A Santa Claus Mystery Solved

Ever wonder how Santa has enough time to make all his deliveries in one night?

On Christmas morning, before we let the girls out to the living room, Nate teasingly said to Cate, "I don't know if Santa made it last night. I didn't hear any bells, so maybe he ran out of time."

To which Cate replied (in all seriousness), "That's not true. Santa had enough time because there's lots of bad girls and boys."

Santa Visits the Maynards!

Look who stopped by our house the other day! Santa must have known Mom and Dad didn't want to wait in line at the mall.
The girls were (of course) totally terrified of him. But Cate did get a chance to make her Christmas wish...Barbies.

Later that night I said, "Wow! That was so cool that Santa came to our house today!" Cate replied, "Yes. It was magical."

Happy 5th Birthday to Cate!

Cate's birthday post is overdue! I was going to do this the night of her birthday but ended up crashing on the couch with a major cold as soon as she went to bed that night. Still not over it and Cate is sick as a dog herself. Poor thing. Hopefully we'll all be better by Christmas!

Cate had a GREAT birthday! It was the school holiday party that day, which she loved. And it was Cate's family party year, so we went to a special dinner at Cheesecake Factory.


In addition to the birthday ice cream sundae that the waiter brought out to her, Cate also got to pick her very own giant piece of cheesecake as her birthday cake. She chose Oreo and she still has a little bit left - it's been so cute how she's rationed it out to last so long. When we got home she opened her pile of presents from family members - thanks to everyone who so dutifully mailed presents to the girls! I know Christmastime is crazy, but it means so much to them. THANK YOU!


I can't believe you're FIVE years old, Cate. She can't believe it either...she kept saying that all day. It was adorable. We love you so much, Cate. You are an amazing little girl with such an empathetic heart. We love you!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Anna Louisa!

It's official, Anna is 2! Yesterday she started singing "Happy Birthday"...we didn't even know she knew the song. She just knew her birthday was coming, I suppose!


Anna had a good day. She played all morning, had a nice lunch, took a LONG nap, then woke up to a Spiderman cake in her honor. Yes, she loves Spiderman. You can almost always find her with at least one Spiderman band-aid on an arm or a leg. And, yes I love how her cake came out! Cakes scare me, they're hard...so I was RELIEVED more than anything with how this one came out. Anna really liked it, which is all that matters in the end.


We had only two friends come over to party with us...Jackson and Thomas. They both love Anna (and she loves them)...but Jackson really loves Anna. When they were leaving he just couldn't resist giving her multiple birthday hugs. It was really sweet.


Cate did a good job helping Anna celebrate. In fact, the first thing Cate said this morning when she woke up was, "It's Anna's birthday!" She went to bed tonight very excited about the fact that "on the next daytime" she will be 5. I think Anna's birthday being the day before really helps get Cate revved up for her own birthday.


That shiny pink nightgown that Anna is wearing in all the pictures was her favorite birthday gift. It's a "Mormon Handicraft Classic" that comes complete with a sheer robe. Pretty funny...I had these nightgowns when I was a kid and LOVED them, so my Grandma Blomquist got one each for my girls. Anna opened the gift and immediately started to put it on. She left it on all night and went to bed with it over her pajamas. What can I say, she's a woman of diverse tastes...Spiderman, frilly satin sleepwear...it's all good.

My favorite part of today was when Anna woke up from her nap. All she wanted to do was cuddle. I picked her up and sat in the armchair with her for a little while. It was quiet, the Christmas tree was on and I could hear Cate chattering in the other room. I started to sing Silent Night to Anna and, of course, got choked up. Having our babies at Christmastime has always been really meaningful to me. It's such a crazy time of year I don't get many moments to appreciate it. I'm really glad Anna is such a big cuddler so that I could have one of those moments today. Holding her in my arms this evening I felt an overwhelming feeling of peace and gratitude. Anna, I'm so happy you are part of our family. We love you!

pennsylvania maynard

cate just said to me, "don't you think pennsylvania is a pretty name?"

"sure, cate. so pretty. do you know that's a state, like california?"

"that's the name of a state?" cate asks, with complete astonishment.

"yes it is."

"if we have another baby girl {editor note: no, this is NOT an anouncement}, can we name her pennsylvania?"

all I have to say is no other maynards better steal that name from us - it's ours! ;)

Happy Halloween!

Our Halloween has started out nicely...we had bagels with pumpkin cream cheese and we're going to carve a jack-o-lantern in a few minutes. Cate also recorded some lovely Halloween songs to brighten your spooky day!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9s8sy2XpoY

I'll take better pictures of the girls in their costumes later today when we're all dressed up...but here they are at Cate's preschool this week! As you can see, Cate was very happy that day...but Anna was having a rough day. Maybe because her mom smashed three of her fingers in the car door? That couldn't be it, could it?

And here are the girls in their Halloween shirts on the preschool pumpkin patch field trip!

prepare to be thrilled...

nate's brother jake's girlfriend mary is awesome. we love her. we always knew she was cool. but now she's proven to be far too cool for our family. check it out!



mary is in front, second row, on the right, olive dress and dark hair. you are frighteningly awesome, mary.

if this doesn't make you smile...

...I don't know what will. :)

(sorry it's out of focus. moments like these are better captured fuzzy than not at all!)

The Pumpkin Patch!

We made our annual trek to a faraway farm to pick pumpkins! Here in Menlo Park we like to drive down to the coast to Arata's Pumpkin Farm. They have tons to do, and everything is set up with hay bales and hand painted signs, so it's really cute instead of ugly and cheesy.

Anna's favorite part was probably walking through the corn field. She would just laugh so hard plowing her way through. She walked around carrying that tiny pumpkin a lot of the time...oh my goodness, how can she be so cute? Oh, one more thing I don't want to forget...whenever we'd say something about the "pumpkin patch," she would say "PATCH! PATCH!"

Cate has always been a champ at getting her face completely dirty. It's very endearing.

This was the PERFECT spot for some pictures. Too bad Cate takes after her dad and can't handle the sun...and Anna simply refused to look at the camera.

I do love this one.
We joined a bunch of friends from playgroup at the farm. We drove down with Michelle and Thomas Garff (Cate and Thomas are really good buds, it's SOOO cute). I just love this picture of them! Sad that big brother Jackson was at school and missed out on the fun.

The girls got to do pony rides. They were both unbelievably relaxed, it was great. Cate said this was her favorite part of the day.

Anna on her noble steed.
(I don't even mind that that guy is in the picture...he was so kind and good with the pony and the kids. He was telling me about how long each of the ponies had been doing rides, etc...it was cute.)

In addition to pony rides, we decided to try out the hay bale maze. I've never done one and for some reason was very intrigued by it. Well, it totally lived up to my expectations! The maze at this farm is HUGE and very well done, completely with hidden doors! Michelle and I were split up for a while (Michelle had Cate & Thomas, I was with Anna)...neither one of us could figure it out and we were in there for a WHILE. We gave up and decided to go in through the exit to see where we were messing up...believe it or not, it was still really hard even backwards! Kind of surprising. Anyway, Michelle and I had fun, Cate & Thomas loved it, and Anna had a blast...she was seriously SO CUTE the whole time.
(if you want to see the above picture better, just click on it...they're so cute.)

move over bob dylan...

anna's been eating crispix a lot for breakfast lately. this morning I decided to mix it up, so I pulled out the cheerios and said, "do you want cheerios today?" anna responded, "Yes!" then she started singing...an original song!

"I, love, yeh-yeh-yo" (in case you want to sing along, "I" "love" and "yo" are held out a little longer.) she sang her little song over and over. seriously, the next mozart? or at least the next bob dylan? I think so.

for the record...I'm not entirely sure if she was saying she loves cheerios or cereal...she says them both exactly the same. but that's alright, can anyone understand what bob dylan is saying?

the other morning she was laying in bed between nate and I...I was trying to find something and talking about how I couldn't find it. anna said, "what happened?" it was so funny.

oh - one more thing - yesterday when I was getting her dressed, I took off her diaper and she was standing up, then she started moving her hips in circles, very shakira-like. it was so funny...then she grabbed her bum and said, "da poop." okay, this may just be funny to her parents, but honestly, it was so so funny.

tooth update...#8 popped through this week...one in the back, which is totally out of order. not only are her teeth slow, they're confused.

Family Prayer

Cate's opening to her prayer tonight: "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. You're welcome that we went to church today..."

Welcome Maddox Hans Wallin!

I can't believe I haven't posted the latest Wallin news...my brother Christian and his wife Cora had their first baby a few short weeks ago! Maddox Hans Wallin is as cute as can be and the whole family is on cloud nine. We love you little Maddox...wish we were in NJ so we could hold you!!!

Wacky Pictures of Anna

Our own little Draco Malfoy.

Anna put this outfit together all by herself. She has a good eye, don't you think?

Step Aside, Michael Jordan

1st day of pre-k! and things to remember

Cate had her first day of school this week! She told me in the car the other day that she LOVES her new school (which is the same school, btw, just different classroom and teachers). Anyway, Pre-K has started very happily for our cutie patootie. Oh, and for those of you who know about Kate with a K...they are in the same class again this year. Much to both of their delight!

Here are just a few (ha!) pictures from our first day of school photo shoot!

Nate and I just love these little teeth!

Looks like she's been watching a little too much Project Runway...or maybe modeling just comes naturally? (Author's note: no, I don't let her watch Project Runway!)

I could not get Anna to look at the camera, this is the best shot we got with her!

Look at that cute face!

Looking so coy and innocent...hmmm....

I love this slightly grumpy look.

Of course we had to get some silly shots in...this was the best one.

We also went camping last weekend at Big Sur. It was wonderful. I'll do a post about that soon. Both girls had a blast. I just felt so grateful for my little family all weekend, it was overwhelming. We are so blessed.

A few things I don't want to forget:
- Anna's 7th tooth popped through this week. Our kids have the slowest growing teeth ever! So, 4 on top, three on bottom (the 7th is on the right...this is me documenting it for my own reference).

- We recently rented the Disney version of Robin Hood. Cate LOVES this movie. Wants to watch it all the time. Anyway, the first time we put it in and it came up on screen, it all came back to me...I practically have the movie memorized myself after all these years. Anyway, when I saw Robin Hood, that bright orange fox cartoon, I remembered thinking how I thought he was so handsome and dashing...and now, looking at the cartoon as an adult, realizing how funny that is. Well...last night Cate and I were eating dinner together and she said, "Do you think Robin Hood is handsome, Mom?" To which I replied, "Do YOU?" Cate's answer: "Yes. He's the handsomest in the world." Like mother, like daughter, eh? So cute.

- Cate calls drive-thru's at fast food restaurants "drive-outs"

- Whenever Cate sees a little white butterfly she'll say, "look, there's the butterfly!" so I recently asked her, "THE butterfly? Do you think it's the same one every time?" To which she replied,"Yes it's the same one." I asked her, "Do you think there might be more than one?" Cate: "No, it's the same one." Love that her little mind just assumes there is only one white butterfly in the world.

- Both Anna and Cate LOVE the Beyonce song "All the single ladies." And, to my defense, they heard it on the radio, made me keep it on there and promptly fell in love with the song. You can frequently catch Anna singing "Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh" at random times during the day. I have a video of Cate singing it, it's hilarious. I'll download that soon. PS, she thinks the word are "All the Single Lets! All the Single Ladies! All the Single Lets! All the Single Ladies." She also now knows that single ladies are girls who aren't married, and knows that she and Anna are both single ladies. Oh, the conversations we've had thanks to this song...

- Anna was walking around with just a diaper the other day (her favorite outfit, by the way) and Cate started calling her "Nipples"...we laughed, of course...Cate replied, "That's what I'm calling Anna." So, apparently that's Anna's new nickname, which will be short lived and confined to the walls of our home!

Cape Cod 2009!

Time to report on our week at the Cape this year! It was WONDERFUL! Nate's parents and my parents and Nate's aunt each rented a cottage on the same beach. At one point all of our siblings were there from both sides, which I'm guessing probably hasn't happened since we got married. It was such a fun week. Both families get along beautifully with each other.

Cate and Abby were really good together this year, the best yet. Cate couldn't get enough of Abby. Occasionally Abby needed a little downtime from Cate, but even when Cate showed up during the down time she was such a good sport and cheerful. It was really sweet. Okay, here goes!

The annual stair picture...which isn't technically on stairs this year, but it looks like it so that's good enough!

Cate loves this new dress I got from my friend Ciaran...and she received many compliments when she wore it! Sorry it's out of focus...

Mac, Brian's dog, who is calm and kind. A fun "friend" to have at the cape for the kids.

Hannah.

Jess and Anna. I love this picture so much.

Herm's annual belly battle with whoever happens to be pregnant...Cora and Herm are really fighting it out (note the raised fists).

Awww, sweet Anna cuddling with uncle Christian. She really loved sitting on his lap and playing games with him. It was very cute.

I think the following went something like this. "Mom, are you working? Hello, you're on vacation!"

"Work? What work?"

Look out, Diggnation.

Seafood Sam's dinner! Hannah is missing, and some people look a little upset. They're not. This was the first shot, so not everyone was ready. But I only had my 50 mm lens, so this picture had the most people in focus.

Everyone thought this was pretty funny. The wind blew into the house exactly right so that it would blow up my dress whenever I stood by the stove.

Anne and her cute friend Kristen, who fit right in with everyone. Cate was completely in love with Kristen by the time she and Anne took off for Utah a week later.

The soon-t0-be parents! Baby Boy Wallin will be here any day! :)

Nate and Hannah.

Sara, Jess (with her bee-ah) and Cuyler. By the way, it has been determined that Cuyler is in fact everyone's favorite, including my parents. We think he is in the will. Our parents will neither deny nor confirm this fact.

The beach where we stay has beach on one side of the houses and a salt marsh on the other side. The house my parents rented had a dock on the marsh. The owner of the house told us we could go crabbing with bacon. The girls LOVED doing this. It was very cute. The dock was a lot of fun. Too bad none of those boats were ours!

Colby.

Notice the bandaid? Yeah, Colby jumped on the bed and ended up having to go for stitches. Little boys sure do keep things exciting!

Cate.

One of the things I love about going to the Cape...it always brings out the curls on the girls.

Sara and our girls.

Hannah and Norman. Also known as Normah.

Abby and Cate dining.

Welcome to "Happy Tat!" (That's the name of our new tattoo parlor)

A few of us got a little mesmerized by applying temporary tattoos from the party I helped throw at BlogHer. We were able to create some pretty fun designs, especially with the henna version. Nate put three in a row on his neck and looked like a real tough guy all week. Well, until it started peeling off.

Abby's tattoo.

Anna's tatto.

Cate's tattoos.

Anna's other tattoo. It looks especially awesome so close to the diaper.

The Wallin crew.

Another stair shot.

Abby on the beach.

Grandpa Herms and Colby enjoy the water at low tide.

Cora at her finest.

Cora at her grumpiest.

The waitresses. (They had these cute matching waitress costumes and LOVED playing restaurant.)

Norman took these photos. I think they're hilarious. Apparently Cate and Abby got to lick the bowl when Mimi made a cake.

That's all she wrote. I was so burned out from SocialLuxe Lounge, I didn't take many photos during the Cape week. In fact, I didn't get one shot of Jake, but I know Pat did, so I'll add that when I get it from her. It was SO fun having Jake there this year...I think he even ended up having fun with the crazy Wallins.

Thanks to our parents for renting the cottages and making the Cape week possible. We are so grateful! Can't wait for next year!