May Daze

Here are some quick shots of the last month. Sadie is getting to be a big girl (officially 18 months!)- talking a lot and loving life!

Sadie always loves to cuddle with her friends- frog, dog, and owl (these are 3 of her favorite words too)

Owl makes an appearance again

Learning bike safety

Loves her new chair and table set. and it's better shared with a friend :)

Daddy is off to the prom

my little reader

papa time

Happy beginning to Summer!!!

XOXO, Rebecca

PS- Sorry I've been neglecting this blog. I've been pouting a lot of my time into my other blog. :)

Who do you think you are?

This is my new favorite song. I love female singers. I heard this on the radio a month or so ago and rushed home to google the lyrics I remembered- but had no luck. I thought it was Adele-like, but knew it wasn't her.  Then Glee happened. I knew I had found the song- and I guess all of America found it at the same time too. Happy weekend. Turn up the music and sing along.

The Town Represents

I love my city.

Brotherly Love on Mother's Day

My brother just posted this link to his facebook. So sweet! I love it, Johnnie!! Happy Mother's Day to all of you and especially to my mom, momma Ruff!

Mommyhood

I love being a mom. But I also have a mom that loves being a mom (and a grandmom). I remember my mom always saying when I was young (and quite recently): I was made to be a mom, being a mom is my finest joy in life, my children bring me the most joy of all. Wow! After hearing that for the past 32 years, who wouldn't have a positive view of being a mom?

Being a mom feel much like being a teacher to me- it just fits. It makes me feel like I am doing what I should be doing- what I was born to do.

 I want to thank my mom- for giving me such a glowing review of motherhood, day in and day out. It makes a HUGE difference.

I love being a mom to this little one. She gives me so much: snuggles, laughter, perseverance, etc... I love to watch her curiosity about life and the world.

I love the way my mom loves Sadie (and her other grandbaby girls) too: 

I love sitting at the piano singing hymns with my mom. It's been a Sunday ritual forever.

I love laughing with my mom:

I love snuggling with my baby:

I love exposing my baby to interesting things, and watching her excitement blossom!

I love bonding with Sadie. She liked my toenail polish, or at least was fascinated by it- so I painted one of her feet. She loved it. And again, I just loved to watch he excitement about little things.

I also love my daughter's bold will. Her she is standing on the bed after being told repeatedly to sit. She understands. She knows. But she love pushing the boundaries. But despite that, I love her so. I love that she has a strong spirit.

Happy Mother's Day to all you amazing moms out there--I bet most great moms out there had/have a pretty special mom that showed them how to love and care for a child completely

If I didn't have to work tomorrow...

• I would take Sadie to the local pool
• I would go on a hike in the redwoods- maybe Muir Woods, it would be nice and cool
• I'd eat ice cream for lunch dessert
• Sadie and I would retreat to the beach and get sand in our hair and our toes
• Sadie would sleep in until 10am- so I could indulge in a book
• I'd go to the Ferry Building and get Blue Bottle Coffee 
• I'd get a pedicure
• I would go visit friends and have a long lunch and a good talk
• I'd go to the park
• I'd meander in a book store
• I'd go to the Farmer's Market in Old Oakland
• I'd learn to sew
• I'd plant my summer veggies
• I'd go catch an afternoon movie- all by myself (something I've never done!)

But, in reality, I do have work. I have to teach test prep to reading intervention students in a very hot concrete tomb. I know I'll enjoy being at work (despite my morose description), but I'd much rather be playing the day away.

I hope you get some good play time this weekend!

XOXO, Rebecca

I'm in love

I just had a yummy salad for lunch. Baby arugula, cherry tomatoes, and this fabulous Cilantro Salad Dressing from Trader Joe's. MMM-- I love Cilantro! Thank you TJs!

Philly Water Ice in My Hood?!?!

It being a beautiful sunny day today, we went to Flavor Brigade for some ice cream this afternoon. Has anyone been to this place? It's close to our house on Fruitvale at MacArthur (across the street from the library and the creepy vet). Um, it's amazing!!!  Our family is a bit phantic (yes, ph) for all things philly. And Flavor Brigade hit it OUT of the park. Let me count the reasons why this place it wonderful!!--

• They have custards (you may have to be from Philly to get this)- you can have it on top or mixed into your water ice
• it's organic!
• they use Strauss milk base for their ice creams
• they make it in house (ps. using recipes from RITA'S!, yes, RITA'S!!!)
• they use real fruit
• their water ice is legit- so good, and tastes like Rita's.
• they have soft pretzels
• they have Tastykakes

I got a small (but it was pretty big) cherry water ice with custard (they put it on top and at the bottom, mmm) for $2.99. Yum. It may be dangerous that it's only a few blocks away. But this place is so good- you have to go try it! Especially if you hail from Philly.

I'm in love. And so is my daughter.

35 years later...

The wonders of toothpicks. I love this, especially because it's about my home turf:


Scott Weaver's Rolling through the Bay from Learning Studio on Vimeo.

Pacifica in March

I know you're jealous. I would be too. Us Californians have it all.

Beautiful sunny day in March? Check.

Cute baby? Check.

Killer waves? Check. 

 Plastic sand rake? Check.

Taco Bell beachside? Check (that's it on the left). 

What a joyous day! Thank you sping break! We couldn't have asked for more! Gotta say- we love where we live...but I guess you picked up on that.

xoxo, rebecca

Go Dadda Go!

Mark ran in Oakland's 1/2 marathon in March. We were so excited to cheer him on! His friend ran with him, while I hung out with his friend's wife (also my friend) and their son (sadie's buddy). A good day was had by all!!

At the starting line! The energy was high...

Rolling into mile 12! Is that a bird, is that a plane?? Oh my it's dadda! He's going so fast I almost missed him!

All smiles:

Sadie is really obsessed with with GIANT inflatable Geico lizard behind mom (the photographer).

Dad enjoys his post run beer (his running bib included tear-off bear tickets, is that normal?). Sadie is still obsessed with the giant Geico lizard (there was a costumed dancing lizard in addition to the inflatable one).

 I think Sadie will be ready for the Kids' fun run soon!

 We were so proud of dad! What a dedicated runner he is!!

XOXO, Rebecca

Workin' It

Over our spring break we moved back into our Casita. We put a TON of stuff in storage, and we're gradually moving things back (We're still going to keep the extra storage space- to keep our sanity!). We decided to make some purchases, so that our stuff will fit into our place better. I think we went to IKEA at least 5 times! I'll post some pics of how of space is coming together- as soon as I get all the boxes cleaned up and tidy.

We spent hours getting some of these IKEA pieces together...and little miss was a big help. This video cracks me up. She was very serious about helping mom and dad.

And now that we'll be rocking the Dimond neighborhood, I think our house needs an official name, any ideas?

I Better Watch What I Say

It's dinnertime and Sadie just walked into the kitchen saying Rice, Rice Rice...she wanted a rice cake. I love my little linguistic queen. It feels like she's learning a word or two a day.

Here are some of her recently learned, and oft-repeated, words:
frog (fro)
bike (bi)
uh oh
cheese
strawberry
outside (side)
light (dight)
apple
door
please (pease)
thank you (da do)
gracias (I didn't hear this- her daycare people told me she started saying this week)
bus
book (boo)
agua
milk (mil)
sorry
owl
animal (she spat this out at the zoo! crazy!)
bye bye (fill in the blank)
roro
ruby
bath
dog
baby

It's fun to watch her language go and grow!! And it's exciting to hear her create phrases with the words she knows. It's also interesting to hear the sounds she leaves out- it's usually the ending sounds/tricky sounds/the sounds that aren't stressed.

I'm so proud of my little baby!! She's such a little learner!

The sad thing is that she's starting to feel less and less like my little baby, and more and more like a big girl. Time does fly!

XOXO, Rebecca

Fwa Fwa FWAAA

Here's Sadie is full affect. She was 17 months old yesterday and she's been a blast lately- my little buddy. In this video, she's freaking out because I was washing one of her 2 frog blankies. She didn't even see me toss it in, so she must have seen it tumbling around. Fwa Fwa Fwa is the her way of saying, "Mama! Get froggy out of there! I don't like baths and neither does he!"  (And yeah, apparently now she loathes bathtime. She screamed bloddy murder through her whole bath last night. I think the cold pacific ocean may have traumatized her.)

XOXO, Rebecca

Cousin Love Fest

These were too cute! Had to steal them off my sister's blog !

Happy Friday!

XOXO, Rebecca

Baby Beer Cozy

Sadiekins sure seems to fancy the beer cozy that Aunt Lida and Uncle Scott gave out on their wedding day. It's one of her new obsessions-

I love my silly little muchkin!

XOXO, Rebecca

Contenta

Here are some recent videos taken over the past couple of weeks- of Sadie just being Sadie. These are especially for those friends and family far away. I love how content of a baby Sadie is. She seems to really enjoy life.

Chatting away at bath time-


Her she is loving on a dog we dog sat. She loved walking into his tail and patting her.


Sadie has become quite the sous chef these days-


XOXO,
Rebecca

All of the Above

Wow. This week has been FABULOUS. I can't decide if it's because a) we're on spring break, b) we're back in our casita, c) I'm getting to redecorate. I think it's all of the above. The awesome thing about spring break is that Mark and I both have the same vacation schedules. What can be more fabulous than that? And we have 2 weeks of spring break!!

Sunday-

• Mark ran in Oakland's Running Festival- the 1/2 marathon! Sadie and I went to the sidelines to cheer him on. We had a blast, and loved celebrating with dad afterwards (more pics on this later...)

Monday-

• Moved back into our house.
• Walked to Peet's, went shopping.
• Chilled.
• Had family dinner at my mom's.

Tuesday-

• We went to little farm in the Berkeley Hills- even though Sadie was quite sleepy- it was awesome!! (see piggy video)
• Met my friend for coffee
• Had some good friend over for dinner

Wednesday (Today)-

• Went shopping at IKEA (we had breakfast there too- $7 for three people!)- and made big plans to organize our small space wisely! Sadie loved running around IKEA. She especially loved the kiddy kitchen and snuggling on daddy's shoulder.
• Took afternoon naps
• Went to Dimond Park- had fun chatting it up with neighbors

Thursday (tomorrow)

• Day trip to the beach!

Friday

• Go to Muir Woods (in the Marin Hills, by the coast) with our friend Seth

I love the sun (especially after weeks of cold rain)! I love California! I love my family!

xoxo,
Rebecca

Take 2

FYI friends,

To make it easier for people to remember, I renamed my other blog- The Joy of Literacy

Check it out here:
http://thejoyofliteracy.blogspot.com/

My mom thought Bedfellows and Pocketbook Companions would make a good title for a memoir....ahhhh, someday mom.

XOXO,
Rebecca

It is what it is

Since August we have been trying to sell our house. We lowered our price and tried again this spring, and got an offer within the first couple weeks of putting the house back on the market. But the deal collapsed yesterday. We are bummed that we put so much time, effort, and money into this 8-month journey...

Today we are back at our cute little house after spending weeks at my mom's (she's been such a gracious host). And we're spending time reflecting on the circumstances.

Mark is strumming on his guitar, and wrote some lyrics-
The breeze
blowing through the trees
outside my window
sky is blue
My baby is asleep
in the other room
We got everything we need
When I'm next to you

I'm reading Cutting for Stone. And last night, after getting the news of our botched deal, the last words I read for the night felt apropos (@ 24% on the kindle version)-

For the first time since Sister Mary Joseph Praise's death, Matron felt a sense of peace, a sense of certainty where there had been none. She was certain that this was the spot- this was where the long voyage of Sister Mary Praise would end. She remembered, too, her first days in Addis, when things looked so bleak, so terrifying, so tragic- it was at those moments that God's grace came, and that God's plan was revealed in his time. "I can't see it, Lord, but I know you can," she said.

So here's what I can be optimistic about going forward-
1-We love being blocks from such an amazing park.
2- We love the convenience of our neighborhood. Yes, we have Peet's, the library, banks, restaurants, 2+ grocery stores- but more importantly, easy freeway access is such a perk!
3-We feel safe in the Dimond- you hear a lot more gun shots in the neighborhood we were planning to move to. This was a low priority for us in general, but somehow having a kid changes these sort of priorities for you.
4- Our neighborhood is very walkable, and encourages us to have a more active lifestyle.
5- Hopefully we'll be creative and make this house work better for us going forward. I'm looking forward to possible renovations.
6- We love the school we're slotted for, Glenview. It's public, diverse, has good test scores, has a dynamic parent community, and is walking distance from our house.
7- We love that we're in between the hills and the flats.
8-We love Farmer Joe's- and we've missed it.
9- By staying longer, we'll be able to put more equity in the house...hopefully it will be a better financial decision in the long-run.
10- The leak in our garage (which really killed our deal), only got 2 of our boxes wet.

Here's to being optimistic!

XOXO,
Rebecca

sadie in the land of short-lived obsessions

I can't say that life has been wonderful to me (or to our little family) lately. It was looking up until....today. We just got back a crappy inspection on the house we're trying to sell. Really? 5 years ago when we bought it, our inspector told us it was in great condition. I think those contractors are just trying to get some work in this dang blasted lousy economy. And I don't really think it's fair that the contractors do the inspections...does that seem fair to you...it feels quite biased. We were so close to being settled for 15 years, but now, who knows? So the waiting continues...

Here's some of the fun we're having as learn to have more patience and live life:

 Fashion police...arrest this girl! Well she was festive, at least, it being St. Patty's Day.

 Success with veggies!! Here are some photos catching Sadie in action with a veggie-laden mommy creation. This is brown fried rice with broccoli, corn and egg. Tonight I tried throwing some sauteed shredded carrot and onion into her quesadilla- it was a hit! For some reason she liked the sauteed veggies more than the tortilla itself. She also loved the hidden veggie pasta sauce I made- so I've made that a couple of times. I'm getting better at this.

 Mommy, I love it, see?

 This is classic Sadie- she wanted daddy's belt. So I put it on her (double wrapped, of course). She walked around the house for more than an hour with the belt on. Isn't this look kinda hipster? Here she's bringing spices to the dog bed (we are dog sitting). She loves the dog's bed, even though we tell her it's dirty and that she cannot sit on it. What to do? She loves it.

This is Sadie's latest obsession- our friend's BOB that we're borrowing. She calls it a weee weeee. Today it was raining pretty hard all day. Sadie wanted to sit in the stroller by the front window with books and toys.

She just sat there for a good hour and was so content. I love my silly little girl.

XOXO, Rebecca

In a nutshell

Top Ten Activities this week:
1) Walking around the hood almost daily
2) Sadie eating whole peas covered in vegetable-loaded tomato sauce
3) Getting picture texts of baby cousin Rory
4) Finally getting back the a counter offer on a house we are trying to buy (5 days late! Craziness.)
5) Our appraisal going through on the house we're trying to sell. Whoot Whoot!
6) Husband didn't have class Thursday night, so we got to hang out
7) Making (green) cupcakes last night
8) Sadie is slowly adjusting to daylight savings time change (That's a good thing, even though it means she's short napping herself)
9) Reading before bed- I'm finally hooked into my current book club book
10) It's finally Friday night!!! And Mark's back with the take-out Indian! Yum!! Bye!


XOXO, Rebecca

Photo Bomb of Sadiekins

Life is full lately. We're in escrow on our house, and trying to buy a new house. I am so ready to be settled. But despite 1/2 of year of transition, cleaning rampages, and staging - our little bundle of joy remains resilient.

Sadie thought it was awfully funny to crush the blackberries in her hands.

Playing with dada's hat:

Where's Sadie?

More eating pictures. I think this is the only time Sadie is semi-still lately. Sadie says "nana" all the time for banana, "agua" or "bebe" for her milk, and she also said strawberry this week! She's becoming quite the word smith. She picks up a lot of things from day care- that's where she learned agua. She also says "abre" for open (spanish), etc... She says new things daily- it's a lot of fun!

Sadie loves grandma's. She carries around gma's necklace. In her other hand is a toothbrush- one of her new obsessions.

Reading in her favorite chair. Sadie can get in and out of this chair with no end. She usually fills it with her favorite things (books, keys, froggie, milk cup, etc...), sits for a bit, then takes everything out of the chair and starts all over. Funny girl.

Which picture doesn't belong? Last week we had a yummy white bean and kale stew using a recipe from Smitten Kitchen, so I thought I'd share the end result. The bread was a bit brown (whoops!), but the poached egg was delicious. And the stew itself was FABulous!

Have a great WEEK! Laugh and eat something yummy!

XOXO, Rebecca