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

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

1-2-3 I loved you vacation! See you again soon!

My vacation was restorative! Who hoo! Let me count the ways-

1. I love people and being with friends, it rejuvenates me. There was lots of social time over break. It made me happy. To name a few...

• Indian food at Mike and Shea's
• Christmas stocking making with Anne
• Hang out with Aaron and Sarah
• Thankgiving with family and good friend Seth
• Apple picking with my family
• Thanksgiving leftover meal with OCC friends

2. Another reason why this was such an lovely break, is that I got a lot of time to create. I made an Advent calendar for my sister's family out of paper. I spent all last Tuesday cutting and pasting tiny figures to complete a wintry scene. It was bliss! If you'd like, I can make one for you too (if you ask nicely)! I also spent yesterday making felt Christmas stockings for our family with my good friend Anne. Again, I got a surge of joy in the creative process. We're not quite done yet, but I got the gist of it, and we should be able to finish up soon. Sadie and Mark's stocking are super cute! Tis the season to create!

3. Our family time was so relaxing over break. Sadie was especially silly and happy over this week. It was nice to play with her. She often breaks out in giggles at the slightest oddity (e.g. dad playing with her toy, dad chasing her, or dad doing something else silly). Having a baby has to be one of the best things in life.

Now it's time to gear up for work tomorrow. I'm going to put on my positive face!

xoxo- Rebecca

ps. pictures to follow, once my new charger comes in the mail!

rule breaker

Admittedly, this isn't a super entertaining video...but, it's such a milestone for Sadie-- her first swim in Chicago! We loved that Sadie was more intrigued by the lap swimmer in the pool than her first swimming experience. Our little one loves people!

A few days after, mark's parent's condo association made an announcement, "No diapers in the pool!" They're special swimmer diapers, I swear!!

More Windy City

In late July, we were in the Midwest for 9 days visiting the Anderson's. Part of that time we spent with Mark's extended family at the Dells in Wisconsin. It was great fun to see Sadie interact with all of her cousins. 2009 was a boon year for Anderson babies.

Cousins Lars and Sadie-hanging with grandma and grandpa.

Anderson cousin fest in the Dells.

Lars- so cool

Contenta con cousin Jules (visiting from NZ)

Love from the big cousins...they were very nurturing with Sadie

Nice Sunset in the Dells

Group Photo (one of many!). Sadie was distracted by the ducks and was reluctant to look towards the camera. I like that she was so into the ducks.

Uncle Owen with Lars, Dad with Sadie, Uncle Scott and Jules--

2009 Anderson babies, all a few months apart. Hmmm, there's a slight resemblance with the grown-ups here, eh?

Aunt Lida and Lars, Dad and Sadie-- not a couple with twins.

Sadie ready in her party dress for Aunt Claire's 30th bday!! Who-hoo Claire!!!

Gotta Say, it's nice to be back to work...I have a lot more me time, which I'm realizing I need more than ever before. I love love love vacation, and I especially love that my hubby and I are both teachers that share holidays. It's such a gift!! But, I also like having down time...and with my new schedule I am with Sadie at home for a large chunk of time daily, so that's nice.

Happy day to you!!

you spin me right round baby, right round...

Little Sadie ladie has gotten the hang of rolling over and is lovin' it! This is a clip of her rolling around in Chicago at her grandparent's:


Happy Tuesday! Hope Sadie's joy brings of spot of warmth to your day!

The Windy City

The talk of the town is the filming of Transformers 3. Here is a picture of the movie's mobile homes below. We thought it was kinda ridiculous that they brought their caterer with their truck all the way from West Hollywood. Hmmm, not very economical.  There was tons of debris littering the downtown Chicago streets-- upturned buses, newspaper stands, and cars. Also, there were large concrete slabs, billowing smoke, and general destruction.

The used these tanks in the movie. There were 4 parked tanks across the river from Mark's parent's condo (their red/green condos are in the background). The tanks are real, guarded by army personnel, but the guns on top of the machines are rubber.

Nate and Heidi came down to Chicago from Madison. So lovely to see them!

Sadie likes to hang out in Grandpa's room-- her main entertainment is ripping pages out of catalogues and bopping foreheads with Grandpa.

We went to brunch with Nate, Heidi and Nadia at Tre Kroner-- a favorite North Park spot!

Sadie went napless on this morning, but rallied and was all smiles when Nadia showed up. My social butterfly! Below: Nadia with mama!

Playing at Grandma and Grandpa's

Mark, Aunt Fern Emma, Mom, Sadie, and Uncle Arthur out on a walk. It was so nice-- on their way to Indiana to visit my other aunt and uncle, they stopped by downtown Chicago for an afternoon visit.

Uncle Arthur (Mark's Doppelganger) plays with Sadie

Sisters

BP Bridge in Millennium Park

The view of the lake from Mark's parent's place

Aunt Fern Emma with Sadie Fern

Getting ready for her first dip in the pool in her swimmers!

So far the trip have been wonderful and relaxing. Sadie is sleeping well and has loved seeing her grandparents. We are heading to Wisconsin for the weekend with the entire Anderson clan!

First Fruits

This week my first tomatoes ripened. Mmmmm, and they were delicious. Picking and eating food from your own garden brings a certain joy to your day. It is a joy filled with wonder and accomplishment. I think some summer squash will be ready soon too.

We are getting our house painted next week, and I worry that the painters might do some damage to my tomato plants. I'll keep my fingers crossed that they are gentle to my garden friends.

The tomatoes are trying to climb up to Sadie's window to watch over her as she sleeps... as a guardian tomato plant.

Goodbye Week One

As teachers, we have five weeks off during the summer. I know I can't complain. It's absolutely wonderful to have so much time to spend with my little family. BUT it goes by so fast. And of course, summer never seems quite long enough. So today, on Tuesday of week two, it's time to say farewell to week one. It was a pleasant week.

We've been doing a lot of hanging around our casita. We are caring for baby K. K's dad watched Sadie for several weeks this spring, so now we're watching K. Mark and I love to bring baby K in to surprise Sadie after her nap. Sadie always gets a kick out of it and starts laughing. I know she's thinking, "Hey, there's another baby here- how silly!" Baby K would rather not be tormented by grabby Sadie, but it's too cute a picture op to pass up! 

Baby K is really good at taking the bottle. She doesn't spill and gulps it down quickly. Sadie never got super proficient at the bottle. She takes forever to drink it, and spills everywhere. Last week we tried giving Sadie milk in a sippy cup. She drinks wonderfully from it! Goodbye bottle, hello sippy cup.

We gave Sadie some strips of peaches to gnaw on this last week. And no surprise, she loves them! It great to watch her hand-eye coordination develop. She's adept at picking up whatever she wants, and she usually wants things far out of her reach. Again, surprise, surprise! I have a daughter who definitely knows what she wants. I wonder who she takes after...

We had a busy weekend with several social outings. Mark and I went up past Sacramento to Auburn for a wedding of Mark's colleague. Gma Ruff watched Sadie for the night (thanks mom!). We had great fun at the wedding. It was our first overnight trip away from Sadie. On Saturday night Mark watched cousin roro with Sadie, while the rest of the fam went to see the Adrianne and Travis recommit themselves. It was a great time! (BTW Adrianne is a rock star!!) Here's a photo of sooz and me from the night--- 

Sadie has become the little poser! Every time I take out the camera she gets her goony smile. Again, I wonder whose daughter she is?! Also my childhood doll (Strawberry Shortcake) has become one of Sadie's favorite toys. She loves to grab Strawberry's hair!

Hooray for upgraded Internet speed. We cancelled our land line, got a new modem, and a new monthly Internet package. WOW! It takes a 1/4 of the time to upload pictures to my blog. I couldn't be happier!

School's Out for Summer!

This is my first official day of summer. I look forward to many lazy days lounging with my baby Sadie. She's the best snuggler!

Philly: Chillin' at the Casa de Ruff

We had some quality time hanging out with our family at Clovery Road in Philly. It's now my Aunt and Uncle's house (and their 3 grown children), but it used to be my grandparents' house, the house my dad grew up in. Mark and I love games...so it was great fun to play croquet and a couple different card games with the Ruff family.

Sadie mesmorized by the ceiling fan. Check out the brick in the background, my Uncle laid it when he was 18 years old, how cool is that?

Sadie plays croquet on my team (we lost, then sadie went down for a nap, and I lost again). My mom played with my cousin, uncle and brother the day before this, and debated objected to their use of the extra hit; when they knock and opponents ball to earn an extra hit, they play that you can repeat this indefinitely. My hotly contested this version of the game (I like to see my mom get a little riled up about things). Another variation upon the game:  They play with a killer. Once you finish the course, you go around the course killing other players, but if you're killed by a killer or go through a wicket--- you lose. I liked playing with killers; it makes the game more unpredictable.

Learning Nertz after playing Dutch Blitz...we all had our game toothpicks in, making us legit!

Team Aunt Ruthanne and Uncle Martin

Shelly visits!

It was great to be in Philadelphia. Everytime we go back, I try to convince Mark we should move there. The cost of living is so much cheaper than the Bay Area, and we could get teaching jobs anywhere. Also, I love the city and church there that I grew up in. I romanticize what that life would be like: I could stay at home, we'd be a drive away from his brother and a longer drive to his parents and sister, and my family would visit because Philly is home away from home to them too. Honestly, I think I remember how much I loved living in Philadelphia when I was young, so I think my growing family will love it too. But when it comes down to it, I do love California, and I could never leave my immediate family. It's going to be so much fun for Sadie to grow up with cousins around-- that's something I didn't have because my family trekked out to CA, away from everyone else.