What is scarier than buying a new car...?

NOTHING...okay maybe a house, but still I have mild bleeding ulcers. With my 120 mile-a-day commute (yes, no joke) it was time to get rid of the 'ol Xterra, she was getting old and drank too much ($140/week in gas!). All I wanted was a comfortable ride, cool gadgets, and great gas mileage; add all that up=08 Jetta. Germans just know what they're doing; they make affordable cars that actually look cool. Just because we're poor doesn't mean we have have to drive in a car that makes us feel poor.



Cool gadgets include heated leather seats (not necessary right now), 6 disc CD changer, satellite radio!, tryptonic (no idea what that means other than I can switch it into manual and it's kind of fun...
and my favorite feature is the i pod jack! You just plug it right into your car!

Just because you have one child doesn't mean you need an SUV right away; this has plenty of room for a car seat and amazing trunk space (I should be getting paid for this sponsorship). We figure once we have two kids, then it will be time for an SUV and maybe then cars will run on hydrogen.

It's Official!!!

After much anticipation, we found out that under my newly purchased belly band lies our...DAUGHTER! We are very excited to have this mystery solved and start getting ready for the little one to arrive. This is my almost six month belly, courtesy of The Digital Orange (thanks Mike).

We also had a "Baby BBQ" this weekend with many of our closest friends. We were so glad everyone could make the trip out! These pics are also courtesy of The Digital Orange-so nice having a friend who is an awesome photographer.

Thanks Derek for standing in for Nikki

Best Friends Forever
We were lucky enough to get the classic "Silly Pic" thanks to Mike's timer. It was so fun having everyone over-wish it happened more often!

Grandpa's Funeral

This past weekend we planned a surprise visit to Sacramento to visit my Grandpa and the rest of the family. We were really looking forward to seeing him because we knew it would probably be the last time. Unfortunately the Thursday before we were going to be leaving we found out he had already passed away. So we headed up there with a different purpose and with the rest of our huge family. Deaths are never easy, especially when it is your close grandpa. He was such an amazing man...always putting others first, had a big sense of humor (even if it didn't make sense to us) and love for life! It was so nice to be able to have the whole family together, it is just too bad it was under these circumstances. Ryan finally met all of my extended family...yes he has been in the family for just about 3 years, but I haven't seen most for over 5 years. Eventhough we went up for the funeral we still had a great time when we weren't crying! We had two great BBQs, visited with all the family, went materity clothes shopping with my mom, and played A LOT with our 8 adorable nephews. Here are some pics of the funeral...funeral shic that is-to cover our crying eyes.
Dad, Mom (must have forgotten her glasses) and I
Nephews Ryan and Dylan-love these guys!
My Sis Amy and I

My Brother Chris (looking very shic) with my tiny nephew Hudson

My Dad is better than your Dad

MAN BLOG! You know what I love about my Dad? No matter how high he is on the corporate ladder, he's not afraid to get his hands dirty. You know what I love about me? No matter how low I am on the corporate ladder, I hate manual labor. Now for those of you who know me well and are saying, "Yeah right, Ryan's Dad did all the work"...you'd kind of be correct. ALTHOUGH I did prime and paint every board (I did try to convince Erica to get the gardener to do it, but she got mad and said it was racist--we clearly have different definition; I look at it providing job securtiy and food). So I sucked it up and painted for days (with Erica's help, but she's pregnant and paint can be bad). I also measured all the slats for my Dad to cut. Then I was jut the helper of getting the ladder, holding stuff, etc. Still, pretty impressive. Anyway it turned out AMAZING! Thanks Dad

Items in this picture may appear larger than normal--such as my bicep. This is what it could actually look like if I did this for a living--good thing pictures last forever.

Memorial Weekend-Friends, Family, Fun and Fetus

First off this adorable child is not ours...however we kind of wish it was. Hudson Robert Motley is quite possibly one of the cutest beings to ever exist. They said he was getting "big" because at birth he weighed 5 lbs 9 oz, and now he weighs 8 lbs (which is a lie, I think he's really 3 lbs). It was great to see what natural (and attractive) parents they were. He's a perfect addition to the family.
This was also great practice for us and made us extremely excited for our little one.

Here are the happy parents...and the not so happy baby, which is unusual because he is one of the most content babies we've ever seen



The weather was NOT traditional Memorial Day weather, it was more like winter in Vegas. Since we couldn't be outdoors we decided to stay under water...at the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay! These next pics are us enjoying the deep sea creatures with the Watson's and Motley's. Seeing sharks is always fun, but seeing sharks with 3 boys is the BEST! Technically 3.2 boys (Hudson being .2).
You may be wondering, "Well I see family, and fun, but what about the friends and fetus?" Well, we had a GREAT time staying with our good friends Cody and Nikki Treese; we ate delicious MSG and Beef Jerky...you'd had to be there. Unfortunately we did not document any of our time there...some things are too great for words...or pics.

Our fetus is also doing really well and moving like crazy--hopefully it keeps up its active lifestyle enough to show us the goodies here shortly. All in all a great rainy memorial day.

It's a Girl...well 80% sure!

How is it possible to have an 80% girl you ask? Easy, it refuses to move from it's reclined position. It has been in the same position since our last ultra-sound. The Dr. tried to move it around, but there was no moving it from it's hammock-like relaxed position. When it did finally move, it was a quick shift, not wanting to show us the "goodies". The Dr. said, "Ah! I think I caught something, do you all want me to give you a percentage?" For the love of everything that is holy, yes...that is why we came here. He was 75% sure it was a girl. Then she he showed us these 3 lines, that I guess signify that it's a girl. He said it was in breach position so it was difficult to tell, but he said, "Actually, I'm going to bump that up to 80% sure it's a girl." We left feeling....well extremely confused. Erica was not convinced at all it was a girl, I am pretty sure that it is... an 80% is more than passing...I love 80%'s! I'm afraid to know what a 20% girl or boy looks like. We will have another ultrasound in a couple of weeks to confirm the gender. Here's the deal, we are in "Daughter Denial" I have only brothers and Erica's side has only nephews...what do we do with girls? Everyone is stunned...to be continued....

Best Friends Forever

This is Nugget and Chopper. They are neighbors and best friends. We have never seen Nugget so happy and exhausted from playing with Chopper. He got to have his best friend come stay with us for the weekend and boy was he in heaven. These two dogs did not leave each others side for 3 days. With our trips to Cancun and Ojai and now this weekend, they have definitely had some quality time together. I've never seen dogs get along so well even living under the same roof. Thanks Chopper for making Nugget so happy...you are real cute! (And a whole lot nicer than Nugget's cousin Rebel!)