back east

what is with the expression "back east"? i've never lived on the east coast. austin has never lived on the east coast.

you don't say "back west". hmm... you do say "out west" though. then again that sounds a little cowboy frontier-ish, exploring the unknown prairie. but he's from the western states. i'm from the west coast. shouldn't we be going "out east" & therefore visit "back west"?

i don't know. is it because of the colonies? so we're going "back east" to where the united states started? where we all essentially came from? sure, i'll buy that. you might not, but i will. :)

oh. point being: we're taking a rotation with lockheed & moving "back east" to springfield, va just out of dc!!! we've been talking about trying out this part of the country since we were engaged.

there are so many things on my bucket list to do! we are ECSTATIC!

coconut

i might wearily suggest that the insano days (& nights) cossette was wailing me with are behind us.

she's eating so much better & it makes for a happier life.

can't you tell she's eating better? :]

such the happy baby!

 we maybe spent 12 minutes taking these. 

 such a good sport when g'pa & mama balance her on a rickety cart in the yard.

she's awesome. haha!

then, just for fun:

 i may not be pink's #1 fan but i must have a frilly bone somewhere in me.

'let me prove how photogenic i am & gracefully place my hand on my chin as i bask in a sunlit glow'

 i think promising the husby i'd stop hounding him for pictures just means the girlies get down right attacked.

oh well. i'll keep at it while they're too young to complain.

2 years

e's been here for 2 years.

sometimes she won't cooperate,

but usually she will.

 she kept telling g'pa stories & jumping up & down & using the rock as a slide & just kept. on. looking. down.

 then again she looked so cute in her yellow dress

she kind of gets away with it.

happy half bday coke

cossette is officially 6 months today. wowzer. she has been loving her tummy & kicking backwards hard enough that she is making her way around a little bit. she's days away from mastering sitting solo & her facial expressions just draw you in. everyone is such a sucker for cocobean.

when she is happy she is the HAPPIEST but let me tell you this girl is insane! the last couple weeks she has literally eaten 4x's what she was prior. one moment she's calm & giggly & the next you'd think she'd been starved for 3 weeks.

crazy baby that we just can't get enough of.

ellery renee's birthday!

e had her second birthday -YAY-

she had fun painting her feet & marking the birthday tablecloth with her big old 2 year old footprint.

i want to dress like this. how flippin cute is she?!

it was so fun having everyone over & chasing them around & having elles-a-belle get so excited about all her new toys. the highlight was bringing out her red retro metal radio flyer trike. (craigslist find for 1/3 retail. gotta love it.) the men & all the kids ran downstairs to take turns riding the new trike.

she adored hearing the happy birthday song just for her. she tried so hard to use her fork with the cake like a big girl but it was just too tempting. she snuck quite a few cake pops too. always a hit with the kiddles. :)

loved celebrating our little jellybean! she is always surprising us with how attentive & smart & cute & sweet & random & funny she is. she is turning into such a big girl but i don't care. she's still my baby. :) happy 2nd birthday ellery!

sittin' on the dock of the bay, wastin' time

a want on my short list for where we end up is that i would LOVE to be near a big city. it doesn't have to be sf big but i feel like we take advantage of having such a metro hub close. always something to do. sooo freaking fun!

around new year's my whole family went up to the exploritorium discovery museum & ran around. ellery had a rough rough time (the smaller the nap, the worse the kid) but you gotta love the exploritorium.

this right here is awesome. the chief explaining the experiment/display & ooooing, elles: index finger on her chin contemplating the concept, coke with one sock on, the mama: MIA. afterward we went to a super retro diner & i ate the best, most gigantic reuben of  my life.

a little over a week later the girls & i met up with my 'rents who were up sf for work for a few days.

it was a gorgeous day just walking all over the place & let me just say that the hills in san francisco are not kind to the double strollered of the masses. haha. we checked out grace cathedral, hit the fairmont for lunch, walked china town, watched fortune cookies get baked & folded in a little alley shop, visited the sweetest fabric store ever (4 stories, kind of insane), watched ice skaters in union square, & bought out anthropologie.

SO worth it to head to the 'frisco bay.

2011

happy new year's!

i like new year's resolutions. really any time resolutions.

my little sister is a born hostess. she had all these cute new year's eve games which were a blast. one was submitting 3 resolutions & all of us guessing whose was whose. there was some fun variety: new job, defend thesis, read more, no baby - you know the drill :)

but young mamas, i have a quick bone to pick with you. why do i keep hearing so much about nye resolutions being more important for us?! i don't care if you're a big shot CFO, an empty nester, a 9-5er, a coach, a grad student, a stay at home mom, whatever. we all need to be better & more well-rounded. so while i think it's great to have resolutions, we don't need them any more than anyone else. it's been confusing me lately. i love my job. i am not defined by this job. i have interests, passions, & strengths that have nothing to do with taking care of my family. we should all challenge ourselves & work on weaknesses outside of the demands of our job. all. of. us. sure, the demands of my job are not the same as yours. ie. you need to find a different way to work on your patience (mine's a built in daily exercise) & i need to polish my vocab past farm noises.
okay, i'm done now. :)

to a happy, healthy, productive 2011!

december moments

a few of my ultimates from the month of december:

 seeing the lights by david/kara's house. one kid per adult.

lexy's fleece snowflake suit on miss cossette.

 c's elf hat is a scream; thanks elise!

lena kate & ellery renee doing just about anything together. here they are jingling along to gramvi's singing book.

 this festive jumper my mother made my little one. i mean do you SEE those embroidered elves?!

my little boy falling asleep while playing with blocks.

 the cocobean IN her stocking. makes my heart explode just a little.

 my sibs visiting from out of state. yee!

 just look at the face! ahhh!

 i wish kara was in this one too. i like the women in our clan. but i really really like our shoes.

these kids with g'pa's choo-choo, let me tell ya. my dad told me yesterday he's scared to take it down. like, ever.

our only family pic from the month. remember i'm not allowed to push for it until november. regretting that one.

i love december.