Sunday, May 25, 2008

If the shoe fits

So any of you parents out there will appreciate this. Shoe shopping with a 3 year old is quite a chore. First of all some background info.: Ella has extremely long (size 12 1/2 at age 3??!!), narrow feet and has "flexible flat feet" (ask me later). Finding shoes that fit her has always been an impossible task. My favorite preschoolians don't come large enough for her anymore, and going to shoe stores like Payless or shopping at Target, etc. is just not gonna happen for us--you can't find anything that fits. Her foot is IMPOSSIBLE to fit! She requires good expensive shoes, which I'm o.k. with for her everyday shoes.

Anyhow, she's been in desperate need of a new everyday shoe (I won't tell you how embarrassed I am by the size difference in the old and new pair...). So David took her to Alamo, our local shoe store and came home with a great pair of Umi's, but in a color/pattern that would be great for fall not spring/summer! So I resorted yet again to online shopping with zappos -which I love. So we select four pairs and order them (free delivery in both directions, usually arrives the next day). We begin the trying on process and clearly eliminate two pairs that just don't fit her skinny foot. It's down to two others..a Nike that fits really well--prob. the best fit I've seen on her foot, and a Stride Rite that looks too wide to me. Note: The Nike shoes are pink plaid (all four pairs were of course pink), the Stride Rite are pink flowers with LIGHTS.

Ella is asked which shoe feels better and she quickly picks the LIGHTS shoes. After several times of asking and looking, etc. she swears the LIGHTS shoe feels better, in spite of our parental judgment that tells us the other shoe clearly fits better. So the next morning I tell her we're going to play a blindfold game today. She was so excited and kept asking all morning what it was, etc. So when I had the chance I made a blindfold out of a scarf and put it on her. I asked her to look down and tell me if she could see her feet and she could, so I told her to look up and NOT look down until I told her. Next I put the LIGHTS shoe on one foot, and the Nike on the other and parade her around the living room while she's looking up toward the ceiling with the blindfold on the whole time asking, Mama! What are we doing? How do we play the game? After a couple of minutes I very slyly say, Ella, keep looking up, but reach down and touch the foot that feels more comfortable.........she immediately reaches down and touches the NIKE shoe, I have her pick again and leave her hand in place while I take the blindfold off and let her see which shoe she selected. Then I say, I guess we'll return the LIGHTS shoes and keep the Nike's (swoosh shoes as she calls them). She kind of laughs and I promise that some day we will get her shoes that light up......

For the record she loves the shoes so much and they are so comfortable that she wants to wear them around the house (we usually take our shoes off inside)!

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As promised

Here are some new pictures to make you want to come and visit us....

Nicholas 5 weeks, Gabriella 3 1/2 years:

Imitating Mama

Papa for my pillow


Love the dimple and the thigh rolls!

Nicholas 6 weeks, Gabriella 3 1/2 years:



Nikky's new toy that big sister Ella loves

Look at my fat tummy in the bathtub!

Hangin' with Papa

My little tea lover

"Lady Godova"
As opposed to "Lady Godiva"... Ella created
this alternate similar name for when she
rides her horse WITH clothes on. We call her
Lady Godiva because she LOVES to ride
her horse naked at night when she's getting
ready for bed. So this
photo qualifies as
Godova, not Godiva since
she has
her panties on.......my crazy girl!

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Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Paranoia, etc.

So I'm considering making our blog private, which means I first have to "invite" you to view it, and from then on you have to log-in to blogger to view it. Currently, our blog is not private but is not part of my profile and not listed in the blogger or google search engines--unless you have the address or are just clicking through blogs on blogger, you can't find it.

But I guess now that I have two kids, I'm thinking even more about all the crazy people in this world just lurking around to find out info about you or your kids to do any number of horrible things to them or to you. Recently on a parenting type website I was reading through some threads on a message board and there was a warning at the top to never mention your address (duh!), city (unless you live in a large metro city like Chicago, NYC, etc.), hospital where you will have your baby, etc. because they've caught predators browsing to find info, etc. Such a sad world, but that's reality.

Any thoughts on if you would still take the time to read our blog if it's private and requires the initial invite (meaning I need to know you and your e-mail address, and that you want to read my blog), and then you logging in every time? Please post a comment or send me an e-mail to let me know, then we'll make a decision.

New kiddie pics coming soon!
Nicholas is now almost 10 lbs and 21 inches long, a healthy growing boy with a beautiful smile. Big sister Ella is HUGE in comparison. It's always strange to give her a bath, or something similar after spending so much time caring for Nicholas. She just seems HUGE! BTW, she's counting down to Memorial Day for the long awaited beach opening.......

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Friday, May 16, 2008

Snooze Baby

The other morning, it was about 4 or 5 a.m. and Nikky and I were up--he was crying. Suddenly David starts reaching for his alarm clock, hitting it several different times trying to find the snooze button, then he opens his eyes, looks over at me, looks at his alarm, and goes back to sleep. You see, his alarm was NOT going off. He was trying to snooze Nicholas' crying!

Too funny! At least to someone that only sleeps a max of 3 hours at a time..........

Monday, May 12, 2008

Life is Beautiful

Ann Sather cinnamon rolls. My husband did six loads of laundry. My son smiled at me for the first time. My daughter asked , "Mama, will you marry me?" A perfect Mother's Day. Life is Beautiful.

(The pearl bracelet was nice too :-))

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Tuesday, May 06, 2008

3 meal day

Yesterday was a 3-meal day. Yes, that's right. I successfully cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner. And we're not talking my favorite Trader Joe's toaster waffles or heating up leftovers that friends have brought to us....I made oatmeal (stovetop--no instant around here) for breakfast, grilled cheese with Tillamook cheddar and goat cheese on sourdough bread for lunch, and delicious turkey burgers for dinner. Glamorous? Well, no. However, it fed Ella and I three times, but my midwestern husband opted out of my Californian turkey burgers for dinner and had a leftover pork chop instead.

In my book (my new book with a 3 1/2 year old and now 4 week old) that's a successful day!
Don't you want to congratulate me?

And if you haven't noticed, check out the sidebar for my latest blog feature "Quote of the Week". I could probably do quotes of the day around here, but we all know I would never blog on a daily basis.


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Saturday, May 03, 2008

Growing fast


1 week

2 weeks

3 weeks

Baby Dedication

1st trip to the park