Happy Birthday to me!

Two years ago, I got the best present ever...Imogen was born a week before my birthday.  Poor girl, it is so close to Christmas and the New Year and my birthday, I am thinking we are going to have to do the 1/2 birthday celebation during July or something. (Poor girl, I should say poor daddy and mommy!)

Anyway, we had a great celebration for Imogen at our friends Neal and Dawn's house (a house with yard is a wonderful thing for an "intimate" party of 30 people. There is no way to express my thanks to them for allowing us to use their home for the festivities!) Imogen definitely got the concept of opening presents, not so much the concept of finishing the tearing of paper. I would love to share some of the more memorable moments (like the fishing game we created, her blowing out the candles on her cake, the overwhelming mound of presents she received, her totally asleep in her princess tiara and the duck, duck, goose game) but alas, I erased all the pictures from our camera! Can you believe that? What a horrible mom I am. So, that is all that you will hear about her birthday. She had a great time!

For my birthday weekend, we started with a wonderful dinner at Neal and Dawn's. Good times, good food and good beverages. Wonderful night. And Dawn rocks for making my fav, lemon bars for dessert. And for the whip cream that we all ended up spraying on everyone. You would think I was turning 2!

On actual birthday, the fam went back to Charmlee Wilderness Park for another go at the trails. Nich is doing a product shot for a LaNatura beauty products and we thought it would be a great idea to test some shots while hiking. Nich carried all his camera gear and I got the backpack with Imogen.(About equal in weight!)  It was another perfect day for some hikes. We took a different path and found some amazing locations for Nich. Unfortunately, he didn't bring a memory card for his camera (that should tell you how much sleep he got!) So, the photo shoot didn't happen but we did find a perfect place to renew our vows. Not that we are really into renewing our vows or anything, but Nich and I really want to make our wedding rings and this would be a perfect place to exchange them. So, here are a couple of shots taken with my little camera phone to show you more of the beauty of Charmlee.

Ridiculous tree and rocks on a bluff overlooking the pacific ocean.

Totally a scene out of Lord of the Rings or somewhere magical. Ring of stones surrounded by a ring of trees once again, overlooking the ocean. Breathtaking.

Not sure what the flowers are but they were beautiful. I can't wait to see this place during the spring with all the flowers going off.









Great day and a wonderful way to celebrate life. Thanks for all the birthday wishes and here's to an amazing year!

Charmlee

I haven't blogged for awhile and one of my New years resolutions is to get back into it. Who knows, maybe it is a resolution I might keep longer than a week!

Nich had 3 days off for the new years so we spent a good part of it recovering from the VonFlue's party and when I was sick of being in the house and needed to enjoy the sunshine and warmth we decided to go for a hike. It has been a long time since we went hiking, mostly because of scheduling but everytime we get out there, we ask ourselves why we don't do it more often.

We sought out a new hike. Both of us love hiking near the ocean so Malibu is a sure bet for us. Found a place called Charmlee Wilderness Park that sounded pretty rad...overlooking the ocean, great flora and fauna and easy hikes for the little one. (Or her parents who have been out of practice for awhile!)

It took us a few wrong turns and a good hour of backtracking through Malibu but we found it and had the best afternoon.  Imogen loves her backpack and it amazes me how much she has grown since we used it last. I wish I had gotten a photo of her legs hanging down, so freakin cute.

Enjoyed a little lunch, a little flower smelling, a little hiking and a little rock collecting before heading home. Here are some pics:

Nich and Imogen at the start of the hike. Happy hikers!

Imogen with her sandwich and stick. She had so much fun with that stick. Also, I came home with a pocketful of rocks she picked up.

The view from where we ate lunch to the Pacific Ocean. Amazingly beautiful and clear day.

Imogen loved this log. She sat down and was posing on it for awhile. Then she leaned back and was looking at the grass behind her. What goes on in her head?




Imogen running off the cookie from lunch.

Nich and Imogen walking back from the edge after the aforementioned cookie

Really beautiful paths throughout the whole park. We didn't even touch half of them and will have to go back!






Hope to have more memories for you this year. Enjoy!

Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas tree

This is a picture of our tree, with Imogen in front of it.

Of course, Nich wasn't really taking a picture of the tree. I made him take a picture of Imogen because she if finally wearing the red tutu that I HAD to get to go with the cutest hat. Yes, I had one of those moments when shopping the outlets with my mom. We've all had them (I hope!) when we want our kids to wear something and they totally have no desire to. Well, I have tried to get her to wear this thing for a couple of months to no avail. This night, we were going  out with Noni and Opa for Nich's birthday and I really wanted her to wear it. So I forced it on her, put it on even with the kicking and screaming. She had some tears and she went to her happy place and then she was over it! Yeah, I had one of those moments and I wanted documentation

See, she is even smiling! Can you see the sparkly silver shoes that match the shirt. Too darn cute.












So that is our Christmas tree. Even though it has been a week and we haven't finished decorating it. In this week I have been following Imogen around while she takes all the ornaments off the lower level and stashes them around the house. If I took a picture of the tree now it would look very top heavy!

This is a closeup of Imogen in the aformentioned hat. Cute isn't it?

Imogen was showing off her tongue. Tess taught her! (Can you tell that daddy was recording? I edited out the guitar and headphones but couldn't get rid of the snowball.

So my mom rocks!

Merry early Christmas, birthday, anniversary, etc. to me!

I have been looking at sewing machines for a couple of months. I inherited a Kenmore 1300 series from my mom. It was a workhorse and has treated me great through the years...I have sewn a million baby blankets on it and it never gave me grief. But, it only sews straight lines or at most, zig zags.  It's biggest shortfall was it doesn't have a "walking foot" attachment which is key to holding a slippery moving quilt in place. So, I have a line of projects that have been started but not finished because of these limitations.

I checked out a couple of different brands on-line and then went to a couple of stores and tried a few. I'll not bore you with the details, and just summarize that I fell in love with Pfaff. Other than the requisite jokes between Nich and I about the name and a similarly named bank that has gone out of business, it is a dream machine! Sleek, computerized but not overly so, tons of different stitches AND a built in walking foot! Yeah! Totally way more expensive than I could ever think of spending on a machine. In fact, all the machines were way more than I expected. I mean, I could go to Costco and pick up a sewing machine for $200 bucks, but EVERY review of them said it was a piece of junk and every quilt shop I went into said they can't be worked on. So, it would be like throwing away money. I was scheming in my head how I could get the money (why can't I be a boy and sell my sperm? Oh, I could sell my eggs but I think I am too old for that now!)

So, over the Thanksgiving weekend, I went to AAA Sewing and Vacumn in Torrance. They had a special price with trade-in on Pfaff. The same entry level machine I was looking at was $300 dollars cheaper than the other dealer I went to and they would take mine as a trade-in! This is where my mom comes into play. She rocks, have  I mentioned? She knows that I will spend a ton of hours in front of the machine and make tons of money or at least save a ton of money by sewing my own things. So, she offered to buy it! I can't tell you how excited I am.

This is me sewing my first project on it! A baby playmat that I have been putting off because of the minky (super soft slippery material) that is the backing. This machine had no problem sewing on it!





Thank you mom for pushing me forward and believing in me. Don't be suprised if you get something handmade for a few presents! Love you xoxooxoxo

I forgot the best part of the machine, at least for Imogen:

She totally played in the lid for hours. What is that about buying you kids all sorts of toys and all they want are the boxes? So true!

Just Because

I guess I started this blog thinking I had something to say. But I don't think I always do. I think I just want to share some moments that get forgotten or that should be celebrated before they disappear. Plus they make me smile and I want to have something to document in my own way the passage of time.

So here are  some photos I snapped of Imogen playing around on our bed. I wish we had a video camera (I know that Nich has been talking about the Flip and Christmas is just around the corner...) But anyway, I wish I had recorded Imogen's laughter. That is truly the best sound in the whole wide world and makes my heart burst into confetti.

She has just flopped down on the bed after one of her patented dance moves that involve lifting one leg, bouncing and then falling on her butt. I'm telling you, she's got the groove.

I know this photo is blurry and whatnot, but that is just the reason I love it. She is so full of life and movement that I wanted to capture that. And she is holding for dear life to my phone. Always with the phone.

This is my favorite photo at the moment. She is mimicking me taking her picture and saying "cheese" while the daddy monster takes a break.

She can almost do a somersault.

In case you didn't know, we live right by the airport. We look out our bedroom window and watch the planes take off across the street. She is pointing at the window because a plane has just taken off. She always asks, "What's that?" or "Where it go?" with a shoulder shrug.





Sometimes it is the little moments.

Emergency Room

Okay, wasn't the day I was expecting yesterday. The in-laws are in town for Nich's show at Brennan's. DeeDee cooked an early Thanksgiving meal complete with mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce and for the girls (because the boys are weird and don't like them) a bowlful of black olives. Tess was going to watch Imogen and it was going to be all good.

Everything was just coming out of the oven when Imogen decides to take a header into the pub table chair support rail. Face first, holding a glass (that thankfully did not break) without any attempt to break her fall. Pick her up and she is covered in blood! HOLY SHIT!

People I want in an emergency: My husband Nich. Super calm, brave face for the little one, logically thinking of what we should do.

People I don't want in an emergency: DeeDee. Burst into tears, starts babbling "oh my god, oh my god" and freaking the baby out.



So we calm her down (Imogen, not DeeDee), apply pressure with some guaze we had  and decide the cut isn't that bad. (humur me, I don't want it to be that bad, so it isn't, right?) Then Nich, Ken and I pile into the car with Imogen and head off to Rite Aid to get some butterfly bandages and more gauze and all that good stuff to make her better. I of course wait in the car because who wants to be the lady carrying a blood soaked toddler into Rite Aid with a huge gash near her eye? Not me. Should have told me right there it was bad enough, right?

Drive home, Nich cleans the wound, attempts to apply butterfly bandages, decide, okay, maybe it is deeper than we thought. It won't stop bleeding, she is taking off the bandage as soon as we put it on, so fuck it, lets go to the emergency room.

Ken follows in his car because Nich does have a show that he is hopefully going to make after this drama goes down. Head to beautiful Marina Del Rey and walk into a totally empty emergency waiting room! With fishes for Imo to watch. By this time, she is running around the waiting room, refusing to be calm and act injured (which we were hoping she would be wailing so that we would be seen faster, but she wasn't going that route!). They take us to a room, tell us our MediCal isn't current (oh, this is going to be a fun Monday trying to get that straightened out!) and we wait. and wait. and wait. I wish that I had taken a picture of the "baby jail" they put us in. Imo was like a monkey on it, totally climbing (no, I have no idea how she got the cut on her head!) and raising a rucus. Now, I only tell you this because there is a crouchety ol lady in the next room who yells out every 5 minutes, "help, I need to go to the bathroom." or "help, I need to get out of bed" or "help, help help." Well, Imogen decides to copy her whenever she says "help" until the ol croutchey grouch says, "shut up little girl!" OMG

 This was the cutest dress. Now it is cut up the back and blood soaked. Guess it would be pretty morbid to hold on to it.






After 3 hours, the doctor comes in, determines that she needs 3 stitches and we move rooms so that Imo can be put into a baby papoose. For all those people out there that have no idea what this is, ignorance is bliss. For everyone else, this wonderfully useful torture device scared the crap out of everyone in the room except Imogen. They swaddle her up in a sheet, strap her in, nurse holds her head, doctor covers her face with a sterile sheet and then the worst part of parenting begins. I never ever want to look into one of my daughter's eye while a doctor is sticking a fish hook in the other one. 20 minutes of complete balls out crying, struggling and us adults keeping our cool and Imogen has 4 lovely stitches in her face. She promptly goes to sleep on my shoulder and we make it home in time for Nich's show. I stay home with Imogen because all I want to do at this point is cuddle her and make sure she knows that we love her still.

 

 After the stitches. Originally the doctor thought 3, then re-evaluated. Then, one of the ones she put in wasn't straight enough so she had to re-do. Poor girl!



This morning, she is bouncing around on grandpa's bed and to look at her you would think nothing traumatic just happened to her. Oh, the resiliency of the child's mind. Now if only Nich and I can forget.

The offending chair. She fell on the support rail at the bottom and must have caught it just right. Nich and Ken both wanted to throw them out the window last night!

"Real" Halloween

Halloween 2009-Fun business

Imogen went as a skeleton. Kind of a cat burglar skeleton, I guess. Putting on her makeup was hilarious. She made faces at herself the entire time. Even kissed the shower door and left an impression of all of dad's hard work. Not to mention smearing it with her hand and then wiping her hand on her costume.

Dad's finished handy work

















Great memories will include:

Dancing so hard with Noni at the Frolic her diaper came off.

Giving trick or treating a valiant effort and realizing she just wasn't into it. Probably next year. However, she had no problem sneaking tootsie rolls directly from the source. I am surprised the VonFlues had any left to give out!

The live spooky music (courtsey of Hangdog) on the front lawn.

Best costume goes to Maxwell. Kudos to Brandi for making it. Absolute genius.

Stella wins best costume choices. This is one of the three costumes changes she came equipped with. (Cowboy hat already a casuality) Not pictured are the classic hotdog costume and the pharoh dog.

Skeleton and Scream. Imogen is never happier than with Seth!

Group shot of some of the kids before they scattered their separate ways. I wish you could see the hot pants on the Pink Ladies...

Dawn: The fabulously spooky hostess of the evening.