Thanksgiving in Cal City

My husband's family has a tradition of going camping & dirt bike riding for the Thanksgiving holiday - this year was our year to go with them. Drew had just learned to walk right before Thanksgiving (luckily!) and had a great time exploring new terrain - literally. Plus, as a bonus, he went on his first quad ride with Dad. I can't quite tell by the big smile on his face, but we might have a future dirt bike rider on our hands!

Guest appearances: Melissa, Roger, Roxy the dog

Better Late than Never....

Slightly delayed but sincere, none-the-less...

A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All...

photo credit: Ericka G. Photography

Death by Pinterest: The Follow Up

I bet you're wondering what ever came of that pile of blank tees... Well... FEAST your EYES on THESE!

Yep - Drew will be a fashion icon before long. I think the glasses are my fave. 

I still have a heather grey hoodie to do.. but I am not sure what I want to put on it yet. Suggestions are welcomed. 

If I can get Drew to hold still for 3 seconds I'll try to capture him wearing his new couture tees.... but good luck with that one. 

Death by Pinterest

It is true... I am addicted to Pinterest. I adore it. I spend hours on it. Collecting pictures of things I could do someday if life ever handed me a few empty hours. 

Actually, in my slight defense, I have done a few projects that I've "pinned." I made Drew a very cool mustache shirt after I pinned a picture of a onesie with a mustache on it. And today I made a whole new board for all my new t-shirt ideas. I hope Drew likes his home-made shirt collection because I am loving the idea of him having all these cool, original shirts. In my opinion, they're better than all the Carters or Circo (Target) stuff that's on every other 11 month old. 

*sigh*

So today I bought a handful of blank hoodies & tees... and I am excited to see what I am going to create. 

So long pile of boring shirts! Let's make my obsession warranted!

Drew + Dad

 

Drew and Mark crack me up when they play together - they have such a good time and are so rowdy & then they are both exhausted. I took this video of them playing in the living room. It's awesome.

Drew and Miss Abby

Drew met his new cousin, Abby, on Saturday. Miss Abby was born June 13th and is a mere 5 weeks old. Drew will be 9 months old this week and he runs roughly quadruple Abby's size. Looking at her, I am not sure Drew was ever that small. 

Drew was very enamored with her. (Right after this picture was taken he grabbed a handful of her hair!)

He just wanted to touch her and play with her.

Which is exactly why he is being restrained by his dad in this picture.

Maybe when Abby is a few months older they can play together. She'll probably even be able to take Drew out!

My new garden

We have been working hard on trying to get our yards put back together after a year-long sprinkler project. My husband has been slaving away installing new sprinklers, laying sod, sorting gravel, building retaining walls... and my contribution is a cinder block succulent garden that is on our front stoop. Not quite as impressive as laying 1200 sq feet of sod but who's keeping score? Not me! 

Maybe I'll be fair & show you the finished backyard too.... but not yet.. let's bask in my garden just a little longer...

Nature vs Nurture: a Queen fan

There was no escaping it... Drew was destined to be a Queen fan from birth. Both Mark and I are big Queen fans - we went to see them for our first Valentine's Day, we made him listen to Bohemian Rhapsody in utero, our cat is named after Freddie Mercury... So, just to squelch any lingering question about it I made Drew his very own Queen shirt out of my old one. 

Maybe he needs a mustache to complete the look? 

I can sleep anywhere!

The other night my dad was visiting & while we were waiting for dinner to finish up I gave Drew his evening bottle. All of a sudden I noticed it had gotten pretty quiet and looked down and this is what I saw...

Mr Drew had propped his bottle on his chest and fell asleep in the middle of the living room floor. It was too funny. He's never done anything like that before so I had to record it. He only stayed that way for about 20 minutes but it was great while it lasted. 

Proof that if you're tired enough, you can sleep anywhere.

Carnage

Drew tried a few strawberries the other day... he enjoyed them a bit too much I think and managed to get them everywhere. The poor strawberries never had a chance.

Hangin Out... Rollin Around

Just hanging out... rolling around the livingroom before bedtime.

Fashion Plate

Drew got a new hat... and I thought I'd share with you. It's pretty cute and he got lots of compliments on it at the Farmers Market. 

Just wanted to share.

What?! It's been a month?

Wow how time flies... it's been a MONTH since I posted last. I received a few complaints from my herds of loyal followers so here we be - back and posting for your enjoyment!

Tomorrow is Sunday & for years we've been avid listeners to the program Breakfast with the Beatles on KLOS. Admittedly there were many weeks where we slept right through it but now that we have a cute little alarm clock we are back to catching it almost every week.

Last week Drew and I decided to get into the groove a bit & he dawned is Beatles shirt. The shirt is a 2-4 month shirt so I am thoroughly impressed that it still fits him but it does, for now, so he wore it and we ate our breakfast and rocked out to the Fab Four.

They are never too young to learn about good music.

Herding Cats...

Trying to get 4 kids between the ages of 10 and 6 months to sit and smile for a photo is apparently impossible while at the zoo... 

So much for a nice Mother's Day Commemorative Photo.

Prince of the Tub

With all of the hype over the Royal Wedding last week Drew and I decided he should use his Frog Prince towel for a while. Dad gave him a bath last night & they came to show off his new ensemble. Clean and regal! 

Too Cute

Just a few cute pics of Drew in his jumper. 

Happy Monday!

Sweet Potatoes

Drew just turned 6 months old on Wednesday & to celebrate we have added sweet potatoes into his food list. He was way into it. He also decided that I was not doing it fast enough & he wanted to take over. Not sure where he gets this stubbornness from... ?

Ragnar Wrap-Up

Well, I did it! Actually, WE did it! My team - Directionally Challenged - finished the Ragnar Relay! It was a great experience and I am pretty sure I will be doing it again. It was a true physical & mental challenge for me but I did great - finished all of my legs and feel like I contributed to my team. What an awesome feeling! 


The race started in Huntington Beach - our team off 11 (one runner had an injury that kept him from competing) in our team shirts ready to go.

My husband was runner #3 and I was runner #6 so we had a little bit of down time while waiting for our turn. I kept busy by reading educational materials.

My first leg was in Yorba Linda - it was fairly short (2.7 miles) but it was also 98 degrees out so it made the run a bit more challenging than normal. Each team member has to hand off a snap bracelet to the next runner as they enter the exchange. First photo is Aimee (runner #5) handing off to me. She had just finished an amazingly difficult run up a hill - she was a machine! 

And I was off!

Normally I would never post pictures of me running because no one needs self-deprecating photos like that to be on the internet but this one actually didn't make me cry so I thought I would prove to the world that I was running!

By the way - can't you just see the heat?!

We skip forward about 30 hours or so to the end... my van, runners 1-6, had finished our final legs & were headed to the finish line area to wait for our final runners to complete the race. We stopped at our hotel to check in on our way and they welcomed us with this fancy sign - how thoughtful!

The Ragnar Relay is a great experience - if you're a runner or aspire to be one - this is a great challenge & I highly recommend it. The key is to have a great time & we had one for sure! 

PS - I need show you the cool medals we got - but it deserves its own post!

Ragnar Relay

This weekend Mark and I are participating in the Ragnar Relay - for those of you unfamiliar with the Ragnar series it is a 12-man relay & our race is from Huntington Beach to Coronado Island in San Diego. If you're not from this area and aren't sure how far that is... our route is roughly 200 miles. I have been very intimidated by this race & training for it but today I feel ready... which is good because the race is Friday. 


I was never a team sport player growing up and I do not have a competitive spirit when it comes to physical activity. Trivia games, yes - running, no. I actually think it's the scariest part of running this relay - not whether I can run it, but whether I can run it in time to keep my team on track. No pressure! 


Wish me (and the rest of our team) luck! I'll post pictures of the race next week!

Mud Flaps!

Yesterday, Mark and I joined 20 of our friends & coworkers in the Irvine Lake Mud Run. For those of you unfamiliar with the Mud Run - it is a 5k with mud & water obstacles throughout. It is dirty and super fun. We had a great group and we had a blast! We're already looking forward to the next run this summer!

 

Go team Mud Flaps!

Here comes Peter Cottontail...

It is almost Easter & I am getting prepared. Whereas Drew is not really going to be up for an Easter Egg Hunt this year I thought I would still dress him up for the festivities. We are going camping with my husband's family for Easter so Drew lucked out - no homemade suits with a bow tie this year.

My mom already bought him a bunny hat so I decided to go for a sassy t-shirt. I decided to try out a new technique I've been dying to use - Freezer Paper Printing. Thanks to my new favorite blog - Made - I got out my Xacto knife & some fabric paint & went to it.


Pretty stylish, no? And festive to boot!

Drew's first girlfriend

My good friend, Kaija, came to visit this past weekend & Drew was in love! They played and played and had such a good time.

Their first photo session... Drew wasn't really cooperating.

Auntie Kaija scored extra points for feeding him (both with Drew & with me!).


We took a trip to Costco & Auntie Kaija wore Drew in the bjorn.


A few pictures of me & Drew and Mark & Drew when we went to Freebirds for burritos.

We miss you, Auntie Kaija - Come back soon!

Drew's Favorite Place

Does this kid love his bouncy seat or what?!

Aloha!

My dad goes to Hawaii every year for about 10 days after Christmas - he is a priest and, understandably, Christmas is one of his busier seasons so he goes to relax & defragment for a bit. This year he brought home a little sassy present for Drew - a Hawaiian shirt bib. We christened it yesterday with some nice rice cereal.



Mahalo, Grandpa!

Bye, Dad!

Mark left for Taiwan last night - we miss him terribly already. Before he went I took this picture of him & Drew. Drew is right out of the bath & already in his jammies - which still consists of a sleep sack. I am hoping maybe as the weather starts to get a bit nicer he can transition out of them... but the reality of it is that he will probably grow out of them. The size that he has (and he has only 2 of them) are both smalls... and small only goes up to 18lbs. My chunkaroo is currently weighing in at 17 lbs, 11 oz. So, little man, you have a mere 5 oz before you cross into the no-sleep-sack zone. Enjoy them while they last.



Come home soon, Dad! We miss you!