Jean and Ross

New Year

2011-01-23T14:36:00.000-08:00

Our new year has been very busy so far. Ross was very fortunate and able to find a nursing job in this tough job market. He is working at the County hospital in Stockton. It is a commute for him but we couldn't be picky right now. He started 2 weeks ago and I really have missed having him at home. It made it a lot easier to work full time when I knew someone was always home with Marcus. Plus he did most everything around the house. So now we are juggling our two schedules and what to do with Marcus when both of us have to work. So far it has worked out but I am finding that there is never enough time in the day anymore. I am lucky that I have a boss who is so flexible with my schedule. It is going to be a little crazy around here until we get into a routine but I am grateful that Ross is able to work and get experience so eventually he can find the job he really wants.

I have also learned that things don't always work out the way we want them to but it has also reminded me to count my blessings more. There is so much that we have been blessed with despite frustrations we face.

Marcus is growing and thriving. I just love my little boy. Being a mom has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. He is already 20 months old today. He is saying new words everyday and loves to make us happy. He has been in a clingy stage lately and getting him adjusted to nursery has been hard. He loves Thomas the Train and "choo choos" as he calls them. He loves cars, trucks, airplanes, fire trucks- you get the picture. He loves to go on walks and play at the park and especially gets excited when there are other little kids around. He loves to read books and color. We go to music class and also a gym class once a week. He can't do most things they show him in gym class but he loves to try anyway and just run around. Today he walked up the stairs for the first time by himself. I wouldn't have let him if I knew he was going to walk but he was almost upstairs before I noticed. He keeps us busy and I wouldn't have it any other way.

We enjoyed the holidays and loved having Amanda and Matthew here to visit plus my other aunts, uncles and cousins. Marcus thought opening presents was the greatest thing and his facial expressions were so cute. He loves anything that has to do with Jesus so he was constantly wanting to play with my nativities. He didn't like Santa at all so we didn't bother with that. He has it right though- Jesus is the real meaning of Christmas. We spent time with family and took him on a train ride through Niles Canyon. The train was all lit up with lights and he was so excited when the train first pulled up. I think the best part of the trip for him was playing with Grandpa and Amanda though. We also went to Monterey for a couple of days to enjoy the Aquarium and time by the ocean. It was a nice little getaway. Hopefully we will make it up to the snow next month.

That is a basic wrap up of what we have been up to. I am not very patient with loading pictures and posting them on the blog. I need to figure out a way to organize my pictures so they will be forever saved. I did start making a digital scrapbook for Marcus. I am not creative but I am doing the best I can. So I'll tell Ross to post pictures at a later date.

Under Construction

2010-10-31T21:37:00.000-07:00

Update- finally

2010-08-08T14:22:00.001-07:00

What can I say. I have been a blog slacker. There just are so many other things that take priority. But I guess I can give a summary of what we have been up to the past 6 months.

Marcus turned one in May. He is such a joy. He loves to smile and when he hears other people laughing around him, he likes to join in- like he understands what everyone is laughing about. He is such a happy boy. I get comments about that a lot. He loves to wave at people and say "Hi". He started walking at 13 months and now he loves to get all around. Especially when he sees an open door- he heads right for it. He loves to swim and play outside and look at his daddy's fish in the pond. He loves to take the lids off of things and has become especially good at using his teeth to pry things open. He keeps us busy but in a good way. He just brings such happiness into our home

Ross graduated from Nursing school in May. He is currently studying for his boards which he is taking soon and then hopefully he will be able to find a job. Maybe not his dream job, but at least somewhere to get experience right now. He is enjoying this time to be home with Marcus and it has been so nice to have him around. It will be an adjustment when he does start working. I love having him home everyday.

I am still working at John Muir. I just had my 10 year anniversary there last month! I have been picking up some extra hours whenever I can since Ross is home. The last several months have been a challenge getting Ross through school and balancing being a full time mom and working full time. But we were blessed and everything has worked out. I did get a vacation in July and went to Italy to visit my sister Liz. My mom, dad and brother came along too. We went to Rome, Sorrento- Amalfi Coast, Naples and Sicily. It was super hot and with Liz has our guide, we saw more than the average person would in a day. But it was fun to be with family and I love to go to new places. Italy is always a favorite destination of mine.

We did go on a family vacation to Florida in June. We visited Ross' cousins. Marcus loved his cousins there and enjoyed the attention. We did several activities around Jacksonville where we stayed and then we went to Cape San Blas which is on the Gulf of Mexico. We spent 5 days there and enjoyed the clear warm water and white sand. Luckily they were not affected by the oil spill. It was a nice little vacation. We also went camping- which Marcus handled very well. So we have been enjoying our summer. I love that I have so much energy this summer compared to last summer- when I had a colicky newborn! This month we are going camping and then going to Utah for a friends wedding. I just can't believe how fast the summer has flown by.

So we are doing well and I have been relieved how most things have worked out- I remember worrying that Ross wouldn't even get into nursing school. And wondering if my baby was going to be healthy. And how I would survive as a new mom. It was a year of a lot of changes but we are happy to be where we are right now.

(I will get Ross to post some current pictures. )

Featuring Marcus

2010-01-13T18:23:00.000-08:00

Our little cutie at 6 months old. Our friend Angela took some Christmas pictures for us. Her boys were in the back trying to make him smile and he was just wondering what all the commotion was about. We have had a busy couple of months. I admit that blogging isn't a priority for me. If I have spare time then my favorite thing to do is get into my warm bed and read a book. It is such a luxury now days to be able to read. Plus there are always so many other things to do as you all know. I even made some new years resolutions but haven't really been motivated to do them. I guess you have to want to make the changes right :) But I am sure I will do a little at a time.
So I am still working and enjoying my time as a mom more and more. It has been so fun to watch marcus grow and learn new things. He rolls all around the room and is starting to scoot around on his tummy. He hasn't quite figured out the crawling motion yet. He still manages to find everything in the room that I don't want him to so we have been more careful with babyproofing. He is becoming a stubborn little guy and lets me know when he doesn't want something. He threw a little fit when i took him out of the bathtub tonight and he really knows how to protest. But he just has the biggest smiles whenever he sees me and we just love him. It is fun to see him become this little person. He really enjoyed spending time with his grandparents and aunts and uncle over christmas. We went down to san diego with my family for a vacation. We stayed in a rental condo next to the beach. Marcus loved the ocean. It was pretty cold when we were there but he still wanted to play in the water. The cold didn't seem to bother him at all. So now I know what we will be doing this summer- lots of swimming. I posted some pictures of Marcus' first time playing in the Pacific Ocean. He still is not sleeping through the night and I am really looking forward to that day but Ross has been so good at getting up and feeding him so I can get more sleep.
While we were in San Diego, my mom watched Marcus and the rest of us spent a day at Disneyland. We had a fun time. I love it there at Christmas time. We also saw some pretty coastal scenery, went shopping and had lots of family game time while we were there. I miss my siblings already.
Ross is enjoying his christmas break from school. Soon he will be really busy. He is starting his last semester of nursing school. The job market is really tight right now so we are hoping he will find a job once he graduates.
I was having lots of back/flank pain last week and was worried that I hurt my back really bad or something- but it turns out that I have shingles. Don't know why that decided to flare up but at least the pain is better now. I have to be off work for a week to let the rashes heal. It has been nice to be at home everyday with Marcus but it does stress me out a little to use up my precious time off hours.
Here are a bunch of pictures of the past month or so.
We let him just get wet and dirty- it was hard to prevent him since he was so eager to play in the water. He didn't like the sand on his thumb so much though
He was just so happy. The rest of us were freezing but he thought this was the greatest thing ever. Maybe he will be a future beach bum. He really loves water.
Marcus and daddy playing in the ocean at sunset. San Diego had the most beautiful sunsets.

Oops, we didn't realize that the tide was coming in while we were posing for the picture. My tennis shoes were soaked!

Aren't they so cute :)

Marcus loves paper. He eats anything in site. We are touring the USS Midway- an aircraft carrier ship. It was pretty cool
Look where Ross put him. I am right below him so don't get worried that we just stuck him there

Checking out the cool planes on the USS Midway

We hiked along the coast and checked out some tide pools. Marcus sure has big feet huh :)

Marcus and the great Pacific Ocean

He loves to explore anything. Checking out the beach/ice plants

My family

Tide pools

Marcus playing in the tide pools. Like I said, he is so happy to play in any sort of water

Amanda and Marcus

Our tired little boy. He was a good sport to be hauled all around san diego

Marcus and me. Not so cute of me but I guess Ross likes this one cause Amanda is posing in the back like a crazy lady

San Diego coast- view from Point Loma

Marcus is trying to eat the sign

Our future junior ranger.

Marcus is so happy to be surrounded by so much paper! He received many great gifts for christmas

He loves to sit crosslegged. It is so cute. He likes to just sit in his chair and watch me do stuff in the kitchen

Our happy boy right before Christmas

Visiting with Ross' relatives on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving with Great Grandma and grandpa Hawkes and Grandma and Grandpa Hawkes

He loves bath time and his favorite toy is one of my measuring cups. Don't try to take that away from him!

Dinnertime!

Ross sent a request for the White House to send a congrats on Marcus' birth so we were excited about our letter from the Obamas.

I hope everyone is doing well. Happy New Year!

Halloween, the ER and more...

2009-11-08T17:00:00.000-08:00

Baby Monkey in its holding cell

Filipino monkey trainer with his baby monkey

I am behind on blogging- and pretty much everything else. I started working full time again at the beginning of October. We are doing well but it takes some juggling of schedules and help from others to make it work. Thankfully Ross has some days off from school and my schedule is flexible. The first few weeks were rough as I was getting used to the long crazy 12 hour shifts plus my 24 hour shifts as a mom. Plus Marcus had a cold and then his reflux started acting up again so he wasn't sleeping at night anymore. But we have him on a new medication and he has been a happy boy again. And he is even getting more friendly with new people. He actually let a "stranger" hold him during relief society and he was laughing and talking- or squealing I should say- with her. It is so nice that he has grown out of so many of the painful things that were bothering him as a newborn and he is just a happy guy nowadays. He loves to make sounds and grab everything he can. He has lots of cute toys but of course his favorite is paper. He loves to rip the paper and chew on it. He is figuring out how to roll all around so any day now I am going to put him down and find him on the other side of the room. That means childproofing is next on my list of things to do.

I had to work on Halloween but Ross took Marcus to the Stake party. He was dressed as a little monkey. I will have Ross post pictures. He was very cute. He even got a little sticker for cutest costume- although he ate most of the sticker so I only have a little piece left for his baby book. He started eating cereal and has moved on to a few different fruits and is doing well. He makes the funniest faces sometimes with the new tastes but he is a pro at eating now. I can't believe he is going to be 6 months soon! I feel like I deserve an award for surviving those first few colicky months. Ross too since I wouldn't have made it without him. I am really enjoying the age that Marcus is and don't want him to grow too fast!

Ross is doing well in school and almost done with the semester. Then one more semester and he is done! We are waiting to see where he will do his preceptorship for the last semester. I had a week long neuro refresher class at work. I enjoyed the learning although it meant 4 straight days away from Marcus which was hard. And then on friday AM I work up with the worst headache I have ever had in my life. Plus I was nauseated and throwing up. I was scared about what was going on. I tried to see my doctor but he was not in the office so they sent me to urgent care who then sent me to the emergency room. I have never been a patient there before so that was interesting. I had labs and a head CT plus a lumbar puncture which wasn't so fun. But everything ruled out so I wasn't having a bleed or anything. But I still don't know what caused the headache. It took a couple rounds of drugs in the ER to get rid of the pain and nausea. And wiped me out the whole next day. They were thinking maybe it was a migraine. I never get headaches. I guess having a baby changed my body or something. It really has been a tough year for me in regards to health.

So that is the news here. I will see if Ross can post the video we took of Marcus eating cereal for the first time. And some other cute pictures of him.

YouTube Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfW_DWaWkz8

Family Pictures

2009-10-07T19:40:00.001-07:00

Mr. Spastic Boombastic

2009-09-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

Remembering Heather

2009-09-01T15:08:00.001-07:00

Heather, Cassie and I- Homecoming Freshman year, BYU

Heather and I in her dorm room

My friend Heather Ann Luedtke Chapman passed away on August 31st at the young age of 32. She battled breast cancer for almost 3 years and although I wanted her to beat it so badly, I visited her a couple of days before she died and realized how much pain she was in. It was hard to see- Heather was not herself anymore. So while I am sad that she is gone because I will miss her, I am glad that she is no longer in pain. When I heard that she passed away, I instantly imagined her in my mind smiling in heaven, with her big smile, long blonde hair and healthy body- able to run and dance like she loved to do. We had so many fun times together. She was my second half my freshman year at BYU. We did everything together- and I mean everything. We even planned our trips to the bathroom together. And although we lived a couple doors down from each other in the dorms, I talked to her on the phone several times a day. I remember my roommate thinking it was crazy that I had just seen Heather and then we were on the phone talking. Heather was a loyal friend. She always was an example to me. Some people are just "good"- and that was Heather. I know it has been a long time since college but I often think back on my memories. I loved BYU and always treasure the experiences I had there, and especially the friends that I made.

I went to Heather's funeral in southern california. It was a quick trip because of the baby at home. I flew down that morning and back that afternoon. I am so glad that I was able to attend though. Her funeral was a powerful spiritual experience for me. Her family is so strong. And I left feeling determined to be a better person, to be more like Heather. She didn't complain as she battled the cancer. She will always be remembered for her constant smile. And she kept her faith throughout her trials- enduring to the end. The chapel was packed and I hope Heather could feel how much she was loved and how many lives she touched.

Just a few memories that come to my mind right now- skipping dinner at the Cannon Center and eating brownie shakes at Cosmos instead, football games, anatomy lab and stinky clothes, building snowmen, our "Jared" tape that we listened to over and over, singing and playing the piano together in the practice rooms, dinners at Brick Oven and Los Hermanos, dressing up and being my date to the Opera, Homecoming dance at the Capitol Building, candy at the Bookstore, studying together in the library until Hawaii 5-0 started to play, stalking "Ball Boy", food fights in the Canon Center, eating dried cereal for dinner because we were sick of the food, starving on Sundays and late night walks to Circle K or Taco Bell, playing Red Rover late at night, going to Provo Canyon and building a fire and singing hymns on sundays, going to open house at the boy's dorm, sneaking into the boys' dorm through the back door and getting caught by Atila the Hun dorm mom, dollar movies, having the boys take turns waiting all day in line to buy tickets for the friday night movie on campus, going to those packed BYU dances and the Helaman Halls dances- those were so much fun!, forcing her to listen to country music, Disneyland, several trips to Whittier to visit her, eating lots of Mexican food and also at one of her favorite food places- Islands, having her perform her latest song for me on the guitar, watching her tap dance when I could get her to do that for me, always making me laugh- I called her my own personal comedian, Sparky the fireman who was kidnapped by the boys along with her camera- and later returned with funny pictures of the guys dressed up like Sparky, buying Sparky a birthday card, laying on her bed together and talking, her timidly knocking on my door Saturday mornings to see if I was finally up yet, waiting for Amanda to find her meal card before most dinners, Chicago (singing group) concert at the Marriott Center, Tuesday devotionals at the Marriott Center and then lunch together, emailing almost every day after we graduated and lived away from each other, our Book of Mormon trip to Central America. I could go on and on. One of the best things in life is to have true friends. I hope that she knew in life how much I cared about her and admired her.

My baby is getting so big!

2009-08-19T12:17:00.000-07:00

See the post below- I added to what Ross wrote. And I have no clue what the first part says- Ross was posting pictures so his mom could see them in the Philippines.

My baby is getting so big!

2009-08-16T20:51:00.001-07:00

Ma, para sa imo kini. Dili mang mo magkita so pictures lang sa. Patiencia na lang. Mahal kaayo kamong duha. Ayo-ayo diha.

That was a message from Ross to his mom. Marcus is almost 3 months old! I feel like we went through a huge transition and finally I am feeling like I have things in control. And my body almost feels like normal again- just a couple sizes bigger... The first 3 months have been hard but I am loving being a mom. Marcus is smiling so much now- it makes the sleepless nights a lot more worth it. The little stinker can't make up his mind about sleeping at night. Some nights he will give me a wonderful 5 hours of sleep and then other nights- like last night- he is up every 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Maybe he just gets lonely and misses our company but I wish I could figure out how to get him to sleep well every night. Thank goodness he is taking one long nap everyday- although as I have learned, babies like to make you think that you have it all under control and then they change it up again.
We blessed him on Sunday. He looked so cute in his white suit. I'll have Ross post pictures later. It was wonderful to have my family there and also my second family- Susan, Sheree and Cherish. I love having company because I feel like I am just home by myself a lot. That freedom to do whatever I want whenever I want is gone.
Ross started school. I know it is hard for him to be away from Marcus for so long. Marcus really loves his daddy. The pictures below are from when Ross was changing Marcus' clothes and thought the onesie on his head was really cute.
We took Marcus swimming for the first time last week but it just happened to be a day when i ate a little dairy and it bothered his tummy- so now I know for sure that the dairy was what made him scream so much at the beginning- so he was already upset from not feeling good so he just cried. We are going to try again later this week since he loves bath time so much.
I don't have many updates about me. Mostly I am just at Marcus beck and call. I am missing out on the annual Rucker Lake camping trip which I am sad about. I have been trying to use what little free time I have to start baby proofing our house. I am headed over to my parents' house in a little while to hang out with Liz before she moves to Italy. Sounds fun huh? Anyways, we are surviving and doing well. I feel so proud for having made it through these first 3 months- shout out to all the other moms out there :)

Marcus' first laugh

2009-08-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

Marcus has laughed for a while in his sleep but this video shows his first real laugh. Ross was tickling him and he was cracking up. He loves his dad! Still not getting much sleep around here but it is fun to watch him grow and develop his personality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DZyw-iWcRo

Surviving "Colic" (Wastebasket diagnosis MD's use when they don't know what is going on)

2009-08-02T17:25:00.000-07:00

We have survived 10 weeks of new parenthood! Marcus is really breaking us in. He had a tough few weeks where he spent a lot of time screaming. I just thought to myself that I never knew babies cried this much. I slowly realized that his was not a normal amount of crying- especially when my mom and grandma told me that they each had 5 kids and they were not as bad as him. So I did some research and decided that he had many of the signs of acid reflux. All babies have "reflux" but for some reason he was in a lot of pain and could only let me know by screaming. Now that I have read way more information, it is obvious to me that he had many symptoms that are not normal but being a new mom, I just thought all babies were like that. So we started him on Zantac which didn't help right away but gradually seemed to help. And then I stopped eating dairy which helped even more. He no longer screams like he did. I am not sure if he has an intolerance to the milk proteins in dairy or if the dairy was contributing to his reflux. I wish babies were easier to figure out. But I am just happy that he seems content most of the time. He still doesn't nap for very long and has nights where he is up a lot. So I am waiting for that day when I get more sleep. But he smiles a lot and is making so many sounds. I am enjoying motherhood so much more now.

We haven't been up to much else. He isn't the easiest baby to take places. My family was all together the past few days so we spent a lot of time at my parent's house and went on a few short excursions. Tom and Monique were visiting from Nebraska and it was fun to see my new neice Ridley. And see how much Christian has grown. And Amanda was visiting from Utah. I miss having her close by but am excited for her as she starts grad school. Matthew just left for college this weekend and it is hard for me to see him move away. So I am getting used to the idea that my family is becoming more spread out. We had a fun few days hanging out and remembering old times.

Otherwise I have just been trying to figure out what does and doesn't work for Marcus. I still have 2 months before I go back to work and I really hope he sleeps more and is even more content to not be held all the time by then. It is amazing how the day just flies by and I feel like I didn't barely leave the house or get much done. So I haven't updated my blog because it doesn't feel like there is much to share.

Ross will post some pictures of Marcus. He is growing and seems to change all the time. Our world does revolve around him so sorry that he is going to be the focus of much of our updates.

Oh Baby!

2009-07-02T02:42:00.000-07:00

It has taken me a long time to get around to posting on our blog but BABY MARCUS HAS ARRIVED! Marcus George Ybanez was born on May 23rd (his due date) at 831 AM. He weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces. The delivery was rough and I was sore for a while. Plus Marcus is an active little boy and is keeping his mom and dad very busy. He likes to be held- and wants us to be in constant motion. He likes to be bounced on the exercise ball and be carried around in his baby carrier. He loves going outside for walks. But even these things don't stop him from crying some of the time- doesn't matter what we do. So we are trying to figure out if there is something in particular that is bothering him like reflux of if he is just "colicky" like the doctor said. I have the utmost sympathy for anyone who has dealt with a crying, screaming baby. I am pretty frazzled by the end of the day. We did finally figure out a way for him to get sleep without me holding him. So he sleeps in his swing, swaddled, with white noise. And then we just cross our fingers. Lately he has been sleeping about 5 hours straight which is wonderful. We are still exhausted but this is better than before. We are still trying to figure our little guy out. It has been a huge learning curve for me but thank goodness I have had help from many people- especially Ross and my mom. Marcus is healthy and growing well. We just have to survive these early weeks. He is smiling at us and "talking" to us. And is very alert and interested in what is going on around him.

Here is a summary of his birth story: I had cramping and mild contractions for several weeks before he was born. So I wasn't sure what to expect when the real day came. I woke up on May 22nd with more intense cramping than I had had before. And then I started having contractions that felt different than before. We went to my scheduled MD appt and she said that I wasn't dilated at all and didn't seem convinced that I was in labor. She even mentioned me possibly needing to be induced the next week. And she said she thought I was going to have a huge baby and might need a C section. Which was upsetting to me. She had us go to the hospital to have the baby checked out and he looked fine on the monitor. So we went home and I called my doula. She said that I might be in early labor and it can take a couple days and nights to go through that. I was thinking "These contractions are pretty uncomfortable- a couple days and nights!" I really felt like he was going to come the next day. But I tried to sleep like my doula recommended to save up my energy. I woke up at 630 pm because the contractions were strong enough that I couldn't sleep anymore. Then Ross and I watched TV and I bounced on my birth ball and played solitaire. The contractions were manageable. Around 10-11 pm I told Ross to get some sleep. I tried to rest too but laying down was too uncomfortable at this point. So I watched TV to distract myself. The contractions gradually became more intense and I would have to pause the TV to concentrate on getting through the contractions. I still figured I was in early labor though because I was doing fine managing them by myself. Around 230 AM I woke Ross up because I decided I needed more help with the contractions. We timed them for an hour and I was surprised that they were 4-5 minutes apart and lasting almost 2 minutes each. They got intense pretty quickly. I was thinking that it was still going to be hours and was doubting how I would last for hours with these contractions. I called my doula at 4 AM because I was ready for her help. I started throwing up and was really struggling. We planned to have her come to our house but then I decided I was ready to go to the hospital. We arrived at John Muir at about 515 AM. The car ride there was so so so hard. I was curled up in the back seat. I felt like I wasn't getting much of a break between contractions. I wanted something for pain management at that point. The nurse settled us into a room. She was moving too slow from my perspective. It took her forever to get me hooked up to the monitor and she wanted me to lay still in bed which was crazy because there was no way I could stay in bed. I needed to move. I was 4 cm dilated at this point. Finally she got an IV in me and I had a shot of Stadol. Ross said that people were peeking into my room because I was yelling so loudly. I guess vocalizing is how I deal with pain. I know I yelled a lot because my throat was super sore for a couple of days after. The Stadol helped some- it helped me relax more between contractions which were coming fast and furious at that point. My doula had me sit in a rocking chair in the room. Ross said that I was like the Exorcist because I would suddenly jump up and yell when the contractions came. The next couple of hours are pretty foggy for me because of the intense pain. I remember yelling that I wanted an epidural- although I specifically wanted to avoid that. But I just wanted a break. I was thinking that I still had hours of labor left to go. We had a great nurse though and she said that I should be checked again before getting an epidural. I was already 8 cm dilated so I decided I didn't need the epidural at this point. The contractions were right on top of each other and I can't even describe how hard that last part was. The baby's heart rate started to drop at one point so they gave me oxygen. The on call doc came and broke my water and they inserted an internal monitor. My doctor didn't realize that I was so far dilated and she wasn't there yet. I was dilated and ready to push but the on call doc wanted me to just wait and breathe to help increase the baby's heart rate. Finally my doctor got there and I pushed for 2-3 rounds before she decided the baby needed to come out right away. So she used the vacuum to get him out quickly. Poor Marcus had a bruised head and the vacuum bruised me pretty bad. I felt like I had been dropped straight on my butt. I could barely sit and walk for several days. The pediatrician checked Marcus out right away and he was healthy and doing fine. I got to hold him after I was stitched up. He was so tiny- I thought he was going to be a big baby. And he had this head full of dark hair. The blood vessels in my eyes and on my face and shoulders burst from the intense pushing. That is why there aren't pictures of me posted from right after the birth. It was the most challenging thing I have ever been through but I am proud that I made it without an epidural and am so excited that our little angel is here. Despite all the crying and screaming.

Sorry, that was a long paragraph. Ross is going to post some pictures. Marcus is 5 1/2 weeks old now and almost 10 pounds. I am feeling so much better. The days are long but time does seem to fly by. It has been really hard but totally worth it.

Got Pictures? We do...

2009-07-01T23:22:00.000-07:00

9th Month Pregnancy to birth to Present

Hamburger Helper, dinner of champions

Anyday now!

Dr. Tong, hospital Pediatrician, giving Junior a thorough assessment

Hmmm? Signs of things to come8-)

6 lbs. 13 oz. Too small to be a Hawkes baby. Word around town is those newborns average 12 lbs

Hey Son! I'm your Mama (Jean w/ the doula)

Our small cutie pie. Look at the size of that newborn pacifier on him. Looks like somebody stuck a TV satellite on his mouth

Hi Dad!

Hey buddy! I got big plans for you

1st day in an isolette

Getting his hearing test later that night. Mic Check 1, 2, 3...

Waaaa! Put me back in there. Its too cold out here!

Wowzers, was he small

My turn to check you, buddy. All systems checked

Marcus to the nurse, "lady, can you give me a break? I've been through a lot already."

Say Hi to your grandparents, Son.

Wrapped up like a Taco Bell burrito

Mama and Son

Matt

Grandpa getting his turn holding

Hi grandma!

Supplementing his feedings

Daddy, this car seat is too big for me

Getting wheeled out to the car. Goodbye hospital food!

Chillin' in his swing at 6 days old

My Aunt Liz

Great grandparents from Utah

Hmmm! I got them wrapped around my finger. Mwahahaha!

Smiling in his sleep. What in the world could he be dreaming of?

1st bath at home

At 4 weeks

My cutie pie wearing socks over his hands bec he keeps scratching his precious face

He loves his white noise

He loves bathtime

At 1 month with Mommy

Smiling in his sleep

Fussy look while asleep

Oh my goodness!

Almost there

2009-05-03T16:26:00.000-07:00

20 more days until the baby is due. It has been a long few weeks. I last posted that I was on bedrest and taking nifedipine because I was having contractions. Well I lasted about 3 days on the nifedipine until I couldn't stand the side effects anymore. It gave me a terrible headache and then i started getting nauseated and throwing up. So I stopped that medication but then two days later I was having cramping and contractions again so the doctor sent me back over to the hospital and they gave me a shot of terbutaline and sent me home with that medication. I was supposed to take it every 4 hours but I could barely stand it every 8 hours cause it made me jittery and shaky. So I lasted on that for about 3 days too- and didn't sleep for all 3 days because of how it made me feel. I was a huge wreck. It was an awful week and I thought I was going to go crazy or something. I just wanted to have the baby out so I didn't have to go through all those side effects. So I just dealt with the contractions after that and I think the doctor over reacted because the baby has stayed put. His head is just really low so that puts a lot of pressure on my lower uterus which i think was causing the irritation. It has just been a long few weeks because I have also been having a lot of back pain which keeps me up at night. Plus for some reason, I am now getting nauseated a lot and throwing up at times. I didn't realize that would come back at the end of my pregnancy. I am grateful that we didn't have problems getting pregnant but pregnancy has been so hard for me. I wish that I could say that I have loved it but I am counting down until it will be over. Although who knows when he is going to come. He could come anytime now but my mom says that babies don't come early in our family so I am just taking it easy and trying to entertain myself. I got tired of the bedrest thing a couple of weeks ago and just do as much activity as I can tolerate.
I did have a couple of really nice showers. My work friends were all so generous and bought us a car seat. And then my mom and sister threw a shower for me and we are pretty well set now. It was so nice to have all that support to help us get ready. We were surprised at how many gifts we have received. And I had several friends that drove a long way to be there at the shower. That meant a lot to me. My friend Cherish came over and spent a whole day helping me getting organized which was a huge help because I was feeling overwhelmed. So the room is ready and that was a huge relief.
There isn't much else exciting to report. I haven't done much but just take care of myself. I never know how I am going to feel each day. Ross has helped me so much and I am grateful to have such a supportive husband because like I said, this has not been an easy 8 months or so for me. He has two more weeks left of school before the summer break. I know that worrying about me has been distracting for him but he is just trying to finish strong.
So that is my update. Just trying to hang in there. Hopefully we will have baby pictures to post soon :)

Update.....

2009-04-04T17:13:00.000-07:00

Ross put some pictures on the blog so I guess that means that I need to explain them. On wednesday I wasn't feeling good and was having a back ache plus my belly felt tight all the time. I figured it was just practicing but by the next morning, I was a little worried about what was going on. We went to our Dr's appt and she told me that I was having contractions and she sent me over to the hospital. So we were there about 5 hours while they monitored me. I was having pretty regular contractions so they gave me a shot of terbutaline and then sent me home on "modified bedrest" and instructed me to take Nifedipine every 6 hours. So that ended my time working. I am feeling okay except the nifedipine gives me a bad headache every time I take it. I am hoping that the doctor will tell me that everything is okay with me just taking it easy when I see her next week and will take me off the medicine. So I went from being busy most days to having lots of free time. I am not entirely sure what my bedrest restrictions should be but I plan to still go to my showers and just stay off my feet most of the time. Plus we still have a few things to get ready for the baby. He just needs to stay put for another 5-6 weeks or so. So that is what the picture is- me in the hospital waiting for the nurse to come in and monitor me. The baby's heart rate looked good so that was reassuring.

Ross did a great job getting the baby's room ready. This is the paint that we used which Ross wants everyone to see that it says " Safe for mom and baby" but doesn't say anything about the daddy especially since he was the one who did all of the painting

Of course we are concerned about daddy. And he did a great job with the baby room. Plus is doing a great job of taking care of me since I can't do as much now. Plus he is doing well in school and learning all about labor and delivery and pediatrics.

Spring is here and I am so excited about the warm weather- and the start of baseball season. Ross has been busy getting his pond and garden area all fixed up for the start of the warm weather. He has a talent for landscaping and gardening. This is the koi pond that he built.

One of the beautiful flowers from Ross' garden.

Finally we are posting pictures of the baby's room. Ross loves fish so I thought that would be a cute theme for the room. He painted and we put up the wallpaper border. And he put all the furniture together. We think that it ended up looking really cute. Ross also painted bubbles all over the walls which he is still putting the finishing touches on. Plus we have some pictures to hang up. But it is nice for me to know the baby's room is ready and makes it seems a lot more real that soon we will have another member of our family.

Another view of the nursery.

Ross is painting the baby's room. He did it all by himself and I thought that he did a wonderful job.

Here is Ross putting together the baby furniture. Proud soon to be daddy

Ross and my dad went to a Warriors game in January. I know Ross loves basketball and I am not really interested in going to I bought tickets for he and my dad to go. I didn't realize how expensive basketball tickets were since I am used to pretty cheap A's tickets, so that is why they are sitting so high up. But I think they enjoyed the game although the Lakers won.

So that is our update. Hopefully the rest of my pregnancy will be uneventful although the bedrest part is a little upsetting for me. But I'll make the most of it.

My Birthday

2009-02-15T19:45:00.000-08:00

I would have loved to go somewhere far away for my birthday but since that wasn't in the life plans right now, Ross and i just spent the day in San Jose checking out places we have never been before. We went to a Japanese garden so Ross could check out the Koi fish and feed them. Plus it was beautiful weather. Then we went to the Tech Museum. It was okay. Lots of hands on things. They have this projection wall where the "butterflies" land all over you when you lean against it. So that is what I am doing in this picture. Plus I have been getting requests to see my pregnant belly so here it is. Not too huge or anything but enough to make me uncomfortable.

Ross' turn to catch all of the butterflies. Looked better in real life. Ross chose the pictures.

This robot thing spells out whatever name you tell it

Jean posing by the DNA double helix books

Oh Man! Im moving to Mars. Its showing only 50% of my weight.

Japanese Friendship garden in San Jose, CA . I guess I am looking a little pregnant

We also went out for ice cream with some friends for my birthday. This is Naiomi posing at the creamery

Tamara and I at the Ice creamery- with the beautiful orchid that she bought me for my birthday. And my belly since I have been getting requests to show it off

The It has been so long Update!

2009-02-15T14:28:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I have thought about updating our blog. There seems to be so much else to do these days. We have been in the process of cleaning out our extra room to make space for the baby. It took a while to figure out what to do with everything but finally the room is empty and waiting to be painted. We decided on an ocean theme for the nursery. Ross has a bit of a passion for fish and i am sure that he will share that with his son. I guess I didn't blog about that. We had our 20 week ultrasound at the beginning of January and they said they were 100% sure it is a boy. I admit that I was thinking it would be nice to have a girl. But I am getting used to the idea that there is a boy growing inside of me. No, we haven't picked a name out yet. That is harder than i thought it would be. We were glad to see on the ultrasound that he looks healthy and the doctor informed us that he has very long toes. I am only nauseated every now and then in the morning- mostly on those days that I get up early for work. I feel good most of the time- I am just starting to feel uncomfortable as my belly seems to be expanding at a more rapid pace. I told Ross today that I can't imagine 14 more weeks of getting even bigger. I am not going to be able to eat or sleep. Labor scares me but I will be so ready to have the baby I am sure. I am still working my 12 hour shifts but I start waddling around by the end so I am considering switching to 8 hour shifts soon if I can. I am grateful that I have been healthy so far.
Ross started his new semester of nursing school. He is studying pediatrics, labor and delivery, and maternal/newborn. Perfect timing. So far he is enjoying his pediatric clinical rotation. He has been busy but less stressed than that first semester. Which is nice because I need his help a lot more these days- especially with getting the room ready. He is already planning what he and his son are going to do together.

Here are a few pictures to update the last couple of months

Ross & my family went to the Academy of Science in San Francisco during Christmas break. I was home immobile due to a back injury and was disappointed that I missed most of the Christmas break fun. They have a cool Philippine coral reef at the Academy which was a smaller scale of what we saw where we were there this summer

My cousins Caitlin and Chelsea, my brother Matthew and my mom at the Academy of Science

The line was so long!!!

We stayed here for Christmas. We celebrated Christmas eve and part of Christmas day at my parent's house and then we went over to my grandparents house to see the extended family. Liz and I made my grandma a scrapbook of pictures from our family reunion in July since she kept telling me she didn't have any pictures of the event. She really loved seeing pictures of all the family and I think it is a nice tribute to them to see how their posterity has grown.

Here I am opening presents on Christmas day. My parents paid for us to get our kitchen floor tiled as our christmas present. Ross helped out as well. Our kitchen looks a lot nicer with a new floor. Thanks Mom & Dad!

Baby Boy Ybanez at 20 weeks

It's a boy! I guess he wasn't shy about letting us know

Matthew loves his Ipod, new noise cancelling headphones, and was happy to entertain us all

Things I've done

2008-12-14T18:21:00.000-08:00

I found this and thought it was fun- it reminds me of all the fun and memorable things I have done in my life and the many more that I want to do:
The ones in bold are the things I have done

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain- small ones count right
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea- from shore but not on a boat
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked- just in Provo
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run- I kicked a homerun in kickball-does that count?
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie-Does homemade count?
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby- SOON!
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
101. Learned to play an instrument

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-14T17:46:00.001-08:00

So time for another update. Good news- I am finally feeling better. I went to disneyland last weekend with my friend sheree and her two kids and I felt so good! I was so happy to have my apetite back and enjoyed food with a gusto- I had a corndog, pretzel, ice cream, chimichanga etc. It is so nice to feel like myself again- sort of. I read in my pregnancy book about the different symptoms/ailments that can happen while pregnant and I sure seem to have a lot of them. But the nausea was the worst.
So as I said, I went to disneyland with my friend sheree for the weekend. I always love it there at christmas time. There were big crowds but we were still about to see most everything. And it was fun to see the kids experience the rides and remember my first time as a kid at Disneyland. I was able to see my friend Heather briefly which was a nice bonus. I was exhausted by the time we got home though. Three days at disneyland is so much work! Then it was back to my job that makes all that fun possible. Having a mellow day at work is a rarity. So I am taking it easy today to recover from my week.
I also went to Nebraska with my family for thanskgiving to visit my brother Tom and his family. It was fun to play with my nephew Christian and get to know him better. For some reason, he liked to throw toys at my head. We had a good time spending time as a family- although it was a rough week for my nausea and vomiting and it grossed Amanda out as she loudly let us all know. Someday I hope to repay the favor when she is sick and pregnant. My mom took me to the store and bought me my first maternity clothes so now I don't have to just wear my pants unbuttoned.
Ross has finals this week so he is studying hard. I am looking forward to his weeks off because I have missed spending time with him. Plus, I am already working on his to do list. I can't even imagine now how we are going to make room for a baby. We have a whole room of stuff that will have to be cleared out- and go where? Although I know that we are very blessed and could get by on much less than what we have.
That is pretty much it here. We find out in 3 weeks if we are having a boy or girl- hopefully if baby cooperates. I haven't even started getting ready for Christmas- I remember growing up and hitting Walmart and the Dollar store the day before Christmas. Someday I'll plan ahead better.
I hope all of you are happy and enjoying the holidays!

Ybanito

2008-11-16T17:17:00.000-08:00

So it has been a while since I last updated our blog but I do have a good reason. I have not been feeling well for the past couple of months and below you can see pictures of the reason why. Ross and I found out during our anniversary weekend in September that I am pregnant. The first couple weeks were great and then the morning sickness hit. Although it has been more like 24/7 sickness. And sometimes at night. So I haven't been able to do too much- just try to make it through work and rest when I can. We are excited about our little Ybanito (as my friend Sheree calls him/her). I am due May 23rd so we still have a ways to go. But I am still waiting for that magical day when the nausea goes away and I finally have an apetite. I thought pregnant women got to eat ice cream and milkshakes. But none of that sounds good to me right now. So that is our major news. Ross has been working hard at school and is almost done with his first semester. I am going to Nebraska with my family next week for Thanksgiving to visit my brother and his family. And then i am looking forward to the Christmas holidays when I will have Ross to myself- no school! So sorry I haven't been in touch much. I didn't realize how rough the first couple of months were going to be. But we finally felt ready to share our news.

Our 12th week ultrasound. You can see baby's profile and baby stretching its legs. They can't tell much yet on the ultrasound but I was excited to see legs and arms and a mouth, nose and eyes.

Baby's alien face. Staring right at the ultrasound probe. The tech had a difficult time getting the right image because the baby didn't want to cooperate. So Daddy gave the baby a peptalk after the tech left the room to get the doctor to do the ultrasound herself. Doesn't the baby look like Daddy:-) ?

BYU Freshman Memories

2008-11-16T16:35:00.000-08:00

I was recently reminiscing a little about my college days- now several years ago which is hard to believe- as I was thinking about my friend Heather. So i pulled out some of my old pictures and had my sister scan them for me so I could post a few. We sure had a fun time our freshman year at BYU. I've enjoyed getting in contact again with a few of my freshman friends. Someday I'll have to pull out some more pictures. These are mostly of Heather and I. We lived in the Helaman Halls dorms together and were practically attached at the hip. So to Heather- thanks for all the fun memories. I remember when i was in college and people would say "I wish i was in college again" and I thought they were a little crazy because college was hard! But now I understand what they meant. The friends, fun, challenges and successes were once in a lifetime experiences.

Before Preference

I guess Heather was not allowing me to leave her room

Before a football game

Halloween Homegirlz!

Before Homecoming

Proud of very 1st snowman

Karaoke night at our apartment

Heather and I

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

2008-10-03T11:42:00.001-07:00

My Grandpa Hawkes turned 87 yesterday and I just wanted to post a few pictures just to brag about how wonderful my grandpa is. He told me he was going to ride 87 miles on his bike this week although I have to find out still how many miles he did ride. He is a great patriarch and example to our family.
Here he is with Liz, picking corn in some random field in Nebraska so we could try it Grandma and grandpa kept up with our tireless travel schedule while visiting Nebraska and South Dakota. A huge buffalo somewhere in Nebraska
Grandma and grandpa, our wild west ancestors
We always spend Christmas with grandma and grandpa. They have always been there for me for all my major events growing up and I still can count on them to support me. And they spoil us every christmas

Grandpa perfomed our sealing at the Oakland Temple. That meant a lot to me

Grandpa at our family reunion in Utah- searching for wood to make whistles
Carving whistles. He seems to know something about everything. I love to sit and talk to him because he always teaches me so much

Playing the Wii. He is pretty good at it
Sitting through Ross' long graduation. I appreciate their willingness to come and support him. I think it is funny because they are all going through each name just waiting for Ross' turn.

Wow, it looks like grandpa was really hungry. This picture just reminds me how he and grandma and always there to celebrate every birthday. All growing up, that is the routine- sunday dinner and then cake with grandma and grandpa to celebrate our birthdays.

Happy birthday Grandpa! I love you!

Happy Anniversary!

2008-09-16T17:38:00.001-07:00

Ross and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary over the weekend. It has been adjustment to have a husband in school because or schedule is much less free than it used to be. So my big plans to get away for the weekend didn't happen. Instead, we spent the day in San Francisco doing some of the tourist things we have never done. Might as well take advantage of the beautiful surroundings in which we live. So our first SF experience was paying an hours wages in parking fees. Then we took a "duck" tour which is a sea and land tour. Our tour was called the Bay Quackers. And they provided us with duck beak whistles to scare all the people we drove by. It was silly, but that is part of being a tourist. Our "duck" drove us through the main highlights of San Francisco such as Chinatown, Little, Italy, the piers, Union Square, the Financial district and the ball park. Then we drove into the water and we very slowly- those ducks are so slow, hard to believe they used them in World War II- (which they did for the invasion of Normandy) Anyways, back on track. So we slowly cruised in the bay near the Giants ballpark and the Bay bridge. We had a beautiful view of the city and also saw a California seal and some harbor seals. Then back to the land tour. I actually learned several things that I didn't know about SF- and I have been there many times.

Our "duck"- they were originally built in World War II (by women according to our guide)

Ready for the tour.

View of downtown San Francisco from the Bay. We had a really nice day in the city. No fog!

Our guide- a military officer from Sweden. I guess the military isn't paying well enough. He is sailing us toward the ramp. The entering/exiting the water was the coolest part

Ross took his turn driving the "duck".

Bay Bridge and Treasure Island/Yerba Buena Island. Typical bay day- lots of sailboats

We also hung out around Fisherman's Wharf. I love all the activity there. We ate at Scoma's which is a famous seafood restaurant in SF. More for Ross since he loves seafood. I actually tried scallops, crab, lobster and prawns.

That night, we went on a Ghost Walk with a local paranormal expert. I have been on ghost tours in Savannah and Charleston so I figure that San Fran must be haunted too. Here is our guide. He took us around the Pacific Heights area- which was not burned down by the 1906 earthquake so the ghosts are still there. It wasn't too spooky or anything but he did tell some interesting stories

Haunted House- made even more so by the full moon. It seems that the ghosts were all women- wonder why? We tend to become more attached maybe

This hotel is supposedly haunted and Ross walked around taking lots of pictures to see if he could capture an "orb" or supernatural presence in his picture. I say this is just a glare but Ross thinks it is an orb or as our guide calls it a "energy ball." This orb showed up in a lot of the pictures.

So we had a fun day together to celebrate a year of marriage. We ate our wedding cake with my parents the next day. I was happy that the part saved was chocolate and it didn't taste too bad after a year in the freezer. We have been very blessed this past year and everything has worked out better than we had hoped for.

My other news is that I am starting day shift tomorrow. I got tired of living in a haze and sleeping most days. Now I am trying to adjust to sleeping at night which has been harder than I thought. But I am looking forward to being awake when everyone else is and hopefully catching up with friends. I hope my body can handle the long 12 hour days.

Oh, and Ross did add more Philippine pictures- he just mixed them in with his previous pictures on the blog from August. So check out those pictures for new ones.

PS

2008-08-25T01:32:00.001-07:00

I mean to comment on everyone's blogs but I am a little behind in reading them all. I will though. But I just wanted to say that I think you are all awesome- cute kids, wonderful parents, strong church members, intelligent, creative, funny. I get inspired reading about all that you do. I wish I could see you all more often- I have been blessed to have had you in my life at one time or another. So I just wanted to tell you that you are all my examples!

I love vacations....

2008-08-25T00:31:00.000-07:00

For those dying to see more pictures, Ross took about 1000 of them so it is taking time to sort through them all. Plus, he started his first week of nursing school on Monday which has been very time consuming. He goes to school Monday through Friday from 8-4 in what they are calling "boot camp". I am glad that he is taking school very seriously but it leaves me with time on my hands since he doesn't have much time to lounge around with me. But the Olympics have kept me occupied this week. And also trying to figure out some sort of a sleep schedule.

So my impression of the Philippines- I enjoyed meeting Ross' mom and family. They all treated me well and were very kind. They were trying to feed me all the time which sounds like a good thing except I wasn't always sure what it was they were trying to feed me. It was a little stressful to make sure I didn't offend them but to discreetly avoid eating certain things. I don't have an iron stomach. Ross is from Cebu City so we spent part of our time there. Ross said it has changed in 14 years- I think he and Cebu have changed. He said that it used to be greener and less crowded. That was my first impression- so many people, cars, jeepneys, taxis and tricycles on too small roads. People work very hard there for what we would consider barely any money. But they seem happy to just be working and make do with what they have. That is one of the reasons why I love to travel- it always teaches me about gratitude and perspective. It is easy to feel ungrateful sometimes and wish I had more. But then i see the situations that other people live in and how happy they are regardless. I have too many luxuries to count. I did miss some of those while I was in the Philippines- like warm showers and comfortable mattresses. I will admit that I would not want to trade my life in America for a life there. But I enjoyed seeing a new place and meeting new people.

Ross and I went to the resort of El Nido in the Palawan islands for our last five days. This was one of the most beautiful places that I have been. We flew there on a small plane and landed on a lush barely inhabited island where they greeted us with singing and snacks. Then we took a 45 minute boat ride to reach the resort. We stayed in a water cottage which was on stilts above the water and had beautiful views of the resort and the surrounding islands. The employees were there to meet our every need. They had a long list of available activities and we just told them what we wanted to do and they arranged it all. We did a 15 minute introductory scuba dive- my first time. It hurt my ears as I expected but it was cool. We spent a lot of time snorkeling because the reefs were amazing. The reef around our resort had hundreds of fish and even some huge fish- like half my size. And then we had access to the surrounding islands and beaches. There were times when we were surrounded by hundreds of fish. The coral was beautiful as was the other underwater life. So that was my favorite part. I could have stayed in the water for hours just discovering all there was to see. But watch out for those territorial fish because I got attacked a couple of times- these tiny fish came right at my face. Pretty brave I thought.

The resort was all inclusive so we ate so much. I think i was on Michael Phelp's diet. But I wanted to try everything. We kayaked, explored hidden lagoons, relaxed on the beach, went sailing and fishing, and had lunch with just the two of us on an isolated beach. A five course lunch. This place was fantastic. The scenery was stunning and they treated us so well. So we would recommend it to anyone. We definetly want to go back. Our time there went by way too fast.

Philippines Trip

2008-08-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

"The bigger the summer vacation, the harder the fall."

After 14 years

Ha! Ha! Oh no! We dont care if you get hit by a crazy taxi driver as long as you dont "text message" while you cross the street. Did you know that the Philippines is Rank# 1 in the world as the Top Prolific Sender of Text Messages? We don't care about Olympic Gold Medals because we are number#1 in text messaging.

Lapu-Lapu- The First Filipino Hero

We spent 3 relaxing days at my Uncle Boy's beach house in San Remigio

Nice and green. Grass so smooth you can sleep on it!

Jean posing in front of a non-motorized "banka"

Just Beautiful!!!

A family looking to gather some shells and fish for dinner. I am so grateful for where I am.

Their catch- mostly pufferfish( I guess the ones that are still puffed up are still alive)

At the Magellan's Cross in Cebu near the 100 yr. old Santo Nino Catholic Church

Dang! I need to remember to change my shirt;-)

Peace!!! Kids outside the Church selling P1.oo candles($0.20). I bought 6 candles and gave them P30.00 for being so cute. It makes me sad how life has to be for a young child to be forced to sell candles. They should be in school

Posing my new friends. This one is for you 'Manda!

Bohol Countryside

The Filipino Harry Potter (Chocolate Hills, Bohol)

Elevation Sensation!!!

My Little Brother John-John. Common dude! You can do better

Tarsier (Smallest Monkey in the World-smaller than my fist)

Jean meet a new friend in Bohol(Sorry flash wasn't allowed)

Jean attempting to cross the Loboc River by walking on ,"The Hanging Bridge." The bridge is mostly made of Kawayan (bamboo) and two steel cables.

We had lunch on the Loboc Floating River Restaurant . The boat took us around the river. I'll post a video sometime next week

Wow! A lakeside house

Our El Nido Resort Private Plane

A rainbow. We must be headed to Paradise. What can go wrong?

Umm Pilot! Can you just drop us off here?

Oh no! Is that smoke? The plane is on fire!

It's not looking good

Aahhh!!! I forgot what the Stewardess said about the Emergency door

Jean about to ride the Jeepney for the 1st time

Storm in Paradise at Pangulasian Beach

Life is good

Entelola beach

Another beautiful beach that is part of the El Nido Resorts

At The (Cebu) Mactan International Airport
" Don't worry Ma! I'm coming back."

Man! its a pain posting pictures on this website. Videos and more pix coming soon

Sige na Ross! Pag-ayo ayo sa imong bacation!

2008-07-21T01:24:00.000-07:00

Today is a big day for Ross. He is leaving tonight for the Philippines to see his mom and brother after many years. I am going to miss him although I will be joining him in 10 days. He is busy packing and I am busy doing some late spring cleaning. I had to make room for all of his nursing books since he will be starting school right after he gets back.

June was a good month. We went to Utah for a Hawkes family reunion. We stayed in condos in Sandy so all of the family could stay together. It was fun to see my cousins after so long- and all the new babies. We drove through the canyons and hiked to Stewart Falls. That was a longer hike than I remembered from my BYU days. We also went rafting down the Provo river. I had never done that before and we had a great time. We just ran into a few bushes and my poor dad took the brunt of it because i took up all the space ducking. We also had a fun day at the park with all of the family- my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. My grandparents are wonderful for making it all happen and wanting us to stay close as a family even though we live spread apart.

We also visited with my grandparents on my mom's side. My grandpa Grover took us out boating on Utah lake. Ross has some great videos that I will have to get him to attach. My grandpa tried very hard to wipe us out on the tube and he was successful most of the time.

I also was able to visit with some good friends that I don't get to see much. My friend Melody and I were roommates my sophomore year at BYU. That year wasn't my favorite- I was taking so many hard classes. But Melody made it fun. We have also taken some memorable trips together. And then I visited with Liana- my roommate for a couple of years at BYU. She was always a great example to me and we had were all so close as roommates. We even had plans for the retirement home in Hawaii we would share in our old age. Then i saw my friend Jodi after many years. We went to Jerusalem study abroad together and shared many personal experiences. It is nice to have friendships that have lasted over the years.

So wish Ross a safe journey. He has been counting down the days and it is finally here!

Finally Pictures!!!

2008-06-18T21:42:00.000-07:00

Shamu! Shamu! It was amazing seeing the Killer Whales do tricks.

Jean and I at the Shamu show. We were in the soak zone but we didn't get wet.
Graduation day w/ honors. Jean took forever taking the picture. My facial muscles were starting to get sore.

Is the balloon the only thing I am going to get for graduating with honors? Well at least I have a beautiful wife in a hot pink top!

Jean went down to Disneyland w/ a couple of her friends.

San Diego Beach- it was nice but the water was 64 degrees fahrenheit. Brrr!!!
Lost episode of "Baywatch." Did you know Jean was a lifeguard back in High School? Native on the loose!!! Enter the park at your own risk.

Feeding the Lorikeets!

Posing like Japanese tourists! Jk! Taking dad to an A's game for his birthday.
Taking a picture on our flight to San Diego
Jean posing like Marilyn Monroe at Hotel Del Coronado

Lots to say

2008-06-13T23:14:00.000-07:00

This is Miniloc Island in the Philippines where Ross and I going to spend 5 days during our trip to the Philippines in July/August
So I am sure that this picture has been edited. These are the water cottages at El Nido. I have always wanted to stay in cottages like this. Read blog for further info....

It has been busy around here! I keep meaning to post something but instead I have just been wanting to catch up on sleep. So here is the run down of the past month or so. In the middle of May, I went on a sort of last minute trip to Disneyland with my friend Tami. I always love going to Disneyland and have to keep up with everyone else this year :) so we drove down to Anaheim after I got off work in the morning and stayed with Tami's friends. We went to disneyland for three days- exhausting but we had lots of fun. I'll post all of my pictures later when Ross uploads them. I have turned over camera duty to Ross- very willingly. I used to love taking pictures but now I would rather just enjoy being somewhere and not worry about taking those perfect pictures. So as part of his new role, he just bought a new camera. It is a Nikon something or other. I'll let him tell you about it. He is going to take a class so he will be a pro :) The camera does have 18x zoom which I think is great and lots of cool features. And takes long videos. So Ross is now the family photographer. Maybe I can get him to scrapbook too- the best I do is post the pictures on smugmug.

Ross graduated with his associates degree at the end of May. I am proud of him for making it through school while working more than full time. My family and grandparents were all there and we thought Ross looked very handsome in his cap and gown. Now just two more years of nursing school. As Ross predicted, he has different options of where to go to nursing school in the fall. I was stressed about him getting into even one school and he got into 3 schools! So he is trying to decide between Los Medanos College and Contra Costa College right now. Both have good programs and I think he would be happy with either one. So he starts nursing school August 18th. From what the nursing instructors told him at an orientation, I am going to be something like a widow for the next two years. I don't think it is going to be that bad. I survived nursing school and don't have recurring nightmares or anything. But i guess I'll have more time to reconnect with friends- that will be nice. And go to work. Can't forget that important role. Especially since everything seems so expensive nowdays! When i was at BYU, gas was less than 1.00 a gallon. My next car is going to be a a hybrid.

The biggest news in May was getting Ross' passport up to date so now he can visit the Philippines after being away for many, many years. His mom and half brother live in Cebu and he is beyond excited to be able to go visit them. So we did some last minute trip planning and we are going to the Philippines in July. Ross is going for 10 days before me so he will have more time with his family. Good thing that my sister Liz has so much free time at work because she was able to arrange a lot of it for us- since we were out of town in San Diego. I am excited to meet his family, but I am most excited about the resort that we are going to stay at. We are flying to Palawan island and staying at the El Nido resort on Miniloc Island. We are going to stay in a water cottage- which is built over the ocean and there are supposed to be lots of fish you can see right from your balcony. El Nido is one of the cleanest places in the Philippines so it is supposed to be pristine. So that will be the highlight of our trip. Check out the website: http://www.elnidoresorts.com/.

Ross and I also went on a four day vacation to San Diego. We stayed on Coronado Island- I love the beaches there and the gold flecked sand. We loved the cute downtown and beautiful views. It wasn't good beach weather but we did spend time relaxing at the pool. We also went to the Wild Animal Park which we enjoyed. Although I have been on an actual African safari so I am a lot harder to impress these days. We spent a day at Sea World too. I love Sea World and the Killer Whales. I think it is fun to enjoy these places now without kids- and can't wait to take our kids there someday too. We came back from San Diego relaxed- and I brought a cold back with me. I am still working night shift although I am thinking about other options. But I have been lucky to have a job that lets me work when i want- and also lets me work extra when i need more money. So I can't complain.

That pretty much updates everything. We have been very blessed this past month. I'll post pictures later since I know it is boring to just read my rambling- I actually made paragraphs though to break it up. Hi to those I haven't talked to in a while. I hope you are all doing well.

By the way, the A's are beating the Giants- that is awesome.

Lots of numbers

2008-04-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

It was 3 years ago today that I moved into my townhouse and became a home owner! Three years of great memories here. Today is also my parents 32nd wedding anniversary. And Ross finished a big project for school today. Almost done with this semester.... We are excited- Ross was accepted into 1 nursing school for the fall. We are still waiting to hear from 3 other nursing schools. Although he still has to pass a test now that he was accepted. It has been such a long process for him- and he is always optomistic. So next week we will know for sure.
I am finally feeling better after being sick for almost 3 weeks. Just in time for my 3 night stretch of work. I am trying to stick with night shift until Ross starts school in the fall.
My dad was released after 9 years of serving as the Stake President in the Antioch stake. He was called as bishop when i was around 6 years old and then a counselor in the stake presidency after that. So it has been years since he attended church with us. Big change for him and my family. One of his counselors said that my dad is the finest man he has ever met and I couldn't agree more. Now he'll have time to go to more baseball games with me!

Some cool old photos

2008-04-20T22:42:00.000-07:00

I am supposed to be staying out of Ross' way so that he can work on a presentation that he has for school tomorrow. Although I guess I am not doing a very good job of being quiet since he just put headphones on. So I was looking through the MyFamily.com websites that my mom and dad's sides of the family have set up- and I found these old pictures.
This is me when we were living in Utah. I climbed out of my crib and am proud of the injury to show it. I still have a scar next to my left eye to prove it. Judging from my smile, I guess I didn't know how bad I looked. This is me being held by my Grandma Hawkes. We stayed with them for a little while when I was a baby and from what I have heard, my grandma used to hate hearing me cry and would get me out of my crib despite my mom's objections. I am lucky for all the years I have had of my grandma spoiling me. She is the best!
My Grandma and Grandpa Hawkes on their wedding day in Preston, Idaho. Good looking couple. I love seeing what they looked like when they were even younger than I am now. And am proud to be descended from them.

And lastly, my Grandpa Hawkes playing the Wii with my sister Liz. He kept saying he wasn't going to be any good but we got him to play anyways, and he even won a few games. So here his my advertisement for the Wii- it appeals to all generations and brings families together.

3 AM

2008-04-11T02:26:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone
I am having a hard time switching back to a day schedule this week so i am an insomniac. Sometimes it is really easy for me to switch back and forth but I am wide awake now. Good thing for TIVO. I went to Elk Grove to visit my friend Cherish today and play with her cute little baby, Eden. It was fun to catch up and sit and talk like the old days when we were college roommates. We used to be able to do that hours on end. Not surprising to anyone that knows us. I also cut my hair last week- above my shoulders. I still look in the mirror and think it doesn't look like me but I like that it feels lighter and less time to blow dry! Anything low maintenance is good for me. Sometimes I wish that I was a celebrity- without the paparazzi- so someone would do my hair, makeup, cooking, cleaning, house decorating for me. Those are all things women "should" be good at and enjoy. Not me. But I make do- and Ross fills in the gaps. So we are happy and doing well. Ross is working on breeding fish in a container in the garage. Maybe someday he can make it a career :) But I love that he has a business side to him. Always thinking of something new.
Call me sometime if you are up at 3 am

Take me out to the ballgame...

2008-04-02T23:14:00.000-07:00

My brothers had fun catching up with each other. Matt didn't fare so well in this match

So my favorite past time has started again. Ross and I went to the A's home game with Liz and her friends. They lost, might not be a winning season. But liz and I looked on the bright side and we shouldn't have any difficulty getting tickets. The A's do a great thing where they sell $2 tickets for wednesday night games. We'll be there. And thanks to Ross' new schedule, he gets to enjoy it with me. I have been an A's fan since elementary school. So go A's!

We also had a nice visit with my brother Tom and his wife Monique and my nephew Christian. It is nice to have a little kid around- we had fun playing on the stairs. He loves to crawl up them and then try to walk down. Yea, he is trusting that someone will catch him. He really lights the house up. Too bad I couldn't get him to look at the camera. i guess I am not funny enough. We also had a visit from Melanie Crandall. We grew up together and we had fun catching up with what our pittsburg crew is up to. I was lucky to have grown up with a huge group of kids my age- we had so much fun together.

Snow Trip Pictures

2008-03-27T23:18:00.001-07:00

Ross snowmobiling. It was so much fun- although I rode on the back part of the time and my tailbone was sore!
Ross did a good job for his first time snowboarding. Here he is, staying up all the way down the hill

Matt and Ross had fun sledding and playing in the snow together
Our cabin at Shinnyboo Creek. It was a cute place to stay
Ross making his first snow angel- he did it on a slant and ended up with snow all over his face
Our snowmobiling trip took us to an overlook of Lake Tahoe. Beautiful view.
Another view of Lake Tahoe. That was great about snowmobiling- the scenery was stunning

I finally got around to uploading the pictures from our recent snow trip. So enjoy. We are doing well. Tonight is Ross' first night shift with his new schedule. Ross cut back his hours because he was working way too much and I wanted to see him more. I already know he is going to be busy in the fall once he starts nursing school so I wanted to have time to enjoy with him now. So he is working 3 nights a week now. It has been so nice to have him home more. He has been cooking every night- he is much more creative in the kitchen than I am. I am sure he is getting tired of hearing me talk nonstop but it is just great to have him around. We almost don't know what to do with all this free time together!

We missed out on the easter eggs and hunts but we had a nice easter. I always love Easter church services and then we had dinner with my family and grandparents. My grandpa played tennis and bowling on the Wii and even beat my brother and Ross.

So that is our update. I am trying to figure out how to get the pictures in the right position, so if I don't- sorry.

Happy 30th Birthday Liz

2008-03-27T21:38:00.000-07:00

My sister Liz is my oldest friend- not by age but by time being friends. Get it :) So happy birthday!!!!

2008-03-22T13:39:00.000-07:00

Amanda at BYU. Go Cougars!
My nephew Christian. Tom was recently serving in the "desert" so that is the reason for the outfit.
My handsome dad and brother

I'm home sick- never had pneumonia before but my lungs hurt really bad. Although 24 hours of sleep really helped :) We went up to the snow earlier this week and I think I wore myself out. I exerted myself a lot watching Ross learn to snowboard. Sitting there, enjoying the sun... And then we went snowmobiling. Ross didn't like me as a driver but I thought I did well for a first timer. I only went off the path and almost tipped over once. It was an adventure riding in the back though- I think it must be like bull riding. Not that I have ever tried that. We had a blast though. Pictures to follow when i feel like sorting through those. We also went sledding and had to wipe out lots to avoid the trees. We had a great time. Thank you to my mom for taking us and to my brother Matthew for being there to have snowball fights with Ross.

My brother Tom is coming to visit us this week with his wife and my nephew Christian. We last saw them six months ago and now he is walking and getting even cuter. Tom is in the Air Force- he being deployed to Japan next. They live way too far away in Nebraska.

Liz is turning 30 this week. I'll post some pictures of the festivities later. She is planning her next trip to Antartica. I wish I could go but the price is high and I don't have that luxury of thinking only of myself anymore. I am crossing my fingers that Ross gets accepted to nursing school- we should hear in the next month. So hopefully we will go to the Philippines before school starts in the fall and then we can plan a fun trip to celebrate his graduation in two years.

Amanda is still up at BYU. She is doing athletic training and is working with the baseball team. How tough is that the watch baseball every day :) But she is working very hard and just got a job at the MTC. I miss her.

I am counting down until baseball starts. We have tickets for the A's home opener. I love this time of the year. The sun is shining and the trees are blossoming. I love wearing shorts and flip flops. And again, lots of baseball!

Here are some cute pictures of my family. I love living near home.

Still surviving night shift. It has calmed down some. We were having a string of patients go bad every night last month. The stress wears on you after a while. The latest hospital news is that the sewer broke and flooded the basement. Gross. They had to cancel all surgeries for a day. They are renovating the hospital and the front is a huge hole- kind of like when the area in front of the BYU library was a big hole but even more massive. I can't wait until they are done because we need a bigger ER and more beds! I was thinking the other day, my life is boring, I don't have much to post. But then I was thinking, if anyone spent an evening with me at work, they would definetly disagree about the boring. But it is just what I do and I don't think about work when i am off- for the most part. Some things do get to me at times.

So that is our update. Ross is out "running errands" which I am sure involves time at the plant and pet stores. He did leave a really long time ago. Our sunbeam class decorated our door for St. Patricks day so I have been eating Lucky Charms all week. Yum.

I love everyones blogs- I can't figure out how you all make them look so cool. Jealous of all the disneyland trips I have been reading about. Miss you all. Happy Easter!

Funny Memory

2008-02-25T22:32:00.000-08:00

I was just updating my Smugmug website- I have hundreds of pictures full of memories. And I saw this picture of Naiomi. Sheree, Naiomi, Liz and I went to El Morocco in Pleasant Hill to have Middle Eastern food and watch belly dancing. Naiomi made her way over to the bar and made friends with the other customers there- and the bartender. She managed to charm a few dollars out of the bartender- and free Shirley Temples. When we looked over there, she was sitting on a stool next to a customer at the bar with the red hat on. The customer and bartender were laughing and told us "She is going to be trouble when she gets older". Then Naiomi joined in with the belly dancing. I just have such good memories of that night. I can't believe she is already 7 years old.

My Birthday

2008-02-20T23:38:00.000-08:00

For my 31st birthday, Ross and I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and then we drove down the coast to Cambria. The weather was perfect so we could see miles down the coastline. We stayed at a hotel right across from the beach. It was relaxing to just get away and spend some time with my wonderful husband :) We went to Hearst castle which is pretty amazing. And mostly we walked along the beach and saw amazing sunsets. So now I am officially in my 30's- but I am excited to see what the next years will bring.

2008-01-30T23:34:00.000-08:00

Just an update- After our hawaii trip, life got busy again. Ross is back in school. He is taking 9 credits I think and then is still working full time. And I am working 12 hour night shifts now which I like- not as stressful so far because the night time quiets down a bit and I feel like I have more time to get everything done. But I am still adjusting to the sleep schedule. So feel free to call me at 3 am- I will most likely be up. I am trying to work out a system so I can still sleep well at night when I am off. I do feel like I have a lot more free time though. I finally finished all of the Harry Potter books. We have been out looking at cars since I know mine won't last forever- but it has given me a good 11 years. And I finally feel like being married is normal now- although the name change is still wierd. So we are both doing well. I am trying to do a better job of keeping up with people- I just never have been much of a computer person. That is Ross' expertise but I can't seem to get him interested in posting on the blog. He set up a planted aquarium in the kitchen and every few days I see new fish that he has added. I am glad that it makes him happy.

Hawaii Honeymoon

2008-01-30T23:21:00.001-08:00

Ross and I went to Hawaii for our belated honeymoon during the first 10 days of January. I wanted to wait until winter time when it was cold here- never have liked winter. And I wanted to see whales. We stayed on Maui for the first 5 days of the trip. We stayed in South Kihei right across from the beach and we had a great view from our balcony. We checked out the different popular beaches and did lots of snorkeling. We also took a trip out to Molokini because Ross was hesitant about snorkeling in the ocean and I wanted him to have a good beginning experience. He loved it and after that he wanted to go snorkeling all the time. We saw lots of whales while on Maui but I was disappointed because I had not yet seen a whale breach. So then we went to Kauai for 4 days. We stayed in Poipu which was paradise to me. Beautiful and sunny with great beaches. I would love to live there someday. We had been so busy sightseeing on maui so it was fun to just relax at the beach most of our time there. We did take one boat trip- it was so cool because we saw lots of whales jumping up out of the water and playing. And two whales saw right in front of our boat, just a few feet away. And a pod of dolphins also swam along with our boat. It was so much fun. I love hawaii and I was so glad to have Ross with me to share it with this time.

Ross' Favorite Hobby

2007-11-06T12:04:00.000-08:00

Ross built me a fish pond on my patio while I was traveling in Russia. I thought it was going to be something little- but Ross sure surprised me. He has always loved fish and we discovered that he has a talent for landscaping and gardening. So I just wanted to show off his hard work. He is really busy with work and school so this is his escape.

Honeymoon

2007-11-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

Ross and I spent a few days along the northern California coast for our honeymoon. We enjoyed the scenic and rugged coastline, hiked, and enjoyed lots of good food. We loved Mendocino. Anytime we find somewhere new we like, Ross always wants to move there- so I guess we are retiring to Mendocino now- although that might change after we go to Hawaii in January.

Our Wedding

2007-09-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

Ross and I were married in the Oakland Temple on September 15, 2007. It was a wonderful day. The best part was seeing the family and friends who came to support us. My grandpa performed the sealing in the temple and my dad conducted a touching ring ceremony for us. We had a little drama the week before the wedding because the weather was not cooperating as planned to have the reception outdoors. So with a lot of help from friends, we moved the reception indoors. Good thing because we had an even larger turnout than we had expected. The day was so much better than I had imagined it would be. Here are a few photos of hightlights from that day.