Shake, Rattle & Roll

Mini is officially a California Baby--she experienced her first earthquake the other day, and handled it with grace and poise. Clearly, I have a well adjusted baby.

It was centered in the south bay, but we felt it all the way up in SF. We were up visiting Auntie Jo-Jo, who is quite smitten with Beezie.

Beezie was in Auntie Jo-Jo's room when the earthquake hit--Jo-Jo was trying on her Pajama Jeans for me.

She got them for Christmas. They're pajamas! They're jeans! They're Pajama Jeans!! Don't front--you know you want a pair, too. I'm convinced. I need a pair. And when you see my fine lookin' boo-tay, you'll know I got them.

Moving on. Logan totally wised up and realized that B is a food source, usually in the form of barfed up milk. He doesn't really have what I would call a discriminating palette. They are now fast friends.

We also spent some time with Nana Lana--she's my Aunt from San Jose. She's in love-love-love with B, so she offers to babysit and get her baby fix, which is a total lifesaver. I have her coming on Friday so I can go to Costco. We have exactly 1/2 roll of toilet paper left. Hope it holds until then.

B also spent a little time with one of her boyfriends at his house, and got to roll around on his playmat. Apparently, his playmat is better than ours, since she spent a good chunk of the morning on it, but whines like an abandoned orphan when she's on ours by herself.


She is also taking fashion risks like her daddy--note the flashy yellow socks. Clinton and Stacy would totally approve.
We also hit up Rancho San Antonio with Hayley and Tinger. The air was crisp, but we got moving on the trail, then took some time at the farm to let the kids mingle and play.

I am still thrilled with my free jogger--Thanks again, Amber! Lancer fixed the front wheel, putting his years of working in a bike shop as a teen to good use for me. It's about time his sordid BMX past comes in handy for me!





I'll see you all soon--in my Pajama Jeans, of course.

Party Shed Overhaul

It all started innocently enough. My friend April had given me 4 garbage bags of clothes last Thursday to sort through for B. She had a ton of stuff in all different sizes, so I made a huge mess in the living room sorting it all by size.

I ran to Target, got a few bins, and then sorted and organized all of the clothes. I was so proud of my hard work and organizational skills. Yay me! But my luck was about to change.

I went out into the shed (where the clothing bins had to go) and saw this horrible mess

More mess

I totally qualified for an episode of Hoarders. Though, in my defense, I had gotten lazy this last year when I was fat and prego, and things had fallen into disarray. Add a new baby and a jam packed holiday schedule into the mix, and my craptastic shed is what you get. I was one ashamed party girl. Especially after I spent so much time working on the outside.

So I decided to pull **everything** out and start over from scratch. I quickly realized that one of my biggest problems was the extra roll of carpet against the wall. It prevented me from putting bins all the way against the shed wall, so I got a razor blade and went nuts.

I ripped all of the extra carpet out by myself at 10pm, in the freezing cold weather. I'm a dedicated party girl.

Then I brought out the ShopVac and cleaned up all of the carpet fibers and debris--looking much better already!

Slowly, but surely, I made progress. Hour after hour in the freezing cold. I logged about 20 hours on this project.

And--drumroll--the finished Party Shed!

My totally organized rack--it now houses my China, jars, glasses platters, plates, bowls, serving pieces, and glass beverage jars. Yes, I said jars. I have 2 of them. One is country, and one is classic. Don't judge me.

Here are all of my matching bins. They are all sorted, organized, and labeled. I have all of Blake's clothes sorted. So when she hits her next clothing milestone, I can just grab the bin of clothes and put the clothes right into her dresser after clearing out (and binning) the old clothes.


Okay, NOW I am proud of my party shed, and organizational skills. Stop by sometime and ask me where something is. I dare you.

Doing the Do

We've been busy little bees. I find that I need to get out of the house every day or I go stir crazy. I'm a busybody--always have been , always will be. I have been researching music classes, library hours, gyms, museums, etc trying to find fun options for each day. It's fun getting out and staying busy.

I got a free jogging stroller from my friend Amber, and started hitting the local trails around here. I've been doing a weekly stroller hike with friends--it's with a local non-profit group dedicated to get your kids outdoors. And it's been sunny and beautiful here!


We bundle up and hit the trails. It's good for B to get fresh air, and it's good for me to get moving. I wear my fancy Skecher's Shape Ups, and they trick me into thinking I am working on a Heidi Klum behind as I walk.

My good friend Kristine joined me when we hit the Baylands in Santa Clara.

B is now freely giving smiles to everyone she meets. She's a happy and mellow baby.

She recently found her tongue as well

We stopped in to see the Ford family--I was a nanny for their family when I was 20. Their daughter Hillary was 5 when I met her. She's now 20, and a junior in college. She thinks it's weird that I have a baby, and I think it's weird that she can almost legally drink.


Poor, poor Logan. He has been so neglected. He ran by and left a stinky whiff behind him--ugh. I took him in to the pet washing place. For $15 you get to hook your dog into a little pet tub, shampoo and then dry them. He hates it.

To make up for it, I bought him a new dog bed and a fancy new green tag with my updated phone number. He forgave me.

Despite all of her good qualities, Beezie has 2 very naughty habits.

Stealing my milkshakes....just kidding about this one. But I love this pic.

And watching TV. This is Lancer and Beezie taking in a show.

She is a total TV junkie! Well, she tries to be. We catch her watching the boob tube all the time. We now have to block her view with a pillow so she won't rot her brain. This Momma ain't gonna raise no fool.

Join us for some of our adventures...if you can catch us!

Ringin in the New Year

I am not sad to say goodbye to 2010. Goodbye big belly, bum leg, and pregnancy stress. Hello cute and fun baby!!


We got roped into "chaperoning" the stake dance. I agreed, but secretly planned on abandoning my post and dancing my little legs off the first chance I got. Unfortunately, Hayley kept a close watch on us, and made us dish up popcorn and candy to the kids at the concession stand instead. I made it fun by demanding that the kids dance for their candy.

\

Lance shoveling the overly salted and kind of burnt popcorn like a good little boy

After our shift was done, it was too late to go to a real club or party so we stuck around and showed off our fancy NYE wares. Note Lance's fly $12 shoes.

We decided to show the kids how it's done and busted a move on the dance floor.

Welcome 2011! I greet you with open arms!!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

We spent Christmas Eve with Team Gray and Tinger. It was a serious Babyfest.

Lance, Louis and Tinger sporting the year's cutest accessories!

Team Tinger with Colin

We spent the night chilling and playing with the babies before our delicious dinner

Playing with the 2 babies--Braden was born 3 weeks before Mini, and is one of B's potential boyfriends. There are several contenders.

Colin playing on the rocking horse---WHEE!

Mini got snuggly with Braden in his crib

Time for dinner--we had a serious spread. Ham, squash bake, Jell-o, creamed corn, and salad.

Lance became Edward Wooden Hands and dished up the salad. The real treat in this photo is Tinger's face.

Sarah hit the bottle and got the party s-t-a-r-t-e-d! She sneaked in and cleared out all of the glasses. Good thing it was just sparkling cider.

Things got really crazy when we broke into the Diet Coke stash and put the techno on. We danced with our babies for hours as Louis controlled the music.

The lovely ladies from the evening

Thanks for hosting the dinner Gray family! We had so much fun with you guys. Can't wait for the St. Patrick's Day TechnoFest! Mark your calendars, people. And start planning your leprechaun outfit now--that party will be epic!