spur of the moment family photo session

Last week Jared spent a few days with an advertising consultant who's going to produce Jared's marketing materials (business cards, website, building sign, etc) and help with interior design and overall image for the orthodontic practice he's building. Our very own Don Draper. On one of those days Jared called me and said they were going to shoot some pictures that afternoon for the website and he wanted me to bring the kids. That meant I had the rest of that naptime to shower/make-up/dress myself, throw some outfits together for the kids that didn't clash with what I remembered Jared to be wearing, clean the house and prepare a meal because oh, Don would be joining us afterwards for dinner. Sure, I'm the kind of mom that can pull any one of those things--let alone ALL of them-- together at a moment's notice. (There should be some seriously heavy sarcasm read into that last statement.)

If you're wondering how this recipe for disaster turned out, here's a hint: someone fell flat on their face.

With Santa Paula as our backdrop, here we are:

I told you someone fell flat on their face! What, you thought it was me?? (Isaac got up laughing, BTW. And then proceeded to do it 10 more times. And 10 more the next time we saw grass.)

I *LOVE* them. Bold starred all caps red hot love them. Scratch all my plans for a Christmas card. Christmas cards are done, yo.

...And dinner was pretty good too.

For a day, just one day only, I was that kind of mom. Man that felt good! Now I know how all my friends feel every day!

21 month-olds tell us about it

Isaac and Bethany are 21 months old. I have to admit it's funny how surprised parents (including myself) act when their kid hits a new age or milestone. I mean, didn't we see this coming? By the time my two hit 20 months, I was pretty sure we'd make it to see 21 months. So really I had at least a one month warning. I was actually just thinking yesterday, Yeah, it definitely feels like 21 months have gone by. We experienced and survived and lived each and every month. It's been fun, really fun, but it hasn't always been a walk on the beach. I can't say that it's flown by.

But then again... they are 21 months old!! Surprise! Does that kind of blow anyone else's mind? I think about how far they've come, how they are now full-blown kids who do kid things like talk and count and pretend and fight and tease and hide and chase and blow zerberts on each other's bellies. It's crazy that they're finally, finally becoming more independent and starting to be able to reason. I have to say, I'm loving it. As sweet and squishy as babies are, I've always been looking forward to these two being a bit less dependent on mom and dad for ev-ry-thing.

Do I sound like I'm trying to get out of all my responsibilities? Believe me, there's still plenty for me to do-- cleaning, diapering, cooking, feeding, dressing, bathing, playing, reading, entertaining, teaching, crafting, bandaging, dancing, cuddling, kissing. And I LOVE BEING A MOM. Love it, love it, love it. (Read that again 1000 times.) Is it so bad to feel ready for some of those less-fun baby things to phase out?

Anyway. Enough of what I think. Let's see what the babies have had to say, shall we? Yes! And let's randomly throw in some photos from the last couple months. Just for kicks.

Bethany at the back door

Isaac on the rock that would later break his head-first fall :(

...a post for another time

One day I was telling Isaac to not climb up somewhere dangerous (a many-times-a-day occurrence), and when he didn't listen, I said Isaac, what did Mom say? to which Bethany responded, Roar! They've been working hard on their animal sounds.

Playing footsie in our semi-unpacked dining area

Sesame Street on youtube

Sometimes the funnest thing at the playground is the drinking fountain

Learn some Isaac-ese: (he's already outgrown some of these but I still wanted to post them)

yogurt = blebleble (basically a tongue roll, but he's very consistent about it)

watermellon = mlemlemellon

anyone over a certain age = Papa or Mimi (my parents)

remote control = Papa

strawberries = strawb (abreves are so much cooler)

Learn some Bethanese:

caterpillar = callapalella

the alphabet song = sing with me

the Sunmaid raisin girl = Mama

anyone over a certain age = Papa or Mimi

Painting with water

(thanks to super plus amazing mom Abbie for the idea!)

In the play house in our back yard 

(we recently took out the stairs because the kids were starting to 

lean out the second-story windows - scary)

Little Stevie Wonder

If Bethany has something Isaac wants, he says One, two, Isaac's turn! We've been using counting to take turns. It's helped them learn to share and count! For the record, Jared & I typically count to 10 or 20 for turn-taking, not 2.

Bethany counts to 20 but skips over 5, 6, 15 and 16.

Isaac counts to somewhere in the teens, usually--sometimes 12, sometimes 20--but he also always skips over 6.

I don't know what they have against 6. Now that I think about it, they should have been born on the 6th of January, but they skipped that 6, too. We had started inducing them on the 5th but they weren't born until the 7th. Ah, good times. :)

Goat mind control

Big dreams coming true right here on this tractor

For a long time, they both thought that both of their names were Isaac. (Bethany would say Isaac's turn! when she wanted something, for example.) But now Bethany calls herself Benny or Money. I can't decide which one I like better. Isaac calls her Benany.

On Bethany it's a dress, on Isaac it's a toga

We have a play golf set with a few golf balls, a blue club and a red club. They'll each grab a club and a ball and run around yelling I golfing!! Bethany insists on having the red club.

Little yogis

(Wow, have I not replaced that ugly half-circle curtain thing yet? Gross.)

Basketball!

Dining al fresco

They absolutely love music and songs with actions. We can't get through Head Shoulders Knees & Toes without Bethany saying faster! There's a Pidgeon House song that their Grandma Suzanne sings to them and Isaac loves to do the actions and the crrrooo at the end. Bethany will spin her fists and say follow me to request a little Do As I'm Doing. They fully enjoy Ring Around the Rosies and don't even once wonder if they're being totally un-PC.

Isaac says thank you AND you're welcome when he does something nice. He also recently started saying bless you when anyone sneezes (followed by achoo! bless you! a million times). Such a gentleman.

When Dad's gone for the day, they both periodically say Dada working? All day long.

Whenever she finds swim diapers, she has to put them on right then and there

I guess he just wanted to wear the bucket

They both know the names of all their kid friends in our little row of homes at the end of the street: Hannah, Sarah, Jessica and Logan (Wogan). If we leave the house and I suggest we go to Hannah's house, they know exactly where to go. 

The other night Bethany had a tummy ache and woke up in the middle of the night. The first thing she did (before whining about her poor tummy), was she called for Jessica. She really loves Jessica.

One day Hannah and Sarah knocked on our door and said Can Bethany and Isaac come out and play? That was a first for me. It put a big fat smile on this face.

This cutie loves to wear my red sunglasses

Big helps in the kitchen

Oh wait--the opposite of that

Fun with soap bubbles

When I give them peas and tell them what they are, the kids turn peas into peeeee-ew! Yucky! Big thanks to Cameron for that one! Fortunately they still eat the peas.

Today Isaac and I spent about 5 minutes just looking at each other and busting up laughing. Busting up, I tell you.

Play-doh on the new (hand-me-down) picnic table

More dining al fresco

Drawing in their notebooks

Favorite movie: Curious George 2. They just call it Monkey ooo ooo aaa aaa.

Favorite youtube clips: Sesame Street celebrity songs, especially Feist and Hip Hop with Miles, anything Elmo, and Ladybugs Picnic (Jared's & my fave, too). And anything ABCs. They ask for ABCs frequently.

Favorite books: Goodnight Moon, Go Dog Go, That's Not My Truck, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Who is Coming To Our House, My First Numbers.

Favorite foods: raisins (weezins), beans, olives (on their fingers), pizza, apples, bananas, popcicles, fruit snacks, oatmeal.

Think it's naptime?

Favorite things in the whole wide world: loveys and binkies. Tied with Mama and Dada (I hope). Tied with each other.

old missionaries, new jersey

My parents went on a mission today. This morning they entered the MTC in Provo, Utah. They'll spend the next 2 weeks studying Spanish and learning how to be missionaries, and the next 18 months serving in... Morristown, New Jersey! They are primarily assigned to the East Brunswick CES program as Spanish speaking CES specialists, which I think means they'll mostly be teaching religion classes to college kids and young adults. Fantastic.

My parents had decided that they would let church leaders determine where they would go rather than put in a request like senior missionaries can. So, when the mission call came in the mail (the mail carrier actually called them that morning and said We have a special delivery coming for Elder and Sister D! Ahh, Utah!), everyone in the family cast votes for where we thought they'd go: Panama (my vote), Fiji (my 2nd vote), Paraguay, "somewhere in South America," North Dakota, Guam, Detroit, Chile, and Georgia (the state). Now that I look at our list, I'm realizing a few of my siblings and in-laws were smart enough to guess somewhere stateside. But I definitely didn't see it coming! Throughout my dad's career he has spent a lot of time traveling all over, especially in Central and South America, and he speaks near-native Spanish. My mom doesn't speak Spanish (yet), but she has an adventurous and competitive spirit and would take on the challenge of living somewhere different and even having to rough it a bit.

Maybe the biggest shock of all for me was that I JUST MOVED FROM THERE!! Morristown is an hour from where we lived in the city. An hour! And we just moved back west to be closer to family! Ha.

Having said that, we couldn't be happier that my parents have chosen to serve a mission. For them, it will be an incredible time of selfless service. For the people of EB NJ, they are so lucky to get to know my sweet, smart, kooky, wonderful Mom & Dad. For their kids and grandkids, we'll get to learn from their examples as they sacrifice their time and share their talents with people they don't even know yet but are already starting to love. My parents are super excited about going to New Jersey and feel that it's the right place at the right time for them.

As an aside: In addition to having the option to say where they want to go, I've learned through my parents' experience so far that senior missionaries get to enjoy several luxuries that "young" missionaries don't:

* They get to bring their companion of their choosing (their spouse), not get assigned to a new one every few months.
* They get to bring their own car, if possible/appropriate for that mission. Fittingly, my parents will be hauling out the Pious--uh, Prius.
* They can go home at night during their time at the MTC (provided they live close enough).
* They can choose to go on missions for 6, 12, 18 or 24 months, while young missionaries are committed to 18 or 24 months.
* They can choose from all kinds of missions--health service, family history, church history, finance, music, education and more more more.
* They can bring cell phones! And laptops! Video chats with the grandkids!

* If they need to, they can visit us for critical family events.

* If we want to, we can visit them! (And a certain big city nearby!)

Mom & Dad, we'll miss you but we're so excited for you!

In the MTC! Don't they look like missionaries already?

All they need are their black tags! (Coming soon, I'm sure.)

PS this post was pretty heavy in the Mormon jargon department. Anyone feeling a little confused is welcome to ask me any questions, any questions at all! Or search for terms at mormon.org or the Encyclopedia of Mormonism for some really good stuff.

PPS Jared & I think "Old Missionaries, New Jersey" should be their blog title, don't you??

all aboard

The other day the kids and I went for a train ride. The mall kind. I needed to stop at a store in Ventura and the mall had this little gem of a train that circled the top floor.

The nice teenage conductor boy offered to take our picture prior to departure:

The little guy spent the entire ride staring intently out the window, just soaking it up, like this:

Something--I have no idea what--about the situation made the little girl nervous. She spent the entire 5 minutes like this:

These kids! They crack me up!

mercer friends

One of our favorite things about being back in Southern California: Mexican food.

One of our other favorite things: old friends. My job in LA was doing consulting for Mercer (and then I transferred within the company when we moved to NY). We worked hard, but you wouldn't know it by all the fun we had on the side.

Back in late August, on our way home from a weekend in Orange County, we made plans to spend Sunday afternoon in LA with our friends Bryan and Brenda. They have the most adorable boy/girl twins (well, it may be a tie for most adorable), Kent and Kalani, who are 2 years older than ours. What we didn't know was that B & B also invited our other good friends Brian, Kim and Megan. These guys can't help but turn it to a party every time. That's what we love about them.

It was a very busy afternoon...

First item of business: bubble lessons from K & K.

Next up: stroller rides. Hilarious stroller rides.

Then, drum rolls with Brian and Bryan.

A minute of relaxation on the sofa with Kim...

...turned into naptime for Kalani.

Bethany's no dummy. While Sleeping Beauty snoozed, B tried on her princess clothes.

Making her entrance...

Megan, Brenda-on-an-ottoman, and me:

Isaac and our hosts:

Thanks for the welcome back, friends! More good times to come!

something new

This blog needs a facelift. A new banner that doesn't make me homesick for our city life, and a new blog name. Something that wasn't inspired by the Lohans. I think I want to drop our last name from the blog, too. I have a couple ideas for names but wanted to see if anyone has any brilliant suggestions. Send 'em over!

Santa Paula, so far

I'd like to introduce you to our new hometown. Everyone, Santa Paula, Santa Paula, everyone. If all goes to plan, this is our town for the next... forever. This is where our kids will grow up and graduate high school, and come home to on breaks from college. This is where I hope to have a yard nice enough to host their wedding receptions. You get the idea--we're in this for the long haul. It's exciting! And scary. But mostly exciting! (But a little bit scary.)

I've realized that anytime I've talked to anyone about this place it's felt a bit like a sales pitch. Weird, right? But I think that's for 3 reasons: (1) no one knows anything about SP! Some have heard of it, and a small handful of people we know have actually been here. And before Jared discovered it a few months ago, I was in the never-heard-of-it camp. (2) I might still occasionally feel the need to convince myself that it's where I want to spend the next 30 years of my life. (3) I want you to move here and be my friend.

On that note, here is a list of things we love (so far) about Santa Paula!

* Warmest welcome EVER. Everyone we've met has been so kind and friendly and has told us how happy they are that we're here. Wow, thanks.
* The weather. I don't have to tell you how perfect the weather is. I want to tell you. It's perfect.
* Old friends & fam. So good to be just a 1-2 hour drive away. (Have I mentioned that yet? Oh, a million times?)
* The beach. 20 minutes away. Yes.
* It's absolutely gorgeous here. It even smells good! Lemon and avocado groves line the freeway. We live in a valley surrounded by mountains that are foggy in the morning. Blue skies and sometimes ocean views in the afternoon.
* On the other side of those mountains are LA county (to the south) and Santa Barbara and Ojai (to the north). We're in good company.
* Rent for our 3 bedroom house in SP < rent for our 2 bedroom (really, 1 bedroom with the living room cut in half - and made into a cave - to make a 2nd bedroom) apartment in NYC.
* Mexican food. The one cuisine that NYC does not nail. Jared's a pretty big Mexican foodie, and here he's in Mexican food heaven.
* Main Street. There's a really cute downtown that hosts community events all the time, it seems. Jazz & art festival, citrus festival, classic car shows every first Friday, holiday parades, the small-town works.
* And finally, the Santa Paula Library...

I'm still learning/desperately trying to learn about good places to take the kids. The Santa Paula Library is definitely my favorite kid-friendly place in town, so far. The kids & I ride bikes there once a week (at least) for storytelling. There is a huge area for kids with a play house, a puppet stage, and a few sit-and-read spots. We try not to make too much noise, but don't feel icy stares if we do.

Note how Isaac tried out every chair in the house.

Really, the only problems I have with the library are my own 2 kids! Their favorite activities are to pull books off the shelves by the armful, climb the bleacher seats during story time and hide in the house when it's time to go. They're not obnoxious, just active. Oh, and 1 1/2. (Or is that what I just want to believe?) Regardless, we'll keep going and eventually they'll get it.

Things about Santa Paula that I'm still getting used to:

* Small town. I think I like it, but I'm not completely sure since I don't really know what it means.
* Spiders. Actually, I will never get used to spiders. Never.

Hope to share more about what we love about our new hometown. As soon as I find out what it is.