Baby Steps...

About 2 weeks ago, this was BIG news:
1: crawl

2: lift, pull
3: stand

4: re-position for a better view

As of today, it is OLD news.

This little bugger is walking!!!

Emrys' first steps were taken today (July 1, 2009) at 11 mos + 4 days old.
Kelly was getting home from work within minutes of these first little steps so I threw the video camera at him and told him to "point here and push the button--quick!"

You can check out the video here...

A Somewhat Typical Morning

Here are a couple of videos captured during breakfast yesterday with Leighton and Emrys.
The first is of Leighton singing a song we first learned in Laura Sobell's infant class when she was about 9 months old.



The next is Emrys at the end of his breakfast "cleaning up".



These 2 speak for themselves.

Happy 6 Year Anniversary, Baby!

We were a lot younger looking then. This was our breakfast at the villa the morning before our wedding. I think Lawrence cooked it for us...with the farm eggs and fresh bread and amazing cheese that our little kitchens were stocked with. This must have been my first locavore-type food epiphany and I've had a new appreciation for food ever since...but I digress.


This breakfast represents a minor detail along the journey that has been the last 6 years of marriage, but isn't it the little things that provide the texture and richness to the lives we lead together? Happy 6th Anniversary, Baby.


And thanks, Lawrence, for the awesome breakfast!

Happy 10 Months, Monkey!

Today is Emrys' 10 month birthday. To celebrate, he decided to finally figure out that if he could just get off his ample tushie and roll over his plump little leg, he could get onto his dimpled little knees and pull himself up on the nearest object. All this so he can stand up and cruise around the room. He still hasn't crawled, but I think today the whole point of crawling finally clicked...get over there so you can stand up! All this little guy wants to do is WALK. Man, is my back tired.

Tooth count: 8
Words: Many unintelligible phrases, but Ma-Ma was said loud and clear...about 2 months ago.
Favorite foods: All of them. Most recently, blackberries.

Disneyland 2009

Speaking of Fires, we headed to Disneyland during the evacuation from the fire. Super convenient that we already had this trip planned. It wasn't even blazing hot down in Anaheim so we momentarily forgot the hills were ablaze back home!

2009 Disney Trivia

1. L's favorite ride this year: Dumbo, the Carousel, and NOT Pirates of the Caribbean
2. 1st thing we did at the park: Thursday Night Main Street Parade
3. Emrys' 1st ride: Dumbo (just like the Bit last year)
4. Mystery Guest: The Behle's
5. Latest Night: Leighton and Daddy stuck around for the firework show on Friday night (up past 10pm)
6. Something New: The Enchanted Tiki Room (never heard of this before!) in Frontierland. Fun for all of us!
7. Amazing but true: We managed to get both kids (and daddy) to nap every afternoon in the room for 1-2 hours...you've gotta love blackout curtains.
8. Some Things Never Change: Goofy was still a big doggy jerk!
   
9. Daddy's Solo Adventure: The Matterhorn (he decided he's too old AND not young enough for that one!)

Here we are rolling through the park, with our Mouse Ears.


In all the letters in California, only Leighton represents...proudly I might add.


Dinner in the Celebration Theater with Chip and Dale.


Emrys enjoying Minnie Mouse's House.


Emrys on the Heimlich Caterpillar ride with me.


Leighton and Daddy on the teacups.

A full album of photos can be found on our Shutterfly share site. Please email me if you need the password!

Jesusita Fire

The Jesusita Fire appears to be behind us...literally and figuratively. The fire is 100% contained by all reports. The total acreage burned was 8,733. 80 homes destroyed and 15 damaged. All evacuation orders were lifted by May 13. Nearly 30,000 residents were evacuated...
Our neighborhood was outside any real danger this time even though we were in the mandatory evacuation zone--the fire burned in the canyon behind the Riviera (which is the hillside/ridge starting just outside our front door.) We feel blessed and lucky and our hearts go out to the families who were not so fortunate.

Here is a link to a NASA article with an amazing photograph showing the burn area. We've been pouring over the news photos to see just what has burned. We hope that our home and our city is safe for the next 30 years, but if this year is any indication, we'll be doing this again in 6 months.

seasons preschool thank you photo (Leighton not pictured)

Thank you Firefighters, police and emergency crews. We sure appreciate you!

We're going to Disneyland!

We had to evacuate, so we are going to spend a couple of days in
Fantasyland...