BIG news!

So, it's time for Miles to officially announce that he is going to be a BIG brother! Mike & I are so excited to be adding another little indian to our tribe & a little shocked that we became pregnant so fast after deciding that we were ready for "thing 2". It took a looong time for us to actually believe that we were adding another sweet face to our home, but now that we are 13 weeks along & my belly is starting to paunch, the reality is setting in!

So, baby #2, or as Mike has been calling it, Chinsu (?) - it's Mike, remember?- is due to arrive January 4, 2010. I have a feeling that Chinsu will come early like Miles did, & I am just praying that it's not Christmas day. Praying. After would be cool. My first trimester went really well & aside from some early nausea, my biggest complaint was fatigue. Oh, & total bitchiness. Sorry, honey. And, although the fatigue has lessened, the bitchiness continues in it's same extreme severity. Worse this time even than with Miles. I feel uglier than ever this time around too, which motivated my impulsive decision to chop all my hair off to my chin a couple weeks ago. I really would like to chop my entire wardrobe & home decor too, but I know it's just hormones & these feelings will pass. Luckily, I like the hair. I have been eating lots of mexican food & candy & spicy Louisiana hot links. But, luckily, I haven't gained a full pound yet! I say this excitedly because with Miles I had gained 9 by 13 weeks! 9! Hopefully this will be a good sign for the size of my a** over the next 9 months. I am trying to analyze everything I feel in an effort to predict the gender of our baby, but so far, I don't have a clue. I was leaning toward girl because of the ugliness that came over me, but now I think boy. We already have a boy, so I am just assuming it must be another.

I am pretty excited because, of the friends I have made so far in Lincoln, 4 have recently anounced they are pregnant & due within weeks of our baby! It is so fun to be pregnant with friends! I had lots of preggies to chat with in the OC during my preg with Miles, so I am happy to have the same with new friends here. Especially Marissa & Shannon. I am so happy to be going through this with Marissa again because we both view our prgnancies as some kind of science experiment & we can literally talk everyday for hours about it. Although, since she is having twins (!) she is in a whole other league of experimentation! And with Shann, I am just so excited for her & Jared being 1st timers, that it makes me more excited for us! I just wish we didn't live half a state apart now :(

We find out the babies gender August 11, so we'll keep you posted! In the meantime, any bets? Wish I had an ultrasound pic to help you with your guess, but the lovely Nurse practitioner wouldn't give me a 12 week u-sound no matter how much I whined & begged & made up really good medical reasons for why I should get one. Grrrr.

So, that's the BIG news ;)

Father's Day weekend at Bullards Bar

We did it. Not that, dirty people. We went camping! And we survived. And, even better, we had a fabulous time! On Father's day weekend, a huge Lincoln Posse of 11 families rallied their troops for an awesome weekend of camping, boating, jet skiing, wake boarding, tubing & swimming at Bullards Bar camp grounds & Emerald Cove. Although they were a few brave souls who brought their less than 18 month olds (you deserve a medal!), Mike & I chickened out of bringing Miles for the whole weekend, selfishly wanting to enjoy the trip rather than play chase through the woods for 3 days. And, I have to say, it was the best decision EVER! We took Miles up to the campsite to play around & explore on Friday, but then brought him to my Mom & Dad's for the rest of the weekend while we camped & relaxed. You see, Miles is not turning out to be a toddler that just chills. He is an adventurer that only sits still when he is sleeping. I see these babies at play group or the park who sit on their parents lap for almost an hour, exploring a toy or eating a snack & I just have to think, WHAT?! Miles would never do that. Ever. He has a great little personality & is so happy, but at his stage, he is exhausting & a lot to keep up with. Mike & I would look at each other while were riding on the boat, laying around the shore chatting, or making dinner & say, "how much would this suck if Miles was here?". No offense to the little guy, but I think camping will be best suited for him (& us!) next year. At least I think we will give it a shot with him next year. The 2 year olds seemed to do really well during this trip.

So, Mike & I got to spend some time bonding with our new Lincoln friends, enjoying the water & sunshine & just hanging out. It was incredible. Night time around the camp fire was the best - thats when the freaks came out - my husand being the freakiest & most entertaining! The group we went with was great too - everyone was so helpful & giving with each other. And, all the little ones got a long great. I didn't mind the dirt like I thought & I actually loved sleeping in our giant tent. The only part about camping that I wasn't too fond of was packing, setting up & packing again. Oh, and the stomach flu I ended up getting on Sunday night. That really blew - in every way you can think of! It was only a 24 hour thing & thankfully I was in Chico when it hit so my Mom could take care of Miles. At times like that I really have to wonder what do single mom's do?

Our weekend home - please disregard how nasty I look. I plead camping. Way to go Mike (& thanks Leo & Kevin!) for "building" our house!

I love dirt!

Miles LOVES our friends Michelle & Kevin's son Chase. Chase is 2.5 & isn't so sure about befriending a baby yet. It was so cute that Miles sniffed Chase out, though & kept knocking on his kid tent so he could play too.

I have this same picture of me from my first time camping!

Amber & Mase - the calm moments before the night from HELL. Poor Amber wasn't super sold on camping to begin with, so we were all hoping that this would be the trip that convinced her camping was so cool! Well, that plan went out the window when sweet Abigails threw up all over the tent & in Amber's hair the first night at the camp ground. Poor Abby & Amber. Thank goodness Abby was instantly better for the rest of the trip. Sadly, I don't think Amber will ever recover, though.

This man is a camping maniac! We didn't see Brian the first 4 hours of camping because he was super camping man, setting up the perfect camp site!

Hanging out

Beer pong was the nightly game, and...

Mike & Terri were the champions!

I love Michelle!

Camping rocked! We had an awesome time! Thanks to Brooke & Leo for getting everything together & to everyone else for making the trip so amazing!

I wish I had more pics, but of course our camera battery died. Our camera battery sucks. It was newly charged & pooped out after 1 day.

Grandma's B-Day & Bay Area Visit

OK, so I still suck at the blog. Thanks Linny! I just stink at getting on the computer in general. Miles pitches a fit every time I get on the thing during the day, so I have been conditioned just to leave it alone when he is up, and during his naps I have been napping or zoning out to some mindless TLC or Bravo show on the couch before taking a nap. Those New Jersey housewives just tire me out!

So, jumping back a couple weeks, our little tribe had a great weekend in Chico June 6th & 7th. We went up to celebrate my mom's bday, but took advantage of the trip and went up a night early to sneak a date night in. It was much needed & we ended up having an awesome night. It started with dinner at Tres Hambres filled with stimulating conversation between a husband & wife and ended with us meeting up with the Laney's to watch The Hangover. I hate to condone the movie because it was so raunchy, but it was really hilarious. Probably the most I have laughed at a movie in a very long time. Brian decided that it will go down in history among the ranks of Pulp Fiction & Shindlers List. Ooookay Brian, suuuure ;)

The next day we celebrated my Mom's bday with friends & family. We had a great day BBQing & hanging out by the pool - no swimming for Miles yet because the water was a little cold, but Mikey jumped in. Brave, cold soul!

Grandma & Miles just kickin' it

Miles & I took a couple days the next week to visit Christina, Lily & Baby Luke. We were also able to sneak in a visit to Kyra & Joe's & meet baby Abby, who is so precious! Gianna may be Kyra's mini-me, but Abby is definately a Daddy look-a-like in person!

Lilers

Miles on a Big Boy Trike!

Mama Chrissy & Baby Luke

My first flower from Miles ;)

Little face

Channeling Elton John

Big Sis & Little Bro

Abriella Barale - good work Joe & Kyra ;)

Gianna sharing her juice with Miles - what manners!

Air guitar

A paci in the mouth & a nasal aspirator up the nose - whatever works for ya Gi!

I found Mommy's wallet!!!

Playtime with Daddy - why buy toys?

We also got some new patio furniture! It was a house warming gift from NIck & Nicole & we can't thank them both enough! We got an amazing deal on the set & I have to pass on the word. If you need outdoor furniture, go to OSH. They seriously have the best prices I have seen & I am a bargain huntress. This is our first patio furniture ever because we have our first backyard to put it in! I just love being able to sit outside & enjoy the backyard while hanging out with eachother or friends & family. We had our first BBQ & it was so much fun! We are really starting to enjoy the perks of owning a house ;)

May

Some Pics of May to catch myself up on this blog for really reals! We had a GREAT month, although I only can remember some of the month now since my camera battery died & I was lazy about getting a new one for the first half of it!

We had a great little Chico reunion BBQ at the Gutterman's over memorial day weekend. It's so awesome that all our kids are the same ages, it's even more awesome that Bre & Michael have a pool they can all swim in! Hopefully I will be posting more pics of us chill'n at the Gutterman's this summer. We had such an awesome night!

The ultimate "Mom" picture of Bre. Don't you all have a picture of your mom in the kitchen like this? Can you believe we are the mom in the pic now? What happened?

New mom, Auntie Sara, with Alex & baby Michael Cook III

A great shot of the Dad's posing with their boys: Michael & Max Gutterman, Michael & Miles Chavis, Michael Cook II & III, and Brian & Mason Laney

A rare shot of me with Miles. It's funny how I am the one who is with him 24 hrs/day but I have the least pictures with the little monkey!

Miles first tubby with the girls - what a ladies man!

Alex & Abby-gails

My friend Iman's twins turned 1 this month & we had a great time at their party! Happy Birthday Adam & Miriam ;)

Iman with the twins in the classic "lugging" pose!

At the party, we discovered that Miles is not too fond of bounce houses. He preferred to be held & bounced than to bounce by himself. It's really too bad because I am learning that bounce houses are the cool thing around these parts!

Even though the bounce house was a bust, the barbie jeep was a huge hit! We definately know what our little man wants for Christmas - we just hope he doesn't want it in pink!

We went to our first Giants game this month too! It was Miles's first baseball game & Mike & I decided it will be his last for the next, oh, 3 years or so! We had a great time being at the stadium on the water - love AT&T park -, eating garlic fries & visiting with Amy, Alberto, Johnny & Josh, but we didn't have so much fun watching the game. And, thats because we didn't get to! We gave it a shot, but lesson learned: 13 month olds & crowded baseball stadiums don't mix. Next time, well get a sitter!

The Chavis's all decked out in Giants gear - I can just hear the boos from all our SoCal Angel fan friends! We haven't ditched the Angels, but we have to have a local team to cheer for!

Amy, Me, Johnny & our little Giant!

Da' Boyz: Alberto, Josh & Mikey

This month also happened to be the little Maser Facer's birthday. Happy 1st Birthday Mase! Amber & Brian did a great job with the party & all the kids had so much fun! I had to take Miles home for an afternoon nap, but we returned later to chill & party into the night. It was an awesome day for adults & kiddies alike! Mason definately looked like he enjoyed his special day! Hard to believe he & Miles are only a month apart since Miles is practically 2x Mason's size!

The party set-up: bounce house & water slide bounce thingy. The water slide was a HUGE hit & you couldn't drag the kids off it! The adults got to have their fun after the official party ended! So awesome!

Little Mase on a total sugar high!

An action shot of Miles & his Amber

My favorite event of the month was my baptism! It was such a beautiful day & occasion through Bridgeway Church at Folsom Lake. The experience was so emotional & fulfilling that I wish I could get baptized every week! Next year we will definately go to celebrate others who choose to give their lives to christ.

Coming out of the water a new person ;)

The crowd at the beach & a snap shot of my favorite memory of the day - Miles, Mike & I singing praise & dancing with the band of guitarists & bongo drummers after I came out of the water.

Finally, Miles & I have been spending lots of time in our backyard. We got him a little water play station, a baby pool & some other outdoor toys to enjoy. But, of course, all he wants to do is help mommy garden & play with my tools! I have slowly been working away at pulling up this tiny patch of onions that the previous owners unsuccessfully planted. I say slowly because my little helper is just so helpful that it's hard to get too much done at a time!

Gotta love him, though!