poking around...

today i was poking around blogland which i like to do from time to time and look what i found! i simply love this it makes my heart warm to think i lived in that sweet city for as long as i did. happy that chapter is now closed but certainly grateful to have spent the time there.

happy year of the ox

it is going to be a good year. a good hard working year in all respects. obama has his work cut out for himself, our country has its work cut out for itself, and i have my work cut out for myself. may this year of the ox prove good hard work is not in vain. and healing is possible.

miss p. celebrated the chinese new year at school today. we being lame lame parents somehow missed the memo that all children should wear red to school. a very sad pilar showed up in purple and black. a very dedicated dada drove quickly home to fetch the 2 red choices that a very upset mama picked for her sweet pea. i will be curious to see which one she chose once she comes home!

happy hard working year of the ox to you.
x.shay

that's my boy

last week mateo had his 1 year check up. a month late. but regardless, we weren't really all to surprised that mateo holds his ranking in the 95% and is in good health all around. doing all of the appropriate 1 year old baby things. one of his favorite things to do right now is to point at things- especially food. he loves bananas and blueberries like no tomorrow. and he snuggles on demand! how's that for one sweet chunky one year old.

what would helge say?

i had to laugh the other night when miss p. insisted on dressing up little "matilda", aka "mattie". all i could think about were the days when i insisted on dressing up little miss "claytonia" and how much it disgruntled poor helge. i have to admit i am curious what he would have to say about babu's cross dressing extravaganzas in new orleans.

walking?!?!?

mateo has offically taken his "first steps". nothing is happening consistently but he is well on his way to be sure! i have to say that i am actually looking forward to this piece of development as i might actually be able to set him down when letting pilar have some play time on the play structure after school. soggy oregon concrete is NO place to let a baby crawl around- and even if it were i shutter to think of the clean up required afterward....no thanks. but seriously my arms feel that much lighter just thinking about our soon to be reality. packing 30 lbs. gets tiresome.

p.s. i keep thinking i will get the video publish tool figured out on this darn thing but haven't done so yet. i will ask my very blog savy friend, courtney, for some pointers.

sinking in...

hmm, maybe it is not coincidence that this week i seem to be having all sorts of realizations- maybe there really is something to be said for the year postpartum milestone. but what i have also realized this week is that sinking in to family life of 4 is a big task. i am not sure i gave much thought or credit to what a big task it is and slowly i think i am finally sinking in. and while i am grateful for, love and cherish my sweet family of 4, i also really miss many aspects of my former self. my self prior to having children and my self as mama of 1. as mama of 1, i was still able to see a bit more of myself than i find i am today as mama of 2. i miss that old self, i miss going out all night with friends, i miss sleeping in on the weekends and going to late breakfasts with david. i miss lounging around without a care in the world (i now find i have but too many cares of the world). i miss having the time and mental space for friendships. i miss taking road trips with no particular destination. i miss getting dressed up and going out on the town. basically i miss the endless amount of time had while being only responsible for myself. but i also realize what i have gained is a beautiful place to grow in to. i am doing what i always wanted to do and i have just had a hard time finding traction in that new role. so here's to sinking in- it is a good thing.

back to routine

it has been a nice week of routine. routine is good for me, i am slowly beginning to realize, in all this madness. not that i didn't really know that about myself before, it is just now i REALLY get it. routine helps me to feel like i have some small amount of control over all the chaos. and i like control. it is why i write lists. it is why i like to create calendars. it is why i continually organize my life and the details within.

anyway, it is good to be back to school and back to a rhythm that feels good.
happy friday to you.

happy new year

this year i resolve to NOT resolve. new year's resolutions aren't all they are cracked up to be. i believe that deep within us we know what it is we need to work on and if we are really doing our life's work then we are doing the work already and we are doing it at the pace we can handle. i think for the most part people do their best and sometimes it is grand and sometimes it isn't but we are always striving for it. so this year, i resolve to NOT resolve and to continue on my path to learn life's lessons.

i do however, have a few wishes for 2009 and those are:
good health, good happiness, and good living. if i come by these, at least some of the time , i will be content. and as for the life lessons, well, i'll take them as they come.

this year we rang in 2009 with our dear friends, tamara & steve and the davis family. we realize we are not as wild as we once were and making it to midnight (even with children outnumbered 6 to 5) we barely made it past the stroke of midnight. in turn we were able to take a lovely walk the day of the 1st and go out for dinner that night. being lightweights isn't so bad afterall.

here's to a new year!