Our Orange County trip

Friday we looked for places in Laguna Beach and the surrounding areas but we still liked Irvine much better. Irvine was just rated the 4th best place to live and has some of the best schools.

Jeff and I have decided on a place and we are just waiting for a few things to happen before we make any final decisions. We are looking forward to moving.

On Sunday we went to a family picnic. We are not blood related but I have been friends with these people since I was in the 7th grade so they are family! We had so much fun with them, we laughed, ate, laughed and ate some more. I got a really bad sunburn and I am in so much pain right now. I am lathered in aloe and I am hoping I feel better very soon. I am usually very good about applying sunscreen because I don't like to be sunburned and it is really bad for your skin and can cause cancer.

Lily started saying da-da. At first she wasn't saying it to Jeff directly, but for the last three times it was directed to him. But we think it is just a coincidence that she has said da-da while looking at Jeff. Jeff taught her this trick where she can click her tongue. She loves doing it! We will try to get both things on video for you to see.

Lots of photos below.

Lily having fun in the hotel

Lily fell asleep with her toy

Lily and Jeff

Lily and me

Lily

Lily fell asleep with her legs like this. Maybe this is why she is so skinny!

Lily with her Aunt Jackie

Lily with the Arlie clan

Justine and Erica

The Arlies!

The Arlies with Jeff and Lily

Jackie and me

Our little family

Looking in Orange County

We arrived in Orange County on Thursday morning. Jeff's company flew us out to look for places to live. It is nice that I can see the places that Jeff would stay, eat, and work when he would fly down. I get to enjoy the royal treatment too! We had a very productive day and looked at a lot of different types of property in Irvine. I have one favorite and Jeff has a few. We are going out again today with a different agent to look in the Laguna Beach area.
To be honest, we NEVER wanted to live in Southern California, (yuck) but Irvine and Laguna Beach are very nice and beautiful.
We would only be about 20 minutes away (with traffic) from Disneyland which is great when you have a little baby! We really don't like Disneyland but you can't keep that from your child. Every child should have the opportunity to see Disneyland!
Lily did great on the plane again! This was her third plane trip and she never seems to have any problems with her ears. Since I love to save money (why spend it when you can keep it?) I tried this new thing with her plane ticket. Children under two can fly for free but they have to sit on your lap. We don't like doing this for safety reasons. The last two times we flew we bought tickets for Lily. This time we didn't because I wanted to try something to see if it would work. If there are available seats left on a plane your child can get a seat for FREE! Most of the time there is going to be a seat available and you can save money. This worked for us on the way here so we will have to see if works on the way back. I have friends who have kids who fly so I thought you guys might like to know this information too.
I have been taking photos but I forgot to bring my USB cord so I cant get my photos off of my camera. But Lily is still looking adorable!

Update on my health. I had the third test done to see if I have anti-thrombosis III. The results came back again with the same results. The range for a normal person is 79-116 and my results are always 78. I am only one point below normal. The doctors don't feel comfortable giving me a diagnosis with one point below. But I guess I am confused because why have a range if you don't follow it?

50 Things about the Metcalfs

There is a posting going around where people list 50 things about themselves and I thought it would be fun. Enjoy!

1. I saw a picture of Jeff in a yearbook, called him up and asked him out on a date. It must have worked, since today is our 12th wedding anniversary!
2. We waited 11 years before having our first baby
3. We have been in a helicopter
4. We have both flown an airplane, Jeff more than me since he wants his pilots license.
5. We have been in a hot air balloon.
6. We were both patients in an ambulance at different times.
7. We have met a lot of famous musicians attending NAMM twice.
8. We were on a game show and won!
9. I was on T.V the first time I voted!
10. I am on E! True Hollywood Stories
11. Jeff had a brain tumor 7 months after we were married
12. We lived in a 10X15 square foot studio apartment for almost 5 years!
13. During that time, we worked in the same place for the summers, so that means we were together 24-7 and we loved it!
14. We are COMPLETE opposites!
15. We were teenage sweethearts
16. Jeff has been working from home for the past 4 years
17. We have moved 6 times in the last 12 years and are moving again
18. Jeff was commissioned to create a sculpture out of cheese for the Prime Minister of Portugal
19. I am still in touch with my junior high friends
20. A lady from NBC gave us free tickets to see Jay Leno in Vegas and we got to sit in the second row!
21. The show was nominated for an award and we own that DVD and you can see us on it.
22. Both of our cars are Toyota's because they rock!
23. Jeff shook Bill Clinton's hand when he was president, even though I was running all over the place trying to do just that!
24. We have tried out for The Price is Right, Wheel of Fortune, Family Feud, Shop Till You Drop, and a kid show on Nick at Night.
25. Lily does things that a 9 month old does even though she is 6 months old.
26. Lily is in the 95% for height and 21% for weight
27. Jeff owns a vintage Dick Brewer surfboard.
28. The start up companies that Jeff worked for only last 10 months.
29. Jeff has been at this company for 14 months.
30. Jeff played the National Anthem at his high school graduation on his guitar.
31. I have taken a picture of Lily everyday since she was born.
32. We put our self through college, but have a college plan for Lily
33. Jeff built a rocket out of recyclables and shot it off and it went about 200 feet!
34. People think we are dating because they say we are too happy to be married!
35. Jeff plays guitar, sculpts, and paints.
36. I use to be terrified of needles!
37. We went to Burning Man in 1999.
38. I met my favorite author and had all his books autographed.
39. Jeff was published in Rolling Stone and Inc. Magazine.
40. We went to Hawaii for a month.
41. We witnessed a hit and run and followed the guy.
42. Jeff climbed Mt. Fuji
43. Jeff proposed to me in San Francisco, and 13 years later our first baby was born in San Francisco
44. I have the high score on Pac Man
45. We still use our old phone number for our Safeway Club Card.
46. Jeff has been to 7 countries.
47. I won $100 from the lottery.
48. We saw Barry Bonds hit one of his record breaking home runs.
49. Jeff had his picture taken with a Secret Service Agent.
50. We drove 30 miles to get a Starbucks once.

Lily's first solids!

Today we started Lily on solids. We started with Cereal and she didn't like it one bit! She liked chewing on the spoon for her gums, but that was all. We will keep trying and introduce another food in a few days.

Today is our 12th wedding anniversary! YIPPEE!

The sweetest girl!

Our little Lily!

Where is my bottle!

YUCK! What is this stuff?

NO, NO , NO!!!!

Happy 6 Month Birthday Lily!

Today is the big day! (Well okay when I started writing this it was the big day) Our little baby is now 6 months old. She is half way to the even bigger 1 years old! WOW where did the time go? It just goes to show that you must spend time with your child/ren because these times are so special.

Lily is the best! She is one very happy baby! She laughs, smiles, talks and over exaggerates on her facial expressions!

She had her doctors appointment today and she did really well with her shots. Her doctor said that Lily was doing all the things a 9 month old would do. She still needs to gain weight but she will start solids and we all think that will help.

This photos was taken at our home after she had her shots.

Happy 6 months old Lily!

This is what I found when I checked up on Lily. Of course Jeff took her out of the slots after he took the photo!

Lily has a new skill

Yesterday Lily discovered that she is able to get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth. She LOVES doing this. This is the first stages of crawling! She isn't even 6 months old yet. We need to get a safety gate because we have stairs in our house. She is already at the point where if you turn around for a minute she has moved to a different spot. How does that happen when she isn't crawling yet?

She has been very excited about finding her new skill, that she couldn't sleep because that is all she wanted to do in her crib! This is fine, but she didn't want to be in her crib anymore, she wanted to play. It was 10:00 P.M. way past her bed time and she was wired! We put her in bed with us, thinking this would help calm her down, but no, it just made it worse. She was moving all over and talking up a storm. We went to bed early because we had to wake up at 4:30 A.M so I could take Jeff to the airport for a business trip. Lily (that means Jeff and I too) didn't get to sleep until 11:30 P.M. Then of course she woke up at 2:00 A.M. for a feeding! But when Lily was wired Jeff and I just kept laughing. She was being so cute and would just look at us like what should we do tonight, the night is young, let's party!

Here are a few photos:

Photos of Lily

Photos of Lily:

Lily had a caffeine crash!
Give me a Starbucks Mom!
Lily's cute little foot sticking out of the crib!
Bath time!


Our joy!

Such a kissable little girl!
Dad, you make the funniest faces!
Yeah, another day another Starbucks!

Lily was involved with a Milestones Study from the University of Manitoba in Canada. Here are her results:

Visit with the in-laws

We drove to Hilmar, CA on Saturday because Lisa, Nick, and their three kids were in town. It was good to see them and to see how big their kids were getting! We had a great BBQ and I ate tri-tip! It was good! Thanks Bruce and Kris for having us over.

We also stopped by our friend Erich's house and Lily "played" with his son Lukas. She is at the stage where she cries around other people. She cried around Lukas but I think she had a crush on Erich.

Jeff is coming home today from another business trip. I am so happy because he didn't know how long he would be gone.

Lily is at that stage where she knows what she wants, (a toy) but can't crawl to it; so she will fuss. I am sure she will start to crawl soon enough.

We bought Lily a high chair. Her 6 month doctor appointment is in a couple of weeks and she probably will be ready for solids. It is so exciting to see her go through all the different stages of growing.

Photos:

Lily with Lukas

Kris, Jeff, Lily, Bruce, Jack and Lisa

The clan

The clan with me

Lily

Giving me the "I am so adorable, you know you love me" look

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

Lily's Great Gramma Cox bought her a cute 4th of July outfit; she is wearing it in the pictures below. Thanks Gramma!

Today is going to be a quiet day. Jeff worked until 3:00am to get his document in so we are taking it easy. We are going to go through our house to find things to donate. We have too much stuff that we don't need that others could use.

Enjoy the photos!