Cally in 3D

Today Zane and I had the opportunity to see what Cally is going to look like. We went in for a 3D ultrasound and got watch her on a big screen as she moved around, smiled, yawned and stretched out. It was such an amazing experience. She was very active throughout the whole thing however her head was positioned in the lower part of my uterus and was difficult to see a full frontal face shot. We pretty much just saw her profile but were still able to watch her play and hang out in mommy's belly. She is currently approximately 3 lbs and growing like a weed. I still can't believe that she is going to at least double in size by March! I'm am currently 29 weeks along and there seriously feels like there is no more room for her but I'm sure my body will continue to "adjust."

I'm very excited that I only have 2 1/2 more months left and that Cally will be here with us soon. By the looks of the 3D ultrasound she is going to be one cute kid and I have a feeling she's gonna look just like her daddy. What do you think?

A California Christmas- Christmas 2008

For the last couple of years Zane and I have traveled to Denver to spend Christmas with my parents. It's a great reason to go spend some time with them and have a white Christmas...plus Zane never passes up the opportunity to go snowboarding. This year however, we decided to do things a little different. Since Zane and I are now living in the west coast and my sis and her family are only a few hours away, we decided that we should all meet in California at our house instead. We have a big enough place to host a large group and did pretty well when Zane's family was here for Thanksgiving so we thought we'd give it another go.

Erica and Klay, my sis and brother in law, and Nickolas and Kaitlyn, our niece and nephew, drove up from Yuma while my parents and two younger brothers Mikey and Danny flew in from Denver. Carlos, my other brother, was unable to make it due to his work schedule which was really unfortunate.

My mom and I spent most of the time in the kitchen making all sorts of good food while the boys helped Zane tear down our concrete wall to put up a wrought iron fence so we can have a view. The weather was pretty ugly the whole time that they were here, rainy and cold, so we spent most of the time next to the fire place catching up.

We had a huge Christmas Eve dinner and opened presents at midnight. They all only stayed just a couple of days but it was great to have all the family together once again(other than Carlos, of course).

There's nothing better than the holidays spent with the ones you love...

My parents, Nancy and Raul

Playing Cranium

Spending some time in the kitchen

Helping Zane out

Christmas Dinner

Telling stories

Passing out the presents

My mom and I on Christmas morning

Zane and I Christmas morning

28 Week Pregnancy Update

I am now 28 weeks pregnant and feeling great. My belly has definitely been growing a lot but it's exciting to watch my body change for such an amazing miracle. Cally is more and more active everyday and I can literally see her kick in my belly just by looking at it. It surprises me every time.

Pregnancy wise everything is going great. I previously was told by my OBGYN that I may need a C-section due to the placement of the placenta being so close to my cervix, however, I just received a second ultrasound to check the location of the placenta and luckily as my uterus has been growing, my placenta has shifted more and more away from my cervix and I no longer run any risk therefore I will not have to have a C-section. So now I'm back to delivering her the old fashion way...but with drugs of course.

I have been feeling great and have plenty of energy.I am continuing to work without any difficulty and even though my belly is beginning to get in my way, I just find a new way to go about whatever it is I am doing and carry on.

I'm really enjoying being pregnant and experiencing all of these new and exciting things. I feel lucky to have had such an easy pregnancy so far and only hope that it continues.

Merry Christmas from the Running Family!!!

Every year I like to send out Christmas cards to all of our friends and family and I always enjoy getting together and taking a family portrait. This year, we walked behind our house and Erin and Mike, our wonderful neighbors, were kind enough to take a few snapshots of all 4 of us. With the wind, a husband that hates taking posed pictures, two very easily distractable dogs, and me who pretty much hates every picture that is taken, it can definitely be a challenge but we were able to pull it off. Thanks Mike and Erin for your help! We could not have done it without you! Merry Christmas everyone, from our family to yours!

The Phrog

After our big Thanksgiving feast we took the family to Camp Pendleton to show them where Zane works and the CH-46. The kids had a blast playing around in the cockpit and checking out all the cool gadgets and Zane enjoyed teaching everyone a little bit of what he does on a day to day basis. My hat goes off to Grandma for being such a trooper and climbing up in the the helo to check it out. Those are some big steps and she handled it like a champ.


Grandma climbing aboard

Chaz checking out the cockpit

Michelle and Amaya

A Thanksgiving Reunion

This year we were blessed to be able to share Thanksgiving with family. We had all of Zane's family come from all sorts of different parts of the country and we all gathered together at our house to share a wonderful meal and catch up on lost time. Mary, Zane's mom, along with Geraldine, Zane's grandma, drove down from Coos Bay Oregon while Michelle, Zane sister, and her 3 kids Amaya, Chaz, and Mylee followed. Michelle's husband Greg flew down a day later from Oregon and John, Zane's dad, flew in from Tennessee. We also had Bev, Zane's aunt, and her family Scott, Rachelle, Faith, Brandy, little Scott and baby Aj drive up from Yuma for the big get-together. All in all there were 16 of us total and although a bit chaotic at times it was great to have everyone together. A huge thanks to Mary who pretty much took over the kitchen and Thanksgiving dinner, I couldn't have done it without her.

Zane, Mylee, Michelle and Greg

Mary working hard

John carving the turkey

Part of the fam getting ready to eat dinner

Michelle listening to one of Grandma's stories

A Table for 4 Please...

After having such great success with the construction of the cabinets, I quickly put Zane back to work and asked him to build me a cocktail style dining table that we can use on a day to day basis. So we put our heads together and designed the perfect table using some left over granite tiles that we found in the house when we moved in. It only took Zane but a few hours to put it together and I couldn't be happier with it. I'm so lucky to have such a talented husband...

My Very Own Handyman

When we bought our house I fell in love with the layout of the kitchen. It was definitely one of the selling points for me. It has a ton of cabinet and counter top space, a large island, beautiful granite counter tops and a great open feel. The only problem was that the cabinets were not only horribly stained in a two-tone color but done very poorly. So my only concern and condition when buying the house was that we must replace the cabinets as soon as we could. Well Zane being the handyman that he is suggested that instead of purchasing them, that he would build them instead. I must admit, I was a bit hesitant at first because I'm a bit of a perfectionist and had a certain look in mind but he convinced me to let him take a shot at it. After picking out the type of wood and color of the stain, I stepped back and watched my very talented hubby create his masterpiece. The deal was that I was supposed to help him with the project and we together would do it, but I have to admit that he did most of the work. Yes, I sanded and stained a bit but I have to give Zane all of the credit. He worked many long hours and did an amazing job. I absolutely love my kitchen now. We still need to paint the walls, and redo the flooring but the cabinets are done and I couldn't be happier.

Tearing down the old cabinets

Putting together the cabinet doors

Some of the cabinet doors

Refacing the old cabinet structure

The handyman

Getting closer

Adding the fancy crown moulding

The finished look

2008 Marine Corps Ball

Another ball came and went and as usual we celebrated with our fancy dresses and stunning uniforms. This year the ball was held in Anaheim, CA. Anaheim is located about 1 hour north of where we live so I anticipated my "ready time" to be about an 1hr and 10 minutes from when the ball was to begin.However, as I was coming back from my hair appointment Zane called me and said that there was a huge wildfire and the road we would usually take was closed and that we would have to take another route therefore we'd have to be leaving as soon as I got back. Of course that was gonna be impossible given that I still had to put on my makeup and get dressed. Well I hurried as much as I could and we where on our way. After being on the road in stop and go traffic for an hour we realized that the route we decided to take everyone else had decided to take as well so we decided to turn around and go back another way although after such frustrations we were tempted to just go home. Three hours later we arrived at the ball, in the middle of the guest speaker's speech and just in time for dinner. We ate, danced one dance, and we where on our way home once again. After all of that, I was exhausted and my feet where killing me in those heels. All in all it was a good time, but short one at that.

20 Weeks Pregnant and Growing

Our baby girl has gotten super active within the last month. I can definitely feel her moving around like crazy and she likes to kick her momma pretty significantly sometimes. Zane too has been able to place his hands on my belly and feel her kick however she's pretty defiant at times and doesn't necessarily kick when I want her to, go figure.

I have been feeling great and watching my belly as it grows more and more each day. I am officially wearing maternity pants which are heaven sent, by the way. There are things that are starting to become more difficult to do without my belly getting in my way or at least noticing that its there. I know I have a lot more growing to do so it will be interesting to see how I manage to adapt to my new figure.

Work has been going great and hasn't affected my pregnancy at all. I think that I am now used to the hours and sleeping schedule which is a bit chaotic at times but I'm handling it pretty well. I honestly feel amazing and can't complain. This pregnancy has been really easy so far and I just hope that it stays this way until she's here...oh and it can remain "easy" after she's here too, but I have to be realistic, after all, she's a girl! haha.

We decided to start working on the baby room. We tore up the floors and painted the walls. Zane will be making and installing new wood floors and my very talented neighbor Erin and I will be painting some designs on the walls. We still need to shop for all the furniture and all that fun stuff but we couldn't wait to get started. The wall color is a sage green and I plan to paint pink and yellow flowers on the wall. I can't wait until it's all done...until then, it's a work in progress.