Swimsuit HELP!!!

Alright all you fashion forward ladies, where do you find your awesome swimsuits? My two best finds were at Macy's in 2004 and Motherhood Maternity in Utah in 2007. I swear you guys always look great, so where do you go for such great finds?
My pick:

You can find it at shadeclothing.com and they are having a 25% discount sale until Tues. The suit has an underwire top and it's a more vibrant blue than the photo indicates. Happy suit shopping and thanks for all the advice!

Gotta Love Messes with Kids

Hmmm...I am not the cleanest person so I feel a little hypocritical posting this. Something comes over my sweet angelic children every once in awhile (or every few hours) that makes them want to create organized chaos on my living room floor...such was the case here:

Oops, she's on to us. Save yourself!

Nothing our trusty Mom can't handle

See she still loves us!

Christmas+Birthday+Valentines=Wicked

Nate decided he met all of these and perhaps our anniversary in June as well by taking me to see Wicked at the Orpheum theater in San Francisco this weekend. We had such a great time alone as a couple (thank you thank you thank you Collette) on our drive and at the play. Our tickets came with access to the VIP room and free drinks. Basically that meant we could order Orange juice and sit on a plush purple couch during intermission and prior to the opening scene.
I'm not a diehard Wicked fan or anything but this is the second time I have seen Wicked on Broadway (I would have been equally pleased to see something new). It was fun to compare the Orpheum to New York's show of Oct 07. This one definately had a California sunglasses feel to it. From what I can remember, Cali's had a higher emphasis on dance with multiple exciting lifts whereas New York's characters had perhaps stronger voices. I did enjoy both equally well and it was fun to bump into Nate's co-resident, Heidi and her sister Holly at the showing. Oh it was just so nice to get dressed up to go out on the town with Nate. He really came through for a great evening. Thanks Babe.


*****Ooh! I forgot! Madame Morrible was played by Carol Kane. I loved her in the Princess Bride and Scrooged. You may recall her line "I'm not a witch I'm your wife!"
My favorite lyrics are from the song For Good:
I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return

CANDIES!!!!

Yesterday, well that's pretty much what I heard Katelyn say repeatedly for the 40 min. tour of the Jelly Belly Candy Company. Nate has been working in Oakland for the last month and we decided to make use of the commute and have him join us on our excursion. Murphy's Law, "If you plan for it, it won't happen" well Nate had to stay late that day...Nonetheless our enthusiasm couldn't be squashed.
Giant inflatable Jelly Beans
+ Floating balloons
+ Candy everywhere
= Happy girls.
All in all it was 1 hr 20 min commute to Fairfield and 1 hr 10 min coming back (thank heavens for the carpool lane!).
Hmm...not sure yet why we were in the car so long Mom...(they slept anyway)

Entrance of JB Factory with Portraits of Ronald Reagan made from 14,000 jelly belly candies.

Katelyn taking it all in

Sarah's Enthusiasm for her Factory Hat...on the floor where it belongs

Jammin' out with the Chipmunks on the way home-Katelyn is wearing a seatbelt with her booster seat it's just out of the photo!
***Side note: Ronald Reagan started eating licorice flavored Jelly Bellies to help him kick his tobacco habits and required a bowl at every executive meeting.

A Poor Man's Rollercoaster

Nate had President's Day off so we went into the city for a day trip. It was a rainy, chilly day so we stayed in the car for most of it. We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and looked around Sausalito. We had lunch at Boudin for some delish chilli soup bowls, sougherdough bread pizza, and chocolate croissant. Katelyn entertained herself by listening to her playlist on my ipod and singing for the rest of us. We took a trip up to Coit tower and almost got stuck in the big puddle in the parking lot, and then took Lombard's winding street. Katelyn kept calling out, "Wow! The car is falling down!" over and over as we went down. She wanted to go again and again...

Driving down Lombard Street

View from Coit Towers of Lombard Streets swervy part

Brightly painted Townhomes (you know you're in San Fran when...)

Katelyn's serenade

Valentines Cha-Cha

Yep Nate and I went to a grownup ballroom dance for Valentines. We took the girls over to the Cortese's home for a night of icecream cupcakes, Enchanted, hair salon, and fingernail pampering (they didn't miss us for a second) and enjoyed a night as a couple. Being on the activities committee, we helped decorate the gym with twinkle lights and made 40 chocolate dipped strawberries. Oh, but we received so much more than we put in. Desiree Fox's dance ensemble put on a ballroom dance show that was really amazing and then she proceeded to instruct us in the Cha Cha and Foxtrot dances. We certainly weren't the fanciest couple on the dance floor but we had so much fun!


Maryanne's exquisite hair designing talents:


Grandma Starley sent the girls some Valentine loves but Katelyn quickly decided it was only intended for her...

Breakfast Muffins

Katelyn has turned into our best Muffin Maker. She stirs, separates the cups, and assists with spooning the batter into each paper cup. Sunday breakfasts have become more elaborate and Sunday dinners more meager due to our current 1:00 church schedule.

Coach's Corner

So I innocently asked the ladies at playgroup if there was organized basketball and somehow it ended with Nate coaching the Elders Quorum Team. Oops. Things have been great on the early nights. We create a little space for the kids to play, the mom's visit and try to catch a few glimpses of the action. Last week I must have chased Katelyn 5 times from the court but one missed second and she got caught in the pack of 10 sweaty dads (Mom, I don't know how you managed to keep me safe all those years during Dad's games...). Luckily Nate was one of them and he deposited her safely to her otherwise unaware mother (to my defense Sarah was sitting on my lap and I was reading to a group of kids).
Here's a trophy photo of Nate's ankle

***Nate played the following Tuesday heartily in Greg's ankle brace...

Printed Blog

Yes! I got our blog back from the printers recently. It's fun to page through and see the changes in our family and laugh about past experiences. This year's was a doozy of volume. Whew! It took about 4 hours to copy/paste everything into Word and rearrange it chronologically. Then I uploaded it into Lulu.com, designed the cover, and waited patiently for the postman. I tried a few other companies that do the work for you and/or design it more appealingly but none presented a viable option. Blog2Print had a 350 photo max discrepancy which meant multiple books for the year. Blurb.com required a 32 bit screen to use their software program and my monitor processes at 28 bit or something. Afterwards I also heard Blurb.com doesn't work with Blogger...and after that I sort of gave up. Faithful Lulu came through and here is the final copy:
Comparison with 2007 and comments section

inside layout and cover

Sarah's 1 year checkup

Sarah's coming in at a blossoming 17.5 lbs and 29 in. which keeps her proportinately in the 5th percentile. While there I was chatting with Dr. Halpin about the fun and unique interests in the two girls. She responded with a flippant, "It's funny how those genetics can jumble up and create so many different combinations." I was quiet while considering her statement on the drive home. Sure genetics have a hand in the makeup of the body of a human but I believe it is the spirit inside those bodies that radiates their true personalities.
As sweet and caring of a physician as Dr. Halpin is, I still miss Dr. Caterina. Despite a few snafoos he was always engaged with our girls but perhaps that connection only comes when the pediatrician has been with the family from day one...? I don't know. When we would come for our visits he would tell us insights into his life as well. I remember when he told us about his new home and the dogs somehow got out and chewed up all the molding. We made him a sign for a housewarming gift that said "Love is Spoken Here." He was touched and then whispered to us as though we were co-conspirators, "I would hang it in the office but it's just not true somedays. I guess I will have to take it home and display it there."
I don't mean to harp on our Ped because I really like her and she does have a motherly tenderness with the girls. It's just different because she is a different person and it makes me appreciate attributes of other doctors who've previously taken watch over the girls.

Sarah's First Birthday

Accomplishments for Sarah:
1. Walking (she took 24 consecutive steps last night so I consider her a walker now).
2. Graduated from Formula to Whole Milk
3. Says Hi, mama, dada (okay that's a stretch but she has said them each once)
4. Smiles at the camera, laughs, and wants to play with other kids

We just love this little girl. She has so much energy that she bursts with joy sometimes. When she took her first few steps these last two weeks she would get so proud of herself and shake her arms and next thing I knew she had toppled right over. I guess she's aiming to be a gymnist. Her favorite things are de-shelving books - in fact we gave her a free for all at the bookcase for her birthday, Mickey Mouse, being held by Mom (and dad too), Goodnight Moon, Grapes/Cheese, but most of all splashing in the bath. She's quite content in the stroller for hours at a time and can't get enough of the sing song Skinna Marinky Dinky Dink, I Love You.

We had a Mickey Cupcake Cake and icecream at Serra Park with friends today. The older girls cuddled with Sarah like she was the little doll and let her follow them around as we chased/popped balloons. We made keepsake handprints and took advantage of the playground equipment for our entertainment. Thanks to the Sinsay, Parent, Collins, Adamson, Arnes, Larsen, and Yamagata families for making our day so special.
The fun was not over because our friend Jon Naseath was celebrating his 30th birthday as well. We joined them at Golfland for some awesome minigolf and pizza. Katelyn was all about trying to swim in the waterways and climbing into the little "houses" as we progressed through the course. We witnessed Jodee score a free game by hitting the tiniest tubing on the 19th hole...it can be done. What a great day!

Mickey Cupcake Cake

Lighting of the Cake - We were trying to keep the wind from blowing out the candle.

Yummy!

Sarah as the center of attention!

Problem-Solved

We've had a bit of a struggle with our downstairs neighbors which is sad really. When we first moved in they brought us cookies (who does that in apartments, right?) Lately the thin floorboards have been a bit much for them to handle with the pitter patter of 4 little feet. At least the girl's room is over the carport so they can be as loud as they want in there. We've had intermittent rainy days so we invested in an inflatable jump-o-lene for Sarah's birthday to give them somewhere to jump to their little hearts content.
How my girl's express themselves:

Sarah sorting my sorted laundry pile

Peek-a-boo out of the closet

Happy in the Jumpin' Pit

Sisterly Loves

One Happy Mama