We Have Keys!

Many moons ago, I think it was August, Franco and I decided to start looking at houses on the off chance that we found one we liked better than the one we are living in. With the flood of foreclosed homes in the area, prices were way down and it could be a good opportunity. Well, low and behold, we found one within a few weeks. It was a short-sale and was in escrow at the time, so we doubted that our low offer would ever be considered. Fast forward to November when it fell out of escrow and our offer was accepted. Despite a few bumps along the way, we signed our paperwork last week.

Yesterday evening our realtor brought us the key! Very exciting, right? Actually there was a mix up and the key we got last night was not the actual key to our new house. No worries, Franco shimmied through a window to let us in so we could look around. Yep, we broke into the house. Amazingly the cops did not show up, nor did any of our neighbors. I'm going to have to start a neighborhood watch program! This morning our realtor dropped off the correct key and we're back in business. The plan is to move by the middle of January. We've already found a family that is going to rent our current house. Looks like we're off to a busy start this new year!

Above is a picture of the new house. It is about 2200 square feet, single-story on a corner lot in a gated subdivision. It is only a mile or two from our current home, but has four bedrooms and two and a half baths. Considering that it hasn't been occupied for months, it is in pretty good shape. The yard actually looks better than that now. Someone, not anyone our realtor knows of, cleaned up our yard front and back. That was a wonderful surprise -- one less thing to do.

When we get all situated, we'll have everyone over for a party.

Our Unexpected Christmas

Despite being scheduled to leave on Christmas Eve, Franco was home for Christmas! What a nice surprise. He was put on home-reserve, so we couldn't go far, but at least we were together. We hung out around the house in our pajamas for the better half of the day, I cooked and baked up a storm, then we got put-together enough to go visit some friends that live here in town (the Telfords). Merry Christmas!!

Reunion Time

Each year my college roommates and I try to get together for a mini-reunion. There are six of us girls, five are married, and four have kids, so it gets harder and harder to find a day and time that works for everyone. Add to the mix that two of girls live out of state and it is amazing that we ever see each other. We took the kids to Coyote Point Museum in San Mateo and then followed up with lunch downtown. It was a really nice day.

From left to right is me, Sophia, Mayra with her nephew Amadeus on her lap, Tara with Tom and Abby, Michelle, Amy and Baby Ella (in the stroller asleep). Katie was the only roommate missing, but she is at home in Boston with her brand new baby girl, Mae. Franco was the only husband in attendance, so he took the picture with each of our cameras. As always, he was a very good sport about being the only husband there. If he hadn't gone, I doubt I would have had a chance to talk to anyone... Sophia is a very busy girl.

Sophia did really well that day, despite a two hour car ride (awake) and having her nap pushed back a couple hours. She passed out within two minutes of driving on the ride home -- she was exhausted!

Sophia's Second Christmas

Since Franco is scheduled to work the actual holiday, we wrote to Santa and requested to receive Sophia's gifts early. Boy, what a headache! We were on the phone with all kinds of elves, had to send an official copy of Franco's work schedule, a typed request stating when we would like her gifts, and then we had to sign a contract which had to be notarized. But this morning we woke up to presents near our tiny tree -- the man delivered as requested.

Sophia received a toy cellphone, a book, some crayons, and various other little gifts. She was really good about helping rip off wrapping paper. The phone was the biggest hit of the morning. She made us all take turns holding it to our ears (including the cat). Here she is as she walked around making calls:

When all was said and done we noticed that Sophia had acquired a few more duck items from Santa and her grandparents (who were all here yesterday). This called for a picture! We located all of the duckies, positioned them and the child on her new little sofa, and clicked off a few pictures before she had a chance to throw them in every direction.

That's a lot of duckies! I'm not positive if we managed to count them all, but there are more than 30. This evening we took a couple new ducks to the bath and found out that some only float on their side and one floated best upside down. Apparently hats and scarves are weighted. Sophia loves them just the same.

All Bundled Up

Sophia and I just returned from a trip to our mailbox. It has been cold and rainy off and on all day today. I know it is California and I know we have nothing to complain about when it comes to weather, but I'm not used to the 40's. Our box is about a block from the house so I bundled up Sophia in several layers and left her slippers on because they are warmer than her shoes. She rode in her stroller so we could keep our trip short. Isn't she cute?!

Arts and Crafts

Christmas came early! While Sophia and I were out yesterday afternoon at a friend's house, Bella (our cat) decided to make me a present. Actually she made me four. That would be four little piles of vomit. It was like finding eggs at Easter -- with my socks. OK, I actually only found the first spot with my sock because I ran into my room with the lights off to get my slippers. Then, after throwing on all the lights to figure out what happened, I found the other spots. I'm very glad that I was the one that managed to find them instead of Sophia -- much easier to clean the floor than the cranky one-year-old. Poor Bella, it's probably my fault that she was sick. She doesn't get brushed as often as she should since we had Sophia. Luckily she seemed to have gotten it all out of her system and is feeling better.

As for the sock, I decided that it was too old to bother cleaning. Normally I'm not such a sissy when it comes to cleaning such things, but I just bought a new pack of socks about 3 days ago and figured I could justify throwing away the one old one. There will be no pictures attached to this posting. :)

Toddler Photo Shoot

This morning I decided that it was time to do a toddler photo shoot. Now most of you know that I used to do baby photo shoots on a pretty regular basis -- they were easy and fun. Sophia used to stay put and was delighted to smile for a half hour while I made funny faces at her. Toddler photo shoots are much shorter, have a moving target, a more disgruntled subject and result in a lot fewer usable shots. Last night my dear subject also had a rough night of sleep and woke up extra early (5:45AM) -- neither of us were at our best. Lets take some pictures!

I snapped off about 20 total. Sophia smiled in 3. Her eyes were red in the first couple from tears -- she didn't want to stand or sit with a hat on. Then I gave her little ornaments to play with. She wanted to sit -- this is when I realized that her jumper was too short for sitting in any sort of modest way.



I think this is the picture that I like best, but there are a few more in the gallery.

Later in the morning Sophia became so tired that she started bumping into things. Now she has had a nap and is doing much better. However, I'm not into doing another photo shoot any time soon. I'll be content act like the paparazzi and just follow her with my camera.

Copy Kitty

Sophia, mommy's little copy cat, now likes to have lotion put on her hands and feet. Before she could take it or leave it, but lately she sees me doing something and she wants to do it too. Hand sanitizer gets the same point and "uh-uh-uh" action as lotion. She gets very disturbed if I don't at least pretend to rub some on her hands.

In the morning she wants a bite of whatever I'm eating -- she liked the crust on my whole wheat toast these last few mornings. Her crackers, cereal, and pancakes all get eaten more quickly if I have a bite first. Tonight we each had a spoon and took turns dipping them into the bowl as I fed her dinner. I hope this new phase lasts for a bit, because it is making meals a lot easier.

Bella update: Sophia loves and hugs on poor Bella all day long these days. Bella is taking it like a champ. She hasn't hissed or swatted or anything. She doesn't even run away half the time now. I think the cat likes all the attention.

And check out this hair. Most of the time it is so curly in the back that you can't appreciate how long it has become...

A Mystery Box

Late this afternoon I was talking on the phone and UPS made an unexpected delivery. I was pretty sure all of my orders had already arrived, but the box was addressed to me... maybe I forgot about something. Well, I opened the box and low and behold it was four big bags of candy corn. This cracked me up. Right after Halloween I wrote to Brach's and told them that I got a bag of candy corn "bits" -- it looked like the delivery truck ran the bag over a few times before it got to Target. When customer service didn't email me back I figured that they round-filed my complaint. Apparently not. According to the letter they appreciated my feedback and sent me some replacement candy. It's more than 4 pounds of candy corn! During Halloween I couldn't get enough of this stuff, but the moment has pretty much passed. I opened one bag tonight and it just tasted weird... wrong thing, wrong time. Oh well, I'm pretty sure it doesn't go bad. If anyone has a craving, let me know and I'll send a bag your way!

Santa Claus?

Today Franco and I took Sophia for her very first visit to Santa. Very exciting! We never managed to do it last year. However, Santa was not the jolly, sweet-looking guy that I saw on the news a few nights back. Instead he was looking a little "worn". Franco reminds me that he was nice and we didn't have to wait in much of a line since we went early in the day. Good points. Sophia handled the experience fairly well since we let her hold her polar bear. She didn't protest until later pictures (we don't have those to share). However, I did not get to see the actual photo until we got home because we purchased the digital photo and the copyright.

Maybe the people running the show didn't think that I cared what face Santa was making as long as my little darling was looking cute... Is it just me or does Santa looks like he's making a pirate face? Next year I'm holding out for the more "polished" Santa, even if it means standing in a bit of a longer line.