4!!! (aka. Golfing)

So Dave, my brother-in-law, really wanted to go golfing while I was in California since he hadn't been in a long time. However, my 9 month pregnant sister was clearly unable to go golfing with him and I had never been. Golfing is something I have always wanted to learn and something I felt like I would be pretty good at after playing softball for 10 years. So we decided to go to the driving ranch and hit a few balls. Dave really wanted to go golfing the next day, on Valentine's Day, and for some reason after having picked up my first golf club one hour earlier and having only that hour to practice with my sister teaching me, I decided that I would give it a try and join him. So for Valentine's Day, Dave and I went golfing with my sister along with us as my personal teacher. They told me that I did very well for my first time and I did have a few good hits (and some pretty horrible ones too). But I have to admit I do want to take golf lessons now... and I really really miss softball....
(ps. I know these are out of order.... but I was so excited about Zach being born that I put his pictures up first... sorry if I have confused anyone.....)

Practicing at the driving range

The golf course... it was on top of a hill in Glendale so there were some gorgeous views of LA... as you will see :)

Downtown LA

Griffith Observatory

Heather and Me... she was an excellent teacher... told me every club to use and exactly how to stand... even let me borrow her shoes!

Dave in his cart

No idea if that is the right form... but I just tried to get the club past 120 degrees (Heather had to put it into math terms for me :) )

The two golfers for the day
(Dave wore khakis so I copied him to try and look like a real golfer :) )

Zachary Glenn Wiemer

It's official.... I'm an aunt!! As of 12:25am I am the incredibly PROUD aunt of Zachary Glenn Wiemer who was 8lbs 3.5 oz and 20.25in. I will give just a few details about the birth because this will just be the beginning of many pictures to come of Zach...

We arrived at the hospital at 6am on Wednesday morning (2/27) so that Heather could be induced. After about 3 hours of contractions, Heather decided to get an epidural (although I am so proud of how well she did without it!). From that point on it was waiting. The babies heart rate dropped a few times so eventually they took her off the petozin and found that they contractions were coming on their own. Around 10pm, after 15 hours of labor, the doctor said that it was time to start pushing! So with Dave holding one of Heather's legs and me holding the other, Heather pushed for 2 HOURS!! What a champ!! She was SO tired and couldn't feel her legs (from the epidural) but she kept pushing the whole time. And after 17 hours of labor, Zachary decided to join us!! He had a little banana shaped head at first but that went away after the first day. I cried immediately and I can't explain how much I love him!!

Enjoy some pictures from the birth-day of my wonderful nephew Zachary.....

Me and the future mom

Future Grandma and Mommy (CRAZY!)

Daddy and Mommy!

There he is!! ZACHARY!!!

The proud Daddy holding Zachary for the first time

Grandma admiring Zachary

Holding my first nephew for the first time... AMAZING!!

There are no words to describe the love in these two pictures....

The Wiemer Men

Zach likes to just open one eye... so I have given him the nickname "Popeye"

LOVE!

Joining the picket lines....

After crossing the picket lines (with my brother-in-law honking for the strikers as he drove past) to go see "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," we decided it was a good idea that we join in with the strikers to show that we support them. So the next day we went with one of their friends (a writer for "My Name is Earl") and joined with the strikers at Disney Studios. You have to know it is something important to me if I am willing to strike at DISNEY!!! It was a really exciting day actually. All of the writers and actors and industry people there were so happy to have us join them, especially when they found out that me and my sister weren't writers or anything!! We walked for about 3.5 hours and saw a few famous people including: Willy Garson (Sex and the City), Clark Grigg (The New Adventures of Old Christine), Matt Groening (the creator of The Simposons), Phil Rosenthal, (creator of Everybody Loves Raymond), and Michael Hitchcock (Best in Show). Basically, striking was SO MUCH FUN!! They had food and drinks and everyone was so nice. The day we went was the last big striking day and everyone was at Disney so I think that added to the adventure. Two days later the strike ended.... I like to think we had something to do with it :)

Heather and Ozzie with the striking signs

The check-in table and the beginning of our 3-hour shift

The closest I got inside... I so badly just wanted to try and run and see how far I could make it

Sad that I am striking outside of Disney... but it just shows that I am dedicated to the cause

Although I really don't like Snow White this was a pretty cool building... each of the pillars was one of the 7 dwarfs

Some strikers

Ozzie, Heather, and Dave

Willy Garson (most people know him from Sex in the City)

Me, Heather, and Ozzie

I thought this sign was hilarious

The guy all the way on the left in the khaki jacket is Matt Groening... the creator of The Simpsons

A tired striking dog after a long days work.... and he did a very good job wearing the colors and everything!!

The Ellen Degeneres Show!!

Last year when I went out to California after my birthday I tried to get tickets to "The Ellen Degeneres Show". However, since it was the end of the season I wasn't able to. Since then I have been waiting for a chance to go and finally my opportunity arrived!! When I found out that I would be coming out to LA for a month I knew that I would be able get tickets since I would have so many dates to pick from. So I asked my sister which days were best for her and then for 2 months I waited for the tickets to become available to request and finally we were guaranteed 2 tickets!! So on February 6th we went to a taping of "ELLEN" and on February 12th this is what was aired....

First trip to Cali

My spring semester has taken a little change. In December I completed my course work in Curry and was going to spend my spring in C-ville substituting and enjoying some time with my friends. I was also planning on spending the month of February in California with my sister and brother-in-law. My sister is expecting her first baby at the end of February and since I decided to graduate early I am able to go out there and be with her and see my first nephew be born and help out. However, a few days after Christmas I received a call from my sister asking for my help. My brother-in-law in switching careers from writing to fundraising and he need to take 2 weeks at the end of January to go on interviews. However, that meant leaving an 8-month pregnant woman alone which no one wanted. So she asked me to come out for 10 days and help her out while Dave interviewed in DC. So here are some pictures from my trip out in JANUARY!

My dog nephew Ozzie.... taking a little nap

The weather was gorgeous so we went on many hikes and walks. One was to "Runyon Canyon" in downtown Hollywood. Here are a couple shots of LA from the hike.

Me and my gorgeous sister hiking in "Runyon Canyon"

Another walk that we went on was through a neighborhood in La Canada. Isn't it gorgeous!!! We also had yummy frozen yogurt from this trendy new store called "Pinkberry".... but Archs is still way better!!

Ozzie got very dirty after all of his walks/hikes.... it's BATH TIME!!!

All nice and clean.... and a bit of a fluff ball too :)