Anniversary

Today is Ramy's and my fourth anniversary. Of course, he keeps thinking we've been married for five years, but I'm hoping that it is in the context that our life is so good it couldn't have only been four years worth and not that time sure is dragging by slowly for him! We celebrated by meeting for lunch at a really wonderful little Italian place in La Verne that isn't child-friendly, and we did it while Nanny Rebecca was there with Baby Rebecca. A middle of the day date is a great thing!



A lot has gone on in four years. A lot of wonderful moments and some of the hardest we could have imagined. I can honestly say that I could not imagine going through any of those moments without Ramy, and I love him more every day. We laugh all the time, and I couldn't ask for more than to go through life with someone who makes even everyday things fun. He truly is more than I could have ever dreamed of.

I am so very thankful God blessed me with Ramy!

Finally finished

I finally finished the report for my neuropsych case. I still have to fill out a bunch of stuff for their Social Security petition, but at least my report is done. Thank god. Now I just have to finish my IRB stuff and get it ready to submit this week before I leave, and I'll be a happy girl. Oh yeah, and of course I have to pack and buy birthday presents for Nanny Rebecca and Jessica before I leave. It would be nice if I left my husband with some food for the week, but that probably won't happen. Plus, he likes to get his fill of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, seafood, and things that smell funny that I don't eat while I am away. Not to mention that maybe it makes him miss me more while I'm gone. Yes, there's a method to my chaos.

Yesterday evening, we had Ramy's cousin Jasmine, her husband Mark, and their daughters Kirsten and Hannah over for dinner. Ramy grilled steaks and corn, and I made macaroni and cheese, twice baked potatoes, and orange brownies (recipe below) and homemade ice cream. They really enjoyed the food, and we enjoyed having them over. Hannah and Rebecca were born the same day, so it is always fun to see them together. Hannah is significantly heavier and about an inch taller than Rebecca, and she was a little afraid of the dogs. I kind of wish Rebecca had a tiny bit of that fear, because she thinks all dogs are her friends and will run to them, even if they are big, strange dogs. Here are some pics of the girls together:



I think Rebecca is on the verge of a verbal explosion. She said "bird" the other morning when we were leaving Panera Bread. And as soon as she sees a picture of a lion, she now roars (does that count as a word? I guess not, but it is definitely verbal communication). I've noticed when she asks what things are and I tell her, I can see her mouth starting to form the first syllable. Tonight while I was on the phone with my mom, Rebecca picked up her photo album and pointed to a picture of my mom and was saying something that I thought was Grammy. Then later my mom called back and when the phone rang, Rebecca said "Gem-ma?" So I think that will be her next clear word. Lord have mercy on us, there's no telling what may start coming out of her mouth.

Oh yeah, I got an A in my neuropsych assessment class that I took in the spring. Yay! What a waste that class was though. This summer, I'm taking a Religion class - Old Testament Thought or something like that. Whatever, it's at a not-terrible time and it only lasts 5 weeks and it fulfills my religion requirement.

Orange Brownies

I made these Orange Brownies for our dessert yesaterday for our cookout. Really good with homemade ice cream! They're from Paula Deen's Just Desserts cookbook.

Bars:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
4 eggs
2 teaspoons pure orange extract
1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13x9x2-inch pan. Stir together flour, granulated sugar, and salt in a bowl; add butter, eggs, extract, and zest. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until light golden brown and set. Remove from oven and pierce entire cake with a fork. For glaze, mix all ingredients together and stir until smooth. Pour glaze over cake. Cool and cut into squares.

Blood draw

Yesterday morning, we went to Gymboree. Oh how Rebecca enjoyed her class! She had the most wonderful time playing on a teeter-totter made out the giant log over a ball with a little girl named Cristene (don't get me started on weird name spellings). She still didn't want to roll the log, but she totally enjoyed the parachute activities. They are going to monthly billing next month, and monthly billing is a lot more expensive than their old 3, 6, and 12-month options. So while I had the chance, I signed Rebecca up for a whole year of Gymboree classes. Her gift for that was one of their tunnels which she loves so much. The nice thing about it is that it compacts down to nothing, so it isn't hard to store. She will be loving that thing (it's still in my trunk right now).

Unfortunately, after Gymboree we had to go to Loma Linda to get Rebecca's blood drawn for her allergy testing (the updated version of the RAST). It was a harrowing experience, that's for sure. The terror began when the phlebotomist walked in the room. Rebecca knew something was up. Out came the sheet (let's don't kid ourselves, it's a toddler straight-jacket) and then they wrapped her up like a mummy and had me hold that side of her body. Blood-curdling isn't quite the word for the scream that escaped from my child. She definitely has no difficulties with lung capacity, because I think her scream when they first stuck her was something that could easily rival the length of time in which Charlotte Church or Sarah Brightman could hold a note. And I'm almost certain that they can't reach the notes that she did. To make matters worse, the first stick yielded nothing, so they stuck her again. By this time, she was wailing, "Da-da!" in the most pitiful cry you can imagine. They got four vials of blood (sobbing and screaming all the while) and then it gave out. After first wiggling the needle to try to get it working again, they decided to stick her the third time (I was about to near my limit by this point). As they started the SIXTH vial of blood, Rebecca went silent, limp, and her head rolled to the side. They quickly stuck some glucose gel in her mouth, thinking that her blood sugar had dropped. By that time, they had all the blood they needed, and she was snuffling as we unwrapped her. They had us sit there for a few minutes to be sure she was okay and she drank some apple juice and all was okay again. After that hair-raising experience, I could have had a stiff drink, but I settled for a doughnut. (Rebecca got her very own doughnut hole for the experience).

By the time we got home, it was all forgotten. Unfortunately, she didn't take a nap for me at all that afternoon. Then Ramy came home and went to the pool to swim. (Sure, he gets to come home in time for swimming but wasn't there for the grisly blood draw!). We've been roasting in a sweltering heat wave this week (the time & temp sign atop my building said 109 when we left Loma Linda), so the pool has been really nice. Even at night, it is still really hot outside, so we decided to head out to Santa Anita to spend some time in the cool mall.

Thursday

It's been a good week so far for us. Monday, Rebecca and I went to story hour at Barnes and Noble and to open gym at Gymboree. Ramy grilled pork chops I had marinaded in Soyaki and I made crash potatoes to go with them. Tuesday, I went to Loma Linda to meet with my dissertation chair and my assessment supervisor. My dissertation chair gave me the green light to submit my IRB application as it is. He also gave me some off-the-record instructions about my comp paper that will allow me to make it something that I can actually use in my dissertation, rather than being just a ridiculous and purposeless document. He also agreed to supervise a clinical case I was coerced into taking, and he agreed to take over a client from one of my outgoing supervisees about whom I was nervous to hand off to a brand new therapist (he's a bit unstable and likely to act out impulsively). So that was a successful meeting. Then I met with the neuropsychologist I'm doing this case for, and we talked about the results we've gotten so far, and she agreed that we had enough that we could argue for services for the little girl without needing more testing. So now I've just got to write that report up and give the feedback to grandma and send the report to Social Security. I need to get all that done before I go on vacation next Friday, and I also intend to get my IRB protocols submitted at both UofR and LLU. So no slacking for me!

Wednesday, I had a client at LLU and then I met my friend Julie at Victoria Gardens to have lunch at Cheesecake Factory and did some baby shopping at some of my faves (Baby Gap, Gymboree, Strasburg Children). Last night, we got takeout and went to the kickoff night of the Chino Hills Concerts in the Park. Rebecca loved seeing all the people (and dogs) and especially liked jamming to the Beatles music.

Nanny Rebecca and Baby Rebecca have been going to the pool this week, since it has been so hot. Despite sunscreen, Rebecca is getting browner and browner. She loves the pool!

I spent all day today working on my dissertation. More specifically, I was just finishing up all the silly forms that go along with the IRB submission, doing my power analysis, and making everything look pretty on the consent form. Hopefully, it will sail through both IRBs without any holdups, but I don't take it for granted. I feel pretty good about the progress I've made toward my dissertation goals though, and I'm still planning to defend my proposal sometime around mid-August (I'm tentatively planning it for Tuesday, August 12, but I have no idea if my committee can actually meet then).

So I'm hoping to get my IRB application and protocols finished this weekend and then I can get the signatures and everything delivered to ORC next week when I'm on campus. My other work-goal for the weekend is to get a draft of the neuropsych report to Dr. Ropacki by Monday. Tomorrow morning, Rebecca and I are going to Gymboree, and then we'll drive on over to Loma Linda to get her bloodwork done for her allergy testing. I'm so not looking forward to that process, because being restrained will be tortuous to Rebecca, not to mention the actual blood draw! Too bad it isn't Ramy's day off or I would try to get him to take her! Sunday, we're having some people over; we'll just swim and grill and let the kids play together. I have no idea what I'm cooking/baking for that, but I need to decide that and shop for whatever I need. Plus, we need to get the house in a slightly more company-ready form. After that, then I can start getting ready for our trip to Tennessee.

Weekend fun

We had a really fun weekend. Friday was Ramy's 9/80 day, and he was able to get a dentist appointment while Rebecca and I were at Gymboree. Rebecca had a great time at Gymbo - she was really into the slides and especially the tunnels, and she even participated in the parachute activities and had a wonderful time (she still thinks the log rolling is a task beneath her). We came home and met up with Ramy at Panera Bread for lunch. We ended up going shopping at JC Penney because they were having a sale and Ramy needed some new shirts. He was hoping to buy some shoes, but he didn't care for the Rockports they had. I still managed to find some sandals that needed to come home with me. Friday night, we met Ana and Simon at a churrascaria (a Brazilian steak place - they bring all kinds of meat by for you to choose from - Ramy's idea of heaven) for dinner, and we learned that they are having a baby at Christmastime. We're so excited for them! When we got home, we had an email that Ramy's friend Paul and his wife Courtney had had their baby girl Zoe that day. My friend Julie is due any day now, so we have lots of babies coming!

Saturday morning, we ate breakfast at Panera Bread and went grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and Henry's. Saturday night, we went to a graduation party for Ramy's cousin Lindel at Ramy's cousin Beting's house in Rancho Cucamonga. Rebecca had a great time playing with all her little cousins. Her cousin Hannah (born the same day as Rebecca) was there and there were a bunch of other little girls. Rebecca also ate a lot of new and different food, including pancit. She loved it!

Yesterday morning, we went to 7:30 mass, came home and changed clothes. We had Father's Day brunch reservations for 9:00, and then we came home and all took a long nap. By the time we woke up, we were already late to leave for the party at Maddy and Paul's, but we got there pretty quickly. Maddy had bought this giant inflated water slide and it now resides in their back yard:



We changed Rebecca into her bathing suit, and she was excited to get to play in the water. She had a great time!


I was a nervous wreck, even though Ramy was right there with her, because I was afraid another kid was going to slide on top of her or she was going to fall and aspirate the water...but none of that. She was trying to climb up the water slide and the fact that she would fall backward or slide down only made her want to do it more! Our friend Brent got in with Matthew, and although Matthew didn't want to go down the big water slide, Rebecca sure did, and she was perfectly happy to let Brent take her down it.



She was cold and her teeth were chattering but she didn't want to get out.
We sat her on a towel in the sun to dry out, and she thought she was one of the big girls. Rebecca really enjoyed Ashley. She wanted to talk to Ashley, pat Ashley, hug Ashley... It was soooo sweet!



Vincent grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, shrimp, zucchini...you name it. So we had lots of good food. Rebecca especially enjoyed the strawberries Maddy grew in her garden and dipped in white chocolate (Rebecca didn't eat the chocolate, just the berries)!



After we got home last night, Ramy took Rebecca with him to visit his dad for Father's Day. He thought that by waiting to go later he would have more chance of his dad being awake. He was awake and sitting in his wheelchair, but nonresponsive. Rebecca was such a sweet girl; she seems to sense that he is fragile. She isn't afraid of him at all (which would be understandable, since he doesn't behave in the way she expects people to behave) and she's always so good and quiet when they visit him. She leaned over to him and patted and stroked his arm. Ramy said it was the sweetest thing he had ever seen. Rebecca really does seem to have a strong sense of empathy. She gets so concerned if she sees another child crying.

So that was our action-packed weekend. It's hot and getting hotter here in Southern California. Today and tomorrow are going to be above 100° F, so we'll probably be getting in some pool time. My mom and aunt are home from Ireland. I'm glad they are safely back. My aunt is having some problems, so it wasn't the greatest of vacations. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of what is going on with her very soon.

Fathers

I am continually reminded of the incredible importance of fathers. I always had a special bond with my daddy, and now I see a similar bond between Rebecca and Ramy. It's a totally different relationship than between a mother and daughter (not that that bond isn't an amazing thing too, but hey this is Father's Day after all) and I suspect it is different than between a father and a son.

It's been so interesting to see how, from the very beginning, Rebecca expected different things from Ramy and me. Even this time last year, she saw him as the fun one and me as the utilitarian one. Now, the minute she wakes up, she looks around and says expectantly "Dada?" She points out every picture that has Ramy in it and exclaims proudly "Dada!" As soon as she hears the garage door open in the afternoon, she perks up and runs to see him, eager for the fun to begin. He's always been able to bring about peals of laughter from her, even when she wouldn't crack a smile for me! She has a special sweet smile and voice she uses just for him, and the mischevious look in her eyes is proof that she knows he is going to do something that will be positively delightful to her (and he never fails her on that!). Whatever he is eating even must be the most delicious thing ever, she believes, and he simply must share it with her.

My daddy and I always had such a similar bond as I see now between Ramy and Rebecca. One of my first jokes/pranks I pulled was at my mother's expense and was totally my father's idea. She went to the grocery store one day, and we followed her there and when she went in, we moved her car to the other side of the parking lot. Then we sat on the hill next to the store and watched and cackled with laughter as she came out and was confused as to where the car was parked. (I strongly feel that the saying "paybacks are hell" will be visited upon me in the very near future). My dad and I made up silly songs about cumquats and bicycles. Before he'd go out of town, I nearly ran out of air because I would pack a Ziplock bag of kisses for him to take with him. I kicked the tires of the church bus to be sure it would be safe for him to go with the Boy Scouts to camp and then rode with him in the bus to get gas, begging him the whole way to take me with him (heaven knows, it could only be true adoration that would make any girl beg to go to filthy camp in the middle of July).

And yeah, I know that it is the nature of my profession, but the whole literature on attachment has always seemed so obvious to me. Even if I hadn't seen it in my personal life, I certainly have seen it in my clients. Although there are certainly exceptions on both end of the spectrum, it is evident that the relationship girls have with their fathers (or with some sort of father figure) largely determine the type of relationships they always expect to have (and then generally do have) with men.

My Ramy and my dad really are so much alike, in so many ways, and to me, that is certainly a flattering statement to both of them (and I think they would both take it that way). My dad always made me feel stronger, smarter, and more capable. He was a calming presence and had endless patience. Ramy is so similar to my dad in those exact ways. I was searching for a Bible verse about fathers and was initially disappointed that I couldn't find a "good" one (how arrogant is that, to think that there isn't a good enough verse in the Bible!). Then I came across this verse from Proverbs (17:27) and knew immediately that it was exactly the verse that described the two most important and precious men in my life:

A man of knowledge uses words with restraint,
and a man of understanding is even-tempered.

I've been so blessed by these two wonderful fathers in my life - my own sweet wonderful father, first of all, and now by this amazing man who is such an incredible father to our little girl.

Splish Splash

This is a pic of Rebecca playing in her water table in our backyard. She thoroughly enjoys splashing in the water table, floating the sailboats in it, scooping up water and pouring it over the water wheel.... It's great fun, and then she gets stripped naked because her clothes are drenched and she's dripping with water.

It's been a busy and hectic week for us. On Tuesday, Ramy's dad aspirated his tube feeds and was taken by ambulance to the Emergency Room. Ramy spent all day trying to be there at the hospital with him and to be there when they transported him, while still covering his courtroom. Thankfully, no aspiration pneumonia and no problems breathing, so he probably didn't actually aspirate. Ramy is supposed to be starting trial today, and if so, then he won't get his 9/80 day off tomorrow. He hasn't had his 9/80 in several weeks, which sucks since I like having him around (but he does get comp days for it, which is nice). I booked Rebecca's and my flights to Tennessee. We'll be there for two week, leaving here on June 27 and coming back on July 12.

Tuesday, I gave the NEPSY to my little girl client and restrained myself from choking her grandmother. Now if only we could get radiology to actually send us her PET scan and EEG data, it would be helpful. So I've been trying to get her neuropsych data scored and analyzed and then use all of the data to figure out what exactly is going on with this little girl's brain. Right now, it looks like her left angular gyrus is basically shot and she really has little frontal lobe function, but I've been working every night to try to get this report done. Regardless, her family needs to come up with a plan to care for her long-term, because she'll never be capable of more than about kindergarten-level functioning. My 16 month old actually has better abilities to follow directions. So, so sad that if she'd had adequate prenatal care and routine screenings, they'd have known before birth what her problems were and would have been prepared to give her supplemental 02 and rush her into immediate surgery. She would be a totally normal little girl. It is cases like this that make me so annoyed when people refuse prenatal testing (with the argument that it is pointless to do testing if you wouldn't terminate the pregnancy - no, idiots, if you know there's a problem then you can be prepared to deal with it!). But off my soapbox.

I had my final exam in my neuropsych assessment class yesterday. Basically we were just given a case history and a set of data and told to write a report on the fly. Afterwards, he gave us the report he had written for the court in the case, and I had localized the damage in the same area he had, so I'm guessing that means I did okay. So I'm officially done with this year of school, even though I've really only taken one class a quarter this last year. I'm glad I overloaded myself with courses my first two years here, when I didn't have a child. I got my end of the year evals from all of my supervisors at my various clinical sites, and I got great reviews. Based on those, I've asked two of those supervisors to write me letters of recommendation for my internship apps. I'm pretty much ready to submit my IRB applications, so I'm really please with that progress. Now I just need to get my comp finished and then get ready to propose. I'm looking to defend my proposal between August 1 and August 15.

I went to the Janie and Jack Season Finale sale. I was there when the doors opened, along with dozens of other crazed fanatics. The store was crammed with extra racks of clothes to hold all the stuff they'd pulled out of the back, and then it was elbow to elbow with people, everyone grabbing stuff. The line to pay was out into the mall. It was utter chaos, but I hit the motherlode! I got a few things for Rebecca for this summer, but I got all kinds of wonderful things for her for fall and winter. Janie and Jack thinks very highly of their stuff, but when the Season Finale hits, the prices are dirt cheap. I got two shopping bags full of stuff for her for $97. Ordinarily, you can spend that much on one outfit. There's one outfit that is so cute, I can't even stand it. Red and gray plaid wool gaucho pants, a blouse with a London scene on it, and a red sweater with a fur collar. It's hilariously cute. I don't know how I'll wait for fall to see her in it.

Rebecca has had a good week. That molar finally broke through, so she has been much less cranky. She and Nanny Rebecca went to the park the last couple of days, and I've gotten pix messages from Nanny Rebecca both days, showing my Rebecca running and playing and having a grand time. My daughter is a fruit addict! She just might eat nothing but fruit if we just kept giving it to her. Night before last, she had eaten pineapple with her dinner. After dinner, I had some applesauce and Ramy was eating blackberries. She kept running to get a bite from one of us and then running to the other to get a bite from the other. Crazy little girl.

16 months

Rebecca Lee Cisneros is 16 months old today!

For comparison, here's what she looked like at one year ago (4 months) and today:





We had a very nice weekend, but it seemed to go by too quickly. On Saturday, Ramy's sister Myrna was having a yard sale at their parents' house. So Ramy took a few things we had and needed to get rid of over to the house, and he stuck around there with them for most of the day. I took Rebecca over and she hung out with them, while I ran some errands. In the afternoon, Rebecca played with her water table and got thoroughly drenched and loved it. That evening, Vincent came over and we went to eat dinner at BJs. Yesterday morning, we went to 7:30 mass and stayed in the cry room. After church, we discovered that Panera Bread has opened, much to my delight. Ramy had bought a breakfast burrito from the Knights of Columbus breakfast, but that didn't stop him from eating some pastry at Panera. Then we hung out in the back yard and Rebecca played in the water while we read the newspaper. I went to get a pedicure and then went to Trader Joe's for some groceries while Rebecca was allegedly napping (I say allegedly, because it never really happened). In the afternoon, Rebecca and I went to a baby shower for my friend Julie. Rebecca enjoyed looking pretty in her pink dress and having many people ooh and aah over her. Meanwhile, Ramy bought a new cell phone and bluetooth and picked out some meat for us to grill. Last night, he grilled a trout for himself and a filet mignon for me. Rebecca had pasta. Then we just hung out and relaxed and played with Miss Rebecca.

Today, I'm trying to get some reports done for my neuropsych class. I tested Ramy with the Luria Nebraska and the Halstead Reitan. Good news! His brain seems to work perfectly well! Tomorrow I'll be doing some more testing on that little girl, provoded they actually show up.

Friday!

It's been a good week for us. We got back into the groove after being in Tennessee with no problems. Rebecca was happy to see Nanny Rebecca again, and they've gone on several long walks this week. Tuesday and Thursday, I devoted to my dissertation stuff. I'm close to being ready to submit my IRB applications to both LLU and UofR. The next big hurdle is to get my comp paper done. I have kind of a mental block about it, because it is a completely useless document that has no purpose whatsoever other than that it fulfills a requirement for our department that is totally assinine. Wednesday, I had class and I got all of my neuropsychological assessments scored. Next week will be my last week of that class, and it is also our final exam, about which no one in my class knows anything about what to expect. Our instructor is an amazingly smart man (just ask him, he'll tell you). I think he is a fabulous neuropsychologist and a masterful therapist, but he can't teach for shit. I took Gestalt Psychotherapy with him, and it was amazing to see him do therapy, but after the class was over, I realized I had learned absolutely nothing from it. In this class, we are subjected to learning a archaic neuropsychological battery that is extremely complex, time-consuming, and is never used anymore - the test kits are actually out of print now, as are the manuals, and you have to give it along with the WAIS-R, an IQ test that has been updated twice since then. Also, it is never given anymore, because insurance companies won't pay for a fixed battery like that. So why are we forced to be trained on it? Because he thinks that "real neuropsychologists" should know it and can then do any of the newer, simpler tests or just design their own assessments. So basically we waste a lot of time, even more money, and effort on something that we'll never ever use again. So that's my rant...

This morning, Rebecca and I went to Gymboree. She was in a cranky mood, because she is cutting an eye tooth and a molar. That molar is the devil. She refused to participate in the teamwork activities or to do anything where she had to sit on the parachute. She was quite happy to do the slides, tunnels, songs, and the things where she could clutch on to me, but she was not going to roll the log with the other kids, no matter what. Then she threw a litle mini-tantrum when I took two things away from her. We met Ramy for lunch at the Second Street Bistro in Pomona, and I had some amazingly good spinach fettucine alfredo with chicken. (Rebecca enjoyed it too). Ramy came home early, and I met my friend Julie at IKEA in Covina to check out the stuff she was getting for her baby's nursery. We also sat around and gossiped about our department and colleagues, and we dished on internship stuff. We're gearing up to start working on those applications. But I gotta get my comp done before I get too involved in that.

Happy Birthday, Mom/Grammy!

Today is my mama's birthday! Too bad she had to go to work today, but since she's getting to go to Ireland this weekend, I don't feel too sorry for her. I sure am glad she was born!

June 1st

I can't believe it is already June! Ramy is happy we are home, but he has been quiet too. I think Ramy isn't too thrilled with being back in Pomona. He loves the commute, that's for sure, but his courtroom experience isn't as good as it was in Norwalk. He's also been very worried about his dad. Fred had to go back to the hospital last week for another blood transfusion. It is a terrible thing to see the shell of a person who was so full of life merely just existing now and having no pleasure in anything. It makes me so sad for Rebecca that she won't ever get the opportunity to have grandfathers. My dad and Ramy's would have both been such fabulous men in her life, and she was cheated out of both of them. And while she will know them through the stories we tell (and also because Ramy and I both have a lot of qualities of each of our fathers), it isn't the same as having memories with them. But I'm thankful that they both did get to meet our Rebecca.

Yesterday morning, we got up and ate breakfast at Chick-Fil-A and then walked around at the new Shoppes At Chino Hills, an outdoor mall that just opened blocks from our house. Only about half the stores are open yet, and none of the restaurants are open yet. I'm so excited that I'm going to have a Panera Bread just down the street! Equally as exciting is the fact that we now have our very own Trader Joe's, so I can buy Rebecca's Cat Cookies, cereal bars, whole fillet fish sticks (I'm completely repulsed by the fact that most fish sticks are "minced fish pieces"), tortellini, cheap organic whole milk yogurt, cheap organic eggs, steel cut oatmeal, and all their yummy salads, nitrate-free deli meats, pizza dough, cheeses, and scones for us. They always have such awesome meats and dinner options that are so different from regular grocery store fare, plus their prices are much cheaper than Henry's or Whole Foods ("Whole Paycheck") and they actually have a broader selection of most things. They also have really cheap good wine (apparently), but we're not vinophiles, so it just comes in handy for my beef stew recipe.

Anyway...

In the afternoon, Ramy took Rebecca with him to take Myrna and Jessica to the train station and then to visit his mom. While they were gone, I got all three suitcases completely unpacked and everything put away. Woot! Last night, we went to Costco and then on a search for some new outdoor patio furniture. Then we got takeout from Johnny Carinos, and Ramy and I had to have the discussion about whether I ever order anything except lasagna (yes, I do, but it is rare) and why that is (why mess around with a good thing?).

This morning, we went to mass at 7:30. We decided that we would start sitting in the cry room. We've avoided it thus far, because at the later masses, it is a disorganized chaos that is headache-inducing, but it works out nicely at the early mass, because there aren't that many of us with little kids who get up and out that early in the morning. Since Rebecca can get loud much faster and more unexpectedly and has become really interested in exploring everything, we thought the cry room would make mass a less stressful experience for all of us and allow both of us to sit through the whole mass. It was a success! Rebecca enjoyed being able to sit right next to us and read her book and play and walk around more than she can in the sanctuary. Then we got bagels after church and read the newspaper, then went to buy the patio furniture we had decided upon.

Ramy had his 3rd degree ceremony for the Knights of Columbus this afternoon, so he went to Fontana for that. Rebecca and I hung out at home and made birthday cards and watched a marathon of Season 1 of The Bachelor. I'm a little embarassed to admit that, except for the fact that there really was nothing else on television, and I have to have something mindless while I'm folding laundry. I also edited some case closure reports for one of my students and finished scoring the Luria Nebraska. When Ramy came home, we went to Toys R Us to get Rebecca a water table to play with in the back yard and grabbed some quick fast food for dinner. Then we all hung out in the back yard on our new outdoor furniture, while Rebecca pointed out the rabbits and birds that she saw. Oh yes, our mourning doves that had nested in our wreath outside my kitchen window have had their two little babies. Our front porch is off limits to visitors, because we haven't wanted to disturb them, but it has been nice hearing their cooing so much.

Ramy was snacking on some blackberries, and he gave some to Rebecca. At first, she took a few seconds to decide whether she liked it or not, because it was a novel taste, but then her eyes lit up and she exclaimed, "Mmmmmmmm!" and proceeded to help him polish off the rest of the container of blackberries. She is such a little mimic; it is so cute and funny. She had fallen in love with a Little Golden book of baby animals at my mom's house, so it came home with us. She and my mom had looked at it a lot in the car when we were there, and my mom would point out the animals and tell her the animal sounds. At church, Rebecca was "reading" the book and when she flipped to the page with the baby lion, she looked up, grinned and said, "Rahhhhhrrrrr!" Mother did the sounds for baby cows, baby chickens, kittens...what does Rebecca decide to imitate? The lion! She's a dramatic one, my Rebecca is! Above are a couple of pics of us this morning before church.

Now we're just relaxing and preparing for the week.