Goodbye 2009... Good Riddance!

Tomorrow is New Years Eve and I couldn't be happier to say goodbye to this year! In January 09 I went back to my beloved job after having Casey, only to get laid off that same day due to cut backs. 1 month later, my sister passed away, we moved out of our house across from my parents and into Grandmas house. Erik started traveling alot for work and the end result was us moving to Northern California. The move was great for us, just the traveling was stressful and hard before hand. Casey and I missed our man! But we are all together and have alot to be thankful for!

We are so thankful for our Family and friends support and love through all of the changes that we have gone through this year. I can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for us. It can only get better I hope!

Love to all of you! Happy New Year!

Jayme, Erik and Lil C

As we go through the Holidays...

I can't help but miss my little sister Casey. The week leading up to Thanksgiving was hard for me. Having this be the first holiday without her since 1983. I can't help but thank God for blessing my life with her. Even more, I can't help but thank him for letting her stick around to meet her neice, my daughter and Casey's namesake. Luckily, Thanksgiving came and went. It was a fantastic day.

When we found out I was pregnant, we knew that if we were having a baby girl her name would be Casey. No doubt in our minds. Truthfully I thought I was having a boy. So much so, that when she said it was a girl in the ultra sound, I thought she was wrong. But I was defintely having a girl! :) Shortly after, Big Casey went into the hospital and really wasnt suppose to make it. Like, this time there was no way she could come out of it. One day, they called us all in to the hospital to say our goodbyes. Shayna happened to be at a church retreat 9 hours away. I knew if big C passed while Shay was gone, it would have been devastating for Shayna. Casey's blood pressure dropped super low and I happened to be the first one to the hospital. I wrapped my arms around her and said, "Casey, if you have anything left in you, you have to wait until Shayna comes home. I love you." Her blood pressure rose up. And leveled out shortly after that. So later, after witnessing that miracle, I whispered in her ear "I know this is alot to ask, but if there is anyway, you could make it 4 more months to meet your neice, it would mean the world to me. "

And this picture is the outcome of that wish. This was their first meeting and they were instantly friends. Big C adored little C and everytime we laid Lil C next to her she lit up. She lived 4 more months after Lil Casey was born and I am soooo very thankful for that.

So this holiday season, I will miss my sister. But I know she fought with all she had to stay with our family as long as she could. 25 years when you weren't suppose to make it past 5 is pretty darn amazing. I vowed to big C that my daughter would always know the endless love and fight that her Auntie had in her.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone!

I realize I haven't blogged about her birthday party yet but I will! Today Erik is taking a test for work that he had to miss for Casey's party. This morning Casey and I will be going to our local library for Story time and then hopefully Erik will be off work and we can trick or treat down town at the local shops.

One year ago today Casey was still in the hospital in an incubator. I can remember leaving the hospital to come home and pass out candy and feeling so sad and horrible that I had to leave my baby girl there. But she's home today and causing a raukus. (sp?)

She started standing the other night on her own so I'm thinking walking is days away. Our little girl is a Lady Bug this year... of course. Here is a picture of her in her costume last week. But I will take more today when we are out and about.

Love and hugs to all!

Happy Birthday to my precious Angell!

Well when I said comfortable night sleep I was being sarcastic. Actually that night was the worst night sleep I'd ever had in my whole life. At 3:00am my alarm went off that my blood pressure was way to high I think it was 173/114. My back was absolutely killing me and kept cramping up. The nurse called the Dr and then came in and said she needed to check my cervix. Turns out, I was already dialated to 1 cm! I wasn't due for another 6 weeks! I then asked "should I call my husband now?" She replied with yes, your Dr is on his way in and we are going to do an emergency C-Section.

I called and woke Erik up. He rushed the Dog over to my parents house and jumped in the car to come to the hospital. That morning had to be the foggiest morning ever and it turned out that the 405 was closed at Euclid so he had to end up taking side streets to the hospital. Can you imagine how nerve-racking that would be?

They were prepping me for the C-Section and I just kept saying "we can't do this until Erik gets here." Then I heard his voice, "I'm here babe, everythings going to be fine, I love you." Ahhhh yes, he's here! My blood pressure then went up to 200/140 and they rushed to get Casey out.

I didn't feel anything during the surgery except for the initial tug to get her out. Which must have been hard on my Dr as it caused him to cut the cheese. I looked at Erik and said "was that you?" He looked at me as if I were crazy thinking he would do that in front of all of those nurses and the Dr. LOL

Then, I heard it. The cry of my beautiful little girl, and I started crying as well. She was born at 4:44am and was 4lbs, 4 oz, 17.5 inches long. Her being 6 weeks early made me nervous but to hear her cry, I knew she'd be alright. They handed her to me for a quick minute before they rushed her off to the NICU and she was beautiful and little. She had the biggest Angelina Jolie lips and looked just like Erik. She was amazing. After that, I went to recovery. My blood pressure dropped down to 144/74 which was great since it had been so high just an hour before.

After I got admitted into my room and the drugs started wearing off, I started feeling more lousy. I desperatly wanted to see Casey but everytime I tried to get up, I threw up. :( I felt so thirsty too and all they'd give me were ice chips. I con'd Erik into buying me a sprite because that would make my stomach feel better. Boy did he learn his lesson on not to listen to me, when it all came back up onto his shirt and shoes. :) I finally got to get out of bed without throwing up and got to see Casey at 10:00 pm. You can see the picture below. Not beautiful of me, but it was a rough day.

Anyway, this last year with Casey A. has been amazing. She's grown and is so beautiful. She's tall and lean. She still looks like Mini Erik. She loves the park, Willie, Daddy, Mommy, music, books and cartoons. She has 7 teeth so far and is not walking but really wants to. Will update the blog after her birthday party. :)

Remembering 1 year ago today...

1 year ago today I went in for a routine weekly check up. My blood pressure was rather high (as it was for my whole pregnancy) my Dr. told me to head to the hospital to be monitored to make sure all was okay. This became a running joke because I had to visit the hospital every week to be monitored for the prior 5 weeks. So I laughed it off. The only thing I did ifferently this time is that I stopped for a Green Bean and Cheese burrito from Del Taco and a 32 oz Water. I parked in the parking structure, ate my burrito and chugged my water. (The previous weeks they hadn't let me eat or drink there because of all of the tests they were doing) I was not going to go in with an empty stomach!

So I went in, strapped the monitor around my belly and laid uncomfortably still for a good 6 hours. Blood pressure was rising and I had alot of protein in my urine. After hour 7 they informed me that for the next few weeks, the hospital would be my home. They wanted me to stay there until I had Casey and they were hoping I could keep her in for at least 2 weeks.

I called and informed Erik and he brought me my essential items that I needed for being in there for eternity! He also brought a deck of cards, magazines, a book, and battle ship. So that evening we played battleship and had a less than exciting hospital dinner. He left at 10 to go home and sleep. And I laid back to try and have my first of many comfortable night sleeps there.

What is Mom making me wear now?

So... Carrie sent me a picture of a tutu she thought would be cute for Casey for her birthday party. After looking at it a bunch, my mind kept wondering if I could make one myself. So I tried... and succeeded. I made her a ladybug colored tutu but it's not finished just yet, I still have to attach the ladybug ribbon that I have... Just have to figure out how to do that! Here are a few pics of Casey modeling her new tutu.

We are all doing fantastic up here. Settling in perfectly. We just got a new dining room table so we can finally enjoy family dinners at the table! Something was just lacking when we were eating on the couch.

We are less than a month away from Casey's 1st birthday. I find myself getting really emotional over it! How quickly this year has gone and thinking back to a year ago and all that she went through when she first was born. We feel so blessed to have this little girl in our lives. She is a treasure.We hope everyone is doing well. Miss and love you all!

What a CRAZY last few weeks!

Well we finally made our move up north! We got a cute little 2 bedroom place with a nice backyard. It's perfect for our little family. Although we have acquired WAY too much junk over the years for a 2 bedroom place. As my dad would say... "oil well" We are all adjusting well to being back together and just trying to get situated and unpacked so that this feels more like home! We are getting there, slowly but surely. Here is a picture that was taken right after everything was unloaded off the U-Haul. I felt pretty overwhelmed as you can probably imagine!

We figured a way to be able to use our old couch. We thought we were going to have to give it up and get something smaller but we can keep it so we are happy about that. You can see stuff is starting to dwindle.

Here's Casey, as I know most of you only check this blog to see pictures of her! She is so very close to standing up on her own! Just a matter of days. Also, I have since gotten rid of that red and white chair. We just didn't have space and it no longer goes with the new decor I'm going to try to go for. We gave it to 2 young girls who just got an apartment together. I'm glad it went to a good home! This past Saturday, (my birthday), they had some people come and build a fence around our cement patio area to make it safer for Casey. YAY. It's cute. I'm not sure if they are going to come paint it or if they are leaving that up to us... we shall see.

I had a great birthday. It was very low key and I missed my family but was so very happy the 3 of us could be together. I made a nice dinner and some delicious funfetti cupcakes. Enjoyed a bottle... yes a bottle of wine (to myself ahahhaa) at least it was small. Erik has been busy with his class that he is taking. He will be consumed with this class over the next few weeks but this means bigger and better things for him (and us!)

Anyway, I'm sorry it took so long to update the blog. As things start calming down, I will update more. Miss you all very much! This week should be fun and emotional all at the same time. Jen will be visiting us on Tuesday. Wednesday is Big C's birthday and I'm really sad I wont be home to be with my family. My heart is with you all. And Thursday, Shellia is coming up. This weekend Joe and Randy will be up for a gun show so we will be with alot of Friends this week. :)

Love to all!

A GREAT (but quick) weekend

We got to have our man home for a quick weekend. Even though it was fast, it was great. Him leaving is by far the worst part. I think I cried until I went to sleep last night but I woke up and feel much better. Today is a new day! But I cant wait until I can see him again!

Here are some pics from the weekend. We had a nice swimming day on Saturday and bbq'd. (I think Cheryl has a picture of the 3 of us in the pool on her camera) Yesterday we relaxed until he had to leave.

Dancing machine

Casey was rockin out to the Imagination Movers song "Brainstormin" this morning. She loves to dance to music! It's adorable! I'm so glad I could get it on video. Right after this she crawled right out of her bumbo seat and looked at me and started laughing. Oh boy, I think I'm going to have a mobile baby any day now!

Long time no blog

Here are a few pictures from this past week. I've lagged on blogging and I know my Dad is dying to see some new pics! Saturday night Casey stayed with my parents and I went to Jodie's Mid-Summer party. Had a blast! Jodie made a delicious Vodka that was Pineapple infused. Really good!

Then Sunday the crew came over for swimming and BBQing some burgers. We had a really nice time. Avery was dying to hold Casey so I had to take the chance and get some pics. They just love eachother. It's so cute!!!! They are great little friends and I'm sure in no time Casey will finally be able to talk and play with Ave more!
Monday started vacation bible school at our church. I volunteered to help out in the nursery and Casey met a little friend and they had a great time playing together.

In a crib filled with stuffed animals. Any kids dream!

Casey has been teething and I think those mean ole top teeth are going to be poking through any day now. Bed time has been not soo much fun in our house and I'm sure the neighbors are wondering whats going on. I feel bad because it's so sad to hear her cry like that and not really be able to do anything about it.

We are getting ready to head out for a walk and then hopefully the sun will come out and we can go swimming with Shellia and Shayna. I just feel so blessed to have this little girl in my life. She is so sweet.

Also, I heard this song yesterday for the first time and with the 5 month mark of my sister passing away I thought I would post it. It is definitely a tear jerker and I miss my sis so much. But know she's watching down on us and sometimes when Lil C is playing and talking up into the air I picture her playing with Big C!

http://www.addressinthestars.com/

Hope everyone has a great day and beautiful weekend!!!

A couple more pics

I forgot to post these pictures with the above post and can't figure out how to make them go at the bottom of the post without deleting the whole thing and starting over so here they are. You can tell all 3 were on cloud nine seeing eachother again. haha.

Then this morning I walked into her room and she was holding onto the bars like I described in that other post. It was so cute I just had to get a picture. Erik says one of these days I'm going to walk in there and she'll be standing up. Hopefully at that time I have my camera on me again.

Time flies when you are having fun!

I can't believe it. My little Munchies turned 9 months old on 7/22. Just yesterday she was born 6 weeks early and scaring her Daddy and I with everything she had to go through. Now she has 2 teeth. Says Da Da and Ma Ma, likes to sit by herself, pull my hair out and I can no longer leave her on my bed and know that she will be in the exact same place I left her. Even with pillows surrounding the bed she can't be trusted. I learned that the hard way when I caught her mid air off the hotel bed when I was fixing her lunch. :) Here she is sporting her new spikey hair-do and a very wet shirt. (We're still trying to master the art of the sippy cup.)

We came home yesterday safe and sound. We had a great flight although something I just don't understand... I had a window seat. The lady next to me had the middle seat obviously. And then the aisle seat was open. Would you believe that lady NEVER moved over to the aisle seat? Even though Casey kept kicking her arm. I just don't know why people would rather sit so close to someone they don't know if they didn't even have to. Owell. Just thought I'd throw that out there. We came home and went for burgers at Ruby's with my parents. Casey was hamming it up for Grandma and Grandpa. I think they were pretty happy to see her again.

I am still trying to recover from the traveling and being up so darn early yesterday. I miss my hubby immensly and can't wait until we can see him again. I guess I can literally say "I left my heart in San Francisco" (or close to it anyway!)

Weekend Recap

We had a great weekend! It went by all too fast but it was nice to have time together and just be together as a family again!

We kicked of Friday by having Subway for dinner and then going for a quick dip in the pool. It's been very hot up here! Between 95 and 100 each day. The heat is different up here because it is dry. Which I SO prefer overy humid heat! After the swim, we came back to our room. Casey went to bed and Mommy and Daddy enjoyed a cocktail and watched the movie Step Brothers. Neither of us were impressed with it but both are going to give it another shot at some point.

Saturday we had plans to go to the local swap meet with one of Erik's co-workers. It was comparable to the Goldenwest Swap meet but worse. It was like one big garage sale with alot of items that I would never consider purchasing from a swap meet. But, apparently I was the minority in this way of thinking. Then his co-worker and girlfriend treated us to a yummy Chinese food lunch. I swear, they have chinese food DOWN up here. It is so authentic, fresh and delicious!!! Yum. Then we were all exhausted, came back to our hotel room and pretty much relaxed the rest of the evening. We considered going to the drive in because we haven't been to a drive in, in ages. But both of us were too tired and just didn't feel like it. So, we'll save that for another time.

Sunday morning we got up and got ready for lunch with my Cousin Rick and his wife Yvette. We went to the Pyramid Alehouse in Walnut Creek. I broke my no beer policy to have a beer at this place because... well I just had too! It was after all the Pyramid Ale House. We had a great time visiting for 2 or more hours, great food too. Then we came back, got our bathing suits on and went down to the pool. Erik and Casey went swimming but there was just TOO big of an audience for my comfort level so I just sat back and enjoyed watching them. :) There were 2 big groups of guys out there, one from Canada and one group from Texas coming out to work at the local refineries. They were having LOTS OF FUN and we enjoyed watching them. It was pure comedy. Something about when a bunch of guys get away from their wives and kids, makes them act a little crazy. Probably a little similar to when my Dad goes on his Vegas trips with his Pirate buddies! HA HA.

Yesterday was a low key day. Casey and I went on a walk. She was a tired girl yesterday as she had a rough night sleep the night before. Then Erik had a meeting at 6 about his new insurance. We are both doing the happy dance because it is going down by OVER HALF of what it was before! Yay!

C and I will be heading home Thursday morning. Hope everyone is well!

Fun Day!

Casey and I had a great day today. She woke up before Erik even had to and when he got up she was looking at him and holding onto the bars in the crib as if she were in jail. Like she was saying "Get me outta here!" So after a bottle, a short nap and breakfast, we took a long walk. Then we walked through the shopping center across the street AND made a short stop at Starbucks for Mommy. Here she is excited as ever to be at Starbucks. Then we came back to the hotel or "home" for lunch. She enjoyed some Easy Mac and bananas. I had to take a picture of her with the Mac and Cheese all over her face. She LOVES that stuff... she must take after her Momma. This was so cute I had to get it on video. Erik got home from work and this is what they were doing. It was absolutely Adorable!

After that we enjoyed some complimentary Beef Stroganoff (sp?) and a couple complimentary cocktails (those are the best kind, right?) Now I'm going to sign off because it's time for my favorite summer show... Big Brother.

Love to All!!!

Happy Happy Girl!

I just had to share this video of Casey. She was sitting on the bed and if I turned my head and looked away from her and then turned around real quick she would start laughing hysterically. I honestly love this girl so much. She makes everything all good and okay! And as you can see in the background... WE GOT THE CRIB!!!

We are complete again!

Little C and I flew up to Martinez to see Erik yesterday. Our plane was delayed about 20-30 minutes but we got here safe and sound! Today at the request of Casey (I mean Momma) we are relaxing and vegging out in our air conditioned hotel room while Daddy is at work. It's suppose to be over 100 degrees today. We are all super tired this morning as we didn't get back to our hotel room until 11:15 ish. Then trying to wind down and get C back to sleep... But it feels so good to be together as a family again!!!

The hotel forgot to bring us a crib (even though E has been asking for one since Saturday) and when Erik went down to go ask they said they are all being used. So we all slept in our King bed last night. Not so comfortable as Casey is a total wiggle worm like me. Something about having an infant in your bed leads to an uncomfortable night sleep, for instance... waking up with a foot on your face is not very peaceful and we kept waking up to make sure neither of us rolled on her. HA HA. She wanted to cuddle her Daddy all night and kept rolling into his back. So we had to seperate them with a pillow because he was scared of rolling on her. OH BOY DO I HOPE THEY HAVE A CRIB AVAILABLE TODAY!

Wish us luck!

Here is Lil' C excited to get on the plane yesterday to see her Daddy! And notice in the second picture.... She had enough hair to hold a clippy in it! YIPPEE!!!

And here is us this morning and Momma on her second cup of coffee. YUM :)

Love you all!

A Great Day!

Yesterday was such a great day. Casey and I went to the cemetary to visit my sister Casey with my Mom and My sister Shayna. We took her some roses from my Grandma's back yard. You can see that Little C was having fun playing at her Auntie Casey's "place." I miss my sister so much but it's always comforting and peaceful to go visit her. :)

After that Mom, Shayna, Casey and I went to Panera (where Shayna works) and met my cousin Kristi and her adorable daughter Kodie. We haven't seen Kristi in a while and it's always a great time when we get together. Little C was hamming it up and waving and eating Panera's delicious bread! Had a great time catching up and I swear... We really need to do that more!!! Love my cousin!

In the beginning....

Hi All,
I decided to start a blog to document the goings on of our family. I think Casey and I are going to be traveling alot more to go up and see Erik so I thought this would be a good way to keep our families in the loop about what our family has been up to.

We had a great 4th at my parents house. My mom purchased a custom made beer pong table before which was the HIT of the party! We had a great time. The youngsters taught us a lot of rules none of us had ever even thought of. The next day Erik and I both said to eachother (which made us feel old) " Back in our day beer pong was when you actually used ping pong paddles to try and hit the ball in the cup of beer." Times they are a changing folks! Casey was a doll babe at the party. She wore enough red white and blue for our little fam (I wore black and Erik wore green... what bah HUMBUGers) Erik won the first round of beer pong so he won a really cool necklace which you can see him modeling in the pic below. Enjoy and we'll update more soon.