Our mini vacation day 1

It’s been two years since we went to the beach, and since it’s only 2 hours away, we had little excuse not to go! So we planned a little weekend getaway to the beach. We left last Friday and drove to Tomales Bay State Beach which is on the inner peninsula north of San Francisco. It was nice and calm-no waves, but lots of dead jellyfish and lots of kids. The kids were very curious about the jellyfish and Sylvia kept chasing the seagulls up and down the beach. It was a bit windy, but the sun was out and there was no fog! We parked our lawn chairs near a cliff that provided shade and let the kids play for a while. Julio had an experience while we were there. A kid on an inner tube was being carried out to sea by the current and he and another man helped bring him back to shore.

After we left the beach, we went to the Courtyard Marriott in Novato and stayed the night. Julio swam in the pool with the kids, we ordered food and watched tv. That night was quite an adventure though having 6 people in one hotel room. The kids had a hard time settling down and were up really late. Tessa was up even later-1 am and then 3 am and 5 am….Sylvie fell off  the bed in the night, Lucia was talking in her sleep, Julio and I were crowded onto a full size bed and couldn’t get comfortable. Needless to say, we won’t be doing any more overnight trips with the baby for a while and we’ll make sure to get bigger beds next time.

Some favorite recent eats

This past week, I’ve enjoyed making a couple of new things. I make a fruit smoothie every day. It’s cheaper to make it at home than to go to Jamba Juice. I usually make one with frozen berries, but decided to mix it up a bit and go with frozen peaches instead. So I put a vanilla yogurt, half a banana, frozen peaches, ice and apple juice in the blender. It’s delicious!

The other thing I made this week was a zucchini pizza. I make the pizza dough in the kitchen aid. The recipe is really simple and I will post it if anyone asks. Then I roll out the dough and brush a thing layer of butter (or you can use olive oil) over the top. Then I add mozzarella and grated parmesan cheese. Then I put a layer of thinly sliced zucchini on top of the cheese, sprinkle fresh rosemary, garlic salt and drizzle a little bit of olive oil on the top. Then I bake it for 15 minutes. It was so good!

Another Sylvie story

I have to write this one down so I don’t forget it. Yesterday in church, one of the speakers didn’t show up, so the bishop said he would be calling people from the congregation to get up and share their testimony. Julio kept saying-he’s going to call you up there. I was in denial. First the bishop called up four men. Then another teenage boy, then me. I handed Tessa to Julio and started the long walk from the back of the chapel to the pulpit. Sylvie freaked out of course and followed me up to the front row where I sat waiting for my turn to speak. She kept saying to me, “You have to go up there mommy, sorry!”  I told her to stay on the bench and I would go up there and then come back and get her. Of course, that didn’t fly with her. When I got up to go up to the pulpit, she started screaming, “No mommy! Don’t go!” I picked her up and her screaming was heard through the microphone. I looked out at the congregation-some people were smiling, some had looks of horror on their faces. I was so embarrassed, I couldn’t speak. After what seemed like an eternity, Julio passed the baby off to someone and came up and took Sylvie out-screaming the whole way!  I got lots of comments from people afterwards saying things like, “You’ve got your hands full” or “She’s got a lot of energy and spunk.” But, someone also asked me, “Where is the little wild one?”    and another lady said, “It will be interesting to watch her grow up and be able to express her emotions and wants more effectively.” That was a very diplomatic way of saying, “Hopefully she’ll grow out of her craziness!” Oh Sylvie.

Tessa at 2 months

She weighs 9 lbs. 5 oz. and is in the 15% for weight and the 25% for height. She has had a hard time with her vaccinations-she was up all night fussing. She sleeps great as long as I don’t eat salsa ! She has had a couple of nights where she has slept 7 to 8 hours straight! She is a night owl and doesn’t ever go down for the night before 11 pm. She likes to nap in her swing and is calmed by white noise and lying on the floor kicking her legs.

  I  need to monitor what I eat to make sure it doesn’t bother her tummy because she is still spitting up quite a bit. She smiles and coos at everyone and is very alert.   Her siblings love her. Sylvie likes to scream and demand stuff when I’m feeding her and says, “Put the baby down!” Tessa is oblivious to it though. She’s a very pleasant baby and sleeps through our outings.  She enjoys being outside too. Above is a picture of her in her stroller when we went to the temple.

I <3 July!

So last week was Independence Day and the Mom’s birthday. It was a busy week. We celebrated the 4th at Mom and Dad’s swimming and relaxing. Callie and Brian were there for a while and some friend’s of my parents. (I forgot the camera). We did sparklers and a couple of fireworks in the street when it got dark finally at 9:30 and then we headed home.  Lucia bawled because we didn’t go see the fireworks, but it was late and everyone was tired. We did get to see some from our car, but apparently that wasn’t good enough for her because she said, “This is the worse 4th of July ever!” Oh well, maybe next year will be better. 
On Wed., we decided to go surprise Mom at work for her birthday with balloons. The kids got to eat some of the birthday cake a co-worker had made for her and they were so happy! 

Since poor little baby cousin had been in the hospital (she’s ok) we only got together for dessert that night to celebrate Mom’s birthday.

Another thing that happened last week is Julio’s car overheated and was in the shop all week. After $2k it was fixed. UGH! I was so mad!

Here is a cousin picture. I just love that Eden gets so excited to come to Aunt Nikki’s house to play with her cousins!

Kids playing in the backyard.

All 4 of them together.

Tessa and Totoro (I think Lucia took this picture)

Tessa and Lucia.

Tessa and Marco

Tessa and Sylvie.

*Update on the job situation. On Friday, Julio got an email from a firm he interviewed with 6 months ago. They said they now had an open position that they thought would be a good fit for him. So he has another interview today. Another option to think about.

What to do, what to do?

We were planning on being unemployed this month. They have now told him they’re bringing him back to the Sacramento office permanently. No more driving to San Francisco! We had all the plans in place to open a business-law practice doing bankruptcy for Spanish speaking clients. Julio got his business license, got an office space, staff and software with his former employer, and advertising in a Spanish circular. So, what do we do now? Move along with our plan to open a business, or accept the offer to stay on at Borton Petrini? It’s a big decision. We aren’t sure what to do. The independence and flexibility of having your own business is very appealing, but so is the security of a steady pay check and not having to worry about finding clients.  Hmmmm….