I've Been Tagged!

Rules:
Post rules on your blog. Answer the six "8" items. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment.

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

• Nursed Holden
• Went to Church
• Watched Amazing Race and Eli Stone from DVR
• Started to blog- but never finished
• Decorated for Christmas
• Ate Pumpkin Pie (with whipped cream - yum!)
• Listened to Christmas Music
• Stayed up until 1:30am talking with Jason

8 Things I Look Forward to:

• Thanksgiving
• Christmas
• Snowboarding
• Loosing the baby weight
• Waterskiing next summer
• Kauai Trip next Christmas
• Fitting into ALL my clothes (not just some of them)
• Fire pit and BBQ Island being built

8 Restaurants I Like:

• Crush 29
• Bravo Pastaria
• Cheesecake Factory
• Costa Vida
• Olive Garden
• Red Robin (with the kids - this is my favorite)
• Ruth Chris' Steakhouse
• Kokyo's

8 Things On My Wish List:

• Laser Hair Removal
• New Make-Up
• Great Skin Care Products
• More Time
• Get back in shape
• More Date Nights
• My kids to be "best friends"
• More vacations

8 Favorite TV Shows:

• Survivor
• The Apprentice
• American Idol
• So You Think You Can Dance
• Grey's Anatomy & Private Practice (OK - that is two shows - but one is a spin off)
• Eli Stone
• Lost
• Lipstick Jungle

8 People I Tag: (You're It!)

• Christie C
• Lisa F
• Chelle
• Jillian
• Matt
• Sandy
• Megan
• Rebecca

Back to the Grind

Well, yesterday was my first day back to work after 16 weeks of maternity leave. I've had mixed feelings about going back to work. There have been times that I have been OK with it, and other times where I have been on the verge of tears just thinking about it. The thing is - I like my job, but I like my kids more. But, being a stay at home mom is no picnic either. I think in my ideal world I would work a little less but still have the house cleaner and nanny for most of the time. I love the help with keeping the house clean, laundry, dinner and of course, the kids. My sister nannies for us and I work from home. It works out really well. I am so grateful I enjoy my job and I get to work from home. I still get to see my kids during the day, eat lunch with them, nurse Holden and come out of my office to watch him stick his tongue out (a new trick he just learned)

For those of you wondering - I am an Account Management Supervisor (inside sales) for a pathology medical software company. Pathologists are the ones that diagnose cancer. I have been with the same company for 13 years in various roles. I started my second year of college and worked in Support, R&D, Operations and then ended up in Sales in 1998. I was entering my last year of college at UVSC getting a BS in Business Management when a sales position came open in the company - there were only 3, so it was a big deal to have an opening. After some coaching from one of the sales reps to fight for the position, I did. I "sold" the President so well, he finally gave me the job on the condition that I make my sales quota, graduate from college and put the job first - no excuses because of school - the job came first. He said he knew I would make a great sales rep when I wouldn't take "No" for an answer - it took over a month of selling him to get that position. That year I worked full time during the day, attended school full time in the evening and traveled on a regular basis. My teachers were so good to work with my travel schedule and were thrilled I had landed such a great job in my major. I got a 4.0 that year and attained well over my quota in sales. That was the beginning of a lifetime love of sales.

When Jason and I decided to have children, I gave up my Sales Manager title (didn't want the stress anymore) and switched from new sales to inside sales so I could have less travel. I really do love my job. I mostly work via phone and email selling software upgrades, add-on modules and interfaces to our current customers - many of whom I initially sold the product as a new sales rep. It is fun to have built such strong relationships with clients over the years. I try to travel as little as possible these days due to my family - but my territory does go from CA to the Dakotas, so travel is inevitable. But, a lot of my trips tend to be day trips, which is great. I am soooo glad I can work from home. There are days that I wish I could be a stay at home mom. But, most days I am happy to be working and very grateful for a wonderful job that allows me to make a good living, enjoy what I do and work from home.

Here are some sweet notes the kids wrote me yesterday on my first day back to work. They "mailed" them to me (slipped them under the door). Last week I told Dawson I was bummed I was going back to work and he said - "That's OK Mom, because you work from home" - thanks son!

Dawson wrote this all by himself - cute!

I WUV YOU MOME. I MIS YOU MOME. AND I WUV YOU

Taya's Letter

Retail Therapy

Friday, I had my last "hurrah" on my last day before returning to work. My mom, sister, the kids and I went to lunch and a little retail therapy at the "new" mall. Have you local gals checked it out? You must go just for the sheer shock factor. I am not sure how they hid the new section so well - but I was shocked, amazed, excited and confused.... There is a new food court, playgrounds, 50 new shops/restaurants, new "district" shopping with similar stores grouped together and the hi-light....drum roll please....the Family Lounge - the large glass automatic doors open and invite you in - Big Screen TV, rocking horses, private nursing areas, family bathrooms with little potties and sinks, a huge changing area with nifty soaps and lotions, a microwave and a bottle warmer - what else could you ask for except a babysitter to watch your kids there. An obvious way to give you a little break and get you right back out there for round 2. But, they got me suckered in. It's in the new food court if you are wondering. It is quite funny to see the difference between the old part of the mall and the new part. I thought the old mall was very nice - but the new mall puts it to shame. The flooring and couches are top notch.

We had fun window shopping in the wildly expensive "district" - especially Louis Vuitton. The guys in suits making sure they were not ripped off got a kick out of watching Taya dance around to the background music. The music particularly rocked at the mall that day and we found ourselves singing and dancing along in multiple stores. I am not sure who in the world is buying $2,000 purses in this economy - but there were sure a lot of people in Louis Vuitton and they were doing a lot more than window shopping. Crazy!

My favorite new store - H&M. I love it! Great clothes at a great price. You have to check it out.

The two bummers about the new mall:

1. - No more free car strollers - you have to pay $5 or $7 for a double. I will miss the free ones. I am too cheap to rent one - so now I will have to lug my own.

2. No more carousel - For my children sake's, I hope this is temporary. They were quite bummed.

Happy Shopping!

The End of a Season....

Yesterday was the end of the Soccer season - last game, soccer party - fun times! It was 80 degrees in mid November - what a great way to end the season - a beautiful day. This was our first year with soccer or any organized sport. The first couple of games were hilarious - Dawson mostly watched the grass grow. Any attempt at kicking the ball looked more like he was trying to karate chop it. But, after a few games he decided he likes being a "shark" (defense). Whenever he did kick the ball, he would stop and look over at us and give a big thumbs up or a "YES" while making a fist. Hilarious. Everyone else is on the other side of the field while he is still posing for his cheering section. My family was great and Dawson loved his Aunt Jesi, Uncle Will and Grandma and Grandpa Davis coming to his games. He certainly had the biggest cheering section.

I remember the first day of soccer practice well. Holden was only 3 weeks old and it was my first day with all three kids by myself (my sister/nanny had just gotten married that weekend and left on her honeymoon). It was so hectic trying to get all the kids ready since most of the day was spent nursing Holden. I barely made it to practice - I got lost on the way, so we were late. I parked on the wrong side of the park - so I had to trek across the very large grassy park holding a blanket, a huge diaper bag and pushing a stroller - quickly. By the time I made it there, my incision from my c-section was throbbing, I was in a lot of pain and Holden started crying wanting to eat - again..... and he was not good at nursing in public at the time. I was almost in tears wondering what in the world I was doing there when my neighbor, Mary Beth, walked up to me. Her daughter, Gracie, was on our team. Hallelujah! Mary Beth immediately offered to take Dawson home and promptly walked me back to my car so I could go home and feed Holden. She was a real answer to my prayers - I am so grateful for her service to me. She took Dawson to most of the practices - which was a huge lifesaver. Thank you Mary Beth!

Here is our poser on video!

Here are some pictures from this soccer season.

Dawsonater

Here is Dawson's kindergarten picture. We paid the extra $5 to have them re-touch the photo since he scratched his nose the night before. So, that was well worth it! Don't you love digital photos? I am not sure what we ever did without them. I personally wish that all photos were just delivered on a CD with the print. Or, just CD only. I am very digital and I end up scanning all these pictures - but the quality with a scan is not as good. So, why can't we just go pure digital and get CD's???

Dawson is our active boy - he is ALL boy. I tried giving him a red plate yesterday instead of his typical blue, since the blue were all dirty (we usually give Taya red) and he started crying telling me I was making him do girly things. Dawson is really polite and always says "excuse me" to get people's attention. His church teachers thought is was really cute when he would raise his hand and say "excuse me teacher". He does get really annoyed after a few times of asking nicely when you don't pay attention to him. Dawson is a sweet boy and has a sensitive spirit. He loves to play with his baby brother, Holden. He likes to run, wrestle and play with swords and guns. Wherever we go he always finds a stick to sword fight with or something to climb on. We love our Dawsonater.

The Happiest Place on Earth

We had an awesome time last week at the happiest place on earth - Disneyland! Actually, I have never considered myself a real "Disneyland person" - but have gone the last two years with the kids and my parents and I really enjoy it. It's very nostalgic to me and brings back memories of my childhood. I really love to see my kids experience it and love to see their reactions and expressions. I especially love going with my parents - they are such good friends and I love hanging out with them. They make the whole trip better. Going in the off season is great because the lines are so short - we never waited more then 10 minutes.

Our favorites from the trip:

• Jen - Space Mountain and California Screamin'
• Jason - Watching Dawson fight Darth Vader
• Dawson - All the rides - he loves it ALL
• Taya - Tea Cups and the Carousel (over and over again)
• Holden - The Front Pack

The not so great moments:

• Dad getting sick with the flu the day we drove home. We hung out and swam in the hotel pool waiting for Dad to feel well enough to drive home. By 2PM he came around and was able to make it home without needing a doggie bag.
• Taya completely loosing it after a long day at Disneyland when we woke her up to change her into her PJs. BIG mistake on our part. The next night she again fell asleep on the shuttle bus to the hotel and we correctly let her sleep in her clothes.
• Holden crying in the car - this is typical, but gets really old on a 8 hour drive. So, there was a lot of singing primary songs and baby foot rubs, which seemed to help.

Happy, Easy Kids in the Car Ride

Holden was not so happy in the car

Taya was a trouper and went on all the "scary" rides the first day - Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion - even the Matterhorn. But after half a day of that, she was OVER it and spent the rest of the day in Fairytale Town on the Tea Cups and the Carousel. We gave her a break from scary on the second day!

Dawson was especially excited to go on the rope swing at California Adventure - he was too short last year by 1/4" and remembered well that he could not go on it (he cried last year when they turned him away). So, he talked about wanting to go on it the entire first day.

Taya loves the Rocket Ride at California Adventure. She rode it 5 times in a row she loved it so much. On her last ride they made her the Honorary Captain - complete with sticker and a flashlight to lead the way. Fun!

Dawson got to do the Jedi Training. Fighting Darth Vader was the highlight. Plus - his sword fighting skills greatly improved from the training.

The Parade - always a highlight. I love Disneyland at night - it's Magical.

My Cute Baby

Here are some 3 month pictures of Holden - they were taken about a month ago when he was 11 weeks old - so I am a bit tardy on posting them! I think they turned out pretty cute and I was so excited that I got him to smile for the camera in a couple!

Here are a couple other cute pictures of Holden during the last month - I love this one of all the kids watching morning cartoons. They were determined to have Holden sit with them! Holden looks pretty mesmerized.