Finally, a bit of downtime

Mark got back late on Friday night and I have been savoring every bit of help that comes with another set of hands. On Saturday morning, I treated myself to a massage at one of my favorite spas and it was absolutely fantastic. Then we all hit the toy store and the yummy yogurt shop next door (where I could literally spend every single day it is that delicious.)

Mark took the kids this morning so I could go for a longer run in Foster City and it was so amazing to run outside in 60 degrees along the water. I think I could have run for hours (well, my mind could have run for hours. My legs and feet would beg to differ.) Did I mention how awesome it is to have my husband home?

Tonight, Mark had his football draft so I took the kids to a local park so he could "concentrate" (heh). Going to the park is getting more and more challenging because Maddie wants to climb on everything and she isn't too fond of the phrase "No Maddie, that's an ouchie", although I must say it a hundred times a day. But, I still love the fact that we are able to go to a park, any time of day without dying of heat stroke. I think the kids love it too.



Jacob just being silly, as usual





Doesn't she look like such a big girl here?



More silly



Attempting to climb up onto the play structure



If brother can do it, so can I!



And I'm not going to give up trying!



By the way, I am rarely allowed to push the stroller anymore. Apparently, that's now Jacob's new job.

A day in the trenches

I wish they gave out medals to mothers. Because I would wear that gosh darn thing with pride right now. That's right. Because I would have a big one.

This is not a medal to boast about my parenting skills as they clearly are not medal-worthy. It's a medal to signify survival. Surviving a stomach virus with your husband out of town and 2 small children to care for and nobody to rush over and save you.

Jacob had it Saturday night. He woke up vomiting and "the other thing" all night long. Since Mark tends to catch these stomach bugs and had to fly to New York for the week for work, we decided he would stay away with Maddie (so she wouldn't be as exposed to it as well) and I would take care of Jacob. I never, repeat never, get these bugs. It's one of those things I am (well, I was) quite proud of. Jacob recovered quickly after about 24 hours and was back to his energetic self. Mark left on Monday, and on Monday night, I woke up around midnight feeling awful. Every single hour I was running to the bathroom. Needless to say, I got zero sleep and when I heard Maddie crying at 6:15 am, I knew I was in for a long, trying day.

How do you take care of 2 kids when you are bent over the bathroom toilet all the live long day? They still need to be fed, changed, wiped, entertained, supervised, reprimanded, consoled, etc. Having Jacob alone wouldn't have been so bad. He would gladly let you let him watch a bunch of movies all day long. But Maddie? Oh my lord, she is a handful. And she is not really happy unless she is climbing on top of you or in your arms all day long. I desperately wanted to call someone and beg them to come save me as all I wanted to do was crawl into my bed (or my oh-so-comfortable-pull-out-couch-bed) and sleep for a zillion days but there was no sleep to be had and no break to be found. I couldn't even consider asking a friend to come by because all of my friends have kids and I would never, ever want to expose them to this awfulness.

By 8 pm that night (14 hours in the trenches), I zonked out as soon as Jacob was in bed and I didn't wake up until 7 am the next morning.

But I did it! I (we) survived. For that, I tell you, I want a medal.

Too cute videos

Jacob seems to get his hands on our little point and shoot camera daily now, so I don't think to download the pictures from it as most of them are random shots of the floor, ceiling and his finger. I pulled it out today and found some cute ones and a few random videos that made me smile.

This is basically an example of how we roll now. I really need to look into whether or not driving with ear plugs is legal.




After all the yelling, I suggested we play the quiet game. Jacob followed the rules beautifully. Maddie not so much.




Maddie is starting to "talk" more formally. She says "uh-oh" and says "iiii" (for "hi"). Today, she just started saying "eeeeezz". I was taking pictures and I kept telling Jacob and Maddie to "say cheese!" Every time I said it, she would say "eeezzz". SO cute. Here's a quick video of her saying "hi" and "uh-oh".




Finally, Jacob recently got some belated gifts from our friend Melissa (thanks again Melissa). In his goody bag was the card game "Go Fish". Jacob has trouble saying his "F's" and pronounces them as "P's". So when we taught him to say "Go Fish", it instead came out of his mouth as "Go Piss". Oh good lord, I couldn't get enough of it! This should give you a good laugh.

It doesn't get much better than this

There's not a lot in life that can top a trip to Napa with your best friends. Lots of laughs, good food, and great wine. If there's any reason I am excited to be back in the Bay Area, it's so that we can visit Napa/Sonoma often. I mean OFTEN. :)

Kristy came up from Austin for her birthday so Rachel, Kristy and I headed to Napa on Saturday. Our first stop was Patz + Hall. We had never been there or heard of it before but a friend of ours from high school works there so we decided to make it our first stop. Boy am I glad we did! We had so much fun catching up with Courtney and the wine was fantastic! YUM.

We then headed to Whole Foods to get some snacks for our winery picnic. Kristy's Whole Foods discount is awesome. I wish I had one. Our next winery stop was St. Supery where we picnicked under the arbor. Once again, YUM!



Rachel just being silly



My girls :)



We stopped at Mumm to get some "bubbles" but they were packed so we decided on a few photo opps instead.





Kristy in the beautiful flowers. I made her pose.





You can see she really didn't fight it



And worked it instead



And thought she was pretty darn funny (ha)



On a whim, we decided to stop at Clos du Val. We weren't disappointed.









And by this time, we were getting a little loopy



So we did more posing among flowers



The girls like to say that I forced them to pose like I do Jacob and Maddie. But from these pics, I think they loved every minute of it.



As did I!







Napa grapes. So pretty!



We went out to dinner that night with Courtney and ended up having drinks at Morimoto's new restaurant. The next morning, we stopped at Domaine Carneros on our way out of town.



Kristy and Rach enjoyed the champagne while I enjoyed the pinots.



Ah, it will be too long before we can do this again. Miss you girls already!

WARNING: Do not read on a sensitive stomach

I am laughing (on the inside) about the crap (literally) that has recently come our way:

No relocation package
Mark's car accident
Our horribly low and insulting offer on our Belmont house

Then, Maddie decided to wake up from her afternoon nap today like this:



To add insult to injury, as soon as I removed the diaper, she peed all over the bathroom floor.



Dear Sir Isaac Newton, can you please tell me where, in all of your scientific research, you conclude that poop defies all gravity? Because it does. And it should be written for all the world to see. Thank you very much.

It's a good thing she cleans up well. And that Mama has a sense of humor.











She stuck her head under the faucet and thought it was the funniest thing ever.





P.S. This is what she looked like before the poop hit the fan. The shirt did not survive.

"Home"

We finally made it back to San Francisco on Saturday, August 7th. A few days before we left, Nanny and Papa visited and as always, were a HUGE help in getting us ready to move. I really don't know how we would have accomplished the storing, cleaning, packing, etc. without the extra 2 sets of hands. With 2 kids to watch after, this moving stuff is getting to be more and more difficult. Thank you, Nanny and Papa, for always being there for us when we need a helping hand. Half the time, we don't even know what needs to be done, but somehow you always help us accomplish our goals. Can we ever say thank you enough?

The flight to California was interesting. We were in separate seats on the flight so Mark took Maddie for most of it, and I sat next to Jacob. Maddie slept for 25 minutes on the whole flight and Jacob slept for...oh, none of it. This is the first time he has ever (EVER, in his whole life) gone an entire day without napping. He was grumpy at times, but I was actually surprised at how well he handled it. I know his napping days will end eventually, but for mama's sake, I hope it's later rather than sooner. His naps have been back on track for the last couple of days so that is a great sign.

We are staying in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment in Foster City while we do a few things to the Belmont home before we move back in. We weren't expecting to move back to that house but as it stands now, we will be taking it off the market and moving back in as soon as we change out the carpet and potentially convert the garage to a play room. It's a tiny house so any additional space we can use will be helpful.

On Sunday, we went to the mother's club anniversary party at Burton Park where we were reunited with our friends Jaemie and Owen (Nathan was at home with his Daddy). My heart has been a bit heavy since we left Dallas but my spirits were lifted when we were finally back together with our friends. I am so thankful for that! Jacob and Owen have barely skipped a beat and now Nathan and Maddie can become fast friends as well. On Monday, Jacob started camp at the Little Gym 3 days a week for the next 2 weeks and he really had a great time. The owner there knows us well and it was fun to see her again and introduce her to Maddie. Ironically, when we arrived, one of Jacob's old playmates, Roxy, was there attending camp too. I was shocked and excited to see her mom, Christy, especially b/c she is now expecting another baby in 6 short weeks! We used to spend every Monday morning at Christy's house when we lived here before so it was a super fun and unexpected reunion.

Since we've returned, Jacob has made numerous comments like "Mommy, I want to go home. I want to go back to Texas." My heart breaks every time he says it and I try my best to explain to him what is going on, why we are here, and the wonderful things he has to look forward to while we live in California. Still, though, I can't help but worry that all of this moving around might have a negative impact on him and it makes me even more certain that this is only going to get exponentially more difficult as he gets older. Which is why we've decided to make these moves while the kids are young...but I'm realizing that Jacob isn't so little anymore and he's understanding what it means to be "home".

"Home". That word. A year ago, our "home" was here. We lived here and worked here and played here every single day. And we were happy here. A year before that, "home" was Chicago where we had an enormous group of friends and family that made that "home" an awesome one. Then we got the opportunity to live in Dallas and sure enough, we had a happy "home" there also. A child's definition of home is so literal. When Jacob asked what we were doing today, I said "We're going to go to the grocery store, then to Owen's house, then home to take our nap". To which Jacob says "home to Texas?" When I respond with "no, home to the apartment", I can tell this poor kid is just utterly confused. "Home" has so many meanings, it's hard to explain to a 3 year old and even if I tried, I'm sure it still wouldn't ease the transition, knowing that Texas isn't a place where we'll return. Maybe it's better that he doesn't understand. Instead, I just try to explain to him that "home" is where mommy, daddy and Maddie are. All the time. No matter what. And, as the expression so wonderfully explains, "Home" IS where the heart is.

The funny thing about moving

Why is it that only when you are trying to sell a home, it finally looks like the dream home you've always wanted? We go through this every time we move so you'd think we would have learned this lesson by now. Inevitably, every time we put a house on the market, it looks most like the house we wanted it to be, right as our bags are packed and we are out the door.

After endless hours of cleaning, decorating, and de-cluttering, our Southlake home is ready to be put on the market and I can only hope that someone else loves it as much as we've loved living here. It's going to be hard to give up this beautiful home, but we knew it was in the cards and thank God we had that expectation before hand. Had we not, I don't know that I would have agreed to ever leave it. :)

Our virtual tour:
http://tours.tourfactory.com/tours/tour.asp?t=641072

The last few weeks have not been without drama and if you know me at all, uncertainty has never been my friend. I don't like not knowing what the next step is, where we'll be, and when. Unfortunately, we still don't have any answers but we do know for sure that we will be back in California in a week or two at most. My heart is heavy when I think about leaving you, my family, and I hope you all know that we will miss you desperately. Thank you for making so much time for us while we were here. I hope you will visit us often in CA. :) Love you all!

10 months and counting

Maddie just turned 10 months old and I am in disbelief (or denial) that in a mere 8 1/2 weeks, our baby (BABY) girl will be turning a year old. But I know it's happening, because she is becoming more and more toddler-ish with each passing day. She will not tolerate "no" for an answer and she will scream in protest when she doesn't get her way. It's a good thing that she is still easily distracted, but I can already see a most opinionated streak in her. Good God, she might just take after her mama and then karma will set in and I will really be paying my dues.

A couple of days ago, we were all sitting in the living room playing and I made a comment to Mark that if Maddie starts walking when Jacob walked (at 11 months), then she will be walking in just a few short weeks. I said that it was hard to believe because I didn't feel as though she was ready for that yet. Maddie happened to be standing there holding onto the ottoman and, as if she heard me and wanted to prove me wrong, she literally turned her body, let go of the ottoman, and took 2 steps toward Daddy. Now, she fell into his arms and her balance was way off, but I could swear the child heard me and, if she could talk, she would have said "Oh yeah? Watch this!" Amazing. So, maybe now I believe she'll be walking around the same time Jacob did. I will say this much. She is much more curious and much less fearful than Jacob ever was. She really could care less if she lets go, stumbles a bit, and falls flat on her face. I love that.

At 10 months, she now has 3 teeth with the other top one ready to pop through at any minute. She's less and less interested in her bottles and more and more interested in only foods that she can feed herself. She's a big fan of crackers of any kind, but give the kid some avocado and she'll spit it right back out at you. She's still babbling "dadadada" and even sometimes "jajajajajas" and I've heard some "mamamamamas" a couple of times. She crawls way more than I remember Jacob ever crawling and she can pull herself up onto anything and cruise. She's a big fan of opening and closing our cabinets in our living room but I'm always on top of her when she does it because I just know one day she's going to smash her little fingers. About a week ago, she discovered she could climb stairs. Have I mentioned that I never want stairs in my house again?

She is becoming a really great sleeper (thank you lord!) She goes to bed around 6:30/7 pm and sleeps until 6:30 am. She sometimes wakes at 5:45 am but will happily talk and crawl/cruise around her crib until 6:30 or so. She typically goes down for her morning nap around 9:30 and will sleep about an hour to an hour and a half. Her afternoon nap is less consistent but it usually starts around 2 pm and lasts at least an hour as well. On good days, she will sleep until 4 pm. She's not so great at independent play, but she's getting much better, especially if Jacob is in the room. The problem is now she is moving, so we really can't take our eyes off of her!

She still LOVES her Daddy more than anyone in the world. If Daddy walks in the room, she will literally jump out of my arms and start "oh-oh-ohing" with her arms outstretched toward him until he picks her up. If she hears his voice in another room, she will immediately book it in that direction which makes it difficult when he is at home working in his office! She has crawled to his office doors countless times and whined for him to come out. I have to admit, my feelings are hurt at times, but it is pretty darn cute that she has such an infatuation with him. And Daddy eats it up which makes the two of them even closer. Thankfully, when we are out and about without Daddy, she won't let anyone hold her but me, so I do believe she loves her mama too. :)

Finally, as much as I love her beautiful long, naturally hi and low lighted hair, it has become a particular mess in the last month as she will NOT keep a clip or bow in it, so her hair inevitably falls into her eyes at all times. And, as she continues to self feed on crackers and pretzels and yogurt melts and more, her hands always become a mess of slobber and food which somehow make their way into her hair (as she tries to pull our her bow, no doubt) so her hair, by the end of the day is a mess. Capital M-E-S-S. And NO DAD, we will NOT be cutting bangs.

Check out our 10 month old and her mess for hair.