a lot cheaper than a flight to africa

while clint was off work and his parents were in town, we decided to make the best of it and take a break from packing and running by going to the wild animal park. pretty cool place. unlike your average zoo, the animals are in what they call field exhibits that are supposed to be very similar to their natural habitats. at the risk of sounding too dorky with my love for things biology, i'll just say it's pretty awesome. the pictures above were shot by my father-in-law and don't they just look like they came straight out of national geographic? that's what i said!
owey and grandpa

owey the safari man and dad

he wasn't quite sure what to think of the "petting zoo" - partly intrigued, partly freaked out! (i know this is some of you ocd mom's nightmare - sorry if i just made you dry heave)

it is so funny to me that these things could care less about him. they just went about their business with owey sitting right next to them.


waiting in line for the "journey into africa"

one of my favorite pictures from the day - owey just inches from the baby lions.


ok- this really is my favorite! such a little ham! what was he laughing at? the kids behind him. classic owey style.

star-crossed love...

what will he do without his girlfriend audra?

finally found the family pics

now that the computers are unpacked, i did finally find where i saved the 'oroz family pics from a few weeks ago. not too shabby for how crazy 'a crowd we can be!

the whole fam damily (notice miq and i had to rebel and add a little color to the mix)

erickson 3

hold on to your hats and glasses...

here comes the update of a lifetime. we've been busy, busy, busy around here as we prepare to leave and have been trying to pack it all in! (ha! get it? PACK it all in?) so here goes!

we love blue lily photography!!

remember this? well, we finally got the chance to take wendy from blue lily photography up on her free session prize and we are so thrilled with the results. here's a sneak peak:

cutest thing ever!! to see more, check out her blog, or to see all 20 images email me or give me your email address in the comments and i'll give you the password to check out the proofs.
if any one needs a good photographer, wendy is your girl!! she was practically doing cartwheels to make sure she got a good smile out of owey. thanks wendy!!

13.1

it's over. (sigh)
i can't believe it.
i can't walk either.
but that's another story.

6 months of preparation and training all led up to the big day yesterday. it seems like a dream now. i really want to record this well and do it justice, but i don't really know what to even say. is that weird? the day i've been looking forward to with every step and stretch and strain. and now it's come and gone and left me both full of pride and full of pain. (i promise i didn't mean to rhyme right there.)
overall, the race went well. (unless you count the ridiculous pain in my left knee starting at mile 5- yeah, that's 8.1 miles till the end - or the near serious mess that i would have made after mile 10 if that porta-potty hadn't been RIGHT there and unoccupied) but, i did finish - and that was my goal. my time was pretty good all things considered. and i was so proud of all of the other girls!
the best part of the race was seeing my family there cheering me on. clint and owey, mom and dad, even clint's parents dave and shelly, mique's family, i felt so loved and supported and basically like a rock star. i am so grateful that they made such an effort and made us feel like what we were doing really was a big deal. they were there to cheer us on at the beginning, at miles 5 and 9, and of course at the finish line. i think my favorite part of the whole day was crossing that finish line (crying of course - out of emotion, pain, relief, joy- the whole gamut) and clint running over to me with owey to hug me and tell me how proud of me they were. it was all worth it for that feeling of love and support and accomplishment. thanks for helping me get through this babe! you know this was a huge commitment for him too. all the massages, the complaining, the taking care of owey while i spent hours on the road. thank you, thank you, thank you!

i am sure i will post more pictures and gory details on my running blog later, but for now, here's a few.


me and brooke pre-race. it was pouring when we got there - we were freaking out at the possibility of running a half-marathon in the rain.


me, amy, kacey and brooke. yeah- i'm the idiot who lost her bib before the race even started. clint designed our shirts - they say "run girl, run 13.1)

here we are at mile one (notice we are still smiling?) l to r, kacey, me, amy and if you look back behind you'll see brooke and mique too.

mile 5- amy and i had broken away a bit, and were feeling pretty good up to this point keeping about a 10 min mile pace, but going down these hills is where my knee started to ache.

the big finish.


owey hangin out with grandpa (yes- still in his jammies. we did leave the house at 5 am you know.)


proof- we ran a half marathon even though we JUST had babies. (can i still say JUST even though he's 8 months old?)

the aftermath. in all our sweaty achey glory. brooke, kacey, me, miq, amy. you can't see the ice pack on miq's knee or the chafage on the rest of us. (thank goodness!)

WE DID IT!!!

my big boy... 8 months old!

so big 8 months going on 18. i tell ya.
some things he's up to these days:

• pulling himself up on EVERYTHING! he is also so anxious to walk (watch out!) and takes 2 or 3 steps.
• feeding himself... baby food is for babies after all.
• trying to climb on everything. sticks his little knee up to try and get up on things twice his size.
• loves, loves, loves diego. thinks he's the funniest thing in the world.
• getting really good at using those little fingers to grab everything (including mom's necklaces which he has managed to break several times!)
• figured out how to crawl underneath chairs, through bookcases... our little escape artist.
• lots and lots of smiles and loves!!
  

thanks for the smiles.

and the curiosity

and the messes

and the snuggles (look at those sad tears!)

pack, pack, pack away

what a mess!! clint's last day at work was a week ago, so we have been busy packing forever now. we are finally getting close, and have succeeded in some serious de-junking, but sometimes it seems like it will never end!!




aren't you jealous?
and by the way - although at times i have been a bit of a wendy whiner about this move, i will have you know that i've learned a lot about myself and about life through this new adventure. after realizing that fear was what was holding me back from really feeling ok with this, i have felt a renewed sense of peace that comes when you are willing to let go of that fear and move forward in faith. i am so grateful to know what life is really about- it is an adventure afterall... and the destination doesn't really matter. thanks for your kind and supportive words. i usually do come around....

drew turns 2 and the cf walk

last saturday we took a break from the packing for 2 fun events- the cf walk and drew's birthday.
we met up with my mom, sister and niece down in mission bay and then with shar and her fam to participate in the great strides for cystic fibrosis walk. miq and i ran the 4 mile course (first time we've ever run together) and it was great. really, really hot, but gorgeous scenery and all for a good cause.


shar and harrison

clint and owey- part of the few who actually walked the whole 4 miles. what troopers!

later on we met up with my fam to celebrate drew's big day. he wasn't feeling very well, but still managed to get in a cupcake and some present opening.
we then took some family pictures of all of us before we head off to never-never land. i don't know where i saved them on my computer, so i will post some when i find them.

the sun finally came out!

after a few weeks of gray skies and even rain (the nerve!), when the sun finally came out last week we had to get to the park to try out the swing. owey was soo calm and contemplative. he was intrigued by everything - the grass, the sand, the other kids. he really could have been content for hours! we finally got a turn at the swing after the russian nanny on the cell phone gave up both baby swings after an hour of pushing 2 little girls who looked ready to puke by the end. (no, i wasn't bitter.) i just couldn't resist snapping a million pictures of owey's first swing ride. i'll spare you and only post my favorites:




so serious!

what a good little helper

who needs toys when you have boxes!?

some new faves

our happy little guy

diego's favorite spot in the afternoon. what a life!


love that face.

always playing.

our little cowboy

sometimes i just can't resist this little cowboy. the cutest thing you've ever seen? i do say so.

we're still alive

just neck high in boxes. i promise to post an update soon! i know... you are all holding your breath!