Sisters in Sonoma

My sister, Kari, and I were talking on the phone a few weeks ago, reminiscing about Fort Bragg and all the fun times we shared in that tiny coastal town.  Our Omi left Fort Bragg over 10 years ago and we haven't been back since.

Kari suggested we three sisters take a weekend trip to Fort Bragg before Doodlebug comes.  With a nursing baby in the mix, church callings, and money all factored in, we opted for a day together closer to home.  Sonoma is just about equal distance from Kari as it is for Amy and me so that's where we decided to go.

Our first stop was at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards where we sampled numerous flavors of olive oil and balsamic vinegar in The Olive Press.   Balsamic vinegar is one thing LaVor hasn't converted me to but these weren't your average vinegars.  My favorites were the cranberry, coconut, strawberry, and I ended up buying the fig.  Some of my favorite oils were the lime, roasted garlic & rosemary, and I purchased the limonato (lemon).  The fig balsamic mixed with the limonato oil was AMAZING!  I could have spent a majority of the day dipping the little cubes of sourdough into these fantastic mixtures.

After munching on samples, the baby needed some food of her own so we took a nursing break before we walked around the courtyard.  What a beautiful setting it was!

We had wisteria in our backyard growing up.  It smelled lovely!

Loved all the wood

It was soon time for lunch so we drove into downtown and opted for a bakery where we all got a different sandwich. This little peanut was such a trooper and went along with everything that we did.

After a bathroom break and a little bit of browsing through the shops, we went across the street to the most northern
mission in California. We opted out of the guided tour but ended up getting our own lesson from Amy. While we shouldn't have thought the information was so funny, we laughed the entire time. When we were walking out, the gentleman at the counter commented on our giggles and told us he's never had anyone come in that laughed as much as us.

We were now in need of a mid afternoon snack and saw that a restaurant across the street had pie. When we walked in, the place was empty aside from the employees. It was almost 4:00 and they didn't start dinner service until 5:00 but graciously allowed us to order some dessert. We felt awful (but appreciative) as other patrons came through the door and were turned away for the next hour. I got a chocolate/pecan pie, Amy got strawberry sorbet, and Kari got a berry crumble pie. There was, once again, no shortage of laughter and I was the one that finally broke down and cried (someone always cries when we're together).

There were still two streets of shops that we hadn't visited so we used the next cluster of time to browse through jewelry stores, home decor stores, kitchen stores, and a vintage candy/knickknack shop. With all that walking (joking!), our appetites were back and we stopped at Mary's Pizza Shack for bruschetta and cheese pizza, with another side of laughter. At one point, we were all singing along with Faith Hill to "This Kiss".

That was our last stop as it was approaching 7:30 and we needed to get home before the baby was to be fed again.

Before we departed, we tried to take a four headed selfie and attempted a timed photo on the hood of the car. It came out blurry but it works.

We wondered why we had never taken a day and spent it together (aside from Black Friday) before. We might have started something. And I can guarantee there will continue to be lots of laughter...and somebody will cry.

Memory

The Lime has always been really observant and had a great memory.  I don't know if it's his young brain or if he's been blessed with an interesting talent.  Whatever it is, he blows me away with what he remembers.

We were driving down the freeway last week when we passed a Stanley Steamer van.  He asked what it was and I told them they clean carpets, like the man who came to our house shortly after we moved.

"Why did I sleep in your room?" The Lime asked.

I had to pause for a minute and try to figure out what he was talking about.

"You mean when they cleaned our carpets?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said.

We are less than two weeks away from our one year mark of moving and he remembered that I put him down for his nap in my room, when the carpets were cleaned, so they could clean the carpet in his room without disturbing him.

I had long since forgotten about that detail but it was fresh in his mind.  I can barely remember what I did yesterday let alone a year ago.

What a handy little brain to have around.

Spray Guard 2001

We usually have "Full House" on at night, since they run it for about three hours straight.  One of the episodes last night was when Uncle Jesse invented the Spray Guard 2001 and I longed, during the entire show, that it was an actual product.

 Confession time!

If someone couldn't tell, I'm a bit obsessive about my bangs.  They take me at least 15 minutes to do and I usually do them in private, mainly because someone might be frightened by how OCD I am about them.  I was having issues with them a few weeks ago and the thought of growing them out did pass through my mind.  But I can't get rid of them.  They've been with me too long and I've finally mastered the process EXCEPT for the spraying.

Over the years, I've tried different methods to spray them and not the rest of my hair, or my face, and it just can't be done.  I either have hairspray on my face and breakout or the rest of my hair is plastered down before I have a chance to do it.

That's where the Spray Guard 2001 would come in extremely handy, and that's also the reason Uncle Jesse invented it (he was spraying his face as was Michelle).

I would just keep the spray paint in the garage.

Mean Girls

It's become a normal thing that when we're at the park, The Lime is immediately drawn to the girls and they're usually older.  He has no fear and will march right over and attempt to interact with them.  I'd say 75% of the time, the girls are extremely rude and leave him with a frown and slouched shoulders.

Like today, for instance.  Our mall has an outdoor playground that we usually take advantage of every time we go.  There was a little girl climbing on the equipment and she caught The Lime's eye.  She didn't look too much older than him, and it was around lunch time (obviously not in school) so I'd say she was either five or six.  He went up to her and tried playing but she ran away.  My little guy takes that as "I'm playing tag", not "I'm running away from you because I don't want to play".  So he followed her and she told him to leave her alone.  He couldn't understand why she didn't want to play so he kept trying to get her to play until she finally screamed, "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"  That's when I intervened and suggested he find someone else to play with because she clearly didn't want to.  Plus, we don't need to play with people who scream at us.  He ended up finding a little boy to play with who was much nicer.

Then tonight, we went to a different park in hopes of playing some baseball.  Unfortunately, two teams were practicing so he played on the playground instead.  Within a few minutes, The Lime came up to me and said, "I found two new friends!  The girl in red and the girl in green."  The girl in the red was talking to him and being friendly but the one in the green was pulling the same antics as the girl at the mall.  Once again, things escalated and she yelled, "We don't play with boys!"

I get the whole cooties thing but for goodness sakes!  He's not trying to kiss you...he wants to play!

I don't remember what I was like at four years old but I hope hope hope that I wasn't a mean girl.  It doesn't seem to dampen his spirits too much when these girls treat him like this, but my heart breaks. I don't care if they don't want to play with him (okay, maybe I do a little) but it's the gosh darn attitude they all seem to have.  It scares me to think that in a year and a half, he'll be off at school (all day, mind you) and I won't be there to intervene and make sure he's okay.

If they only took a second to realize how fun and creative he is, they'd be begging to play with him.

Their loss.

You've Had a Birthday, Shout "Hooray!"

Poor LaVor, he doesn't get excited for his birthdays. Meanwhile, The Lime and I were counting down for weeks. When he woke up Friday morning, The Lime said, "Guess what day it is?!?! Daddy's birthday!" We had lots of fun things planned and couldn't wait to start celebrating.

We made a quick visit to Party City for some balloons. Last time I'll do that, even if they were Oakland A's balloons. The Dollar Store balloons that LaVor bought for The Lime about 6 weeks ago are still standing while the $7 balloons from Party City are in the garbage can.

Then we stopped by Safeway to grab some ingredients to make a super fast (as in 15 minutes) banana cream pie. I much prefer to make everything from scratch but time was not on our side. That's okay, the guys at LaVor's work ate it up anyway.

And that was our next stop, LaVor's work. We joined him and his co-workers for hot dogs, macaroni and potato salad, chips, and The Lime's favorite...soda! Much to The Lime's dismay, we had to leave Daddy at work so we could go back home and decorate for that evening.

LaVor got home from work and immediately got ready so we could go to dinner. I should have taken a picture of he and The Lime but didn't think of it. They were twins in their red flannel jackets, cowboy boots, and camo hats. Those two.

Dinner was good going down but all of us suffered the rest of the night. Not sure we'll be going back in the near future.

We got home and The Lime couldn't take it anymore, LaVor HAD to open his presents.

Opening a gift card so he can get a new suit

The Lime suggested he use his toothpick to open the box

And inside was this DARLING tie to go with his new suit

His first glimpse at the gift

Super excited!

More realistic reaction

Just like Bobo!

And with that, his official birthday was over. His parents spent the weekend with us and we celebrated both his and his dad's birthday on Sunday night. I'm still enjoying the birthday cake and think of it pretty much non-stop. You really can't go wrong with homemade German chocolate.

Can't wait for next year's birthday!

Generation Gap

Last Wednesday, The Lime and I were out and about when I heard the DJ on the radio say it was time to call in to win tickets to the ACM Awards.  I quickly dialed the number and it was ringing!  Someone picked up the other end and announced I had won!  Well, I won an entry for the contest to go to the ACMs and the winner would be announced the following week.  I also won a CD and could go to the station to pick it up.  So after The Lime and I were done with our errands, we swung by the station to grab our loot.

On the way there, I asked The Lime which CD he wanted and without hesitation, he said, "Sweet Annie!"  Unfortunately, they didn't have any Zac Brown Band CDs available but they did have his second favorite, Florida Georgia Line.  So that's what we went home with.



He immediately opened the case the second we got in the car and asked if we could watch it.  I told him it wasn't a DVD but a CD.  He didn't know what a CD was so I told him we listen to it, like the music on the iPad.  He then put the disc up to his ear and said, "I can't hear it!!!"

My oh my, I didn't think music CDs were already obsolete.  After I thought about it, I realized he's only heard music from the radio and the iPad. 

Scares me to think how much things will change in the next 10 years like they have in the last 10.

As a sidenote, I didn't win the trip to the awards.  I was actually relieved, as they aren't until the second week in April and I wasn't sure my doctor would let me travel.  Nor did I want to risk having my sweet baby in Sin City.

His Lasts

The Lime is really good about holding my hand when we cross the street .  It's like neither of us even think about it, we just both put our hands out and they grasp the other.  I'm a hand holder and I love when he holds my hand longer than he has to.  Especially because I know it won't be like that forever.

I was on Pinterest the other night and saw a book that looked appealing.  I found it on Barnes & Noble and read the first few pages they had available to preview.  I was shedding tears within seconds.  So I ordered it and it just arrived.  Perfect timing, too.

The Lime has been a tiny pill these last few days and I thought we were seeing improvement today.  That was until we returned our Red Box movie and he asked if he could get another one.  I told him not today and he threw a fit.  We went straight to the car where he proceeded to throw Lucifer at me.  That was it, he was going straight to bed when we got home and wasn't getting lunch.  "But I'm starving!" he managed to say in between gasps for air from crying so hard.  Thankfully, he ate breakfast and had a snack in between so I knew he wasn't starving.  The thought of caving crossed my mind but I knew I had to stand my ground or he'd know I was easy to sway.  We got home and he went straight to bed, after he begged and promised that he'd be nicer.  He fell asleep within minutes.

I was feeling pretty bad and sent LaVor a text message telling him I had to send The Lime to bed without lunch, sad face included.  Then I heard some noise on the porch and it ended up being the mailman with my book.  

I began sobbing just from the "Notes from the Author" and continued to sob through the short story.  

Being a parent is hard.  It's hard being patient, getting up at all hours of the night, listening to the whines, being told you're mean and not loved, having stinky pink cats named Lucifer thrown at your head.  But the hardest thing, I think, is watching your babies grow and know that they will one day leave and start a family and life of their own.  The Lime told me today that he wasn't going to get old and I certainly wish that was the case.  I would love for him to stay by my side forever (just in a 4 year old body, not 40).

It reminds me of the song by Trace Adkins, "You're Gonna Miss This". At the end of the song, there's a plumber doing some work for a mom while her kids are crying and screaming in the background. She apologizes profusely to the plumber and he tells her he has two of his own, but they're grown. He proceeds to tell her how she'll miss "this" and she'll want it back, how she would wish time didn't pass so quickly.

I have all these little reminders around me to cherish every moment because the firsts are fun and exciting but you never know when it'll be their last.