Weikra Christmas

"Eight is Enough"... well, actually, we had 10 in the house this Christmas. Wait, do you count Johnny and Ebby? 12!?! My family came up from the Bay Area, and Bob and Marilyn were fabulous hosts. Can you believe we all were able to fit under one roof!?! So on Sunday, we celebrated the first ever Weikra Christmas (Weik family + Krake family... get it? Snappy name, eh?). It was nice having everyone around, and it was surprisingly relaxing, just kicking around the house. Without a big agenda of things to do, seeing as how we were still adjusting to having a newborn in the house, we enjoyed lounging. The Christmas movie trilogy came back this year as well. It's a little tradition my family has in that we watch a film trilogy over the course of the break.

SIDENOTE:
It started a several years back with the Godfather Trilogy. We then did an "Edward Norton" trilogy with Primal Fear, American History X, and Keeping the Faith. The lighthearted family-friendly finale that year inspired us to find trilogies that the whole family could enjoy (Cheryl and mom couldn't quite stomach American History X). So the following year, we did Ocean's 11 trilogy with the original Ocean's 11 film, the remake, and Ocean's 12. This year, we enjoyed the Bourne Trilogy as Shatrine received the Ultimatum as a gift. Good times. Any ideas for next year's trilogy? I'm thinking about the mock-u-mentary trilogy... Waiting for Guffman, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Spinal Tap... what do you think?

All that to say, it was a fabulous first Christmas, and with the full house, there was no shortage of arms willing to rock Audrey to sleep.

Welcome Home!

After 7 days in the hospital, we finally got to take Audrey home. Here I'm a little excited to get to finally go home and not eat hospital cafeteria food.

Johnny Cash missed having us around while we were at the hospital, and he's not quite sure how to react to this new addition to our home. This picture sort of captures the mood of the scorned dog, now playing second fiddle to the new center of attention.

He really is sweet with her, though. he's very gentle, and is on all alert when he hears her stir. It's like he can't rest if she's uncomfortable. It's pretty sweet. One of these days, we're going to train him to change her diaper.

Last Day in the NICU

Audrey gets her first bath! So we had to run down the checkout list (including instruction on properly putting her in her car seat, using a bulb syringe incase she chokes, and how to give her a bath). She had her last dose of antibiotics this morning, so we should be able to leave this afternoon after the doctor gives us the clearance!

Look at that strong neck, up and looking around.

White Christmas!

So if Audrey's first Christmas wasn't eventful enough, at about noon on Christmas Day, it began to snow! This was the first White Christmas in Portland in a long time, too. My parents are coming up from the San Francisco Bay Area tomorrow, and it looks like Portland is supposed to have the most snow in years (granted, that's only about 2 inches). Should be fun.

On to other news, I was changing Audrey's diaper after a feeding and made a rookie mistake. I cleaned her #2 up and threw away the dirty diaper, and before I could get a new diaper in place, she decided to teach me a lesson. Projectile poo. Good times. Thankfully, nothing was ruined (except perhaps my pride)... the only casualties were a hospital onesie and a couple of NICU blankets.

After a we stripped her down, we had to remove all her monitoring cables (I'm not kidding; she got the stuff everywhere), and so I was able to walk around the NICU with her. We got to look out the window at the Christmas lights on the trees in the hospital courtyard, and even got to do some dancing!

Here's a happy Audrey and Daddy before the excitement.

Here we are dancing through the NICU...clean of all poop.

Merry Christmas from the NICU

So Audrey and I had a really special time Christmas Morning. I got to go in for her midnight feeding, and she was awake and alert for a good hour after eating, so we chatted, hung out, and sang some Christmas Carols. What a Christmas gift!

Shatrine is getting discharged as I type. They have a room near the NICU that they're going to let us stay in while Audrey is still here. It's in the labor area, so as long as no one shows up needing the room, we can crash there (but we have to be ready to leave at a moment's notice). So we're going to run home for a little Christmas brunch with the Weiks, then we'll be back and lay low here at the hospital for another two days while Audrey finishes her antibiotics.

Keep praying for Shatrine as she adjusts to her pain medication (which is still leaving her itchy and uncomfortable...not to mention tired... but she's such a trooper).

Merry Christmas to you all!

Four Days Old

Shatrine had her staples removed today, and is feeling great. She's still a little itchy, but she'll be discharged tomorrow, and once she phases off the pain medication, she should be more comfortable.

Audrey looks like a normal, healthy baby. It's obvious she doesn't belong in the NICU. Only three more days of medication for her, and we get to take her home!

She's Breathing on Her Own!

Since 11:00pm Saturday night, she's completely off the oxygen and breathing on her own. By Sunday evening, she was even off her IV fluids because she's been eating well out of her bottle. All that's left is to get through her medicine, which we found out now will take untill Thursday, so that's when we'll get to take her home.

Here are some pictures I was able to snap of her while she conked out after a feeding. Isn't she lovely?



OK, here's a good closeup. What does everyone think... does she look more like mommy or daddy!?! Leave a comment, and let us know what you think.


Shatrine's been trying to find the right medicine that won't make her itch (she was taking Oxycodine, we think she might be allergic to it, since it made her itch like crazy). So she's on Vicadin now, and doing much better. The doctor said she can go home Christmas day. But we'll try and find space in the NICU family housing on campus so we can be near for Audrey. Because mommy is happiest when she gets to snuggle with her baby.


Rob came to visit, and was a real pro with her. She was enamored with his dashing good looks. By the way, isn't that a stylish blanket Audrey's sporting!? Her Uncle Rob got it for her (dashing good looks, AND a sense of style... good job Uncle Rob).

Big Improvements!

At the end of day 2, Audrey's gotten much better. She's almost completely off her IV, and eating about 20ccs out of a bottle. She's still getting a little air through some tubes in her nose (hardly any at all, though), but for the most part, she's breathing great on her own. In fact, when we left her at 9pm, the nurse said that by tomorrow, she probably won't need the air tube anymore! We got great news from the doctor as well: no menengitis! We'll most likely get to take Audrey home in 5 more days once she completes the series of antibiotics. I got to feed her today, and spend quite a bit of time with her (I even changed my first poopy diaper today!).



I got to tell Audrey all about the Dodgers. Here, I'm singing her "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." I think she likes the idea of peanuts and crackerjack.

Grammy and Gramps got to come and visit as well, and Audrey was able to put on her first outfit. Shortly after this picture, Audrey moved out of the main NICU, and into a "big girl" bed on the other side of the NICU because she has gotten so much better.

Audrey and Mommy

Ready for a cinematic tearjerker!?! Alright, maybe not a tearjerker, but I thought it was fun. Let me set up the story: Audrey was whisked away after the C-section, so we didn't really get to see her much, and Shatrine had to be in the "Recovery" room for 4 hours afterward. When she was finally released from recovery to go to her room, we took a detour through the NICU so Shatrine could finally be united for the first (almost) time... cue the violins and tissues...



Day 2, and Shatrine is feeling much better now that she gets to hold her little girl. (And look at mommy's adorable, stylish outfit!)

There's just something about mommy's skin that puts Audrey at ease.

Look at those beautiful eyes.

It's Official!

So at 2am Thursday morning, Audrey woke up Shatrine with her contractions, and by 4:22am, we were at the hospital. A wonderful doctor, Helen, from the UK (whom Shatrine had already met) welcomed us and tried to get a monitor on Audrey's heartrate. It was dipping and peaking, and Shatrine was only dilated 5cm. We tried getting Shatrine in the jacuzzi tub, but it didn't seem to help much as she was in just as much pain between contractions because of the pressure on her hip. Helen did some checking to see how Audrey was coming along, and noticed Shatrine's water had broken (which was news to us). Come to find out, the water broke Thursday morning, and when we called to tell the hospital, based on the description/amount of fluid, etc. they told us it was the mucus plug, and as long as Audrey was still moving, we could wait to come in. So, with that information, Helen took a closer look and it was apparent that Audrey had been working hard, and her fluctuating heartrate suggested that she was tired and ready to come out. But since Shatrine was only 5cm at this point, it was apparent that Audrey wouldn't have the strength to wait it out, so another doctor came in for a second opinion, and definitively said, "You're going to have a C-section." Someone threw some scrubs at me, and minutes later, I was in the hall, and a nurse said, "You're going to have a baby girl in your arms in five minutes." It happened that quickly.

So at 7:01am, little Audrey Elizabeth Krake came into the world. She was 7lbs 2oz. and 20 inches. As soon as she came out, though, they immediately noticed there was an infection, and Audrey was having some trouble breathing. They cleaned her up and I got to hold for a moment and Shatrine gave her a kiss. Then they whisked her away to the NICU. They started her on antibiotics to kick the infection, and did the same for Shatrine.

Shatrine's feeling great, and only 7 hours after surgery, she made her way across her room on her own! Audrey's breathing has improved, and at this point, we're waiting to let the antibiotics work their course. As of 9:45 Friday night, it looks like Audrey is going to have to be in the NICU for at least 5-7 days to let the antibiotics kick the infection (simply because they have to administer the medicine through an IV, so they have to monitor her). If the infection has spread to pneumonia, it could take 7-14 days of medicine, and worst case, if the infection has spread her spine, then it would be menengitis, which would take 14-21 days in the NICU for her to be able to kick. All in all, spirits are high, and we're confident it's just a matter of time for the medicine to run it's course. We know God is in control! We'd love it if you took a moment to pray that Audrey's breathing continues to improve on her own, and that the medicine takes effect.

We'll let you all know as soon as we know more!

On her way from surgery recovery to her own room, we were able to wheel Shatrine's bed into the NICU so she could get to see Audrey.

Grammy Marilyn got to come in and visit with Audrey.

My sweet girl!

Gramps and Uncle Rob got to come visit as well!

Cheesy Christmas Photo

We thought we would pose in front of our tree, just for posterity. We're living at Bob & Marilyn's and we've sort of taken over the downstairs, so here we are in "our family room" with our tree (and you can see Audrey's stocking hanging above the mantel in the background). Audrey shold be here any day now!

***edit: as it turns out, Shatrine is in labor in this photo. Unbeknownst to us at the time, her water had broken the morning this photo was taken... Audrey would arrive 9 hours later!***

"Before" Pictures

This picture kind of sums up the state of things for us right now. School's going well for me, but the district has a block on blogger.com, so I haven't been able to keep up with postings. Anyways, we're working away getting ready for Audrey!

So here's sort of a "before" photo of Audrey's room. This used to be sort of a storage/craft room downstairs at Bob and Marilyn's, but after a big clearing, we painted a sealer over the tile, layed down some flooring, and Shatrine went to town on her striped paint frames. She has grand plans for some white moulding as well, so it's been fun seeing it come together. Woohoo! We'll try and post some "after" photos once things get done.

Mindy Smith!

For part 2 of Shatrine's birthday (after the Murder Mystery Dinner), Rob and I surprised Shatrine with tickets to see one of her current favorites: Mindy Smith. It was actually somewhat comical, because Rob and I had been planning it for a long time, and the week before, Shatrine called me into her office and said, "GUESS WHO IS COMING TO TOWN!?!?" I had to tell her that Rob and I had something else already planned for that night, and we couldn't change it around. She was seriously disheartened. I promised her we'd catch Mindy next time she came through. So we went out to an awesome German restaurant, and when we rounded the corner and it said, "Mindy Smith Live In Concert" on the marquee, Shatrine put two and two together. A good time was had by all.

Side note: Mindy is like the official sponsor for Propel. it was hilarious. She was making all of these product placement comments between songs. Fabulous.

Murder Mystery Party

For Shatrine's birthday, we had a murder mystery dinner! We transformed the downstairs family room into a 1920's French Rail Car (complete with steam locomotive sounds and big band music in the background!). We each had personas, and I played a war hero whose plane was shot down over Germany. Fittingly, Shatrine played the part of a princess (an heiress). We had a blast, and Marilyn catered with some incredibly fine French fair... filet mingon!

Exclusive Pregnancy Photos!

As camera shy as she may be, I was able to snap a few at her family birthday party. (She's 6 months prego here). She and cousin Kari shared a birthday crab-fest (Brian brought a bunch of Dungeoness, and we feasted).

Croquero Wedding

Well, I got to make my way down to the "Croquero" wedding (That's the marketing name for it... you know, Crockett + Romero... www.croquero.com). Anyways, it was great to see the whole gang... Stephanie looked stunning, Frank-dashing. Got to catch up with the Sharps as well (here's Pax)

Here's all the college buddies.

Johnny's day at the beach...

This was quite the event. Glenn & I decided to take a last minute trip Saturday morning to the beach... and of course we had to take Johnny because he had never been. Note to self, don't let your your dog drink salt water if possible, and then get back into the car for 2 hours. Ha! Well, it was fun, messy and an all around great day. Johnny made it back safe and sound and I don't think he will EVER drink salt water again!

Spoiler Below

So some friends gave us these great cons in pink none the less. So there is your spoiler.

The Fray

Glenn, myself, my brother Rob, his girlfriend Maria, friends Kevin and Lisa got to take a day off go to Multnomah Falls (first picture) and then catch a great concert at an awesome venue....McMenamins Edgefield! As far as McMenamins goes not only did we get to see an amazing show - where else can you play 16 holes of pitch and putt golf before a concert? (definition - you only use a wedge and a putter the whole course!) It was a great day and highly recommended by all of us. So here is a picture taken by some friends we made that day.

Me and Toad

So this is quite possibly the worst film ever... quality, that is. But if you strain, you can hear it. The first few strains of Toad the Wet Sprocket live in Portland at McMennamins' Crystal Ballroom. Rob and I had a stellar evening reminiscing about old times with Toad.

Side note: It's incredibly strange that all Toad fans seem to be equally terrible dancers. I swear the whole night people were jumping, bobbing, swaying, weaving... completely out of time. But hey, I guess that's why all us nerds were listening to Toad instead of MC Hammer or Boyz 2 Men; because none of us could do the Roger Rabbit.

Baseball in the Northwest?

Even though Portland has no professional baseball to speak of, what is a Krake roadtrip without baseball?!? So after our Goonies pilgrimage, we trekked up north to catch some minor league ball. We watch a AAA game in Tacoma (along with a fire works show) and then ventured into Seattle on Saturday to do the classics (Pike Street Market, the first Starbucks, the Seattle Underground Tour). We also strategically parked in front of Safeco Field, and conveniently caught a Mariners-Tigers game. It's a beautiful field, and they had a cool museum-esque area where John and I recorded play-by-play in a mock broadcasting booth, and John's masterful photography captured this amazing moment:

We then made our way back to Portland where we saw the Salem-Kaizer Volcanoes (the A club for the Giants) and we even caught a ball!

Finally, Portland has a AAA team: The Portland Beavers (San Diego's minor league affiliate) and even though there wasn't a game while we were there, we managed to sneak onto the field... and into the club level restaurant... and into the locker room (talk about lack of security!?!). Despite my anxiety, John also perused through the training room and on into the sports medicine room, laundry room, etc... Is anyone really surprised?

Goonies Pilgrimmage

For John's 30th birthday, we surprised him with a trip to the pacific northwest. How do you surprise someone and convince them to get on an airplane? That's another story entirely. Well, we had several adventures ahead of us. Despite arriving late Thursday, we left bright an early Friday morning to take advantage of all the day-time possible. First destination: Tillamook and the Tillamook Cheese factory. (yummy samples, yummy ice cream... too many choices).

Despite a slight detour (after an hour down the road, we realized I left the camera at the Ice Cream counter pictured above), we arrived in Astoria, home of the Goondocks. If you are lost right now, stop what you're doing, rent "The Goonies" and continue your life now enlightened. So we re-traced the steps of our beloved Goonies:
(John watching Chunk's car chase from the opening credits)

(Posing in front of the famed County Courthouse... which though currently out of operation, remains nestled next to the police station, so recreating the gasoline fire column was out of the question)

(And finally, the ultimate in Goonie-lore: Mickey's house. Here I am doing the truffle shuffle... classic).

Professional Pyrotechnician

Yes, I am a professional pyrotechnician. I was on a barge on the Willamette River in downtown Portland shooting off the largest fireworks show in Oregon on the 4th. Pretty cool stuff. Rob and I went down at 8:30 Wednesday morning, and spent the entire day prepping mortars, loading shells, running electric cabelling, foiling and securing triggers. Good times. I love the sweet smell of gunpowder in the morning. (sorry, no napalm). At times throughout the morning, we nearly passed out due to the heat. Despite warnings to lather up with sunblock, which I did, we worked non-stop from 8:30-4 before stopping for lunch and reapplication of sunblock, I missed a couple of spots, and am sporting some nice burn spots on my ankle, neck, etc. While it has a tough day of hard work, it was worth it as we were able to cruise down the river on a barge full of explosives. Then to see the crouds of cheering people as we passed under the bridges was pretty cool. The show was pretty amazing... especially sitting behind some safety shelters on the back of the tugboat. The show was for the Portland Blues Festival, so what seemed like the entire city lined the banks of the river to watch the show. Sadly, the shells were just a tad too loud for us to enjoy the music choreographed to the show. Shucks. Maybe next year, I'll bring a radio. Which reminds me, Rob and I had a fun conversation topic: if you could choreograph a fireworks show to any song, what would it be? My current top choice: Remy Zero's "The Glorious #1"... epic

I'm employed!

I got the ideal teaching job this last week. Of the 9 or 10 applications I had out, there was one that I was really hoping would pan out. The school district is amazing. From looking at their vision and mission, it's really like a large public-school version of the small private school I'm leaving behind in Texas. They place a huge emphasis on professional development (they pay 100% of graduate work... yes, 100%), and focus on ethics and leadership as well. Needless to say, I'm quite excited. I'll be starting the day teaching yearbook 1st period (which doesn't start until 8:30am), and then after my prep period, I'll have one section of 9th grade English, and then 3 sections of 10th grade English. So it looks like I'll be reading To Kill a Mockingbird, the Odyssey, Romeo & Juliet, Of Mice and Men this summer. I'm looking forward to revisit some of those as it's been a couple of years since I've taught 10th grade.

Settling in...

So we arrived safe and sound and hit the ground running. Our stuff is scattered between a storage unit down the road and the Weik Auto Shop. To our pleasant surprise, A ton of people the previous weekend (led by Rob and Uncle Jim) descended on Shatrine's old bedroom and stripped the carpet, laid new drywall, etc. So it was like a clean slate when we arrived. So we've been painting, and expect to get new carpet in tomorrow. Uncle Jim came by today as well and helped me tear out the carpet in the downstairs family room, so when that carpet comes in next week, we'll be able to start making that our own little family room refuge.

The Last Leg...

We had a great time in the Bay Area with my family. Did our first bit of baby shopping... Babies R Us... good stuff...did you know Jeep and Eddie Bauer both make strollers!? Crazy. Anyways, we also got to meet up with the Armerdings (Sam, Karin, Caleb & Zach) as well as Roger for lunch. We then spent a family night like old times...Oceans 13...BBQ Ribs...exciting rounds of NERTZ "late" into the night (well...past Dad's bed time, anyway). We also got our first "Mother's Day" and "Father's Day" gifts. Yes, Andy and Marty are pretty excited about becoming "Opa" and "Gram."
After what were quite possibly some of my Dad's best batch of hash browns ever, we hit the road for our last leg of the trip. Even John showed up for the 5:30 AM breakfast and send-off.
We just stopped at Maxwell Rd. in Glenn County (perhaps a sign!?!).Should be to our new home by 5:00 tonight!

Competition in Disneyland.

Take that, Stephen Parker! I love it. A ride at Disneyland that involves keeping score and competition. Brilliant. The Toy Story-inspired "Astro Blaster" is my new favorite ride at Disneyland. We had a great day with Kristine and Keira and Karisse McCarty (Tom was working on some Disney Channel spots, not to mention it was celebrity day with the new Nemo ride opening the next day, so he was busy). Stephen, Koryn, and Sidney met up with us, and we had an awesome afternoon inspecting the new Pirates of the Carribean ride, and Koryn even had her phone stolen out of their stroller while we rode the Winnie the Pooh ride. Great fun. Actually, it turned out pretty nice (stolen goods excepted) because Stephen and I got to go "back stage" to file a police report with the Anaheim detective. And since the girls had to take their time eating and taking shifts to use the bathroon, Stephen and I also snuck on the Tower of Terror... excellent.

Cobalt Season in Santa Ana

So Shatrine wasn't feeling when we finally pulled in to LA, so she laid low with Tom and Kristine in Brea. I made my way down to see Ryan and Holly, who happened to be on a mini-tour in the southland. We thought we were going to miss them since we'd be in the Bay while they were in LA, but it just so worked out that they were in concert in Santa Ana (just 15 minutes from where we were staying). So I got to see them and Paxton. Ryan Bell from Hollywood took some cool shots to capture the evening, so I thought I'd post a link here to some of the pictures he took. Thanks Mr. Bell! (The picture at the top is one of Ryan's). Can you belive Paxton made it through the entire concert in that sling. What a trooper! Holly even rocked a melodica over his cooing babbles. Half the time, he just seemed entranced with Ryan's voice (Cobalt Season Ryan, not Photographer Ryan). Coolest part of the evening? Ryan played Koyannisqotsi (sp?) in the background during the concert, and at one point, he was singing about getting on the metro, and at it was like "Dark Side of the Moon" and "The Wizard of OZ"... people were sliding their BART tickets and getting on the train. Fun stuff.

Mobile Web Assistance

After leaving Amarillo, we were trying to calculate how far we could comfortably get, and we decided on Gallup, NM. So I called my Mobile Web Assistant (AKA Stephen Parker) who found us a Hampton Inn and Suites just outside of Gallup. Since we already checked and found there were no Sheraton pillowtop matresses on our route, this Hampton was a pleasant surprise because the bed was like sleeping on air. Thank you Stephen. If you don't have a Mobile Web Assustant, I highly recommend you book one before your next cross country trip.

Loading,Unloading,Loading...

We're in Amarillo on our way to eat lunch at the Big Texan. Our tow dolly is getting repaired at the Budget branch out here, so we are taking a long lunch. Well, we're far enough removed from our loading debacle, and I've cooled off enough to now tell the story.
First of all, let me just say we have the greatest friends. Shawn came out early Wednesday to move the big stuff with me, and Sara and Kate from school came and boxed up the kitchen. Sheesh. Not to mention Stephanie who was pretty much at our house for two days. Amazing. If not for them (and the later to be mentioned...yes, there were many more helpers), I would have surely gone insane.

Well before I get all worked up, let me ask you this question. If you were moving out of your little 2 bedroom town home, and you went to rent a truck and they told you they had a truck that would hold 1-2 bedrooms, 3-4 bedrooms, or 5-8 bedrooms, which truck would you rent? Well, after filling up the truck we rented, we realized we miscalculated because it only fit half of our things. So our unbelievable moving crew of the Lyons, the MacDonalds, the Barnes, the Ferris', and the Seegers, We had to completely unload everything and take back the 3-4 bedroom truck we got. Can you believe that!?! Talk about false advertisement! By the time we unloaded everything, the Budget rental place was closed for the day, so we had to push back the departure a day. We slept on our airmatress dreaming of a Sheraton hotel pillowtop and got up early the next day to trade our 16 foot truck in for the "5-8 bedroom" 24 footer. So our champion neighbors, Steve, Michael, and Lee came out to move all of our
stuff for the THIRD time. This time on coincidentally the hottest day of the summer to date...at the hottest part of the day from 1:30-5:30. Phew. They were invaluable...what great friends.

We're On Our Way!

Well, we finally made it on our way. I'm writing this from our Holiday Inn & Suites (free internet) Room... one hour into our journey. Yes, we finally got everything packed up and it was 9:00 when we realized that the tow dolly on which our Honda is being towed has a malfunction in the lights. So rather than wait an hour for the emergency roadside to come and hopefully fix it, we decided to drive an hour and get to a hotel and get a good night sleep (as opposed to on the floor of our empty house on an air matress)... well, we're exhausted, so I'm going to hit the hay. I'll tell of our packing adventures later.

ChristianiTEA

So we went to our church today for the last time (sad). After the service, we all went to the Mosaic Cafe (yes, our church has a coffee shop in the lobby). Rob got some hot tea, and it was so piping hot, someone made a comment about it being 'hotter than hades' or something of that ilk, and it led into this massive tangent about 'brimestone brews' and how we were certain somewhere someone has a "Christian"-brand of tea. You know, kind of like the "Teste-MINTS." Terrible. But we amused ourselves coming up with different flavors for our new line of "Christiani-TEA." I was so proud of my wife for coming up with my personal favorite flavor, "Tea of Galilee." Classic. So I thought I would blog about it and thus copyright the concept, so in case someone actually tried to bring the concept to fruition, we could sue them and claim we've copyrighted the concept, thus forcing them to remove all their products from production.
Thought we could do our part to rid the world of cheesy Christain knock-off slogans.
We did enjoy using up some of our Texas gift cards like Shatrine's birthday gift to Metro Cinemas from John. It's a really nice movie theater where they serve you food. So we watched Pirates III, and I tried to keep from throwing up my Reuben during the Pirate-fight-slash-wedding scene. Terrible. Almost as bad as the Christiani-TEA concept.

Maria...

Have you noticed how many songs there are with the name, Maria? Santana, Martin Sexton, Julia Andrews, West Side Story... We're learning them all as Rob and his girlfriend, Maria, are in town visting. We ate at our favorite Mexican food place in Fort Worth, Joe T. Garcias, and I was tempted to get the mariachis to serenade us with a Maria ditty, but better senses prevailed.
We've had a blast with them (Rob and Maria, not the mariachis) parading around, going to the Dallas Museum of Art Jazz concert in the park, checking out the Kimball Art Museum, seeing the longhorn stampede at the stockyards, and Rob and I even ventured to take a ride on the mechanical bull! Good times. We did, however, resist the urge to go to Billy Bobs (the quintessential honky tonk in Fort Worth) as Ted Nugent was in concert (if you can call it a concert...).

Last Amplified, Last Final!

Wow, things are really winding up. Last night, was my last night playing bass at First Baptist Colleyville. I'd been leading worship with Jeff Black on Wednesday nights for the last year or so, which has been cool. Then this morning, I gave my last World History final exam. (I got rid of all the essay questions, so within 45 minutes, I had them all graded and entered... brilliant!). So I'm waiting for the grades to upload, and I thought I'd write a quick post. Shatrine's brother Rob, and his friend, Maria are on their way in to visit as we speak! Can't wait to hang out with them, even though our house is in shambles after our garage sale this past weekend. 6 days left until we hit the road! Sheesh! Bitter-sweet.

More "Last Suppers"

Tuesday night, we had the joy of having dinner at the McDaniel household. What great friends. They did our marriage counseling, and have been close friends for a long time. It's been great to be a small part in the lives of their four kids as well. After the last time we got to babysit, their oldest boy, Luke (who is 7?? I think), went to Hobby Lobby and with his own money, bought a pack of fabric Dodger stickers, and drew me a picture using all the cool stickers. How thoughtful.
So tonight, we got to play Lego Star Wars. What a game (I had first experienced it at the Barnes' since Evan is an addict), and tonight, Luke and I played (sadly, you couldn't BE Luke in this version... but I was YODA!!!).

The Woodlands

Well, I played my last day at IBC. Sad, indeed. What a great community... not just at the church, but even within the band there. We have this cool community called, "Band Together" where we meet twice a month, and just enjoy fellowship and discussion. So, after playing the two morning services, and enjoying a Jon Taylor surprise (homemade breakfast burritos complete with chorizo... tasty...), we headed to Houston, or "The Woodlands" to be more specific.
We had to get our "Greens" fix one more time before leaving Texas. We met up with Tierce and Dana, and got to hang with 2-year-old Anna Jane. Through the whole house sale and such, we had to cut our cable service, so we haven't been able to see the Lost season finale. Coincidentally, Tierce had the 2-hour epic saved, so we watched the saga on his new plasma... tasty... (wow, second use of the word, "tasty"). sidenote: I figured out the flashback within the first 4 minutes of the episode, so the entire episode, I was obsessing over whether the clipping was about "John Locke" or "James...[Sawyer]" (oh the beauty of the freeze-frame-plasma-close-up-detail).
We had a relaxing morning, fantastic breakfast, and Tierce and I laid low with some afternoon barbecue. Shatrine, Dana & Anna Jane went to the mall to meet Joetta and little Shatrine (Shatrine's blond hair, blue-eyed namesake) for lunch. Sadly, little Shatrine had a bad fever, so they weren't able to meet up with them. We still had a wonderful little Memorial Day weekend.

Goodbyes...

So we're on our way to one of many 'last suppers'... That sounds terrible. Let me rephrase that: we're going to hang out with some friends one more time before the move. It's been great just hanging out and spending quality time with the friends we've made here in Texas.
So it's raining crazy right now, and I'm writing this blog from my phone while Shatrine drives. Shatrine says that we'l have to get used to this rain. Of course we'll sadly be leaving Texas just at the time to miss all of the great summer weather. (For those of you reading this from outside of Texas, that last line was doused with sarcasm).
Well, we're almost at the Barnes' house, so we'll sign off for now...

Texas-Sized Going Away Party...

The Betti (Shawn & Sara), The Macdonalds (Loren & Joy), The Lyons (Josh & Amy), and The Slaughters (Ryan & Natalie) threw us an awesome going away party this weekend. They sent out an invitation to all of our Texas friends and decorated up the Alcove at church. They even had a Texas flag cake, a couple of bails of hay, and these sweet Bluebonnet/Bandana centerpieces. Sweet. Shawn put together a slideshow of pictures of us in Texas over the years (Shatrine has been here 11 years now!!! My 5 years pales in comparison).

So all of our friends showed up from all of our little circles. It was fun to see our dog friends, my school friends, old-school Shepherd & Wisdomworks friends, IBC friends all in one place. It's amazing the relationships and bonds you form.

Shatrine made these cute little candy bar wrappers and put them around Hershey bars. So if you came to the party, you got this candy bar on your table with a little cartoon likeness of us, and it was a fun way to break the news to some that we are expecting. Good times.

Well, if I can convince Shatrine (hint, hint, wink, wink, nudge, nudge), maybe she'll post some pictures from the night.

We're Pregnant!

Woohoo!!!

We can't express how excited we are. This is the first sonogram... at 7weeks. Check out that little jelly bean. Good stuff. ETA is December 23, so we're trying to decide between naming him Rudy or Blitzen... or Prancer or Vixen (if the proper pronoun is 'her'). I'm sure Shatrine will chime in with her opinion on the topic.