Photoshop Bliss

After a lot of tinkering and playing (and a lot of fun!) I came up with a post-processed image that I absolutely love of Sophia and I. It's the one from my last post, so if you care, you can even do a before and after. You probably don't. Oh and here's a hint for people with vision problems: click on the picture and it will make it REALLY big.



And uh, no, my legs are sadly not this tan in real life. But let's keep that just between us!

Our Long Weekend in California

Last Thursday, Sunshine and I flew out to California with my parents and sister. Technically we were headed to Sacramento for a wedding, but we took a detour and headed to San Francisco for a few hours of sight-seeing. Despite spending my early years in Sacramento, I have no memories of any trips to San Fran. My parents claim they took me as a baby, but where's the proof?

Overall, the trip was great. Traveling with a one year old isn't exactly the best thing ever (and keeping her whole milk chilled was always a concern of mine) but Sunshine did spectacularly. By the way, flying with your baby in her OWN SEAT on the plane is a billion times better than holding her on your lap. In case you happen to be waffling over that decision.

In a whirlwind we hit the most touristy sites: Lombard Street, Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, and the Golden Gate Bridge. We also had a chance to stop by the Oakland Temple, which is where my parents were married about a hundred years ago. We got sourdough bread from Boudin's which was to die for, and loaded up on chocolate for those poor saps back home. (Such as hubby!) There was a little (expensive) boutique called Lola (www.lolaofnorthbeach.com) inside of Ghirardelli Square. It was primarily baby related items and I loved every single thing inside. I purchased a picture book by Virginia Lee Burton, who wrote one of my favorite childhood stories, Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel. This one was titled Maybelle the Cable Car. I bought it for Miss Fancy, and I can't wait to read it with her.

One highlight that Lisa and I went crazy over was this antique arcade called the Musee Mecanique. It had hundreds of working arcade-like games, some over one hundred years old. We collect smashed pennies and it had probably had half a dozen penny smashers. I think Lisa ended up getting one of each but I reigned it in and got two. It probably sounds lame, but in a retro sort of way was really cool.

Some other great parts of the trip: visiting with my favorite aunt (and I'm not just saying that because she surprised me with a subscription to an awesome cooking site!), seeing the HGTV Dream House, even though it charged $20 a ticket to tour inside which we didn't do, shopping at Carter's for Sunshine, and of course, the wedding. My favorite photo of the trip actually came from the wedding. I don't have very many pictures of Sunshine and I together, and I have even less pictures that turn out well of both of us.

All in all, it was fun to have a long weekend, and fun to see some new things. I missed Hubby a lot though, and I'm excited to see the kids tonight. Oh, and since I know my mom will read this sooner or later, thanks for the trip! Sunshine and I definitely appreciated it. I wonder if this blog will suffice as proof that she did indeed go to San Francisco when she was a baby?

Our American Dream

On this historic occasion of the first black man being sworn in as president of the United States, I felt it was only appropriate to chronicle our journey to achieving the American dream. (That's home ownership, not actually being the president... still working on that one!)

We sold the condo Hubby owned for about seven years in September of 2007. There were many reasons we decided to sell it (I was pregnant at the time), though we sort of fell into listing the condo. After it sold, we moved into our current home. It's a rental from my father-in-law and he's renting it to us at a great discount. We've looked for homes to buy off and on throughout that time. We made our first real offer on a home in March 2008. We loved that home! Unfortunately, the housing market was just starting to bottom out and getting approved for a loan dragged on and on. Eventually the sellers decided our time was up and sold the house to another couple.

Since that time, I've searched through thousands of online ads, we've toured dozens of homes, loved a handful, and placed offers on a few. We continued to have problems with financing mostly due to situations beyond our control. We finally got a loan but for a ridiculously low amount. I started searching through thousands more online ads, and as we got serious about a house, the loan company folded and we lost the loan. Then we decided to look into the rent-to-own market. We found a rent-to-own home that was unfinished and with a lot of sweat equity we could knock the expensive sticker price down. We were given a pre-qualification letter for a loan with many provisions. Basically, we could put in a lot of work to the house, live there for a year, and then find out if we would qualify for a loan. Hubby and I didn't feel good about the gamble, and we passed.

Our new goal is to find a fixer-upper, something priced lower than that initial loan. We're hoping that a home in this lower bracket won't be so difficult to qualify for, even in this market. Last week I came across an interesting ad. It advertised two tiny homes in two separate lots, each listed for a very low price. The catch: the homes share a waterline and must be purchased together. We broached my father-in-law with the topic of him buying the second home as a rental property. It's in an amazing area, and the total acreage is .43. The goal would be for us to buy the second home from him in the future and eventually tear both down to create our dream home. Of course, that's much further down the road!

This morning we put our offer in, and it sounds as if it may be accepted. I believe we'll know by tonight. However, I know from long hard experience that this is only step one. I know absolutely that if it's going to happen, it will. If it's not right, it won't, and we'll move on. I'm looking at it purely logically, which is foreign to me. My hopes aren't up (but they're not down either), and I know I won't believe that it will happen until they hand me the keys. I've been disappointed so many times that I don't think I have many emotions all tied up in this. We'll move when it's right.

That won't stop me, however, from daydreaming about how I'm going to decorate this tiny little cottage...

Spaghetti Shmear

No, it's not Einstein Bro's newest cream cheese creation. It's the result of tonight's dinner with a one year old. We stripped Sunshine down and let her have her way with her spaghetti. The results were not surprising, but cute none the less. So we snapped some pictures not with our fancy-shmancy digital SLR, but with our nearly new touch screen phones. Mine came with a 3 megapixel camera and Hubby's has a whopping 5 megapixels. One day I'm sure I'll read this post and think, "I can't believe I thought that was a lot of megapixels on a phone!"



I know I haven't posted in awhile, but I've realized my life was even less interesting that I supposed it was. A day in the life: on the days I go to work, I send Sunshine to the babysitter, or Lisa comes and watches her. I come home and do a little cleaning and a lot of procrastinating, while playing with Sunshine. Depending on the time Hubby comes home, I might make us dinner. Then we tend to spend the evening "veg-ing" on the couch watching mindless TV, the Office on DVD, or the occasional movie. I get to bed usually before 12. On the days I don't work, I wake up when Sunshine does (between 8 and 9), procrastinate even more, and clean even less. I'm working on that. Days with TuffStuff and Miss Fancy are always a little bit more hectic as I pick them up from school, help with homework, and get dinner on the table.

On an unrelated note, Sunshine is starting to pick up Baby Sign like crazy lately. It's fun to realize she now wants to know the signs for certain objects. Words she knows very well are: milk, daddy, more, eat, water, hat, baby, hi/bye, ball, and Lisa. Words she's learning include: bear, book, please, thank you, cat, and "brush your teeth." I think we'll start teaching her "chair" for her booster seat she loves. There are probably a couple more I'm not recalling right now. She will often point to me and sign the object she wants, letting me know she'd like me to get it for her. I love how she's communicating at such a young age! The only words she'll say regularly are "Mama" (her new favorite since she realized it gets my attention) and "Uh oh." I think if we hadn't taught her baby sign, she might say a few more words but it's so nice to see her have the tools to get what she wants. Without tantrums! I'm very proud of her, and us, for the progress she's made.

Happy Birthday Little One!

I can't believe Sunshine is one! On Friday, we went up to celebrate her birthday with my parents in Logan. We got there much later than planned but they had made a whole party for Sunshine. There were presents, a cake, even streamers! Sunshine looked darling in her birthday outfit I had picked just for the occasion. It's completely frivolous and sweet and I love it.


Her birthday outfit


Opening of the presents!


The traditional eating-of-the-cake

All in all, we had a fun day. The year has flown by though! I'm going to miss her baby days, but I'm really excited about what's ahead, too.

In other news, Hubby had his surgery today. I'm glad it's over with. It was very minor, though they did put him all the way under. He had two wires inserted into his bone to help them heal properly. Those will be pulled out in a couple of weeks. I wasn't feeling well but I spent my day running to and from the surgical center and doing what I could to make him feel more comfortable. And go figure, all he really wants is to be left alone so he can sleep!

Chocolate Candy Cane Cake

Here's the cake I made for our FHE group tonight. Very delicious and quite festive! The holidays are over, but the candy canes won't get eaten next to all the other yummy candy in the jar right now. The recipe is from the Kraft Food & Family magazine. These are technically cupcakes but I managed to lose my cupcake pan. I realized MUCH later that I probably left it at my mom's house. My version is made in a cake pan.



Chocolate Candy Cane Cupcakes

5 squares semi-sweet chocolate, divided (I used chocolate chips)
1 pkg. chocolate cake mix
1 pkg. chocolate instant pudding
4 eggs
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. water
1 tsp. peppermint extract (this is my own addition)
6 small candy canes (I used average size), crushed & divided
1 tub Cool Whip

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop 4 squares of semi-sweet chocolate, set aside. Beat cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, oil, water, (and peppermint extract) in mixer on low speed until moistened. Beat on medium speed 2 min. Stir in chopped chocolate and 2 T. candy. Spoon into 30 paper-lined muffin cups (or a 13x9 pan).

Bake 20 to 23 min (29-32 min for cake pan) or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool completely. Frost cupcakes with Cool Whip. Melt remaining chocolate, drizzle over cupcakes. Top with remaining candy.

"I Think I Messed Up My Hand"

Last night, as I was walking out to my car to drive my sister home, my husband spoke those fateful words--"I think I messed up my hand." This was said standing next to a running snowblower. See where I'm going with this? He pulled his glove off and we examined his hand. It looked, well, funny. The snowblower was jammed so he stopped it and stuck his hand down the chute. Turns out the snowblower keeps going for about 30 seconds after you stop it. Thankfully, all fingers were still attached. The disaster, while serious, wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. We made the decision to splint it and I left to take my sister home. He called me 10 minutes later to say he decided to take it in to the clinic. I told him I'd meet him there. After a very long wait with a bored and tired baby, we finally got his hand X-rayed. I'm sorry friends, but I must share this picture with you. It's actually a very awesome break.



See the bend in the middle finger? Poor guy was in so much pain. We're standing next to the X-ray lightbox (I hope they have a cool name for that), taking pictures of the X-ray and joking around when the doctor comes in. First words? Hand surgeon. Not so funny anymore! He won't need surgery but according to the doctor, the surgeon will stick a needle in at the break (ow!) to numb it and then, and I'm not joking about this, CRANK IT FLAT. There are no words to describe how painful this sounds. Then the surgeon will be able to set it so it heals properly. I doubt Gary will let me, but I'm really hoping he'll let me come. It sounds interesting, in a gruesome sort of way. That is supposed to happen sometime today. Isn't it funny how just a handful (pun intended) of words can change your entire night?

I just found out that I can watch the new episode of Scrubs online and since my Tivo was also broken last night, I'm going to go sink myself into the fantastical world of Zach Braff and friends.

I'm Trying Not to Procrastinate...

...but it's a losing battle! I got home from work early, picked up Sunshine from the babysitter and couldn't pull into my driveway due to the snow. I even went slowly like Hubby said, but it was impossible and I really needed to go to the bathroom, so I gave up. Anyway, I've unpacked 1 suitcase (3 more to go) and I need to start laundry. I promised myself I would at least get the kitchen clean today too. It would be super helpful if Sunshine took a nap, though I know she's not tired yet. No matter what I'm doing I have to stop and care for her. She's starting to feel better but cries about everything and still has a nasty cough. She looks adorable today. I bought her overalls for Christmas (turns out they're capris--oops!) and she's wearing those with a white long sleeved onesie. Very all-American toddlery girl.

In other news, I've decided what I want to do for TuffStuff and Miss Fancy's birthdays (in May). I'd really like to get their rooms all decorated and organized. Right now TuffStuff's room has no decor. I'm thinking either a surfing theme for his room, or maybe skateboard? Miss Fancy shares a room with Sunshine which was decorated as a nursery. I'm going to try going for a Fancy Nancy themed room there. Sunshine's birthday is FRIDAY and I don't know what to get her. Definitely a couple of outfits. TuffStuff thinks we should get her baby Legos. I don't know what else... unfortunately we can't spend a lot right now!

This is kind of a random post today but I think it's because I'm in full procrastination mode. Perhaps I'll play with Sophia for a little bit and then when she goes down I'll get some work done. Yeah. That sounds like a good plan.

Sick Little Sunshine

Sunshine is sick. She's been mildly sick off and on for awhile now, mostly due to teething, but this time she's pulling out all the stops. She started getting sick on the cruise (we're going to look into a mild milk allergy) and while waiting for our much delayed flight, she was so miserable. She's got the runny nose, congestion, horrible cough, low to moderate fever, and she is cranky, cranky, CRANKY.

Whenever her medicine wears off, it's a nightmare. She'll cry and rub at her face, which naturally rubs the snot everywhere. She woke up at about 5 a.m. this morning. She had coughed herself awake. We can't give her any medicine for the cough, so we tried to get her to drink juice and water to soothe her throat. She hates to drink while she is so congested since she can't breathe. We finally got her to drink a little water from a cup. Then I gave her one of the sugar free suckers the doctor gave me "for emergencies" (note: his idea of an emergency was that Hubby was watching Sunshine and she was crying) but while she liked the taste, all she did was wave it around. She doesn't understand that she can just lick the sucker. She finally did fall back asleep and slept till noon. Don't get too excited, she's on Hawaii time, which would be 9:00 a.m. Oh well, it meant I also get to sleep in. I've got to fix our schedules soon.

Right now she's mid-medicine dose, so she's happily playing on the floor next to me. She's still very cuddly, which is fun. And oh, look at that. Even though drinking anything is nearly impossible, she's still happy to eat toilet paper. Wonder if there's any nutritional value to that?

Quick Memo

I wanted to quickly explain about the names. I've decided to use aliases for privacy purposes. So friends and family who may be confused:
Hubby is obviously my husband. TuffStuff is my 8 year old step-son, Miss Fancy is my 5 year old step-daughter, and Sunshine is my almost (gasp!) one year old baby girl.
If you choose to comment on these pages, please refer to the family by their nicknames. Thanks!

I ADD'ed it...

When I fail to do something because it lost its interest (or perhaps I forgot, or found something shiny), I tell my husband I "ADD'ed" it. Which is exactly what happened with this blog. It started out with plain forgetting, and not being sure HOW to blog. Then I procrastinated adding new posts, and then it was awkward to add new posts months later, knowing I would just 'ADD' it again.

So I'm diving in, a new year and a new start. We're just home from our lovely Hawaiian cruise. 24 hours ago we were boarding our extremely delayed plane in Hawaii. As fun and exciting as it was, I'm extremely grateful to be home. My house is mostly clean, my baby is happy to be in her crib, and the days ahead are blissfully unbusy. Since blogging last, I've started a new job (at a bakery), and just recently quit. It was an evening job and the toll of not being around my family wasn't worth it. I'm now starting as a photographer in the hospital, photographing newborns. It's very part-time but during the morning hours.

I swear future posts will be less wordy (and I swear there will be future posts) but to continue to update:

Hubby is still busy. Thankfully the crib is long since finished and it's beyond gorgeous. He outdid himself there! He's going to school part time and staying busy with the shop. He's happily getting his woodwork shop set up in the garage. We were lucky to find some koa wood in Hawaii for him to play with! I'm trying to get him on board with our post-cruise diet as we uh, went home with a little extra baggage!

TuffStuff and Miss Fancy are plugging away at school, and doing mostly well there. Miss Fancy is working on listening skills in class. She loved being on the cruise and virtually anytime we sat down to eat, she was introducing us to friends she had met in the Kids Club, and introducing those friends to other friends. She's quite the socialite! TuffStuff loved the Kids Club as well, and especially loved playing with Uncle D and his cousin.

Sunshine herself is almost--and I say this with mixed feelings--one. I can't believe it. She's grown so fast and starting to get a toddler look about her. She's already getting the toddler 'tude! She loves signing and has a few words as well. Right now she has a bad cough/cold/fever that are making her miserable. I wish there was something we could do but at least tomorrow we can spend the day snuggling and playing.

Those are the updates. I promise I'll post pictures this week of a few trip highlights. If I can figure out how. And if not, then I'll post again anyway. Just watch me. I will!