Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Cate & Anna! (The only way I could get Anna to sit still longer than 0.0005 seconds was to let her eat a leaf.)

I took a bunch of pictures of Cate in her costume, then we realized after we forgot the antennas! So, I took a few close-ups with the antennas because, of course, we'd already removed her wings (don't worry, it doesn't hurt). Anyway, I'm glad I forgot them for the other pictures, because HOW CUTE are these?!?!




Here are her awesome, beautiful butterfly wings! I'm so glad she chose butterfly.

Thank you to Christy Robinson who was the original inspiration for the wing design. And thank you to Melissa Esplin who let me stay at her house for hours on end using her sewing machine, tools, cool wire, cool glue, etc...and for lending a helping hand!

I'll try to get more shots of Anna in her costume today...the girl is just so darn wiggly.

Wacky Hair Day

Today was Wacky Hair Day at Cate's school. Cate and I went with a spider theme, with great success! Her hair was definitely the "wackiest" of the class.


"Hey! What are you lookin' at! Mind your business!"

"Gross, I think that guy over there has a spider in his hair."

"He just found it and he's freaking out. That's funny."

"Oh man, that gives me the chills just thinking about finding a giant, black, fuzzy spider in my hair."

"Do I look like my dad right now or what?"

We're on a first name basis, here...

So I started this post on October 19. At the time, Cate was INCESSANTLY calling us "Jane" and "Nate." At first it was very calculated and funny. But I wasn't too concerned because if she ever wasn't thinking about it, she would say "Mom" or "Dad." But she did it so much it started totally slipping out unconsciously. At that point things got serious. Nate said he wouldn't answer unless she said Dad (he told her likes being called "Dad" because he's proud to be her Dad...so cute)...and Nate was pretty good. I never remembered until after I would respond. ANYWAY. I just sat down to write this and realized, she totally stopped! Weird. We didn't even notice!

I also typed this up, but I have no idea what "that" is...I hope I remember. But it still seems funny, kind of. Oh, I hope it comes back to me!

Cate: But we can't do that at our house.

Mom: Yeah, you're right.

Cate: Because it's dangerous. Not at their house, but at our house it's dangerous.

What in the world could THAT be?!?!?

Big Day for Anna!

okay, so not only did she sign "eat" - but at the park I was saying goodbye to someone and she started waving and said "buh-buh". go anna! :) oh, and, if she's in the mood, she gives kisses now!

Anna the Amazing, Part Two!

Anna's first tooth finally poked through two days ago. Yea for Anna!

We've watched Signing Times a little with Anna, but not much. And we've started doing some signs around her. This morning I SAID (not signed), "Do you want to eat, Anna? Do you want to eat?" And, I kid you not, clear as day, she did the sign for eat! Amazing!

Funny Cate thing. Last night she was kind of tired and, therfore, grumpy. She was in the tub waiting for me to get her out. When I went in the bathroom from getting Anna's PJs on, Cate says, "Mom, I'm stressed out." It was so funny.

The Girls Are Talkin!

So, Anna has made the "mama" and "dada" sounds for a long time. She does use the mama sound when she wants to eat, so we think she's saying it on purpose. :) We had another "we think she might have said a word" moment the other night! We were playing peek-a-boo two nights ago. Here's how it usually goes. The blanket goes on her head, we say "Where's Anna?" a million times, then she pulls it off and we yell "There she is!" We had done this several times and one time after she pulled the blanket off she said, "AA-NAH!" Cate and Nate were both witnesses. Then, the next day, I was pushing her into a fitting room and saying her name bunch and she said "AA-NAH" again. So, we THINK she can say her name! :)

The other day Cate went outside and goes running into the shade yelling, "It's too sunny!" To which I replied, "What are you a vampire?" Which of course she doesn't know what a vampire is...so, I say it's another type of Halloween monster who doesn't like light. But that they're not real. She says, "Yeah, but some vampires are real." I say, "No, they're just pretend, just like witches." "But witches ARE real, Mommy." "No, Cate, they're just pretend." Then things got pretty heated - she was not happy that I was saying that witches are pretned. Her final line was, "They ARE real, Mom! They fly!" That's her proof that witches are real. SO CUTE. So, I just said, "okay, fine, they're real." and left it at that. Apparently she's more upset by the idea that witches aren't real than by the idea that there are witches out there!

Our neighbors and friends Natalee & Rob have a little girl named Vivian who is 18 months old. Cate loves her and always makes sure she is okay at the park, etc. Cate has two other friends named Ava & Lilly who are sisters and closer to Cate's age - one a little older, one a little younger. Okay, so this morning Cate says, "Vivian is my best friend, Mommy." I say, "That's so nice, Cate." Then she says, "Ava and Lilly don't believe me that she is my best friend, but I know she is." It was so cute. I can just hear the conversation with Ava & Lilly - "No, Cate, Vivian is a baby. She can't be your best friend." Cate yelling back, "Yes she is!" Cracks me up. It's also crazy to me that Cate has her own life going on, that I'm no longer privvy to all of her conversations and interactions with people. I mean, I know it's been that way for a little while, but it's still crazy. She's growing up.

Life at Home...Spring/Summer 2008

Get ready, a whirlwind of life from Spring/Summer 2008 (after the Utah trip, before the big summer vacation).

One fun Friday we had Bring Your Kids to Work Day at Nate's work...and a Kung Fu Panda party sponsored by HP through Silicon Valley Moms Blog. Both events were a blast and Cate had SO MUCH FUN. Especially at the Panda party (blogging has given us some fun opportunities!).

Nate's lab's table at the work event was making ice cream. You shook that ball thing there forever and eventually it turned your milk and sugar into ice cream. And it was really good, to boot.
Anna was having lots of fun, as you can see!
Cate and Dad running near Dad's work...looks like Cate reached the finish line!

Cate got herself a bracelet and ring tattoo combo. Then it was off to the Panda Party...
...where she got a panda tattoo!
She was SO EXCITED to meet the Kung Fu Panda...but then she wouldn't go anywhere near him! But at least she smiled for the picture. (And, no, Jack Black was not inside the suit. Bummer.)
There was a Kung Fun Panda dance that they were trying to teach everyone. Cate watched this forever...and would have watched it the whole time if we let her. She was SO CUTE when she tried to do the dance. I can't explain how cute this was...she just loved it.
Cate got this silly mask in all her goodies...
...and as you can see, we had a lot of fun with it. Scary.



A trip to Big Basin State Park introduced us to our first fantastically huge redwood trees. They are just so awesome. We love this park. It was such a great day. I packed an awesome picnic (if I do say so myself) and there is a very kid-friendly 'hike' through some amazing trees...including the tallest and the biggest trees in the park.



Yes, pearls are a must when you visit the forest.
This shot is taken while we were standing in this tree looking up. It is alive, by the way. So cool.



Here's Nate's birthday...the girls look so happy. I love these little family birthday parties.
This is Nate's super duper lame-o birthday cake. I was going to try to make a big 3-2...but when I started cutting the cake, it was just falling apart. So I turned it into hand-cut cupcakes, which is a lot of work for really lopsided weird looking cupcakes. I recommend using muffin tins.

Our good friends Lindsay & Aaron are from the Bay Area but live in San Diego (we did a little swaperoo). Whenever they come up to visit family, they make sure to see us, which is so fun! We went to a Giants game with them on one of the trips and visited the House of Nanking for dinner in Chinatown before the game. Our car is the Ford Taurus right there. Seriously, LOOK AT THAT PARKING SPOT!!! Right outside the door. A San Francisco miracle.


I took Cate and Anna to a cute little mini amusement park in San Jose called Happy Hollow (it's currently under rennovation...we got in the last week it was open). Cate had a BLAST. They have all these cute little (dinky) rides that she just couldn't get enough of. She was very sad when I told her it was going to be closed for a year. I'm so glad we went!
It looks like that horse is going fast! Love the blowing hair...


I just like this picture.

And this one too.

This is Cate's little friend Addie, who recently moved to Chicago. Cate loves her and was very sad when she moved away. She would say things like, "If Ab-wee (her name is Adlee (sp eryn?!?!), and cate pronounces it very interestingly) moves away, I won't have any friends." It was very sad, but of course she is making many new friends. But we still miss our Ads. Thankfully her Grandma lives in town, so we'll get her for some visits!

Bathtime! Until Anna could sit up on her own, Cate would hold Anna like this in the tub while I washed her. It was so helpful! I love having a little assistant. She's such a great big sister!

I took these pictures of Cate one day when I needed a shot for the food blog. I just love them. I love this one a lot...Cate has been crossing her feet like that since Day 1. She would always do it when she was in the stroller, even when she was a little baby. So cute.




Phew! I'm tired! How about you? Next posts...summer vacation! But right now I'm going to bed.

Utah Trip - May/June 2008

Not long after we moved to Menlo Park, I took an impromptu trip to Utah with the girls. I drove. Yup, alone, with Cate & Anna. It went pretty well, actually...until the end. But overall, I cannot complain. And the visit to Utah was fantastic. So glad we did it! Here are a BUNCH of pictures...

Anne was our sidekick for almost the whole week. It was awesome. She was so helpful, and it was really fun spending so much time with her.

Even though our hotel room on the way to Utah had two beds, Cate of course had to sleep with Anna & I...and they both snuggled up right next to me, so I had about 4 inches of space to sleep in. Oh so comfy. But cute.

On the drive to Utah, it was actually snowing in CA as we passed by Tahoe. It was BEAUTIFUL. Cate was super excited, so we stopped at a closed ski resort so she could frolick in the snow, with her flip flops on. Such a California girl.
Colby and Anna...coupla cute cousins.

Our good friends from Boston, Jeron & Elizabeth Paul, recently had twins! Yea! Anna got to meet Simeon & Ciel while we were in town...the only friends we were able to see the whole trip! They were so sweet and it was awesome seeing Eliz.

One of my favorite parts of visiting family is they live in places that actually experience WEATHER. I sure miss a good storm. We had an awesome hail storm at my Grandma's one morning. LOVED IT. The pictures do not do it justice.

Grandpa Wallin meets Anna!


Grandma & Grandpa Blomquist meet Anna!

Grandma got lots of great cuddle time in with Anna. What a good baby!
Some cute shots of Grandma & Grandpa B...


I love this picture. I will always cherish it because I can just picture how Grandma's hands are moving, taking in her moments with Anna.

Here's our glamour girl...

Cate & Abby decided shirts were optional, spinning was not.

Okay, seriously, how CUTE are these pictures of Abby?!?! That hair! That face!


Apparently Abby has had more practice at applying lipstick...

Thanks to our Utah family for such a wonderful trip! Love you all!