A week full of firsts (and one last).

Last Thursday was Grayson's last day at daycare. He has been there since he was six months old. It was a bittersweet moment for me. We all love Nanny. She treats the kids as if they were her own. She won't be a stranger though because Aubrey will continue to go there three days a week. He also started swimming lessons last week. It is a two week session. This year's theme is the Olympics. At the end of the session, each child gets to take home a picture of himself with the American flag in the background and a gold medal. G is so excited for his gold medal in swimming.
Aubrey had a first too.  You can't really see, but her toe nails are painted light pink with sparkles courtesy of Aunt Celeste.  She, Joe and their boys watched the kids on Friday night while Jerry and I went to the races to celebrate Katie's 21st birthday with the family.  Jerry asked me the next morning if I had painted her toe nails.  I told him no but I recognized that polish.  Her Aunt Celeste really loves her (and Grayson too).  That family is very special to our kids. 

Aubrey's pink toes.

Grayson started preschool today.  I was more nervous than he was.  I admit it.  I cried when we dropped him off.  He was so excited to go.  Here he is showing off his new Spiderman lunch box.  He picked out his own clothes today.

I tried taking a picture of G sitting on the front deck.  This is what happened when I put the little miss down.

I was able to get one of him, but she was still wandering around.

He has another week of swim lessons before he gets his gold medal.  He loves it.  It also helps that Ms. Karen has two little goats in her backyard, plus two aquariums full of fish and a turtle in her house.

He loves Ms. Karen and diving for treasures. 

I had a first also.  I was stung by a bee for the very first time in my life.  It's hard to believe that, considering my parents have a pool that I practically lived in while growing up.  I'm happy to say that I'm not allergic.  I was talking to my cousin at his house when it happened.  He asked if I was allergic and I said, "I don't know.  We'll find out!"  He had to pull the stinger out and it hurt for about a half an hour.  After that, I was fine.
Summer is coming to an end.  We are trying to get back in the routine of actually having a schedule.  This summer has been the best one yet.  We've had so many play dates and outings.  Some including the kids, some kid-free.  My next post will be dedicated to all of those good times.  For now, this mama has to get tomorrow figured out.

Beach Babies

We went camping along Mission Bay this past weekend.  It was sort of a spur of a moment camping trip (meaning we planned it two weeks earlier--crazy that they even had reservations available).  We went to an unfamiliar campground, Mission Bay RV Resort, right along De Anza Cove.  When we usually go beach camping, we go to Silver Strand in Coronado.  I thought we'd try something new.  We rode bikes, went to a few different beaches, took the kayak out and even went to SeaWorld, since we were so close.

Aubrey is enjoying her lunch



 Grayson loves crawling under the bench seat in the trailer.  It is a fun hiding spot for kids.

 He also loves flying his Spiderman kite.

 My beach baby lounging away.

 Playing in the sand.

 Let's go fly a kite!

 We had some visitors!  We made smores, played with lightsabers, and collected sea shells.

 Breebug with Grandma and Grandpa.

 Lightsaber fun!

 The boys thought it was hilarious to wear my life vest.  Grayson kept trying it on long after they left.

 Seeing the Pete the Penguin and his wife after seeing the real penguins at SeaWorld.

 What a cutie!

 My darling girl.

 He got so sandy.  At one point he was lying on his belly, face down, playing in the sand.

Proof that I really was there!

It was a successful trip.  Ending like most camping trips, with G crying and saying that he didn't want to go home.



Red Badge(s) of Courage

Jerry completed his very first triathlon.  He has trained for the last few months and worked hard at it.  He did it in 1:47.06.  Not too shabby since the guy who came in first was 1:09.25 (the unofficial times--the real times will be posted tomorrow).  There were about 1000 participants.  He and our friend, Matt, were in the first group--Elite, Men 30-34 and Challenged (I think they mean people with disabilities.  I saw one man with one arm running across the finish line.  Jerry said that he saw a man with one leg competing.)  After that, they sent them off in groups, Men 35-44, Women 30-34, Women, 35-44, etc.  They have all sorts of people competing.  The announcer said that the oldest participant was 80!  There were some younger "kids" doing it too.  I'm not sure how young the youngest one was, but I saw a boy that looked like he was about 15.  It was amazing to watch.  They swam 1000 meters, biked 16 miles and ran 3.2 miles.  I actually saw Jerry swim out of the water.  I took a pair on binoculars.  I was able to pick him out when he was getting close to the shore.  I started screaming and jumping up and down.  I was yelling and pointing him out to Cathy (Jerry's mom).  He looked like he was tired then, and he still had to bike and run.  I wasn't able to see him transition from the swimming to the bike because I had our gigantic double stroller and it was so crowded, so we ended up camping out by the finish line.  Dennis (Jerry's dad) maneuvered his way to the bike course and was able to see him.  He called us to tell us that it looked like Jerry had fallen, his shoulder was all scraped up.  He saw him transition from the bike to the running part and even ran a short bit of the course with him. It turns out that there was a biker in front of Jerry so he was going to pass him on the left.  Another guy was passing Jerry on the left of him (and passing too close) so when Jerry veered out just a little, they collided.  Thank goodness that an off-duty paramedic was there watching the whole thing.  He ran over to them.  Jerry stopped to see if the guy was ok.  He was bleeding pretty bad on his arm.  The paramedic called an ambulance and that guy had to stop the race.  The paramedic told Jerry to keep going that he would take care of it.  So he got back on his bike and kicked it out.  He didn't realize that he was as scraped up as he was (there was a hole in his shorts and his shoulders were scraped up).  Other guys in the race were giving him kudos for going on if he passed them or if they passed him.

 Off in the distance, you can see the first group taking off.

 Jerry was swimming at this point so G and A were playing around.

We were posted up next to the finish line. 

 Here's Jerry running by (not the guy in the red--behind him close to the sign).  He had to run about another half mile up the road, then loop around back.  He looked over to see us.  He definitely noticed us.  I was screaming like a mad woman.

 He's getting close!

 You can see the hole in his shorts (on his booty).

 He crossed the finish line!!!!

 He and Matt after the race.  He has ice packs strapped to each shoulder.

This is our buddy, Matt, running toward the finish line.  He was only 9 minutes behind Jerry.  Unfortunately, I was holding A when I took these pictures so this is the best one.

His back. His booty is much worse.  He has scrapes on the underside of each arm.  Under his right arm, you can see the curve from a bike tire burned into his arm.  His knee is also scraped up pretty bad.

Jerry is currently all bandaged up laying on the couch as I type this.  He will be really sore tomorrow, but for now, he is still basking in the glory of today--and rightfully so.

Vacay and lately

The week before Easter, we drove our RV to Lolomai campground near Sedona.  We went with a few friends and had so much fun.  I'm not posting any more pictures because you've probably seen them on facebook.  The kids had fun playing in the dirt, not taking naps, eating smores, throwing rocks in the creek, riding bikes, etc.  Aubrey did not participate in any of it.  Poor Aubrey, there was so much dirt around that I hardly put her down.  She was in heaven.  The only time she really crawled around was inside the trailer.  Grayson cried for probably two hours straight on the way home.  He did not want to leave  That was a long trip home....  We are still having to tell him that if we are home, then he has to go to the bathroom inside the house.  Aye, little boys.
Aubrey took her first steps a few weeks ago.  We were at my parents' condo having dinner with my aunt and uncle, plus my grandpa.  She took just one to two steps then fell down, then repeated that about six more times.  I remember my cousin, Michael, taking his first steps in the same spot.  It must be a lucky spot.  She is very hesitant to walk.  She loves to be held.  When G started moving on his own, he wanted to go, go, go.  Not little Breebug.  She is fully content in someone's arms, preferably someone she is verrrrrrrrrrrry familiar with.
Jerry and I are doing well.  He's training for his triathlon in July.  I'm doing my walking thang.  I feel like I look funny just walking around town because I'm wearing Jerry's camelback backpack.  It has the water pouch and plenty of pockets for snacks, keys, cellphone, etc.  When I'm by myself, I carry a golf club without the head to ward off unwanted creatures.  I'm sure people wonder why I look like I'm going on a hike, but you're supposed to wear all of your gear while you train.  So far, I've seen a few friends, a Paula Deen lookalike, a Judge Judy lookalike and way too many people on their cell phones that I would like to see.
Coincidentally, Jerry and I started our vegetable garden and planted two trees today (on Earth Day).  We didn't actually plant the vegetables yet.  Jerry built a box, we filled it with the proper soil, manure and such.  We need to till it and we'll be ready to plant in a few weeks.  We planted a dwarf lime tree and a dwarf orange tree, also.  Hopefully it will all do well, so we can put in a lemon tree and another box for fruits and veggies.  I'm really hoping that the whole farm to table thing will encourage a certain picky 3 year old to eat more vegetables.
My sweet, tiny, precious baby will be one in the blink of an eye.  I can't believe how fast my children are growing up.  It is so much fun experiencing life with them, but sometimes I want them to stay little forever.

Long Overdue

I know that it has been a long time since I've updated this blog. I plan to do it on a [more] regular basis as opposed to every 5 months. A lot has been going on in the world of Woestman. A little over two weeks ago, I signed up for the Komen 60 mile 3 Day in San Diego. It is not taking place until mid-November, but I'm starting to train this out of shape body for it. Jerry and I went to Roadrunner Sports yesterday and spent way too much money on custom insoles (him), socks (me) and new shoes (both of us). These are my new shoes. They're not pink, but that is ok. I only bought one pair to see if I really like them, but I plan on getting another and rotating them throughout my training.

Jerry is training for a sprint triatholon in July. He recently mentioned that he wanted to do a mini in May to prepare for the one in July. They he found out about another one on September 30th and may do that one too. He's been riding his bike a lot lately. He'll plan rides with some friends all around San Diego. Me, I'll stick to walking, thanks.


Grayson turned 3 on Valentine's Day. This is a picture of him eating a cupcake after the birthday dinner of his choice (pizza--peppergoni to be exact).


Little Miss Aubrey finally has enough hair to put in a bow. Nanny (the kids' daycare lady) puts bows and clips in Aubrey's hair. I've never actually attempted this myself. I'll let her do it until Aubrey's hair gets a little longer. Pay no attention to the toy gun in her hand. That was one of Grayson's presents.

Here is Grayson playing with his Woody (from Toy Story) accessory kit. Jerry and I went to Disneyland for our anniversary and saw the set there. We knew that Grayson would love it--and he does.

We had Grayson's birthday party at a jumpie place. It's a huge industrial building full of different kinds of jumpies. He loved it. There he is about to blow out the candles on his Toy Story cake. Can you guess what he is really into now?

That would be Jerry zooming down the slide with my baby. My mom and MIL (Mother-In-Law) told me that Jerry took her down and she loved it. So, I go over there with the camera and he went so fast. They both looked at me after that and said, "He didn't go that fast last time!"

Most of the kiddos from the party.

I'm ending this post with two pictures of Aubrey. The first is when she was in the bathtub. The water really accentuated her already long eyelashes. I think both of my kids have beautiful eyes but I'm pretty partial.

I took the next picture one day when we were all playing in Grayson's room. Aubrey was pulling herself up. She does that all of the time and can walk along the couch. She is not walking on her own yet, but she's only 9 months. You can't tell from the pictures, but she has four teeth so far. Her front two top an bottom teeth. Grayson's popped up so quickly. He didn't really have any teething issues. Poor Aubrey is getting them so slowly. She is miserable some nights.

Like I said before, I'm going to try to update this fairly often. Hopefully every week or two. I can't say that I will be taking pictures that often but I'll at least post about our day to day lives. Hope everything is going well in your world!

Tear Jerker

This has been a doozy of a month. One month ago today was the first day of school in a different job. At the end of last year, I found out that my position was changing. I was working at a middle school, teaching RSP to 6th-8th graders. For those that don't know, I worked with pretty typical kids who had learning disabilities but weren't severe. I loved my job and thought that was the one I'd retire in. While on maternity leave, I found out that I would have to travel between two middle schools. Having been a traveling teacher before, I knew that was not what I wanted to do. There was an opening at an elementary school teaching a primary Special Day Class. The needs and severity of the students were greater and instead of working with 6th-8th graders, I was working with K-4th graders. Oh yes, that is right. Just me, a classroom assistant and 13 students with a grade span of five years. What was I thinking? Well, I cried and cried and cried some more. I'm not talking about the cute little tears running down the cheeks. I'm talking about the locking myself in the bathroom, turn on the shower to drown out the noise, ugly cry...literally. I missed my old students, I missed my old friends, I missed my old schedule and, oh that's right...I still had all these baby hormones running through me. Luckily, I have one fantastic husband who made sure the kids were taken care of, dinner was made, and that I actually ate it.

I got out of that funk, realized that I was being a cry baby and got on with my bad self (with the help of said fantastic husband, uberly supportive parents, and the bff in the classroom next door who was also in the same boat. (She was new to the school too, but was a bff from before. Strength in numbers, right?)

Then the cry fest happened again. Two days ago, we found out that one of Jerry's uncles perished in a car accident. This was obviously unexpected and devastating. He was a loving husband, son, brother, father, grandfather, uncle and much more. He was charismatic, charming and passionate. He was one of those guys where if he liked you, he'd give you a big ol' bear hug and smackeroo on the cheek. He was one of those guys, where you walk away thinking, 'Dang, he is a really nice guy'. Now, I've dealt with the loss of loved ones before from both expected and unexpected occasions. Jerry helped me through a difficult time in my life two years ago when I lost three family members in a car accident. He was close to those family members also. My loss was his loss. Just as in this situation, his loss is my loss. That being said, when you lose someone you've known your whole life, who is always there even if they are not present, who you expect to always be there, the loss is crushing. You ache, it's an ache not only for yourself but for the others that you love, that are aching too. You think about the times you had and the times you would have had.... So needless to say, lots of tears have fallen in the world of Woestman. Rest in peace Uncle Doug. We'll think of you fondly and will be rooting for the Raiders in your honor.

P.S.--When I do cry, about anything, I look at these kiddos above and it melts my heart. I heart them.

This is how we roll....

Love them.

Yesterday, Aubrey rolled over for the first time. Here she is mid-roll.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling....

Little Sis wants to try too.