Sunday, November 30, 2008

Weekend

We had a weekend filled with taking care of our sick 2 year old :( Yup, Maddie was sick again and we go back to the dr. on Wednesday to try and sort out her asthma. I'm not going to bore you with the details, but let's just say that today is a good day because she hasn't thrown up on me :) Grace is another story...she throws up on me daily. Ahh, child rearing...it is all that it's cracked up to be. So, Maddie is much better and I'm going to go meet up with Alexa and take a break from kids for an hour or so. I have pic's to post of Thanksgiving, etc but here's one in the mean time.
Mugshot

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving


Our Gratitude Tree


"Bruiser"


Happy Thanksgiving!

We are having a great day and just wanted to share a couple of pic's so far. We went over to Gabe's parents house for Thanksgiving brunch and now we are home relaxing while both girls nap :) The Gratitude Tree is something I won at the mom's group I go to and it was an idea of a way to think about what we're grateful for leading up to Thanksgiving. Gabe and I have been taking turns filling out the "leaves" with what we are grateful for. It's a nice reminder of all that we have and are thankful for. The picture with Maddie as a bruiser is because she got hurt at school on Tuesday and she got a huge bruise right between her eyebrows which is now starting to give her a black eye! Gracie's picture is today and she is happy as usual :) Hope your Thanksgiving is wonderful.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Don't know

So, I don't know what to write about. I just wanted to write to say that yes, homesickness does pass (thank God) and for now I'm okay with where I'm at. It's cold today and right now both girls are resting. They are not napping in the same room, but last night we had them sleep in the same room for the first time. It went great. We put Maddie to bed at 8pm and then Grace had a bottle and went down around 10pm. We heard Grace first at 5:14am (which woke Maddie) but I took Grace downstairs for her bottle. Gabe stayed with Maddie, gave her some milk and told her it was still time to rest. She went back to bed for about an hour and a half. So, we consider that a success. We figure they better get used to sharing their room sooner than later :) Finger's crossed on how tonight will go. In other news, Gabe is getting excited to cook our Thanksgiving feast and I'm excited to eat it. Every other mom I talk to is under stress/pressure to make a large meal on Thursday to serve lots of people and thankfully I have a hubby who likes to cook and I can just relax. I will do my official job though-taste tester :) Happy Monday.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Totally and Completely Homesick

*This has been edited recently*

There you have it. I'm in this weird space where I'm really missing home. Of course I miss the family and friends that are there, but lately I miss something else. I miss the land- the redwood trees, hills, ocean, fog, vineyards, etc. It's a strange longing that I'm feeling; sort of like missing someone you love. I'm having a hard time with it because we are coming home in March, but I feel myself wishing I could just come there alone for a short time sooner. Probably because it's not something that can happen, I want it even more. I realize that I'm also sad about the fact that Maddie and Gracie will never know my home as theirs. They are being raised on a totally different coast; their home is Virginia. Don't get me wrong. There are times where I see beauty here and I think that I'm lucky to live in such a nice part of the country-but again, it's not where I'm from and truly the beauty of Sonoma County is hard to compete with. I miss other aspects of home too. I miss the laid back style of people-both in how their attitudes are as well as the way they dress. I miss really great food and local wine. About twice a year I feel this way. This time is quite strong and I'm trying to just let it go. My reality is Virginia-not California and thinking about all the things I miss and wish for will not make them so. Like I said, I'm in a strange place and I'm not sure where to go...

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Thursday, November 13, 2008

My Girls

Ready to go places!

Giving Tuck
a little kiss :)

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Monday, November 10, 2008

WTF?!?

So, Gabe's car was stolen last night. It's crazy, I know. We've been having some serious prob's in our neighborhood with people breaking into cars (mine included on 10/29) and going through stuff. Usually the perp (caught some cop lingo today) enters the cars without leaving a mark. Then, on Thursday night our neighbor had her car broken into (literally, her window was smashed) and they stole her GPS. This morning, at 4:45am, Grace woke for a bottle. As I was feeding her, I thought to myself that I should look out the front window to see if I could catch any high crime in action. I noticed one of our neighbor's cars had their interior light on and I was trying really hard to see if anything was going on. Then I realized that the only reason I could see her car so clearly was because Gabe's car was totally missing! I felt like I wasn't thinking right, or quite awake, so I went upstairs and asked Gabe where he parked his car. In a very sleepy, froggy voice he said "in my spot" to which I replied, "it's definitely not there." So, the cops came and put an APB out for the missing X5. Gabe got a rental car and went to work assuring me that his car was well off to Baltimore to be put on a ship to China. {This really confused me at the time and still does- why does China want our BMW? Gabe wasn't in a frame of mind to sort that out for me and I think I'll just let it go} So, a few hours later, I get a call from the cop asking if it's an SUV or sedan. Then I get a call from another cop asking if we have any other children, "any teenagers who have keys to the car?" Teenagers!?! This guy met me in my pajama's holding one baby and feeding a 2 year old raisin toast. How old does he think we are and that would be quite an age gap between Maddie and our teenage felon. Finally a call came that said they found our car. Actually the previous owner had installed LoJack on it and so they located it that way (makes you want one for yourself?) It was found just a couple miles from our home, in a nice residential neighborhood and nothing was wrong with it. No forced entry, no wreckage, nothing. They did take all of Gabe's CD's (Phish, anyone?) and his AA chips (not of any monetary value, but definitely some major emotional value). So, that sucks, but that's really the worst of it. Oh, one more thing. Gabe has kept his spare car key in his glove box for a long time (not a great idea) and that is one other thing the perp took. So, while we do have the car back, we promptly drove it to the dealer and are having the locks changed. It was a long day, with a happy ending. We also purchased The Club so as to deter any more crimes from happening to our cars. Happy Monday :)

Sunday, November 9, 2008

They're back :)

Just a quick post to say that Gabe and Maddie are back safe and sound. And, I could be crazy, but it seems like Maddie aged and got many new words in just a few short days!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Missing them

So, Gabe and Maddie have been gone for 37 and a half hours (but whose counting). They took off for a dog show in Maryland and it's just been me, Grace and the dogs holding down the fort. It's been pretty quiet (which was nice yesterday and seemed a bit lonelier today). I've talked on the phone with Gabe several times and it sounds like Maddie is having a blast with just her daddy, Grammy and Auntie all to her self. Grace has started something new this weekend. She's come to the realization that we have dogs and she seems particularly attuned to Tuck. He's been sitting at the foot of her baby bouncer chair and she just looks at him and talks and talks. Because he stays put for such a long period of time, I'm sort of convinced they are speaking their own special language. Either that or he's waiting to lick the baby puke off her chin :0 Anyways, it's been a nice weekend, but I'll be glad to have Gabe and Maddie back. With all the free time I've had the past 37 hours, I joined facebook and have been getting a kick out of that. That's all there is to report tonight. Hope your weekend is well.
Here's a second video I took of Grace the other day. Just now getting around to posting.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Video of Grace 11/6/08



:35 seconds is my favorite part! Enjoy :)

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

What a feeling!

I have to say that never in my life have I been this emotional about a presidential election. To be totally honest, I never cared as much as I have this time around. I'm so moved by the fact that my daughters are alive in a time where history was made. As I watched all of the news networks last night, I felt unsure for a while. Sort of like disbelief. Then, as the numbers kept rising for Obama, I started to just feel joy. I felt like my vote counted for something. I felt a sense of total hope but mostly I felt moved. When I went to vote yesterday, I had tears in my eyes, which really caught me off guard. I think I welled up because I was so proud to be voting for Barack, but also because I was truly fearful of the other side winning. I am one of those people who is fed up with the way things have been for the past 8 years and I couldn't bare the thought of 4 more of the same. I heard something on TV this morning from a McCain supporter. She said that even though she didn't vote for Barack, she is getting in the line to support him now because that's what you do as an American; you support your President. That idea to support your President no matter what has been tough for many of us currently, but it's nice to see a light at the end of that tunnel. 1-20-09 :) {76 Days away}

Monday, November 3, 2008

Halloween & Lizzy Visits

Lizzy meets Grace for the first time, Maddie just got into her costume, "Trick-or-Treat!", Walking through the neighborhood, LadyBug, Lizzy & Gracie sharing a laugh, Daddy & Maddie, "Choose 1 piece," Lizzy, Tucker, and Grace snuggling.



Here are the pic's from our weekend. Maddie loved trick-or-treating! She didn't eat any candy, but she loved the idea of ringing people's doorbells and getting something from them to put in her bucket. It was so great to have Lizzy here too. We had so much fun just hanging out-doing the sister thing. She loved meeting Grace and Tucker was very happy to see her too :) My friend, Raina, was also in town this weekend visiting her sister-in-law and so she came over to visit on Saturday. We had a blast just talking and hanging out. I told her I haven't laughed that much in a long time! What a good feeling it is to be with friends who have known you since you were 10 years old. To be honest, having both my sister and Raina here visiting from home, just made me miss CA. I remembered what I always tell myself and that is that Virginia is nice, but it's definitely not home. I wonder if that feeling will dull with time. It's been 4 years and not so much :) This week should be interesting. Tonight Gabe is going to Monday night football with his sister Patrice and won't be home til really late. Then, tomorrow we (Barack the) vote! Yeah!!! I'm ready to vote and stop seeing all of the political commercials :) Then, on Friday at the crack of dawn, Gabe and Maddie are leaving for the weekend. They're heading to Maryland with Sandy and Patrice to go to a dog show. Gabe is showing a lot of dogs, but dog showing is usually just a few hours out of the day, so they have a lot planned to take Maddie to. They are going to a petting zoo that Gabe went to as a child, probably the ocean, the arcade, etc. She's going to have a blast and hopefully remember what it feels like to be the only child again! Grace, the dogs and I will hold down the fort and just relax. So, that's what our week looks like. Hope yours will be great!