Sunday, December 30, 2007

Christmas Fun

Photobucket
This year's Christmas was a lot of fun. As usual we had Christmas Eve dinner with Mom's side of the family. It was nice this year because we had more space to spread out. This house is just much more conducive to gatherings. Rhiannon and Francesca enjoyed chasing each other and playing together. Francesca loved the Christmas bear that Gma Lois got her that sang "You better not shout, you better not cry, you better not pout I'm tellin' you why..." And that bear turned out to be one of her favorite gifts so we got to hear the song over and over and over again. Un(Fortunately) she left the bear at Grandpa Marr's house, so I haven't heard it since. I'm sure we'll rescue Christmas Bear soon though.
Photobucket
Adam is in his highchair behind me so he was cut from the picture.

Photobucket

Uncle Don has convinced Jason that he should register a web domain name for the family. Jason was intrigued by the idea and has since taken it a step further. Just today he registered http://www.bicyclefriends.com/ so that he can create a website where bike enthusiasts can share information and meet up for rides. What an idea! The website hasn't been created yet, but I'm sure that will be a fun project for Jason to work on this year. Jason has a tendency to find a hobby and then immerse himself in it full-tilt to a point that my ears grow somewhat deaf to listening about the same information over and over and over again. So it is always good when he finds a new direction for his hobbies or expands on an existing one so that I can listen to new information.


On Christmas morning Francesca got to see what Santa Claus brought her. It turned out she enjoyed what Santa brought for Adam (a truck) much more than what Santa brought for her (a princess dress). Who knew? She didn't have many presents to open because a certain 5'5'' elf was too tired to wrap presents so the elf just said "Forget it" and left them in the closet. (Francesca found her other Santa Claus gifts just yesterday.)

Here are some pictures of the kids from Dad's house.
Photobucket

Photobucket


After gift opening we headed over to Dad's house for breakfast and, of course, more gifts. Bryan and Stefanie got to join us which was very nice. I am hoping that next year Dad's house construction will be complete and the front bathroom will be usable and the guest room will be all pretty too. It is an interesting experience to use the back bathroom because football-sized Archie is back there and of course he has no sense to know that sitting down to use the restroom is NOT sitting down to play with Archie. Let's just say that when I went into the restroom I didn't have scraped knees. I'm sure Archie had a great Christmas what with everyone coming in every 20 mins or so to play with him.

Photobucket

Photobucket


The next stop was Doreen's house for Castillo gift festivities. We were joined by all the regulars (Grandpa Tom, Grandma Carol, Ryan, Jenny, Doreen, Angel, Nico, Catie) but we were also accompanied by Alex and her boyfriend Matt. And of course, there were a lot more presents. Everyone got some really nice things.

Unfortunately we didn't even think to take pictures at Doreen's. So in honor of our time there, here is a picture of Ryan we took two days before Christmas (at our house). :)

Photobucket

By this point I was Tired. But that's ok. That's just how Christmas is. It's a great holiday, but is it ever the perfect holiday? Is it ever possible to find that perfect balance between joy and festivities and quiet reflection and relaxation? I'm not so sure. Next year I'm sure we'll do it the same way. The ONLY thing I wish is that we were able to squeeze in church. After all, Jesus' birth IS the point of this holiday! I know that it has grown to be more than that, but the central purpose of the holiday should not be forgotten or ignored. We've got Christ the Savior here people! It's good to acknowledge that and celebrate that. So hopefully we'll be able to work that in. I don't want the kids to grow up not having church be part of their Christmas holiday.




So that was Christmas!! And here we are in 2008. Happy New Year!

Photobucket

New Year's Resolutions

Well 2008 is on its way, and with it comes a natural desire to reflect on one's life and goals. Now usually I don't make resolutions for the new year. There generally isn't anything on my mind that I feel really compelled to change, so I don't bother "coming up" with something to change. But this year is different. This year I have two goals, and hopefully I can stick to them.

#1. Stop cursing.
I have a tendency to curse when I'm frustrated. Since I am often sleep-deprived anyways, it means I get frustrated more easily. But with all of my cursing, I notice that Jason has started cursing more too, and he never had before. Hearing it from his mouth makes me realize how ugly my mouth can sound. So that's why I am going to stop saying bad words! I reserve the right, however, to say a bad word if I bang my knee really hard against something or nearly miss an accident from some car that has swerved in front of me.

#2 Keep my house clean
I want to have a clean house. Period. I don't want to live in a messy house anymore. Not that our home was really so bad, but enough's enough of the always struggling to keep it clean. Now that we have a nice big space and there are spots to put everything, I want to keep it looking good.

So those are my resolutions!

Babies, Babies, Babies

Just this evening I got the kind of call that really warms my heart. A dad from my class called to let me know that he and his wife had just had their baby girl. He was so excited and delighted on the phone and it just makes me so happy to hear how joyful this new father is about his new baby and his wife's birth. I just love that phone call.

I always love getting the calls of the new babies that are born, and I love getting the picture updates and just sharing their joy. It makes me happy to know that the things they learned in class they feel helped them so that they could make good decisions for themselves.

Not everyone has a natural birth, but it surprises me that many do. But even the ones that don't still feel like they learned a lot and were able to feel confident with their choices. That's what it's all about, and I feel so much joy for all my moms and dads!

I am excited about this coming month because I have been invited to attend two births. This is new for me. I have only attended my own births! One couple from class approached me and asked if I would doula for them. I explained that I'm not really a doula, but to think of me more as a very-educated-about-birth friend. I also explained that I can't be away from my baby for more than 10 hours and they understand and are ok with that. We'll see what happens with this couple. She really isn't comfortable with her doctor or birthing environment at all, and I've explained to her that I can't guarantee anything. I really can't ensure that she won't have a c-section or anything else. I just don't have that power. All I can do for her and her husband is support them and be a sounding board and encourage her as she labors. Maybe do some massage or help in any other way. But I can't make decisions for them. I'm hopeful for this couple though. They are sweet people. I just hope they aren't disappointed in me!

The other gal whose birth I'm supposed to attend will be birthing with Lori at the birth center. She didn't really invite me. I more asked her if I could come! Anyways, she said that would be fine and I'm going to take pictures for her. I talked to Lori about this because I really wanted to be present at a birth in a low-stress situation before I start embarking on these more stressful hospital births. And since I don't have experience helping at births, I was hoping to "get my feet wet" with a birth that I know will go smoothly.

Anyways, I'm excited about this, and hopeful that I can be of some help.

On other birth news: Last month I got to attend a taping of Ricki Lakes' The Business of Being Born. It was an absolutely fantastic film that says all of the things I try and explain to people, but feel so inept when I try. It also made me feel happy because it portrayed a lot of midwife-attended home births. As I saw these ladies birthing it reminded me so much of my births and it filled me with joy to see "my story" on the big screen. The one part where the midwife herself is having a baby and she titles her video "Midwife Begs for Cesarean" really had me cracking up. Because yes, it hurt so bad, but it was and continues to be such a source of joy in my life. The joy WAY outweighs the pain!


I am hopeful that 2008 brings me more opportunities to work with couples and help educate them about the birth process. I love to hear that happy phone call!

Friday, December 21, 2007

Jack Whiner

I think I should rename my son Jack Whiner. Jack for the constant jumping and Whiner for, well, all the whining. This kid complain, complain, complains all of the time whenever I try to set him down. In the car...WHAAAA! WHAAAA! WHAAAA! At home....Eh! Eh! Eh! EHHHH! The only time he's really happy is when I am sitting down and he is standing on my legs jumpy jumpy jump jump jumping. Then he's my happy guy. That's when I call him Jack. The rest of the time he's Whiner.

So what does this mean for me? It means my right arm is getting really strong from carrying him around all the time. And I can do an amazing amount of things with my left hand/arm, including but not limited to, getting Frannie up onto a public restroom potty while holding Adam in one of those dinky stalls.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

My little Fran

My little Fran is almost 3 and lately she is so darn cute that I want to wrap her up and keep her this way forever. This is the time that I need to pop out that video camera because one day she won't be my tiny little girl anymore and I just need to remember how she is at this age.

First of all, she is SO talkative. And expressive. She has a facial expression for almost everything she says. It is almost impossible to describe it, I need to get it on video!

Here are some commonly heard phrases in my home:
"That's kind of silly"
"Daaaddy, gotta go peeee peee" (said from behind her bedroom door)
Indignant groan and shaking of head like "Oh, what are you doing?"
Dah! D dd dah! D dd Dah! (as she dances and prances on her bed with knees high and arms in the air)
Heavenly father, thank you for the family (This is her saying grace at dinnertime.)


These days she is copying me quite a bit and she'll point her finger at me and sternly tell me to "Listen! You have to listen to Frannie!" This always makes me laugh.

The one that really had me rolling the other morning was when she came into the dining area all disheveled and proclaimed "I'm the fairest one of all!" in her wicked witch voice.

It's just always something new with her. She's so funny and surprising with what she remembers and picks up. It amazes me.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Christmas Survey

I copied this from my friend Lauren's blog: http://www.whycantwejustbenormal.blogspot.com/. It looked like fun, so here it is!! I encourage you to send me your answers too!



1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? A little bit of both. Gift bags are certainly easier! But I like wrapping gifts too.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real, of course.

3. When do you put up the tree? I like putting it up about 3 weeks before Christmas. My favorite place to go for the tree is Starberry Farms because it is a quaint vegetable stand-type place and they sell large Douglas Firs for $24.99

4. When do you take the tree down? The day after Christmas I undecorate the whole house.

5. Do you like egg nog? No, not really.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? A cabbage patch kid that was placed in the "basket" of a basketball hoop. It was my favorite gift because I honestly thought Santa brought it. My dad had taken Bryan and I to Disneyland on Christmas Eve and when we came home, there the gift was all put together in our living room. My father was with us the whole time at Disneyland so only Santa could have come to our house early to bring our present! Wow!

7. Do you have a nativity scene? No, but I want one.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My mom. She doesn't want anything, and the things she wants are always really weird (hoe, front wheelbarrel wheel). Thankfully she requested some long sleeve shirts this year. That, I can do. [Hi Mom! I know you read this blog and I'm probably going to get heck for writing this one! I know you just want what you want and you don't want a bunch of stuff that you don't need.]

9. Easiest person to buy for? My grandma Lois, actually. She is easy because she and I like similar things, so if I see something that I like, then she'll probably like it too. And I don't feel pressure buying for her. Even if she doesn't like what I buy, she hids it so well that I don't know. She is just fun to buy for.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Must be mail.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? T-shirt with the Coca Cola label on the front. Except it didn't say Coca Cola, it said Come Caca. Which is particularly funny since I got it from my wonderful BIL who ALWAYS picks out the best gifts for me! Hey, you can't win 'em all!

12. Favorite Christmas movie? The Bishop's Wife

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I do a little shopping all year long. But I buy the bulk of my stuff during the Christmas season.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes. Particularly if there is going to be an annonymous gift exchange party.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Sweets in general.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? I like both, but lately I like clear twinkly ones better.

17. Favorite Christmas song? There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays sung by Karen Carpenter
Another one I like is "Oh Lonely Night When Christ Was Born" or maybe it's something else.
My favorite Christmas song to belt out in the house is We Three Kings.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home. All the family is local!

19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Red bow

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Eve for my mom's side of the family. Christmas morning for immediate family and then over to Dad's side for Christmas breakfast and more presents. Then over to Jason's side for Christmas dinner and more presents.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? That they start marketing stuff too soon. It seems like Costco is pulling out the Christmas stuff earlier and earlier every year.

23. Favorite ornament? A little pink beaded ballerina one that my mom has in a box somewhere in her garage.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Mom's dinner of course!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Well, I already got my house.

We're Finally In

Well, we're finally in and moved! I'll post some pictures as soon as I can. I haven't written in a little while since we've been so busy and I just got internet access again a few days ago. This whole thing is such a dream come true for us. Pics forthcoming!

Friday, November 30, 2007

Birdie Boy

My little Adam J. is a birdie boy. He spends the day caw! caw! cawing like a bird. To others who hear him over the phone, it sounds like high pitched screaming. But he's not upset. Just excited. He stands in his exersaucer jumping and flapping his arms up and down up and down like penguin wings. When I'm walking him around I feel so much energy from his little body. He is doing birdie arms and kicking his legs and if he could jump out of my arms and walk all around the house he would. This boy is eager to move.

Here is a picture from our trip to Disneyland this week. Just look at those legs! You can really see the energy in them and his feet. (And yes, I did take note that he has perfect 1st position feet!)

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

I'm very proud of my Adam. In addition to all the bird calls, he has now mastered the letter B. Bob bob bob bob is his new favorite word. Last month he loved to look at me and say the letter G. Gggggggggggggg. Lots of gurgles and drawn out G's.

These days his finger is firmly planted in the corner of his mouth like a lolly pop stick. It's either his finger or full fist. And he's got lots of drool dripping everywhere. Good stuff! Of course I'm thinking he's working on popping some teeth through those gums, who knows, this could go on for awhile before he actually does get some teeth.

Here is a family picture you can see Adam with his lollypop finger.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

He is my sweet precious little guy and a bundle of joy and now I understand why everyone says "bouncing baby boy". He really DOES like to bounce, and jump, and flap, and caw!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Mom's Diet

This afternoon as I was chewing on crusts of grilled cheese sandwich bread I realized that I have developed quite an interesting diet since becoming a mother. What are the animals that come around and eat the leftovers once the lions have had their feed? Is it a hyena? Or some sort of scavenging bird like a vulture? Well whatever it is, I've become an after-eater.

When I make Frannie a sandwich, she won't eat the crusts. So if I leave them on, and cut the sandwich into quarters, that means she will eat exactly four bites. One corner at a time and she's done. If her mouth detects any sort of crust, the sandwich is rejected unless she is truly starving. Being that I am already exasperated by her bird eating habits and her uber-petite frame, I'm always trying to get her to eat more food. So, the simple answer to the sandwich problem is to simply cut off the crusts. If you've ever cut the crusts off of a child's sandwich you will see that it is quite a lot of food that ends up being wasted. After awhile of this, and of many other food items that are hastily discarded after a few three bites, it becomes apparent that much of our food bill is being thrown right into the trashcan every single day.

So I've developed this habit of eating whatever she doesn't eat which means that the quality of my diet is often determined by the quality of hers. Leftover oatmeal, PB&J crusts, half bitten chicken nuggets, cold scrambled eggs, the yolks of hardboiled eggs (I rarely get any egg white), waffle remnants, bagel pieces, smooshed unga bar (unga=granola), and a just about anything else you can think of that has a half-moon taken out of it. That's my #1 course! If I haven't gotten filled up on her leftovers then I might make myself something more.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Things Are Lookin' Good

If all continues going as planned, we will close escrow next Friday!! November 30th is the exact date. This is so amazing.


Ok, a few of you have asked, so here's the lowdown.


It is located in North Pomona within Claremont school district boundaries. It is a townhouse w/ 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2 stories and almost 1500 sq feet of living space. For us, it feels like a mansion. It is completely turn-key which was a real must for us since we don't have any extra money to be spending on fixing a place up. It has high ceilings, is light, bright and airy and it even has a little backyard. The woman who currently owns it has a degree in horticulture so she has landscaped it very nicely.

The best parts???

An attached garage! No more coin-op laundry for me. Jason is excited to have a place to store and work on all of his bikes.

Jason is also excited about the his and hers sinks in the master bath, and I'm excited about having a fireplace and mantle to hang our Christmas stockings. It feels like a real home.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Our Offer Has Been Accepted

That's right!!! I can't believe it. I am almost scared to get too excited. I hate the feeling of getting all worked up over something only to have it not turn out. I just hate that crashing disappointment. So I'm trying really hard to not squeal like a little girl and jump all over the place and just flip out. I'm going to stay composed.

At what point can we celebrate? When is it really for real? When we're handed the keys? Or when the inspection is complete? When our loan guy signs his papers? When? I want to know at what point I can really truly be excited and start thinking of this house as MY house?

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

We Might Be Moving

It's pretty exciting. We might be moving. We have been trying for so long to buy a little place, and maybe just maybe this one might work out. It is crazy to think that in a month we could be handed a set of keys to a whole new place. We could be spending Christmas in our new home. WOW.

We've been living here for six years. When I moved in here with Sarah Tibbetts, I had no idea I would be here this long. I had no idea that this first little apartment would be the foundation for my family and life. My reason for moving here was simply that I didn't want to move straight from my father's house into my husband's house. I wanted a little bit of time to be on my own and learn how to do a few things. I never really had to learn how to do house things like have chores and keep a good schedule for keeping a home. I didn't know how to clean a bathtub. I HATED dishes. Laundry was always atrocious. So I just knew that I had to leave the house for a little bit if I was going to force myself to learn how to take care of things.

Jason, on the other hand, was taught how to do everything. This guy knows how to clean and clean efficiently. He does almost everything efficiently. His time-management skills are amazing. I watched him for two years come home after a full day of work only to sit right at the kitchen table and do homework for two hours. There was no tv or lounging about. He was so focused. He definitely has a work first, play later attitude. And in a lot of ways that is a real blessing because not only does he get his work done, but then when he does have time to play he can fully enjoy what he's doing and not feel guilty or that nagging thought that something isn't being done.

So since I married this organized clean guy (not obsessively clean mind you) I promised myself that I would try my best to do things his way. What am I going to do, argue that the house MUST be messy?! It makes no sense.

Anyways, during this time that I was thinking about moving a co-worker friend of mine, Sarah, called me one day and wanted to know if I wanted to be roommates with her. I said sure and found this apartment complex The Lakes online. When I first took a look around here I was amazed. It is so beautiful. There are trees everywhere and winding pathways, a pool with a huge waterfall and a pond that runs between two apartment buildings. It feels more like a loft-house than just an apartment. It was too good to be true. But really it wasn't because we got the ok to move here and got a great location in the complex right in front of the pond and great rent too. Even after all these years, we are still getting great rent. We're upstairs in 25G.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Sarah and I only ended up living together for about 9 months when she moved out to a studio apartment and Jason moved in and we got married. Shortly after we got married I started looking on realtor.com just out of curiosity to see how much it would cost to buy a condo. I saw a nice one in San Dimas in the newer Cinnamon Creek development for 160K. I thought to myself that buying a condo like that was our next step, so I kept my eye on the real estate sites so that we could plan to buy. Well, a few months later I checked realtor.com and another condo in that same complex was now listed for 215K. I thought "Oh, the market is a little high right now. We'll wait until it comes down again." HAHAHHAHAHAHAH!! Silly girl!! Today, five years later, that condo is worth about 430K and is completely 100% out of our price-range.

Watching the market sky-rocket right in front of our eyes has been irritating to say the least. We cannot believe how it has changed and completely passed us by right at the moment when we were getting ready to get in.

It has been very difficult to decide what to do with this situation. Do we move out to the boonies? Stay close to family and buy a teeny tiny something? Do we move closer to his work? Do we rent a house and say forget buying? Do we move to an undesireable city and try to find a good neighborhood? I have been actively searching for a home for us for the last two years. I have had meetings with five different loan consultants. I've yammered to my parents on this until their ears are no doubt ready to fall off. I've discussed this at length several times with Janet King, my friends Lorelei and Jamie and Therese and Nataki and Cindy. Basically any person with a bit of insight and patience with me to keep talking and hashing this out and offering advice. It is this constant battle between needs vs. wants and what we can afford. Ugh. It's been crazy.

All I have to say at the moment is Thank God the Market Has Turned. For the first time in several years there is hope for us. FINALLY there are some decent places that have cropped up that are in our maximum price range. For so long there was NOTHING in our maximum price range. And thank God Jason has gotten a few good raises that make this all possible. And thank God we know how to save money. Otherwise, we'd still have no hope.

Ultimately we decided that our number one priority was to stay near family if at all possible. We've just got too much good stuff goin' on over here to pound sand and head for new horizons. Francesca and Adam are blessed to have Grandma Carol, Grandpa Tom, Auntie Doreen, Cousins Nico and Catie, Grandma Bobbie and Grandpa Marr all right here where they can love each other and spend time together often. If we all hated each other that would be one thing, but we don't. And darnit, I need the support with the kids!

So although I only planned on living here for about two years tops, it's been six. It has been a lovely six though I must say. Our carpet looks disgusting now. There are a few cobwebs in the unreachable corners of our high ceiling but it's been really good here. I've made great friendships with my neighbors. Both of the children were born in our bedroom. It's cool to go to the very spots where we brought our kids into the world. I'll miss that. But it is time to move on and move forward. We need more space!!! And a garage!!! And indoor laundry!!! And I don't want to have to walk the equivalent of a football field to get to my car!!! And it'd be nice to have a patch of dirt to plant some seeds!!!

We're ready to go!

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Pumpkin Patch and Insect Fair

Today we all went to the Cal Poly Pumpkin Festival and the Insect Fair. This is the second year I've been to Cal Poly for our pumpkin, but my first visit to the insect fair. Last year Jason and I went to the pumpkin patch, grabbed a pumpkin and headed home. It was all business. Today we decided to enjoy it more and actually make a DAY of it. Since Mom's birthday was on Thursday, I thought it might be a fun "day out" sort of thing to do. What is more fun than watching grandbabies and picking out pumpkins? I can't imagine much. Today was a beautiful sunny day and Bryan had the day off and was able to go as well.


Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket



Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket



Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket



Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket



Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket


Now the insect fair is a completely different matter. It was so absolutely disgusting and gross. I had the willies the whole time I was there. You see, when I look at insects like this one


Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket


I try and imagine that it is real and alive and I am in the jungle somewhere encountering THAT bug! In my mind I'm walking along and THAT ugly thing is flying past my head or hanging out on some tree. Bbbbbbbb!! Just writing this and thinking this thought is making me get the willies at the computer. And just so you know, the picture size is accurate. That is the actual size of that bug.

Here is a very tame display.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Of course there were some very stunning butterflies, but of course whenever I see a dead beautiful butterfly I am reminded of this Gary Larson cartoon:
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket



Sunday, September 30, 2007

A Lovely Day at Disneyland

It's been one week since I took my little Frannie to her first trip to Disneyland. True, Adam was there too, but he's only a teeny tiny baby of course. So my enjoyment of this day was more through her eyes.


So how should I start this? Well first of all I should probably mention that I cried twice. Yes I did. Who knew that Disneyland could be such an emotional place? But it was. For me, seeing my daughter enjoy Disneyland for the first time was right up there with some of her most precious "first" baby moments.


Here is the scene of the first crying episode. We had just entered the park and all of the characters happened to be outside so we stood in line to have her meet Donald Duck. She didn't know what she was standing in line for so when she was in the front of the line and Donald knelt down to give her a hug she just had this look on her face of such joy and excitement. She was so happy and flushed like she'd just met a real celebrity. I instantly sprang tears and thank goodness I was wearing my sunglasses.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket




Then I was crying because Jason wasn't there to enjoy it.



Now here is the scene of the second crying episode (or would that make it the third?? Anyone keeping track?) Walk further down Main Street and here we are at the famous circle and statue of Walt Disney with Mickey Mouse. While Dad is positioning Francesca for a picture, I am reading the script below the statue. It is a quote from Walt Disney saying something like "All I want Disneyland to be is a place where parents and children can come and have fun together." And there was just something about the purity of that and me being there with my little girl on her first Disneyland trip and just looking around at the magnificence of the place and my own memories of being there as a child and, yes I did, I teared up again. It was so beautiful! You can't tell from the picture of course that I am teared up under those sunglasses.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket



People think I am only like this now that I have kids, but Jason will tell you I've always had a soft spot for sentimentality. Certain things just touch my heart and I can spring tears very easily. I come by it honestly (Mom and Dad you know what I'm talking about).



Here is Francesca meeting Mickey for the first time. For some reason this one didn't make me cry. But it is still cute!

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket



Adam spent most of his first day at Disneyland, hangin' out in his carseat or my Baby Bjorn carrier. He had a fine day though!

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket



This is Francesca's little friend Miriam.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

My girlfriend Nataki had a friend in town from Trinidad who wanted to visit D-land and she asked us if we'd like to join her. So this is what prompted our visit. Francesca and Miriam have been little playmates since they were about 8 months old when Nataki and I met at a Moms Club meeting. We've been friends ever since. It is strange but Nataki and I always manage to dress our girls in coordinating outfits without even trying. It isn't as though we discuss this in advance! If Frannie is wearing green, so is Miriam. It has happened an uncanny number of times (not sure about the grammar there). Here is a picture of the girls at the park when they were younger.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket



Anyways, back to Disneyland. I asked Dad if he'd like to join us and I'm so glad he was able to! We had such a good time that we decided to buy passes for the year since Frannie will be free until she is three years old. Might as well, right?

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket



This final picture is of the drive home. We had to pull off the freeway into a strip mall because Adam was crying his brains out in the backseat. I absolutely HATE driving with a screaming baby in the back. Especially in traffic coming home from Orange County. The whole thing is so horrible it almost makes me not want to drive anywhere that takes longer than 10 minutes. He crys and crys so much it's like we're beating him or something. UGH. I can't wait until he grows out of this stage. What you can't tell from this picture is how incredibly hot it was at that time of day (3pm) and how tired and sticky I felt and the seizemic headache sitting on my brain.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket



Maybe you can tell from this picture. Dad took this once we had gotten home.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket



Overall though, it was a good day!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Bad Haircut

Well I've done it again. I don't know what it is with me and cutting my babies' hair. I know most mothers hate giving their baby the first haircut, but I can't seem to keep my hands off my kids' hair. It all starts with the baby baldspot that develops around three months from all of the back-lying and carseat friction. So then below the baldspot is an area of hair that is usually an inch long. For some reason the discrepancy in length between the baldspot and then inch long thick hair really bugs me and I feel a need to trim it up.

So I decide today to give Adam a trim. Well, once I had it in my head that I was going to do this, there was no waiting around on my part. I asked Jason to come in and hold the baby so I could cut his hair, but Jason said he was eating and couldn't do it. Instead of waiting ten minutes to let him finish I decided to set about doing this myself, because by that point I was a Mom on a Mission. So I grab up Adam and take him into the bathroom. Initially I sat on the toilet seat and set him up inbetween my legs. While he can hold his head up pretty well, he is only three months old and is still wobbly. Still, I was a Mom on a Mission and started cutting anyways. You know the rest of this story... Trying to cut the hair of a wobbly-headed baby is a sure way to snip the hair wrong and end up with an uneven chunk missing. Which is exactly how my first snip went. Poor guy got a diagonal snip with too much taken off.

Okay Plan B. In my mind things can be salvaged. I'll use the clipper! So now I fumble around to get the clipper and place Adam hanging over my leg in newborn-burping-position. This is actually much better and I probably should have started this way (or I should have just let Jason finish eating or wait to do this while Adam was sleeping, but no matter!) Anyways, I put on one of the clipper pieces and start at the bottom...only it's a liiiiitle too short. I should have put on a gauge higher. At this point I know I have gone too far to just stop because with every bad cut and bad haircutting decision I am further and further into this and there is just no stopping until his whole head has been trimmed. So that's what I did.

I gave my baby a bad haircut. At least he can join the ranks of his sister who has also suffered a few bad baby haircuts at my hands. Unfortunately Adam is a boy so I will probably be cutting his hair a lot more!

Here is the "before" picture:
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
...And the after.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Welcome!

Hi Everyone! I started this blog to keep in touch with friends and family and also to write down my own memories of my days and my children. I'm not the type to put together a scrapbook, and I have yet to be disciplined enough to put together even a good baby book, and I'm sad about this!! There are so many memories I wish I would've written down. I have a feeling I'm going to be one of those moms who, when her adult children ask her questions about things, will just look into outer space and shrug because who can remember details like that!? I'm already forgetting certain things, like the details of Francesca's development. And I can see that if I don't shape-up soon, Adam's development will be a wisp in my brain as well.



Anyways, I am hoping that this computer setting will help me to have a reliable place where I can write. Fortunately, I type much faster than I can scribe, and I love the delete buttons for quick editing, so I'm thinking that this format will stick.



Here's hoping!