New photos

This was another tough day...but the guilt of being on blog hiatus is compelling me to update tonight, although the text might be limited...I have bills that need to be paid, and my online-traffic school is due by Tue (they time each online screen to make sure you're not skipping sections...what, me skip??? ) The 2 little kids are sick, sick, sick...but I think it's been harder on me and Lauren today...boredom gets boring...we enjoyed a visit from our good friend Laura D. from P-town this afternoon, and she introduced us to Maria's chips and salsa...that was a welcome break during a long day AT HOME. Some recent snapshots...

Playing choo-choo with the outdoor storage drawers...

Winter in So. Cal...isn't it rough?



This Daddy is good at doing the "girl-thing"...just a lazy Saturday afternoon of playing ponies with Lauren...

What Charlie does BEST these days...drool...

The last photo of this crib...we took it down this past week and replaced it with a twin bed...I started to un-bolt it, and had to stop for a minute...I sat on Lauren's bed and just stared at the crib nostalgically...that crib has been assembled for the past 5 years, and has moved 3 times with us...the side is completely split, and is being held together by gray duct tape...I had to have a moment with it before it got thrown out with the trash...we were originally going to move the twin that has been in Charlie's room into the girls' room, but we decided to just buy a 3rd twin and have 2 beds in the girls' room, and a crib and twin in Charlie's room...it's really nice to have an "overflow" bed in Charlie's room...now we need to re-do the temporary bedding into something more permanent that matches the brown in his room...enter my Mom.
Playing at the piano...one of the girls' favorite things to do is dance around the still-unfurnished living room while I play their requests on the piano...


I thought this was a cool picture...I'm always working on better ways to compose a shot...my fabulous husband is supporting me in my buddy hobby by letting me start photography classes...there is a facility out our way that runs a very extensive year-round photography program, with 100+ classes that rotate throughout the year...I'm starting with Photo 1 and my class begins at the end of the month...it runs through June, and then hopefully I'll keep going from there...


Before...

After...

Naked and rolling in our pillows...the downer about Kate deciding to use the potty all the time is that we go through so many more diapers...she's always stripping down and climbing onto the toilet, and then needs another clean diaper afterward...she used to be totally content for long stretches of time in the same diaper (is that bad to admit??? Why change it when no one is complaining?)
My brother got this cheerleading outfit for Lauren at Christmas...it's a hit...

Charlie can roll now...not all the time, but he's done it a few times now...I left the office with him on his stomach, and came back to this...amazing that he can lug all that weight around...he went to the MD for his 4 month appt. last week...he was 17' 13"...97th %...his height and head are also both 95-97%...I guessed that he'd be about 18 pounds at 4 months...turns out I was right.

Kate washing her ponies in the sink...
Moms Night out with a group of local friends...we went for foot massages (which actually turned out to be total-body massages) at this total hole-in-the-wall Korean dive in the middle of Korea-town in Covina...my lady was a little "aggressive" but still fun...we went for Mexican afterward...don't we look relaxed?

Another recent Moms Night Out with some good friends from the Glendale days...we met for a fabulous dinner and enjoyed a night sans-kids...I need these nights in order to hang onto the limited sanity that I still have!
Turns out that Charlie likes Paula Deen...I don't usually do this, but dinner had to be fixed...

I walked in on this...Lauren reading to Charlie...

Playing choo-choo train with the new boxes of diapers...won't it be nice when I can say singular "box of diapers?" I'm coming around to the idea that I should just jump on board with Kate and the potty...she's certainly ready, am I?...but I'd love to not fill my cart with diapers every trip to Target...I've resorted to putting Charlie in Huggies so that his diapers look differently from Kate's...I'm tired of trying to distinguish between the 3s and 4s.
And finally, a shout-out to my fantastic husband...we celebrated 6 years on the 8th...isn't March a fabulous month in which to get married? We got a sitter and had dinner out...it was simple and perfect...no traffic on the way to the restaurant, the service was quick, the food good, and the company and conversation top-notch...there is no one I'd rather be standing with in 50 years from now...we support and love each other...whether we're soaring high, or digging out of trenches, there's no one better...I love you hon...