30th Birthday. Old School Style.

On November 10th, I turned the big 3-0. And for my 30th birthday, we decided to go old school and celebrate the unforgettable grade school era. Yes, I threw myself an 80's dinner party. I have to admit, I got a little self conscious as it came close to party time. I wondered if people would really dress up. Oh, but they did. Such wonderful friends they are...let their guards down and brought back the 80's. I was so blessed to see our friends and family in some of the ugliest outfits I have ever seen them in.

And the first guests to arrive to start the party off right:

The "ugly flower dress" ("ugly" was the highest honor of compliments for this night):

Even my mom-in-law participated in the fun:

Representing those born in the 80's:

Ryan's brothers accidentally missed the theme by a decade (oops!), but were hys-terical:

Winner for "Best Dressed Dude":

Winner for "Best Dressed Chick":

Best Dressed Baby:

Okay, so maybe it was rigged. Here's the runner-up:

Ryan's birthday present to me...dressing up for the first time at a themed party:

Closer look at Ryan's get-up (compliments of The Goodwill Store):

Closer look at my what was referred to as "stay-at-home mom from the 80's" outfit. Complete with pegged pants and slouched socks:

Turtleneck decked out with 80's accessories (I rocked a necklace worn like this in my 7th grade school picture):

Remember this hair 'do?:
And who could forget Black Hills gold jewelry?:

Glimpse of the 80's favors, jelly bracelets are still a hit:

Goodie bags were filled with Now & Laters, Chinese finger traps and mini slinkies. The outside adorned with photos of old school TV shows and movies:

Slap bracelets:

We handed out a prize (Starbucks gift card) to the winner of the trivia game:

Girls just wanna have fun:

My dad helped with the party deco by sending old school photos, my jr. high ID card, a letter written with a squiggle pen from a friend asking my advice for what boy she should like, one-knee-posed soccer photos, and so many more photos filled with scrunchies, french braids, turtlenecks, baggy sweatshirts, acid-washed jeans with zippers, banana seat bikes, roller skates, big bangs, County Seat sweaters, etc.:

Food and drinks for the party:

All in all, it was a memorable evening and SO worth getting dressed up in humiliating clothes. Thank you all for making it so special and fun to enter into the third decade of my life.

Looks Like Christmas

Although I grew up cutting our own tree down from the Santa Cruz mountains (and have a poison ivy horror story to go with), the last few years we have taken all but a whopping fifteen minutes to drive to the neighborhood fire station, find a tree, and back to our house to complete the whole tree experience.

This year we truly found the perfect tree! We went with an 8-foot Douglas Fir (we splurged in the height department this year). I am amazed at how it's not lopsided or unequally proportioned from any angle. Symmetry does wonders for my soul. To complete the putting-up-the-tree experience, Ryan put on Christmas music and made his homemade hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies to help us get in the Christmas spirit while we decorated our tree. This is by far one of my favorite days of the year - Christmas Tree Putting Up Day.

Alexia enjoyed several cups of hot cocoa, too. I added her onesie to the to-be OxiCleaned collection of clothes piling up in our laundry room.

I love waking up to our lit tree. Although I accidentally (Ryan says "impulsively") bought the last couple sets of lights at Target and came home to find out they are twinkling lights. So half of our tree seems to have tourette's.

Here's a view of our spirited home:

(Don't wires just kill you?)

This year I finally splurged and bought a REAL tree skirt (not just a 10" diameter felt one from the Dollar Store) and even got it embroidered:

And here's the basement decor, I couldn't believe I was able to find ornaments to match the walls. Thank you Dollar Store:

And alas, my creative project inspired by my aunt who made stockings by hand and attached a jingle bell for each year of Christmas celebrated. I've always wanted to follow that tradition and her visit for Thanksgiving gave me motivation. We bought the fabric together and used the stockings I already had for Ryan and myself as the pattern for the girls'. Then I had them embroidered and ready to go for Christmas Day!

Naiya is 6 Months 12.04.09

This month proved to be a big one for milestones:

• first tooth (bottom, right) Do you see it?

• sitting up

• joining us in a highchair at the dining table (we have both the girls in highchairs at the head of the table, side-by-side)

• first solid food (infant oatmeal cereal)
• began oral treatment (propranolol is a high blood pressure medication) for the venous hemangioma on her right eyelid
• on the same bedtime routine as Alexia (bath w/ Daddy after dinner, story and "night-night" at 8ish) *we still wake her up at 10pm for her medication and last feeding

Naiya is still extraordinarily content. Strangers consistently comment on how laid back she is, especially at the pediatrician's office (which we are regulars there since starting her treatment). I have been able to establish a synchronized eating and sleep schedule for both the girls...can I get an AMEN?!! I credit Naiya for this outcome, because she is able to wait 30 minutes to eat after getting up. So that gives me time to feed Alexia, have a cup of coffee and eat something, and poor Naiya just chills in her highchair occupied by chewing on a toy or Alexia trying to feed her. The same routine goes for lunch.

Naiya has shown no side effects of her (high blood pressure) treatment. Unfortunately, we have not seen any change in the hemangioma's size or color. She swallows the medication like a trooper, and this Saturday she will be on the full dose. She will be on the medication for up to six months or until the hemangoima has disappeared, whichever comes first.

One of my favorite ways the girls interact right now is when Alexia comes with me to get Naiya up from a nap. They peer at each other through the crib bars and Alexia smashes her face up in the bars and says "Hi Nai Nai!" and Naiya stares up at her and laughs and coos. Makes my heart feel like it's gonna burst.

Naiya is nursing six times a day and eating solids for one or two meals. She just graduated to 3-6 month clothing. She is wearing size four diaper (yes, still the same as Alexia) and for her six month appointment, here are her stats:

• Weight: 15 lbs. 1.5 oz.
• Length: 25 3/4 inches
• Head Circumference: 42.3

I would like to point out that Naiya weighs only 7 pounds less than Alexia (18 months old).

Naiya is now aware when she is all alone in a room and cries. So I've had to adapt and make two trips to get both girls in the same place (I used to just leave Naiya "playing" while I tended to Alexia). Naiya is much better at being in the car seat and has learned to fall asleep in the car (I wondered how she would adjust since she sleeps on her belly normally).

I was a bit worried in the beginning of Naiya's life because I didn't have an immediate connection. But she has won my heart over and I'm hoping she will be a mama's girl!

Here's the 6 month comparison shot (Alexia left, Naiya right):

Californian Style Turkey

For Thanksgiving this year, my aunt and uncle made their third trip out here in the past two years. I love that kids are the perfect excuse to pay expensive travel costs and make dreadfully long trips to see one another. I loved every minute of their time here, as always.

Kisses for Grandpa Griff:

For those of you that don't know, I grew up living five minutes away from my aunt, uncle and cousin (one year older than me). And since my dad was a single dad, I spent a lot of time being taken care of by my aunt and uncle (and my cousin too, we have a few funny stories of him protecting me when we were little). So they have always treated me like a daughter. Because of this relationship, our girls will refer to them as Grandma & Grandpa Griff. I feel like I'm able to offer Ryan a second set of parents-in-law through them. Here's my beautiful aunt who just keeps getting younger every time I see her:

And her lucky man:

Most of our time was spent just hanging out and talking, enjoying the girls, eating, shopping and this year we went to Lights on the Bay for the first time. Some of the highlights of the week were morning cups of coffee and chatting (always food for my soul), cooking with my aunt, watching my aunt graciously work her way in my kitchen - you know a woman knows what she's doing when she can cook and clean in your kitchen and not ask a single question - I think I would ask so many questions like, "where does this go?", etc., that it would end up being more work for the other person! My all-time favorite memory is that we taught Alexia to tell my uncle "no, no, no" when he went out for a smoke. Here's our little informant hard at work:

We spent our Thanksgiving dinner with a small guest list. Small for the Grossmans, that is. Guest list: 9 people + 2 babies. Our regular Sunday lunch usually attracts more than that. Here's our fabulous feast:

We're thankful for Life and Health:

Laughter:

And Love:

Alexia is 18 Months 11.22.09

Alexia is becoming a tooth monster! Her mouth is full of baby teeth. Front four on top (right fang is just now coming in), four on bottom and four molars. She has started to repeat things we say (which is sort of scary) and has an assortment of words she now uses on a daily basis. She loves to go through facial features right before each nap and bedtime: eye, mouth, ear, hair, teeth (she refuses to say or point to the nose though). Also added to her routine: hand, fingers, foot, toe. She hates getting her diaper changed, especially right after she wakes up. It's like her social life is effected by the two minutes it takes out of playtime to change her diaper. For meals, she sprints to her highchair, and once she's done she lets us know by repeating over and over, "Duh" (done) and offering her stacked plate and water bottle. Her favorite act of disobedience is to stand in her highchair. I can't help but see the glimmer of self-satisfaction when she stands up. She is still ridiculously a Daddy's girl, crying and chasing him all around the house if he is not holding her. She is still notorious for the holding-her-breath cry, something she's done since the first day she was born (you'll see at the end of the video-it actually cuts off before she even takes a breath):

And she still does the real loud cry, holds her breath, silence....silence....silence, then WAIL! It's so interesting how her cry has remained the same (less squeeky now). I've started paying attention to Naiya's cry now, to see if it will remain the same as well. Alexia is a cuddler, and has often found her way into our bed the last couple months (something I swore I wouldn't do), while she was teething and having trouble sleeping. I have to admit, I just love it! But it does make for a bad night's rest. We wake up much earlier than we'd like to, "Hiiiiii!" She is obsessed with her blanket still, she does a happy dance and giggles uncontrollably at the sight of her blanket. She will be quietly content in the car if her blanket is in hand. One of her favorite things to do now is run straight to the pantry and grab whatever goodies she can. She is still taking two naps during the day, although the afternoon nap has been cut short more frequently than I'd like. She's wearing 12-18 month clothing, size 4 diaper (same as Naiya-who is 6 months), and just wore through her first pair of shoes. She often asks to hold Naiya, sits down and holds out her arms. When she's finished holding her, she tells us "no" and shakes her head, trying to squirm out from behind Naiya. Here's one of Alexia's baby-sister-holding techniques (the one-eyed hold):

Kisses for Naiya:

Showing us where Naiya's "eye" is:

(Okay, maybe she's an inch off.)

Ryan and I have waited for the day for Alexia to show us affection. She has now perfected giving us kisses! Complete with a "Mmmmmm."

Our baby is slipping way too fast into toddlerhood!

Happy Halloween

Still very unmotivated to get into the whole trick-or-treat thing with infants, our girls missed out on Halloween 2009. We were rescued from handing out candy from our un-Halloween house by having dinner with friends. But not without being totally humiliated by having to explain to an early round of trick-or-treaters that we don't have any candy to hand out because we had plans to eat dinner at a friend's house. (I'm sure those kids - our neighbors, in fact - totally understood our complicated dilemma.)

We did have ourselves a festive family bake-off though. We were in charge of bringing dessert for our Halloween get together, and it was the perfect excuse to make the pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting I've been dying to make. Shortly after, Ryan decided he wanted to make his mom's Cinnamon Roll Tea Ring. I lovingly explained to him I already took care of dessert in a "get-out-of-the-kitchen" tone of voice. And ladies and gentlemen, that's when we had ourselves a bake-off:

Let me tell you, having your husband bake and cook is so sweet. Until he starts to compete with you. He even stole my fair-weather helper. We told our friends about our bake-off once we arrived (we didn't have a choice, as an explanation was necessary as to why we brought enough dessert to feed an army). Here was the end result:

(His on the left vs. mine on the right). I lost. Everybody raved about his "cinnies". Some ate my cupcakes out of pity. I even brought mini treats for the little ones. And still lost:

Only two got eaten. How can you go wrong with cream cheese frosting?! Lesson learned: DON'T compete with cinnamon rolls. Ever. The leftover cupcakes were a hit as treats the next week though.

Here's the baby crew (guess who's girls were too cool for school?):

There was even an after dinner slow dance:

We were able to have some Halloween dress up fun with Alexia. As a source of entertainment, we stuffed her into a newborn costume. Here's our red hot chili pepper:

And then Ty, Jenna, Ryan and I ridiculed her some more:

Hope you had a Happy Halloween, too!

Little Helper

Girl After My Own Heart

Coffee.

Creamer.

Chug.

Fickle Finale

It's time to re-bookmark me. This battle to find the perfect blog accomodations continues. I cannot guarantee this is where I'll stay. But bookmark it for now. If you want to know, my reason for switching is mainly because I wanted to upload videos directly to our blog (no more you tube).

I have to confess, I've wanted to blog this month. But I found myself feeling guilty - like I was cheating - by writing posts BEFORE I put the girls' month birthday posts up. Can anyone else relate? Or am I just that psychotic?

Alas, the birthday posts will have to wait. (But I will manipulate the post dates, so no one will ever know.) I can no longer wait to tell you what has caught my latest obsessive-about-creative-projects attention (again, Mel is to blame for this - and do NOT read her blog if you value naps and bedtime for accomplishing housework, because she'll motivate you to get into countless projects!). So, I am making a scarf. Not just any scarf. A Joy's Hope scarf. That's right, I've committed myself to Joy's Hope Scarf Along. And tomorrow I will inform a couple of friends that I intend to force, I mean ask, to join me.

I picked out fabric tonight from Material Gal and hope to make a trip to JoAnn's tomorrow to pick up remaining essentials. For my fabric, I went the custom order route and compiled 9 different fabrics that are jewel-toned. (Sarah and Rach, you would be SO proud! Thank you for exposing me to "jewel toned" colors!)

More to come tomorrow, I need to go to bed. And my husband could use some of my attention too. I promise to get the girls' posts up. Tomorrow. Or the next day.

Naiya is 5 Months 11.04.09

Naiya is 5 Months 11.04.09

Gotta love the monthly photo shoot mishaps:

Sweet tootsies:

And to compare, here's Alexia at five months:

And here's what life was like last year at this time (2 months pregnant, miserable, and Ryan taking on the role of a single dad):

Ugh, it makes my stomach turn just thinking about all that nausea. And lying around on the couch. Despising the smell of formula being spit up. Vowing to never eat another popsicle or saltine cracker. Begging for time to be fast forwarded to Month 6, when the nausea would hopefully end. Savoring the peace and relief from a hospital stay to get rehydrated (which I was informed by a nurse that it was the first she'd heard of a patient begging to stay another night-by the way, my request was granted and the vein my IV was in was sore for months afterwards). Needless to say, I'm looking forward to entering into the holiday season this year.