Fire up the pit, it's a camp out!

Let's be sensible and camp at home dang it! That's what we said a couple of weekends ago and I'm so glad we did. We had so much fun setting up our big tent in the back yard, filling it with fluffy pillows, mats and blankets and making a cozy little outdoor home. Of course, you can't go camping without roasting shmellows!! So we stopped at Tar-jay during the day and picked up a fire pit (and of course a coupla Halloween tshirts for the kids and pumpkin boxers for the S.O. and a fab bag for me) so we could burn down the house (and I do mean that literally, we had leftover wood from the remodel). What fun! Can I tell you how much I love a good fire? And in my back yard? Stop it! We had such a nice time, just the fam, hanging and roasting until we were all tired and yawny (not to be confused with the cheesy musician).
An-nee-way, the best part of it was, any time we needed something - like say, a clean toilet - we just popped into the house for it. Ha! And when it came time to put Miles to bed - noooo problemo, just popped him into his crip upstairs and turned on the monitor. So everyone got to sleep through the night . . . well would have slept through the night if mommy and pappi hadn't had those frothy beverages that induce urination at all the wrong hours of the night. But did I have to sneak off to find some scary looking bush to pee behind?? Nope, just popped into the warm house. Ha! Backyard camping rules. period.
And the next day? The most delicious nap in that tent . . .

Big-sister-love

Miles just loves his big sis, he lights up whenever she walks in the room - total puppy l.o.v.e. The other night we snappy a few of them cuddling in the kitchen.

First day of school . . .

Awwww, Emma is off to another new school year . . . can't believe she's in 1st grade - wow, that went by fast! Now she'll be in school for most of the day - that's a switch for us, she's always only done 1/2 day. Hope mommy handles it well! :)

Taking an important business call

Things that go bump in the night

Whenever the hubby is traveling it seems like this house comes alive with noises that I've never heard before. I always tell myself that they're always there, I just don't usually hear them becuase we're all here and talking and making noise. Well, tonight there was something different. It was undeniable, and it was in my bedbroom.
I heard a distinct bump, bump from near the cabinet we keep our tv in. . .at first I thought it was just the shelving over there settling in and I ignored it. But then, I heard it again, but louder this time. Ut-oh. What could it be?? Hmmm, I'm going to have to investigate. And then I realized I was about to have one of those horror movie moments where your peeking into disaster and the audience is saying "don't look in there!". But what can you do? You've got to look - call it stupid human nature.
I went over to the cabinet and quickly oepned the big doors - annnnd, nothing. Okay, the drawers then? What could be in there? Perhaps the kitty? Nahhhh, how would he have gotten in there? I shut that drawer hours ago. Well, I pulled open that drawer and who looked up at me with cute, sleepy eyes?
Of course, the kitty. So cute, all curled up in there, seemingly happy as can be. Guess the little guy isn't claustrophobic - until now that is.
What I want to know is - how long was he in there for and how on earth did he get in there? I remember shutting the drawer earlier in the evening after Miles had pulled it open while exploring . . .but I think I would have noticed shutting the kitty away - right? It's not a deep drawer. Hmmmm, the mysteries of the animal kingdom continue . . .

Standard morning scene . . .

The usual drill in the morning these days is that we're either woken up by Miles, or he wakes up shortly after we do and then after a little diaper change and a little milky it's over to his couch for a little r&r. Eventually his sister pads silently down the stairs in her nighty (I'm always after her to put on her bathrobe so she's not so cold, but to no avail) and joins him on the little couch for a some Sesame Street. Love that show - seems to get better and better. The other day they were spoofing The Donald in a skit called the Grouch Apprentice. It was pretty funny and I was thinking that "The Donald" couldn't have possibly been in on it otherwise he would have insisted on a special guest appearance that was not forthecoming. So I guess Sesame Street decided to play hard-ball against The Donald. Sesame Street's got bawls. Alas, I digress - my point was that I love seeing Miles and his sis hanging out just like I hope they'll do always. Gives me that warm and fuzzy "I love having a family!" feeling.

Our newest housemate

Well, the plan was to get a dog . . .but we opted for something a little easier on the lifestyle for now . . .plus Emma has been wanting a kitty forever - so we are now the happy parents of Domino, our sweet, rambunctious kitty. He's making quick work of our plants and couches . . .so we've taken to implementing the squirt bottle to keep the little sucker in line. Ahhh, the joys of parenting. He's so damn cute thought, it's worth it. Don't you think?

Cribs: Miles' pad

Welcome to my crib - we all about hanging loose
















Here's me and my home girl Emmers gettin' funky to her Juicebox

























I prefer Prada . . .but Maddens will do in a pinch.

























And finally, chillin' with my favorite people - Elmos. Nobody chills like Elmo.

Photos from Germany

Finally getting a few of these on the page . ..

Stroller musings

The perfect stroller: an enigma. I am constantly in search of this mysterious item . . .and forever swiveling my head to take mental notes about strollers I see everywhere. I. will. find. the. perfect. stroller. Or maybe not.
I recently started looking for a new stroller because we were headed to Germany and I wanted something really comfy for Miles to snooze in while we walked the cobblestone streets of the wee villages we had planned on visiting (see previous post). So I started out by cruising the web and looking at opinion sites. I initially used epinions which I really like, but then also discovered Baby Ga-Ga which has great reviews and lots of detailed information. So, as you may already know, I decided to buy the Bumbleride Flyer stroller and was sooo excited to get this beauty in the mail and try it out. We took our beautful bamboo dream ride out to the cliffs in Santa Cruz for it maiden voyage and . ..bummer! The front wheels of this stroller wobbled and gyrated to such a degree that it made it very hard to use. We were so disappointed! We kept trying different things to make the wheels stay put and stop wobbling (even on the smoothest surfaces), but no luck. It happened every time. So I figured that I must have been sent a faulty stroller - or more likely, it was damaged in shipping. N was convinced that the chassi was not aligned squarely.
So I called the company I bought it from - TinyRide and they were SO nice about it. They offered to ship me out a new one immediately, no questions asked and were very apologetic about the whole thing. Since I was leaving for Germany in a few days, they even offered to overnight the replacement - amazing customer service! We had the stroller shipped to my husband's parent's house because there wasn't time to have it delivered to our house before we had to leave for the airport. So when we arrived in the morning, ready to leave for the airport I opened up the box, quickly put the stroller together and took my daughter for a quick spin up the block to try it out. Dang! Same problem - the front wheels wiggle and wobble all over the place. So I sadly have to report that there is some inheirent design flaw with the BumbleRide Flyer stroller - ouch. So my mother in law kindly packed the sucker back up for me and TinyRide had UPS come get it. Luckily I had bought a cheap-o umbrella stroller as a backup for the trip in case my beloved new stroller didn't work. Hmmph.
The stroller we took was fine - but not nearly the bed I was hoping for Miles and the little wheels were no match for the bumpy cobblestone streets we encountered everywhere. And every parent there had an amazing stroller! They were all comfy, bed-like masterpieces that all the happy little German babies ambled by in while our poor little munchkin barely fit into his. I was obsessed while there and I think my husband thinks I'm certifiable. I even went to a department store there to check out what they had - but the beauties were all very expensive and what with the weak dollar, I figured it didn't make sense to buy it there, so I passed.
So the search continues! I am once again, looking, swiveling my head and scanning webpages trying to find that perfect combo of features. Any ideas would be welcome!!

Germany causes personality disorder

Well, well, well - turns out Miles doesn't really care much for traveling. Not all that surprising really - but I was a little surprised at just how much he didn't care for it. I guess being ripped from his idealic little life and being forced into too many confined spaces without the ability to stretch his new walking skills was just too much for the little guy. He's gone mental. While in Germany, and since returning he seems to have changed - it's as if his personality was altered in some way which makes me wonder if he didn't whack his frontal lobe at some point that I'm not aware of . . .. our sweet, happy boy is now prone to random crying without reason, the inability to be on his own and serious stranger anxiety. What. have. we. done.
Grandma only offered at least 10 times to let Miles stay with her while we went on our trip . . .duhhhh. But nooooo, we couldn't leave our little man at home for 13 days - that would be too hard on him! Hello? We were so wrong about that! He would have been so happy with his Mutti and Opa, loving life really. Swimming pool, tons of attention, good food, suburbia - what more could he want? Certainly not another trip to a smoke filled pub in Germany! Oh well, live and learn they say. We've learned, but still having to live with the concesquences. For example, Miles now wakes at 2 am, and then again at 3 am ready to take on the day. He's wide. awake. The other morning we all decided to get up and have breakfast with dad before he headed off on his overnight business trip and that was actually pretty nice - despite the fact that it was 4 am.
Sleep is soooo over-rated. Right? Riiiiggghhht.
It's been 3 days since we returned and despite a complete lack of sleep I am soooo glad to be here. This feels like vacation, being home and relaxing. I think next time we travel it'll just be mom and dad and it will be delicious.
As a side note, Emma really enjoyed herself. She made friends along the way, saw a beautiful castle, got to eat tons of sweets and stay up as late as she wanted every night. Shangri-la for the little muffin - glad someone had fun!

Kindergarten graduation

An oxymoron you say? Well, only if you've never had a child go through one . . .sooooo cute to see our little Emmers walk out of her classroom with her little construction paper graduation hat on, adorned with yarn tassle. Be still my heart. I can only imagine what a blubbering mess I'm going to be when she graduates from high school considering how misty eyed I got upon seeing her walk proudly by with her hat. It's a milestone, nuf said.
Her report card - fabulous. HUGE improvement (in caps) was the take home message. Ahhhh, our little girl is headed to 1st grade. No need for therapy just yet.

Well now, THAT'S what I call a perk

of working late, that is. That perk would be missing out on Miles rocketing out a poop in my husband's general direction which happened a) when his diaper was off (of course) and b) while I was driving home from work. HA! Gotta love that. Dad handled it very well - went into crisis management mode and by the time I got home, the two boys were bathed, reclothed and Miles' room was quarentined (due to the poop-spray that was hither and yon on the carpet - ewwww).

I think I'm in love all over again . . .who knew taking a poop shower would make me hot for hubby??

Germany prep and the stroller that ensued

One week from today we are leaving for Germany! I am so excited! We're headed to see hubby's family first near Cologne and will actually see a World Cup game while we're there - ahhhhh!!! So excited - did I say that already?? SO excited to see a real game!
After a few days we're going to head south to see Sleeping Beauty's castle and other fun things (yes, we're taking BOTH of our kids on this trip because we're lunatics). Then it's over to Munich to hook up with Emma's dad for a swap. He's taking her to Italy for about 10 days - she's got such a rough life that Emma. Then we head back north for our flight home via the sightseeing route. Can't wait to bask in the bratwurst, beer, castles, scenery and ack! crying from the backseat . . .hopefully not too much of that. . .we've never taken both of our kids on a trip anywhere - Miles is only 13 months, so that's not a surprise. But we decided to take the plunge and take them both to Germany - we had several offers from the grandparents to leave Miles with them, and I can always have Emma stay with her dad - but you know? We're total whimps and thought we'd miss them way too much and decided the sleepless nights and whining was all worth it. We're going to be on vacation right? So we'll just load up on the coffee to stay awake during the days and suck it up. What the hell. Anyway, that brings me to my next topic which is this: I needed a good stroller for getting around Germany that Miles would be comfortable enough in to sleep at any given moment (so we don't have to spend 2 - 3 hours every day in the hotel room smack dab in the middle of the day), could handle the potentially slightly rough terrain, had good sun/wind/rain protection (it's been raining there a lot lately) and was light enough to transport. So the search was on, and I mean the search. It took me for-ever to find the right stroller. I went from wanting something incredibly simple and light - to lusting after the much nicer models that come with all the features I was looking for. Thank gawd for all the great review sites out there - I found a particularly good one called: baby gaga
that had really great and thorough reviews on it. And otherwise I relied on the old stand-by: Epinions. Both were invaluable at providing information to this indecisive stroller buyer.
So, what did I eventually decide on? Wouldn't you know it, but one that I originally thought was wayyyy too expensive - mainly because I was convinced you could get the same features for less. And maybe you can get some of them - but no, not allll of them - and I wanted allll of them. So I decided on the Bumbleride Flyer - tee hee! If you click on the baby gaga link you can see it for yourself - I got mine in Bamboo - which I hope is not some obnoxious mint green - but rather a soothing green to calm the spirit - and at 300 bucks, I'll expect this puppy to make me a latte en route to my destination . . .and one for my shocked husband who thinks I'm a total nut for aquiring yet another stroller. Sorry babe, hadda do it.
So now I'm picturing myself strolling the streets of Germany with my sublime little tot inside blissing out on the Bamboo decor and reclining to his heart's content with no sun/rain/wind in his lovely little blue eyes . . .Mary Poppins, you got nuthin on me.

Watermelon Martinis and Thai food

Yumm-mmy! I made these the other night when some friends came over for dinner and let me tell you - no complaints. Good stuff - got the party rolling. Karen helped me make a fun Thai dinner that was enjoyed by all (ok, so the chicken was a little spicey for the kids) and the martinis were the perfect compliment.
Thai food is actually really easy to make if you know the secret: Thai Kitchen sauces in a jar. All you have to do is put a scoop-full of their curry paste into a pan, add a few simple ingrediants and voila! you've got yourself a fabulous Thai meal and your friends will think you're a genius. Works every time. The menu was as follows:

• Fresh spring rolls with BBQ'd Tiger Shrimp
• Spicey Beef Salad
• Chicken satay with peanut sauce
• Red curry Tiger Shrimp with vegetables
• Coconut jasmine rice

Makes my mouth water just thinking about it again . . .the meal was a little challenging, but much easier to pull off with help from Karen (thanks KBC!).

Give a try and prepare to impress!

Good-time Charlie

Is in full effect. To such an extent that my son has now decided that good-time Charlie is all he needs. Hmmm-mmm, that's right. Good-time Charlie saunters into the house after being gone for 4 days and Miles clammers, yells and reaches out for him. Then good-time Charlie stays for a day or two and is off again - mommy takes care of wee boy, day in and day out. Good-time Charlie returns 5 days later and the same scene unfolds - clammer-clammer, yell-yell, reach-reach. What the fuck? How did this happen? Do I not get up in the middle of the night and change your stinky-poopy diapers? Did I not walk you around endlessly until you learned to walk? Do I not feed you, hold you until you fall asleep, bring you fun toys and play with you? Yes, the answer to those questions is YES. I do all of those things - but does that matter? No. It doesn't. You only have eyes for good-time Charlie. Hmmmph. This should and could be a good thing for me right? Not having to be the go-to girl all the time for every little boo-boo. But you know what? I liked being the go-to girl with my daughter (I'm sure I'm filling one of the many voids left by my parents). So this thing with Miles and Papa? Not working for me so well.
So what's the secret formula? Who knows - probably something only my husband-who-comes-from-disgustingly-well-adjusted-family-life can produce. Whatever.

Typical . . .I will never change. . .

So my big thing in the morning is to get out the door in time to make it to the beloved commuter lane before it goes away. Ohhhh no, I do not like missing this opportunity to happily fly by all the sorry suckers who aren't cruel enough to stick their sweet baby in the backseat for an hour-plus so they can head off to their unpaid job with gleeful ease. Hel-looo, that's like throwing away a coupon for free diapers for a year! That said, I am constantly rushing around my house in the morning trying to get Miles and I ready (by myself, of course b/c hubby is travelling yet again) and debating whether or not to make myself that coffee that I can't live without (which takes 5 frickin' minutes because it's just GOT to be a latte). . .especially when I've stayed up late working for said unpaid job. On this harried morning I decided to go for it - roll the dice, play with fire - make. the. coffee. water. the. new. plants. before. they. die. pusssshhhhhhing it . . .the minutes tick, tick, ticking away . . .Miles happily playing with his walker just taunting me to do yet more things before I leave for the next 12 hours . . .whirl, hiss, spatter and voila! my beloved caffe latte is finito! - hmmmm, can't find my favorite commuter mug . . .ohhhhh yeah - I torched it in the microwave yesterday and almost started a fire - oooops. Who knew that you couldn't boil water in a metal/rubbery commuter mug from my husband's company??? Oh well, I'll have to use this other one - some hideously huge Starbuck's thing that will also serve the purpose of building my biceps while I drink . . .Another look at the clock reveals that it's already 8:29 - oh no! I'm in dangerous territory - must. get. in. the. car. Okay little guy, saddle up! Off we go, frothy, fabulous latte riding shotgun in the drink holder . . .cooling to a perfect blissful temp while I drive poll position over the windy highway that seperates us from the bustling Silicon Valley.
And here's the point of this long-winded blog entry - I pick up the coffee mug THINKING that I've put the lid on corrrectly . . .ah, no babe. That would be a mistaken thought. Lid NOT on right, coffee now ALL over my shirt - shit! still hot!! ouchy-ouch!
What to do now?? Ah-ha, brilliant - I have a bottle of water in the car! I'll just squirt a little dab on the stain to keep it from setting and that will dry by the time I get to my destination. . . dab being the operative word - you can guess what happened next . . .Ack! I spill water ALL over myself. I am now TOTALLY drenched with coffee and water. Fabulous. I am so talented - how did I get so talented?! I know you're wondering, how could you not? If my family reads this they will nod in agreement - this is standard behavior for me - as I said - typical.
An-nee-way - that commuter lane that I worked so hard to get to? Missed it. Gone. Nada, nada. The on-ramp to the freeway with the metering lights took soooo long that by the time I merged, it was parking lot city, and I was just another one of the sorry suckers sitting there - except that unlike those now lucky people I had my poor sweet baby in the back seat squirming to get out of bondage and, a completely wet shirt, nice.

My all-star daughter

Get. out.! Our little Emmers busted a move and went from "progressing slowly" to "knowing more than the other kids in class"!!! (okay, so the fact that her teacher told her that is just slightly disfunctional, but that's another post).
I am SO proud of my little girl! Wow, she was really not in the mood to learn her numbers up to 100 and her sight words and the alphabet backwards - but you know what? She did it. She has now experienced what it's like to do something you don't want to do and then reap the rewards of a job well done. I bought her a Juice Box that I've been saving for when she was finished with her test and I just gave it to her last night as a reward - she deserved it, she worked really hard. I hope this is a harbinger of things to come, although I'm sure they'll be plenty of challenges ahead. At least we've got our victory, I'm going to revel in it for a good while.

More adventures of the working mom . . .

I never quite feel like I have enough time to get any work done when I'm home with my kids - I always have grand plans of getting a bunch done and it just doesn't seem to happen. So, the other day when they were miraculously simultaneously occupied - one watching Sesame Street, the other coloring - I snuck off to my office for a look see at my emails. Of course they had been piling up and I was remiss on getting back to my co-workers on several action items .. .so I got sucked in and the next thing I know a 1/2 hour or more had passed . . .I would have gone blithely on if it weren't for the yells of my 5 year old - "mommy! mommy! Miles ate something! Miles ate something!" I rushed to find out what all the ruckus was about - oh. dear. Miles had somewhere found a Hershey's Kiss or two and managed to pop them into his mouth - wrappers and all - and then managed to mash them around and smear the saliva-gooey mess all over himself, the light yellow couch (I know, what AM I doing with a light yellow couch with two kids?!) and the carpet. Holy crap - what a mess. Mom gets to work a bit?? I think not. Pay the price lady.
Miles had a huge grin on his face - total delight - almost worth the mess . . .

My little Dracula . . .

Just love those teeth!