Lucky

Last post I mentioned that I was lucky.  A big part of why I'm so lucky is my wonderful support and family.  I was able to take off for a weekend because I have a wonderful nanny but even more so, I have a wonderful husband.  He was more than willing to watch the girls all weekend.  He even took Brizzy to her daddy daughter date while I was gone.

When I got home, this note was welcoming me, taped to the door.  

The San Francisco Treat

I am a lucky gal.  For many many reasons, but one of which is that I have some great friends who are almost as crazy as me and willing to take off to San Francisco.  Julia and Megan and I all went to San Francisco just for a break and for some much needed friend time.

The weather was a big bust, with serious rain storms two of the days.  We managed to have fun and it was definitely an adventure.

We had to sprint up a hill to catch the trolley ride, but we made it and of course rode on the outside as we toured Chinatown, Nob Hill, and Russian hill.

We took the Ferry to Alcatraz and we got dumped on, but it was really cool.  Last time I went to Alcatraz I was about 10, and I didn't remember too much.

We took a walk along the wharf and saw a cool ship, along with the aquatic park.  I loved watching the swimmers in the ocean.  I wanted to join them.

Walking along in Marina Park.

We had lunch at the Nordstrom cafe, looking out over downtown.

At Alcatraz they had an art expo with a bunch of guys' faces in legos.  It was cool at first, but there were too many faces and Middle Eastern names that I lost track.

I had so much talking and walking and relaxing with these girls.  It was a much needed break.

Activities

I continue to love watching Briz in all of her activities.  She is doing dance, basketball, and swim lessons right now.  

Superbowl fun

We were rooting for the Patriots, which was a bit awkward here in the Northwest.  Everyone around us LOVES the Seahawks.  But I will admit, I'm not a huge Patriots fan, we were more just cheering against the Seahawks since they beat the Pack.  

My biggest victory was in making these hamburger cupcakes.  

Wembley was a little stinker and made the night tough by refusing to sleep and screaming for two hours.  Turns out she just didn't want to miss out on the party.  She wanted to be around all of the other big kids like Connor and stick her fingers up his nose.

Sisters sisters

There is a part of me that panics as Wembley gets older.  It's going way too fast, and I'm worried one day I will wake up and my baby will be a toddler!  But at the same time, it has been so fun to see these two sisters become more close.  Briz loves to cuddle and hold her sister.  Wembley loves to bug Briz, and they both laugh and smile at each other all day.  

Most mornings we gather in our bed and cuddle and talk.  It's one of my favorite times of the day.

We love to eat together, even for lunch time.  Wembley thinks she's a big girl, because she can eat food while we do.  And her favorite treat is graham crackers.

Briz has her own treats as well.  We've been making a lot of different kinds of cupcakes and holiday treats.

Sunshine

It has been such awesome weather this year.  It already feels like April.  Tulips and flowers are being sold at the grocery store.  And as much as I want to pretend its spring, I just don't want to jinx our great weather.  

We have been trying to take advantage with some fun outings.  We went to the zoo.  We saw some animals we hadn't seen in a while.  Briz wanted to read every sign.  It was fun learning with her.

The black bears were out.

We spotted some of the bald eagles.

Briz loved the turtles.  They looked like they were waving to her.

We also saw a jaguar.

Another day we went to the childrens museum with Blair.

Wembley loved all of the action.

They loved putting on a show, complete with singing about bees and dancing.

January Highlights

I have been trying to be more on top of Brizzy's chores and her sticker chart.  She has a list of chores that she is supposed to do every day, and whenever she gets one done she puts on an x on her chart and at the end of the week, she earns a penny for how many chores she has done.  I have experimented with a few different systems for chores and this one seems to be sticking.  Her chores are: homework, piano, clean room, clean play area, and exercise.  Then on Saturday she has a special chore that usually requires help from mom or dad.  One day she she made her bed and said, "Look mom, I made my bed just like Nona."  When Nona is here, she will often do Brizzy's chores for her.  I give my mom a hard time for it, but it seemed to help Briz in this case.

We don't watch much TV, not having cable helps us with that.  But when we do watch Netflix, Briz is all about Daniel Tiger.  She has watched the first season I don't know how many times, but I'm perfectly fine with it.  She has been insisting for a few weeks that just like on Daniel Tiger I make some banana swirl.  I finally made Briz some banana swirl at home.  

Briz is a fun little shopping partner.  She constantly picks things out and is saying, "Oh mom, this is SO cute" . . . . "Oh wow, this is adorable!"  Usually her choices are quite interesting.  But this particular tank top that she picked out for her Dad had me laughing to myself for a while.

One of the girls I visit teach had twins two months ago.  She has had a lot of visitors, and our family has been off and on sick, so I was trying to stay away.  But no more.  I got to spend a whole morning just cuddling with these sweet babies.  It almost made me miss having a newborn . . . Almost.