Baby B

I'm an Auntie! Congratulations to my sister and her husband - they had a baby boy on Sunday 5/18/2008 - Brayden Edward. Brayden tipped the scales at a mere 8 lbs. 4 oz. He's adorable if I do say so myself.

reading vs. writing

Wow it's been over 1 1/2 years since I posted here - I realized that reading blogs are so much more fun. No earth shaking updates, the 3 kids are bigger and badder than ever as you can see below. I'll start to post more regularly.

The Golden Child

Or is it the Last Emporer? In any case, we balded him. His hair was growing too long for my taste, it was going over his ears so I called him "Hobbit."

A Mommy Lesson

Beware of the phrase, "My stomach feels funny..."

As it will for sure be followed by, "BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECHHHHHHHHHH.... (pause).... BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECCCCCCCCCCCCCCCH...."

"My stomach doesn't feel funny anymore."

poor man's TiVo

I love my TiVo - life has been so busy lately I haven't had time to sit down and watch my shows... on top of that, I have to compete with the Wiggles and Hannah Montana to watch my shows.

Now I can watch most of my favorite shows online at abc.com, cbs.com, or nbc.com. Heroes, CSI, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty (just because it's online too) all from the comfort of my office chair... ER and The Office however, must be watched on the trusty ol' TiVo. Thank goodness the networks caught on because searching for videos on YouTube sucks. You never know what you're going to get.

red to blue

My #1 nightmare is of my teeth falling out. First it starts out with just one tooth wiggly... then it gets really loose and falls out. Next thing you know, all my teeth start wiggling around and falling out. Because of this, I have a fear of cavities and have passed that on to my kids.

Remember those red tablets that stain your teeth to show you where you missed brushing your teeth? I always bought those for my kids, but they aren't always readily available. I always have to go to some mom/pop pharmacy store to get them... now Listerine made a mouthwash called Listerine Agent Cool Blue that does the same thing and you can pick it up at Target. Makes it soooo much easier to make sure the kids brushed their teeth thoroughly.

14 months

Finally! Teeth at 14 months!

baaack

I'm back again - I spent the weekend in Virginia with my family to celebrate my little sister's 18th birthday. My husband couldn't take time off from work so I braved a cross country flight with two of my kids (the baby and my 6 year old daughter). My eldest son stayed behind to keep his father company.

Flying with the two kids wasn't a big deal - they're both well traveled and they were very well behaved. The baby didn't cry once! And no, I didn't Benadryl him (...this time...) Going through security, however, was a huge pain. I had the baby in the stroller and had our carry ons plus the baby's carseat on a cart. I was pushing the stroller and my daughter was pushing the cart - she couldn't see the front of the cart because she's tiny so she kept giving everyone flat tires. Once we got up to security I could tell everyone was avoiding my line like the plague - I had to take EVERYONE'S shoes off.. then their sweaters/jackets, take the baby out of the stroller, fold the stroller while carrying the baby (thank God I have this cool stroller that you can fold with one hand - thanks Joyce!), load the stroller, carseat, shoes, and carry ons through the conveyer belt - then put everything back together once we passed through security. Oh did I mention that they had to inspect all the baby food bottles and I had to dump the water I packed in the bottles (to later mix with formula)? I actually heard this bitch behind me say, "God we got in the wrong line." BITCH. Yes, I like to go around airports with my children and take forever in security just to piss people off on purpose.

Too bad she wasn't on my flight - I would've made the baby cry just to irritate her.

Eh?

I have no idea where I've been. Q's face is how I've been feeling the past 2 months. Family and work have been keeping me busy as you can see...

But I interrupt the lazy blogging break to announce this:

Q turned 1 year old last week and he is still toothless. (And in case you were wondering, he doesn't walk yet either.)

We celebrated Q's birthday at San Jose's Happy Hollow Park and Zoo - great place for kids. The park/zoo itself isn't that big so you feel comfortable letting the kids run around without having to worry about them getting lost. But then again, I wouldn't know because I didn't venture outside our little picnic area. (I stay where the food is at.)

The bigger kids X & A started school a few weeks ago. They attended a private school before and we thought we'd give the lovely California public school system a try. It was a first for both me and the kids since I went to private school when I was little too and it was a huge adjustment. Too much of an adjustment - we ended up putting them back in private school.

I think I'm just not used to how big and open public schools are. First, the little one, A, got lost a few times within the school grounds and cried. She got lost trying to find her class line, trying to find the bathroom, trying to find her classroom after lunch.... Second, after school I was surprised to learn that they just let the kids out. At the private school, I guess I was spoiled in that they don't let the kids leave the school grounds unless they actually see the parents or guardian pick the kids up from the gate (this is all the way to 8th grade too). If the kids aren't picked up, they immediately go to afterschool daycare. I like the fact that I can show up anytime of the day and they will always know exactly where my kids are. Public school... not the same way. I almost cried one day because I couldn't find my kids. The first grade substitute teacher let my 5 year old daughter leave the school grounds - at least she let him leave with her older brother, but I had a hell of a time trying to find them.

On top of all that - they didn't have room for my daughter and they wanted to overload her to another school. I asked if they could move my son to the same school but they didn't have room for him. I refuse to make my daughter adjust to yet another campus - she was already having such a hard time with the one she was already at - plus I didn't want her to be at a school without her big brother.

I'm not knocking the public school system - we're just not ready for it yet. I know that I'll have to put the kids in public school when they get older because I can't afford the $5000 a month for high school tuition, but for now, I'm going to ride the private school train as long as I can.

chicken marsala

Last night I made Giada's Chicken Marsala with Mustard Mascarpone Sauce for dinner and it was mmm mmm good. Did I mention that the recipe can be found in my special autographed cookbook?

So far I have had good results with the recipes from Giada's cookbook. She really has the "Everyday Italian" concept down pat. The recipes are simple and easy - it took me about 35-40 minutes (maybe even less) to make the marsala. Pretty convenient for a weeknight dinner.

goodies from teacake

I am on vacation this week and I ventured out to Emeryville's Bay Street to have lunch with my three kiddies at California Pizza Kitchen after I ran an errand in Berkeley. (Yes, I went out to a restaurant with three kids by myself. No spills or thrown food either.)

While at Bay Street, we stopped by Teacake Bake Shop and I was overwhelmed with all the sweets they had to offer. While their prices might be a little high ($3 for a regular sized cupcake), I think they're worth it. You can tell that they use quality ingredients - because you can taste the vanilla in the cupcakes. My favorite was the vanilla buttermilk "cupcakie" which is a wide flat cupcake. I also got a white chocolate pistachio and pecan praline cookie. All very good. I would post pictures of the cupcakes, but they got annihilated in the box so they aren't very pretty.

h o t

It's hot. Triple degree weather. It usually doesn't get that hot in the bay area either. We tried to take the kids swimming over the weekend but the line to get into the rec center wrapped around the building because the pool was full! Then I had the bright idea of just getting a kiddie pool for the backyard so we ran over to Toys R Us and we weren't the only ones who thought of that because all the pools were sold out. Ditto for Target and Wal-Mart. After that, we went to Lowes to look into buying a portable air conditioner and when we got there, a big sign was posted outside the door: "We are completely sold out of air conditioners and fans." Ditto for Home Depot.

I resorted to taking the kids to the movies just for the a/c. FYI, Monster House is pretty scary for a kids' movie. Not so much funny. I didn't like the animation either - the characters weren't cute, they had skinny bodies and big heads. I wish I watched Cars instead.

But I am definitely looking forward to watching

i'm back part 2

Back from our "mini-vacation" to Southern California. Our friends got married on Saturday then we took the kids to Disneyland / California Adventure on Sunday and Monday.

The wedding was fun - one of the best weddings I've been to. They got married at Bel Air Presbyterian church which was a really nice church, and the reception was at the Skirball Cultural Center. I scarfed down the hor d'ouerves, my favorite was the garlic portobello mushrooms (so good... I'm trying to figure out how to make them!) Oh and two words for you: CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN.

Disneyland was fun (albeit HOT) - and we got to see Pirates of the Carribean ride. They didn't do anything too drastic to the ride - a couple of things like a fog curtain with the image of one of the ghost pirates and 3 (that I counted) appearances by Johnny Depp. The first 2 appearances looked like him, the third was a little off but that was the one I took a picture of (below) - too much eyeliner me thinks. I also brought my 10 month old son along for the ride - he wasn't the least fazed by that little drop.


I also went to CA Adventure for the first time - I definitely like the Disneyland side better, seems like there's more to do over there. I did however peer pressure my 9 year old son into riding the Maliboomer and Tower of Terror with me. Hopefully he won't give into peer pressure that easily when it comes to other stuff!

Maybe next time I'm in town I'll run into JustJenn during her many trips to Disneyland!

H and G

"... hi and goodbye..." -- Sleepless in Seattle

Now that I'm back, I'm going again. We're packing up the family tomorrow for our road trip to L.A. to attend a wedding. Hmmm... 5 hours in a car with 3 kids, we are planning for 2 stops, but I predict 5.

We're also going to go to Disneyland, we figure we might as well knock that out while we're down there -- pacify the kids for another 2 years.

Happy Thursday! I leave you with this picture... Q is crawling now. :)

i'm baaaaaaaack!

I have no idea where I've been... or what kept me away, but I'm back!

Anyway, some good news inspired me to post. Joyce had a baby girl on Saturday 7/1/2006 - Mommy and Baby Ava are doing great. I haven't seen them yet (thought I'd wait a bit since most of us know how it's like to be barraged with visitors after you have a baby), but pop over her site and send her a note of congrats. I have a feeling she'll be posting on her blog soon...

cookie monster

I love Milano cookies - and love them even more now that they have Amaretto Milanos and Black & White Milanos! I love the taste of almond - Amaretto Sours are my favorite drink... which by the way Joyce - we need to make these for your sugar party!

she's a talker.. she's a talker...

Out of the mouths of babes. Make that, a spunky, impish, sassy, know-it-all 5 year old babe. The conversation on the way home from school is below, and I really wish you guys all knew her because if you did, you would know her tone and it would make this even funnier:

"Oh Mommy, today I moved to the purple table so I can do my work better and won't talk to my friends."

"What? Why? Who moved you? Did you get in trouble for talking again?"

"Noooooooo! Ms. _ _ _ _ moved me. She asked if I wanted to go to the blue table or the purple table and I picked the purple table so I can do my work and I won't talk to my friends."

I see a future career in marketing or sales for her.

never take pictures of a sleeping baby

I was only trying to take a picture of him sleeping with his head on his hands!

(I know that babies should sleep on their backs but now that he can roll over back and forth they say it's ok. Plus, when I flip him on his back, he'll flip back to his stomach again anyway.)

Farmer's Markets

I'm so food oriented - I love everything and anything that has to do with food. Grocery shopping, cooking, eating, dining out, cookbooks, the Wednesday food section in the newspaper... everything. I love going to the Farmer's Market every Saturday - the one they hold near us is pretty small but still a good way to get fresh and ripe fruits and vegetables.

The Pacific Coast Farmer's Market Association has great information on markets in northern California and a handy guide on what is in season now. I have a ton of strawberries that I need to figure out what to do with... I feel strawberry jam in my future.

Plantable Paper

For Mother's Day we all went to Roys for brunch. They always give the mothers a gift at the end of the meal, this year they gave out plantable cards: lavender, chili pepper and forget-me-nots. The paper actually has seeds in it - after soaking the paper in water and planting it, hopefully something will sprout and grow.