Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

My FREE holiday cards from Shutterfly!

2010-11-22T20:20:00.001-08:00

Holiday Pin Board Christmas Card

Get custom photo Christmas cards online at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Shutterfly's Holiday Card Promotion

2010-11-18T10:57:00.000-08:00

Shutterfly is hands down my favorite photo website and it has been for years, which is why I am super excited about this cool offer. Right now they have a great deal going on for Bloggers to blog about their awesome photo cards, and get 50 for FREE for doing it! I learned about this deal from my sister-in-law Stacy and I wanted to make sure I got in on the opportunity.

Looking back through my Shutterfly account is like taking a trip down memory lane, with several years worth of fun photo projects and photos to look at and enjoy. There are holiday cards from the last several years along with photo gifts like books, mugs and calendars that I’ve created for friends and family members.

You might also find thank you cards with my daughter’s smiling face on them that were made after a birthday party or even a photo announcement to surprise my family and friends with news of my second pregnancy. I have created photo books that have brought tears to the eyes of my parents and grandparents; nothing says love like a hand crafted book of memories for someone to cherish forever.

Last year’s holiday card from Shutterfly was extra special because it doubled as a birth announcement for my second daughter, Sailor, who was born 10 days before Christmas.
I have two kids of my own now that I want to show off, so I spent some time today (while I should have been working) looking at ideas for this year’s Christmas card…there are SO many cards to choose from--from classic styles to the more trendy, modern and whimsical layouts. The stationery cards use the high quality card stock that makes photos pop and give the cards a beautiful vintage quality that I just love. I had a hard time picking just one, but I think this card was the winner because of the cute, kitschy and totally unique design.

I'm really excited about this special offer and I can't wait to create and share my holiday cards this year.

Broken Camera

2009-08-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

The reason for my lack of updates recently is because our camera is broken and we have no way of taking fun and exciting new pictures for your viewing pleasure. *sigh*

Not sure when we'll get it fixed and/or get a new one, so until then....I post daily randomness on Facebook so you can keep up with us there if you are so inclined: http://www.facebook.com/bguerrero13#/home.php?ref=home

Dad, I know you're not the most technologically savvy guy, so I guess we'll just have to talk on the phone more often.

xoxo

20 Week Ultrasound

2009-08-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

Ultrasound Pictures 16 weeks 6 days

2009-07-06T15:12:00.001-07:00

We went for an ultrasound and an amniocentesis today. Everything looked good in the ultrasound which was very good news of course and we will get the results of the amnio in 10-14 days. The tech and the doctor were both very confident that this baby has "girl stuff" but again, we will have a definite answer once the amnio results come back. It was very nice to hear that everything looks good so far, and I'll have another ultrasound on July 29th to re-check her anatomy. Her name will be Sailor...but my husband is giving me a hard time about the middle name I picked so he may take some convincing. But she has a first name anyways.

Sailor ?? Guerrero.....first pictures:

Liberty reads herself a story:

2009-07-06T14:56:00.000-07:00

Liberty's 3rd Birthday Party...June 20th

2009-07-06T14:40:00.000-07:00

The party was held at Children's Fairyland in Oakland...it was a great time.

Some Highlights:

Liberty's 3rd Birthday...June 19th

2009-07-06T14:05:00.000-07:00

Libertyhasa great 3rd birthday! We got her haircut in the morning, then went to a really fun park in San Ramon (forgot the camera) and then when daddy got home, she got her cool new bike....

Then we took her to buy a helmet (safety first!!) at REI...

Then we took her to Red Robin for dinner....Where she got a birthday sundae and liked the whipped cream so much that she even licked the table...

it was a perfect birthday for a perfect little 3 year old.

Elmo's Green Thumb....June 18th

2009-07-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

Our friends Michelle and Sherie bought Liberty 3 tickets to Elmo's Green Thumb at the Oakland Coliseum for her birthday...we sat in the front row and had a great time!!!

We were SO close to the stage!!!

These balloons cost $10.00....EACH!!!!

Some Original Photographs by Liberty....

2009-06-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

We bought her a camera for Christmas......unfortunately, she likes our camera a lot better *rolls eyes*

Here's a few of her latest:

My Cool Tiny Tots Projects...

A close up of my face......

An even closer close up of my face....

Mommy bringing in the groceries....

And Daddy... before he took the camera away.

sleepy girl...

2009-06-07T16:00:00.001-07:00

Liberty's First Pony Ride!

2009-06-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

A girl and her snail....

2009-05-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

This is Candy Cane...our pet snail. Liberty found him crawling on the sidewalk in front of Grammy & Papa's house one rainy day about a month ago and we brought him home and made him a part of the family.

He lives on the kitchen counter in the little cage that we got when we won the hermit crab at the fair last year.....unfortunately, the hermit crab only lived for about a week, but now at least Candy Cane has a nice house.

He likes to eat the little daisy flowers from the flowerbed in front of Grammy & Papa's house, so we bring him home some fresh food every few days. He's grown a LOT since we found him, he was only about the size of a dime when we first brought him home.

He's been a great pet so far...worth every penny *wink*

The Art & Wind Festival

2009-05-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, Lisa and Zachary came out from San Francisco and we all headed over to San Ramon for the Art & Wind Festival. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun....

Lisa pushed Liberty on the swing...

Liberty pushed daddy on the swing....

The kids had fun going down the slide....over and over and over again....

There were lots of cool kites flying...

And Lisa and the kiddos rode a cool little train....

Liberty entertained herself on the ride home...
And Zach crashed....

Our First A's Game of the Year....

2009-05-30T18:51:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post these earlier, but we went to our first A's game of the season on May 10th. It was the Justin Duscherer (or however you spell that) bobblehead giveaway day and we had a blast! Liberty was a total champ all day, she got her face painted, bought a cool Stomper baseball and even got a couple A's tattoos. The A's lost (again) but we had good food and good times.

First beach trip of 2009

2009-05-24T15:49:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, the weather here in Fremont was unbearable...in the high 90's, YUCK! So we decided to beat the heat by escaping to Santa Cruz for the day. The weather was perfect there...in the high 70's and breezy. It was perfect! We had a fun day relaxing on the beach (well, actually, I relaxed while Liberty dragged her daddy into the water every two minutes) and then we went downtown for a slice at Pizza My Heart. It was a totally fun day.

(^she found a ladybug)

Fremont Kite Festival

2009-05-24T15:41:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we went to the Fremont Kite Festival at Lake Elizabeth. The weather was hot...in the 90's-- so as you can imagine, there wasn't much wind which is kind of an important ingredient to kite flying. Liberty and her daddy and Grammy & Papa tried to get some kites up off the ground (but didn't succeed) then played some frisbee while I tried my hardest not to overheat.

So, Liberty has some news.....

2009-05-10T20:03:00.000-07:00

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SURPRISE!!!!

Pants-less Cupcake Baking....

2009-05-03T18:25:00.000-07:00

(Been almost a month since my last post.....yikes. Where does the time go?)

Liberty and I baked cupcakes this afternoon for no reason other than it's been raining and the mix was on sale at Safeway. We had fun (when I wasn't yelling at her to stop dipping her finger in the batter) and the kitchen wasn't too much of a disaster when we were done.

The cute homemade apron is from my friend Kisha.

Trying to escape with the frosting....

Big girl bed....

2009-04-04T18:43:00.001-07:00

Well, we decided it was finally time for Liberty to have a big girl bed. She wasn't climbing out of her crib or anything, but since she is potty trained and getting ready to turn 3 in a couple months...we just decided it was time to convert her crib into the toddler bed. *sigh*

Kinda freaky to see it in her room....not really sure what else to say.

Easter Egg Hunting....

2009-04-04T18:23:00.000-07:00

We went to an Easter egg hunt at a park in Newark today and Liberty had a great time. She didn't find too many eggs, but in true Liberty fashion, she had fun and gave out lots of hugs.

Grammy and Papa came out to cheer her on , and Auntie Pam and Nathan were there too.

After egg hunting, we went in the jumpy houses---and guess who decided she did NOT want to leave the jumpy house and had to be manually extracted by her very embarassed mother in front of a whole line of people??? Yeah. Liberty Rose, that's who. Oh well.....she's two, right? Those things are pretty fun so I can't really blame her.

She also got her face painted for the first time....she picked out an Easter egg design and sat perfectly still while it was being done. So cute.

After we left the park, Grammy & Papa took us out for breakfast at The Country Way....which was an awesome end to an awesome morning.

Liberty Rocks Out

2009-03-28T17:28:00.000-07:00

I bought Liberty this little microphone for $2.00 at Target last night. Here's her rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star....

(it's not the best sound quality so you might need to turn your speakers WAY up)

And the ABC Song....

Potty Party Weekend

2009-03-08T15:19:00.001-07:00

Wow. This has been quite a week! We have been working on potty training for a few months now with no real results, but this week we finally saw some action! On Monday, she pee peed twice in the potty at Grammy's house which kind of got the ball rolling, and this weekend has been "all panties all the time" or "panty boot camp" as my friend Becca would say. She has managed to stay dry ALL WEEKEND (so far.) I don't want to jinx it or anything...but I think she is really getting it!

Yesterday we were taking her to the potty every 30-45 minutes, but as of last night, she is able to get there and do it all by herself! She has had dry panties all weekend and even did great when we went out to the park and the flea market. She gets a sticker every time she goes potty and then she gets to wash up with this smelly green foamy "Kandoo" kid soap that I got her, which she thinks is a reward in itself.

I don't know what to expect for the next couple of weeks, but I am pretty excited about how great she is doing and I hope she keeps it up! She is turning into such a big kid. I almost can't believe it.

Today at the Park

2009-03-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

I like to move it move it....

2009-02-18T18:27:00.000-08:00

My V-Day Present...

2009-02-18T18:22:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day to me!! I finally got my Liberty Rose tattoo....thanks to my hubby and my old friend Ellie Geyer at FTW tattoo in Oakland. It was still brand new and swollen in this pic. I'll post another once it's fully healed. I love it.
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P.S.-It wasn't that bad...in case you were asking yourself "oh my God, how bad did that hurt??"

My kid is hilarious, Reason # 4,365...

2009-02-05T19:34:00.000-08:00

Last night I asked Liberty to please stop picking her nose, so she looked up at me and asked me for a "nose towel"

hee hee.

funny kid.

A Few Park Pics....

2009-02-01T09:36:00.000-08:00

We spent a couple hours at Lake Elizabeth yesterday with Jess and Jack. The weather was gorgeous (almost 70*!) and the kids had a great time. Liberty was very sad to leave and sobbed all the way to the car.

Captain Jack!

Stoney and Jack playing catch while Liberty hugged a tree....

She loves to throw pebbles in the water and talk to the ducks.....

"Weeeeeeeeee"

New paint for the Caddy....

2009-02-01T09:32:00.000-08:00

Something you won't see too often.....

2009-02-01T08:43:00.000-08:00

On January 17th, Belle celebrated her 5th birthday with a princess tea party at a place called Super Franks. Liberty had so much fun dressing up with all the other little girls and even though I am generally pretty anti-princess, it was a lot of fun for me too because this year she was big enough to really participate and have fun with her cousin Belle, who she completely and utterly ADORES.

Habitot Children's Museum

2009-02-01T08:26:00.000-08:00

We took BART to this cute little museum in downtown Berkeley last weekend and met Lisa and Zachary there. Liberty had a great time on the train and even sat in her seat the whole time (45 minutes each way!) and at the museum and the only problem was when she got stuck in this "wiggle wall" and had to be extracted by a staff member, hahaha. It was horrible, yet funnier than it sounds.

Right before she got stuck....

This is someplace we would definitely go again!! It's much smaller than the san Jose Children's Museum but all of the activities are perfect for her age.

Too cute not to post....

2009-01-11T19:37:00.000-08:00

Haircut!!!!

2009-01-11T19:25:00.000-08:00

Well...after much discussion, I finally got permission from Liberty's daddy to get her hair cut short! I love it so much!! It turned out just like I hoped, and her daddy even loves it (but who really cares what he thinks anyways? *wink*)

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Outside Fun....

2008-12-27T19:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning

2008-12-27T18:49:00.000-08:00

After Santa came to visit...

The stockings all hung by the.....uh, filing cabinet with care.

Opening her "pu-weh-zents" from us and my parents

Super cool playhouse from my mom...she loooves it! The camera that we got for her. She has taken about 300 pictures of her own eyeball so far. A girl can never have too many Chuck Taylor's! Cool new beanie from my mom...he loves it
....but it looks cuter on her if you ask me
Her stocking....

Her face says it all....it was a great Christmas!!

A Christmas Miracle

2008-12-07T19:28:00.001-08:00

It was her first picture with Santa and I didn't have high hopes at all. I was expecting her to cry or try to hide or at the very least move around too much to get a good shot. But she did GREAT!!! She high-fived Santa and held perfectly still for the pictures. I am SO thrilled.

Priceless fun for $1.50

2008-12-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

Three words: Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls.

Trimming the tree....

2008-12-03T21:03:00.000-08:00

This Christmas is going to be so fun for Liberty. She really gets it this year....it's awesome.

Another cool freebie!

2008-12-03T20:56:00.000-08:00

Liberty scores again! Our friends the Silva's gave this cool little motorized tractor to us this weekend....you best believe it was a HUGE hit. She just kept saying "weeeeeeeeeeee" and driving in circles when we gave it to her. Like any first time driver, she could use a little practice, but it's a great toy and even more special because it was free ; )

More bed time shenanigans...

2008-11-27T09:26:00.000-08:00

"Rock & Roll!!! Woo!"

hee hee!

VIdeo of Liberty Counting!!

2008-11-27T08:41:00.000-08:00

Zoo Comparison Shots...

2008-11-23T15:33:00.000-08:00

These were taken during our first trip to the zoo...in September 2007. What a difference 14 months makes, eh?

The Zoo!

2008-11-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

It was a really nice warm and sunny day today so we headed over to the Oakland Zoo. It was a lot of fun and Liberty was able to enjoy looking at all the animals much more than she did a year ago when we went. She had a slight temper tantrum when we first got there because she wanted to buckle up her doll "Bee"(bee=baby) into the stroller and push it all over the place. And you better believe she did not want our help with pushing the stroller.

We diffused the situation by putting Bee away and giving Liberty a snack, then everything was nice....well, at least until she barfed on the way home, but that is a story for another post.

"Hi Birds"

Buckling up Bee

*sigh* if only she would look at the camera

*sigh* again Checking out the Monkeys

Strollin' along with daddy

haha....can you tell I was saying "cheese" ??
Strollin' along with mommy

The Giant Moth

The petting zoo area....
Elephants!!
In the cave with daddy

Our fun new freebie....

2008-11-23T14:46:00.000-08:00

Liberty scored big time this weekend! Our friends parents had this in their backyard for when their grandkids were little and they didn't want or need it anymore so they gave it to us! They brought it over on Friday night so Liberty didn't see it until Saturday morning...when she spotted it out the back window, she started yelling "mommy! outside! slide mommy! outside!" over and over. We are thrilled! Thanks Silva Family!

She can count!

2008-11-22T07:44:00.000-08:00

Liberty can officially count to ten!! Seven sounds a little iffy, but every other number sounds clear as day and she even gets them in the right order!

I, of course, can't take all the credit (since she most likely learned from watching Sesame Street or something), but I'm thrilled that she finally learned something that doesn't involve making a mess!!

Bed Time=Fun Time

2008-11-16T15:40:00.000-08:00

A lot of cuteness happens around here right before bed time. Liberty likes to go in our bedroom, turn on the stereo and jump on the bed while rocking out to music. Lately, she has been wanting to try on all of daddy's hats at the same time.

Fun times.

Taco Party Extravaganza!

2008-11-16T15:14:00.000-08:00

We had a taco party the night before my *ahem* 29th birthday....I made the best taquitos in the entire universe (I added the recipe...they're that good!) and chicken and carne asada tacos.

We had a HUGE spread of food and the kids entertained us with their Rock Band skills. It was so fun.

Plus, my hubby got me a meat cleaver AND a hot pink 16GB iPod Nano for my birthday...which made turning "29" sting just a little bit less. _______________________________________________________
No Can Beato This Taquito

Recipe from Guy Fieri

Foodnetwork.com

(* these really are the best taquitos I have ever eaten. They are pretty time consuming, but I made the filling a day ahead and then just rolled and fried the taquitos before the party. I even froze some unfried taquitos and fried them up a week later and they were just as good. I forgot to buy the red peppers at the store but they were delicious anyways. I can't wait to have an excuse to make these again!)

Ingredients
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large red onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, julienned
2 jalapenos, diced and seeded
2 medium red potatoes, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch strips
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper
3 ounces your favorite tequila
1 lime, juiced
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves
24 corn tortillas
Directions
Guacamole, recipe follows

In medium saute pan over medium to high heat, add oil, onions, red bell peppers, jalapeno pepper, potatoes, garlic and chicken. Saute until chicken is cooked and vegetables are soft. Add the oregano and cumin and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Deglaze with tequila and the lime juice and let simmer until liquid is almost evaporated.
Remove from heat. Shred the chicken with 2 forks and let cool. Stir in the cilantro.
Wrap tortillas in paper towels and microwave for 2 minutes to make tortillas pliable. Place about 4 tablespoons of chicken mixture on 1 tortilla, roll tightly and close with a toothpick.
In large cast iron skillet, heat 1/2-inch of canola oil to 350 degrees F.
Add rolls to hot oil, placing toothpick seam down. Cook for 2 minutes or until golden brown and turn to other side.
Remove and drain on paper towel. Remove toothpicks and serve with guacamole and salsa.

Guacamole:
3 ripe avocados, peeled and seeded
1 jalapeno, seeded, minced
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup diced tomato
1/2 bottle of your favorite beer
4 tablespoons sour cream
1 lime, juiced
Small handful cilantro leaves, about 1/4 cup
Salt and pepper
Place all ingredients in a blender and puree.

Dia de los Muertos Festival...

2008-11-16T14:59:00.001-08:00

We didn't take Liberty this year since it can get very crowded and pushing a stroller through the crowds can be tricky...but we walked around and checked out the sights for a couple hours. I love this festival and look forward to it every year.

the Altars:

Aztec Dancers:

Other:

Trick or Treating...

2008-11-16T14:50:00.000-08:00

We all headed over to Auntie Stacy's house on Halloween so Liberty and Belle could trick or treat together. We only got about an hour of trick or treating in before the rain started to fall but it was really fun and the kids were pretty adorable in their costumes.

*Disclaimer...getting a decent picture of Liberty is practically impossible these days but here ya go:

Catching up again....

2008-11-16T14:32:00.000-08:00

Been slackin' off again. Partly because of being uber busy all the time and partly because I can't seem to get any great pictures.

But anyways....here's some long overdue Halloween stuff. Liberty and I went to a super fun Halloween party at a park in the Presidio in San Francisco. It was put on by Lisa's mommy group and it was AWESOME! We hope to get invited again next year *hint hint*

Pumpkin Patch...

2008-10-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

On October 19th, we went to a Pumpkin Patch in Livermore with Jessica, Jack & Dalton. It was a ton of fun! The kids had a great time and we took home some awesome homegrown, yet slightly overpriced pumpkins.

Unfortunately getting Liberty to actually look at the camera is virtually impossible, but we got a few good pictures.

On a side note....For weeks, I thought something was really wrong with my camera because all my pictures kept coming out all foggy looking. Turns out I had been letting Liberty "experiment" with picture taking a little too much and the lens was all smudged up with toddler gunk.

Too bad I didn't figure that out before we went to the pumpkin patch.

*sigh*

Clothing Optional...

2008-10-27T20:37:00.000-07:00

Well, she hasn't figured out how to take her pants or her diaper off yet (thank Goodness), but she has really been trying hard to figure out how to take off and/or put on her shirt.

These are some hilarious pics I took of her one day when she woke up from her nap. She was crying and all I could do was laugh and run to grab the camera.....probably scarred her for life but at least I got some funny pictures.

Hee Hee.

Gotta catch up here...

2008-10-27T19:49:00.000-07:00

Tons of stuff has been happenin' around here, but not a lot of blogging, so let's see if I can catch you all up.

First of all, we finally got Liberty off those darn bottles of milk last weekend! All we had to do was go cold turkey.

We got out a big cardboard box and she helped to put all the bottles in the box so we could "send" them off to her baby cousin Elias, because he is a "baby" and she is a "big girl." She was on board until I closed the box and had her say "bye bye bottles," then she screamed....but only for a second.

Then we gave her milk in a sippy cup and she drank it without too much objection. She hasn't asked for bottles at home at all....although I hear she has tried to weasel grammy into giving her a "ba" on a couple occasions but that's just because she knows that Grammy is much much nicer than Mommy and Daddy.

And then here's the finished product.....

Was she really ever this little?

2008-10-07T22:04:00.000-07:00

I was looking through my Photobucket account tonight in search of a certain picture and I came across this:

I think she may have been around 9 months old.

Somedays that feels like a lifetime ago and other days it feels like yesterday.

Okay, I am going to try to refrain from getting any more sappy and nostalgic tonight but I can't promise anything.

*sigh*

Bedtime fun with Liberty....

2008-09-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

Billetproof

2008-09-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

Billetproof at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds was by far my favorite car show ever! The place was crawling with greaser guys and pin-up girls, plus there was every single kind of pre-1964 car you can imagine. There was lots of cool stuff to look at and buy and it had a really nice laid-back mellow atmosphere. These were pretty much the coolest lawn flamingos I have ever seen. I wish they were for sale...We even got to meet up with some old friends from Santa Rosa.

Liberty wasn't too happy about being in the stroller all day, but they had a little playground so I took her to play for awhile while her daddy drooled over cars with our friends John & Debbie.

She was asleep before we even made it to the freeway. It was a big day.

Liberty's First Trip to the Dentist....

2008-09-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

I took Liberty to the dentist for the very first time today. They usually don't see kids until they are 3, but I was worried about some white spots on her bottom teeth so I wanted to start early.

She cried the whole time the dentist was working on her, but it wasn't the big crocodile tears and snot kind of screaming and crying, it was just the "I'm scared" kind of crying, which isn't quite as dreadful. I have a pretty wicked case of laryngitis right now, so trying to talk to the dentist over her crying was a challenge in itself, but I managed. Overall, she held still on my lap while I held her hands and the dentist said she did great....but he's probably used to screaming kids.

Her dentist was young and nice and very sweet to her and to me. The white stuff on her bottom teeth turned out to be tartar, so he scraped it all off and her little toofers look good as new! No signs of decay or cavities or anything like that *whew* He did say he could tell she used a pacifier and it felt good to say we had gotten rid of it two weeks ago. Go us!

They brushed her teeth with the polishing thingy and gave her a fluoride treatment, then gave her a little pink hippo toy and a goodie bag. The office was so cute....all set up for the little ones, they have a whole play house set up in the lobby wth a slide and a big clock and everything! She even convinced one of the nurses to go down the slide with her, it was so cute...I swear, that kid makes friends everywhere she goes.

So, we survived and we go back in 6 months!

The 2-week pacifier update....

2008-09-13T12:19:00.000-07:00

Well, Liberty has been pacifier free for two full weeks. Nightime is fine; she still goes to sleep like a champ most nights. Naptime, on the other hand, has kind of been hit or miss since the pacis went bye bye....she either stays awake talking and playing or she just yells and yells and yells *sigh*

We have also seen an increase in screaming and temper tantrums, but those could be just because she's two, and/or possessed by some kind of really loud demon.

All in all, I'd say Operation Bye Bye Paci was a success.

Now on to the next thing.

Liberty's First Haircut...

2008-09-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

Well, we took Liberty to get her first haircut yesterday and even after a trim, she still has crazy rocker hair. The back and sides were all evened out and her bangs aren't in her eyes anymore, so I guess it was a success even though I was kind of hoping that her crazy hair would be a bit more normal after a trim....oh well.

Since it was her first hair cut, they gave us a picture and a certificate and a baggie of her hair to take home. She was a little freaked out at first so she sat on my lap instead of in one of the cool car chairs, but after Sandy turned on cartoons, she was fine and didn't even move around too much. Before:
After:

Liberty's First A's Game...

2008-09-01T16:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we took Liberty to her very first A's game! It was the A's back to School backpack give away day so the first 10,000 kids got a cool new backpack! It was really fun and she did great...she cheered a lot and even yelled "charge" She's gone without her pacifier all weekend so she has been slightly out of sorts, but she was a trooper all day even though she only got in a 10 minute nap on the ride home.

Did the A's win?

Nope...but it was still a great time.

Operation Bye-Bye Paci...

2008-08-29T22:27:00.001-07:00

Liberty's pacifiers are all gone....we didn't throw them away or send them to needy babies in another country. We took them down to Build-A-Bear Workshop and had them sewn into this cute little floppy eared bunny.

She really was not too happy with the idea while we were there at the store, in fact, when the guy handed her the freshly stuffed bunny with her pacis in it...she shoved it right back in his face. I think it would be fair to say that she was very pissed off about the whole thing.

She wasn't mad at the bunny anymore by the time we got him home though which I took as a good sign.

Afterwards, I kept her up until 9:45 because I was totally procrastinating about putting her to bed so she was probably super tired...but she fell asleep without incident. She pointed to where we kept the pacis and said "pffffa" which is her word for pacifier. I reminded her that she gave them to the baby bunny because she was such a big girl and she just whimpered for a minute with her head on my shoulder and then wanted to snuggle with the bunny instead of the little bear that she usually wants to snuggle with.

So far so good.....I think.

R.I.P. Mr. Krabs

2008-08-19T17:23:00.000-07:00

Sadly...Mr. Krabs is no longer with us.

He will be missed. Sort of.

May he rest in crabby peace.

San Jose Children's Discovery Museum

2008-08-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

Grammy wasn't feeling too well today, so I took the day off and Liberty and I went to the Children's Museum in San Jose....They have a new Alice in Wonderland exhibit that was pretty cool.....it was VERY busy though. I swear it was busier today than when we last went and that was on a Sunday in the winter time!We spent about two hours playing hard and then Liberty was headed towards a meltdown (so was mommy for that matter) so we left, but it is a great place and I'm glad we got to go again.

I practically had to drag her screaming from the water room, she loved it so much. Even with the industrial strength kid smock on she got soaked, but since I had been there before...I had the foresight to bring a change of clothes. Yeah....I felt like genius-mom there for a second.

Bathtime Cuteness....

2008-08-17T14:11:00.000-07:00

Self Portraits....

2008-08-15T23:10:00.000-07:00

So I taught Liberty how to use the digital camera the other day. She took several self portraits that I think are actually quite good....very artsy and moody.

She says"cheese" every time she pushes the button which is pretty much the cutest thing ever.

Now she has branched out from self-portraits and has even started taking pictures of mommy.....

Meeting Mr. Krabs....

2008-08-06T19:14:00.000-07:00

Girl Meets Grill...

2008-08-05T18:51:00.001-07:00

This last Sunday was the Hubby's birthday so I tried a new recipe for the occasion: Baby Back Ribs!!! I have never done ribs before but I really wanted to make him something special and I think they turned out really well. I'm not a big rib fan myself but I thought they were moist and tender and had a really good flavor. The homemade cola BBQ sauce was delicious...tangy and sweet and spicy and just right. I bought a smoker box and some mesquite chips at Cost Plus to give them an authentic mesquite flavor, and borrowed a really handy rack from a friend to keep them upright on the grill. I had so much fun making them that I have already been planning my next grilling conquest! I'm thinking I might smoke a turkey breast...I mean, if I can make great ribs, I can do anything, right?

Here's the recipe I used, I highly reccommend it:

http://www.realgrilling.com/rec_ribs.html

I didn't get a picture after they were all done because we were too busy eating.

Back Online....

2008-08-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

The computer is up and running so I can blog again. Woo Hoo! Stay tuned for more pictures, but right now....unfortunately, I have to fix dinner.

*sigh*

The Computer has left the building...

2008-07-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

So, our home computer was acting all virus-ey and crazy so I got all techno-geeky and did a full system recovery which basically wiped out EVERYTHING so we could start from scratch. The only problem is that I didn't realize I was missing an important disc and now I can't install any drivers and therefore have no Internet until I can get the replacement which could take up to a week.

So kids, ...the moral of the story is, don't wipe out your hard drive unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure that you have all of the right discs to restore it!!!

The Asphalt Invitational

2008-07-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we went to a fun car show put on by a car club called The Vultures....it was a great time and there was a ton of cool cars there. Unfortunately, our time there was cut short by a nasty plumbing issue that was waiting for us at home. I won't go into detail about it in case you just ate dinner or something, but let's just say it was, ummmm.....crappy. Literally.

Oh well, the car show was fun before the plumbing decided to ruin our day.

Bitty's New Shirt

2008-07-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

This little bundle of homemade cuteness arrived in the mail today from my friend Becca. She made it special for Liberty and it's just about the cutest thing ever....thanks so much Bec!!!

Fun with blue pen...

2008-07-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

While I'm here, I guess I should point out that something as simple and straightforward as signing a birthday card for Grammy can often turn into a wonderful father & daughter bonding moment (just try not to use permanent ink.)

I know....I'm a slacker.

2008-07-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

I've just been SO busy. Busy at work. Busy at home. Busy busy busy. I have been wanting to blog about so many things and I have more cute pictures than I know what to do with! Maybe I will catch up over this long holiday weekend. But, finally, as promised....here are some of my favorite pics from Liberty's second birthday party:

Liberty's Birthday....June19th

2008-06-26T21:05:00.000-07:00

I know it took me awhile to get these up her, but hey...what can I say? I've been busy.

On June 19th, Liberty's second birthday, we woke up and I presented her with an extra special birthday balloon. It seemed like an important thing to do since you don't turn two every day. She looked so cute with her birthday balloon and her jammies that I just about wanted to cry.

Then after breakfast, we headed out to Oakland to a great place called Children's Fairyland.....it's a storybook theme park and it's just the right size for the 4 and under crowd.

She ran around like a maniac and had a great time. I think she went down the Alice in Wonderland slide about 57 times....I am totally not exaggerating either. Stay tuned for party pictures!

Stay Tuned....

2008-06-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

Rest assured friends and family....I have not given up on my blog entirely. I have been very busy working, recovering from the long fun-filled birthday weekend, buying presents for all of the many other assorted birthdays and graduations that we are celebrating this month, getting my house back to normal and taking Liberty to her 2 year check-up.

I have tons of wonderful pictures from her birthday and I can't wait to share them but I just might need someone to help me out by adding one or two more hours to my day....*sigh*

Hopefully I will find some time tomorrow night....maybe I can convince the hubby to make dinner, or take-out is always nice.

Here's a fun one to tide you over:

More soon I promise!!

Happy Birthday Liberty!!!!

2008-06-19T09:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Second Birthday to the sweetest little Peanut in the whole world!!!!

Two years ago today:

One year ago at her birthday party:

This morning with her special happy 2nd birthday balloon:

Ain't it the truth.....

2008-06-17T09:09:00.000-07:00

Dirty Faced Girl Blows Bubbles

2008-06-15T18:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day!!!

2008-06-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

Father's Day was pretty good around these parts. Liberty picked out some pretty cool custom painting stuff and a Spongebob pirate card for her daddy which he liked an awful lot.

We had breakfast together here, I called my dad in Virginia and talked to him for a while which was really nice, and then we all got together over at Grammy & Papa's for a nice family meal.

Mike's Surprise Party

2008-06-15T12:50:00.000-07:00

Friday night after work, we went to our friend Mike's surprise 27th birthday party at Shaker's Pizza. It was really fun and Liberty enjoyed running around like a crazy maniac all night.

He was pretty surprised although you can't really tell from the picture (that's him in the red shirt.) All of his friends and family were there...and there was lots of beer and pizza which always makes for a good time.

Best quesadillas in the world....

2008-06-14T18:19:00.000-07:00

Tonight I proved once again that girls rule when it comes to grilling up tasty grub. My most recent grilling triumph is a recipe from my Real Grilling cookbook by Jaime Purviance, from which I have made many delicious meaty recipes, and it has not let me down yet.

I wanted to try something a little different as I have tried just abut every variation of marinated chicken breast and dry rubbed steak that I can get my hands on...so I tried this quesadilla recipe and it did not disappoint.

Grilled Chicken & Red Onion Quesadillas

Paste/Marinade:

2 large garlic cloves
1 jalapeno pepper stem removed....(or stem, ribs & seeds removed if you are not into the spicy)
1 cup tightly packed cilantro leaves
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar ( I used white wine vinegar because that's all I had)
1 tsp. sea or kosher salt
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp.freshly ground black pepper

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 large red onion cut crosswise into 1/2 inch slices
2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
4 10-inch flour tortillas

1. In a food processor, mince the garlic & jalapeno, then add all remaining paste ingredients and process until smooth. Coat the chicken breasts on all sides and cover & refridgerate for 3-4 hours.

then...

2. Lightly brush the onion slices with olive oil. Grill the chicken and onions over direct medium heat until the onions are tender and the chicken is opaque in the center; 8-12 minutes, turning once. Remove the chicken and onions from the grill and allow to cool. Cut the chicken crosswise into 1/8-inch slices and the onions into 1/4-inch pieces.

3. Evenly divide the chicken, onions and cheese over half of each tortilla. Fold the tortillas over the filling and press down firmly. Grill the quesadillas over direct low to medium heat until well marked and the cheese has melted, 3-5 minutes, turning once.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I served ours with Mexican rice, salsa and sour cream. I ate so much I feel sick...which I guess is the best sign of a really good recipe, since usually, I like to cook much more than I like to eat. I better go check on the hubby because I think he may have lapsed into a quesadilla-induced coma over there on the couch.

Enjoy!

just so dang cute....

2008-06-11T21:07:00.001-07:00

Pool Party

2008-06-08T19:38:00.000-07:00

After the baseball game, we went out and enjoyed our fancy above ground pool for a little while.

Please try not to be too jealous of the posh lifestyle that we live.

Today's Baseball Game...

2008-06-08T19:24:00.000-07:00

We headed out for the Crossbones game today to cheer on daddy and the rest of the guys. To say they didn't win would be an understatement....but I won't embarass them by printing the score.

I got a few good pictures and Liberty had fun playing with the big kids so all in all, it was a pretty good afternoon.

Our new favorite kid product...

2008-06-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

I picked this little contraption up the other day when I stopped at Babies-R-Us. It's a huge hit!

Friday Night Baseball Fun Times....

2008-06-07T14:35:00.001-07:00

We went to the A's game last night after work (Liberty had a pajama party at Grammy & Papa's house.) It was Kurt Suzuki Bobblehead night so you know we had to go to add another bobblehead to our rapidly growing collection. We had bleacher seats...I 've never experienced the bleacher seats before, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was really fun. There were lots of very very excited people up there which made the atmoshpere really fun. The A's lost, but I don't think any of us let that ruin our good time.

The bleacher crew in action:

These two fit right in....

And last but not least- The award for the funniest t-shirt that we saw all night goes to......

This guy! hee hee!

Separated at Birth...

2008-06-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

One of the sand people from Star Wars

And.....

Liberty wearing Daddy's sweatshirt

It's Friday....

2008-06-06T10:12:00.000-07:00

hee hee.

A Favorite Recipe....

2008-06-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

Because today is Wednesday and I lack anything more interesting to post, I am going to share one of my very favorite new recipes. It's a beer marinade that works great for making chicken tacos.

I marinate the chicken for 2-4 hours, grill and then serve with warm corn tortillas, cilantro, onions, and a little salsa. It's so easy and delicious and I'm tellin' ya......it feels like summer.

1 cup dark Mexican beer (really, any dark beer will do. I used Newcastle Brown Ale last time and it was awesome)
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Whisk together all ingredients, marinate and enjoy!

It seemed like such a good idea...

2008-06-03T18:44:00.000-07:00

Stacy, my lovely sister-in-law, suggested giving Liberty chocolate milk in a sippy cup to help break her of the milk-in-bottles habit. It really sounded like a brilliant plan, I mean, what kid doesn't love chocolate milk??

Well, mine apparently. It didn't go over so well. She took one sip and then made a face like I was trying to poison her and then handed me the cup while making an angry screeching sound. I drank some myself and said "yummy" in a real excited way, I even tried to reason with her by saying "but baby....it's chocolate." She just wasn't buying it.

My next tactic will be to send a sippy of chocolate milk to Grammy's house, because we all know that Grammy can work wonders.

R.I.P. Roomba

2008-06-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

My Roomba died today. I am devastated. He's out of warranty so there's no hope for a quick replacement. I'm not sure how I will be able to go on....my floors will never be the same again.

Goodbye old friend. I will miss you *sniff sniff*

Tiny Tots

2008-06-03T12:48:00.001-07:00

I just signed Liberty and I up for some Tiny Tots preschool classes!

http://www.ci.fremont.ca.us/Recreation/TinyTots/default.htm

I was really starting to feel bummed out about the lack of fun classes and educational opportunities for us working moms to enjoy with our kiddos (and maybe just a little guilty for working so much), so I decided to try squeezing something fun into my work week. I'll have to flex my time at work and stay late sometimes to make it all fit, but I think it will be really fun; and hopefully, she will learn all kinds of cool things like her ABC's and how to share and maybe even how to use her inside voice.

Another Battle Lost

2008-06-02T18:45:00.000-07:00

Soooo......since our little Liberty will be turning two in a mere 17 days, *sigh* we thought it might be a good idea to try to get her to give up drinking her milk from bottles once and for all. We tried once before and were shot down immediately, but we figured since she is such a big girl now, she might have a better understanding of things and might not fight us about it.

We were wrong.

Dead wrong.

She wanted no part of that sippy cup and would not even take one little sip. She will drink water from a sippy cup or a straw or a water bottle or even sometimes straightout of the bath tub, but she only wants her milk in a bottle.

So we lost the battle, but I don't really want to push her too hard, so I guess we will try again later. I just hope she gives up those darn bottles by the time she goes to kindergarten.

*sigh*

Us vs. The Birds

2008-06-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

This afternoon while Liberty was napping, we went out and cut down all the nice ripe cherries from the cherry tree in our back yard. Last year, the birds got to them before we could pick them and ate them ALL up until there was nothing left!!! So this year we were ready and mounted the "Operation Cherry Watch" campaign so that we could get those cherries before the birds got to them. I'm not kidding when I say that my husband has been out there checking that darn cherry tree every single day for the last 2 or 3 weeks, those poor birds didn't have a chance. Our mission was a success....we got a huge bowl full of perfectly ripe cherries, and the tree got pruned in the process...

Good Guys Car Show

2008-06-01T16:19:00.001-07:00

Today we went to the Good Guys Car Show at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. It was a lot bigger than the last one we went to and there were tons and tons of awesome cars...my hubby was practically drooling over some of them.

This one was my favorite:

Not all the cars were awesome, but there were a few that were awesome in their hideousness, so I took pictures of them too.

It was shaping up to be a pretty nice little Saturday...

2008-06-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we all went to this fun new place that I discovered while searching online for kids' activities in the East Bay. It's called Happy Hollow Zoo & Park--http://www.happyhollowparkandzoo.org/ and it's in San Jose. They have a little zoo, lots of rides & lots of little playgrounds and houses and stuff to play on. We walked around and looked at animals and rode on the carousel...it was really fun and definitely someplace that we will go again.

On the way home from Happy Hollow, we stopped by the San Jose Flea Market which was pretty awesome since I am a sucker for both Mexican music and bargains. Liberty got a little guitar, Daddy got some cool Mexican blankets to cover the seats in the caddy, and Mommy bought a churro. We both wanted to buy Liberty a little Lucha Libre mask with a cape attached, but we decided to pass since it cost $15...I probably could have talked him down, but I guess we were trying to be conservative with money and it didn't really seem like a necessity. I still think it would be hilarious to see my daughter running around dressed as a little Mexican death match wrestler. It was a pretty fun day.

Thanks Colleen

2008-05-31T17:54:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say thanks to my friend Colleen for coming up with what I think is a perfect title for this blog. I was having a hard time coming up with anything since I am not particularly witty or creative and/or good at that sort of thing, so I asked for help and she delivered. If it wasn't for her, I'd probably still be stuck at square one. Thanks Colleen, you totally rock.

My days off....

2008-05-31T08:58:00.000-07:00

I took Thursday and Friday off of work because my in-laws went to Colorado to visit Amy, Jeff & the kids. On Thursday, I took Liberty to San Francisco to spend a few hours with Lisa and her son Zach, who live in the awesome North beach neighborhood, only about 5 or 6 blocks from Fisherman's Wharf.

Liberty got carsick on the way there which was pretty gross, but I didn't freak out too bad since it happened once before and this time it didn't smell like sour milk and half-digested goldfish crackers *blech*. I got laughed at by lots of tourists during the clean-up because I was parked in front of Pier 9 with barfy clothes strewn all over the sidewalk and a naked kid trying to drive the car!

Once I got most of the barf cleaned up, we went on our way and Lisa let us borrow some of Zach's clothes so we could still go out and have fun.

The kids were so cute together and it was really good for Lisa and I to get in some mommy bonding time. We seem to have gotten even closer now that she has a kid too. I love her neighborhood and I really wish we lived closer. Zach will turn one about a week after Liberty turns two, and I don't think either of us can believe how fast this last year has flown by...

Then on on Friday, Liberty and I ran some errands and then stopped at Newark Community Park to play for awhile...

I love taking her to the park because she can run around and let out some energy. And believe me when I say that this kid has a TON of energy!!!

I tried a yummy new recipe for dinner on Friday night: bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin. I cut the tenderloin into 1.5 inch pieces, rubbed the pieces with a mixture of fresh garlic, fresh rosemary, toasted fennell seed, salt & pepper, then wrapped each piece with a slice of bacon secured with a toothpick. Then I grilled the pieces over medium heat and let me tell you, it was delicious (but then again, I don't know how how meat wrapped in bacon could ever taste bad.) I served the pork with roasted new potatoes with garlic and rosemary. It was pretty gourmet if I do say so myself.