? I guess?”

It was a compliment I guess. A rather strange one to be called “Real Parents” but I appreciate her attempt. I was glad to hear Brendan didn’t give her a hard time back at Day Care. And it was nice to have confirmation that as parents we are doing something right. When everything else seems to be going wrong, he has bumps and bruises all over, he won’t eat well, I get temper-tantrums in the grocery store – but at least we’re doing something right.

Our Car

On Halloween, 2004, Scott and I went to the Hyundai dealership to buy a car. We were newly engaged and knew that we would need a second car soon. Hyundai has always provided pretty cheap and reliable cars. So we bought the cheapest model, the Hyundai accent. We knew that we wanted a four door, the only four door they had on the lot was red. Very bright red. But neither Scott or myself are very fast drivers so we weren’t too worried about the speeding tickets. After hours at the dealership negotiating, and waiting, we drove off the lot with our brand new car, co-signed by his parents, only 1.2 miles on it, mostly from our test drive.

She was ours.

2004 Hyundai Accent Red 4-door.

Earlier this week, five years later, we made our final payment. The title is in the mail, and the car is officially ours! No more car payments! Wahoo!

Except now we have to buy a bigger family car to replace mine…so much for the no car payments! Oh well, such is life!

Trick-or-Treat!

This was my very first year Trick-or-Treating, oh and Brendan's too! We dressed Brendan up as a little German boy (or Hansel from Hansel & Gretel). I thought he was absolutely adorable! But then again, I am his mom.

Our first stop was Aunt Bekah & Uncle Kevin's house (sorry no pictures) we walked over to my sister's house to show off our cute kid. I think this was his favorite house. Aunt Bekah let him take the candy straight from the bowl and put it in his bag. He kept reaching for more, and being the Aunt that she is, she just kept letting him take more candy and put it in his little bag. On the walk back to our house, we stopped at a few more houses. Each time, Brendan really getting the hang of this candy thing. We weren't out very long because Daddy wanted to race home to hand out candy to other trick-or-treaters.

Unfortunately, we were not prepared for how many kids would come to our house! We ran out of candy in 10 minutes. Next year we will be more prepared. Brendan liked standing next to daddy handing out candy.

Once our candy ran out, we went inside, got Brendan ready for bed, and enjoyed a quite evening to ourselves. It was much needed alone time! I think Brendan's favorite part I think was his candy bag. Even after getting ready for bed, he was so intrigued by his bag of candy and kept taking out his candy to show them to us.

Trip to the Dentist

Brendan had his first visit to the Dentist this week. Last Sunday, while sitting in the airport, I noticed that Brendan had a dark black spot on his upper left gum where his molar should be coming through. It was a black spot and really swollen. I called my doctor first thing Monday morning to ask what I should do. The nurse said that it was probably just a blood blister under the surface, to watch it and if it doesn’t get better in two weeks, to call the dentist. Being a first time mom, I was still a little worried. I checked the spot every day and the swelling seemed to get better, and then worse again.

By Monday morning, I wasn’t seeing any improvements. So I called my dentist. I explained that I had a 15 month with a swollen-black-spot on their gums. She told me to bring him in right away. So at 9:30, I left work, picked Brendan back up and went to the Dentist. My dentist was very nice, looked at his gum and said “I need to send him to a pediatric specialist” So we got up and she referred me to a dentist. I kept asking if they knew what it was, finally, the dentist looks at me and says, “I have no idea what is wrong with his mouth.”

I immediately call the Pediatric dentist from my car. I explain my situation and they say they have an appointment at 11:00, it is currently 10:15.
“Or as soon as you can get here.”
“I’m on my way!”

I arrive at Kid’s World Children’s Dentistry at 10:45. The receptionists were really sweet. I explained that I did not have dental insurance for him yet, so they give me some paperwork to fill out. Instead of a sign-in sheet, they take a picture of the patient with the parent, it was unusual, but they said it helps the Dr. to remember his patients. As we are waiting, the Dental Hygienists comes out to check on Brendan’s “boo boo” I show her his gums and as I am handing the paperwork back to the reception area, the dentist come out Dr. Roy Beam. He also takes a quick look at Brendan’s gum and says they will bring me back shortly.

When we were taken to the back. I sat down with Brendan in my lap. Dr. Beam sits across from me and hold Brendan’s head in his lap as I hold his hands still. He was so gentle while checking out his teeth. As shows me a picture in a book that looks similar to Brendan’s gums. He explains that it is some sort of cyst that was caused when the tooth started to come in. Apparently it is not that common because no one in the office had seen it before, and Dr. Beam had to confirm with a book. He said once the molar finally comes through, the cysts will go down/away. They also said if I rub a warm wash cloth dipped in warm salt water, it should help the swelling.

I know it is blurry, but it is the best picture I could get,

you can kind of see the black swelling on his upper left gum.

Ignore the Blue Mouth.

I have a follow-up appointment in two weeks for him to check on the gum and make sure everything looks okay. Since having his mouth examined was “traumatic” for Brendan, they gave him a blue sugar-free sucker. Brendan just loved that! They also sent him home with a new toothbrush, tooth paste, a children’s teething chart and Brendan got to pick two toys out of a bin to take home.

Brendan with his toy picks and his nice sticky blue mouth!

Pumpkin Patch 2009

This year I took Brendan to the Pumpkin Patch to try and get some cute pictures. He enjoyed the pumpkin patch more this year than last, but was not interested in sitting still for pictures. My friend Tawni went with me with her son Sammy. We tried to get pictures of the boys together. This was even less successful than individual pictures! We keep thinking as the boys get older that it will be easier to get pictures taken of them. Now I'm thinking it wont be easier until they are 12 - unless they get that teenage attitude, then we are in trouble!

This was Brendan & both boys at the pumpkin patch last year! What a difference a year makes!

I did get a couple of decent pictures, enjoy!

And then these just made me laugh!

Absent last week

I know I have been absent to 13 days now, and actually, a lot has been going on! I will try to catch you all up to date, my posts will be in no particular order (other than the order than what is most prevalent on my mind). I thought I would start with where I was all last week.

As I mentioned before, my mother broke her leg on October 10th. The doctor told her absolutely no weight on the lef for at least 6 weeks. Unfortunately, my father had a pre-scheduled trip starting on October 20th. So my sister and I decided to each take a trip up north to Sacramento to take care of my mom and high-school brother (without a drivers license). My sister took the first shift and I took the second week. The trip was nice, a few mishaps along the way, but it made me feel better knowing that I could go up, spend time with my mom, and help her out.

Following my high school friend's wedding on Saturday, I flew up to Sacramento on Sunday, October 25th, my brother's 15th birthday. I tried to pack as light as I could because I was flying with friends who would take me from the airport to my parent's house. Apparently, I packed a little too light, sitting in the airport it suddenly dawned on me that I completely forgot about the car seat! I left it in Scott's car after he dropped us off. I called my husband, but we realized that by the time he got gas in his car and drove back to the airport, I wouldn't have time to get the car seat and get on the plane. I frantically call my mom and tell her what I did. Luckily, my other brother (21) was spending the day with my mom. He ran to target, bought and installed a car seat that we will now leave at Grandma's. Which means he also had to come pick me up from the airport. Disaster avoided! Luckily for me, Brendan did end up sleep on the airplane, he was really fussy in the beginning but I was able to calm him down, give him some juice and he fell asleep in my arms.

Other than the adventures flying, the rest of the trip was good. The worst part was carting my brother all over town; to & from school (at 6:00 in the morning), Piano lessons, Saxophone lessons and church. I also had to take Brendan with me since my mom wasn't really able to chase a toddler around the house. But the days were spent mostly in the house, spending time with my mom. Brendan playing with the dog (he would bend down enough to let the dog lick to top of his head), Brendan and Grandma playing pat-a-cake, and anything else we could think to do in the house. I am sorry to say I didn't get many pictures of our time there!

I am very thankful for the opportunity to spend time with my mom, for Grandma to see her grandbaby and for the opportunity to help my parents in this situation. My poor mother felt like such a burden, but she was no trouble at all, not the least bit high maintenance. And I know if I broke my leg, she would be down here in an instant!