Fall, 2011

Couch tricks.


Fun with hair styles.



Eliana reading in bed, where we often find her when she gets quiet.


Adessa with her buddy Taylor on the first day of preschool. They were so excited.


Daddy's favorite spot, the creek! Eating dinner of egg salad sandwiches and having a ball.


Sand castle-rock.



Our Rec-Field photo shoot, hit some snags. Here's Adessa, not smiling, but also not making a funny face.


Adessa dancing.


Eliana's face when asked to smile for the camera.


Eliana's face when I tickled her whilst snapping pictures!

Since I cannot sleep for the life of me...

...though I am unusually tired and heavy lidded, I will update this blog. The girls are doing great. Adessa just started Playschool again, and loves it. Eliana can't wait to get to go, and pushes her stroller filled with toys, snacks, trash (picture a homeless person's shopping cart, that's the look of it) to "Playschool", which is apparently in our bedroom in her wild imaginings. Since she always kisses me goodbye on her way around the house to and from Playschool, I happily put up with it. She's a delightful little human, charming and funny. Lately she kills us by singing with grandiose hand motions, using different volumes and voices for added dramatic effect. Eliana still lisps something fierce, and has just started stuttering almost alarmingly. She leaves off the first letter of words if the first sound is an "s" followed by a consonant. As in: "Daddy is hunting for kunks" (Which is something that happens around here). It makes for hilarity for me, probably just because I'm easily amused. Adessa goes to "kool", Eliana tells us to: "top it!" or if we wrestle I might "quash" her, or she might get "fweaty".
Both girls have gone through some significant periods of equilibrium and disequilibrium. I think the adjustment of summer ending was hard, but maybe that was just because I was stressed out more when I went back to work. Who knows about the dynamics. Adessa is becoming such a kid, it seems. She tells long involved stories (sometimes with a point) with inflection and appropriate expressions, we know when to look shocked or amazed. She loves to learn, especially about animals. We read in a book that Crocodiles can grow to 20 feet and stay under water for a whole hour, and she couldn't wait until Daddy got home so she could tell him. (Though I think she told him 20 inches, she hasn't got units of time or length or distance down.)

The reason I'm allowing myself this late night blogging session, is because I tried for an hour already to fall asleep and couldn't. And the reason I couldn't fall asleep was because I have tremendously horrid gas/heartburn/upper diaphragm pain. And, the reason for the pain and total and complete discomfort in my air-bubbly body is because I am eight weeks pregnant. Hooray! One more time. I can be exhausted and unable to sleep all at once, one more time. I can go through nausea and watching what I eat and getting a cumbersome belly and ever expanding vericose veins one more time. I can have a few more sleepless years (one more time) and breastfeed and have a super dependent little creature need me one more time. One more time is my new mantra. It is one baby, not twins--and God willing it will be born in late April/early May. Once more.

Crafties

I've been working this summer, on:

Hair clippies



and dance streamers.



Any suggestions on pricing/marketing? 8)

July, She will Fly

We saw Cars 2 in the theater with Madrina Romina, both girls' first experience of the cinema. Their favorite part was the popcorn, and... we won't be going back anytime soon. They were antsy and didn't like or follow the story. At one point Adessa said: "When can we go home?" And you can see Eliana's greasy fingerprints on the row in front of us, she spent her time trying to hold herself up on the backs of the chairs. Oh dear.


Gymnastics! Birthday money has gone towards gymnastics (or gernastics, according to Adessa).

And... streeeetch.

Neither girl can touch their toes, so we have managed to sort of befuddle the teachers.


Pondering.

Some silly smiles before bandaid application.


Eliana, proudly posing in her swimsuit cover up. Though, it seems to not be covering up very much. 8)


Thank you, Barney, for all the family love, here demonstrated by Adessa and Eliana:

Eliana, The Romantic

I MAY have let Eliana watch a bit of a cheesy romance movie with me, and she MAY have picked up this new way of kissing from her exposure. I love how she comes at me with her mouth open, and holds my face. Funny girl!

Auntie Lolo's House

Our summer vacation this year was hosted by my sister, Laurel, who lives in lovely Pleasanton. We went for a little less than a week, and benefited from: proximity to downtown Pleasanton (very pleasant), swimming pools, Shadow Cliffs mini-lake, awesome public playgrounds, yummy restaurants, the Alameda County Fair, and the added bonus of an obliging babysitter, my own dear sis. The girls loved it, thanks to fun times with their beloved aunt, loads of cartoons and Laurel's super patient cat, Joey. It was nice and warm (okay, it was stinking hot), peaceful and easy and very, very relaxing. Thank you, Laurel (and Brittany, her roommate who was housesitting somewhere else and gave up her room!)


Swimming (just to state the obvious).


Shadow Cliffs' beachfront. Shortly after this picture was taken, I hurt Eliana's arm while swing/dragging her through the water. Bummer. While X-rays and casts danced through our heads, we took her to the doctor and her dislocated elbow was popped back in to place. Thank goodness!!


A super cool, public, neighborhood park.



Pony Rides at the Fair. Adessa was enamored and could have pony-rode all day.

Eliana lasted about 45 seconds.


Adding to our magical time at the fair was this: A 4-H teen was looking for a kid to help her feed the baby goats.


Taking a little break.


Sharing some refreshment.


A more successful pony ride.



Snuggling with Joey and Auntie Lolo.


What a great trip! The girls are asking to go back.

Adessa's Fourth Birthday

Adessa's Fourth Birthday was a big hit, back at our favorite party place, Sky Park.

Opening Presents.


Friends.


Family.


The Cake. Yummy but lumpy.


The party was Saturday morning, and on her actual birthday, we celebrated again with Baskin Robins and Cotton Candy ice cream cones, which the girls wore well.

Happy Fourth, Adessa!


Eliana sporting a Cotton Candy Little Richard.


Here's what she's up to now that she's four: