the gut

sammy has always been "long & lean", according to our pediatrician - dr. abbott. he says she's a "lean mean fighting machine", very long (maybe that comes from a dad who's 6'3" and a mom who's 5'8"? just a thought), but not much baby fat! so, we've been trying to fatten her up, since fat = brain cell growth for little babies! anyway - check out these pictures where she's "helping" mommy make some pancakes... focus on "the gut" she's workin' and I think you'll agree.. mission accomplished.

beach babies

we had a great time at the beach in sea ranch - the water was freakin' cold, and the waves scared stella... "mommy, waves don't get me! they scary me!" (see pic where she's hiding behind me while sammy buries our feet in sand).

stella thought the windy weather was HILARIOUS (which is a good word for describing her face in that picture!).

she had fun going on a walk with mommy to climb up the rocks on the beach - a little dangerous, but she was so brave (as opposed to her demeanor when the water would wash in for a wave). laura looked cute posing at the edge of the water, and grandma helped stella feel safe against those pesky waves.

swimsuit model

stella is such a poser... check out her "i'm ready for the hot tub" pose.

slidin', climbin', swingin', & eatin' dirt

these are the things my girls do at the park (this was an adventure in sea ranch) - sammy usually eats a LOT of dirt (see pic above, the evidence all over her face)... stella wears her shades cuz she's so damn cool... she loves to swing and likes to have us push her "WAY so high, please!"... they both climb all over EVERYTHING that can be climbed on.. and they do the slides- together is prefered, but if alone, then stella likes to go face down to mix it up! and sammy likes to pick up speed so as to fly off the end and land in the dirt on her bum!

as always, good times with these girls, good times.

sea ranch adventure

grandma ginny & auntie laura came into town from texas and we all drove up the coast to sea ranch, california... it was quite beautiful, and the house that we rented was truly lovely.

we had deer in our yard, seals on the rocks a short walk from the house, a park close by to enjoy during the sunny (but windy!) days, a nice hot tub for cool evenings, comfy window seats for reading and soaking up the sun, and sammy loved practicing her mad walking skills all over the deck and hearing the waves from the ocean.... a lovely visit for family, we can't wait to go back again!

we owe a shout out to kathandrew for introducing us to this lovely little spot on the california coast, when we all went and rented our first house there new years eve 2 years ago.. then we got to enjoy it for new years eve last year with team landers. and this was our first time during the summer, and it's quite nice!

take me out to the ballgame!

tonight stella got to go with mommy to sit in the Gap Inc. box at the Giants baseball game and she LOVED it! one of her favorite songs is "take me out to the ballgame", so now she actually gets to see "the ballgame"! also, lucille the seal (giants mascot) was there, so that was a treat. mommy couldn't bear to feed her a hotdog or other not-so-organic-or-good-for-you concession stand food, so I packed her a dinner (e.g. edamame, strawberries, pumpkin tomale, etc.), but we DID splurge and stella and mommy shared her first ever ice cream sundae! good times, we love us some sugar high!

and she had a blast hanging out with ryan since he was in town to visit... after we left she kept saying "i had fun visiting with ryan!".

sammy was at home with daddy and we were all anxiously awaiting grandma ginny and auntie laura's flight that was delayed in arrival from dallas!

House Askew

i really hate things not being in their place, and clutter, and messy house, yada yada... but that's what we've got right now, so I'm trying to meditate and find my inner zen... some peace amidst this madness in my house!
the front door is still unusable since the guy hasn't shown up to replace it yet, so that's a pain in the backside going in and out the side door.. wha, I know...
we are revamping our master bedroom, now that there aren't any more babies sleeping in there, we decided to find some feng sui and get it de-cluttered and snazzed up. we have new furniture coming (they were supposed to deliver it on saturday, but that didn't really happen, so I'm trying to go with it), and in the meantime, all the OLD furniture (which is really just 3 years old) is in the living room and study, waiting for the new front door to be installed, so we can get it all OUT of our house!
and charlie's still working away on the bathroom downstairs for the girls.. he's been UNDER the house most of today, so he won't be getting any lovin' or embraces from me until he visits the SHOWER! while he's working down there it's a total disaster, and we have to walk through it to get to the girls' bedroom.. though stella & sam don't mind at all, cuz they think all the power tools are FASCINATING and sammy also loves the plain screwdrivers and tape measures, etc.
AND, there's a huge, new bathub in the playroom downstairs, cuz the bathroom isn't ready to hold it yet...
as you can see, madness abounds and our home is not quite peaceful and cozy at the time... but it's short term pain for long term gain. it will be lovely once all these projects are done!

sleepover

stella and sammy are going over to franny's tonight... we are doing this thing where once/month franny comes over here to sleepover, so sarah & elias can have a date night.. and also once/month our girls go over there. charlie and I are headed to dinner at Cesar, then we'll pick up sammy cuz she's not QUITE big enough for a sleepover (mainly I don't want to subject sarah & elias to the possibility that she might wake up at 4am! not cool)

Bumble Bees

auntie juli made stella an amazing bumblebee dress... it's so cute and she just loves it, especially the pockets! Only problem is, I can't really convince her to change OUT of it, not at night for jammies, not in the day when it needs to be washed.. oh well, she loves it, and it makes me smile, thinking of how auntie juli used to make ME little outfits when I was little! what a special memory, and i'm so happy to have it carried on to my little girl.

restored!

well, fortunately my mom is a picture freak too and she had quite a few on her computer, that she'd uploaded from mine, so I have more pics of stella and sammy restored! AND, I had some through November of last year uploaded to snapfish, so I'll get those downloaded too..
and BACKED UP!!! Let this be a lesson to all of you - learn from my misfortune and make sure you have your precious memories backed up.

Soquel Visit

the girls and I went down to visit auntie kim, uncle karl, and blake (maddie was in oregon camping so we missed her!) this weekend. charlie stayed at home working on the bathroom remodel, which we appreciate! but we had a good time - went to the beach (the waves scared stella!)... saw an otter swimming in the ocean and stella loved that - he was quite cute! it was great to relax and visit with those sweeties, and the weather was quite lovely! stella was fascinated by blake's skateboard skills - she said that "next time I want to try to do it with blakey!"... i need to buy knee pads, and helmets, I think!

the girls got pink eye last week and I thought they were over it, but a bit seemed to come back while we were visiting the brosings, so I HOPE they are able to effectively sanitize the house and sheets, etc. so none of them get this nasty conjunctivitis! though they have a LOT of sanitizing to do lately, since they got SKUNKED before we arrived!

4th of July Adventure

well, team wellborn and team landers went to the Marin County Fair to celebrate the 4th of July... fun adventure. we checked out the farm (some really COOL chickens/roosters were on display for the judging!) and patrick served as aidan and stella's personal shuttle ride by grabbing them up and carrying them from exhibit to exhibit.. I honestly think they enjoyed that more (so much giggling!) than seeing the animals!

Stella loved the rides (she and aidan went on a car one and a swing one), but aidan wasn't a big fan of them at all! They just BARELY were able to go on the rides at all, since you have to be 36" tall and they cut it pretty close. Stella wanted to go on the "huge" rides, like the giant ferris wheel, but she wasn't tall enough (48" - another foot to grow!).

sammy thought the whole thing was a bit overwhelming, I think -she and baby ty just relaxed in their mommys' slings watched all the people and colors all around.. and stella looked so cute in her 4th of July shirt from grandma and grandpa neuman.

They also played a few games on the midway and won useless stuffed animals and balloon toys.. but it was fun, nonetheless! We are fair food and someone tried to steal christine's treo right from our table while the dads and babies were watching the fireworks (mommies and toddlers were off to the "potty" for yet another time).

Stella was pretty freaked out by the fireworks - she said they scared her and she thought they were "beautiful, but TOO scary" - aidan dug them though... quite interesting how they are so brave and afraid of completely different things ...

a typical weekend morning...

just a typical morning at home...

stella spends 20 minutes trying to "do it myself", and get dressed... then mom and dad play keepaway from stella (just KIDDING, we help her practice kicking the ball and aiming (not at sammy's head)). sammy "steals" stella's bike from her and we take turns giving her a ride and hope she doesn't fall off! she loves it though...

... and mischief abounds --> sammy finds my keys and looks like she has BIG plans for them (which undoubtedly include me not able to find them ever again!)... and stella helps me organize scrapbook supplies and decides the ribbons would look MUCH better on her face, than in the little bins, sorted by color! good times, as always... =)