Author: pazmeyer

Baby Carlson is on the way

I was having lunch with Sheila and Melissa and got a call from Jennifer – I know, quite amazing that I had my phone on, charged, and answered. Yahoo for me – back to Jennifer…. Her blood pressure was starting to rise so she’s been at the doctor the last two days for checks. Her doctor decided that today is the day that the baby will be born so they sent her straight over to the hospital. Jack will be a big brother at some point today! What a great birthday….as Jennifer pointed out, always a party and the next day off to recover. I’m so excited for Jennifer, Keith and Jack and can’t wait to meet the new little guy!

Welcome Renee Juniper Beagal

What a wonderful Christmas present for Cindy and Carl! Their daughter, Renee Juniper Beagal, arrived via c-section on December 23, 2008 at 1:55 p.m. She weighed in just under 8 lbs.

Cindy was my roommate at NMSU my freshman year. We had such a good time in college and what fun that we ended up in Colorado together after all these years. I’m certain our girls will be the best of friends.

Now the real dilemma….Cindy & Carl are the ones who gave Annabelle her beloved Shmoozie Bear. There is no possible way to top that gift! 🙂

Rantings of an irritated traveler

Warning – a very long post of ranting & sarcasm ahead >>>>>>

B has always hated flying Southwest but I never really minded. I like that you can choose your seat, the lower fees and they don’t charge for checked baggage. When traveling with two unticketed/lap children you can’t always ride in the same row together. If another person sits with you there would be 5 people in the row and only 4 oxygen masks so if the flight is full they ask the parents to split up with the kids. We were “lucky” on both trips because our flights were not full and when choosing a seat no one readily volunteers to sit with two stressed-out adults and two very little kids! We had the row all to ourselves so Annabelle even got her own seat which she loved. She wanted to be buckled in with her Shmoozie Bear. 🙂 This seemed to be the first and last benefit of flying Southwest home…

So…we got to the airport 2 hours early (which I hate to do but understand it’s a necessary evil when traveling with kids) to find out that our flight was delayed almost an hour. Ok, whatever, we can keep the kids entertained in the airport. Except at the most inopertune time Miss G’s reflux kicks in full gear and she starts screaming and throws up all over herself and me! We were both soaked. Luckily I have 2 changes of clothes for her (moms of kids with reflux come prepared – HA!). I get her changed and what do you know, her and Annabelle both have horribly dirty diapers at the exact same time. My goodness! Both poo at once, not cool! Give momma a break!

We finally get the girls on the airplane which by this time it’s 8:30 and well past their bedtimes. They are both very unhappy and begin skirmming and fussing. There is a ton of commotion (which is actually a good distraction for my intense fear of flying!). We reach cruising altitude and they are pissed – both begin screaming and Annabelle is trying to a make a break for it – she doesn’t quite get that we are thousands of feet in the air but I’m still not sure where she was trying to go??? At this point the guys in front of us decide it’s really necessary to recline their seats. UGH!!!

With a seat-back wedged in their faces both girls begin screaming even louder. Gwyneth had a very sour stomach and proceeded to throw up AGAIN all over the both of us. I’m smelling like a lovely bottle of spoiled milk at this point and we are now moving in to our last outfit for GG. I attempt to take her to the bathroom to change her clothes and yahoo – no changing tables. I ask the flight attendant if there is anywhere I can change her clothes and he tells me to find an empty row. I start walking down the aisle (soaked and stinking) and am greated with glares from my fellow passengers! Oh I’m sorry, do you think I want my kids to cry like this? Do you think we pinch them to get them to scream louder just to annoy you on your flight? Believe me, we’re not having a great friggin’ time either! So, I’m trying to find a place to change GG when I’m asked by the rear-flight attendant to return to my seat. What? Why? Because the baby is distracting her while she is trying to serve drinks!!! Oh, you gotta be kidding me!! I was very tempted to tell her where she could put her little bag of peanuts but found a bit of restraint. I got GG changed returned to my seat and what wonderful surprise did I find? On my way back, GG pooped again!! And the hits just keep on comin’. In order to keep me sane and to avoid getting yelled at again by the flight attendant, B takes GG to the bathroom and changes her very nasty diaper on his lap. Nightmare!

We finally get the girls to sleep and are terrified to move….plus, we can’t because we have the a-holes in front of us with their seats reclined. We arrive in Denver with two sleeping children right at midnight. The flight attendant then gets on the horn and welcomes us all to Colorado – fine, but then does the Southwest comedy bit that I find annoying even when I’m not traveling with small children. It goes on and on and wakes up the girls. Both burst into tears – they just want to get off the plane which we completely understand because we are right there too! We are greated by more glares from our fellow passengers. We get our bags, get our car, and get home just in time to get the girls in their own beds by about 1 a.m.

All out-of-town family and friends be warned – we will not traveling with two little ones for quite a while. Purchase your tickets to come out to Colorado now. We will not be going anywhere until at least one of them is potty trained. …And the entire traveling community breathes a huge sigh of relief!! 😉
Happy Holidays!

Last day of family fun in CA

We met Poppy & Melissa at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay for lunch. It sits right on the bay so we had gorgeous views of the ocean. Of course, I left my camera in the car, but Melissa got some great shots. We spent the rest of the day at Stacy’s house getting in some last minute family time before heading to the airport.

Annabelle & Madison

Gwyneth got to meet her Great Grandma for the first time this weekend!

Paz Cousin Christmas

We celebrated the holidays with my mom, dad, Melissa, Stacy, Carl, Becky, Madison, and Maeva in San Francisco. The girls finally got to meet my Aunt Ginny, cousins Natalie, Keith and his wife Ashley along with their 3 kids Sarah, Samarah, and Little Keith. We had a fun filled holiday weekend!

5 month portraits

Can you believe Gwyneth is already 5 months old??? She is my sweet but rather serious girl. She rarely smiles for the camera so I’m thinking she has a bit of a rebellious side to her. 🙂 She is very active – constantly rolling and grabbing at her toys. She can sit up with support and just amazes us daily. She is a beauty with her full head of dark brown hair and those big blue eyes. Look out!

I took her to get her portraits on Christmas Eve and although she didn’t really want to smile for the camera the photographer was able to capture some adorable shots. To see all the pictures from the shoot visit: http://www.kodakgallery.com/meyerphotos/main/gwyneth_s_5_month_portraits

Lemek Curse

Don is B’s good luck charm! Every time we have them over to watch the Bears play the Packers the Bears win. We’ll have to keep this up! Annabelle and Andrew go to school together and were so excited to see each other. They chased after each other and played with the diner in the playroom while the dads watched the football game. It was great to catch up with Jess before the holidays. It had been quite some time since we’ve seen them, besides in passing when dropping the kids off at school. Annabelle and Andrew are buds and play really well together. It’s amazing to watch them interact. Andrew was none-too-thrilled with his mom when she was holding Gwyneth. Poor little G just seems to get all the kiddos jealous! She’s such a little sweetie – she never seems to mind all the craziness around her. She loves the commotion when the kids play and was rolling all around. She’ll be crawling after them in no time.

Waiting for Daddy & Annabelle

We waited and waited for Annabelle and B to get home. We were so antsy to see them and of course their flight was delayed several hours. I tried to keep Gwyneth awake because I knew B was just dying to see her but it hit 9:00 and they still weren’t home so off to bed she went.

A plane skidded off the runway during it’s departure at DIA so the airport was a mess. Luckily, no one was killed but there were several injuries from the accident and the airport was swarming with rescue crew and media. It took poor B over 45 minutes to just get his bags. He said Annabelle was really well behaved and really turned on the charm with the flight crew and other passengers. Kudos to B for keeping his patience with her and the situation – it took him over 6 hours to get home from Chicago.

When they finally got home I rushed to the door and when Annabelle saw me from the car she started screaming and waving. She ran to me and gave me big hugs and kisses. Ah – what a great hello! You just can’t beat that. I’m so happy to have B and Annabelle home. 4 days is way too long!!!

Feeling crafty

Miss Gwyneth was such an easy baby while B was gone that I had to find a way to fill my time. I decided watching all my episodes of DVR’d “Wife Swap” was not very productive so I got down to business and took care of our remaining Christmas purchases. I needed to get something special for the ladies who take care of the girls during the day and decided on homemade gifts. I was feeling rather crafty and they turned out so great that I made some for friends and family also. I can’t reveal my little gifts yet in case those people who will be receiving them are reading… I’ll post pictures after the holidays & all the gifts have been given.