Letters to Sara: 19 months old

Dear Sara,

It seems like I just sat down to write you 16 month post and now you are 19 months old already. Somehow, I think this 2nd year is slipping by quicker than the first. It's probably because we are just having so much fun watching you change into a little girl!

Here's what you are doing at 19 months old:

• You are getting so close to walking. You took a couple of steps by yourself between your daddy and I the other day. I was so excited that I cried tears of joy. You thought it was the funniest thing...mommy and daddy making such a fuss over you!



• You have a new word....Nana for bananas! You're up to 3 words...mama, dada, and nana.
  


• You love the Madri Gras beads you played with on Fat Tuesday this past week. Man, I think you played with them for like 15 minutes straight!
  


• You took your first train trip last weekend. Grammie and Gramps joined us for a trip to the Sacramento Train Museum. You enjoyed the train and all the attention you got. It was much better than your carseat!



• You love giving hugs and kisses. The other night I got home from work and you speed-crawled over to me. When I picked you up, you gave me the biggest, sloppiest open mouth kiss ever. God, you make my heart melt, Sara!



• You have the sweetest, gentlest spirit. The other day you brought Belle's toy over to her and dropped it by her face. When she didn't respond, you picked it up again and then gave her a gentle pat. It was like you wanted Belle to play with you...so sweet!

Sara Bear, we love you more than the moon and the stars. You are our greatest wish come true....never forget that.

xoxo,

Your mommy and daddy

New....

When I opened out Farm Box earlier this week, and saw this.....I thought "what the heck is this?". It's called Romanesco, I learned after reading the Farm Fresh to You newsletter. It's a type of speciality cauliflower. According to the newsletter, it is perfect raw or cooked and has an abundance of vitamin C. The newsletter went onto explain: It's strinkly-chartreus structure is unlike any other vegetable. Its florets, rather than being rounded, tower into a pyramid of spiraling peaks. A fractal. If you break off a piece, it contains a replica of itself, which contains a replica of itself, and so on. It's like a hall of mirrors. The florets have the same texture as a white cauliflower, but the flavor is more mild, and a bit sweeter. Brian said it tasted like brocolli, after his first bite and I totally agree. I love getting the farm box. I highly recommend you check out your area for one. It has been excellent and has opened us up to things we probably wouldn't try otherwise.

Romanesco, Turnps, and Carrots with a cheese sauce....a yummy side dish with our salmon. Sara loved her dinner!

My new favorite picture of these two....she is a cuddler when she is tired...I love it.... New Art Work....yeap....it's framed in our hallway gallery....

New to sitting on the stool for art time....how did she get so big, so fast?!?

New fun....Sara has a snack bin and I let her get into. She pulled out her bunny grahams and dumped them all over the floor. I was folding laundry and heard Sara laughing. I walk into find Belle "helping" Sara eat all the bunnies off the floor. They had most of them cleaned up before I could snap off a shot. I guess I need to move Sara's snack bin.

New word....check it out....

SacramentoTrain Musuem

We headed for the Train Museum in Sacramento this weekend. The trip marked Sara's first train trip, as well as Brian and I's first trip on Amtrak. On the way there, the train was packed, so we didn't get to sit together. My parents joined us, along with Auntie Heather and Uncle Dave and cousin Fiona. We got to the museum just in time for Sara to take a nap in the stroller. So, we checked out the trains.

Man, those trains are huge!

Fiona showed us her favorite part of the museum...

We headed upstairs for some train table fun....Sara woke up in time to play for a bit...

At the train station....

Sara was exhausted from her adventure. We all got to sit together on the way back. It was fun to visit and watch the scenery go by. It was the most relaxing trip I've taken in a while.....we bought a membership to the museum, so I see us making the venture several more times this year!

Happy Valentine's Day

I'll admit it.....I've never been a fan of Valentine's Day. I've always been on the opinion that it's a made-up Hallmark holiday. You shouldn't need a special day to tell people that you love them. You should do that every.single.day. Brian and I typically cook dinner at home and watch a movie on the sofa...nothing special. But, then I read this and my opinion changed:

The very essence of childhood--a sense of wonder, imagination, the innocent belief in possibility, creativity--so many of the things that gradually wane with age--You are the author of their storybook,

writing memories and elements of their character every day.

Make it meaningful.

Give them wonder.

And then I read this in the newsletter from Sara's school:

February brings emotions, especially love and respect, to our classrooms
with Valentines Day and Black History month being recognized. Valentines Day goes
far beyond exchanging a card, it opens up teaching moments and opportunities to
initiate conversations on love, kindness, respect, fairness, and inclusion to a
child who is trying to figure out and nurture social connections.

So, yeah....my goal for 2012 was born. Make everyday special....no matter how ordinary.

We Valentined it up.....


I made a heart wreath and a garland for the fireplace. The mason jars are filled with conversation hearts and candles. They smell so good burning!



Brian and I made Sara's valentines for her class. How funny is that....they exchange Valentines! I teased Brian about cutting out Pink Butterflies on a Friday night....yep...we're real exciting around these parts!

Another Weekend Photo Dump

I think I should change this blog to be our weekend photo dump.....the weekdays are just to busy to do much of anything exciting:


I made a chicken stew with butternut squash from our farm box. It was delicious. Sara couldn't get enough, but luckily I have enough for lunches this week! Check out the recipe here


We did some shopping for Sara. We hit up 3 consignment shops and got her new Stride Rite Mary Janes, a new (tags still on!) dress from the Gap, 4-short sleeve shirts, 6 pairs of pants, 3 long sleeve shirts, 2 sweaters (one with tags still on) and Melissa and Doug stringing beads for under $80. I'm excited....I love getting a bargain. Sadly, the bag was Sara's favorite part!

She loves her new drum set. This kids loves music!

We killed two birds with one stone this afternoon.....art and bath time in one! Sara wasn't too sure of the shaving cream at first and then she went to town. I put some shaving cream in a bowl and mixed with food coloring. I gave her a brush and she had a ball. The water turning a pretty color was a bonus!

Shampoo head.....that's all folks....have a great week ahead!

Tidbits from the Weekend....

We had a great weekend. It was busy and fun filled. Here's a sampling....

Saturday:

1. We got some serious cash after our appointment with Growing Pains, a consignment store near us. We sold a bunch of Sara's old clothes and stuff we don't use anymore. The owner was great to work with and I can't wait to make another appointment. I picked up several things for Sara. I can't believe that she is so close to moving into 3T!




2. We got our electric blanket all set up. Brian and I laughed becuase it was so warm yesterday. But, Oh My Goodness, climbing into a warm bed at night is heavan!




3. We worked in the backyard. We took a ton of measurments to draw out the outline of the yard. We are working with Navlet's Nursery to draw up some plans for plants! Yippee! Sara loved "helping".

Sunday:

1. I finally found a shelf for over the tiolet. I have been looking for months and had the hardest time finding something. I orgianlly wanted a train rack, but everything was way too big for our small space. This works. Sara was a great help to daddy!









2. The weather neared 70 blissful degrees. We decided to get out and enjoy it. We picked up sandwiches at Safeway and headed for the park. We played for a bit and then had a picnic. It was a relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon.







I LOVE this picture....Sara will not let go for nothing!







































3. We hit up Yogurtland for some dessert on the way home. Sara wasn't a fan of the frozen yogurt, but it made mommy and daddy happy. My current flavor love is mango. Yummy! Sara did have fun with the spoon and playing with some melted yogurt in th bottom of the cup....silly girl....she doesn't know what she is missing!