A Day in the Life of Us...

Updates

2012-01-05T15:47:00.000-08:00

Well. It has been a little while. Stella turned 5 in July - such a fun little party complete with fun Uncle Scotty & Auntie Sarah, a pinata, and enormous water fight throughout the neighborhood. Stella LOVES Kindergarten, and has such a sweet teacher. She loves reading to anyone who will sit for her (especially Ruby). Stella got her first taste of playing soccer in the fall, and can't wait to start up again this spring. She continues to amaze me with her kindness and compassion towards others, her patience with her little sister, and her ever-evolving sense of humor.

Ruby was just four months old when we moved out to Utah. She is a crazy little one. She never sits still. Always has to check out what's going on around her. She talks and runs. Her favorite this right now is climbing stairs (up and down). She enjoys any toy that makes sounds, and can't help shaking her little booty, whenever the music starts. She adores Stella, and can't wait to wake her up every morning. Ruby has six teeth, that are always on display because the girl is almost always smiling. She has certainly changed the dynamic of our little family, and keeps things fun and unpredictable. She turned one last week (New Year's Eve), and I still marvel at how she's changed since we brought her home from the hospital a year ago.

Glenn stays busy with school, kids and work. He has been so great as I transition to living away from all of our dear friends (really, our family). We are eagerly awaiting snow. Lots of snow. We live 15 minutes from the nearest ski resort and cannot wait to hit the slopes with Stella this year. All in all, it has been a bit of a rough year, with many amazing highlights. So grateful for my little family and the happiness they bring. For those of your who live far away, we miss you all dearly. Happy New Year!

Favorite Things...

2011-05-05T08:39:00.000-07:00

I am loving some particular things with our girls, these days.

Stella:

1. She cannot get enough of Ruby, and constantly talks of all of the things she is going to show her little sister someday

2. Her ever-evolving sense of humor (she can take a joke as well as she gives them)

3. Her ability to laugh at herself (most of the time)

4. Stella can't wait to get a 'big girl' bike

5. Stella is great at praises, for anything and everything

The other day, we talked of visiting Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake. After that, Stella kept asking when we were actually going to the 'Square Temple'

Ruby (4 months):

1. She is grabbing everything that comes near her

2. Ruby is sucking/chewing on everything that comes near her mouth

3. She is super ticklish and has the most adorable giggle

4. She never really stops moving -legs are always going, and eyes are always looking around trying to take everything in. This girl doesn't want to miss out on a thing.

5. When Ruby smiles, her mouth opens wide, and it takes up half of her face - so cute!

6. I have to mention the yummy, chubby legs and cheeks - I am always squeezing them...

Pics to come, probably towards the end of the month, when the camera is unpacked.

The Mooooooove... Aargh!

2011-04-17T15:12:00.000-07:00

OK, ok, ok. We are moving to Utah. In 10 days. Charger for the camera battery has been packed. No pics until we are unpacked (sorry). Bittersweet, to say the least. Living in South Ogden, while Glenn attends the U. More details to come, but probably not until we are there and semi-settled. Too much to do, for right now. Tchau.

Briones

2011-03-10T21:12:00.001-08:00

This morning, we headed out on a little hike, just the four of us..

Hmmm... Where are we?

LOVE Stella's boots.

What a cutie! Ready to take on the Big Hill

The girls hike all the way to the top.

Family Shot

Heading home. What a great start to the day!

10 weeks

2011-03-10T21:01:00.000-08:00

Our little beauty will be ten weeks tomorrow. Some little facts:
Nickname: Roobs, Ruby-Lu,
Loves to kick - this girl never stops moving
Smiles (the wide-open mouthed kind), and coos like crazy (with an occasional ADORABLE laugh thrown in)
Still has the gorgeous red hair
Has her days and nights mixed up, sleep-wise
Is the apple of Stella's eye
Loves to stand
Starting to like peek-a-boo

We sure are crazy about this little cutie:

Aargh, Matey!!

2011-03-10T20:56:00.000-08:00

We have re-entered the pirate phase. I love it.
The Get-Up:

Before finding her pirate scowl:

Success!

Look who's Growing...

2011-03-10T20:54:00.000-08:00

This one just keeps getting cuter!!

Giants, Baby!!

2011-03-10T20:47:00.001-08:00

We headed to the City to check out Fan Appreciation Day with the Sf Giants. Ruby and I had a previous engagement, so we met up with Glenn and Stella later on.

Stella and her best buddy Jakers:

Saying Goodbye

2011-01-30T14:03:00.001-08:00

Stella's Ya-ya came out for a month, arriving the day after Ruby came into the world. We are so grateful for family, and for a month of having one of Stella's grandma's around to hold and snuggle Ruby, as well as rough housing, tea parties, and dress up with Stella. What a fun month! We said goodbye yesterday, and it made for a few sad moments after the train pulled away.. We love you, Ya-ya!!

Big Sister Responsibilities...

2011-01-30T13:58:00.000-08:00

Stella's new favorite thing to do with Ruby..

First Bath

2011-01-30T13:47:00.000-08:00

We have a water baby...

Beautiful Girls

2011-01-27T17:21:00.000-08:00

Just some pics of our darlings... (Thanks to my girlfriend Kirsten who took these)

Becoming Accustomed to One Another

2011-01-16T14:32:00.000-08:00

It has been fun watching Stella eat up every moment with Ruby, over the past couple of weeks. We have many pictures like this one:

Almost as much fun, is watching Ruby notice Stella more and more, and not minding the constant touching from her big sister. Stella loves any opportunity for Ruby to hold her hand, or respond to Stella's kisses. This afternoon, Ruby was sleeping in her crib, when she woke up fussing. We let her fuss for a few minutes, but Ruby wanted to be held. Right after I picked up Ruby, Stella asked if the two of them could lay next to each other on Stella's bed. As soon as I laid Ruby next to Stella, and Ruby could feel someone next to her, she went right back to sleep. They stayed this way for a good forty minutes. Stella loved it. Ruby is so lucky to have such a great big sister.

Ringing in the New Year

2011-01-07T21:12:00.000-08:00

We rang in the new year in grand fashion this year... Ruby Lauren was born @ 6:40 New Years Eve. 7 lbs, 4 oz and 18.5" long. Lots of red hair, and daddy's chin dimple (just like Stella). Nothing more beautiful. Except perhaps watching Stella with Ruby. We are just in love with this darling new addition to our family. Easy delivery, and we're all doing great (and even getting a decent amount of sleep already). Pics below..

Glenn went and picked up Stella from a friends place so she could come over and meet Ruby and hang out a bit before going back to head to bed. Love at first sight...

First family photo

Stella was there to escort Little Sister home from the hospital

Apparently, Ruby doesn't appreciate Stella's attempt to spoon in the crib

Stella can't get enough of this little one - always talking to Ruby, touching her, and plenty of hugs and kisses

Tonight, we had a little party celebrating Ruby's one week birthday
We sure LOVE our girlies!!
A great big thank you to all of our friends and family who have shown us so much love and support these past several months, but especially this past week. We love you all so much!

Disneyland

2010-11-17T09:12:00.000-08:00

Glenn and I had decided we needed something really fun to do with Stella before the arrival of Baby Sister in January. After that, we will be so busy with school stuff, and adjusting to two kiddos, and just everyday life. The day after Halloween, we picked Stella up from school and headed right down to Anaheim. The unsuspecting cutie knew we were headed to a hotel, but thought we were just going to swim in the pool. She was such a good sport through a long drive. The next morning, as we were getting ready to head over to the park to surprise Little Miss, she became fixated on the swimming pool down below (she spotted the pool the night before while standing on the balcony). She was only willing to put on a bathing suit, until Glenn finally broke down and told her where we were actually headed. Of course she changed her tune real quick, getting ready in record time.

We went on most every ride in both parks.

Stella's favorite ride was the Haunted Mansion. She is a bit obsessed with 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' right now. We must have gone on the ride about a dozen times. Later on, she got to meet Jack and Sally. She was so starstruck.

The only ride Stella did not like was Splash Mountain. I think the slides were a bit much for her. You can only see the top of her head, but she was screaming on the way down.

Stella also got to meet Minnie Mouse, though she wouldn't stand next to her for the photo.

Here are a few other pictures from our days in the park:

We had so much fun. Stella has talked about our trip every day since we got back. She can't wait to go back with her sister and show her all the cool stuff.

The Gaming Bug..

2010-11-17T09:10:00.001-08:00

Has bit this little one...

Halloween and Other Things

2010-11-17T08:48:00.000-08:00

Let's See if I can get caught up... Halloween was fun this year, with our entire little family dressing up. Glenn was the Hulk, I was a lumpy, bumpy Mrs. Potato Head (forgot to get pics, sorry), and Stella was the cutest little witch you ever did see.. October was full of trips to the pumpkin patch, a Halloween celebration at school, decorating our little place, carving pumpkins with fun friends, and visiting the Halloween store enough times to decide that Stella is finally scared of the 'scary stuff' this year.

Another big thing that happened a few weeks before Halloween: Stella loves to write her name.

Lots of days find Stella out front decorating our sidewalk.

What's New With Us

2010-09-05T07:08:00.000-07:00

To catch everyone up on our happenings: I was laid off a couple months ago (the economy affects everyone), and, while looking for another job, have been enjoying a lot more time with Glenn and Stella. I have also been working on my tan ;>). We spent the summer enjoying our passes to Water World as often as we could, hitting the beach and drive-in theater a few times, as well. Girls Camp, family in town, celebrating Stellas' birthday in Capitola, and many, many play dates. It's been a fun past couple of months for our family, despite Glenn being in school over the summer.
Stella starts her 'Pre-K' class next week. MWF. Glenn is back at DVC, finishing up his last semester there, and I am training to walk a half marathon in October (the same one I ran last year), while continuing to seek out employment. We found out a couple of weeks ago that we are having another girl. I am currently five and a half months pregnant, and I cannot tell you how excited we all are for Stella to have a sister. Stella asks me every day how the baby is doing and to remind her why the baby can't come out of my tummy yet. My response is usually, "The baby will be cuter when it has grown all of its' parts. Trust me." We show her photos of what the baby looks like at every stage, so she can see its' progress. She told me once, several weeks back, that it looked "kinda like an alien". Stella tells me everything she wants to learn to do with the baby, including changing diapers. We'll see how that goes. Oh, and Stella says she wants to name the baby Violet. We'll keep you posted on that one. That pretty much sums it up for us.

Stella-isms

2010-09-03T20:15:00.001-07:00

Stella is in the shower, as I write this, singing, "I'm gonna wash that man right outta my head, and he's gonna pee his pants on the way hoooome!"

Yesterday, I introduced Stella to the movie, 'E.T.' I, of course, got a bit misty-eyed at the end of the movie. Stella looked up at me with watery eyes and asked if I was OK. I assumed her eyes had teared up due to allergies. Tonight, however, I got the true explanation. When she reminded me, "Mom, my eyes got watery during E.T." I asked, "Was it sad? Is that why your eyes were watery?" "No, my eyes got watery because the movie was so long!"

I often wonder where some of these things come from. But, I love them.

Going Private Pt. 2

2010-08-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

So I am still trying to figure out a couple of things with regards to taking the blog private. In the meantime, enjoy some more recent posts...

Stella turns 4!

2010-07-23T07:18:00.001-07:00

This Sunday, Stella turns 4. She is so excited about her birthday. She is convinced that this will be the day when she will be an official big girl. Stella also thinks that the day she becomes a big sister (around January 5th) will also make her a 'big girl'. It is very cute. Every day I have a new favorite from this girl. She is still just the sweetest little thing. She often tells me or Glenn how cute we look, or how wonderful we are (that is the word she uses). She can twirl like nobody's business given the right dress (most of her dresses are twirl-worthy). Stella has the best sense of humor! She can be such a little clown, and loves to play little pranks on us. She is still a snuggler. Stella has made it her mission to turn me into more of a girly-girl. We can't go into any store without her suggesting certain pieces of jewelry, or a dress, that would look great on me. She is the best shopping buddy. Her big thing lately is hopping or standing on one foot, and anything to do with ballet. She is fascinated with the flamingos at the zoo and aquarium. She loves to kick around a ball or play catch. And she adores her daddy. We sure love this girl!
Here are some pics of the last four years:

Last Call...Going Private

2010-04-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

Shoot me an email with your address if you haven't already done so. I know it's a pain, but I will have the site notify you, via email, every time there is an update to the blog.
Thanks!

Whew!

2010-04-29T08:18:00.001-07:00

OK. I think we are pretty much caught up, here. Sorry, grandmas and grandpas for the slacking...

Coloring Eggs

2010-04-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

Stella colored her first eggs this year. For a couple of days afterwards, she had to keep going into the fridge to look at them and hold them.

Utah

2010-04-29T08:01:00.001-07:00

Stella and I went to visit my family in Utah. We hadn't seen them since last summer, and a visit was long overdue. Thanks to my awesome bro-in-law, we got to fly out for free. Stella was so excited to ride on a plane. It had been a few years since the last time. She did great, and we brought along plenty of stuff to do, as well as some snacks to keep busy. What a champ!

Stella and her Ya-Ya:

The year that Stella was born, I had three other girlfriends who were also expecting. Unfortunately, one of them moved to Utah when Stella was just a couple of weeks old. We had to make sure we saw some of our favorite peeps while we were out there. Stella and Hattie had such a blast together. They took bubble baths, played all things princess, and even swapped nightgowns for the two nights we stayed. Very sweet.

This little monkey (Hattie's sister, Maizy) was my favorite. She reminded me of a bag lady - arms always FULL of toys and blankies. If she wasn't carrying them, she had a little stroller piled high with whatever she could find. I would have stuck her in my pocket and taken her home, if I thought she wouldn't have been missed. Such a cutie!

Auntie Carly

2010-04-29T07:44:00.001-07:00

My sister came up to the Bay Area to hang with us for a weekend. Carly just graduated in Theater from Southern Oregon, and is now living in L.A. to start her acting career. In fact, she just got a big part in one of the local theaters down there. We are very excited for her. Stella LOVES my sister. And Carly loves being an auntie. She is so great at getting down on Stella's level and playing with her for hours. Also, Carly is the only sucker who will carry Stella around on her shoulders for an entire day, if Stella bats her eyelashes enough times.
Stella was in no mood for pictures:

She wouldn't look at the camera, no matter how many times we tried:

Eventually, we got Stella to look in the general direction of the camera:

Finally-a smile!

Gotta have the token family shot on the bridge (Stella has a couple of limbs in the shot, so it counts):

Stella with Carly:

Life...

2010-04-29T07:32:00.000-07:00

We have just been plugging along, lately. Stella is very much enjoying her preschool - her teachers are wonderful. Stella's sense of humor continues to develop, and she has learned a couple of things that can get Glenn's goat (cheering for the Dodgers, for one - everytime she does it she immediately glances over at Glenn to gage his reaction. Usually he is stifling a laugh).

Glenn is finishing up his last few classes at DVC. He will have his associates in the fall, then off to a four year. Not sure where, yet.

And I continue at my job, and try to drink up as much time with my family as humanly possible.

Our most recent family pic:

Getting Healthy

2010-02-19T10:41:00.000-08:00

One of our many New Year’s Resolutions has been to get back to our healthy lifestyle that has gone by the wayside recently. As a result of this new commitment that Glenn and I have made, there have been a lot of discussions about what it means to be healthy, and how important is it to take care of our bodies because they are a gift from Heavenly Father. The other night, we had some steamed broccoli with our dinner. As I was cleaning up dinner, Stella informed me that she wanted to take some of the leftover broccoli to school the next day with her snack. The next evening, I asked Stella if she ate some broccoli for her snack. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her enthusiastic response, “Yes, I ate broccoli today. I’m getting healthy for Heavenly Father!”

Lounging

2010-02-14T16:27:00.000-08:00

Imagine Glenn with a focused face, watching the olympics, and Stella just looking normal, as if this is her usual position.

Of course, as soon as I bring out the camera, the smiles are on.

So I asked them to try and look natural. This is the result:

Hiking

2010-02-14T16:14:00.000-08:00

Stella has really been into hiking, since we took her to the redwoods back around Thanksgiving. her favorite place to go right now is Briones. She loves it when the cows are out grazing. She also enjoys climbing up the HUGE hills. I am impressed at how adventurous this little one has become, over the last year or so.

This is the first hill that Stella wanted to climb - the picture really doesn't do it justice:

Another view of the hill. We actually climbed three of these bad boys in a row, per Stella's insistence:

Stella hamming it up for the camera:

Krispies

2010-02-14T16:09:00.000-08:00

More Krispy making.

Thanksgiving

2010-02-13T16:49:00.000-08:00

We took a little road trip up to Grants Pass Oregon to see Grammie and Grampa Aydelotte. It was so much fun. Lots of hide and seek, and some hiking in the redwoods. According to Stella, the 'coolest' thing at Grammie's house is her special recliner. See the pics below.

Hiking with Grandpa and Tio Scotty

Stella LOVES her Tio...

That'll Work!

2009-11-24T12:07:00.000-08:00

The other day, Stella asked me, "Mom, can I have a chip?" I told her 'sure' and headed to the pantry. I opened the door, only to find we were all out of tortilla chips. "We don't have anymore chips. How about a couple of pretzles?" "That'll work!" Stella hollered back. Yeah, I guess that'll work.

Often Stella will ask a question and when she hasn't received the desired response, she will ask again. This time, she will speak more loudly, and draw out certain syllables. For example:
S: "Mom, can I have a treat?"
Me: "No, you don't need a treat".
S: "No, I said Caaaaaan I have a treat!"
Me: "I said noooooooo, you cannot have have a treat right now. Treats are special and we don't eat them every day."
S: "No, I said can I haaaaave a treat?"
Maybe I should either pretend not to hear, or simply respond with the word 'no' in a different language, every time Stella re-states the question.

One last thought. Why is it that when we decide to nick name someone, we always come up with something much longer than the original name? For instance, Glenn's nickname for Stella is 'Cutie-tootie-fresh-and-fruity'. Now, we've gone from two syllables to eight. Not sure where it came from, but is sure is fun to say.

Sleeping Beauty

2009-10-27T20:08:00.001-07:00

Stella's excitement at wearing her Halloween costume got her just plain tuckered out. When was the last time you saw this much pink?

Favorite Things

2009-10-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

I love it when kids pick out their own outfits. Too cute. Whaddya think of Punky Brewster?

P.S. This is what Stella dubbed her 'Soccer Outfit'.

Catching up-Stella's First Day of Preschool

2009-10-27T13:19:00.000-07:00

The excitement had been building all summer. It was all Stella asked about, "When do I get to go to school?" When does school start?" "I'm going to school tomorrow, right?"

Stella did great. She loves school. She attends her preschool Tuesdays and Thursdays. Whenever Stella is not at school, she is asking when she gets to go back to school. She always wants to talk about her teachers (which really just consists of naming them two or three times), "Mom, let's talk about my teachers." I asked her once what her teachers likes were, going through all three of her teachers (there are 22 kiddos in her class) one by one.

Me: "Can you tell me what Teacher Jean likes to do?"

Stella: "Umm... She likes to wear glasses!"

Me: "OK, how about Teacher Leslie?"

Stella: "Umm... She likes to wear nail polish!"

Me: "And how about Teacher Margaret?"

Stella: [long pause] "Ummmmmmmm... Teacher Margaret likes jackets!"

OK. Sounds good.

Then Stella wants to talk about 'her kids'. That's what she calls the kids in her class. Stella only knows the names of two kids in her class. Because I don't typically drop off or pick up Stella from school, those are the only two names I know as well. Usually, the conversation lasts about 90 seconds and then we're on to something else.

Below are a few pics from Stella's first day of preschool:

More Stella...

2009-09-23T11:37:00.001-07:00

The other morning, I was sitting on the couch folding laundry. Stella was picking through her freshly folded pile of clothes trying to decide what to wear for the day. When I suggested something light and cool, she pulls her favorite pair of bottoms out of her pile and says, "Mom, I think I want to wear these bad boys today".
Later on that day, she was sitting on the potty singing, and twirling her hair, when I came in and started a bath for her. A minute or so after I left, she called me back in there and said, "Mom, can you turn off that bad boy? I don't want to take a bath today."
I guess we know which of our slang is rubbing off on the girl. Pretty cute.

Last weekend, we went to AT&T park to watch Il Trovatore (sp?). As we were getting the stroller and bag out of the back of the car, Glenn called Stella over in a very concerned voice. "What is it, Dad? Are you OK?" Glenn pointed to a leg sticking out of the trunk of the car parked next to us. Stella's eyes got real big and she slowly backed away from it to hide behind my legs. Of course Glenn tried to take it a little further by walking over, grabbing the bare foot and asking Stella if she would like to tickle it. This only frightened Stella more. I asked Glenn to calm her fears while I went to grab my jacket out of our car. I don't know what Glenn said to Stella but when I got back to where the leg was, Stella was kicking it and giggling. Though Glenn and I LOVED the music, the fake leg was the highlight for Stella.

P.S. Stella's eyes close when she laughs. I love that.

Stella

2009-09-03T10:12:00.000-07:00

Some things I love about Stella right now (in no particular order):

1. The way she 'Whistles'. She tries so hard.
2. Every day she tells me I smell like chicken (better than beef-vegetable soup, I guess). Even when I've just gotten out of the shower.
3. Her summer tan lines
4. When I ask her to hold my hand, she always holds just my pinky finger with all of her fingers wrapped around it.
4. The way she sings that one song from Mulan, making up her own words in place of those she doesn't know.
5. She is three and still loves to snuggle
6. She loves to look at wedding dresses and talks constantly about getting married in the temple.

Night-Night

2009-09-01T07:28:00.000-07:00

The past couple of weeks or so, we have been slowly getting Stella back into a routine. She starts pre-school next week, so we thought it was time to finally let go of the summer 'schedule'.
Typically, Stella goes to bed around 9:30. I don't get home from work until about 6pm, and that is the first time I get to see Stella for the day, so I like to get in a few hours with the little babe, before bed. She has been so great about baths and staying in bed, once we've said our prayers and good night.
The other night, Stella was furiously rubbing her eyes, and crying because she was so uncomfortable. This had been going on for about an hour. We had already given her some allergy medicine (a nightly ritual as her allergies have been so bad), so I went and got a cool washcloth to put on her eyes, hoping to at least soothe them long enough for her to calm down. It wasn't working. Finally I suggested we say a prayer and ask Heavenly Father to help her eyes feel better. Stella nodded her head in agreement. After we said our little prayer, Stella and I looked at each other for a long minute. Finally, I asked if her eyes were feeling any better. She nodded. I told her that Heavenly Father loves her so much, that he wants her eyes to feel better, and sometimes all we have to do is ask Him. She seemed to understand. After another few seconds, she looked back up at me and just started sobbing. This crying was different. This was the cry of someone whose burden had finally been lifted off their shoulders. Hard to describe, but that is the best I can do at the moment. I got to hold that sensitive little soul a few more minutes, until she finally drifted off to sleep.
Last night was a different story. Stella took a good long nap in the afternoon. This must have contributed to an energy burst that seemed like it would never end. 11:30 was when we finally got the little one to calm down long enough to stay in bed. Glenn and I went to bed, minutes later, to the sound of Stella singing Disney songs. As we lay in bed, listening to Stella, it slowly got quiet. About a minute or two later, we figured she had finally fallen asleep. Wrong. Stella suddenly busted out with 'I Love You Baltimore' (word for word), from Hairspray. And loudly, too. Oi.

Going Private

2009-07-15T15:35:00.001-07:00

Shoot me an email, if you'd like to still keep up with us...

Happy 4th!

2009-07-15T08:02:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I am trying to catch up our blog. It has been too long since I last updated it.

For the Fourth, we got to see a parade (Stella got bored once the Harleys had passed by), swim and BBQ with our dear friends, and, of course, catch the fireworks at College Park. Love traditions, sometimes.

I can never get a decent picture of these two (Grandpa came with us to the parade)

Stella went into the petting zoo, but wouldn't touch anything except the bunny, which was too fast for her.

For watching Mom toss her beanbags for her (Stella begged and begged to do the beanbag toss, but wouldn't do anything once it got to be her turn), Stella got a whirley whistle and a snowcone. Yeah!

Beach Day

2009-07-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, we headed to the beach with some great friends. Stella and Miss Hayley became fast friends.

Enjoying some BBQ, beach style!

Of course the girls talked (and snapped pictures) while the guys ate

And the very professional family shot

ZZzzzzzz......

2009-07-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

Stella was soooo tired:

LOVE This Face!

2009-07-15T07:53:00.001-07:00

Don't Interrupt the Artist

2009-07-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

This Is What A Bowl of Watermelon Looks Like After Stella Has Been Left Alone With It...

2009-07-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

Yummy...

Cheaters, Cheaters!

2009-06-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Glenn and I had the rare opportunity to go to a Giants game, just the two of us. In the days building up to our date, Glenn and I felt just a tad guilty about not telling Stella where we would be going. Finally, Glenn announced to me, the day before the game, that he felt a little like we were cheating on Stella, by not taking her, knowing what a fan she is. I asked him if he would rather bring Little Miss, but he insisted that he was looking forward to our date. That night, we had to sneak out of the house. Stella, the Giants Fan, only knew that we were going on a date. Glenn even waited to put on his Giants gear until we were at the BART station. We went and got to sit for the entire game. It was so nice to not miss a single play. Don't get me wrong, we love taking Stella to the games, and watching her enthusiasm grow, as she begins to understand the very basics of baseball. But I hadn't been to a game with just Glenn since Stella joined our little family. To top if off, the Giants won that night, so we headed home on a little post-win high.

As we walked in the door, Stella was hanging out with Grammie and Grandpa. The moment she saw us, she points at us and asks "Did you go to a Giants game?" Busted. She quickly recovered, however, when I assured her that we brought her back a little present and that she would get to go to the next game with us. As you can see, she was a pretty good sport.

Stella was so happy, she even harrassed Grandpa a little...

Let's Go Gi-ants!

2009-06-25T13:03:00.001-07:00

This year, Glenn was able to buy a share of some season tickets for the SF Giants. Sixteen games in all. We have already been to quite a few. Stella is hooked - she keeps asking when we get to go to another game. One night, Stella had fallen asleep on the couch. Glenn and I were talking, and, out of nowhere, Stella pulls her head up, still asleep, eyes closed, and chants "Let's go Gi-ants!" Then immediately lays back down and continues her soft snoring. It was the funniest thing we had seen in a while. She is officially a fan.

Hide and Seek

2009-06-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

FOUND: One Sony cybershot 6.0 mp digital camera, in a black, hard, nylon case.

Whew! We have to hide the camera from Stella, because she likes so much to look at pictures of herself, that we have a hard time getting the camera back from her. We finally found our little camera (MIA for the last month or so) tucked behind some books on one of our bookshelves. The only reason I found it was because I emptied the shelves, so I could move them around and paint the walls in our living room (a gorgeous shade of green, by the way!). Anyway, we are back in business! I will post some pics here soon!

Happy 7th, Love!

2009-05-25T09:57:00.001-07:00

First, a little nostalgia:

Remember how tired we were of taking engagement photos, so it became increasingly more difficult to look the part?

Aaawww... back when we looked more innocent:

I think we had these expressions for the first few years we were married:

Wow. Seven lucky years. Seven very blessed years. Seven unpredictable, silly, and very fun years. Seven years of learning. Seven years of wonderful, never forget, unbelievably happy moments of my life. Remember how we used to see who could get home from work first, so we could scare the pants off the other as they walked through the door? I love our spur of the moment road trips, and playing chess in the park. I love our ongoing game of Uno, and how each of us would talk such trash, no matter how bad we were losing. I love whispered conversations at two in the morning, as we lie in bed, even before we had Stella (why did we need to whisper back then?). I love your bed head and scruffy face that always accompany those beautiful sleepy eyes every morning. Thank you, Babe, for always making me feel like the luckiest girl around because I have you to come home to. Thank you for blessing me with the sweetest little girl a mom could ask for, and thank you for making me feel like I can conquer the world and accomplish anything I dream of, knowing you will support me every step of the way.

I love you with every piece of my heart. Xoxxx.

Love you baby.....

2009-05-23T23:32:00.000-07:00

When Tammy started this blog she urged me to make some posts when ever I feel. writing blogs are not really my thing, but I do have couple that I keep an eye on so that I can keep up with friends. This is going to be a bit of a surprise to Tam. I don't think she knows I keep up with this one very much.
Here we are babe, on the eve of our 7 year anniversary. Never did I think we would still be living on Virginia hills Dr, or going to the same church building that we did when we first made our eternal commitment. But here we are.... a little older, greyer, maybe even a "a bit more to love", but at least one thing remains the same. It's hard at times to see it, but I'm still crazy about you.
You asked me last night as we were walking to the theater to go see a movie, "if you knew then what you know now, would you change anything?" I replied , "yes, I would change something.... I would have tried harder to get you to marry my sooner". I mean that with all my heart. If I knew how much fun you would be to live with, I would have tried harder. If I knew how much happier I would be to wake up every morning to see your face, I would have tried harder. If I knew really just how perfect you are for me, I would have tried harder.
I have many friends who I have kept in touch with most of my life. Friends from all walks of life. Great friends all over the world. All of them are great people, but none of them are as lucky as me. They don't have you.
Thank you so much honey for EVERYTHING you have done for me. Thank you for being my backbone when I seem to have miss placed mine. Thank for being my brain when I can't think straight. Thank you for being the worlds sweetest mommy to our darling little girl. Most of all, thank you for saying, "yes, I'll marry you" on that cold night on top of Treasure Island. I sure love Stella, but YOU really are EVERYTHING to me, and for that I'm am forever grateful.
yours forever,
Glenn

Getting a Little Caught Up

2009-05-06T09:35:00.000-07:00

Some recent fun times:

Bubble baths
Running through sprinklers
Watermelon and sticky faces
Monsters and Aliens in 3D (those glasses sure are fun)
BART Rides just for the fun of it
Lots of family snuggling in some new bedding
Riding trikes with friends every evening
Roasting marshmallows in the back yard
Scaling cliffs with babes to get to secret bonfires
Creating an ‘Art Wall’ for Stella
Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles

And we're all FINALLY better from the bug that had us for almost three weeks. Yay for doctors!

Baby Girl...

2009-04-22T15:34:00.001-07:00

Poor Stella woke up this morning to vomiting and a pretty high fever. She hasn't quite quite been herself the last couple of days; quiet car rides, moodiness, exhaustion, no appetite, and a severe lack of silliness. I have missed our little one, this week.
Fast forward a few more days - Our Silly Stella is back on her feet, and spunkier than ever. This week, her favorite things to do are: playing catch with Mom and Dad, kicking any ball that is on the ground, riding the pink trike (she finally got the pedaling and steering down - yay!!), taping her artwork up on the wall, and adding a little to every picture each day, eating 'purple' yogurt, disagreeing with Mom about every. single. thing.

Man, I love this little one.

Thunder and Lightning

2009-04-07T16:43:00.001-07:00

It appears that Stella is afraid of thunder and lightning. We really don't get much of either in the Bay Area. Earlier today, Glenn was getting her ready to head out, searching the apartment for her raincoat, when all of a sudden there was a loud clap of thunder. Stella's eyes got huge as she shot him a questioning look, like, "What was THAT?". Not more than a few seconds later some lightning flashed through the front window. Just after Glenn instructed her to listen for some more thunder, it sounded again, as she ran across the room, into Glenn's lap and buried her head in his chest. Thank goodness for brave, strong Daddies.

Stella-Ism

2009-04-07T09:16:00.000-07:00

I was talking to Glenn on the phone this morning, and overheard Stella telling Glenn, "I I I going to be a pink pony when I'm all growed up."
She and Jake will make a cute couple, as he plans to be a police dog when he grows up.
Too cute.

Muir Beach

2009-04-05T15:11:00.000-07:00

It was perfect weather to head to the coast. One of our favorite spots is Muir beach. Not too crowded, not too big, clean, and plenty of tidepools to investigate when the time is right.

We spent the entire day running from waves, chasing crabs, playing in the sand, and touching sea stars;

Miscellaneous Pictures For Your Enjoyment

2009-04-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

Stella was helping put away laundry until she got distracted by dad's shiny tie.

Helping with dishes

Some recent artwork

Making pancakes for breakfast

Gearing up for baseball season. Really, we are Giants fans, but Boston is daddy's second favorite.

This is Stella's game face

Long day. Time for a nap.

Conquering Fears

2009-04-03T17:04:00.000-07:00

There are many things I love and admire about Stella; her sense of humor through most everything, her kindness and patience towards others, her courageous little spirit.
When Stella was about a year old, we were playing at a park, when she got curious about the ‘tunnel’ slide. She spent quite a few minutes investigating and ultimately debating whether or not she wanted to try it out. As soon as she appeared to make up her mind to slide down, I put her on the slide to head down to Glenn. By then, Stella had been down many slides, so I didn’t think much about putting her on this one. It wasn’t too steep, and Glenn was waiting with open arms down at the bottom. The moment Stella started moving down the slide, she became terrified, and has since refused to even go near any closed slides.
Today, Stella and Glenn came to see me at work. It so happens there is a little park downstairs from my office, and whenever these two come for a visit, we are often eating lunch down on the grass, kicking a ball around, or chasing each other up and down the play structure. For the first time since that dreadful day down the tunnel slide, Stella (who is now over 2 ½) decided to give it a try. She loved it and spent a good while climbing up the stairs just to go down this slide. I have loved watching this beautiful little one grow from a cautious, but curious little babe, to a brave and adventurous (and sassy – that’s my girl) kid.

Bedtime and Songs

2009-04-03T07:35:00.000-07:00

Last night, as I was laying down with Stella, we had just said our prayers and were singing a list of songs to which Stella kept adding more favorites. One of our favorite bedtime songs is 'I Am a Child of God'. So, this is how it went:

Stella: (singing) "I am a child of God and heee has sent me heeeere. Has given me an early home with parents kind of dear..."

Me: (interrupting) "Kind of dear, eh?"

Stella: "Yes, kind of dear."

**pause**

Stella: (grinning) "I loooove you, mom."

I love this kid.

Night Night, Tinkerbell.

2009-04-01T14:21:00.001-07:00

For a few weeks now, Stella has been asking to wear her ‘flip-flops’. I have had to explain to her that she has outgrown her ‘flip-flops’ since last summer, so she has been begging me to get some. So, yesterday, Glenn took Stella shopping. I don’t know that Glenn has ever taken Stella shopping for anything other than birthday presents or fun stuff (though, ‘fun stuff’ would include shoes, for us girlies). I should also mention that Stella’s favorite color right now is purple. So, you can imagine what a great day Stella had, when she got to walk out of the store wearing these babies:

At nine o’clock last night, Stella wanted to wear one of her favorite things: Her Tinkerbell costume from Halloween. We informed Stella that it was late and time to get into her pajamas. She whined a bit, and showed a little attitude. Finally, I told her to look out the front window and that if it was light outside, she could wear the costume, but if it was dark, it meant it was time for jammies.
Me: “Well, is it light outside or dark outside?”
Stella: “It’s light out there!”
Me: “Are you sure?”
Stella: (whispering rather loudly at the window) “Come on, Mr. Sun, wake up! Come out!”
Me: “What do you see?”
Stella: (rather dejected) “It’s dark, Momma”.
Me: “Would you like to wear your Tinkerbell costume when you wake up in the morning?”
Stella: “Sweeeet!”

Rolling Green

2009-03-25T10:05:00.000-07:00

Last night we decided to picnic at the park for dinner. We did the usual, flew on the swings, ran around like crazy people, dug for buried treasure in the sand, and observed various creepy crawlies. The highlight for Stella, however, was learning how to roll down a grassy hill. Glenn decided to show her how it was done. To digress for a moment, let me just admit that Stella has recently been using this kind of fake sounding laugh. This courtesy chuckle appears when one of us is practicing our comedy or slapstick routine for Stella. But, Glenn rolling down a grassy hill in a public park beckoned forth a true belly laugh from our little one. Clearly it was the funniest thing she had seen in a while, because each and every roll down the hill elicited these beautiful, musical laughs from Little Miss. The only thing that topped it, was when Glenn took Stella with him rolling down the hill.

Here are a few other pics from our park date:

Our Little Fairy Princess

2009-03-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

My little girlie-girl could spend all day playing dress up. Her latest acquisition: A pair of colorful, sparkly wings with a matching wand. Our fairy loves to go around changing people into princes and princesses with just a wave of her wand. Of course coordinating accessories and a Tinkerbell nightgown are a must (and we musn't forget the shades).

Chez Stelle

2009-02-23T15:25:00.001-08:00

Stella made her first Rice Krispies Treats the other day. Thought I'd share the experience:

Tuppence A Bag

2009-02-18T11:11:00.001-08:00

Feeding the birds is always fun, mostly because it can be amusing to watch seagulls or pidgeons take off with an ENTIRE slice of bread in their beak. This, we know, is just how the toddlers feed the birds.

Super Bowl Sunday

2009-02-16T19:34:00.003-08:00

Every year, we get together with a few friends and watch the big game, as well as the commercials. I must admit I was disappointed with the latter this year. The kiddos had fun, though.

Chinese New Year

2009-02-16T19:34:00.001-08:00

This year we decided to head to Chinatown in the city and check out the Chinese New Year's Parade. Stella, as always, loved the BART ride. We met up with Tio Scotty and, after some creative manuevering by Glenn, were able to score a view just 15 feet from the parade:

This was before we could see any of the parade, and were playing with the camera:

Afterwards, we couldn't pass Blondie's without grabbing a slice - Stella is a fan.

Daddy and Stella

Momma and Stella

Tio and Stella

Gotta do it again next year!

Valentine's Day

2009-02-16T09:18:00.000-08:00

This year Glenn and I had so much fun convincing Stella that she was our Valentine. Glenn thought it would be fun to fill Stella's room with balloons while she was sleeping.

She got to go to 'The Bear Store' and stuff her own Hello Kitty, complete with a fairy dress and sparkley shoes.

This is Stella's favorite friend right now. You can run, Kitty, but you can't hide

Utah

2009-01-06T16:55:00.001-08:00

16 hours to get there: traffic through Truckee/Reno, black ice from Winnemucca to Wendover, snow storm from Wendover to Toole. Stella was a champ, of course. We got to see so many people, and still didn't have time to see everyone we wanted to (I'm talking about you, Poon!). Here are some pics from our visit:

Stella checking out snow

Stella posing with her first snowman

Capturing a single moment without the little Babe

Stella LOVES her Ya-Ya

Rekindling a friendship with her little friend Hattie

These two were such a kick to watch - they had so much fun that Stella still asks if we can go to Hattie's house. I love Hattie's face in this one!

Snuggle Bunnies in the princess sleeping bag

Just hanging out

Glenn is the only one whose face would tell you that we stayed up until 2am to ring in the new year - I think the rest of us look pretty alert (although I seem to look sort of peeved in this one).

Stella has discovered her love for Cousin Brad and Cousin Allison - she just loved hanging out with these two (as did we)!

We also got to meet up with our friends Rachel and Jonas and finally meet baby Ramsey - what a cutie!

What a fun trip!

Aaahhh... Holidays.

2009-01-06T16:13:00.000-08:00

Time to catch up... So the last six weeks have been just crazy; auditors at work, closing out the month, Glenn's finals, getting ready for company, getting ready to leave town, and actually leaving town.

We had so much fun partaking in some fun Christmas traditions with the little one, this year. Stella got SO into everything. We got a kick out of watching her get excited about the Christmas tree, watching Santa from a safe distance, but the moment we left the mall, she would talk about how much she loves Santa and wants to hug him. I was perfectly fine not having to deal with pictures on Santa's lap. I'll take that for as long as I can get it.

I must confess, right now, I just want to get a bunch of pics up, so the grandparents can see them, so here goes:

Dad bringing home the Stella-sized Christmas tree (notice Stella sporting the now infamous 'Purple Dress')

Stella decorating the tree all by herself

Christmas Eve Stella begged to open ONE present

Secret Santa sure knew what Stella would like

Making cookies with mom and Grammie

Checking out the presents that Santa left

This one was a favorite - thanks Jen!

Yeah...Yeah...I know.

2008-12-17T14:17:00.000-08:00

Oh, boy… I have been slacking a bit with our blog page – sorry folks!
Let’s see, Thanksgiving was so much fun with just the three of us. Glenn tackled the ‘Turkey Task’ for the first time this year. Unfortunately (or fortunately, as Glenn loved doing it) for the G-Man it was the best bird I have ever eaten, thus permanently moving that job over to his list of Thanksgiving chores. After our little dinner, we took Stella to see Bolt. Her first movie in a theater was ‘Kung-Fu Panda’. She barely made it through that one, sitting still (quite an impressive feat for a less-than-two-year-old). There weren’t many people to see our movie, so, about halfway through Stella got to wander around the theater a bit, while she finished the film. She was great, and still asks us to “…put in the Bolt movie”. We got in some much needed family time – so great!
Since the first Christmas lights went up in our neighborhood (a little before our Spectacular Turkey Feast), Stella has been focused on Christmas. She understands a bit about giving presents, and has seen ‘Polar Express’ more times than I care to admit. There seems to be a bit of an overlap, though, between Halloween and Christmas, as Stella is always asking us what we are going to be for Christmas. Stella will tell you that she is going to be Jack the Pumpkin King for the holidays. We have seen the lights at the Oakland Temple, and have been to see the “Big, Huge Christmas Tree”, as Stella calls it, at Union Square. I suspect that decorating sugar cookies and making gingerbread houses will be on the agenda for the rest of the week.
Oh, yeah, after pulling an all-nighter, Glenn handed in his last paper of the semester. Time to catch up on sleep, and play like crazy – woo-hoo!!
Pictures to come...

Stella's Dance Card

2008-11-21T13:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, as I was going through some boxes of clothes to get rid of, Stella found a lavender satin nightie (never used - tags still attached) that I had received as a bridal shower gift. She holds it up and asks, "Is it a dress, Mom?" "Sure", I replied. "Can I wear it, Mom?" "Yes, you can wear it sweetie". "Thanks, Mom!". I put it on her, making sure it is secure around her, so it doesn't fall off. Once it is on, and she has had a chance to look at herself, she holds up both of her arms to me and asks, "You wanna dance, Mom?". "Of course", I told her. Then she asks me to sing 'Sleeping Beauty', better known to the rest of us as "Once Upon a Dream'. This is her current favorite thing to do: dancing to the Sleeping Beauty soundtrack (music/vocals provided by Yours Truly), complete with hand holding and lots of twirling. As I was making some breakfast this morning, Stella comes into the kitchen wearing said 'dress', while holding it up a little, so she can see her feet, and spin around in it, with out tripping. One of these days, I will walk in on Stella with her 'girlfriend' Glenny, sipping from plastic teacups and wearing hats that bring out the sparkle in their eyes.
Precious.

Pumpkins, Playing Around, and Bed Time

2008-11-03T09:59:00.001-08:00

This year, we got all excited to carve pumpkins with Stella. Stella, however, refused to get her hands dirty. She had fun trying to get at the sharp objects used to carve our masterpieces. Some pics:

Playing around:

This last pic is of Stella. She snuck out of bed to 'hide' in the hallway (we need to work on the ninja skills, apparently):

More Pictures...

2008-10-26T22:10:00.001-07:00

These are for our family/friends that have yet to see any recent pictures of Stella Girl (I promise I will actually sit down and write, when I get a few minutes):

Just lounging on the couch

Playing in Stella's room

Finding bugs at the zoo.

Stella and Max in the turtle shell

Stella and Kaden in the turtle shell

Pirate, The Very Exhausted (no nap) Tinkerbell, and the Benchwarmer (notice the goggles)

Some Recent Pics

2008-10-24T11:16:00.001-07:00

So I have been way too busy to blog, but thought I'd at least throw up some pics of our recent visit to the pumpkin patch:

Bottles...Yak

2008-09-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right. We are finally rid of it. Stella didn't even look back. We should have done this sooner, but I admit I was a bit of a chicken. I treasure the very little sleep I have been getting each night for the last two + years. Of course Stella came through like the champ she is. She still needs her warm milk before bed, but it now comes to her in a sippy cup.
Stella is into pretend play, these days. She is constantly talking to her little figurines that usually hang out in each of those cute little hands. Most always I hear her repeat things to her little friends, that she has heard either Glenn or myself say to her: "Are you my tired little baby?", "Go to sleep", "You get a time out!" (Stella rarely gets a time out, but her friend Drew needs them more often, so I think she hears Jen say this), "Are you hungry?", "Can we change your diaper?", "Wanna snuggle?", "Let's git, git!", among other things.
Stella has a bunch of little plastic animals: One for each letter of the alphabet. So, for the letter ‘Y’, of course the animal is a yak. Stella only learned what the yak was last week. It just never came up before. She simply asked me what the animal was and what sound it made (I don’t think I will ever attempt to make that sound again). That was the extent of our discussion on yaks. Last night, we got home with a few new books for Stella. One of them had sketch of a yak on it. At bedtime, when I brought the books back to her room, she pointed at the picture and asked, “Is that a yak?” Such cute little sponges, at this age.

Busy-ness, Potty, and New Schedules

2008-08-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

Stella had quite the busy weekend: Bike rides, learning the art of eating with two very skinny sticks, cleaning windows, vacuuming, cleaning furniture, putting toys away, picking up books and alphabetizing them (kidding), overcoming her fear of sitting on the potty, collecting Cinderella figurines (as a result of overcoming her fear of sitting on the potty), baking cookies, and today Stella did a Costco run.
I started my four day work week schedule today, working four ten hour days every week. It means three day weekends all the time, which is going to be so much fun for Stella, as well.
This little chica will be starting her babysitting stint with our friends Jen and Drew. Drew is just a couple months younger than Stella, and, starting tomorrow, Jen will start watching Stella a few days a week, while Glenn is in school. We will miss Grammie watching Stella (Glenn's parents just retired to Oregon), but I think this new arrangement will work out well. We can always go visit the grandparents over a three day weekend.
Here a few pics from Stella's cookie-making:

Bikes, Naps, & Chopsticks

2008-08-24T00:19:00.000-07:00

This morning my friend Nancy and I took the kiddos on a bike ride into Walnut Creek. Nancy has a little boy named Jacob. He is just the sweetest little thing, and he and Stella have such a great time together. Anyway, they were so great, on the ride out. Checking out ducks, doggies, and one another, along the trail. We spent about an hour and a half at the park, and then headed back. The ride was about six miles each way, so it is quite a while sitting on the back of a bike. The were both great sports about having to be strapped down for an extended period of time. Stella was just starting to become pretty irritated that I couldn't hold her, when we were still few miles from home. After a few minutes of fussing, and right after Nancy asked me if Stella had ever fallen asleep in her bike seat, (to which I answered 'No') it got pretty quiet:

Jacob soon followed suit:

Later on, at dinner time, we decided (ok, really I was the only one who thought it would be fun) to eat dinner with chopsticks. Stella wasn't half bad, for a 2 year old white girl, who had no previous experience with chopsticks. She quickly figured out that she could skewer and eat her grapes with them (Glenn is totally posing in this one):

PS: I have to say that Nancy and I rock for hauling a couple of toddlers on a twelve mile bike ride!

Hair Spray...Uh..I mean Hair Cut!

2008-08-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

Stella has always had quite a bit of hair. It used to be black. When it got wet, it looked like a little black 'fro (see much older posts for pics). As she has gotten older, Stella's hair has gotten longer, thicker, and blond. For the longest time (seemingly, anyway), I would decorate her hair with pretty little bows, and cute little hair clips. It added to the glee of having a girl. Right around Stella's first birthday, she discovered that she could remove said decorations at will. Not more little piggy tails. I was very sad. I tried, in vain, for several more months to continue my habit of adorning Stella's noggin with various girly accessories, only to have them pulled out mere moments later. Then, I had to start trimming Stella's bangs. As I could no longer keep them pulled out of the girl's eyes, they needed some maintenance. First, I tried distracting her, as I put the scissors against her little forehead. Then, came another tactic: Glenn would put Stella in a 'sleeper hold' while I quickly ran the scissors across her head. The results were mixed: either they would end up mostly straight (really, this almost never happened), or I performed a pretty bad hack job, hidden only by Stella's windblown look when we rode around with the windows down. Then, came the blessed request from Stella to have her hair put in "piggy tails and clippies". So, for the past couple of months, We have gone back to enjoying some cute little girly hairstyles, not even worrying about the bangs, as they were always pulled back by some colorful little clip. Now, we are back to nothing in the hair. I know, I have tortured you all with this long, rambling of one of many excruciating minutiae of my existence only to announce to you all that Stella finally, actually, sat for a haircut last night. Granted I did have to offer a bribe, but she sat perfectly still, while I did a stellar job with her bangs. Now you can see those gorgeous eyes again!! Yippee!!

This is during:

And this is after:

Career Change

2008-08-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

So I am considering a career change. My experience goes back to my first shower (before that, if parental accounts are to be believed). I am not horrible at it, though I could certainly be better. Also, this particular skill has been in much demand lately. Though I don’t get much of an opportunity to stretch my wings and try some variation with this new role, I figure if I just keep plugging away, sooner or later I will get better.
In an effort to help Stella conquer her fear of sitting on the potty, I went out and bought some ‘incentives’, just to get her to try and sit on the potty. Obviously, my negotiating skills leave much to be desired, as Stella never did sit on the potty, but still received her ‘surprise’. I am guessing that next time, I shouldn’t show her the prize as I am coaxing her onto the potty. The booty: a plastic Cinderella figurine, along with her Prince. Since then, these two characters dance together, hold hands, kiss, and sing to one another. Stella’s favorite activity, by far, is to have Cinderella dance with her Prince. Of course, one cannot dance with out the music to inspire. As a result of this need to dance, Stella has had me sing ‘Once Upon a Dream’ non-stop for the past couple of days. “Sing Dream”, she so sweetly requests. Of course I have to oblige if for no other reason than to just watch how sweetly she plays with these beloved friends of hers. I know, this particular song is actually featured in ‘Sleeping Beauty’. However, Stella seems to think this a more appropriate song, given the extremely romantic nature of the lyrics, as well as the music.
Stella often requests me to sing to her, but lately, this is the only song she cares to hear. Once in while she will bust out with the alphabet song (she can sing the entire thing solo), but it tends to throw off Cinderella’s rhythm, so we stick to the romance. While I love this unpaid internship that I am currently engaged in, I think I will stick to my day job. At least until the record deals start pouring in (though I suspect my stage fright would probably keep me from going too far down that road, anyway).

Summer Pics

2008-08-14T07:29:00.001-07:00

So here are some pics from the last couple of months, that some may enjoy:
Stella slaving away in the kitchen and hating every minute of it

Gotta look cool in the pool

Figuring out the beloved Rubik's cube

Hanging with Alika - these two are such pals lately

Discovering new friends - this is Cayden. His mom and I were roommates in Berkeley (oh so long ago)
Yes, those are indeed rain boots paired with a swimsuit - this little Chica is headed off to get wet!

PS - I've added a few pics to previous posts, if you care to take a peek.

Things That Go Bump In The Night

2008-08-05T22:42:00.000-07:00

Stella: "What are those"? (pointing at the sky, as we lay on a blanket at the park today)
Mom: "Those are clouds. (pause) Stella, how many clouds do you see?"
Stella: "One..Two..Three..Four..Five..Six..Seven...."
Mom: "What comes after seven?"
Stella: "Eight..Nine..ten (in a really small voice)."
Yep, the little munchkin can count to ten. Man, are kids smart!

I am trying all sorts of things to get Stella to fall asleep on her own, so the 90 minute long routine of rocking and singing can come to an end. Tonight, Stella cried and cried. I was in the living room when I heard a thud come from our upstairs neighbors. I decided to sneak a peek at Stella. I had tip-toed down the hall and was just reaching for the door knob, when it started to move on its own. Stella had climbed (and fallen) out of her crib, and was on her way out of the bedroom. I am surprised it took her this long to decide to try this (she is two). I guess the remainder of the week will consist of adjusting Stella's crib to resemble a bed. This should be an interesting next few weeks, as we teach Stella to stay in her bed. I feel like it is an uphill battle, sometimes, to keep the tail from wagging the dog.

Pretty Sure We Brought This On...

2008-07-29T15:17:00.000-07:00

Stella going off the bottle, and learning how to put herself to sleep..., tantrums, shrieks in the wee morning hours, and a new persona that is rearing its' head.

It's My Party...

2008-07-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

So, I though I was going to be able to post a lot of pics from Stella's birthday party here. Wrong. There were so many kiddos crammed in our little apartment, that I couldn't get a shot of anything or anyone without a bunch of toddlers crowded around it. It was fun, though, and we ended up with about thirty people who came to wish Stella a happy birthday - thanks to all of you!

Robbed!

2008-07-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

I just have to post this, as this is the craziest thing that has happened to our little family in a little while.
This last Saturday, Glenn was scheduled to work (he works at Trader Joe's, for those who were unaware). Generally off at ten, Glenn usually arrives home between 10:10 and 10:15. At 10:10 in the evening, I got a text from Glenn, "We just got robbed!". Surely you're joking, Mr. Aydelotte. I responded, "R U OK?". Nothing. In moments like these two minutes seems like an eternity, but it took me that long to finally decide to call his phone, not knowing what the situation was at that moment in the store. It rang and rang, and finally went to voicemail. I waited another minute or two and called again. This time he picked up, "I can't talk right now, let me call you back in a few minutes." What?!? Some words of advice, my darling husband, please, please, please try and fit the phrase, "...but I'm/we're alright...", in there somewhere. It was about 15 minutes between finding out his store was robbed, to learning that no one was hurt. So, some guy, enters after the store is closed, points a gun in every one's face, and orders them all to hit the deck. Luckily Glenn had to run to the restroom, and missed all the fun. By the time he made his way back up to the front, the guy was gone, and the woman who replaced Glenn up front was recovering from having a gun pointed at her head. Glenn did hear the two gunshots fired, but figured someone had dropped a case or two of wine. It has shaken everyone up, including our little family. Thank goodness no one was hurt.
And, yeah, the scoundrel got away.

Camping!

2008-07-16T07:16:00.001-07:00

We just got back from the Elders Quorum campout. It was down in the Portola Redwoods. Stella's second campout. Stella's likes: marshmallows, hanging out in the Pereira's tent and giggling with Jake and the girls, the campfire, playing in the faucet, the nature walk, and kicking up all of the surrounding dirt. Stella's not-so-likes: cold water, falling on her little face the last day and ending up with a rather beat-up looing face (poor baby), and going home. She loved reading stories in the tent, right before bed, and snoozing in her sleeping bag. We got to spend two nights, and were fianlly allowed to light a fire the second night. Friday, we headed to the beach, but it was so windy, blowing sand in our eyes, that we didn't stay for too long. What fun!

Here are just some of the moments we caught on camera:

As you can plainly see, Stella spent a lot of time catching up with her buddy Jake.

Sigh....

2008-07-06T07:14:00.000-07:00

I think that few things are more touching than when a child does something without being prompted. Stella has yet to reach that stage where she'll say something just because we asked her to. In fact, while she will mimic what Glenn and I say, she will never, ever say something when I ask her to (please, thank you). Never. She just won't do it. She isn't defiant about it, she just sweetly ignores my request. Plus, she speaks about herself in the third person (very cute).
Like all of you parents out there, we tell our kiddo we love her all the time. Every day. Several times a day. Yesterday, Stella and I were sitting on the floor, reading some books, I think, and she looks up at me with those beautiful blue eyes and says oh-so-sweetly, "I love you." Aawww... A half hour later, "I love you." Aaaawwwww... I must have heard that four or five times yesterday.
Yes, I'm in love.

Raleigh, Raleigh Doodle All The Day

2008-07-02T11:38:00.001-07:00

There are certain smells I associate with airports: Damp dirt, a wide variety of perfumes & colognes, stale pizza, the oh so faint scent of feet (this one seems to serve as a backdrop to all other smells), plane fuel, and the smell of old carpet, to name just a few. I shall explain later on, why this happens to be the first thing that comes to mind, when blogging about my latest little adventure.
A couple of months ago, I got off the phone with Rachel, and immediately told Glenn that I thought it might be fun to just take off and visit this friend of mine. As the time got nearer, it was easy to find excuses to put it off (Stella, stuff at home, etc...). Glenn was very insistent that I needed to get away and visit a girlfriend who didn't have any kids, so I could really get a break. I am so glad he practically kicked me out of our place for a long weekend.
Rachel and Jonas were so great about having me stay with them. It was fun to catch up with one of my favorite mission companions, and reminisce about our mission experience. As I have stated before, we were together for about six months, so we had some crazy times. As it turned out, I also had the opportunity to get to know Jonas a bit better, as well. What a darling little family these two are. Rachel is expecting a baby in September, so there will soon be three of them.

Also that weekend, my brother, Rob, got married. He married a beautiful girl named Sommer. Since their wedding was only about an hour away, I was able to make it out to visit with them, as well as my adorable, sweet little nephew, Josh. I hadn't seen this kid, since he was about nine months old. Now he is about nine, I think. As the ring bearer, he looked quite dapper in his tails.

Speaking of dapper, my Brother Scott flew out as Best Man. Words cannot express how much I love this brother of mine. We have been through a lot together, and, being only a year apart, we were always pretty close growing up. We only have time to catch up with each other about once a month, but I truly appreciate the great man, husband, and father my brother Scott has become. He has always had my back, and I know that he always will. I hope he knows that about me as well.

My brother Robert is in the army, stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC. He has been to Iraq, and Afghanistan, and has seen a lot. He, too, is such a great daddy to Little Man Josh. It is fun to see the cute relationship they have with one another. Rob found a great girl in Sommer, and I am so excited to have her as a part of our family. She is such a great mom to Josh, already.

So, here it is, right before the ceremony is supposed to start, and the three of us are catching up (we haven't been together in one room in a few years), when all of a sudden is seems a little too quiet in the halls. I didn't think much about it, until the Maid of Honor (she was pretty fun to have around, by the way) comes running in telling us to get our behinds into the chapel, as Sommer is already half way down the aisle. Yikes! How embarrassing! Everything went well despite that, and I so enjoyed catching up with these brothers of mine.

Coming home, I was delayed by about a day, as all flights from JFK to CA were cancelled. Lucky me, got to find this out after spending about six hours at the airport. Rachel and Jonas were kind enough to fetch me from the airport, so I could spend one more day with them. Thanks guys!!

PS - Thanks to my Amazing brother Zack (and of course my super-duper hubby), Stella had so much fun this past weekend that she didn't have much time to miss me. Thanks for taking such

great care of our girl!

I'm Leaving On A Jet (Blue) Plane...

2008-06-26T12:17:00.000-07:00

So, tonight I leave for a long weekend. I get to see an old mission companion (and great friend), who lives in the Raleigh area. I am just so excited to see this girl. Rachel has been out to the Bay Area to see me, but I haven't seen her in probably about a year and a half. We spent 6 or 7 months together as companions, and had such a great time. Some of my fondest Portugal memories are with this girl. She also has this great, quirky sense of humor - we tend to find the same things extremely funny - that keeps me with tears in my eyes. I can't wait to see this friend.

Also to note is that this is my first time away from Stella. Little Miss will be two next month, and not only am I leaving her overnight, I am leaving for three nights, and all the way to the other coast. Hopefully Rachel can help to keep me distracted enough so that I won't be tempted to call every hour. Of course I will miss Glenn like crazy, as well. But, this will be a much needed little vacation for me, and I intend to enjoy it as much as possible.

Thanks to my wonderful (and favorite) brother-in-law Scotty (Glenn and I both have a brother named Scotty) for helping to make this trip possible. I love you!

This is me getting ready to head to the airport and off on my weekend getaway! (Pic to follow)

Giggle Fits

2008-06-24T22:17:00.000-07:00

Earlier tonight, during my first attempt to rock and sing with Stella, she kept saying "Happa Tay Tay". I asked, "Do you want to sing Happy Birthday?" "Okay!" she responds. I have to confess that upon hearing "Happa Tay Tay", I immediately thought of Eddie Murphy doing his Buckwheat impression. If any of you recall the movie 'Dumbo' you will remember that the stork who delivers Dumbo embellishes the ending. Stella has picked this up and so now sings "Happa Tay Tay" inserting about a dozen extra notes at the end (Happa Tay Tay to you-oooooooo).

My 17 year old brother is out for the summer, and Stella is just in love. She and Zack have such a good time together. Stella has a great sense of humor, and Zack is great at 'playing along'. We play many games at our place. By 'games' I mean that we find many things funny. One of which is to steal one anothers seat when it becomes momentarily vacant. Stella has picked up on this, and just loves to steal anyones seat, who gets up from the couch. She is especially into stealing Zack's seat. Stella has some ninja skills, where this is concerned. She will take something that Zack is holding, run into the kitchen and throw it, so that Zack will get up out of his seat, giving Stella just enough time to run back to the couch and declare "That's MY seat!". This is followed by some of the loudest (and cutest) laughter that I have heard from the girl. Stella should be in bed right now, but we are currently using her for entertainment. This seat stealing game, had the four of us laughing our heads off a few moments ago. Perhaps you had to be here, but it was just so funny! I am still wiping tears from my eyes, right now.

Back to the Beach!

2008-06-09T22:45:00.000-07:00

So, my family is in town for three, count them, three weeks. I have received some humorous reactions to this news. The majority of people think we are crazy for housing seven people in our little two bedroom apartment for 21 days. However, we just love sharing our space with my family. They are so fun to have around, and so easy going and laid back that we hardly notice the cramped space. Stella is just loving having her crazy Auntie Kim (my 13 year old sister) around. Kim is a pretty good source of entertainment as far as toddlers are concerned. It has been fun seeing Stella's relationship grow with each family member every time they come for a visit.
This last weekend, I took all the kids to the Beach. My seventeen year old brother, Zack, his girlfriend, Bailee, and Kim all jumped in the car for a day at the coast. Of course the water was freezing, but it didn't stop everyone from getting wet. Stella ate her fair share of sand, and we all spent the next 36 hours digging sand out of...um... various places.

Kim, Bailee, Zack - assisting one another with the sunscreen.

Stella motioning for me to put down the camera and take her to the water.

Heading down to the water.

Aawww... Look at that face...

7 Facts About Me

2008-06-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

OK, so I was tagged for this:

1. Since the age of fourteen, I have been in love with Will Smith.
2. I hate my legs, which is why I almost never wear shorts.
3. I was married before Glenn.
4. My dream career would be that of a pediatrician, and I would do some painting on the side.
5. I have a scar the size of a fingerprint on my head, and I have no idea how it got there - I have more scars than most people have freckles.
6. I have had roughly a dozen surgeries (hence the scar info above)
7. Cooking is one of my passions.

And now I have to come up with number eight, as I was just fooling around with no. 3. Glenn is the only one with whom I have ever been truly, madly, and deeply in love enough to marry.

8. Three places I have always wanted to visit are: Australia, India, and Hungary.

Disneyland - It's Not a Small World

2008-06-08T22:58:00.000-07:00

The first time I visited Disneyland, I was 25. I went with my roommate, Lindsay. We stayed with her sweet grandma. I think the first ride I went on was Space Mountain. It was my favorite ride (still is, I think). If I recall correctly, I dragged Lindsay on this ride three times. She was such a great sport.

Almost two weeks ago, Glenn and I took Stella. We also took Glenn's parents, who had never been. Two days in the park was all we wanted to try, with a toddler, and a couple of seniors, for their first time. Stella is the champion of the world, when it comes to road trips. She is unbelievably great in the car, for long stretches. Of course, now that I have thrown that out to the cosmos, she will forever be horrible in the car (he, he). Stella didn't sleep all that well, as there was no rocking chair, there wasn't a bookcase full of her favorite books to read before bedtime, and she didn't have a hallway to flee into, when bedtime was announced. However, she loved jumping on the beds, she loved having Grandma and Grandpa in the adjoining room, and she loved playing in the big shower. The word 'Disneyland' had no significant meaning, until we actually entered the park, and Mickey's head was everywhere. Up to that point we always referred to the place as 'Cinderella's House'. Stella knows the names of many of the princesses (Ariel is her favorite), she knows who Winnie the Pooh (she pronounces his name 'Poop' with great fondness), and she knows who Mickey and Minnie are. So, needless to say, I don't think she blinked the entire first day in the park. She seemed to be just taking everything in. Stella was scared of all of the rides that took place in the dark. Of course we took her through all of them, before we discovered this. She loved the carousel, and the Dumbo ride. We got to see the parade, and every time Stella saw Ursula the Sea Witch, from The Little Mermaid, she would point at her and say, "Issat Ursla? She's naughty." Stella loved swimming in the hotel pool, and her favorite part was the little sprinkler park in the California Adventure park. What kid doesn't LOVE being shot in the face with water? Day two was much the same, though Stella's eyes weren't quite as big, and she seemed to know a little more what to expect. We had no sooner walked through the door, than Glenn began planning a week long stay for next year. Hmmm.... We'll see, I guess.

PS The Small World ride wasn't open. Darn it!

Swimming with Dad

Grandma, Stella, Dad, & Grandpa

Stella loves Minnie, she's just a bit shy.

Waiting for the parade to start

Pooh snuck in the picture of Stella eating

Last ride of the first day - we were pooped!

Sprinklers + Sucker = Fun (& Hyper Stella)

Patiently waiting for the ride to start

Catch-Up

2008-05-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

OK, so not a whole lot has happened. It has been busy with Glenn finishing up with his finals. Woo! Hoo! Glenn has his first year of school behind him! He got a 3.7 GPA this last semester. I am so proud of him, and how hard he is working to make sure that I get to stay home with Stella, when this is all over. We are gearing up to head down to Disneyland this next week, so not a whole lot to report just yet. Here are some pics from the last few weeks:

Reading with Dad

Apparently I am interrupting reading time by taking photos (note the stern look on Stella's face).

'Blowing' bubbles

Taking a little stroll

This little monkey came up with this one all on her own.

By Jove, We've Found It!

2008-04-17T09:18:00.000-07:00

We have discovered Stella’s absolute favorite place (besides home) in the entire world – the beach. This past weekend found us escaping the East Bay heat, to Pacifica. We had planned on playing in the sand, and wading ankle deep in the frigid water. Stella spent the entire time in the water. Once she got her feet wet, she had no desire to do anything else, but stand in the water, and let the waves drench her little body from the legs down. We had to actively hold her back from walking further out into the water. We all had fun, and Stella sealed the deal on what our weekends will be like, over the summer.

Out!

2008-04-17T09:03:00.000-07:00

Of course we all know that these little ones are just the sweetest when they are sleeping. I just thought the t-shirt was so appropriate, that I had to get a shot of it. She was actually sprawled across our bed – arms and legs spread out. She couldn’t have looked more comfortable…

So cute (or 'coot', as Stella would say)!

A Stella Sandwich

2008-04-11T15:20:00.000-07:00

I just love babies. When I say babies, I include toddlers in that bunch. Actually, I just love kids in general, but babies are just plain sweet. Miss Stella has been showered with affection since she made her entrance into our family. It has been really sweet to see her become quite affectionate with me and Glenn. She often will see me and Glenn kissing and has to wander over and interrupt. She stands there, prying us apart with her little hands, and then reaches up to us, so we will pick her up, all the while repeating, “Hugs for Stella”. Once we have her in our arms, she takes turns kissing us both.
On the weekend, when we all sleep in together, she wakes us, and just wants to snuggle right in between us. If she were a cat, she would purr. That is just heaven for our little one, when the three of us are all together. I love that Glenn and I aren’t the only ones who truly appreciate the rare moments when the three of us are all together. Then there are the spontaneous moments when I will be reading to Stella, or Glenn is getting her dressed, or the three of us are just playing around together, and she will stop whatever she is doing, and pucker her little lips, and plant a delicious little kiss on one of our faces.
Sigh…. I love being Stella’s mom.

She Found It!

2008-04-09T11:08:00.000-07:00

I think you know what I mean by ‘it’. ‘It’ would be that lovely combination of plastic and silicone that we have previously referred to as ‘The Bink’. Remember my dread for the day when Stella would inevitably stumble across one, when we least expected it? Yeah, well, Stella and I were in her room a few nights ago, just engaging in our pre-bedtime routine of playing and reading books. She was standing over her basket of toys, when I watched her pause, and then promptly thrust her little arm down to the bottom only to retrieve ‘It’. With a rather impish grin, she immediately stuck It in her mouth, and turned around to look at me. I smiled and asked, “Now where did you find that?” In response, she runs to the other side of the room, to prevent me from removing It from her sweet little face. I just sat there, taking note of how odd it looked, as she has now grown into a full-fledged toddler, and hasn’t used one in weeks. I went to grab the camera, just to document her discovery. When I returned to the room and turned on the camera, she came right over, and offered her treasure in exchange for the camera (my ‘narcissistic’ daughter loves to look at pictures of her stored on our digital camera). I accepted her proposal and she sat on my lap as we scrolled through pictures, while I tucked what I am sure is just the first of many such findings, in to my pocket. That was that. I will post some pictures of the dreaded discovery when I get some time to upload them from my camera.

The recently estranged couple...

Springtime, Ariel, & 'Kee-Cats'

2008-03-30T14:06:00.001-07:00

So, I realize I am a little late with the Easter pics, Papa, & Yaya. First, we went to an Easter egg hunt, and left right before the hunt. There were way too many kids for Stella's taste, and it was a two hour 'activity'. Needless to say, Stella lasted about an hour. Once it became crowded, She was outta there:

Then, Easter came. It was fairly uneventful. Stella got to taste jelly beans for the first time, and she got an Ariel (Little Mermaid) doll that goes with us everywhere.

So, after church, Stella was so tired, and in no mood for pictures, yet, Glenn had to get a couple of cranky pics for posterity:

On my desk at work I have last year's Easter photo of our little family. It makes me smile, because Stella was so ticked at me dressing her in an Easter dress last year, that we couldn't get the kid to crack a smile to save our lives. So, here are pictures from Easter of 2007, and Easter of 2008, respectively:

Stella's 'thing' right now is to hunt for the neighborhood 'Kee-Cat' every time we step foot out the door. Even if we are headed somewhere, we had better take a few minutes to hunt down the object of harassment, so that Stella can stand over the poor creature, meowing at the top of her lungs (in case it is unsure of the sound it should make), until the cat just gets up and finds another hiding place. Stella, however, has not learned to take a hint. She sees this as an opportunity to practice her chasing skills, all the while calling out, "Kee-Cat, where are you? Kee-Cat, come here!" If nothing else, it does provide some much needed comic relief for me, after a sometimes long day at work.

Aw, Man....A Toddler!

2008-03-20T13:43:00.001-07:00

Strong-willed. Independent. A bit stubborn. TANTRUMS. Sweet. Affectionate. Always moving. If it isn’t her idea, she doesn’t want much to do with it.

These are just a few of the descriptors for Stella these days. She is definitely going through that phase of separating herself, psychologically, from Mom and Dad. I gotta be honest. It really wears on me sometimes (mostly when I haven’t had much sleep). At the same time, I just wanna squeeze her, and shower kisses all over her face. What to do? Right now, we are not only trying to establish boundaries with Stella, but also learning to choose our battles. I didn’t think we would have to start this so soon, and yet, if we don’t, I think it will be more difficult for us to do this, later on.

Yeah, I think one kid is enough for right now. I do have to say, though, that Stella is still a pretty darn easy kid.

Words:

Bog = frog
Bippo = hippo
Bippo = Rhinoceros
Hey Babe! = mom
Steya = Stella
No? = no
Kee-cat = kitty cat
Poop = Pooh (Winnie the)
Pooter = computer

So darn cute!

Ashland, Oregon

2008-03-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

Roadtrip: a journey via automobile, sometimes unplanned or impromptu; a journey involving sporting game(s) away from home.

Games? There were none unless you count ‘Entertain the Toddler for Four to Six Hours So We Don’t All Go Insane’, a game.

I have a sister who lives in Ashland Oregon. She is going to school there, and getting ready to graduate as a drama major. Carly’s a smart, fun, beautiful girl that I hadn’t seen in almost ten years (long story), so it was time. Stella got to meet yet another Auntie, and Glenn met yet another of my siblings. Typically a six hour drive, it took us around seven, as we had to let Stella out to run off some energy for a while. We stayed with some dear family friends, whose home Stella found to be quite entertaining. Ashland was beautiful, and we all had fun, though I am sure Little Miss doesn’t care to see the inside of the car for a while. Some snippets from Stella while we were up there: "Hey, Babe!" (She heard Glenn calling me - she followed me around the house calling me at the top of her lungs), "Keeee-Cat" (trying to get the stuffed cats to come to her), "No?" (typical response when asked about most anything). Stella was a great sport, though a bit homesick. She was on cloud nine, once we walked back in the door to our place. So, here are just a few of the pics from our little trip…

PS - Here's to no more bink (until the next one comes along, someday) - Woo-Hoo!!!

Carly and Stella outside the Children's Science Museum

Impossible to get a shot where everyone is looking at the camera.

Snacking on Cheerios

Mugging for the camera