Being a girl is hard work!

I swear, in the past month I've spent more time waxing, tanning, smoothing, exfoliating and bleaching then I ever thought possible.

I've never been one of those women who dedicate a large amount of time to my appearance, until lately. I mastered the art of the 10 minute makeup application after Luke was born, and have worn my hair scrunched with gel and still wet from the shower to work more times than I can count. Not that I don't CARE about how I look, I just value my sleep more than manicured nails and a perfect blowout.

In preparation for my sister's wedding I re-opened my tanning membership 3 months ago (from when we went to Mexico 2 years ago)and got right down to the task of not looking sickly and pale by D Day. This task is probably pretty easy for most people but thanks to my mom's french skin, low and slow has been the name of the game. I've learned through horrible experience that attempting to rush a tan on my skin can result in purple-toned sunburns followed by weeks of itching and peeling, followed again by sickly pale skin.

I know it's not very good for my skin but I'm really enjoying the little kick in my self-esteem's ass that it has given me. Riding the self-esteem high, I then began bleaching my teeth about a week ago and have a shopping trip planned for my lunch on Friday to go pick up a new pair of Spanx. What, you don't know what SPANX are? Where have you been? My Spanx and I are BFFs. I actually bought my Spanx right before I returned to work after Miss B to give me a teeny bit of extra confidence in my pre-baby work clothes. Boy do they rock!!!! Off to buy a brand new one for the wedding!!!

LUVS!

March of Dimes March for Babies Re-Cap

The walk went awesome, the weather was amazing and the crowd was immense like last year which always makes it feel so motivating. Our team managed to raise nearly $8000 and bested our record from last year.... I put my sister on picture duty as she is madly in love with my digital Canon (if I had the funds sis, it would be your wedding present!!), and she took some great shots of our fellow walkers and the kiddos as they were pushed about in their double stroller. I promise I'll post them as soon as I get a free moment... My time right now seems to be inordinately preoccupied with primping, something I'm not readily used to spending a ton of time on.... More on this later...

LUVS!

Last Call for March of Dimes Donations!

It's that time of year again! Last year I was invited to join Team Matthew to walk in the March of Dimes March for Babies here is Sacramento in memory of a mutual friend's baby boy who passed away in his sleep from SIDS. Here's a little background on baby Matthew, the motivation behind our team to walk and raise money for March of Dimes:




In January of 2007, we were blessed with the amazing news that we were pregnant and expecting our second child!

Kaitlyn was already 2 when we found out and considering how easy the pregnancy with her was, we expected nothing different. Boy, were we wrong!

At 23 weeks and 5 days pregnant, my water unexpectedly broke (preterm, premature rupture of membranes, pPROM) and we were given the news that survival was not likely since there was no fluid to assist with lung development or growth. We made the difficult decision to continue on with the pregnancy.

After 10 weeks of strict hospital bed rest, that tested our family time and time again, Matthew was born at 33 weeks gestation weighing in at a healthy 4 lbs and 14 ounces. He cried at birth.

Matthew endured a 26 day NICU stay before coming home to his adoring family. He spent the next 10 weeks being loved, spoiled, kissed, hugged, played with and adored before falling asleep on the night of October 14, 2007. Matthew never woke up, he passed away in his sleep and became a victim of SIDS.

Losing Matthew has been a tragedy to his entire family. He left behind parents who love him, a big sister who adored him, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.


In April of 2008, we started walking with March for Babies as Matthew's Team. It is a way we can not only honor Matthew, but we can also help raise awareness to prematurity and raise funds to help research find cures and screenings to prevent more families from suffering through this loss.


Please, if you can, donate to this extremely worthy cause in honor of Matthew and all of the other babies and families touched by the tragedy of SIDS, pPROM and infant mortality. The walk is tomorrow, and I'm so grateful to be invited to walk with this team in honor of baby Matthew...

LUVS!!

The Weekend

So the Davis Picnic Day thing was a bust...

We made a valiant effort to pack a picnic, dress the kids comfy and get down there, but the traffic and weirdo Gods were against us. For my hubby, if a trip starts out with 30 minutes of bumper-to-bumper traffic, count it as a bust. He was actually texting me from the drivers' seat that "Davis and traffic suck," and he wanted to just keep driving straight to Vacaville and find a park for the kids to play in there...I asked him to suck it up and try to muscle through just a drive-by to see what the campus looked like and we'd decide then.

We were totally expecting this:




But got a lot more of this than we wanted:







We were watching beer pong tournaments on the lawn of the frat houses across from the campus, and were amazed to see kids kicked back in lawn chairs in the center divide enjoy a few beers and acting like they were tripping and falling in front of the oncoming traffic!! How fun, NOT!!!

We kept driving.

By the time we hit Vacaville, Lukey Duke was beyond antsy to get out and run... We parked at a park by Grandpa John's house and saw a beautiful site... A baseball field, open to run on, with the bases still in the ground! Most fields are open to the public but rarely do the little league coaches leave the bases, so we took full advantage of the rarity!


Check it out!

Photobook design created with Smilebox

Please watch and tell every parent you know...

Our busy "down time" weekend

So, a few weeks ago Matt and I decided that this weekend was going to be our big deep breath before the final sprint to Melanie's Wedding May 16th.

I think somewhere along the line we've forgotten what "down time" means. Tonight we are headed to Raley Field, one of the most beautiful minor league ball fields around, to watch the opening night of River Cats baseball. Saturday we will be up bright and early for Picnic Day @ the UC Davis campus, followed by a BBQ at Grandpa John's new house in Vacaville Sat night and I'm hoping to squeeze in dropping my maid of honor's dress off at the alteration shop and a 10am appointment to be fitted for my bridesmaid dress for my friend Tami's wedding in August.

TONIGHT

Luke is jumping out his skin to go to the home opener for the Sacramento River Cats tonight. We've gone to many games over the years and we've yet to have a bad time. What's not to like about cheap grass seats, hot dogs, beer, AMAZING garlic fries, kids rolling down the giant grass hills and laying out on a blanket watching great baseball in perfect weather? The field is located right near the American River so you get a nice breeze at night which is a huge relief when it's 105 out and you're sitting in the sun all game long. We've packed up the backpacks and are counting down to the end of the workday!

TOMORROW

We're hoping to get up and out of the house by 10 am to drive down to the UC Davis campus for their annual Picnic Day. This is an open house event, run entirely by students, to showcase the many aspects of study and student life available at UC Davis and is open to the general public, free of charge. This year's line up of activities available to watch/participate in/enjoy are extensive and are all over the board. We're hoping to catch the sheep dog exhibition, tie-dye station, cockroach races, giant bug display, as well as the tour of the famous arboretum. There are actually so many different things to do and see that you need to schedule out your time so you don't end up missing something simply because you were on the other side of the campus.

Hopefully the kids won't be too cranky after their long day and we'll pile back into the car and head a little farther toward SF and stop off at Grandpa John's new house in Vacaville for a BBQ with Matt's dad and sisters. Luckily we got to skip out of bringing anything, which makes life much easier so we don't have to stop and buy something on the way there...


There's more, but I'm exhausted just writing about it...

Here they are!

The much anticipated photos from the bridal shower are here!!! We had so much fun and I'm so thrilled that it was just what Mel wanted...

This free digital slideshow customized with Smilebox

Best Party Throwers in the West!

Mom, you rock. I try to tell you that as often as I can, but you REALLY rock! The house was crazy clean, the food was amazing, and everyone had a blast.... Kisses!

Mel's Bridal Shower: The Prep

Have I mentioned how amazing my family is? Not only did my parents cook/prep the majority of the food for my sister's bridal shower, but they also came to my house Friday afternoon and helped me de-kid my house and empty out ALL of my furniture! Then I dragged my exhausted mother to Ross and Walmart to try and find decorations for my bathroom and living room, had her drop me back off at my house and then she had to feed/entertain my aunts and my cousin Summer who flew in for the weekend from LA around 10:45pm that night. My mom later told me that they stayed up until almost 2am slicing bread, mixing fillings and assembling tea sandwiches.

Saturday morning was a whirlwind of assembling centerpieces, greeting the caterer, arranging and prepping food, setting up the "registration area" with name badges and everyone's wine glass for the wine tasting, and then rushing to get ourselves ready in time for the party. After a nervous glass of wine for my mother and a beer for me, we smacked a high five and headed off to the crowd to conquer the party!

Pictures of the day to follow

Freaky Friday!!

I think she was hungry!!




My mom is hot!!




I love this picture... It'll probably end up in his high school yearbook!






Baby Lukey Duke rocking my favorite beanie....

Final Countdown

T-minus 2 days and counting until the bridal shower! My crazy list-making mother sent me the official itinerary/shopping/to-do list yesterday and in true list maniac fashion it was 4 pages; and not even just 4 pages, it was 4 pages, 3 columns per page! We laugh and joke about our manic addiction to list-making, but it really is a rough one! I have pre-designed grocery lists, packing lists, gift buying lists, you name it, I've got it. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I even have a notebook full of my unibomberesque lists tucked away in my purse at all times. I don't function without my lists.... I know, I have a problem :)

Anyway, we are well on our way... Caterer is ready and cooking, house is ALMOST clean, plans are set on how to hide the massive explosion of toys that has overtaken my house, and I think I may have actually found something to wear! My mom is a ROCK STAR and has this thing planned to the minute and I know it's going to go off without a hitch and be everything my sister ever wanted....

Wish us luck!!!!