Happy Anniversary

Kent and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary this weekend. FYI, we will have been together for 15 years this fall, now that is impressive!. Grandma Connie generously agreed to babysit our girls while Kent and I went out, that's right, all by OURSELVES! What a treat! We went to our favorite Mexican restaurant and enjoyed dinner on the patio. We were scolded when we returned home at 8:30, but we had been gone for three whole hours, and at the end of the day, we love being home with our family!



We took pictures of each other at dinner. Silly, but whatever.

Bubbles

Sophie had her first experience with bubbles thanks to Grandma. She has an amazing amount of stamina when it comes to entertaining our kids.

Santa Monica

Grandma Connie arrived last Thursday for a fun filled (packed) weekend: Father's Day activities, anniversaries, and graduation events. We took her to Santa Monica on Saturday for a walk and a little shopping.

Slip and Slide

Ethan invited Maddie over earlier this month to try out the slip and slide she gave him for his birthday. The sliding part turned out to be a bit difficult, but as you can see, both girls clearly had a good time!

Father's Day 2007

An early Father's Day gift for an incredible father. I hope you enjoy it.

Saturday

I went to dinner this evening with two of my girlfriends. While we get together frequently with our kids, going out without them is pretty rare. I had a great time, and the kids had fun with Daddy, too. It looks like they must have played pretty hard while I was away because they are down for the count!

Eight Months and Counting

Sophie is eight months old! She is starting to crawl; she can get up on her hands and knees, but only goes backwards. She likes to feed herself and eats some table foods: bananas, peas, and carrots. She's a great sleeper, but an early riser. She is looking forward to spending a lot of time with her mommy this summer, only 10 more days of the school year!

Sophie Loves Barney

Sophie loves Barney, or at least this Barney book.

Park #2

After feeding the ducks, we went to a second park where the girls could play. Maddie requested I post this picture of her looking like a monkey.


Sophie apparently likes the park swing as much as the one in our yard. Here you can see her two little teeth.

Park #1

Today I took the girls to two different parks. At the first one, we, well just Maddie, fed the ducks. I kept trying to get Sophie to notice them and acknowledge that this was a special event, but she was oblivious.

Am I supposed to be excited about this? I am too cute to care!


Maddie kept shaking her bag of bread and calling, "Here duckies, I have some bread for you." Then she couldn't figure out why they wouldn't come close to her.

Pics of the Week

Madeline is resting peacefully after a day without fevers and only a few crying episodes. I think she is on the road to recovery.


Look at this sleepy head! She fell asleep in the swing this week, and although she looked a bit uncomfortable, I took some pictures anyway.


With a few adjustments, she seems to be resting a little easier.

Sick Maddie!

Well, we had an excellent run of good health with both kids since taking Maddie out of preschool. Then last Friday I took Maddie to work with me, and she has been out of commission ever since. It started Tuesday with a phone call from Betty who said Maddie was crying and wouldn't eat. Kent picked her up, she promptly threw up in the car and had a temperature of 102.5 when they arrived at the urgent care. She was diagnosed with a stomach virus, but hasn't thrown up since. Wednesday she began to complain of a sore throat, so Kent took her to our regular doctor where she was diagnosed with Hand-foot-mouth disease. I guess it is a common virus, although she has nerer had it before. So she continues to battle her fever which is worrisome because it is too painful for Maddie to swallow anything, including tylonel or motrin. She has had crying (did I say crying? I really meant screaming) episodes round the clock for the past 24 hours. She is miserable: feverish, unable to eat or drink without screaming, drooling, and coughing. Kent has been caring for her since Tuesday, but I am going to stay home with her today. I am up early to go to work to prepare sub plans and take Sophie to daycare. So far, Sophie isn't acting sick; I am keeping my fingers crossed that she and the rest of us will be spared!

Weekend Barbeque

Guess who?


It's Milo! Milo and his parents joined us for a pre-Memorial Day barbeque yesterday.



It appears that Sophie enjoys swinging as much as her big sister, Madeline.

Almost There!

Sophie has really started trying to get from point A to point B, and she is almost there! She gets a bit frustrated because when she tries to crawl, she can really only scoot backwards.



Sophie with her coach and biggest cheerleader:

Maddie's Day at Work

My work had our annual "Take Your Kid To Work Day." So, Maddie being 3 months shy of her 4th birthday, I decided to bring her along. She had a great time and quickly bonded with the kids in my class. Here are some of the highlights:



Maddie works on her California state standards:


Maddie takes her spelling test:

Maddie and Ethan

Since Ethan came to work with his Mommy, Maddie got a chance to hang out with one of her best friends.

Here they are about to start their long day at middle school. Welcome to the world of sixth grade!


Break time! Here they are on a break and on their way for a snack.


They played soccer to let off steam and relax. Sixth grade can be pretty tough!

Monday Morning

Here are some pictures from Monday morning.

Good Morning!


Maybe you'll hear me better if you come in a little closer!


Check out my piano playing. I'm really groovin!

Bathtime Fun

Two girls, one bath. Finally, Sophie can just sit in the tub with Maddie. Madeline and I played beauty shop, and we gave Sophie a cool new do.

Welcome Dagney!

Welcome Dagney Maria! Madeline and Sophie have a new cousin; she arrived May 20th and weighs 7 pounds 8 ounces. We can't wait to see a picture that shows her red hair! We love you already, Kent, Jenny, Maddie, and Sophie. Congratulations!

Bedtime Baby

She looks sleepy, right? It doesn't look like it, but it is Sophie's bedtime. The reason she looks so happy is I have given up on my attempts to keep her up past 7:00. She will fuss, fuss, fuss until I put her into her crib. Then she's like, "Thanks Mom!" If only Maddie would retire early so easily!

The Beach

Mother's Day 2007

After roses, cards, and coffee in bed, we all went to the beach to celebrate Mother's Day. We had a great time enjoying the sun, playing in the sand, and splashing in the surf. Kent and Maddie went pretty far out (for a 3 year old), but I couldn't take any pictures since Sophie was napping at the time. Kent and I finally figured out how to keep Maddie still for 5 minutes; see for yourself!

ACDC Baby

This remains our all time favorite video; Maddie getting down to ACDC before she was even able to walk. It was taken with our old camera, obviously.

Sophie Eating/Maddie Singing

Here's my first attempt at posting a video with our new camera. It doesn't work on my computer, but maybe it does on yours.

Water Babies

Today I decided to see if Sophie would like to play in the pool with Madeline, so I put the saucer in, too. Madeline and I thought it was a fabulous idea, but Sophie disagreed. Madeline had a grand time splashing around all by herself.

Seven Months

Sophie is seven months old today!



Look closely, maybe you can see her tooth.

May

Just your average Saturday afternoon . . .



I just assumed my kids would see the other as the enemy . . . What a pleasant surprise; they actually like each other!

A Tooth!

Sophie is getting her first tooth! I have been checking her gums every day for the past few weeks, and last night I struck gold! I could feel the tippy-top of one of her bottom teeth just breaking through! Yeah!