Wow...for as slow as it may seem sometimes, time is flying! February has come and gone and from the looks of my tree in bloom, Spring is just around the corner. I am so excited because I love the warm weather and everything that comes with it: swimming, watermelon and warm evenings. This year I have even more to look forward to with the arrival of our baby in May- I still cannot believe that this is really going to happen and I am so eager to see who this little person is! I think that since we don't know if it's a boy or a girl, there is so much mystery that contributes to my disbelief that this is actually going to happen. I cannot picture a face or even a gender and we have had such a hard time with picking names...how do you name someone that you don't know anything about? I think we are just going to wait and see what the baby looks like before bestowing an official name... my little brother didn't have a name for about 2 weeks after he was born! Anyways, I am doing well and progressing as expected...thankfully this pregnancy has been quite uneventful-which is a good thing! The baby moves around all the time and I can feel little feet or elbows and I just love to sit and daydream about who this little person is. I love that for this brief period of his (or her) life, my body and my voice and my touch is the only world that he knows. He is blissfully unaware of all the hardships of life that will certainly face him in the years to come. He doesn't know what it is to be cold and he has yet to have a reason to cry. He knows the Lord and all his needs are met without him having to worry about a thing. I am honored to have the responsibility to be his mom. As much as I cannot wait to meet him and hold him, I can tell that I will really miss this part of being his mom. :)

February was a fun month. We finally saw some much needed rain and had a couple good storms. Sean and I were inspired by a sunny day after a week of gloominess and decided to start a little vegetable garden in the back yard. We went to the lumber store and I saw the flower box that resembled what I would like and Sean said "no problem". Without any doubt, Sean picked out the wood that he thought he needed and all the hardware. We came home and by the end of the afternoon, I had a raised garden box that was even better than the one I had seen! I was so impressed and thankful that God had given me such a handy husband. We planted a few of the basics (herbs and cherry tomatoes...) and now we will just have to see if I can keep it alive.

Valentine's Day came in typical Mary and Sean fasion, on a weekend that we were both working! I am not a high maintanence wife and I don't really want roses or chocolates but I love sweet gestures and I would consider myself more of a "love note girl". Valentine's Day came on a Saturday and of course, I was working Friday day and Sean worked Friday night. When I woke up on Saturday for work, Sean was still not home. I left for work and then Sean called and said he was on his way. We picked a spot where we would both be driving through and met up in the middle of the street in the pouring rain. I had mentioned that I wanted a new pair of scissors for work (mine had been stolen) a while ago and Sean had not forgotten. He pulled them out of his pocket and it couldn't have been sweeter. We shared a quick hug and then I had to get going or I would be late. Ahhhhh... I love my simple little life!!

Speaking of simple...the following weekend was anything but simple! My dad was going to be presented with a Career Acheivement Award down in LA and my mom arranged for all my siblings to fly down and surprise him. Of course, we wouldn't miss it so on Saturday morning, Sean and I flew out of Sacramento and met up with Benny, Emma, Alice and John down in LA. My parents had gotten us a room at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons so we were all at the same hotel. We found my dad and it was such wonderful surprise. He did admit to thinking "something" was going on but he didn't expect it to be all of us. I could tell that he was really glad we were there. It has been a long time since all of us have been on a vacation together and that was my favorite part of the whole trip- just being together and enjoying being a family. We took a limo to the awards ceremony that night...a lot like going to prom with your parents! It was so fun but I have to admit that I wish I could have had a couple of drinks to go with the whole shebang- I never thought that I would miss alcohol since I don't really drink, but every once in a while a nice glass of wine or a mojito would really hit the spot (what do you think I'm growing all that mint in my new herb garden for?!) Going to the MPSEs was a lot like going to a fancy wedding reception: fancy tables with beautiful centerpieces, a live band playing all the classic songs that everyone knows and a lot of good people watching. We had access to a VIP room with an open bar and Alice, John, Sean, Benny, Emma and I kinda stuck together while my parents schmoozed. The awards ceremony was fun and entertaining but the highlight was hearing all the wonderful things that people had to say about my dad. Many of the award winners credited my dad for their inspiration to do what they do. After a generous introduction from George Lucas, my dad was presented with his award. He gave a small speech and then had all of us get up on stage to be with him. Of course, I wasn't prepared for this and I had just put a large bite of rich chocolate mousse in my mouth...you know, the kind that you need a large glass of milk and a good check in the mirror before you smile at any one. Oh well, it was a memorable and proud moment for all of us. The following morning, we were on a plane back to Sacramento and then we jumped in the car and headed down to Marin for the Oscar party that we were going to host that evening. We had a full house on a rainy night and the show was really fun to watch...the whole night would have been perfect except that my dad was robbed in both categories. (He was nominated for sound mixing and sound editing on Wall-E) I was disappointed more than I had expected to be but I just kept reminding myself of the wonderful and rich weekend we had just spent together, loving being a family. No golden statue could be more valuable than what we have.

So, here we are, welcoming Spring and anxiously awaiting all that it has to offer us this year. Sean is still hard at work trying to finish his last hours on the ambulance and trying to keep up a good attitude despite his lack of sleep and fear of the unknown. We are praying for a job to open up this summer for him and appreciate anyone who wants to join with us in that. The other small detail is that we kinda made a spontaneous decision to purchase tickets to Hawaii for a week in April! It is still undecided if that was a brilliant idea or a total disaster but we are thinking that it is now or never...the worst that could happen is that we will have our baby in Hawaii- and how is that bad? Whatever the outcome, stay tuned to find out!