Happy 5th Anniversary to Us!

Our favorite dates.

A couple weeks ago, B and T had their first "girls' night out." They went to see Up, at night and everything. B was so excited to go somewhere with just mama. J got her dressed up cute (in her new favorite shirt) and they had lots of movie theater treats: popcorn, ice cream and special girls' night out drink (soda). Totally forgot that it was the opening weekend of the H.P. movie and it was insanely busy; B kept saying "wowie zowie!" She did great during the movie, there were a couple scary parts (and she did wake up in the middle of the night the next couple of nights) but she says she loved the movie and has asked to go back again.

They really needed some alone time, which was painfully evident in the days prior when B was getting easily frustrated with C and acting up a bit. So it will be important that we get back into the habit of one-on-one outings around here. On the weekend we usually try to spend all of our time doing family activities, but its becoming evident that individual relationships in the family need some time too. We're looking forward to planning fun outings, we know it won't last forever that they're so excited to hang out with us.

The cleanse: the exit interview

Yesterday was day 21, the final day of the cleanse for J. No animal products (meat, eggs, dairy), gluten, refined sugars, caffeine or alcohol for three weeks and he made it! So lets see what he has to say about the experience.

Q. Why did you want to do this cleanse to begin with?
A. Because T brought it up. And I've been feeling run down and getting sick, so I wanted to feel better.

Q. What was the hardest part of doing the cleanse?
A. The first four days were a hard transition to pick food and bad headaches from no caffeine. Towards the end I really wanted things like bread and the birthday cakes people were always bringing in to work.

Q. Was there anything you thought would be difficult and wasn't?
A. I thought I'd want cheese more, but I never really did. It's in everything though, so it was hard to avoid. Even in salads.

Q. Why do you think you were able to stick with it and T wasn't?
A. I have the willpower of an ox. Of two oxen! And I think T had a hard time because she was at home with the kids in a more stressful environment.

Q. What did you think you would miss the most and what did you miss the most?
A. I thought I was going to miss coffee the most. And what I did miss the most was coffee, but also bread.

Q. Favorite meal and snack?
A. The warm potato salad with cherry tomatoes was really good. My favorite snack was peaches! I hadn't eaten a peach in a long time, and they were really good.

Q. Least favorite?
A. The squash squewers. Blech!

Q. What have the benefits been of doing the cleanse?
A. I feel really good. I feel like I have more energy and am healthy. I liked exploring new foods and learning that its easy to eat healthy and that I don't miss the crap food. And I lost 10+ lbs!

Q. What changes/habits will you be keeping in your life now that the cleanse is done?
A. I'm going to try to eat a lot more fruits and vegetables and a lot less meat. And I'm going to try to keep the caffeine lower...because I was freaking out today after one cup, oooh man!

Q. What was the first thing you wanted to eat/drink when the cleanse ended?
A. Drink coffee and eat bread.

Q. People want to know: if you managed without coffee for 21 days, then why go back to it now?
A. I love the taste of coffee. I love having a warm drink in the morning. And its nice to have some caffeine when I'm tired.

Q. Was it as good as you remembered?
A. Even better!

Q. Will you do it again next year?
A. Yeah. It'll be easy.

The family that rocks together...

...is the coolest, most fun and, obviously, the happiest family around! We took the children to their first concert last night: The Sounds, Paramore and No Doubt. We thought it was an appropriate way to mark C's turning 9 months old. It was also the day before J and T's 10th anniversary (not to be confused with their 5th wedding anniversary, which isn't until next weekend). The venue, Shoreline Amphitheater, was deceptively ginormous. To hear a venue that can seat over 22,000 people (which is how many were there last night) described as intimate seems like a joke, especially to a couple of Portlanders. But it was surprisingly cozy for an outdoor "arena." And not being able to see the stage didn't bother us at all...for the first two acts. T thought, that since we had already seen No Doubt when they co-headlined with Blink-182 in 2004 (with great seats), that it wouldn't be a big deal if we couldn't see the stage or had to leave early, making it the perfect trial run for B and C. But once the band started it became obvious that we were missing out on a large element of the fun by being as far away as humanly possible while still actually being at the concert. No Doubt is one of the highest energy shows we've ever seen and the antics of the band is half the fun; and now they've added a flashy element to the show that just didn't translate very well to the video screens.

None of that mattered to B or C since they were asleep, snuggled into a sling and a wrap respectively, by the time the headliners took the stage. Well, that's not entirely true...B did manage to stay awake for about three or four songs, but most of that time was actually spent on a trip to the port-a-potty (smart girl, really, that is the best time to go since the lines are the shortest). For the most part both kids had a great time, playing on the blanket and enjoying the special family time. B danced her little heart out to The Sounds (none of us were much impressed by Paramore) and made friends with everyone around us. She just may have been playing up the cute a bit for her audience, but she was subtle so we can't say for sure. We made it to almost the very end, we heard two more songs as we walked to the car, so we think the outing was a rockin' success!

dinner at Pluto's before the show
enjoying the opening acts
(attack of the adorable children!)
(the cool kids)
(looking for the moon)
(nice and cozy)
No Doubt takes the stage & they're sleeping!
The End.

Grad Classes

T has officially registered for graduate classes for the Fall '09 semester, which starts early September. She'll be taking two academic classes and one studio class for a full time course load.

History of Photography
Digital Photography
Art & Ideas of the Enlightenment

The Fischies swim.

These aren't the best photos, since the P&S wasn't set for the bright sun, but they're likely to be the only ones we get from the kids' first swim lessons. Going straight from B's early morning gymnastics class to swimming has been rough, but as soon as we get in the water everyone gets a second wind. Last class we really worked on dunking their faces in the water; neither is a huge fan, but C seems to be taking it relatively well. B is not a fan, but the teacher is really good at swooping in and giving praise at just the right moment.

Half Moon Bay Adventures & the Things That Follow You Home

Last Sunday we went for a hike in Half Moon Bay with some friends. We had found the hike on J's new favorite site Weekend Sherpa, and we're excited to try other suggested hikes. However, as so often happens on trips to the beach, by the time we were homeward bound we had started to regret our outing. One thing we learned on our hike, is that B is not a "nature girl" in the sense that she can not just pee any place. This is a bit of a problem when we are mid-hike with no idea where the nearest bathroom or outhouse is and she waits to tell us her bladder is full until the last possible second. And when you're carrying her on your back, you don't really want to take any chances with an accident.

The hike itself was nice, if a bit of an amble, on the top of some bluffs overlooking the ocean. We meandered around for an hour or more until it was time for our friends to part ways. Then we headed down to our usual beach spot (poplar beach) because B has been asking to go to the beach for weeks now.

sad that the birds won't let her get closealligator!

She didn't want any part of the water as she informed us that it was "too cold." She happily set herself up finding and burying kelp. Rhys found this a wonderful pastime as well and ran around the beach trying to find the biggest kelp fronds possible. The problem was that the tide was coming in and once he found a big prize he just didn't want to let it go. He got completely slammed by a wave, much to the delight of everyone on the beach, and still went back to try to find it! T had to chase him down and bring him back to the leash because we were sure he was going to drown or get pulled out by the waves. Then a big wave took B by surprise and knocked right on her tuckus! She said she was fine to keep playing even though she was completely soaked from the waist down, but T decided she'd had enough excitement for one day and made the call to pack it in.

The upside to B soaking her clothes, is that T got to pick up a couple new things at the cute little children's boutique. She found a new brand, Shiva, that she's very excited about.

The next day, as T is recovering from the forever long dental appointment, she notices a weird black spot on the back of C's head. At first she thought it was a scab and that he had hit his head in one of his climbing adventures. Upon closer investigation, she realized it was a bug and when she couldn't brush or flick it off she deduced that it was a tick. She tried to keep calm long enough to talk to one of the nurses from our pediatrician's office about how to remove the tick. Fortunately, by the time she got back to C to attempt the "procedure" the tick had already filled up and was loose in his hair. She brushed it out with B's hair brush and threw the whole thing off the deck when she discovered the tick stuck down in the bristles. She still gets the heebie-jeebies when she thinks about it.

How we get our shiny teeth.

B had her first dentist appointment last week. She loved the waiting room and the fish tank, but became quite cautious once in the exam room. She was unimpressed by the video monitor in the ceiling above the chair (playing Lilo & Stitch, a current favorite as luck would have it); neither did she find the cherry scented/flavored rubber gloves or the kid-friendly toothpaste particularly distracting or delightful. She was very somber and serious throughout the cleaning and eager to jump in mama's lap as soon as the dental assistant gave her the go ahead. And after that she was pretty much done; she cried when the next person walked in the room (another assistant just there to to set up for the dentist). The pediatric dentist, Dr. Laleh Vakili , was wonderful. B got to stay in T's lap for the exam and she really took her time to talk to B and to explain everything to T. Once safe in the get-away car, B was excited about her dental care loot and played with the stickers, little travel size toothpaste and new toothbrush for days. Oh, and her special prize, the one she got to pick out, was a princess rubber ducky. Big fun!


T has also been having several appointments at the dentist lately. We got a great recommendation from Dr. Vakili for a dentist very close to us. T liked her and her office staff right away. We knew that T would be needing some work done because our last dentist told her as much right before we moved down here. But for reasons unknown to us, T has trouble with some pain killers wearing off too quickly (she has had this problem in the past with Novocaine and most famously with her epidurals) the dentist gave her a little extra to begin with to be safe and she still had to stop the process and get additional shots twice! So a 90 minute appointment quickly turned into two and a half hours! Not fun, very exhausting and emotionally draining; not to mention painful. When the dentist was having T practice her bite to be sure the filling was shaped well, T thought "my that feels awfully squishy" for almost a minute before realizing she was biting down on her numb tongue! That took almost three days to heal. Ouch! One more filling on Monday morning, but they promise it will only take a fraction of the time. Fingers crossed please!

Cleanse: Week One Down

J is feeling better than ever after one week of the cleanse. The first few days were very rough without his usual caffeination, but he pushed through. It is a little more challenging at home with T bailing out and eating outside the restrictions of the cleanse, but he's holding strong. We're still making the vegan/gluten free meals for dinner and there are plenty of options at work for him.

Warm Potato Salad w/ Cherry Tomatoes - two thumbs up

Chipotle Kissed Black Bean Soup - one thumb up (after adding avocado & soy sour cream), one thumb won't even go near it

* Which brings us to the Chipotle story: turns out chipotles are so much hotter than we realized! The recipe called for one or two cans and T only got one thinking that she's not so much into the spice, but one can and J could hardly eat it. And T did not realize that she should be wearing gloves while mincing the peppers and consequently got horrible burns all over her hand. She says it was pain worse than labor; we tried everything...cold water, hot water, ice, milk, orange juice, antihistamine, scrubbing with soap and a nail brush. Everything seemed to only make it worse. Oddly, rubbing alcohol seemed to help the most. Finally, after three and half hours of excruciating pain (and seriously contemplating going the the ER) she was exhausted enough to fall asleep. It was still slightly swollen and stung a little in the morning, but by afternoon she was healed. Did we mention she had an open cut on one of her fingers...OUCH! She won't go near the soup now and is a little gun-shy in the kitchen for fear the capsaicin piperine oil is still lingering on some surface waiting to attack her.

The Visit of the Lovely Lawry Ladies!

Our friend Nicole and her beautiful baby girl, Madison, were here for a visit last week. It started off a little rocky when they got bumped from their flight and had to spend about 7 hours at PDX, but from the moment they landed at SFO things went much more smoothly and we had a wonderful time. The three children seemed to genuinely enjoy each other, although I do think Maddie could have done without being woken by C's screeching on several occasions (the most annoying sound in the world? Quite possibly.) Actually, most of the time C was unbelievably sweet with baby Maddie; he was fascinated with her and gave her his toys to play with. The sweetest was when he would reach over to her car seat from his car seat and hold her hand when she cried in the car. We've seen B do this for him on occasion, and its really cool to see how he can empathize with someone else. And B loved playing up the part of "big girl" with the two babies. She really wanted to comfort and take care of "Baby Maddie Poo" the whole time; she would watch what Nic did and try to imitate her to help with Madison. Awww....

They arrived Tuesday afternoon and we just spent some time close to home, catching up. Wednesday we had a lazy morning and then went to walk around the Stanford Shopping Center for a bit. T and Nic enjoyed buying some new post baby clothes, but did not so much enjoy having five people (three of them under the age of three) in one fitting room. It was all worth it though, when we finally got to try out some delicious Sprinkles cupcakes. Yummy! Thursday we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which was a BIG trip when you're outnumbered by children as it turns out. Friday we took Nic & Maddie for the big PDI lunch and tour. And on Saturday we had originally planned to go into the City and see Japantown but we were all so exhausted that we decided to just take it easy and enjoy our last hours together; which meant pedicures for T and Nic.

We were all very sad to say goodbye, but also so thankful for such wonderful friends and so happy that they decided to make the trip down here.

(There were too many photos to try to load into this post, so here is an album full of them!)

Cleanse: Day 2

And then there was one.

T has jumped ship; the cleanse was not much fun and she's decided self-deprivation is not for her. She says she's given up enough in two years of pregnancy and breastfeeding. J has decided to stick with it, so we'll still be making the vegan dinners for the month. Which is really all T wanted in the first place, to try new healthier dishes. So its a win-win.

Cleanse: Day 1

J feels: I could go for some coffee and some more solid food, but other than that I'm alright. Still enthusiastic.
Breakfast - cantaloupe, pineapple, watermelon
Lunch - cauliflower, carrots, chickpeas and rice with some kind of sauce
snacks - banana and herbal tea

T feels: I'm surprised how emotionally attached I am to certain foods! When the afternoon got stressful all I wanted was some peanut butter toast or a piece of chocolate. And then it seemed that there were a million pizza commercials on TV, so all I could think about was pizza. I really love cheese. I'm starting to think 21 days is a very long time.
Breakfast - Irish style oatmeal (made w/ water), blackberries, blueberries and strawberries
Lunch - fresh herb salad w/ balsamic vinaigrette
snacks - hazelnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds and peppermint tea

Dinner - Gazpacho J: thumbs up; T: thumbs up

Watchout! He might bite.

C got his first tooth!!! This would explain why he's been so miserable and not sleeping the last couple of nights. He was so proud and excited when we made a big fuss over the discovery. Its one of the front ones on the bottom. He'll probably be eating steak by the end of the week.

A little bit of Fourth.

Since T was still sick and C had started running a fever, we really laid very low on this holiday weekend. But we did manage to go down to the Redwood City Celebration Festival for about an hour on Saturday evening. B got to go on a couple of carnie rides and even won a prize playing a duck game. We decided not to wake the kids up if they slept through the fireworks (which you can see, and hear, from our apartment), so we all missed the display this year. Everyone's feeling much better today, so it was worth it. We need our strength for Nicole & Madison's visit later this week (hooray!).

Watching J play kickball at the PDI Pre-Independence Day Bash.

Surf City car ride

Choo-choo!

the duck game

she won a fan, which she was actually more excited about than you can tell

C was there too...such a trooper, with a fever and all