McMac Family Adventures

2010-09-11T10:17:00.000-07:00

I love you, angus
No
No, I don't love you?
You no love me. You make me go to school

Wow

2010-09-11T10:13:00.000-07:00

Momma you tooted?
Yep
Again?!
(hehe) yep
WOW!

It's fine

2010-09-09T20:56:00.000-07:00

On the way home from the Norco fair the McMac family was having a discussion about the rodeo they'd just witnessed...

Momma: How'd you like the rodeo, Angus?
Angus: Good
Momma: I was sad when that bull didn't want to go back into the tunnel and then he eventually gave up and hung his head
Angus: It's fine, momma
Momma: What's fine, baby?
Angus: It's fine to be sad

Everyone needs a break

2010-09-09T20:55:00.000-07:00

A few days ago

Angus: Momma, I tired
Momma: Do you want to take a nap?
A: No!
M: What are you tired of?
A: Myself

Penis vs Vagina

2010-09-09T20:53:00.001-07:00

Today, in the bath...

Angus: You don't has a penis?
Momma: Nope
A: Poppa has a penis.
M: Yep
Why you don't has a penis?
Because I'm a girl and girls have vaginas
Why?
Ummmm... because when girls grow up sometimes they grow babies in their bellies and the vagina is the way the baby gets out
No
Yes
Why you don't has a penis?

(sigh) Suggestions to the above question are welcomed.

Baby it's cold outside...

2009-12-08T21:33:00.000-08:00

We're not complaining here... how else would we get cuteness like this!

Trim that Tree

2009-12-08T21:30:00.000-08:00

We have a delightfully bottom heavy tree thanks to the fine tree trimming arts of one Angus McMac.

All Dressed Up

2009-12-08T21:28:00.000-08:00

Angus got all dressed up to meet Santa at school last week and we weren't so sure he'd go through with the whole lap sitting photo thing (he did! wowee!), so we had to snap a few to remember him in his little outfit. :)

Jingle Bells

2009-12-08T21:00:00.000-08:00

one of the best and equally most horrifying things about childcare is discovering that your child knows something you didn't teach them. often enough, it's something adorable like this... and when it's not, well then you pull them out and get a stay at home dad (that's what we're doing!)

Glamour shots

2009-11-24T11:51:00.001-08:00

McMac style. :)

Fake smile

2009-11-24T11:50:00.003-08:00

It has begun... but isn't he gorgeous?

Oh no! Mickey!

2009-11-24T11:50:00.001-08:00

Angus is on the phone with toon town police...

Because he found Mickey had been stuffed into his own washing machine. Tragedy.

Eating popcorn with a fork.

2009-11-24T11:49:00.003-08:00

No caption required.

--
<3 miss me while we're apart? http://rodkateandangus.blogspot.com

Moooooo. I a cow.

2009-11-24T11:49:00.001-08:00

Angus was a cow this year for Halloween. I didn't gets single picture. I still have the costume out and plan to try again. Maybe for thanksgiving we'll go in costume.
Here's my attempt at the traditional "with Jack o lantern" picture.

Ow! It bite my finger!

And enjoying a delicious hummus snack in the car... It's so good he eats it by the handful.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-24T11:48:00.001-08:00

Ewwww guts! Nah, he loved it.

and after the unforunate faux-hawk

2009-10-06T14:50:00.001-07:00

AFTER

2009-10-06T14:50:00.000-07:00

DURING

2009-10-06T14:47:00.001-07:00

BEFORE

2009-10-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

Fishing is fun...

2009-10-06T14:44:00.000-07:00

Until you catch one...

Here a few shots from Angus' first fishing trip.

My favorite, of course is this one of him looking decidedly anxious about the large, wet, floppy animal that just came out of the water...

and Summer continued

2009-10-06T14:42:00.000-07:00

Angus had the privilege and luxury to have a Nana who had summer off and took him on some exciting excursions during the week when Momma & Poppa were working.

Here they are on train at the San Diego zoo

"Nana, Yook it! jraffss!"

expert goat feeder...

Angus, Nana, & Papo

Technology

2009-08-15T09:21:00.001-07:00

What happens when you blog from an iPhone where your work email is the
default account. =P

This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or exempt from disclosure under applicable federal or state law. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, please immediately notify the MHALA by telephone at (562) 285-1330, and destroy all copies of this e-mail/fax and all attachments.

Reverend Angus

2009-08-15T09:15:00.001-07:00

Potty!

2009-08-15T09:14:00.000-07:00

This is the extent of their willingness and excitement. :)

Mmmmmm cakie

2009-08-15T09:13:00.001-07:00

Sharing is caring

2009-08-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday lita nena!

2009-08-15T09:12:00.001-07:00

Anvus' great grandma is here from Chile and we kicked off her visit
with a bday celebration where angus showed off his mad candle blowing
skills.

In honor of poppa Jim

2009-08-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

My poppa loved taking pictures of his sleeping babies and I seem to
have inherited the bug.

Here's baby boy clutching his circus book tight after his first visit
and just some dreamy sleep scene.

OC Fair

2009-08-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

The Victors... Poppa's friends' band played at the OC Fair and Angus
went to his first live rock concert. He even bought a cd leading to
many awwwws from the crowd.

I guess we did stuff after all

2009-08-15T09:07:00.000-07:00

We tackled the dragon slide with confidence and learned about waiting
in line (pushing definitely works)

Take the Leap

2009-08-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

There are some times in life where you have to leave what you know behind and take the leap having faith that there is something more. Angus did that this week. A fan of jumping for a month or so now, he always requested assistance in the form of hand holding to ensure he always stuck the landing. This past weekend first to my horror then amusement and amazement he took a leap off the ottoman onto the floor and didn't even come close to sticking the landing but decided it didn't hurt enough to warrant not enjoying the rush.

So he did it again and again and again
and eventually stuck it!

the one reason I wish I blogged more is because this is my only written record of Angus' life... and so much has happened that I can't recall. I gotta setup mobile posting and just text everything as it happens. That'll go on my to-do list.

We're doing okay after our leap too. The leap back into adulthood. There are many stressors involved in being 100% independent financially... but it feels good too. We're working on maintaining a strong, healthy family... lots of talking about feelings happening here. So if you don't like it, go away.

xoxo

Until next time!

Wild: Day 5 (coming home)

2009-08-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

By day 5 we were all so sick of each other we were driven to drink

and considerable ridiculousness ensued

We took Hwy 1 most of the way home to justify the cute magnet we bought in Monterey and were reminded yet again that AT&T 3G is useless if you can't get a signal. Still, the accupressure Sea Bands got me through the drive because I could check my work email eventually and even read a book. We got home in the evening with a grumpy baby who didn't care to be there and lots of woodsy smelling clothes and bedding.

We had a blast and we survived=success!

Wild: Day 4

2009-08-14T20:36:00.000-07:00

Cuteness in the form of throwing rocks

and sitting in the dirt. I believe Day 4 was when Angus asked if he could take a bath.

We attempted a hike to the top of Pfeiffer Falls only to find that the trail was closed halfway up... no real payoff for the calories expended on that journey. But, it was awfully charming to hear "momma! i hiking!" from Angus every 5-7 paces or so.

We lingered for a while near a footbridge in the Big Sur "river" for a while which was much more of a creek than anything else but it was lovely and was a fine substitute for the view of the falls that should have marked the end of a tough hike.

Wild: Day 3 (not so wild)

2009-08-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

We woke up on the morning of day to the sound of pouring rain. Quite a pleasant sound until you recall all the paper products sitting out on the picnic tables and the towels and shoes left out to dry the night before.

We slowly got up and packed the cars to head to our next site, Big Sur. We stopped in Santa Cruz at the world's most expensive laundromat and I was so thrilled at the prospect of clean clothes I even authorized the use of chemical soap and fabric softener. After laundry we hit the market for the next round's worth of fresh food, visited the Patagonia outlet for some sweet $9 deals and dealt with a very hungry, very upset baby (we skipped breakfast due to the rain and didn't have much more to eat than fruit snacks) in the traffic of Santa Cruz trying to find something to eat. Further down Highway 1 we stopped in Monterey at the Portola Plaza hotel for their ridiculously inexpensive fleece lined windbreakers (don't ask).

Finally we arrived in Big Sur in late afternoon with no more time than to setup camp and have dinner before bed.

But what a beautiful sight. Never did I think I would think that upon viewing a scene like this, but I did.

Home Sweet Home:

Wild: Day 2

2009-08-14T20:26:00.000-07:00

Even more exciting than the horsies were the "rat cats" (Racoons. It goes like this: "Momma cat!" "that's a raccoon baby" "rat cat! momma rat cat!") that visited camp every evening. And every day Angus would hunt for them with his flashlight calling "Rat Cat! Where are you?!" at the top of his lungs

Day 2 we all went to the swimming hole and leapt from rocks into the freezing cold deep water. Even Angus did a tandem jump with Poppa at his own request... he regretted it upon surfacing.

Wild: Day 1

2009-08-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

We left the house at 4:00 a.m. thinking that guaranteed us at least a 3 hour drive with a sleeping baby... maybe even more thanks to the lull of the highway, but instead we put a wide awake baby into the car at 4:00 a.m. who responded enthusiastically with "I ready!" when his butt hit the cold carseat.

He fell back asleep eventually and we arrived at San Mateo Memorial Park campground around 11:00 a.m. Most of the day was spent setting up camp and getting acquainted to our private creek. Angus and I laid down for the best nap ever (3 hours in the fresh mountain air... yum and the rest of the family went for a dip in the local swimming hole.

After dinner Angus discovered "horsies" at the campsite.

McMac's in the wild

2009-08-14T20:18:00.000-07:00

This year marked the first annual mcmac camping trip. It's not 100% final yet but it looks like next year's campsite will be a carribean cruise. ;)

Nah! It was actually great! To start, Angus was very into it and was very helpful.

Natural Athleticism

2009-08-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

The one thing I can be absolutely sure he didn't get from me. If only I could be so confident about his champion whining.

Check out that stance. Totally impromptu:

What form! Looks a bit like Tiger's golf swing though...

The beach is lame...

2009-08-14T20:12:00.000-07:00

none of the 3 McMacs are particularly fond of it... there isn't enough to like about it to warrant having so much sand in one's crack. Until... this summer! We took Angus on a whim and he loved it, and as a result, Rod and I did too!

After this cautious entrance we lost the water wings and he spent much of the time way out in the deep with Poppa & Momma bobbing around in the innertube and having a grand old time. Too much fun to take pictures!

it's a shame really...

2009-08-14T19:48:00.000-07:00

percentage of american family blogs devoted to self-professed bad blogging: 18.5%

percentage of american mothers who improve their blogging frequency with any regularity: .01%

percentage of american population who like statistics and believe in their instant credibility: 95%

=P

I discovered today while uploading the pictures from the camera that I didn't take a single picture of my son for more than entire month... the birthday party just took that much out of me.

In that time, however, I did take these two photos.
1. A goldfish who met his untimely death while napping on the stove

2. A backyard nectarine being devoured by Japanese beetles (I had found another with just one in it... and the beetle was so motionless I thought it was dead. Imagine my surprise when upon tossing it into the planter to become one with the earth beetle and nectarine parted in a loud buzz and beetle took off in majestic flight. Heebie Jeebies defined!

on second thought... i probably took a few shots of Angus with the iPhone. whew. I'm not in the red yet!

you are two

2009-07-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

you speak in complete sentences... you have for a while, but your favorite is "no, i don't" in response to "angus do you want _______?" you say it in such a matter of fact way, you sound so rude... but it is so cute too.

you've been to the movies... twice. To see Up.

you sleep most of the night in your own bed in your own room in our new home which you love.

you recently discovered babe, the pig... only you call him/her "gabe" and tell me you love "gabe" frequently. at the OC fair today you "aink"ed at the pigs and were frustrated when they didn't return your mating call.

we're looking for a new preschool for you... and it's a rough road, not many people understand that two year olds don't need an academic curriculum and will learn best when given the freedom to explore and discover all on their own. we'll keep looking.

you're gorgeous... you haven't gotten your hair cut since that first time and i don't think you will for a long time again... because those curls are just to die for.

here you are very excited about the happy graduation song sung by the staff at bubba gump's shrimp for Skyler's grad dinner... it was your birthday though, so you thought it was all about you (oh wait, it is!)

2009-07-10T21:48:00.000-07:00

you waved enthusiastically at passing firetrucks

posed willingly for photos

and played with the homemade woody/bean bag toss

it was exhausting... but worth it. that's kind of the story of your life so far.

i love you, momma

2009-07-10T21:46:00.000-07:00

you mined for gold

2009-07-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

you jammed with your ladies on your new drum set

Angus' Roundup

2009-07-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, baby boy. You're two, and Angus' roundup was a smashing success, you seemed to enjoy it heartily

on the way to the party...

stage 7, destroy/devour...

2009-07-10T21:18:00.000-07:00

and i vowed never to make another cake again, until i saw this a week later: http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2009/06/fast-food-fun.html

stage 6, put out fire (thank goodness!)

2009-07-10T21:16:00.000-07:00

stage 5, lighting on fire and singing... (strange customs...)

2009-07-10T21:15:00.000-07:00

stage 4, assembly...

2009-07-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

stage 3, details...

2009-07-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

stage 2, fondant

2009-07-10T21:12:00.001-07:00

birthday cake...

2009-07-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

i'm not sure if you knew, but cakes are available for sale from stores... news to me!

stage one, frost:

keep this in mind

2009-07-10T20:58:00.002-07:00

no one will ever be as into your life as you are... and sometimes these things aren't that funny as they were in the moment... but, it WAS so FUNNY in the MOMENT!

oh, hell yeah.

2009-07-10T20:58:00.000-07:00

Bluegrass Baby

2009-07-10T20:56:00.001-07:00

i said life was joyous right?

2009-07-10T20:56:00.000-07:00

being able to take the time to photograph a tantrum makes for a happier parenting experience

:)

2009-07-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

i like to call this short film, "my turn: an age appropriate reaction to waiting in line"

I swear I posted these...

2009-07-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

maybe they're on the wrong blog?

Anyway, when we last left our heroes they were vacationing in the San Diego area for memorial day. A trip to the pool warranted these gems

Revelations, not just a section of the bible anymore

2009-07-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

I was reading this blog recently (yes, i am self important enough to read my own blog...) and realized that it has become quite boring. Gone are the days of charming photos made even more charming by witty captions; now all you see are photos of blurred toddlers and matter of fact narrative. Frankly, it's boring.

You see, when you have a baby... life is pretty boring. You have to make little stories up in your head to make life tolerable and those stories are the types that go over well on family blogs. Hitting the two year mark, as we are now, life is far less boring. In fact, it's entertainingly joyful. So, I have nothing to add to it, it's just perfect the way it is.

I'm tempted to call off the blog for a while, but before I do my mother recently inquired about why none of her photos have made the cut recently and I want to do my one and only staff photographer the honor of posting her hard work.

Love ya', bye.

xoxo

Milestones

2009-06-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

Well, baby boy... you are a new person every day. I would have to blog at least 4 times a day to keep up, but let's see if I can go back in time and recall some things that really flipped my lid (in a good way, if that's possible...)

5/16/09: i feel like you've been putting words into groups we call sentences for a while now, but this day, at the duck-a-thon at the HB Pier you call to your friend Kehlan by name "Kehlan, let's go ocean!" I nearly died of pride. :)

5/26/09: at dinner your lita asks you what you saw at Sea World (it was 3 days earlier) and you say "buihds" (birds). It's the first time I can recall you answering a question (other than yes or no) without prompting or help finding the words. All of a sudden we can have conversations... I ask you something, you answer, then you ask me something! I can even ask you what you want to eat (usually it's yogurt...)

5/29/09: Now... when we do ask you something and you don't have an answer... know what you do? you say "um" it's adorable.

5/31/09: After a group of people come over for dinner, some of whom you have never met, you break into a spontaneous rendition of "Happ Bertay doyoo" on your own accord. Clearly, this is what people do after dinner with a group of strangers, right?

6/1/09: You love to watch "da oashen" (Planet Earth on Discovery) and today you noticed a waterfall. "wow. that's a big wa-wa" and then for extra effect you turn to your tata and tell him again, "Tata, that's a big wa wa" You're so conversational these days! I love it!

Memorable Memorial Day Weekend

2009-06-01T20:21:00.000-07:00

We honored the holiday by heading off on an impromptu family vacation last weeked to the San Diego area. We've been to Sea World enough times that you don't really NEED to see any more pictures, but... here's a gem for you anyway!

and I must brag a bit about my super awesome baby man child. He totally tackled this climbing net with very little assistance... it was like 3 stories high! Wow! (and note... in this first picture the photographer is above the climbers... that means I climbed too! We're all so fit now...)

Toddler POV

2009-06-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

Angus has recently become interested in the camera (it started when he realized he could look at tiny pictures and videos of himself on the go... who doesn't love that?). He's quite the shutterbug, here are his first shots. Does he have a future in this?

I think this one says he most certainly does!!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-06-01T20:07:00.000-07:00

what a fine, fine sight. :)

Waldorfing It

2009-06-01T20:05:00.000-07:00

So, because we have great friends like Caitlyn & Kehlan we learn about all sorts of exciting community events... We went to a May Day Festival at the local Waldorf school and they had a maypole (see look... Angus is pointing at it)

and Angus had a blast at the bean bag toss!

and bubble station!

Backseat Antics

2009-06-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

one day I hear from the backseat in a muffled voice, "two! momma! two!"

Dear Angus

2009-04-28T20:47:00.000-07:00

You have been such a joy to be around this week. If I ever mention how difficult you were at this age please refer me back to this post. You're flashing free smiles at most anyone anytime you get a chance, you say the darndest things, and you just look so sharp since that haircut.

Love you, not looking forward to that next set of molars, but I'll love you then too!

First haircut

2009-04-28T20:40:00.000-07:00

sniff

He did so well. of course, all we asked him to do was let me stand there and hold him while Eva snipped a few wisps from the edges. A little snip went a long way. :)

Some of the things we say...

2009-04-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

As Angus becomes more and more of a chatterbox we take on new words into our vocabulary. A very popular one is:

"Nay-keeeeeeeee!" (evidenced in the photos that follow

We also have:

Somebody call a plumber...

2009-04-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

The kitchen sink is clogged and this family is forcing their toddler son to wash dishes outside in the nude

he loved it... "wash the doo-shoes"

Happy Children's Day!

2009-04-28T20:30:00.000-07:00

We hardly ever go to storytime anymore because Momma & Caitlyn get bored and like to try new things like this Children's Day celebration where Angus & Kehlan took the stage!

and here's Angus really boogeying down at home this past weekend:

Easter Sunday

2009-04-28T20:12:00.003-07:00

We invited everyone over on Easter Sunday to see Angus hunt for eggs but he wasn't interested in doing it again... awesome.

but he's so sweet, so who cares

Easter Egg Hunting

2009-04-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

We were planning on going to the lame Huntington Beach Easter Candy Sweep (aka Egg Hunt) again this year because the firetrucks and bulldozers were going to be enough to please Angus, but our friend's Caitlyn & Kehlan told us about a group of attachment parenting moms in OC who were holding an Easter egg hunt of their own so we did that instead. We met everyone the Friday before at the leader, Angela's, house and it was great getting to know other mommas and babies who thought like us.

The hunt was perfect, we all brought breakfast to share and eggs to hide (no candy allowed!) and the kids had a great time. Once again, Angus suprised me with his "getting it" skills and totally took to egg hunting.

The one mistake was having him help me fill the eggs the day before because he knew what was inside and lost interest in hunting

but not before this advanced egg hunting display was caught on tape...

Dye the Eggs...

2009-04-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

we put off dying eggs until the last minute. Seriously... it was bedtime on Saturday night (before Easter) before we got to it because I assumed that Angus would have no interest and it would be a complete disaster. However, the pictures say otherwise

Super Hoopster!

2009-04-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

i told you he could catch a ball! apparently he can shoot one too!

What's wrong with the economy today...

2009-04-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

this would have been a better video if it didn't involve bargaining with the performer, but what are you gonna do?

Choo choo!

2009-04-28T19:58:00.000-07:00

We went to this fun festival mid-March that was centered around these model train engineers in Costa Mesa (basically they build and run these trains as a hobby and provide FREE trainrides to people once a month). This weekend in particular was an extra run for a fundraiser that supported health families.

There was lots of cool stuff to do: Drive a truck

Goof off

Wait very inpatiently for the train ride (totally resulted in tantrum/meltdown in line much to many people's amusement)

Stand in a fire truck!

would have been so much more fun and blogged about much sooner if I didn't have strep throat that day. :)

Counting & Catching

2009-04-28T19:54:00.001-07:00

Today, is Tuesday, 4/28 and Angus can both count to 10 (somewhat unreliably... but it has happened 1-3 times depending on who you ask) and catch a ball, but back then (last month) these things were just starting:

Pool

2009-04-28T19:51:00.000-07:00

We had a few warm days here recently... and a few more SCORCHERS where it was 107 in Huntington Beach (in April of all months... unheard of!!!!)

This heat and a generous dose of toddler curiosity convinced Angus that the dog's pool was a fun place to hang out with his clothes on

When last we left our hero...

2009-04-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

Who knew blogging was so hard! Every day I think of about 100 things to blog about and generally get to approximately .01% you all are missing out on so much... if only i could remember how to blog via cell phone this would all be worked out!

And now... your moment of zen

2009-04-28T19:46:00.000-07:00

Where We Are

2009-03-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

We moved... February 27th... a few blocks away... to the MacKenney Sr's home... fill in the blanks? sure.

We ran out of money. Short story: Rod got sick, never found out why/what. Wasn't able to go back to work because by the time he was better, work was no longer available. Economy tanked. Victims of circumstance combined with poor personal finance management and preparation. My parents supported us for a long while but we couldn't let that go on forever... so we moved.

It was a rough transition but the transition was short. After the first weekend, and a small emotional breakdown or two(one for me, one for Angus) we were far more settled. We'll be here for a little bit... 6-9 months maybe, it isn't entirely clear.

What is clear, however, is that Rod is finding new life in his business and the customers (and cash) are rolling in. I'm getting opportunities to take on more projects and earn more as a result, and we're saving, saving, saving.

So, we'll be okay.

and we're still super cute.

If youtube wasn't down I'd share a moment of zen with you.

maybe later.

xoxo

Clarissa: part 2

2009-03-31T22:00:00.000-07:00

The day after the park trip, and their first introduction, Angus & Clarissa met up at Disneyland. There was some hand holding over dinner

Then these gems!
1. yum

2. a hahahaha ha!

:)

2 girls, 1 weekend

2009-03-31T21:57:00.000-07:00

There should be some kind of law...

Our other friend Clarissa came to play later that same weekend and being that she is an older woman (nearly 3) she took charge of the situation and led Angus around the park

He didn't mind (unless it meant being dragged away from a "guy" who was mowing the lawn nearby) and it even seemed mutual for a little while (don't you love the toddler smile?)

well... from some perspectives. :)

More Fun with the Kehl Kehl

2009-03-31T21:54:00.000-07:00

So, as you've read... we thought we had corrupted Kehlan in an earlier week by teaching her all about climbing... it turns out Kehlan is a delightfully devious smart cookie all on her own. You wouldn't know just from looking at the pictures but...

First, they are happily playing together and sharing crackers... look at that pure baby joy. that's what makes it worth it!

then K strikes a pose as she prepares her attack...

They are playing with sticks (i know, i know), and she decides she wants angus' stick... she attempts to make it which is met with struggle and verbal expression of distaste. So... she thinks for a moment. She drops her stick, and...

as angus drops his to make a move for hers, she snatches his up and climbs to the top of the table in victory! the crowd goes wild!

we love this little girl. :) and isn't she just a doll?

Showing Off

2009-03-31T21:50:00.000-07:00

Our friends, who we adore, Erika & Jonah came over recently and we had a fun time showing off for them. Not only was it the same day as our kimono, but we were also pleased to corrupt Jonah in the near future by demonstrating the "stand and fall" (you might mistake it for a sit & spin... if you weren't cool and stuff)
pretty erika

and super cute jonah!

baby boutique cash cow

safety at its finest

Boy in a Blue Shirt

2009-03-31T21:47:00.000-07:00

We don't have many great "photo shoot" days anymore. Life is too full, good lighting is too scarce, and a boy who likes to stand still is often absent. But, much against anything and everything I thought I would be, I caught him in front of the TV recently and got so many great shots I couldn't narrow it down.

The story behind all this is that he messed his original clothes that day and I was far too lazy to redress him. I offered, as a fun alternative, this ensemble and he accepted. He was so thrilled with it, in fact, that he refused to remove it later and ended up quite bumped and bruised from tripping and falling. That was later rectified by tying up the back like a fabulous, shabby chic kimono which i intend to manufacture and sell for an inflated price to westside moms. whoot capitalism!

frumpdidiliumptious

2009-03-31T21:26:00.000-07:00

milking every second of babyhood (and therefore we can still dress him up in silly getups)

till the last stinking drop...

2009-03-31T21:25:00.000-07:00

You're not supposed to take pictures on the rides at Sea World... but we're deviant like that.

Just chillin' on Abby's Sea Star spin (their take on the teacups)

hi!

Sesame Street 3D

2009-03-31T21:23:00.000-07:00

Proof that small children simply need an incentive to keep uncomfortable things on their faces... and a bonkie doesn't hurt the cause either.

he was seriously enchanted by the 3D movie. jumped out of his seat a couple times. eek!

See (the) World

2009-03-31T21:22:00.000-07:00

I know the title is a stretch... because really, Sea World is a terrible place where they imprison wild animals against their will. But while we are there, I put that out of my mind and we have a good time. Last time we had the amazing experience of some very up close encounters with some awesome creatures. Takes your breath away.

Some cool photos too.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

2009-03-31T21:20:00.000-07:00

Angus loves Rod

Storytime

2009-03-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

We have a new ritual now. It's awesome. Every Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. at the Central Library in HB we meet our friend Kehlan & her mom Caitlyn for storytime. Afterwards we play outside and corrupt sweet Kehlan. Better pictures in later posts, but for now...

Angus pondering running into this flooded lawn and getting all mussed (he didn't... we just splashed a little)

Angus showing Kehl that climbing is awesome

Angus, exhausted, falls asleep reading in the car on the way home. tee hee!

The impossible... realized

2009-03-31T21:14:00.000-07:00

to the untrained eye... this is just a picture of three small children. To the mother of a toddler, this is a picture of three children, all looking at the camera at the same time, WITH pleasant facial expressions (all eyes open!) har!

20 Months Old

2009-03-08T20:44:00.000-07:00

Angus was 20 months old on February 12th (yikes, I'm behind here...). And it's a rough age... first, he's too far from 1 to be 1, too far for 2 to be 2, and I feel silly saying 1 and a half or 20 months... and people ask. a lot. i guess that's just the go to question when engaging with a stranger about their baby.

The other things that define our life are: Angus now owns a pair of black jeans, and wears a belt with them (thanks Papo!) and just in time to wear this outfit for his valentine's day party at school. :) He's also completely over the high chair which results in the following display most mornings:

He's also developed quit an attitude... strike a pose!

and loves doing big kid stuff. :)

more to come... lots to catch up on!

Did I ever post these?

2009-03-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

It's fun being a boy mom. :) sometimes your son wants to wear your headband, and poses all pretty for you...

Then... the social constructed gender roles start to seep into his psyche and the following shots occur.

Winter in Socal

2009-01-31T21:53:00.000-08:00

We've had a weird winter here in socal. I'm not complaining, just explaining that we've had a few weeks of 80 degree + days here and there and most of us have already done our spring cleaning because of the warming trend. We did, however, a few weeks ago have a chilly weekend that allowed a visit to the park in the adorable outfit Tia Greta & Tio Benito gave Angus for Christmas.

Yeah, Momma loves stuff like this!

Lots of cuteness. No reason.

going to the park. hooray!

Angus loves to imitate us... but he HAS to do whatever Poppa is doing. So when Rod took a break, Angus took a break

peekaboo! (or "puk bdoo" as Angus would say)

Up Please "Auck Beez"

Rod was spotting but he was totally holding himself up here...

For a second. Certainly long enough to be proud!

One handed, whoot!

the artistic shot of the day

we also watched intently while a little girl practiced softball with her dad

bored? it appears

angus did not want to go...

and when we got to the car he refused to get into his seat. he tried to convince us he was big enough to ride without it by buckling his own seat belt... but it didn't fly.

Ringing in the New Year: Sea World, San Diego

2009-01-31T21:35:00.000-08:00

Our dear friends Kristin & Roman (and their family) were down in socal for the holidays and we met up with them at Sea World on New Year's Day. The day started at "Breakfast with Elmo" which was everything you would expect it to be and more (including rubbery buffet eggs).

As you can imagine, Angus was apprehensive at first:

but the sheer excitement of Elmo in person was enough to win him over (even though Elmo was freakily large and didn't speak which was really weird)

just in time to not want to meet Big Bird (who was even bigger and scarier! and seemed to be insulted by Angus' apprehension. bird=turd.)

Meeting the rest of the characters provoked a whole range of emotions

shock

amazement

apprehension

comraderie

love

after Breakfast with Elmo we took in the sights. Sea World has this super cool area just right for baby beans Angus' age. The best part was a giant foam pit for frolicking in.

this is the only picture we got of Angus & Roman together. It will serve as proof that we were, in fact, there together. :)

Unfortunately for the Bay of Play staff, Elmo's photo booth (which opens after breakfast) is very close to the foam pit. Once Angus realized this the foam pit was no longer fun enough to stay in. Instead...

and then...

(he walks with such purpose here.)

wow. who knew this child would EVER get so close to a "character" all by himself!

We saw Shamu which prompted several "oh wow"s from the Bangus and a lot of finger chewing

and he really enjoyed every venue and attraction, watched all the animals intently wanting to know what each and every one was.

Rod got really excited about this one. I think it was a manatee. Sea Cow. Har!

still gorgeous. :) even up the nose.

we parted ways with our friends and when it got dark we made one more trip to the Bay of Play. This is Angus leaping onto my chest in the foam pit.

then another on-deman visit with Elmo

and he passed out cold on the ride home.

great day. :)

Dear Angus

2009-01-31T20:05:00.000-08:00

I'm taking a cue from our online friends Heather & Jason and addressing this blog post to you. I'm not sure that this style change will last forever, but I feel compelled at the moment so here we go.

There's a lot going on in our lives right now. Momma & Poppa have come to the sad realization that we are broke ("broke" means out of money, by the way), so much so that we have decided to move in with your Tata & Lita (who are Poppa's Dad & Mom, did you know that?). It's partly because we have been fiscally irresponsible, partly because of some bad luck, and partly because the US economy is the in the shitter (shitter is a word for toilet that you shouldn't use). So for the next few months you, and Poppa, and Momma will live at Tata and Lita's house. You'll eat dinner there, and take your bath there, and sleep there, and wake up and eat breakfast there. Nana will pick you up from there to take you to school each morning and Momma or Poppa will bring you back there every afternoon. I know change sometimes makes you feel a little nervous, but I want you to know that you're safe.

Your Momma & Poppa love you very much and our family is very strong right now. We are all going to stay together and even when it isn't much fun sharing space with another family (which is natural by the way, and doesn't have anything to do with love or even respect... it's just hard to adjust to other people's ways of living sometimes). Soon we'll straighten up our act and we'll have our own place again and we won't mess it up again because you are too important to us to put you through anything this disruptive again.

On another note... you are growing increasingly amazing. Momma continues to lack the energy (or maybe patience) required to upload photos, although she has taken some gems lately. Soon. I promise. BUT! this can't be a reason not to post the funny stories I tell to Poppa or Nana and then forget to write down.

So, you refer to yourself as Bobo now. This is Poppa's nickname for you, and you've now formed your identity around it. It's probably because it's easier to say than Angus, but it's most certainly also because you think your Poppa's the bee's knees (which is a silly way to say something is neat, or that you like it a lot). You've even corrected Momma after she called you Angus by saying "no... bobo" and shaking your head.

Recently you rejected anything resembling a high chair. You presently must sit in the same type of seat as any present adult and must get into it yourself. You also learned how to open the refrigerator and help yourself to yogurt as often as you like. Good thing we got a fridge lock from our friend Jen... now if Momma can only find it...

The most amazing thing about this little stage you're in at present is the things you say. We had a week or two where you were saying an awful lot and Momma had no clue what any of it meant but much to her surprise that passed quickly and you are nailing new words every day. You've got your old standards as always and you frequently ask "wasat?" to inquire about the correct term for anything and everything within your line of sight... but now you've just started saying things. And these aren't words we've pressed into your vocabulary with repeated effort, nope... these are just words you've absorbed through your environment that you're attempting on your own. Wow!

A few days ago in the bath you pointed at your sesame street wash cloth and told Momma where "Ehrnie" and "Buht" (Ernie & Bert!) were. Today at lunch at Nana's house you told us about the "acrahni an geeez" (macaroni and cheese) she had served you. And this evening when we were leaving Katie Slack's birthday party you pointed to the sky and said "Moon!"

You also have some of your own words still, a pacifier is still a bonkie, but now we have Bea (the panda... I think you are trying to say Bear) that must be with you in bed and out at all times, and 2 boogies (blankies), and you call strawberries "wah-whrebbies." You also say cup like "buc" and yogurt "agoo"

You have the sweetest voice, it's getting a little raspy which as we all know means you are going to be a bit of a troublemaker, but since your liberal parents encourage that kind of thing you found the right family for you.

I think that's enough for now. You're attention span is probably spent and I bet our audience's is too.

Love you baby doodle,
Momma (and Poppa too)

Little Update

2009-01-23T19:10:00.000-08:00

I'm largely opposed to posting blog updates without photos but since I keep leaving the newest photos on my external hard drive at work I'm thinking it might be better to post now...

So, as any of my other photo less posts I'm afraid this is going to be a bit solemn.

We're okay. Hanging on by a thread... a strong one, I hope. Once I get around to it I'll post the photos from New Year's Day when we met our CO friends Kristin & Roman (and family). We had a great time. :) Since then we haven't been taking too many pictures.

Instead we are checking the mail waiting for the disability, unemployment, or last year's tax return checks that STILL haven't come...

Or we're scraping together something resembling a meal from the things way past their use by date everyone has hidden deep in their cupboards combined with the fresh food leftovers from Lita's state funded preschool food program...

Or we're spending time together hugging, smiling, laughing, talking, doing anything to keep our relationships above water so when we finally come out of this financial crisis we still have a family.

Rod is still applying for every job he can find with no results. I find myself in a position at work where I'm hiring for open positions (none that I can hire Rod for) and getting hundreds of resumes where we used to get 25-30. That's a lot of people being turned away...

One of our cars is broken, and we luckily have another we can borrow... but we have no money to fix the broken one and the payments still come due at the same time each month.

We're surrounded by loving, generous people who do as much as they can and often more than they should to help us... but it's hard for them to support a whole family of three. So we're getting close to decision time. If Rod can't find gainful employment soon it seems as though we're left with three choices. #1 file bankruptcy, #2 move into a studio apartment in a rotten neighborhood, or #3 head to another state where the cost of living is lower.

Which do you think we should do? or... have any other ideas?

2009-01-04T21:39:00.000-08:00