A whole bag full. Courtesy of my brother. Thanks Mom/brother! (I don't even know if my brother reads the blog, but I figure I better give him a shout out since they did come from his house). Can you guess what I did with (some) of the lemons?

Homemade lemonade. It's been warm, but even if it wasn't, I'd still make lemonade. And if you stop by I will gladly offer you some!

Dear Gwen Stefani,

I recently heard through the grapevine (or on the cover of every magazine) that you had your second child. I'd like to congratulate you and also take a moment to discuss your name choice. I see you have named him Zuma. And while I get that celebrities like to give their kids wacky names, I think we might have a problem with Zuma. Let me explain.

Many, many years ago I walked on a beach in Malibu and expressed to my best friends that I would one day name my son Zuma, after the very beach whose sand we had between our toes. I believe I was probably in middle school. Jackie can vouche for me. You see, I have been going to that same beach my entire life. Since I was a baby! I've spent countless hours laying on the sand, throwing a frisbee, playing volleyball, roller blading and swimming in the water at my favorite beach. I've spent holidays there, gone on dates and created many inside jokes there. And I even vowed, years ago, to name my first born son after the beach that gave so much to me.

You might be thinking, "What's the big deal? We can both name our kids Zuma". But that is where you are wrong. Now if I name my son Zuma, the responses will be "Oh, like Gwen Stefani's son", and not "Wow, what an interesting name!"

So you see, you simply must change your babies name. Unless you have a reason as good as mine to name him Zuma, which I highly doubt. You are, after all, an Orange County girl. Which reminds me- I have a name suggestion for you. Perhaps Laguna might be more fitting.

Thank You, and please take what I have said into consideration.

I've noticed that I've been pretty irritable lately, for which I completely blame the pregnancy. Usually when asked what my pet peeves are I have a hard time coming up with anything, but these past few weeks it seems like my list is getting long. I'll share a few, cause I know your dying to know.

1. People who speed in parking lots. This seriously drives me insane. Parking lots are for PARKING, they are NOT freeways! It seems like every time I'm backing out of a spot I almost get hit by some crazy driver who is flying through the parking lot and not paying attention. And I am always very slow when I reverse.

2. Retail stores that require too much work at checkout. Let me explain. I never have cash. I pay for almost everything with a debit card. At most stores, you can swipe your card, punch in your code and be done. However, not all stores are this easy. Some stores require you to swipe your card, then punch in your code, then use the pen to accept the charge, then use the keypad to select whether or not you want cash back, etc. That is way too much work for me. I need everything to be by pen or by keypad. I can't stand having to do both. I can't swipe my card, find the dangling pen (which are inevitably always positioned for right handers!) punch in some numbers, use the pen again for something, keep my 2 year old quiet, be kind and curteous to the cashier, remember to put my card back in my wallet and remember to pick up my bag of merchandise! And don't even think about asking me to open an account with your store!

3. Customers who are not prepared to check out at grocery stores. This includes people who don't have their coupons in order, can't remember what phone number is used for their club card, ask the checker to find them the items they couldn't, and people who don't understand the sale. The other day I was stuck behind a woman in line for over 10 minutes who didnd't get the sale. The checker had to explain to her over and over again that the sale was buy one pack of bottled water and get one pack free. The lady took two whole cases of bottled water-probably had 10 six packs of bottled water and she wanted half of them for free. (Am I making sense?) And after that the lady had the checker running back and forth trying to find her the right Lean Cuisine meals. Come on, people! I would have switched lines but I already had my stuff unloaded and there were people behind me, too. Is it that hard to think ahead and be prepared?

I just realized that all of these pet peeves could be eliminated if I just stopped shopping! Which would also eliminate a pet peeve of John's, I'm sure. What are your pet peeves?

Because of my asthma, my doctor wanted me to get an ultra sound every 4 weeks to make sure they baby is growing properly. Yesterday I went and they assured me everything was good and normal. According to their calculations she weighs just over 2 lbs and is the cutest, smartest baby they've ever seen!

I love any 3 day weekend, but this one was especially fun. John's Mom came down to visit. She brought Devan gifts, took us out to breakfast and hung out with us at the beach.


Devan had a blast! She was sad to see Grandma go but is looking forward to her next visit. Thanks Grandma!!
(And our beach day was just in time- I hear it's supposed to be getting cold again. How could you, California?!)

Devan has always been a good problem solver. I think it's in her blood, because John is the same way. This can be good and bad. Good when they are finding ways to solve every day problems. Bad when they really really want something that there is absolutely no room for in our budget. For John this is usually something like a mountain bike, paintball gun, new snowboard or whatever newest technology is out. And I usually end up telling him that no, he cannot sell both our cars for a new xbox game, no matter how important it is!

Yesterday Devan woke up from her nap and wanted to go to the mall. I told her we could not because our van is not running well and we had to get it fixed before we drove it again. This is how it went.

Devan: Oh. We need a new car.
Me: Yeah.
Devan: One with more lights.
Me: Okay.
Devan: And more buttons.
Me: alright
Devan: And one with a triangle on it.
Me: Okay.
Devan: But where can we find one?
Me: I don't know.
Devan: Oh, I know! The car store! Lets go!

I was afraid to hear what she had to say when I told her that we needed a car to get to "the car store" and even more afraid of what she's going to come up with when she's 16 and we tell her that she can't have a car!

There's nothing that irks me more than a wasted lemon tree. There is a home in our neighborhoood with a huge lemon tree full of lemons. Going to waste. Hundreds of lemons weighing down the branches with no place to go. Every time I pass this house I want to go to their front door and ask if I can pick their lemons. I also want to ask them if they know that lemons at our local Albertsons are $1.29 each.
I might have a problem. You can ask John. I talk about lemons a lot. I would love to have homemade lemonade every single day. I don't understand why anyone with a backyard would not want a lemon tree. I dream at night (literally!) about having the smallest plot of land just so I can plant a lemon tree.
So, if you are reading this, and you have a lemon tree and don't happen to be as obsessed with lemons as I am, I will gladly take them off your hands!

Living where we do requires many sacrifices. We don't have gym memberships or iphones. I don't get my hair or nails done. John doesn't go snowboarding nearly as much as he'd like and we never go out to eat. We did, however, get to stare at this on our way to my OB appointment last night:

In case your making yourself feel better by telling yourself that it was probably freezing cold, it wasn't. I think it was probably 85 degrees yesterday. Take that, January!

It's been eating away at me for long time coming, and I think I'm ready. I've recently read several articles about household cleaners/sprays causing respiratory problems. Remember my asthma? I'm just saying. Call me crazy but I like to breathe.
We've slowly been making changes over the past few years. Last year we bought Klean Kanteens, and I'm in the process of getting rid of all my plastic Tupperware and replacing them with more eco-friendly options like these.
I think I'm ready for the next step. I'm going to be (slowly-I'm not rich!) trying natural cleaning products. I've found lots of recipes to make your own household cleaning products and I'm really excited to try it out. The first product I purchased was this:Natural liquid dish soap. It was cheap. I found it at Target for under $3. And since I wash my dishes by hand mostly, I thought I'd give this a try. I'll let you know how I like it.
Also- if anyone has any advice/recommendations on making/buying natural cleaning products please let me know! I have a lot to learn.

The other day I was in Pottery Barn Kids and I came across a package of felt donuts. Since I didn't want to spend almost half my grocery allowance on fake donuts, I decided to make some myself. I found this tutorial and got to work this morning. This is what I came up with:

I guess they look cute enough and Devan seems to like them just fine. They obviously aren't as impeccable as Pottery Barn's, but they were fun to make. On to better news-

I finished the first project from my list! The pink and brown quilt I started a while ago for the baby.
It's backed with just plain pink flannel and I really like it. Also- Devan's furniture is done!! This is great news. John finished the dresser last weekend and now it's in her room along with the night stand. I will post pictures of them later. I really love them. Her room is far from finished, especially now since we have to make room for a crib and find a way to make all of the girls clothes fit. Devan had tons of baby clothes!

I'm still undecided on double strollers. Will I really use it? Will I regret if I just get a cheap double umbrella stroller? Any input would be great!

I'm not big on new years resolutions. I was however, quite excited the other day when I was reading my best friend Jackie's cousins blog and found this link. I've never seen this site before, but I think I'll be a loyal reader from now on. It's filled with great stuff.
Anyway, I am staying home from church sick today and thought I'd get to work on my questions. I started with the reflection questions for 2008, and while most of it is personal, I would like to share one question.

Question: What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?

My Answer: The internet!!

Ironic, right? The questions for 2009 were a little more fun because I felt like I was commiting to a better life rather than commiting to resolutions that I knew I wouldn't keep.

I also made a couple lists. Here's a few of them.

Projects I want to finish in 2009:

1. Blessing blanket for the baby. (I just started knitting this and really want to get it done before the baby is here).
2. My Christmas advent calendar that I started 2 years ago!
3. Pink and brown baby blanket

Projects to start (and hopefully finish!) in 2009:

1. Throw pillows for the couch, bed.
2. Strawberry blue flannel quilt for baby. ( I cant wait to make this!!)
3. Giraffe baby blanket
4. Apron for Devan

Things to organize in 2009:

1. Our movies. They are currently out of control and we can't even zip shut the HUGE cd book they are in.
2. Our junk drawers. I think we have about 2 and they are getting pretty bad.
3. Kids clothes. Keeping Devan's stuff organized was pretty easy, and even though the baby is not even here yet I am already having a hard time keeping everything separate and organized.

We will (hopefully) be hearing about an offer we made on a condo in the near future which will mean more lists. Mostly for John, because there's not much home improvement I'm going to be doing when 6+ months pregnant, or after a cesarean with a newborn + 3 year old.

Happy 2009, everyone! What are your goals?