Continuation

Two posts in two days? Yes.

I left out some stuff in my last post.

I forgot to mention that M was also out here from Hawaii for a week, and I not only got to see her once, but twice. So that was another thing that has kept me busy. Though I don't have any pics of the two of us, we had a blast and I want more than anything for her to move back. But, seriously, who wouldn't want to live in Hawaii? I miss you, M.

Additionally, I did mention in my last post that we did go to Maine for a wedding and there were three deaths in the past week that I knew of. Maine was more than fun, yet I cannot quite keep up with those East Coast fellows and how much they can drink. In any case, it was one of Josh's buddies from high school that was getting married, and who I have seen a number of times. His wife is the sweetest, and I got the chance to meet her a few years ago when they came out to visit. Josh lived with his friend's family for a while during high school, and he had butted heads with his friend's father. At the wedding and the day before, he and Josh got along like you wouldn't believe. They sat and talked for a long while, and it was now clear that Josh wasn't a punk-head high school boy, but an adult that now had a family. Unfortunately, he passed away two weeks later. This is not my story to tell, so I won't tell it, but I am glad that they were able to sit down and talk for a while. My prayers go out to their entire family...

What else can I tell you about Maine? Beautiful place. Delicious lobster. All I ate while I was there was lobster. The Lobster Shack is where Josh and I and our friends V and E frequented. I just wish we had a little more time there, but here are a few pics that I finally just now downloaded of our trip:




And speaking of girls getting bigger, here are a few more shots from the last couple of days:



Life is going by in a flash. More than anything I have realized over the last week, life is very previous. You can lose it instantly. Savor every moment, and try your best to be happy.

Where to Begin?

It's been a long time again...and just plain busy. Not sure where to start, though I know I am late on both Bea's and O's letters this month. For Bea, I am doing a big letter for next month as she will be 2 1/2, so I am bypassing this month. No excuses for O's, though.

My parents are in town, and have been since early in the month. They are now full time RVers and are currently staying about 20 minutes from our home. It's been nice having them around, and the girls have certainly loved getting to know them more. They'll be here until after the 4th of July, so it will probably remain busy for us until around that time.

In other news, is it true that everything happens in three's? Within a period of one week, I have heard of three deaths. One family member and two people I have met only briefly. The first two came as a shock, as those happened just two days apart. The third only came to me yesterday, but the death happened a few days prior. I have to be honest that when I heard about the first two, I was holding my breath for a third and hoped that nothing would happen and prayed for everyone to be safe. Then I heard about the third. It's saddening yes, but also relieving. Death isn't something I like to talk about and I am scared of it, but I was relieved there was a third (and somehow knew it was coming). Scary.

So what have we been doing over the last month besides the girls keeping us busy?
**We've been spending a lot of time with my parents
**Josh went wheeling on the Rubicon
**Josh and I went to Maine for a wedding (we ate a lot of lobster!)
**The usual daily weekday routine
**Working too much

Oh, and I think Josh had a good father's day this year. At least, I hope. I surprised him with his first ever professional massage. He was a bit apprehensive and said it was ok, but he said this was the first time in a long time that his back no longer hurts, and it's now been a week...Hmmmm.

I don't have a lot of time today as everyone is napping right now, but I did want to post a few recent shots that my parents have taken of the girls. Can you believe how big they are getting?

And so the blogiversary has gone and past...

Seriously, I'm not lazy. I'm busy. In the last month I went away for work, visited my friends in San Diego and attended a wedding in Maine. In between all of that, I was extremely ill. Additionally, I have popped out of my funk and am starting to feel normal once again after having two kids back-to-back. So please forgive me for putting my blog on the backburner. I haven't been around much lately, and when I'm around, I haven't had the time to write something really good. I'm not a half-ass kind of person, hence no posts. So here I am. This blog turned 1 on June 2. 175 posts. I'm surprised I did all of that, and yet, not surprised at all.

I never finished my countdown. I got down to #6. So, drumroll, please...here are my top 5 favorite posts from the last year:

#5 - Make-up as Fingerpaints She's a girls girl. Not only is she into my liquid eyeshadow, she has recently taken to my lip gloss. Dips the finger, copies mommy by putting it on her lips, and then rubbing them together. She does not, however, like the stickiness left on her fingers after doing it and demands to wash her hands.

#4 and #3 - The Sweet Potato Massacre and For the Love of Pudding I could talk about food all day long. And when I think about all the lobster I ate last weekend in Maine, it brings a tear to my eye that I cannot have any quite the way it was out there, here in California. However, the girls and food, well it is always an adventure. I am still trying to understand why in the world kids like foods that most easily stain (cherries, sweet potatoes, strawberries) and are quite the dickens to get out of their $5 Old Navy and Target shirts. Yes, I have to save those shirts, no matter how much I paid for them. In any case, we've had too many nights to count that were similar to these two posts. It is truly one of the funnest things about having children. It is truly one of the things that is the biggest pain in the ass to clean up, unfortunately.

#2 - Wool Over Eyes: Pulled Okay, it is still being pulled. Each and every day. Frustrating? Amusing? Both, actually. And do you think she still has her bottles? That's affirmative.

#1 - I call it a tie. Even Steven. Do you feel like crying like a baby right now? Then watch them. Over and over again. Though they may not be your kids, watching the year of any childs life progress is one of those things that just gets to many of us. You see your child every day. You don't see all the changes because of that closeness. Lay it all out and put it together like this, and you see...it was worth every minute of my time in putting these together:

Olivia Turns One
Bea Turns Two

Every post I have ever done has taken some thought on my part. They are all very special to me because I have documented a part of our lives, and it just can't be erased.

Stay tuned...I really promise that there will be great stories to come.