Thanks

i meant to write this on thanksgiving and go into detail about all that i am thankful for and go on and on about all the food and wonderful times had.....but i was so tired, i barely remember going to bed.

because thanksgiving doesn't start on thanksgiving, no way
it starts when you first sit down to write out your menu, grocery list and figure out who all is coming.

honestly i think my favorite part is the grocery shopping. all the people frantically looking for the cranberries and the appropriate kind of french fried onions. somehow i like it. and bayley did too (or maybe she just liked the pumpkin pie samples)





our thanksgiving began with my yearly waffle tradition (started this year) but didn't turn our as planned....i made dessert waffles that tasted like cake. i guess i started out a little tired after a previous day of shopping and prepping. luckily we had bacon and plenty of appetizers.

we have so much to be thankful for and had such a memorable thanksgiving.




















cheesecloth+butter+wine=perfect turkey

it was so great to have my mom and sarah and hussey all here to celebrate

we went out for italian at one of our favorite spots, bayley kept putting her noodles on her head



and we got our christmas tree!!
there are so many yummy smells in our house right now, it's heaven for my nose








our girl is getting so big and learning so much these days
her favorite thing right now is the alphabet and she has me sing it several times a day. it's fun









and also.....

her latest job








feeling very thankful and happy tonight, gotta get some sleep so i can wake up early and sew!!!

goodnight

a week in review

so tomorrow little bayley is going to work.
we will wake up at dawn and drive to the trafficky, smoggy city of angels where kate powers will take gorgeous pictures of my baby girl for a gymboree play & music advertisement!!!
how exciting. i know bayley will have fun because there will be other kids/babies there. and oh how she loves the babies!!!

and i finally saw my girl's commercial on t.v. today for the first time. during access hollywood.
there i was frying some gyoza for lunch when i heard an all too familiar line of the commercial. i grabbed bayley and ran to the tv set. i jumped up and down and said "look bayley you're on tv!!" she paused, saw herself and quietly and slowly said "wowwwww" it was so cute, i think she knew that was really cool. she then kept pointing and saying "baby, baby"




so we are having fun, hopefully i will get some pictures tomorrow and maybe even learn a thing or two while watching this outstanding photographer.

i'm so happy for you bayley boo!!! as long as you're having fun we'll keep ya workin'

here was our past week in a nutshell of photos


mcgraths organic farm


lazy mornings with great bedhead


"cheese" she says




park hoppin'


yummy smelling "fwowus"


a new goody!!


made her some magnets-she loves them!! and it was easy and cheap!!


love her expressions these days



we also had a great time with grandma, went to our favorite new jewish deli. and we got new blinds. good job adam!!! they look great!!!

lots of family fun next week to look forward to!!

teeth and sewing

"what is that in your mouth Bayley?"
small, white and shiny....???
i quickly do the finger swoop to prevent her from choking on....
her new tooth!!!
it looks like a molar to me, bring on the steak dinner.
and the other one erupted last night i think.
she has 8 teeth on the bottom already, and 4 on top.

no wonder the other day she just wanted me to hold her. she was crying so bad and i suspected teething troubles. she woke up from her nap in the stroller and she was still sleepy so we went and layed down on the bed and she didn't want to nurse and she didn't want her binky she just wanted to lay on top of me and for me to hold her. i couldn't resist just laying with her and holding her little body close to mine. soon she won't be small enough or even want to snuggle. i remember when she used to lay on my chest and fall asleep when she was a newborn, i cherished those moments so much because i knew she would be a big girl in no time.

she is such an affectionate and sensetive little thing. lately she has been giving the biggest hugs and it just melts your heart. she even throws in a drawn out "awwwwww" and nestles her face into yours sometimes. it's pure heaven.

oh how i love this little angel!!



and her mama is learning how to sew.

my grandma gave me a sewing machine and showed me the basics...

and now i'm becoming so confident that i told my mom how i would like to re-invent sewing!!! who needs a pattern?? i've got so many ideas, i have no room for patterns and rules, haha.

so far i have finished a blanket for bayley, which i used the blanket my grandmother simmonds made me as a guide. and made three random pillows which i love so much. they just scream "i'm hand made" and i love that





pom poms should accessorize everything


i am so excited about the holidays and all the coziness and food and fun they bring. pour me a glass of eggnog and give me christmas tree to decorate and i'm as happy as can be....

oh wait, thanksgiving first

then bring on my free range fresh turkey from trader joes and pop open some champagne and i'll get cookin'

one last thing...

last night my mom put bayley to sleep and right as she was nodding off she randomly said the new word she learned earlier:
"gobble"
hehe

16 months

asked favorite color last week "yeyo" yellow
tries to count and say alphabet
loves dancing more than anything
favorite food oatmeal
thrill seeker, loves to go "weeee"
eats a lot
loves miss kitty
milk, juice and grandma all sound similar "maga, muka, mulka mulka"
so does purple, poo poo and big bird
gives loves and says "awwwww" as she gives kisses
says "i love you"
loves chocolate, especially a junior mint
she has 9 teeth
loves helping with laundry or really anything
puts her toys away

settling in

this is therapeutic for me i promise
i will pay no attention to the fact that it just took me 35 minutes, one pacifico and a half a bag of sun chips to connect to the internet
thanks honey for fixing it *smile*

although that is not therapeutic and rather a nuissance that makes me wish i didn't rely on technology so darn much, writing and documenting is so important to me. and the fact that it is so easy to capture all these fantastic memories and strategically and creatively place them here for all to see is simply magical.

why then do i put off doing it until i have 1000 pictures to sort through and decide which will be the winners??
well because we moved, and although i would like to use that excuse well into the new year and possibly beyond, we are mostly settled. with only the boring papers to sort through and file and a few things to hang on the walls. i could truly make this out to be a torturous organizational game down to alphabetizing the spice rack, but i know there are way more important things in life right now...

like:

art





and fun baths



dancin' in elmo slippers
(elmo is Bayley's favorite!!) she practically goes into a convulsion like dance when the elmo's world song comes on


peekaboo or as bayley says "keekabo"





yummy fresh fish everywhere up here
this place is on the ocean in malibu, fun fun






dancin' in ojai, a little town out in the country





fresh strawberries, they are almost as good as the ones in paris and they are bayley's favorites



i love striped socks


an awesome beach day with my friend shauna and her little boy aiden, the babies had so much fun running around the beach. bayley was fearless when it came to running in the water and took a face plant right in the sandy water, she got up soaked and stunned and just laughed









here are our pics when we came down to san diego for a few days







bayley was dancin' all over the place to the live oldies music at harvest fest













her favorite toy "balloon balloon"



bayley's first trip to chuck e cheese. we went with auntie chara and we had a blast!!



she was so proud, she picked a cherry tomato all by herself and ate it too



and our girl has become quite the budding artist you know..



her masterpiece
titled
"play-doh & crayons"



kitty is thrilled

even though i want to yell curse words really loud when i step on one the wrong way in bare feet (because they are literally all over the house), i love refrigerator magnets and somehow the house now seems complete.



spudnuts, our new doughnut place

she had her first sprinkled doughnut and almost ate the whole thing



i just love this dress and she knew she was pretty in it











she knew how to paint once i handed her the brush. this was her first time not using her fingers and she proved to be a little michaelangelo for sure. carefully dipping the brush in the different colors (except towards the end when she got a little crazy, mad, artist-ish)







(internet just died on my computer, didn't get to put pics of today's fun on this post, oh well)

so that is what we have been up to... our little life in all it's glory. i am looking forward to the holidays so much this year and have so many creative projects in mind.