September update

I know it has been a long time since I have updated our blog. It has been a busy month and a busy last few weeks. We have been doing sleep training for the last few weeks and that has taken up all my free time. More on that to come.

For labor day weekend we decided to head up to our cabin in Westwood. As Rick kissed me good bye Friday morning I told him I was going to pack up the car so we could head to the mountains for the long weekend. I decided that morning to invite some friends to come along. I was glad that they were spontaneous and decided to join us for the weekend.

We went to the park, the shake shop for shakes and fries, Buffalo Chips for delicious pizza, we had a BBQ in the backyard, we went to the lake, played in the water and ran around outside. It was a nice warm and relaxing weekend.





My little one turned 3 months this month. He is a cutie pie. He loves to laugh out loud. He smiles a lot and just started rolling from his back to his tummy and his tummy to his back. He pushes off his feet and scoots all around on his head. He is a pretty good sleeper. He wakes up once in the middle of the night and then again in the early morning. He is pretty mellow and doesn't cry much. I was lucky enough to get another good baby who doesn't cry much.






We went to the food truck street fair called Eat Real in Jack London Square last weekend. We go to this each year and try the new food trucks. This year we ate from the pilipino truck and the cuban truck. We also had some strawberry and basil popsicles. It was a fun day down by the water.




Athen pulled out the watermelon rind from the garbage can and put it on his head. He walked out to show me his "hat". It was pretty funny. He has a fun personality.

Climbing

This is what Rick did this weekend:












Rick and his friend Nate went to Yosemite to climb Cathedral Hill. They camped out on Friday night and hiked and climbed on Saturday. Both Kimber and I were happy for their safe return.

This is what Athen, Crew and I did this weekend:






We relaxed, went swimming with Grandpa and played at the park.

Fun times

We finally got the computer and the camera to work at the same time and were able to upload our cute pictures from last weekend. Rick was smart last Saturday he got us up early, spent time with us at the park, wore us down, then got the kids down for late naps, helped clean up and then nicely asked if he could go kiteboarding - no problem.

We left the house early to go to Redwood Regional Park in Oakland for a hike. A block away from our house we found a garage sale so of course we stopped. We found a train table for Athen with all the trains and village (normally a $300 table). I have been wanting to get him one for a while now. We also found an old metal vintage fire truck that we just couldn't pass up. It is super cool plus Athen loves fire trucks. It has a fire bell on the front that you can ring and a fire hose on the back. It is a little rusty but nothing we can't clean up. He LOVES it.




We stopped off at Safeway for some signature sandwiches for our picnic lunch. We got to the park and I fed Crew in the car while Rick and Athen played with the fire truck. He is still a little too small for it so Rick had to do the pushing. The push peddals move back and forth old school style. Athen did not want to get off. He through a fit when we put it in the car to go hiking.

Did you know we had such a cool and beautiful park so close. It was like we were hours away in the redwoods but really just minutes. Rick had the backpack for Athen and I had the Ergo for Crew. It wasn't long before Athen wanted to hike on his own and get out of the backpack. We were there for several hours, however we didn't hike too far in since Athen was a little on the slow side.




Here is a log Athen wanted to pick up and carry. We let him. Tire him out before nap time.

On our way back down the dirt road we showed Athen were his pockets were and showed him that he could put rocks in them. Every 30 seconds he was stopping to pick another rock and put it into his pocket. Ten minutes later his pocket was full and his pants were slipping down. It was hilarious. He had to stop and pull up his pants every ten feet. People around were getting a kick out of watching him.

Check out his pants falling down, diaper and thigh showing - too funny.



We enjoyed our day outside together as a family. It was fun.

It was hot on Monday so my mom and I took the kids to a free water park in Pleasanton. Athen loved it.



We have had some good food lately. Last weekend we went to a Himalyan (sp???) and Bhutanese restaurant in Berkeley. The food was delicious. Athen of course scarffed it down as well. This weekend we went to The Cheese Board Collective for pizza. It was also delicious. They make only one kind of pizza each day so it is pretty quick. Although the line is out the door and around the block, pizzas are ready when you get up to the cashier. We had a pizza with heirloom tomatoes (red and yellow), onions, fresh herbs and lots of different kinds of cheese. It was cheesy heaven!

Pie pops

Apple pie pops! Rick's co-workers gave us a gift card to Baby Gap when Crew was born and instead of writing 20 people Thank you cards I decided to make Apple pie pops with little thank you tags. I made the tags with my sillouette machine. The front had Crew's name and the back said Thanks Rick and Corene. The apple pie pops were supper easy to make, cute and delicious. I got the idea from Our Best Bites. It was much easier than writing thank you cards. After we finished the pops, the boys and I headed into the city to Rick's office. Rick has been wanting to show off his new bundle of joy. We walked around the office showing off the kids and passing out treats. It was a fun afternoon.

I have a bunch of cute pictures on my camera from our fun day last weekend but my camera won't download them onto my computer for some reason. I have tried several times. I will have to have Rick take a look. Hopefully we haven't lost our cute pictures.

Sweetness

My sister Lauren who does photography came into town for the wedding last week. She took some family pictures as well as some precious pictures of my little one.








I love this one. It is bright and beautiful. He reminds me of a little birdie looking up at his moma for some food.

My Babies

Here are some cute pictures of my babies.

So precious. Athen loves to hold Crew.





Crew giving the birdie.




I love these pictures. From early on I decided to train Athen to save his money. We bought him a ski piggie bank for Christmas. Every time I find change laying around the house I give it to Athen and he runs to his room to put it in his piggie bank. A few months back Rick bought him a world bank like he use to have when he was a little boy. The world bank is for his mission and the ski piggie is for his fun and savings. The first few times Athen put money in it he was confused that it didn't come out the bottom. Now he knows once you put it in it never comes out. When ever Athen sees money laying around he calls it bank. He called something else bank the other day but I can't remember what it was. He was storing something away and he called it bank. I was pretty impressed that he associated the word bank with storage or something you don't get back. He is going to be a millionaire someday.

I love my babies.

I always told myself all those many years of being single that good things come to those that wait. That is what kept me happy and patiently waiting. I knew I would be blessed with a wonderful husband, would be able to get pregnant easily and would have easy kids. So far so good! Now that the first month is over and we are at the two month mark life has settled in to its goodness. There were a few nights in the first month that I thought I had myself a crier. Crew wanted to be held and rocked all night long but luckily that was just for a few nights.

This little guy is another dream baby. He sleeps for 6-7 hours straight at night which means I only have to get up once. He sleeps lots during the day and when he isn't sleeping he is a happy relaxed baby. He recently started smiling and sometimes even laughs out loud when we are playing. He pretty much only cries when he is hungry or needs a diaper change. This is how Athen was when he was a baby as well. I am thankful to have such good babies, I am much too old for bad ones.

Athen has been adjusting to his little brother Crew. He likes to hold him, kiss him and give him his nuk. He runs to the couch, sits down and says more, more more, meaning he wants to hold Crew more. However, every now and then he gets a little jeleous and tries to hit Crew.

Here are some pictures of my cuties.




Crew loves to sleep on his tummy. Don't worry all of you paranoid mom's who worry about sids and sleeping on your tummy, I am one too. He only gets tummy sleep when he is napping and I am there to watch over him closely.


Athen was playing with this box and he sat down and got stuck. It was pretty funny.




My twin sister got married on Friday night in my parents backyard. This is her second marriage so it was very small and simple. I made her a cake and did the flowers for her. Doesn't she look pretty?