Testing, Testing…

There’s been way too much testing going on around the Garff family the last few months.

It all started with my NASM exam in May to become an official personal trainer.  I passed.

May was followed by a VERY crazy June/July in which Steven was studying for the UT BAR and MPRE. He got a 127 on the MPRE (90%+), and we just found out he passed the UT BAR!!!

Last month, I decided to do some testing on my own.

I failed the first two, but the next 6 were a piece of cake. Sometimes you just know. And yes, I realize 8 tests may be a bit excessive, but after what happened with my first 2 pregnancies, I feel better just seeing those two pink lines. And I bought them at $.20/each, so I didn’t really feel like I was wasting them.

I’m almost 9 weeks and I’ve already done all sorts of crazy testing at both my OB/GYN and Hematologist, and so far so good.  My latest ultrasound even showed double good results. Yeah, you heard that right.  I am having TWINS. Oh baby (baby). The extra sickness and fatigue are really starting to make sense now. On the bright side, Dr. Boyer said she won’t charge us for a second ultrasound since she made a mistake the first time.  :)

It appears the twins are most likely fraternal, as they’re not sharing a sac, but we may have to wait it out to know for sure. I’m 9 weeks so far, and my official due date is April 21st, 2012, though we’ve already been told to prepare for a late March/early April birth due to twins being term at 37 weeks.

We had a hunch it might be twins, but after last month’s ultrasound, we figured it was probably just wishful thinking (or masochistic dreaming, pending your interpretation).  But when the doctor pulled the image on the screen today, her face got so confused, I knew something was up. Even though I wasn’t totally sure what I was looking at, it looked like 2 babies to me. Apparently, she has almost never missed a twin, even in early ultrasounds (mine was at 6.5 weeks last time, and she even checked for a hiding baby). It was a good thing I was laying down! We’re excited, stressed, confused, thrilled, and already going crazy at the thought of tripling the child population at the house.  But it’s a good crazy, right?

Staycation

We have AMAZING staycations in SoCal. If all of our family and friends lived down here, we would probably never go on a real vacation again. Two weeks ago we were at the zoo, last Saturday was a trip to the beach, and the rest of the week was pure bliss.

Liam and I started off the week by taking a trip to Disneyland with our Rancho friends Leo and Mollie.

It wasn’t busy, so we hit up Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Toon Town.

We only had a 10 minute wait for Mickey Mouse, so we had to take advantage of that opportunity for the boys’ sake.

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On Saturday, we hit up the LA County Fair. Opening Day was only $1, and we were able to find free parking so we had a cheap family outing. There was something for everyone, but mostly a lot for William.

A dinosaur and shark exhibit, for the boys,

the sweetest, smallest little lamb in the world. It probably was half the size of my dog. William would “sing” “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” every time he saw one. *melt*

A madhouse-like zoo for mom and son, complete with cows and llamas.

No joke, you walked in and were swarmed by goats. After what happened with the zoo incident, we weren’t expecting a love of goats. The second I put him down near a goat, William would say “all done” and ask to be held. Funny enough, he knew the difference between the sheep and goats and was fine with the “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, though he kinda warmed up to the goats by the end.

We didn’t get a picture, but William found a hay bale maze that he ran around in for 30 minutes. He LOVED it!

Of course, we had to find a dog on a boat. Took forever to pry Silly Billy away.

and a frosting shot for me (unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling so great and had to share it with my son).

Since we got parking free, we didn’t feel bad about splurging and got a late lunch at Tijuana Tacos---home of the best tortas ever. We are forever indebted to Lisa Anderson for her restaurant tip when we first moved here.

Sunday was spent at Dave and Mary Lou’s in Reseda (sorry, no photos), but rest assured, we had a great time.

But we obviously still had stamina left, as the last day of our Staycation was a full day at Disneyland.

We started off with the Bodes (who had to leave early since Scott had just gotten off work a few hours before we met up).

Then we all met up with the Maucotels,

and ended the day with the Andersons/Larkins.

The bonus of meeting up friends at Disneyland, was that we all got to take turns and go on the best rides. We hit up Star Tours twice, and also managed to sneak in Indiana Jones and Soarin’ as well.

By Liam’s request, much of the day was spent on boats (the current favorite word). As Grandpa Garff says, “It’s in the Garff genes.”

We’d never been on the canoes, riverboat, or Little Mermaid, so this was a good excuse to try something new.We used Silly Billy’s fascination will all things water and motors (some of his other current favorite words are drive, ride, water, and lawn mower) to hit up the fish carousel and Autotopia also. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t let our little boy drive, but we all still had fun.

And of course, the obligitory fuzzy character picture. Liam’s life would not be complete without these characters (though truth be told, he was a little less sure about Brer Fox and Brer Bear).

Thanks to Silly Billy for taking a 1 1/2 hr nap in the stroller to make our day even better. We were there for over 12 hours, so I guess you could say we got our money’s worth.

Though we’re hoping to make next time a grown-ups only date night. Can’t wait!

Hebgen 2011 and Bar Stories Part II

We spent another nice vacation this year up at the cabin. But before we could go up there I had to get the Utah Bar Exam out of the way. Funny story about that (but not funny at the time). The night before the first day I got almost no sleep, thanks in large part to some recent changes to Utah’s fireworks laws. Apparently you can now set off fullblown bombs and missiles for nearly the entire month of July. Thank you Tea Party. So, going into the first day I was already sleep deprived.

The next night I climbed into bed around 10:00 pm in order to get a solid night’s rest before the second full day of testing. My parents were out of town and April was hanging out with a friend so I was all alone. As I was starting to doze off, the doorbell rang. I got dressed, went down stairs, and opened the door. There was no one there. I climbed back into bed started to drift off. The doorbell rang again. I climbed back out of bed, got dressed again, and looked out again. Nothing but darkness. This could only mean one thing: doorbell ditchers! (either that or the Raven). Let’s just say that these kids clearly picked the wrong house with the wrong guy in it on the wrong night.

I slipped out the back door and hid in the bushes near the front yard. When the teenagers struck a third time, I pounced. I caught up with them after about a block. I didn't know I was in that good of shape. When I finally caught the little neighborhood punks, they were a bit taken aback by the extent of my fury. After a very “nice” long chat that included a discussion of the ramifications of trespassing (I was fresh up on the elements after all) they decided that they would not doorbell ditch me any more. The next day I finished the bar about 40 minuets early. They wouldn't let us leave before time was called so I took a nap right there in the test hall. I was that tired. Suffice it it to say I have never been so glad to get away to the cabin.

This year was particularly fun because we had the entire extended Garff Family up there, including our friends, the Brays, who came all the way from England.

Now that I see the picture, I realize that he didn't like this very much.

William really liked the frog we caught. It hung out on the top of his head.

Now whenever we say the word “frog” he points to his head. He also now puts his stuffed animal frog on top of his head. I guess he has figured out that the top of his head is where frogs go.

While at the cabin William discovered that he loves boats. He has been obsessed with them ever since. He calls everything that looks like a boat, “boat” and he pushes his toys around the carpet making boat sound effects. William’s namesake observed that this boat infatuation is a “genetic flaw,” all Garff’s seem to have it.

Can’t wait till next year.

The LA Zoo, Elliott Smith, and time travel

We spent Saturday at the LA Zoo. William was happy to see Reggie the famous "LAgator."

But of all the animals in the whole zoo: tigers, giraffes, bears, monkeys,etc.,William’s favorite animal (by far) was the monitor lizard.

It’s true. He waived to it, talked to it, and didn't want to leave. He also liked the goat.

Unfortunately, the goat didn't like him. This next shot was taken just as the goat decided to head-butt William.

William took it in stride, but kept his distance form the goats from there on out.

After the zoo we swung back home through Silver Lake for a couple of pilgrimages.

First stop, the mural on the cover of “Figure 8” by the late Elliott Smith.

Fans repainted it a few weeks ago in order to clean up the graffiti for his birthday. They even added a stencil of Smith's visage.

Second stop, the Echo Park Time Travel Mart.

As far as I know this is the only time travel supply shop this side of the spacetime continuum.

The sign reads, “Whenever you are, we’re already then.”