End of the Year letter, 2004

This year has continued to keep us on our toes, but luckily with joyful surprises and manageable challenges. Our biggest news happened this September when we were thrilled to find out that we’d be making Lily a big sister next May. Our kids should be 23 months apart; this is simultaneously terrifying and exciting. We’ll try to keep you posted, but have no idea what it will be like to have an energetic toddler and a newborn at the same time, so bear with us!

Here are a few more highlights from 2004:

In February we bought the most awesome home we could imagine. We’re only 15 minutes from downtown yet feel like we live in the country. Sitting on two lush acres, our home is a unique space with outdoor living a big part of the design. It needs a lot of work (hence the emergency re-roofing we had to do in October after gnarly rains) but we’re young, so what the heck! We’re planning a small addition next year and are blessed to have the original architect in on the project. The place is a perpetual mess, but you’re welcome to come by anytime!

We celebrated Lily’s first birthday in June with a huge carrot cake made by Grandma Janis and a great party at our new home. Family and friends hung out on our deck in the sunshine while Lily wondered, “What’s the hubbub about?” We also got to enjoy hanging out with new nephew Liam, born to Elaine’s brother and sister-in-law in April. Matt and Michele have a happy boy who is a delight and we miss them terribly since their move to Omaha, Nebraska in September.

The day after Lily’s birthday we ripped out our termite and wood rot infested deck. We have been living with the gaping hole ever since and are looking forward to the remodel so we can have our wonderful deck back. We’re even looking forward to incorporating in a hot tub. Mark’s brother Steve, who recently purchased a new house, has decided he didn’t want the hot tub it came with and is generously gifting it to us! Parties at our house will never be the same again. Thanks, Steve!!

In late July we decided to hit the road for a 2 1/2 week road trip. We drove up the coast and came home via Yosemite. We stayed with friends, family or in our VW camper van and we had a great time. Lily slept in many odd places (including a closet) and we had time to talk about what we wanted for our future. One of the big discoveries was that Elaine wanted to go back to work full time while Mark wanted to be a stay-at-home dad. Shortly after we made this realization, Elaine was offered a job at The Old Globe that actually made this shift possible. We’ve been adjusting to our new roles and are trying to decide how things will change once we have the new baby. One day at a time, my friends!

Lily enjoyed her first Halloween as a dog. She picked the costume herself and loved barking at it, at people and all around the block we trick-or-treated on. She would march right up to a door, bang on it with her pumpkin basket, and grin wildly at people as they delivered the goods. She even tried to share with a parent who bent down to tell her how cute she was. Mark and Elaine enjoyed eating the candy since Lily just thought it was a toy (and we encouraged that belief). It was a blast.

We spent Thanksgiving up at Uncle Bob’s and Aunt Betty’s cabin on Palomar Mountain where we introduced Lily to sledding (BIG hit), a hay ride (acceptable after a small protest cry), and the family turkey insanity (our toddler eats like a Tasmanian Devil!). We’re heading up North to visit with Mark’s clan for Christmas/New Years and will keep our fingers crossed for snow. We’ve also decided to sponsor a family in need this year rather than buying our very comfortable friends and family meaningless gifts. It’s so easy to forget what the holidays are really about and let ourselves get overwhelmed by the massive consumerism. What’s another sweater for dad when you know someone who can’t even afford groceries? It’s out of control! So, that’s the plan.

Overall it’s been another good year. We are rich in family, friends and laughter, three things we have found to be more important than just about anything else. We hope this letter finds you and yours happy, healthy and in good spirits and we look forward to another year in your company.

Lots of Love,
Elaine, Mark, Lily and the little bean

lame

Felt the first movements of the new bean the other day (the 19th). Just a flutter from the inside, nothing that could be felt on the outside. I actually got excited and phoned Mark, Allyn and Vikki. Getting bigger all the time. We need to do another photo, but are rather lame about that.

We're actually lame about a lot of things. The latest is paperwork. I'm flying with Lily on Saturday and I need to present proof of her age. Birth certificate would be brilliant if we could FIND IT! We can't, and of course we didn't realize it until late today. The county office where we could get a new one is closed tomorrow. Figures. So I called the airline and asked what other forms of ID/age I can use. Hospital discharge papers will work. Too bad we didn't give birth in a hospital. OK, well vaccine records are appropriate. GREAT, except that she's had no vaccines. We're going to bring the Birth Center records and hope they accept that as valid. We had to search through PILES and PILES and PILES of random paperwork just to find those records. Thus the lame comment. It's amazing how much paper is in this house. Seriously, it's scary. Someday I'm just going to burn it all. Now, just to be clear, this is not an invitation to the fire gods to just set the fire themselves... I promise that I'll invoke them at the proper time. No need to do this without me!

OK, must get some sleep and awake to a crazy Christmas Eve day. Cheers.

Therapy on the cheap.

Lily has a new word. Yesterday morning she asked me to pick her up and then threw her arms around my neck and said "bay-be, bay-be, baby!" She then toddled over to the dog and did the same thing, so I guess it's not a new special name for me. Today at my moms she found a picture of a baby in the paper and pointed it out for my mom, saying "baby!" all over again. My mom was thrilled.

On that note, my mom is messing with my kid in a twisted attempt to get back at her mom. Hey, she admitted it! You see, Lily is very particular. She likes things to be a certain way, to be done a certain way and things BELONG where they belong. Very much like my Grandmother. When Lil arrives at my moms, she usually heads straight for the go-to-hell-room where her highchair is stored. It gets dragged out to the kitchen and she gets a snack. Today, my mom picked up the highchair and brought it all the way to the living room where we were sitting. She then stuck Lily in it and grinned at her, exclaiming "that's right, you're in the living room!" This was no good. No good at all. I mean, the chair clearly belongs in the kitchen. That's where it goes! She turned to her grandpa to save her and he did... as my mom laughed and admitted she was getting back at her own mom for being so particular.

Nice to know that becoming a grandmother has given her the opportunity to work through her own issues with her mom!

Just let her play with the nails!

Our girl fills our life with smiles and often, bouts of uncontrollable laughter. She's an odd duck, but she's our quacker and we love every minute of her. She insists on having her foot held while she nurses... seriously, this is an imperative. She uses "hello" like Aloha. It is one of the few words she uses correctly, except for that it also means goodbye. She's working on it and her babbling is becoming more like our speech patterns everyday.

Oh, and you'll appreciate this one: Lily has a crib and a big bed in her room and this morning we were all cuddling in the bed. She slips off and starts roaming around while Mark and I enjoy some time together. Next thing we know, she's reappeared with a box of nails clutched to her chest like they are the most precious things she has ever discovered. She wouldn't let us take them away and well... how much damage could she do with a box of nails and no hammer, anyway? So we let her play with them. Only in a carpenter’s home would a child fall in love with a box of nails. We did draw the line at taking them to bed with her, so hey, we're still good parents, right?

She's a blast.

As for news on our plus one, I had my first midwife appointment yesterday and it went very well. I am measuring where I should for our weeks and feeling well. I was reminded about the importance of eating more veggies and taking a walk everyday... a couple of things I am less than stellar about. I really like our midwife and am pleased we have decided to birth at home. It will be a bit insane as we are talking about being in the midst of a remodel at that time, but hey, what's like without a little chaos?

We have also finalized our plans for holiday travel. Lily and I depart via plane on the 25th to be picked up by Steve in Sacramento. From there, he will give us a lift to Zacco's for Christmas dinner. Mark will be driving up with Maya and will meet us there for dinner. Then onto Heidi's for a couple of days. We fly/drive home on New Year’s Day, just in time for Mark to leave for a gig in Palm Springs. I don't know yet if we'll go with him or stay here. Depends on... lots of stuff. But at least we have a plan!

Growing belly! 15 weeks, four days along and we're starting to look preggo! YAY!