happy birthday ivy + eli

ivy is three and eli is one!

my babies are growing up.

it doesn't seem totally crazy... it seems just about right.

there's been a lot packed into the past 3 years, so it hasn't flown by.

after all, she's lived in texas, scotland, massachusetts, and now california.

and has visited mexico and charleston extensively :) london, paris, prague, vienna...

she's taken music, art and dance classes and ridden horses.

she wears underwear. and jewelry.

and loves to make believe.

she has a little brother and four (almost five) little cousins.

all at the ripe ole age of three.

so it really didn't sneak up on us.

even still, i can remember her birth like it was yesterday.

12:44AM august 18, 2009.

so long. so, so hard.

her eyes were navy blue.

i'll never forget it.

and now she's three!

a few words to describe ivy: 

creative, dramatic, energetic, feisty, sweet, independent, empathetic, maternal, 

smart, imaginative, shy, wild. 

all rolled into one. she's kind of a mini-me.

and eli.

his first year went by more slowly, since it was mostly in cambridge.

and pretty uneventful.

when i think about our time there, the first thing that pops in my head 

is carrying him around in that bjorn. 

we were attached.

up and down those wretched stairs,

in restaurants, stores and parks,

during church,

all through the town.

me and him. 

so easy, so sweet.

he only wore white onesies. (til like, last week).

i think i can say i successfully kept him a baby a good long time. 

he's had his share of flying though, to texas, mexico, cambridge, charleston and california.

he loves the water, animal crackers, the swing, his striped bear, walking, 

being tickled on the bed, shaking his head no, oat bran muffins,

 holding something in his hand (golf club, stick, pen) 

but probably his favorite thing is being held. 

he's such a mama's boy. 

lucky me. 

ivy requested an "ocean party with alllll the sea animals and a scuba diver in it".

she said that word for word if anyone asked her.

still not sure where that came from, and i really resisted the idea, but an ocean party it was.

mom & gen (with estie!) flew up thursday and planned the whole thing.

life savers!

it turned out really great and we had a fun time. 

{MENU}

ocean blue coolers

hamburger sliders - daddy grilled

seashell pasta

goldfish

fruit

homemade birthday cakes  + ice cream

m&ms

the kids made sea creature picture frames and sand bottles

almond white cake  + cinnamon chocolate cake 

party favor: fish cookie cutter + sprinkles,  ocean stickers

thank you gramma and aunt gen! we miss you already.

happy birthday ivy + eli!!!!

santa cruz weekend

last weekend we packed up the car and drove an hour to santa cruz. 

kevin's company was having a beach bash so we thought it'd be a fun place to spend eli's birthday.

(we actually celebrated his birthday the next weekend)

we cruised the famous little boardwalk and let ivy ride the rides. 

that's definitely a once-is-enough kind of place,

but ivy really enjoyed it.

and eli enjoyed his first ice cream cone :)

we met up with kevin's co-workers on the beach

and ate, played in the sand and had our caricature drawn. 

the next day we rode a steam train through the redwoods.

i found this somewhere and it seemed like a cool thing, 

but it was probably a cooler idea in my head than what it ended up being. 

(hot, long and crowded).

kevin and i always like to joke about what my dad would be like in these situations.

(not well. not well at all.)

all staying in one hotel room together wasn't the greatest night's sleep, either.

i thought it was fun to be bunked up together and ordering room service.

kevin thought i was crazy. 

traveling with kids is just sort of a fickle thing - it can turn out too many different ways.

 oh well, it's still fun.

live and learn.

a very happy birthday to my sweetest little boy.

i'll do a real post later.

                  good morning, one year old!
when i told ivy it was eli's birthday,
 her eyes got big and she said "we have to make eli a birthday card!!!"
oook.

santa cruz beach

 steam train through the redwoods

the end

zucchini + carrot muffins

I saw these on pinterest so I thought I'd give them a try. Ivy loves to sprinkle them with sanding sugar, and I throw in some flaxseed to balance it out :)  Her and Eli love these so that makes me happy. They are good, and of course freeze well. Sorry about the weird fonts -- I was too lazy to re-type it :)

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
• 1/2 cup finely shredded carrot

Preparation:

Grease and flour 12 muffin cups. Heat oven to 375°.

In a mixing bowl, beat the oil with eggs, sugars, and vanilla extract.

Combine the flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; add to the wet ingredients; stirring until blended. Fold in the shredded zucchini and carrots.

Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full; sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or granulated sugar, if desired. Bake for 20 minutes.

tgif

weekend plans:

--eat donuts

--sleep in 

--swim 

--get some plants planted

--practice walking with eli, he's so close!

--grill! now that our grill man is out of the hospital/bed and back to normal... although he's technically not supposed to eat for 10 more days. 

(that's not happening)

--zoo? 

--try to hem curtains with brooke's tip: stitch witchery!? thank you brooke!

--buy birdseed

--pedicure pretty please

--attempt to reupholster dining chairs, that should be funny

--start gone with the wind

--try not to feel guilty if none of this gets done :)

happy weekend!

new address

1052 berkeley avenue

menlo park, california

94025
come visit! 

first ballet lesson

ivy had her first dance lesson last week and it was so sweet 

and one of those milestone kinda things that i just won't forget. 

i took ballet too and i can see myself in ivy so much it's kinda weird. 

 well, we went to the dance store a few weeks ago to get all her gear 

and even that had her giddy. 

ballet leotards, one pink, one white, pink ballet skirt, ballet slippers and tap shoes. 

she asks me all day long if she can put her tap shoes on. 

we've had to create rules. 

not before 8AM, 

not during eli's nap, 

never outside, and not after baths. 

(am i mean?)
she loooves them!

 last tuesday we loaded up, found the dance studio which is so close, 

(i love this little town)

and wandered inside. 

me and eli sat down, 

and ivy just walked out on the dance floor 

and found a spot in the circle with the other girls, 

with an expression on her face like she had done this before.
this pleased me so much for some reason!

so funny to watch your kid in these environments.

 her teacher, mrs. nicole is amazing and ivy just loved it. 

the first half is ballet, second half is tap 

with a few minutes at the end for "tumble bumble".  

ivy would periodically look over her shoulder 

and wave to me in a style she's never done before. 

i can't explain it but it was hilarious.

aside from me forgetting her socks and skirt, it was perfect.

(at least she's got it more together than the chick in front of her). 

she wakes up every morning asking me if it's tuesday. 

this week, papa even got to sit in and of course ives was loving it. 

it was basically impossible to get a good picture with eli all over the place. 

maybe next time.....

and i just have to say, she is 10x cuter with the skirt on!! :)

blackberry-oat bran muffins

recipe from everyday food mag
(thanks to kathryn)

1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup oat bran
2 t baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
6 T butter, room temp
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups chopped blackberries

preheat oven to 375 and line muffin tin with paper liners.
whisk together flour, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

in a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. beat in the eggs and vanilla. with the mixer on low, add flour in 2 additions, alternating with the buttermilk. fold in the berries.

divide batter among muffin cups and sprinkle with sugar.
bake 20-25 minutes.

we ate ours warm, then froze the rest for breakfast  last week.

ivy picked around the blackberries, but eli devoured the whole thing. such a mess afterwards, but i guess he's worth it :)

(note: made these again without berries, more sugar on top, baked for 20 minutes, and added flax.)

swing of things

 yes, we are still alive!  

time has just been eaten up by getting settled in and finding a little routine. 

moms looove themselves a routine. 

i don't really think of myself as a "routine kind of mom" 

(especially compared to friends, i'm pretty chill)

 but i definitely function 100x better when there's a shape and purpose to the day. 

so i guess you could say i'm super laid back within my routine :)  

well who cares!

a routine is being found and we're the better for it.

 anyway, i don't do well with describing big changes

 like moving across the country to california 

and everything different and new (at least not on the blog), 

so i guess that's why i called this short & sweet in the first place.

 so i'll try to keep it that way by just saying we are so happy here, 

kevin is enjoying his job, working long hours,

 i love my tiny house although we live outside, 

the kids love everything and life is feeling sweet. 

 of course it's still exhausting

 (does anyone have a friend/cousin/grandma/friend's cousin's grandma around here 

who remotely likes children?) 

but that's motherhood

and i feel more in my element here than i ever did in cambridge (that's for sure), 

even though it was a great experience. 

that was a really long sentence. 

so here's to cali and hopefully catching some of it on the blog! 

father's day

i love kevin as a father.

he maintains such a long-sighted vision for his children
and the way he is raising them,

and is ever so patient and calm. 

so with my daily worries and little goals, 

we make a great team. :)

kevin already started his new job in california, (living in a totally empty house)

while we're waiting in houston until the movers deliver our stuff.

 i told him our absence is our present this year :)

(but i know he wishes we were there.) 

actually, it's a perfect picture of what a father should be doing:

providing and sacrificing. 

missing his babes.

and eagerly anticipating our arrival. 

of course i'm thankful for my own dad too

and all the good things he stands for and teaches us

even still. 

happy father's day! 

out + about

charleston aquarium 

paddle boats - james island park

 cupcake on king

piggy wiggly

chicken + dumplings @ virginia's on king

young picasso - children's museum of the lowcountry 

we love eli too.. he is just usually home sleeping with nana :)