Boo!

Emrys in his Pre-Costume Halloween Outfit.

Four

I've been tagged by my friend Sarah (who is a sucker for lists) to complete this survey:


Four Random Things I Like About My Husband:
1) He expects a Rincon report any time I drive by, day or night.
2) He still pays bills with an envelope and a stamp.
3) He would do just about ANYTHING for me.
4) He thinks I'm amazing and tells me so all the time.


Four Jobs I've Had:
1) Corn Dog 7 (no, we didn't have the funny hats; yes, I dipped the dogs...but it was 9th grade!)
2) Waitress: over and over again.
3) Project Designer (Interiors) at Gensler, the largest privately-held global architecture/design firm
4) Principle of JRS ID - Jessica Risko Smith Interior Design (I should be linking you to my fantastic website but having 2 kids has prevented my building it.)
BONUS JOB) Woman in Labor: twice, no drugs.


Four Movies I've Watched More Than Once:
1) Shag, the movie
2) Pride & Prejudice (A&E version)
3) Singles
4) Airplane
(my taste in movies is all over the map)


Four TV Shows I Watch:
1) Entourage (Netflix)
2) Sex & the City
3) we don't have cable...
4) but if we did, I'd be glued to the Food Network.


Four Places I've Been:
1) Italy
2) France
3) Fiji
4) England


Four of My Favorite Foods:
1) Italian.
2) Cheese
3) Artichokes
4) Southern/Seafood/Fried!


Four Places I'd Like to Visit:
1) Spain again.
2) Italy again.
3) Ireland
4) Boston/New England


Four Things I am Looking Forward to in the Coming Year:
1) Our 1st Holiday Season as a family of 4
2) My mom's visit at Christmas
3) Going surfing again!
4) Watching Emrys and Leighton as they continue to grow & meeting all the new babies that my friends are currently expecting!


Four People I Tag:
1) Tamra (b/c I know you read this once in a while!)
2) Antoine (same...and you'll be sure to give Kelly a hard time in your list!)
3) Bueller?
4) Bueller?

Alternative Fuels

Last month, we flew the family to Arizona to pick up our new car. A bit of a long story, but we wanted a diesel engine that they don't sell in California (the ultimate goal being to burn bio-diesel.) Yes, we see the environmental irony in needing to take a plane trip and a really long car-trip just to drive around with some french fry grease just to pollute a little less. But, the trip gave us a chance to see my Dad and Isabel, introduce them to their grandson and to finally see their new salon. It was the shortest trip, but we made the most of it, even stopping to see my Grandparents in Riverside on the way home, which was really nice. Emrys and Leighton are both fantastic travelers. They did great on the plane (Emrys' first flight) and in the car for the 10 hours it took us to drive home in our new ride. We had a few stops for the obvious reasons, but all in all, it was a great experience.

The new car: 2008 ML 320 CDI



My family: Dad, Isabel, Emrys (8 wks), Kelly, Me & Leighton (2-1/2)


And last week, I filled up with my first 3/4 tank of BIO-DIESEL fuel! (unfortunately, NOT less expensive than the petroleum stuff!)

Quality Time

I don't get many moments alone with Leighton anymore and it has begun to take its toll on both of us. Conveniently, I'm finally feeling able to leave Emrys in the capable hands of our babysitters so that I can steal away with my beautiful daughter and reconnect. This morning, we took some time to do just that!





Fresh Raspberries: $4/pint
Avocado: $1.50 each
Heart Wand Balloon: $2 donation
Hot Chocolate and Pastries at "Our Daily Bread": $9.70

Saturday morning Farmer's Market date with my daughter: PRICELESS

Siblings.

Something I know nearly nothing about. I plan to take a class some Saturday next month learning all about topics like sibling rivalry. I think this puts me into the category of parents Bill Cosby would termed "intellectuals". I was an avid stand-up comedy watcher all through high-school, and the Bill Cosby performance "Himself" was the gold-standard and is still my favorite. The parts on Natural Child Birth and Children are particularly relevant and hilarious to me. If you haven't seen it (or haven't watched it lately) click on the link, spend 0:05:58 and have a good laugh.

Anyway, I digress. Here are some sure to be classic sibling interactions captured on "film". 

Pumpkin Patch!

One of our favorite fall outings has become going to the pumpkin patch. We go a few times in October and pick out our carving pumpkin, a few squash to cook and our obligatory jar of pumpkin butter which goes on everything from toast to toaster waffles until the new year. Leighton's preschool has been taking field trips to the Pumpkin Patch all week! How happy are we that Seasons likes the pumpkin patch as much as we do! Sadly, I couldn't join her there today, but here are some cute photos from today's adventure taken by another mommy photog...

Check-Ups

Leighton had her first Dental Appointment!

Dr. Lyman has THE kid's office and thank goodness...Leighton was not wild about the mechanical vintage dentist's chair (I ended up holding her in my lap during her "cleaning" and keeping her from loosing it!) but she LOVED the "Molar Patroller" and safari theme of the waiting room! Fun before and after + a free toy (or 2) after the procedure. The best part...NO Cavities! Her grandma will be proud!




Emrys is already 10 weeks old! On Monday, he had his 2 month well-baby check up. He's doing great! He now weighs 14 lbs. 5 oz., is 24" tall and his head is 16-1/4" around! (Consistent with his big sister, he has to wear the larger hat sizes!) We've been getting some sleep (5-6 hour stretches) and Dr. Erbe said at his size, he could go 10 hours at night w/out a feeding. Low and behold, we went home and that very night he did. And last night too!