Lisa's 50th Bday party

Last night we headed over to Kingfish in San Mateo to celebrate my coworker Lisa's 50th bday! It was a New Orleans/voodoo lounge theme and it really felt like we were in a lounge in the French Quarter somewhere. We enjoyed a slideshow, a band called "Swamp Voodoo", and good drinks and food.

Hope my 50th is as fun!

The cake! It's a replica of Lisa & Steve's 2nd house in Mendocino

Steve looks on as Lisa blows out her candles

Steve & Lisa

The band

The basement where the party was held

Saturday Sun Soak

Tank enjoying the morning sun

Ahhhhh....so relaxing! 

And then...

Here comes trouble

The Homs hang out on Sunday

On Sunday, Jimmy, Francie, and their little one Andrew came by for some lunch and a trip to the park. Andrew was uber excited about the park and was sliding down every slide there. Max wasn't to keen on slides yet (he slid down in my lap) but looooves the swing. Unfortunately, we had to cut our park trip short so Max could get back home for his afternoon nap.

Great seeing you guys! Hope to hang out again soon.

Andrew shows Max how to stack cups

Max & Andrew

More fun with toy demos

Tom & Lisa visit - blasts from the past!

On Saturday we were graced by a visit from Tom and his wife Lisa. It has been SO LONG since we have seen Tom. He was a friend from Leon's PhD days at Stanford and was even a groomsmen in our wedding! I remember when Tom and Leon could talk for hours about science, and then I would tune out and turn on trash TV (we used to be roommates).

Now Tom is all domesticated with a new wife and a new home not that far away. (I should mention Lisa is not new to us, but we actually know her through our friend Joma as those two went to MIT together). We hope to see more of Tom and Lisa in the near future because we talked for hours and had a great time. Also, Max turned on all the charm for these two and was smiling and laughing from the time he woke up from his nap to the time he went to bed. Except for in these photos :)

Tom & Lisa with our kids

Max (spaced out), Tom, Lisa, & Tank

Ain't no stopping him now...

He's on the move!

Max is officially mobile. Tonight he was all over the place and left a trail of toys behind him. It's so fun to see the look of determination on his face as he explores with his newfound mobility. Although he was super tired, he was pretty upset that I had to pick him up to start the bedtime routine. He'd rather be crawling everywhere!

And now - who wants to volunteer for babyproofing? Anyone? :)

The look of determination - "I WILL get that bus!"

Victory!

Uh oh...the bus got away

And we're on the move again

"I see you bus..."

Let's take a rest

"Ah ha...gotcha"

Epitome of cuteness

Currently listening to: The Cave - Mumford & Sons

I'm talking about Hank. This kiddo with my kiddo equals UBER cuteness!!! Hank around Max just kills me. He wants to touch him, hug him, and lay on him. Wait until these two are wrestling and running!

Tonight, gracious Angie came with Hank and brought dinner too. Leon and Brett are both traveling so it was so nice to get to see her and Henry while our hubbies are away. She also brought this cute musical toy that got Max REALLY moving. He is so close to crawling, but even if not in a full-on crawl, he is getting around pretty efficiently now. Even Hank didn't know what to make of this..except to try and lay on his butt back :)

Thanks for coming over guys!!! Max is missing his buddy Hank already.

More Max scooting action

Valentines catch-up

Since Leon was traveling this week (starting yesterday) he surprised me with a dinner out on Friday to Evvia sans Max. I also got a nice surprise yesterday at work when Leon sent a cookie basket. Thanks honey!

Unfortunately Valentines Day brought me a bad cold! Ugh...Poor Max caught a cold (not sure if that is where mine came from) so I have been up at night with him helping to clear his poor little nose.

I was desperate to clear my own sinuses, (I didn't want to drug myself up at night so I could be awake for Max) so I bought a Neti Pot. At first I was freaked out...was this like waterboarding or what? But let me tell ya, it works!

So, Neti Pot was a Valentines Day gift to myself.

Hope everyone enjoyed their Valentines Day - breathing freely!

Max in action

Try to ignore the cow toy moo-ing as Tank plays...lol. Here is Max scooting, but still not in a full crawl yet. We use an extra remote (without batteries) as motivation.

Swinging in the park

Max woke up early from his afternoon nap yesterday, so we decided to head out to the park to kill time before bedtime and dinner. He had a swinging good time...but then it got too cold for us so we bundled up and headed back home.

Swinging into sunset

Fun pushes from daddy

Now that's the spirit

Sprout Saturday

Yeah, I'm going to call it that because I think the last three Saturdays in a row we have been to Sprout! This time though, we had the lovely company of Liana, Kareem, lil' Lillian and the Gefter-Graham baby on the way. It is always so great to catch up with these guys and SO CUTE to see Lillian playing with Max the whole time. He loved her! She's getting good practice for her own little brother on the way.

Then, the Begley-Chows walked into Sprout just as we were talking about their little boy Alex being on the same soccer team as Lillian. Awesome. We not only got to see the entire fam, but little Eleanor is not so little anymore.

Always nice to catch up :)

Max waiting for the guests to arrive

Mmmmm...veggie puffs

You missed one, Max

Max & Lillian

The Begley-Chows! (L-R: Alex, Dan, Eleanor, Rebecca) 

The Gefter-Grahams! (L-R: Kareem, Lillian, Liana, and baby on the way)

Baking Therapy - Vanilla Roasted Pears

Garrett and Shannon paid us a visit last week for dinner. And as I write this post I realize I did not get pictures of them, but I got pictures of my roasted pears...how rude of me!

We picked up sushi and I had a good excuse to finally make these for dessert. So yummy (and easy)! We served them with vanilla ice cream.

Washed up

Cored and ready for the oven 

All done, carmelized, ready for ice cream!

Sunday morning Daddy & Max time

Love them :)

Hairdo done!

This past weekend Max had his first haircut! We headed over to Snip-Its in Palo Alto who specialize in kid haircuts. (Of course, future haircuts may just be at a barbershop!)

What a trooper Max was! He didn't make a peep and put up with a spray bottle in his face and crazy fast scissoring. So great to see those little ears now and not have to do a combover on him at 8 months old :)

Pre-haircut, the day before (yes, we are at Sprout, don't act so surprised!) 

Trim it up!

Posing for momma

This is my good side, Dad

All done!

Gōngxǐ fācái, hóngbāo nálái!

Happy New Year! Sorry Max, we forgot your hóngbāo but Uncle Wesley provided your lovely vest for the celebration :)

By the way, it's MY year! Year of the rabbit. Let's hope it brings good luck.

Look at this little beauty

Jefferson & Kristen welcome:

Maele (may-lee) Drew

January 27th at 6:33am

7lb 6 oz and 20 3/4 inches long.

We are so excited for you guys! She's a beauty. We can not wait to meet her!