Christmas Cheer

We had a nice family night visiting Fashion Island and the giant tree.

Best "sissies"

My handsome boy

I love my kids!

Baby Shower!

Another reason I'm glad I didn't have the baby is that I didn't miss my baby shower! It was Thursday night and it was so nice.

Me and my girls

My awesome party planners: Natalie Affleck, Jane Posner, and Rachel Westfall. Thanks friends!!

The darling bath favors that Jane made (with a "C" for Charlotte) and cute gifties from Natalie.

Natalie had it at her house and it was so cozy! She had her Christmas decorations up and had pink roses and candles everywhere. The colors were brown and pink and the food was fabulous!

I really appreciate all the work and effort, especially at this time of year.So glad my mom was here to share the festivities.

My friend Patrice and her daughter, Sophie's bestest friend, Amanda.

Kim, Patience, Elizabeth, Teresa, Abi and Pam :)

Sophie and Maggie loved helping me open all the cute gifts.

The darling diaper cake from Rachel.

Me and Kim Hunter

It was such a nice, relaxing evening and I'm so grateful for good friends. Thanks everyone!

False Labor = Hubby Home!

Wednesday the 3rd my mom and I were out shopping and I was having contractions for most of the day. I got home and realized if I'm having a baby there is so much I have not done! I went into nesting mode and cleaned and organized and packed my hospital bag and sent my mom out for some random baby stuff I needed. Then I resting and starting timing. The contractions were coming every 10 min., sometimes less and some very painful. But I still wasn't sure if I should leave for the hospital or not.
I called Chris crying because, well, he's clear on the other side of the world. He knows how fast I have a baby once I'm in labor. So he was telling me to go now! But I waited until from midnight 'till 1:00 they were 7 min. apart. So I called my doc and she told me to go to hospital and get checked out.
Ironically Chris had a plane ticket from when he was originally going to come home on the 5th (he had a new ticket to come home on the 12th) , so he decided to pack up and head home thinking he'd be coming home to a new baby.

Picture Jane took on our way out the door.

After a one in the morning call to my friend Jane who ran over to be with the kids (thanks Jane!), my mom and I headed to the hospital. I was still only 2cm when they checked me and the contractions got sporadic. So....my doctor told them to have me walk the halls for an hour and check me again. From 2:30 to 3:30 my mom and I walked in circles around the maternity ward. We actually had a lot of fun joking around and getting worried calls from Chris. I was still having contractions but they weren't getting worse.

A lovely picture of me hooked up to the monitors.

They checked me again after our time was up and I was still at 2cn and there were fewer contractions, bummer! There is nothing worse than getting sent home from the hospital when you think you are about to have your baby. I have never had false labor before, and usually when labor starts I have to move fast or I'll have my baby at home. So this was a new experience for us.

And....all things work out in the end. Chris was already taking his flight and so that meant he would be there for the birth. Plus I got to have him home a week early!
There would have been no other day that Chris would have been able to take that flight. If this had happened earlier in the week, he would have known not to get on the flight and if it had happened later in the week, he would have missed it. So we feel that it was meant to be that he was supposed to come home. And our new little one just didn't want to come until her daddy was here to greet her:).

What a Week!!

Last week was a busy one...

MONDAY

Sophie had her first playoff game! It was against the Atomic Shock. It was a night game which made it even more exciting. The team moms handed out blue glow sticks and blue pom poms and we were all fired up!

It turned out to be a VERY fun game to watch. Practically the whole game was played on our side of the field, and the girls worked so hard, but we just could not score a goal! The regular game ended 0-0 and we had to go into overtime.

The girls came through at the end and scored 1-0! It was an awesome win. And moved us into the final championship game. Go Sting Rays!!

The awesome cheering section!


TUESDAY
On Tuesday Maggie had her Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast!
She was so happy she got to be a Native American, but can you tell she was not at all happy to have to be holding the Pilgrim's hand. It was funny.


The feast is catered by Boston Market, but most of the kids didn't touch it.:)

A true descendant of Pocahontas.

Sophie and best friend Amanda Miller came to check out the fun.

The whole scene, Happy Thanksgiving!!

That night was Maggie's end of season soccer party. We went to Ballpark Pizza and Maggie was thrilled to get her first trophy! It was a great season for the Red Flowers.


Wednesday
On Wednesday we were back at the school for choral concerts. First was Sophie's and the third grade. She is one of the tallest kids in the 3rd grade. She's not hard to spot! They did fabulous job.

Right after was Maggie's concert. They wore their costumes again and also did a great job. Maggie's so funny though, at home she's constantly singing and dancing but put her in front of people and she freezes up. Got my shyness I guess....

The Big Game!!

Wednesday night was the big championship game. The moms pulled out all the stops and brought blue balloons and necklaces. We came better prepared with jackets and blankets, it was chilly! But so fun, it felt like being back at a high school football game.


The girls got their hair sprayed blue and got blue war stripes. Here is their cheer:


They started the game off their groove and we were all a bit worried. The other team, the Strikers were fighting hard. We got a goal in the second quarter and then they got a goal in the third to tie it up. Finally just before the game was over we scored! It was a 2-1 win. Challenging and a little scary, we took the victory!!


They had a trophy ceremony right after the game. Sophie getting her trophy from coach Jussenhoven.


Aliso Viejo city Girls U10 champs!!


THURSDAY
The Sting Rays had their end of season party at Round Table Pizza. There they got the season trophy, an award certificate and treats.
They will be playing in the area championships on Dec. 6th.

FridayOf course I had to go see Twilight! I couldn't do the midnight movie, but went with my friend Rachel to see the first show on Friday at 10:00 a.m. We were there with a bunch of other moms.
The movie was disappointing, but still fun to see everything come to life and I liked him as Edward more than I thought I would:).

After the movie, Sophie's class had their "Poems and Pies" poetry recital. They had to pick a short poem to memorize and they had to have props. As you can guess, Sophie's poem was "I Like Mice".

Later that day I was delivering dinner to a friend and saw smoke that looked like it was coming from the kids school. Went to check it out and sure enough the bushes in front of the school were on fire! It's always an eerie site to see, but the firefighters quickly got it under control. Mischievous kids?
So it was a very full week and I though it was all enjoyable, glad it's over! I'm not sure what will be worse, a jam packed week like that, or a whole week of no school.....we shall see!

Soccer Update #2

The Sting Rays won the semi-finals tonight! It was actually 0-0 the whole game so they went into overtime and they finally scored! They beat the Atomic Shock 1-0. They actually played almost the entire game on their side of the field, but they just couldn't get the goal! But they pulled it out and will now play for the Championship on Wednesday night. It is so exciting to watch and so much fun to be a part of a winning team. Sophie also got in some awesome kicks!!

Dream On....

I have always loved idyllic winter scenes like in folk art paintings. Growing up in the Southwest it was something I always dreamed about. It was actually one of the big reasons I moved to Connecticut (and though it certainly wasn't as idealistic as it was in my mind's eye, I did meet my handsome husband there, so I can't complain:).

Well with a summer that won't end here in California and knowing that I am moving to a place where at the COLDest time of year it's in the 70's, I am finding myself dreaming again. I would love a white Christmas, building snowmen, sleigh rides, hot chocolate & reading Christmas stories by a roaring fire, a house hanging with icicles. And getting to wear coats and jackets! (I have a thing for those too) Anyway, I guess I'm in mourning for that which is not to be, but a girl can dream right?

Soccer Update....

The Sting Rays have played two games in the playoffs and won both! They are now in the Semi-finals and will play their next game Monday at 5:30. If they win that game they will play one final game to decide the Champions! It's been so fun to watch this team, they really hustle and work hard and have really learned to use teamwork. Good luck girls!