Goin' Back to Cali

Over Memorial Day weekend this May, we packed our little family into the Passport and drove out to LA to see family. It was a really great trip, and even though the kids were a little fried when we got home it was worth getting to see everyone that we did.

Our first stop was at Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Jim's house where we had dinner and had a wonderful chance to catch up. They gave Michael the coolest truck toy! It's a transport truck that has four little cars loaded in its cargo, and he loves it. Every kid that comes over to the house wants to play with it - they totally scored with that one! Uncle Jim is holding the little green car in his hand in these pictures.



We let Michael take this picture, he thinks the camera is very exciting and always wants to give it a try. :O)


We got Michael into ocean water for the first time while we were there. Balboa Island, where we stayed, is protected from the ocean waves so the water there is like bath water (as my mom puts it!) but Michael still thought it was great once he got over the shock of being wet.







My Aunt Denice, Grandpa Gilb and Grandma Gilb were all up on the beach house patio while we were playing with Michael in the water.


We celebrated my Grandma Gilb's 80th birthday that weekend, and had the whole Gilb family there together. It was a great time together and we had a chance to take a really nice family picture together.



We snapped this picture as Amy and Brian were leaving to go back to San Diego before they flew home. I really love it!

Packing Up

Watching Michael grow up has been one of the most delightful experiences I've had - I am so lucky to have him! As we were packing up our old house to move, Michael continued to find new ways to "help". He was particularly good at handing Daddy glasses and dishes to box up, and he liked climbing in the boxes to inspect them, as you'll see below. He's the big brother now, and the big kid in the house, so there are lots of responsibilities to take over!


Our friend Debbie sent Michael this shirt - a good reminder for him that there is a little sister to watch out for. Michael's blazing the way for her on the road to growing up!



While packing, Mom wasn't always able to keep as close an eye on Michael as she'd like and after running through the house unable to find him, I discovered he had taught himself how to climb into the tub. Nevermind that he couldn't figure out how to get out - he thought it was fantastic to be in there with his clothes and shoes on! Thank goodness he hadn't figured out how to turn on the water too...



We packed up a lot of Michael's toys about two weeks before we moved so he found lots of new ways to play with the ones we had left out - not quite the fit he was hoping for, but he still thought it was great!



Inspecting the box from the inside. Yep, it's a good one!



The last talent to be discovered during packing days - climbing up onto whatever had been packed and was waiting in the hallway to be moved to the garage! Not always a wise endeavor but definitely fun.

Thank goodness the moving is over. There won't be any more packing like this for a long time to come!!

Meeting Grandma

Grandma Gayle came to Tucson in May to meet Miranda when she was a month old. She had been trying to make sure that Michael felt included in all the excitement by sending him special presents and spending extra time with him when she visited. Michael loved having her here and it was so neat to introduce her to her granddaughter!


Grandma bought Michael a special stroller for him to put his stuffed toys in, and they took it for a spin while she was here. He was so funny - he wouldn't let her help him push it or steer it, which made for a long and slow walk!! He wings it all around the house now... thankfully without Miranda in it because he doesn't exactly have a handle on steering or stopping very precisely!

Getting in some quality snuggle time...






Grandma Gayle had also sent a funny pair of slippers to Michael that Auntie Amy had found for him. They're quite a challenge, since walking with slippers is very different than tennis shoes. It's been fun to see him experience so many new things as he gets bigger.

Monkeying Around

Miranda is getting bigger and bigger, which I should know is what happens with babies, but is always surprising to me. :O) These pictures were taken mid-May, in a new monkey outfit that her Auntie Amy gave her.






Michael wanted to get in on the picture taking, and without prompting started trying to give Miranda kisses - here he is, mid-pucker.


Miranda is snuggling with her super soft bunny, which was given to her by her Grandpa Mike's bosses, Billy Jean and John Wirth. She really loves to hold on to his ears when she's snoozing!

It's Been A Long Wait...

Hi all - Just a quick note to say sorry for the long wait between posts! We've had tons going on, and I thought it would all be calmer after last week, but that wasn't the greater plan! We've been

• in LA for Memorial Weekend
• then in NM for Girl Camp the following weekend
• moving to a new house in Tucson
• getting the old house ready to sell

and then Max got hit by a car so we've been dealing with getting him fixed up and home again. He's finally home but has some serious robo-dog pins stucking out of his leg while the break heals. Hopefully he'll pull through the broken leg without any problems and be back to his usual jumpy self soon.

Regardless, once we get our house computer network up and running in the new place, I'll post pictures - of which I have a ton to share!!

XOXO, Heather.

M and M Cuties!!

It seems we have a couple of cuties on our hands!!








Wearing Mommy's dress shoes! Michael thinks it's great fun to clomp around the house in these.






All ready to go play outside!

Miranda Mae Is Here!

Our little girl is finally here, and unbelievably she's already 15 days old! We're settling in nicely and working out all the little bumps and hitches that having a newborn throws at you. Currently the biggest challenge is teaching her older brother that smacking the baby is not OK... fortunately he's young enough that the jealousy factor is pretty minimal so far. We certainly are lucky to have them both!!!

Labor was not too bad. I had to be induced, and we had one scare early on when Miranda's heart rate slowed down a bit, but we were able to bring it back up with some oxygen and changing positions in bed. Once I got my epidural (God bless whomever invented epidurals!!!) we were able to get some sleep and it turned out that Miranda decided to come down the birth canal and almost completely crown on her own. I only had to push 4 times and out she popped! I was really lucky that everything went to well and easily for us. We have lots of pictures, so if you'd like more please let me know and I'll email more to you.

Grandpa Mike's Visit

I promised these pictures a while back, but some strange nesting instinct has taken over and I've spent the past 2 weeks or so cleaning obsessively, to the detriment of my blog! However, here they are. There are some really great ones, especially the picture of Michael and Mike in the play tunnel!














This last picture is my favorite, it was one of those shots where we got lucky and it turned out so great!!!

Spaghetti Dinner

While Grandpa Mike was visiting last weekend, we had a simple spaghetti dinner at home one night, which we all believe one of us enjoyed more than the others!!





There are several great pictures from the rest of the visit over the weekend, but I'm posting only these for now. Keep your eyes peeled for more pictures later this week!

Ready to Pop!

So come tomorrow morning (about 12 hours from now) I will hit 37 weeks with this pregnancy, and we'll be full term!!! There have been a few requests for pictures so I snapped a couple yesterday just to share... I've got a new haircut, which I'm still not sure is short enough. It's a short bob in the front, and progresses to a stacked cut in the back, quite short and fun!

Daddy, How Do I Get Into the Camera?

While my mom, sister and nephew were visiting, Dan and Michael had some fun playing with the digital camera. Who had more fun - Michael trying to figure out how all the buttons on the camera worked or Dan snapping his picture close up?

You can also see from these pictures that this was the week Michael decided running was better than walking. Why he thought this was a good idea, when between you and me he wasn't so great at walking yet, is beyond me! He's finally getting better at this running thing but the first week was a rough one - lots of bumps and rug burn and lumps on his beautiful face!







Well, I still think he's a cutie even with the bruises and rug burn!

Surprise Visit!!

I had the loveliest surprise this past weekend - my mom, sister and nephew flew in to Tucson for the weekend to visit before the new baby arrives! Apparently most of the people around me had colluded together to pull it off, and they were totally successful! What should have given it away? Perhaps that my hubby declined to golf with his men's league at his favorite course, or that he spent that Saturday doing chores at home while I was out galavanting with Michael, or that a few people who had been trying to make plans with me for that same weekend mysteriously couldn't get their plans to work out...

Regardless, it was such an awesome surprise and it made me feel so special! It felt like a birthday weekend in February! Ask me to tell you the story of the Grandma Kleckner style baby shower sometime and you'll understand even more why it was a special visit for me. :O)))))))

We also got some great pictures while they were here. Rulon's almost 7 months old now, and he's getting to be such a big boy already. It's hard to believe Amy became a mom just last June. We got out Michael's baby bouncer for Rulon to use, and Michael promptly plopped himself into it and proceeded to play in it for a long time!




We finally got Rulon in it, and he seemed quite at home.






Lunchtime for the little guy!




Perhaps just as exciting as having my family out to visit was being able to pop the tandem seat on our new Super Stroller and load both boys in for a walk - I was so thrilled! I'm a little biased (Who me? No!) but I'm conviced I have the coolest stroller ever.






Finally, we got some great family pictures of Grandma, the two mommies and the two kiddos.








What a treat to have the three of them here, it was really a nice time.