Our Foster Puppy...Flower

At first I thought, "Golly...the receiving staff at shelter is really running out of ideas for dog names." I think I just figured out that they named her after the Flower character in Bambi. I never saw Bambi, so it took me a while to piece it together. Anywho...for those of you who don't know, I have been volunteering at the Austin Humane Society and helping the doggies. A few weeks ago I brought home a 6 week old puppy who needed a foster home. Some time for the pup to be socialized so they can be ready for adoption. Doggies in a cage with littler human/canine interaction don't learn anything in the crucial first couple months of their lives.

So Flower is very well socialized now! She is almost house broken. She doesn't poo-poo in the house and will scratch at the door to go outside and poo. She still can't hold the wee-wee very well, but we've done really good letting her out enough that she goes outside. She is doing awesome, always looking to please. She is a pup though, so she just wants to chew and have fun when she isn't sleeping. She does do good of letting go of things she should not have when we replace them with a chew toy. She has used to her crate now for sleeping at night...but if she is not tired, she will cry for a while. Overall she really is an awesome pup. If we didn't have the boys coming any minute now, we would most definitely keep her!!

If anyone is interested in the pup...please let me know ASAP! I have to take her back to the shelter tomorrow. She should be getting spayed soon and then be ready for adoption. Check out tons of Flower photos and videos on my ZooToo page.

Merry Christmas Y'all!!

The day we celebrate the birth of our savior...it is awesome. Merry Christmas from the Garcias...Frank, Holly, Jeremy, Jordan, T-Bone, Jezebel, Tiger II and special guest Flower.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Seriously??

Why do the batteries in smoke detectors always run out in the middle of the night? About 2AM yesterday Holly woke me up because a T-800 was wondering around the house. When I finally ruled out an invasion of sophisticated futuristic robots rummaging through the house for Sarah Conner, we then had to determine which smoke detector needed a new battery. We figured out it wasn't the downstairs alarm...so it had to be one of the 2 upstairs. Of course, now the alarm thought it had given us enough warning of the battery loss and decided not to beep anymore. I know it was just plotting and waiting for us to fall asleep before beeping again. I figured since the beep didn't wake me up, it had to be the one furthest from us. So I swapped out that battery and fell back asleep.

Frank 1, Smoke Alarm 0.

Oh yeah, and Holly is now in her 32nd week. Woop-woop! Just want to make it through week 34 and then the boys can come as soon as they want!

Jumping Jacks

We had a wonderful sonogram last week and as you know the boys are both 4 lbs each. Which means they are over 70th percentile. That was great news until they informed me that NOW the boys are going to start growing. What!! Start growing. What have they been doing? I'm huge already. Its hard to walk, get up , breath, and impossible to roll over. Well they let me know that the boys are very content in me (which I assume means they are not coming out any time soon) and will now start to grow between .25 and .5 lbs a week. Well, I came home and with that knowledge figured out if they go full-term, and keep growing like they have been, they will both be 9 lbs when they are born. My body and I are a bit freaked out. Once the boys hit 6 lbs I'm going to start jumping jacks. That will be fun to watch, not sure if I can even get off the ground at this point.

Babies, Snow and Puppy...in that order!

Okay, lots to catch up so I'm going to let it all out. No, there is too much. Let me sum up. Buttercup is marry' Humperdinck in a little less than half an hour. I love that movie. Okay, for reals now...

Monday we had a sonogram and the boys are doing great. They are practicing breathing which is supposed to be a very good sign. They both are weighing in at about 4lbs! Jeremy is facing Holly's back and we still can't get good pics of him. Got a few more of Jordan though. We are in week 31 now!

Tuesday...we had some rain/sleet at night and about 11:45pm we noticed it was snowing! Not just snow, but big giant flakes. It was a nice little blizzard. Of course it didn't build up on the ground much and most of it was gone by noon today.

Today...brought home a 6 weekish old shepherd mix puppy from the Austin Humane Society. I've been volunteering there since October, I will have more for you on that a bit later. Gotta head out to into the arctic winds for my first 4v4 flag football game! BRRRrrr

T-Bone's Week 14 NFL Picks

T-Bone had a decent week last and went 9-7. I don't what is wrong with this boy...it's like he can't stand success. He went and picked some bad upsets this week: Browns, Bengals, Rams and Seahawks are all winners according to my dog.

Tiger II's Two Year Anniversary

It was 2 years ago this day...had family in town staying with us for turkey day. Roy came in from outside and exclaimed that there was a cat with her kitties in our bushes.
Frank: "Shh! Holly might hear y..."
Holly: "What? What kittens?"
Frank: "Ah man...thanks a lot Roy."

It now became Holly's missions to save the kittens from their miserable lives. The wide open space, plenty of field mice, tons of fences and trees to climb, plenty of cars for them to leave their paw prints on. Cornering the kittens and chasing the little buggers didn't help...those dudes are shifty and lightning fast. Holly got tricksie and cracked open the garage door and left food. Next thing we know we have 2 kittens trapped in our garage. After a couple dozen friendly scars and some Bactine® we had 2 kittens in our home.

Originally Holly liked the white kitty, but ended up switching and keeping Tiger II. Never been a cat dude and still don't consider myself a cat dude, but Tiger II is cool. He thought he was a dog for a while, so thats how he got on my good side. Never played fetch with a cat before, but Tiger II knew if he was going to last here, he'd have to connect with me somehow.

Two years later, Tiger II is still on my good side. Go figure.

T-Bone's Week 13 Picks

T-Bone, T-Bone, T-Bone has done it again! Second week in a row hes gone 6-10...not good at all. I sat him down this week and we had a long talk while watching Sports Center. He watched 6 hours of NFL Live, Inside the NFL and NFL Total Access. His overall record is dropping dangerously close to .500 -- this is the week he plans to turn things around.

It's Good!!

The kick is up...

its got the distance...

and...

IT'S GOOD!!

Finally got the field goal post painted in the kids room. I think we are officially done with painting. Time to get the cribs set up.

Week 29

Howdy folks! We spent the last night of week 28 and the first day of week 29 over at the hospital. Everything is cool, but Holly was having a lot of contractions, she had 8 in an hour and that was all it took for them to tell us to go in. The cool thing is that our hospital just opened a new wing for women and everything is brand spanking new. We were the first peeps to be admitted and stay in room 4. Woohoo! We left home around 10:30pm and headed to the hospital. Was going to stop for gas, but figured I should probably wait until we head back home.

At the hospital, they took us to the old wing and there was a little chaos there. The new wing had literally just opened and they were still moving stuff between the new and old wings. They finally sent us over to the new wing and it is SNAZZY! Everyone was super cool, it was like they just started their shift and they were all on the top of their game and very nice. It was funny to watch them all trying to find stuff since they were all in the new rooms for the first time and things are all in different places. They hooked up 3 monitors to Holly's jelly-belly. One for each dude and one to monitor the contractions. Holly wasn't making it up...she was having a lot of contractions. Everything checked out fine though and they said a lot of women with small bellies who all of a sudden bust out cause of twins just experience a lot of contractions. We just gotta make sure there is no back pain with it or any other pain.

This post is getting long so I will wrap it up. Kids and mom checked out fine. I found out the new furniture isn't really nice for lying down and long-term rest. We got our picture taken on the way out because we were the first peeps to be discharged from the new wing. I forgot to fill up the truck on the way home at 2:30 in the AM. Note to self: keep the truck filled up and ready to go. Last night was a good dry run.

Week 29:
Babies are growing rapidly now. This week he weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is getting bigger to accommodate his growing brain — which is busy developing billions of neurons. Every day, about 200 milligrams of calcium is deposited in the baby's skeleton, which is now hardening. With this rapid growth, it's no surprise that the kids' nutritional needs reach their peak during this trimester.

28 Weeks Later

It has been 28 weeks since the Rage virus first spread throughout Britan. NATO forces have been repopulating...oh, sorry. Wrong 28 Weeks Later. 28 weeks later and we have had 2 baby showers (both Raider themed, cool eh?), the kiddos weigh over 2 lbs, have eye lashes and are blinking and...they have names!! No more Baby A and Baby B for these dudes.

It is our pleasure to introduce Jeremy Alan (Baby A) and Jordan Andres (Baby B). They have some awesome clothes, toys, shoes, fancy stink fighting diaper disposal can things, TONS of Raider paraphernalia and more! We were blessed with TWO baby showers and our friends and family went out of their way to make our "Raider" showers amazing. Just this weekend we got our cribs, mattresses and car seats...2 of each. With the awesome gift cards from Westside Church of Christ (EPT) and more gift cards from friends, we barely spent a couple hundred for those big ticket items.

Here are pics from the showers. This first set are my pics from my mom, sister and nieces who stayed with us during the first shower weekend. [PHOTO ALBUM 1]
This one is from the same weekend, pics my sista took. [PHOTO ALBUM 2]
This one is from the second baby shower, pics that Michelle and Ray took. [PHOTO ALBUM 3]

Holly seems to get bigger every day. Jeremy and Jordan are kickin' and punchin' and it is great to see it and feel it. Sometimes they'll kick and it will make Holly's leg kick. Pretty hilarious to see. Now I just gotta get Holly to put down the Mario Kart so we can start organizing the babies' room.

T-Bone's NFL Picks for Week 12

Wow, T-Bone is coming off a horrible week 11. He only got 6 out of 14 games right. He needs to start looking over Holly's shoulder. She is ranked 3rd in our pick'em league right now! I don't think T learned his lesson though. He picked the Chiefs, Rams and Lions again. Stink.

T-Bone's Week 11 NFL Picks

T-Bone had an average week last week and just broke even at 7-7. He is still over .500 for the season though. This week could change that though. Either that or he is a genius. He picked quite a few upsets this and feels good about the Chiefs, Rams, Seahawks, Ravens, Chargers AND the LIONS! I tried to talk him out of it...but he wouldn't listen to reason. At least he didn't pick the Raiders again.

Puppies!!

Sitting at my desk eating my Healthy Choice® Salisbury Steak (bleh) and watching the puppies. What puppies? The Sheba Inu puppies! Meant to share the link a while ago and just never got around to it. The six Shiba Inu pups (3 boys and 3 girls) turned 5 weeks old on November 11th. This is the first litter from their mom, Kika.

Girls:

- Autumn (Purple collar) - 3 lbs 5.8 oz (as of Nov 11th)

- Ayumi (Yellow collar) - 3 lbs 3.4 oz (as of Nov 11th)

- Amaya (Red collar) - 3 lbs 6.6 oz (as of Nov 11th) 

Boys:

- Aki (Green collar) - 4 lbs 0.4 oz (as of Nov 11th)

- Akoni (Black collar) - 3 lbs 12.6 oz (as of Nov 11th)

- Ando (Blue collar) - 3 lbs 1.2 oz (as of Nov 11th)

Free Webcam Chat at Ustream

Week 27

Wow, where did the time go? Last few weeks have been a blur. Aside from Holly's belly growing to the size of a red kickball, we've done a lot of cleaning, reorganizing, painting...all while we both were sick. Holly is back to normal. I'm hanging on to my precious virus as long as I can. They grow up so fast. We finished our birthing class. All I got out of it was that now I know there is a Frullati in our hospital that makes some great tasting shakes.

Got some pictures for y'all. The sonogram pics are from yesterday afternoon. We only got 3 pics out of it. All 3 are of Baby B. In one pic I think he is flashing the "Hook'em Horns" sign. Baby A's head was way low and turned away. So no pics of the lil' guy.

Great news though. The kiddos were like Ying and Yang, one head down (Baby A) and the other head up (Baby B). That was okay for now, but at delivery time they both need to be head down. Well, Baby B has done it. He has flipped and now both kiddos are head down! Both guys are between 2.25-2.50 lbs.

Baby room is almost done! (complete photo album) We painted the sidelines and the hash marks. Holly picked up some yellow paint today so we can paint a field goal post around the window. Grandma Nena was here this weekend, along with my sis Mari and my nieces Isabella and Genesis. Before they left Mom wanted to stop by Hancock Fabrics. As much as I didn't want to go in that snooze building, it ended up great. Mom took home some Raider fleec fabric (for baby blankets) at rock bottom prices...veterans day sale. Mom called yesterday...she was back home and at Hancock Fabrics again. She picked up more Raider fabric for crib sheets, bumpers and curtains! I guess we will end up with a Raider room afterall.

That is it for now...almost. Here is what is going on inside the belly week 27:
This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with his legs extended. He's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing his eyes, and perhaps even sucking his fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While his lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if he were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother him, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

T-Bone's NFL Picks: Week 10, 2008

Well...T-Bone did pretty good again last week, 8 right, 6 wrong. He got the Bengals right last week...this week he picked the Lions to get their first win!

Our New Baby Has Arrived!!

Woohoo! Single Stream Recycling is here! Finally got to say buh-bye to our little blue bin and we got our big recycling bin last week. Now I won't have Sports Illustrated stacking up in the garage with cardboard boxes. Anyone else loving it?

Ruppel's Halloween Prom Night

You may remember that last year Craig and Corrie's halloween party was an 80's Theme Party. Put some effort into our costumes...I made a Pac-Man costume and Holly made herself an Inky (the blue ghost) costume. This year the "band" I've been jammin' got our first gig to play at the Ruppel's party.

This time the theme was prom...and this time I spent more time trying to practice the songs than work on a costume. I put on a tuxedo shirt and Holly put her hair up and played the part of the principal and we were done. So no shot of me repeating for best costume this year. We had a blast though and it was fun playing music in front of peeps. We played Just Like Heaven, Last Kiss, Your Love, Let's Get It On, Better Man, Jessie's Girl, My Own Worst Enemy, Drive, Fight For Your Right and Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).

Craig should have some video and I will share that as soon as he makes it available. For now...here are all the pics we grabbed from the night! [ PHOTO ALBUM ]

Will hopefully have more photos and video from Craig soon. Below is another photo album from Bobbi and a video Chuck's sister took...but kinda bad quality on his camera.



Photos that Bobbi (she's the prom queen on Holly's right) posted: Slide Show or Photo Album

Better Man Video: Anita on the Drums, Chuck (in tux and mullet wig) on vocals/lead guitar and I'm rockin' the silver hat and tux t-shirt on rhythm...

El Paso Visit in October

So last month we hit the road and headed back home to El Paso. This was the last trip for a while, Holly is no longer allowed to travel. We visited with Holly's Mom and Pops, my Grandma and my Pops and the kids. Everyones doing great...we miss them all. :(  Didn't get a chance to see the rest of my family. You guys all need to move to Austin soon! Until then, you always have a place to stay here.

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to watch my lil sis (Randy) playing volleyball. They lost, in fact, I think they said that was their worse game of the season, but it was still great watching them play. Got some great pics with the pics, Holly and my Grandma and Holly and her mom, pops and Mike. Here is the PHOTO ALBUM for our El Paso trip.

We've been busy and sick, so thats why its taken me a while to post. We gotta get back to working on the baby room. We've got 2 baby showers lined up the next 2 Saturdays in a row! Both came up with great invitations...

And tomorrow night is part 2 of our wacky birthing class. Please, oh please, no more birthing videos! Ewww...

Baby Room and Birthing Class

First thing is first...we finally worked on the baby room this weekend! Woop woop! Check out the beginning of the transformation from regular bedroom to baby room [ PHOTO ALBUM ]. It is going to be a football field with blue sky. We hope.

So that was Saturday...today, it was off to birthing class at the hospital! I was personally dreading 3.5 hours of "HEE HEE HEE WHOOO", but when you're a dork with a dork wife, its a pretty funny class. I had to finally stop making comments to Holly under my breath cause she ruined it by laughing too loud and getting people's attention. Then we started the breathing techniques...still funny, but we were getting through it. Until teach told us to face each other. Very bad idea. We basically spent the whole time hunched over trying not to laugh out loud. Finally teach said, "laughter is very good," and we lost it. So did a couple other couples, so we weren't the only ones. Plus teach said it was good, so I think we got an A+.

Another birthing class next monday night. I can't wait!!

Obama's Loss Traced to Frank Garcia

Shoot...is this an election year? Guess I did my part.



Thanks Vick.

6th Month Sonogram

Yesterday Holly had another sonogram. The boys are looking great. They are 1lb. 4oz. now and were very active during the sonogram punchin' and kickin' each other. Made it hard for the sono-lady to get some good shots, but she got all the measurements she needed and got us 6 pics. Here is the photo album with all 6 pics, the last one is in 3-D. It isn't very clear, but she said next month when they are bigger, we should be able to get a good 3-D view.

Holly started week 23 today! Here is the low down on where she is at according to BabyCenter.com:

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With their sense of movement well developed by now, your babies can feel you dance. And now that they are more than 11 inches long and weigh just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see them squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in their lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your babies' increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing them for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze them when they hear them outside the womb.

Oh, and we can already see their movement on Holly's belly! Especially the kicks and karate chops. Her stomach will jump and we see a tiny little bump stretch out her skin. Her belly is getting big and it is tight! There is hardly any room in there for those guys.

T-Bone's NFL Picks for Week 6

T-Bone had pretty good week 5 and got 8 out of 14 correct. He was one of the few to pick the Dolphins over the Chargers last week. T-Bone picked the Ravens over the Colts this week and he REALLY likes the Packers over the Seahawks.

We mixed up a little this week and changed the format. T-Bone has to defend the endzone. If the offense gets the ball in the endzone, thats a pick for the Underdog team (as ranked by Yahoo!). If T-Bone makes a goal line stand and keeps the ball out of the endzone, the Favored team gets the pick. Enjoy.

T-Bone's NFL Picks for Week 5

He is doing better! He got 8 out of 13 correct last week, which was a difficult week for a lot of people. He has a few more upset picks this week. Check it yo!

Video of the Sep. 15th Sonogram

Last week I posted the picks of our sonogram from a couple weeks back. We also got a DVD that had video from the sonogram. The DVD itself is at least 20 minutes long. Most of it would be boring if you are not the parents...so I tried to cut as much of it out as I could. Still about 5 minutes long. Tried to add some annotations to the video to make it just a wee-bit more interesting.

If you have any quotes for Baby A or Baby B, let me know the time in the video and I'll be happy to add some more in!

There's A Little Raider In All Of Us

...and it is especially true for Holly these days. She has TWO little Raiders in her belly!

T-Bone's NFL Picks for Week 4

T-Bone is NOT doing so good. I tried to warn him about picking the Texans and Rams, but he wouldn't listen. He picked more upsets this week...he picked the Chiefs over the Broncos and the RRRAIDERS over the Chargers.

September 15th Sonogram Pics

We got these last Monday...12 pics! They also gave us a DVD with video of the sonogram. I gotta work on that and edit it down, its really long and could get boring if you're not the parents. The twins are doing great and so is mama. Baby B is 10 ounces and A is 9.5 ounces. They are squirmin' around and kickin' each other in the head. In the video you can see it...Baby B tries to stick his foot in his brothers mouth.

We are approaching the end of the 19th week and Tuesday is the start of the 20th and final week of the 5th month. The twin's "sensory development is exploding!" Their brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that they may be able to hear our voices now. I'm going to have to be careful what I say now during the Raiders games.

Check out the PHOTO ALBUM for the latest sonogram pics. The latest pics are at the beginning.

T-Bone's NFL Week 3 Picks

T-Bone had another bad week, but he thinks hes got the hang of it now. Jezebel tried to get in on the action, and picked the Chiefs after T-Bone picked the Raiders for the first time this season.

T-Bone's NFL Picks: Week 2

T-Bone is at it again. Last week he picked 9 games correctly, but missed 7 games. He is getting the hang of it though. If you're clueless or just can't decide and need some help, here ya go!

Raider Mecca: The Last Day

Day 3 started out great. Sleep in, eat breakfast. Holly and the kids crashed and Vick and I cruised down to a mall in Hayward to visit our 3rd Raider Image store this trip. Finally it was time for the tailgate. The Raider Mecca guys were a bunch of fun this weekend and wrapped it up with a great tailgate. Then out of nowhere, Greg Townsend showed up to the tailgate and just hung out with the fans like one of the guys. It was unbelievable! I have a lot of appreciation for that guy and his dedication to the Silver and Black and their fans. Then the "game", whatever...it did start off good with a fly over from the Air Force.

Here is the rest of our pictures from the trip. It really was one of the best trips yet. Best memories came from hearing Phil Villapiano and Tim Brown talk to us, answer questions and take photos with us.

Raider Mecca: Day 2

This trip just keeps getting better!! Woke up and had free breakfast, muffins, cereal, breakfast sammiches, juice, bagels...we had it all. Even though it was bfast, we were eating at around our normal lunch time. After food we got our Raider gear on and headed out to Raider Headquarters. We walked into the conference room where we've seen Al Davis and many great Raiders players before and they announced our special guest speakers: Phil Villapiano and Tim Brown!! Had goosbumps when these guys were talking...it was amazing. When they were done talking and fielding questions we split up into 2 groups. We went on the tour of HQ: the halls are lined with awesome pictures from great games; we went out on the practice field (got to tap the "I'm In!" banner the players all hit when they run out of the lockerroom); the weight room; and back to the conference room for pictures with Phil and Timmy and the Super Bowl Trophies. What an awesome day.

We ended with a trip to the Raider Image and picked up more Raiders baby gear! Picked up some In and Out burgers on the way to the hotel room and we've been here trying to recover and rest up for our long day tomorrow. There is a private party just down the road for the Sunday night game and dinner, but we cant get up. We may head over there at halftime. Tomorrow is the tailgate party all day at the stadium and then Monday Night Football!!

Check the video of my boy Vick with Phil and Timmy and all the pictures in our PHOTO GALLERY.

Raider Mecca: Day 1

Yesterday we flew into Oakland, got our rental, hotel and it was off to McAfee Coliseum for a party with some Raider Legends: Willie Brown, Greg Townsend and Jeff Barnes. James Lofton was scheduled to be there and arrived before the signings started, but was called way to an illness in his family. We had a great time meeting theses guys and other folks from around the globe who are gathering this week for the Raider Mecca. Vick got some photos signed by Willie Brown and Jeff Barnes and got some cards signed by Greg Townsend. I had all 3 guys sign my Raider mini-helmet and I also had Willie Brown sign a card and Greg Townsend sign my rookie card of him and an 8x10 photo of me and him I at the Raider Image when we were here last year for the Raiders v. Bears game.

We are having an awesome time right now. Gotta get ready to go to Raider Headquarters! Heres a quick slide show of our first day. For all the photos, check out the PHOTO GALLERY.

NFL Pick'em Help

Need help deciding who will emerge victorious each week in the NFL? T-Bone is here to help. T-Bone is playing Pick'em this year on Yahoo! and it should be interesting to see how his picks stack up against the rest of y'all and the pros. Now, don't expect perfection...for some insane reason he picked the Broncos over the Raiders this week. What!? He had to go to time-out for a little bit, but he stuck with his pick. Week 1 of the NFL is here!

USA! USA! USA!

Good bye Olympics :( -- that was fun. By far the girls gymnastics was our favorite event to watch. It was great to see Shawn Johnson get the gold in the last event for beam. The guys were fun to watch too...an Indian, a Chinese and a Russian walk into a beam event. Sounds like a joke, but that was neat to see those guys on the beam. All the volleyballs events were fun, sprinters...Bolt, what a great name for the guys breaking records in track. But who could forget about the incomparable Michael Phelps? What an Olympic performance. This is by far his greatest performance here, the will to win and the great sportsmanship after the win. Incredible.

Dreaming again

Well it happened again, Franks still saying very strange things in his sleep. This week we were sound asleep when Frank blurts out " or will she pee out one last one". Coming out of a deep sleep I think he's saying something logical. I just don't understand and ask what. So he says it exactly the same way. I quickly got up to write it down because there was no way I would remember it in the morning. If anyone want to take a shot at what he was dreaming about go for it.

From Blobs to Babies

Today we start the 15th week:

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (our sono lady said each A and B both weighed 4 ounces!). He's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. His legs are growing longer than his arms now, and he can move all of his joints and limbs. Although his eyelids are still fused shut, he can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, he's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but he is forming taste buds.

We had a sonogram yesterday and the twins have been upgraded from Blob status to Baby status. They look completely human now...especially between the legs. It was obvious...we have TWO BOYS! Baby A is on the left with his head down and Baby B is on the right with his head up. Baby A looked like he was throwing a fit with his head thrown back and his back arched. Sono lady thought he was gonna be trouble cause he wasn't allowing her to get the measurements she wanted. When she panned up, turns out Baby B was kicking A in the head and A was just trying to get away. Without further delay...heres the slide show of old and current sonogram pics. For you guys who wanted printouts, you can order from kodakgallery.com HERE, or just click on the slide show to get the full sized pics and print them out for yourself.

Gravy

Been cleaning house and getting rid of junk or anything we haven't used in a long time. After going through some drawers, Holly came across a note she wrote to herself one night a long time ago. Middle of the night and I wake her up cause I'm dreaming. She heard me talking and didn't want to forget it, so she wrote it down. We have no idea what it means, so let us know what it means to you...

"We didn't get loose with any gravy..."

189 Days to Go!

189 days to go if we go full term, but the twins should be vacating the premises a few weeks early. We are almost through the first trimester. Lets recap the last few weeks.

Week 11: babies' fists starting to open and close; tooth buds forming under the gums; bones are hardening; they are kicking and stretching.

Week 12: most dramatic developments this week...reflexes; fingers will soon begin to open and close; toes will curl; eye muscles will clench; mouth will make sucking movements; intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now; kidneys will begin excreting urine into the bladder; nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in their brains, synapses are forming furiously; face finally looks unquestionably human: eyes have moved from the sides to the front of the head, and ears are right where they should be; from crown to rump, baby-to-be is just over two inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.

Week 13 (current): Fingerprints have formed on babies' tiny fingertips; veins and organs are clearly visible through the still-thin skin; body is starting to catch up with the head — which makes up just a third of the body size now. If we're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. The blobs are almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.

So thats where we are. On Tuesday we had our first appointment with our OB/GYN. Our doc was very nice and Holly really liked her, so I did too. Dr.Hansard (our fertility specialist) hand picked her, so we were expecting one of the best. We got to listen to the blob's (I guess they are human looking like now and no longer blobs) heartbeats. They were beating strong and fast! One was 160 bpm and the other was 155 bpm.

Holly's belly is getting bulbous. I talked to Holly today and stopped her in the bedroom for an interview. I was able to ask her how she was doing and she replied, "Much better than last week." She is not as nauseous or tired as last week. She is still only eating maybe 5 bites, but she did great at lunch today eating a lot of her waffles from Kerby Lane. She still can't eat meat...gotta find a way for her to get her iron. Mama Karen suggested spinach.

Oh, she still has psycho dreams. Last weird ones had to do with me wanting to divorce her and ending the marriage on a high note! Latest one had me trying to convince her it was a good idea for her to work at a brothel to bring in some extra cash. They do make a lot of money.

Thats it for now...will try to get a Holly picture this week.

I can smell FOOTBALL!!

Wait...no, Jezebel just tooted. FOOTBALL!! It's almost here. One more week until the Raiders first preseason game against the 49ers. I put my tickets up for this game on ebay and they already have bids. woohoo! The next step in preparing myself for the upcoming season was trying to get a deal on the NFL Ticket and Superfan. They want to charge an extra $100 so you can get the games in HD. I called and asked, like I didn't know how much it was, "how much to renew the ticket and superfan? .... Oh, you guys raised your prices again? ... Well, can you cancel my automatic renewal? ... Well, I don't want to pay that much when all I really care about is the 16 games for the Raiders. I don't need EVERY game." They offered me $5 off my regular bill for 6 months. After I stopped laughing and caught my breath, I said no. They offered me $10 off for 6 months. Again...no. Why pay when I can watch the game at a bar for much less. Besides, why should I pay an extra $100 to watch the game in HD when I already pay a monthly service for HD? She put me on hold and finally came back with a good offer: $10 off my bill for 6 months and Superfan ($100) for free.

Woop woop!! The Raider Nation is set to roll at the Garcia household!

Okie Showers and Fishin'

Spent last weekend in Oklahoma visiting with my mommy and sister, Mari. The occasion was Mari's baby shower. Girl is HUGE! Hope she pops soon. Here she is with Holly...Holly is about 7 months behind Mari here. So the shower was okay...I just ate food and got suckered into taking pictures. Holly won the first 2 games, Baby Bingo and a raffle for bringing a bag of diapers. Heres the photo album for the shower.

On Sunday Roy took us back to our favorite fishing hole in Guthrie, OK. I snagged about 3 Croppie and big Catfish which gave me a great fight. Holly and Roy each reeled in another Croppie. At the end of the day, Roy was bringing in a baited line they leave anchored to land. I thought it was stuck on something, Roy was sure we landed something huge. We had to take the row boat out and trace the line...got right over where it was stuck. I'm 100% sure its stuck on a tree root or something. We both start pulling up on the line and SPLISH SPLASH!!! A giant carp comes flailing out at us, I'm pretty sure it's aiming for my jugular and looking for blood. We get it into the boat, which I thought was a bad idea, but we were able to get it on land. Sucker was...ah man, can't remember now but I'm sure it was 35 1/2 inches. Roy guessed about 30 lbs. and I'm sure he wasn't too far off. Heres the rest of our Oklahoma trip pictures and fishing.

Houston, We've Got a Fetus

Last Tuesday was week 10 and we now officially have 2 fetuses...err, 2 fetus...2 feti? HA. Just looked it up and Wikipedia says fetuses and sometimes feti is the plural. Wikipedia is the only place I've found feti, so I'm pretty sure its just fetuses. Any who...we got two of thems.

So here is whats happening during week 10:

Babies are the size of a kumquat — little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce. They've completed the most critical portion of development. This is the beginning of the fetal period when the tissues and organs rapidly grow and mature.

They are swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy. They've got tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.

Baby's limbs can bend now. Hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over the heart, and the feet may be long enough to meet in front of the body. The spine outline is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from the spinal cord. Baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

We are in Edmond, Oklahoma right now for my sister's (Mari) baby shower. She is due August 6th, but she looks like shes over due. Here is what Holly and Mari look like right now :D

The New Truck

Well...its not so new any more. Referenced the new buy a while back when we said farewell to the awesome black '04 Tacoma. I know some told you all who asked for pictures a while back that I'd post them a while back. I'm finally doing it! Without further delay...the new '08 Tacoma!

Yellow Ledbetter

This was fun, Chuck recorded it when we were jammin' last week and posted in our JamBlog. I usually stick to rhythm, but Yellow Ledbetter is one of the few where I can take the lead.

Pinto Beans to Green Olives

Had our 2nd sonogram this morning. Last week the kiddos were about the size of pinto beans. Now they are about the size of a medium green olive at 23.9 mm and 23.3 mm. Baby A was almost a mm smaller then baby B 2 weeks ago, but now he/she is bigger...we got a little competition brewing. We found out that the labels A and B actually mean something. Baby A is the one closer to the cervix and will be the first baby to pop out.

In the last week, week 8, the following was underway:

Eyelid folds and ears are forming. Baby's eyes are still very wide apart on the sides of his/her head, but will eventually center themselves out. The tip of the nose is actually present at this time as well. The tubes that lead from the throat to lungs are branching and the baby's torso is getting longer and beginning to straighten out. Just a few weeks ago, baby's arms were tiny buds. Now the elbows are actually present and the arms and legs extend forward and have grown longer. Fingers and toes are becoming visible also. The tiny person is protected by the amniotic sac, filled with fluid. Inside, the child swims and moves gracefully. The arms and legs have lengthened, and fingers can be seen. The toes will develop in the next few days. The umbilical cord contains 3 blood vessels which link your baby's system to yours. The big one supplies your baby with blood which is rich in oxygen. The two smaller blood vessels return blood to the placenta. This blood is low in oxygen, and full of waste materials. At birth, umbilical cord can be two to four feet long.

Week 9 begins tomorrow and heres what will be going on this week:

Although the baby is still very small, it is beginning to look more like a human being. Your baby's back is straightening out and the tail is shrinking. In proportion to the rest of his body, the head is large and remains curved forwards onto the chest. The head is erect and the neck is developing well. Even though your baby's eyes are well developed, they are covered by a membrane lid. The eyes will not begin to open and close for quite some time still. Your baby will begin to make tiny movements as the muscles start to develop. You will not be able to feel any of these early movements, but you might be able to see them during an ultrasound. The arms and hands are progressing faster than the legs and feet at this point. By this time of your baby's development, the hands have defined finger ridges and the tissue between them will die off to leave separate fingers. It is impossible to distinguish a male from a female at this time because external genitalia look very similar at this point.
Your blood system will change during pregnancy and blood volume will increase by 50%. The increase in blood is important to meet the demands of your growing uterus. Blood volumes will begin to increase during the first trimester and will continue to rise throughout the entire pregnancy. The increase in plasma can cause anemia, which will cause you to feel tired or weak.

Introducing the more human looking twins: