Corner View: White

My kitchen is white. White tiles and white walls. It is the only room in the whole house that has white walls. I am not sure why we didn't have them paint this room like we did with the rest of the house when we moved in, but there it is. And you know what? I like it, surprisingly so.
And what kitchen is complete without a head of garlic? Not mine, that's for sure. mmm, garlic.


~~~
For more of this week's corner view head on over to these lovely blogs:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,

caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t., jeannette, outi, ritva, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, skymring, elizabeth, allison, lise, cate, crescent moon, erin, otli, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta, april, b, kyndale samantha, karen, kristina, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, mcgillicutty, aimee, sunnymama, jenell, britta, juanita, pamela, inna, daan, myrtille, cris, ibb, susi, jodi, lily, gillian,

athena, pienduzz, latisha, clairette, kelleyn, iris, demara, mus, ninja, guusje, di, sammi, theresa, cherry b, victoria, kathryn , lisa, liza, juliette, braja, mulot, anne, lucy, leonor, elizabeth, helene, dominique, shokoofeh, cole, jenna, podane

Pretty In Pink

Aren't flamingos flamboyant and fabulous?

Thank you everyone for your encouragement on the last post. I am learning as I go (aren't we all?)
When to speak, when to listen and when to just change my surroundings so I don't have to do either.
But most of all I am learning not to take everything so personally and to breathe, just breathe.

be well friends,
vanessa~

put on your happy face.

Sometimes it is so much better to just shut your mouth and/or walk out of the room when you are the odd duck at the party. Otherwise things get awkward, you start doubting your values, your truths, your believes. Sometimes just putting on that happy face and knowing that in a different circle, you aren't alone in believing that a woman's body is an amazing and strong thing, that it knows just what to do with the new life it is carrying inside. That a mother's instinct is strong and that having a little compassion even if it means a little less connivance is okay. And most importantly if something feels right, if you feel it in your gut that this is the best thing for you or your family to hold your head tall (not your nose) to breathe slowly and have confidence. Otherwise it is all to easy to fall from that wall, to be a million little pieces of uncertainty and of doubt, and no one, not all the kings horses or all the kings men can put you back together again.

thirteen

Communication, Signing more than ever, in addition to "more" and "all done", "thank you" and "eat" has been added. And some other arm rolling thing that you are very proud to do but I have no idea what it is- "wheels on the bus"? perhaps.

Pointing and noticing/recognizing sounds things like the geese flying over head honking, airplanes buzzing, hot air balloons hushing, and barking dogs all capture your attention and get recognition.

Speaking you have a small repertoire of words including, "Yay", woof-woof, huhuh that you had figured out last month. This month you added "Uhht-Ohh", Doh-doh (JoJo, my mom), and Lyy-la (saying his "L"s and all!). you also sing this funny little song dnnndnddnd that reminds me of the end of an old Boyz2Men song (boyz2men, bbd.... oh never mind)

Movement, crawling is old hat these days. Showing off 'no hands' is where it is at. not just with the safety net of the furniture at your side but you will go from squatting to standing up, maybe take a step and then plop back down on your bumm. You are quite the monkey and can get up and down from the sofa and have figured out how to use your toys as a step stool onto things. "uhht-ohh"

Teeth, your second top tooth finally pushed its way out. your grin is huge and tooth and cracks me up.

Firsts, got your hair cut on your cousin's birthday. you were so good and look like such a big kid now. watched the hot air balloon races went to the zoo.

Top of the morning...

Morning!
So how are the first few days of this new season treating you? I was hesitant to welcome her in, not quite ready for summer to be over but now that I am getting to pull on a few of my favorite sweaters and scarves as well as knee socks I might be feeling a bit better about it all.
Thank you all so much for your sweet words on my last post. I hovered over that orange "publish post" button for a few seconds and then went for it, I am glad I did.
I am feeling antsy with the new season. I have visions of redecorating in my head. Nothing like pushing furniture around to clear one's mind. I am on the hunt for a couple more pull down maps for in the living room. We have this big wall that is just begging for something and all the small pieces that I have on there now are just sort of getting lost. Anyone know where to find some cool pull down maps from?
I have pictures to share from our trip to the Sacramento Zoo last weekend. We were there to celebrate this little guy's second birthday party. As well as birthday pictures from this dude's first birthday a couple of weeks ago. I have just been really busy at work and not into getting on the computer once I am home.
Speaking of birthdays, have I mentioned that we have had a birthday a week (at least) this month? It is crazy town I tell you. O is starting to put two and two together that when we sing "happy birthday to you" cake and ice cream are sure to follow... We have one more celebration this weekend. This time for one of my very most favorite soon to be three year olds. It is princess themed party- I have a magic wand to make and a crown to complete. I think I need a tutu to wear, what do you think?

Be well friends, be well

Autumn

I inhale cool of the morning air
Watch as streaks of gold
brighten in your hair as if
lightened by peroxide and summer sun.
Is that a new shade of lipstick,
when did your shadow get so tall?
I watch as you play strip tease
with the summer's foliage
down to the bare bones of winter.
I breathe in the crisp exhale of night .

New Do

So remember that crazy fuzz head from the last post? Take a good look because later on that day we headed over to a salon specifically for kids and got the boy's hair cut. I was a little teary eyed about the whole thing- and I think Kathleen summed it up better than I could ever do (Her little man got his first cut this past weekend too). If you have a second hop over there and read her words. they brought sweet tears to my eyes when I read the today (in the very best way).

Before:


During:


After:


He was amazingly good through the entire cut. I was bracing myself for a meltdown but I think the place we took him too had enough crazy colors, and stimulation that he was sort of in awe. Plus, we let him have a lolly pop- I mean what could be bad about getting a big old hunk of sugar on a stick?

yup, its september all right

the boy and his crazy hair watching as the balloons go up. He loved it!
I really should get extra credit for almost all the shots I took this morning-
I was holding a 20lb squirmy worm on my hip the whole time!
For more of what I saw, yesterday and today head over to my flickr set.
~~~~
PS
If you found your way here view Corner View, welcome! Aren't you glad Jane has us traveling the virtual globe again?! Thanks for stopping by have a look around if you are new or haven't stopped by in awhile.
For more of this week's corner view head on over to these lovely blogs:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,
caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t., jeannette, outi, ritva, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, crescent moon, erin, otli, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta, april, b, kyndale samantha, karen, kristina, dorit, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, mcgillicutty, desiree, travelingmama, aimee, sunnymama, amanda, ali, jenell, britta, juanita, pamela, inna, daan, myrtille, cris, ibb, susi, jodi, lily, gillian,

athena, pienduzz, latisha, clairette, kelleyn, iris, demara, mus, ninja, guusje, di, sammi, theresa, cherry b, victoria, kathryn , lisa, liza, juliette

and like that, they were gone

I am being featured on Pecannoot again today.
Thank you Jess!

Ashland

The same weekend we went camping, we also spent some time with my bestie's mom and pop at their place near Mt. Shasta. The guys had a few adventures while berry picking, a run in with coyotes, a near miss from a porcupine (I hear that throwing cow pies is a great way to stave off a porcupine attack) as well as a visit from a great horned owl who though that our little Cloe girl would make for a good snack. Who knew berry picking could be such an adventure?!

On Saturday the guys went golfing and the ladies squeezed the two car seats and me in the back seat of the Outback and headed to Ashland, OR- about an hour drive north for the afternoon.

(above photo of the giggle twins and the next generation taken my Connie)
We found a parking spot and unloaded the kids and the strollers. You should have seen me maneuvering to get out from between the two car seats, in a skirt no less. Very lady like I assure you.
We had lunch at a really nice brew house. I had been there the last time I was thru Ashland and it didn't disappoint (always a relief when you are the one recommending a place to eat!). I ordered the club sando (so yummy and not your run of the mill club) I decieded on the stout to drink. The other gals tried a honey ale of some sort and also enjoyed their food- especially the fries with homemade ketchup, (a nice touch). We got a big bottle of each of the beers we tasted to bring home for the boys.
mmm, beer....



At lunch MrO figured out how to use a straw and was so very proud of himself. L-bird was sitting cute in her ballcap that she borrowed from O for the day. How did we get so lucky to have such cute littles?!
We did a little shopping and then decided that the babes needed a diaper change and some time to release energy before we got back in the car for the ride home. We found Lithia Park.

(above photo of O and me taken by Connie)

Such a pretty little spot. It was cool and the grass was dappled in sun under the big oak trees. We were lucky enough to hear a cello player too, I felt like I was somewhere very special.
After crawling around and meeting another very cute one year old girl named Luna (love that name!) it was back to the car. We headed up to a bakery we saw earlier to get bread for dinner.

And then had a near collision on our pursuit of an icecream cone. mmm, icecream.
What a sweet day in Oregon. Ashland is a neat little town that I would love to spend some more time in exploring and maybe even getting to enjoy the Shakespeare Festival that they are famous for.

Thanks again to Connie and Jon for having us all up at your place.


We sure did have fun!

The chair

(Click on the here to make it bigger)

I haven't decided how I am going to continue this tradition on yet. Now that we are at the one year mark I am thinking quarterly for the next year and then maybe bi-annually and then annually. How fun it will be to have this little journey through time.

One Dozen

Sunday marked the big day. Baby-O turned the big numero uno.
We celebrated on Saturday with a grand, backyard bash.
A few pictures from the day.







Thank you everyone who came over to help us mark this amazing "first". We had serious fun watching our back yard and house fill up with laughter, screaming kids and the smell of awesome food.


I had a little disaster in the kitchen at one point while making the yellow cake but the chocolate came out fantastic. Thank goodness for the lemon cake from a box back-up(that were a hit all the same). Other than that the day went of with hardly a hitch!



This month there are big things in the works-
Balancing and doing "no hands" (standing w/o the aid of anyone or thing). One little baby step forward and then a plop down to crawling again. Walking is close though I can just see it in his eyes, he is so proud of himself lately.
The top two teeth are making there way down, one has broken thru the other just barely peeping out- "The better to bite you with my dear"!
We are still working on night weaning/sleeping thru the night. It will happen and as long as it isn't every couple of hours I can function and am really okay with the special night time quite that we still get to share (although Daddy-O is ready for this to all end we are working on a compromise and I am sure we aren't far from a string of good nights).
There are little sounds that are starting to form into words- "aah-da" (all done), "Ya" with big a nod of the head (yes), "wooh-wooh" (dog and the geese or ducks). O loves to watch out the front window and stood for almost 20minutes as Daddy-O mowed the lawn this week- with a "hi-daa!" (hi dad) every time Daddy-O made the pass by the window. It is amazing how much he understands when we talk to him. And he knows how to ham it up, that is for sure.
We took a big camping trip up to northern California and he did great. There was some dirt eating but camping seems to be something he really likes. We even crossed over into the Oregon border and visited Ashland for the afternoon. We spent a lot of time up at the cabin with Daddy-O's family.
He loves cars, music, his blankie and his dog. And a favorite for when we all get home at night is to wrestling on the couches and bouncing on the bed.


It has been an amazing year.

Birthday Besos

It was an awesome first birthday.



details and of course the chair picture are coming...as soon as we all recover from the chocolate hang-over!
Thank goodness we have tomorrow off to recoop.

kisses all around!

I heart camping, part two

I heart camping

for more of our get away from last weekend go here