Wednesday, February 29, 2012

a morning in the courtyard

just us. in the courtyard. swinging. on a quiet morning.

that is, quiet other than our laughs, shrieks, squeals and singing.


i.love.my.job

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

New skills and stuff...

This post should be called "Random bragging and other random stuff." Don't say you haven't been warned.

***

I made a huge deal out of Talmage's first haircut. He was basically bald until he was 2, but he did have a mad set of wings behind both ears. James kept urging me to cut them, and I kept putting it off, somehow scared that it would transform him overnight (or over-haircut) from babyhood to toddlerdom. At nearly 18 months old when I finally cut those awful wings, I was surprised that the moment came and passed with no real incident--except that he all of the sudden looked 100 times cuter because he didn't have a bald head and long wings. I vowed that with my next kid, I wouldn't make such a big deal and stress myself out over the darn first haircut. If the kid looked like he needed a trim, I'd give him a trim. And although I would never cut Evie's awesome duck-fuzz, I did cut back those crazy wings behind both ears. And he looks adorable!

What a little poser. He looks so happy in this picture, right? He saw the camera and beamed. This is what the ordeal was really like:

Poor us ;)


In other news...Evie's finally eating meals in his high chair. I thought that this would make the process a little less messy. I was wrong. But he likes to sit in it and chew on his straps.


And the BIGGEST excitement of the week is that he has started to sit. WOO-HOO! He is so proud of himself and giggles and smiles the whole time he sits. He still falls a lot which makes me nervous (for many reasons) so we try to keep blankets and pillows around him...and I'm usually right there next to him. I'm so proud of him. He's such a sweet boy.


T and Evie are becoming better friends lately. They've always adored each other, but as Everett learns new skills (like sitting) they are able to play better together. This is them playing hide and seek/peek-a-boo. T would hide under the blanket and Evie would pull it off of him. They were both in heaven.


Everett is so proud of himself for finding T! And do you see the way Talmage is rubbing his brother's back? Holy cuteness.



This picture makes me happy for many reasons. 1) He's wearing shorts and a t-shirt in February. Please don't ever make me leave California. 2) He's laying on my dad's baby blanket that my grandma (Noni) gave to me for Christmas before T was born. 3) Duh...he's precious!

Monday, February 27, 2012

anyone else?

I honestly have butterflies just looking at these faces. Word on the street is that season 3 won't be in the USA until 2013. 2013? I'm very seriously considering taking another European hiatus so I can see it sooner. It would be worth it. What am I ever going to do with a full year of no Downton? It's Monday night (the night I usually hit up pbs.com and get my fix) and I'm experiencing serious withdrawals. Reruns will be my only saving grace. Lots and lots of reruns.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

There's nothing like a sleeping baby

Totally cliche, but there's nothing like a sleeping baby.



Except for maybe one who is awake and looks as cute as he does.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Yo Mom, lay off the carrots

I know you made a whole batch of carrot mush recently, but I'm feeling a little like Rudolph (except my nose is an orange hue instead of his red). Can we cut back just a little? Thanks. And PS--just wanted to remind you that when my big brother T was my age, actually younger, you fed him ice cream cake. I'm just saying, I think I've been gypped!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

A Weekend Full of Fam

This last weekend was full of fam in a wonderful way. We were so excited to see so many faces, and we hope that we'll see them again soon (and more of your faces too por favor). Here's the play by play of everyday:

FRIDAY:

Grandma is in town from Chicago to help take care of baby Lacey so she stopped by for a hug and a hello. She also brought T a new book called "Noisy Zoo" which he hasn't stopped playing with/reading since.



T asked her to put on his socks and shoes, but wanted to lay on his tummy while she did the work. Convenient? No. Hilarious? Yes. We love that little weirdy.


SATURDAY:


My brother brought his girlfriend Maddie back to Sac to meet the parents and they came to Palo Alto on Saturday so that we could all hang out. Maddie was just as lovely as Jordan had bragged her to be--inside and out--and we loved getting to know her better. She has gorgeous hair, a killer smile and an infectious laugh. We like her.




And she especially won over the hearts of our boys. She was great with them and they loved her. How could they not? She actually went into the playhouse out in the courtyard and "made dinner" with them. It was love at first bite ;)





Maybe I live under a rock but I just learned what planking is. To make matters worse my mom was the one that had to teach me. I guess that's what happens when you teach a class full of high schoolers five days a week. Sometimes I feel old, and other times just lame. Regardless, here is a picture of T planking. I still don't quite understand what all the hub-ub is about, but T looks cute doing just about anything in my book!



J and M at the Memorial Church. Jordan is kind of eternally ten years old in my book--he's my little brother for heaven sake. Weird. They're so cute.



And of course no trip to Stanford is complete without a trip to Pizza My Heart (we ate outside so the baby didn't catch anyone's germs). I could pretty much go their everyday just to get a Caffeine free cherry vanilla diet coke from the fountain. Yum.



Saw this sign and thought of my sweet niece that's going to be born in May (maybe even on my birthday). Hooray for little Avery. Can't wait to meet her.




SUNDAY:



Baby Lacey was blessed in Concord and Jim and T were able to attend. Here are all of the Wiggy men (minus Evie) looking dapper in their suits: Uncle Buck, Great Papa, Jim, Papa and T-Man.



I heard that GG and Care did a great job getting Lacey ready for the main event. I can't wait to see pictures of how she looked (I sent my camera with Jim but I didn't get any pics of the sweet princess). It's so taking everything in me not to dive through the computer screen and cuddle that little niece of mine. Gosh.





Auntie Lynn sent a huge present home for the boys which included these gloves and hats. They were excited and looking darling.

Monday, February 20, 2012

A new President's Day tradition

We walked into the courtyard this afternoon to find a pack of anxious under-fours, all dressed in their best Halloween duds. They said trick-or-treat, and before I even made it into the house for some Halloween-in-February candy T was sprinting up the stairs, "I need my cape. I need my cape." For the next hour or more these little crazies ran around the courtyard (possibly on a small sugar-high) extremely pleased with their ability to fool more than one household into mistaking the presidential holiday with the ghostly one. I'll admit, I was amused and all too willing to pass out the treats. Celebrating is fun and I'm always looking for new traditions. Trick-or-treating on President's Day. Sold.


After retiring from tag, these 3 BFF's played in the yellow jeep for a while. They were more than content to just sit in the jeep together without moving an inch, although on my recommendation T started pushing the jeep and I both regreted the decision and feared for Frankie's life almost immediately! Talmage talks about these friends all day long and if he so much as hears their voice in the courtyard he starts running out the back door. I don't know what we're ever going to do without them.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

on the things he wears

Sometimes he lets me pick out his outfits.


Sometimes he pick out his own clothes.


And sometimes he decides that clothes are just overrated.






In other news, I kind of wish he would take this little comic to heart. In case you can't read it, it's a mom telling her son, "They got extinct because they didn't listen to their mommies!" My friend Comfort brought it by and it couldn't have been at a better time. Hilarious!

Friday, February 17, 2012

Recap

Quick recap of Valentine's Day, which was awesome by the way.

Special vday breakfast and major beadhead: T's grilled cheese lunch, and his fingers too:
A little post-lunch lovin:
Dream basket from my honey (complete with five different kinds of cupcake sprinkles, eek!):


$7 Papa Murphy's Take 'n Bake heart pizza, score:

Goodies from neighbors, family and friends. THANK YOU!:

Thursday, February 16, 2012

My Littlelest Valentine


Gosh he's cute. I'm kinda obsessed.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

At least he looks good in a suit

Talmage and I went on a little Mommy/Mister date a few days before Valentine's Day. Stanford was holding a family dance so we decided T and I would go while James and Evie hung out at home. I thought it would be good for us to get out and do something fun together.
I was REALLY excited for the dance, and T couldn't stop talking about it. We have dance parties in our living room just about everyday, and we were both looking forward to dancing the night (read: after naptime/early evening) away!



We both got all dressed up. Holy hannah could that kid look any cuter in a suit? He kept saying, "I'm taking Mommy on a date. We're going to a special, special dance!" He even smiled when we took lots and lots of prom-esque pictures. Why oh why oh why couldn't that smile have stayed on his face?






Yep, I'd say we make a pretty cute couple. As I look at these pictures now (a few days after the dance) I am left wishing that the dance was as adorable as the pre-date pictures. My mom tried to console me by saying that Talmage will probably always have good memories of the dance and of this date (even though he hated every second of it and made it miserable for me). We'll see.




As for me, this picture from the dance sums up my memory. I'll save you from the naughty details, but let's just say the break-downs started the second we walked in the room and didn't end the whole time we were there. Or on the way home. Earlier than expected, of course.


At least he looked good in a suit. It was his one redeeming quality of the evening!