Flashback Friday: Happy Easter Edition

Easter 2008:

Easter 2009:

Easter 2010 pictures coming soon hopefully!

Flashback Friday: Grandma Edition

My mom came out to visit earlier in the month. We had a lot of fun going to parks, cooking, eating (I especially enjoyed the eating), playing with Eden, and just generally hanging out. Despite bringing my camera with me everywhere (and dropping it on concrete at least twice), I only took photos on the last morning she was here. Of course. A few of those are posted below.

But first. In honor of Flashback Friday I present photos from the trip my mom made out here a few days after Eden was born in August 2008. (Although who that strange baby is on her lap, I cannot say. That cannot possibly be my child who only yesterday pushed a giant plastic car - containing a preschooler - around the park.)

My mom bought this pink dress for her granddaughter while I was still in high school. This woman plans ahead.

On the left here we have, Exhibit A: A woman who has clearly gone without sleep for 24 hours multiple times in the most recent week. Also a woman who will wear nothing but nursing tanks and sweat pants for the rest of the month.

And below we have, Exhibit B: Why grandmas are the bestest.


Thanks for being the bestest, Mom. We love and miss you!

Flashback Friday: Pumpkin Patch Palooza

Somehow I accidentally published this post when all I had written was the title - sorry about that! Let's try this again.

Here are photos of Eden's first trip to a pumpkin patch from September 2008:

It was about 95 degrees that day.

We thought it would be fun to put her in her elephant costume while we were there. She didn't agree.

Tuckered out and ready to take a nap on Tia Luz.

I cannot believe how small she is in those photos! It's absolutely shocking to me how much she has changed.

We went to another pumpkin patch this past weekend:

You see that pyramid of hay bales in the background?

She probably would have gone all the way to the top if Peter hadn't decided it was time to turn around.

Time to pick out a pumpkin!

She kept trying to pick them up.

The search continues...

"Where's my pumpkin, mama?"

Finally she found one that was just right.

And so did we.

Flashback Friday: The... Erm... Weekend Edition

Sorry I'm late with this week's installment of flashback photos. I have good reasons (not really) but am too lazy to type them out and figure you probably don't care anyway. Moreover, if Saturday Night Live can have a Thursday edition, then why can't I have a Flashback Friday post on Sunday? Except I guess, technically, they are actually airing shows ahead of their normal schedule. So, yeah. Moving on...

Once upon a time, long, long, ago, Peter and Stephanie took an anniversary trip up the coast of California. Actually, it was a combined 5th and 6th anniversary and also Valentine's Day trip, and it occurred during Peter's spring break back in March of 2006. I think. But that is a lot of details, so it is very possible that some of them are wrong.

One thing I know for sure: we had a great time. We stayed in our first ever bed-and-breakfast (beautiful and cozy and not nearly as please-please-PLEASE-don't-make-me-talk-to-strangers-panic-inducing as I expected), we toured Hearst Castle, we saw a LOT of elephant seals, we visited Pismo Beach and Avila Beach, we visited Mission San Luis Obispo, we tried to go whale-watching but the weather was too stormy that day, and then, on our way home we randomly took a strange little detour recommended by the lady at the b&b and after seemingly driving out to the middle of nowhere, ended up at the Oso Flaco Nature Trail.

Which was awesome.

Awesome because it was a pretty little trail that wound its way back through a small area of trees, over a boardwalk that crossed Oso Flaco Lake, and then ended on a beautiful stretch of beach bordering the Oceano Dunes.

Awesome because we got to the trail just as the stormy skies suddenly emptied of clouds and everything was sunny, and blue, and sparkling, and amazingly gorgeous.

Awesome because previously mentioned stormy skies had apparently scared away all other visitors and we had the entire trail - the entire beach - to ourselves. Let me repeat that. Peter and I found a beautiful stretch of beach (not all that far from Los Angeles) on a beautiful day - completely devoid of people. AMAZING.

It was beautiful. Really, really beautiful.

Also, the Oceano Dunes? Super cool.

I only found four photos of the trip (below) when I was going through our photo files. More can be seen on an old online album of Pete's. The pictures don't even come close to doing it justice.





On the way home from Shanelle and Jared's wedding last Sunday I had a horrible moment of panic when, after thinking about their upcoming honeymoon trip to Paris and Italy, I was suddenly hit with the thought that, OH MY GOODNESS, WE HAVE A KID. And maybe someday KIDS. AND THERE WILL BE NO PARIS OR ITALY OR ROMANTIC ROADTRIPS OR LONG WALKS OR LET'S FACE IT LEISURELY DINNERS OR UNINTERRUPTED CONVERSATIONS FOR US EVER AGAIN FOR AS LONG AS BE BOTH SHALL LIVE. Or AT LEAST until we are 80. And then we'll be too tired. (I apologize for that last bit of ageist stereotyping. As I'm sure you can tell, this panic attack was not completely full of rational thought.) ALSO, I HAVEN'T BEEN ANYWHERE OR SEEN ANYTHING. WAH WAH WAH.

I really felt quite gloomy about it for a bit. Then I recovered. But a little smidgen of panic remains. Or maybe it's some other emotion. I'm not quite sure.

I mean, Eden. Is Wonderful. I cannot get enough of her. But I also miss the just-the-two-of-us adventures that Pete and I used to have. And while I know that we will have more of those in the future - and in all likelihood, well before our eighties - I have a feeling they won't be quite the same. Because we are not just-the-two-of-us anymore. And even if we are physically off on our own, a chunk of our heart and mind will always be missing, somewhere else, firmly tied to the rest of the tribe, whatever it may look like at that point in time. We are no longer carefree.

Because we have cares.


We very, very much have cares.


Also. Thank you God, for our cares.

P.S. Does anyone have any suggestions for toddler-friendly 10th anniversary trips?

Flashback Friday: New Pajamas Edition

Eden got some new pajamas for her birthday. It's just now cool enough here for her to wear them.


She was given new pajamas as a gift around this time last year too.


Last year: cupcakes. This year: kitty cats. What more could you want in life?


Hmmm. Well, considering the fact that she is not smiling in a SINGLE ONE of these pictures, I'm guessing she, at least, must think there's something more. Moral of this story: new pajamas are wasted on the young. Please direct all future gifts to my attention. I will also accept cupcakes in lieu of cupcake pajamas. However, I have no need for any more kitty cats.


Thank you very much.

Flashback Fridays

My computer has been moving kind of slow lately. And my iPhoto program especially just crawls along. I think this may be due, in part at least, to the fact that I have a kajillion photos saved there. So in the interest of faster processing time (and hopefully a safer archive), I am slowly going through all my photos, organizing them, and moving them over to an external hard drive. In the process I have already come across some great pics of Eden's "early days" (you know, 'cause she's so ancient now at 14 months). I can't bear to not share these pictures of the world's cutest cuddle-bug, so I'm officially initiating Flashback Fridays here at the blog - to start today and to end... whenever I run out of pictures or steam.

Although I don't see how I can ever grow tired of posting something like this:
Taken back in April of this year! Can't believe how much she's changed since then.