Our dogs can't get enough of the California sunshine and neither can we.

This blog has been created to update you--our family and friends--on all of the changes we are experiencing since our little family moved back to the West Coast. Most notably, of course: the new little one who just arrived.

We encourage ourselves and you to learn the lessons of the sundog: nourish your mind with rest, your body with vitamin D, and your soul with warmth
. Oh, and don't forget to sniff when something interesting wafts by.

Love, Mary & Ryan


Tuesday, December 18, 2007

18 weeks, 30th B-days


Happy Holidays everybody!

Here are my first tummy pictures. I'm 18 weeks pregnant, am starting to show, and am now wearing maternity pants. I was putting off the latter as long as I could but it turns out they're really comfy!

Baby:
Our due date is May 15th-ish and we are not planning on finding out the sex of the baby so that's when we'll know! We feel the most comfortable going the natural route and have chosen a wonderful midwife, Karni, who operates a lovely birth center in Ventura where our baby will be born. We have had two prenatal appointments with her and so far everything is looking great. Both Ryan and I really like her and she spends a lot of quality time getting to know us and answering our questions. So far my biggest pregnancy symptoms, besides the growing tummy, have been extreme fatigue the first three months (I think I slept through most of them) and heartburn with certain foods. I had slight morning sickness early on but no longer. Oh, and I totally have pregnancy brain! Either that or I'm just getting ditzy(er). One or the other. This baby is going to be a first for a lot of us in our families: first child for Ryan and I (3rd if you count the sundogs); first niece or nephew for my sister Robyn (2nd for her girlfriend Dana) and Ryan's brother Chris, sister Shanna and brother-in-law Jarred, and sister Shea; first grandchild for my mom Sally and stepdad Duncan, my dad Carl (2nd for stepmom Maria), Ryan's mom Suzanne, and Ryan's dad Tom and stepmom Lonna; and first great-grandchild for my Grandma Spaulding and Grandma and Grandpa Jacobs (3rd for Grandma Radford). We hope this child doesn't get too big for his or her britches, but with two oldest-child parents as well, it looks like it might be inevitable.

Jobs:
Ryan started last month at Thomson Technicolor and is a Senior Financial Analyst at their Camarillo location, not far from Ventura. So far it's suiting him very well and he's ecstatic not to be interviewing anymore (wow, does that get old). I'm pursuing freelance writing and editing jobs that I can do from home and that will hopefully work out well once baby arrives.

Housing:
Ryan's mom Suzanne has been extremely generous and patient with us as we live with her while searching for jobs and housing. We're currently looking for a place to rent and will update everyone as soon as we have our new address.

Wedding(?):
After almost 10 years together and a little one on the way, we are planning to get married in a very small way on Feb 4, our 10th anniversary since falling in love in Florence (awww, shucks...). Although it's quickly approaching, we have yet to decide if we'll go to the Santa Barbara courthouse (where we were witnesses for our friends Travis and Miki when they got married!) or take a trip for it. Our friend Casson has offered to marry us-we'll let you know if we need you, tall C! We then hope to plan a party/reception for family and friends to celebrate the marriage and baby in the Ventura/Santa Barbara area sometime during the summer, when baby will be able to attend. We have lots of details to work out but will keep you posted. Our friends Gayle and Tyson did a reception last summer after they eloped in the Caribbean and it worked out well and was a lot of fun. (G&T also got together in Florence, although they beat Ry and me by about 4 months.) Here is a pic from their reception and our still-close-after-all-these-years Pepperdine Florence program friends:

Back: Milli, me, Kristen; Front: Travis, Tyson, Ryan, Gayle
[Photo by Miki!]

30th Birthdays/Holiday plans:
Our holiday plans include two nights in Santa Barbara for our 30th birthdays on Dec 20. We're staying at a dog-friendly hotel so the dogs can come along. Bogey shares our birthday as well and will be 7. (We adopted him on June 20 and the shelter said he was 2 1/2, so there you go!) We're looking forward to tiring the dogs out at the off-leash dog beach and going out for seafood. Then we will squeeze in time with the Radfords before driving up to Sacramento to spend Christmas with Grandma Spaulding.

We had a lovely birthday dinner with Ryan's family last Saturday night at The Greek in Ventura Harbor. Hello the big 3-0!

More pictures soon and we hope all of you have wonderful and relaxing holidays.

Looking forward to your comments and votes on this blog!

Love, Mary & Ryan

6 comments:

Sara said...

I am so happy you have this blog. Man, you are growing. And so cute to see pics of you with Cat, Nid, G, Schauer, and Ryan. I miss you guys! Hopefully I'll be home in July and can see the new arrival. Stay warm and enjoy those comfy maternity pants.

Carol Vernay said...

This is great! Thank you so much for letting us be part of your lives and your happening miracle. Mary you look great! I was wondering about the sundogs thing, so thanks for explaing. . . what do they say, a picture is worth 1000 words : ). Congrats to both of you on your 30th birthday. Hard to believe! Have a nice weekend and a Christmas full of gratitude and love. Aunt Carol : )

Gayle Wheatley said...

Cool Blog...sounds like things are really coming along! We'll have to hang out soon! -Gayle

Kristen said...

Feliz cumpleanos to you both tomorrow!! Yay, we have another excuse to come out to California again this summer! Sounds good, as we await our 8th inch of snow this week... I can't wait to meet the little one. Oh, yeah, let's coordinate our dates! Ciao bellos,
Kristen

Anonymous said...

Lets hear it for the Jacobs-Spaulding/Radford Duo! Happy Birthday to you and Bogie too! We miss you so much out here in DC. But you cats seem very happy in the land of sun, almonds and hybrid vehicles. Perhaps I am a little bit jealous. I woke up this morning thinking of your shared birthdays and it made me smile. Thanks for being hilarious buddies and true friends. Love, Heather and the fellows

Unknown said...

Happy Boxing day! We missed the four of you last night, but drank a toast to you as the inspiration for barbecued shrimp for Christmas dinner - that is definitely a keeper. No runaway dogs yesterday, but our only canine guest was a very large German Shepherd, who was just too big to instigate a Bogey-style game of tag off the chairs. This year, Doobie would have played along.

Congratulations on all your news - here's hoping that you find the editing work you're looking for. It sounds like a great way to go. Duncan said that Ryan is going to be able to ride his bike to work, and Steve has been unable to shake the image of Ryan commuting in spandex. (My bet is that he will NOT opt for spandex, but Steve is Steve.)

Happy New Year - we look forward to following the blog!

Nancy and Steve