50percent

Don’t mind my battle scar from my mole issue…

We are officially over the “hump” now…since I’m actually 21 weeks today.  This pregnancy is flying by…but I have to say I’m grateful that I’m still feeling great…NO issues for me. Heck I was even running around and playing foxtail with Owen at his last soccer practice…

Speaking of our last soccer practice, Owen successfully completed a 6 week PeeWee Soccer league. He loved it…and we surely loved watching him every Wednesday night.

That being said…I think we’ll be waiting until next summer to get him back into anything organized…while yes it was fun to watch little kids run around like lunatics..some playing some crying some just wandering around, I’ll also admit it was a tad frustrating since Owen would rather run alongside the other kids and pretend to be the referee…

This is the PERFECT picture to explain the season…Owen is pretending to be making the calls and was even seen blowing his imaginary whistle like the coach. Addi was about as interested in soccer as a fat kid is interested in veggie…usually found running away from the game or activity but she is seen here clapping and cheering on her “friend” on.
 

Owen and Addi weren’t really IN to this whole competitive soccer play part. BUT I have to say it was a great experience and totally recommend other toddler moms to enroll their kids into PeeWee programs (especially in Eastvale through Jurupa Parks and Rec).  When it was time for the kids to get their medals I found myself overly excited…I know that every kid got one and yes it was a participation medal but it was so cool and he was SO proud! I now understand the significance of sports banquets (for the parents) at the high school level…it feels good to see you child so happy to be rewarded!!

Congrats little man for an awesome “season”…you did great…even IF you never touched the ball during scrimmages…but you did amazing PARTICIPATING! ((haha yep I’m one of THOSE parents now!))

SRLL

Sunday was such a bittersweet day…so emotional…for so many different reasons…for so many different memories and feelings. Memories of childhood, the good ol’ times, my brother, THAT park, my OWN battle with cancer, my family and friends…it was weird.

But “WE” came together to honor a true fighter…Jack DeHaro!
(Picture taken by Brian Rogers…and you can find his AMAZING work at here)

And WHO is the “we”…well it’s a group that doesn’t get together very often anymore…but was a group that spent A LOT of time together 15-20 years ago…members of the Southridge Little League (SRLL). It was the players, parents, coaches, board members, umpires and family!!

THE Southridge Little League was formed back in 1988…or somewhere around there. We used to play at Chaparral park and we didn’t realize at the time that it was the beginning of something much bigger than we ever could have imagined.  We started by meeting up on weekends and during practices but over the years we have all still continued to remain a family to be there for support whenever needed.

 

We all came together 15 years ago (June 1997) when we lost our beloved Chrissy Garavito! She collapsed at an All-Star practice and I think that was the first of unfortunate losses we had to endure with SRLL. 
Her memory was carried with us softball girls for many seasons to follow…always showing our love with #22 on our jerseys!

 

 

But today was a different gathering…one of our umpires, Jack DeHaro, has been battling stomach cancer and recently had a reoccurrence and is now fighting for his life with Stage 4 Stomach Cancer that has gone into his intestines, liver and blood vessels.  We got word on facebook (Thank Heavens for fb) that some family friends were putting together a BBQ/Softball Tournament in support of Jack and the rest of the DeHaro family. And today we came together…lots of the DeHaro clan and LOTS of old SRLL faces.  Its been over 10 years since I have seen some of the people I saw on Sunday. The Lindersmiths, Nelsons, Rogers, Morales’, Millers, Groves’, Binz, Heinze’s, etc to name a few.
Isn’t this picture hilarious…these crazy adults…they are the exact same now as they were back then…and I LOVE it!!

Another amazing picture captured by Brian Rogers!!

Some of my fav people…whom I see on a lot more of a regular basis…
Monica, Sean and Cindy

But look at the crowds…The DeHaro’s have so many people there to love and support them during this battle!

When I saw Jack, whom had just had his first round of chemo (this time around) on Thursday I knew how he had to be feeling, which is not so great….so when I gave him a quick hug…I told him “to hydrate like crazy…those chemo hangovers will kick your ass!”

He laughed and said “yeah no kidding kid!”.  Only a cancer survivor or even better, only a Chemo Graduate can understand the feelings of a “chemo hangover”…the fog that surrounds you and the icky feeling that just does NOT fade for days. Something so unpleasant and so crappy BUT brings happiness when you hear those magical words “its working”. I pray that Jack hears that in 2 weeks…when he goes for round 2 of chemo they are going to do a tumor measurement to see if the chemo is having any effect…and I pray that it is.

It wasn’t all sadness…catching up with old team mates and coaches was pretty amazing but also getting a chance to go back to Village park and look around. These fields used to seem SO big…and now its so weird that they don’t have the same clout as they once did.

We spent so much time at these fields…even on the nights we didn’t have games Cindy and I would love to still go to the park, roam around and get ourselves into trouble (not really…just ate a lot of junk food from the snack bar).  I would pray that Paul would have a game, JUST so Mom would have to bring me again! Team pool parties, Parties at Round Table, Victory celebrations that involved toilet papering…oh so much fun. I asked mom for some pictures from back then…but it seems as though she wasn’t really a “picture taking kinda parent” haha. That’s ok mom…I still love you.

I’m happy to see that Jack is fighting…but all I can think about is how much scarier his battle is compared to when I did it…I think about his wife, kids and grandkids daily…I just pray that they all find peace within themselves!! But keep fighting Jack!!!
Keep kickin’ this cancer’s ass and show it WHO’S the BOSS!  Fight ON!!

Validation

What's new around here…

This Belly is getting bigger…but its not stopping me from getting my Zumba on!! I purchased a heart rate monitor to make sure that I’m not killing myself too much while I’m working out. Doc said most have to keep their heart rate around 140…but I can go a bit higher since I had been doing these workouts prior to getting knocked up! I love the heart rate monitor and being able to analyze my workouts…and able to slow myself down when I need to!!

Today was the day we went for our “big ultrasound”…you know the one when most people find out what they are having and they do a full anatomy assessment of baby! 
I think seeing your unborn child bounce around a monitor is one of the best feelings ever! Whether its your first, second or third baby it still is so very pleasant to see!!


These ultrasounds kinda suck…you have to sit and let a sonographer do all the measurements…without them saying a word or showing you anything. As you can see from the pic above you can’t even hardly seen the screen…so you lay there…bored! Then the last 20 minutes they allow the family to come in and we finally get a “tour” of the baby and her temporary home! Today I had an intern do my measurements…and then her “master teacher” came in and double checked them. It took AN HOUR!!! Yes my bladder was bursting full for a WHOLE FREAKIN’ HOUR! I was about to piss on the table.

Baby Girl was doing great…moving around..sucking on her toes and fingers…and getting fiesty when the tech would push too hard on my belly! It was really cute!!  And when the “master teacher technician” realized I was sitting about to pee my pants for all that time he pulled out the 3d machine and we got a sneak-peek at Baby Girl’s face…

 

 

We came home and showed Owen our new pictures of Baby Girl and when I asked him who was in the picture he responded “MY Baby!” He’s excited to be a big brother…I just hope that excitement continues when he realizes the world isn’t gonna revolve around just him anymore!

 

 

 

Even though we already knew it was a lil girl…getting validation was very nice!!  Also seeing and feeling her move around is amazing as well!  Yes I said feeling…last week I started feeling the little random popcorn pops in my belly…but today it was real…I could feel her when I saw her moving and she hasn’t stopped bouncing around since we got home…I think she LOVED the cilantro lime chicken burrito with lime tortilla chips as much as her daddy did!

My lovely husband said it was one of THE best burritos he has EVER had…yessss….I get the “gold wife star” award (it doesn’t come my way very often!) I’ve been craving limey type things so I have to admit..this dinner ROCKED!!!  Thank you pinterest for another amazingly yummy recipe that this cookin’ loser can make!! haha

Baby 1 vs. Baby 2

I can’t believe I am already almost half way done with this pregnancy…everyone has said it and its true…it feels like its totally flying by!! Next thing I know I’ll be holding my precious little girl and Owen will officially be a big brother. I’m not going to lie…I’m a tad nervous about the whole situation. I see all my friends with 2 kids and how frazzled some of them get from time to time…and how the older child sometimes becomes possessed by the brat demon on a more regular basis.  I really have my fingers crossed that Owen doesn’t get too jealous, too possessive, too mean and resent us too much for ruining his only-child lifestyle.  I know all of that behavior is normal…I’m prepared for that…but I just hope that he can still be the best little child on the planet…to teach his baby sister how to just be the angel that he was!  And that being said…we all know Owen was a pure God-Sent child…best little easiest baby ever…everyone keeps warning me that this baby is gonna give us a run for our money…so I’m nervous.  But at the same time…heck…raising an infant HEALTHY and CANCER FREE has totally GOT to be easier than my last experience doing it…right?!?  Eck I surely the hell hope so!

Naturally I have been taking pictures throughout this pregnancy…and I wanna show (and see for myself) the comparisons of this pregnancy to last…

 

 

Not sure why I didn’t do a “belly shot” at 18 weeks...just didn’t think about it!! I’m losing my mind…you know that prego-brain syndrome we all get…yeah mine seems especially bad this time around…don’t think the brain damage from chemo is helping the cause! haha 

But I started this pregnancy heavier than I started last time so I think I’m growing at about the same speed as last time.  Some peeps think I’m smaller this time around…but I think I’m actually a tad bit bigger…I’m just hoping my feet and legs don’t balloon up like they did last time…

Stay tuned…few more months to go…and so so much left to do…you know like BUILD a wall in our loft to make baby girls room!! Oh dear. haha

Liverpool

Yeah this post and video is about a week late BUT…sometimes Zumba just has to come before sitting down and blogging! hah.

The hubs, my cousins and Owen’s GodParents are all huge Liverpool fans…so of course they love buying Owen Liverpool stuff.  Once we started the PeeWee soccer I was so excited to see him running around wearing his Liverpool jersey with Souza on the back…heehee super cute!

Here is a little video I made of him last week at practice…with the Liverpool team song…all my Irish buds will love this.