Surprise!

A few weeks ago, I took a quick jaunt to L.A. to celebrate the baby shower of my good friend Trish and some of the best girlfriends a mom could have! Four of us came in from out of town for the weekend and had a little girl time. They even surpised me with a little shower of my own, complete with pedicures and cupcakes, cake, and more cupcakes!

What a wonderful way to spend the weekend! I think this should be an annual tradition!

Wasn't it just turkey day?

It seems like only yesterday we were in Tucson celebrating Thanksgiving with the family, but alas. . . Christmas is upon us with only 9 days to go!

Here are some photos of our visit.

As with most Thanksgiving, there were good eats. Mmmm, tasty Kherington!

And fun times trying new things

A Party within a Party- Happy Early Birthday Sweet Baby K!

People around that you enjoying being with.

And some snuggle time with Nana!

House of Bounce

Last weekend we went up to Orange County to go to Kimberly's (our cousin and god daughter) birthday party. She had her party and one of those places that has HUGE bounce houses, obstacle courses, etc. Here are a few photos of the cousins having fun.

Our little lady!

Did I mention that we're having another baby? This April, Baby Gideon Part Deaux is on the way. We had our 20 week ultrasound on Tuesday and we found out that it's a girl! I'm wearing pink in this belly shot to celebrate the news. Here are some of the photos from the ultrasound. I'll leave out the revealing one. :-)

She's showing off her legs, oye vay!

And here are her twinkle toes.

Here you can see her face, torso and left arm.

And here our little diva is ready for her close up!

It was so fun to see her! We can't wait to meet our little girl!

Our Little Top Chef!

Here is living proof that our little ones mimic everything we do, from talking on cell phones, to chastising the dog when he barks. This is how we keep Kai busy when we're trying to cook up a little dinner.

Dad & Esther's Big Fat Greek Wedding

So many reasons to celebrate! In a 10 day span I got to see about 80% of my extended family, I gained a wonderful person for a step-mom, and a whole slew of step-family that is a whole lot of fun.

Not to mention that we got to see my dad's home town of Wierton, West Virginia in all it's fall glory. In all the many trips we took there, I've seen Winter (brrr, Superbowl Sunday), and lots of summertime, but never Fall. It was 36F, but the colors were spectacular.

So many of the cousins came out, and it was great to catch up. It was fun to watch the little ones run around, and we even did a little Greek Dancing, OPA!

Here my cousin's son Steli & Kai play on the floor in their PJs.We're really looking forward go going back this July to celebrate Jennifer & Matt's wedding.

Calley & Travis's Wedding

One of the big family events this October was the marriage of Brendt's cousin Calley to her sweetheart Travis. They had a beautiful ceremony at her parent's home in Tucson. The wedding was beautiful and full of personal touches as Calley acted as her own wedding planner.

Here are Brendt & Ryan, keeping the kiddos (and themselves) occupied and quiet during the ceremony.

After the ceremony, Maya & Kai had fun splashing in the fountian.

A Stanford Fest!

The Stanford family (Kara, Jason & Kherington) made a visit to California this October. They spent a few days in San Diego with us before heading north to visit more family.

Kai & Kherington having a little bathtime fun! We took the family to OctoberFest and the kiddos did a little polka to the Oompa Band.

The Stanfords took the kids to Sea World. Here they are enjoying the Bay of Play.

Here are Jason, Kara, Kai & Kherington waiting for the Shamu Show to begin!As always, it was great to have them in town!

Happy Birthday Papa Jim!

This September, Mom & Jim came to San Diego. As a surprise, we took a family outing for a tour of the USS Midway Museum, a retired Navy Aircraft Carrier that is parked in San Diego Bay.
Kai took a tour of the flight deck on Grandma's shoulders.
Here you can see Coronado Island behind Grandma, Papa & Kai

Kai is ready for his Top Gun Training

Sorry Maverick, you'll have to wait until those feet reach the peddles.

Down in the stuffy lower decks. Yikes, how those guys do it I have no idea!

Kai had a lot of fun checking out the whatchahoozey. I've already forgotten the name of the thing that pulls the anchor up. Navy friends, please forgive me.

My First Haircut

Back in September, Kai had his first Haircut. Yes, mom and dad bit the bullet, and said good bye to the fluffy mullet. We were so in love with those lovely blond curls, and we feared that they would go away. With the careful expertise of my friend (and hairstylist) Jennifer, Kai retained his curls and got a more managable lenth. He did great!

Happy Halloween!

So much has happened in the past month and a half! Weddings, family fun, and so much more. I've been, again, grossly negligent at posts of late, but will start with Halloween and then work our way back to some fun events.This weekend Nana Gideon came to town to share Halloween for with her grandkids. On Saturday we had Yiayia, Papou (my step-mom Esther and dad- Dad's relocation to San Diego is one of the fun recent events) and Grandma Vi (Esther's mom) over along with Ryan, Monica and the girls over for pre-trick or treating dinner. In case it isn't obvious, Kai is a pirate and Maya is Tinkerbell (with shoes that light up and all!)

Devon joined in the festivities playing the role of the most the most adorable Gideon pumpkin!

I must say, it was a lot of fun to see Halloween through the kids eyes. We went to the neighborhood of some family friends, Tanya and Peter, whose area really goes all out in decorating. Kai really picked up fast on the taking stuff (I'm not sure he knew he was picking up candy) from strangers. One thing he didn't quite get was that he wasn't supposed to go into everyone's homes when they opened the door. Adorable. Here are Anika, Kai, and Maya getting some treats!

At the end of the night, we sat on our front porch and for about a half and hour, let Kai have a few pieces of candy, and gave out a little candy to the last trickle of kids coming around before the end of the night.

What fun! We're already looking forward to next year!

Urban Baby

This weekend we went to visit our friends Stacy and Katie who both happen to live in the same high rise condo complex downtown. Kai gave Katie's lab Tex some lovin and got to hang by the pool.

Here Kai is sitting poolside and pointing to the airplanes that land just north of the building.

Book Lover

So it's quiet in the house and we don't know where Kai is, so we holler out a "When I say Kai, you say. . . " and Kai will respond "Da Da". Most parents would take that silence as trouble with a capital "T". For us, it most often means that we will find Kai sitting quietly reading his books.

Here he is reading, "Where Are You Hiding Panda?".

Hey Darwin, nice digs!

Kai loves to discover all the little nooks and crannies of our house. This week he's discovered Darwin's crate.
While we were shooting pics of Kai, Darwin found someplace more comfortable to watch the scene, our bed. :-) Terriers.