In-laws + San Francisco + ultrasound + photos of it all

I feel like life is going at a pace of about a million miles a minute these days.

The in-laws were just here with us for a week.  I thought I'd have all this time to take care of a bunch of stuff... and there were several things I did get to do, like appointments and visit a couple of preschools.  But we also all went to the local zoo, and checked out the railroad museum, and I took a few naps, and before I knew it it was Friday evening and the long to-do list I'd imagined completing was only about 1/3 done. Oh well.

Saturday we drove to San Francisco for the weekend.  Unfortunately, we got so spoiled by how nice and traffic-free the drive to SF used to be from San Jose, especially on 280.  This time we hit some traffic on the way, along with a decent slow-down at "the maze" before crossing the bay bridge.  Suppose we'll have to make sure to leave earlier next time.  We stayed down in Chinatown, down the street from Zach's brother's place.  That night the in-laws put D to bed at the hotel while Andrew, Jakki, Zach, and I went to see my sister perform with the dance company she joined several months ago.  It was a short, informal performance at their studio, and Jenny was only in one dance but it was awesome to see her in it.  She's always been super athletic-- she danced, swam, and cheerleaded in high school, and was on the rowing team in college-- and she's always pretty much kicked butt in whatever she was involved with at the time.  True to form, she rocked on Saturday.  =)

Sunday morning Zach and Andrew went to the Y to play basketball, and Hank, Susan, D and I checked out the Cable Car Museum and then shortly after noon we all went to the Civic Center where a massive crowd was gathered to watch the final match of the World Cup, and where Jenny was celebrating her 26th birthday with a bunch of friends.  We got there towards the end of the game, which worked out pretty well-- D played at the playground for a while, then as the crowds started dispersing a bit we found Jen and her crew and joined in as everyone cheered and danced and celebrated Spain's win.  D was super tired by then, past his nap time, but even he joined in on the dancing and fun.Finally we headed home, leaving Hank and Susan at their hotel so they could stay in SF the rest of this week.

At the railroad museum

Mama and baby tiger at the Sacramento Zoo

Enjoying the view from our room in San Francisco

World Cup crowds

Post-win dancing


More pictures here

Then yesterday, Monday, we got to try out a new baby-sitter while Zach and I went to my ultrasound appointment!  The appointment itself went ok, a bit boring as I couldn't see the screen for the vast majority of the time, but then at the end we got to check out all the little baby parts and skeleton, which was really cool, and then we got to find out that we're having a second little boy, which is also exciting. =)


I then came home at about 1:15pm, and the baby-sitter said she'd just put D down for a nap about 15 minutes before. Sweet! I thought, I still get free time while D sleeps...  Of course, no sooner had I thought this that I heard footsteps upstairs, and looked up to see D, who had apparently woken when he heard me come home, looking down at me.  So I paid the girl, and went upstairs to try to get the kiddo to sleep some more, but no dice.  Which sucked, as I was then having flashbacks to other recent days when he's missed his nap, and let me tell you those days were NOT PRETTY so by then any excitement I had over the ultrasound and finding out the sex of the baby was gone, replaced by utter frustration.  I know I shouldn't let him influence my moods this much, but it's hard to avoid-- his day pretty much dictates how mine goes.  But, I did get him to agree to some "quiet time" in his room while I got a couple of things done.  And thankfully, he wasn't in too bad a mood, at least not until bedtime when Zach was getting him ready and suddenly D formed into Demon Child and I tell you, it's not often you hear that level of screaming from him.  At least he was so tired that after the yes-you're-getting-your-damn-pajamas-on battle he went to sleep relatively quickly.

So now I'm trying to get a few things done while also trying to make sure we have a couple of pretty low-key, calm days... since Thursday afternoon we fly to Texas for 10 days!  Which will likely be our last trip home for I-don't-know-how-long since I don't think we'll make it again before this baby is born, and after that... oh god, I have no idea how I'll try to manage with a toddler and newborn on a plane.  So family, y'all will all just have to fly out here to visit, 'k?   ; )