Mexico

I am finally blogging about our fabulous trip to Cancun. We had a great time. A loved spending time with her Daddy, aunts, uncle, and her D and Guy. The weather was perfect, the resort beautiful and I loved spending quality time with my family. We laid by the pool, swam in the Caribbean ocean, went scuba diving, went to Chitzen-itza, Xel-ha, and ate yummy Mexican food. My brother in law makes some mean guacamole and salsa! We missed M, L and little S but we are glad little S is here.


Bubble bath with Aunt Das.

Walk on the beach with Guy and D.


Chitzen-itza
Aunt R and Uncle R snorkeling in Casa Cenote.


Enjoying the beautiful pools! We had A wear a hat, a UV sun shirt, and 50 SPF sunscreen ALL THE TIME. We had to protect our little San Francisco baby from the sun she so rarely sees!
Guy (my Dad wants to be called Grande, but A calls him "Guy"), Aunt R and Uncle R hiding from the sun! It was so nice to be so close to the ocean while relaxing at the pool.

A loves her Daddy. On the airplane all she wanted was him (I didn't complain. I was able to read 150 pages in my book!). I am so grateful for how good he is with her. I love watching them together. They love each other so much. (A is blowing kisses to me while I was taking the picture.)


A checking out her litle footprints. She still got pretty tan even though we went through two big bottles of SPF 50 on her alone!


We had a great time. Thank you D and Guy for such a wonderful trip!

Adios

We are off to Cancun in the morning for a week of sunshine and relaxation. I don't know what the internet situation will be down there, so I will just post LOTS of pictures when I get back. In the mean time, keep looking at my beautiful niece. We will miss you Aunt Mimi and Gooke, but you gotta love that sweet S!!!!!

She's here!!!!

She is here! I have a niece! She is perfect!!! Sweet S was born yesterday at 12:11 pm weighing 7 pounds, 7 oz, and was 20.5 inches long. Isn't she beautiful?

Work hard, play hard...

WAHOOOOO!!!!!!! D's first year of school is finished! I have mixed feelings about how quickly the time is going, but one thing I know for sure....I LOVE SUMMER BREAK!!! D finished his last final last Friday morning and it has been non stop fun ever since. He came home, and we headed up to my family's house for my little sister's high school graduation. A member of my family has been attending that high school for the last 15 years! Not anymore. On Saturday, my sweet, over due pregnant sister called and offered to watch A so D and I could have a date day. We were all hoping that A would put her into labor. No such luck. However, D and I had a great day. We shopped at Nordstrom, ate lunch at the Nordstrom Cafe (I LOVE their California grill sandwich...the bread it is made on tastes like Sizzler cheese bread, need I say more?), and then went to see the The Waitress. It was such a fun day. Thank you so much Aunt Mimi. We finished off our prefect day with going to dinner with D's parents. A was so sleepy from her fun day with Aunt Mimi, Memor and Fafa, that she fell asleep on the way home.
D walking in the door after finishing his last final. We are officially second year dental students!

Congrats Aunt Das! We are so proud of you!
A wearing her new sunglasses we bought her that day. We love Nordstrom half yearly!

On Sunday we had our good friends over for dinner and to play games. I am so sad I don't have a picture. We have been playing games with J and K for the last three years. We would have dinner nights, movie night and game nights with them quite a bit and now they are moving away. It was a sad night. I am so happy for them, but so sad for us.

Yesterday my first niece was born. It was such a perfect day. (See other post) We celebrated D's birthday with his family last night. D's cousin, his wife and kids are visiting from Southern CA so they were able to join us. His wife and I took a dance class together in college (the last one I took before my one here in SF) and we randomly ended up marrying cousins! I love her. We have such a great time together. We went through some nursing school classes together, and she is why I am sane today! She let me draw her blood for the very first time. That is a true friend!

Today D's cousin, wife and kids came to hang out with us here in good 'ol SF. We went to Mama's for breakfast which inevitably means it will be a good day. We then took the kids to the Discovery Museum. The little girls are only six weeks apart and it was so cute watching them together. They loved each other and were so sweet together. While they kids napped, our fabulous husbands insisted that go shopping! We headed to Nordstom, Forever 21 and H&M...the one time that we can go shopping and there wasn't ONE thing for both of us! I found a dress for D's upcoming white coat ceremony, but poor Meg couldn't find anything. Ironic isn't it? Like Alanis Morissette said, "It's like rain on your wedding day, it's a free ride ride when you've already paid..." I would like to add one..."It's like when your husbands are home watching your babies and you are with your great friend you only get to see once a year and both of your husbands really wanted you to buy something for yourself, and there is nothing really cute to buy!" Sing about that Ms. Morisette.
Anyway, we brought home some Indian food and then took the kids for a walk. It was such a fun day!

I love summer break!

Milkshakes, karaoke and massages

I love this girl. I love milkshakes. I love sharing my milkshakes with this girl.


Karaoke baby. We had a karaoke party last Saturday night and it was a blast. A loved singing into the microphone. She sang, "E-I-E-I-O" over and over again. She was a hit! :)

Happy Birthday to us! For Mimi's birthday present, and an early birthday present for me, my Mom gave us a massage! Well, she didn't actually give us the actual massage, she gave us a certificate for a massage at a spa...you know what I mean. It was heavenly. I love getting massages. It was a great gift! This was after the massage. My masseuse did a great job on my scalp...can you tell? :) We were hoping the massage would put Mimi into labor, but no such luck. Probably because she doesn't even look pregnant in this picture. I don't think she can go into labor until she actually looks pregnant in pictures.

A's take on Henry David Thoreau

A can read. She has been reading for a couple of weeks, but I never was able to catch it on video until now. I am very impressed with my daughter, with me being able to capture it, and especially for me figuring out how to post it!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What it really says is, "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams" by Henry David Thoreau. That's right my sweet A, the world is all yours.

Happy Birthday Aunt Mimi!

Happy Birthday to my sweet sister, mom to be, and my A's Aunt Mimi. We love you and we are so excited for baby S to come. We are so grateful for all the love and support you show, and for how much you love A. Happy Birthday! This year will probably be the most life changing...in all the best ways possible. Love you.

80's Child

I have seen this email before, but it has been awhile (pre blogging days) and I thought it was so funny! I love #15 about Oregon Trail...when I taught fifth grade five years ago they were still playing (and loving) Oregon Trail!

YOU KNOW YOU GREW UP IN THE 80's or early 90's IF:

1. You know about and probably owned a Pound Puppy.
3. You can sing the rap to the "Fresh Prince of Belair "
4. You wore biker shorts under your skirts and felt stylish.
5. You yearned to be a member of the Baby-sitters Club, and tried to start a
club of your own.
6. You owned those lil' Strawberry Shortcake pals scented dolls.
7. You know that "WOAH " comes from Joey on Blossom.
8. Two words: M.C. Hammer
9. If you ever watched "Fraggle Rock ."
10. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars.
11. You can sing the entire theme song to "Duck Tales ".
12. When it was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch
cartoons.
13. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.
14. You saw the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles " on the big screen.
15. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at
school.
16. You made your mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a
knot on the side.
17. You played the game "MASH " (Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House)
18. You wore Jordache jean jacketand you were proud of it.
19. L.A. Gear....need I say more
20. You wanted to change your name to "JEM ".
21. You remember reading "Tales of a Forth Grade Nothing" and all the Ramona
books.
22. You know the profound meaning of "WAX ON, WAX OFF "
23. You wanted to be a Goonie.
24. You ever wore fluorescent clothing.
25. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell
off...
26. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
27. You took Lunch Pails to school.
28. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.
29. You still get the urge to! say "NOT " after every sentence.
30. You remember Hypercolor t-shirts.
31. Barbie and the Rockers was your favorite band.
32. You thought Sheera and He-Man should hook up.
33. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you
exchanged friendship bracelets.
34. You ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes.
35. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know you are,
but what am I? "
36. You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up "
37. You remember going to the skating rink before there were in-line skates.
38. You ever got seriously injured on a Slip and Slide.
39. You have ever played with a Skip-It.
40. You had or attended a birthday party at McDonalds.
41. You've gone through this nodding your head in agreement.
42. You remember Popples.
43. "Don't worry, be happy"
44. You wore like, EIGHT pairs of socks over tights with high top Reeboks.
45. You wore socks scrunched down.
46. "Miss MARY MACK MACK MACK, all dressed in BLACK BLACK BLACK "
47. You remember boom boxes vs. cd players.
48. You remember watching both "Gremlins" movies.
49. You know what it meant to say "Care Bear Stare!! "
50. You remember watching Rainbow Bright and My Little Pony Tales
51. You thought Doogie Howser was hot.
52. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac
53. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool.
54. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved by
the Bell ", the ORIGINAL class.
55. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - SHOT THRU THE HEART.
56. You just sang those words to yourself, didn't you?
57. You remember watching Magic vs. Bird.
58. You cut your t-shirts in half and wore it with your homemade Levi
shorts.. (the shorter the better)
59.You remember when mullets were cool!
60. You had a mullet!
61. You still sing "We are the World "
62. You "pegged " your pants ritually.
63. You tight rolled your jeans.
64. You know about Garbage Pail Kids
You're still singing "Shot Through the Heart" in your head arent you!!!

Weekend

We had a great weekend. Saturday morning we had a goodbye breakfast for all the couples who are moving away from San Francisco to start a new stage in their life. We have 16 families moving! It was a very bitter sweet morning. I am going to miss them so much, but I am so happy for them and all their new adventures they will be starting. Thank goodness for blogs so we can keep in touch! Little A had a great time playing in the doll house...can you tell?















We got a new lens for our camera, and I love it. A really, really wanted her water. What was your first clue?
















Memor, Fafa and Ritz came out to visit on Saturday night. We had a great time walking to dinner and just being together. They are so good to us, and we love when they come visit.














All four of my sisters were in town this weekend, so we went to my parent's house to celebrate Memorial Day. No Memorial Day is complete without a day at the pool, a very yummy BBQ, and quality family time. I am so grateful for all those who have sacrificed so much so that we can enjoy the freedoms we do.















COME OUT BABY S! My beautiful sister is due this week, and I can't wait to meet baby S! My sister did NOT want me to take this picture, but I told her too bad. I am so excited to get my first niece!

Discovering

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up."
~Pablo Picasso
A and I spent the morning at the Discovery Museum. I discovered many new things...the cafe there has a really good goat cheese and roasted vegetable panini, A is finally at the age where she likes to put on the crab costume in the Toddler Beach room, and I LOVE her wrists (see the above picture...aren't they so cute?). I have always known that I love her wrists, but I recently finished a book ("Memory Keeper's Daughter"...just an okay book) and in the book the Mom character is always wondering how her teenage boy grew up so fast. She misses his "chubby wrists" from when he was a toddler. I too, will miss my A's chubby, perfect wrists. In the meantime, I will just enjoy holding onto those chubby little hands and smothering them with lots of kisses.

Someday...

I love to dance. Nightclubs, weddings, in a church gym, on stage, anywhere, any kind of dance. I have not taken a dance class since before I got married, roughly about six years ago. I have all these "someday" dreams...someday I will take a flower arranging class, someday I will run a marathon, someday I will take a photography class, someday I will scrapbook (however, I am slowing giving up on that one), someday I will take a dance class again. Unfortunately, time does not stand still, and I knew I had to get going if my "someday" list was ever going to get any shorter. I overheard my very organized sister say, "I love crossing things off my to-do list." Well, I decided I was going to start crossing off things off my "someday" list, and actually do them. My dance class has changed lists. Dance class is now officially on my "Did it and LOVED it, can't wait to do it again, I was so sore I couldn't walk for four days, why didn't I do this sooner" list. I am taking an adult jazz class and absolutely love it. We are a group of adults who basically just love to dance. We are not fabulous, we do not always point our toes, our kicks are not as high as they used to be, but we leave the class feeling a sense of accomplishment, a little more empowered, and like we can sleep better that night knowing we accomplished something on our "someday" list. Why not make "someday" today?