Christmas tree jammies

Just a sweet pic of Miles and Oliver in their jammies next to the tree.

Looking back...

Awww.... such special memories... Miles's first Christmas, 2005.
Living in San Francisco on Oak Street.

This is ONE SAD LOOKING TREE... LOL
And, look at those cheeks on Miles!


Of course there is a story behind that tree... I sent Derek over to the tree lot in SF while Miles and I waited in the car... and that is what he came back with! I am sure you can imagine my SHOCK with that tiny, sad looking tree! LOL!

Even funnier... Miles' first babysitter, Wilma, came by our house to drop off a Christmas present and asked "Where is your Christmas tree?" and I had to move out of the way so she could see it. We were cracking up! Sad little tree.

Tis the season...

{Miles giving Santa a high five at the Los Gatos holiday parade}

{The house in lights}

{Christmas tree with a crooked star on top}

Sweet and sour

A few tales about Miles... sweet and sour

Sweet:
Miles has three stuffed dogs...

{Left to right: Little brother, big brother, nose doggy}

(1) Nose-doggy: his favorite dog. My friend Lara gave it to him before he was born and he really started to like nose-doggy when he was around 1 or so. We realized that when we took his pacifier away, he started sucking on nose-doggies nose at night... hence the name "nose doggy". (And due to said sucking, poor nose doggy has undergone some pretty bad sewing jobs by yours truly and he's just a sad looking guy.)

{A close up of nose doggy}

(2) Big brother: this is a bigger sized version of nose doggy which I ordered when we lose nose doggy and I figured we needed a back up. Well, he turned out being bigger than nose doggy... hence the name big brother.
(3) Little brother: another attempt to find a back up for nose doggy but he's not quite the same... and he was named little brother.

Now to the sweet part... up until a few weeks ago, Miles would sleep with all 3 dogs and a gigantic monkey that Uncle Kevin gave Oliver. And when he would get up in the morning, all 4 stuffed animals would go where ever Miles went. Well, Miles decided that I should sleep with big brother and little brother at night. At first, he said that I could sleep with them for 5 nights, but he's now decided that I get to sleep with them forever. It really warms my heart that he's sharing his little doggy friends with me. Nice guy.

Now to sour:
Yesterday, Derek picked the boys up from school/daycare and Layla said that Miles had a very bad day. She said he was very confrontational and was using the word "S-T-U-P-I-D" very often. Hmmmm... this is not my Miles. He's usually very well behaved, so I can only assume he was tired, not feeling well, or just testing some boundaries. Either way, I wanted to nip it in the bud. So, I told Miles that if I get another report like that from Layla, he is going to lose his Advent calendar (which has chocolates) for good. I know, kinda extreme... but he is obsessed with his Advent calendar right now. This morning, I reminded him about the consequence for any bad behavior at school. I said "you will lose your Advent calendar" And said "And Oliver too" (LOL) I pretty much said something along the lines of... Ummm... no buddy, Oliver is not going to lose his if YOU are bad. Nice try though.

Sad little gingerbread house

The boys went to a birthday party on Sunday night and for the party favor, they gave the kids Gingerbread House kits.

On Monday night, Miles asked if we could make one and we said sure!

Derek was in charge of making the royal icing - BIG MISTAKE! First, there wasn't enough water so I told him to add a 1/2 teaspoon of water at a time. He heard 1/2 tablespoon and the icing was way too runny. He tried adding more powdered sugar but it just wasn't quite right.

While he was making the icing, Miles dropped one of the pieces - which I tried to "glue" together with the icing.

We tried to put the house together but it was just a disaster. The icing just wasn't thick enough so the walls were just falling over.

We looked over at Oliver who was happily sitting on the floor with a roof piece in his hand -- with TWO BITES of the roof gone! LOL.

The pictures are telling... it was one sad gingerbread house. LOL.

{Nice crack in the roof that I tried to "glue" together!}

{Ummm, do you see the two bite marks in the roof? Nice work, Oliver. LOL}

{Starting to fall.. sad little gingerbread house}

{Timber.....}

Thanksgiving 2009

We had a really wonderful Thanksgiving weekend this year.

In the early afternoon on Thanksgiving, I drove up to San Francisco to meet Christina and Justin's new baby boy - baby Henry. He was so tiny and precious - I couldn't get enough of him! I think he liked me too! :)

For our Thanksgiving dinner, I decided that I didn't want to host/cook a big dinner this year, so I suggested that we go to San Francisco and eat out. It ended up being a great decision. We had a yummy dinner with Derek's mom, sister, brother, and a few other friends at the Park Chalet (which is a very kid-friendly restaurant). Both boys were very well behaved at dinner (a rarity) and the restaurant has a big backyard/park that they could run around in while we took turns eating. There was no prep, no cooking, no clean-up... just a nice dinner with family and friends in beautiful San Francisco! Of course, the only thing that would have made it a better day is if my side of the family could have been there with us.

On Saturday, we drove down to Santa Cruz/Seacliff in the afternoon to visit my good friend Michele (from college) and her adorable family (Mark, and her two girls - ages 1 and 2). They were up from LA and rented an amazing house right on the beach and it was such a treat for the boys. They had a great time playing in the sand while mommy and daddy drank wine with friends. :)

Pre Thanksgiving Party at the Lu House

We had a pre-Thanksgiving party at our house on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. Our friends, The Burchards, were in town from Austin so we thought it was a good excuse to get all of our friends together.

It was a super fun night with lots of funny memories to share:
- As I was finishing getting dinner ready, I looked outside and almost every toy from the playroom had been moved to our driveway!?! I asked what was going on and the kids excitedly told me "We are having a garage sale!!!" HUH?! LOL. Too funny! (I made them put all of the toys back into the playroom shortly after)

- Uncle Kevin came over and the kids could not get enough of him! He chased them around the house pretending he was a monster and the kids had great fun (my ears are still ringing from their loud shrieks!) A bit later in the night, Kevin found some duct tape and stared taping up the kids. LOL. Of course this was all in the name of fun, but some of the parents weren't too thrilled about the idea of their kids being taped up/tied up with duct tape. LOL. Only Uncle Kevin would have come up with that one! In the end, the kids had cool wrist bands made out of tape.

- The kids then decided to have a little party in Oliver's crib (all while eating string cheese). They were all jumping up and down and I was wondering when I would need to go online to get Oliver's big boy bed because his crib would break. Alas, the crib survived and the kids had fun.



- Towards the end of the night, Miss Monica offered to read all of the kids a book on the guest room bed. Shortly after all of the kids went to the guest room, a few of the kids ran out of the room and said "Miss Monica fell off the bed!" LOL. She claims she lost her balance, but we can't help but wonder if she was over-served. :)

Middle of the night bugger

Mr. Miles is going through some middle of the night wake up madness that is about to drive me bonkers! Of course, I feel bad for the little guy but it's hard at 3am.

This morning, the little bugger tried to out smart me!

Last night at 3am, he came to my room saying that the cup of water in his room had spilled. HUH? I made him repeat himself because I was half asleep and I had to figure out how to proceed. So, we went into his room and his water wasn't spilled.
I told him to drink his water and go back to sleep.

This morning, when I asked him about what happened he said, "I didn't say that my water spilled, I said it MIGHT have spilled. "

Are you kidding me?!? He's only 4 and he's already trying to work me.

Oliver's 2 year stats...

Oliver had his 2 year check up on Wednesday and the appointment went great. The best part of the appointment was that Oliver no longer gets hysterical when he sees nurse Michelle or Dr. Lan. As Dr. Lan promised (with both Miles and Oliver) - the insane fear/stranger anxiety that kids have really goes away right about when they turn 2 and it's amazing how accurate that is. Oliver actually seems to have FUN at the doctor's office. Such a nice change.

Stats:
He's 31.5 pounds and 35.5 inches tall -- 75th percentile for both
Although, contrary to what I said above, he wasn't very thrilled about being weighed or measured (LOL), but both went quickly thankfully. Oliver is doing great and got a clean bill of health. We are so blessed to have 2 healthy happy boys.

Happy 2nd birthday, sweet Oliver

My sweet pea Oliver turned two today. We had a wonderful day celebrating ...

In the morning, we had a joint birthday party at Pump it Up, Jr. with Lily Logan. Oliver and Lily are two days apart and since we have a lot of common friends, it made a lot of sense to combine parties. Oliver and Lily had a great time with friends and family on the mini bouncy houses and slides - I am so glad that we booked the "junior" version of Pump it up so that they could run around fearlessly!

{Lily and Oliver gazing into each other's eyes (hilarious)}

{Oliver while we are singing Happy Birthday (notice the piece of pizza crust in his hand... the kid LOVES to have something, anything in his hand at all times!}

A few pics going back in time with Oliver and Lily...

{Lily and Oliver on their first date, November 2007, 3 weeks old}

{Lily and Oliver seeing who can sit up better, October 2008, 11 months old}

We spend the rest of the day at home with Goo Goo and my mom. We opened birthday gifts, played outside, and then grandma had a dance party with the boys in the playroom. They were having a ball dancing up a storm and busting some moves.

Gosh, I just cannot believe Oliver is two. It seems like just yesterday that we were celebrating his first birthday. It goes by SO much faster with the second child and every day the boys just seem bigger and older to me. I try to remind myself to forget about the dishes that need to be done and just cherish this time with them. It's so much easier said than done but it's very true.

My sweet friend, Christina (CC), shares the same birthday as Oliver. Happy birthday, CC! She is having her first baby boy any day now and I am just SO excited for her and Justin to start their family. They are both so down to earth and loving people - their little guy couldn't be born into a better set of parents. :)

No more mimi

My sweet little Oliver no longer calls me "mimi" (his version of mommy)

He's been calling me "mimi" for months...

And now he's officially made the shift to "mOmmmy".

Even if I ask him to say "mimi," he says "mOmmmy"

And while the way he says mommy is so sweet and precious ...

I am kinda sad that my mimi name is all gone.

He's growing up. His speech is improving every day.

They grow up way too fast and it makes me sad. :(

Sigh

Waiting...

Last night, we picked up the boys from school in two cars. Miles and I went to swim lessons while Derek and Oliver drove home to hang out.

When Derek and Oliver got home at 5:00, Oliver didn't want to get out of the car. He said, "I wait Milzah get home." "I wait mommy get home."

Derek asked if he wanted to get out of his car seat. Oliver replied "NO!"

Derek tried playing games with him from the front seat. Oliver replied "NO, daddy!"

So, they sat there... listening to music for at least 45 minutes in a hot car... waiting for Miles and I to get home.

Miles and I got home and there they were... sitting in the Honda... waiting for us.

That's some serious patience that Derek has. There is pretty much NO way that I would have sat there that long. Well, I am positive I would not have sat there for longer than 5 minutes, no matter what kind of fit Oliver threw.

And, it's very sweet (and kinda sad) that Oliver just sat in the car, waiting for his big brother and his mommy. I could eat that kid up. And I cannot believe he will be TWO on Sunday!

Spook-tacular Halloween 2009

{Mateo, Brent, Miles, Morgan, Anya, Oliver, and Carter}

We had a really fun Halloween this year! We invited several families from the neighborhood and other friends for a Halloween pre-party. We had lots of pizza, homemade chili, cornbread, and lots of other yummy treats.

The kids got comfortable with each other, we took some group pics, and then we headed out to trick or treat.

Oliver and I got separated from the rest of the group because he was very slow going - but it was fun watching him get familiar with Halloween. At about 7:30, we started to head home and I told Oliver that we could hit one more house before. The older kids were out in full force at this time and Oliver got accidentally tripped by a boy who was at least 7 or 8. The boy quickly turned around to say sorry to Oliver and make sure he was ok... but the boy was wearing a werewolf mask which scared the CRAP out of Oliver. Oliver screamed at the top of his lungs!!! It was HILARIOUS and all of the other parents around me were cracking up! The kid who tripped him immediately pulled off his mask to let him know it was just a mask (very sweet kid). Then, in typical Oliver fashion, he kept screaming because he realized it made people laugh. Silly boy.

Miles and Derek made it home around 9:00 and Miles was wiped out! He had a HUGE pumpkin full of candy and wanted to immediately count it.

The next morning, the first words that came out of Oliver's mouth when he woke up was "Elmo bag"! LOL. He wanted nothing but his Elmo bag of candy!

Oh the joys of Halloween! :) Good times!

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Earlier this week, we went to the Uesugi Farms Pumpkin patch with Layla and all of the kids from school. It's become an annual trip and the kids and parents really seem to love it. We always do the hay ride and it's a pretty ride on a big trailer being pulled by a tractor through pumpkin patches, big sunflower fields, and so many beautiful fall colors. Then we ride the train and carousel and run around the hay.

When we went last year, Oliver wasn't walking but he was very interested in standing next to a metal fence and banging a metal chain against the fence. Well, funnily enough... nothing changes in a year. Oliver walked by the same metal fence and was, again, intrigued by it. The proof is in the pudding, I mean pictures...

{2008}

{2009}

Some other pics from the pumpkin patch outing:

{On the hay ride}

{Trying to take a group photo, but the sun was in their eyes, LOL!}

Birthday celebration with family and friends

I recently celebrated my birthday and had very nice and mellow celebration at home with my sweet boys and Derek... and a few of my closest friends... Lara, Christina (with baby M in her belly), Justin, and Monica, Mallar, and Morgan. We ate yummy pulled pork enchiladas that Derek and I made together, chips and guac, margaritas, and a yummy cake from Satura bakery. It was exactly how I wanted to spend my birthday!

Some of my fav pics from the night:

{Morgan and Miles (and nose doggy) giving me some sweet love}

{Morgan and Miles helping me blow out the candles}

{Miles giving CC's belly a kiss}

{Lara (taking a little nap) and Oliver watching Mary Poppins}

Daddy talk

I am amused/bewildered/concerned (but mostly amused) at the things that Derek teaches the boys to say. It must be a dad thing to teach your kids "quality" phrases and sayings.

A few to share:
1) Last week, Oliver came up to me and said "What up dog?"
Teacher = Derek

2) Another time, both boys came up to me and said "Puhhh shawwww"
Teacher = Derek

3) Last night, Derek was teaching both kids to say (in a strong, masculine voice) "Step into a Slim Jim"

Oh, there's more...

4) Miles will say "Did you get tickets?"... "For the gun show" (and flexes his muscles)
Teacher = Derek

5) Miles also says "Do you hear the thunder? Because here comes the lightening"
Teacher = Derek

(Author's note: I truly look forward to the day that we get a call from Miles' school/teacher asking where he learned such phrases. I will immediately hand the phone over to Derek and say "Here Derek, it's for you." LOL)

Oliver passes Layla's hair cut test...

Oliver's hair was just looking hideous - way too long on the top since the last time Derek tried to take him for a haircut, Oliver was just crying hysterically and Derek gave up after about 5-10 min. So, I finally asked Layla if she would take him.

I swear, she has magical powers (or she drugs them, lol) and somehow she gets kids to stop crying and freaking out while they are getting their hair cut. She took Miles for us when he was around 2 and ever since then, he's been fine getting his hair cut.

And... yesterday was the same with Oliver. She said he cried a bit at first, she told him to stop, he took a deep breath and stopped. And, viola... Oliver's hair is now nicely cut and even! She's the best for taking him - I LOVE HER!!!

Here is the big boy Oliver with his new haircut. He looks so big (and orange). I can't believe he will be two in 1 month:
And Miles is getting harder and harder to photograph - he just refuses to sit and smile for a picture. So, here's an action shot (with a lollipop in his mouth - how safe, NOT!). Doesn't he look way too grown up in this picture! What the heck?! :(

A family of fast eaters

This morning, Miles and Oliver were sharing a bag of Annie's bunny fruit snacks. I said to Miles, "Make sure you get your fair share because Oliver eats those very fast." Derek said "I eat fast too." And Miles said "And Papa eats fast too!" (his grandpa in Seattle)

Oh my god... we were dying laughing!

A fun fall weekend

We had a really great, busy, fun fall weekend with the boys!

On Saturday, we took the boys to their first Stanford football game (and it was my first game too). We tail-gated before hand with some friends and the Stanford (crazy) marching band came right up to where we were and played a few songs. Miles even got a high five from a saxophone player and he was THRILLED. We went into the stadium and attempted to watch the game, but pretty impossible to do with two active boys cruising around. We also attempted to take a family picture, but Miles didn't want to be in the picture. :( However, my smart boss reminded me of this great Adobe product called Photoshop, so Miles is now in the picture! :)

After the game and naps, we went to Layla's (our amazing daycare provider) for an amazing Pakistani dinner. The kids got to run wild in her house - something they never get to do - and the adults got to eat delicious food. We got home fairly late and I decided to let Miles spend the night in our room with us. Daddy quickly went to the couch, but Miles was in 7th heaven! It's sweet how excited kids get over the little things in life. :)

Sunday, we drove to Los Altos to meet up with Celine, Carlos, Lou, and Alice for the Los Altos Fall Festival. The weather was perfect - sunny, but a nice crisp breeze in the air. The kids had lots of fun in the jumpy house, slide, and then got a fun ride on the "train"!


Sunday afternoon, our friends Bob, Pilar, and their adorable baby girl Julietta came down from SF for an early dinner. They were so sweet and they brought gifts for everyone! It was like Christmas in October! Auntie Lisa joined us later and we had a really nice night.

The boys were so much fun this weekend and I felt like we were one big happy family. Good times. I love fall.

Monkey See, Monkey Do... Part Deux

Look at these two monkeys!
I mean... really? Nice fake crying boys! LOL.

And, i just crack up at the fact that Oliver loves to do whatever Miles is doing... right down to playing with his feet! LOL.



(Oh, and nice dead basil plant in the background. Neat.)

I'm in love with you

This morning I dropped the kids off at Layla's and since I work from home on Friday's, I decided to hang out for a while... I like chatting with Layla and seeing the kids play.

Oliver grabbed a few books and I started reading to Miles, Oliver, Sarah, and Peyton. One of the books was an animal nursery rhyme singing book.

As we were all singing and having fun Miles looked over at me and said "I'm in love with you mommy" without missing a beat and kept on singing.

It was very sweet and it warmed my heart all day long. Such a sweet boy and he LOVES his mommy!

I love cake

Mmmmmmm....




I just have to say that he sure takes after his mommy in these pictures. LOL

Fall = new background

In honor of my FAVORITE season - I decided it was time to change my blog background.
I simply love fall.
I've always loved fall.
As a child - I loved going back to school, new beginnings, seeing old friends.
I love the crisp smell in the air.
I love the cooler evenings.
I love the colors of fall.
I love October... my birthday and Halloween.
And then I love the holidays that follow... Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Mileszah

Oliver has started saying Miles... but he says "Miles-zah" I love it and can't get enough of him saying it.

Too bad he has a mouth full of cheese in this video, but you get the idea...

The things you will do...

We had our good friends Monica, Mallar, and Morgan over for dinner last night. Miles, Morgan and Oliver were happily eating dinner in front of the TV (you gotta do what you gotta do on a Friday night to get some adult time).

Of course Oliver ate his dinner quickly and he doesn't get very into watching TV, so we needed something to keep him busy. In an effort to buy ourselves a bit more time at the dinner table, we told him to get the Dirt Devil (hand vacuum) and clean up the rice on the floor. Well, he was more than happy to do so... and we just kept throwing more and more rice on the floor and he kept busy vacuuming for at least 20 minutes or so. LOL!

Gosh, the things you will do to get a few more minutes of time to eat your dinner!

Yesth

One of my favorite words that Oliver started saying recently is "yesth" (yes). I want to eat him up when he says it.

Lil Bruiser

While I was away this past weekend, enjoying a wonderful Girls Weekend in Seattle with my mom and sister (and of course my dad)... Derek was at home with the boys. He invited some of his guy friends and their kids over on Saturday to hang out.

Derek took this video of the kids dancing in our bedroom (please don't ask me why they ended up dancing in our bedroom?!) and lil Oliver is a little bruiser/troublemaker!!! What is his deal??? First hit takes a few sucker punches at sweet Morgan (clearly he needs to learn that you do NOT hit a girl!) and then he tries to ride Will like a horse! Derek said that he had to stop recording the video so he could get Oliver off of Will. LOL! He seems to be a true (John) Ramstetter! This guy could be trouble!!!

Goo Goo's birthday celebration

We had Lisa (Goo Goo), Kevin and his g-friend Mai, and Hao-bu (Derek's mom) over for Lisa's birthday celebration on Monday night. It was a really nice night - the weather was perfect for dinner outside and it's always nice getting together with family.

The food was very yummy, if I do say so myself. By the request of the birthday girl, we made babyback ribs which we slow cooked in the oven for 4 hours and when they came out of the oven, they were falling off the bone. Also by request, we made pork chops which we brined all day and then grilled them. With the chops, we made a onion-peach marmalade to go on top of the chops and they were delicious. It was very easy and sooo good.

Here's the recipe for the pork chops... I highly recommend it:
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1816274

We finished the night with a birthday cake and Miles and Oliver loved helping Goo Goo blow out her candles.

Happy birthday, Lisa! Here's to a great year! XOXO