December Dilly Dally

There were two weeks where Sasha had no school, Cat our awesome babysitter was away and I had a lot of interrupted time with the kids. I tried to come up with a new adventure every day even if it meant just going to the park and feeding the ducks. We had a lot of fun and I love the pictures that I took during this time. Sasha looks so grown up in this photo but I find it captures her girly spirit as she LOVES to dress up and accessorize. Thank goodness she was born with this b/c I could use some help! Noah's photos at the park just are adorable, his beautiful eyes really stand out and all of his little boyishness shines through. Enjoy the rest!  

http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/DecemberDillyDally?authkey=Gv1sRgCKCu1dO0lPK8ywE&feat=directlink 

Foggy Day Hike

We love to hike however it's completely changed since we've had kids. Now our version of a hike is at max. an hour and we may go 2miles if we plan on each carrying a kid for at least half the time. Sasha always starts out strong and makes up some game we play as we walk which is fun. Then she hits a wall and just wants to go home, it changes in about 60 seconds and then we have to work at finding something to distract her from the fact that we still have halfway to go! This is a hike we recently did and she was the nature guide and taught us about the forest. She made it about 3/4 of the way before she hit her limit so we were pretty proud. 
Here are a few pics you can see:  
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/FoggyDayHike?authkey=Gv1sRgCLatpZ_gxu_tEA&feat=directlink

Hannukah 2010

Hannukah this year was really nice because my parents came out to celebrate with us! Sasha had made a menorah at school and was incredibly excited about lighting the candles each night. The kids got plenty of gifts and our den is exploding with toys...time to donate or sell some baby toys to make room. Hope your holidays were enjoyable- check out some photos of our fun! 
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/Hannukah2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCMHkyJTL1vHOoAE&feat=directlink

THANKSgiving

We feel so thankful to have such wonderful kids and really enjoy the beautiful place we live. We were so fortunate to spend this holiday with family in Los Angeles and really enjoyed our stay. Thanks again for having us! Thanksgiving morning at the beach near San Luis Obispo was perfect, between the beautiful scenery, sunshine, excellent food and playful time with the kids we couldn't have asked for more. Check out some more pictures of our trip down the coast:
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/ThanksgivingDownTheCoastToLA?authkey=Gv1sRgCLeL3dimupqW7gE&feat=directlink

Seattle 2010

Seattle was wet as expected but we were so excited to meet little Anya and see Abby, Uncle Chris + Aunt Rachel that we barely noticed. We had a really nice time hanging at Abby's house and just having a relatively chill weekend. She is a cutie and I can't believe I've already forgotten how tiny they are at 2 months! The one big outing we went on was to the Seattle Zoo, which is amazing. It is HUGE and we saw snow leopards, penguins and even a bird show. They also have a great indoor playground which Sasha enjoyed.
Check out the photos from our trip:
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/Seattle2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ3f_96k_uDbqQE&feat=directlink 

Homebody Days

Sasha is a homebody, Noah and I are not. But we still enjoy just hanging around and having a lot of silly play time. This post includes photos of us dressing up, which we do every day, jamming on Daddy's mandolin and just general good time goofiness! Also, while we all know Noah is a droolie kid, check out the wet shirt on him! He is just like his Mommy was as a kid...

http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/HomebodyDays?authkey=Gv1sRgCOSh3rmbpoS5lQE&feat=directlink

Noah Eats at the Table

Noah for some time now when dinner is ready walks over to a chair and wants up...we would like to keep him in the highchair but he seemed determined. So this Sunday night we got out the booster and he was ready. Not sure it was the best idea considering there was tomato sauce involved but I have now learned that a towel under the booster is a great idea. Look at how happy he is!! We also have some lovely pics of Sasha being a spaghetti goofball...Really though Noah is so fun right now- this is a great age and he is learning new words often- he now says clock, truck and is even spinning in circles when we ask him to dance. What could be more fun!

http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/NoahAtTheTable?authkey=Gv1sRgCImk5I-BoOrewwE&feat=directlink

Placerville Pumpkin Patch

Friends thought we were crazy to drive so far for pumpkins and apples but we made a fun day trip out of it. We drove 2 hrs. to get to a bunch of farms in Placerville which we had gone to when Sasha was one. They have the most amazing pies, great apple cider and a lot of fun events for the kids. Sasha went on a pony, we ate apple donuts, drank apple cider and listened to a bluegrass band. We wandered through apple orchards and pumpkin fields just checking things out and all had a nice day. It ended up being super hot but luckily one of the farms had a sprinkler which Sasha and I ran through...ok I made her do it once while I must have gone through 10 times but man it felt great! Here are some photos of our day!

http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/PumpkinPatch?authkey=Gv1sRgCIfT8rCc-MvpEg&feat=directlink

October 2010

We headed back to Maryland this month to visit with Alex's family and had a great time. Somehow we didn't take many photos...not sure why...but we did enjoy ourselves quite a bit. We saw lots of family, had fun with Grandma Nellie and even had a fun adventure with friends. We met at a pumpkin patch and went through a corn maze that Sasha and Lucy navigated...we thought we may be in there all night but they did quite well. While we love DC we weren't as impressed with the outlying areas as I had hoped so I don't think it will be in the running for moving back there...Alex is thrilled and keeps saying to me, "I kept wondering what you loved about it there..." My reply is, "It must have just been all the wonderful people I met honey." Also included in the photos are a few shots from our sweeter mornings at home, the kids sleeping and cuddling which just makes us giddy. And a very nice picture Sasha made Alex as she sat on the front porch waiting for him to come home. He LOVES having the kids run to him and yell Daddy or DaDa when he gets home- it makes his whole day.

Enjoy the few photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/October2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCP_BkZDF6InsjAE&feat=directlink

Pixar Exhibit

I often don't get to exhibits that I want and there are a ton in the Bay Area but this one I thought we'd all enjoy. So we went to check out the newly redesigned Oakland Museum which was really nice graphically not sure what else really changed. I had to move quickly through the exhibit but the drawings were amazing and Pixar impressive. They showed the process from beginning to end and it really does often start as a cartoon sketch on a napkin. I would love that job...Sasha loved the movie at the end of the makings and Noah even ran up to the screen and started clapping at the end...it was a bit before it was over but then he got a huge laugh from the crowd and everyone clapped with him. Sasha and I were laughing and we all wandered outside to the sculpture garden. A nice day for the three of us! Here's some pictures of the day:
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/PixarExhibit?authkey=Gv1sRgCPObp--T0PXoAg&feat=directlink

Yom Kippur Services

I always liked Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur holidays b/c as most of you know I am quite reflective and enjoy sharing my thoughts and feelings on just about every topic that has entered my mind. Lucky Alex! HA! For me, in Judaism this is the time to do just that, think about the last year, cleanse your body, mind and soul by fasting and apologize to those you've upset, forgive yourself and others and generally begin again. I like the service at our Temple, and the kid service is nice and short. So we decided to go to that and got dressed up to celebrate. We actually got some nice pictures out of it but too bad Alex was taking them and couldn't join for a family photo. Check out the pictures:


http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/YomKippurServices?authkey=Gv1sRgCImHpJiEmZ6PrAE&feat=directlink

Another fun Zoo Day

We headed to the zoo at the end of Sept.- we usually go about once a month and had a blast. We rode the train and saw the Australian exhibit- we saw kangaroos and an emu. But the best part was seeing the mircats. Kids can crawl in this little concrete tunnel and watch from a window and the animals come right up almost like they are watching the kids. Well luckily it was a slow day at the zoo b/c I crawled in the tunnel as well [so Noah could go] and the two of them danced, sang and put on a bunch of shows in front of the window for me. We all laughed a lot and had fun being silly and you can see from this photo Noah really got into it drool and all!

Here's some photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/AnotherFunZooDay?authkey=Gv1sRgCPy168u2g_H7lAE&feat=directlink

Halloween

Halloween weekend was fun for most of the Harwin household, Sasha was a fairy princess and happily used her dress up clothes to create a costume [different ones each time she went out] and Noah was a cute little bee. It was raining the morning of the parade but some friends met here and Alex walked with the kids up to Piedmont Ave. I was sadly sick and missed out on all the festivities and Alex was fighting a cold but was a trooper heading out in the rain.  Sasha got some candy, went in plenty of bouncy houses and even got a free pumpkin so it must have been a fun day! Noah spent the whole time watching from the stroller all bundled up and "trying" to take a nap. He finally fell asleep the last 20 min. of the parade but was then up and ready to go by the time they got home. Sunday night I was feeling better and Sasha and I went out with some neighborhood kids just on our street to trick or treat. She made out like a bandit and was nice enough to share her pretzels with Noah.


Here are some photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/Halloween?authkey=Gv1sRgCJLKjNmEnryoUA&feat=directlink

First Day of School

Sasha is starting Kitah Gimmel this year [basically the last year of pre-school] at her current school. So she's now the oldest kid in the yard! She is completely happy there and feels right at home with her teachers and friends. So much so that she ran in to her class, her friends yelled out, "Sasha!!" and she forgot to even say goodbye to her Mom....it felt good to me too though. Nana and Papa got her this special dress for the first day and she LOVES it!

Check out Sasha on her 1st Day:

http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/FirstDayOfSchool2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCNiBx6-38vfZzwE&feat=directlink

Sept. Trip back East

After Sasha's birthday party we took the red eye back to Boston to visit my family and celebrate her birthday again. It was a tough trip and Sasha was exhausted by 5 pm and didn't make it to her party. Three of my closest HS friends came with their SO's to celebrate which was so lovely. I wish they could have gotten to see the kids at a better time [not just right off the red eye] but I was lucky enough to have a few days with them after the party. I will upload pictures of that once I get them from Sharmila :)

Nana and Papa got her an amazing cake- I have no idea why I don't have pictures of it- but it was AWESOME! Probably because by then Sasha wasn't in the mood and unfortunately missed out on the fun that night.  It was a princess cake and had figures of all the princesses [which we often play with- they had a bath tonight] and a carrying case. That is the current toy that we put away when friends come over because it is too special. Anyway, we had a great time seeing my parents, sister and brother in law and all the friends we visited. Alex and I got away to NY for a few days and did some wandering around the Hudson River towns. We hit a heat wave while there so it was incredibly hot and sticky which we're not used to but we survived. It was so nice to spend time together and we look forward to our next trip!

Check out the photos of all the fun we had!

http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/EastCoastTripSept2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ-0-KGBoYv1iAE&feat=directlink

Happy 4th Birthday!

Sasha is now 4!! I can't believe it...how did this go by so quickly. It was a great blur and now we need to start watching what we say and do b/c she will remember what goes on around here.  Ha! Sasha is a great little girl and we love watching her grow and her personality develop. She is still a bit cautious in new situations, when she's comfortable is a big goof ball and while still a homebody loves being outside. She still loves princesses, dressing up, singing and pretend play. She has grown out of her babies and is now a puzzle master. We play with legos quite often and still make up stories with her snap n go girls. She is a much better eater, although still picky, but there are things she likes quite a bit....mostly dessert. She is curious and we go to the library weekly where we pick out tons of books and even a few movies.

We had a wonderful Magical Garden Party in our backyard with a butterfly cake, painted ceramic butterfly pots for plants, played pin the wand on the fairy and had a magic unicorn pinata. This year getting ready for the party was fun because she was involved and we had a great time shopping for supplies, coloring the fairy and even decorating the cake. The party itself was fun and while we planned all of these activities the kids basically enjoyed just running around in circles. It was mostly school friends so she was thrilled to have everyone over. And it was the first time we told the parents they could drop off which some did.

Check out the photos of the celebration!

http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/Sasha4thBday?authkey=Gv1sRgCL2Z8J7LxMmG6QE&feat=directlink

Summer Camping

We had planned to go camping, meaning we reserved our campsite, back in March when we thought Noah would be sleeping wonderfully and would be fine in a tent. Well we were actually right! He slept wonderful...Sasha woke up once, I did as well and Alex tossed and turned a fair amt. So Noah slept great and the rest of us were exhausted...maybe we aren't ready for camping. The kids had a blast in the tent and due to the weather we spent most of our time playing around in there. It ended up being quite cold [as you can see Alex is wearing a ski cap] and it drizzled for a good part of the evening. So we can say it was a sleeping success for the little boy but not the best family camping trip ever. It just means we can try again though, now that we know he's a champ at sleeping in a tent. There's a few pictures of our tent fun to check out...

http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/NoahSFirstCampingExperience?authkey=Gv1sRgCM7b_5r8tr396wE&feat=directlink

Early August

Alex and I have birthdays sandwiched between our kids birthdays and are only a week apart. This year was the BIG 3-5 and we can now say we're middle age. UGH!!! So while the actual days of our birthday were a little less exciting, we decided to invite some friends out for a pizza and a smack talking game night at a local bar without kids- although Sasha is quite the trash talker and I'm sure could have held her own. It was a fun night with lots of beer, pizza, some tasty treats and good conversation. There are no pictures of the fun night out, actually there was only one which we luckily don't have, taken with a phone of a friend shirtless, he did it for a dollar. We're such adults. However, the night still made us realize we were 35 when by 10:30 we all had to leave b/c we were a) tired or b) the babysitter had to leave by 11. So much for the days where I would make it to midnight...ahhh...


There are a few other photos of us goofing around- being that we're still just BIG kids.

http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/EarlyAug2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCITE6tmrg6bsXA&feat=directlink

Santa Cruz

Three families, 6 adults and 6 kids, in a house on a river for the weekend- what could be more fun!?! We went away with some friends to the Huckleberry house down in Ben Lemond, a town just a bit inland from Santa Cruz. I was worried we wouldn't sleep at all but have to say was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't that exhausting. It could have been that some people were drinking tequilla...but maybe the kids were well behaved, after we separated them into their own rooms, and slept like little angels. The weekend was a blast- we went to the boardwalk where Sasha is a roller coaster queen, then to Natural Bridges State Beach and dug big holes after frolicking in the water. And even went on a short hike where we got to climb up rock walls. Once again we all slept as Alex drove us home but this weekend warrior family played hard and had fun doing so. Check out the pictures of our adventure!

http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/SantaCruz?authkey=Gv1sRgCKSomK-h67L7Cg&feat=directlink

Noah Turns 1!!!

Happy Birthday sweetheart! This year flew by and I am so happy to be at this point. I love this age, he is so fun and his little personality is really starting to come through. He is walking now, he took his real first steps in June, but about a week after he turned one is when he got the confidence to just start roaming around the house. He still never crawled but does more of a butt scoot which is hilarious. He only has 4 teeth however that doesn't slow him down when eating. He LOVES most foods and is incredibly messy. His babysitter was shocked after the first time she gave him lunch and said, " Wow, should I just give him a bath or how do you handle this?" I laughed so hard and told her we usually just wipe him off at the sink. Overall, he is a mellow baby who doesn't sleep much. Still wakes up at 5:30 am every day...which is painful for us but now he's at least sleeping through the night. His favorite person is still Sasha and the best sound in the whole world is when she makes him laugh, he has a really full belly laugh and it is addictive. She does whatever silly thing over and over again to hear it! 

My parents flew in to celebrate with us, and it was so nice to have some family here. We went to Ardenwood, the zoo and a bunch of parks. The pictures speak for themselves and show how much fun we had!


http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/NoahSBdayWeek?authkey=Gv1sRgCKXiorfkheapGw&feat=directlink

Tahoe Bound

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We had wanted to check out these little hike in cabins before kids however never made it until now. Due to traffic we got there with little daylight and a lot of hauling and walking to do. Sasha made it with a smattering of complaints but not too bad while I carried Noah the 1/2 mile to the cabin. Luckily after our 1st trip in we saw they had a wheel barrel so Alex took that back to the car and loaded up the various kid gear while I got the kids ready for bed. It was a beautiful spot and overall we had a good time. The first night though Noah did not sleep well which means none of us did...but the second night I can only blame the mosquitos.

The best day was spent at a beautiful beach, however we forgot our camera that day, called Nevada Beach. We hadn't been to that side of the Lake before but would definitely head there again. We set up our sun tent and spent about 5 hrs. at the beach. Noah even took a nap in the shade and it was really relaxing. We had bought Sasha a donut shaped float that she spent hours bobbing in the water just watching the planes, parasailers and other kids play. Luckily it was hot so we didn't mind taking turns hanging around in the big blue lake.

That evening we cooked dinner and played around the cabin in the woods. It was all fun and games until the mosquitos ate us alive. We all got bites and they kept us up all night. It was AWFUL!! So the next day we were all a bit grumpy and I just wanted to head home. Trying to salvage the day we went to another beach and hung around before heading home. Alex drove and we all slept...he is a trooper and we all went to bed before 8 pm that night.

Here are some pictures of the trip:
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/TahoeCabin?authkey=Gv1sRgCLaXkYL35ND5_gE&feat=directlink 

Early July

Well we're back in our house and we're thrilled. We only had our house on the market 12 days and decided to pull it. We had plenty of interest however, we are undecided on where we'll be moving. The town we thought we were going to move to did not pass a school bond measure and things are looking uncertain. We really want to move only one more time and want to stay until the kids graduate HS so we're being very cautious on where that is. If you want the full story you'll have to call but we feel really fortunate to have the time to decide. Sasha starts kindergarten next year so we need to make some decision by then...tune in to see where we go! 

This has been an incredibly rainy and cold year for us in Oakland and we are having these strange days where it's foggy and freezing until noon and then sunny and warm until about 5. This was a warm week so check out some fun pool time with the kids!

http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/EarlyJuly?authkey=Gv1sRgCL34iJiksrKL9QE&feat=directlink

Moving On...A tribute to 175 Glen

W

Well we've decided to sell our wonderful house! It just went on the market today...so wish us luck! We have loved living there and really Alex has done AMAZING work and I'm so proud of him. The San Francisco remodel was great but this was much MORE extensive and has really been a wonderful home. We love that we are a block from great restaurants, the movies, the library, the post office and anything else you could want. However, the best part of moving to Piedmont Ave. has been our neighbors- we love the people we live around and gather at the cul-de-sac often for happy hour, a stalled book club and just impromptu gatherings.
Really the community we have formed living here is outstanding and we can't say enough how fortunate we've been. Although we know it is rare, we hope we will be able to find it again. 

Here are some before and after pictures!! Looking at the difference really blows my  mind...we've done all this in the last 3 yrs. 8 mo....plus had two kiddies. Whew...I'm tired just remembering it all. Enjoy!

Before:
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/Before_175Glen?authkey=Gv1sRgCOPnhtj_7ebxSw&feat=directlink



After:
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/After_175Glen?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ3Nu_2ji7mzfg&feat=directlink

SLO

This past weekend the kids and I joined my friend Miae and her daughter Sophia on a little excursion down the coast to Avilla Beach. It is right near San Luis Obispo and a beautiful little spot. We had perfect weather, low 80's and sunny and the girls had a wonderful time at the beach, pool and park. Everything was so conveniently located next to our hotel and we really couldn't have asked for a better place. We ate well, everyone mostly slept at night pretty well and only on the drive there did Noah have some difficulties. We all agreed we'd love to go back and spend some more time there! Alex meanwhile was at home trying to finish the last 5% of the house work and it's really looking wonderful. We're so close to being done and we'll be so sad to move...hopefully the next place will be just as lovely.

Check out the photos and see our little adventure!
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/SLO?authkey=Gv1sRgCISBvu692tbbfg&feat=directlink

Zoo Day

I realized a lot of my time with the kids is spent at home, in the backyard, or somewhere walking distance. It's hard to work around all the naps and schedules of everyone so we often stay local. Considering we have a zoo membership and it's not too far away, I figured it's finally a nice day and we should head out on an adventure just the three of us! We had a fabulous day and everything went incredibly smoothly. We all laughed a lot and enjoyed seeing the animals. Even Noah really got excited at watching everything from his stroller and Sasha walked the entire zoo. Sasha's favorite part is still the rides that they have and I love the photos from the carousel that I took. Luckily Noah enjoyed the ride as well!


Check out some pictures from our fun day together!
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/ZooDay?authkey=Gv1sRgCL2x55C4sfiT5wE&feat=directlink

Daddy/Daughter Camping

Alex went ahead and planned a Daddy/Daughter camping trip with two other Dads and friends of Sasha's from her pre-school class. We're trying to make sure she enjoys the outdoors and has good experiences camping since we enjoy it and hope to do more of it in the future. They picked Mt. Diablo since it was only about an hour away and if at 2 am someone melted down it wasn't too far to head home.

We bought them these little bug boxes with a magnifying glass, net and some other tools in there and they were off exploring. However, Jeff asked them all what did you find? And Eliza and Sasha said "Nothing" and Miriam responded "Can I have something to eat?" HA! I think if you ask any of them what their favorite part was they would say the S'mores and playing in the tent. They loved having a sleepover and apparently the kids slept better than the Dads who were worried about them having to "go potty" in the middle of the night or wake up freezing b/c it was still the beginning of April. They considered it a success even though the next morning it was too cold to cook breakfast and go for a little hike so they headed to a cute town nearby and got brunch. All of the girls took a LONG nap the next day and seemed happy with the adventure! Hopefully, they will be going again this summer!

Here are a few pictures of their trip:
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/DaddyDaughterCamping2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCOXY_JGV3PGTuAE&feat=directlink

Florida 2010

We headed to FL to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday and had a great time. The kids did wonderfully on the plane and stayed with my parents so Alex and I were able to sleep through the night! Noah is doing pretty well with sleep now and his usual is from 7:30 pm-5:30 am...not bad.

My sister and her husband along with my Uncle, Aunt and cousins also came so we could all be together. We had beautiful weather, sunny and 80's every day and enjoyed lots of pool time. Sasha likes to crab walk around the walls and swim with her Papa. We also headed to the beach with my parents which for me was one of the highlights of the trip. Sasha still talks about jumping the waves which was a lot of fun!

We also visited with my Pop-Pop and it was nice to see him as often as we could. His sense of humor still comes out at times which was great to see since he hasn't been doing that well.

While we were there, the NCAA tournament was finishing up which was fabulous this year, and we saw a lot of the games. For me it was bittersweet in that I won the pool I was in but Duke, Maryland's arch nemesis, won the championship...argh...

The week was filled with a lot of good times and it was so nice to be together with all of our family!
Being this far away we really appreciated the time together and hope to do it again next winter.

Enjoy the pictures from the trip!
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/FL2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCOnxzf_49_LFHA&feat=directlink

March 2010

The weather here has still been pretty rainy- we've had an incredibly wet winter and it's been a bit hard to be cooped up with the two kids. I was thinking about how when Sasha was 8 mo. how I would regularly go to the park, baby bootcamp and on all sorts of outdoor adventures. Noah, has had a different experience...mostly he's toted along to Sasha's dance class, swim class, soccer or one of her friends houses. Luckily he is incredibly happy and rather chill in any situation. I now understand what people mean when they say, "I wish I could have had my 2nd child first!"

Noah's first tooth came in at the end of the month and it explained some of the drooling and snotty noses. However, the poor kid has also gotten all of Sasha's colds this winter and I often feel like a big kleenex as he wipes his nose on me or his gums to ease his pain! It's rare that my shoulder is dry. He's a master at sitting and very balanced at standing, however he still hates being on his stomach and shows no interest in crawling. We'll see if he decides to follow in his sisters footsteps and just start walking.

We did have two nice weekends so we took advantage and headed to the beach. Sasha loves hanging out by the water but more so it being warm enough for her to wear nothing or very little. Alex took the kids down to Santa Cruz where he bought a very nice, very expensive mandolin. We'll have to post some pictures of it, it is a beauty and he's getting pretty good. It was a very exciting purchase for him that he saved up his poker winnings for! He plays every other week with some friends in the city and apparently he's not bad. I had to work so he took the kids on an adventure, his first time with two on his own. They had a lot of fun and Noah was a champ on the drive.

The other exciting thing we did this month was head down to San Jose and go to the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament. We saw a great game with Butler and Murray St. and part of the UNew Mexico game which was a blowout. I love college basketball so it was awesome to go!

Check out some pictures from this month:
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/March2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCLa1m8rL5OvF5AE&feat=directlink

Late Feb. 2010

Looking back at this month I think we mostly just hung out with friends and went on little family outings. There is nothing that stands out in my mind but that's probably because I'm writing this 2 months later! We did make Hamantaschen for Purim which was fun and Sasha who up to now only liked Peanut Butter decided that apricot jelly was good too. And we had some fun for Valentines' Day when we made cards to send to family and of course we got Sasha some chocolate. Mostly it was a nice, calm time with everyday life. In the picture to the left I show how Noah helps me fold the laundry- we always have a lot of laughs even during the most mundane chores.

Enjoy the pictures!
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/Feb2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCNbVrtmA18zB1AE&feat=directlink

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Valentine's Day!
Look at me posting in the same month that it actually is...I must suddenly have free time or am procrastinating from getting my expenses together for my accountant...sorry Dad! This month we have already had visitors, my parents came Feb. 2nd - the 10th and we had a really nice time. We sent them home with a pretty lovely cold just to give them a taste of what we've had every month for two weeks....sorry again! Anyway, the highlight was them visiting and Noah sleeping from 8 pm-5 am at least 4/5 nights a week for the last 2 wks. Not bad eh?!! Now I just need to retrain myself to not wake up. Luckily I caught the cold as well and the Nyquil has been doing the job for me. Does anyone disagree that they get the deepest most wonderful sleep on Nyquil? I'm sounding like I'm addicted...but am just amazed at how good I feel when I wake up from a Nyquil sleep. Anyway, I'm healthy now and other than staying up late to watch the Olympics I'm sleeping much better. We usually are picture happy when my parents are here but for some reason we weren't this trip...maybe it was all the rain and that most days we just hung around home. We did go on one adventure to Sacramento for an overnight and had a great time. The train museum was wonderful and we all enjoyed it. If you locals haven't been it's worth a night there and surprisingly Sacramento has a wonderful restaurant scene. I was surprised to see that driving around. I think Sasha's favorite thing was the lollipop we got free and the hotel pool. We went in multiple times and if it didn't smell so strongly of chlorine I'm sure we would have went again. Enjoy the pictures and I probably won't have time to write again for a few months!

http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/February2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCP-Q1d718_WA2AE&feat=directlink

Happy New Year's to you all! We started out January wonderfully b/c we were sleeping mostly through the night- ok waking up once isn't bad after 6 months of 3x a night. Go Noah! However, then Alex and Sasha got sick...and everything went haywire.

We did manage to do a bunch of fun outings this month. One being going to a CAL men's basketball game. Although we will forever be die hard Terps fans we [mostly me] still enjoy watching the games live. Sasha's school had gotten tickets and we went with a whole group which made it all the more enjoyable for everyone. Sasha though, if you ask her about the game, will tell you with a big grin, "It was so loud I could hear everything from the potty." That was amazing to her and Alex and her took two trips to the bathroom with only one being valid. The game ended up being a good one and was close until the end when CAL pulled ahead. Noah didn't mind the noise and was happy as could be, he just looked around at all the commotion and smiled...ah just like home. HA!

Another fun outing was to see the King Tut exhibit at the de Young. A friend from grad school came into town and we all went. The kids barely made it through but it was an excellent exhibit. If it heads to your city definitely check it out. Sasha was only interested in royalty so we tried to explain everything with a queen slant to it. She eventually met some other little girls in the observation tower and made friends. That was the highlight of her day.

Noah had a bunch of firsts this month, he is sitting up wonderfully and went for his first trip in a grocery cart. Sasha in back, Noah up front holding on for dear life and luckily we didn't need to do a big shop. Sasha, although we think of her as a picky eater, sat in the back eating raw mushrooms!!??!!She likes the strangest things...yellow curry, water chestnuts, pistachio nuts, pretty much all fruit, dried papaya, red peppers, and peanut butter. It was fun and we were both proud of Noah. He's also eating a ton of different foods- and so far doesn't like peaches. Sasha and Noah also took their first bath together. It went over wonderfully, Sasha helped clean Noah which meant her taking a little cup and dumping water over his head. Luckily he didn't mind and just sat there chewing on a bath toy.

Hope 2010 has started out well for all of you! Take a look at the pictures and see some of our fun this month:

http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/Jan2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCMnfoZG434HHPg&feat=directlink

December 09

This month the two big events were Hannukah and going back east to visit Alex's family. Hannukah this year was a lot of fun b/c Sasha was learning a lot about it at school and was incredibly excited about lighting the candles. We spread out the presents as to not overwhelm her, but by far her favorite gifts were these snap and style dolls I took a chance on getting her. Sometimes you buy something you think she'll love and after playing with it two times she'll put it away to glance at again in a month. It can be disappointing and you feel like you waste a lot of money. That said I decided to try ebay and these were actually my first win on the site. I was so excited to get them for her but mostly b/c she still likes playing with them. She also enjoys the puzzles Oma got her, the music jewelry box Aunt Lisa and Uncle Scott got her and the princess scooter from Aunt Abby and Uncle Will. Noah got a few small gifts but mostly he's happy just hanging around us, sucking on his hands and playing with Sasha's hand me down toys.

The trip back east went really well- the flight was great, Noah was also a pleasure on the plane. We had two couples come up to us after we arrived in DC to tell us how wonderful our children are. We feel super lucky to have kids that enjoy flying...especially when their Mom doesn't. Seeing everyone back east was a lot of fun- we had a great mixture of family and friends'. It was also Alex's mom's 60th birthday and we had a lot of fun celebrating her big day cooking with all of our brothers and sisters. The best part for me though was that Noah slept through the night, 5 nights in a row!!! It was amazing and we can finally see the light. I for the first time in a while felt like myself again...after 5 months that really felt wonderful!

We wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year's and look forward to hearing from you all in 2010!

http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/Dec09?authkey=Gv1sRgCMizka3hidnvTg&feat=directlink

November

November was a busy month, and the sleepless nights were really wearing on us but we got one evening of reprieve when my parents came to visit in the beginning of the month. I think I would have needed a week to recooperate but we were thrilled to even get that time away. Alex and I had a great time in Bodega Bay and crab season just started so we ate incredibly well. It was so peaceful, beautiful and it was fun to just wander. It was also nice seeing my parents, after them being with us for 5 wks. after Noah's birth it was nice to have them back. My Mom also turned 60 this month and we took her to Alice Water's Chez Panisse to celebrate the occasion. The food was excellent and luckily the fare on the menu that evening was stuff we would eat. Alex was the most adventurous and had a squid dish but regardless of what we ordered we all enjoyed our meals.

We stayed local for Thanksgiving and went to our good friends Miae and Davids' house. They cooked up a great feast and as always it was fun to celebrate with them and their family who are always so welcoming to us. Alex's sister Julie and her husband Mike came down the evening of Thanksgiving and stayed for the whole weekend. We had a lot of fun being with them and were so happy they came to meet Noah. It really meant a lot to us for them to drive down, and we are really thrilled to see Julie so happy. Spending time with them is allowing us to get to know Mike more and it's obvious she's picked a great guy. Unfortunately, Alex got sick on their 2nd day here and didn't get to hang out as much as he would have liked. We did organize a football game and picnic for the Sat. after Turkey day and it turned out to be a lot of fun. We played 5 on 5 and went for about an hour. I was so incredibly sore the week after it was pretty funny...and sad. But hey I just had a baby right?

Enjoy the pictures of this month!
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/Nov09?authkey=Gv1sRgCIH98LOM9IS9Bg&feat=directlink