Here’s the news: Ultrasound Inconclusive

We had the same problem with the Vee.  Uncooperative baby laying the wrong way makes for a difficult scan of certain parts.  So we are saying that our baby is inconclusively a girl.  Serra says so anyway and the doctor says more than likely.  We will try again during another ultrasound in about 8 weeks just to hopefully make sure but what can I say?   Other than that, everything else looked healthy and we saw lots of kicking and waving.  Unfortunately the only photo we got besides the video has the baby flipping us off.  And it looks disturbingly like the Phantom of the Opera.  I don’t really want to post it.  But now I have to since I have peaked your curiosity.

Last Wednesday Serra and I joined Brian and his YM at the Ventura Pier for some fishing.  It was windy and cool and nothing was biting.  Everyone had a good time munching on hot dogs and snacks and trying out different bait anyway.  SV’s foot caught on one of the pier boards early on and she sported a nice lump on her forehead for a few days. 

Friday afternoon I dropped SV at her cousins for a 24 hour visit.  I proceeded to Calabasas to retrieve Brian hoping to be off by 1pm.  Due to some complications at the office we didn’t get off until after 3pm.  We were scheduled to be in San Diego for a reception for Pepperdine alumns at 5-6:30 and then on to the Padres game at 7pm.  We were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic most of the way down and it ended up taking us 6 hours.  We pulled up to the ballpark only to find parking a difficulty.  We pulled up to the closest lot to the park to ask directions to a paid lot as it was passes only at the ones we had seen.  The attendant patted Brian on the shoulder and told us to enjoy the game saving us nearly $20 in parking fees and putting us right across the street from the entrance.  Things were looking up.  As we entered the park the padres were up 4-0.  By the end of the game they were down 14-5 (I think) either way we seemed to be the bad luck they didn’t need.  We still enjoyed the atmosphere though.  It is a great park.  We walked around for a while and then headed back up the coast to Dana point where we had reservations at the Marriott.  We ended up with a $300 room for $75.  It was obvious that the guy at the desk was not thrilled about giving us the room at that rate since they were practically full and knew they might be able to hold out a bit and get a better deal for them.  In the end we luckily ended up with a no-smoking/King.  One never knows what you will get when you reserve on Priceline.  They had 9-10 weddings scheduled there the next morning and the place was hopping.  It was a beautiful location and we were sorry we couldn’t stay longer.  Maybe another time. 

We stopped at a local diner for breakfast and were off.  We stopped at the office long enough to make sure Dad was not in any need of assistance then to Camarillo to pick up our Serra.  It was her first time staying the night away other than the surgery and reports were that she did fine although sat up in bed hours after the other kids were snoozing away.  “Not tired”  she said, and only asked to go home a few times.  She had a great time though and was visibly exhausted from playing so hard.  She was sleeping soundly in the car with in 5 minutes.  (Thankyou Gary and Liesl for taking on our extra and allowing us our first time away since long before the boogus came along) 

We stopped in Santa Paula to check on Mo.  (Assess the damage)  I had done a fairly good job of Mo proofing but he always surprises us.  The towel on the oven was buttoned on and he managed to pull the oven open and mess up the drying fruit leather a bit.  The down stairs closet he somehow managed to open.  (I must not have closed it tight enough)  There were shoes strewn about and a few were slightly chewed on but not damaged overly.  Serra’s water colors were chewed up and some of the paint was smeared on the carpet and her plastic watering can was chewed up nicely.  (It was outside)  So we re-Mo proofed and took off leaving Mo quite bewildered as to why he was being punished so.

To Santa Barbara.  We dropped Brian off at the RV show where he took over for Martin.  I went down the road a few miles with the V and we hit the zoo for an hour.  We took advantage of the year passes in January and so we can just pop in when ever we want for no extra charge.  We saw all we wanted to see and watched some wedding preparations going on.  V is obsessed with weddings and getting married and so to see a girl all decked out in a white wedding gown made her day. 

We headed back to the RV show to hang out with Brian until he was done and ran into Charlene Teidimann, an old Calabasas neighbor from childhood.  She works for her Dad now in Ventura selling Toy Haulers and works all the marketing for him.  She seems to be doing really well.

Sunday was our Stake Conference and since we don’t believe in coming at 5am for the padded seats we always sit on the hard ones in the back section.  Brutal in my current condition.  (The tailbone injury still gives me grief as well)  I had to take a half time walk with Serra more for me than for her.  The speakers were great though and the V well behaved.  The rest of the day was mostly spent napping for me.  (catch up from the weekend) Brian took Serra out for a small bike ride and we watched a movie.  The weekend is over and next weekend we will be gone. 

Serra’s first fishing experience.  Still talks about how there were NO FISH

Everyone holding up thier catch.

Our view out the hotel window.

After nearly a month of living with only one vehicle we have made a purchase.  Maybe Brian got tired of running to the grocery store several time a week to pick up odds and ends.  Last Wednesday Brian finally closed the deal with one of the many dealers he has been negotiating with for weeks.  After doing so much research on what he wanted and what we could afford the number of available trucks dwindled until there was only one that was close enough.  We had to drive to Buena Park to get it, but all Brian’s hard work paid off and we got a very fair price.  Brian is the proud owner of Shiny Black Ford F150.  It’s our first brand new off the lot vehicle and it’s a bit exciting.  And HE FITS in it.  He washed it twice with in the first 3 days and waxed it as well.  Fair turnaround – he also detailed my car and waxed it up really nice. We spent some time in the garage on Saturday rearranging all our storage to make enough room to not only fit both vehicles but to be able to exit the vehicles once they are parked.  We tried several different scenarios and practiced parking until we had a satisfactory result.  It isn’t ideal but it will work until we have a 3 car garage someday.  We both have to back in and Brian has to exit on the passenger side but he can do so now without denting my car door.  Serra loves to go for rides in Daddy’s truck.

Last week I bought a new pair of sneakers for the Vee.  That evening after taking a bath, she put them on (before anything else) and wore them for 2 full days without taking them off.  (No socks) Even in the deepest of sleep if I tried to take them off she would wake up enough to tell me to get lost.  She finally took them off and boy did her lower digits stink.  She knows now that she has to wear sock with sneakers so her feet don’t stink. 

For journal sake here are some of the ways she pronounces things:  Slippery = slurpy  Popsicle = pocksul .   Pronouns are still a little off and she still sounds like a little pirate sometimes.  Take off me shoes – for example.  Tadpoles (polywogs) = wogs.  She always thanks us profusely when we take her somewhere fun or do something nice for.  (I don’t know if she realizes the points she scores especially with Daddy when she does this)  When she is excited about something we are going to do = I’n etcited.

She loves primary and about half way through sacrament meeting she tries to take off to go to her class.  “I’n going to my class now.”  She has been through a lot of teachers due to new callings and releases and teaches getting sick and having babies.  So, she calls about 4 different ladies her teacher. 

Yesterday – Father’s Day – I spoke in Sacrament meeting and didn’t tell Brian until we got to church.  Our bishop didn’t want him to worry about what I was going to say about him all week.  It went well and I didn’t notice SV misbehaving at all as she sat with her Dad in the congregation.  We gave Brian a new watch since his old one was worn out and only half of it worked half the time.  Later in the day we went to Calabasas and had dinner with Mom, Dad, Serra A, and Dallas.  Later Gary and Liesl stopped in with their brood and cleaned up all the leftovers on their way home from their Utah camping fest.  I haven’t seen SV that excited in a while.  It had been about 3 weeks since she had seen her cousins and has asked about them everyday.

Serra~V~’s Aunties Adriane and Amy Jo paid us a short visit Tuesday evening – Thursday afternoon.  We had a great time.  On Wednesday we hit the Camarillo outlets and Leo Carrillo and then picked up Brian from work so we could all go out to dinner on Dwaine.  (Thanks Dwaine)

At the beach the tides were mucho high and we weren’t able to see much in the way of sea creatures.  Those of you familiar with the terrain know of the large walk through cave.  The muscle rock just beyond that  was  difficult to get onto because of the tide.  There was also a stranded fish in one of the small pools on top.  I caught it and threw it into the churning waters.  I wonder if it survived.  It looked like it had been there awhile.  Adriane, while posing for a picture, got drenched by a large wave.  I must admit I saw it coming but didn’t say anything due to the photo opportunity it presented..  Sorry Adriane.  Luckily she had purchased a pair of pants at the outlets and had something dry to change into. 

SV took advantage of hving two people willing to pack her around…wouldn’t want to get our feet wet or sand in our shoes now would we?

Due to the high tides we had to walk across the bluffs rather than accross the beach to get to the cave.  SV said she got scared in the dark cave and aunties saved her.

Here is Adriane getting her drenching .

The end result…and I couldn’t help but zoom in on the moment of impact.  He He

One slippery little sucker and SV checking out some sea creatures in the pools atop muscle rock.

At the restaurant SV got her turn to get drenched when she tipped an entire glass of root beer down her front.  For a girl who hates to get her clothes wet, this was a tragedy.  She was quite dramatic about it.  We stripped her and wrapped her in my jacket and zipped it up to keep things decent and she was dry the rest of the night.   Serra has been talking about all our adventures of the day since.  Thanks girls for taking time out of your busy days to visit.