The Twins are Two!!

We headed in to LA for Jacob and Alexander's birthday party today. Of course Christina and Jonathan went all out. We were not disappointed. They hired the caterers they had for the first birthday party - like a taco truck without the truck - so yummy. The highlight was the pinata. Veda wasn't the least bit shy - we had a hard time holding her back from the driving range. After all was done... the pinata laid in ruins and not a jelly bean remained... Veda picked up the stick and started swatting away. Whatever. All the other kids ran for the candy when Thomas busted open - Veda grabbed his face and ran with it. I had to redirect her to the goods because mama needs her sugar!

Good Friends Good Times

These are my sisters. The Strauss' lived two houses away from us in Iowa City. We grew up playing every day. From tree houses to talent shows to lemonade stands... we were inseperable. Funny thing that we ALL ended up in California. Jackie, Abby and Judy live in Long Beach. Elly is in San Diego and didn't make the trip up to Camarillo. We had a fun playdate with Abby's girls Sophie and Sara and the Iowa/Iowa State game was on - just like home. It's a shame it's taken so long for us to get together. Looking foward to the next get together.

Go Hawks;)!

Thanks for the super cute Iowa shirts Dana! Today was one of those days that Todd and I were missing home. What fun it would have been to be at the game. Thank Goodness for Direct TV!

Digits

15.08 lbs. 25.5 inches. 50% head, weight and head. Dell had her 6 month appointment and shots today. She got a glowing report of course and we left with some advice to get her sleeping through the night.

Spontaneous Disney Fun!

Daycare was closed today so Jenn could take Ella to Disneyland. Soooooo I took a vacation day and we decided to go with and so did Drew, Morgan, and their moms. A perk of living in Southern Cal that we can hop in the car for a day with Mickey - and we can do it during the week and off-season! I remember the 20 hour great trek in the wagon to Disney in Florida when we were kids and we would be fighting the summer crowds. We would spend long days packing in all we could. Today we saw what we could but no pressure... we will probably go back for the season pass. Veda could not have had more fun. I thought the rides would be the highlight but the walking talking Disney characters were all the rage!

Cousins

Kel, Chris and Owen were in town for the holiday weekend. We miss you guys already. Thanks for making the third annual Labor Day trip to Cali.

Funny Dell

Tea Party

Veda demanded that I bring another chair upstairs for Elephant... doesn't want anyone to be left out!

Website

http://www.thredup.com/

Has anyone tried this website? Seems like a new twist on garage sales. Why didn't I think of this?!

Nose, Nose, Nose!

OK, maybe you had to be here...but this was scary/frickin hilarious...luckily Kathy was quick with the Flip camera as I was performing minor surgery...and the best part...the special treat at the end!  For the record, it was 100% up there, if you looked really closely, you could see the end of the macaroni, which perfectly filled up her entire nose.

Dad's been voted off the island!

Since Veda's been sick over the last week, she's been getting a lot of extra attention from Mom.  Apparently both Adele and I are competing to take her mom time away.  So, her latest trick is to scream "No, Dad, my mommy!" and try to push me away.  Today I was not allowed to walk outside...only mommy could walk outside to play (see picture above).  When she woke up from her nap today, she came and gave me a hug, but immediately followed it with "where's mommy" and proceeded to have an attack, until her mommy got home.  Her best one liner of the weekend, was "No, Mommy, put Baby Dell down, you sit with Veda.....that's Daddy's Baby, I'm Mommies Veda". 

Smiling Baby...

Just some funny picks of Adele in the crib the other day.

Favorite Things

I haven't done a favorite things post in some time. Don't get too excited... I'm not Oprah or Ellen, you aren't getting free stuff.

This little project even got a sick kid to have fun! Washes right off!

This idea was brought to us by My So Called Life. She didn't have as much success. Right now Veda is having an aversion to the tub so letting her color the water is the only thing I can do to get her to take her bath.

I had never heard of Jafra but a friend of mine introduced me to their baby shampoo. It is heavenly. Just want to bury my face in Veda's hair.

This is especially handy on long flights without the kids. Not that this happens very often but when it does I can get lots done at 35,000 feet. I can't believe it took them so long to get this figured out but I love it!

Korean Seaweed paper. I was introduced to this in Tokyo last year. Now Trader Joe's has it and it's just as yummy as I remember it. 60 calories per package - low sodium - and all the vitamin C you need. Maybe this little treat is what has kept me from catching whatever Veda has had all week. Veda likes it too!

I have this bag (Bagolitas.com) in a different pattern. It is the perfect size for this working mom's busy life. I use it as a computer bag and have been able to pack in everything I need for an overnight work trip - so I can leave the rollerbag at home!

First Bites

If eating were an olympic sport, miss Adele would not win a medal. She probably wouldn't make the team;) She certainly seemed interested but not sure we are quite ready for this. Will try again later this week.

I Quit!!!!!!!

No - not my job;) I Quit this week. I am going to declare it over and move on to next week. I'm even willing to skip the weekend if it means I can be alone at home without a sick kid. I have TOO much to do!! Another trip to the Dr. this afternoon. Veda had a bad day and seemed to be at her worst even after our trip to the ER the other night. Diagnosis - just plain old Croup.

She had a fever of 102.2 this afternoon. Nurse Martha used the forehead thermometer which gave a read of only 100. We both agreed that she felt warmer so she went to the ear which read 102.2. She said for the most accurate read we could do a rectal - see - I told you people!! Ha ha. We passed on it this time but Veda did end up with another supository to bring the fever down and another steroid shot.

Baby Giggles

Milestone Moment

Soooo... for all of you who made fun of my rectal thermometer... I will have you know that the professionals at the ER last night used the same tecnique - so there! Yes - I said ER. I put Veda down to bed early last night and 30 minutes later I heard her over the monitor gasping for air. By the time I got to her she was having a massive freak out and could not catch a breath. She eventually started throwing up on me because she was trying so hard to breathe. To the ER we go! Of course Todd was out of town which made this all the more enjoyable. Good thing Uncle Ry is still in town so he could pull Adele duty.

After a couple hours on the mist machine, tylenol supository to get the fever down (yes another rectal injection;) and a steroid shot - we were good to go. She was a crowd favorite in the ER. On her best behavior she was quick to thank everyone who assisted her and when the ER tech gave her the shot he thanked her for being a good girl - she sobbed "your welcome, your welcome." I tried to drop her off at daycare today but she freaked out so I brought her home and she crashed. Slept most of the day and is on the mend.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Come home soon. We miss you. XO - Your Girls!

Nothing a little trip to McDonald's (and BK) won't cure....

I decided to give Kathy a 30 min break today and take Veda for a car ride (I know, nice, right!).  On the way to Blockbuster, we swung through McD's to get her favorite Berry Smoothie (and a Mushroom & Swiss Angus snack wrap for Kathy - which she swears is the greatest invention since garage sales).  Veda scarfed the smoothie and next we went for a quick jog around the movie store.  On the sidewalk Veda broke down, screaming "HAPPY MEEEE"...I assumed she wanted the rest of her smoothie, so I grabbed the rest from the car....well, come to find out, she assumed Kathy's snack wrap was HER happy meal!  So, I broke down and drove through Burger King to get Veda her own hamburger "BK Kid's Meal" - never knew they had happy meals?  The rest of the way home she continued to thank me..."Thank you Daddy...Mmm, yummy, peekles", etc, etc.  I think she's feeling better?

Rotten Day

Todd and I went to dinner last night to celebrate his upcoming birthday (Tuesday). We got a late start. As we were leaving I noticed Veda was a little warm and then with in a matter of minutes she seemed really really hot. I called Todd to the bedroom so we could perform the temperature taking ritual. Diaper off - insert thermometer - wait FOREVER for the reading to climb while Veda sobs. We finally gave up at 101 and vowed to get a REAL thermometer today. She eventually fell to sleep so we could leave to grab a quick bite in Westlake.

It was a long day. She wouldn't eat or drink anything so we spent the morning employing our best trickery. We finally got her medicine down by injecting it in a juice box with a syringe. We let her eat jello with her hands while I pushed her around in the BOB. We managed to break the fever but it's on its way back. Probably another restless night ahead. At least we have the quick read, ear reading thermometer now;)!! Worth every penny.

Happy Anniversary Nana and Bull

We love you!

My Finds

I'm going to rename Saturday - Steal Day! You all know I love a good deal... to my benefit... a neighbor was having a poorly advertised garage sale this morning. She has a 7 year old daughter and was unloading gobs of clothes, toys, games and books for young girls. I found this Dora trio of games - unopened for $3! This one is going to Daycare. I also found a pair of Betula Sandals - never worn - they start at $30 new online. This cuter than cute shirt and Gap jacket - also in perfect condition.

Snooky who?

Having Ryan visit is always an experience. He doesn't own a TV and is a little behind on pop culture. His favorite guilty pleasure is the Bachelor series. It's hilarious to hear Ryan and Todd debating the merits of the contestants. We haven't introduced him to Jersery Shore yet but he was reading this mag the other day and asked who "this Snooky person is"? I recently won some tickets to a John Mayer concert in Hartford, CT. Wierd but true... so I passed them on to Ryan to use himself or give to a friend. He had no idea who John Mayer was and said he couldn't talk any of his friends into taking the tickets. We obviously run in different circles. I guess this is how he made it to be a PhD student at Yale... he doesn't fill his head with all the crap we do;))

Baby Doll

Loving this dress from Andrea, Byron and Liam!

Spa Day

Jenn added a little hot water in these tubs and the girls partied all day - Burke Williams style;)

The Girls

Roll Call

I've made a habit of making sure someone knows they are in charge of child A or B when leaving the area. This generally annoys Todd as it seems obvious that if I go upstairs he would be in charge of the kids that are in the same room as he is. Well having Ryan around has caused a little confusion. There have been three instances of escape this week and all because one of us thought the other was with child A or B.

Case I. Last night the cousins came to dinner. We were all outside with the kids when I went inside to make a bottle for Adele. Todd assumed Veda was with me inside and I assumed she was playing with the other kids outside. A friendly neighbor found her wandering down the street and brought her home.

Case II. Ryan and I were at Trader Joe's the other day picking up supplies for the party. We were debating on the taste of heirloom tomatoes vs. sweet plum cherry tomatoes when we realized that Adele was not with us. As insane as it seems -- we left her in Dairy while we headed on to produce. She was snoozing away with my purse. Ryan swears he would have left the grocery store altogether as he had forgotten she was with us - and at that point he was in charge of her!

Case III. We were at the mall tonight and Veda was playing in the Germnasium. We were laughing because we witnessed a couple little ones making a run for it and watching their parents try to catch up with them as they exited the play area. Then we realized... Veda was nowhere to be seen. We were so focused on the other kids we didn't see her make her great escape - we assumed the other had her on their radar. She was standing about 100 yards away near the Coffee Bean (with no shoes) spinning in circles trying to find me - moments from tears.

Really - if they invented a tracking device for kids I would pay a fortunate for it. Maybe that's my million dollar idea. That and resturant highchairs that you can legally use as carseat stands.

Where's My Parenting Award?

So with all the excitement in getting ready for the birthday party I forgot to put sunscreen on Miss V in preparation for hours in the California sun. Whoops.

The second photo was taken at 10:30 at night Sunday. Not only is she up WAY past her bedtime watching movies... but also eating popcorn. I went online to read about popcorn and age appropriateness for children. I hope she enjoyed it because she's not getting popcorn for a long time after all the choaking stories I read.

A Baby Beard

Highlights from our trip to Clear Lake a few weeks ago where Uncle "Kiss" found a friend for V to hang out with....This is Veda spotting a baby bird (or a "BaBy BeArD" as she calls it). (Click the highlighted link).

Jammin'

Veda is totally occupied with all her new birthday presents which makes Mom very very happy.

Uncle Kiss?

No... It's Uncle Ryan. Veda has Uncle confusion. She goes back and forth calling Ry Uncle Ryan and Uncle Kiss. Yesterday Ryan handed her a Happy Meal and said, "Now who's your favorite Uncle?" To which she screamed with excitement, "Uncle Kiss!!!!" By weeks end Ryan hopes to have her on the Ry side so when Uncle Chris sees her in a couple weeks he'll be fighting to get his position back.