Fiesta Forever

Diana had her chance in the limelight at this weekend's Fiesta Days celebration - she joined several of her classmates in the parade on Saturday. They sat on a float to promote their school's Spanish Immersion program. I absolutely love this program. The teachers are great, the parents are great and we love that Diana is doing so well in school while learning another language. She's becoming such a well-rounded individual and that's what we want for our kids.

We were especially proud of our kids this Saturday because the kids were asked to get to the meeting spot one hour prior to the start of the parade. Our float didn't step off into the parade route until 30 minutes after the official start of the parade. The kids sat around in the cold and wind, never had to pee (which surprised us all) and never complained once. Truly amazing! When the parade started, they waved, blowed bubbles, proudly wore their sombreros and represented their school and program with pride!

Matt, Amy and I walked alongside the floats (well, Amy was pushed in the jogger) and had a great time as well. I proudly carried the Mexican flag with another mom.
The highlight of the parade though was my dad jumping out of the crowd to get a super closeup of Diana in the float. One of the moms asked me if he knew one of the kids and I said "Oh yea, that's my dad." She just laughed.

Here's Diana with her crew of girls before the parade - Shae, Natalie, Elizabeth and Delaney.



Diana and her friends waiting patiently before the parade.



Diana practicing her parade wave.



Diana and some of the girls posed with the pink fire truck.



This program is so much fun. It's exactly the type of community atmosphere that I wanted for my family in elementary school. For anyone who is on the fence about doing Spanish or Dual Immersion, I say jump on over. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

The tradition continues

I had reservations about entering Amy into the Fiesta Days Annual Diaper Derby. Diana did the race twice, taking first place the second time. But it's crazy. It's like a beauty pagaent for athletes. It's not super organized like a Borchert function would be so that's a big set back for us as well.
But my family is always giving me a hard time about not treating the second child equally. The Diaper Derby was my chance to allow Amy to do something that Diana did even though I don't look forward to it.
Matt wasn't thrilled that we were going to have to get to the Derby site right as the Indy 500 was starting. Too bad, I told him. This is the only year that Amy is doing the Derby so suck it up. The Indy 500 is like 4 hours long or something anyway.
We arrived at the site, signed Amy up, put her in her official Derby t-shirt and practiced around the gym with her. She ran from one wall to the middle of the court upon our yelling "go!" One mom commented "She's ready." Yes, Amy is always ready to run.
Around the time the crawlers were starting their race, Amy was getting a little tired of running from the wall to the middle of the court so I took her outside to get some fresh air. Grandpa D showed up and we chatted for a while. But before I knew it, Matt comes running outside yelling "It's time! C'mon!!"
I scooped Amy up and we ran inside. I gave Amy to Matt, he lined up on the starting line and I ran to the finish line.
I started looking around for my family - I found Au Bob, but my mom and Diana weren't there yet. They were going to miss it. Oh well, there was no time to cry.
There were about 15 kids in Amy's heat so there were an equal amount of parents, grandparents and siblings on the receiving end. I squeezed my way down to the floor, much to the chagrin of some of the grandparents and parents, and waited for Amy to start.
The lady in charge decided to split the group up into two heats. Matt yells down "We are going to go second!" I nod my head. My mom later suggested that Matt scoped out the competition to see where Amy would have the best chance of winning. And so what if he did?
The first heat went and the lady in charge wasted no time in getting the second heat up on the starting line. I barely had time to make eye contact with Amy before she was sprinting from Matt's arms, across the gym floor, to the finish line and into my arms. She won, and it wasn't close. (My dad has pictures to prove it and Matt has it on video.) The girl took off at the first sound of "GO!" and with a huge smile on her face.

I scooped Amy up, the Fiesta Days princesses came over to confirm that we, er, Amy did in fact win her heat. I was way more excited than Amy, she just looked very confused. I think she wanted to keep running.
We took Amy over to get her trophy and headed home. I was beaming. I have two Diaper Derby winners. When we got home, we took a picture with the girls with their first place trophies. Classic!
If Amy could give an acceptance speech, here's what she would say; "I would like to thank my sister, Diana, for all the nights running around the living room. I never thought that all that running would actually pay off, I just had a fun time chasing you and thinking I was 5."

Flying colors

Amy and I returned to Walnut Creek on Tuesday for her two-year preemie checkup. It's hard to believe that it's been almost two years since we were rushed from NorthBay hospital in Fairfield to Kaiser in Walnut Creek just 12 hours after she was born so she could receive the best care for preemies in Northern California.
When strangers make comments about Amy nowadays, they don't say "oh, she's so small." They usually say "She's not two yet?" I just smile. I guess there's no need to say "She was less than 3 lbs. when she was born." When I do tell people that, they are stunned.
Amy met with a physical therapist, who was happy with her development. Amy played some games and pointed to pictures in a book. The only issue that came up was her language development. She doesn't have as many words as a typical 2-year-old should have at this point and they suggested that we enroll her in speech therapy. I am hesitant of course but the doctor we saw later said there's really no disadvantage to it. If Amy starts talking in the next two months (by the time she turns 2) and the speech therapist decides she doesn't need therapy, then we don't need it. But it can be helpful and useful for her if we decide to proceed.
The doctor came in next and was real happy with how Amy is eating and sleeping. Then the nurse came in to weigh and measure Amy. This is always our favorite part. Amy is 25 lbs and 35 inches long. She's in the 95th percentile for height and the 50th percentile for weight. I've joked all along with her pediatrician that instead of a basketball player, she's going to be a volleyball player - long and lean. But now, it seems that she's putting on some weight. Maybe she will be Matt's power forward after all! It was a very exciting revelation! :)
The social worker came in last (before the nurse returned to stick Amy with another round of Hep B) and asked how home life is. The only concern that she had was that Matt and I don't go out enough. I told her we were going out tonight to a concert and that I was very excited about it.
It was a great visit and we will go back in a year for her final preemie checkup. A little sad, but glad that our little person is doing so well!

Diana tri(es)!

About a month ago, I got an email from A Change of Pace Foundation, a non-profit group in Davis which puts on a lot of foot races in Northern California, advertising a kids triathlon - the Positive Energy Kids Triathlon. I've seen this before on their website, but never gave it much thought.
With Diana in such great shape right now, I thought it was something we could "tri" (no pun intended). They offer a parent-child division so I thought it would be a great starting point. Diana, at first, was hesitant, then I told her that she could pick out where we eat lunch afterward and she was on board.
The week before the race it was raining here so training was nearly impossible. When the sun did come out, I got Diana on her bike and we rode to the park and around the neighborhood. I took her swimming in the local pool a couple times to get her some practice with the kickboard, which she was allowed to use in the pool at the race.

The day of the race came and once we arrived on scene, she was excited. Here are some images from the race, courtesy of Au Bob. I must thank my family for coming out to be cheerleaders. Diana continues in a long-line of triathletes and even if this is her first and last triathlon, I was super proud of her for finishing and working real hard today!

Diana getting bodymarked. Grandpa D thought this was hilarious!






The girls with their game faces on!



Diana gettin' her kick on!



Diana needed a little extra help up the last hill on the bike portion of the race. The entire bike course was a little more hilly than we expected.



We're almost done, girl!



This photo is a little blurry, but it's my favorite! We did it!



Everyone (including me) got a finishers medal. Five hours after her race, Diana is still wearing hers!

Gone Fishin'

The minimum age on the box says that kids should be 4 years and older to play the "Let's Go Fishin'" game that sits in our living room. But Amy doesn't think that's right. She wants to play now. She's watched us all play it and must have said to herself "Easy breezy, I got this!"
We started out slow with her, letting her play with Matt or me when we played against Diana, but after a while, she wanted to do it herself. She held the pole wrong the first couple times she did it, but that was OK. She was still getting the hang of it. After a few tries though, she aced it. Now, she wants to play all day every day and it's not even a big deal anymore when she gets the fishies. She doesn't take a deep gasping "I am so proud of myself" gasp and show us. She just puts them down on the table and tries to get more. It probably takes her 15-20 minutes playing by herself to clear the whole pond. Once she's done, she puts the fishies back in the pond and goes at it again.
It's fun to watch her play, but the funniest thing (according to Matt, at least) is watching her place the fishies on the table once she's fished them out of the pond. If one falls over, she has to place it right side up. OCD is inevitable.

Amy giving the pre-game stare down to the fishies.



Amy has unbelievable patience for an almost 2-year-old and a very steady hand.



While sister poses for the camera, Amy sneaks in and grabs the fishies!



"I think I got one, Mommy!"



So pumped!



"I've mastered the fishies!!"

Cupcakes...and more cupcakes

I love cupcakes. I don't love to eat them, but I love to research them and bake them. I am not a big fan of decorating them all fancy, but I love to try different flavors. I found an awesome cupcake cookbook that has really inspired me to try different flavors. It's been a lot of fun to use my creativity in this manner.
I have been baking a lot of cupcakes lately. I tested some flavors months ago and gave them to friends and family members to taste and give me feedback. I baked some cupcakes for Easter - malt shop cupcakes and lemon buttermilk. The girls helped me and Diana was even happy to help with cleanup.











While we were in San Anselmo, I came across these cute British-themed cupcake decorations and I had to have them. It gave me an excuse to make orange flavored cupcakes with almond frosting for the Royal Wedding. I took some to Debbie and Dave for our visit to Santa Cruz and froze the rest. ;)



Lastly, the grand finale (well, not really)...I baked 80 cupcakes for Matt's banquet last weekend - four flavors to celebrate the four straight titles the team has won. My selections were vanilla with vanilla buttercream frosting, dark chocolate with peanut butter frosting, snickerdoodle with vanilla buttercream and lemon buttermilk with vanilla buttercream. They were a hit!

These are the snickerdoodle cupcakes with a cute fondant basketball decoration on them.



These are the basketball cupcakes, vanilla flavored.



I have a lot of time on my hands so if you would like some cupcakes, give me a call!

Packin' up the car

The last two days of Diana's spring break were mostly spent in the car. The girls were driving each other - and me - nuts so we headed out for an adventure to visit some friends and family.

Last Thursday, we went to Tiburon to have lunch with a former co-worker of mine. I love driving into Tiburon because the view of San Francisco is wonderful. It was a clear day and I couldn't take my eyes off the city. Once the Golden Gate Bridge was in view, I asked Diana what it was and she responded quickly with "Golden Gate Bridge." That's my girl!

We went to a restaurant in San Anselmo called Comforts. It was outstanding food. We walked around the downtown area, had frozen yogurt and then headed home. It was a long day but a very fun day.

On Friday, we headed to Santa Cruz for a visit with Aunt Debbie and soon-to-be Uncle Dave! We arrived at lunch time and Debbie made pizza-dillas for us. I was very surprised that Diana chowed on hers since it was made with a whole wheat tortilla. Thanks for thinking healthy Deb! :)

Dave and Deb's house is awesome and the front porch was a perfect opportunity to take a picture of the girls before we headed to the boardwalk.



After lunch we headed down to the boardwalk for some good times. Diana got a free day pass because Deb and Dave bought their season passes.



I decided not to buy any tickets for me and Amy because we were only going to be there for a short while. Huge mistake. The minute Amy saw Diana on the merry-go-round, she threw a fit. By the time the ride was over, I had to buy some tickets so she could ride some rides.

I am so glad I did. I never would have gotten these photos!







Amy insisted on having Soothie in her mouth the entire time. I let her because it was naptime and she tried to jump out of the boat when she didn't have it. Baby overboard!

This photo though is by far the best. Diana was annoyed by all the kids pressing their horns on this ride.

The bunny came!

Easter is a mixed bag for me. I feel bad that my kids don't know the true meaning of some of our country's religious holidays. It's all about Easter bunnies and Santa Claus. Diana was so excited for days to find out what the Easter bunny was going to bring her. It pained me to know that her basket was going to be filled with candy that she will never eat and dollar toys that will end up in the trash. But, their happy faces on Easter made me feel a little better for a while. I didn't grow up in a religious family so I pretty much grew up the same way my kids are growing up. Someday, I will sit down with them and we will chat about the real meaning of Christmas and Easter, but this year just wasn't the right year.

Here are some images from our visit from E.B.

Diana is pumped about her Phineas and Ferb stickers:



Amy is equally excited about her chocolate from See's Candy.



The Easter bunny brought the girls kazoos. We are going to have to have a chat with the bunny before he arrives next year about the ban we are instituting on those.



Diana and Matt colored eggs the morning of Easter (yea, we were a little late on that this year).



The girls then added their colorful touches.





The day was over when Amy dropped one of her eggs. She was a little bummed, but more than happy to throw it in the garbage.

A trip to the city

Our annual trip to San Francisco for Easter was one I will never forget. It started in the beautiful city of Sausalito with lunch with my family - all 17 of us. We then took the ferry to San Francisco. It was a beautiful day in the city. I wrote a column for the local newspaper about the entire experience as it was truly one of the strangest days in my life.
I brought cupcakes to share with my family and because they didn't eat them all, I decided to bring them on the ferry just in case someone wanted more. I ended up carrying the tray around the ferry building for more than an hour. My brother-in-law, the great Chris, made sure to humiliate me the entire time. It was well deserved.
My girls had a great time with their family members and being in the city on a georgeous day just made it all that much more fun. While we were at the ferry building, Matt stopped with Amy to listen to a man playing music. This photo was taken right after Amy put a dollar in his tip jar. I was so upset with myself for not capturing that moment on memory card. I will have it in my brain forever though. It was a very sweet moment.



The man played "Twinkle, Twinkle" for her.