It's March ALREADY?!

This whole web blog should just be titled "Time Flies" and leave it at that! It is so hard to keep up with everything...I don't know why I felt so compelled to race through my teens and 20's. It's one of those "If I knew now, what I know then..." deals. My ending to that sentence would be that I would slow DOWN and savor my free time. There is none of that, it seems, in one's 30s. Oh and I would definitely wear more sunscreen! Woulda, coulda, shoulda, huh?!

The last few months have been jam packed with craziness, some fun, some not-so fun! I should start off with the not-so. Thankfully, there wasn't much of that and it didn't have to do with anyone's health, thank GOD. Anything besides health problems can be dealt with and one can usually bear it, right? The worst of it for us came in November in the form of theft. It was 6 o'clock in the morning, Jimmy had just left for work and I was watching the beginning of the news with McKenna before I woke up Cooper to get ready for school. I heard something scrape and screetch outside. Of course, I got up to investigate because in our house, I am known as Alice Kravitz...I am the looky-loo with my fingers splitting the blinds making sure all is well in the 'hood. I went out on the porch in my jammies just in time to see some ***hole in a truck driving away with our toy trailer that was in our driveway FILLED with all sorts of fun stuff. It was unbelievable and so brazen. I was shocked. I immediately called the police, but they weren't able to catch them even though they were here within two minutes because the cop was RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER when I called. Unfortunately, Jimmy's brand-new quad was in there, which he hadn't gotten around to insuring because our car insurance wouldn't insure off-road vehicles and being new to quad ownership, he was still researching who to go with. So much for THAT! It was brand-spanking new and was given to him as his work bonus from his bosses, our friends, Eric and Patrick. Ugh...it was definitely a learning experience.

Two days later, we got a call from the Sherriff's Department in Spring Valley saying they found the trailer (which was FANTASTIC as we found out our insurance would only cover up to $500 on a trailer even if it cost you $1500), however, it was completely empty and even swept nicely clean! Jimmy was devastated, as was I. My guilt was horrendous as Jimmy had the trailer filled with so much stuff from the garage because he built me a wonderful workshop in there to make my jewelry and had stored all his "Man Stuff" in the trailer. We lost bikes, surfboards, tons of tools, riding gear...Every day, it seemed we remembered some other thing that was in there! For a few weeks we had to chant, "They're only things, they're only things, they're only things" to get through the gut-wrenching woulda, coulda, shoulda show playing in our heads. All right, maybe this blog should be renamed "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda..." Ah well...such is life! Chalk it up to a learning experience and at least you feel like you're getting SOMETHING out of the crap life throws at you periodically.

Speaking of the 'hood, I have turned community activist. Can you believe?! If you can't, it's because you know me from back in the day. I suppose I was a bit of a wild child, to say the least. Who'd've thunk I would turn into a raving-mad heretic on the street corner wearing a slogan t-shirt and planting protest signs in my yard?! What started my marching was finding out that the dead mall on the corner by our house had secretly been transferred for purchase by the original community-approved company who was going to build shops and urban condos to a huge development company that specializes in building MEGA DORMS in college towns. Our neighborhood is close to San Diego State University which has historically been a horrible neighbor to our community. They take in more and more students every year, but do nothing to support the neighboring community's infrastructure, nor do they plan for any additional housing for their ever-expanding student body. They just expect the surrounding community to bear the burden.

Once the neighbors found out about this snarky little project, which was switched from the original plan while our community council meetings were on break for the summer, we all went batty and leapt into action! Groups were formed and petitions were circulated, generating over 1200 signatures. The city council, local newspapers and local T.V. news programs were innundated with concerned, outraged neighbors. Our neighborhood council meeting that usually had 20 people show up each month suddenly had people pouring out onto the sidewalk and street outside the church. One night, our activist group counted over 300 angry neighbors at one of these meetings! I jumped on the bandwagon and called hundreds of petition signers. I volunteered as Secretary to our activist group. For a while there, I was attending more meetings than when I was working as an Executive Assistant before McKenna was born. Phew!

Right before the holidays, SDSU released their 10-year Master Plan, which the City found to be horrid. The City decided to sue SDSU for breach of whatever previously agreed-upon issues they had come to and when that happened, it came out that the developer, JPI, and SDSU had been in cahoots all along. Big suprise. JPI suddenly pulled out of the deal and now we are left with the original company who has decided to file for more funding from the City for more section-8 housing and perhaps a woman's shelter on the site. ARGGGGHHHHH! I feel like Charlie Brown kicking the football, getting knocked on my ass and having the wind kicked outta me. But what are you gonna do? Keep on trying to kick the damn football, that's what!

Such good things have happened as well. Yin and Yang, right? Cooper is a dream and is doing well in school...not without some hiccups, of course. Apparently, according to his teacher, he is a bit like Robin Williams and performs stream-of-consciousness comedy routines in the classroom. It gotten to the point where the teacher dreaded calling on him because what came out of Cooper's mouth usually had nothing to do with the lesson at hand, but more with making his classmates laugh. This has been dealt with and we are working hard at curtailing our comedy routines and saving them for more appropriate times, such as recess. He is excelling at skateboarding like you wouldn't believe! He has been going to skateboard camp at the Chula Vista Skatepark over the school holiday break and has been skating up to 7 hours a day! He's a maniac. People tell me constantly how impressive his skill set is for his age. As there are no resources for skateboarding like there are for other sports, I'm kind of not sure what direction to go with this as a parent. I should probably contact Tony Hawk and ask him what to do to further my child's skateboarding experience, huh?! Turn into the skateboarding stage mom! He and McKenna have had a bumpy, but loving relationship. We catch Coop "messing" with her from time to time. She's going through a stage where she doesn't share well AT ALL and Cooper takes advantage of that, goading her and then snickering behind our backs when she flips out. All in all, they love each other and generally have enormous fun together.

McKenna is 2 now! She was definitely going through the "terrible 2" thing early. This was evidenced by a trip we took in November to Knott's Berry Farm for Cooper's birthday present (which falls two days before Christmas, poor kid!). While Cooper and his friend, Malachi, were off riding big rides with one parent, McKenna and the other parent were left in Camp Snoopy. We have found out that McKenna is a future X-gamer like her brother. She likes the thrill rides. Thank God it wasn't a busy day at Knott's because every time she was taken off a ride, she flung herself to the ground, screaming at the top of her lungs, escalating to an excruciating pitch, only to be drug off kicking and flailing to a corner where either Jimmy or I could hide and ride out the storm that is our daughter. Once she calmed and we went off to whatever else was happening, she would once more get locked in and the horrible scene would replay itself again, and again, and a g a i n. She didn't get that you couldn't stay on a ride for an eternity, but went from ride to ride, letting others have a shot at it. It was EXCRUCIATING. She is HORRIBLE at taking turns and HORRIBLE at sharing anything. It's been really hard for my best friend Annie and I because two months ago we were planning for their wedding and the toll this has taken on her and Morgan's relationship does not bode well for any future wedding bells. When we get the two of them together, which is often as their mommies have been best friends for 25 years, they are like bickering, pecking parrots and all you hear is "mine, mine, mine, MINE!" It's a bummer. I forgot how much I hate this stage. For Cooper, it happened more around the age of 3. I've heard that girls do things much earlier than boys and I now guess this is evidence that it's true!

Other than her manic theme-park behavior and her antisocial fear of sharing, she is a pretty wonderful little girl. She is talking up a storm and is quite funny. She still naps and thankfully gives her mother a break. She has started play-acting with dolls and is changing their diapers often, saying, "peeeeeewwwwww!" She torments our little dog, Bean, chasing him relentlessly around the house, trying to kiss him. Good thing he's pretty fast. She freely gives lots of kisses and hugs now, for which we are extremely grateful. We thought she would never come around and become affectionate! She loves the Teletubbies and Sesame Street. She's a fan of Barney, much to her father's dismay, and really digs on The Jungle Book and Monster's Inc. Her favorite show by far is Zabomafoo on PBS where two grown-up brothers play with real animals and show the kids what they do in their natural habitats. It's sort of like the Crocodile Hunter for the preschool set. She's a big reader and will bring us book after book after book to read to her before nap and bedtime. Her current favorites are anything about Curious George, The Eye Book and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. She also loves the Richard Scary "Big Book" that her Aunt Carolyn gave Cooper when he was about her age.

Something else fantastic happened in 2007. Our dear friend, Honor, who had been fighting colon cancer and undergoing hard-core chemotherapy for 6 months, completed her chemo course and was given a CLEAN SLATE OF HEALTH. A humongous blessing that our whole family was terribly relieved by. Over the years, Honor and her whole family have grown into part of our family. We love them all very much and it was heart wrenching to watch someone we all love so dearly and who has such a huge impact on our daily lives go through something so painful and scary. Once again, as long as you have your health, everything else is small beans and can be dealt with, right?

That's the update going into March 2008. I hope this blog finds you and yours healthy and having fun with this life we are blessed to be taking part in! It's a fun ride, isn't it?

Love to you,

Erin

Time Flies

Holy mackerel, how time flies! And how come I can't catch any of it and save it?! It has been a long time since I updated everyone on our happy family. Lots has happened...some good, some yucky. Let's start with the yucky...we lost my grandpa, Gringo. He was 87 and was basically just done. His dementia, which had been mild and just kind of silly up until then, worsened dramatically and he had trouble remembering what he was doing moment from moment. You could see it was really pissing him off! He had to move away from his girlfriend, Francis, and that confused him even more. He died in his sleep after Christmas in a pretty hospice and wasn't in any pain. We all got to visit him and love him and say goodbye because it was pretty evident he was at the end. But, even though he was that old and had had a good life, we still miss him terribly. I am forever grateful to have had such a wonderful grandpa in my life for as long as I had him! He was a bitchen guy and I'm fortunate to have been great friends with him.


We also lost Jimmy's mom, Pat, this past March, right after McKenna's first birthday. She wasn't able to come to the party, but had bought McKenna a great, big, fantastic unicorn. We thought she had the flu, but it turned out to be a host of problems from kidney failure to gallstones to sepsis to pancreatitis. It was literally one thing after another and it was up and down. We'd get good news, then bad, then good...Unfortunately, it ended with the bad and she passed away. We made it through one set of holidays and they were extremely hard on everyone...does it ever get easier? The worst thing is that McKenna won't know her Granny who was such a fantastic, funny and loving lady. That's what makes me the saddest, I think. It was also very hard because she was so young, barely 70, and still so active and fun! The best way to describe it, I think, is that it was a kick in the gut, pure and simple. We'll miss her presence in our lives. She was a tiny lady, but was a force in everyone's life!




McKenna is now a wonderful toddler. She is heading for two and is finding out who she is. Needless to say, she's not a very good listener at this point! UGH! This is, I believe, the most dangerous time of a kid's life (okay, aside from the teenage years) because they are just like little windup toys with no boundaries or perception of good or bad and no language skills to help them conceptualize the good or bad. YIKES. I find myself constantly holding my breath! One day, she was standing at the top of the steps of our porch, everyone around her, and she all of a sudden just FELL, her feet tangling together, and started tumbling down the stairs (there are 4 of them, but STILL)! Luckily, her faithful brother was standing at the bottom of the stairs and caught her before her head hit the step. Do you feel me?!


We taught her sign language which has probably cut down a bit on the usual toddler frustration of not being able to get a point across. However, I'm not sure if it's stopped her from learning to speak sooner. We always say the words with the sign, but she just started saying the words to the signs she knows recently! She knows the signs for "more, milk, all done, water, ouch." She's real big on the "ouch" thing and makes sure to commiserate with me on every single zit and mole that I have! Kids make you humble, don't they? All of a sudden, it doesn't matter how clean your house is or how your hair looks, right?! Some other words she says are dog, Mama (but we think it's not me she's using it for but for things she wants!), Ma (when she wants me), Daddy (which is more like"Dah" and is used when calling him at 5:30 in the morning to come spring her from the crib), Tah Tah for the Teletubbies which is her favorite show EVER...you get the idea. She's on the cusp of big things!


She isn't the snuggliest of kids, which I hope changes. She holds out on the kisses and hugs. We literally all force them on her. When you ask her if you can have a hug or a kiss, she raises one shoulder and looks coyly down to the side and says, "No," in a very clipped, matter-of-fact way. She's BRUTAL. So, we sing the Ben Harper song, "Steal My Kisses" song at her which says, "I always have to steal my kisses from you..." while telling her all the while she better get used to it and just succumb as we are a hugging and kissing sort of family!


Her favorite toys are anything she can get on and ride. She even rode my parents' dog, Maggie, a great big Lab, when we babysat her on their latest trip! I couldn't get a picture of it because I wasn't sure how much Maggie was digging on it and wanted to make sure McKenna got off her before Maggie felt she had to insist! Her and her daddy go for golf-cart rides at my parents' ranch...they share a ride on the quad in the desert...she rides on his shoulders...The kid just plain likes to ride! Wait until her Grammy gets her on one of the horses. At that point, she will probably insist she move in with Grammy and Bompy to help take care of the horses! That'll be the day!




She's a big dancer and LOVES music. I play music all the time in the house and in the car and I love to see her grooving to the tunes! She gets her head and shoulders bopping. It makes us want to cry, it's so freaking cute! She's particular towards "coffee-house" and 70s tunes and loves Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Elton John, K.T. Tunstall, James Taylor...Singers and songwriters, don'cha know?! Like the little Pisces she is, she loves to swim, which is a bit scary because she CAN'T swim. She tries to get us to let go of her and actually pushes us away in her Grammy and Bompy's pool like she knows what she's doing. Thank GOD they got a pool fence or I think she'd just bop right on in there when no one is looking. Scary! The kid has no fear.

Her favorite person in the world is her friend, Morgan, my Godson and best friend Annie's baby boy, who is 7 months older than her. He loves her, too! When they are together, Annie and I FREAK OUT, they're so cute. They hold hands and help each other on and off things, bring each other food, books, toys...LORD! We call them future prom dates and I hope they are! I feel very fortunate that not only Annie, but many of our closest friends have babies all around McKenna's age. The people we have chosen to travel through this life with are stellar people and I have no doubt their children will be the same.

I am still a stay-at-home mom at this point and am so grateful for that. Jimmy is doing well and still likes his job at Apex Contracting and Restoration, our friends Eric and Patrick's construction business. I make jewelry when Mac sleeps and sell it on line and at parties. I am not the type of person who can sit around...there's only so much you can clean the house! I am taking classes to learn new fabrication techniques. I just joined the San Diego Mineral and Gem Society to learn how to cut stones. Holy mackerel, if there's anything that ruins a manicure more...but, it's so much fun! Cooper has just started the 4th grade and loves his new teacher, Mr. Wilsie. It looks like it's going to be a good year, God willing (oh, and knock on wood!).

Here's looking at you and hoping you and yours are well and happy!

Much love ~ Erin

Cousin Jesse's wedding

McKenna attended her first wedding which was the wedding of her second cousin Jesse and his girl, Katie, on August 26, 2006. It's a good date...my parents, George and Sandie, got married on that date 39 years ago and are still digging on each other so far! McKenna wore a fancy dress and looked spectacular, as usual. She was happily passed around to all the family. She danced and napped and had a really good time for a 6-month-old baby at a rowdy wedding! It was a beautiful wedding at Barona Casino. I got stung in the keister by a bee and was whining (and after that, WINEing) a lot. McKenna decided not to add to my misery and was the perfect baby. She's SWELL!!! The only thing she couldn't do was entice her brother to dance with her. Instead, he spent the night crawling around on the floor, perfecting "The Worm" and various other fantastic 80s breakdance moves. Ah well...what's a girl to do?

The first time we met!

McKenna in my tummy...don't I look tired?!

Father's Day 2006
Daddy & his girls
Andie & McKenna

August 2006

Gerber Baby!

Our first play date at Auntie Annies with our friends...we've got two more coming to join the group soon, but they haven't been born yet!

McKenna & Daddy on Daddy's birthday, 8-11-06.

We celebrated in Mexico, at a great house in San Miguel with the Summers!

McKenna and Daddy at San Elijo Beach
July 3, 2006

May 2006
Cooper and McKenna are getting to know each other

April 2006
Bunko Baby!

There are so many wonderful people in our lives who are genuinely interested in the madness and mayhem that is our lives, I decided to start a blog page where I can keep everyone up to date on how we are faring!

McKenna is a little over 5 1/2 months now. On June 29, 2006, she rolled over for the first time. I remember thinking our lives will never be the same! That statement can apply to every day here on out. That's just the way it is with both kids. I thought that very same thing the minute Cooper decided to "drop in" on the half pipe at the Kroc Center Skateboard Park. Yikes!

Back to the rollover...On July 1st, while camping at San Elijo, I put McKenna on the seat at the table in our new motorhome, completely forgetting the rolling over incident from June 29th. Of course, she rolled straight off the seat, onto the floor and her head! Holy mackerel, I felt like I deserved the Worst Mommy in the World Award...there's got to be such a thing, right?

On July 4th, the day before we were to leave San Elijo after McKenna's first camping trip, I was preparing dinner in the motorhome while Jimmy was packing up. Cooper was off riding skateboards around camp with P.J. Bodine and McKenna was taking her afternoon nap. She woke up crying, which is unusual for her. She is not a cryer. I was just at the end of preparing dinner and was basically at the critical stage where everything was either done or on the cusp of burning. I picked her up and called for Jimmy to cuddle her while I finished. He came in and needed to wash his hands. Of course, the sink had a cutting board on it with dinner layed out. He needed to go to the bathroom sink. In turning to let him by, I brushed McKenna's foot, which was on my hip, against the hot frypan on the stove. She screamed like I've NEVER heard her scream before and hopefully never again. A huge blister immediately formed on her heel. Unbelievable. Please refer to the award above...anyone?! Needless to say, the fireworks that night were beautiful, but we barely were able to enjoy them after the early evening's trauma. Poor, sweet, unsuspecting baby!

At this time, August 22, 2006, McKenna is on her way to crawling. She is up on all fours, but doesn't quite know what to do about it yet. She is chewing quite a bit and looks like she may sprout teeth soon. We just had to implement the "Ferber Method" and let her cry herself to sleep so WE could get some sleep. She needs to know how to soothe herself and get herself to sleep without nursing. So far, she's settled right in. She is not that into napping. This morning, she skipped morning nap entirely. I finally put her down at 12:30 and she's still sleeping and it's 2:30. I got to vacuum! She is the sweetest baby there ever was! I cannot believe how blessed we are. She is amazing. I almost can't wait until she talks so I can hear what she's thinking! She plays peekaboo and is almost crawling! (We’re not ready for that, by the way…the knick knacks are still at large!) She is a sweet baby with the greatest disposition EVER. She’s got an easy smile and when she cries, it’s for a good reason, dammit! Once her need has been met, she’s cool again. She and Cooper are enamored of each other. He is a great big brother and takes care of her whenever he can. He has made it his life’s mission to make her laugh! He got her first laughs out of her with “arm farts…” Pure 8-year-old! Once that happened, however, it was ON and he wouldn’t stop. She, of course, didn’t find it funny anymore, but that didn’t stop him from trying! Andie visits often and is a good big sister. She is a preschool teacher and says that McKenna is a model baby and none of the babies she deals with day in and day out even come close to her! (She’s not biased or anything!)