Jelly Belly Factory

After Christmas, Scott, Brendan and I drove up to Sacramento to spend some time with my family. One day while there we visiting, we all took a trip to the Jelly Belly factory. This was Brendan's first taste of Jelly Bellys. The first picture is of Brendan trying the candy. I must say, it was a big hit with the 1-year-old!

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!

Friendship Friday - Erin

A friend of mine has really been on my mind lately, I just thought I would share with you all.

Erin and I have been friends since 8th grade. We have kinda been on-again-off-again friends. We have had our differences, had our fights, and had many good (and stupid) times together. We were part of a group of friends that we named ourselves B.E.E.R (Brittany, Erin, Elizabeth, Rachel) and at almost every gathering, we would have a six pack of IBC Root Beer to celebrate. To this day I can't drink an IBC Root Beer from the bottle without thinking of those girls.

Our "gatherings", were usually held at Erin's house because her parents didn't really mind us being loud, obnoxious, high school girls. We had a lot of fun times, and as I mentioned before, did some pretty silly/stupid stuff (that will not be mentioned here). I really wish I had a picture of the four of us together from freshman year to show you. But I have gotten off topic a little.

Erin and I went to the same high school (Folsom High) and had a few classes together. Although we were both stubborn leaders and wanted things our way, we managed to tolerate each other through all four years. When I left for college to Riverside, and Erin left for Seattle, we lost touch a bit and had a falling-out of sorts. But no matter how many times we decided that we fought and I decided we weren't friends anymore - she always came back.

Erin (who has an amazing voice) sang at my wedding, I flew to Sacramento to go to hers, because despite our differences, we were still friends. (She was a VERY beautiful bride, just ask her husband :))

Last month when I went to Sacramento, I got to spend just a short amount of time with Erin. Although it was brief, it made me realize how much I miss her and the fun times we used to have. We sat and talked about how stupid and innocent we were in high school, we talked about life and what was going on. We talked about her coming to visit sometime, perhaps going to Disneyland together. But it was nice to just sit and have a nice conversation with an old friend.

I know most of you probably don't know Erin, especially not like I know Erin. But like I said, she has been on my mind lately and so I wanted to share a bit about my friend. I hope that her and her husband are able to come and visit sometime soon.

First Airplane Ride

Brendan had his first airplane ride on Saturday, October 18th. He rode from Ontario to Sacramento. I must admit, flying alone with a baby is quite an adventure, I hope not to do it too often but it is manageable. The most difficult part is going through security.

Southwest Airlines will let you take the stroller all the way to the gate; they will put it under the plane and then give it back to you when you get off. However, security it not so baby friendly! I get to the metal detectors and I have in my possession as little as I could get away with; his diaper bag, my purse, a stroller, and a car seat. No problem! But I have to take out the Ziploc bag with his "liquids" my "liquids" out of my purse, and I have to show security his formula. I am not allowed to take water to mix formula with, but I am able to take pre-made formula through security as long as I show it to them.

After our carry-ons (and my shoes) were through the x-ray, they told me I also had to send the stroller through, so as I am trying to balance a three month old, take out the car seat, and fold up a stroller to go through the x-ray, Brendan starts to cry! Luckily, one of the security guards (?) helped me to fold up the stroller, and send it through the machine. As I start to walk through the medal detector with a baby in my arms, I am stopped "you need to remove his shoes." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? A three month old's cloth shoes have to be removed and sent through the x-ray; what has this world come to?

Well, we made it through that fiasco, next time I guess I will be prepared for what is expected. I was a little worried about Brendan on the plane, I didn't want to have one of those crying children that everyone is annoyed with and wishes the parents would just shut them up! But as soon as the planes engine started, Brendan fell right to sleep.I was glad he was able to sleep through most of it, he woke up as we started to descend and I fed him a bottle then just cuddled him with his pacifier to keep him calm. Luckily for me, Brendan is not a loud crier, so the screaming three year old a few rows backs took center stage.

As I got off the plane in Sacramento, my stroller was there (already set up by the airline staff) for me to stick the car seat in and go. My parents and brothers came up to greet me just in front of security. Of course my mother doesn't say anything to me but immediately went to see her grandson; I guess that is the way it goes once you have babies. I think my (little) brother on the other hand, cared more about seeing me than seeing my baby.My luggage and car seat base came shortly after we went downstairs and so all-in-all it was a pretty easy trip. No complaints here; except that I had to take off his shoes - that is ridiculous!

Follow-up Appointment

We had a follow-up doctors appointment on Friday morning at 9:30 am. Dr. Mackey looked Brendan over and said that this was not the same baby he saw two days prior. Brendan was getting better quickly and he could already tell he was feeling more like himself. He confirmed that all tests came back negative and that Brendan just had a bad cold (just like Daddy and Mommy did). I asked about my Sacramento trip and he said to go right ahead and plan it, this age is the perfect age to take flying.

I got home and looked into plane tickets, because I had to work around my parents schedule, I either had to fly in before 3:30 that day, or wait until Saturday evening. I tried to make it to the airport for a flight that took off at 1:00 but after running around crazy for an hour trying to throw everything together in an hour, I realized, there was no way I could do this. It was better for us all though, with Brendan still getting better and me with my bad cold, we just stayed home sick together. We were both very miserable, but did get a little rest.