christmastime with poppy

every year from the day after thanksgiving to christmas eve, my dad plays the piano at halls, a fancy schmancy department store on the plaza. you can find him at the bottom of the main escalators, playing and sometimes singing while shoppers pass by with their goodies... and don't worry, you don't have to wait for him to stop playing if you'd like to talk- he can do both at the same time. i know, so cool. it's the perfect time of day for us to visit, so i decided to take the babes down to hear him play. it's the first really cold day of the winter, and i just bought their coats. naturally, i want them to last all winter. needless to say, they're a tad big. :)

jingle bells...

so much to look at

mom, seriously, will you at least take this off while we're inside???!?

my studio!

if you can call it that. yes, you can. it's a work in progress, but when we moved in a little over a year ago, it was a guest bedroom. it was nice, our old bed became the guest bed, while we moved on to bigger (for my laarrge belly) and better things : a king-size bed! how did we ever sleep in a queen-sized bed comfortably?? i know, it can be done, and it was for almost 4 years, but it is definitely luxurious to be in a king.. i digress. a few months ago, i realized this room had only been used a couple of times. meanwhile, our "office" housed our computer desk, my work table, bookshelves, paper cutter, printer, etcera, etcera, etcera... the logical choice was made, and bam!, four or five months later, it is my studio. yay!! my workspace, my place where i can be by myself. as of right now, i'm not in there a lot, partly because i'm used to using other areas of the house for my projects- i'm a very visual person who needs to have everything spread out in front of her to be able to function... organized chaos, maybe? also because there's kind of been a lull in business for the past few weeks. and i need a good work chair. just a few reasons... i'm very lucky to be able to have a whole room! just for me, and i'm very proud of it. i'm in love with the color on the wall, and i wish you could see what it actually is. it's a yummy golden yellow with a hint of mustard... that makes perfect sense, right? bryan put up some cork squares on one wall, there's a collage of the babies as newborns on one, and the other is waiting on something. maybe a big overgrown plant. nah... built-in bookshelves that are sa-weet are on the other, and this is where most of my supplies are. i'm hoping to fill the corkboard with inspiration, pictures, cut-outs from magazines, and tons of quotes. i'm a tad obsessed with quotes. so here it is. sorry for the blurriness of the pictures, i wanted to try to take them without the flash so the color was as accurate as it could be...

a comfy chair i found at a used furniture store

(no bed bugs)

the desk/shelf bryan made for our fifth anniversary

(wood is the traditional present- he's so good)

ridin' in style..

in my attempt to revive this blog, i've been downloaded pictures like mad trying to organize all the crazy ideas running around in my head... and i will admit, i forgot about a few. i will tell you that i did not want to post these (well, the one of my husband is fine, but don't even get me started on the one of me). but i had to. i had to show you these super cute bjorn covers jane sewed for us. they definitely razz up these carriers, no?

who am i kidding, no one's looking at me, right?

liam, enjoying being super-stylish...

finn, trying to be cool about how cute he looks

i'm back!

wow, it's really hard to live up to all this pressure... just kidding, there's no pressure. maybe only from myself... you know how it goes, life gets busy, a few days go by and no new blog posts, a few more days go by, and you keep telling yourself 'the last thing you posted was about halloween, you better get on the stick!', and pretty soon, it's almost a month later and you've become one of those bloggers. the ones who really want to post about a lot of things, but just can't make time for it. the ones who drool over many many blogs every day, but can't ever seem to think anything she has to say will be worth reading... well, that's the end of that. i am going to make an effort to not write this for anyone but me. it doesn't just have to be about the babies (who, in my defense, do take up a LOT of time) :), it's going to be about me, my family, my non-existent business, our life. i hope you'll forgive me for my hiatus, all of you 3 people who check on a regular basis. :) as of right now, i am back. wish me luck, as i think i'm about to enter one of the busiest times of my life: the holiday season. with almost one-year old twins. oy.

nigiri anyone?

i've never been a big halloween person. i do not like scary movies, don't like being scared, and i really think that too many people use it as an excuse to be skanky. well, i think i'm comin' around... obviously, we participated this year- and had a blast! of course, there's not much to do with 10-month olds who can't seem to understand why this darn pillow is velcro'ed to their backs! but we took a trip up to the hospital to see bryan's co-workers and then down to our little outdoor shopping center for some "trick-or-treating". made me so excited for the years to come, when they know what's going on...

my sister found this idea in parents magazine and as someone who wanted to go all out with hand-making costumes, also someone who doesn't really know how to sew, this was a perfect alternative. so easy, and so so yummy. wish i had gotten more pictures, particularly of liam, but he's a pretty active fishy.

salmon with a side of wasabi

yummy nigiri :)

fatty tuna with ginger

(who you callin' fatty?)

10 months

our little guys are ten months old... in two! months, they will be one year old. maybe if i say it every day until then, i will actually comprehend the idea that they have already been here for one year! how long we waited for them, and how quickly time has flown since then... in the last month, we have made much advancement in the area of food. we've graduated from the beaba and started eating big-kid food! scrambled eggs, potato soup, yogurt (that one isn't really that big of a deal), and even tofu! i've been told "not to pass on my dislike of certain foods to my children", so i'm trying with that one... finn's still having a hard time with textures, but he's getting better. liam pretty much opens his mouth for everything, and just waits until it's in to figure out if he doesn't like it or not... it usually stays in, thank goodness. we've also introduced sippy cups, which we're still getting the hang of. liam is cruising everything, and is not ever interested in sitting, is always exploring or climbing. finn started army-crawling a couple of weeks ago, and loves that he can finally move like his brother- and his drool hasn't slowed down, so it's nice that he spreads that all around... :) they love laughing at each other, and i think their secret language has already begun. adorable.

liam

finn

oh fresno, how i do not love thee...

but how i love the people living there...

all of you have heard me growl about fresno- of all the places in california to live, this would not be one i would choose. often referred to as the "armpit" of the golden state, i really didn't ever warm up to the city. however, i had no problem finding friends that i will probably have for my whole life. there were many reasons we were supposed to go to fresno- it was one of those life lessons you learn after the fact, after you've groused and moaned and complained like a 4 year-old about it... it's where bryan needed to be to get probably some of the best training an emergency room doc can get in the country, and it's where i needed to be to get the support i needed through my roller coaster ride with infertility. i had 3 very good friends in fresno who helped in more ways than i will ever be able to remember. one of those friends has moved on to cleaner air and more space, but two are still in fresno. and last week, one of them had a baby! little samantha claire james was born on friday, october 16th, and i surprised melanie by showing up!!! the stars aligned with bryan's schedule, and with a little help from his family and mine, he was able to take care of the boys for an extended weekend, so i could have a little trip out to visit. i was so happy to see her, meet little sam, and catch up with my girls. tiff and dan were gracious enough to let me sleep on their couch (thanks again!!), and i got some much-needed triplet time in.. and soph, of course! although i didn't take nearly enough pictures, here are a few... i miss all of you already!!!

little samantha claire

princess sophie, with her new earrings

(did i mention she turned 2! and tiff had a party?) so fun :)

my little lily

why did i not get more pictures of this little bundle?

my favorite triplets, ready for a big soccer game

lily ~ kate ~ luke