So this couple, a pup, and a fetus go for a drive…

Last weekend Tim, Toast, and I drove down to Oxnard to visit the Tibbses and our So Cal friends. I found out that the six-hour drive is a lot more difficult when you are five months pregnant. It isn’t as easy to sit comfortably in a car for long stretches as it used to be. But Tim made the drive pleasant by reading to me (and Bibbs). He learned that the baby can hear his voice so he started reading us a novel – the Dresden Files. It is a very entertaining story about a modern day wizard who solves crime in Chicago. Bibbs apparently loves to hear Tim’s voice because I can feel baby kicks and flutters every time he reads aloud. It is cool! Toast is generally ambivalent to Tim’s orations.

It is amazing how many things we managed to cram into one busy, fun-filled weekend! Mostly, we enjoyed the beautiful warmth of the Southern California summer with family. We played beach volleyball with Tim’s brother and niece (who is trying out for the freshman volleyball team when she starts high school next year) and splashed around in the ocean. We brunched with the in-laws and caught them up with all our baby related news. Everyone is so excited that we are adding to the Tibbs clan! We took Tim’s pop out to a movie, which was luxurious, since the two of us haven’t had time to see many of the summer blockbusters. 

 

On Friday we had dinner with some of Tim’s oldest friends. They have a 14^th month old so we got another preview into what life with a baby will look like. It was especially interesting to watch Toast interact with a baby. We were nervous but she did really great! Sometimes she wanted to play with the baby so she would go into the downward dog bow position and then started running away to get the baby to chase her. The baby had no idea that the game worked that way and Toast got a little bored. Then Toast brought the baby her ball. She apparently wanted to teach the baby to play fetch but the baby didn’t get the idea that he was supposed to throw the ball. He would pick it up and Toast would wait patiently but the baby never threw it. Toast would nudge him gently but eventually gave up and came over to us. She seemed exasperated and, if we could read her mind, we think she would have told us, “That ‘puppy’ is either broken or stupid.”  Anyway, it was a hoot to see how she will do as a nanny dog. We are still planning on entering her into personal dog training starting next month though so we can rely on her to obey us 100% of the time when the baby comes, just to be safe. 

Tim and cousin Joey in a pic from 1994(?) found in an old photo album. What goobers! Some things never change...

Anyway, that night Tim and his cousin went to see his brother’s band play at the local bar (I stayed in because I am a lame, tired pregnant lady and didn’t want to be on my feet around cigarette smoke and drunk people). The boys had a great time without me and I got a wealth of advice from two experienced mom friends and then a great night’s sleep. It was good that I was well-rested because the next day we went to the Oxnard Salsa festival with our friends Heather and Jeff. The festival was such a fun event! It was a free fair that highlighted all things “salsa”. There was salsa music and dancing and, for only $5 we got a bag of chips and got to taste hundreds of gourmet salsas made by local restaurants and vendors. We had such a wide variety of salsas, everything from a sweet and mild strawberry to super hot habanero. It was, as Heather said, like wine tasting for pregnant ladies!

After our tatsebuds were fried off from the spice, we headed to Heather and Jeff’s house for the night. We got to meet their 4-month old puppy, Franklin. He is a cute pup and just loved Toast. The two dogs played all evening as we caught up with our friends. It was hilarious to watch Franklin follow Toast around everywhere and take cues from her, like Toast used to do with older dogs when she was a puppy. For example, Franklin didn’t know how to climb down the stairs in the house but after watching Toast do it a few times, and a little coaxing from us, he got the hang of it. Now Franklin is a pro at the stairs. 

They look almost the same size! Franklin "Beast" is going to be a big dog!

All in all it was a great weekend! Tim started back at work this week (teaching work days and professional development all week and the students come back next week). I am wrapping up work at the immigration law clinic and getting ready to start classes in mid-August. All that new school nonsense deserves a post in itself though.

And in brief, baby related news we saw Bibbs on an ultrasound a few weeks ago! All is healthy and well with the baby. We decided to wait to find out the sex of the baby until we meet him or her in person in four short months. Both baby and I are growing and doing well. Here is an updated Bibbs photo for your hilarity. 

Short scenes of summer

This summer seems to be flying by. Before we know it, it will be mid-August and Tim and I will both be back in school. During the weeks, I have been working at the Immigration Law Clinic at school and taking summer school classes Monday through Thursday evenings. I am constantly busy, with real work, school work and work to prep for the upcoming year of Moot Court. Tim has been likewise busy, but in a different way. He is home for 5 weeks of summer “break” but, as anyone who knows a teacher knows, his break involves prepping and planning for next year. After we run-walk (I walk, then he goes farther for a run) in the mornings, he settles in for a day of reading the literature he will be teaching this upcoming year (Lord of the Flies, Hamlet, and Brave New World, among others). He has also been reading books on classroom management and teaching strategies and planning the first 6 weeks worth of lessons so he will be ready to go in early-August. So, as usual, the Tibbses stay busy, busy, busy.

However, this summer we decided that we needed to really make the most of every free moment and take advantage of this last summer that it will be just us two. So, almost every weekend (which are all three day weekends, since I don’t work or have class on Fridays), we make fun plans. Last weekend, for the Fourth of July we jam-packed so much into the weekend it was dizzying. On Friday my mom and her long-lost cousin, Josh, came to Sacramento. The four of us, and three of our friends went up the American River for an inner tube float with a BBQ picnic at the take out. When we got back to Sacramento, we joined our neighbors on our front lawn for a personal firework show. Since we weren’t allowed to have fireworks in Santa Cruz as a kid growing up, I was as excited by the thrill of lighting them off as much as our 7 year old neighbor was. Tim and I can imagine a future of lighting fireworks on future Fourths with Tibblet(s) in tow. Then, on Saturday, we headed to the Sonoma Valley to join Oma and Sampa to watch a show, a Broadway medley, in an open-air theater in Jack London State Park. We just love being outside these days! 

Last week, my dad came up to Sacramento for a visit and to watch the semi-final matches in what has proven to be one of the best World Cups ever (and also probably my sober-ist). This Mundial, Tim and I enjoyed watching almost every game, and wagering on the elimination round predictions (neither of us were right on, but Tim was closer this year). We aren’t quite sure what we will do with all the free time now that the tournament is over. Anyway, it was fun watching with dad since he is the one who introduced me to the love of futbol. I wonder what Tim will teach Bibbs to enjoy? 

This weekend, Tim and I drove up to Sea Ranch for a quiet weekend alone. It was lovely to be by the ocean and out of the Sacramento heat. We did what we normally do at our family’s house in Sea Ranch: read, hike, walk on the beach, nap, cook, read, write, and repeat. I got a lot of work checked off my to-do list and feel so super refreshed coming into this new week, which is good considering that in the next seven days we have an ultrasound appointment, an appointment with the midwife, school and work, a visit with my cousin Dallas and her kids who are visiting from Oregon, a wedding, a dinner date with friends, a baby shower, a brunch date, and hopefully a trip to visit more cousins in the central valley. Did I mention we are trying to have ALL the fun this summer? 

18 Weeks! Almost halfway there!

In the midst of summer fin, Toast helped us organize our file cabinet (our first step towards reorganizing the house to make room for the third Tibbs)