what's in a name...

I saw this on my friend Alison's Blog and I thought it was super cute. If you like, you can play too.

1. My rock star name (first pet and current car): Pepper Suburban

2. My gangsta name (favorite ice cream flavor and favorite cookie): Rocky Road Snickerdoodle

3. My "fly girl" name (first initial of first name and first 3 letters of last name): B McC (or B Mac)

4. My detective name (favorite color and favorite animal): Green Tiger

5. My soap opera name (middle name and city where you were born): Michelle Bakersfield

6. My Star Wars name (first 3 letters of your last name and first 2 letters of your first name):McC Br

7. My superhero name (2nd favorite color and favorite drink with "The" in front): The Red Dr Pepper

8. My Nascar name (first names of your grandfathers): Jerry Victor

9. My lounge singer name (name of your favorite perfume/cologne and your favorite candy): Happy Peanut Butter Cups

10. My witness-protection name (mother's and father's middle names): Ann Christopher

Birthday Events

Yesterday was a GREAT day! Cali is now a whole year old, whether I like it or not. I do love this age though. From about 6 months when they actually start doing a lot like sitting, scooting/crawling, playing....to about 18 months when they start going in the opposite direction and they're heading for the "terrible twos". Kids are just great and yesterday we had a lot of fun.


We got to go to a little carnival here in town for preschoolers. It was mostly for Austin, but Cali loves to be outside and watch him play, so we all had a good time. They had a clown, crafts, a hay ride, snacks, etc., and it was only $2. What more can a mom ask for?

That afternoon I was able to take the kids to get pictures taken. When Austin had his first birthday that was the one thing that I swore I would always do, get pictures. I can take pretty good pictures, but nothing like you get at The Picture People! The session was mostly for Cali because it was her birthday, but I did take the opportunity to get some shots with the two kids together. They really did a great job. And the best part was that I was able to bring the pictures home with me and I don't have to wait 6-8 weeks to get the prints. I was so happy.

After the session I let the kids play at the awesome little playground in the mall for a bit which really ended the day well. They were both asleep all the way home, and Austin even slept longer once we got home. He played hard.

After we got home I finished up the cupcakes, got dinner on the table, and we enjoyed an evening together and focused on Cali. She's been a little grumpy lately because her top teeth are really giving her a fit, but she was happy and she really brightened up when it was time to rip into her presents. We just got her a couple things, but it's always fun to see them tearing up the paper and start playing with the toy before it's even fully exposed!! And of course I had to give Austin a little something to open, just a little car, but it was probably the smartest gift I got. :)

Cupcake time was GREAT! While we were singing "Happy Birthday" Cali was already reaching for the cupcake and I couldn't get the paper off fast enough. She dug into that thing and had it devoured before I could even put the lighter away.

We had a great day! It was full of fun and family, and we must have really wore her out because she slept ALL night long and I even had to wake the poor thing up this morning. Enjoy the pictures and Party On!!

Happy Birthday Cali

My little baby girl is One Year Old today!!! Happy Birthday Cali!!!

A friend of mine told me that it's a tradition in their family for the mom to tell the story of the child's birth on the first birthday. My family already knows my tale, so I thought I'd share it with you and tell you a little about my little girl.

Sunday, April 22, 2007: I was coaching a volleyball tournament in Corvallis, Oregon. After the tournament was over, Marcus and I packed up our little bags, left Austin with my parents, and headed to the hospital. It was one week before my due date, but I had requested to have Cali early and since Austin was almost 9lbs at birth, my doctor thought it best to induce as well. There were other factors though too; I had a low lying placenta that she was concerned about, I didn't go into labor on my own with Austin and was probably going to need some help anyway, and if I did go into labor on my own, she was afraid that I would end up delivering in my bathtub because of the speed of my first delivery. (3 pushes!) So, late that Sunday night I was given a devil drug that began the process (I was not dialating or effacing on my own). We slept for a bit, but that soon ended.

Early Monday morning my doctor came in to check on me. I was a whole 1 centimeter!! Woohoo! As sweet as she is, she decided to break my water....I love her, I just have to keep reminding myself that. Breaking my water set me into even harder contractions. Not too long after this blessed event, I decided that I should probably use the bathroom one last time. Yeah right! I didn't even make it to the bathroom. Luckily I made it to a chair, sat down, and tried to breathe. I felt so sick, but the idiot nurse that I had didn't do much for me, so I threw up all over the floor...clean that up, punk! teehee... I was feeling a little better so I went back to the bed (I never did get to use the bathroom again). That long walk got to me and I was ready to blow again...my husband is awesome and made it just in time with a trash can.

My doc came back to check on me again after the throw up was all cleaned up, lucky girl, and I was ready for my epidural. I didn't get an epidural with Austin, so I was a little nervous, but it was fantastic!! The epidural came around 10:30am, just in time. About an hour later I was just about ready to get that little child OUT! My doctor didn't think it would all happen that fast, but if she would have listened to me from the beginning, she would have known better. By noon she was scrubbed and ready to go. Marcus was even ready to help. Everything was set. She warned me that with an epidural I might not be able to get this baby out as easily as I got Austin out....HAHAHA!!! Two contractions later, Cali joined us in the world. The doctor got the head out and Marcus got to catch the rest of her. And since we didn't know ahead of time if she was a boy or a girl, he got to tell the world, "It's a Girl!!!" It was awesome!!

23 April 2007 at 12:18 pm Cali Brianne McCabe was born. She was 8lbs 4oz and 19.5 inches long. She came out with a full head of black hair and was as sweet as she could be.

Now that she's a year old and I've gotten to know her a little bit more, she's a lot like her mommy. She's definitely got her own personality and she knows what she wants, and will do whatever necessary to get it. She is very observant and just loves to sit and look out the window or be outside and watch the trees. She also loves to play race cars with Austin and they chase each other around. She's still not walking yet, but I'm sure it will be soon. She still only has 2 little teeth on the bottom, but I know there are more coming VERY soon....her top gums are practically white! Poor Baby. She is a lot like her big brother in many ways, but very much her own little person already. She's awesome and I couldn't imagine life without her.

Happy Birthday Cali!!!

Our Weekend Update

My dad was in town this past weekend from California. We haven't seen him since we visited his house over Thanksgiving. It's always good to see my dad! He came Thursday afternoon and we had the whole weekend planned.
Thursday night, first things first, we had some crawfish for dinner. When we used to live in Texas we would eat crawfish quite often, but since moving back we haven't really had that many opportunities to have much crawfish. There's an actual "crawfish season" and apparently we're in it, so we have to eat as much as we can until it ends. Kind of like hunting. Marcus feels the need to do as much hunting as possible during hunting season, so we eat as much crawfish as possible during crawfish season. (I say "we" but you really have to see my husband eat crawfish and you would understand that it's just him.) Anyway, when we used to live here, my dad had visited one time during crawfish season, so, of course, we went with Marcus' family to eat crawfish at an all-you-can-eat crawfish buffet....oh my goodness!! I've never seen so much crawfish before in my life. I think I'll save that whole experience for another blog sometime soon....during crawfish season, of course.
Friday I had to go to a volleyball tournament to coach. I was planning on us playing in the morning and being back that afternoon, but we ended up getting the pm shift so we didn't even start playing until 3:30pm and I didn't get home until about 10pm. The trouble with that situation was that we had 4 tickets to the Rockets vs Suns NBA game and since I couldn't go, my ticket was given to a friend. That Sucked!! But whatever. The next problem was that Marcus and my dad were leaving for the game before I got home from my volleyball tournament. He asked his dad if he wanted the fourth ticket, since another guy backed out, and asked if my mother-in-law could come to watch the kids. So, in the end it all worked out.
Saturday was supposed to be a relaxed day without the men because they were leaving at 7am to go fishing. Marcus got a phone call around 5:30am (thank you very much). It was the guy that was supposed to take them out fishing in the bay. I guess my dad brought a little too much wind with him and they couldn't go fishing. Every time my dad has come to visit us...EVERY time...we have planned a fishing trip for him and something has gone wrong. Even in Oregon. I guess he's not meant to fish with Marcus or something. I felt so bad for them all, but what can you do? It was just too windy. It was such a bummer.
Sunday was nice. Church in the morning, naps in the afternoon, movie and ice cream that night. Enough said.
Monday we decided to head to the Houston Zoo (that's what the pictures are from if you couldn't tell). I've been there once before, but it was really windy and Cali was sick so we weren't there very long and it wasn't that great of an experience. This time the weather was just about perfect, Cali was SO excited when we saw any animal, and we had to hurry towards the end of the day because we had been there so long, but we still had more to see before we had to leave. It was great!
My dad left this afternoon. It's always great to have him visit, but in reality, it's great to see him go. I could tell that he was getting a little restless and antsy to get home, back to work and normal activity. We are too. When someone comes to visit nothing is normal. Our schedule's out of whack and nothing gets done around the house. I've already been doing laundry and picking things up and getting them back to "normal". Don't get me wrong, I love when family comes to visit, but it's definitely nice when they leave. :)

Welcome

For those of you reading this blog, it is still me. Yesterday, there were some complications on my other blog, "Fezology", so I decided to just close it down for a while and start fresh. I'm not very computer savvy, so it might take me a little while to get this new one just the way I want it, so bare with me. Luckily for me I don't have too many friends that blog, so I hope this is as easy of a transition as I hope for all of us. Just change the link you have for me and get rid of the other one. I might bring it back to life sometime, but not until I get all the kinks worked out.

So, this is my new blog, most likely from now on. If any of you that have such cute blogs could help me get mine to be a little cuter, I would really appreciate the help. How on earth do you get such pretty flowers and stuff in the background? I don't have such options and I don't really know where to look. HELP!