June in Review!

How have I only posted one entry this entire month? Oh that's right, because it has been a seriously busy month! I figure the best thing to do at this point is to do an end of the month wrap up instead of a bunch of little posts... so hang in there; it's going to be a long one.

June started with a trip to the zoo for Marc's company's family picnic day. We are often at the Wild Animal Park, so it was nice to switch it up for a change. As we were wandering around, we discovered that Roman thinks that the word "flamingo" is hilarious, and so of course we kept saying it, and he would laugh and laugh. Rome was way too distracted at the barbecue to actually eat, so Marc decided to take him on the sky tram. I stayed to eat (and to stay off the sky tram) while the boys went on a little adventure. I thought Roman was going to hate it because he was going to have to sit still during the ride, but he absolutely loved it. As soon as they got off the tram, Rome asked for "more." It was a good thing that Romey liked it so much because they had to ride the tram back to where I was. When they got back, we decided to head out and walk back across Balboa Park to the car. Then we noticed that there was a little train that went in a loop right outside the zoo, so Marc took Rome for a little ride on the train. And Roman, of course, loved riding the train. And then we found out that there is an old-school carousel at the park as well (seriously... how do we not know about these things?), so we also decided to take Rome on the carousel. Two really funny things happened that afternoon: 1. We were so caught up at the zoo, that we totally forgot to change Roman, like the entire day, so Marc got peed on while he was carrying Roman. To make it better, we had no change of clothes for either Roman or Marc, so they both got to hang out in there pee-clothes until we got back to the car... but we decided to ride the carousel first anyway. 2. As we were walking back to the car, Roman was pushing his tricycle around (which I am currently using as his stroller because it has a long handle, and it is way easier and lighter, and Rome actually likes to sit on it), and he hit a bench with it and fell down. The entire thing looked so slap-stick that Marc and I laughed even though Roman was clearly upset (because we are the best parents EVER). So we picked him up and got him to stop crying, and then we noticed that he had actually hit the back of the tricycle pretty hard, because he had a tiny goose-egg and red mark near his eye. Sorry, lovey. Next time I won't laugh... well how about next time I won't laugh if you've actually injured yourself?

The following week we headed to a Giants/Padres game with our friends, Scott and Autumn. Marc got tickets for some really amazing seats, so the four of us got together for a baby-free night. The Giants ended up losing in the ninth when the first batter up knocked one out of the park, but it was still a great game, and we had tons of fun. It is really sad though going to Giants games down here, because there are far more Giants fans than Padres fans in the stadium. When they played "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh inning stretch, you could clearly hear, "Let me root, root, root for the Giants; for if they don't win it's a shame," and I felt a little bad for the Padres players. True story: when I was a little kid, I always thought those were the actual lyrics. We never sang it any other way. So when I was older and learned that you're supposed to "root, root, root for the home team," I was a little sad, because I thought that it was a Giants thing. A couple days later, Marc had to take a last minute trip to New York because they are/were filming a new campaign for Ashford University. Luckily the weather was really nice while he was gone, so Rome and I just spent the days playing out back with the sidewalk chalk and swinging on the swings and playing out in the dirt and in the baby pool. And yes, that is a spa you see in the picture of Roman playing with the sidewalk chalk... Our friends were getting rid of it, so we got it for free! We just had to grab it, and now we have to set it up. I am pretty excited about it.

Oh. And since we've been spending most of our days outside, Roman has been doing a lot of exploring. And in this exploring, Roman learned that some of our trees have yummy fruit on them. He could not get enough. He kept pointing at the tree and asking for "mums" (plums), and I had to explain to him that there are a limited quantity of ripe plums, and that we have to wait until they are ripe to eat them. We were also trying to keep him from eating the plums hand over fist because we had to deal with two weeks of tummy troubles with him. We were told that he was fine, but that he had caught a bit of a stomach bug, and we needed to keep him away from foods that are high in fiber, so "mums" weren't exactly on the menu for a while. His tummy is all better now, but he has been trying to make up for lost time by eating everything within arm's reach. Seriously, he lost about a pound in those two weeks, and I think his body has been screaming, "feed me," since the bug passed. So we have obliged, and he has eaten more plums this last week than ever.

The weekend after Marc's trip to New York was Father's Day Weekend, and we had a nice quiet couple of days. We had dinner on Saturday night at the Stone Brewery (and if you've never been, then you really should plan on going because the brewery and surrounding gardens are beautiful), then on Sunday we just lounged around the house, Marc played some video games, I cooked up a big breakfast and dinner, and Romey got to play all day with the both of us. I told Marc that Father's Day would be more eventful next year, but this year I was pulling the pregnancy card and keeping things really low key... but those are Marc's favorite kind of weekends anyway.

Between Livia's arrival right around the corner (17 days!), Marc's busy schedule, and the amazing weather we have been having, Marc has been taking some half-days so that we can go have some quality family time together before things get really crazy. Last week he took Wednesday afternoon off, and we played at the beach. It was such a lovely day, and Roman absolutely loves getting out and playing at the beach. I had been able to take him a few times on my own this year, but that's getting a bit impossible these days with my rapidly expanding belly and rapidly dwindling energy level, so we can really only go if Marc's going with us. Roman is just too brave, so it takes the two of us to corral him enough that he doesn't just head straight out into the ocean or climb up the bluffs by himself. We splashed in the waves, dug in the sand, and explored some tide pools. I can't think of a better way to spend a Wednesday afternoon.

Are you still with me? This is a seriously long post, so I hope that you're all still hanging in there. There are just a few more things that should be included, like Roman "helping" Marc change the rotors on Marc's car. He was so excited to get to help dad outside and play with all the cool gadgets. By the end of it, Roman's hands were just as dirty as Marc's. At first, we had to keep telling Roman that it was okay to have his hands so dirty because he kept wanting me to wash them off, but eventually he saw that having dirty hands was kind of fun, and then I think he actively sought out the things that would make them even dirtier. He's really becoming a good little helper, and he was so excited that he was able to play with all of the different tools... especially if that meant "practicing" using the tools on the stroller. So he hit the stroller with a mallet, he worked on the tires with some wrenches, and he even took the tire iron to it, all of which may not have been the best thing to let him do to the stroller, but he had a lot of fun.

And I absolutely have to include a picture of Livia's first pair of shoes! Thanks, Valerie! They are so adorable! We have been getting a TON of stuff from our friends for Livia, and I am so grateful. We really only need clothing and maybe a few "girly" items, like a few pink blankets and whatnot, and my friends have not disappointed me. This last weekend we had "pre-Livia" day, which ended up being a surprise shower for me that morning. I really should have taken pictures of the decorations and set up and the super sweet necklace and flashing ring I had to wear the rest of the day. My friends, Jaime, Cora, and April, made brunch, then we spent the entire afternoon shopping for Livia stuff, and, to finish the day, we had some super yummy Indian food. It was a great day, and it was far less stressful than having an actual shower. They bought so much stuff for Livia that it was really kind of excessive. When I got home Marc looked at the bags as if to say, "Hey, I knew you were going shopping, but..." and I explained that I maybe purchased two of the eight bags of stuff I brought home. Let me tell you, our little Livia will be one stylin' baby. She got at least two more pairs of shoes, numerous outfits, an adorable stroller blanket with little birds on it, some summery pajamas, a trench coat for the winter that I wish came in my size, and a few toys. Thank you, ladies! And it was super-adorable that our friend Jaime knows Marc and I so well: she got us an "adult gift" of sparkling wine, movie theater candy, and a box set of horror films for us to take with us to the hospital since we will be there on Friday the 13th, and Marc and I always watch scary movies on Friday the 13th. She is the best! And I am meeting up with another group of friends tomorrow for some shopping and lunch, so I can only imagine what Livia will make out with tomorrow.

So, that's been our month. I am sure I am forgetting some things, but this is a pretty accurate description of what life has been for us for the last few weeks. And we will have one more family outing before July; Marc is going to take off Friday morning so that we can head over to the San Diego Fair before it ends. At this point I am/we are just trying to squeeze in as much time with Roman as possible. We only have two and a half weeks left of being a family of three, and we want to enjoy it as much as possible and get a few more trips in with the little man before our life changes once again, and he is no longer the sole center of our universe. Just today while Roman and I were out to lunch I got a little misty eyed while thinking that, at least for a little while, it wouldn't be just he and I out to lunch together on a Tuesday morning come mid-July. Don't get me wrong, I am completely thrilled and excited that Livia will be here soon, and I know that it will be awesome for Roman to have a little sister, but there is a small part of me that is a little sad that I won't get to pal around with just my little dude anymore, and how could you not want to hang out with this guy? He's the best!