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:

Psycho Pregnant Dreams (PPD)

I've always had Stephen King like dreams but now they're worse. The night before my first sonogram we had a little scare so I was nervous. I dreamed that I went to the doctor and she told me to get on the table and "lay on the cadaver". I was a little shocked and grossed out. I asked if I could just lay beside the cadaver. She said no I had to be on it. So...I did it. I got lined up on this creepy cadaver (anything for a baby) and laid back when it started to move. I didn't want to hurt the babies so instead of jumping off right away, I just rolled off to the side. Then it sat up and I bolted. I was sitting on the floor and it started to come after me. I reached out and grabbed it by the neck and yelled for help. Of course no one would help. I asked if I were to stun it if they would then tie it up. Finally someone agreed. I smashed its head into the floor 3 times to stun it. They then tied it up and I muzzled it and they carried it out of the room. My doctor stared at me and finally said, "what are you waiting for? Get on the table." She didn't seem shocked at all by the fact that I was just attacked by a zombie.

The real sonogram went much better. I have a book that wants me to document my dreams but I think I will leave this one out.