day 55: herbs

day 55: lately poor Herbie has not gotten nearly as much blog love as he used to pre-babies. He also is quite stressed these days... I think being chased by crazy toddlers is making him loco. He also looks tired. Probably because I woke him up by taking pictures of him. Oops.

day 54: almost done-ish

day 54: we moved into our new place how long ago? Almost 6 months? And we still had boxes that hadn't been unpacked? Yep. We did. We got 99.99% of the unpacking done within the first 2 weeks of moving in - just in time for our family portrait session. And then whatever we didn't unpack at that point just remained in its box until today. How very sad. The saddest part is that two of the boxes were just on the floor of our bedroom - staring me down every time I walked by them. Not anymore. I realize our room still needs help (like a headboard, maybe some curtains? a coat of paint?) but at least for now it's not swimming with boxes. And that is a major improvement. Pardon the crummy light

day 53: another monday

day 53: another packed day with a boring late at night photo - sorry. Why do I always feel like I need a vacation after the weekends?

day 52: the beantown

day 52: and the little man

day 51: moberries

day 51: a cute picture of the lovely lady

day 50: lookie what I made

day 50: I've been in a bit of a creative rut - looking at and wanting to do a lot of cool projects I've found online, but not having a space to do them in and getting frustrated. Our place definitely doesn't have a "craft room" and I hate to leave a huge mess on the dining room table (which Paul can now easily reach up and grab things off of). So my solution for today was a super quick mini-project. Sorry for the terrible pictures. I'll take a better one tomorrow. In around an hour I made a shirt I really didn't like (and was going to throw away) into one I that I like much much better. I'm quite pleased.

day 49: camera monster

day 49: I sometimes wonder what I look like to my kids when I'm coming towards them to take a picture. Apparently the answer is a big scary camera monster.

day 48: big book readin' boy

day 48: most of the time I spend with the kids is reading them books. We actually put all of the downstairs books where they couldn't reach them so that they would play with some other toys because if it was up to them that is all they would do. Today we were home for a long time in the afternoon so I pulled out the downstairs books. And we spent a LOT of time reading them. Paul was very perturbed that I wanted to take a picture of him reading instead of helping him read - "but MOM... read me the BOOK". So I put down the camera after this picture.

day 47: new shoes

day 47: since it's been so hot I thought it would be appropriate to go on a quest for new summery sandals (seriously... what is up with the roasting weather?) This is what I came up with. Kind of ridiculous but I like them... a metallic garden party on my feet. I think I'll wear them with dresses this spring. Or now. Whichever.

day 46: february summer

day 46: apparently summer starts in February in southern California. I had thought that the reason it was so warm this weekend was that we were in Palm Springs. But I was mistaken. It was 80 degrees here today as well. Time to break out the shorts and t-shirts, although most of them are much too small. We also got the kids their first pair of big kid sandals... they look huge to me wearing those shoes. And as a special "you've been good shopping" treat they got to have some fruit smoothie with dinner. Paul looks disgruntled because they had to take turns drinking the smoothie. "MOM... when is it going to be MY turn to drink the smoothie?!"

day 45: desert zoo

day 45: on Sunday we attempted to go to the Living Desert - which seems pretty awesome if you can either a) go in the morning while it's still cool or b) withstand ridiculous heat. The babies were wilted and unimpressed (even though they normally love the zoo, it was just too hot) so we left after only around an hour. Maybe I have a weird sense of humor but this is my favorite shot. All of the spectators checking out the giraffes.

day 44: roasted babies

day 44: we spent the weekend in Palm Springs and even though it was only 85 degrees it was a bit much for our little mild climate babies. They were getting such a kick out of running around in the back yard (oh the luxury... a YARD!) and turned beet red and sweaty.. I guess it's partly my fault for misreading the weather forecast and not realizing they should have been wearing shorts. I love this picture because you can see Amelia's crazy low rider pants (too big, oops) and Herbie in the front demonstrating how hot out it was.

day 43: daddy pile

day 43: what better way to be greeted upon returning home from work than in a big pile of squealing excited babies? Ones that are yelling "dada!" and grinning ear to ear. Sounds pretty great to me.

day 42: macaroni faux hawk

day 42: what's better than eating macaroni and cheese for dinner? Wearing it, of course. At least that's what Paul thinks. I went in the kitchen to cut up some grapes and came back to this... a pile of macaroni on his head and a cheese sauce faux hawk. Nice.

day 41: hearts

day 41: on Wednesday I made a lot of hearts. A LOT of hearts. For a super top secret project that Ben doesn't think should be revealed on blogs until the weekend. So you just get to see this one

day 40: more rain

day 40: we got more rain today. A lot more rain. ENOUGH ALREADY. I don't have anything against the rain in theory. I love the noise on the roof and it's fun to watch through the window. It does, however, pose a problem for me getting my kids out of the house since we are without a garage. How am I supposed to carry two children and a diaper bag out to a car that is parked on the street and get everyone in and settled and ready to go WITHOUT GETTING SOAKED? It's not possible. So I think I'll take a rain-check on the rain. Haha.

day 39: monday

day 39: yesterday was a Monday. That about sums it up. It was not a great one.

day 38: Sunset Sunday

day 38: I love this picture. The light. The time of day. I love the mom in the back pushing the kid on the swings. I love sunset and Sundays. It makes me happy.

day 37: more fish

day 37: today was another rainy day so we decided it was a good day for an indoor activity. Ben hadn't been to the aquarium yet and we have a membership so it made the decision pretty simple - more fish for the Mofish! Just an FYI (and maybe this goes without saying, but just in case) the aquarium is much more pleasant and less crowded during the week. It was kind of a zoo (no pun intended) today.

day 36: they brush and brush and brush their teeth

day 36: each day after bath time we each take one baby and help them brush their teeth while wearing their hooded towels before they get their jammies on. It is one of the cutest times of day. My favorite part of this picture is the blurry ear of Paul's towel in the upper left hand corner of the frame.

day 35: I'm not sad, promise

day 35: Ben thought that the last picture I posted of myself looked really sad. I'm not sad. I was just tired. In any case I thought maybe since it's late and I don't have anything better to take a picture of I should just take another (less sad) picture of myself. I also never showed off my new fab haircut that I got this weekend. I love having short hair!

day 34: a visit from grandpa

day 34: what a week for the babies, first a visit from grandma and then a visit from grandpa in the same week?! Fabulous :) We all went out to a nice lunch in Marina del Rey where the babies enjoyed (very much so) the view of the marina and of course the dogs walking by. Amelia was showing something very important to grandpa I'm sure!

day 33: lost

day 33: we just finished watching the season premiere of Lost. It was very long. Now it's late. And I'm tired. So I'm going to go to bed. Oh, yeah, and I'm also confused.

day 32: aquarium

day 32: today my mom came to visit and she wanted to take the babies somewhere fun. I've been meaning to take them to the aquarium so that's what we decided to do. I have this debate with myself every day about whether or not the photo of the day is going to be the most technically perfect and impressive to photography enthusiasts OR if it's going to be the one that most completely shows what I DID that day. What I always come back to is that this is sort of a daily journal, and at the end of the year when I make it into a book I'm really going to want to look at it to remember what that year of my life was like, not which were the best pictures I took... SO... without further ado... here is a slightly underexposed picture of Amelia looking at some fish. I love the expression on her face