Flowers, Chocolate, and a Crab

On Friday some other moms and I took our little ones to the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. Isn't it pretty? I think the outside looks fake, like something from the Wizard of Oz. A would make a really cute Dorothy, don't you think? I already feel like the tin man almost every day...if I only had a brain! The rule inside the Conservatory is no strollers, yet no touching, which to me is the biggest oxymoron. It was really neat inside. There were different rooms with different themes, and one room smelled so good it made us all hungry. Especially my little A who wanted some crackers. We had to go outside to eat them because if we didn't cockroaches would come (the worker inside let me in on this little secret). I must have looked mortified because she calmly reassured me and told me not to worry, for there were geckos inside that ate the cockroaches. Sick. We had a great time, and my left arm is stronger that it was on Thursday (I hold A on my left side 99% of the time). The weather was so beautiful and we had a great morning running around and playing on all the grass.

Saturday morning my friend K and I ran 10 miles. Now, I hate to sound brag-a-docious, but I am pretty darn proud of myself. I used to not be able three blocks, and I am not even exaggerating. I am training for another half marathon and it was our 10 mile Saturday. This Sat is 11 miles. Let's see if I live to tell about it. This is after our run drinking some Gatorade. I love Gatorade. The berry flavor is the best.

Today A and I went to go visit a friend of ours named Odette. Nobody knows how old Odette is, but I am guessing 92. She is the sweetest little French lady. When we went last month, Odette gave A a cookie. Today when I rang Odette's bell, A busted out with, "Cookie". I was shocked. What a great memory she has when it comes to food! She must have said, "cookie" 20 times while we were there. Odette broke out some Sees candy and let A rip into it. A ate WAY more chocolate then I would have liked, but Odette was laughing so hard watching the chocolate run down A's chin that I couldn't bring myself to stop the madness. All in the name of entertainment for a sweet old lady who doesn't own a TV, right?

After we left Odette's house, I headed to the Dr's with my daughter on a sugar high. It was A's 18 month check up today. My little noodle is 28 pounds and 33 inches (95% for height, and 90% for weight). A must have remembered how many shots she got last time we were there because the minute she saw the nurse she freaked out and cried the entire time the nurse was in the room. Lucky for A, no shots today! Lucky for mom too. I hate them as much as she does I think. A loved the pictures on the wall, especially the crab. She kept pointing it out. I love how she is on her tip toes. I think she'll be a dancer someday! :)

These Is My Words

One of my New Year's resolutions this year was to always be reading a book. When I finished one, I wanted to start another one right away. My favorite so far this year (well, actually one of my favorite books ever) has been "These Is My Words" by Nancy E. Turner.I know, I know, the title is SO bizarre, but it is such a great book. The first 60 pages are pretty slow, but after that I could not put it down. I would get headaches from reading so much, my eyes would ache, but I would push through so I could find out what happened to Sarah! I would highly recommend this book to anyone. This book was our book club book, and we got together this week to discuss this great book. I love book club...I loved discussing this book with girls I adore, and I LOVED the cookies and avocado egg rolls! By the way...this is my only New Year's resolution I have kept! Oh, and don't get confused, the sweet little girl on my lap is not A. I was just missing my little one so I had to borrow my friend's daughter!

My Heart Belongs in San Francisco

We had a perfect weekend. I love San Francisco. Friday night D and I went to dinner to celebrate our getting engaged anniversary (any reason to celebrate, I'll take it). We went to a really good Mexican place called Tres Agaves. It was rated one of the top 10 restaurants in SF for 2006. Saturday D had to get some work done in the lab so my fabulous sister in law came in for the day to hang out with A and me. We went down to the beach and enjoyed the sun and the water. Some of our friends were there and it was fun to see everyone. A loved the water. She could not get enough of the ice cold water hitting her legs...thank goodness for Aunt K, because I was a wimp and it took me a while to get out there to where my brave daughter was splashing around oblivious to the numbing water. She took a spill into the water and got all wet and I thought that would be the end of the water, but it only encouraged her. Off went her sweatshirt and skirt and back into the water she went. We had a great day at the beach and we are so glad Aunt K came to visit!

Sunday we went to visit my parents. A loves playing with everyone, and I love being able to take a nap while her aunts, uncle and grandparents play with her! What a lucky little girl to be able to play with so much family all the time, and what a lucky mom I am to have so much help.




Happy President's Day! D had the day off of school (gotta love the student life) so we took A to the SF Zoo. She loved it. Her favorites were the penguins, monkeys and bears. My favorite was watching D carry A on his shoulders and "hop hop hop" like a kangaroo. We really wore A out because she came home and took a four hour nap! After she finally decided to wake up, we went and had some yummy steaks for dinner. No, not at Ruth's Chris...even better! We have some Canadian friends and it is Family Day in Canada instead of Presidents Day, so they organized a BBQ for our "school family". It was a perfect way to end the perfect weekend.

Six years ago today...

Six years ago today D and I got engaged! We were living in Utah at the time, I was going to school and he was applying for business school. February 16th, 2001 was also a Friday night.D's sister was coming into town so the plan was to go to Salt Lake, pick up his sister and then head to my friend's wedding reception. Once we got to the airport, D had me go inside to wait for his sister while he circled the car outside. While I was waiting, I felt someone come from behind me and give me a big hug. It was D and he had a dozen roses, and two packed suitcases. I was VERY confused. He took my hand and just said, "Let's go."I had a million questions like where are we going?, where is your sister?, but he wouldn't answer any of them. We had designed my ring together and the ring store told us it wouldn't be done for at least another two weeks. I thought D had planned the trip hoping to get engaged, but since the ring wasn't done we were just going on a fun trip. We flew to Oakland, and our rental car was waiting for us. I felt so excited, but a little disappointed because I really wanted to get engaged and I thought the ring wasn't done. D blindfolded me and drove me to a beautiful lookout of San Francisco, where ironically we now live. It was there that he asked me to marry him, and of course (and obviously) I said yes. He then pulled my ring out of him pocket. It was finished! The ring store had to work extra hours to get it done in time, but they promised D it would be done for Feb 16th and they delivered. We then drove to D's parents and knocked on their door and surprised them with our visit, and with our good news. We then drove to my parent's house and totally surprised them as well. Our families got together on Sunday night to meet each other and start planning the wedding. It was a perfect way to get engaged. I love Dave six times more today than I did on that day, and my love will just keep growing.

L is for LOTS of cute kids on Valentine's Day!

I love Valentine's Day. It is a great excuse to wear lots of pink, eat lots of candy and tell everyone how much you love them. We had a great day yesterday. A and I had a "first"... I painted her fingernails and toenails for the first time. Why have I not been doing this for the last 18 months? She loves her "pittie" (pretty) nails. We then headed off to a fabulous playgroup party where A's friend had pink toes too! We overdosed on sugar, (in the picture A is doing her sign language for "more"...more cookies, more candy, more "text me" conversation hearts), exchanged valentines and even the moms got to bring home a valentine that everyone wrote on telling them why they loved them. It was a perfect morning. A and I then headed off to the school to visit Dad for lunch. I met up with some friends there, and we had planned a valentines surprise our husbands would never forget. We had made tee shirts for our kids that said, " I love Daddy ____" (fist name inserted there) and each mom printed out a picture of their husband for their kid to hold. It was like a crazy airport scene. Lots of little kids holding up pictures of their dad while 140 students walked out of their classroom. It was hysterical.
All is all it was a perfect day spent with those we love.

Party on...

Usually our weekends are not very exciting, but thank goodness on my first official "blog weekend" I have something cool to write about. Friday night was Family Fun Night at the school so we went and had a fun time eating lots of ice cream, licorice, sugar cookies and popcorn. The wives had a great time talking (mostly about blogs ironically enough), and the dentists-to-be had a great time "practicing their hand skills" by playing Halo.



We celebrated my father-in-law's 60th birthday on Saturday. We had a sock hop theme party for him. It was so much fun. I have always wanted a poodle skirt and my very talented sister-in-law made matching ones for us! The party was a huge success with lots of great food (my little girl so kindly fed me some of her cake), dancing, karaoke, and fabulous decorations. My parents came to celebrate the big 6-0 and it was fun to have so much family all together in the same room (wearing poodle skirts)!

Party, party, party!!!

While the rain is annoying because we can't be outside and go to the park, it is nice because it makes us think of lots of fun things to do inside with our friends. Yesterday we went and had a "pretty party" at our friend's house. A calls the barrettes we put in her hair "pretties". My cousin taught me how to make them, so A and I had a fun morning with our friends making pretties. A loves her friend!


I love Thursdays! Last night we had a party to celebrate the wedding of Phylis and Bob Vance (from Vance Refrigeration) on The Office. I love that show. When are Pam and Jim going to get together?!?! Oh, and could Michael be any more awkward?

TGIF, and a rainy one at that. This morning we had a breakfast pajama party to celebrate the upcoming weekend. We are so grateful for all our fabulous friends.

Life by the Bay

So, I never understood all the hoopla about blogs, and then my friend here in the city started one, and has convinced me to start one about our little family. I hope you enjoy reading about our Life by the Bay...

Here are some of our highlights from 2007...

One last outing before D started back to school. Ice cream run to Ghirardelli. Yummy

A spending some quality time with Dad making cinnamon rolls. Yummy... Our life seems to revolve around eating. :)

My Dad had both knees replaced so A and I went up and spent some time with him. We are so lucky to live so close to lots of family!

Jelly Belly Factory! We took the kids on the tour (what were we thinking????) and of course mine had a major meltdown. Many, many bags of goldfish, and lots of samples later, we headed off to my parents house so the kids could take a nap while us moms enjoyed the luxuries of a backyard and drive through fast food.

All you can eat soup, salad and bread sticks! My kind of lunch, and my kind of company. We have been doing this playgroup since our babies were six weeks old. What would I do without these girls (and their fabulous kids) in my life?

Girls Night! I love the other dental wives. We have such a great time together, and everyone is always up for staying out really late, talking and eating lots of yummy treats.

A is obsessed with dogs, so I took her to see some puppies. She loved them, and I must admit, they are pretty cute.

Jack pot. Messy diaper?



Tired blue eyes. I love this girl, and this boy.


A beautiful sunny day at the beach. A loves going to watch the "dawwgies", and I love having such a great backyard! Life is good...