I already posted this picture but I'm posting from my phone and having trouble and blah blah blah, it's easier to post a pic via mail and add commentary than it is to post directly.
So:
1. Baby AJ and My SIL Who Does Not Wear John Deere Pajamas came over for a visit on Sunday. When AJ saw me and realized that she was coming to my house she got a big grin on her face and started running toward me.
My heart was full.
2. I was at work today when my brother called me (a very rare thing). It turns out my darling nephew had drawn me a picture and wanted to talk to me about it. So there, right smack dab in the middle of expensive consultant we-are- super-discreet-about-personal-calls land, I said "Hi, Baby" and then we discussed that I told him my favorite color was blue a few days ago, but he drew me a picture in red and that he was going to turn FOUR in June .
And again, my heart was full.
Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Blog Mom & Dad's Anniversary / Retirement Party: CHECK!
My brothers, sisters in law and I hosted a party for my parents' 40th wedding anniversary and their retirements (my dad basically retired 100 years ago, but he's OFFICIALLY retired now). This all happened back in October so while their garden is lovely, it's not this lovely in January.
And this isn't really a blog post as much as it is a picture dump because it was all just so stinking pretty...but I can't really take credit for all the great ideas - it was like 80% Pinterest. I will, however, take credit for being on a ladder at like 5:30 that morning, hanging those damn lanterns. It all looks so simple and easy breezy, but it did take a lot of effort.
And speaking of effort, our friend Mary -- my brother and SIL Who Does Not Wear John Deere Pamajas' neighbor, was SO AWESOME. She offered to help and at first I told her not to worry about it because I knew I'd be in bitch mode but she was like "Elizabeth, I totally know what it's like to be our kind of person in party prep mode. You tell me what to do and I will do it."
And hot damn, she rocked it. SO HELPFUL!
I believe I've already reported that I wouldn't do the driveway balloons again because they got all tangled with even just a light breeze:
The main food was a taco guy who I didn't get a picture of, but there was also a table of supplementary items - the big hole was for the artichoke jalapeno dip that was in the oven when Laverne took this picture:
The oranges in the mason jar were a bit of a twist on something I saw on Pinterest that I'd totally do again...though my morning would have been less hectic if I'd decided on baby's breath earlier and did the running from store to store to buy enough sometime OTHER THAN the morning of the party.
Sangria and sun tea down at the end (not in view: the jelly jars I rented for said sangria and sun tea! I LOVE A THEME!):
One of my favorite Pinterest ideas:
The crates for the empties (there was another one for dirty dishes and another for something else that I can't think of right now) were my idea -- I have three of them in my garage now, so expect to see them again at any future adorable outdoor parties I may throw.
The other side of the yard with the seating. It was unexpectedly warm so umbrellas would have been nice, but then I couldn't have done the lanterns:
The kids' table was this adorable little midgety table (with matching midgety chairs) that I stocked with kid stuff:
See that bike in the picture above? Mary and I looked over at it at one point during the set up process and we both noticed that her husband had sort of awkwardly tied the balloons to it (per my request), but we were busy and I was thankful for his help and we had bigger fish to fry so I was going to ignore it...but then Mary, my party execution twin, was like "You're thinking the same thing I'm thinking."
"Um. Probably. But don't worry about it."
And then the next thing I knew, her husband was re-doing the balloons on the bike.
I'm pretty sure that when he offered to help he thought he'd be doing masculine things like moving tables and putting beer on ice (my brother's ONLY day-of job was to get ice, but I had to send him back to the store three times because this task wasn't being completed to my satisfaction) and that he didn't at all expect to be named the VP of Balloon Decor (he also did the driveway balloons for me!), but those balloons on that bike (which were an afterthought because my dad's bike just happened to be leaning up against the fence and we had extra driveway balloons) actually turned out to be one of my favorite details.
Mary also made the cupcakes and her mother-in-law made the party favors (chocolate pops) -- I would have FOR SURE been up a creek without Team KPR!
We had a huge turn out, it was a lovely day for a party, and I know my parents enjoyed themselves.
WIN!!
And I totally overbought on beverages so we have beer and soda in the basement to last us for years.
I also had a bunch of people say that OMG ELIZABETH, YOU SHOULD DO THIS PROFESSIONALLY and I was like OMG THANK YOU BUT NO, because then I'd have to execute other peoples' ideas and truthfully, it's a lot of effort and it's really only worth it when I'm doing this for someone I love.
And speaking of someone I love, here's a beautiful picture of my miracle niece that Laverne took (one of many -- some of which I've stolen for use in this blog post):
And this isn't really a blog post as much as it is a picture dump because it was all just so stinking pretty...but I can't really take credit for all the great ideas - it was like 80% Pinterest. I will, however, take credit for being on a ladder at like 5:30 that morning, hanging those damn lanterns. It all looks so simple and easy breezy, but it did take a lot of effort.
And speaking of effort, our friend Mary -- my brother and SIL Who Does Not Wear John Deere Pamajas' neighbor, was SO AWESOME. She offered to help and at first I told her not to worry about it because I knew I'd be in bitch mode but she was like "Elizabeth, I totally know what it's like to be our kind of person in party prep mode. You tell me what to do and I will do it."
And hot damn, she rocked it. SO HELPFUL!
I believe I've already reported that I wouldn't do the driveway balloons again because they got all tangled with even just a light breeze:
The main food was a taco guy who I didn't get a picture of, but there was also a table of supplementary items - the big hole was for the artichoke jalapeno dip that was in the oven when Laverne took this picture:
The oranges in the mason jar were a bit of a twist on something I saw on Pinterest that I'd totally do again...though my morning would have been less hectic if I'd decided on baby's breath earlier and did the running from store to store to buy enough sometime OTHER THAN the morning of the party.
Sangria and sun tea down at the end (not in view: the jelly jars I rented for said sangria and sun tea! I LOVE A THEME!):
One of my favorite Pinterest ideas:
The crates for the empties (there was another one for dirty dishes and another for something else that I can't think of right now) were my idea -- I have three of them in my garage now, so expect to see them again at any future adorable outdoor parties I may throw.
The other side of the yard with the seating. It was unexpectedly warm so umbrellas would have been nice, but then I couldn't have done the lanterns:
The kids' table was this adorable little midgety table (with matching midgety chairs) that I stocked with kid stuff:
See that bike in the picture above? Mary and I looked over at it at one point during the set up process and we both noticed that her husband had sort of awkwardly tied the balloons to it (per my request), but we were busy and I was thankful for his help and we had bigger fish to fry so I was going to ignore it...but then Mary, my party execution twin, was like "You're thinking the same thing I'm thinking."
"Um. Probably. But don't worry about it."
And then the next thing I knew, her husband was re-doing the balloons on the bike.
I'm pretty sure that when he offered to help he thought he'd be doing masculine things like moving tables and putting beer on ice (my brother's ONLY day-of job was to get ice, but I had to send him back to the store three times because this task wasn't being completed to my satisfaction) and that he didn't at all expect to be named the VP of Balloon Decor (he also did the driveway balloons for me!), but those balloons on that bike (which were an afterthought because my dad's bike just happened to be leaning up against the fence and we had extra driveway balloons) actually turned out to be one of my favorite details.
Mary also made the cupcakes and her mother-in-law made the party favors (chocolate pops) -- I would have FOR SURE been up a creek without Team KPR!
We had a huge turn out, it was a lovely day for a party, and I know my parents enjoyed themselves.
WIN!!
And I totally overbought on beverages so we have beer and soda in the basement to last us for years.
I also had a bunch of people say that OMG ELIZABETH, YOU SHOULD DO THIS PROFESSIONALLY and I was like OMG THANK YOU BUT NO, because then I'd have to execute other peoples' ideas and truthfully, it's a lot of effort and it's really only worth it when I'm doing this for someone I love.
And speaking of someone I love, here's a beautiful picture of my miracle niece that Laverne took (one of many -- some of which I've stolen for use in this blog post):
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Teaching
The above is a screenshot of my dad's Facebook page. The photo on the left was posted first and the photo on the right was posted the next day.
I don't know if the lady whose comment I circled was specifically referring to the picture on the left, but now that I see them in Facebook's timeline view, she's exactly right.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
The last frame of a video...
...and I can't get over HOW MUCH I look like my mother. That's not a bad thing at all, but whoa.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Words!
1. Cousin Regina asked what the stars and hearts meant in a previous post but I’ve been a bad replier so I’ll just say here that the hearts indicate days I’ve stuck to my Weight Watchers points and the stars are days when I’ve worked out. I go through stars a lot faster than I go through hearts.
2. There’s some extended family drama going on and I don’t get why it’s even a little bit debatable because when it comes to my niece and nephew I am very black and white. I won’t blah blah blah the details -- mostly because it’s SO black and white for me that I DO NOT CARE and I do not have room in my life for that shit because I will ALWAYS be on whatever team loves and cherishes my niece and nephew as much as I do.
My dad thinks I should be more forgiving. No, nobody did anything awful to anyone, but I just have ZERO interest in forgiving someone who has taken such little interest in the most wonderful things to ever happen to our family. My reason for even mentioning it here is as context for something I was thinking about on my drive to work today:
It’s fascinating to me how caveman selfish ‘ol me feels about those two babies and they’re not even mine. I can’t even imagine how caveman’y a PARENT must feel.
3. I’m going to Guam a week from today. As a result, this weekend’s agenda involves things like:
• Buy something called “aqua socks”
• Get summer clothes out of storage
• Buy sun screen
• Find maternity bathing suit because none of the 75 non-maternity bathing suits I ordered are even remotely acceptable
• Get eyelash extensions (and post before and after pictures this blog!)
• Pack!
But seriously, God forbid anyone gets any pictures of me in aqua socks, eyelash extensions and a maternity bathing suit. That’s gonna be an AWESOME outfit!
4. And for the record, the eyelash extensions are because A) I have a Groupon and B) I’m not going to be blow drying my hair while I’m there and that’s never a big self-esteem booster for me so I figured I’d add glamour by having kick ass eyelashes.
5. I like my job. I tried to figure out a way to explain a compliment I got the other day in a way that anyone would care about while also being vague enough to not get myself in trouble, but it’s really just easier to say that I like my job. And I kick ass at it.
2. There’s some extended family drama going on and I don’t get why it’s even a little bit debatable because when it comes to my niece and nephew I am very black and white. I won’t blah blah blah the details -- mostly because it’s SO black and white for me that I DO NOT CARE and I do not have room in my life for that shit because I will ALWAYS be on whatever team loves and cherishes my niece and nephew as much as I do.
My dad thinks I should be more forgiving. No, nobody did anything awful to anyone, but I just have ZERO interest in forgiving someone who has taken such little interest in the most wonderful things to ever happen to our family. My reason for even mentioning it here is as context for something I was thinking about on my drive to work today:
It’s fascinating to me how caveman selfish ‘ol me feels about those two babies and they’re not even mine. I can’t even imagine how caveman’y a PARENT must feel.
3. I’m going to Guam a week from today. As a result, this weekend’s agenda involves things like:
• Buy something called “aqua socks”
• Get summer clothes out of storage
• Buy sun screen
• Find maternity bathing suit because none of the 75 non-maternity bathing suits I ordered are even remotely acceptable
• Get eyelash extensions (and post before and after pictures this blog!)
• Pack!
But seriously, God forbid anyone gets any pictures of me in aqua socks, eyelash extensions and a maternity bathing suit. That’s gonna be an AWESOME outfit!
4. And for the record, the eyelash extensions are because A) I have a Groupon and B) I’m not going to be blow drying my hair while I’m there and that’s never a big self-esteem booster for me so I figured I’d add glamour by having kick ass eyelashes.
5. I like my job. I tried to figure out a way to explain a compliment I got the other day in a way that anyone would care about while also being vague enough to not get myself in trouble, but it’s really just easier to say that I like my job. And I kick ass at it.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
This picture doesn't even do his hair justice...
...it's a beautiful mahogany color that usually only comes in bottle. I adore my little red headed Filipino.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
My two most favorite people
I met my big, awful deadline at work and now am back amongst the living...
JUST IN TIME to see my precious darlings all dressed up for Halloween:
He is not usually let loose with cups full of M&Ms so it was impossible to get him to stop chewing and start smiling (though he did tell me the color of each M&M as it went into his mouth so it was sort of educational...I suppose) and she wasn't sure WTF to make of the whole suddenly-dressed-as-a-fish situation.
(And I swear, that girl does smile. She's not the OH SO SERIOUS lady she used to be.)
JUST IN TIME to see my precious darlings all dressed up for Halloween:
He is not usually let loose with cups full of M&Ms so it was impossible to get him to stop chewing and start smiling (though he did tell me the color of each M&M as it went into his mouth so it was sort of educational...I suppose) and she wasn't sure WTF to make of the whole suddenly-dressed-as-a-fish situation.
(And I swear, that girl does smile. She's not the OH SO SERIOUS lady she used to be.)
Monday, October 3, 2011
August
Okay, it's time to stop kidding myself.
I'm never going to find the time to give my birthday and my Tahoe posts the attention they deserve, so let's go old school and just throw all the pictures up on the www and if words come out to accompany them, YAY! And if not, you're getting a hodgepodge of August events.
(And for reals, this is hardly proofread AT ALL and probably isn't all that interesting so please forgive me for being so lazy but it's past my bedtime and I have a busy day at work tomorrow and this is all I can offer you right now, Internet. Plus, by posting these pictures I'm officially all caught up and I can get back to not feeling like a crappy and out of date blogger.)
Up first, TAHOE!
One of our favorite places for lakeside salad-bar-and-Irish-nacho'ing is a place called Jason's:
More Jason's:
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Tahoe Biltmore...we love you (but your $2.99 buffet SUCKS).
Preparing to contribute to the Biltmore's profit for the evening:
I can't find the photos from the olden days, but we've had photo shoots in this room at the CalNeva casino more than once. The CalNeva used to be one of our favorite haunts but the casino is gone so now it's just a really quiet, really empty hotel lobby. It sits right on the state line, so that particular room is half California and half Nevada (and we know from previous experience that they don't really like you to WHIZ over the state line in rolling chairs).
My heart belongs on the Golden State side:
My right foot was happier than my left, I can guarantee it:
We went mini-golfing another night.
Mini golf ambiance:
Christa and Jeff making the mini golf ambiance more romantic:
I have no idea what our photographer had in mind here, but Carrie and I followed her instructions and now we know what we look like sitting in front of a giant fiberglass tree:
Re-enacting a photo from 2005:
The 2005 version:
I don't know...we weren't even drinking:
Glamorous photo shoots aside, Carrie takes her mini golfing very seriously now that her boyfriend is a full-size golf fiend:
The damn blowy parts wouldn't come off the damn blowy thing!!
I cropped the rest of us out of this picture (mainly because it forced me to make a mental note to throw out the swim cover up that is three sizes too big), but Miss M here was the best part anyway:
We had dinner again...this time at a place called Gar Woods, a place known for a cocktail called a Wet Woody. They're very potent and I MAY have had a few that night.
And finally, Carrie chops onions in style:
AND NOW FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!
I was flattered that so many of my people came out to Stockton on a 100 degree day to watch the sprint car races:
My darling nephew got to ride one of the racers' kid's "Rusty" (Lightening McQueen to everyone else):
Lesley got to strike a pose in one of the cars!
Those of you on my Christmas card list know that my 2008 and 2009 Christmas cards were pictures of me on tractors, so IMAGINE MY GLEE when I realized that the race track had its own tractor!! And because my brother's neighbors are the ones who own this track, the tractor guy got called over and I got myself a little tractor photo shoot! This isn't the shot I'll be using for my Christmas card so it's safe for me to show you that I celebrated my 35th birthday by mounting a tractor in a flowy top in 100 degree heat:
I'll also note that trying to use the exhaust pipe as leverage for climbing up on the tractor is not advised, particularly when the tractor has been running because HELLS BELLS, that exhaust pipe is hot.
Live and learn.
There was cake and nachos and a tractor and mud flying in my hair and 100 degree heat and I'm pleased to report that I had a great birthday.
So anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! (Six weeks ago)
This part is from September and not August, but OH WELL:
My SILs and brothers and my miracle niece and my darling nephew and I went to Carmel to see our Aunt Suzy in a production of Annie.
I don't know what this look is about:
My miracle niece enjoyed the performance:
I love this picture. One day that tiny boy is going to be taller than his dad:
Carmel is usually less than 90 minutes away but GOOD GOD the traffic sucked and it took us two and a half hours to get there. I wont blah blah blah about the trials and tribulations of a journey that took so much longer than planned and about how we didn't have time to stop to pick up lunch because we were afraid of missing the whole thing and about how I was the only one who brought lunch (even though we'd agreed in advance that we'd BYO lunch) and about how my SILs are not ladies who handle being hungry really well and about how the snack bar had EXTREMELY limited offerings and about how my SIL Who Does Not Wear John Deere Pajamas, and who is also a vegetarian, was thiiiiiiiiiiiis close to taking me up on my offer of half my chicken salad sandwich, but I will tell you that when Annie was over, our crowd was HUNGRY.
And then there was the whole Sarah-standing-outside-the-car-and-putting-my-miracle-niece's-seat-in-the-car-and-our-car-door-getting-clipped-by-an-old-person-in-a-gold-Seabring-and-scaring-the-crap-out-of-all-of-us situation.
And then the whole finding-a-regular-restaurant-in-downtown-Carmel thing.
But we did eventually settle into an oyster bar and crammed everyone plus a car seat around a table for four and had cocktails and fish and a good time together. I believe I even commented that there was no place I'd rather be at that moment, than crammed around that little table with that exact group of people.
I was less in love with the moment on the drive home because it featured:
1) More awful traffic
2) One screaming baby
But for reals, I like my family a lot.
I'm never going to find the time to give my birthday and my Tahoe posts the attention they deserve, so let's go old school and just throw all the pictures up on the www and if words come out to accompany them, YAY! And if not, you're getting a hodgepodge of August events.
(And for reals, this is hardly proofread AT ALL and probably isn't all that interesting so please forgive me for being so lazy but it's past my bedtime and I have a busy day at work tomorrow and this is all I can offer you right now, Internet. Plus, by posting these pictures I'm officially all caught up and I can get back to not feeling like a crappy and out of date blogger.)
Up first, TAHOE!
One of our favorite places for lakeside salad-bar-and-Irish-nacho'ing is a place called Jason's:
More Jason's:
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Tahoe Biltmore...we love you (but your $2.99 buffet SUCKS).
Preparing to contribute to the Biltmore's profit for the evening:
I can't find the photos from the olden days, but we've had photo shoots in this room at the CalNeva casino more than once. The CalNeva used to be one of our favorite haunts but the casino is gone so now it's just a really quiet, really empty hotel lobby. It sits right on the state line, so that particular room is half California and half Nevada (and we know from previous experience that they don't really like you to WHIZ over the state line in rolling chairs).
My heart belongs on the Golden State side:
My right foot was happier than my left, I can guarantee it:
We went mini-golfing another night.
Mini golf ambiance:
Christa and Jeff making the mini golf ambiance more romantic:
I have no idea what our photographer had in mind here, but Carrie and I followed her instructions and now we know what we look like sitting in front of a giant fiberglass tree:
Re-enacting a photo from 2005:
The 2005 version:
I don't know...we weren't even drinking:
Glamorous photo shoots aside, Carrie takes her mini golfing very seriously now that her boyfriend is a full-size golf fiend:
The damn blowy parts wouldn't come off the damn blowy thing!!
I cropped the rest of us out of this picture (mainly because it forced me to make a mental note to throw out the swim cover up that is three sizes too big), but Miss M here was the best part anyway:
We had dinner again...this time at a place called Gar Woods, a place known for a cocktail called a Wet Woody. They're very potent and I MAY have had a few that night.
And finally, Carrie chops onions in style:
AND NOW FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!
I was flattered that so many of my people came out to Stockton on a 100 degree day to watch the sprint car races:
My darling nephew got to ride one of the racers' kid's "Rusty" (Lightening McQueen to everyone else):
Lesley got to strike a pose in one of the cars!
Those of you on my Christmas card list know that my 2008 and 2009 Christmas cards were pictures of me on tractors, so IMAGINE MY GLEE when I realized that the race track had its own tractor!! And because my brother's neighbors are the ones who own this track, the tractor guy got called over and I got myself a little tractor photo shoot! This isn't the shot I'll be using for my Christmas card so it's safe for me to show you that I celebrated my 35th birthday by mounting a tractor in a flowy top in 100 degree heat:
I'll also note that trying to use the exhaust pipe as leverage for climbing up on the tractor is not advised, particularly when the tractor has been running because HELLS BELLS, that exhaust pipe is hot.
Live and learn.
There was cake and nachos and a tractor and mud flying in my hair and 100 degree heat and I'm pleased to report that I had a great birthday.
So anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! (Six weeks ago)
This part is from September and not August, but OH WELL:
My SILs and brothers and my miracle niece and my darling nephew and I went to Carmel to see our Aunt Suzy in a production of Annie.
I don't know what this look is about:
My miracle niece enjoyed the performance:
I love this picture. One day that tiny boy is going to be taller than his dad:
Carmel is usually less than 90 minutes away but GOOD GOD the traffic sucked and it took us two and a half hours to get there. I wont blah blah blah about the trials and tribulations of a journey that took so much longer than planned and about how we didn't have time to stop to pick up lunch because we were afraid of missing the whole thing and about how I was the only one who brought lunch (even though we'd agreed in advance that we'd BYO lunch) and about how my SILs are not ladies who handle being hungry really well and about how the snack bar had EXTREMELY limited offerings and about how my SIL Who Does Not Wear John Deere Pajamas, and who is also a vegetarian, was thiiiiiiiiiiiis close to taking me up on my offer of half my chicken salad sandwich, but I will tell you that when Annie was over, our crowd was HUNGRY.
And then there was the whole Sarah-standing-outside-the-car-and-putting-my-miracle-niece's-seat-in-the-car-and-our-car-door-getting-clipped-by-an-old-person-in-a-gold-Seabring-and-scaring-the-crap-out-of-all-of-us situation.
And then the whole finding-a-regular-restaurant-in-downtown-Carmel thing.
But we did eventually settle into an oyster bar and crammed everyone plus a car seat around a table for four and had cocktails and fish and a good time together. I believe I even commented that there was no place I'd rather be at that moment, than crammed around that little table with that exact group of people.
I was less in love with the moment on the drive home because it featured:
1) More awful traffic
2) One screaming baby
But for reals, I like my family a lot.
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