a year in review

to celebrate the successful end to the year 2009 (meaning, we're all alive at the end of it AND we all have our limbs), i'm going to list some of my favorite entries and pictures. i know, great, right?

1. putting a package of disney stickers to good use

2. ava's tummy hurt. now mommy's head hurts

3. dear breastfeeding,

4.big kicks and big ice cream scoops!

5. where i was on monday

6. discover your personality today!

7. ah-ah-alimony

Favorite Picture of Ava: 102

Favorite Picture of Seth: go sleep little baby

Favorite Picture of Ryan: beach boys

Favorite Picture of the Year: 57

to all of you who actually read this thing, thanks for hanging in there. perhaps one day you'll get something out of this. like maybe one of those to animals where you put candy in it and then you push a button and the candy comes out like the animal's pooping. because honestly? i can't think of a time where that's gross or tacky. and isn't that one of those things that everyone should own? like a toothbrush?

anyway, thanks for being here. and here's to an eventful, yet successful (and again, i'm talking non-death and all limbs intact) 2010.

2009 biggest, brightest, mostest

biggest accomplishment: how about the fact that i started my own business? that, or the fact that i managed to wash my car SEVERAL times. i mean, that doesn't really last very long, BUT IT HAPPENED.

favorite news story: probably obama winning the nobel peace prize. so meaningful and yet, so not.

best pet: buddha. those chickens were neat-o mesquito and they made me the coolest house on the block in the small children department, but buddha sleeps with me at night.

best way to blow all of our money: ava's trip to the er.

most stylish: ryan. because he found a pair of shoes that totally fit him and a belt in his cubicle that had been there for who knows how long. since no one claimed them, he got them. when his coworker saw the new shoes he said, "dude, those shoes are pimpin' hard."

most likely to succeed: anchor and bird photography.

most popular: ava. sorry, seth, but you poop far too often for us to consider you most popular.

most snuggly: that was a close one between ryan and seth, but since seth is more clingy, i'd have to say seth. sorry, ryan. perhaps you should try crying whenever i leave you to win next year.

best read: bleak house by charles dickens.

worst read: austenland by shannon hale. just plain weird. i didn't know what to feel about what she was doing.

best discovery: the habit.

favorite celebrity: barack obama. am i right?

it's all about love.

then

ryan and i dated about five (and a half!) months before we got engaged. then we got married eleven weeks after that. when we're being generous, we say we dated for six months and were engaged for two. that's eight months total (fast!)

"dude," my friend susanna told me, "that's either so right it's good, or so bad it's stupid."

so far, it's not stupid.

happy five years, manly.

now

remembering

sometimes i forget about the important stuff and i get caught up in the silly stuff. and you know what? the silly stuff is lame.

reminder: this is what's important. and sometimes that means that we just sit in bed all morning and read stories.

and that's okay.

dear world wide web

happy christmas. and love and joy. and peace. lots of peace.

(and fudge)

love,

bird, mouse, anchor and guy

christmas card

did NOT manage to get a christmas card out this year, so enjoy this little gem and read back a couple posts. that ought to do it.

oh yeah, and merry christmas!

beach day

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dear jeremy,

thanks for being at the beach at the exact same time as us at the exact same place.

love,

us

weekly mouse

weekly guy

christmas

i showed ryan this picture and he didn't say anything for a minute. then he said, 'i think i don't like this picture as much as you do.'

whatever.

point taken

first of all, i guess i should admit that yes, i am the one who bought her cat a santa suit. to be fair, though, it was ava's idea. and it was such a good idea, i had a hard time saying no. plus, it was only a dollar. so i put it on what i consider my good natured cat, and he spends the rest of the day anxiously awaiting the opening of the back door. well, to be honest, any door. as if he just couldn't wait to get away from us. and i was all, "really buddha? really? one santa suit makes you that miserable? do the words ANIMAL SHELTER mean ANYTHING to you?" and he was all, "of course not, miriam, i'm a cat."

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from my favorite place in the conejo valley: the kid's adventure garden. ava was in love with this birdhouse. 

the wiles of a three year old.

ava walks up to me and hands me her tube of toothpaste. "here mom," she says, "i just finished drinking a little bit of this."

me: "gross, ava. i don't want you to do that again."

ava: "I know, mom. that's why i went into my room where you can't see me."


she's so smart and yet, not.

skirball and a date

saturday morning began the way it always begins: pancakes, disco music and a list of things we need to get done. i, of course, had a huge list and ryan, of course, had a huge list. breakfast ended and as "boogie wonderland" played in the background we stared grimly at the yellow legal pad we'd scribbled all over.

"i want to go to the skirball instead," i said.

ryan hopped up. "okay," he said.

and that's what we did. we went to the skirball, where ava is just the right age for the set up they have (a noah's ark with animals to play with and a little jungle gym that, despite the fact that it terrified both kids, was brilliant), and we played all day. it was absolutely the best. and then, as if that wasn't enough, ryan came up with the brilliant idea of going out that night for dinner. so he called his mom and started talking about a plan. like, maybe we could go to dinner about five? and we'll probably get home around ten or so?

"ryan," i said to him when he hung up, "what on earth are we going to do for FIVE HOURS?"

he shrugged, "maybe i just want to hang out with my wife, okay? you got a problem with that?"

"for five hours?"

we didn't make it the whole five hours, but we did sit at the table at the restaurant long after our food was consumed and talked. it is SO nice to talk to ryan withOUT the little voice piping up in the background, "EXCUSEMEMOMMYEXCUSEMEMOMMYEXCUSEMEMOMMY".

heaven. as much as i love the little fuzzy heads who climb into bed with us every morning, as much as they enhance my love for ryan,  the fact remains that i didn't marry him just because i thought he'd make a great dad. i married him because of all of the other aspects of him, the thinker, the goofball, the historian, the salesman, the romantic--and i love it when i can sit down and focus on all the other ryans. he's (they?) (are) my favorite.

what seth did this week part 3

1. he pooped everywhere. like, everywhere. either that, or he just pooped in one spot and transported all of his poop to other places. and he smeared it. like, in his hair. it was a time when i wished for a strong hose with which to clean him off. but that sounded mean, so i wiped what i could and bathed the boy with strong smelling soaps and hearty disinfectants.

2. he climbed a wobbly table and danced on it. then, he fell off.

3. he went to let the cat out of my bedroom and somehow, ended up locking himself in.

4. he sat on santa's lap and FREAKED out.

5. he climbed out of his crib after a nap and scared me half to death by greeting me at the door when i went to go get him up.

6. he challenged me to a duel while we were out hiking. i accepted.

7. on the one day his blankee smelled so foul i couldn't take it another minute, he became both sneaky and attached. so when i got it away from him, he somehow managed to get it back. it was distressing. it also postponed the cleaning of the blankee for two days. TWO DAYS.

mothering a boy is more active than mothering a girl, but i have to say that i really am loving it. i guess i thought i wouldn't. but it is so amusing to watch seth's brain and see how different it is from ava's.

an example: we have chickens. and both kids want to hold the chickens. so ava gets one, and she holds it. she just sits with the little hen on her lap, stroking her feathers. when seth gets one, he's content to just hold the thing for a second and then, you can see him look around, the wheels in his head turning. and then, he'll do something. like put the chicken in the stroller and try to push it around the yard. or put it on the bike. or try to lock it in a cage and feed it pieces of grass.

i love seeing the differences in my children, i love watching them grow and develop. what a fascinating thing it is to be a mother!

pictures from out adventures at the skirball cultural center tomorrow

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skirball cultural center

why is it, that after every bath my children take the bathroom looks as if they bathed outside the bath instead of in it?

photo by hernan bogado

favorite

to see the rest, click here

what seth did this week

1. vacuumed the cat. it worked splendidly. he thought it was hilarious until the cat reacted.

2. fell into a rose bush. the scratches make him look as though he had vacuumed a thousand cats. taking him out in public is now slightly embarrassing. watching him point to each one and tap it lightly with his little finger and pity himself is adorable.

3. pulled my dresser drawers out and climbed them like steps to reach the forbidden--and highly coveted ipod earphones. it was impressive and terrifying all at once.

4. pulled a pair of ava's underpants and got them mostly over his diaper. that bad boy was sportin' princess jasmine like no boy child ever has.

5. ate sand. and then had some more. then, he washed it down with a little ocean water, then he had some more. the beach was amazing, the weather perfect, but the sand consumption was less than ideal. and now that seth is mobile the beach is a dangerous place. nothing will stop him from diving head first into the ocean water. it was partially cute, partially exhausting and partially terrifying. my baby is going to drown before he sees his second birthday.

weekly mouse

photo by hernan bogado

today she asked, "mommy, can i have a piece of chocolate?"

"sure."

elated, she clapped her hands and danced around, "thanks mommy! i love you so much!"

sheesh. apparently all i have to do is offer sweets. i'll bet that's how ryan won that best parent award he's been shoving in my face all this time.