Justin had off today, so we had a nice 4-day weekend together. Friday night we went out for Greek food; Alanna really liked sharing Daddy's gyros, she said it was, "yummy." Saturday morning we started prepping Alanna's room for painting around 9:45a. We finished by 11:15a, took a lunch break, began the living/dining room and completed painting by 2p. Not too shabby! I am really happy with the finished project. Thank you Mom and Dad for all of your help! Here is a before & after shot of Alanna's room:



Sunday afternoon we drove down to Santa Cruz. Justin and I went on a terrific date that evening. We walked to Taqueria Vallarta and then headed down to Capitola Village to have a drink at Zelda's. Of course we needed dessert too, so we stopped for ice cream before walking back to Mom and Dad's.
Monday morning we had brunch with the folks before heading back home. After Alanna's nap we went over to Brad, Susan, and Dax's house for a BBQ. Alanna really enjoyed swimming in the pool with us. Dax taught Alanna how to dip chips and veggies into dip.


The big news today was the arrival of my friend Nicole's second baby, Tyler. He arrived via a planned c-section at 7:30 this morning. I went up to visit Nicole and meet Tyler this afternoon. Congrats Wade, Nicole, and Isabella!

It's Friday!

It's hard to believe that Memorial Day weekend is here already. Our big plan is to paint the living/dining room and Alanna's room. My parents are awesome and volunteered to come up and help. Tonight we'll move around furniture and tomorrow we'll prep and paint. I'll post before and after pictures when we finish. Other than painting, I think we may go to a BBQ on Monday afternoon. Unlike last weekend, we're not super busy. We need some downtime before our upcoming trip to NY and family reunion.

Another busy weekend

When spring arrives, our weekends are typically booked with multiple social engagements. This weekend was no exception. My calendar included book club, poker night (I lost), brunch with playgroup friends, and a visit to the Maker Faire.

Here a couple of pictures from brunch at the park yesterday:

This week is flying by

I can't believe tomorrow is Friday already. This week has flown by. It was really great having Justin home on Monday. Thanks for taking the day off Justin! He and Alanna had a blast running through the fountain in Los Gatos in the morning. We found out that our pool is heated, so we went for a swim after Alanna's nap. Tuesday was our usual play date at the park. The exciting news of the day was a text message from Amy saying that she had her baby. Congrats to Amy and Andy and welcome Baby Alex! On Wednesday I found a dress for Courtney and Aaron's wedding, phew! I was getting worried that I'd never find something that I liked and fit correctly (it tended to be one or the other during prior shopping trips). Wednesday afternoon I went to the hospital to meet Amy's baby, Alex; he is definitely a cutie pie. Today Alanna and I went to the library for Mother Goose story time and then had a lunch date with Nicole, Isabella, Susan, and Dax. Tomorrow we go to Little Gym and maybe we'll go for a walk in the morning.
Have a great weekend!

You can pick...

Do you know where I'm going with this? This week, Alanna has decided that it is highly entertaining to stick her finger up her nose. She happily says "pick," (which sounds like peek) while doing it (I didn't teach her to do this). I know it is gross, but for some reason I'm slightly amused by it. Don't worry, I don't laugh or encourage this behavior!

Busy weekend

Wow, this weekend flew by and was a lot of fun! Saturday morning after our weekend ritual of walking to bagels and coffee, we headed to Vasona park in Los Gatos for TJ's 30th birthday BBQ. In the afternoon we headed to Santa Cruz for a Mother's Day dinner at Mom and Dad's house. This morning we went to brunch at La Fiesta in Mountain View for my 2nd Mother's Day. Susan, Brad, and Dax joined us. We had a fun time chatting and enjoyed amazing omelettes. Dax and Alanna had a blast playing in the fountain outside the restaurant. We relaxed at home this afternoon; we definitely needed some downtime after all of our social events. Justin is taking tomorrow off, as his vacation time is about to max-out. It will be nice having him home to play with us.

Playing with Dax (video)

Alanna's best buddy Dax came to play this morning. They have so much fun together!

Chili...yum!

On Friday night, we enjoyed homemade chili for dinner. We couldn't believe how much Alanna enjoyed it (she loves beans). As you can imagine, it is a pretty messy meal and then to top it off, Alanna decided to play peek-a-boo with chili all over her hands. We had to take a picture.

Bangs

I finally decided to cut Alanna's bangs last week. She looked very cute with clips in her hair, but she refused to leave them in. I had enough of the shaggy dog look. Let me tell you, it is not easy getting an 18 month old to stay still while you're cutting their hair!

Sweets are tasty

Today we went to Coldstone to get ice cream. It was so cute, I asked Alanna to say ice cream and she said, "yummy." Smart cookie!

Summer fun

Justin is going to come to NY with us in June! I'm very excited that he decided to join us, we booked the flight last night. We have lots of fun activities planned, including visiting the Bronx Zoo, friends, family, and celebrating Aunt Nancy's birthday. Of course I'm very excited to spend time with Grandma and Aunt Mickey too! I'd also like to see the Human Bodies exhibit that is currently down at the South Street Seaport.

Our calendar for the summer is pretty booked. After we return from NY, we'll be heading up to Bodega Bay for the Raftery Family Reunion (Sherry's family). In July, Aunt Nance is coming to visit and we're going river rafting (thanks for organizing Mel). Justin and I are also going up to Portland to visit Jon and Laura and Alanna is going to have a vacation in Santa Cruz with "Mama and Papa." Lastly, but certainly not least, we'll be in Santa Rosa for Courtney and Aaron's wedding in late August. So many things to look forward to!

Pictures

Alanna is really into drinking out of a "big girl" mug these days while I'm drinking coffee, it's really cute! She looked really sporty at Little Gym on Friday wearing her new tracksuit from Aunt Laura and Uncle Jon.

Reading a story (video)

Alanna has started to count from one to three. She's really into the number two. It is very cute. She slso loves to say, "meow."

Alanna says "hi" to Spike (video)

Justin took this video of Alanna about a month ago.

Welcome

I have decided to start "blogging." I think it will be a nice way to share news about our family, as well as pictures and videos. Hope you enjoy!