Intermission

Hi all.
Life is pretty tough right now. You probably won't hear from us for a while. We'll just call this an intermission.

"Intermission: A break between two performances or sessions."

That's what we're having. A break between sessions. One session ending. Now we're taking a break to recoup. Then, once we regain our footing, another session will begin.

Thank you all for your love and support. Odin, Zephyr, and I are doing as best as we can under the circumstances. We are overwhelmed with the circle of love that surrounds us and find solace in the good that exists in people.

We'll be back after intermission.

Love, Star

Chunky Monkey

Zephyr is gaining weight at twice the rate of the average baby :) He eats, and eats, and eats! It's really fun having a chubby baby this time. He has great squishy cheeks that I just want to kiss over and over again. Odin is being a WONDERFUL big brother. He asks to hold Z, cuddles him, brings him toys and gives him a pacifier, checks on him for me, brings me diapers, and is just great. I'm starting to get the hang of juggling the two of them. Uncle Adam comes to visit this weekend and then my parents leave Wednesday so I hope I have everything under control by then! Today Grandpa took Odin for a hike in the woods and had him for the entire day while Grammie and I took the baby to San Jose and got a much needed double stroller. I can't wait to take the two of them to the park and try it out! Here's a photo of Z just to bring a smile to your face...

Happy October!

Here's Zephyr!

We had our baby!

Hi everyone!
Zephyr was born on Sept. 27 at 2:34PM weighing 8lbs,
6oz and was 21.5 inches. Everything went wonderfully until he was
born and it turned out he was twisted in the canal and then had a very
tightly wound cord wrapped twice around his neck so things were a bit
hairy for a few days. They sent him over to the NICU at the hospital across the street
which was really rough on all of us but thankfully, with a lot of
doctor pushing and prodding from our whole family and hard work with
breastfeeding, we got to take him home last night and now all is going
well and he is a healthy very hungry little guy! His name means "West
Wind" as he came into our lives like a whirlwind into a very chaotic
household under construction and thankfully things are starting to
calm down a bit. Our house looks beautiful and it was so exciting to
come home to all the new finishes! Some of you may remember the
little mischievous monkey "Zephir" in the Babar books and Zephyr is
certainly a little chunky monkey! Two pounds and two inches bigger
than Odin was! He is a very happy easygoing baby and barely cries at
all but is very interested in everything around him and is already a
great little listener which is handy since Odin is quite the talker :)
Odin is very excited to have a new brother...he is being great! I
think he's just relieved to have us all home again and that things are
back to "normal." We hope to see you all soon and introduce you to
our new little guy!

Happy end of summer everyone!

Labor Day Weekend is here...our town is a zoo! We celebrated with Ryan last weekend and went up to the California State Fair in Sacramento. It was fun and Odin got to ride a pony! Today, we tried to go to a sandcastle contest and Begonia Festival in Capitola but after an hour of trying to find parking, then waiting for a shuttle, we gave up and came home so we went to the beach instead, just Odin and his mama. We had a GREAT time and when we went to leave, I put Odin in his carseat and he looked at me and said, "Mommy, thank you take Odin to the beach." Isn't that the sweetest?!?! He's such a wonderful little person. We pulled into the driveway and I said, "We're home! So Odin said, "Jiggity Jig!" Two is such a fun age! Sure, some moments, I look at him and think, who is this little hellian and what did he do with my angelic little boy? But most of the time I just can't get over how sweet he can be. He holds out his hand to help me up every time I need help. He has the most wonderful little conversations about life with me. He's just a joy. When he's out with his dad running an errand, he calls me on the phone for a chat :) As far as #2, we have one month left and I feel like it. I'm big and tired. We're trying to get everything ready for the baby and to make some room for it in our tiny little cottage. The other photo below is from Odin's time at sports camp. He goes every week...first soccer, next week basketball, and after that Baseball/T-Ball :) Hope Fall is starting off wonderfully for all of you!

With this video, you need to listen to the sound. It takes a while but listen to what Odin says, he's just too cute!

Back in Cali!

We had a smooth trip back yesterday and it's good to be home :) We had a WONDERFUL trip visiting everyone back East and have a great many pictures to show for it. More will follow as people email me their photos :) Odin's SO happy to see his Daddy that he just keeps hugging and kissing him! I feel like I ballooned overnight and just want to sit all day instead of tackling everyday life! My stomach just got SO big all of a sudden! Anyways, now it's time to get ready for baby! Two months to go!!!!! HOLY COW! Hard to believe we're so close to having our world turned upside down once again! I'm SO excited but also just feel like this whole thing is so surreal. I don't think I'll actually believe that another baby is coming home to us until I hold the little person in my arms! It just seems like the time has passed so quickly! Enjoy the pix and please come visit us!
Love, Star

Disclaimer: Somehow, we only have one photo with Ryan's sisters, Becky & Robin, we have no photo of our day in Boston with Jenny, and no photo of visiting Odin's great grandma & grandpa, (my Nana & Grandpa.) I think I was having such a good time, I forgot to take photos!!!!

Odin & his mama!

Grammie & Grandpa take us to Jurassic Park!

Odin on the hunt for dinosaurs!

Odin & Grammie with a gentle giant.

Odin rides the carousel at Watch Hill in Rhode Island all by himself (repeating a tradition that mommy also did when she was little!)

Cathy comes up to NH with us!

The "lovely" pregnant silhouette.

Odin's first trip surfing!

Ryan's sister, Rachel, brought her kids, Nicholas, & Alexandra, to visit! Odin had SO much fun with his cousins!

Ryan's sisters all visiting in NH, Robin, Becky, & Rachel.

Ryan joined us in NH for a few days too!

Rachel's new husband, Rick, also got a few days off to have some fun in the sun with us! Aren't they a cute couple?

Rachel, Odin & Alexandra

Odin & Alexandra

Grandpa & Captain Odin drive the boat on Nantucket!

My sister, Alana, her husband, Bob, Odin's cousins, Ashley, Shayna, and friend Michelle all visited with us on Nantucket. Odin didn't want them to leave!

We're off!

Hi all!
We're off to the East Coast tomorrow AM! Here's our rough itinerary:
July 7 Flying to CT
8-9 Connecticut
9-12 Boston
12-19 Rye, NH (Definite)
19-20 Headed towards Nantucket
20-27 Nantucket
27-29 Connecticut
29 Home to California
Hopefully we catch as many of you as we can! Please call my cell anytime so I make sure I don't miss anyone!
Love, Star & Odin

Odin's 2nd (One Month Early) Birthday Party!

Odin's Birthday Party was a huge success! We had it a month early because we'll be away for the month of July and will miss his real birthday. There were about 14 kids and 19 adults so it was quite busy! The theme was Blues Clues as that is Odin's
FAVORITE show and today he keeps saying, "My turn. More birthday party!" He had a GREAT time. Here are a few highlights:

Invitation by mommy...

Odin relaxing in the tub the night before.

The cake his mommy made.

Uncle Daniel, cousin Kayla, and matching cousin Bella.


Best friend, Chance.

Assorted friends...


New baby cousin, Lucia.

Roadster face-off.

Another expecting mommy.

4th of July cake for the grown-ups and blue inside of the Blues Clues cake!

Odin's new bike.

Lots of dads...


Pool party...

Superhero (Jammies from cousins Jimmy & Jasmine)

Dog days of summer!

A few moments from the past month...

Strawberry picking...




A day at sports camp playing Baseball & Soccer with coach Josh...





Pebble Beach with Grammie & Grandpa


At the beach...playing with new truck from Uncle Adam...







Uncle Adam's visit (Only have this one sad photo because my camera battery died!!!! Argh!)

Surf's up!

Hi all!
We are headed East from July 7-29. We will be stopping in CT, VT, NH, MA, and Nantucket. Please let us know if you have any date restrictions so that we may plan accordingly and see as many of you as possible! Can't wait to see you all...we haven't seen some of you in SO long!!!!!!


Here are some cute Odin stories for you all...

Me: "Look Odin, Daddy's belly button is a big hole...is there anything in the hole?"
Odin: "Mmmmm...yup, Gopher."
(Can you tell we have major gopher problems in our yard? Every time Odin sees a hole, I tell him it's a gopher hole so that's where his logic comes from.)

Odin pours himself some "coffee" from his faucet in his little kitchen and then gets some for me. After "Cheers" he starts to "drink" his when he starts to cough a fake cough. Then, he looks at me and says, "Chokin' on it." ;)

Odin picks up a stick, looks at me and says, "Fishing pole." Then he starts to make a motion with his hand and says, "Reelin' it in."

We were in the yard the other morning when Odin turns to me and says, "American Idol?" As in to say, whatever happened to that show? We used to watch it several nights a week? What's the deal?

Odin puts his hand on my beach ball of a tummy and says, "Kick baby, kick!" I tell him that I think the baby is sleeping right now because it's not moving. So, he puts his hands on the sides of my stomach gently rocking them back and forth and says, "Wake up, baby, Wake up!" Then, he tries to feed the baby fruit loops through my belly button.

Tonight for dinner, Odin cooked for me in his little kitchen. This is the meal he prepared. A burger patty with pepper on it from his little pepper grinder which he cooked in a pan on his stovetop, some ketchup on the side, and milk to drink. Then, before he handed me the plate with the burger on it he said, "Hot." Then, he blew on it for me for a second before handing me the plate. He takes such good care of me!

As he gets more and more of his own conversations going I'm sure we'll have more stories for you! He cracks me up all day every day. It's amazing the things he thinks up!

We're back from Puerto Rico!

We had a great trip to visit Ryan's parents and grandparents and then to Puerto Rico for vacation! We're back and of course we're sick again :( Oh well, c'est la vie! Here are some brief highlights from the trip!




Ryan's Grandpa Art

Ryan's Grandma Janice & Ryan's mom

Ryan's dad

Neighbor Tony's train


Howe Caverns

Puerto Rico

















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