Even More Christmakah Pictures!

Courtesy of Brent & Vanessa... thanks guys!

Click here for photos

Christmakah Pictures

Thanks to Maugh W we now have a few more pictures from our holiday... thanks mama!

Vanessa & Brent

Ma Ma & Pa Pa G enjoying some down time

The feats of strength... note to self: my mother in law is surprisingly strong! Better mind my P's & Q's! The airing of grievances will come later in the evening!

Cali & Skylin enjoying the stationary kits we gave them.

Kim & baby Gage

It snowed at my parent's house in Placerville on Thursday night!

Updates & Bumpdates

We had a WONDERFUL holiday filled with family and friends. Brent & Vanessa flew out from Florida on the 21st. It was really great to see them again & to get the update on all the wedding plans. Vanessa is a fabulous cook, so we definitely reaped some of those benefits during our visit! Ma Ma & Pa Pa G flew out on Christmas Eve and we spent the evening here at our house. We had the traditional Wilford Christmas Eve meal of cheese fondue and then opened up presents! THAT"S RIGHT! We opened them BEFORE Santa even got here! Rebels, we are! Christmas day we headed up to Placerville where Maugh & Paugh W had another delicious spread! I can't believe how much food we consumed over the course of the week! We also got to hook up with the Willoughby's and spend a little time with Todd, Kim, Skylin, Cali & Gage. I can't believe how much the kids have grown!
I would show you TONS of pictures had Ross & I NOT been total morons & actually taken pictures! We are truly dumb asses & there is no excuse for the lack of digital evidence of a time well spent... These are the only pictures that we were brilliant enough to capture...

Sunset in Amador County... we took the kids wine tasting...mmm....wine...I remember it well!

Brent & part of Vanessa... the look says it all... or was that nothing at all... I can't remember!

I know that other participants were not as spastic as we were & hopefully :) they will send some pics our way (wink wink). We'll keep you updated!

Speaking of updates, Ross thought it was time for another "bump-date", as it were. I think I have doubled in size over the last week even! Ross has been feeling her kick & somersault pretty consistently over the past week as well... I also noticed today that she seems to have discovered that my bladder makes a fantastic trampoline... not sure I whole heartedly agree with her on that one! So without further ado I give you the final bump-date of '07.............

I decided to remain fully clothed this time around (in case there are small children out there who read this blog). I look at that first bump photo & it makes me laugh... I thought I was so HUGE! Of course, I think I'm huge now & know that someday soon this photo will also make me giggle!

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday as well & wish everyone the happiest of New Years! Catch ya in '08 suckas!!!

Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to Brent! We hope your day was wonderfully wonderful and spectacularly spectacular! We love you!

Another very happy birthday to our friend Chauntel, who was coincidentally born on the same day, in the same year as Brent. We hope your day was fabulously fabulous and magnificently magnificent!

You are both are now officially a year older than me! Ha... Ha Ha... Ha Ha Ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ho! Ho! H0!

We spent a lovely evening in San Fransisco last night. We attended Ross' company party and stayed the night at the Omni. Of course, we didn't have the camera with us to document all of the lovely decorations and window displays at Union Square... but never fear! Tonight we were schooled on one of Folsom's holiday traditions!

At first we were alarmed by all the sirens coming from in front of our house but soon realized what was going on... IT"S SANTA!!!! Escorted by the Folsom Police & Fire Dept. (who had their cars, motorcycle and fire trucks bedazzled with holiday lights). Santa & his elves stopped in front of our house & handed out candy canes to all the good little boys & girls while Christmas music played! We knew we lived in a cool place, but this was too cute to see! Wait until next year when a little someone I know will also get to join the festivities (minus the candy cane for a while)!

Merry Christmas!

Spoiler Alert!

WARNING!!!!!!!!!
If you do not wish to know what the sex of our baby is, then I suggest that you not read any further! For those of you who are dying to know, we are proud to introduce you to our lovely DAUGHTER!

Here is her little profile...

Down below you can see a good shot of her little fingers...

Here she is looking straight towards us... she was ready for her close up!

Here is our favorite picture... she looks about ready to do a backward somersault. The ultrasound technician confirmed that she is about 20 weeks along, but her legs are the equivalent to 22 weeks... long legs, just like her mama! The baby has been very active & the technician was having a fun time trying to follow her around! She suggested we enroll her in soccer or some other sport as soon as possible!

Look at how long her outstretched legs are!!! Unreal!

Everything looks like it's progressing very well. We are so unbelievably thrilled (albeit a bit shocked)! We have a daughter!

Holiday Goodness!

Boy, Hanukkah Harry sure came through this year!

Here are some more of the baby's new items... nobody told me that I would have to bathe & groom this child... I thought they were self cleaning, like cats! At least I can still just put out a bowl of food & water & leave it for the weekend, whew!

In addition to cleaning it, apparently, there are some sort of "playing" or "holding & rocking" type of activities that you can do with it... I'll have to research it more & get back to you! I DO KNOW that they can be taught to talk or mimic you, like parrots... or Furbies.

Since Ross is drinking for 2 now he scored some nice bottles of wine from Boeger and a martini sampler because everyone (including Hanukkah Harry) knows that my husband is a "girl drink" drunk! He can also take pictures of himself intoxicated using his new camera tripod. The morning after, he can mosey down to Starbucks for his beloved Americano.
Thank you Hanukkah Harry (aka Lucibud) for the WONDERFUL gifts & for making Hanukkah so much fun!!! We love you!

Speaking of my mom, she finished our knitted afghan! It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL and so very soft! It is a gorgeous burgundy color.

Here it is hanging on the quilt rack in the living room. Below it are some of our other lovelies created by Ross' mom, Robbie. She made the multi- colored afghan for me for Christmas '05 and she made Ross the cream colored one on the bottom. He took such good care of it in Tahoe & rarely let anyone use it! My mom coordinated the burgundy color in her afghan to match the one Robbie made. Now we have a beautiful collection of our mama's work! We love you both!!!!!

As a joint Christmakah gift, my parents got us this awesome cat enclosure and pet door. You can see Henry looking agitated because I'm requesting that he go through the cat door when I just went through the people door! So confusing! We've been trying to solve the problem of what to do with the cat box once the baby arrives. We really wanted it out of the house, plus Henry drives us CRAZY with his plaintiff wails to go to his beloved outside. He does get to go out in the backyard, but it has to be EXTREMELY supervised. He likes to jump the fence & check out the hood. I'm not really worried about something happening to him... he survived in P.ville just fine... I'm more scared of the suburban dangers of people & other cats... not that he'll get beat up... more like receiving a vet bill in the mail from a neighbor because Henry beat their cat up. Yes, my sweet boy is a thug, I admit it!
Well, this enclosure solves 2 problems for us! Henry can go "out" by himself anytime he wants & the plan is to put their cat box out there too!

Here is "Wee Wee" enjoying the enclosure. Henry has figured out how to go in & out on his own. He is a little concerned with the "enclosed" concept of the enclosure. Wee will go out if you hold the flap open for her. But once the weather warms up, I think she'll become more curious on her own.

Overall, it has been such a wonderful holiday season and it will just keep getting better! We can't wait to have all the Gimpel's and Willoughby's out for Christmas too! Happy holidays!

Just for fun: Ever wonder what Ross is up to while I'm blogging??? Here's a sneak peak! Here are my Gimpel men getting their homework done! There must not be any football on TV!

Happy Hanukkah!

Happy 1st night of Hanukkah!

My mom provided 8 wrapped presents for Ross & the baby, the first of which they got to open tonight... a travel coffee mug for Ross to replace the one he has misplaced somewhere (which will go PERFECTLY with the Cuisinart coffee maker with timer that I got him for Christmakah) and a sheet saver pad for the baby's crib that doubles as a changing pad.

Here's Ross posing with his gift... he's also modeling the Hanukkah gift bags that my mom has sewn. She's made many for Christmas to reduce the waste of wrapping paper. They are ingenious, really, and can be reused year after year. Ross' have swirls on them, the baby's have snowflakes. Although, wearing it as a hat makes Ross look a little like the pope... rather confusing, actually.

For completely un-Hanukkah related reasons Ross surprised me with my favorite flowers when he got home from work tonight! They make the house smell WONDERFUL!

He's been asking me recently if he can take a picture of my baby bump that miraculously appeared Thanksgiving week... literally overnight! I finally agreed, and frankly, think I deserve some kudos for showing it off in such a public setting!

I can finally wear my maternity pants! When I came back to work this week the kids noticed it immediately! I definitely have some belly rubbers in my class. They know that the baby needs to eat at recess time & Madison is always asking me how the baby is... like every half hour, and if "she's" sleeping. All the girls want it to be a girl. I mean, why would I want a yucky boy????? I've started feeling it move around too. Bubble, flutter, flutter is the best way to describe it. We went to a party on Saturday night & when Joan Jett's "I Love Rock n' Roll" came on the baby went nuts! I tried explaining to the baby that I have vivid memories of being a kid and it's Uncle Chris throwing a shoe at my head while that song was playing on the radio... granted I walked into his room unannounced, but seriously! A shoe???? Uncalled for!

Happy 37th Anniversary Maugh & Paugh!

Thanks for fallin' in love, gettin' married, havin' a couple youngins' and all that other good stuff! We love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baby on the Brain

We had our 16 week appointment yesterday with our nurse/ midwife. We finally got to hear the bambino's heartbeat for the first time! It's a strong, healthy 150 beats per minute. She was right over it's back with the doppler & it kept moving around! It was all pretty cool!

It's still a bit surreal. Even though I'm heading into my 5th month of pregnancy, my only signs have been nauseousness (which has for the most part subsided), a little indigestion/ heartburn, some dizziness (from all the lovely new blood my body is producing), and fatigue. My pants are a little bit tighter, but I'm not really showing at all. The nurse/midwife said that I most likely won't get that big because of my height. She said that if someone saw me from behind (even at my biggest) they probably wouldn't know I was pregnant. Still, it will be cool when I can actually see this little guy or gal popping out a little!

In the next couple of weeks I should begin to start feeling the little one flipping around down there. So excited! On December 11th we go for our big ultrasound appointment where they may also be able to sex the baby... yes, we're finding out. Like Ross says, it's a surprise no matter when you find out!

So many good things to look forward to! I'm enjoying every second! Send good baby vibes our way!

Baby's First Rollins Show

We headed out to the Crest Theater in Sacramento to see Henry Rollins' latest spoken word tour last night. Of course, we couldn't resist being complete freaks and posing with him in front of the marquee...

Ma W joined us as well. This is the 3rd spoken word tour that she has come to with me. Years ago when only my brother & I ventured out to Rollins & Rollins Band shows, we would bring back a T-shirt for her (a closeted fan). I have vivid memories of her doing housework in her "Search & Destroy" shirt. Cute, I think! After my brother's passing, my mom read one of Rollins' books & wrote to him telling him about my brother and how much she enjoyed the book. He wrote her back to thank her & tell her to stay strong. What a nice lad!The Crest is a beautiful old theater downtown. I've seen many a-show here... including a Kai Kln show that the band dedicated to my bro.We had a hard time getting a good picture of the man of the hour... or should I say 3+ hours... the guy can talk! But it was awesome... as usual!

Another terrible picture… wearing all black was not helping the situation either! It was WAY past my (and the baby's) bedtime. You know you're pregnant when you start to fall asleep at a live event...of course, I did the same thing at a John Cougar (when he was STILL known as John Cougar) concert when I was about 10 years old. But what was I supposed to do... everyone was standing up, leaving their seats empty and just begging to be stretched out on!

Happy Birthday Daddio!

A very, very happy birthday to my daddy!!! My parents are camping in Bodega Bay with the pups as we read... hope your day is wonderful!

LOOK OUT FOR THE TRAIN!

You're still as strong as ever!

A Little of This & a Little of That...

We had another great weekend. Friday night we went up to to Kim & Bob's house for dinner. It was so great to hang out with them again! Kim made some delicious lasagna & also somehow knew that I've been craving garlic bread! They just finished a new master bedroom/ bath addition & it is BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for having us guys!

Saturday, our friends Cory & Linda came down from Carson City, NV. We went to Apple Hill to sample the pie (it had to be done) and we also found the perfect pumpkin... hmmm... it sure got us thinking of the not too distant future when my belly will be rather pumpkin like!

Cory & Ross (who apparently is SUPER cool)

Cory, Linda & Ross

On Sunday, we headed to P.ville just in time to see the Giants beat the 49ers. If you haven't heard, Ross & my dad are currently battling over which team the baby should root for... Ross has actually conceited that the baby may wear a 49er jersey only if they are NOT playing the Giants that day... that's a HUGE step!

While we were there, Grandma W presented us with more hand- made goodies:

A burping cloth (with a bar of soap next to it for scale)

and a bib (complete with a little button penguin)

A while back she also made these little "UGG" booties for the baby's first winter.
This kid is spoiled already!

Can you see it????

We had our 2nd ultrasound this week. We only really had it because they weren't able to hear the heartbeat yet, so we took a little looksy. What a shock to actually see something that looked like a baby (instead of a blob) complete with little arms and legs. When the mid-wife pushed on my belly, the baby threw it's arms up all startled like... we are annoying it already! She was able to snap this picture of the munchkin looking directly forward toward the front.

You have to look closely. All you can see is the head with 2 eye sockets, a little nose & mouth. There is also a little hand to the babies left (your right) up by its ear.

Can you see it yet???

Kayaking on Lake Natomas

EW and I went out on Lake Natomas for a bit of kayaking. EW recently bought a nice new sea kayak, and we wanted to go out and see what Folsom looked like from the water. I had a free rental from California Canoe & Kayak from the lesson Ali and I took a little while back, so I got set up with a boat/pfd/paddle, and (with thanks to Bud for the kayak rack loaner), we were off. We put in at Willow Creek, right across from the outlet mall. The weather was perfect, mid-70's and sunshine!

We took some side routes and it felt like we were off in the deep wilderness...

We headed towards old Folsom and the two bridges that cross Lake Natomas.

Some feathered friends...

The bridges as we approached them...

We kept on going towards the Dam and the Prison, but we had to stop due to a sign that forbade any further forward progress.
The approach to the prison area...


None shall pass...


Oh, yeah, can't forget the floating crapper (we did not partake, EW looked in and said it was pretty gross).

Yep, it's really called the S.S. Relief!


A fun day with my good bud! Nice.

Thanks to Ali for encouraging me to get out there. She's the coolest wife in the World!!!