Remembering Our Fallen Soldiers

This morning while driving home I was thinking about memorial day and heard this story on the radio about the tomb of the fallen soldier. Supposedly the soldier guarding the tomb marches 21 steps, does an about face, and pauses for 21 seconds before marching the other direction. For every soldier that dies in the line of duty, a 21 gun salute goes off in memory of that soldier. Pretty inspiring since each soldier has to sign up to guard the tomb for a two year commitment. I remember marching at the academy and how hard that was and tedious and repetitive. Yet here are these soldiers that do it all day every day, in all weather. I thought about who I knew that had died in the line of duty. I've been fortunate in that both my dad, grandfather, and father-in-law served in wars and still live today in good health. Katy's best friend growing up, Brittany, lost a brother about two years ago within the first month he went over to Iraq. 19 years old, barely graduating high school, and making the ultimate sacrifice for his country. Katy's uncle also died in Vietnam before even knowing him. Today we remember them and all the others that died to keep this country and others free. Even if you don't know anyone, never met them, or know a few men or women who are serving or did serve in our military, say a prayer thanking the Lord for people willing to give their lives for this country.

Fun in Sacramento

Katy said we would post some pics from Sac so here they are:

Here we are at Joe's Crab Shack on the Sacramento River on Katy's birthday. First, check out Katy's beautiful new haircut! Courtesy of Avalon Spa. The reason we aren't too excited in this picture is our waitress was kind enough to take it but wasn't very competent and this was about shot 20. Katy's still smiling but I was a little frustrated. I think my thought was "Are you gonna get it this time? Seriously."

We did a last minute dinner at BJ's that night and some friends were able to come too! Here are Ben and Sara Garate looking quite dapper and adorable as usual. Forgive Ben's face. He just had the Tatonka Stout.

If you don't know who these people are you're not in the cool. Left to right, Natalie, Tyler, and some creepy guy who jumped in the picture at the last second. Just kidding, that's Dave making a 'Rob'esque face.

Here's the Wisner's son Tyler on a close up. What an awesome kid and blessing for them to have and for us to know!

And the birthday girl with her birthday pazookie (the dessert not me!) Honestly, is there a cuter 21 week pregnant lady?!?!

We've been Tagged!

Well we got tagged by the Pickard's so here's my (Katy's) list of things. You can check out Rob's list here and make sure you weren't tagged as well!

4 Jobs I've Had:
Water Park Lifeguard
Rite Aid Store Clerk
Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream Specialist and Waffle Cone Maker
Preschool Teacher/Nanny

4 Places I've lived:

Fresno, CASan Luis Obispo, CA
Sacramento/Roseville, CA
Buellton, CA

4 Shows I watch on t.v.:

Survivor
Heroes
Beauty and the Geek
American Idol

4 Blogs that I read:

The Wisner's (you better start one now because I know you read this!)
The Winans'
The Poling's/Peregoy's (pretty much one and the same since you're born on the same day!)
The Kostjuk's
*if I listed you then you are tagged!!

4 Favorite Foods:

Root Beer Floats
Hamburgers
Firestone Grill Tri Tip Sandwich
Strawberry Pizza (My sister's concoction!)

4 Places I'd rather be right now:

On my way home from the hospital with my baby boy!
In Heaven
On my honeymoon again
France

4 Things to look forward to this year:

Seeing my baby boy for the first time
Loving my husband more
My baby showers
Not having to pee every 5 minutes

Birthday

26!!!! No longer half way to 50 as Rob felt the need to point out, it’s ok though because I just remind him that he will hit 30 before I do. Despite the age factor I had a wonderful birthday. Rob took the week off so we got in the car and made the trip up to Sacramento where I got to spend Wednesday the 14th at a spa. I was treated to a message, facial, pedicure, manicure, and haircut that ended up being a little shorter than I expected but I am very happy with it. For the 15th (my actual birthday) we had a very full day that included going to the CHP academy and looking at guns but the day ended with a special dinner with friends. I also can't forget to mention that even though the day was a bit manly I got to spend it with my best friend and since that seems to be a rare occurrence lately it might have been the best part of the whole day. I promise to post some pictures of the day as soon as the camera makes it home form Rob's office (its Robs work camera so I might be able to throw in a picture of some of the crazy people he gets to see daily)

What's in a Name?

We're quickly realizing that picking out a name is not as easy for a human as it is for a dog. With Lucy our beagle it was pretty simple, "Oh that sounds good, let's try some practice runs: 'Lucy stop drinking out of the toilet!' 'Lucy don't lick me after you've cleaned your colon!' 'Lucy don't pee on the carpet!' 'Lucy stop pulling used feminine hygiene products out of the guest bathroom trash!' " Not as easy with our son. "I love you blank." "I can't wait to meet you blank." "Blank, we're your mom and dad." Much more complicated and pressure filled. Plus there's the added pressure of making sure its not someone one of us hated growing up, was too annoying, doesn't involve making another family member jealous, isn't one of a friend's baby used already. We'd love to hear how you all chose the names of your children and helpful advice...until then, here's how we treat our first child Lucy...if you're wondering what's on her head it's soup, broccoli cheese to be specific. I know, what great parents we're going to be.

And the winner is...?

Well the wait is finally over and the pollsters were wrong. Today our parenatologist (sp?) showed us our baby's bits and pieces, confirming Rob's dreams do come true...We're having a boy!!! You can look through the pictures below and actually watch the video, with audio added later, of our ultrasound. As far as names, as of right now they're 10-36 (police speak for confidential) so no sense in trying to get sneak preview just yet. Enjoy!

audio's a bit poor, see if you can blow it up to get a better look.

picture making a xerox copy of your butt and what would be in between (if you're a male)

spinal cord and ribcage

sucking his thumb already

the first decent look at our baby boy, a bit creepy, but cool nonetheless

a second 3d head shot

another 3d head shot

footprint


nice side profile

Vote before November (actually May 1)

We just put up a new sidepost to see what you guys think the baby will be (thanks for the idea Nicole!). Should have put it up a long time ago, but only 4 days to vote before we post what it actually is. Leave comments on this post as to why you think it will be what it'll be. Man I can't wait until we can stop calling the baby it.

One week till we know

One week from today we'll find out what sex the baby is. It's pretty exciting and I was reminded by our friend Tim of something I've been doing lately. Most women go through a nesting period, trying to make the house ready for the baby, well us men do it as well. Tim got a better car for his expanded family, me? I've been sanding down a crib, getting the loose ends around the house ready, cleaning up the yard, basically catching up on all the crap I've needed to do since we started renting the house. Katy's started showing to others besides me. So much is going on right now and we're almost halfway through the pregnancy. Craziness, craziness. We'll try and post some pictures soon.

Katy's Adventures with Snails

I have been putting it off long enough, Rob told you guys that I was going to write so here it goes. For those of you who don't know I am working part time as a nanny/teacher for a five year old girl-Alexis and her four year old sister-Anna. Alexis loves to collect bugs and she is not very good at letting them go after she is done with them. So, on Wednesday Alexis was at an appointment with her mom and I was watching Anna in their backyard. Anna was riding her bike and after about 5 min she got off and asked me if I wanted to see the snail house that Alexis made. She then showed me a house that was formed out of bricks (yes, like the little pig) 4 bricks for the walls and 1 on top. She then takes the brick off the top and shows me about 4 snails that Alexis caught and put in the "house." At that time we hear a car pull up and knowing that her sister has very little patience Anna scrambles to put the top back on the house so Alexis won't get mad at her. I am busy looking inside to see if Alexis has come in the front door when I hear CRUNCH! I have to bite my lip from laughing out loud and I hear another CRUNCH! I then turn around (unable to control my laughter) to see all 4 snails squashed by the roof of the snail house. As Anna was trying to force the roof back on as quick as she could, it slipped twice, squashing anything in its path. Knowing that I am about to have a very upset five year old on my hands, I quickly put the roof back on the top of the house and got Anna back inside before Alexis even knew that there was anything wrong.

This was the highlight of my day. It may seem a little sadistic, but when you are with two little girls all day, one of whom says the catch phrase "I know" to everything you try and tell/ask her to do, tiny mistakes can turn the most hectic of days around. More tales from nannying to come!

1 heart and 3 weeks

Yesterday we had another doctor's visit and got to hear baby Grindy's heartbeat again. I recorded it with my digital recorder I use for work, but the doc was talking the whole time so it's pretty muffled. The other big news, 3 weeks from today we'll be finding out what the sex of the baby is. Yeah, we're finding out and here's why. We want there to be a surprise when the baby is born, but we figure that surprise will be the baby itself. For the next one, if we're so fortunate, we'll probably wait to find out until it comes, that'll be our surprise. Anyway, Katy has a great story about snails from her nannying job. Hopefully she'll blog it soon, but as you can tell, she's hesitant. Stay tuned for "Katy's Adventures with Snails!"