Bear with me as I rant/ramble.
I am one of those people who hates to clean.
Don't get me wrong: I love a clean house, but I hate the process.
One of the great things about moving is supposed to be starting fresh with a clean house, although about 12 hours after moving in here we realized that the people who lived here before us (renters) hated to clean too. But apparently they did not care about their living condition. I haven't decided if this makes me feel sorry for them or us more.
Anyway, we have spent a good part of the last 2 months doing "little" cleaning jobs between the major repairs that have come up as a result of some crazy rain + tornado + bad window seals I am starting to feel a little like we have almost rid ourselves of the old resident's left-overs but every time I clean something I find something else....some things are just going to have to be completely renovated (in time)...like the kitchen cabinets that didn't have handles on them and have very odd things going on as a result of 16 years of oils from hands on them (plus water and whatever else)...and the louvered laundry room doors that I have cleaned for hours and still look dirty (pretty sure those were never cleaned since this house was built)...and then there's the sheet rock repair that needs to happen because of the previously mentioned rain.
I really hate cleaning but I get such a sense of satisfaction when it's done....plus, then your house isn't dirty! I have no clue how the previous residents lived in such a gorgeous house and stared at the 2000+ square feet worth of base boards every day and didn't feel one nagging pull of "I should clean those." Weird, because I did.
I love that we are finally getting to the point where we can just do "maintenance cleaning" and I know I will gladly do it...if nothing else to avoid having to do any major cleaning anytime soon.
Like I said I hate cleaning, but at least I love a clean house.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Dentist Success!
The kids had their check-ups at the dentist today. I take them to a great dentist who is so patient with them. This was Gianna's second appointment and Connor's first. I was hoping that Connor would watch Gianna in her portion first and see what's going on (plus it helps Gianna to feel calm when she knows she is teaching her brother something) but he fell asleep on the way there. Turns out that was for the best because Gianna wanted to sit on my lap for her appointment.
The difference between her first visit and this time were amazing! Last time he barely got to count her teeth. This time he counted them all and she was interested then he flossed her, brushed (!!!) and even talked to her for a bit. She was completely cooperative. She was very happy to get her goody bag and prize at the end.
Then it was time to wake Connor up for his turn. He was a little tired but once he got to hold his new tooth brush he was pretty happy. He LOVED having his teeth brushed (of course he loves this every night) and was so calm during that part. Gianna talked Connor through everything Connor was doing and was very excited when he got his goody bag and prize at the end too.
One of Gianna's favorite parts is that the dentist gives her her own "dentist kit" with gloves, a mask and a small mirror to see in her mouth. She wore the mask for the next hour. I am sure people driving by us in the car were wondering what she was up to. Haha.
****
On a totally unrelated note: On the way home today Gianna told Justin and I that she wants a "real dog" out of the blue. Uh oh....
The difference between her first visit and this time were amazing! Last time he barely got to count her teeth. This time he counted them all and she was interested then he flossed her, brushed (!!!) and even talked to her for a bit. She was completely cooperative. She was very happy to get her goody bag and prize at the end.
Then it was time to wake Connor up for his turn. He was a little tired but once he got to hold his new tooth brush he was pretty happy. He LOVED having his teeth brushed (of course he loves this every night) and was so calm during that part. Gianna talked Connor through everything Connor was doing and was very excited when he got his goody bag and prize at the end too.
One of Gianna's favorite parts is that the dentist gives her her own "dentist kit" with gloves, a mask and a small mirror to see in her mouth. She wore the mask for the next hour. I am sure people driving by us in the car were wondering what she was up to. Haha.
****
On a totally unrelated note: On the way home today Gianna told Justin and I that she wants a "real dog" out of the blue. Uh oh....
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Learning consequences
Yesterday morning we told Gianna that if she was nice we would walk over to try the frozen yogurt place that is near our new house. She said okay then proceeded to spend the morning testing us. She was pretty mean-spirited and had an attitude all morning. She must know us well: Justin and I were still so tempted to go to frozen yogurt because we had been looking forward to walking there and having some too. We finally decided that with the amount of tantrums she had thrown and with the way she had been treating Connor that we wouldn't go. She was genuinely surprised. I guess I'm usually a push-over.
So this morning she woke up in an amazing mood and has been very sweet and listening well (with very few exceptions). Of course, she has asked if she can go to frozen yogurt and we told her she has to be a good girl. So far the difference is night and day.
I wonder if she will stop thinking of me as a push over? We'll see.
So this morning she woke up in an amazing mood and has been very sweet and listening well (with very few exceptions). Of course, she has asked if she can go to frozen yogurt and we told her she has to be a good girl. So far the difference is night and day.
I wonder if she will stop thinking of me as a push over? We'll see.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Quick minute
Since I have the treat tonight of having both kids in bed before 8 (yay!) I thought Id share a few quick things:
Gianna is really into "middle naming." She can often be heard through out the day yelling, "Connor David!" or ... all too often: "Mommy Margaret."
I laughed the first 50 times or so. I wonder where she learned to do that? Lol.
Connor just figured out how to high-five and thinks it's awesome. Added benefit to me: he loves it so much that he'll run across the room if I bribe him with a high-five. Works great in the mornings while I'm trying to get my little escape artist dressed.
Gianna is really into "middle naming." She can often be heard through out the day yelling, "Connor David!" or ... all too often: "Mommy Margaret."
I laughed the first 50 times or so. I wonder where she learned to do that? Lol.
Connor just figured out how to high-five and thinks it's awesome. Added benefit to me: he loves it so much that he'll run across the room if I bribe him with a high-five. Works great in the mornings while I'm trying to get my little escape artist dressed.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
February 2010
Time to play catch-up once again. So much has happened since I last blogged (oh, 5 1/2 months ago...and that was a catch-up too) that I'll divide this catch-up into months.
February started off with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa. They came down to spend time with us, see the new house and to help Justin with some repairs that needed to be done. We had a great time together.
Just before Valentines day we got mail! The kids love getting packages in the mail and you can tell by their faces how excited they were to receive a card from Great Grammy, and packages from Grandma and Grandpa and from Ooda and Poppy. Thanks for thinking of us!
On February 10th our friend Sophia got a little Brother! Here is a picture of Nathan and me from the hospital. He looks so tiny...but he was already so big: 10 pounds! Congratulations to Sophia and her mommy and daddy.
Since Sophia's mommy and daddy were at the hospital, Sophia got to spend a few days with us. The kids all had fun playing together and I think it's safe to say that Connor adores her. We loved watching all of them be silly together.
Next it was time for Baby Karlie's first birthday. Baby Karlie is one of Gianna's favorite baby friends (we even have a doll named after her). The kids had so much fun playing at the party and especially loved the horses to ride on.
Gianna liked the bouncy one best:
Connor liked the mechanical one (although we think he wanted it to go faster).
Last week was the beginning of Lent. We went to Ash Wednesday mass and tried to get pictures of the kids before they wiped off their ashes...we were pretty unsuccessful (you can see Connor's a little more than Gianna's).
Other than that we've been keeping busy trying to get the house cleaned up, decorated, unpacked, organized and moved-in. We've also been spending time exploring the parks in the area and doing lots of crafts. Hope you've been having fun too!
(As a side-note, I have been writing more about the kids on facebook, but since I gave up facebook for lent I might have a little more time to blog....we'll see)
February started off with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa. They came down to spend time with us, see the new house and to help Justin with some repairs that needed to be done. We had a great time together.
Just before Valentines day we got mail! The kids love getting packages in the mail and you can tell by their faces how excited they were to receive a card from Great Grammy, and packages from Grandma and Grandpa and from Ooda and Poppy. Thanks for thinking of us!
On February 10th our friend Sophia got a little Brother! Here is a picture of Nathan and me from the hospital. He looks so tiny...but he was already so big: 10 pounds! Congratulations to Sophia and her mommy and daddy.
Since Sophia's mommy and daddy were at the hospital, Sophia got to spend a few days with us. The kids all had fun playing together and I think it's safe to say that Connor adores her. We loved watching all of them be silly together.
Next it was time for Baby Karlie's first birthday. Baby Karlie is one of Gianna's favorite baby friends (we even have a doll named after her). The kids had so much fun playing at the party and especially loved the horses to ride on.
Gianna liked the bouncy one best:Connor liked the mechanical one (although we think he wanted it to go faster).
Last week was the beginning of Lent. We went to Ash Wednesday mass and tried to get pictures of the kids before they wiped off their ashes...we were pretty unsuccessful (you can see Connor's a little more than Gianna's).
Other than that we've been keeping busy trying to get the house cleaned up, decorated, unpacked, organized and moved-in. We've also been spending time exploring the parks in the area and doing lots of crafts. Hope you've been having fun too!(As a side-note, I have been writing more about the kids on facebook, but since I gave up facebook for lent I might have a little more time to blog....we'll see)
January 2010
Time to play catch-up once again. So much has happened since I last blogged (oh, 5 1/2 months ago...and that was a catch-up too) that I'll divide this catch-up into months.
We started the new year by taking Gianna ice skating for the first time. She liked it more than I thought she would and now she won't stop talking about it. It was so cute to see her put on those tiny skates and then skate around the rink. She went during a time designated for toddlers and preschoolers so they let the kids bring chairs on the ice for stability and they had a little skating lesson. What fun! We can't wait to go again.
Putting on her skates.
Practicing gliding.
Having a skating lesson.
That was fun!
Right before January we moved into our new house. Our new house came with lots of surprises so it had been keeping us busy, but we weren't too busy to have a little party for Gianna's 3rd birthday.
Okay...I know there aren't any pictures of Connor in this post, but it's only because we were too busy moving to take many pictures and I am trying to move on to the fun-filled month of February.
We started the new year by taking Gianna ice skating for the first time. She liked it more than I thought she would and now she won't stop talking about it. It was so cute to see her put on those tiny skates and then skate around the rink. She went during a time designated for toddlers and preschoolers so they let the kids bring chairs on the ice for stability and they had a little skating lesson. What fun! We can't wait to go again.
Putting on her skates.
Practicing gliding.
Having a skating lesson.
That was fun!
Right before January we moved into our new house. Our new house came with lots of surprises so it had been keeping us busy, but we weren't too busy to have a little party for Gianna's 3rd birthday.
Okay...I know there aren't any pictures of Connor in this post, but it's only because we were too busy moving to take many pictures and I am trying to move on to the fun-filled month of February.
December 2009
Time to play catch-up once again. So much has happened since I last blogged (oh, 5 1/2 months ago...and that was a catch-up too) that I'll divide this catch-up into months.
December was one of our busiest months ever. Besides all of the stuff that comes along with buying a house we also had lots of Birthday Parties (including Connor's), Christmas parties and dance recitals to go to. Plus, with our new tenants moving into our old house in early December, we had to get ready to move out. We were very fortunate that my parents let us move in with them for a while and we also had wonderful friends and family who let Justin stay with them during the weeks while he was working. I have no idea how we crammed so much into one month, it was busy but so fun!
At the beginning of the month we took Gianna and her friends to get their pictures taken in their dance costumes. The girls had lots of fun entertaining themselves while we waited.
The kids are a little unsure of Santa so we were happy to find out that Santa was spending an evening at a local toy shop where the kids could spend some time getting used to him before taking a picture (versus the pressure of the mall). Surprisingly enough, Connor was more nervous than Gianna, so I got to be in the picture too.
Gianna had 5 dance recitals in December and they kept us busy but we never got tired of watching her do her dances. She is so good!
The day that we moved out was also our playgroup Christmas party we hung around and we were so glad we did because Santa made an appearance and even brought presents for all of the kids.
The next day we made our annual trip to San Francisco to admire the Christmas decorations. Here we are in union square.
The following day Justin took the day off work so we could go get a Christmas tree. Here we are with the tree that we picked. The kids loved helping cut it down.
The following weekend was Connor's first birthday. We had a ball themed party and Connor (and all of his friends) loved playing in the ball pit. Connor's favorite part of the party was definitely the cupcake, he ate the whole thing.
The week before Christmas was spent getting ready for christmas: sight seeing, wrapping presents and baking! Gianna loves baking cookies.
Connor decided to go to bed early on Christmas eve (you know, so he could wake up early on Christmas) so Gianna had to take on the task of writing a letter to Santa all by herself.
The tree on Christmas morning:
And the kids playing with their presents:
Connor took a nap during Christmas dinner so Gianna had some time to be all dressed up with the grown-ups and her baby.
On New Years Eve the Snoopy museum in Santa Rosa had a special noon-time NYE countdown and the kids loved watching the balloons fall from the ceiling. They also enjoyed checking out all of the snoopy and charlie brown stuff there.
Happy New Year!
December was one of our busiest months ever. Besides all of the stuff that comes along with buying a house we also had lots of Birthday Parties (including Connor's), Christmas parties and dance recitals to go to. Plus, with our new tenants moving into our old house in early December, we had to get ready to move out. We were very fortunate that my parents let us move in with them for a while and we also had wonderful friends and family who let Justin stay with them during the weeks while he was working. I have no idea how we crammed so much into one month, it was busy but so fun!
At the beginning of the month we took Gianna and her friends to get their pictures taken in their dance costumes. The girls had lots of fun entertaining themselves while we waited.
The kids are a little unsure of Santa so we were happy to find out that Santa was spending an evening at a local toy shop where the kids could spend some time getting used to him before taking a picture (versus the pressure of the mall). Surprisingly enough, Connor was more nervous than Gianna, so I got to be in the picture too.
Gianna had 5 dance recitals in December and they kept us busy but we never got tired of watching her do her dances. She is so good!
The day that we moved out was also our playgroup Christmas party we hung around and we were so glad we did because Santa made an appearance and even brought presents for all of the kids.
The next day we made our annual trip to San Francisco to admire the Christmas decorations. Here we are in union square.
The following day Justin took the day off work so we could go get a Christmas tree. Here we are with the tree that we picked. The kids loved helping cut it down.
The following weekend was Connor's first birthday. We had a ball themed party and Connor (and all of his friends) loved playing in the ball pit. Connor's favorite part of the party was definitely the cupcake, he ate the whole thing.
The week before Christmas was spent getting ready for christmas: sight seeing, wrapping presents and baking! Gianna loves baking cookies.
Connor decided to go to bed early on Christmas eve (you know, so he could wake up early on Christmas) so Gianna had to take on the task of writing a letter to Santa all by herself.
The tree on Christmas morning:
And the kids playing with their presents:
Connor took a nap during Christmas dinner so Gianna had some time to be all dressed up with the grown-ups and her baby.
On New Years Eve the Snoopy museum in Santa Rosa had a special noon-time NYE countdown and the kids loved watching the balloons fall from the ceiling. They also enjoyed checking out all of the snoopy and charlie brown stuff there.
Happy New Year!November 2009
Time to play catch-up once again. So much has happened since I last blogged (oh, 5 1/2 months ago...and that was a catch-up too) that I'll divide this catch-up into months.
November was busy for different reasons that most months: we made the decision to amp up our search for a new house and also decided that we would start looking at neighboring towns. Needless to say, this kept us busy and there aren't many pictures but here is one from a day we spent at Tilden Park with Uncle Johnny and my parents and then below that is a picture of the house we bought (although we didn't close until January).
November was busy for different reasons that most months: we made the decision to amp up our search for a new house and also decided that we would start looking at neighboring towns. Needless to say, this kept us busy and there aren't many pictures but here is one from a day we spent at Tilden Park with Uncle Johnny and my parents and then below that is a picture of the house we bought (although we didn't close until January).
Friday, February 26, 2010
October 2009
Time to play catch-up once again. So much has happened since I last blogged (oh, 5 1/2 months ago...and that was a catch-up too) that I'll divide this catch-up into months.
The month of October was jam-packed with pumpkin patches, parties, playgroup, busy weekends, dance classes and preschool. Here are the highlights:
The first weekend in October we went to Gilroy Gardens to meet Great Grammy, Ooda and Auntie Sarah there. The kids LOVE Gilroy Gardens and didn't want to leave even after we spent a full day there.
In October Connor also started becoming a lot more mobile. He started taking a few steps at a time and gained a lot more interest in playing with his big sister. Here the kids are after playing in bed for a while. They are such great friends!
The next weekend Gianna went up to Santa Rosa to spend the weekend with Ooda and Poppy. She had a lot of fun and we had fun with Connor that weekend too. We took him for a hike in the Sunol Regional Wilderness and he loved the parts he was awake for.
That weekend was also the end of Fleet Week. We were hoping to see the Blue Angels but when their show got cancelled due to fog, we had some extra time to spend with our friend Tracy. Here is Connor all dressed up for a day in the city.
After we left San Francisco we met Ooda and Gianna in Petaluma to play and pick up Gianna. The kids had fun playing at the Pumpkin Patch.
That week we hosted playgroup at our house and Connor was having so much fun he wouldn't take his morning nap. After everyone left he fell asleep while eating lunch. Gianna thought this was very strange.
That week it rained and Gianna was so happy to go out and give her rain coat and boots a test.
The next week was a preschool fieldtrip to another Pumpkin Patch. We got to bring Gianna's friend Kaylee with us and the girls had so much fun visiting with the animals, learning about growing pumkins, and picking out pumpkins to bring home.
We all loved the hay ride.
In October Gianna finished her potty chain and was ready to wear underpants. She was very excited and has been doing a great job ever since.
The next weekend was our mom's club annual trip to the pumpkin patch. The kids loved feeding the goats, participating in a costume contest and checking out the pumpkins with friends.
After we left the pumpkin patch we headed over to Berkeley to watch the Cal game and to see our friend Jenna march in the halftime show. The marching band was both of the kids' favorite part of the game. Thanks for the tickets, Jenna!
Here is Gianna during one of her weekly dance classes. She really got the hang of the class and loved to do the routines the teacher taught them.
Here is Gianna (dressed as Pebbles) and her preschool class during their halloween party.
And here we are all dressed for Halloween. Justin and I dressed for trick-or-treating this year and we got a lot of compliments on our family costumes :)
The month of October was jam-packed with pumpkin patches, parties, playgroup, busy weekends, dance classes and preschool. Here are the highlights:
The first weekend in October we went to Gilroy Gardens to meet Great Grammy, Ooda and Auntie Sarah there. The kids LOVE Gilroy Gardens and didn't want to leave even after we spent a full day there.
In October Connor also started becoming a lot more mobile. He started taking a few steps at a time and gained a lot more interest in playing with his big sister. Here the kids are after playing in bed for a while. They are such great friends!
The next weekend Gianna went up to Santa Rosa to spend the weekend with Ooda and Poppy. She had a lot of fun and we had fun with Connor that weekend too. We took him for a hike in the Sunol Regional Wilderness and he loved the parts he was awake for.
That weekend was also the end of Fleet Week. We were hoping to see the Blue Angels but when their show got cancelled due to fog, we had some extra time to spend with our friend Tracy. Here is Connor all dressed up for a day in the city.
After we left San Francisco we met Ooda and Gianna in Petaluma to play and pick up Gianna. The kids had fun playing at the Pumpkin Patch.
That week we hosted playgroup at our house and Connor was having so much fun he wouldn't take his morning nap. After everyone left he fell asleep while eating lunch. Gianna thought this was very strange.That week it rained and Gianna was so happy to go out and give her rain coat and boots a test.
The next week was a preschool fieldtrip to another Pumpkin Patch. We got to bring Gianna's friend Kaylee with us and the girls had so much fun visiting with the animals, learning about growing pumkins, and picking out pumpkins to bring home.
We all loved the hay ride.
In October Gianna finished her potty chain and was ready to wear underpants. She was very excited and has been doing a great job ever since.
The next weekend was our mom's club annual trip to the pumpkin patch. The kids loved feeding the goats, participating in a costume contest and checking out the pumpkins with friends.
After we left the pumpkin patch we headed over to Berkeley to watch the Cal game and to see our friend Jenna march in the halftime show. The marching band was both of the kids' favorite part of the game. Thanks for the tickets, Jenna!
Here is Gianna during one of her weekly dance classes. She really got the hang of the class and loved to do the routines the teacher taught them.
Here is Gianna (dressed as Pebbles) and her preschool class during their halloween party.
And here we are all dressed for Halloween. Justin and I dressed for trick-or-treating this year and we got a lot of compliments on our family costumes :)
September 2009
Time to play catch-up once again. So much has happened since I last blogged (oh, 5 1/2 months ago...and that was a catch-up too) that I'll divide this catch-up into months.
Right after my last blog we headed up to Santa Rosa for an awesome -and busy- weekend. We started off Saturday with the Viking Opener at Spring Lake. This is one of the first races that I ran every season in high school and they have an alumni race. Since this is the first year I've been ready to give it a real effort we decided to run it. I ended up finishing 10th among women and got a medal! Justin and I crossed the finish line together-that was fun.
The rest of the weekend was jam-packed. We hiked up to lake Illsanjo (at the top of Annadel) and practiced lake swimming--it was both of our first lake swim in a while and we were training for the triathlon so it was great practice. After we hiked back down we headed over to set up camp. We spent the night camping at Spring Lake. Gianna loved the hammock and the s'mores. Connor was not the biggest fan of camping and ended up going back to the house with Justin at some point during the night. The next day was very hot so we hiked for a bit then rented a kayak and boated for a bit, then decided the heat was too much and called it a day.
The following week was spent doing some final training for the triathlon and then resting for a few days so we were ready to go for the big race. On Saturday we woke up very early and headed out to Oakdale. After getting all of our transition clothing and equiptment set up it was time to head down to the water. After a long pep-talk from the race coordinators it was go time. Justin and I both started off the swim slow because it's pretty nerve-wracking to be in the water with that many people. Justin picked up speed and I stayed at the back of the pack. He was getting ready to leave with his bike by the time I got to mine. We both did great on the bike. Justin is awesome at biking and I improved my average speed by over 1.5mph from any of our training rides. The run was...exhausting. After an hour and a half of cardio running 3 miles felt like forever but we both did it and finished strong. Justin finished 52 seconds ahead of me and we both finished in under 1 hour and 51 minutes. I was surprised to find out that I finished 3rd for my age group in the race and got a medal too!
All in all it was a great experience and I would gladly do it again.One of our favorite parts of summer is the Farmer's Market and we could be found there having a picnic pretty much every week. This was always so much fun, especially when we met friends there and the kids got to play.
Gianna also loved buying food at the farmers market. Her favorite were strawberries for eating fresh and freezing for smoothies and anything that we could pickle. Here is a picture of her super excited about making pickles and pickled green beans.
The last week of September Gianna started going to a combo ballet/tap class with her friends Kaylee and Sophia. She had a hard time at first but quickly decided she loved it.
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