mama niece's visit

My mom came up to visit last weekend and I'm just now getting around to writing about it. The girls were Beyond Excited about my mom's upcoming visit and every morning when I went to get them out of bed, we would talk about how many more days until Mama Niece would be here.

I always love when my mom comes to stay. I just wish I didn't have to work while she was here so that I could spend ALL my time with her. She took care of the girls while I worked on Friday (Eric was working a 48) and then we got to spend the weekend together. Saturday was particularly nice because we took a drive through west Marin which is one of the Most Beautiful Places around and if there's anyone who enjoys a car ride through beautiful country, it is my mother. Then we dined at Pizzeria Picco in Larkspur, which I had never been to, and it was heavenly. After nap time we headed downtown and hit some shops. The girls scored a couple of Razor scooters. Nephew Nick met up with us for the weekend too and I got to fill him up on all kinds of food and cookies before he headed back to college.

The girls ask about Mama Niece every day. They constantly ask to Skype her and they are always so excited to do so, but then they are pretty poor conversationalists once they get started. Yesterday I was reading them a book that had a picture of an airplane in the background. Izzy said, "Mama Niece rides on that airplane and goes far, far away!!!" I wish we lived closer.

I was terrible about taking pictures while my mom was here, but I do love this ONE photo that I got because it is a very typical scene while she is here: Izzy loving on her Mama Niece. Both of the girls adore my mom, but Isabelle pretty much needs constant physical contact with her.

Mom, we're looking forward to seeing you next month to celebrate the big 6-0!!!

busy bakers

The girls never hesitate to lend me a hand in the kitchen when I'm baking. They love to help me put all the ingredients in the bowl, and we've been busy bakers lately because we like to send Eric to the firehouse with baked goods in hand: black bottom cupcakes, blueberry streusel muffins, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip biscotti, oatmeal raisin cookies, etc. Yesterday they helped me make mini-heart sugar cookies with pink frosting in honor of Valentine's Day. And this was by far my favorite picture of the day even though I took it on full auto with flash (which I hate doing but my kitchen has NO light!). First, to get them in the same frame AND smiling is a mini miracle. AND they're hugging and enjoying each other. AND check out their cute aprons!



This is Izzy decorating her cookies, and she's just pleased as punch.


She likes to go heavy on the sprinkles, or "rice" as she calls it. ;0)


Sophie, on the other hand, was an unhappy camper. You know a kid is not feeling well when they won't even eat a cookie. This is the face she made when I told her to smile, and it actually does look a little like a smile compared to how she was looking beforehand.

sophie, the mechanic (and sickling)

My mom noticed that I forgot an important factoid about Sophie on my last post. She has quite the mechanical mind. She's really good at both playing independently and figuring out how to do things. Izzy knows it, so she's often asking for sissy's help. Sophie is also a tad taller and bigger/stronger than Izzy, so she was the first to be able to turn on the water at the bathroom sink (which has got to be their FAVORITE pasttime), the first to open the sliding glass door, and now she can open the fridge all on her own. It feels quite liberating to say to her in the morning, "Sophie, go get the milk sippy cups out of the fridge for you and sissy." And off she runs.

The poor thing has been sick the past couple of days. She woke up Thursday night vomiting. That was a particularly fun night because Eric was off on a 48-hr shift, so I ended up with both of them in my bed, which is NEVER a good time even when vomiting isn't involved. I tried to convince Izzy to stay in her bed, but where one goes, the other follows and there's no getting out of it. She slept through the night last night, but then this morning I found vomit in her bed. Yuck-o. She just told me that she wants to go lay down in her bed for a little while, and that breaks my a heart a little because I know she must feel lousy to say that.

Earlier today she told me that she has a bad cough, so I asked her to show me and she gave me this fake cough. ;-)

isaboo and soph-dog

I feel like in my pursuit of improving my photography skills, I've neglected to use this blog for its original intent: to journal the lives of my wee ones. So today I wanted to write a blog just dedicated to what's going on with them right now. A random collection of thoughts.

*Isabelle calls herself 'Isaboo'.
*Sophie doesn't want to be called Soph-erdoodle (like her little cousin Skip-erdoodle). She insists on being called Soph-dog instead. Soph-bug is okay too.
*They are getting easier day by day and I have noticed that taking them places isn't nearly as challenging as it used to be. The main challenge right now is that they want to go to the public restroom over and over...they just want to check it out and sit on the toilet, not actually pee.
*Although I stress about finding the right fit for them for preschool, they have a major advantage that most kids don't have. They have each other!
*They are definitely motivated to pee in their potties by a candy reward. I let them pick their candy of choice at the candy store. Isabelle picked Jelly Bellies. Sophie picked Mike & Ikes.
*Sophie still reminds me of Linus. When she gets upset, she cries, "My baby and blankie!!" Then she roams around the house with her teddy bear and purple blankie in tow, looking for a good place to lay on the ground all sprawled out.
*Isabelle is the first one out of the tub 99% of the time. She likes to get out first, get dressed in her jammies, then come sit in my lap while I watch Sophie play and "swim" in the tub. Her favorite part is to act like she is the mommy and boss Sophie around: "No, no, no, Sophie! No drink the water!!!"
*Sophie loves pasta.
*Izzy is more of a meat eater.
*They both love treats. And they love to help me bake.
*Our bedtime routine consists of singing songs together. The ABC song always comes first. Then it's usually Baa Baa Black Sheep, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Row Row Row Your Boat.
*Lately Izzy has been insisting upon singing Itsy Bitsy Spider to us too. And she does a pretty good job, with hand motions and all.
*During the song-singing, Sophie always hangs out with her dad - either laying on the floor with him, or standing up and doing their special hip-circle dance together.
*Izzy is usually sitting on my lap.
*Sophie is really daddy's little girl, and Izzy is mommy's little girl.
*The girls like to tell people (in a very assertive way), "My daddy works at FIREHOUSE! Helps SICK PEOPLE!!!!" This embarrasses Eric.
*Sophie still likes to pull out her "favorite" book - The Mitten. I'm not sure why this book is her favorite, but whenever she finds it somewhere in the house, she gets very excited and says, "I found my FAVORITE book, Mom!!!"
*I love listening to the girls talk to each other from their cribs when they wake up from a nap or wake up in the morning.
*Izzy is an exceptional helper. When I ask her to go get something for me or to pick something up, she takes great delight in the chore. Sophie could stand some improvement in this department.
*I'm about 95% certain that I don't want to have any more kids. I just want to give these kids all I've got. ;-)

potty training & preschools

We're in the midst of potty training and at first I thought it was going to be a slam-dunk because the girls both did so well the first week. I guess it then lost its appeal because they have regressed since then. If given the choice, they always prefer to wear a diaper even though they know diapers are for babies. They even say, "I wanna wear my baby diaper!" We're in the Pull-Ups stage right now, which I'm only doing because their daycare provider insists upon it, but we need to make the switch to underwear shortly because they have no issues with peeing in their Pull-Ups. I'd say right now they use the potty about 50% of the time, so at least we are headed in the right direction.

We're also in the midst of searching for a preschool. I didn't think the girls were ready to enroll in preschool last fall, so I kept them in daycare. Now I can't help but wonder if I made a big mistake because it's really hard to find a place for 2 kids in the same 3 y/o preschool because all the 2 y/o kids who are already enrolled just move up to the 3 y/o class, leaving no spaces! Yikes. I never knew I would feel so STRESSED about selecting a school. First, our choices are limited because I need a full day preschool since I work. Second, the girls are so incredibly shy still and I worry about transitioning them away from their daycare. I know there will be lots of tears and it just breaks my heart. Ultimately, I'm sure they will be happy wherever they end up, but it will just take some adjustment. I hope to make a decision about their preschool situation this week.

making progress

I'm making some progress on my long LIST of goals.

#5: See a musical. Done! Eric and I saw Wicked last week.
#22: Increase my 401k by 1%. Done!
#38: Change my direct deposit so a portion goes to savings. Done! Sent the form to payroll last week.
#44: Try a restaurant I've never been to. I went to TWO new restaurants last week and they were both DELICIOUS! Slanted Door in San Francisco and Pizzeria Picco in Larkspur. Yum.
#50: Join a running group. I signed up for a running group that starts meeting in 2 weeks.
#100: Enroll the girls in preschool. I'm getting pretty close on this one. We should have a final decision in about a week. Found out today that my #1 choice looks practically impossible, so that's a big bummer.

I also started a new craft project. I am making Christmas stockings for my family just like the felt, sequined ones that my mom made when we were kids. I don't know why I decided to take on this crazy project, but take it on I did. Pictures to come.

wicked wednesday

Beware: lots of photos in this post. I took the day off of work today and Eric and I headed to San Francisco to enjoy a day alone together with no kiddos. It was bliss. Pure bliss. And I decided to treat my day in the city like a tourist, with a camera around my neck.

Our first stop was at Slanted Door in the ferry building for lunch. I've heard so many good things about it over the years, but holy yumminess, it was divine!

First, the spring rolls with peanut sauce. I think I would have liked this one more if I could have eaten the peanut sauce, so Eric ended up eating most of it.

This one was flank steak over rice noodles and it was yummmy.

This one was my one of my favorites - it was so simple, but soooo delicious. Rice noodles with chicken, egg and broccoli and some kind of delicioso sauce. Mmmmm.

But this one won the gold medal in my book (and Eric's too) - tiger prawns. I'm getting hungry just looking at it.

After we dined like royalty, we cruised around the ferry building, taking in all the sights and sounds. Eric bought his favorite kind of coffee - Blue Bottle Co. I liked the pretty design on top and would have had one too if it weren't for my body insisting that I must avoid caffeine like the plague. Always. And forever.

I love the flowers for sale in the ferry building and on the streets in SF. Fresh flowers, what's not to love?

And fresh fruit too!

It was a typical day in SF weather-wise: cold, gray and damp. Good thing Eric had that coffee to keep his insides toasty warm.

Rice-a-Roni anyone??? Ding. Ding.

We walked up Market Street to heaven on earth - Specialty's. Eric practiced some amazing willpower, but I indulged in a milk chocolate chip cookie and a milk. Yum-o. Good thing I live 30 miles from this place.

We then walked ALL the way up Market Street to our final destination - the Orpheum Theatre. It's nostalgic going back to SF now that I don't work there anymore, but I'm so glad that I had the experience of working downtown for 7 years and I love going back to visit.

The Orpheum is absolutely gorgeous inside and...

Wicked was a great musical! Eric said the wicked witch had a wicked set of pipes. ;) We had a wonderful day in the city together. And a good thing happened along the way: I enjoyed taking out my camera and taking some photos - maybe my mojo is coming back!