Don't Call Her Babe, it's Mommy

In search of the best black booties

2011-12-21T22:21:00.000-08:00

http://www.polyvore.com/lace-up_sweater_top_bootie/thing?id=21596823

Sadly I am 9 months too late in finding these...such a bummer when that happens!

6

2011-12-09T22:14:00.000-08:00

My baby turned 6, enough said.

Comfies

2011-12-09T21:46:00.000-08:00

If I'm being perfectly honest, I really dislike Winter...it's the season I least look forward to. Not because I don't love the holidays, or the fact that both my boys happen to have winter birthdays (P.S. I need to plan better next time around so a child of mine can celebrate at an outside birthday party!). It's because it is so friggin' cold and I just wish I could curl up in my flannel sheets and where comfies(aka. really old sweats and raggedy loose shirts and Uggs) all day, every day. But since I can't look like a slacking teenager in an oversized hooded sweatshirt all day long, I've found some new "Comfies" to leave the house in!

J Crew Saturday Pant-

(aka. Bella's Breaking Dawn "Half Vampire baby sucking the life out of me but I have to wear something blue around Edward" pants)

These are probably the dreamiest pants in the whole wide world, like wrapping my legs in a favorite sweatshirt that I don't want to wash because it might fall apart...that kind of dreamy

Cole Haan ballet flat, since discontinued:( Feels like slippers and can wear with everything

Target sale + sweatshirt + sequins = affordable, cozy and stylish...Score

And since I almost never wear makeup, this Bigelow lip gloss I have in peppermint is the closest thing I get to making the face presentable

My favorite scrunchie face

2011-12-09T21:00:00.000-08:00

So let's Play Catch Up

2011-12-08T21:19:00.000-08:00

Do you see how long it's been since I've posted a blog? Life just refuses to slow down for some reason!
So let's catch up shall we....

October Fleet week

Columbus/My Birthday weekend is Fleet Week, and this year we brought both my and Jason's parents to enjoy the spectacle. We had a wonderful time, ate some de-lish Italian food at Luisa's, followed by some SF food truck cupcakes! As usual, Fleet Week did not disappoint. I understand there are some people who find the whole event obnoxious and encroaching. But for this family just seeing, hearing, and even feeling the planes and Jets is awe-inspiring...to see my boys with their jaws dropped and eyes amazed, the whole experience couldn't be better!

Jason and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary and I had a birthday the next week. (I can't remember how old I am since having children, so we don't need to acknowledge the actual year!)
We combined our celebration week into a one night stay at the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay...ate the famous lasagna and pumpkin frites at Pasta Moon, followed by pumpkin fro-yo(hey, we were in Pumpkin central!) and sat in beautiful silence next to our patio fire pit! The next day was unseasonably warm, 78 degrees to be exact and we hiked over to Pillar Point where the historic Mavericks surf competition takes place each year. I was soooo overdressed and hot but was able to buy some sandals to feel more comfortable... we had a gorgeous weekend.

Some token old wedding pics...

Remembering the cake fight....I think everyone should have one!

Fire pit action with my Coach shoes!

Oh right, and the hubby!

Maverick's

Quiet sunrise all to myself

I kidnapped my sister to a country music concert...Keith Urban!!! So of course she couldn't fight back, he's too perfect! I haven't been to many concerts since having the boys, but this one was incredible!

Of course there was Halloween, big T chose to be Tim Lincecum, little T refused to where his giraffe costume so we all decided to be "Timmy's" Giants entourage. It was a warm night, kids had fun, Tanner even went up to one door by himself to get some candy (he was a little weary of the whole process but was happy to have a firm grip on a baseball instead of his Trick-or-Treat bucket!)

Jason ended up being Baby Giraffe the rest of the night! Here's the family picture Tanner didn't want to be part of!

Cameraman

2011-10-18T10:09:00.000-07:00

Here is my son documenting his odd sprinkle obsession...cupcake? cookie? ice cream? brownie? No just a bowl of sprinkles...why not

Here he is again, getting his hands on the camera while I'm cooking

Mom's 50-Something birthday

2011-10-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

My Mom seems to be getting younger with each birthday!

I adore these moments she has with her grandbaby's

Her birthday wish was to spend the day with us at the beach, and it was a perfect day

While I'm Cooking....

2011-10-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

Talan was sous chef for my Mom on this particular day...here is is seasoning our chicken with fresh herbs. He took this very seriously, and the flavor turned out incredible!

This is what happens while I am cooking before I leave for work - Talan snapping dozens of pictures around the kitchen, he especially enjoys close ups of the prepped food

These are Broccolini stems, exciting

Zoo Day

2011-10-18T09:57:00.000-07:00

I think if my Mom had it her way, we would take the kids to the zoo every weekend! She just loves watching the boys get such enjoyment out of seeing the animals. Of course you couldn't tell from this picture of the 4 of us...we had just walked through the entrance and they want to stop you to take a picture, and Talan is like, "Um I sooo don't have time for this! The animals are waiting!" We always try to get to a zoo early in the morning because that is generally when the animals are most active, not to mention when my kids are the happiest and least worn out!

The Mandrill is such a unique animal, it's head profile is similar to a lion, but the body of a primate - Odd

Tanner calls a Hippopotamus, "Bippo" and Talan still says "Hippo-Hot-amus." I refuse to correct their cute little sayings because one day they'll do it themselves and they will just be all grown up!

Sleepy Tiger

Talan's current favorite, a Snow Leopard

See this tree frog at the bottom of the picture? It was so grumpy looking!

The SF Zoo has had a Tarantula exhibit for a while and we've visited it twice already...of course Talan thinks it's the coolest thing ever, much to my horror. The stuffiness and humidity in that building doesn't really improve my outlook on arachnids so while he stared FOREVER at each tank with my Mom, I stayed outside with the baby breathing fresh air watching the Cranes.

One section of the Anaconda=Massive

Tanner's current favorite animal is the Giraffe, which he calls a "Baaaaaf" (who knows where they come up with their interpretation of the words!)

For lunch we met my sister at the Beach Chalet then played at Ocean Beach across the street...we were lucky to have wonderful weather, then again this is the best time of year in the city!

Busytown

2011-09-03T07:18:00.000-07:00

When Talan was a baby, I must have taken him on some kind of outing nearly every day. I always wanted to be busy and never wanted to be stuck at home with an energetic 1 year old. We went to every park, zoo, farm, museum in the Bay Area...every week. I spoiled him. Of course he was constantly engaged and stimulated which is what toddlers need. And I am forever thankful for all of that one on one time that we had together for 4 years.

I mention all of this because having 2 children now...well...that desire to have to go, go, go, busy, busy, busy every day...well that has fizzled a little bit. I'm not saying I don't take them on outings, but that feeling of having to be constantly somewhere is less apparent of late. I value more now being at home and just playing and being imaginative at home with what we have....I have days of feeling cooped up and crazy-eyed with annoyance or frustration with the monotony of course, don't get me wrong! It certainly helps the baby having a big brother to follow around!

On this particular day they were so focused and busy "painting" and washing their little playhouse! I love watching them being busy together, not just because it allows me to be able to read a magazine, but more so because they have such a blast doing it!

Kindergarten

2011-09-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

My big boy on the first day of kindergarten at Sakamoto Elementary School! He chose his outfit of course, stating with conviction that this made him look "Cool" and insisted on not needing a jacket because that would cover up his "awesome" shirt! Clearly he was supposed to start 9th grade instead!

Helmet Head

2011-09-03T06:54:00.000-07:00

My little T is now 17 months and growing up so fast, I can hardly keep up! He is of course his big brother's shadow and wants to do everything just like him. He is starting to say so many more words, usually he'll try a word once if you ask him, than he makes a silly face and starts his babble again! But he's trying and before we know it, we'll be wishing he was quiet again:) He loves animals just like Talan so animal sounds are high on the list of our life soundtrack these days. His favorites animals to play with, of which we have a massive bin of them thanks to Talan, seem to be giraffe(do they even have a sound?!), macaws, cow, reindeer, and hippo(he says "Bippo"). He climbed up the stair on Talan's loft bed the other day, Jason and I were playing on the floor next to the bed and we look up at a baby with the proudest grin on his face! So there's no turning back in the climbing department, although he has yet to discover how to climb out of his crib, and for that I am thankful. Talan figured that out at 13 months old which landed him in a toddler bed far too soon than I was ready for! For a baby he seems to be eating us out of house and home! He can eat nearly anything you present him, including ribs which for having still just 4 teeth is quite a challenge. He LOVES fruit, anything with lots of sauce and flavorings, and will try whatever we offer him. He adores looking at birds, reading about birds, and making bird sounds! And now that Big T is back in school, we have more one-on-one time together and I look forward to beach trips and play dates just the two of us!

Here are some photos of the little man wearing his brother's bike helmet...

Do not get between this boy and his corn

2011-07-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

If you are completely grossed out by seeing a child eating, then do not continue reading!

However, I happen to love these shots of Tanner thoroughly enjoying his corn-on-the-cob and ribs! Who knew a baby with still ONLY 4 teeth could demolish this meal?! Of course he finishes it off with a cupcake....don't judge:) The older one is grossed out by anything sweet so I'm happy at least one of my children finds happiness in sweet treats just like his Mommy!

Dearest Cousins....We will see you soon!

2011-07-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

The day finally came yesterday when we had to say goodbye to Jason's sister and our 3 nephews, as they embarked on their journey starting a new life in Indiana. I think Talan realized truly what it meant this time when we said goodbye to his cousins....he said that he woudn't be seeing his cousins for a long time. He understood that they would be living more than an 1 hour drive away, but was excited about the idea of having to take a plane to play with them. Watching our 5 boys grow up together has been so special, and their bond will surely last a lifetime even with thousands of miles between them. Thank goodness for Skype, facebook, and texting so we can keep in touch! I've included some photos of all of our boys over the years...

Thomas and Talan are 2 months apart. Here is Talan getting his first look at his cousin

Thomas and Talan at 4 and 6 months old

Holding his cousins hand

Playing together at Jason's apprenticeship turn-out dinner

The 3 boys at Talan's 1 st birthday party

My most favorite picture of the 3 of them!

Christmas Morning aftermath

Mitch and Talan wrestling

Fishing at Almaden Lake

He's quite a character

2011-07-24T14:57:00.000-07:00

The progression of these photos gives you a very clear idea of my Little T's Jekyll and Hyde personality...

Most people who spend time with him comment on his quiet nature, "he just likes to observe everything around him", "he's so even-tempered", "he is so calm." That is unless he is stuck at home with yours truly, the one who gave him a cozy place to grow for almost 9 months, who sits up all hours of the night comforting his restless nights, or who painfully worries about his asthma every time he gets a sniffle since it has turned in to so much worse for him too many times. I'm his Mommy, so I get both the greatest of him, and the worst, and every little precious/comical/adorable/quirky/annoying/loveable part in between. He is a character, and when he is stuck with me, his favorite is Jekyll and Hyde...one moment he is joyfully racing cars, acting silly, and just like that, he becomes a screeching, screaming terror. Yup that's right, I have a screamer. All of you non parental units out there who scoff and scorn at parents who's children scream in public places(that was me at one time by the way!), well beware. You never know what kind of child you will get, EVER. Talan never, EVER screamed.

It is all about your own child's personality. And this little man certainly has one! I love him more than words, but dear God, he can be loud. We are working on it, and the frequency has decreased a bit now that he has become a little more verbal and can shake his head yes and no. We have been doing brief time outs and those are making a difference also. The frustration gets the best of him for sure, like most 1 year olds. Some bite, some bang their heads on walls, some make themselves throw up, others writhe around on the floor crying, and others never do any of this (the lucky ones). My baby screams, but as I mentioned earlier, it is pretty much only at home. Out and about he is darn near perfect. I guess at home, I just bring out the best in him....how nice!

The suttle change in his eyes, although he's smiling, indicates the change will soon be upon us...

If there were volume on this it would be ear piercing!

Let me see if she's still watching me so I can unleash more terror

His tantrums generally result in him having to hit or kick a wall like this

Exhausted from the tantrum

Emma Prusch Farm

2011-07-24T14:33:00.000-07:00

While Talan was still in school, it was nice to have some mornings for just Baby T and me to have playdates together. He is much happier being out of the house and not having to run errands with me all of the time. After all, I can only make Trader Joe's and Target exciting for so long! On this particular day we went to Emma Prush Farm in San Jose, where I had taken him before with Talan but he had been asleep on both of those days. So it was his first official playdate at the farm...funny thing is we met up with my friend Shelley and her son Dominic but they wanted to be in two different places all of the time so we don't have an pictures together:(

One of Little T's first animal sounds has been a duck sound! If there is a duck in a book we are reading, he points to it and makes his sound...it's less of a "Quack" and more like a "Bap Bap Bap" but the intent is still there! He has a general interest in birds and so he really enjoyed the chicken coop and pond area, where there are also chickens, pheasant and peacocks. The only downside is all of the bird poop, which if you look at the last few pictures, explains why he is sitting on a tractor without pants on!

It still boggles my mind that he is big enough to climb, on fences of all things which are pretty difficult to balance on even for a bigger child. Of course he figured it out!

A nest for Talan

2011-07-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

I thought I would finally get a picture of Talan's sleeping arrangement. His stuffed animals don't start out this way. At some point after we put him to bed, he sets up his "nest" of animals, surrounding himself with them in a precious little protective circle. And notice his pillow...he rarely sleeps with his head on a pillow. I find it sweet, a little odd, but sweet more than anything!

Aleyta's Birthday

2011-07-12T14:43:00.000-07:00

My dearest Aleyta celebrated her birthday surrounded by lots of love, and we had the pleasure of sharing her day with her! She recently moved, and just down the street from her house is this perfect little park with a huge water fountain area in the middle. It was such a clean park and playground, even the bathroom looked brand new! Talan hopped right in the fountains, but true to form as you can see from the photos below, our little T was extra cautious and stayed on the outskirts! He had a perfectly fine time watching all the other children splash and spray one another. We can not wait to play there again!

NKOTBSB

2011-07-12T14:10:00.000-07:00

1989....that was more than 20 years ago. damn. I'm getting old. Where was I? Right, 1989. In 1989 I was 10 years old, and the only worries I had at the time were ensuring that I never missed an episode of Punky Brewster followed by Silver Spoons, how to convince my Mom that I was old enough to use clear mascara, making sure that I had every rainbow colored sock stacked 2 high up my ankle, and keeping my white, pink and black LA Gear hi-tops shiny and clean. Most importantly at the time, was just how many posters of New Kids on the Block could I fit on my walls! I listened to little else back then except New Kids. I had every cassette single, the Christmas albums, a ginormous button of Jordan Knight on my Guess jean jacket....and luckily that year my Mom bought tickets for my very first NKOTB concert! Back then I had a videotape of New Kids on Tour, a behind the scenes peek at their life on the road, and I probably watched it every day. Like many young girls at that time, I would imagine being one of the lucky few who miraculously had back stage passes and got to meet them! (how did you get those anyway?) The concert was a flurry of excitement, screaming, and insanely loud music, and I couldn't hear for the rest of the night! I screamed in adoration at these 5 teenage boys gyrating around in faded overalls with one strap hanging off. I remember at that time being surrounded by thousands of older teenage girls wearing crazy neon colored clothes, humongous poofy bangs and perms, thinking to myself that I am so lucky to be at this concert with so many pretty girls who love these boys from Boston as much as I did.

Even as their popularity began to fade over the next 5 years, my posters of them were slowly replaced by Johnny Depp and Green Day, they began getting booed at the Grammy's, and rumors of a break up began to swirl, I never lost my love of the New Kids.

3 years ago, when these 5 now 30/40 something year old men decided to make a comeback album and go on tour, I found myself giddy with delight at the prospect of seeing them perform again. I read their daily blogs on their tour website, and recorded any appearance on the talk shows. Hey....I'll admit it, I'm not embarrassed about it. Some women loved Bret Michels. Some loved George Michael. For me it was always them! Their album The Block was not a disappointment, and I rocked it on repeat for about 6 months, even little Talan who at the time was not yet 3, bobbed his head to the beats. I went to their reunion concert with my S.I.L and her friends and had the most amazing time. Every lyric came back to me as if I was sitting in my room next to my Casio listening to the cassettes! We even stayed after the concert and ran to the back of the Pavilion to see if we could spot them leaving on their tour buses...something that as a 10 year old girl I always wanted to do but never had the courage to ask my Mom.

And that is why last week, I was so incredibly excited and thrilled to be going to another concert of theirs, this time a combined show with the Backstreet Boys, whom I never really listened to since I was partial to the better dancers NSync! But nevertheless when my dear friend Katherine from Lincoln High asked if I wanted to go with her, I said absolutely, when and where! She amazingly made a huge effort to go to this concert, driving up from LA with her 3 month old and 2 year old, on the eve of her husband's birthday and 4th of July! She is incredible, such a joy to be around...You're the best Katherine! So the two of us, now weary eyed and sleep deprived mother's of two, made our way to HP Pavilion, surrounded by other 30 something screaming women, to watch these very handsome men again gyrate, pelvic thrust, fist pump, all to our favorite songs of the late 80's and 90's! And for me again the lyrics to those songs all came flooding back and I wasn't shy about standing up, dancing and singing to every one of them! I had the best time that night, and for a while I forgot all about being a grown up, I could almost smell the Aqua-net and my jean jacket again!

Pending Posts

2011-07-11T15:42:00.000-07:00

I've come up with a plan. I find it to be most time efficient for me to download all of my photos, and add commentary later. So there are currently 11 blog posts pending for me to add to...so look for them!! We've been busy!

2011-07-03T11:20:00.001-07:00

There is no time to blog these days....grrrrrr!

That's all I have

Shoe Obsessed, Just Like His Mommy

2011-05-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

Tanner has recently become very interested in shoes, and not just his own, but making sure everyone has shoes on, even if they belong to someone else, he's at your feet trying to put them on for you. He spends time in my closet playing in my shoe boxes while I'm fussing around doing things, and he loves to pull out multiple pairs at a time and makes me put them on and walk around with them...even if one is a leopard print pump and the other is a strappy rhinestone sandal, I'll hobble around with them together only for him! More importantly though, he knows that putting shoes on means going OUTSIDE! Playing outside is his favorite thing to do like most 1 year olds, rain or shine, if there is daylight he has his nose to the door with his shoes in hand, asking to put them on so he can play! And similar to how I was with Big T, I can't help buying him shoes, since little boy shoes are so freakin' adorable. These gray Converse are his favorite I think, not only because his Auntie Kate bought them, but they are the fastest to put on to get him where he wants to go! He also went through a phase of wearing some Navy Snow Boots that are two sizes too big, yet for some reason I never took a picture of him stumbling about while wearing them. It really is true what everyone says, the second child never has nearly as many pictures as your first, even if I told myself to make a conscious effort to do otherwise.

I love this last photo, you can't see it but he's smiling at his shoe because he adores them that much!

Papa's little gardeners

2011-05-16T14:56:00.000-07:00

My boys helped their Papa dig up some encroaching tree roots last week, and did a mighty fine job clearing out the lot. They literally spent hours out their busily digging, and getting filthy in the process!

Tanner is very protective of his shovel

Some well-placed ruffles and strategic ruching are indeed my best friends

2011-05-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

Summer is and always has been my favorite season as I love the long hours of daylight, balmy evenings, my summer wardrobe, the sense of laid back relaxation people seem to have, the nostalgia of summer's past, driving with the window down over Hwy 17 on my frequent trips of course to the beach and all that it involves...I love everything about summer with the exception of one detail...swimsuits. Bleh. I really, really, really, dislike them. I dread the act of swimsuit shopping, swimsuit trying on, swimsuit wearing, swimsuit walking around, swimsuit sitting/playing/carrying/digging/building with my children...it all makes me cringe and wimper at the same time. Not since senior year of high school have I felt even remotely close to comfortable wearing a bikini, probably due in great part to the lack of child-bearing I had done at that time! We as women regardless of our size all have the same disdain for swimsuit shopping due to one reason or the other, even if some of those reason's make me want to punch someone; ie.this one doesn't come in a size small enough or this one doesn't give me enough cleavage. Yet I am excited to say that I believe I have found the perfect bathing suit, for me at least. Gone are the days when I will even consider a two-piece, so a one-piece suit is what I have chosen, and I do believe the adjectives "cute" or "sexy" might even be used to describe it! I can honestly say that I am thrilled to wear it, in public even, not just in the comfort of my own closet!

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=516839&CategoryID=8699#fn=SWIM_STYLE%3DOne%20Piece%26sp%3D1%26spc%3D64

Coach Jason

2011-05-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

Last spring when we started Talan in T-ball, Jason very clearly stated he did not want to help with any part of it, let alone coach. His reasoning for making such a statement made sense to him, in that he says growing up the coaches child always seemed to get special treatment, do whatever they wanted, and he wanted Talan to have a clear distinction between who his coach is and who his Daddy is, and to have someone other than himself teach Talan baseball technique at practice and games. He already plays catch with T any chance that they can ...fast forward about two practices into last Spring and Jason jumped in to help because none of the other parents could get their butts off their lawn chairs to assist and the poor coach couldn't be in-field and out-field, and pitcher, and first base coach all at the same time. Now here we are in our 3rd season (we did Fall ball, which was a bit lack luster) and Jason is assistant coach! I'm so happy he didn't stick to his previous plan to remain un-involved because he is such a natural coaching the kids and you can see the sheer joy in T's face having his Daddy out there on the field with him! Jason does have to grit his teeth every time he puts on the Yankees hat to coach in (T is on the Yankees for the second time) but he removes it quite promptly at the end of each game! Hopefully next year they get to sport some orange and black!!

Marine World

2011-05-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

On Good Friday, we took our boys to Marine World, or Six Flags Discovery Kingdom as it is now called yet we can't for some reason get ourselves to say. It had been at least 10 years since Jason and I had been to Marine World and we left that day so incredibly impressed at how amazing the new animal habitats are, especially the ones for the Big Cats. As you will see in the photos below, the animals are so close! I still have a difficult time reconciling with the idea that they have loud, disruptive roller coasters amongst the animals, but seeing such incredible creatures up close is such a wonderful experience for a child to have, so I just have to hope that the animals have become immune to the noise. The highlight of our day in my opinion was riding Valerie the African Elephant! As a child this was my favorite part of going to Marine World, and I was so thrilled to have this experience with our children. Big T was very quiet the entire ride, I think he was in total awe that he was actually on an elephant's back! The photo of this will follow soon!

We had a super fun day together, and just in time since that night Big T developed a very high fever and cough that night, and was quite ill for the entire Easter week/Spring break. He eventually developed a double ear infection, making that his second time in his 5 years of life that he required antibiotics. My poor boy was so listless for almost 5 days, he barely has any recollection of Easter at home. Jason and I were really happy that we had this outing together because Talan didn't really get to enjoy his Easter week. Thankfully he is fully recovered now of course, and we have this memorable day for Talan to look back on!

Sand and Sun

2011-05-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

After my boys finally began feeling well following a rough upper respiratory that left them with a double ear infection and pneumonia, respectively, I took them to Seascape beach on a warm day last week to enjoy the fresh salty air, sun, and sandcastles. We had the most enjoyable day together, I adore my boys!

It is polite to share...

2011-03-23T11:50:00.000-07:00

Starting at a very young age, we are always telling our children how it shows good manners to share with their freiends. Well I wanted to share a recipe that I have used a lot recently! You know how some people get a little protective over their recipes, which I can understand if it is a family secret passed on and such.
Not the case for this one...it is a Rachael Ray recipe, as she is my go-to for quick meals any day of the week. Getting a meal together before leaving for work in the evening can be quite a task some days, depending on the state of my boys! But my family seems to really enjoy this one and I think it has a restaurant quality to it, if I can give myself a pat on the back, or I guess Rachael!
One change though, I don't prefer thighs so I use bone-in chicken breasts. And I put the chicken and Louisiana sauce in a crockpot on High for 4 hrs so that the meat becomes very tender that it just falls off the bone - Perfect. Add some homemade rice pilaf and sauteed aspargus, it's a winner. Tanner devours this chicken by the way!

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/chicken-thighs-louisiana-style-gravy/

On this very week last year....

2011-03-23T11:31:00.000-07:00

Our little Tanner was still under 6 lbs., tiny but mighty! Big T was showing us all that he was meant to be a Big Brother, after all that waiting! Time is truly precious!

Snow Trip 2011

2011-03-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we spent 3 days near Kings Beach in Lake Tahoe, with some wonderful friends and their families. I found a house with plenty of space for 9 kids to run around, and the bonus was the amazing meadow and hill behind the house! The house fully exceeded my expectations! It was an ideal place for the kids to play in the snow because if someone needed a potty break(as we all know getting kids undressed from snow gear in a hurry is such a treat) or if they were hungry, or if they were just plain tired, they could run back into the house nearby. We had a pretty clear view of the hill and meadow from the living room window. We had fun building snow forts and a snowman, throwing snowballs, and of course sledding! We were even lucky enough to play in some light snowfall on our last day! There is something so magical about seeing snow fall. We already anticipate a super fun trip next year!

Tanner's Circus Birthday

2011-03-06T11:52:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Tanner's 1st birthday party! It was a circus theme! We had games, balloon animals, face-painting, fresh hot dogs and lots of sweets! Fun was had by all, especially the birthday boy!

These were the goody bags for each little guest

My one hand made project - the birthday banner

The kids play area! Talan helped set it all up. He was such a great helper that day!

Clown Cake Pops!

The party is just getting started

Playing with the big kids

Playing with circus stacking blocks I found on ebay

Sophie and Allie in the ball pit

Big Boy!

Photo op for the cousins!
The cake and dessert table....I found this perfect fabric on a remnant table at Joann's fabrics!

Sophie and Aleyta!
Miss Rebecca the face painter and balloon animal extraordinare! She was amazing!

Mommy got to wear the birthday balloon hat

He loved the frosting! It was delicious, home made my my Mom and Kate

This was one party I will of course never ever forget!

What's that in your hand?

2011-02-02T21:48:00.000-08:00

10 months is a fun age. Now that Little T is walking he is constantly exploring the house, getting into IT ALL! My favorite part of this stage is that he always has to walk around with something in his hand - it's very important for him to travel grasping an object. I find myself asking him often, "What does Tanner have in his hand today?" He always looks at me as if he understands and wants to display his object proudly. Often he carries around this toothbrush shown below. Other favorite objects include his coveted pacifier, a slinky, one of his plastic animals, one of my wooden bracelets, a DVD he was given for Christmas (yes he always gets the same one!), a plastic teething ring, and one morning it was a tampon!
This is my drawer that he knows he's allowed to play in. It contains my bracelets, brushes, and headbands....this keeps him occupied for quite some time. The best part is looking at him on his tippy toes to reach inside! I tried to get a picture of it above but his pant cuff is so big.

Upside down with the toothbrush he just wouldn't part with

This is his busy place, leaning up against one of my clothes boxes in my closet. Why he likes it here I have no clue. But he gets a kick out of lounging back against the box just chillin'.

If anything he is developing an appreciation for good hygiene I guess

First Haircut

2011-01-28T12:14:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately since I was the one doing the cutting and corraling of my baby and 5 year old all at once, there are no photos to document the actual process of hair cutting:( Although in hindsight T is quite capable of taking pictures himself but I wasn't thinking clearly. I just decided that day, when little T awoke with what I called crazy Jack Nicholson hair that just couldn't be tamed with any persuasion of a comb and water, the day became first haircut day!

The photos are out of order but you can see the before and after....not bad! I think his little baby boy fade suits him and turned out pretty well. Insert pat on the back here!

Brotherly Love

2011-01-28T12:08:00.000-08:00

Rain Walk

2011-01-28T11:57:00.000-08:00

The first 5 minutes of our walk!

Notice the trail below T's boots...that was what poured out of them as he was climbing!

We took a rain walk with the Brady's and Papa and Grandma Drew along the Guadalupe River...a little chilly, and we encountered some rain, but as usual our children are oblivious to temperature or rain if they get to be dirty and splash in puddles! Within the first 10 minutes T's rain boots were filled to the brim with water... Not until the very end of our walk did he realize his little feet were cold and frozen!

Christmas tradition

2011-01-11T23:37:00.000-08:00

Like most others do at Christmas time, I have made it one of our traditions to make gingerbread houses with T for the last few years.

However, who's idea was it to make these dreadful things in the first place? I mean let's be honest - is it really that fun to do? It seems like more time is spent on the mother/parent end constructing the frame of the darn thing with that cement they call royal icing all the while an hour has passed and the kids start either losing interest or eating/dropping/crushing all of the decorative candy. Let's not forget the possibility that the gingerbread may never actually take the shape of a house/tree/train if the pieces keep sliding apart or cracking. Then you finally resurrect the thing and hope it resembles some version of the picture on the box. I mean please don't misunderstand, of course it's fun...for the kids"...but for me, I find the process a bit daunting and frustrating every year but will do it for the sake of tradition and making those all important holiday memories.

This year we went to the Brady house again to create our Gingerbread train(really great find at BB&B for $9), and T was super excited to be with his best friends that freezing, blustery winter day. Thankfully I only had one creation to build, Kim had a handful- a train, a set of 3 tiny houses, and one big house with Santa's sleigh. Bless her for having the patience of a saint, although she would disagree:), for most of her pieces had trouble staying upright and the icing wasn't helping out. We laughed about it, and she tried to have the kids cover up the problems with more and more icing and candy. Noah was a bit frustrated with his train not staying up, but T was a distraction and they went off to play knights and dragon's and forgot about it promptly enough!
In all my ranting about this silly process, I know that for my children they will have fond thoughts of the time they spent with their friends, the great messes of colored icing they made, and the wonderment of seeing all of the colorful candy strewn about the table. Those things are what make the experience worth while, and why I will suck it up every year and build those blasted stale concoctions!

I sort of miss it...

2011-01-11T22:45:00.000-08:00

We have been out of our condo and living at my parents house for 9 weeks now, and are feeling very comfortable in our new "Flat" as we like to call it. We have lots of space in our four rooms - the boys each have their own bedroom, and the fourth room is our living room/Jason's man-cave with his VIP recliner! How I was able to cram all of their clothes and toys in one dresser and closet is really a mystery to me, as we sure have spread ourselves out so easily with all of the extra space! It is really amazing having my parents around so much, I love that they get to see so much of TnT and all of the cute and new things they do all of the time. And I'm not gonna lie - if I mention needing to shower or run an errand, and they offer to watch the kids, I am so incredibly appreciative, and it's just really helpful. It's nice to do those mundane tasks without the thoughts of keeping the kids, you know, safe or occupied. Celebrating the holidays and birthdays all together in one house was extra special this year too. I continue to feel really content with this decision.

However, a very small part of me certainly misses living in our own little home with the just the 4 of us. After all, it was our first home that Jason and I bought as newlyweds, just 10 months after getting married. We had big moments in that place, bringing our 2 babies home certainly being the best of them! After 7 years in the condo, I had finally gotten it as organized as possible and created the best functionality I could with the space. Those of you out there know what I mean when I say that organization and functionality in a home are key in helping get through the day with less headaches or frustration. I miss the comfort of the living room that I always thought was too small, my big ol' closet all to myself, the smell of T's bedroom, a garage for my car, and the Daphne in the backyard that was my most successful planting (it should be getting ready to bloom soon).

But I know that "Forever" home is out there, and when the time comes, we will find it, and I will I miss our first home a little less.

In this photo Little T was actually helping me pack the Tupperware for our move! During the month of October when I began packing is when he became super mobile, crawling around everywhere, and standing to cruise! And he's wearing my favorite submarine outfit of his, from Auntie Aleyta!

I wish I could say it was super hot this day, but it really is because my kids don't like to wear shirts, regardless of the temperature! This one was taken a few days before we moved out...They loved playing at the bottom of the stairwell together.

He is "One Hand" Old!

2011-01-09T22:17:00.000-08:00

I am one of "those" mother's now! The one's who I would always hear say things like, "Where does the time go?!" or "But I still think he's my baby!" or "Why do they have to grow up so fast?!"
I have found myself making all of those statements, and then some, in the last few months. How is it that 5 years can pass in nearly a blink of an eye! And now I have this Big Kid. Kid! Up until 5, I truly looked at him and thought, oh he still has those chubby cheeks, or the dimples on his knuckles, and he still says cute words like Hippo-haw-mus or Lellow and I think of him as a baby.
But that term no longer applies to my Big Kid! Nope. He now refers to me as Mom, the official title you get when one has a big kid, Mommy is reserved for emergencies or non-social environments. He now asks for privacy, makes statements like, "I know I know Mom, you told me already" and plays with knights and castles instead of Thomas the Train.
The biggest change since turning 5 - School. My little man finally started Junior Kindergarten at Achiever Christian School and to say he loves it would be a gross understatement. The first day he immediately left my side to begin making new friends and barely had a moment to give me a hug goodbye. When I asked him to hug me, the look of total inconvenience on his face was preiceless, albeit a bit sad for me, but expected nontheless! His teacher Miss Linda gave him stellar reviews after his first two days, saying that he fit in seamlessly with the other children, already appears to have a favorite play area(the puppet theater) and LOVES recess.
The transition was a lot easier than I expected, for both of us:) I didn't cry as I thought I would walking away from the classroom on that first day...after all I did spend nearly every day of his first 5 years of life with him, so this milestone was bound to be more difficult for me right?! My eyes welled up for a brief second when I walked away but that was it! Having the baby with me was a great distraction, and thankfully Kim was there to take pictures and treat me to a playdate at Target and Starbucks that morning.
I still stick by our decision to wait as long as we did to start him in school. I am so very thankful for the endless amount of quality time and memories that the two of us were able to share for these short special years. Our children are only little for so long before they spend more time at school than they do at home and even though at times T and I had our rough moments, the end result is a bond is so tight and that I absolutely cherish.

Back to the big day. This year T made all the big decisions for his party. Ever since his birthday last year at the Oakland Zoo, he said that the next birthday would be at a zoo again! So when I told him he could have it at Happy Hollow Park & Zoo he was thrilled, and talked about it every day since September. He also chose a theme, fittingly Dragons, just like Happy Hollow's Danny the Dragon and his favorite movie How to Train Your Dragon. He chose the cake, the frosting color, the party favors, his party day outfit(Dragon shirt) and the EVite!
His party was awesome! Most of his close friends came and we were so happy to have everyone there to brave the cold day with us! The park was almost empty, as there was a threat of rain that day which scared most people away, so the kids had the place pracically to themselves! They didn't have to wait in lines, and could run about as they pleased! It sprinkled briefly but that was it. We had pizza and cake in the picnic area outside the park and it ended up being the most pleasant experience. I know T will remember this birthday for many years!

It's a New Dawn, It's a New Day, It's a New Year!!!

2011-01-09T22:06:00.001-08:00

Happy 2011 everyone!

I have never been one to make resolutions, but I will instead just remind myself OFTEN to stick to those things that make my life enjoyable.....like the most important one, not sweating the small stuff, and taking slow deep breaths before I lose my patience, and spending more couple time with Jason, and to sit back and stare at my boys doing their ordinary things and remember that they are extra-ordinary! Also on this list that I will address often is that I am bound and determined to update this blog more regularly. Look at how much my boys have grown!!!

Lots to catch up on!

2010-11-21T15:03:00.000-08:00

Oh blogging...how I missed thee! But it seems having 2 children really leaves little time for much else these days but a shower and some boring household chore. Since I last blogged, our little Tanner has made it to the 8 month mark! He has been crawling for about 8 weeks, has since decided he is too big to eat baby food and prefers whatever you have on your plate, began crawling up a full flight of stairs last week, and is starting to stand by himself! Yes, he has been in a hurry to grow up since he arrived and is showing no signs of slowing down! Talan will turn the Big 5 next week....how does this happen? Yeah I know they are supposed to grow up and all, but why so soon? He of course can't wait to be 10, or 16 or whichever older big kid age he aspires for on any given day. He will be starting junior Kindergarten in January which we talk about everyday...he is soooooo ready.

We have recently moved out of our condo and moved in with my parents. This has brought about many changes in our life but all of them for the better. Due to circumstances that are beyond our control, selling the condo is not an option in this real estate market. Jason and I made the decision that our boys need a place to run, to be outside, have a backyard, to just be little boys and our little place wasn't cutting it! The plan is to SAVE SAVE SAVE for the next year to year and a half for a sizeable down payment, and buy our dream house! I love and adore my parents for allowing us this opportunity, although leading up to it involved a great deal of apprehension...after all moving in with our parents just as we have entered our 30's was not high up on our life goals. But we all know that the end result of this process is going to have a big reward!

Now the daunting process has begun to become Landlords....

More to follow, and hopefully some recent pictures!

Tanner's Red Egg & Ginger Party

2010-07-17T19:38:00.000-07:00

On Sunday June 27th, we officially introduced Tanner to our family and friends! We were more than overwhelmed by the amazing turn out and felt so loved and supported by everyone. Tanner was very social, smiling and interacting with our guests! He quietly fell asleep when he was tired and woke up cheerful, couldn't ask for more from a 3 month old at a 3 hour party!

The kids had such good behavior...it's hard for little ones to be stuck in a restaurant for so long.

The very popular roasted pig!

What was left of the unbelievable cupcakes my mom and sister baked-fresh lemon and red velvet, both homemade and with the best cream cheese frosting!

One of his 3 naps!

Good friends!

Father's Day

2010-06-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

We spent Father's Day morning having breakfast at John's XLNT Food in Willow Glen with Jason's parents and brother. Then we took T to see Toy Story 3 - great movie, loved it! That afternoon, Jason's sister came to SJ with her boys and they played in the backyard blow-up pool. And finally we ended the day at my parents house, where my Mom made Thanksgiving dinner, mostly for my Uncle Gary who misses my Mom's cooking on Thanksgiving now that he lives in TN.
Mitch and T

Here is Thomas racing, in his own way, into the pool! It was more like a leisurely stroll to the pool but he likes to take his time in measured steps!

Mitch preparing for his blast-off!

Here are T's feet!

Spencer in his favorite position

We didn't know they would be swimming, which is why my son is in his O.K. undies!
This one will embarrass him someday!

Luisa's

2010-06-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

We visited Katie over the weekend in S.F. so my Uncle Gary, visiting from TN, could see her apartment. Of course the biggest decision we had to make was where to eat-and in the city there are too many options, not a good thing for the indecisive ones (me, mom, and Kate)! More about where we went in a minute...
Jason gets so frustrated with me when we go out to eat and he asks me where I want to go, and my standard response is typically "You decide" or "Whatever you want to eat." I just have a hard time making a decision, unless I have a super strong craving for something, which is usually Japanese, which Jason doesn't like! Have you ever heard of someone not liking Japanese food, if not sushi, fine, but there are just so many other amazing options! Do any of you have this problem? This is a pretty standard issue in my family, my poor Dad is really patient when it comes to waiting for the 3 of us to discuss options - 30 minutes later, someone is annoyed, someone doesn't care, and someone isn't hungry any more and we typically end up with Outback takeout!! I think we watch Diners, Drive-In's & Dives too much! I love me some CPK but sometimes the large chain restaurants that over populate this city just don't provide the same culinary satisfaction as finding a little gem of a dive such as the one we found on our recent visit to S.F.!
After 20 minutes of my mom, sister and I googling on our phones the local restaurants near the apartment in Marina, we came up with 2 options to walk to. My Uncle was open to anything. The usual Chicago-style pizza joint that we have frequented on our visits to S.F. called Piaxi's was shot down early on, much to my Dad's disappointment, so we found 2 Italian restaurant's to choose from within walking distance in the Marina off of Union St.
6 blocks later, we arrived at Luisa's.....and this place did not disappoint! A quaint little place, it probably could only hold 35 people at capacity. At 5pm on Saturday night, they were empty, as we were informed that the area doesn't get busy until around 8pm, so we had the place to ourselves for the better part of our meal. While nursing the baby outside, I had the pleasure of meeting Luisa herself, a vibrant, jolly woman only 84 years young (she didn't look a year over 70!) and she took a liking to Tanner immediately! She spoke to us about how she cooks all of her sauces fresh every morning, how she remembers nursing her babies back in the kitchen while she cooked and missing it, how she was 1 of 16 children!! She was so lovely to us and was kind enough to treat Talan to a lollipop (he doesn't eat them but for once was polite enough this time not to say anything!) Apparently my Uncle's spaghetti was the best he ever had, as was my dad's lasagna. I had the eggplant parmesan which was amazing....and of course I had to have dessert. Luisa informed us that the desserts were all also from fresh imported Italian ingredients - dad had lemon sorbet and I had the mousse....delicious is an understatement! It was a great evening, not just because of the food, but just sitting around after our meal enjoying our family and the good conversation...those are the best meal's.

T calls my mom's wine "Pasha's milk!"

Hello Kitty Floaties

2010-06-24T08:09:00.001-07:00

He fell asleep waiting for the Brady's to come over!!

T has been going to swimming lessons since he was over 21/2 and has been swimming fairly independently for the last 10 months (ie. can kick with his "superman arms" across the width of the pool un-assisted and can float on his back for several minutes!) But when Kim and the kids came over to our pool last week with lots of fun floating devices, of course he temporarily forgot how to swim and insisted on wearing these Hello Kitty floaties! Eventually he swam without them, but he sure loved how much confidence they gave him swimming in the deep end!

Tanner relaxing poolside in his personal Cabana!

:)

2010-06-14T08:34:00.000-07:00

Last T-ball game

2010-06-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

T had his last T-ball game this past week. I think Jason and I are more sad about it! When the season first began, neither of us were sure how we would like it, this being our first experience with joining a league and doing the whole team parent thing. And with our little Tanner arriving the first week of baseball we felt a little overwhelmed with the schedule of practices and games every weekend. But we were so pleasantly surprised by our experience. The team was very lucky to have a wonderful coach, just an all around good guy who was very relaxed and positive with the children. T enjoyed going to practice every Thursday with his Daddy and Papa Warren, where he worked on his batting skills and fielding. He stopped having to use a tee and can now hit a pitched ball! He also looked forward to putting on his Yankees uniform (actually he just loved wearing his little junior cup!) every Saturday. And all of his games were cheered on by some very important people in his life, both of his sets of grandparents, his Auntie Kate, Uncle Matt, Great Aunt Sue, the Brady's, Andrew, and very recently his Uncle Gary and John...he always had the biggest cheering section!! Most of all it was a wonderful bonding experience for our family!

My dad with his brothers!

Receiving his first trophy!

Playing water balloon baseball at the team party!

3 months

2010-06-14T07:43:00.000-07:00

Tanner is now 3 months old.....WHHHAATT?! Where does the time go and why so fast? He is really chunking up at 13 lbs. now, making up for his 5 lb. start! Do you see those cheeks? He is developing his little personality, he likes to be socialize and watch T and his friends play...he kicks his legs so fast and gets excited watching the big kids! He loves to coo and talk, especially when T or my Dad sings to him. When he is hungry he needs to eat like 10 minutes ago!! So he really fusses and cries if that doesn't happen fast enough. And lo and behold, turning 3 months old has flipped on his day and night switch - for the past 3 nights he has slept about 5-6 hrs. straight!!! I have felt very energized these last few days for sure, with all my extra sleep but am just enjoying it while it lasts because as we all know baby sleep patterns change constantly.

Big T continues to just love on his little brother all day long...if the baby cries he soothes him and tells him "It's okay baby brother, Mommy's here, Talan's here, we're almost home..." He loves to give him the pacifier any time Tanner makes even as much as a whimper. I try to explain that it's not a plug, that sometimes the baby doesn't always like it, but if Tanner stops fussing with the pacifier, T recognizes that he has comforted the baby and feels really proud of himself. He sings to the baby often, sometimes he makes up songs, or he loves Old Macdonald the most. When Tanner sees his big brother he always gets the biggest smile....that melts me!

Sleeping babies

2010-05-27T22:53:00.000-07:00

This is Talan at 12 weeks, they're so beautiful when they sleep...

Here is Tanner at 9 weeks...do you see the similarities?

From Mother's Day

2010-05-27T22:51:00.000-07:00

Naps with Daddy

2010-05-27T22:40:00.000-07:00

I found this picture of Talan and Jason, when he was about 10 weeks old too!

And this one is of Tanner! What makes this moment so special is at some point Talan covered Tanner with his navy blankie...I love it!

10 weeks old

2010-05-27T22:18:00.000-07:00

My baby boy is now 10 weeks old. He weighed 12lb 12 oz today..he's a chunkalunk for sure. He continues to show his strength every day. He holds up his head and looks around the room, and when I hold him over my shoulder he sometimes tries to turn his head all the way behind him. He is cooing up a storm, and especially loves when his big brother sings to him! His days and nights are still mixed up, but he is having longer wake periods in the daytime.

It's hard to tell but he has beautiful blue eyes! (I'm looking in to getting a higher quality camera)

Here is his precious chubby hand

*Sigh*

We shall call him Shirtless

2010-05-27T21:56:00.000-07:00

So obviously Easter has come and gone but I finally downloaded the pictures! It was a crazy, foggy time for us, with Tanner only being 4 weeks old. This year Easter was a mellow day. It was drippy and rainy out, and T's cousins decided stay in Tracy this year, so he had his egg hunt solo this year. We made the best of it for T of course and these are some highlights...

Oh to be carefree, and shirtless! Most cooking/baking activities find T without a shirt, my son has such a high metabolism I think that he is constantly over-heated and sweaty!

Here he is preparing the cups to dye eggs in.

That's a Easter sticker on his forehead

Baking Easter Funfetti cupcakes with his Pasha

Sorting through the loot that Easter Bunny left...all of his favorites, how ever did he know?!
Animal cookies, reeses pieces, Cheetoes, and sprinkles!

He was very meticulous about sorting his eggs and their contents

Here we are at Jason's parent's house, sleepless but smiling

Reba with Tanner and the Easter basket she gave him

Go Yankees

2010-05-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

These are from T's game 2 weeks ago. The Brady family came to watch him that day too!

Papa Warren coaching T

Tanner saying "Arrggh Matey!"

Help me please!

2010-05-27T16:19:00.000-07:00

A temporary look of terror, then...

It's all about the brotherly love

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

2010-05-27T16:07:00.000-07:00

We are lucky to live on a street with lots of children around T's age, ranging from 1-10, and over the last year or 2 as the kids have all gotten to the age where they are walking, talking and more independent and able to play well with one another, we are able to enjoy beautiful days like this one outside in our neighborhood. During the warm months and longer days, all of the children play outside almost every night after dinner. Winter time and rainy season is hard on our little ones when we are stuck indoors.
These pictures are missing some of the kids but you get the idea...

Is it really that hard to squeeze in an nap every now and then?

2010-05-27T15:33:00.000-07:00

These are the things that are getting me through each day, that don't include the beautiful smiles on my boys faces! I have listed below the reasons for why I can't actually squeeze in a nap these days, which are probably quite obvious but still worth mentioning.

For starters, this is a book my Mom gave me shortly after I had Tanner. It's supposed to be a quick easy read at just over 250 pages but of course I haven't finished it yet. I read excerpts from the book as I'm passing through my living room just to remind myself on the days I feel like a failure of a mother that I am absolutely not on this journey alone.

These days it's all about a makeshift ponytail, this amazing headband that keeps those obnoxious single flyaway hairs out of my eyes, and fitting in a shower every few days. Jason finds this last fact so utterly unbelievable..."What do you mean you can't shower every day?" As if I want to walk around in public with dried spit up on my chest and spaghetti sauce on my hair because I like how it makes me feel?! He has no idea!
Picture this Carter's bouncy chair in blue, and my chubby little baby sleeping blissfully cradled in it...this is how I get to take a shower on those rare days during the week, or wash dishes, do laundry, pay bills, cook dinner, play with big T, etc. I think I paid less than $20.00 for this chair back when T was born, I had purchased it on the fly on one of my many trips to Target back then, and it has proven to be the best baby gadget purchase I ever made. Forget those baby swings that have a remote control, and claim to feel like the womb, and are the size of washing machines...this chair has nothing more than a vibrating mechanism and some music, and it goes from flat to reclined position. Both of my boys have gotten the best sleep in this, and we can take it with us any where in our tiny house. I need this chair to get through each day, and if it every breaks or I can't find it anywhere else, that will be a sad day.

Such kind words of wisdom from family, friends, and strangers...

"Oh just sleep when the baby sleeps."

"Sleep while you're breastfeeding."

"Have your Dad/Jason/someone come over so you can take a nap."

"Just keep the baby awake all day."

These are all wonderful suggestions when I tell them that I am functioning on a maximum of 3 hours of sleep a day. But reality is, when the baby sleeps, usually the big brother is awake, or vice versa. I can't always time their naps at the same time. And let's face it, when kids sleep, that's we we get S**T done!

I have to sit up while I'm nursing, I just don't have the...anatomy... if you will, to physically provide for my baby while I'm laying down.

And how guilty do I feel having to ask others to watch my kids for me for the soul purpose of me catching some ZZZ's, to me that is taking advantage of those I care about.

And lastly, keeping a newborn awake is like telling me I can't order the chocolate cake after dinner- it's physically impossible! He falls asleep getting his diaper changed so that is out of the question.

The cold that wouldn't end...

2010-05-27T14:59:00.001-07:00

All 3 of my boys (that would be Jason too!) are going into their 3rd week of having the same cold virus. My poor little Tanner has a mild case of bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small bronchioles commonly caused by RSV and other upper respiratory viruses) with minimal wheezing, a cough and congestion. We haven't started using the Albuterol inhaler yet as his doctor and I decided that at my discretion I would only use it if I believe that the home care isn't improving his symptoms in the next 2 days. He is his usual smiley self when he is awake, cooing and talking to his big brother, just more noisier with his breathing! But it breaks my heart to see his little body work so hard at coughing. The joys of being a second child....T didn't have his first cold until he was 7 months old and even then it was only a runny nose, and I think I've mentioned before that he never had a virus that caused him to cough until he was 3 1/2. "It has begun!" right Aunt Cathy?! My friends warned me about this whole second babies get sick more thing, just didn't think it would happen so soon.
T was officially diagnosed with his first, and hopefully last, ear infection on Monday. He had woken up several times the night before crying, but this isn't unusual when he misses a nap the day before and is over tired, or when he is sick so I didn't think anything of it initially. Then 6:30 that morning, I wake up to a little boy sitting at the base of my bed, holding his right ear, telling me there was something wrong with it. I got an early am appt and sure enough his middle ear was bulging so we now have the ever so popular bubblegum Amoxicillin for the next 10 days. I was a bit hesitant to start him on the antibiotics, as it is now expected that many cases of Otitis Media resolve on their own within a week, and there is such a high prevalence of antibiotic resistance due to the over use of antibiotics in pediactrics. However the doctor and I agreed that with his clean health record in general, and no history of ear infections, that treating it this time would only be of benefit. T has been in amazing spirits as usual, and hasn't complained about ear pain since the first day.
On to the third baby, Jason! Bless his heart he is such a complainer when he has a cold! I think he is the grumpiest of all 3 of them:)

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom

2010-05-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

My Mom is amazing....

My Mom is amazing

Sometimes a Mommy needs things to make her life easier

2010-05-10T08:36:00.000-07:00

Infant bathtubs are so large and cumbersome. Where are you supposed to store them when you aren't using them? As I have said over and over, in our little condo what storage we have is already filled to capacity so we never had an infant bathtub due to lack of anywhere to put it where we wouldn't be tripping over it every day. When T was an infant, I had a little foldable mesh chair from BabiesRUs, that I had placed in the bathtub, but it was always really uncomfortable for my back to lean over the bathtub.
Right before I delivered Tanner, my Mom, sister and I were shopping at Tiny Tots in Campbell and came across this Puj Tub! I didn't purchase it at the time, thinking I would wait and see how I would manage his bathing. But after weeks of bathing Tanner in the sink, and awkwardly grasping his slippery, fragile little body trying to prevent him from hitting his head on the faucet or marble, I decided the Puj tub was a necessity! And wow, has it made bath time so much more relaxing and enjoyable for all of us! Tanner is so comfy in the soft foam seat. And storing it is so simple, I just hang it in the shower nearby, and it is so thin that it never gets in our way. Love it, highly recommend it, and am so thankful to whomever designed it!!

A while back I posted a blog about the Mountain Buggy double stroller I purchased. I have since returned it, realizing how bulky and heavy, at 37lbs!, and just plain inconvenient that stroller was for our lifestyle and our lack of storage options. Like many mom's I know, it seems I am in a constant quest for the perfect stroller. Whether you have one child or four, it seems there is always a stroller that is better than the one you have, and as your life changes and the needs of your child or children change, so too do the requirements for a stroller.

Well I believe I have found the perfect stroller. The design was just made available to the public in March. It is called the City Select by Baby Jogger. It is considered an all terrain stroller and can be used for everyday use, as well as jogging. It can be converted to a double stroller, and has over 16 configuration options!! Each seat has a 45 lb weight capacity so T can sit in still for the next year. (Yes he does like to sit in a stroller. Anyone who has an opinion about this, as I did prior to having kids, can keep it to themselves. No I am not promoting my child to be lazy, anyone who has seen T in action knows that is far from the truth. But he is still only 4 and kids get tired, and he likes to nap in a stroller while we run errands sometimes too.)

There is a baby carrier car seat attachment, that I use for Tanner. But the large seat also reclines to flat, and Tanner has already rode in this part of the stroller at Happy Hollow and on a recent jog at Campbell Park.

I love everything about this product and offer to show anyone who even glances at it if they want me to show them how it works! I know it will be the last stroller we purchase and that it will stay with us as our family continues to grow!

http://http//www.babyjogger.com/city_select_lp.aspx

Glubs and Gobbles

2010-05-10T07:59:00.000-07:00

Some of T's recent quotes :

If someone tells him he is small or little, he tells them with attitude, "I am not, I'm a growing boy."

When he arrives to any destination, whether it be T-ball practice or his grandparents house, he enters and announces, "Hello, I'm here! Look it's me Talan!" He is very important, you know!

He recently asked for a toy dragon after seeing a commercial for How to Train Your Dragon, and I told him he needed to wait for Christmas and write a letter asking Santa. His response: "We don't need to write a letter, we can call him." I explained that there aren't telephones in the North Pole, that Santa only accepts letters. So Talan says, "Well then, Mommy, you will have to buy Santa a cell phone!"

His grandma told him to put his shoes on, and T says, "No I'm just going to wear my feet today."

He went fishing with his Papa and I asked him if he was excited. He says, "Yes but I'm a little nervous and anxious." He ended up catching 5 trout that day!

T, can you go potty before we leave? "But I don't HEAR any pee right now!"

Some of the words he says that make me smile:

Glubs(gloves)
Gobbles(goggles)
Bruella(Umbrella)

Here is T riding the dragon at the new and improved Happy Hollow. This was opening day and Tanner was one week old...yes I was that crazy!

Hot and "shwetty" after T-ball

Playing dinosaurs with his Auntie Kate...how cute are they?!

Naptime

2010-05-10T07:53:00.000-07:00

It was long day for the boys!

Game Ball Day

2010-04-13T09:56:00.000-07:00

This was from game #4 against the Pirates. T received the game ball that day! It was a beautiful day for a ball game!

Ready, Position

Distracted by dirt

Our little leaguer, #2

He always likes to be the first out on the field with his glove

He runs slower than his usual around the bases because I think the massive helmet weighs him down and makes him a little disoriented...it's cute to watch

Heading to 3rd base

Rounding the bases

This is Little John talking to T- he never actually plays in the outfield during games or practice, he only likes to hit the ball. This game he decided to take it upon himself to become team manager, note the clipboard!

He was given the Game Ball!!

His Papa Warren comforting him after he was tackled trying to catch a ground ball

Getting tackled

What you have missed...

2010-04-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

Hi. I'm still here. I haven't fallen into a deep dark abyss. It's been weeks since I've blogged, I know, and it feels like so much has happened since my last one. For starters, I'm done complaining about my sleep deprivation. (Unless you're my mom or sister of course:) I know I'm not alone is this and I feel like I'm adapting the best I can to a maximum of 3 hours of sleep a day. So we're all getting through this as best we can...Mommy isn't always so pleasant and can easily cry at any moment, but when I look at my boys, I can forget all about my moody sleepless fog. They are beautiful, and precious, and perfect to me.

One thing is for sure... I am so deeply in awe of my little Tanner. After all, we get to spend a lot of time together during our night time nursing and chat sessions. At 7 weeks, he is becoming so much more engaged in his surroundings. He is smiling, especially just after he eats. And he coos here and there, which makes my heart melt every time and I nearly cry and get all lip quivery! He definitely recognizes my voice....when he sits on my lap facing away from me and he hears me talking, he twists his head around to try to face me. He has rolled over a few times already!! He somehow pushes himself onto his side by pushing up with his feet than he slowly topples around. It's so amazing. He's strong just like his big brother. (T rolled over at his 4 day old newborn check up!!) When we burp him, he pushes up with his legs to stand, and he holds his head up on his own for longer periods. I can't believe we are almost at the two-month mark!

A few weeks back, sometime around 5 weeks old, I noticed that Tanner's spitting up had increased. He had been a spitter upper right from the start, but by 5 weeks his symptoms began to change. The amount increased, and he began spitting up long after he was done eating. When he did spit up, his face would turn bright red and he would cry, like he was in pain. It would often be clear and bubbly fluid. After he would eat, he would writhe and wiggle around grunting and whimpering for sometime after his feeding. Now it didn't happen after every feeding, but most of them, especially at night. When I first noticed the change, my initial thought was, "maybe he ate too much" or "maybe I ate something that made him gassy" or "maybe I jiggled him around too much after his feeding." Typical mommy reasoning when you first notice something might be wrong with your child. In addition, Tanner has had some difficulty with his latch, so he would get frustrated, and cry while trying to nurse, causing him to gulp in air, thus making him spit up a lot after his feeding. So I thought that was the reason also. But after 2 weeks of the symptoms becoming more consistent, I discussed it with his pediatrician and we started him on Zantac this week. I have noticed a great improvement, especially today, so I am very pleased that we identified the problem and could make him comfortable. There's is nothing more difficult in being a parent than seeing your baby in pain.

STATS!!

At Tanner 6-8 week check up he was:

11lbs 5oz, 22 in. long

And he rolled over from stomach to back while laying on the examination table!! That was the 4th time I think!!

He received his first series of shots that day, and only cried briefly, maybe less than a minute. He was very fussy and irritable for the next 12 hrs or so but that was to be expected.

I can't believe my tiny but mighty little Tanner gained almost 6 lbs since he was born (he was 5lb 8oz. at his 4 day old appt)

15 minutes

2010-04-08T07:41:00.000-07:00

This morning, the boys and I slept in until 8:20, which would have been super awesome especially since I didn't actually fall asleep until just before 6 and Tanner had a colicky night, except that T had swim class at 9am at AVAC in Cambrian. We have to leave our house by 8:40 if we are going to be on time, and for a 30 min. swim class, being a few minutes late really cuts into his class and is just plain disruptive and rude.
I hate being late. And I don't like to make excuses for being late, I'm not the only mother of multiple kids and many other parents arrive on time to their things.
So this morning by the time T shuffled into my room and we all got up, I had 15 minutes to get us all dressed, diaper changed, fed(we are all grumpy if we don't eat), and packed into the car. 15 minutes is really not enough time at all, Tanner takes at least 30 min to nurse as it is!
So, did we make? You bet, with 2 minutes to spare actually. So what if we had morning/cereal breath! At least my baby wasn't sitting in a poopy diaper and I was actually dressed in something other than the pajamas I've worn the last 2 nights. I would say this morning could have been a disaster and T could have missed his swim class that he enjoys so much and that would have made me feel awful for him.
I have no excuses for sleeping in today. But I have to say, I am super proud of myself for getting us all out the door and on time today...it is no easy feat when you have a newborn, as all of my mommy friends know:)

Yummy

2010-04-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

My dad has been cooking a lot recently and has made some wonderful dishes. Last night he made us this asparagus risotto, a recipe he found from Sunset magazine...it was insanely yummy, I had thirds:)

Thanks Dad, you're awesome!

Love her

2010-04-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

My beautiful sister left me a little care package the other day! I guess my little crybaby blog the other day got her worried! She was really thoughtful about the goodies she chose... Amongst them were some of my favorite celeb mags to keep me occupied during those 3am feedings, a super plush new blanket, one of our favorite movies, Father of the Bride 2, a diaper caddy so I can do changes downstairs, a pacifier pod, a new portable changing pad to keep me organized on outings, and some little smelly sachets to mask the dirty diaper smell.
She's such an awesome sister, I love you Kate!

Wahhh!

2010-04-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

That's how I sounded last week with my recent blog....thank you for allowing me the opportunity to vent, and to be honest, have my own private bitchfest! I am more than grateful to all of you for your understanding, support, and empathy.

I am feeling refreshed after 4 hours of sleep last night and look towards this week with much more positivity. I am well aware of the fact that I am not alone in this journey through motherhood; that millions of women endure the same emotions and experiences that I do, and of course many of those women have far more dire circumstances than I do. So that truth does not escape me. But at 3am, when I am covered in spit-up, deliriously navigating the sketchy task of changing my sons explosive poopy diaper in my sleepless stupor, all the while trying to prevent him from peeing in his own face, and comforting a 4 year old who woke up in a rare incident of being covered in pee himself, it is possible to feel all alone in those moments.

But make no mistake. I am completely enamored by, in love with, in awe of, and so robustly full of pride over my two boys that my heart feels as though it truly has doubled in size. I have an amazing husband, the most supportive and loving family, and wonderful friends that have gotten me through these last 4 weeks. I am such a lucky girl.

talan(he typed this himself!)

Caution...

2010-04-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

I've hit the 3 week postpartum mark, which means that the hormones are at an all time high, emotional breakdowns are inevitable, and there is officially no distinction between day and night. I think the first 2 weeks I was running on adrenaline, relishing in my new role as a mom of two, recovering from a far more positive labor and delivery than my first, which made me feel like I could conquer anything, and have been lucky enough to have a relatively sleepy calm baby....during the day that is, who also happens to like to be awake from midnight to 5 am and nurse every 30 minutes.

My reality now - the side effects of sleep deprivation has reared its ugly head and I find myself being on the brink of either tears or mental meltdown at any given moment.

I'm like a 2 year old...probably shouldn't be taken to the mall or grocery store for fear I might throw myself to the ground in a full on tantrum. Don't even think about offering me food I don't like, I might throw it at the wall. And if anyone even thinks about telling me to go take a nap, expect some attitude.

Motherhood is not for wimps, let's be honest. Some of us are better at holding it together than others, or maybe at least make it appear that way. But I am sad to admit that I don't think I am one of THOSE women.

Patience...I have none.

I may have been glowing while I was pregnant, now I'm just sweaty and hot from the hormones.

Showers? Brushing teeth? General basic hygiene? At this point, I pick one to tackle for the day and consider that a good day and hope no one gets close enough to smell me or look at the brownie I had for breakfast stuck in my teeth.

I completely failed at making a frozen CPK pizza for dinner recently. I want to eat healthy especially because I'm nursing but find it nearly impossible to cook anything in between distracting Talan and feeding and comforting a newborn.

The laundry is piling up and I constantly have dirty dishes in the sink which is making it difficult for me to control my innate neat freakiness.

Bills? That's right, I have to pay those too.

My bedroom smells of Desitin and dirty diapers instead of my yummy Tommy Bahama candles.

Oh and that's right, I have a backyard with an overgrown lemon tree that has to be pruned at some point otherwise the homeowners association is gonna get on my back eventually.

I'm running low on contact lenses and if they tell me I will require an updated eye exam to get a refill, I'm going to get someone fired.

I still have Thank you cards to complete from my baby shower....guilty.

And why is it that immediately after you have a baby, everyone wants to know when you're going back to work? As if while gazing adoringly at my newborn baby, I want to think about the day that I have to re-enter the real world and leave my new baby all too soon. It's the last thing I want to think about.

We just bought a new couch, because our original one is not comfortable enough to serve as Jason's new bed. That's right...he's on the couch. And yet the baby and I are in our room where I'm NOT ACTUALLY SLEEPING because by the time I put my head on the pillow, the baby is up from midnight to 5 every hour or less either wanting to nurse, or wide awake, or just plain grunty and noisy which keeps me awake.

The mommy guilt is beginning to set it at not being able to give my full attention to T...I feel like all I do is try to defer him to yet another activity for him to do by himself so I can feed the baby or change him, or do some household task. He is such a TROOPER, he has adapted so well at being more independent and doing so many things all by himself, like getting dressed, packing his own things, getting his snacks, just to name a few. And he helps so much too, he has to unbutton the baby's outfits so we can change his diaper, or hand me the diaper wipes, or try to comfort Tanner when he makes any little whimper or noise. He tells me how I'm supposed to buckle him up, or hold him properly, and he always tells Tanner how much he loves him. Talan is one AMAZING big brother.

At 4am this morning, I however had my first official breakdown occurred.

Being pregnant and having a baby is not about fancy over-the-top themed baby showers, wearing Nicole Ritchie's latest maternity line, buying the most expensive, eco friendly, organic pretty baby gadgets/clothes/toys, $800 strollers, etc. Don't let celebrity baby blog or parenting magazine fool you...it's about super maxi-pads, sweatpants, breastmilk stains, lanolin, breastfeeding in the most inopportune environments, projectile spit-up, being lulled to sleep - er uh I mean rest, by the sound of a breast pump, cereal for dinner, leftover Chinese food for breakfast, stretchmarks, sore boobs, unplucked eyebrows, adjusting to the reality that 2 hours is the equivilent of a good night sleep, and conversation with your husband entails placing an order at Mcdonald's.

If you ask me how it's all going having 2 kids, I'm probably going to lie and say something along the lines of "Oh sure, it's going pretty well," or "It's not as hard as I thought it was going to be." Just smile and nod....I'm just trying not to be a big wimp.

First Date

2010-03-30T17:13:00.000-07:00

Last week, we had such a fun visit with my friend Megan and her newborn daughter Marin. Marin was born 1 week before Tanner...she was a healthy 9lb 9oz and was actually a week overdue! Poor Megan, not fun when it's your 5th baby! Tanner weighed in at 6lb 8oz at his 2 week visit, so Megan and I guess that Marin looks to be about twice his weight here :) Here is a picture of them from their first play date together, and I'm sure there will be many more to come!
It is so fun that our babies are going to be the same age and we will be able to go through the same stages together! Megan is a wonderful nurse friend of mine, we worked at the pediatric clinic together, before she came to work with me at Kaiser, and I am so grateful to have her as not only one of my nursing peers, but also a great friend. She is the voice of logic and reason for me when I have concerns about parenting...she's the expert with 5 children after all and I always feel better after talking to her.

Isn't it cute how the babies both have the same pose!

14 days old

2010-03-22T19:43:00.000-07:00

Tanner has made it to his 2 week mark, and I find myself already saying things like, "I feel like I was just pregnant," and "I can't believe he's 2 weeks old already?" The fact that my days and nights all sort of gel together in one continuum is probably why I find it hard to comprehend how time has passed so quickly. Tanner's 2 week check up is tomorrow so we will find out how much weight he has gained back since his last visit at 3 days old. I'm guessing he's about 6 lbs., as his little arms and legs are starting to look less gangly and scrawny and the cheeks he already had are even more plump - hooray for breast milk!!
Some milestones for him in the last week are:
He smiles in his sleep, especially after eating, and of course just prior to the much anticipated poop!
He also giggles in his sleep which is precious and that I have yet to catch on film but I hope to!
He is always starving from 9-11pm, and about 4-6am so he and I catch up on our gossip/celebrity mags and Rachael Ray show
He peed on his umbilical cord twice (middle of the night half/asleep diaper changes make me a little less diligent with the blocking of the pee), which delayed its ability to dry and fall off, and I was so worried about it becoming infected. But it finally fell off on Saturday, so he had a full bath finally!
He is a grunter - very noisy grunting actually, and its his way of letting us know he is awake, needs his diaper changed, and will soon become very upset if I don't feed him! He really only cries the most with diaper changes.
And of course he has his days and nights mixed up so he sleeps A LOT during the day and is alert at night. This last week he goes longer periods of being awake with his eyes open, almost an hour one time!

Big T had another game this past Saturday, which was a far more enjoyable experience for all of us than the previous weekend. He was able to just play a game without the 2 hour preface of an opening ceremony, and was in far better mood because of it. He even made the biggest play of the game in the third inning, fielding a fast grounder from right field!
He continues to be such a loving and affectionate big brother to Tanner, giving him lots of kisses and cuddles, always asking to hold him, and he likes to say when Tanner cries, "Ohhh, the poor guy!"

As for me, I feel like I am getting as much rest as is possible having 2 little ones now. There have even been a few nights when Tanner has slept four hours, which feels like so much more when you are sleep deprived, and I wake from that four hours feeling incredibly refreshed and alert!! Funny how that works! My parents continue to be a huge support and even though Jason went back to work this week, they come by in the afternoon to take T for a few hours.

The weirdest thing for me right now is how much I am still having cravings, as though I'm still pregnant!? It's probably more related to my breastfeeding and burning so many calories, but I feel like I should still be pregnant with how much I'm craving sweets. Technically, my due date is this Friday March 26, so maybe my body still thinks it should be pregnant...Well that's the excuse I'm sticking with when I go have frozen yogurt for the fourth time this week!

A list of recent cravings: Red Velvet cupcake frozen yogurt is a new find! Brownies. French vanilla yogurt with granola and blueberries. Cupcakes. Jelly Bellies. Oh and still cereal!

Last Friday, Jason's parents brought over pizza from Angelo's and watched Planet Earth with T

Let's play ball!

2010-03-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

(Picures all taken by Dave Warren)

Here come the Yankees
Talan is 4th from the end of the line

Getting in position...

Look at that form....

Base hit!

Daddy trying to get him out of his funk!

Tanner is officially 9 days old today! The last week has been a whirlwind to say the least - definitely not how I expected the week after giving birth to be! After Talan was born, I don't think I left the house for 3 weeks, until I had to suck it up and do some Christmas shopping! But with second baby's, everyone was right - there's no slowing down, we have to keep going when we have an older child. So the day after we came home from the hospital, it feels like it's been Go Go Go ever since. Jason was able to spend the first week home with us, which he was unable to do last time, and that has made a world of difference for me in terms of getting help and making sure Talan gets lots of needed attention. The two of them had a lot of Daddy and T time -going to Golfland, bowling, T-ball, and just spending quality time together!

Talan had swim class Wednesday morning and I didn't want to feel like I was missing any part of his special activities , so Jason and I took him together. Afterwards, of course neither Jason or I had eaten that morning and were starving so we went to Scramblz with Jason's mom for late breakfast. By this time Tanner was starving too so of course I had to nurse and try not to get my pancakes with drippy syrup all over the baby! Oh the joys of motherhood:) That night Jason's parents made us a delicious dinner and visited with T and T(or TNT as Jason has dubbed our boys!) then watched Planet Earth with us.

My parents have been over almost every day helping out with everything...I would be lost without my Mom and Dad let me tell you! My mom has been cooking up a storm for us, doing some grocery shopping, and helping me stay organized. My dad has been getting to some much needed home repairs at our place - he can fix and repair anything and always offers to do these things for us. Partly it's because I think he knows when I ask Jason to do them, they won't get done in any timely manner, and also mostly because I'm his daughter and he loves me! He's folded our laundry, mopped floors, done touch-up painting, fixed broken drawers, installed lighting....you name it, my Dad has it all under control! And I am more than thankful for all of his effort. My parents have taken Talan for a few hours on some days so I can take a nap, and when we have been over at their house, they can keep Talan occupied forever just so I can rest a bit. I couldn't have survived this first week without them! Love you M & D!

Saturday was Talan's Opening Ceremonies for T-Ball and his first official T-ball game. I had no idea it would be an all day event and was extremely fatigued and uncomfortable after the 4 hours of watching was over. But as I said before, I couldn't have missed this either as I would have had such motherly guilt if I had not gone. Words can not describe how unbelievably adorable my son looked in his "Yankees" uniform marching out on the field with his team and banner! He had a bit of a rough beginning to the game however, as he was a little annoyed that it took nearly 2 hours to get through the opening ceremonies before even getting to playing ball. And for a 4 year old, sitting still for 2 hours listening to adults talk really is a test of their patience! Add to that the fact that by the time they were ready to start playing it was 11:30 and he was ready for lunch, as he had woken up at 6:30 that day, he was not a happy child - Didn't want to warm up, didn't want to do drills - just pouted...it was classic Talan. The minute he got up to bat though, he was over it, and he had a great first game. He even caught a ground ball in the second inning, shouting as loud as he could "I got it!" and had the biggest grin on his face!

Sunday, I had it planned for a few months that I would take Talan to the opening day of Happy Hollow...and so I did, but man, if I would have known the pandemonium craziness that would have ensued, we probably would have waited. Jason was off hunting pheasant that day, so my sister, who had just returned from a week long business trip, was kind enough to come along with us, and thank goodness, because I never would have been able to navigate through the crowds without her! Tanner was a trooper just hanging out and sleeping in the sling. Afterwards Talan had his T-Ball team pictures that afternoon, but of course I had just barely washed his uniform(ie. WHITE baseball pants full of mud) that morning and still hadn't sewn on his league patch to his jersey so that was all done at the last minute, and we barely made it to pictures on time. His team was standing at the front of the line when we arrived-Phew is all I can say!

This week Jason is back to work, and I have been instructed by my parents to rest more. So they will be taking Talan for part of the days to get him out to enjoy the beautiful weather we have in store this week. And I am going to take it easy...or at least try!

4 days old

2010-03-11T17:17:00.000-08:00

The four of us are delieriously navigating through these last 4 days, happily adjusting to life as a family of four! Tanner had a follow-up weight check appt Tuesday. He weighed 5 lb 9oz, and has mild jaundice-all which can be taken care of with Mommy's milk! His reflelexes are great and he was so strong, showing off to the pediatrician how he can lift his head on his own and look around. Tiny but mighty!
T is the most loving big brother and has adapted nicely so far to having a baby around. He always wants to help with diaper changes and is especially interetsted in picking out socks for Tanner! Any little sound the baby makes, T says, "Mommy there's something wrong with the baby, go fix it." And he always asks to hold the baby and knows exactly the right way to hold his head. Most surprising is that T offered to share his blanket wit the baby, and that is MAJOR! He is having a few acting out issues, nothing too unexepected or unruly but we are dealing with them and T is really doing his best as a hyperactive 4 year old! But the amount of love and affection he shows his baby brother melts my heart and I have such immense pride in my son.

I just wanted to post some pics of the beautiful flowers I received from my family. The first ones are from T and my parents, the second from Jason's parents, and the third from Jason's sister!

Tanner Chris Warren

2010-03-11T16:11:00.000-08:00

On Saturday March 6 at 8:41pm, we welcomed our baby boy Tanner! At 36.6 weeks, he weighed 5 lbs. 14oz., and was 19 in. long, and is so tiny but strong and healthy. Our family of 4 is now adjusting to life at home and we are so full of love and feel such unbelievable support from our family and friends.

Birth Day.............
So as many of you may have known, last week I had decided at the last minute to take 2+ weeks of maternity leave, instead of working up until my due date of March 25/27. So my final day of work was scheduled for Monday, March 8. Well, I guess maternity leave just wasn't in the master plan for me!
It had felt like it hit me overnight and all last week I had really been feeling the major discomforts of pregnancy, as I had been lucky to have had so much energy and not a lot of aches and pains throughout. Friday, at the urging of my friend Kim we took our kids to Hidden Villa farm in Los Altos. I had planned to make sure in my last weeks that I got to take T on as many outings and fun activities as possible, and that day, although my discomfort was very apparent (what with the penguin waddling, shooting/numbing pains in my pelvis, and constant Braxton Hicks contractions) I was determined to have a fun day with T. He had a wonderful time wandering the farm of course, but I was so ready to get off my feet and rest. That afternoon, I had another prior obligation to oversee a dance class at my old dance studio so rest was out of the question that day. The Braxton-Hicks just kept coming throughout the night and I had so much difficulty (ie: PAIN) up and down from sitting or laying position. Saturday morning was packed with activities too in that my prental massage was in the morning then the afternoon was T's Little League Pasta Feed and Raffle so little rest was in the foreseable future.
Brief summary - Saturday morning I got up and my water broke. Kaiser Santa Teresa (a block away from our house!) was "overbooked" so they admitted me to Santa Clara Homestead. I took 3 hours to get ready before heading over - showered, did my hair and make-up, and made breakfast for T. It was very calm and relaxed.
Contractions had stopped so Pitocin started around 2pm. Contractions immediately got going, and lo and behold, back labor again! By 4 cm, decided back labor sucks (had it with T until 7-8cm) and asked for some Fentanyl, which just made me lightheaded, so immediately asked for the epidural after 7pm. Epidural worked for initial 6+ contractions, Mom and Katie walked over to Starbucks. Suddenly started having those urges to push, checked me, I was 8 cm. Kim called Mom and Kate - told them they better hurry back. Next contraction put me over the edge, checked me and I was complete. I was told I pushed for maybe 15 min. Epidural - made my left leg numb, but I felt all of the pain...apparently at some point it wore off.
I was incredibly lucky to have such an attentive nursing staff and resident who listened to my requests throughout my labor and delivery. And I was most lucky to have my Mom, close friends Kim and Krissy, and most of all my sister Katie(who flew in from Las Vegas at the last minute after only being there 15hrs) all in the room supporting me through this birth.

Here are T and I on Saturday morning-our last "just T and Mommy" picture

T meeting Tanner for the first time on Sunday morning

I really missed my big boy while he stayed with my parents

That is one proud Big Brother

T already multi-tasking...playing games and holding his brother

Tanner with his Bok Bok

T keeping busy in the hospital room after 5 hours there - Thanks to his Papa for finding ways to make it fun!

Getting ready to go home...

The blog I started the night before I went into labor....

2010-03-05T08:40:00.000-08:00

With about 3 weeks left before we expect our new baby to arrive, I have decided to take the time for maternity leave. I had previously planned on just working up until I went into labor, but this last week I finally began to feel the fatigue and discomfort of the end of pregnancy, and made a last minute decision to stop working next week. I really have been so blessed and pleased at how great I have felt this pregnancy, in terms of the physical discomforts.

Up until this week, I had been sleeping really well, like a hibernating bear I've described it, drool and all! I hadn't experienced any major aches or pains up until now either - buy now I think the baby has officially dropped, and with that has come the constant sensation of pelvic pressure, some shooting nerve pain down the groin and legs, and the penguin waddle! Sleep the last few nights is disrupted by the need to flip from side to side every hour due to that tingling and numbness, and get up to pee each time in between. Add to it my 4 yr. old that has nightmares, the onset of a new cold (again!) and also has to get up to pee at night, sleep is a thing of the past! Sitting or standing for any extended period of time is just plain uncomfortable.

Now please don't misunderstand, I really don't want to seem like I'm complaining, just stating the facts...this is to be expected in my last weeks of pregnancy. It just has hit me so quickly and at the very end, which wasn't the case with my first pregnancy. I think I have avoided becoming really swollen, I can still wear my wedding rings, all of my shoes still fit!

But I just CAN'T GET COMFORTABLE

Diapers and More!

2010-02-27T15:40:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, my mom and sister hosted a "Diaper shower" for me...it was a really relaxing, easy going get together, just like how I like things, not a big hoopla. They put together an AMAZING buffet spread for brunch - including yogurt and fruit parfaits, brunch casserole, tea sandwiches, the most delicious fresh tropical fruit, and cupcakes, among many other things! It was so nice just being able to hang out and socialize and have some mommy time for the day. We were so blessed to receive an immense amount of diapers and wipes- I think we have enough to last us the first 3 months, WOW! And even though I asked for no other gifts, we received really lovely gifts for the baby and we are so appreciative to all of our friends and family for their generosity and love.

Here I am with Jason's mom making nutella and raspberry tea sandwiches...

The brunch starting to come together...my sister made my all time favorite cupcakes, Confetti, and also homemade red velvet cupcakes!

Baby Sophie joined us for the shower - she has the most precious smile!

Me and my godmother, Aunt Sandy

Me, baby, Krissy, Baby Sophie, Kim and Tiffany

And here we are with Aleyta!

The token baby boy baseball outfit from Aunt Suzy

My nephew Spencer helping open our gifts

Some of my friends and family playing the "Dirty diaper" game - they had to guess what smelly treat was left in all 20 diapers(ie. candy bars and baby foods)! Gross I know but I think they had fun with it!

Before the baby arrives, T gets to have his fun with the diapers - he made the boxes into a bridge and also a racetrack for his cars!

Diapers galore!

These are the flower arrangements I made for the shower

Just what I need...

2010-02-20T09:05:00.000-08:00

Today my wonderful sister is treating me to a paraffin hand wax and pedicure!!!!!! After 3 days of taking care of little T and his stomach flu last weekend, I now have the rough, scaly hands of a carpenter after all of my overzealous, OCD handwashing and disinfecting (yes, I am one of THOSE people...sue me!)

The 3 of us are getting pampered at InSpa than off to Hakone Gardens to see my grandmother's flower arrangements on display in the Tea House. It should be a lovely afternoon and I look forward to some girl time with just my mom and sister.

Then tomorrow, we are having a little get together/diaper shower/"Sprinkle" but not a baby shower shower to celebrate the littlest guy's pending arrival in a few weeks. I look forward to seeing family and some dear friends tomorrow. And thankfully I will feel presentable enough in all of my swollen 9 month pregnant glory by having soft hands and pretty toes- I love my sister!

I guess we should figure our where to put the baby!

2010-02-15T08:45:00.001-08:00

With less than 6 weeks to go before this baby is due, it's time to decide where we're going to have the baby sleep. Of course once the baby is big enough he will share a room with his big brother but the goal is to put that off as long as possible - I don't want a newborn waking up T every night for the next year. The original full size portable crib/bassinet we used for T in our room ended up breaking and we never replaced it because at 6 months he was old enough and sleeping long enough increments to go in his own room at that time. T's crib/toddler bed that we still have is far too large to put in our bedroom - maybe some people would make it work, but it's far too big to allow for me to function in my space. Anyone who knows me understands that every piece of furniture and storage unit has it's one special place and every toy has its own place that fits just right in our awkwardly laid-out house. In order for me to keep my sanity and navigate and stay organized in my life it is necessary for me to have a home that doesn't feel cluttered or over crowded as best as possible.

Surprisingly it is not that easy to find a smaller crib to fit a small space that can also grow with your baby until they are a toddler. Not everyone has a large home with extra bedrooms and closets and attics or basements to store seldom used baby gear. Bassinets are logical for a small space but are generally outgrown by the time a baby is 3 months old then you have to move them to something else entirely - then what do you do with the bassinet? We don't have an extra room, or storage in our one car garage so that is a waste of both money and space.

With that being said, these are the two choices for mini cribs that I am trying to make a decision on. What I am looking for is a mini crib with possible storage options that is relatively affordable and has the possibility of lasting until the baby is at least 1 yrs. old. After weeks and weeks of searching, these are the only options I found. There is a big price difference between the two, but they both have benefits that I really like...

This is a Graco Travel lite crib with bassinet. It has storage below and is 30% smaller than a regular portable crib. I like the storage below and that it can be stored away and used for travel or taken to the grandparents. Manufacturer info describes this as being used for newborn up to 30 pounds, so if it's comfortable enough, once the bassinet is removed, the baby could sleep on the mattress part - obviously it's not truly comparable to a crib mattress but it could work. It's not too frilly and foofy looking - I prefer a more modern, no fuss look to things. As a bonus, the color combo also matches our bedroom decor. It is $89.99 at an online website.

The second option is the Alma crib. It doesn't have any storage but the accessory I found below at Target could be attached to the side of the crib. The crib itself has 3 levels for the mattress to be placed (ie. bassinet level, to completely at the base) and the info states it is used from newborn to age 24 months. It is also collapsible, as the picture shows below, so it could be put away when needed. It is more modern in it's design and would match not only my bedroom but T's room once they moved in together. The only negative is the price - I found it on sale at one website for $350. I would probably end up selling T's original crib anyway and get some cash from that. Yes, it's pricey but if it could be used for at least 2 years I think that makes this one a possibility.

Our Mountain Buggy

2010-02-08T09:22:00.000-08:00

I have been struggling over what to do about a stroller for the past few months, but as the countdown to our last weeks before this baby arrives quickly pass, I had to make a decision. We still have the single Graco Metrolite that I used with T, that has the baby carrier with it, but I have been trying to decide if I wanted a double stroller.

What was the big decision about you ask? So having a 4 year old one would assume he doesn't use a stroller any longer. Before I ever became a parent, I had quite an opinion on this matter, feeling very strongly that any child who could walk on their own didn't need a stroller. "I will teach my child to stay by my side at all times, and that they didn't need to be held if their legs worked!" Well my son was walking independently at 10 months old, so of course he still used a stroller. And to this day, T still asks to sit in a stroller, especially if we have been walking for quite a ways, if he wants to eat a snack while we run errands, or on the days he falls asleep in the car and I have things to do, he easily transfers to a stroller where he can sleep for a few hours. Am I ready to give that up? No. And my goal once the new baby arrives is to spend a lot of time outdoors going for day hikes and to our favorite places like the zoo and beach. So there are going to be many times when T doesn't want to walk and that's fine with me.

I decided a side by side all terrain stroller would be a good investment. The one I chose is called a Mountain Buggy Duo. It comes with an infant car seat adapter to replace the regular seat which I'm sure we will use for several months. The seats themselves recline all the way to flat which is perfect for T if he naps, or if I don't use the infant carrier and decide to lay the baby down. The canopy is removable, and the seats themselves remove completely to be washed. It has an adjustable handle bar which is a must for a short person like me, and a very large storage basket underneath with zippered compartments for water bottles, keys, phone, etc. I decided on the fun moss green color shown above....I love anything green! T loves his new stroller already, he helped me put the wheels on and has already adjusted his side of the strollers' restraint straps. I think we're going to get a lot if use out of it!

....AND DID I MENTION I FOUND IT FOR 50% OFF THE ORIGINAL PRICE, SCORE!!

Below are two views of how the stroller looks with the infant carrier attachment...

Butternut Squash Ravioli

2010-02-06T10:54:00.000-08:00

Wednesday we were stuck indoors due to the rain, so I decided to be brave and tackle one of my Family Fun magazine recipes to make homemade Butternut Squash Ravioli with herbed sage butter sauce. For any of you who have never read Family Fun magazine, it is for any parent, well let's be real, Mom, who wants to be made to feel inadequate about her lack of creativity, lack of spontaneity, and general lack of Martha Stewart-ness, this magazine if for you! It is a direct result of reading this magazine that I now have a large storage box full of empty oatmeal canisters, paper towel tubes, and shoe boxes in the hopes that one of these days I will build my son the coolest homemade castle, complete with working draw bridge and all! But until the day that I feel like erecting such a masterpiece, on this day I settled for making homemade ravioli dough! Here is the flour well - apparently it is meant to keep the egg contained while you gently mixed it all together. So what do you think happened? The second we began to mix in the flour, the egg quicky spilled over the sides all over the cutting board!

Cutting the ravioli...

This was T's favorite job, lining the edges with water so the two discs stuck together...

One completed butternut squash ravioli...

Ready to be filled...

He liked sealing the sides with the fork but sometimes pushed too close to the center, causing the filling to spill out the other side, then he would get frustrated...he delegated the fork job to me afterwards.

He dubbed us "Big chef and lil chef"

Enjoying the fruits of our labor! T didn't quite like the squash filling but ate the entire outer dough edge of each ravioli! The dough was a little too "doughy" but I didn't have high expectations for a recipe that called for flour, eggs and salt and was mixed by a 4 year old! I am now in search of the best ravioli dough recipe, something thin and light and with a bit of flavor.

The completed meal, with herbed sage butter sauce and fresh grated Parmiaggano Reggiano! Rachael Ray would have been proud! I was proud of the two of us at least!

It took a total of about 3 hours from start to finish. I had to run to the grocery store halfway through the process because I didn't have fresh sage and knew that dried wouldn't provide the right flavor. The dough also had to rest for 30min. Add to that frequent potty breaks, a few spills and clean-ups, 3 hours was about enough time! We had so much fun together which was the most important thing regardless of how the end product turned out. To see how proud T was to eat something he made from scratch was incredibly satisfying for the both of us.

Feeling stylish and pregnant

2010-02-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

Being in my 8th month of pregnancy means that every day has now become a struggle to find something to wear that I feel reasonably stylish in. Is sacrificing comfort for style really necessary you ask? Well honestly most days no its not, I would much rather wear the same mundane, boring stretchy black pants and over sized cotton sweater that I practically sleep in. Also, being pregnant in the middle of winter means that the clothing options are more bulkier or require layers, during a time when your body already feels huge and poofy anyway. But there are some occasions when I would like to look more pulled together, even if I don't particularly feel that way, and not just look pregnant...I want to look like a stylish woman. And let's be honest, maternity clothes don't always make us feel that way.
So I was on one of the fashion blogs that I frequent and stumbled across this picture of Vanessa Hudgens which I was drawn to for some reason. I thought to myself this outfit could work even if I have a protruding belly. Quite excited actually! Just bought the boots from zappos.com, they're Jessica Simpson and super comfortable, have a low heel but enough to add some length to my short legs. They don't have a buckle like the photo but I think these are still super cute. And the sweater shown below in grey I found in a speckled charcoal/black from Express. The only maternity piece is of course my dark wash skinny jeans, but I would say I successfully adapted this look! Can't wait to wear it, probably for Super Bowl Sunday!

Fresh Air

2010-02-01T12:42:00.000-08:00

After 2 weeks of being couped up in our house, Mommy needed some fresh air today! Not only has it rained every day since we returned from Tahoe but I developed bronchitis upon our return home, and T has been having a bad run of sleepless nights ever since then as well. He had a fever last week and then recently began coming down with the same symptoms as me and had a fever up to 103 for 2 days this week also. Being 8 months pregnant and miserably sick with the addition of a sick child who is only sleeping 3-4 hours at night if that, is no walk in the park.

I've never had bronchitis before so this experience was all new; in general since I was a child, I have been quite healthy with the exception of the occasional ear infection. This virus caused me to be terribly SOB constantly, with wheezing and such a deep painful cough. Sleeping was difficult because I had to sit up in order to get the full expansion of my lungs without feeling like I was suffocating. And let's face, who sleeps well sitting upright?

Thankfully my Dad and Jason really helped me out and pretty much forced me to stay home from work to get the rest my body needed. Jason doesn't miss work often, especially right now since he is just in the early phases of his biggest job since becoming a foreman. So for him to tell me he's staying home for 2 days and making me call in sick to work so he could help out must have meant I sounded pretty awful. It really made a world of difference for me to have that support from him. Truth be told, I think Jason often thinks as me as Super-Mom, being nurse and all gives him the sense that I know what I'm doing, leaving me to take care of things myself. So when we are sick he tends to just let me do the caring and tending, which lets be honest we as Moms would rather do anyways, and steers clear of the germs. After all, one of us has to be healthy enough to keep going to work! Plus he's a big baby when he's sick!

So here we are, on Monday, the start of the third week since initially getting sick. I am not fully recovered, still having intermittent wheezing and SOB prompting me to still need the Albuterol inhaler but I have some energy. T has a very wet sounding cough, but it's not very frequent and he has been fever-free for over 3 days with no complaints of ear pain and such so I suspect he will get through this virus without complications. He has slept between 10-11 hours the last 2 nights...Hallelujah. It's a beautiful partly sunny day so I took T to Almaden Lake to walk the trail for about an hour. He got to do what he loves the best which is collect sticks and rocks, watch the geese and explore to his hearts content.

We do have a few behavior issues to start ironing out however - most mom's would agree that when children have had a bout of illness or have been stuck indoors for some time, poor behavior can develop. I think what did it was that I lost my voice for 5 days, so needless to say disciplining my child was no easy task. Trying to redirect my son's behavior, or address his frustration about something, or just plain say no was physically impossible and he doesn't exactly understand sign language! What could I do?

I'm just happy to have gotten out today, take in some warm sunshine with my little guy, and get some exercise on the trail. I know that my cough is going to linger for at least another week or so but I'm feeling thankful we have gotten through the worst of it.

3D Ultrasound

2010-01-22T20:56:00.000-08:00

Today we had a 3D ultrasound of our second little baby boy! I had one done when I was pregnant with T, and at the urging of my sister, who felt it only fair that I treat this pregnancy just as special as I did my first, we scheduled another one and it was just as amazing and exciting as the first time! Baby's head was pushed up against my belly and he had his hands AND feet in front of his face a lot of the time, just like T had been! It still is unbelievable to me how baby's can be so squished up and yet comfortable all the while folded up in such awkward positions.

Snow Trip 2010

2010-01-19T09:15:00.000-08:00

Over the MLK holiday weekend, we stayed at a house in Incline Village, NV with family and friends. After our first trip together last year was such a success, we decided to establish this weekend as a yearly excursion. And with each year, there are more little boys under 6 years to add to the grand total...last year there were 4, this year 6, and next year our new little guy will make it 7!
It was a full house, with 19 people total including all of the babies, which made for not a dull moment in the house. Fun was had by all, especially the grown-ups when, after the kids were finally off to bed, we played Taboo, Scattergories, and poker. We spent our days sledding on the home-made sled run the guys built on the side of our the house, and took a short trip over to Tahoe City to Granlibakken where they have a huge hill for families to sled down.
T was so excited to spend 4 days with his cousins, especially Mitch, who if he could, he would be attached to at the hip! Of course the boys had the greatest fun sledding..they each found their perfect board or disk that made them go the fastest down the hill! It was awesome to see their confidence build with each run, and soon even the occasional crash or flip was met with a giggle and a smile! By the last day, T was my little fearless kamikaze boarder, wanting to go higher and higher up the hill to dive himself onto his board and shoot down the hill and repeat over and over again.
Sunday the kids were able to experience the first snow fall, and we rushed outside to make snowballs, build a snowman, catch snowflakes on our tongue, and of course more sledding!
Monday morning a big storm was blowing in so we headed home and I was back to work in the afternoon. We can't wait for next year already!

Hooray, we finally made it to the snow..he's so happy to be out of the car

And immediately wants to makes snowballs

Pajama time...of course my son is the only one who feels hot and sweaty when it's 30 degrees outside

One of probably 100 hikes up the hill to race down the track again!

Going on his first trip down our home-made sledding track at the house

His Boarder Pose

Cousins making snowballs

Sledding at Granlibakken in Tahoe City

I'm so happy that it's snowing!
Our beautiful backyard

Jason sledding, bodyboarder style

Catching snowflakes

He's getting braver with each run

The storm is coming so it's time to head home