To you Uncle Keith

Keith McDermott was called home from his mission on earth on Friday, December 19, 2008. His own father passed away on December 19, 1978. Other than my father I held no other man in such high regard as I did my uncle Keith. I thought last night about memories of my fun loving uncle. I don’t remember any bad memories with him. Not one! In my teen years I would get slightly annoyed with his “boys are bad” speeches that I came to know by heart, but I know it was because he loved me so much. As I grew up I looked upon my uncle for advice and spiritual strength especially after my parents divorced. Whenever I spent time with Uncle Keith I was greeted with at least two hugs and more often than not he would take my hands and place them on his shoulders for a quick massage. He was the best person I knew. He was kind, understanding, forgiving, and diplomatic. I want to live my life better just because I knew him. I will forever miss you Uncle Keith!

I'm expecting!

Today I’m happy to share the news that I’m expecting a healthy baby girl! No Spinal Muscle Atrophy here! I couldn’t be happier!

This has been a very nauseating pregnancy for me for sure. I had the middle of the night sickness and I wasn’t very happy about that, but thankfully I learned to drink a glass of milk or piece of cheese before bed and have pretzels on the night stand just in case.

I’m currently 16 weeks and due on May 10 although I suspect I’ll deliver earlier. Dom and I are thrilled and grateful to bring this child into our family. I look forward to getting sore hips and a huge belly! More importantly I look forward to a screaming baby upon birth!

Short and Sweet

I love Top Chef and I’m so glad its back!! Eugene is my favorite contestant so far.

Santa Barbara is on fire and it makes me sad.

High School Tag

Deesha this one’s for you:

1. Did you date someone from your school? Yes, Brian “Elvis” Anderson.

2. What kind of car did you drive? Oldsmobile, Cutlass Supreme… “The Tank!” I miss that car still.

3. What was the most embarrassing moment of HS? I must have mentally blocked my embarrassing moments. I’m sure I have plenty just from my sophomore year alone. Deesha, I’m sure you can share a few fun moments.

4. Were you a party animal? Nope.

5. Were you considered a flirt? I don’t think I was at school. Maybe at church dances and definitely while camping, my best friend took the lead though.

6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? I was on the drill team.

7. Were you a nerd? I definitely wasn’t a popular kid.

8. Were you on any varsity teams? No, I wish I played Volleyball though. Deesha’s track story is one of my favorites from high school. I laughed so hard and ran so much better when it was on the way to my car instead of around the football field. I wasn’t the best triple jumper at school anyway, so I’m sure the track team didn’t miss me.

9. Did you ever get suspended/expelled? No, I was always afraid to break the rules.

10. Can you still sing the fight song? I didn’t know there were words to that song either.

11. Who were your favorite teachers? Mrs. Hallerberg, my French teacher.

12. Where did you sit during lunch? I don’t remember a particular place. Probably near the band room the years I danced. My senior year I went to work at Dario’s at lunch time for four hours. Good times.

13. School mascot? Chargers.

14. Did you go to homecoming, and with whom? I didn’t go to homecoming.

15. If you could go back and do it again, would you? No, I’ll pass on that.

16. What do you remember most about graduation? It was hot. I was nervous about my future and what changes might occur. My home life wasn’t the best at the time.

17. Where did you go on senior skip day? Huntington Beach. Oh, the memories.

18. Were you in any clubs? I don’t think I was. Wait, I was in Future Business Leaders of America for a short time. I don’t know how that happened.

19. Have you gained some weight since then? Well, of course I did.

20. Who was your prom date? Danny

21. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? I missed it. I’ll probably attend the 20th though. We’ll see.

22. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself? Not to be so self-conscious and shy.

Tag you’re it…let me know if you do fill this out!!!

Fried Bologna

Today for lunch I had a fried bologna sandwich. I’m not a fan of bologna normally, but fried is a different story. I think of two things when I break out the fried bologna. April, the person who introduced fried bologna to me and my mother, who hated the smell fried bologna brought to the house after cooking. Today I totally understand why my mother hated the smell…yuck! I’m so sorry mom that I made you endure that smell repeatedly while I went though my previous fried bologna stints. Thankfully they are few and far between. Back at my desk at work all I can smell on my skin and clothing is fried bologna. I might just go home and change. I don’t want to let people stand too close to me now because I might have an offending odor. Maybe my nose is just a super smeller today. I’m reminded of the Subway sandwich smell. I try to use the drive through whenever possible when I order from Subway because then I avoid the lingering odor the rest of the day. It’s one of my least favorite smells, but I sure do love a Subway sandwich! I love Subway second to my two favorite delis: Valentinos in Santa Barbara and Darios in Covina. Subway will just have to do since I'm too far to take a lunch break to my top two locations.

Dom's big 3-0!

Happy Birthday Dom! 30! I hate to make this message about me instead of the birthday boy, but I made an awesome cake and this is my blog after all, so I’ll brag just a minute. It was a tasty Pina Colada cake minus the rum. See below…

We went to see Hellboy and had lunch at Costco. His choice. At least he is a cheap date.
We’ve also been enjoying the Olympics this weekend. This is the second summer Olympics that I have been a fan of. I love watching Volleyball. Indoor or outdoor works for me. We stayed up way too late Saturday night watching the events.

I think I need a shower

I went to the store today to shop for a few work supplies. I went through the self check out and was proceeding to the front door when I noticed a series of spills trailing out of the store. I stepped over some of the trail on my way out of the store and was warned to be extremely careful in doing so. Then I turned the corner and noticed that the trail continued in the direction of the bathroom where I pieced it together…I had just stepped over a trail of diarrhea. Immediately after I connected the dots (on the ground) I felt a conflict of emotions. I felt empathy for the person responsible for the trail since they were most likely mortified. I also felt dirty and grossed out and checked to make sure I didn’t step in it on accident when I went across. On the drive back to work I was tempted to stop by my house to change and possibly shower. That’s my gross story for the day.

You’re welcome.

M'am?

I went to Taco Bell last week at lunchtime…yeah I know; Taco Bell, but I love the tostadas there. Okay, so I was at Taco Bell and stepped up to the register to place my order and the kid behind the counter said, “What can I do for you m’am?” This has been happening more and more often lately. What’s wrong with that you ask? I’m a m’am now! When did this happen? When did I change over from Miss to M’am? Yes, I’m aware that I just called the guy at the register a kid. One time not too long ago…a few years maybe I was carded when Dom and I were at the grocery store getting beer for him. He showed his card because it was his purchase and he was paying and the checker wouldn’t let us buy it until I produced my card as proof of my legal age. I thought it was annoyingly funny. Now I don’t get so much a questionable glance at check out when Dom buys beer. What?

It also reminds me of when I was a substitute teacher in Texas. I usually taught at elementary or middle schools, but one time they needed me for a high school. By the time I was called to go in classes were already in session and I had my little backpack filled with stuff for me to do because usually my work day was all about movies and games. I was quickly walking from the office to the classroom I was assigned to when I was stopped by an annoyed voice. “What are you doing?”
I turned around to face a stern faced woman in a business suit. “Going to my class.”
“You are late; you should already be in class. Who’s your teacher?” She looked pretty upset with me almost as if she was going to start tapping her foot and tisk tisk me.
“I’m the sub.”
She smiled, “Oh, okay. You looked like a student!” As if she hadn’t been rude to me just seconds ago just because she thought I was a teenager late to class.
I thought she was harsh on her students based on that interaction. A class was nearby doing something in the lunchroom and one of the students that overheard said, “She’s mean huh?”
I was inclined to agree, but as a sub I knew I shouldn’t. I went into my class, but thought a lot about how she treated someone she thought was a student. It was no wonder some of the student population there didn’t feel much affection for her. At the end of the day she saw me on my way out and made a point to thank me for coming in last minute (that’s what subs do).

Be nice to your teenagers…they are people too! (Love you Matt and Ty my two favorite teens)!

If you can find the time

You might want to check out this book. I read this book last night after work in one night and found it entertaining. This book is not a self-help book or inspirational, but sometimes it is just nice to read for purely entertainment purposes. This was a funny romantic comedy written in the form of emails only and there was even a little whodunit mixed in.

Dom's exciting shopping trip

Dom is the proud new owner of this lovely lawn mower. He also purchased a weed eater and a blower…It’s a big day at the De Amicis household!

Fight Night

I just knew that Urijah Faber (left) would win the fight last night. Have I previously mentioned my love for cage fighting? I couldn’t wait for this fight. We recorded the show so we could fast forward commercials, but when we watched the program the recording cut off right as the fight I wanted to see was entering the ring! Outrage! I saw that it was playing again, so I stayed up late to watch the main event. It was worth the lack of sleep and a great bout! This guy is on a 21-1 winning streak.

California and Florida trips

I’ll start with my California vacation and then move on to Florida. I’m quite the jet setter lately. As some of you may know I went to California for Easter to visit the family. I am the worst at taking pictures on vacation!!! I only took a few pictures in Santa Barbara of my nephew’s BMX practice and that was it. We had a great trip though. It snowed all the way out of Oregon on the way there, but Santa Barbara was beautiful as usual and I enjoyed a long walk by myself at Goleta Beach. I forgot what it feels like to have sunburned shoulders because it has been so long! Even that felt good. After spending a couple blissful days at the beach we drove to the inland empire for the last part of the trip. Easter was a busy day full of family visits. It was so nice not to have to bundle up every time I walked out of the house. Visiting reminds me of how much I miss my family and makes me want to move back to Santa Barbara. If it weren’t for the expense we’d be back in a heartbeat. I promised myself to take better pictures on the Florida Vacation. I did take more pictures, but not nearly as many as I should have.





Dom and I went Florida for a week and it was great to get out of the cold weather for a while. We flew into Orlando and spent just a full day there. We did not do the amusement park thing because we didn’t want to wind damage Dom’s eye, but we kept busy with miniature golfing, go carts, and Wonderworks. In Key Largo we checked into our hotel and walked to a nearby Wendy’s for lunch. On our way back to the hotel Dom stepped on my flip flop and broke it, so we got into the rental car and decided to drive up to the Kmart we passed coming in. I made him go with me instead of relaxing because he broke the shoe after all. On the way there a Honda Accord side swiped us! I was upset that this happened in a rental. It was a minor fender bender though, so I cannot complain too much. I was just worried that the rental company would charge us an arm and a leg..and maybe another arm. So far though things have been going well and thankfully the other driver had insurance and they are paying it all. When we got back from Kmart we went immediately to the pool for relaxation time. Dom had a Pina Colada at the poolside tiki bar and we listened to the poolside entertainment. While in Key Largo we did a whole bunch of nothing really. Dom did go on a fishing trip and we took a glass bottom boat ride together to see the Molasses Reef. I had the best fish tacos ever at Sharkey’s. I got sunburned at the beach and am still peeling and scaly from that. Halfway through our trip we got a call from our neighbor at home who was watching the cats for us. She asked if someone else had a key to the house because the cats hadn’t eaten or used the litter box in a couple days. I hoped that maybe they were just depressed and would get hungry enough to eat soon. The next day I hoped for a phone call to let me know all was well, but when we finally broke down and called her before we went to bed she said that she still had not seen them. She did ask if we shut the upstairs bathroom door before we left and I didn’t think we did. She tried opening it, but it wouldn’t open all the way. The cats had been playing in the bathroom and while they were wrestling they shut the door behind them. In a panic to open the door to get out they opened all the drawers under the sink and barricaded themselves inside. My neighbor had to get a butter knife to push each drawer back in. Thankfully the cats are okay and I was very relieved to hear this. The last day of our vacation we stayed in Miami. It is so beautiful there. We went to the Miami Sea Aquarium and then walked a block from our hotel to the beach. I love that city, but people are up ALL night there. That was annoying since we seemed to be the only people in town that wanted to go to bed because we had to get up super early to catch our flight home. I thought I could sleep on the plane, but that didn’t work out well either since there was a fussy baby a few rows up from us (I’m not mad at the baby, but felt badly for the parents). We also sat in front of the exit row, so we couldn’t recline our seats the few inches they allow. When we got home we did a deep cleaning of the upstairs bathroom because the cats had to use it as a restroom for a few days…yuck. Then I had the best sleep I have had in a very long time. It was wonderful.

Here are some pictures. :)

Dom in Miami

Dom at Miami Sea Aquarium

Wonderworks...see me in the picture?

Everglades

Miami

The only Key Largo sunset I was able to capture

Also, Oregon welcomed me back with a big case of allergies. I guess I’m meant to live in a tropical environment because I only sneezed once the entire week while in Florida! Here at work I sneeze a few times a day at the very least. Within a half hour of landing in Portland my eyes were itchy and my nose was running.

Bell's Palsy

On Wednesday night last week Dom came home and told me that the left side of his face felt numb. I, being the positive thinker that I am (insert sarcasm), went straight to thoughts of stroke. I feared the worst. He didn’t want to go to the ER and I was up half the night checking to make sure he was breathing and imagining calling 911 at some point in the night and all kinds of other horrible things because sometimes that’s how my overactive imagination rolls. Thursday morning his face was still numb, so he decided to go to the ER to get checked out. He has Bell’s Palsy and thankfully it will clear up! For now though he refers to himself as Droopy the Dog. He is doing okay, but he has to wear a patch on his eye for sleep and work because the eyelid doesn’t close all the way and causes dryness and discomfort. One side of his mouth feels like he went to the dentist and his forehead only wrinkles on one side now. He has the most charming half smile though and has referred to himself as Elvis a couple of times...I don't know why, but this feels like a reoccuring theme somehow. I'd rather refer to him as a pirate with that eyepatch.

Could have beens

My due date would have been today. I have been thinking about Cali a lot in the past few weeks and what it might have been like. I think it’s appropriate to blog about her a little bit today. I remember in the past when I would watch TV shows that like Grey’s Anatomy and the story line included a woman who had to give birth to a still birth baby I always wondered how the woman did it. How could she push and go through all the pain of labor for a baby she wouldn’t get to raise? I thought it must be difficult to have the energy to push through all the grief. Then, unfortunately I had to experience it first hand and now I realize that it’s just something to get through. It was my obstacle to overcome and it’s up to me how I handle it. Hopefully someday I’ll be in labor again and I’ll have a different story to tell.

Eli Stone

If I worked in the same law office as Eli Stone I would definitely have listened to his urgings about the earthquake in San Francisco. I would have been right there in the park with the rest of the Eli Stone believers. Not just for the fact that I love Eli, but because I am petrified of earthquakes and if someone told me there was going to be a big one and where I might be safe I'd be all over it. I'd be the first one there with my earthquake backpack ready to go. And for the first time ever I was hoping for an earthquake at the end of the episode...vindication!!! I'm so looking forward to the season finale on Sunday night. Check it out!!!

Rock of Love

I’m so glad that Brett picked Ambre to be his Rock of Love! However I am a bit skeptical about them staying together. Why you ask? It’s reality TV. The romantic in me wishes it would be a love match and they will live happily ever after, but the realist inside is telling me no way it won’t work. Perhaps they have already parted ways…who knows? Who cares? A break up will just make way for The Rock of Love 3 (with three daggers through a heart) if things don’t work out and that’s good entertainment.

A taste of Winter

I cleared snow off my car this morning…snow!!!

Good Works

People still do nice things for other people with out expecting anything in return. I know this to be a fact because I have been the recipient of kind acts recently. As recent as lunchtime today in fact. It’s nice to see that even when no one is looking and it’s not the holiday season people do think of others. Thank you…you know who you are and I really do appreciate it. I’m proud to call you friend and I’m always thankful to find quality people.

In my life I have been incredibly blessed in the friend department. I love you guys!

Disclaimer and Cali

This is my disclaimer: I created my blog to share only fertility related information because when I was trying to conceive I liked to read other people’s journeys, so I thought I could put one out there for other people (strangers) to trip upon that were trying to get pregnant. It was not my original intention to share it with family and friends, but then recently when we had our loss I emailed it out to everyone. It was just easier to have people check that out I guess. I make this confession because I am a little embarrassed that I shared all that fertility junk, but it is what it is.

Now for the regular updates: On my birthday recently I had a delicious ice cream cake from Cold Stone. Just before picking up the cake though we went to pick up Cali from the funeral home since it was on the same end of town. I received a call earlier in the day to let us know she was ready to pick up. Dom and I came to the decision to have Cali cremated mainly because we did not want to suffer though another funeral for a baby. That was one of the things I dreaded the most when Orion passed away. Before picking her up we were planning on just spreading her ashes in Santa Barbara with family and then go for lunch together, but now that we have her we both feel the urge to keep her. We will still go to lunch with family in Santa Barbara though even if we don’t do the memorial! How about lunch at The Habit? Mmmm, good stuff. I can’t wait to visit.




We decided to visit Florida for our vacation later this year. I want to visit Miami and Key Largo to see some tropical water. Dom is looking forward to the theme parks of Orlando. It will be a nice vacation for both of us to enjoy. I’d like to visit an aquarium while we are there since that’s one of our favorite things to do as well. I was looking online at the aquarium in Miami and it looks like a place I’d like to see. At least we have some time to make plans.

With that vacation in mind I went to the gym yesterday to start jogging again. I was up to a mile just before I got pregnant, so I hope to get to that point pretty quickly again. Yesterday I think I over did it though. I planned on only jogging a few minutes and ended up challenging myself to just go a minute longer for a few minutes too many. I am sore. I have apparently not used my jogging muscles in six months! I'll get over it though.

January 19, 2008

In the great words of creative genius Barry Manilow “I made it through the rain.” I delivered my babies early morning on January 19. The delivery itself went smoothly and was physically painless thanks to the epidural. The hospital experience was great. I felt compassion from the nurses and the doctors. I came home by late morning/early afternoon on Saturday and rested all weekend. I was sad when Dom had to go back to work on Monday morning. Just the same as with Orion I was feeling extra clingy and wanted him to be home. I’m glad I don’t have to set foot outside today though because it’s 5 degrees at the moment. Very chilly. Crazy as this might sound we have already decided that we have one more pregnancy in us. See how quickly that happens? Just a few days ago I never wanted to do it again. We are now planning a nice vacation. We said it after Orion, but didn’t do it. Now we have double the reason to go. It will be nice to just get away for a little while. In the near future I’m looking forward to returning to the gym to jog again. That will be therapeutic in itself. Dom and I are doing okay.

Here's an interesting fact: Orion passed away on my father's birthday in 2006 and Cali was stillborn on my mother's birthday this year. Strange coincidence?

Sad News

I had a doctor appointment yesterday for a check up. My doctor could not find Cali’s heartbeat, so she sent me to the hospital for an ultrasound there. Unfortunately the ultrasound confirmed that Cali had very recently passed. I went back to the doctor’s office and planned to come to the hospital very early this morning to induce labor…a process that can take 48 hours or so.

At this point I’m wondering if it’s something I did that caused her to pass away and I have lost confidence in successfully having a baby in the future. I’m not sure I’ll try getting pregnant again. I say that now, but I felt that way after Orion was born too, so maybe that will pass.

So, for now I just watch TV and wait. I am scared. I admit that. I try not to think about delivery too much though at this point. I’ll worry about it when we get there.

I just talked to the doctor and she told me that it was not anything I did and we will probably never know why she passed away. I just want to get this over with instead of waiting here in the hospital room anticipating.

The cats

Dom and I have two cats that live with us. We adopted Peaches (the calico) first. Dom didn’t want to get a cat, but it turned out that Peaches was all his. She didn’t even let me touch her unless I caught her for the first few years. Now she graces me with her presence from time to time for a pet or two. Peaches follows Dom around the house like a puppy and I think it’s kind of cute to see the bond that he reluctantly formed with her. Soon after we adopted Peach I decided that it just wasn’t fair that I wanted the cat and she didn’t even let me pet her, so I convinced Dom that I needed my very own kitten. Off to Oxnard we went to adopt Lola (black and white). Thankfully my plan worked out and Lola is all mine. What a sweet cat. The reason I give the background on this is because recently one morning Dom got up super early to do some snow removal work before going to his regular job. He left around 3:45 and very soon after he locked the front door to leave Peaches started crying for him. Not meowing, crying. It’s loud. It’s fairly annoying being that I enjoy my sleep very much and it was early morning. Not fun to hear that little cat echo through the house. I called out her name a few times and usually that works, but no, not this particular morning. Separation anxiety anyone?

As for the pregnancy I’m now 24 weeks pregnant and all seems to be going well. Last night when I was going to sleep Cali was kicking and I think even hard enough for Dom to feel finally. Hopefully today I’ll get some more good kicks and he will be able to experience Cali. I’ve been horrible about taking pictures of my belly this time. Last time I took one every month. I need to get on top of that.