January Shmanuary...Winter Shminter!

Last Tuesday, Noah and I went over to Santa Cruz, all bundled up ready for a winter day in The Cruz. Ummmm no! IT WAS 73 DEGREES! We met up with some dear friends for our lunch. Jess, Vicenta and I used to have lunch at I ♥ Sushi on a weekly basis...now we are all living and working in different cities so when ever we all end up in town, we meet up and eat entirely waaay too much! Last time we met up, Noah was in my belly and taking up prime sushi room and I wasn't allowed to eat sushi...this time, I ate sushi and Noah was trying to swipe it off my plate!

After luch, Noah and I were thinking we might die of heat exhaustion, so we pulled off our sweatshirts, changed into some t-shirts and headed for an air conditioned building where Noah could meet some of his fans! We went to the county building where I used to work at Friday Night Live. The building was air conditioned, though it was a bit empty, we got to have a nice visit with Xaloc and Noah was sure to pull out all his tricks and show off a little bit! After a diaper and a whole bunch of drool we headed out to meet visit some more friends.
We haven't made it over the hill as often as we would like so we were trying to cram in all the visits we could. Starbucks in Capitola to visit Tara and the new little baby growing in her belly :), and over to King Paint and Paper to see Tom (and hear the great news of his July '09 wedding with Jo CONGRATULATIONS!) and had to cancel our visit with Rachelle and Nate due to a missed nap. Our one last stop was also a bust, but it worked out just perfectly....

Noah and I ended up down at Twin Lakes Beach. It was B-E-A-UTIFUL! My intent was to find a nice relaxing place to nurse and change Noah's diaper before making our way back over the hill. Umm yeah, we ended up there for about 2 hours! We had so much fun...in January, the middle of winter, barefoot and on the beach surrounded by oodles of others soaking up the rays. January, Shmanuary!

Noah loved it! He couldn't hold his little head still. It darted back and forth, up and down and diagonally pausing just long enough to store what ever he was seeing in that ever growing little brain of his. The sea gull, the group of high school kids playing tag, the fly on the blanket, the girl in the bikini (such a boy!), the crashing waves, my red toe nail polish, the sand, the dog...he took it all in!

We spent a lot of time down by the water and even more time trying to keep the beach out of Noah's mouth. He was not too sure about the sand at first, but once he had his little hands squishing away in it, he was determined to get it all and get it all in his mouth! Despite my best efforts, the kid managed to eat some sand and made the face, we all know so well. As we started to pack up, the sunset started and we were delayed another 30 minutes or so. It was so beautiful, I couldn't turn my back to it and leave. So we watched and we played and we had some strangers take our picture, and we took more pictures....and then Noah slept.

Gotta love "winter" in Santa Cruz!

Hugs With Teeth!

Last weekend after spending 4 hours driving around the county, hoping in and out of the car (more on that later) we spent some time with cousin Soren and Auntie Chesna while Daddy worked with Uncle D and Pappa on the house. Soren is all over the place and it is adorable (here is where you add in the sigh of a tired mommy chasing around an insanely curious and hellbent crawling 8 month old...cute isn't the 1st word that comes to everyone's mind, go mama go!).

Soren wants to get into everything and be everywhere and does it all with a smile, until it doesn't go his way! Then he lets you know how frusterated he is, but recovers quite quickly and flashes that big 2 toothed smile before racing off on another adventure. I watch with amazement and a little bit of disbelief and fear knowing that Noah will be motoring around soon and realizing that my apartment is not even close to being ready for a crawling infant! After managing to keep Soren from stealing Noah's binki and intervening what Chesna and I deemed, "giving cuzzi a hug" (which was more of a take down) we headed off for a visit with The Young Family 5.

We haven't seen the Young Gang since September's Movie Night Extravaganza. (Which by the way Alicia was 4 months ago and waaaay too long between visits!) We invaded their home around 5pm and were greeted with the same enthusiastic, bouncing off the walls, "let me show you something," insanely cute boys that I missed oh so much! Adult talk has taken on even more of a challenge now that Rivey and Noah are not just little blobs! It used to be us talking over Vancey, pulling him off our lap, or out of my purse, shooing the boys outside and checking to make sure they were behaving. Now we add to the list, the cooing, babbling and screeching of both Rivey and Noah, picking up the forever dropped toys, wrangling the crawlers out from under Vance, and trying to keep everyone entertained. Sounds crazy when I write it out like this, but really, it's not that bad. Really, I swear. You just do it with out even thinking and we always have a great time.

We managed to get all 8 of us over to Pizza My Heart in Downtown Santa Cruz on a Saturday night at prime time...and get a table, thanks to Treyton and Vance! We all ate, with out any major melt downs (minor ones yes, but nothing we had to go home for!) and made it back to Alicia's in time to tuck in the big boys for bed, and enjoy some delicious ice cream from the family creamery (Polar Bear Ice Cream...it's soo good and among other places, Marini's sells it! :) ha ha ha, be sure to ask them about it when you order some!)

As we tried to continue our "adult talk" Noah and Rivey were hard at work...playing with each and every toy in the room! They emptied out each box of toys I think. Of course they wanted to play with the same toy which inevitable let to a power struggle and a mommy intervention or 2, or 3 or 4! My favorite part of the whole night though, was when River continually insisted on being in Noah's lap, or rather on him in any way shape or form. Mind you, the two are comparable in size, though River is about 4 months older and has more strength and mobility and teeth!


As Alicia and I pried the two apart for the 4th or 5th time, and they both had big ol' drooly smiles, Alicia apologized, and my response was, "don't be sorry! River is just giving lots of hugs...hugs with teeth!" and we all busted up laughing...including Thing 1 and Thing 2.

You Can Find Me In Australia

If I disappear for 6 months or so, it's because I got, "The Best Job In The World" and am frolicking around a beautiful beach in Australia! This article was on the "Cheat Sheet" from the Daily Beast yesterday and it had a link to the full article (posted below) at the Yahoo News website. I thought I would share...but only to make you jealous of my soon to be new job, you know, rub it in a little bit, not to encourage you to try and take it from me!
*wink wink*

__________________________________________________________________
Australia offers 'best job in world' on paradise island

Mon Jan 12, 10:16 pm ET

SYDNEY (AFP) – An Australian state is offering internationally what it calls 'the best job in the world' earning a top salary for lazing around a beautiful tropical island for six months.

SYDNEY (AFP) – An Australian state is offering internationally what it calls "the best job in the world" -- earning a top salary for lazing around a beautiful tropical island for six months.

The job pays 150,000 Australian dollars (105,000 US dollars) and includes free airfares from the winner's home country to Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland's state government announced on Tuesday.

In return, the "island caretaker" will be expected to stroll the white sands, snorkel the reef, take care of "a few minor tasks" -- and report to a global audience via weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates.

The successful applicant, who will stay rent-free in a three-bedroom beach home complete with plunge pool and golf buggy, must be a good swimmer, excellent communicator and be able to speak and write English.

"They'll also have to talk to media from time to time about what they're doing so they can't be too shy and they'll have to love the sea, the sun, the outdoors," said acting state Premier Paul Lucas.

"The fact that they will be paid to explore the islands of the Great Barrier Reef, swim, snorkel and generally live the Queensland lifestyle makes this undoubtedly the best job in the world."

Lucas said the campaign was part of a drive to protect the state's 18 billion Australian dollar a year tourism industry during the tough economic climate caused by the global financial meltdown.

"Traditional tourism advertising just doesn't cut it sometimes and we are thinking outside the box by launching this campaign."

Queensland Tourism Minister Desley Boyle said some people might question whether it was risky to let an unknown person become an unofficial tourism spokesperson for the state.

"I think the biggest risk will be that the successful candidate won't want to go home at the end of the six months," she said.

"This is a legitimate job which is open to anyone and everyone."

Applications are open until February 22. Eleven shortlisted candidates will be flown to Hamilton Island in early May for the final selection process and the six month contract will commence on July 1.

Job-seekers can apply on Islandreefjob.com

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I would like to add, that I will miss you all while I am off "working" in Paradise! :) ha ha ha

DeLurking Day 2009

Today is one of my new found favorite days! As I read through my slew of favorite blogs today, each and everyone of them mentioned that it is DeLurking Day!
"What the heck is DeLurking?!" you ask with excitement and confusion! Well, a "Lurker" is someone who reads but does not comment, so that no onw knows you are there! Ah-hem, that would be all of you! SOOOO today is the day, for all of you to leave me an itty bitty comment JUST so I know you are out there and reading! Go ahead, DELURK and EXPOSE YOURSELF!

Noah's Birth Announcement!

Ummm yeah...it is 6 months late. I know! But it was worth the wait! Waaay back when I was pregnant, I searched high and low for a photographer to shoot my big ol' belly, but me, Mrs. Picky, couldn't find the perfect fit. Eventually we found someone at a BABI Fair, and we won a free sitting and a credit with an amazing local photographer, Jessica Westfall at Westfall Photography. We had our maternity session done just 2 weeks before Noah was born and had a great time and got some amazing photos.

Then, just a little over 2 weeks after Noah was born, we went back to the studio and had our first family photos done! Noah held true to the baby code of ethics, and successfully pooped and peed all over daddy :) but none the less we got some amazing pictures.

Sadly, we still have yet to actually purchase any of the photos from either shoot. Hence the lack of birth announcements! Then, a few months ago, our photographer met up with a woman (Marci at Life Visions Productions)who makes beautiful DVD birth announcements....and yatta yatta yatta, long story short...she wanted to use our photos for her demo! In return, we got a few of them for free, and well...enough said. ENJOY!
(turn off the blog music before pressing play and be patient as it loads!)

The quotes were taken from a book that I have been reading to Noah since he was in my belly, On The Day You Were Born by Debra Frasier. It's our favorite!!

It's My Blogiversary

Can you believe it?! It has been one whole year since I put fingers to keys and started to chronicle the antics of my day to day life. We have come a long way in just 12 short months, yet a year later, I could use the title from my first blog all over again,
"Life At A Different Pace!"

I am terribly grateful that the heartburn is no longer an issue, and that the nausea is also long gone. And I really had no problem learning how to "slow down" from my crazy job and get cozy on the sofa! These days, Life At A Different Pace entails the pace of a new mom. I am trying to adjust to a 6 month old busy baby and letting go of any hope for sleep and free time! However, some of facets of that blog I wrote
a year ago are still ringing true...

• I am (still) lacking the whole motivation thing! - in regards to cleaning the house but my bathroom and kitchen counters are clean tonight! ha ha ha :)
  
• I keep hearing (especially from my mother) "once that baby gets here, you wont have time to do anything..." - ummm yeah, she was right.
• Jason and I have A LOT of unnecessary stuff! Jason will say that it is my unnecessary stuff, but what's mine is his and what's his is mine right! - although now, on top of all of our unnecessary stuff is all of Noah's stuff, and why did no one tell me how much STUFF babies actually have?!
  
• and lastly, I still want people to leave me comments!!!

I must say, glancing over my posts from the last year really put a smile on my face. Certain blogs made me laugh, and others made me cry, and others made my soul shine! All of them reminded me just how many AMAZING people I have in my life, how lucky we are to be surrounded by so much love, and how grateful I am for each and every one of our friends and family. I apologize to those of you who have not made your blog debut, and if you are just aching to have your mug and your story posted on here, let me know and I can add it to my list of
"things to do before the end of 2009!" :)

Among all the sappy stuff, I realized that we are always busy! We are always go go go! I also got a good reminder as to why I am covered in purple stretch marks and why I have to have a funeral for all my old shoes. Lastly, I realized that I need to pay more attention to grammar, spelling and typos!! I do appreciate your reading through my slop and your continued
devotion despite my poor editing!

When I started, I had no idea where this was going to go. I read a few blogs (Amy's and Jennifer's to be exact) and I figured it would be fun and just give it a go. In the last year, I have come to love my blog. It has become my hobby, my escape, something I love to do and look forward to doing. First and foremost, I blog for me and for my kiddos. I have chronicled the start of our family and told quite a story of our life so far and hope to continue until I can't type anymore (heck I could even keep it up when I can't type, have you seen this great film?).

Secondly, I write for all of you. It is nice to share my story, share my thoughts, share my silly pictures, and interact with all of you. Be it an email, a comment, a phone call, or a conversation...I love them all!!! Your feedback is welcomed and is greatly appreciated. In fact, after I post, I anxiously await your responses (so you should comment in some way shape or form! I know you are reading, my map shows me you are reading!)

Speaking of comments, I took a look all of them! The numbers show that you are all most interested in reading about Noah and his updates, and least interested in politics, and Birthdays! Not a big surprise...Jason and I are second rate citizens next to The Noahnator, birthdays remind us that we are all aging, and well, politics are politics. The top comments came in when I was in desperate need of your TLC(thank you!), followed closely by Noah's updates and the runners up come in when I make a fool of myself or when others make a fool out of me!

Good News! I will FOREVER have updates about Noah, and CONTINUALLY make a fool out of myself! With any luck though, I won't get stuck in such a place that I will need all your help and I will hopefully be able to dodge any lame
comments that humiliate me!

So, again I thank you for your devotion and support. Though I complain and beg for you to comment, I will continue to write either way. Comments or not! I will also continue to write about birthdays and politics, and probably some other stuff you find boring or lame. However, with the start of the new year and the start of a new line of blogging, I am curious if there are any topics you want to hear about, pictures you want to see, or questions you want answered.

I have added a box to the top right hand side of the my blog titled, "I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!" You can make any suggestions or ask any questions anonymously via this blog tool from skribit.com! Once people have made entries, you can view their suggestions/questions and vote on them by clicking the link "See all # Suggestions" at the bottom of the skribit box.
I look forward to another year of sleepless nights as I feebly attempt to journal my family antics here on Blogger! And I look forward to hearing from YOU!