Santos the Family

Card #2. AT&T Park

2012-01-24T13:33:00.000-08:00

After an almost 3 month hiatus, I decided to start using these cards again. So much for one card a week. Card #2 is AT&T (formally Pacific Bell) Park! So fun. When Betsy and I were first married, we lived 3 blocks away from the stadium in an awesome loft so it was a bit of a homecoming.
We parked in South Park near where previously both our cars were towed while we were on vacation. Ahh, the memories. The neighborhood hadn't changed too much and it was fun to see our old haunts.
To start any good adventure one needs sustenance and Caffe Centro delivers with bagels and cream cheese. Charlie combined both his loves, bagel eating and people watching.
After breakfast we headed to the stadium and our first stop was South Beach park. What a view. The park is right next to the stadium and provides great views of the city and bay. Also the T and N muni metro lines are nearby and if your child is like mine, the metro train is the coolest thing next to the regular bus.

The park is small and doesn't have swings but does have sand. And a pirate ship.

We then walked down the marina that's behind the stadium. Charlie loved to watch the boats and countless seagulls on the dock.

We then continued around the stadium and this was as close as we got to the field. The card noted there were daily tours of the stadium but you had to call before and come later in the day. Not going to work for our nap schedule and I'm sure Charlie didn't care. Besides, it's an excuse to buy tickets to a game this upcoming season so we can go inside.
We crossed the 3rd street bridge (named after this guy) and headed to China Basin Park, a grassy knoll that boarders McCovey Cove. Charlie was stoked!

We walked to the end of the park, chasing birds, saying hello to dogs, and having a great time. The sidewalk is covered with all sorts of baseball stuff and I wish I knew what it meant but was too busy chasing around Charlie to make sure he didn't fall into the cove. He loved the giant cement baseballs. I loved the view.
With all the running, Charlie was pooped and he jumped in the stroller for the ride back to the car.
Since there is an actual park in South Park, we decided to extend our stay and get our swing on.

The park structure is a bit antiquated but they have a bunch of sand so its OK with charlie. As Charlie was playing, I was trying to remember if I ever observed kids playing in the park. Ever. I couldn't remember children using the park, just tons of smokers and drinkers.
What a fun adventure. This walk is very picturesque and I bet during the baseball season, would be very fun. I can't wait for the season to start so I can take charlie to a game or two.

Baby #1 & Baby #2 (AKA oh yeah, we're having a baby girl really soon)

2012-01-04T19:23:00.000-08:00

Happy new year friends & family! Life has been full and fun and we're grateful for it. And, oh yeah, we're having a baby girl in February! Because he deserves it, most of our attention is focused on Charlie who just turned 17 months! He is amazing and we love him so much. He's such a little dude, less a baby every day, and I'm well aware that as soon as baby girl arrives he's going to seem like a teenager.
He speaks! Charlie is a total chatter-box these days. He says Dada, Daddy, Mama, Hi, No, Oh-Wow, Woah and probably a few other words that I'm forgetting at the moment. He can also make animal sounds for cows, lions, dogs, bears and snakes. If you ask him what Santa Claus says he'll tell you "ho ho ho!"

He runs, he plays, he loves sand and rocks. He loves to move things from here to there. He loves books, balls and anything with wheels. He likes to empty things out and fill them back up with anything. We just returned home from a week in Utah and Charlie LOVED spending time with family, the dogs and I'm happy to report he's now a master of stairs (up & down)!

Charlie is pretty great all around. Some things never change...we still always get comments from people about Charlie's happy demeanor and smiley attitude. He's a great sleeper. He goes to bed every night around 7pm, and sleeps until anywhere from 5:45am - 6:15am like clockwork. I dream of sleeping in but will not complain about the system we have going. And of course, he's still cute cute cute. Proof:

In other Santos news, Steve is still the most amazing full-time stay at home dad in all the land. He seriously amazes me every day with his dedication and love for our little guy. Charlie is so lucky to have such an amazing daddy to take such good care of him while mommy goes to work each day. We feel really lucky that we're able to live in SF and have one of us work while one of us is home full-time.

And because we have yet to document Baby Bump #2, here are some shots of me this morning at about 34.5 weeks along. Ready to deliver this baby in T-Minus 5.5 weeks and counting!

p.s. Thanks to our great friend and an AMAZING photographer, Robyn Kessler, for taking pics of our little family at the Christmas tree lot in December. If you need pics taken for a wedding, pets, pregnancy, babies, kids...anything...she's so so so so fantastic.

City walks with kids

2011-10-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

We recently moved back to San Francisco and Betsy bought us City Walks with kids, San Francisco edition, to get us reacquainted with our city. Skimming through the adventures I noticed we have completed most, if not all, the walks. But since Charlie is new around these parts, what better way to introduce him to the city sights. I'm not too excited about some cards, like the Pier 39 (#10) or Fisherman's Wharf (#13). I plan to hit these up on weekdays so the amount of tourists should be at a minimum. It's sad to think so many people visit San Francisco and only visit the wharf, missing out on the Mission, Noe and the like. On the other hand, where else can you walk with a fanny pack (and the ever-popular neck pack) and look at an open map and totally get away with it? Bonus. I may even proclaim "Frisco is so pretty."

Anyway, the first card in the series is the Ferry building. We have been here numerous times and even Charlie visited once while in the womb. Charlie was very excited to walk around and explore.

He was so excited to look at all the wares in the shops. He is getting very fast at walking and now prefers it over crawling. Our little boy is growing up.
As it turned out Charlie's favorite activity of the day was to chase the pigeons. Charlie loves them because they are the only birds that linger and don't fly away the moment he approaches. He can almost get to them. Almost. I have yet to tell him pigeons are just rats with wings because I don't want to ruin his fun. He'll get it someday soon.
We ate lots of fruit samples and even a breakfast sammy. The sammies are still tasty and filled with some of Charlies favorite foods, eggs and cheese.

Unfortunately, Charlie didn't seem too impressed with this useful historical information plaque. I guess he gets that from his mom. The disdain for all things historical.
We had a wonderful time and Charlie loved walking around trying to get birds and people to smile and wave at him. We love the ferry building early on a Saturday morning.
I'm super excited to get going on the cards. I want to do one adventure a week if possible. There are so many fun adventures to take Charlie on in our city, with or without the cards.

Goodbye mullet, AKA "the bob."

2011-10-10T22:05:00.001-07:00

When Charlie was born, he had a fine layer of darker brown hair that quickly fell out. Well, most of it did...All of it fell out except the old man ring around the back. It's like the old man ring of hair got a jump start on everything else and kept growing and growing and growing until we ended up with this:
Charlie's hair has been called a mullet for months now. We've been battling lots of peer pressure to cut it but we weren't budging. Even when people called him Frasier Crane or Terry Bradshaw, we didn't care. My plan was to arrive at my parent's house in Utah this Christmas with Charlie sporting a pony tail (just to prove a point). But then one day I realized it wasn't a cool mullet. It had turned into a full-blown bob overnight. A bob that looked like we took time every morning to blow dry it and used a round brush to get that perfect under-curl. That's when we decided it might be time to swallow our pride and take our good friend (and my hair stylist) Preston up on his offer to cut Charlie's hair whenever we decided it was time for his first cut.
Notice that perfect curl under...girls from 1991 would pay good money for this look I'm sure.
The best part of the bob is that it's not even at the actual base of his hairline. It's like one inch up from the base of his hairline. Look close...you can see his actual hairline under the mullet-bob.

Sometimes Charlie likes to play telephone with his spoon that's covered in yogurt in the morning and the mullet-bob gets matted and slimy.
Last Thursday we met up with Preston @ acme Salon in downtown SF and we were ready! Excited even!
Charlie had no idea what was going on, he was just excited to visit Uncle Preston...
Then he started to figure out what was happening and was less excited to see Uncle Preston...And then it became obvious that Charlie was disappointed in mommy & daddy. Charlie was ready to rock his mullet-bob all the way to the finish line.
But then Charlie caught a glimpse of his new look in the mirror and the tides started to change.
He started to embrace the idea of a slick new hairstyle to sport for the ladies at the playground.And soon he was totally on board.
Goodbye.
So handsome. Thanks Uncle Preston!!!
We thought a little follow-up proof that he loves his new look would be appropriate. So happy. Instantly turned from a baby to a little boy.

Family Reunion: Park City, UT 2011

2011-10-09T19:26:00.000-07:00

Waaaaaaaaaay back in early August we enjoyed a week in Park City, UT with my family. We've done this for about 5 years in a row now (except we missed last year due to a pending baby delivery). My super generous and awesome parents rent a few condominiums and we spend our days enjoying the pool and summertime fun Park City has to offer. And of course, good food, good times, good people...just all around lovely. I'm such a horrible blogger these days but wanted to post all the fun pics we had.

Charlie and Cole in their matching car-seats heading to dinner (Cole actually looks BIGGER than Charlie and he's 3+ months younger).
Jen & JoeAunt Suzy sharing her dinner with Charlie.Ma & Pa Santos.
Pool time! Charlie hated the pool initially but warmed up quickly.
Olympic park...The Comet!

Grandma & Cole.
They had this great observation area where you could sit out on this patio, buy soft pretzels and soda and watch all the kids practice their aerials. It was so fun...Charlie could have sat there all day.While we were observing, the dare-devils went to ride the alpine slide and zip lines.The next day we hit up the Park City resort and rode the Alpine Coaster. Emma & Ryan are ready to go!
Sophie, Emma & Allie hanging out w/Charlie.
Sophie is not excited.
We also spent lots of time at the condos just hanging out. Cole & Charlie became great friends.

Allie was such a great helper with Charlie the whole time...she's made to be a babysitter!!!!!
Charlie taking advantage of Allie's niceness.
Jen, Ethan & Charlie celebrated birthdays during Park City week this year.
Charlie getting harassed about his mullet (notice the pony tail).Weeeeeeeeeee! They have swings in Park City too!
Steve screen-printed shirts for everyone and on our last evening we gathered everyone together to take some family pics...our family is not big on the big, huge, posed family pics but we tried. Note the rolled up sleeves the guys were sporting.
Thanks mom & dad for such an amazing week!

14 mo.

2011-09-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

Charlie is 14 months old!
We've made some big changes over the past couple of months, namely, we moved back to SF! We miss our adorable neighborhood in Berkeley and all the amazing friends we met during our year and a half in "the east" but this move was the right thing for our family. Steve is still doing the full-time-parent duties while I'm working full-time downtown. Our move put us closer to my job and closer to so many of our great friends that also have little ones. Within the first few weeks of being back we've really felt the love of our friends here. Charlie has friends that he sees all the time now! It's so fun to see him interacting w/Berkeley and Finn all the time and I love watching Charlie grow close to our friends and realize that he has such a huge network of peeps that love him and care about him.

Being back in SF also gives Steve & Charlie so much more to do in walking distance. One of their new favorite things to do is visit the Academy of Science. Charlie LOVES the fish! I work from home on Fridays which allows me some flexibility to do things with the boys during the day and for Charlie's official 14 month birthday tomorrow I'm going with them!

He loves:
Walking while holding on to something
Dogs
Yelling (not in an obnoxious way, just to hear his own voice)
Cheese
Beans
Strawberries
Daddy
Little Tonka trucks
Throwing stuff
Parks
Swings
Slides
Walks
Friends

He's also learning what things are...he can ID a cow, a clock, a nose, my eye and my hair. He took some unassisted steps on September 3rd and then mommy and daddy freaked out with glee so badly that I think we scared him into submission. BUT...I'm happy to report today he decided he was ready to roll! We'll get a video up soon but he's officially walking. We love this kid so much. One thing that has stayed true from the moment Charlie was born is we continually get comments from everyone (strangers included) that Charlie is one of the happiest babies they've ever seen and it's true. He really is a smiley, lovely, happy, pleasant kid. We've been totally spoiled and are so lucky to have him in our lives.

Birthday Picnic

2011-07-31T20:18:00.001-07:00

We decided late last week that we needed to do something to mark Charlie's big day. So we decided to enjoy the lovely weather outside at Piedmont Park in Oakland and it turned out to be SO MUCH FUN. We invited all our friends. We picked up 5 pizzas from Arizmendi. We cut up a watermelon, a pineapple and a cantaloupe. We dug up the old camping cooler and filled it with bottles of root beer, cream soda, coke zero and water. I made chocolate cupcakes and vanilla cupcakes. And in the end I even picked up "favors" in the form of packs of haribo gummy bears for all (this may have been more for mommy than for the birthday boy). We asked everyone to bring blankets to sit on and POOF! Insta-party!

It turned out to be such an awesome, chill gathering of great friends. All to wish our little guy a happy first birthday. We feel so lucky to have the great people in our lives that we do and I feel even more lucky that Charlie has such an amazing group of people in this world that love him.
Patrick, Linds & baby Holland drove up from Sunnyvale.Shawn and I decided to trade babies for a while. Charlie & Berkeley are destined to end up together I'm pretty certain. Watermelon was very popular all afternoon. The fruit and the rind.
I encourage you to enlarge this photo and take a closer look at Charlie's hair. We are struggling with how to apply sunblock without making him look like a total greaser (Berkeley doesn't seem to mind).

Does he look like me at all yet? Since the day Charlie was born I'd say 99 out of 100 people say Charlie is the spitting image of his dad. I'm totally happy with that but I wonder if any Heywood will ever surface (aside from his uber-whiteness). Steve's favorite joke to make is that he's concerned that what Charlie is going to inherit from the Heywood's is an attitude problem. Look how photogenic Patrick can be.
We've been trying to teach Charlie how to hold up his finger for "number one!" Success.
Also trying to teach him it's not polite to point.
Linds was on swing duty with E for a while. New besties.
Pre-cupcake Sam.The Isom's! Little Lizzie was Charlie's first baby friend!

Charlie loves him some Anne.

I'm pretty sure Robyn took this picture because it has a very professional feel to it.
If this is the face Courtney makes when I ask her to smile, it's going on the birthday blog post.

Post-cupcake Sam.Ella apparently approves of this cupcake. I'm pretty sure Berkeley was being punished or something because I only saw her eating pizza crust and drinking water.The Boyd boys made it! Chris spent about 99% of his time at the playground.
Those eyes!Charlie is such a happy baby. Like freakishly happy a majority of the time but usually when we take him to the park he gets really serious and he likes to just take it all in. In true Charlie form, once the party had cleared out this is what we found the birthday boy doing. Partying all by himself. Happy as can be. Happy birthday baby boy. Love you times a million.

one.

2011-07-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

One year! Charlie is one! Every week for the past year I've received a babycenter.com update in my email saying "your baby this week..." Then it goes on to tell me what my baby is likely doing these days...what I can expect...what I should not freak out about. Today I got and update that said "your toddler this week." Really? Charlie became a toddler today? He's still my baby to me.

Having Charlie has been so much fun. He makes us smile (almost) all of the time. I feel like everything I can possibly say about parenthood and babies all sounds so cliche. In certain ways our lives feel 100% different than they did one year and one day ago. But it's still Steve & me. We're the same people. Just + one Charlie. And our lives are better because of him.

We gave Charlie a cupcake tonight before his bath and he employed his latest favorite method of eating. Like a dog.

Happy Birthday Char Char!!!!
(stay tuned for birthday picnic pictures!)

Perfect 10.

2011-05-30T20:32:00.001-07:00

Here we are. 10 months. Charlie is the best. Like literally the best. We love this kid so much. He has added more to our lives than we could ever have imagined. The past couple of months have been tough in the sleeping department for us (6 teeth all at once) but even getting up 2 or 3 times a night doesn't change the fact that we are so lucky to have this little guy in our life. Here's a random jumbled compilation of thoughts on what Charlie is doing these days.

Smiling. He's done this since pretty early on and he does it all the time. Even if he's not so happy. If you're friends with me on Facebook, you know of what I speak. We often have people tell us "you have the happiest baby I've ever seen in my entire life." And these are people with adorably happy babies. So we know we are so very lucky to have a little dude that is so pleasant and brings smiles to everyone that he comes in contact with.
Talking. He says dadada, mamama. He growls like a lion. When Steve & Charlie pick me up from BART at the end of the day I sit in the back with Charlie and we have a scream contest. I scream. He screams. We both laugh. I scream. He screams. We both laugh. We are such good friends.
Games. Charlie likes to cover himself up with a blanket and then pull it back really fast to see our expression. We'll say "Where's Charlie??" when he's covered and when he hears it, he moves the blanket really fast. The Bjorn. Charlie loves being in the Bjorn w/dad. They hike, do dishes, vacuum, take out the garbage. Mommy loves it.
Food. He's getting better!!!! Slowly but surely Charlie is taking to eating solid foods a bit. Some of his favorites are yogurt, cream cheese, pinto beans, tofu, cheddar cheese, cheerios, carrots, & french fries. He doesn't eat much of anything but when he does we get really excited. And we don't really worry about nutrition at this point...it's all about getting him comfortable w/solids. He loves to drink water from a "big person" glass. Mostly he still drinks breast milk that mommy pumps.
Mover. Charlie crawls so fast! He also stands up and supports himself on anything. He's started "cruising." I think that's what it's called...while standing, he'll move from one piece of furniture to another without sitting down. He also started waving and dancing this week.

Teeth. Like I mentioned above. Charlie has been a teething machine these past two months. He's gone from zero teeth to 5 teeth with one more ready to break through any moment up top. I'm thrilled the teething pain will take a break for a bit and I love his toothy grin but it's a little bittersweet. I submit for review there is almost nothing cuter than a gummy smile.
Sleep. Charlie was a pretty great sleeper until the 6 month mark. And it's been hit or miss ever since. Two nights ago he slept from 6:30pm until 5:30am. The longest stretch of his entire life. Typical night at the Santos house is up 2x at least. The great thing about Charlie is even when he's up and in pain, he's not a fussy guy. He's just up. He just wants to snug. I know the clock is ticking on how much longer my little baby boy will want to endlessly snuggle his mommy so if I can get it in the middle of the night, I'll get up happily (ok, that's a lie. i'm never happy when i get up in the middle of the night).
Photogenic. Charlie is SO photogenic. He's an expert at smiling for the camera (just like daddy).
Dogs & babies are his favorite things (besides mommy & daddy) in that order.
The bath. Our friend Chris will be proud of us that we've graduated Charlie out of his baby tub and into the big boy bath. When I told Chris at work a couple weeks ago that Charlie still used his little green tub Chris was visibly shaken. He told me Charlie is totally big enough to sit in the big bath. So guess what. We bought a non-stick bath mat covered in octopus decals and turns out Charlie IS big enough for the big bath. Who would have known? My theory is this...when you've already had a baby, then it's easy to recognize when your baby is ready to do things. But when you're a first-timer, sometimes you don't realize your baby is actually getting bigger. The same thing happened last Christmas when Patrick helped us realize that Charlie could sit up. We had no idea. Patrick totally schooled us.

Nicknames: Char, Char Char, Little Char, Little Baby Char Char, Baby Char Char, Sha-Shar, Char-Chee, Peanut, Tink Tink, Tinker, Sweet Pea, Sweet Potato.

Charlie, we don't deserve you. But we'll gladly keep you. We love you so much.

Happy Mommy Day!

2011-05-08T12:41:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to you Betsy and to all the mothers out there. As you may know, we became parents last July to a baby boy named Charlie. Since Charlie was our first baby and I didn't have small kid experience we decided to practice before he came. Most people try to keep a plant alive for a year or get a pet for practice but we decided to use fancy electronics.
Since we managed to keep our computer alive for a year we decided we were ready to take care of a child. So Charlie came into our world. We were so excited to meet him and were relieved that he had all his parts and was cute to boot. Meeting him was unreal.
Charlie took to us right away, especially Betsy for some reason (milk).
We were lucky to have a baby that was happy, content and a great sleeper (don't worry...that's all changed lately...can you say up three times last night???).
Every now & then he wouldn't sleep well and I would get picture texts like this.
We've also come to terms with the fact that most people want to hang with Charlie instead of us. People use the excuses "haven't seen you in a while" or "let's do lunch" to get together and when we do, they completely ignore us and play with Charlie the entire time. It's our new reality. Charlie is cooler than we are by a mile.
I think one of Betsy's favorite mom duties is dress up. She loves to put Charlie in interesting outfits and often ridicules her husband for the choices he makes. Because of her efforts, Charlie is one sharp dresser.
Betsy loves to take Charlie out on walks an explore nature. The other night we spent 10 minutes touching tree bark.
We've had several reports that Charlie is "the happiest baby I've ever seen." To keep him well-rounded, Betsy worked with him to develop his "mean mug" or "park face." This is Charlie's "leave me alone or I'll cut you/I'm dangerous" look.
But the truth is, this is closer to reality than the mean mug.
Betsy has also been working tirelessly on transitioning Charlie to solid foods. Her methods may be frowned upon by some, but we'll take what we can get.
Charlie is lucky to have such a pretty, funny, smart, and all around awesome mom. We are so lucky to have her and we love her so much. Not just today, everyday.
Happy Mother's Day!

Ladies Man

2011-03-19T21:18:00.000-07:00

Charlie: Hi, My name is Charlie. You new here?
Holland: Yep. I was born last week.
Charlie: Why don't you slip into something more comfortable?
Holland: Ok.
Charlie: Nice Onesie! You look great.
Holland: Thanks Charlie.
Charlie: So, when are we going to go out? I'm free this Friday.
Holland: Um, I just googled you on my mommy's phone, I know about Berkeley...
Charlie: Wait? What? You mean where my crib is at?
Holland: No... your other baby Friend. Wahahahah!
Charlie: Oh, I was going to tell you about her...
Holland: How can you do this to me Charlie?
Charlie: Look at me, I'm handsome! Am I right ladies? GTL!
Holland: Remember how you have no tan? You're a jerk Charlie.
Charlie: Holland, I'm sorry. I really am. Berkeley is cool but she's been hanging out with this guy Finn.
Holland: Whatever.
Charlie: Look, take this foot rub as a token of my friendship. I mean, we can't really date yet anyway. You can't hold your head up and I can't even walk.
Holland: I guess we can get to know each other. We'll see what happens.
Charlie: Sounds good to me.
Holland: Don't forget about the other foot.
Charlie: It was great to meet you Holland. Your parents are cool and I like your crib.
Holland: Hope to see you soon. Call me.
Thanks for letting us come over Pat and Lindsay! Holland is adorable. Congratulations.

We still haven't seen Inception

2011-02-28T21:03:00.001-08:00

Inception marked the end of our movie going life as we knew it. We were trying SO HARD to fit in one more movie 7 months ago before we had a baby but it didn't happen. That last week before Charlie arrived ended up full of trips to Target & Babies R Us & I worked almost up until the day Charlie was born. It's been 7 months since Charlie joined our family and while he's totally cramped our movie watching, we get smiles like this instead and it makes up for it times a million.

At 7 months old Charlie is cuter than ever. He smiles, laughs, squeals & gets excited at pretty much anything. At about the 6 month mark he started sleeping like a champ at night. We can put him down around 7pm and he'll wake up once in the middle of the night to eat then he goes back down 'til morning. He's been sick the past week though so the good sleeping has been a little spotty but I'm confident we'll be back on track soon. We've been working on feeding him "solids." I think it's funny that pureed baby food is called a solid. HE HATES FOOD. Like hates hates hates it. Over the past two months we've tried rice cereal, oatmeal, bananas, pears, avocado, carrots & sweet potatoes and it's not going well. We keep trying each day and we try and make it fun vs. stressful for him. I'm sure he'll get the hang of things soon enough. For now he's happy drinking milk and I'm fine providing it so that works.

Charlie started sitting up around Christmastime and has just started to lunge forward from the sitting position. The first few lunges forward resulted in him face planting on the rug but as of yesterday he seems to understand that if he puts his arms out, he can hold himself up and preserve those smashing good looks of his. If you lay him on his back he instantly rolls over onto his belly and gets in cobra position. He's starting to get frustrated that he can't crawl. If you put something just out of his reach he'll lay out flat and stretch his arms out in front of him as far as he can to try and grab it. When he can't, the whining begins. If you give him something to push his feet off, he'll scoot forward. It's super exciting to watch these changes happening but we're also very aware that the days of our little guy that we can plop down somewhere and he'll just sit there happily enjoying one spot are numbered.

He's still pretty bald but we think his hair is going to be sandy blond. It's obvious he's inherited his mom's fair skin and he has his dad's dark dark brown eyes. It seems to work for him. He's friendly but is just now getting a little bit of stranger danger. No teeth yet but I'm predicting any day now. One of his new favorite activities is the swing!

We love this kid so much. Side note, I also love Steve so much. There's a lotta love around these parts. I shall leave you all with this picture. Steve, the plant biologist, teaching our son to love flowers too.

Half Birthday

2011-01-30T16:18:00.000-08:00

Wow. I cant believe Charlie is 6 months old today. It seems like only yesterday he was born. We realized at lunch today that it was his half birthday so to celebrate we drank a chocolate shake at St. Francis Fountain with the McMillan's while Charlie observed (we thought maybe making him jealous of our chocolate shake might make him enjoy rice cereal more).

Finn likes to give Charlie love-head-butt-kisses.

It's amazing how fast Charlie has grown. He has his six month check-up this week and we can hardly wait to find our how much our little guy weighs and how tall he is. Here are some fun things that happen at our house these days:

Charlie likes to look out the window and wait for mommy to get home.

He's still a big fan of the bath.

Although happy 95% of the time, he's starting to "mean-mug" sometimes.
He loves to dress fancy. Everyone who loves this shirt raise your right hand and say "I!"
He is the proud owner of a new high chair that he uses to play with toys, not to eat (mommy & daddy will prevail...you just wait).
He loves nature and open spaces. He only travels by covered wagon and already has good pioneer stories.
He loves to do push-ups with his shirt off.
(Seriously ladies, look how cute I am.)

He has a girlfriend named Berkeley (he also has a girlfriend named Olive but she moved to the mid-west...outta sight outta mind).
Other things...Charlie sleeps great sometimes and horribly other times. We're working on that. He loves to scream and squeal and can be quite loud when he wants to. Sometimes in the morning he wakes up in his crib and just hangs out in there for a while making cute noises. We love going into his room those mornings b/c his smile when he sees us is HUGE. He sits up like a total champ and rolls both ways. When you hold him on your lap he only likes to stand. He has had two colds so far and made it through both!

Back to the birthday celebration...After brunch we all went to the park and Charlie went on the swing for the first time and loved it. Take a look. (Disclaimer: This video is kind of long with lots of swinging footage.)

Liz (photographer extraordinaire) captured a few amazing stills of the big swing adventure. He was a bit nervous at first.
But then caught on rather quickly.
Probably because Finn was showing him how to do it. This picture doesn't really depict what was happening. Imagine Finn flying high and Charlie moving about 12 inches back and forth slowly. That's more accurate.

We are so happy to have this little guy in our lives. He always has a smile on his face and brings so much love, joy, fun into our lives. We still don't feel like we really know what we're doing but here we are, six months in, and we're just fine. Maybe we'll never really feel like we know exactly what we're doing and maybe that's okay. Man, we love this little guy and can't wait to see what the next six months bring. Happy half birthday Charlie!

First foods: Oatmeal

2011-01-20T07:40:00.000-08:00

Last night we decided to try and feed Charlie something other than breast milk. Our friend Liz recommended baby oatmeal so we gave it a go. As I found out, one mixes the oatmeal with breast milk and the consistency is basically breast milk with lumps. As Betsy pointed out to me, his first meal is not really solid. I was under the impression that he was going to have a bowl of Cheerios with milk. I was totally wrong.

Things were looking promising for the first couple of spoonfuls,
but they turned bad pretty quickly.
Betsy is always the cheerleader and was very encouraging and positive.
But it was a lost cause. She would put the spoon up to his mouth, pour the oatmeal in, and the oatmeal would just run down his chin. He was super ticked.
Even though most of the delicious oatmeal landed on his shirt, he was still a happy camper in the end. We realize now last night would have been a perfect opportunity to deploy a bib.
I guess we try again tomorrow. I hope it works out.

5 Months

2010-12-30T16:35:00.001-08:00

Today is Charlie's 5 month birthday. I can't believe we have been responsible for a child for 5 months and we haven't seriously injured him. I have been worried that I would drop him or something but I haven't. These past 5 months have flown by. Char (his nickname) is so fun to have around. This photo depicts Charlie's usual disposition. Crabby. Mean. Upset.
Ok, So if you've ever met Charlie you know that's not true. He can't help but smile. He's also found his laugh and breaks it out all the time. He loves to grab his feet and he's learning to sit up (see picture #1).
Charlie loves to go places and be the center of attention. He really knows how to work a room.

One of his favorite activities is bath time. Originally we'd set up his tub in the kitchen sink but he learned how to splash his bath water and make a mess so we started putting his baby tub into the big bathtub. He loves to splash and we like to sing that Splish, Splash I was taking a bath song. The bath has become part of our nightly ritual.
Another favorite activity is walks in his stroller. Even though we take him for walks in pretty places, he's often asleep for the entire thing. We love our BOB stroller and Charlie loves the shocks and smooth ride it provides.
However when we travel we bring our snap and go stroller so his ride has been rough this week.
We love Charlie so much. We feel so lucky to have him with us and are trying to enjoy every minute.

Oh man...

2010-11-24T06:57:00.000-08:00

As if Charlie Green weren't enough cute to last a lifetime, our family welcomed another cute avalanche this past week in the form of Cole Merrill Taggart! Look at this little nugget and I dare you not to smile and feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Congratulations to Suzy, Ryan and big sister Allie! The Santoses can't wait to meet you on Christmas day!

p.s. I'm pretty certain Charlie and Cole were besties up in heaven before they came to earth.

stand up

2010-11-17T21:15:00.001-08:00

Charlie: Hey Angelo, How much does a pirate pay for corn?
Angelo: No idea.
Charlie: A buccaneer!
Angelo: huh...
Charlie: Hey Angelo, What washes up on tiny beaches?
Angelo: ?
Charlie: Microwaves!!!
Angelo: Wow... really Charlie?
Charlie: I'm so funny!
Charlie: Hey, Angelo. What do you call a cow with no legs?
Angelo: No idea
Charlie: Ground Beef!!!
Angelo:...
Charlie: Seriously man! I'm killing.
Angelo: Something's dying...
Charlie: Hey, What's brown and sticky? Oh man... A STICK!
Angelo:..
Charlie: You know, because a stick is brown and can also be described as sticky.
Charlie: Wow, tough room.
Angelo: Tell me about it.
Charlie: So you're saying that I shouldn't go to the open mic night tonight?
Angelo: Oh, you can go but don't get on stage.
Charlie: Well at least I have one fan!

Blind Date

2010-11-13T21:20:00.000-08:00

Charlie: Hi there. I'm Charlie Santos.
Berkeley: Hi. I'm Berkeley.
Charlie: I'm so glad that our parents set up this date. I'm a little nervous.
Berkeley: Yeah whatever. Those guys are always meddling in our lives. But I'm glad I came.
Berkeley: I thought you would be taller. You're shorter than you look in your profile pic.
Charlie: Huh. I'll have to change that.
Charlie: So tell me a little about yourself. What are your favorite hobbies?
Berkeley: Well, I really like to...
Finn: Yo! What up Girl!
Finn: Shorty, It's totally my birthday! I saw you from across the room and wanted to come over and say hi and invite you to play with my new toys. You're not with this guy are you?
Berkeley: Yes we are on a date. Our parents set us up.
Charlie: Yeah. We are on a date. Thanks for the invite though but we want to spend some time together.
Finn: Really? This guy?
Finn: Come on girl? What's your deal? Let's go out.
Charlie: Hey man. Chill
Finn: I just need a kiss.
Berkeley: Um.. Not until I'm 16!!
Charlie: SECURITY!.
Charlie: Whew. Thank goodness that bouncer was there. I've never seen a blond female bouncer before. She seemed really nice.
Berkeley: Yeah. That guy seemed milk drunk. Some people can't hold their milk and just go crazy on their birthday.
Charlie: Seriously.
Berkeley: Well, Maybe we can do this again some other time but let's pick a quieter place.
Charlie: Cool. Yeah, I would like to see you again. This was fun.
Berkeley: Can you walk me to my car seat?
Charlie: Of course, but we need to hold hands...
Berkeley: You're smooth Charlie, but don't get any funny ideas.

Transitions.

2010-11-10T08:52:00.000-08:00

2 weeks ago we realized that charlie has outgrown his Moses basket. It was time to move him off our hamper and into his actual crib.
He went from this small basket to this spacious, luxury crib and went from completely filling the basket to having tons of room to roam around and roll over. Rolling over is one of Charlie's new tricks.
It was a tough time for Betsy. She was having separation anxiety and was worried that Charlie would be lonely all by himself and in his own room. Luckily, he made some quick friends.

Unfortunately, this move to the crib has come at a cost. Charlie was sleeping 8 solid hours almost every night and now we are lucky if we get 6. But we did move him to his crib while we were packing for our move to Berkeley so that transition could have upset him as well. There are too many variables to be sure. I need to explain the Scientific Method to Charlie so he can limit the variables and we will know for sure what is going on with him. The problem is he doesn't speak English yet so it's going to be a challenge.

3 Months

2010-10-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

Charlie is 3 months old today. I may have been guilty in the past of rolling my eyes at all the cliche sounding posts from moms on blogs and on facebook talking about how "time flies so fast" or how they "can't believe how fast their little one is growing" but at the risk of sounding totally cliche myself, I cannot believe how fast this 3 months has flown by or how big Charlie is getting. I'm not exactly sure of his stats right now but I think he weighs about 13lbs. We'll see how he's doing at his 16 week checkup in a couple of weeks.

Here's some stuff about our 3 month old:
1) Charlie has many nicknames including but not limited to: Char, Char Char, Featherweight, Sweet Pea, Jello for Brains (I call him this if I've left him in the swing for longer than 1 hour), Little One, The Virgin Charlie, Nugget, Drama King, Buddy, Peanut.
2) He smiles all the time and is insanely cute. Ask anyone. Here's proof:
3) He hasn't officially laughed yet but I predict he's getting very close.
4) He likes to talk tons these days and when he does, his mouth looks like a bird beak. He makes a lot of eew, ooh, aah type sounds mixed in with grunts & gurgles.
5) Over the past few days he's started to constantly roll onto his left side. He doesn't roll completely over just yet but he will soon I'm sure. He's also grabbing at things (like the toys that hang down from his play mat thingy).
6) He's such a happy little guy. He rarely cries and when he does, it's for totally logical reasons (tired, hungry, pushing out a poop etc.). Otherwise, he's so very agreeable it's almost scary. Scary because we're nervous it'll change at some point.
7) Charlie likes to Skype with Grandma & Grandpa Heywood and he likes to FaceTime with Aunt Suzy, Uncle Ryan and Allie. Everyone else, this is your wake up call to get an iPhone 4 or a web cam pronto so you too can enjoy Charlie whenever you'd like in real time.
8) Charlie likes to blow bubbles and is drooling a lot these days. I say blow bubbles but it's more like foams at the mouth (we imagine it may be what having rabies looks like).
9) A couple of weeks ago he started grabbing his blanket that I put on his lap in his car seat and he pulls it up to his mouth and sucks on it. He's a genius!!!
10) Steve created a game called "The Blanket Game" that Charlie loves that involves laying Charlie on our made bed, then gently laying a blanket on top of him, then he kicks it off. He won't just get it off his face, he'll kick it off his whole body.
11) Charlie has already taken two airplane flights to SLC. One at 7 weeks old and one two weeks ago. He was a total champ both times and didn't cry at all. He seemed to enjoy it actually.
12) Charlie loves to eat out with mommy & daddy and we're teaching him how to be really smug about the kinds of food he eats and the places he frequents.
13) Charlie typically goes to bed around 9pm, will sleep for 7-8 hours then wake up for a snack. Then back down to sleep for about 2 hours.
14) So far we've been able to go on a few dates since Charlie was born. Two in Utah when my sisters babysat for us and once last night when one of our best friend's Michelle babysat for us. Michelle sent us text messages all through the evening of Charlie laughing and smiling. Guess he's a great baby for everyone, not just for us. Michelle even put Charlie to bed!
15) After protesting the bottle for a couple of weeks Charlie has decided he's okay with it after all and is taking it like a champ these days (good thing since mommy will need to head back to work mid-November).
16) Charlie has two totally fab dimples on his cheeks. He's going to woo the ladies with them someday I'm sure.

Charlie has been such a fun addition to our life and we love him times a million. Parenthood is tiring and sometimes overwhelming but it's amazing and we're trying to enjoy every moment. Here are some pics we're loving from the past week or two:

The Virgin Charlie

2010-09-28T22:09:00.000-07:00

We went to Utah a week ago and had a great time...photos to follow but I stumbled across this photo that my sister Jennifer took of Charlie when she volunteered to babysit him so Steve & I could run to Cafe Rio. She kept texting us pics and updates so we didn't worry. I find it 100% hilarious. I present to you...the Virgin Charlie.

Six weeks tomorrow (and he's still cute)

2010-09-09T15:45:00.001-07:00

Charlie will be six weeks old tomorrow! He's such a great baby and we feel lucky every day for our even-tempered-good-sleeping-hearty-eating little guy. We head to Utah tomorrow to visit the Heywood side of the family and I can hardly wait for everyone to meet him! He weighs about 9.5lbs at the moment...almost as much as my sister's babies at birth!

How big is Charlie?

2010-08-31T22:06:00.000-07:00

Betsy made this movie the other day. Check it out.

One Month

2010-08-30T22:20:00.000-07:00

Charlie is one month old today. The past month has been a complete blur. Time becomes this strange thing...the days can sometimes seem long but then POOF! A week has passed. And now an entire month! It's shocking.

Charlie has been the greatest baby! I almost hesitate to write this down for anyone to read out of pure fear I'm going to jinx our good luck. Pretty much from the moment we brought him home from the hospital, he's been sleeping through the night. Well, sleeping in 3-4 (and even the rare 5) hour blocks and just waking up for a meal. He seems to understand day vs. night and I couldn't be more thankful for that. I have a new found respect for parents that have babies that don't sleep well at night. I realize our situation could change up anytime Charlie feels like shaking things up a bit but for now, we're trying to enjoy our good fortune while it lasts. Charlie also eats really well and latched on right out of the gate after he was born. He weighed in at 6lbs. 6oz. at birth, was 6lbs. 1oz. when we left the hospital and as of last Thursday he was a whopping 8lbs. even! He's a really even-tempered little guy and only cries when he actually needs something. Sometimes he'll cry for a spell and we'll think "what the heck is wrong with this little guy???" and then he'll poop or burp or fall asleep.

He's awake and alert quite a bit during the day and I love hanging out with him on my lap after feedings and just staring at each other. He smiles a lot and I know everyone assumes it's gas pains but I'm pretty sure he's actually smiling sometimes. His gummy little smile is one of my favorite things ever. He likes to kick his legs and the past week he's started cooing and making sounds other than cries, toots and burps which we love. He hates being on his tummy and seems to protest by face planting on the blanket and refusing to lift his head up.

Steve and I are hanging in there and figuring this parenting thing out as we go. We get lots of support and help from our friends and families and that makes all the difference. Steve is so amazing...he's such a great dad! Charlie loves him so much. Our latest overnight plan of attack is I get up with Charlie to feed him and then I wake up Steve when I'm done so he can rock Charlie to sleep for a few minutes. Charlie falls asleep quickly when daddy is holding him. I'm so lucky to have a partner like Steve. I'm a total stress case a lot of the time but Steve keeps a cool head and helps me out when I'm at the end of my rope. Having a baby is hard but I can see how it can help you love your partner even more if you support one another through the tough moments.

Sorry this post is so all over the place...forgive me, I'm sleep deprived so I can't be held accountable. Here are some pictures we love from the past month.

Here's what happened...

2010-08-30T21:36:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to write down our experiences of the day Charlie was born and finally got around to it. Hopefully I didn't forget too much. Charlie Green Santos was born on July 30, 2010 at 3:24 pm at CPMC in San Francisco. He weighed in at 6 lbs. 6 oz. and measured 18.5 in long. Charlie was in the 10^th percentile of weight and height and this last little fact was how Charlie came to be born 5 days early. After almost a year and a half of trying to conceive we finally managed to make it happen and got the good news Thanksgiving weekend last year. Serious shock and disbelief…we were finally pregnant! At our 20 week ultrasound we found out our baby boy was healthy and happy and measured in the 50^th percentile and was growing normally. We were thrilled.

Because Betsy insisted on working until literally a day before she delivered, Betsy’s doctor struck a deal with her. Keep working but go to a weekly fetal monitoring session the last few weeks to ensure all was well. At our first appointment there was nothing abnormal however at our 38^th week appointment our technician noticed our amniotic fluid had dropped considerably and that our little guy now measured in the 15^th percentile. These numbers were still considered normal but our doctor was a little concerned. Of course there is some error in these measurements so we waited to see what would happen. By the third week the fluid was still trending downwards and after careful discussion we decided to get induced. A reduction in amniotic fluid can be an indicator that the placenta may be aging faster than the baby, which can be dangerous to the baby. This, combined with the reduction in growth percentile was a red flag to our doctor who plays things conservatively (we tended towards the conservative as well because it was so hard to get pregnant in the first place so we didn’t want to take any chances). We decided to get induced 5 days early and we found ourselves heading to the hospital on Thursday, July 29^th to start the induction process.

We called the hospital one hour prior to our scheduled time as instructed and they had a little rush and were not ready yet for us. We were, of course, all ready to go with packed hospital bags and a clean apartment ready for our return home. So we decided to take naps and when the hospital called 45 minutes later to say they were ready for us we drove across the Bay Bridge (at rush hour) and were at the hospital by 7pm. Betsy was checked in and had an IV started. We went upstairs to our birth room and the nurse and on-call doctor walked us through the game plan. Betsy was 1-2cm dilated and 25% effaced the doctor was going to place a dose of a drug on her cervix every 4 hours to help her cervix get ready to deliver. Then at 5am we were going to start the pitocin drip to trigger contractions. We were told there was a slightly higher chance of a cesarean birth when labor is induced but since Charlie was already so low inside Betsy, our on-call doctor predicted once things started going, they were going to go fast.

At that point I ran down the street to get dinner. We decided to carbo-load on some pasta. By the time I got back the drug was in and we had begun our labor process. We ate our dinner and then tried to get some shut-eye. Betsy was plugged into a machine that measured the baby’s heart rate and contractions and our baby’s heartbeat lulled us to an uneasy sleep.

Around 12:30 am several nurses came running in because our baby’s heart rate had plummeted from ~140bpm to ~70bpm which translates to our baby was in distress. They gave Betsy supplemental oxygen and had her change positions and eventually his heart rate came back to normal. It was a very tense 10 minutes but Charlie is a fighter and his heartbeat is strong. The nurses decided to skip our next drug application and just wait until 5am to start the pitocin. We had a restless few hours of sleep keeping our eyes and ears tuned to the fetal monitor.

Around 5am, the Dr. came in and examined Betsy and she was 50% effaced and 3cm dilated; some progress but not much. We started the pitocin. Charlie’s heartbeat was holding steady and strong and Betsy was feeling good so at 7am I ran to get a bagel. When I got back, nothing had changed but Betsy had noticed contractions were happening, irregular in duration and not painful, but happening. By 9am the contractions were coming with regularity and were intense and Betsy was in visible pain. I was talking her through them and telling her when they were subsiding (thanks to the monitor) but I felt helpless. I asked her if it was time for the epidural but she didn’t think she was ready and wanted to hold out. By 10:30am the contractions had become so intense she was in tears each time one hit. When the nurse came in Betsy explained that she could hold out and thought it was too early for the epidural but the nurse reassured Betsy it was in her plan and it was okay if she wanted one now. We decided to go for it. As the anesthesiologist was setting up and Betsy was in position, I noticed on the monitor that a contraction was about to start. I was nervous because the doctor had instructed Betsy to stay extremely still. She managed to fight through the intense pain one last time and the epidural was administered successfully. The effect was immediate. The pain was manageable, she could feel the contractions but they weren’t killer. It also relaxed Betsy and she was looking forward to getting a couple hours of sleep. But, after another examination at 12:15pm she was at 7-8cm dilated and 85% effaced! We were both in shock. All we’d heard was how slow and painful inductions were and here we were, 7 hours after the pitocin stared, at 8cm! No naps for us!

When our doctor came to check on us at 1:30pm, Betsy was 9.5cm and 95% effaced. She was there! It was go time. Our nurse Roxanne then got the room ready and told us what we needed to do when it came time to push and what was going to happen when the baby was born. We were excited and Betsy was in good spirits and I think ready to not be pregnant anymore. The epidural gave her the strength to continue. Around 2:30pm we practiced pushing with the nurse. We did 2 big pushes and she saw Charlie’s head and knew it was time to call in the doctor (whose office is across the street).

When our doctor came back, I was impressed how she just commanded the room. She told Betsy to stay calm and to relax and really put us at ease. As she was getting prepared, Roxanne and I were in position to help Betsy push. We did another 2 pushes and his head was practically out. I was a bit freaked out since his head looked so small (turns out it was only the top of his head) and was concerned that he was REALLY small. Then at the next push, his entire head was out and we were all a bit shocked that he was out already. This baby wanted to join the party! A few quick seconds later and he was out! It turned out that the umbilical cord was around his neck which was probably causing the heart rate dips. I knew we made a good decision to get induced and we were overjoyed to have our baby boy with us.

I can’t really express the feelings I had when our little Charlie came into the world. Both Betsy and I were crying and laughing and just so, so happy. Here we had this crying, bluish baby, who was finally in our lives. Everything changed in an instant. We had lived with Charlie for the past 9 months but he was just this thing in Betsy’s’ belly that provided entertainment in the form of kicking. I knew we were going to have a child and become parents but I really didn’t know what that meant. I am the first sibling in my family to have a child and have really limited baby exposure period. Being a parent was a strange, unfamiliar concept. It just didn’t seem real.

But now, here he was, kicking and screaming and breathing oxygen. I remember Betsy excitingly stating how cute he was when she first saw him. I just remember looking down at him through tearful eyes and knowing that my life was different and that I was a father now and I had to protect this little bundle of joy. And man, he is so cute. I couldn’t imagine loving anyone as much as I love Betsy but I was so excited to realize that I actually could. Life was not just about us anymore and we welcomed him into our lives. This little guy was going to make us better people.

As we got to know our little baby, we knew he was a Charlie. His name just fit. He was weighed, measured, poked and prodded. We confirmed that he was a bit on the small side relative to how he was measuring mid-pregnancy but he was perfectly healthy and we were so stoked. Our baby boy…rocking the 10^th percentile. My little family…rocking my world.

Skype

2010-08-15T23:01:00.000-07:00

I made this video in order to convince our family to
1) download skype
2) buy a web cam (if needed)
3) use this wacky thing called the Internet to chat with us from far away so they can see their new grandson, niece, nephew, cousin, etc.

And... it didn't work. Come on guys!

Sleepyhead

2010-08-15T22:49:00.000-07:00

I made this movie to show how long it takes Charlie to wake up so we can feed him. I think he takes after me. I never want to get up. Enjoy.

Little man

2010-08-10T19:17:00.001-07:00

Hello internet! And to think, I thought I'd have tons of time for projects, and emailing and internetting once I stopped working. Yeah right. Being a mom is much more time consuming than being a Director of HR. I should have listened to all of you who knew better. :)

Charlie has been with us now for 12 days and he's amazing. He's adorable and funny and he changes day by day. He's sleeping all night (except when we wake him up for feedings), he's eating like a champ, he's started to have fussy periods in the afternoon/evenings but for the most part he's happy and content and we love having him around.

We can tell Charlie is gaining weight already and soon, he won't be the tiny little 6lb. 5oz. boy that arrived to us. But for now I'll leave you all w/this picture. When we were registering for baby things and such, I never ever considered that we might have a little baby. I figured I'd follow in the footsteps of my sisters who have had babies topping out at 10lbs. (no joke). I figured 0-3 month sized clothing would be nearly unnecessary for us and newborn size? Puh-lease. Well, our little nugget is swimming in his 0-3 month clothing. We have a few small onesies that fit him pretty well but nothing with legs. We took him out on a walk in Rockridge today and wanted him to have pants on and pretty much gave up on trying to match him. Here's the pathetic outfit he wore out today in public. No worries...he was covered under a blanket the whole time. When this kid gets a little bigger, he's going to be an amazing dresser.

Baby Santos

2010-08-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

Welcome Charlie Green Santos!

Charlie was born Friday July 30th at 3:24pm and we're super excited he is a part of our family. He weighed in at 6lbs. 6oz. and is 18.5 inches long (very little by Heywood baby-size standards). Betsy was awesome and handled labor & delivery like a champ! I was so proud of her! We're home safe & sound and excited to try and figure this parenting thing out. I'm sure Betsy will have more to add soon but I wanted to get the good word out!

My wife is so pregnant.

2010-07-22T10:04:00.000-07:00

Last week we officially became "full term." That means we are on orange alert, waiting for the baby to drop so to speak. No wait, he's already dropped. You know what I mean. Betsy has handled this pregnancy like a champ and I'm so proud of her! At the end of the days she is pretty tired at this point (I can't get her to stop working full-time!). We are trying to take it easy and I am trying to make her relax and not exert herself with offerings of fudgcicles and foot rubs (this works remarkably well).

Here is a profile shot of the the belly this morning at 38 weeks + 1 day.

Here is Betsy displaying her mothering instincts and rocking our baby. A little early but whatever we can do to prep, we're doing it.

We even washed our ever-expanding collection of baby clothes this week, and thanks to our friends and family, we are going to have one stylish little Santos! Sidenote: how in the h*** do you fold baby clothes? Turns out we have no idea. Also, one full load of baby clothes takes apx. 2 days to fold because it contains apx. one million items. Annoying.

Betsy is so cute. I love her round belly.

As August 4th approaches, we are suddenly realizing that we need to be ready at a moments notice. Car seat installed, check. Hospital bag packed, nope. I should pack our hospital bag sometime before its too late!
I can't wait.

PARK CITY!

2010-07-03T21:54:00.000-07:00

Oh man, what a summer. A couple weeks ago we went to Park City for Betsy's family reunion. It was so much fun. I thought I'd take a moment to recap our adventures for you. Our adventure didn't start out so well. The airline totally lost our luggage and we only had one outfit for the entire week. That was a bummer but we made due.

As you can see the mountain is huge and there are tons of mountain bike and hiking trails. Nothing beats the Alpine Slide though.

Since Salt Lake hosted the winter Olympics in 2002, they have this awesome museum where you can pretend you're a member of the Olympic bobsled team. My mother-in-law Sue is amazingly tough! Here she is pushing the sled, John, Betsy and me all by herself!
They also have this area where you can learn how to ski jump. You bomb down the hill, jump, do aerials, and land in the pool. I was game to try it but I chickened out. We actually got asked to leave by security shortly after this photo was taken after Betsy threw a fit because they didn't allow her to jump due to her being 9 months pregnant. Or maybe the fit was because they didn't let her use the employee bathroom.
Part of the fun of vacation is posing with the kids.
I think my favorite time has always been pool time. I remember when Emma, Sophie & Al were scared of the water and would never leave the safety of their floaty things but now they are fearless! Even swimming in our clothes we still managed to have a good time.
Can someone say pool conga line!?
Let's be honest, the main thing we like to do when we go to Park City is eat. Often we plan our next meal while consuming the current one. How does one fit in all the eating? We try and figure it out every year. Here we are waiting for a table with the John, Kim, Jarod, and Kevin.
Still waiting with Ryan and Emma.
The bro-in-laws.
The Heywood sisters.
Often the best times are when we are hanging out back at the condos, chilling and snacking.
Its super fun to line up all the grand kids. Baby Santos, Kevin, Jarod, Jake, Emma, Sophie & Allie.
After Park City was over, we headed down to Provo to eat at the Pizzeria and hang at the McRae House. For some reason, Sophie buried us in her mound of stuffed animals. I spy a Nursing Nana!
After dinner we all headed back to Sue and Ern's house to relax before our flight back to SF.
I cant wait till next year! Thanks so much Sue & Ern!

East Bay Redwood Adventure

2010-06-24T09:30:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I woke Betsy up really early to go for a hike. Since we don't have a Golden Gate Park next to us we had to go to Redwood Regional Park instead. We decided to do a quick 4 miler. Our hike was a combination of about 4 different trails to form a loop. Our loop brought us close to the majestic beauty of the Sequoia sempervirens, more commonly known as coast redwood.
Betsy was once again delighted to showcase her belly in nature (not like she has much choice...look at the size of that thing!).
I was equally excited and hugged a tree. That's just what Humboldt State graduates do.

Once again Betsy displayed her patented tightrope technique for hiking down the steep sections. She did very well and didn't slip or fall. The tightrope technique never fails. Well, it actually almost failed once so we bought her some hiking shoes the next day at Sports Basement to prevent future near falls in her running shoes.
I really enjoy the fern understory which is characteristic in this type of ecosystem.
Betsy is a good sport and puts up with my science lectures but I think she'd have to admit that even she was starting to feel the strong bond with nature that one often feels while immersed in a redwood grove. She told me she really felt a connection with the baby and felt One with Mother Earth (OK, I'm making this part up...a guy can dream). We did also notice some fauna, a banana slug. This is about the time Betsy lost said connection with Mother Earth.
After a while we left the forest and moved into an Oak/Chaparral mixed ecosystem. There is a thicker understory of shrubs and small trees. I was excited. I mean, wow.
I decided to try out Betsy's tightrope technique for myself on an uphill section. I did feel a bit more secure. Good technique, Betsy.
When we reached the top of the hill, Betsy was pooped and we decided to rest on one of the many benches on the trail. Apparently her belly was sore but I think we really stopped so she could try and regain her connection with mother nature.
Betsy looks so cute pregnant. I love her belly. Of course this photo would have been better if I had remembered to bring my camera. The iPhone camera isn't a bad sub.
I'm excited Betsy and I found this hike. We love to get up early on Saturday and go for a stroll. Usually when we are done we get breakfast at a cute cafe and relax. We decided to get morning buns at La Farine on College. So good. The sun even came out.

I can't wait to go back and try another loop.

The bump: 33 weeks.

2010-06-15T18:45:00.001-07:00

Here I am this morning in all my tubby glory. The boy is growing at an alarming rate. If babycenter.com is trying to freak me out, they're doing a fantastic job. My 33 week update from them compared his size to a 4lb. PINEAPPLE this week. Seriously babycenter.com? Seems like just yesterday he was a little lentil.

This guy...

2010-06-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to my favorite guy in the world! Esteban Paulo!
I love you babe!!! Happy birthday!!!

510!

2010-06-01T09:11:00.001-07:00

We made our big move across the Bay Bridge to Emeryville this past Memorial Day weekend. This was the aftermath of our move...total chaos. But exciting chaos. The unpacking part is fun. Initially. Then after three days of it, it get tedious. We're both back at work today...a five minute commute for me (two of my 5 days/week) and Steve can now scooter to work in 10 minutes! The apartment is coming together nicely...it never ceases to amaze me how much $$ you spend moving. The most awesome/dangerous part of this particular move is the fact that we now live a 5 - 10 minute drive from IKEA, CB2, Target & the Crate & Barrel Outlet. Oh man...that Crate & Barrel Outlet is going to be the death of me. Well, my pocketbook at least.

The Bump: 27.5 weeks and counting

2010-05-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

Here's mini-Santos at 27.5 weeks along. The bump is finally getting a little bit bigger which is fun. I swear, this is the first time in my life I've had people comment on how "small" I am. At 5'10" and not-scrawny, I've never been referred to as small so it's been a little bit hilarious. I'm fully aware though that they're talking specifically about my baby bump. These pics were taken a week ago yesterday.

I call this one "The Soccer Ball."

The latest happenings in Utah

2010-05-13T22:07:00.000-07:00

Steve and I went to Utah a couple of weeks ago and got to spend some quality time with the Heywood/McRae/Taggart clans. For whatever reason, every time we go to Utah lately, even if it's May, it's snowing. It's freezing. I don't know why the bad weather has been following us there but it does! It's okay though b/c the list of activities planned for the weekend was lovely.

Event #1: Communal. Communal has been open now for a while and Steve and I still haven't been! So we finally made our way to my brother-in-law Joseph's amazingly awesome latest endeavor. It was so delicious. We're so proud of Joseph & Colton!!!

After dinner we even got a tour of their pantry area downstairs. These guys blow my mind with their coolness.

Event #2: The Man Date. My sisters threw me a little family baby shower on Friday evening so the guys decided to have a man date which included Clash of the Titans and Cafe Rio. Notice my dad and his special movie drink cup. You pay $11 for that thing then you can use it forever at the Cineplex and fill it up for $1. Score one for Utah.
Event #3 (AKA the least photographed event of the weekend): My baby shower! Seriously, there are no pictures because I'm usually the one that takes the pics and I was busy being the center of attention. It was such a great, casual fun evening. Thanks everyone who came to celebrate! You can see some pics on my sister's blogs here and here. My mom and my sisters are the best ever.

I literally have no pics of during the shower but I have some afterwards being cute and silly.
Emma & Allie
Steve displaying his favorite gift from my mom!
Suzy recuperating (see why an evening of partying with the ladies has her so tired here).
Amanda showed up right as the party was winding down (and luckily our resident photographer was back from Clash of the Titans).
Event #4: Sophie's Baptism! I can't believe Sophie is 8!!!
Parent practice.

Brothers-in-laws.
Event #5: Chuck-O-Rama!!!! Somehow, Chuck-O-Rama has become the venue of choice for post-baptism lunch. We always let the guest of honor choose and sure enough, Sophie followed in the footsteps of her big brother and her big sister and we all geared up for a smorgasbord of hearty goodness. This picture perfectly captures the essence that is Chuck-O-Rama. Ryan's plate includes the following: Fried chicken, spaghetti, garlic bread, mac 'n cheese, and mashed potatoes.
Not to be outdone by Ryan...Steve followed up his multiple lunch plates with this lovely sundae.

My husband is so cute. I love this picture.

Thanks family for another fun-filled Utah weekend! We love you!!!

Marketing!

2010-04-28T23:24:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago our friend Michelle graced us with her presence here in the city. We decided to meet her at the Ferry Building for the world famous breakfast sammies and some fresh fruit. Little did we know we were going to be caught up in a marketing blitz.

Our day started off innocently enough when we ran into Michelle and Shasta several stops early which is always a delight; running into someone on the Muni metro. Michelle caused quite a commotion at this chance meeting! She calmed down enough for me to document our ride.
So if you know Betsy, she is always talking up the breakfast sammies at the Ferry Building. They are super yummy unless you're a lactose intolerant vegetarian... The sammies never disappoint.
Afterwords, we went out to Justin Hermon Plaza and were excited to see that British Colombia had invaded. They wanted you to come to their fair country and apparently they travel by zip line or something. They did have this cool chalk photo.
Unfortunately the effect doesn't work when tourists walk through the cliff. But clever marketing campaign British Columbia!
And what trip downtown isn't complete without a stop at the Gap Maternity? We were again pleasantly surprised to find a free photo booth at the entrance. What a great marketing ploy.
As you can see the first photo took me by surprise but I quickly got the hang of it.
Well maybe not right away but some of them turned out OK.
We took three turns in the booth and got our photos in seconds. It was a fun time for sure.
Michelle and Shasta took off and we headed home on the train to relax and admire our photos. Luckily there was no major marketing campaign on our way home. SF is great because you never know what you're going to find when you head out and about. I love that about our city. Most of the time what you find kind of smells bad but sometimes its fun.

Also, please come back and visit Michelle. Its always fun to have you here.

Tenderfoot

2010-04-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago I woke Betsy up early on Saturday and we took off to Marin. We did hike #2 on the list of the top 7 hikes in Marin County. I don't know why they don't round up to 10 top hikes in Marin County but that's how Marin County rolls I guess. It was a beautiful morning; the rain had stopped and the sun came out. As you can see, I was super excited to be in nature.
On the other hand, Betsy still wanted to be in bed but was willing to show off her belly to nature.
Here she is more excited. Maybe it was the view?
The trail was a little slick and I noticed that Betsy was walking with her hands pointed out for balance.
The hike was very pretty. Lots of pretty wildflowers and awesome views.

When we came to a bridge crossing, Betsy was a bit concerned that she would slip on the bridge, fall in the creek, be swept downstream, then eaten by a bear. I just told her to stick out her hands for balance like she was doing before.
She continued this technique in the tough sections for the remainder of the hike. I tried to convince her that she was going to be fine but she gave some excuse like her shoes didn't have tread or something.
Maybe I should get her a hiking balance bar like the one the Man On Wire guy uses.
Betsy was a good sport and made it to the top without incident.
The hike was in a botanical hot spot due to all the serpentine everywhere. Here is some Lasthenia californicia or some other species.
Also there was Layia sp. growing next to it. We often see these plants in vernal pools. These plant species are easy to key but I didn't want to collect anything since because of the sensitive area. There were other plant nerds around so I didn't want to get reprimanded from the plant police.
When we reached the top of Ring Mountain we were surprised to find tons of wildflowers. It was awesome. Apparently they leveled the top of the mountain to put anti-aircraft guns here during the war. The mountain has rebounded.
I was so happy. But as you can see the weather was turning bad so we took off.
First we had to take another belly shot. Our kid is totally going to love nature.
Afterwords we drove to Larkspur for brunch. We found a cute cafe off the main drag and it was pretty tasty. I got the eggs Benedict. Yelpers were right, it was delicious.
Betsy got the two egg special. She really loves bacon.
Downtown Larkspur is rustic. It would be fun to live here some day.
I am so glad that Betsy didn't fall down in the mud. Maybe her technique will catch on. All I know is I want to go hiking in Marin County again soon. Come on weekend!

Work life

2010-04-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

Like I mentioned, Steve's been out doing field work a lot lately. While my office is pleasant, I think my view...

...pales in comparison to Steve's view today (he sends me picture texts from the field).

Also, his vehicle of choice today...

...puts mine to shame.

Leftovers anyone?

2010-04-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

Steve has been traveling a lot for his new(ish) job which leaves me home alone a lot during the week. Last night I decided to make fried rice. The problem with me and making fried rice is by the time I'm done, no matter what, I have a GIANT pan full of it. So last night I set out to make a batch for one with a bit of leftovers for lunch today. Once I added the onions, garlic, broccoli, zucchini, edamame, shrimp, brown rice and eggs I had once again made enough fried rice to feed a family of ten. I know it's hard to tell in this picture but that wooden utensil is giant...and this is my biggest fry pan full of fried rice AFTER I've eaten my dinner serving. I'm going to be so over fried rice by Friday it's not even funny.

Betsy's Fried Rice
In a couple tablespoons of canola oil saute...
1 small to medium onion
4-5 cloves chopped garlic
1-2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
Add veggies of choice chopped small so they cook and continue to cook until not quite fully cooked.
Add apx 2 cups cooked/cooled short grain brown rice (day old seems to work even better straight from the fridge) and mix all together.
Make a well in the middle of everything and pour in 2-3 beaten eggs and let them set a bit then start scraping them up so you get a scrambled egg thing happening in the middle of your pan (the other ingredients will start to tumble into your eggs which is fine...eventually start mixing it all together.
This is where I typically add either frozen Trader Joe's shrimp to heat through, leftover chopped chicken breast, chopped baked tofu. Whatever I feel like. This recipe is the ultimate "clean out your fridge" recipe.
Then depending on taste and the amount you've made, I'll pour a couple tablespoons of soy sauce around the pan and mix some more. I'm always careful here b/c if you add too much, you can't take it back.
The end! Let me know if you end up with an enormous pan as well! :)

Bumps

2010-03-27T22:53:00.000-07:00

So we haven't really documented the baby bump that much. Sometimes it still barely seems like it's actually happening. But the other day I looked down and was startled by what appeared to be a soccer ball sized bump looking back at me. Totally wacky. We had a little photo session today to document the baby boy at 21.5 weeks along. More than half way done! I told Steve I refused to participate in any photo session unless he also participated so here you go!

And one traditional pose for posterity...

Now it begins...

2010-03-09T21:06:00.000-08:00

So you may have heard on the Internet that we are expecting a boy this summer. We are super excited and at the same time super terrified. My biggest fear: dropping the baby. I am petrified this will happen. (Don't tell Betsy) I'm not sure what Betsy's biggest fear is but when she is stressed she likes to shop. She must have been stressed lately because these things arrived in the mail today. Now she brings home baby stuff instead of shoes. I guess its better because it's cheaper.

Item #1: Guitar onesie.
Item #2: The flannel button up. I am so excited about this one. I am sure they have an adult version so we can be twins.
Item #3: The sweater vest. A classic piece.
Item #4: The poncho. I guess this is for when we go hit up that drum circle 420 sesh or something?

In any event, Betsy can't wait for the baby to come out so she can dress him! Here she is practicing on her belly.
It has begun. Please Internet don't encourage her.

Pickles Please

2010-03-05T16:00:00.000-08:00

Linds already blogged about this but we decided to try and replicate, not the delicious pastries or sandwiches from Tartine bakery, but what lots of people probably toss aside without a second thought; the spicy pickled veggies that come WITH the sandwiches. You may wonder why we'd try and do this. Linds and I have always been kindred spirits when it comes to our love of all things pickled or sour. The more pickles, capers, lemon or lime a dish has, the better. If you're wondering who buys the huge 25oz. jars of capers at Costco? This girl. Steve & Pat weren't quite as excited for the project.

We picked all the cutest carrots & radishes from the garden...
and scrubbed them clean.
It was so inspiring to pick fresh veggies!!! I know I know...home grown is so popular these days but the most Steve and I have grown here in SF is a few herbs on the roof or fire escape. Actual carrots? Unbelievable (having an actual garden may get me back to the burbs sooner than later)!
Here's the jars before we added our pickling liquid, some chili flake, hot peppers, bay leaf and peppercorns.
Look how lovely! Only thing is we had no idea how they'd taste. We could only wait a few days and keep our fingers crossed.
A day before I sampled them myself, I read an update on Lindsay's blog that we were indeed successful! Next time we'll use more red pepper for even more spice & heat but it was a valiant effort for a first try. I tasted them last night and they were delicious! But I thought it might be more enjoyable for you to witness Steve, the non-pickle lover's, reaction.

First, a carrot. So nervous.

I think this picture is my favorite.

So he didn't really appreciate the carrot. He was a good sport and I managed to convince him to try a more traditional cucumber. VERY nervous. Actually, he looks more sad in this picture. Defeated.

Look how hard he's trying to like it!
In the end he said the cucumber was good but the carrots, cauliflower and radishes were more than he could take.
Thanks again Linds!

A weekend of family & friends

2010-03-02T12:30:00.000-08:00

A few weekends ago friends & family gathered from near & far to help Lindsay & Patrick celebrate the life of their little Cooper that passed away unexpectedly on January 29th. Cooper's memorial service was inspirational to all of those in attendance. Our belief in the eternal nature of families was a common thread in the tributes. I also appreciated the challenge to take Cooper's untimely death and use it as a way to inspire ourselves to make a change in our lives for the better. So that 5, 10 years down the road I can look back and say "when Cooper died I finally (fill in the blank)." Here is Linds and Pat looking lovely as always.

Rebecca & Suzy

Three bearded gents.

The evolution of the beard by Shawn, Steve & Derek.
Karen & Robyn
It's so bittersweet how losing loved ones brings together family & friends. After the services were complete on Saturday a handful of us went out for a late lunch and to catch up. Steve decided he wanted to take happy pictures with all of his friends.

With famous Dave up for the day from LA.
With beautiful former roommate Rebecca.
With Steve & Melissa who hail from the great state of Sacramento. Man do they love Sacramento.
We were lucky enough to have Suzy with us for the weekend...we don't get tons of visitors these days.
Before the super bowl started Suzy wanted to do some touristy things so we went out to Chrissy Field to enjoy the sunny & windy weather.
Suzy freaked when this sea lion was hanging out by the pier.
Then it was back home to make our super bowl treats. Most were fairly trashy: Behold Suzy's famous bacon brown sugar weenies! (Other trashy treats included onion dip with ruffles potato chips and spinach dip with sourdough bread.)
We also had one totally non-trashy, quite posh treat...CRAB! Man...crab season...I love you. (Please note as soon as we returned home from touristing, we put on our PJ's at apx. 2pm. We couldn't risk a pesky waist band getting in the way of maximum treat consumption.)

On the posh menu, 3 whole cleaned and cracked steamed crabs...served with lemon wedges, clarified butter and cocktail sauce (thanks mom for sending Suzy to town with a $50 dollar bill to be used towards a meal for the three of us...I think we did you proud). I started sitting on the floor but soon realized I needed to be up higher for this high maintenance process.
Steve & his penguin PJ pants...check! Suzy in her plaid flannel PJ pants...check! Bibs in ready position.

When you have something kinda fancy like crab...doesn't it always seem like there's not quite enough? Well, turns out we totally had enough. So much that I even had to throw in the bib/towel before all the crab was gone. Steve & Suzy however hung in there until the bitter end.
Here Steve is trying to intimidate Suzy by using neither a seafood fork, cracker or hands!

Thanks for coming to visit Flooz! Next time bring Ry Ry!

'Tis the season

2010-02-24T11:01:00.000-08:00

Two of my favorite treats have made their debut these past couple of weeks and I'm going to try and use as much self control as possible when it comes to purchasing these:

And these:

Without me???

2010-02-20T10:34:00.000-08:00

All this week I was traveling for work. I was sad to leave Betsy alone for 3 days but I bought a web cam so we can video skype each other at night. But little did I know that when I am gone Betsy bakes amazing goodness.
Look how excited she is to bake! She made monkey bread!
Look how Cinnamony and gooey it looks. I guess your supposed to grab a chunk and eat it. Which is what she did on Skype. So mean.
Apparently she makes this goodness for our neighbors and not for me. I don't know what that's all about.
But its my fault for working a job where I miss Lost night every Tuesday at Lincoln Way.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T10:05:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! Thank you Sweet Pea for being in my life. I love you.
I love you even when you get in my nature shots.
I love you so much that I get you roses even when I believe they are not natural, but its worth it to see your smile!
I love you even more now that we have a bun in the oven!

Hope you have a great v-day!

Banana muffins

2010-02-09T08:35:00.000-08:00

I don't have a favorite banana bread recipe. I love banana bread but everytime I make it I feel like I search online until I find a recipe that strikes my fancy and I'm never blown away with the results. Last night I had four of the blackest bananas ever ready to be turned into something delicious. I stumbled upon this website. I'm excited to check out more of her recipes because this banana muffin recipe was perfection. Super easy. Super moist. Super yum. I replaced 1/2 the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour and I added chopped walnuts and they worked out great.

(worst iPhone pic ever)

Banana Muffins (makes 12 muffins)
3 or 4 Large bananas, mashed (the blacker the better & I used 4 for extra moisture)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 slightly beaten egg
1/3 cup melted margarine or butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flour

Mix the mashed banana, sugar, egg and margarine together. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour. Mix wet and dry ingredients all together! Pour into greased muffin tins, and bake in 350 degrees F oven for approximately 20 minutes.

The batter seemed really thick as I was spooning it into the muffin tins but the texture of these came out perfectly. I also filled them right up to the top and they didn't puff up all the much so this batter made 12 exactly for me. I made up a little crumb topping for mine as well but in the end it wasn't necessary and I don't think I'll do that next time. Enjoy!

Cooper Young

2010-02-05T10:16:00.000-08:00

My best friend Lindsay and her husband Patrick unexpectedly lost their beautiful little boy Cooper last Friday morning. It's been a difficult week but the rallying support of friends and family help everyone through tough times like these. Steve and I will miss little Cooper greatly and our hearts are full of love for Lindsay and Patrick at this tough time.

I love this picture of Cooper eating cheese that Lindsay recently posted on her blog. It makes me laugh every time I see it.

And when we got to spend some time with Linds, Pat & Cooper over Christmas at my parents house in Utah, Cooper discovered his favorite place was my parent's plush new dog bed.

Lindsay & Patrick have set up the Cooper Young Memorial Children's Book Fund in honor of Cooper. Anyone who is interested in contributing to the fund can do so via one of two ways: 1) Mail check to Cooper Young Memorial Children's Book Fund, PO Box 60211, Sunnyvale, CA 94088-0211 2) PayPal transfer to "patrickdyoung@gmail.com". Lindsay & Patrick plan to either make a one-time donation to a local school or library in Cooper's name, or to work on funding an organization that would provide books to children on an on-going basis - similar to the Imagination Library Program.

Below you will find Cooper's obituary and information on memorial services.

Cooper Patrick Young has returned home to our Heavenly Father. He passed away January 29, 2010 from what appears to be a form of meningitis. Cooper was born on June 13, 2008 to Patrick and Lindsay Johnston Young and lived a short, yet vibrant life which touched people from literally around the world. Cooper loved to talk in long, unrecognizable sentences, play in or around anything resembling a fountain, laugh with his friends and family, and play any game that involved a ball. Cooper loved the beauty of nature and especially any kind of furry or fuzzy animal he encountered. His quick moving illness shocked us and has filled us with sorrow, but we have hope in the eternal nature of our souls and in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Cooper's absence will bring us sadness and grief, but our memories of him fill us with joy.

His parents would like to thank the dedicated doctors and nurses at El Camino and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital for their brief, but loving care of our sweet baby boy. Their efforts inspire us and bring us hope.

Friends are invited to visit with us to remember Cooper at an open house from 6-8 PM on Friday, February 5th, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 771 West Fremont Ave, Sunnyvale, CA. Friends may also visit with us at the same location on Saturday, February 6th at 11 AM, with a Memorial Service to follow at 12 noon. We invite you to wear colorful clothing. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to the Cooper Young Memorial Children's Book Fund (PO Box 60211, Sunnyvale, CA 94088-0211) as we try to honor his legacy by blessing the lives of children in our community.

Science

2010-02-02T20:25:00.000-08:00

Steve just started working for a little environmental consulting firm in Berkeley this past week and he's so in his element it's not even funny. He's been spending long days out at different sites in the bay area doing things like capturing frogs, sorry honey, toads. They are toads. He's also doing overnight trips at sites which leaves me all by my lonesome. I miss him desperately. But I also sort of enjoy being able to watch Grey's Anatomy and eat fish sticks and tater tots without judgment.

My scientist.

Capturing toads. Sick.

Meat and Potatoes again?

2010-01-27T20:00:00.001-08:00

Luckily for us the meat is Sockeye Salmon served with Broccoli and mashers! So good! Betsy makes a cucumber dill sauce that really ties things together.

Long weekend

2010-01-22T09:15:00.000-08:00

While sifting through our pictures from our recent 3-day weekend I realized a couple of themes. Theme One: Babies. Here's the first baby. Here's Jude visiting from Oregon for a couple hours on Friday night. Oh, Andy & Emily were also there but Jude tends to steal our attention because he lets us play with him while Andy & Emily prefer simply sitting around and talking.

And baby number two: Finn! Well, this pic is mostly Jeremy but Finn's little head is in there too. Which leads us to theme two of the weekend: Food. Lots and lots of food. We decided to try out Boogaloo's over in the Mission. Huge crowd, long wait, delicious (but HEAVY) brunch menu.
Since, when you have a baby in tow, sleeping time is limited, Liz & I checked out the menu while we were waiting outside.
This is when we decided that no matter what else happened, we would be sharing an order of biscuits and gravy.
Jeremy has his system down. He keeps Finn happily sleeping in the Baby Bjorn, puts a napkin on top of Finn's head and enjoys his brunch.

I order the egg, bacon & cheddar sammy on sourdough. I make a similar item for Steve and I at home sans 1 cube butter on the bread.
The vegetarian biscuits and gravy. Man. Those were good for approximately 3 bites. Then they were too much for my tummy to take.
Both Steve & Liz ordered eggs benedict. Very tasty. And those potatoes were delicious too. They had a hint of curry. I know...it worked though.
Content.

Finn awakes from his slumber!!!
Boogaloo's brunch did us in for eating the rest of the day so we move forward to breakfast on Sunday. Bagels, cream cheese, grapefruit & hot chocolate. Maybe I love capers. Maybe I love them almost an embarrassingly large amount. I'm coming clean right here and right now. I love all things pickled. Steve got angry that I placed two rogue capers on his precious bagel.

Sunday afternoon I decided to braise some pork tenderloin until it was nice and delicious and shreddy for tacos that night w/the McMillan's. Tacos and Golden Globes were perfect.
You can't see the delicious pork in this picture b/c it's covered in the homemade salsa I made. I'm not sure why I couldn't stop cooking this weekend.
Finn's reaction to Ricky Gervais hosting the Globes.
And the last meal we documented this pas weekend was breakfast on Monday morning. Poached eggs (like my mom taught me) on sourdough english muffins from Arizmendi. There is nothing better than a perfectly poached egg.
Unfortunately I cooked these 30 seconds too long to be considered perfect. The yolks should be a bit runnier. But still a good effort that my mom would be proud of.
An important discovery: Do not mix grapefruit and cantaloupe in the same bowl. It was not harmonious.

Our Kane's

2010-01-07T21:53:00.000-08:00

The Kane's came to town a long time ago for a visit and we got to spend an afternoon with them while they were here. If you recall, the Kane's are our favorite neighbors ever...and part of it is because with the Kane's comes Sadie. The girl we wish belonged to us. And also Jude! We hadn't seen little Sadie since they moved and she seemed a bit hesitant when I was holding her.
But not when Steve was holding her! These two are like two peas in a pod and it's very annoying.
Once I realized I'd obviously lost Sadie to Steve, I decided to make a play for little Jude.
I didn't have a lot of time to make an impression so I had to wake him up. I'm pretty sure he likes me better than he likes Steve.
And while I was hanging out with Jude, Sadie was giving everyone in the room a powerful lesson based on the Book of Mormon.
And later on at Crissy Field, Sadie still liked Steve better than she liked me.

St. Francis Fountain

2010-01-05T21:25:00.001-08:00

Our good friends the McMillan's have been talking about St. Francis Fountain for ages and for whatever reason it took Steve & me ages to get there. Well last night as a reward for dragging myself back to work after a nice long vacation we rewarded ourselves with cheeseburgers, fries and a chocolate shake at St. Francis Fountain. So fantastic! Honestly the burger tasted down-home delicious...like something you'd cook up yourself at a family BBQ. And the shake? Forget it. Even me, the non-ice cream lover loved it.

I decided on the bacon cheddar burger (don't judge me...it was a tough day at work).

Steve had apx. 95% of our shake which I was okay with.

Steve had the mushroom swiss burger. Man...I could go for a burger right now.

Pizza!

2009-12-18T19:15:00.000-08:00

Last night Betsy's good friend Gail (who has been doing some recruiting for Betsy at work these past few months) took us to Zuni Cafe for a fun holiday dinner. Of course we had to get the Chicken for 2. Betsy and Gail split that while I had a pork chop. Everything was so delish but Betsy and Gail must have filled up on bread because we brought some delicious chicken leftovers home with us. What better way to use up the chicken than put it on a Pizza!
The result was amazing. Pesto, chicken, broccoli, and tomatoes.

Oh Christmas Tree

2009-12-10T09:06:00.000-08:00

Here's our little Charlie Brown tree.

I think it's perfect.

Chow

2009-12-08T09:51:00.000-08:00

Sometimes on Saturday mornings we go for a brisk walk through GG Park and then reward ourselves with breakfast at Chow. Turns out since we get up at around 6am everyday that happens on the weekends too even if we try our hardest to stay asleep forever. Steve's favorite thing in the world is breakfast out. Obviously.

I enjoy hot chocolate topped with whipped cream.

Steve and I have a good marriage mostly because of our "breakfast out ordering strategy." He always likes to order a sweet thing, and I like to order an egg thing. So when we get tired of what we're eating, we can switch. And then we're so happy.

All cookie scoops are not created equal

2009-11-18T09:43:00.000-08:00

I've gone through a few cookie scoops over the past couple of years. What? I like baking cookies. And I like gadgets. Hence, my obsession with cookie scoops. Since the holidays are upon us, I thought it an appropriate time to share my vast knowledge of cookie scoops with you.

First try: Crate & Barrel's version. While stainless steel and fancy, the little sweeper mechanism eventually got pulled out by some refrigerated dough. I "fixed" it but it was never quite the same. I think it cost me $12.95.

Second try: A plastic little ditty from the cake decorating section of Michael's craft. I know. What was I thinking? Of course this $3.95 white plastic atrocity was going to break on the first try. It didn't break on the first try b/c the dough was soft but the second time I used it was with dough that I'd chilled overnight and it busted on the first scoop.

Third try: Winner! Steve bought me this super industrial OXO scooper with rubber grip and let me tell you. It's hardcore. It'll scoop and release your most chilled chunky oatmeal, walnut, chocolate chip cookie dough without an issue. It blows my mind every time I use it. I'm serious. And it's $11.99 at Bed, Bath & Beyond.

Steve, celebrity look-a-like

2009-11-14T22:15:00.001-08:00

Steve gets called out for looking like a few different celebrities these days. It started a few years back with a couple of my best friends, Naomi & Michelle, deciding Steve looked exactly like Jack Black after they met him for the first time.
Then last season a new cast member showed up on Saturday Night Live named Bobby Moynihan. That's when our friend Corinne decided Steve sorta looked like him.
The most recent declaration of celebrity look-a-like-ness was last weekend when I posted this sexy picture of Steve drinking a milkshake at In-N-Out on Facebook.
My younger sister Suzy said Steve looks like Jeffery Dean Morgan. Yeah, I didn't know who that was either but here he is.
Then I realized that he's the actor that played Denny Duquette on Grey's Anatomy. AKA the most annoying character ever on a television show in the history of television ever of all time. Maybe this picture will remind you.
Don't worry honey...you're 10 times hotter than all of them.

American Idiot

2009-11-08T21:30:00.000-08:00

Saturday night we went and saw American Idiot, the Green Day musical over at the Berkeley Repertory Theater. It was fantastic...it helps that I love Green Day. I'm not ashamed of my love either. The first time I saw them live was when they were first up at Lollapalooza in '94 and I hated them (I didn't really care though...I was there to see the Beastie Boys). Fast forward about 5 years and I saw them at the Civic Auditorium and it was one of the best shows I've ever been to. So entertaining and they were having such a great time performing. It was a stark contrast to the cry cry indie rock bands I usually spent my time seeing.

Brian & Preston are so smart for planning such a fun night!

a happy birthday for me

2009-11-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

Steve did such a good job with the difficult task of making my Halloween birthday feel extra special!

1) Steve had class from 9am -1pm so he made me breakfast bright and early before he left. He made pumpkin pancakes w/maple syrup, hot chocolate and fresh pineapple & mango.

2) When Steve got back from class he had me meet him outside on the sidewalk and he picked me up. Then he gave me some ridiculous story about how we had to stop by the Beckstead's to borrow their digital SLR. When I knocked on the door there were a bunch of friends waiting for me to have a quick surprise birthday lunch, cake and presents!

I was so fracking excited to get that fat black cat kitchen timer from Sur La Table.

3) For dinner we had a reservation at Chez Panisse Cafe and I'm happy to say it was just as good as we'd hoped and expected. It was the best meal I've had in recent memory. We could only get a 5:30 reservation which turned out to be perfect because the sun was setting as we enjoyed our delicious meal. If you've been you know the Cafe is upstairs and almost feels like a fancy treehouse and with the sunset it was just perfect. My brother-in-law has an Alice Waters quote up on a chalkboard in his first restaurant and it perfectly embodies our meal at Chez Panisse: "When you have the best & tastiest ingredients, you can cook very simply & the food will be extraordinary because it tastes like what it is."

4) As if the day hadn't been perfect already, we got home just in time to see our good friends and downstairs neighbors Brigham (on the left) and Dan (on the right) heading out with their friend for a Halloween party.

5) How rad is Facebook that you get a million happy birthdays from everyone you know. Love it.

Steve, family, friends...you are the absolute best. Woot woot! 35! xoxo

Happy Birthday Betsy!!!

2009-10-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

Today is Betsy's birthday. She started her life in Sunnyvale but now resides in San Francisco. Here are some random observations and/or facts about her in no particular order.

Betsy once went to preschool. Here she is on the right.

When I met Betsy she had brown hair. She is a natural blond but likes to mix it up every now and again.
Betsy likes to climb hills here in SF and ponder life.
Betsy suns in the shade due to her whiteness
Betsy loves to pose in restaurants. She often makes everyone take a photo of themselves at said restaurants.
Betsy loves lakes.
Betsy's biggest fear is running into a panther in the woods.
Stretching is Betsy's number one rule.
Betsy has a nice power walk.
Betsy is always safety first.
Betsy is the best driver in the world. She likes to snarl at traffic.
Betsy's parents are Ernie and Sue. They love to road trip and visit us.
Betsy always makes goofy faces.
Betsy often likes to take photos of herself when she is driving. Luckily this is not against the law yet in California.
Betsy's family is large. She is number 8 of 9 siblings. Also nieces and nephews.
Betsy always has the best travel accessories.
Betsy is concerned about the issues.
Betsy's birthday is on Halloween which means she often gets carved pumpkins and snack sized candy for presents.
Betsy loves to hang out with famous people.

Betsy likes to experiment with food.Betsy likes to camp as long as there is a shower nearby.
Betsy looks so nice in the woods!
Betsy pretends to like flowers because I like flowers. Here she is once again faking it.
Again with the experimentation.
Betsy loves to pose with fancy electronics.
Betsy is an excellent baker. I love her sweet treats.
I married Betsy on November 2nd, 2007, and she hasn't stopped making me laugh since. Thanks babe for all the fun we have and I hope you have a very happy birthday!
Happy Birthday Babe!

The meat stick

2009-10-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my friends Michelle and Julie were in town for a little visit and we ended our adventures at El Farolito in the mission. Best burrito in SF in my humble opinion. And my opinion officially counts (Santos).
The best part about El Farolito is not just the food, but the famous picture they have on their wall. It's become a recurring theme in my SF life.

Relive past meat stick encounters
here
here
here
and here.

Definitely not a doppelganger

2009-10-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

Remember how one of our BF's Dave Thompson is becoming famouser and famouser by the minute. I feel like a proud parent.

No doppelganger here:

Intel commercial.

The beard

2009-10-18T23:40:00.000-07:00

Steve is growing a beard. I'll let you know how long he/we last.

APE

2009-10-18T23:29:00.001-07:00

Our good friend Damian was in town with his brother Brandon at the Alternative Press Expo over in SOMA. A couple of their illustrators couldn't make it out to SF (from SLC) so they offered Steve and I their passes.
Brandon and Damian manning their booth. Brandon writes and illustrates a comic called Green Monk.

Steve and I sporting our fancy exhibitor passes. I didn't really feel worthy.

We also ran into one of our best friends Brian Andersen representing his So Super Duper comics.

I never would have ended up at APE if we hadn't had free tickets which I know is horrible but it's the truth. Turns out it wasn't just for comic book geeks, it was a place for artists to really showcase their work. Very cool and we came home with Brandon's comic, Brian's comic and two really cool prints for our apt.

When does Friday Night Lights start again?

2009-10-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

Flu Shot

2009-10-07T15:03:00.001-07:00

I received my first ever flu shot today. All I could think about the entire time was the vaccine the Dharma Initiative gave to their people in Lost and how it seemed to not do anything. I am a dork.

Date Night

2009-10-04T22:11:00.001-07:00

We have deemed Friday night our date night. We typically spend pretty much every night together but decided we needed to do something special at least once a week. Seems easy enough but life is so busy sometimes weeks slip by and we feel like all we've done is work and study. Steve planned our first one last Friday and he did an AMAZING job! He met me at my office at 5pm sharp. We left my building near 1st & Market and started walking down Market towards Powell. I had no idea what he had planned then it dawned on me...I've never been on a cable car before in my entire life. Nearly 35 years in the Bay Area has produced exactly zero cable car rides for me. Sure enough, we ended up on this baby and I was stoked (extra stoked because we didn't have to pay the $5 each for the ride b/c we had my September & October Muni passes...there is a three day grace period each month where you can use the prior month's pass...blah blah blah...we're cheapskates).

Steve informed me that if you're cool, you stand up and hang out the side.
I was nervous but managed to pose for a picture.
Then I started to relax. The views and the weather were perfect.
Then we started to head down a really steep steep steep hill (I promise it was steep) and I got a little nervous.
So instead of posing for pictures I decided to concentrate and hold on with two hands.
Steve was very relaxed the entire time.
You get kicked off the cable car right at Ghiradelli Square so we decided to pick up In N Out burgers and eat them by the water at Aquatic Park. Smarty pants Steve had even ridden our scooter over to Aquatic Park, parked it, and then took the F Street car to my office. Sneaky. So after dinner we hopped on and made it home in no time.
I was so freezing while I was eating those fries.
I love this guy.

Rent!

2009-10-02T12:13:00.000-07:00

The other night I was watching 90210 on DVR (not embarrassed) and while fast forwarding through the commercials, I noticed a flash on the screen...it was the logo of my all-time favorite broadway musical. The musical that I've seen so many times with my sisters I can barely count. I even saw it in NYC once. Turns out there is a Broadway tour of Rent happening right now with the original Mark and the original Roger. And it happens to be in San Francisco from October 6th - 18th! So I sent Steve on a mission to the Curran Theater to pick us up tickets and he didn't disappoint me! I'll post a review next week!

Photobooth

2009-09-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

Steve has a more flexible schedule than I do. With his environmental consulting gigs he often has time during the day for fun while I'm at work. I was futzing on the computer tonight and found a whole file of photobooth pictures that Steve has taken over the past year and sent to me randomly during work to keep me posted about what he's up to...

Sometimes he tries to be sexy.Sometimes while we're talking on the phone he'll take a picture of himself talking to me and send it.
Sometimes he does silly stuff.
Sometimes if I surprise him and come home early we make funny faces together.
"The Moose."
As it turns out, most of the pictures are more like "hey look at what I'm doing!"

"I'm eating a bowl of that watermelon we cut up last night!"
"Look at me in my hospital volunteer uniform!" (AKA stoned candy striper)
"Your first issue of your US Weekly subscription is here!"
When I secretly bought Ticket To Ride and had it mailed to our house for Steve.
We paid off our new car and the title arrives!!
Steve's textbooks arrive.
"Soy marinated flank steak for dinner!"
"Rx picked up!"
I had been planning to take my pj pants with me to work one day b/c I was going directly from work to babysit Sadie Kane and I wanted to be comfy. Apparently I forgot them.
Steve finds my secret chocolate stash.
I couldn't find my lotion one morning and Steve PROMISED he hadn't moved it anywhere. So at lunch I went to Walgreen's and bought a new bottle of lotion then got this in the afternoon from him. It was in one of his dresser drawers. This was his way of confessing.
"The honeydew melon you made me buy is disgusting!"
"Cilantro-lime marinated pork loin for dinner!"
Cash for the week.
So proud of his lop-sided loaf!

Keep those pictures coming honey!

Communal

2009-09-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

My awesome brother-in-law Joseph and his equally awesome business partner Colton have successfully opened their second restaurant! Maybe you've heard of Pizzeria 712? Their new venture is called Communal and it's sure to please. If you're lucky enough to live in (or visit) the Provo/Orem Utah area (100 N. University Ave. in downtown Provo to be exact), stop in and check them out. And know that Steve and I are jealous of you.

Steve and I were so bummed that we couldn't make it out this week for the soft opening but you can see pictures on Jen & Suzy's blogs. The restaurant opens to the public tomorrow.

Congratulations Joseph, Colton & the rest of the P712 and Communal teams! We're sending you good luck from San Francisco for a successful opening this weekend!

Famous!

2009-09-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

We often see our friend Dave Thompson on the T.V. For some reason I am the one who spots him. It must be my keen scientific observation skills. The first time, it was a doppelganger, but this time its real (I hope).

I hope we see Dave more often on our t.v. Good work!

Peace out Bay area!

2009-08-27T19:54:00.000-07:00

See you in a few days!

mission how I love thee

2009-08-25T22:23:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago we went to the Mission with the McMillan's to grab some dinner. The Mission has become a great destination in the city to do a food tour. We decided to partake of a cheese steak at Phat Philly. I have only spent time in the Philadelphia airport on a layover so I have no idea if it's true or not but these sammies are authentic.
Betsy is so excited to eat a cheese steak. She went with the classic with provolone
I went with the mushroom steak with the Cheddar beer sauce!
I think the McMillan's went with the classic with the beer sauce as well. Happy customers.
Afterwords we decided to walk the 6 or so blocks to bi-rite creamery in the hipster district to get a sweet treat. We figured we needed to walk our cheese steak off and the subsequent ice cream we were about to eat. There is always a line so we burned calories standing as well.
On our way back both Liz and Betsy gravitated to this street sign. I have no idea why since they both shun this name for a shorter, nickname version.

The mission never disappoints

The Parentals

2009-08-18T13:18:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago Betsy's parents came to town as they often do. Apparently they love driving along Interstate 80 and the great barren state of Nevada. We were excited to have them because they brought the sunshine to our often foggy Inner Sunset neighborhood.
We decided to take on a quick driving tour of the city. Our first stop was Golden Gate Park and the de Young Museum. The museum was packed and expensive but to our surprise the observation tower is free! We were so excited. Here is Sue and Ernie!

They were really excited about the fantastic view of the park and surrounding city.
Betsy is so giddy at the view!
Ernie and Sue were so excited there was no fog for their trip.
We then walked to the Conservatory of Flowers.
All that walking made us hungry so we drove to the Embarcadero to Houston's for an early dinner. You've got to try their prime rib french dip. So yummy! After dinner we toured Pacific Heights and other various neighborhoods until we ended up at the Golden Gate Bridge!
We stopped to take some photos and enjoy the sun!
Betsy is such a good photographer!

We then headed to the ocean and back home where we watched a movie and relaxed.

Then next day we went to church then had brunch at Park Chow. We decided to visit Betsy's older brother that lives in Redwood City for the afternoon. We relaxed and bbq'd and were treated to Sadie the wonder beagle. She loves to peel oranges!

apparently she bites off one end and sucks the insides out.
The next day Betsy's parents drove to Chico to visit her brother John and head back to SLC. We were sad to see them go. We were glad they were able to spend a couple days with us in our new apartment and be chauffeured in our new car. Come back anytime Ernie and Sue.

First shirt

2009-08-11T23:06:00.001-07:00

A few weeks back I took a screen printing class and have been excited to use my new skill set. After some initial setbacks (exposing screen too long, etc.) I finally got it to work. I made Betsy a shirt depicting where she has lived in San Francisco so far. She loved it!
I am excited to make more shirt designs!

Mad Men!

2009-08-06T22:00:00.001-07:00

Betsy and I are so excited about this!
So excited that we Mad Men'd ourselves. Here I am getting into the office in the morning
and here is Betsy in full HR mode. I think that girl at the typewriter is about to get fired!
Check it out for yourself here!