se vende casita

our house is for sale.

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Oakland/3427-Adell-Ct-94602/home/677689

someone please buy it.

:)

Phew!

Boy, I've been a lame blogger this month. My world is super busy. Our house goes on the market tomorrow (hence the Phew!). We're hoping for the best. In a perfect world we'd love get an offer and  find a new house simultaneously,  but in reality, we'll probably have to shack up with my gracious mom for a bit. We love our current house, but we're just outgoing it (and i know what you're thinking....no, I'm not pregnant).

Most importantly (and wonderfully!)-- My brother, Aaron, got married. We are all so excited about his fabulous new wife, Sarah!! Their wedding was a blast. So those of you who haven't seen the gazillion pictures on facebook- here's some to give you a little taste of a lovely day. A day all planned in less than 6 weeks- uhhmaazing!

The sweetest couple ever--really--

Baby Polly (Sarah's niece) with Sadie...there were 4 flower girls in matching tutus...ridiculously cute

The babies rode down the aisle in style--

Some of the Baird clan--It's always nice to celebrate life's joys with good friends

Family and good friends-

Yumminess- Lunch was falafel or taco truck food fare

Shell Bell- Mama #2

Cousin dance fest

The Ruffs made it all the way out from Philly!!

It was a perfect day. I'm so excited for their marriage! It's also really fun that we have more extended California family (her family lives in Chico and is great). And, Sadie has a new baby BFF.

As far as Sadie stats- she's as cute as ever, and hanging in as we scurry her around place to place throughout this moving process.  She's not crawling yet...but loves cruising on furniture. She can get pretty far real fast.

Happy Wednesday!!

Time for bed. I'm pooped.

Sadie Lady

I know I have been a blog slacker lately. Our life has been a little crazy. We are aiming to put our house on the market in a couple weeks, and there is a lot to do to get ready. So for those of you (especially family) that have been waiting for some Sadie updates, here is some video highlights over the past few weeks.

We took her to her 9-10 month appointment last week. She clocks in at 20.5 lbs and 29 inches. One long baby! She's not crawling yet, but cruising around on furniture and moving around wonderfully!


My musical little lady--

Bath time fun!---

Getting ready for Aaron and Sarah's wedding THIS weekend!!!--

We're Moving!?!

A few weeks ago we were driving with my mom to the Oakland Zoo. It was a Sunday afternoon, so there were a lot of open houses around. We stopped at one right around the corner from my mom's....and that off-the-cuff decision started us on the path to pack up our stuff and put our house on the market-- quite unexpectedly. We didn't end up going after that house. We love love loved it-- but there were to many structural issues to make it worth it. But we decided, along with our kind realtor's gentle urging, that it was as good of a time as any to get our house ready to sell.

Three week later our living room looks like this:

And an army of these guys (gross dust mites)--

Is making me feel like this--

I'm pretty sick. I don't think it's just the dust...but it may be part of it. I'm also running myself ragged trying to pack, getting ready for my brother's wedding, taking care of a 9-month-old, and working. So, we shall see if this was the best decision to move now. We all need a little something crazy in our lives once in a while, eh? Btw- I already found my dream house. We just hope it doesn't sell within the next month!

Fatal Paris

These are my most recent reads. My sister suggested I read Sarah's Key, a historical fiction novel set in the 1940's in France. In a series of events largely ignored by the French people, the French police, in collaboration with the German Nazis, locked up French Jews and sent them off to the gas chambers. Families were separated from each other early on in France and then taken to other concentration camps.This book tells of a young girl's journey to the camps, and what life was like after her escape. I loved the historical aspect of this novel. A whole new moment in history was opened up to me. This was a fast read too, which always makes a book enjoyable. The last 1/3 or so of the book seemed unnecessary-- the author trying to connect the past to the present with a feeble love story. Great novel, sans the romance. Just give us the real hard grit (with a little redemption at the end), please!

The Paul Auster book I picked up at the library. I read the book jacket and was hooked. Being a bit of a design aficionado- I was also intrigued by the pretty cover. I loved this book. It's a hard book to explain. It starts in 1967 when a Columbia college student meets a professor at a party. You get the sense from the beginning that this professor has a dark side, and is possibly up to no good. This eery relationship is central to the plot of the book. And, like Sarah's Key, Paris plays a starring role in this novel as well. The story ends in the present day, and you're left wondering, even as you read the final page. I don't want to say too much--but it's an oddly enjoyable book.

Read on!

Could I not bee any cuter??

Dear People. I am having so much fun being 9 months old! You wouldn't believe how wonderful the world is becoming with each passing month. I love standing now. I've stood for several seconds on my own at different times-- I get really proud of myself when I do that. I'm still not that into crawling, but I think I'll learn to crawl soon-- especially so I can play with those hard-to-reach toys. I love walking by holding onto mom or dad's hands (that's the best!).

Here I am with Grandma Ruff. We went to the zoo! At first I was confused. Why were we walking around and looking at nothing?? But I soon realized that this was a cool place indeed, and many of the animals had been sleeping. Finally we saw some animals! My favorites were the elephants, zebras, giraffes, meerkats, and monkeys. I made a special noise (a raspy growl) when I talked to the animals-- they liked that! After a bit, I began to get excited when dad reached to get me out of the stroller-- oh boy, that meant that he was about to show me a new animal. I can't wait to go back! Hopefully even more animals will be awake next time.

My daddy loves my mommy:

 My dad has a cool hat. And I have new sparkly shoes!!

Every time I go to sleep my parents make yummy food! I can't wait for the day when I get to eat this goodness.

 This pork looks delicious! Especially with the corn scallion salad. MMM, I love melon, so I know this watermelon, mint, onion salad must be the bomb!!

Okay, Grandma is a really good pie maker. I heard that if I'm a really sweet grand baby, I'll get some pie soon. But for now, only mom gets to enjoy grandma's baking. [ BTW: This strawberry rhubarb pie, was THE BEST pie grandma ruff has EVER made. Serious.] 

I couldn't wait for Halloween! This bee costume was calling my name!!! Mom just got out my 12 months clothes from the garage, so we played dress up. It's going to be hard to wait until Halloween to wear my bee costume again...I just loved it soo much! Thanks Elise and Ava for passing it down to me!!

 I really like the hat too.

Could I not BEE any cuter??

XOXO, Sadie

here comes the bride(smaid)...Part II

Okay...after I put all those dresses online, I went with a totally different one! Their wedding is going to be super casual, so I wanted to be casual as well. I loved the J Crew Dresses, but I think they were a little much for a laid back wedding in the park. This dress and sweater are from Old Navy..and the shoes Kenneth Cole. I think I'll wear gold jewelry. Oh, and I'm super excited about the baby girls- they are going to wear tutus. It's going to be so much fun! Hmmm, but since I got these at Old Navy, I think I can convince my hubby that I need a rehearsal dinner dress too! Oh how I love new dresses!

Side note: Last night I was looking through old picture albums...ahhhh, those were the days... I remarked to Mark that I remember events by the dresses that I wore. I can remember the dress, shoes, hair, jewelry of every dress-up event I've been to (proms, homecomings, sadie hawkins, weddings, graduations, etc...) Is that just me, or is that a girl thing? Maybe I think about it too much!