Chloe turns 4!

Yesterday our little puppy girl turned 4! 

I can’t believe she’s so old already.  She’s technically not a puppy anymore but she’ll always be my puppy.  Since we didn’t do anything for her this year, Danny and the girls dropped by Sunday night with a present for her.

Happy Birthday sweet puppy girl!

And Happy Anniversary Chad & Crystal!

Oh Boy…or Oh Girl?

Last Friday Jeff and I went for my mid-week ultrasound so the doctor could measure the baby and check the development.  This was also our opportunity to find out if the little Loyd is a girl or boy!

We were seen rather quickly and after the initial measurements she was ready to show Jeff and I our little baby.  She moved the wand around and we saw the little baby wave at us-so cute.  Then I don’t know if the baby was just having fun or getting mad about being pushed on, but all of a sudden it started kicking the side of my uterus with both feet.  It was so cute and pretty funny (and no, unfortunately I didn’t feel it…that day).

And then she saw the anatomy that confirmed the little Loyd is a…

GIRL!

Baby Marilene

One of my good friends at work is expecting her first baby next month and invited us (yep Jeff too!) to her baby shower.  Can you tell if she is having a girl or boy? 

The baby’s room is going to be all things Minnie Mouse so Jessica and her cousins found a ton of decorations on Etsy for the shower.  They were so cute!

Jessica shared there was one tiny fiasco with the cake (she said it was a horrible mess) so she bought some black, pink and white fondant at the last minute and rolled out the ears & bows for the cake and cupcakes herself.  I think she did pretty good!!

The table was decorated with homemade chocolate covered pretzels and a cute diaper cake with Minnie decals.  They also made chocolate covered strawberries to snack on before lunch. 

Jessica and her boyfriend got a ton of cute things for the baby!  I can’t wait to meet baby Marilene next month!!

My Valentine

This Valentine’s Day I was in Torrance so Jeff came down to meet me for dinner.  We NEVER go out on actual V Day since it’s so crowded but we decided to suck it up and face the crowds.

Jeff got some recommendations and we ended up at Eatalian Café in Gardena for dinner.  The restaurant is in an industrial area and does not look inviting when you first get there.  (Sorry for the bad pics, I only had my phone on me). 

When you go in, it’s a large warehouse with tables spread out, a wine bar right in the center and a dessert case in the back. 

There was only a 15 minute wait and soon enough we were being seated with menus in front of us.  We should have realized that the pizza was their big selling point since it took up half the menu, but for some reason we skipped it. 

I ended up getting pasta with pesto and Jeff got the penne arrabbiata and we shared the sausage with vegetables.

I really wish I could say it was a perfect hole in the wall…but it was just ok.  I know it was Valentine’s day but the waiter rarely showed up at our table and I had to ask for my lemonade three times before it finally came.  The food tasted like it had no salt and it was just regular run of the mill Italian food.  I wish we had gotten the pizza since almost every table around us had some.  Oh well.

Since we both had to get up early the next day, we called it an early night.  Thanks for the V Day adventure my love!  It was perfect to be able to spend time with you!! 

Up the mountain

Last weekend we trekked up the mountain to go play in the snow!  We called Jeff’s mom and made plans to go up Sunday afternoon for a couple of hours to hang out. 

As soon as we arrived, the girls were so excited and kept asking to go outside to play in the snow.  I tried to get mouse to pose next to the window but all I got was a silly face. 

We had some lunch and then bundled up to play in her front yard.   

Mousie found an especially large snow ball to throw at her dad. 

Kalea and Hailey climbed the hillside to get a better shot at Chad, Danny and Jeff. 

Libby’s house had a ton of icicles hanging from the roof.  We grabbed some off the roof and gave to the girls to play with. 

It’s so funny that Hailey is both smiling at the camera and trying to poke her mom in the face with her icicle!  Shannon also made some cute snow animals/shapes. 

A cute snow bunny!

All four nieces together!

After the girls were done with the snow, we went inside for some hot chocolate.  Chad and Danny built their own snowman. 

A snowman with a mohawk and a rifle.  Can’t ever be too prepared.  Thanks for letting us come over and crash Libby!

How I’m Feeling

I missed last weeks baby update since I was out of town so here it is a little late!

You know those moms that don’t experience any early pregnancy symptoms…I was not one of those moms.

Morning Sickness: Soon after I took the at home test, I started to feel nauseous. I remember going to Thanksgiving at my grandparents’ house and barely eating. A few weeks after, the “morning sickness” started happening and let’s just say my toilet was my new BFF. I thought we’d break up after week 13 but just today, at 18 weeks I paid my old friend a visit.

Food Aversions: At about 17 weeks food starting to sound appealing again. But during the first trimester it was tough. Something that sounded good on Tuesday would make my stomach lurch by Friday. The worst offenders are onions and olive oil (I about died when Jeff sautéed some onions in olive oil). I’ve only had a few cravings, but again-a craving today is an aversion tomorrow. What I miss the most? BEER AND SUSHI!! Man I’m so looking forward to having a deliciously raw salmon roll with an ice cold beer!

My Skin: My skin is an anomaly. I have broken out more during the last 8 weeks than I did when I actually went through puberty! But the rest of my skin (my legs/arms/back) are all super dry. Even my scalp! I’ve developed a gross case of dandruff that I’m trying to counter with lots of {expensive} conditioner.

Energy: Hello exhaustion! One of the crappy things about not telling people during the first trimester is the need to always be “on” 100% of the time. I remember going to bed at 9:00pm and waking up like I’d only been sleeping for a couple of hours. I took more naps than I can remember and parked myself on the couch for a majority of the 1^st trimester.

Running: Although I’m not a natural runner, I always thought I’d be able to maintain some sort of running while pregnant. Prior to knowing I was pregnant, Jeff and I were training for our first half marathon. My last long run was a grueling 7 mile run that left me exhausted, but so happy I had a new PDR. It did make me worry that 7 miles was such a tough effort though. Fast forward a week later, duh! I made the decision to drop the half from my 2013 race schedule and was a little bummed. But regardless, I could still run. And I tried. I did a few 2-3 mile run/walks in our neighborhood, had some mild cramping but kept it easy. And at 6 weeks pregnant, I ran the 2012 San Dimas Turkey Trot. But that was the run that did me in. It was an unusually warm day and for what ever reason, they were not offering water bottles after the race. Just tiny little Dixie cups of water. I ended up being super dehydrated and nauseous and had no desire to run after that. But watch out Fall 2013, I’m already looking at races in October or November.

While it sounds like I’ve had a miserable last 4 months, there is one thing that keeps it all in perspective…I’m having a baby! In 5 months I’ll have a lovely little mixture of Jeff and I to hold in my arms that will make everything worth it.

At least it better be the lovely parts of Jeff and I and not the annoying ones.

And it better like to sleep.

This Friday I go in for my mid-pregnancy ultrasound where the measure the baby to confirm size, due date and most fun…gender!  Girl or Boy???  I’m guessing girl.

Jeff’s First Half Marathon

Yep, you read that title RIGHT!

During the summer Olympics I was so pumped up with the track and field events that I did something slightly crazy for me…I signed Jeff and I up for our first half marathon. 

Fast forward a few months when we found out that I was pregnant.  I made the {so sad} decision to back out of half training, but my wonderful husband decided to push forward on his own.  He took about a month off of running but started again in January (yes, only 1 month before the race). 

We picked the Surf City Half in Huntington Beach mostly because the reviews said it was an out and back that was relatively flat.  We knew the weather would be cool since it was by the beach and the view pretty awesome. 

We headed down to the expo Saturday afternoon to pick up Jeff’s packet.  Our good friends Jack & Cari were also running the half – this was Cari’s first too!  They live super close to the beach so we lucked out with a free place to crash for the evening. 

The expo is pretty small considering how large the race is (approximately 17,000 half runners).  We picked up everyone’s bibs and Jeff got a new pair for shoes (for after the race) and I bought some of my favorite headbands.  Seriously, love those things. 

We ate at La Fogata for dinner and ended up crashing pretty early Saturday night.  We set our alarm for 5:30am the next morning and woke up bright and early.  I was soooo excited for all of them but I tried to tone it down since I wasn’t the one doing the hard work. 

We left the house close to 6:45am and lucked out with some valet parking at the Hyatt.  We parked smoothly, visited the restrooms and headed down to the start so they could line up. 

I left the 4 of them (Cari’s friend Molly ended up running in my place so Cari wouldn’t be alone) to find a good spot at the start to catch them all.  First were the wheelchair racers-they were amazing!  And then it was the elites. 

I found one of the Oiselle ladies early on.  Head up, wings out!

Soon it was Jeff’s wave and I caught the four of them going by.  Sorry for cutting off Jeff’s head in the video, I put my hand up to high five him. 

While the 4 of them were running up and down Huntington I had some time to kill.  I was tracking them on my phone so at any given point, I knew exactly where they were on the route.  (LOVE THAT!)  I follow some bloggers who were also running either the marathon or half so I made my way over to the finish line chute to try to catch them coming in.  I saw had a front row seat to see some wacky costumes.  One guy was dressed in a body suit with a tux painted on hit. 

Another guy had a Hawaiian tourist costume. 

I only found one blogger who I follow, Sarah from OUaL. 

By now my tracker was telling me that Jeff was coming up on Mile 12 so I made my way closer to the finish line to cheer him in. 

About 5 minutes later I caught Cari and Molly coming in.  I don’t think Cari heard me but at the last minute Molly saw me and raises her hand.  Molly was also wearing a bright neon orange top that was the EASIEST thing to spot in a crowd.  Spectators: force your runners to wear bright colors, it makes a difference finding them!!

I walked along the finish line chute following C & M.  I saw Jeff and Jack waiting for the girls and we were all able to reunite pretty quickly.  Immediately after, Jeff said his legs started to cramp and all he wanted to do was head home.  He passed up FREE beer he was that much in pain.  We took one more pic before heading back to the car. 

All my half marathoners after the race! 

Jeff’s official finishing time – 2:28:25

I thought that after that pain Jeff would be done with halfs – he’s more a tri guy.  But no.  The Surf City is one of 3 “Beach Cities” Halfs that you can complete in one season.  You finish all 3 halfs and get a special medal. 

Guess what we are doing our anniversary weekend, our last anniversary alone without a kid…

Baby’s First Picture

Around 12 weeks Jeff and I were finally able to hear the baby’s heartbeat and see the baby on ultrasound – both for the first time!

Both were a little bit crazy. When people say you are going to hear the heartbeat, I always assumed it would be like it was in the movies – loud and obvious.

When we went in to the doctor’s office, she placed the Doppler on my abdomen and held it pretty much in one place for awhile. All I could hear was static and I glanced at Jeff to see if he heard something differently. Then suddenly the doctor proclaims “there’s your baby!!” I glanced again at Jeff and remember saying, wait that’s it? She mimicked the noise and sure enough, super quiet was the tiny heartbeat.

The next day we were referred to the hospital for our ultrasound. As soon as the tech placed the wand(?) on my abdomen, she picked up a picture of the baby. She took a few pictures and then tried checking out the sex of the baby (still unknown).

When we walked out of the building, Jeff looks over at me and goes “well I guess it’s real now.”

We go back for my mid-pregnancy ultrasound in a couple of weeks to get a more exact due date and most excitedly…to find out the gender!  I’m still guessing girl but we will see…

Some Grey For Your Day

Jeff works in the Valley and was destined to run into some Hollywood faces.  The other day he looked down from his office and saw a film crew in the courtyard below. 

Any guesses what was filming that day?

Yep, that’s Ellen Pompeo!  Or if you are as big of a Grey’s Anatomy fan as me, Meredith!!  She wasn’t alone, her TV hubby was there too. 

Jeff also saw Sandra Oh but missed taking a picture of her. The crew was there for a couple of days, can’t wait to see if we recognize his courtyard in one of their upcoming episodes!!