Babies Grow Up Too Fast

I can't believe Ryan is five months old. I LOVE that little boy soooooooo much! I decided tonight as I was rocking him that baby boys are every bit as sweet as baby girls. Their clothes may not have ruffles, but boys are just as cute.

I think when I was a mother of two girls, I secretly thought girls were more adorable. Of course I was wrong.

My little Ryan found his toes this week and it is delightful to see him holding on to his feet, completely entertained. I've got to get a picture.

I have been in love with all of my babies - but I feel like I can appreciate my third a little more than the others because I realize that someday, he'll get bigger and have BIGGER opinions and BIGGER mood swings. He'll start to do naughty things, even on purpose sometimes. Someday, he'll probably whine and complain and not want to go to bed. He might hit the other kids in nursery or throw his food off his plate in disgust. The possibilities are endless. So for now, I'll just soak in the pure sweetness of this baby boy who is always ready with a grin and who sees me as the center of his world.

Natural Bridges, Santa Cruz

Thanksgiving 2010

I had the funniest dream the other day.

I dreamed that I was sitting at Thanksgiving dinner with my husband's family, including his uncle's new and wonderful wife, when all of a sudden she announced that she'd written a new book. She pulled out a copy for each of us. The book was all about living a healthy lifestyle. As we were oohing and ahhing over how cute she looked on the cover, she pulled out a giant bag of orange M&Ms. She explained that with every diet, you need to be able to take a break sometimes and then she said something like, "I call these M&Ms 'Urgent Orange,' because when you need an M&M, it is URGENT."

So for the last few days, I've been laughing to myself about Urgent Orange M&Ms.

Today was a wonderful Thanksgiving. In addition to eating a tasty dinner with Matt's family (thanks to Jo Ann for hosting the whole thing and adding her own special touch to make things nice), we took a trip to Natural Bridges beach in Santa Cruz. This was an especially fun beach because this is where Monarch butterflies hang out from October through January. We hiked through a small grove of trees where we saw hundreds of monarch butterflies huddled together to stay warm. Every once in a while a few of them would flutter around. It was amazing! We also explored some tidal pools, played in the sand, and found little sand crabs. Emmy and Sophie ran away when I told them it was time to go. I think they seriously could have played there all day long.

We have SO MUCH to be grateful for. And I know that this is the subject that all of my fellow bloggers are writing on today, but I think that's a good thing. Because we all could use a little more gratitude. Imagine how much happier we'd all be if thanksgiving were the focus of each day. We might all be a little fatter too . . . but that's okay. We'd all be fat and happy together.

And so what comes to my mind on this day of thanks, is the soft cheeks that I get to kiss each day, every day, all day; the girlish giggles that fill my waking hours; the ice cream in my freezer; the dirty dishes that Matt does faithfully each day; a not-too-hard-not-too-soft King-sized bed to sleep in each night; music that speaks to my soul; books that feed my spirit; dear friends; family; did I mention that roly-poly smiley baby boy that I can't stop kissing?

The Lord has blessed us all. May we remember His hand in all things . . .

And the teacher says . . .

On Mondays, Mr. Morris returns Emmy's homework from the previous week. So it was with great excitement that we read his answer to her very thoughtful question. I know you've all been dying to know if Emmy's teacher wishes he was a bird. He wrote,

"I would like to be able to fly like a bird but I wouldn't want to become a bird: I love being a human! I'd rather eat ice cream than worms."

How we laughed when we read this! Emmy was just as delighted as she could be to hear his answer. She honestly could not have been more pleased. Seeing her thrill over his response gave me a little pang. You see, I used to be a teacher. I used to be that person who would write comments for my students to mull over. And most of those kids probably didn't care too much about what I wrote. But maybe, just a few did care. And that fact is why I went into teaching.

A Homework Assignment

For homework, I had to read the book Close Your Eyes to Emmy. She then had to draw a picture of her favorite part and write two sentences about it.

She chose to recreate a picture in the book of a tiger flying with birds. Then she wrote:

"Dot yo wish yo wer a brd Mistr. Moris? rit me bak."

Translation: "Don't you wish you were a bird, Mr. Morris? Write me back."

Isn't that so cute? I could totally relate to her, because I've always had a special love for my school teachers, and loved any feedback I got from them.

Kindergarten is fun.

P.S. I totally recommend the book - the illustrations are great. Definitely a keeper . . .

In another life . . .

I'd have eyes like these:


I'd also be a children's photographer.

Since I only have this life - and I'm happy to have it - I'll settle for being very very amateur, but occasionally landing on some great shots . . .

Swimming in November?

Every fall, my friend, Holly, and I try to see how long we can keep taking our kids swimming. Here in Palo Alto, the average temperature range is 58 - 79 degrees. This means that if the weather dips below 65, I'm usually freezing, and if it is above 85, I'm hot. True Palo Altans have even less tolerance for temperature extremes. I'll never forget the first summer I was here and people were talking about how hot they were on a day that was a mere 80 degrees.

But I digress.

Typically in October, we can count on some very warm days. In the autumn of 2008, Holly and I went swimming on October 24. We were proud of our feat. "Wow," we said to ourselves, "we live in a place where we can go swimming in October!" We joked about someday breaking the record.

We finally broke the record this past Thursday, November 4. The weather was around 80, and even though the pool heater was no longer running, Holly and I realized that if we were ever going to go swimming in November, this was our chance.

And we did.

My definition of swimming was hanging out in the freezing water long enough for my legs to get numb and not really having the guts to go all the way.

Our kids, however, went all the way - and although it was short-lived, had a great time!


Emmy toying with the idea of diving right in






Doesn't this face just say it all?


Sophie getting the guts and taking the plunge


This little guy probably enjoyed the water more than anybody!


The kids probably had the most fun dipping their sidewalk chalk in the water for extra bright artwork . . .


They also become super-involved in making enough "yucky soup" for all to share