Oak Meadow

It has been fun to spend time with Adelaide in the same park I played at growing up. On Saturdays the train and carousel are open and Adelaide looks forward to riding the "horseys" all week. We don't normally take Maverick out in his PJ's but there was a diaper incident and it was the only spare we had :)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

I know this looks gross but our Saint Patrick's Day breakfast was actually quite good!

Hootinannies with green buttermilk syrup and green eggs!

And dinner was good too! Corned beef is eaten but once a year....

Life Lately: Phone Pics

Lots of mother daughter time.

Our quick roadtrip to SoCal for Freddy and Ashley's wedding on Leap Day wore Adelaide out!

Adelaide loves the Library, although she likes collecting the books more than reading them.

Mav liked the library too.

Most Saturdays we head as a familyto a farmer's market to get produce for the week.

I loved this interesting cousin of a cauliflower.

We've gone out to Pleasanton a few times to visit Rick for lunch and ice cream.

Adelaide knows all her letters and now we're working on numbers so we painted them on rocks.

I finished knitting a blanket for my new nephew Soren.

Adelaide loves having her nails painted red or pink.

We've had some good times in the car with Eric squished between the kids in back.

El Metro is our new favorite Mexican spot... The El Pastor tacos are amazing.

Adelaide was a little hesitant at first, but eventually really got into the fountains in downtown LG.

Grandpa is very adventurous and took these two for a run on the LG creek trail loop around the dam.

Maverick finally got to meet Naomi!

Adelaide loved spending time with Naomi and her iphone full of pictures & loved her new fancy rose purse.

We visited Chanel for Lunch at Yahoo, what an awesome place to work.

At Uncle Howard's funeral Adelaide reconnected with some relatives.

Terrible Twos & Four Months

Terrible Twos

Adelaide is two and half and you can tell! She is full of energy, has been learning tons, is such a chatterbox and along the way has become quite destructive. I started a little memo page on my phone to keep track of all the things lately that she has destroyed:

My macbook screen! I left the room for one minute to dispose of a diaper after I had just done her hair. She used the brush I left at her side to quickly and thoroughly smash my screen. I still need to get it replaced, this is the reason I have not blogged in a while.

Maverick's sheets. She found Maverick sleeping in his crib while I was prepping dinner. She came back into the kitchen excited to inform me that "Maverick, head, grapejuice, ha ha ha ha" with a huge, proud grin on her face. Sweet Maverick slept through the whole thing but the small puddle of grapejuice around his head looked quite gruesome.

My parent's TV. She quickly drew with crayon all across it and back. Luckily Rick was able to get it off.

My very favorite jeans! She sneaked a little navy crayon in with a load of wash and they destroyed my rose colored stevie ankles. It is probably for the best because I was wearing them entirely too often and it was getting embarrassing.

My vintage little chair! When I was younger my parents gave my sister and I an adorable table with two chairs. She took a permanent marker to the fabric on the chair. It's okay because I was planning on reupholstering them anyways, but still... very naughty!

A dozen eggs! Adelaide opened the refrigerator with force and swiped the carton of eggs to the ground. Each one broke. It was gross cleaning that up.

I'm sure there are more but those are the ones I recorded. Now it's important to note that she is not this crazy all the time. She is so sweet and playful and cute 99% of the time, but out of no where this mischievous look washes over her face and she does something insane. I can't quite tell when it will strike or what motivates it. If I could bottle up all her energy I could seriously make millions... I have never seen anything like it. Oh how we love our crazy miss Adelaide.

Four Months

Maverick is four months! I can't believe how fast the first third of his first year has flown by. I can't get enough of him.... He is so sweet, mellow, giggly, smiley, squirmy and curious. He has been rolling over from front to back and back to front for quite some time. He can squirm his way out of the bumbo chair. He loves to eat his feet, particularly his left one. He has switched from his high squeaky voice to a lower grunt (early puberty?). He fits into 12 month clothing. He wears the same size diaper as Adelaide but still somehow (over)fills them pretty much daily. He giggles when you tickle him and loves peek-a-boo. He rarely cries but will give a little sympathy cry when Adelaide is having a meltdown. He calmly endures an abundance of hugging, kissing, squeezing and crowding from his older sister. We all just adore and love our (not-so) little Mav.

Life Update

We are back in California and couldn't be happier about it! Rick's company in Flagstaff majorly downsized right before Thanksgiving which was truly a blessing in disguise. Rick has a new job at a great company in Pleasanton and we are currently living with my parents for a few months until we find a place of our own to settle.

It is so great to be living in a mild climate again! I know some people love the snow, but it is definitely not for me. Especially with little kids it's nice to get outside every day. We have only been here a little over a week but have already enjoyed going to parks, watching Eric's soccer games, hanging out at the beach, visiting a farmers market, strolling downtown and going on jogs and hikes.

We hope to settle in Pleasanton, near Rick's office. We went there on Saturday and it is adorable! Definitely a place I can see my family loving. They have a year round farmers market that was awesome, an adorable downtown and charming neighborhoods. They also have a drive through dairy with amazing vanilla and orange swirl ice cream cones.

Amazing Produce at the Farmers Market!

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Hadn't had fresh strawberries in a while, but they were delicious!

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Cute mural at the drive thru Meadowlark Dairy.

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Post Baby Dates

Before we had kids Rick and I basically went on dates every night... bikeriding on the boardwalk, eating out at fun restaurants, hanging out at the beach and getting together with friends. After Adelaide was born we didn't really feel the need to go out on too many dates because she slept a lot and we were just so in love with being new parents that hanging out all three of us was just fine most of the time. I think our first date after her birth was going to the movie Avatar (with Rick's brother Nick) while Rick's dad and Janet babysat.

Now that we have two babies I am definitely feeling the need for more date nights. Not that I don't love spending time the four of us, but I just want a little more balance in my life. Over Christmas Rick and I went out to breakfast while Rick's mom and Gerry watched our kids. It was awesome to just sit and talk with each other without being distracted by dirty diapers or Adelaide's hilarious and high maintenance demands.

I think we need to go out more often- it's great to reconnect and I always miss my kids when I'm away, giving me a better appreciation for them when I get home. Do you also feel the need for regular date nights? How often do you go out? What are your favorite things to do and places to go?

Rick and I waiting for our table at Matt's Big Breakfast.

It was a cute little place that prides itself in using sustainable and local ingredients as much as possible.

I love this guy!

Sewing Project #1

I have a traumatizing memory from my childhood of sewing my finger on my mom's sewing machine. I have been kind of afraid of sewing machines ever since. My mom always offered to teach me to sew growing up, but I always refused, and it wasn't until recently that I realized that I actually really would like to sew.

In October when my mom came for Maverick's birth we had some time to kill since Maverick was born two weeks after his due date. My mom got me started by teaching me the basics on my new sewing machine. I put my new knowledge to use by making these placemats! They are not fancy or even close to perfect but I love them. After spending my day making them I feel like I understand my little sewing machine more and that I am prepared to actually do a real project with a pattern.

Sewing machines really aren't that scary!