Prima Ballerina (well kinda)

I love living vicariously through my three year old daughter. I always wanted (and I'm not going to lie, still do) want to wear a big tutu and dance around to pretty music. Thank you to Mallory who is teaching our little girls ballet lessons once a week. The moms stay out in the foyer during the lesson but of course we peek in. My daughter is the one who looks like a dog peeing on a fire hydrant when she tries to do a scale. Oh well. Plenty of years to improve that. Thank you Rocia for the craft girls night. I MADE that tutu. Impressive, I know. With my crafty friend around, I can do anything!

Aquarium of the Bay

Last week, Angela, Addi and I took our kids to the Aquarium of the Bay. The kids had a great time doing the tango while walking to the aquarium,looking at the sharks, the one eyed fish (diiiss-gusting!), and attempting to touch the sting rays with ONE FINGER. Joshua had a great time taking snooze in our fabulous new stroller while the rest of us enjoyed the aquarium and then tore apart the gift shop. Thank you Angela for taking us with your pass!
After the aquarium Addi and I decided we didn't want to cook dinner so we took the kids to Boudins for pizza. It was then that Audrey informed me she doesn't like the skin of her pizza (the crust).

Christmas in September

Wahoooo! Now that my baby is six months old, I finally decided on what double stroller I wanted. After many hours of research, I decided to go with the Phil and Teds. I love how it is narrow like a single, but I always have the option of putting both kids in it. Thank you to all who contributed toward my group gift (The stroller). I am obsessed with it! Dave and I stayed up until 1 am putting it together. The next morning I was excied to have Audrey and Joshua try it out. We took it down to Chestnut St to get donuts for breakfast (but first we had Audrey put on something that matched).

I hope you don't mind...

...I hope you don't mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is, now that you're in the world

-Elton John

Six months

Joshua is six months old, where does the time go? What did I do without him in my life? Did I really not kiss those checks 100,000 times a day? Did I really not get to look in his big brown eyes and wonder what he is thinking? Did I really not get to watch Audrey be so sweet with him?
I think this age is my favorite. He is old enough to interact, but not old enough where he is mobile and I have to worry about him eating the dust bunnies off my floor.
At six months, Joshua:
*loves to blow "raspberries"
*snuggle
*laugh at Audrey
*still loves "The Wheels on the Bus"
*loves to kick his legs and listen to the noise it makes in his bed
*like his sister, loves to sleep with a burp cloth ("burpy") next to his face
*rolls both ways, and almost prefers being on his stomach
*is such a happy, content chill little man

My sweet Joshua, I have a crush on you.

Audrey at six months.

Audrey and Joshua. Joshua 6 months, Audrey 3 years and 1 month

Same noses, same chin

Dancing Queens

For LaDonna's 30th birthday, we decided to go dancing. We went to Bimbos to see Tainted Love, a band that covers 80's music. I got a cocktail straw in my hair, Mithona almost got molested, LaDonna almost got caught in the mix with some nasty couple, we all got super sweaty from all the people all jammed so tightly together, but we had a great time.

Sara's big 3-0

My sister, Sara, turned 30 on August 24th. Her husband, Ben, surprised her and flew her home for her birthday. Great job Ben!
They flew into SF on Sat and then shopped all day. That night we went out to dinner at Boudins. Doing what we do best, eating.

We then walked to Ghirardelli for some ice cream and couldn't pass up the trolley car picture opportunity.

I still can't have dairy so that is why I am eating a big bowl of maraschino cherries (I LOVE them). I used to be the best cherry-stem-knot-tie person around. Dave and Ben challenged me to a match, and let's just say I am still the best around.

On Sunday we had a big dinner at my parents house and every single member of my family was there. That was the only time this year that will happen. Even my grandparents were in town! Grandpa Great and Joshua

Uncle Ben teaching Audrey how to have her dolls kiss. Just what I need...

The entire fam with grandparents

My entire family

The original six plus Audrey and Savy

My beautiful mom with her five daughters and two granddaughters

Just the girls

It was a fun, fun weekend. Happy birthday Sara!

Joshua's new favorite toy...

Give him the boppy, the lighty-uppy toy, the stuffed horse, the (fake) loaf of bread, even the hanger, but all this boy wants is the spoon. I'm sure he is thinking, "If only there was a huge scoop of ice cream on here." At least that's what his mama thinks every time she sees an empty spoon...

The ant and the grasshopper

OLD VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.

The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Work hard and be responsible for yourself.

---------------------- ---------------------

MODERN VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast.

How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'

Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, 'We shall overcome.' Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.

Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti -Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.

Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients.

The ant loses the case.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow.

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2008

Resting from our Labors

I love three day weekends, especially when it is a Monday off. There is something so wonderful about a Sunday night knowing your spouse gets to be home with you the next day. Our Labor Day weekend was just about perfect. On Saturday morning we went to the temple and then came home and all took snoozes. Then we went up to the Corte Madera shopping center. We stopped at Boudins Bakery and got bread and peanut butter cookies for dinner (healthy, I know). We then walked down through the outdoor shopping center and let Audrey play in all the fountains while we ate. The weather was perfect and since there was no school on Monday, Dave didn't have to worry about studying or doing any projects. That night Dave and I put the kids to bed and watched "House" (we never watched it on tv, so we are renting all the seasons. We just finished season three. I really like it). On Sunday we went to Church and then had Jamie, Dallas, Megan and Nando over for dinner. On Monday Dave let me sleep in (I didn't move until 9:30! I felt like a new person!) and then Memor and Fafa drove in to visit. The weather was so nice so we walked down to the beach and flew a kite.

While we were at the beach we saw dolphins in the water just off the shore. It was so neat. Looking for them...

She found them!

There are two in this picture, but there were at least three or four in the water.

It was a great Labor Day weekend and I'm just glad I wasn't in labor.

Out of the mouths of my babes...

Some of Audrey's antics are a little outdated, but I didn't want to forget them. She makes me laugh everyday...

In January I borrowed a gravy boat from my good friend Jamie. Audrey saw it one day and asked if that is where the Genie lived. She thought we had our own magic lamp.

I used to let Audrey stay up and watch American Idol with me. One night in the bath Audrey said, "Mom, Jason is a beautiful singer." I asked her who Jason was and she said, "From Merican Hidol!" The a few days later she said, "Ohhh, Jason loves me."

Audrey wanted to know how her brother was going to get out of my tummy, so I told her I was going to go to the doctor and they would help get him out. Her biggest concern was if I was going to get a shot, and I told her yes. That was all I thought a two year old needed to know. When Joshua (then Dane-haha!) was two days old I had to take him to the Dr for a weight check. I asked Audrey if she wanted to come to the Dr with me or stay home with D (my mom). She got this concerned look on her face and asked, "Am I getting a new brother?"

It is funny for me to hear Audrey say things only to realize that she heard them from me. She was throwing a royal fit the other day and when she finally calmed down she came to me and said, "You tired of it?" I realized only then that I say to her, "Please stop, I'm tired of it."

A few weeks ago we with to Sausalito with some friends. Audrey was playing on the stairs outside of an art store and bumped her head on the hand rail. I waited to see what her response would be and she just rubbed her head and said, "Op, sorry bout dat."

About a month ago I was driving somewhere on a Monday morning and I needed to get over a lane. I raised my right hand to wave to the car behind me to thank them for letting me in. Audrey said, "Hey, we do dat in Church!" We must have sustained people for new callings the day before.

When Audrey woke up from her nap last week she asked where Joshua was and I told her he was napping. She wanted to see him so I while I was holding her I let her peek in and see him sleeping. She put her hand out like she was holding a platter and said, "Hook (look) it, our sweet man."

Audrey asked Dave if she could have more cereal and Dave said yes, and Audrey said, "Tank you, you're a nice man."

And out of Joshua's mouth comes this...

Drool, drool, and more drool.

P.S. Is the title of this post grammatically correct? I called Regan to ask, and we both decided Jocelyn would know, and then Jocelyn called her English major sister to find out. So if you don't think it's right, don't blame me. :)