Soheili's Blog

cool!

2011-12-09T08:48:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite blog families, Suz, Joe & their adorable quads are going to be on TV!!

I don't know them personally, but I basically feel like I do since I started reading her blog about 3 years ago! She's so genuine, and I learn alot each time I read her blog.

Anyway, can't wait to watch:

Texas Multi Mamas on WE channel!

More fun

2011-11-14T19:34:00.000-08:00

So I really just wanted to post a short clip from my phone of Helen's excitement over the animals at the zoo yesterday, but I realized there were a few things I left off of my last post.

Like eating. Making Helen's food has become a bit of an obsession. I'm actually kicking around the idea of starting my own baby food-making blog and sharing recipes.

Helen is still 100% nursing and eating organic food which I make at home (unless we're traveling - we give the Plum organics or Happy tots pouches). haha, she's a real granola baby ;) I kid, but I REALLY do enjoy making her food and I think I'll continue for as long as I can. I love that she's eating fresh fruits, veggies and protein and enjoys it so much. I hope it helps her be a more healthful, non-picky eater for life!

Just last night I made a new batch of roasted golden acorn squash and a batch of sweet potato with lean ground beef and onions. Yes, I said beef. We've introduced meats at 9 months and it is really strange to be grinding up meats (and using no salt!), BUT I must be doing something right because she has liked everything we've given her so far. For the beef, I added onions, garlic, cumin and paprika for flavor. Combined with roasted "garnet yams", it turned out surprisingly well.

Friends. Helen has several new playmates which is soo exciting. I made friends with two great girls right down the street from me - both stay at home moms with babies the EXACT same age as Helen. I also joined MOMS club of Washington NW and already we've made some new friends and playmates. The club is extremely active- as in 3-4 activities per week, so she's loving all the new people, friends, and adventures. We also met a couple with a 15 month old baby girl on our street (just moved from NYC) and we're excited to have some friends so close by. All that to say, now that we are staying - we are embracing the decision and "getting out there" again in an effort to make some friends with kiddos and find playmates for Helen. I joke that I often feel like I'm "picking up" other parents with kids. "Do you come to this park often?" haha, but we've gotta do it! For her sake and ours. It's going great & keeping us busy. :)

So on to some videos. As I started going through flipcam files, I realized I couldnt just post the zoo video. I use the flip a lot (like maybe TOO much as i sift through 30 videos from this month haha). I think it goes without saying to tune out my "mom" voice in all of the below. :) My dad said as the narrator of videos, he learned it's best to stay quiet because you always sound like a dork. True statement.

Helen sleeping on the way to Lubbock. Just an "aww" moment.

So I lied above. There is one food Helen did NOT like. This was Helen trying defrosted peaches (I thought it would be a nice soft food she could practice feeding herself). *Note - she does like the pumpkin banana combo in this video and eats it happily- but I think the peach had thrown her for a loop at this point!

This was Helen at one of our neighborhood parks during the fall festival for Halloween. Cracks me up.

One of the great things about DC are all the free things to do. Most of the museums, etc are free as well as the zoo which is walkable from our house. I've taken her before, but this time she really clued in to the animals. She actually "spooked" a cheetah (I wish I would have gotten it on video) - he was gracefully walking and she started her excited noises and the cheetah literally JUMPED. The people next to us cracked up of course.

Here she is checking out the gazelles:

And I leave you with giggles. :) This is that point in the night where things get silly. LOVE.

All things little toot

2011-11-08T18:56:00.000-08:00

so i started on this post weeks ago and somehow kept not posting, so there are updates throughout :)

Our little lady is 9 months! It's entirely too close to one year and I'm in complete denial that our teeny baby is quickly becoming a little toddler.... are you sure you don't want to stay my little baby forever, Helen?

Helen is thriving. She's made some new play friends (AWESOME) that are exactly her age and we've joined some great "mom" groups. She also had her "weight check" appointment (@ 7 months, we went in for a low fever and her weight had dropped OFF the growth chart entirely so they scheduled a special appointment to double check that it did not continue to drop). As of 2 weeks ago, Helen weighed 15 pounds, 10 ounces and is officially back to her normal spot around 8-9%. YAY. The doctors agreed that she likely had a small dip because she is sooo active and moving constantly and at the same time navigating new solid foods/etc. ** UPDATE: we went today at 9 months and she is 8% for weight and 47% for height. on the "adjusted for 36 week" scale, she's 18% and 67% for height!
Everyone always asks me, "well you must have been a small baby right, so she takes after you?" um, NO. I was pullin' in at 100% baby. and Sie was a little chub (as a baby) as well. Helen's her own baby, I suppose!

Milestones & Accomplishments

Helen officially says "mamamama" and "dadadadadada".... "Mama" only when she's needing something (like wanting me to get her out of the crib) or wanting to nurse/be held in the middle of the night. She used to say it all the time when I walked into the room or to call me, but now that she's figured out "dada", "mama" is old news! She also enjoys going to a very high "Mariah Carey" octave when she talks. As in so high, our dogs get nervous. So high it sometimes trails off to inaudible. She also makes a hilarious "thhhhhssshh" noise where here tongue is all twisted up. Must be working on "S" or "Th" - not sure.

Helen is still army crawling (just started occasionally doing regular arms extended crawl, but I really don't see her having much incentive to since she is so fast at army crawling), but with her latest discovery: PULLING UP & STANDING, I think crawling is going to be long gone before we know it. She already constantly straightens her back legs like she's going to stand or bear crawl and loves to sit.stand.sit.stand.sit.stand. ALL DAY. She pulls up on anything and everything she can (sturdy and NOT so sturdy) and the tumbles have already started. ** another addition

She is so joyful and talkative and so much fun at this age. She's into exploring everything and of course putting EVERYTHING in her mouth. She makes a noise when she's excited/wants to check something out that ranges somewhere between heavy panting and monkey noises :) Must get it on video!

She loves dogs, making animal noises, singing itsy bitsy spider and going on walks in the baby bjorn. It's going to break my back but I have a feeling we'll be walking her around in that thing for AWHILE. it makes her so happy - especially walking the dogs.

We go to the park alot because there are some great ones in easy walking distance. She likes the swings and watching all the "big kids".

In other news, I'm making a special dinner for our neighbors (she's made us several seriously elaborate 10 course meals), so I have GOT to make something outstanding.

so far on the menu:

- bruschetta

- french onion soup (that doesnt use beef broth, she's pescatarian)

- scallops donna - the famous Tony's recipe with pasta

- twice baked butternut squash

- arugula salad with goat cheese

- dessert... here's where I'm stuck. I think I may be going store bought and pick up some pretty fruit tarts from whole foods. if anyone has any suggestions - preferably something make ahead - please share! :)

here are some pics of Helen these days:

picnicking at the pumpkin patch!

Loves her books!

naked baby

Courage: fearlessly navigating cheerios. haha!

toot!

Sharing one of my favorite recipes.

2011-10-19T20:16:00.000-07:00

I have SOO much to post about miss Helen. But I just wrote up a recipe post on my mom & I's site & wanted to share with anyone who reads this one.

This is a great recipe: Texas Test Kitchen

How to talk to Little Girls

2011-09-22T06:12:00.000-07:00

Feeling inspired this morning by a great blog post about "How to Talk to Little Girls" (book by Lisa Bloom) and wanted to share.

a little excerpt (from the blog); the book "encourages adults to ask little girls about ideas and books, instead of complimenting their looks. 'Teaching girls that their appearance is the first thing you notice tells them that looks are more important than anything,' says Bloom. 'I always bite my tongue when I meet little girls, restraining myself from my first impulse, which is to tell them how darn cute/ pretty/ beautiful/ well-dressed/ well-manicured/ well-coiffed they are...It's our culture's standard talking-to-little-girls icebreaker, isn't it?'

SO true. Sie & I have talked about it in the past - it's so easy to tell Helen, "you're so beautiful" but we also need to emphasize, "you're so smart", "you're so hardworking", "you're so strong!" I know I am guilty of focusing on all things girly/exterior with my niece Isabella, too. She's into make-up, nails, hair, clothes right now and it's so hard not to jump in head first on all these fun common interests (haha)! Next time I see her, I'm asking her 1) what books she's reading and 2) what's her favorite subject in first grade... we can take it from there.

Reading this blog is a great reminder to me that I want to be a strong, thoughtful, intelligent role model for all the little girls in my life (daughter/nieces/cousins). Someone who values their opinions, thoughts, and loves them for exactly who they are. I hope to emphasize all women are capable of and show they can do anything with hard work and determination!

Happy Thursday.

Need a pick me up?

2011-09-01T11:13:00.000-07:00

This should do it.

Yesterday, I took Helen to the park down the street again. Even though she can't "play" on all the equipment just yet, she loves to watch the other big kids and seems to enjoy the change in scenery. I brought a few blankets and toys, we spread out in the shade and enjoyed the beautiful weather for a while (highs in the low 80s, lows in the 60s all week = AMAZING).

She was really going for my water bottle - so I started making a "glug glug glug" noise when she put her mouth on it and well it ended in a pretty awesome giggle session. I watched it about 10 times after she went to bed last night - definitely cracks me up.

(double click and let it take you to Youtube if you want to see the video larger. And yes I typed that for my mom) :) hahaha

I also snapped a few good pictures.

Love this face. Complete with giant scratch to the eye (& it was kind of swollen).

Tryin out the swings. I think we're still a little small for these! Though she seemed to love them - fearless.

haha. such a little ham.

Still laughing from the water bottle. Score one for mom.

We're MOBILE

2011-08-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

It's been a while! Lots of changes in the Soheili house these days. For one, I left my job and am taking what I like to call a brief intermission from work to stay home with Helen. I am taking full advantage of this moment in time where I can spend every day loving her, teaching her and enjoying her.

We have had such a good time- lots of play time, talking, laughing, singing, reading, plus so far we've taken trips to the aquarium, several museums, art galleries, and of course the mall! She's an experienced metro (subway) rider at this point, and acts very non-chalant about the whole thing. "too cool" :) haha. She's truly a hoot these days, ornery smile and all. Here's a little about Helen at 6 months...

Stats:

13 pounds, 25.5 inches long -- ya, her weight is only at the 4 percentile right now, even though she's a great eater and a happy girl. weeker" chart- she's at 13%> We ARE keeping an eye on it, because the % dropped this time, though the Dr. was confident it's likely a fluke and she'll be back up to her normal 10% range next time. I have a feeling it has a lot to do by the calories burned in her new found army crawl!

Eating:

I am still exclusively nursing Helen - she eats 5-6 times per day, every 3 hours. I think many babies have moved to every 4-5 hours by this age, but she is insistent on keeping the every 3 hour schedule. We did two for a LONG time, so 3 hour actually feels nice and gives mom a bit more freedom!

Two weeks ago, we introduced solids. I decided since I'm at home and love to cook - I'd give baby-food-making a try and I'm hooked. One of my mom's friends (Sally) bought me "Baby Love" written by famed DC Chef Geoff and his wife, NBC correspondent Norah O'Donnell. I absolutely love it. I bought the Beaba (baby food maker) off craigslist but havent used it once because all the recipes simply require a blender and ice cube trays. In a few hours and probably under $20 invested so far, I have made about 90 frozen portions of organic sweet potato, butternut squash, carrots and peas. We decided to start with veggies (her first was mashed avocado), then will add in fruit, then eventually rice/oat cereal as we move to 2 then 3 meals per day. The Dr. said by 9 months, she should be having 3 meals per day and will probably drop one breastfeeding.

So far, solids are going great. Helen loves them -- I think peas and sweet potato are her favorites so far. She's a pretty big mess when she eats (oh and downfall to making food? those fresh, bright colored vegetables are STAIN city). She's also SOOOO distracted by the dogs, particularly Buddy who has figured this gravy train out and taken to licking her veggie covered hands mid-feeding. So helpful, Bud, thanks. I literally have to close him out of the dining room lately because she can't focus on anything BUT Buddy the second he enters the room.

On the MOVE:

Helen is officially army crawling. The Dr. mentioned she might do some things early because she is so light. I discovered this when I stepped out of the room for about 2 minutes to defrost her food and she had moved from middle of her play mat to about 10 feet away UNDER.OUR.COUCH (where all the computer wires are). I literally had that heart in throat feeling when I walked in and she had utterly disappeared from the mat. Needless to say, I won't be doing that again! Later that day I saw her in action - if she sees something she wants, she'll pull herself on her forearms, grunting and gripping at the ground. It takes a lot of work- but she can get anywhere she wants. Determined.lady. Now she's on the move at all times.

She's also started pushing her legs in as though she may be getting up on all four soon. SCARY. I walked at 8 months and Sie walked at 10... so both our moms have warned us already. "She'll be mobile soon, just wait.. then there's no catching her."

She is also sitting up really nicely for periods without support, but still will throw herself backwards or forwards so we have to keep our hands near.

Helen loves:

Buddy/Tinkerbell. Dad. Gigi (visited a few weeks ago and got to really bond). Bath time, especially the part where we take her out of her mini tub and lay her down in a couple inches of water in the big tub. She LOVEs this and kick kick kicks away, with a huge grin on her face. Smiling - she's almost always smiling. Singing; current favorites include itsy bitsy spider, row row row your boat, ABCs, and that old classic Wheels on the Bus.

Also loves walking the dogs in the baby bjorn (reaches for everything, and of course talks to the dogs). Laying across my lap kind of like a mini-obstacle course. No idea why she likes this, but something about it she seems to enjoy. BOOKS. Good grief books have got her attention. Though frankly she seems much more interested in eating them than reading them, lets be honest. She actually has started getting frustrated ("eehhhh" noise) when I take them away or keep them out of mouth reach.

Airplane. Especially when Sie plays in front of our entry way mirror - swinging her up close to the mirror and then away- LOVEs.

Changing her diaper/clothes. She still uses this time to do the most talking and grunt-like giggles. Even when she's tired and ready for bed, she can usually push past it on the changing table with tummy rasberries, yum-yums (a Grandpa classic), and silly noises.

Being nosey. It's actually pretty funny to watch her in action. Like when we were on the corporate bus on the way back from the US open (golf) - lots of business convos going on around us and Helen is arching her whole body backwards, listening intently and staring at the two men talking shop behind us.

Helen loathes:

Bed time. haha. When she's tired, she will fight a nap or bedtime like a champ. Luckily, it doesn't last long, and she is able to comfort herself to sleep with the help of TWO loveys, one Chubby Bunny and a wubanub paci. My mom warned me against rocking her to sleep (because she did with me every night & I wasnt able to sleep without it!); well the days where that is even an option are long gone. When she's really sleepy, I try to rock her and calm her down a little before laying her in her crib- but she's not having it these days. She grabs my face with her bitty hands and comes at me with a crying, wide open mouth. No idea why, but I usually let it happen (crying, gnawing on nose) for a minute or two... well... because it's so dang cute.

Shots. I'm thinking that's to be expected. She's a little on edge the entire Dr's visit to be honest, but this time at least humored the Dr. with some smiles and talking.

Her personality:

From what we can tell so far, she seems very observant and engaged. She's been like that since the moment she was born, lifting her head to listen and locking eyes when you talk to her. She's also always moving (no wonder she can't keep weight on!) We think she has an ornery side; case in point this new "fake cough" she's started which includes "ack ack" noises followed by smiles/giggles. When I imitate her, more smiles. She's also very sweet, still cuddles me tight and smiles so much it warms my heart. She's hard-working, grunting and huffing and puffing to pull herself to each and every thing she wants.

I'm sure it's not obvious at all but... we think she hung the moon. :) Sie always tells her "you brighten my day Helen" - no matter how hard work has been that day. One of those big gummy grins and we're done for. I pray every day that she continues to be happy, healthy and knows how much we love and care for her.

We're flying to Houston (for my high school reunion) next week (Just Helen & I- Sie's flight is on Thursday so he didnt have to miss work) and I'm pretty scared to see how it goes! Me + car seat + luggage + diaper bag + toys + active/non-stop baby. should be fun?? I'm going to arm myself with lots of toys/distractions because I'm really not sure how the whole "sitting still for 3 hours" thing will go now that she is so much more active. Last time we flew, she was still sleeping quite a bit and would fall right asleep in my arms for the majority of the flight. I really hope there's a tolerant, understanding, playful individual sitting next to me. :)

Some recent pics of the little lady:

sitting on the Mall during the Folklife Festival. Just love that face.

cracks me up. She likes to grab fistfuls of his fur. luckily, Buddy takes it in stride. as long as someone's paying attention to him- he's good to go.

Visiting Dad at work - Capital one is fantastic for families- here she is hanging out in one of the "nursing rooms" - so nice to have that option.

Gigi's here!!

Gigi reading one of our favorites "Are you my mother?"

Her first taste of solids - yummy avocado. As you can see, she likes to "help" me with the spoon. ;)

And this is usually how things end.

Sweet potato!

I just love this pic.

Her monthly pic - little HAM!

On one of our daily dog-walks

Snapped a few at her 6 month appt on Friday. I can really see the resemblance to her dad in these. I swear she woke up Friday and had a bunch of new hair. yaay.

p.s. Hair and eye color.. the jury is still out. Every other day someone tells us she'll be a blonde, or she'll have dark hair like her dad. I've always thought she'd have very dark hair like his - but it's too soon to tell. Her eyes look almost olive to me, but I really don't think they're finished changing colors either.

Tink is funny

2011-07-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

Tink got quite the chuckle out of Helen today. Cracked me up. I can already envision the not-so-distant future "Helen, GENTLE with Tinkerbell," as Helen chases Tink around the house and the old lady tries to hide anywhere she can (she's terrified of kids in general)

two notes on the video: 1) Helen's not wearing her cute matching pants to this outfit - its 115 heat index today, so that called for a pants optional policy. 2) I need to learn when to turn off the video! Like right when I said awesome would have made sense... instead I rambled on in my mom voice... so bear with me!! :)

Helen's new move!

2011-07-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

(kinda long sorry!)

Helen at 4 months & other adventures...

2011-06-12T21:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I clearly missed the 3 month post - maybe I'll stick with Helen updates every other month!

We just had her 4 month appointment yesterday so I figured I should blog while all her stats are top of mind. p.s. 2 shots + Helen = lil pathetic lady with a low fever today. So sad so I'm trying to spoil her as much as I can.

(continuing on Sunday - i got distracted, bad blogger!)...

Helen:

weighs 11 pounds 14 ounces - just shy of 12 pounds! YAY! (14%)
height 23.5 inches - 19%
still wears mostly all 3 month clothes, and the occasional 0-3 month item. She seems to get too long for things before actually outgrowing them, so things like footed pjs and pants are the first to go.
has started wearing some 3-6 month things but I have a feeling she'll be in those for a long time (aka she's swimming in them)
still exclusively breastfeeds. Our doctor said she'd wait another month or two to introduce cereals or fruits/veggies. She's still technically a 36 weeker; still a bit small, not interested in food and not sitting up fully quite yet (the signs that she is ready). Plus she seems perfectly content with nursing only.
nurses every 3-4 hours (the dr. said she'll prob. move to every 4-5 soon, she's always just a few weeks behind in the eating category only).
impresses us (& the dr.) with her strength. She told us she's not giving her any slack for being a 36-weeker because she's developing at a healthy/normal pace.
is still a busy body. constantly moving, kicking, tensing her legs and arms. My mom & i constantly compare her to my brother Grant in that respect - miss intensity!
just got a new slightly earlier bed time. goes to bed around 10:00 pm (we're in the works to try to move it up to more like 9-9:30) and woke up this morning at 8 am. It seems to be either 6 am or 8 am - either way I'll take it! we did more than 2 months straight of every 1-2 hours, so this has been an amazing change (she's been sleeping through the night for a month or so!)

Helen loves:

"Wheels on the bus!!"... I can just sing the first line "the______" and her eyes widen and she smiles. Loves any and every verse (we often make up words) and smiles and gets tickled.
her dad. right now she's got the gaga eyes for dad. Loves hearing his voice, searches for him when he enters the room and is all smiles when he's talking to her.
TO TALK. chatty chatty chatty. will carry on a conversation with you, like taking turns back and forth and locks eyes. it takes everything in me not to crack up when she's making her new little gorilla noises (whooo, whoo whooo) and squeals. (i'm trying to take her seriously like we're having a lil pow wow!!) ;) of course sometimes i fail.
to smile. She has quite the mischievous lil grin. My very favorite moment of the day goes like this: "waaa, waaa" little half cry/shouts coming from her room. I get up and start walking down the hall announcing, "Is someone awake? is there a little baby awake in here?" When I open the door I can hear her kicking and breathing real hard, basically getting worked up because she knows I'm coming. Then I peek over her crib rail and she usually lets out a big squeal with the hugest smile. It could be 5 am and it's still the most amazing feeling. haha, though better when it's about 8 am :)
to have her diaper changed. Sounds funny but I think it's because she gets to be at eye level and gets to be "STAR" of the show. lots of chatter, squeals, smiles during diaper changes.

Helen does NOT like:

going to bed. She goes down fairly easily, so I'm not complaining, but she doesn't love it and gives a little fuss. I know she doesnt like missing anything.
being hungry. she goes from fine to starving in seconds and lets you know!
shots... OMG, shots. the stiffest wailing, crying, hysterical baby. Not.a.fan!
tummy time. I guess I could really put this in the "tolerates" category. She likes it for a while, but usually ends up getting frustrated after awhile.

This Thursday, we're going to the US open in Maryland, then Friday we're off to Dallas for my cousin Rachie's wedding so we'll get to see both my family and Sie's. It will also be Helen's first time meeting her Papa (great grandpa) & Dadash (sie's dad!)

Here are a few pics of our growing girl:

My first mother's day!

in her first band tee. this face cracks me up. She was being such a ham.

Not a lie. I captured the very first roll on camera. BY ACCIDENT. haha. I didn't even realize it happened until she was on her back!

having a little "photo shoot" in her cute bloomers from Aunt Debbie & Uncle Stuart

getting her little "h" bum

Stopping for ice cream in Gettysburg over Memorial weekend:

these were the eyes for dad I was talking about earlier!

In her old timey bonnet at Gettysburg

4 month pic from our monthly photo project:

Chatty Kathy

2011-05-17T12:52:00.000-07:00

The quality of this video stinks (boo, iphone) but I had to share! These days, Helen is trying so hard to talk & we love every minute of it! She is so expressive and happy.

YouTube Link

We got great video of her new trick "the roll" the other day so I need to post that too! :)

Helen at 2 months

2011-04-14T22:32:00.000-07:00

ok so technically - 2 months and one week! I seriously can't believe how time is flying. I also can't believe how little "free" time I have to write this blog, haha. Guess I should have known. :)

I am back to work now, but from home until May 3rd, when I'll return to the office twice a week and work from home M/W/F. I'm not going to lie, being home working and taking care of Helen has been hard. Mostly because gone are the times of sleeping when she sleeps, but also because- who wants to think about work when I have this sweet little happy girl to play with?! The balance is getting a little better, but still I don't think this will be our long term solution.

I wanted to write all about Helen at 2 months (her ears were burning as she is waking up now!)

*she came a full month early so I have to remind myself how crazy it is that I am writing about 2 months vs 1!*

Clothes (haha, no this is not in order of importance, just top of mind!)

Helen still fits into newborn onesies and pants, but the pants are starting to be high waters, and the onesies are finally getting snug
she is too long for newborn footie pjs, so moved up to 0-3 months and they are starting to fit her pretty well. just a week or two ago, i swear she was swimming in them!
what is up with carter's clothing skipping from newborn to 3 months? needless to say - those "3 month" items she has are huge on her.
she just moved from newborn to ones in diapers - after a painful "in between" phase

Eating/Sleeping

Helen nurses exclusively and has never had a bottle yet -- eek! I know, I know. We need to introduce her to one since I'm going back to work 2 days per week in less than 3 weeks. In the meantime, I've been pumping one extra feeding per day so we have a good supply built up in the freezer when the time comes. (I've heard it's difficult to pump enough to match what they eat while you're at work- so I'm hoping the extra pump per day will help with that) - any advice in that area though, much appreciated!
Sleeps 5-6 hours on her good nights. but still has the occasional night of waking up every 3-4 hours (sounds bad - but think 1 month old, haha!). During the day, she usually still eats every 2 hours; before bed - sometimes every hour. I'm trying to break her of the "grazing" habit, where she eats, falls asleep for 30 minutes, wakes up, wants to eat, and round and round we go. She's been doing a lot better with that this week. It involves a whole lot of waking her up during nursing, changing her diaper midway through, and then not giving in and nursing when she gets fussy - giving her a pacifier instead/etc.
Still sleeps in her cradle right next to us. I was thinking I'd wait to move her into her room until she slept through the night- but 5 to 6 hours may be her "through the night" for the time being so I think we'll try to move her. I'm going to be sad.. I love looking over and having her right there. and i love her sweet lil cradle. :(

Height and weight

NO IDEA. haha. We go tomorrow to her (late) 2 month appointment so I'll give an update then. I am sooo NOT excited about the shots (they told us in our last appointment to have Sie present - I must look like a crier.) but it does mean we'll have some more freedom with her. Since it's flu season and she was on the small side, they pretty much advised us not to take her in confined spaces too much until she had her shots so we've been anxious to get out and about. They did say we could go outside with her on nice days but unfortunately DC has been seriously lacking in the "nice day" department lately (see rainy and 40 degrees).
At her one month - she weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces, still smaller than I was when I was born. So strange to think about. But lately she's started to really fill out so I'm going to guess 9 pounds? maybe? we'll see!

Helen's personality: likes, dislikes and special talents :)

Since day 1, she's never been a big crier. Don't get me wrong, she'll give a good fuss like the best of them, and she'll let out an angry cry if she's not being fed fast enough, but on the whole she never lets out much more than 1 or 2 big cries. It never turns into a big long cry session. I pray it stays that way, but we'll see. I hate seeing her cry - it includes a ridiculously cute but sad turned down lip and chin. heart.breaking.
These days she is all smiles and had her first laugh for Sie last weekend (while I was walking the dogs).
She LOVES being talked to, sung to and smiled at.
We think she's going to be an early talker because she's started to ooh and ahh and mimic what we do with our mouths. She's constantly got her tongue twisting away. Those little squeals and noises she makes are the highlight of my day - I can't wait to hear what she has to say!
She's still a little pistol. Arms moving, legs kicking, she is almost constantly moving her little body around (which equals not easy to wind down for naps!) During tummy time recently, I had her chest propped up on a pillow and she rolled from front to back. I dont think it counts since she was propped up but I was still impressed!
Her new favorite thing to do is while I'm burping her: she kicks against the boppy (in my lap) and shoots herself up. She can hold her own weight on her legs for a second or two, with us holding her of course.
She's not quite sure if she likes the bath but tolerates it with no complaints. She does act like she's cold even when the water is warm.
She loves her wubanub lamb (the little animal attached to her soothie pacifier) which Jill and Abby got for her. She holds it in her hands. adorable.
We put her in the moby wrap quite frequently - for walks/around the house/going in stores. We love it and it's amazing how quickly it puts her to sleep every time. seriously within 2 minutes of being in it, she's out like a light.
She also loves her stroller/car seat and goes to sleep instantly in her stroller too. We've joked that Helen is taking a "sleeping tour" of our nation's capital. every monument/site we've been to, she's sound asleep

That's all I can think of for the moment. I know I'm biased, but we think our baby girl is the greatest thing since sliced bread. She's made us a family in a profound way. We love her so.

Here are some pics of miss Helen at 2 months.

Helen's Birth Story

2011-03-15T09:54:00.000-07:00

**warning: this is long and detailed but I wanted to document her birth story somewhere!

I seriously can't believe a month has FLOWN by already! Sie & I are both still on cloud 9. Before I forget all the details of the big day - I wanted to jot down Helen's birth story. I meant to document right away - but have quickly learned any down time should be used for SLEEP ;) ha!

Let me back up to our 36 week appointment on Friday February 4th. Or maybe even a week before, to my 35 week appointment where the Dr. checked my cervix and said I was starting to "soften" and confirmed that I had been having contractions (I had been having back pain which I thought may be contractions, but wasn't completely sure), but reassured that all was normal. So at my 36 week appointment, I was excited but kind of scared to see what kind of progress I was already making. Anyone who talked to me during this pregnancy could confirm - I had a hunch all along that I would deliver early. My mom, Sie's mom, and pretty much everyone in my family has delivered early. I guessed I'd be 2 weeks early at the most.

So at my 36 week appointment when the dr. said "nah, we dont need to check you, we'll start that around week 37 or 38", I was kind of disappointed but figured- ok, he knows best.

Friday night, we made "greek pizzas" at our friends Brian and Becca's new apartment and had a great time. We left kind of late and I knew we'd be tired because the next morning we had a Baby Care & Infant CPR class at the hospital. **I should note that this class was originally closed and we were signed up for the class February 19th (2 weeks before her due date). I randomly noted on our information sheet that'd we'd prefer an earlier date because I was scared I'd deliver early and they called me on THURSDAY prior to let me know we could come that Saturday instead!** Talk about timing!

So that morning we got up bright and early to go to class. I will gloss over this next detail- but let's say that a part of the pregnancy process happened that I found to be pretty gross and also totally confusing. click HERE if you're really interested haha. What did it mean? Some websites said I'd be going in labor within 48 hours, some said it could be days or weeks. I told my friend Lori who said- GO TO THE HOSPITAL immediately haha. She cracked me up, and we of course just went to class and decided not to panic. We both figured, ok, labor's coming within the next couple of weeks. which means I'd be a couple weeks early- which is what i expected. :)

So after our all day class (8 to 5!) - We headed home- both exhausted. Low key night like most when you're 8 months pregnant - I did some laundry, we made dinner, watched TV. When we finally laid down for bed- I got up and rushed to the bathroom. It felt like I had possibly wet my pants! Hmm... that's odd. I told Sie but neither of us thought much of it- it wasn't a lot like the gush I expected from water breaking. Well, it happened about 5 more times- actually every time I laid down. I started googling about water breaking on my phone as we lay there in bed and realized for many people - it's not a big gush but instead a trickle. But then I also read how for some women, the baby presses on their bladder towards the end and you literally DO pee your pants. I had no idea what the heck was going on, but had a gut feeling my water had broken. I woke up Sie, who pretty much thought I was being a worry wart/drama queen (I can admit- with good reason!)

Finally he said, call our Dr. - if they say to come in, we'll go to the hospital. So I did, pretty much expecting them to say- "it's nothing, you can come in next week if you're worried;" instead the Dr. said, "ya, it sounds like your water broke, come on in." WHAT!!! So I tell Sie, he begrudgingly wakes up (it's now about 3:00 am. I laid in bed debating on calling/googling for a good while!) Mind you- I am not in labor or having contractions whatsoever at this time. So we proceed to pack as if it's go time and decide, if nothing else- it's a good practice run. Luckily I had the most detailed packing list of all time (which mom later made fun of!) but it was nice because it required no thinking at that late hour. I also straightened my hair, we walked the dogs - pretty much took our time.

We headed to the hospital, got there at about 4:00 am. Sie's on board and supportive but I can still tell he thinks this is a test run and that I made him take me to the hospital at 4:00 am for no good reason. :) After all- we were a month out!! At labor and delivery- they check me and confirm... "yep, your water's definitely broken." AHHH!

So even though I had wanted to call my mom to tell her we were heading to the hospital, we figured it would be best to find out what was going on before we frightened her in the middle of the night. So the second they confirmed - Sie called her. She screamed. I had already looked at flights and knew the first one was at 8:30 in the morning the next day, direct flight to dc. She and I agreed: "we're not going to freak out if you can't make it in time" - but were hopeful that she could. We called Sie's parents, too, who were very excited.

I was 2 cm dilated, about 98% effaced, and the baby was in about -3 position, but not having active contractions. Since my water had broken about 6 hours prior (and they don't like the time between water breaking and baby birth to be more than 24 hours), they started me on pitocin (to speed up and strengthen contractions) around 8 am Sunday morning.

Mom got on the 8:30 flight and was on her way, set to arrive just after noon in DC. She got here in plenty of time- so happy! My contractions were starting to get pretty intense, so they decided to go ahead with my epidural, even though I was only 3 cm dilated and I had sworn I would wait till 5! I guess because of the pitocin, they knew things could start moving quickly. Now I wonder, why on earth did I want to wait! The epidural was amazing (i was pretty terrified of that part). Worked well, could still move my feet and legs a bit, but felt very little of my contractions, except of course for pressure.

At around 5:00 or so that evening, they came to check me again after probably 6 hours since the last check. I was sure I had progressed to maybe a 6 or 7. Nope. 3. THREE. I could not believe- no changes, all those contractions and no changes? I committed myself mentally not to get down, although it was a little disheartening. Mostly because I knew of the concerns around 24-hour timeline... c-section creeped into my head, which was fine but I had my heart set on doin it the old fashioned away.

So after hearing I was at 3, yes 3, and 100% effaced, I decided to try a technique we learned in Childbirth Education class. They told us to envision your cervix dilating, or opening, and said it was actually so effective, that we shouldn't do it before our due date because it could bring on labor early. I was skeptical, but I do believe in the power of the mind over the body and really what else did I have going on!

Having no idea what my cervix looked like, I literally googled cervix dilation on my iphone and once I got a good mental picture started, closed my eyes and started envisioning. Not to be graphic (or is it too late for that?), I envisioned my cervix opening, and baby coming down the birth canal and being placed on my chest. I envisioned this over and over and over again. I meditated. "Open cervix. OPEN." I used my hands and opened them, telling my body to do the same. They left us (me, Sie & my mom) for quite some time. The nurse came by every once and a while to check vitals/etc but the dr. was MIA for a good while because the lady next door was in labor (i think it turned into a c-section midway from what I could gather). My mom and Sie entertained themselves, the superbowl was on and they ate meals, made phone calls, etc., as I lay envisioning for quite some time. The Dr. had told me that after you get to 5 cm dilated, you can expect to have roughly 6 hours left- an hour per cm and an hour pushing. But it had taken me well over 6 hours so far to get to 3? so needless to say- all of us were expecting to be there a good while.

Finally, the superbowl was over, and the resident comes in (Georgetown is a teaching hospital) to check my progress at 11:00 pm. They were going to see how I progressed and figure out the path forward since it's now been roughly 24 hours since my water broke. She starts to check, and her face goes red, as she smiles and says "oh my gosh. you're not going to believe this." what? WHAT? "you're at a 10, and about +2" and she proceeded to show Sie and my mom the top of Helen's head. She wasn't just ready - she was right there! She told me "don't push" we need to get the dr. in here. push? omg, it was really happening. We all are absolutely beaming at this point. It's go time. my mom & Sie texted my dad, his parents, etc to say we are having a baby tonight!

They get the Dr. and resident and students in, and it was time to push. I pushed for probably 20 minutes total in maybe 4 bursts of contractions. Sie was an amazing coach. then suddenly... SHE WAS HERE. She did have the cord wrapped around her neck at the very last minute, so Sie didn't get to cut the cord. I had no idea any of that was going on - thank you God. but they quickly whisked her to the little side room where the NICU team was on point to check her out since she was a 36-weeker (we heard that term a lot) and to make sure all was well. Sure enough, after some suctioning of her lungs - she was healthy and crying and they soon brought her over to lay on my chest and have skin to skin time. The moment I saw her, I couldn't believe how beautiful she was (and is). She was the tiniest little nugget with tiny, beautiful features. and she was all ours!

God answered our prayers. Helen Olivia Soheili was born at 11:30 pm on February 6th, 6 pounds 5 ounces, and is healthy, happy and perfect in every way. We couldn't love her more.

Here are some pics of the big day:

Next I'm going to post all about Helen at one month. :)

Helen is here!

2011-02-14T20:16:00.000-08:00

More about Helen's arrival coming soon. Our baby girl surprised us all & arrived early- @ 36 weeks and 3 days! We already can't imagine life without her. She's beautiful and has made us so happy. We are humbled by God's grace in creating this perfect miracle.

Helen Olivia Soheili

February 6, 2011 at 11:30 pm

6 pounds 5 ounces

whoops!

2011-01-28T09:09:00.000-08:00

I just realized I've made it almost through January without any blog posts!

Mid-January my mom came to visit- which we loved. just a quick weekend trip, we shopped in Georgetown, ate at Noras (finally) and generally relaxed/got excited for baby Helen.

On Sunday, we all went out to "Drag Queen Brunch" which was SO fun. Great food, mimosas, and what else - drag queens! Definitely divas, they put on quite a show and were funny and entertaining.

some of my favorite pics:

this gal started off the show with a slow song and we were not sure what to expect, but it turns out she was just warming up the crowd ;)

this queen was channeling "Gloria Estefan" - and loving mom!

Naturally, called up to the front because i'm sporting a big baby bump (I won't lie- i loved it!)

wearing the shortest dress and BREAKING it down to "shorty swing my waaaaay". hilarious!

our table turned out to be a prime spot (on the corner of their little runway so to speak) - so we got LOTS of attention.

I don't have any of Sie from the camera - but I can just tell you, the queens LOVED him. haha. they saw a cute straight guy target and went for it :)

in other news- as of today we have 34 DAYS TO GO - aaaaah!!

it's so real, so soon. and so exciting. :) and my mother's intuition is that she'll come early. I'm sure now that I'm putting that in print she'll be a week late ;) haha. But either way - she can come when she's ready (as long as she at least stays put for another 2 weeks!)

At our last appointment, they confirmed, her head is down (in a station -3) and my cervix is starting to soften (hope that's not TMI!) which means I'm probably having some small/inconsistent contractions. I think i've felt some- mostly come in spurts with back pain accompanied.

Helen's slowed down a bit in movement - now it feels more like wiggling and adjustment, rather than the giant kicks and flips from before, because her room is starting to get a bit cramped. One thing my Dr. said last time when she went to measure my stomach: "wow you are all baby"! Not meaning that I'm tiny- my stomach is enormous (or at least feels that way!), but meaning if you touch my stomach, you can literally feel exactly where she is. Her head, her back, little buns, and what I think is either a foot or a knee on my side. She's all right there. Such a surreal thing this carrying a baby business :)

I don't have any pregnancy complaints - other than the occasional intense lower back pain and need to visit the ladies room (especially when trying to sleep!) Poor Buddy's bed is on my side, and I literally step on him like 10 times per night. He doesn't seem to mind... too much, but I have noticed he leaves middle of the night to go to the dining room now haha. I guess its good preparation for him that in a few short weeks, Helen will be in our room waking him up throughout the night I'm sure.

In other news- we took the "Childbirth Education" class, and are enrolled to take "Baby Care and Infant CPR" as well. The childbirth class was very informative, helped me know what to expect and it was great talking to other moms and dads and hearing they have the same questions you do. Most of them really recommended the 2nd class (Baby Care & Infant CPR) so we decided to sign up for it as well. We learned some great relaxation techniques for labor (I know some of my already mom friends/fam are probably laughing at me "haha, Good luck relaxing!!") but, it can't hurt right! :) My favorite was called the "slow dance" where you lean your full weight against your husband (my back to his chest) and slowly rock back and forth. It felt great for my back and really did make me feel relaxed, so I'm keeping that one in my back pocket!

We are sooo close on the room. Waiting on one more frame (my mother-in-law bought me this set of four I've had my eye on for Christmas) and they have been on back order so are trickling in slowly, and shopping for a lamp base for next to my glider chair. Once we get those last 2 items- we're all set and Sie's going to take some good pics with our new camera so we can show her some day. Her very first room in her very first home!

Just wanted to give a quick update and somehow this post turned into several paragraphs! Thanks to all our friends and family who have been texting/emailing/facebooking their shared excitement. I don't know that I realized before pregnancy just how much it would mean to us that Helen has this great group of people rooting in her corner for a safe pregnancy, a safe arrival, and a happy healthy life. She's a lucky girl.

One last comment... I can't quite picture what she'll look like. My mom has told me that before I was born, she dreamed of me and I looked exactly as I did in her dreams. She might have gotten lucky that both she & my dad had blond hair and blue eyes as well ;) When I picture Helen, though, I usually see myself holding her, and she has this little head of light brown hair, similar to my brother Grant's. I think I'll probably be right about that part.. but as far as anything else, it's going to be a total surprise! just wanted to see if anyone has any guesses/predictions!

Can't WAIT to meet her!

Family Due Date Pool

2010-12-27T17:08:00.000-08:00

Just for fun, the family all placed bets on what date Helen will make her debut. I got the idea when looking through my baby book - my mom's office made one for my due date, and my dad (Dean) had even chosen dates! It was so fun to look back and see.

So now it's official, bets have been placed - let's see who gets it right!! :)

Helen's Due Date Pool

p.s. Uncle Joe, you better NOT be right!! If there's anyone I missed who wants to buy a day, winner gets all the money we've put in!

Nursery Progress: Part 1

2010-12-13T14:05:00.000-08:00

It's still very much a "work in progress" - but we accomplished a LOT this past weekend in Helen's nursery. and by WE, I do mean mostly Sie. He probably did about 95% of the hard work while I "managed" (in his words)... haha! So before I go into all the pictures and plans, I have to say how grateful I am for having a seriously handy husband! He is a work-horse, and seriously gets the job done, but he also impresses me with lots of neat storage ideas/etc, he's very creative. I'm so proud of how involved he is in everything too- Helen is one lucky girl :)

drum roll... :) (the pics are a little darker because I took them this morning when it was still dark outside, but light enough for the flash not to go off!)

Nursery pic 1, from the entrance to the room.

& some notes about what's missing + our brainstorm ideas:

- we've ordered a pretty pink rug (pictured below) which I think will give the room a great pop of color when you first walk in

- her bedding isnt on yet in this pic (I was washing her sheets!) so will update with more pics once that is on as well (b/c its my favorite part!)

- her changing pad cover isnt on, which is also pink

- on the wall right next to the changing table, we'd like to put some vintage feeling pink frames with some cool prints we found at a DC market (like the ones pictured below)

we just ordered this rug (to place in front of the crib)

frame idea

frames like these

placed in a row, beside the changing table so you can see when you enter the room, like these below (on the left)

Pretty much everything on this side is going away out of the nursery- its kind of our holding place for right now (her infant carrier in the box/old side table/etc!!)

except of course, the beautiful painting from my cousin Whitney! (which we're going to have framed so it will be a little larger on that wall)

This will also be where the glider chair goes, at an angle from the corner to the room towards the crib. We are buying a used one & refinishing and re-upholstering in a fabric we like. The picture below is our "vision" haha - should be another fun project!

We also think we'll have room for a small side table, or possibly a side ledge to hold a lamp

glider chair inspiration (i'm picturing maybe a real pale pink fabric?)

view of changing table, which has a pretty plush pink changing pad cover (not on yet)

Sie installed the shelves to the left, to which we'll add cute accessories, and books/etc. You can see we've got her monitor set up and ready to go! (and have already played with it of course... we're trying to figure out how we can spy on Buddy during the day with it!)

view to the opposite side of the crib

with her going home outfit and of course her own "Buddy" stuffed dog :) We'll probably add to what's on top, but we were going with what we had on hand for now!

My mom is coming in January and we're going to shop for all the cute little finishing touches for the room!

view of the opposite side of the room (the room has double doors because it was originally a den- but we're going to keep this one closed, because it gave us a lot more space not to have to work around TWO doors that opened!)

This dresser was made by Sie's great grandfather (we did an "aged" finish about a year ago as another Soheili project), and has all her sweet little clothes and shoes. All the items on top are probably going to go (they were what we had on top before when it was a den)- we need to get some cute pink frames/etc!

so that's the start of her room! :) We really don't have too much left to do, just the finishing touches from here on out!

working on the nursery makes both of us so excited for her to get here!

I just can't believe it's happening so soon. I hope she looks back at her first room some day and knows how much we love her and how we can't wait for her to get here.

She's made us so happy!

Celebrating Helen!

2010-11-24T12:03:00.000-08:00

(sorry this is so long- lots of pictures!)

I have to admit I had been counting down the days to November 20th for some time! I was so excited to come to Texas, to see all my friends and family, celebrate baby Helen and share our happiness during this joyful time.

Sie & I got into Houston late Thursday night and I took off on Friday so that my mom & I could have a full day together of manicures, pampering and shopping :) Living so far away has really been hard on me these past 6 months. What is it about being pregnant that just makes you want to be with your mom?! :) We made up for lost time and had so much fun together. My very favorite place we went was a store called "Excessories" in old town Katy which has beautiful baby clothing (lots of keepsake items), womens clothing and home decor.

On Saturday we got up bright and early, all so excited for the big shower day. (I truly was so excited I couldn't sleep!) Mary, Sie's mom, our niece Isabella, and my grandma Pat and her friend all came over to caravan over to Mrs. McKenny's house for the shower.

Eight generous and wonderful ladies hosted and completely wowed everyone with the beautiful, creative decor - they thought of EVERY detail! The theme was toe shoes & tutus and of course PINK, PINK, PINK, inspired by all my years of dancing and ballet (one of the hostesses and I danced together since elementary school!)

We had an amazing turn out of family and friends. I've never felt more humbled and grateful to be surrounded by people I love, and to celebrate such an exciting time in our life.

My good friend Kim (one of the hostesses and creative genius behind much of the decor) took some really great pics for us. Here are some of my favorites from the big day:

Toe Shoes & Tutus Invitation (made my Kim's mother in law at Workshop on Sugar Ridge)

Handmade pink wreath on the door

"Helen Olivia" on the mantle

The cradle my grandpa Don made for me, filled to the brim with presents for our sweet girl! We still can't get over everyone's generosity and love.

"It's a girl" lollipops and pearls on the mantle

"It's a girl" banner - Kim made the paper decor- I keep telling her she's got to go in business making these!

Entry table with pictures of Sie & I and of course - a pink feather boa!

We added Helen's baby book for guests to sign in.

(here's a pic of her baby book from the front)

Sweet monogrammed decorations

sweet little pink socks on the coffee table

one of my favorite things- handmade pink tutus around candles: SOO cute!

a shot of the whole living room

Guests wrote advice for Sie & I and baby Helen on little "tutu's" with Helen's initials. The hostesses tied the "tutu's" together and gave us a nice book to take home.

Favors were monogrammed sugar cookies

Raspberry pink pearl punch!

Straws with Helen's name

"French 75's" in "tutu" champagne glasses

All kinds of yummy desserts

including pink "bootie" petit fors

The hostesses served Cha Cha Chicken Salad, Pasta Salad, Fruit Kabobs, Garden Green Salad, spinach dip/veggies, and cheese and crackers for lunch - delicious!

beautiful floral arrangements (pink of course!)

My grandmother Pat pinning on my corsage (which had a teeny baby & pacifier in it- it was too cute!)

My mom & I as I started to open presents

we're related ;)

Lots of generations of women in our family: mother in law Mary, me (& Helen), my mom, grandma Pat, grandma Doris, grandma Joyce & niece Isabella

Kim (hostess & great friend) & I

Lori & I comparing bumps (she's 7 weeks behind us!)

My cousin Colleen & I comparing bumps

My great friend & fabulous host Amanda

Cousin Whit giving baby Helen some love :)

Thank you again to this extraordinary group of women (plus Donna who left before we got this picture) for making this day so special for me, Sie, our families and friends, and most of all HELEN!

p.s. this is a shot of us afterwards (Bonnie, Mary, Whit, Rachael, me, mom & Sheri) reviewing all Helen's new goodies again! SO much fun! (will it ever not make me tingly to hold each little outfit up? I feel like I could pour over her tiny clothing for hours!)

22 week quickie. Plus some nursery items!

2010-10-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

I don't have too much of a baby Helen update today (no appointments since our last) other than to say she seems like a really active little girl. I feel her movements stronger each day- mostly at my desk at work and the moment I hit the couch to watch tv at night. Sie has felt a few of her movements which has been so cool! She might be a touch ornery though- everytime she's moving up a storm and I try to get Sie to feel - she completely stops! haha. Or does that happen to everyone?

We're now officially 22 weeks along - a FULL five months down with only four to go. Amazing but kind of SCARY. even scarier? Two of those remaining four months are November and December which always fly right by. She's really going to be here before we know it and I just cannot wait to meet her.

Big steps... In the past few weeks, we've gotten all the big pieces ordered for her room (relieving to check off the list!) I've also moved on from the expecting part to the baby part of my parenting books. I just reached the breast feeding portion of the baby & child book and find it quite useful for grossing out both Sie & my brothers. :) haha I'm sure that will change but right now I think it's still quite shocking to see up close and personal!! (plus they have some pretty graphic pictures!)

For her nursery (our former den) - we've gotten the big pieces ordered and are planning to accessorize/decorate from there, once we see how it's all coming together in the room. I don't want there to be too much furniture (it's a fairly small room) so we're waiting to decide on other pieces for now (like a glider chair).

My favorite things so far:

Her crib! which converts into a toddler bed, then beautifully into a headboard for a full size mattress. I love that this piece of furniture will be in her life for many years to come... that it will be part of her memories of her bedroom for all her life and remind her of her childhood.

Her bedding. I'll confess I really love the bedding. It's subtle and sweet and feminine. We decided the cherry blossom motif would be perfect and sentimental for our spring baby born in DC (when the cherry blossoms here are in bloom!).

Here is a picture with the crib, bedding and dresser/changing table (also purchased) together.

We also have a tall/narrow dresser for her clothes (I think the changing table will mostly house burp cloths/diapers/ and other functional things) which Sie's great grandfather made and we recently antiqued ourselves. It turned out really well (kind of a light khaki color) and I think will go great in the room.

I'm torn on the paint. Since the furniture is mostly antique white, I think I'd like a very pale pink on the wall (they are currently cream) just so that everything does not blend into the walls. I think we'll probably go more neutral with the rug than the picture above. Something khaki colored perhaps- and durable. (since we do have a golden retriever and a tinkerbell to keep in mind!)

We have one window in the room, which actually goes out to a skylight area. Since we live in a row house, the center of the house would normally have no natural light (and you find many are very dark) but ours has a skylight that goes from 4th floor to basement and gives the center rooms some of that natural sunlight. Because that's the only natural light- we've gotten some pale pink "roman shades" which will I'm sure usually be open except in the early mornings if we're trying to keep her room nice and dark.

For her first months on earth, she'll sleep in our room. My mom & dad wanted to buy an heirloom piece of sorts- something my brothers and I could use when we have children and someday pass down for our children to use as well. A Selman heirloom :) I really liked the idea of starting a new family tradition. and we loooove what they chose (ok, I'll admit I weighed in!) It's beautiful and will be so nice having her bedside for those middle of the night feedings. (ignore all that other junk in the room! haha we're still in process of selling all the existing "den" items and transitioning into full on nursery)

Sie & I did order her baby book - our anniversary present to Helen and to eachother. I can't wait to see it in person.

Also, as my recent facebook posts undoubtedly indicate - i've been very emotional! Recently I ordered some pretty newborn bows which I hope to use in her newborn photos and of course sobbed upon their arrival. SOBBED. hahaha! Jumbled explanation to Sie included something along the lines of "I just love her so much alreeeeady." Oh hormones. Thank you for bringing that extra notch of crazy to the table :) Just what I needed!

I need to take a new baby bump picture. I am full on showing now. This week I definitely started sporting maternity pants to work too. (I found a pair on clearance at Ross! who knew?) And fully intend to wear these to death to work. My work is pretty extreme formal dress (men wear ties/jackets) so I was truly dreading purchasing a suit. For now I seem to be able to wear these pants (black with small pinstripes) and my regular jackets. We'll see how long that lasts. In non-work clothes- as an early birthday present, my mom got me jeans & corduroys (the latter will also be ok for work too) - and I'm in LOVE with them. they feel so great on and look cute too. My friend Amy said it best- all women deserve a pair of these just to wear to eat mexican food! ha!

That's all for now. I think I'll start blogging a little more frequently because I haven't gotten a pregnancy journal yet and it's a nice way to document how I was feeling/what I was thinking along the way!

Have a great week!

It's a...

2010-10-10T21:29:00.000-07:00

baby GIRL!!!

ok, so I have a feeling everyone I know is aware of that by now, ha! Since my mom and I were anxiously texting everyone in the world we knew after we found out on Friday Sie & I are indeed having a sweet baby girl.

We were lucky enough to have my mom & grandma Joyce in town for our anatomy & gender revealing Dr's appointment. We met at our house and I made breakfast and coffee before our 10:00 am appointment. I of course could hardly sleep that night so I was up and at 'em pretty early. We decided to all write down what we thought it would be... we ALL wrote down boy for some reason but none of us was pulling for one or the other, just healthy!

The main goal of the appointment of course is really to review the anatomy and make sure everything looks ok. As our Dr. went through each detailed check of the heart, brain, umbilical cord, placenta, kidneys, etc etc etc... tears rolled down my cheeks as he said all looked perfectly healthy and normal. As our doctor said, this was the one time in life its good to be "average." I've never felt more grateful or humbled to learn that our baby is indeed healthy and growing just as she should. God is so good.

Sie held my hand and we had a moment of shared gratitude for our healthy blessing. At one point our dr. checked for the gender but couldn't quite get a good view at that moment so said "I have a feeling I know what it is but I'm not 100% sure yet so I'll move on and come back to this." I immediately said "I know what you think it is, you think its a girl!" But he kept a completely straight face so I wasn't sure.

He continued doing his checks and then came back to the check for gender. He got a really good shot and said- ok, I'm ready to tell you 100%. Sie was filming (for his parents) so our Dr started to type "It's A.." on the screen. Then he jokingly said "hmm, the B & the G are so close together on the keyboard." haha! Enough all ready - tell us man! and we watched anxiously as he typed "GIRL" on the screen!!

We were all so so SO happy! Of course I saw my mom's eyes light up- I have a feeling GiGi's mind went right to bows, barbies and pink!! :) The next hour was spent sending texts and emails with the happy news.

So in less 4 and a 1/2 months, we'll introduce our baby girl: Helen Olivia Soheili.

Sweet baby Helen. At the end, our Dr threw in one 3-D pic. It blew our minds. You could see her sweet little face, with hands on either side. (oh and the seemingly giant umbilical cord!)

We are already enamored with you, Helen!!

I have to end by saying how grateful I felt for our friends and family who excitedly texted, emailed and facebooked sweet messages and well wishes all weekend. It felt amazing to have such love & support.

Hope I haven't sapped it up too much ;) This is an exciting and emotional time!

Happy birthday to SIE!!

2010-09-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

This year is a big one! :) Sie turns 30 today!! hard to believe it. I can remember my friends and I all thought he was "sooo old" when I first met him at Texas Tech (he was 21, I was 18!) Now that he is officially 30, I can rightfully call him an OLD MAN! haha!! kidding of course!

On your 30th birthday Sie, I'm so proud of you & happy to be your wife. I cannot believe the amazing adventure we're about to begin as PARENTS (us?!) starting our own little Soheili family. I wouldn't want to be on this ride with anyone else in the world :)

I hope today is a great one!

Here are some of my very favorite pics & memories together (I definitely have some great older ones, but our college pics weren't digital! now that makes me feel old!)

us admiring our new niece Isabella

at my graduation December 04 with Sie's grandmother, Helen

Halloween at Roger's in 05 - one of my favorite pics :)

In Costa Rica, little did I know soon to be engaged (a couple of days into the trip!)

still my favorite trip ever. we had so much fun!

Our engagement party, such a special night!

Pitchfork 2006

Skiing in Utah with the future Mr. and Mrs. Robinson

Vegas for my birthday with the Bakers

the very best night of my life.

exploring the rainforest on our honeymoon

Lookin bronzed in Belize

on our fishing expedition in Belize- where I caught a shark!!

this is just classic :)

getting scuba certified in some merky Austin lake water

exploring our new home, Washington DC

after Skydiving!

This year's trip to Turkey

overlooking Istanbul in the Galata tower

we're in London baby!

Love you lots - Happy Birthday Sie!

Quick 16 week baby bump pic :)

2010-09-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest- the baby bump pics make me a tad self conscious, BUT I'm officially 16 weeks along and am sporting a little bump action!

For now I can still wear my clothes like normal - but I have a feeling I'll be switching to the belly band soon :) We have our 16 week appointment tomorrow - can't wait!

Our active baby

2010-08-23T14:18:00.000-07:00

So, we had our 12 week appointment this past Friday! Being newbies to this whole process, Sie & I never quite know what to expect. I imagine both of us have that deer-in-the-headlights look as the Dr. runs through different questions/etc.

This week, we had our "nuchal" test (our Dr. opts for this test because it is non-invasive and they saw such good results when used on older women, they've made it standard across the board). So not knowing what to expect, Sie and I go in to have our ultra-sound. A sweet assistant starts in and immediately starts laughing, saying - "Wow, we have an active baby. Don't worry - that's a good thing, we like active babies!"

Not quite understanding what we were seeing on screen at first, she walked us through what parts were what and showed us, yes, in fact - our baby was doing flips and pushing off the sides of my stomach! Baby Soheili wouldn't sit still. :) Of course I can't feel any of his/her movements just yet, but it was absolutely thrilling for us both. All weekend we marveled at the thought of him/her just deciding to do somersaults in there!

So another nice Dr. comes in to see if she can have better luck, also smiling at our active baby. Finally, baby gets tired and while sleeping, she takes some fantastic shots of "2 hands and 2 feet", as well as some face and "tush" shots.

Baby Soheili @ 12 weeks - 2 hands and 2 feet:

She starts giggling too, and says- "look at your baby just lounging in there" - yes, Baby Soheili had his/her hands behind his head just chilling out! We couldn't believe it- that's exactly how Sie sleeps naturally!

Pic of baby "lounging" (you can see his/her head and belly) with hands behind head

Of course while our baby was entertaining us, they are trying to get a very specific measurement so baby needs to be in just the right place and in a profile view; once our baby was asleep, he/she was out cold and not cooperating! She kept asking me to cough or roll on my side, but baby was sound asleep. Sie & I both got a real kick out of this. Finally she was able to get some good measurements, and everything checked out just perfect. (I will get the results of the blood work later this week as well).

The Drs were so nice and patient; we were so grateful to have them walk us through each shot and explain what we were seeing. We walked away from the appointment in utter amazement. It was like catching a little glimpse into what our baby could one day be like. :) Bouncing off the walls and then crash tired?! A little pistol who won't cooperate? haha, bring it on Baby Soheili! I can already tell, I like you just the way you are. :)

This week, we cross the mark into Week 13 which will mean we're officially in our 2nd trimester!! I have a great day by day "Due Date Calculator" (I'm a nerd- it helps me to see it on a timeline like this) which shows approximately how far along and the baby's progress each week. I also love the "week by week" calendar on Parents.com which talks about both your baby and body's development week by week. I've been trying to send all the grandparents a snapshot of what's going on in the world of Baby Soheili each week (when I remember).

I am getting some energy back (I'm officially staying awake past 10!) and am still feeling very good. I'm also getting my appetite back. I haven't really gained weight just yet (maybe a pound so far), but I do have a little tummy pooch action going now. :)

In September, I think Sie's mom (Mary, aka "grandma") will be making a trip up and my grandma Joyce and my mom are coming in October, as well as my cousin Emily for a conference. I just can't wait to have them all up during this time.

We're also hoping to make a trip to New York at the end of September for Sie's big birthday: he turns the big 3-0 this year!!

That's all for now - just wanted to post a little update!

It's BLOG official!

2010-08-09T12:58:00.000-07:00

I think the news has made its way around the family and to most of our friends (thanks to facebook, word travels fast!) but just in case you haven't heard... We're PREGNANT! :)

Baby Soheili is on the way - we'll be 11 weeks along this week, with a due date for now of March 3rd, 2011. Feels so far away, yet I also can't believe how far along we are.

I'm sure in the coming weeks, time will start FLYING by. Since we were waiting to announce the news in person during my trip to Houston this past weekend, each day before then seemed to crawl by (I guess I was really looking forward to being able to tell my family/friends - especially my brothers, or should I say new UNCLES!)

In addition to celebrating the news with family... we also celebrated my sweet friend Amy's little bun in the oven: Preston Davis. I hosted a baby shower with seven other fabulous women, including my mom (which was so fun). Everything turned out just perfect and beautiful! Mom-to-be had such a glow about her and it was so nice to spend time with such a great group of women.

Amy and my friend Kim (also a hostess & decorative genius behind the shower) both posted pictures/re-cap on their blogs so I'm going to link to theirs for more pictures:

Amy's Blog and Kim's Blog

So far I'm feeling really good (I've been lucky to only get sick a handful of times so far) though my bed time sure has changed! :) I'm usually such a night owl but lately can't stay up past 9:30. I'm hoping the books are right and I get my usual energy back in the 2nd trimester. I'm sure Sie would love to get back to our normal routine (for now) of hanging out/watching our favorite shows/doing projects around the house, rather than staring at me asleep on the couch with Tinkerbell every night! :)

Also, so far no weight gain or sign of a baby bump. Initially I lost a little bit of weight (I think just from general food aversion) but now I'm sitting right at my usual weight. I'm kind of excited to get a little bump but I'm sure 6 months from now I'll be regretting those words!

I know my family is wishing we were closer so we could experience all the pregnancy moments together. The virtual world will have to do for now - so I plan to update with pics and any new news as much as possible.

Happy Monday.

its the FINAL countdown...

2010-06-24T19:37:00.000-07:00

so I have a habit of writing a new post to 90% complete and then forgetting to post! that last post was about a week old.

so we're actually now 4 days away!

.... AND

had a successful shopping outing last weekend and picked up some cute items that will be perfect for Turkey including the ones below so I think we're officially ALL SET. (though i am still looking for cute pairs of regular shorts if anyone has recommendations)

this weekend we'll focus on wrapping up any last minute to-dos (I have checklists going like you would not believe... notifying credit card companies we'll be in Turkey/picking up an electrical converter/etc/etc!)

a sneak preview of some of the places we're headed:

olympos beach

oludeniz

"Blue Mosque" in Istanbul

can't wait to share the journey when we return. I am so excited to meet the people of Turkey, experience their beautiful culture and heritage and enjoy the gorgeous landscape.... and admittedly we're both pretty excited to eat Turkish food and relax on the beach as well!!

when in Turkey...

2010-06-24T19:16:00.000-07:00

Sie and I leave for our trip to Turkey in t-minus 10 days. :)

We are flying into London, then onto Istanbul the following morning and spending a full day there. Then we fly south, where we have rented a car and will drive along the Mediterranean coast :) after 5 days along the coast- we fly back to Istanbul and have 2 more full days to really explore the city (I've heard Istanbul can be a trip in itself).

I am so excited- but in a different way than I normally am for our usual caribbean getaway. I don't know how to explain, but I guess it's so far from anywhere I've ever been, I don't know how to mentally prepare! I know I will be blown away by the culture, history, landscape, and people. I have never been to that part of the world (that far east) and I can't wait to experience it all first hand.

that said... now to the really important questions- WHAT DO I WEAR in TURKEY. (ok, ok - so I know its low on the priority list in reality!) But let's just say Sex and the City II did nothing but fuel the fire behind my dreamy visions of flowy dresses in a majestic middle eastern scenery! then reality hits when I shop and discover I look terrible (and ridiculous) in the trendy long flowy dresses that are so popular right now! they have a way of dwarfing me, but I do wish I could pull them off.

this blog is purely for vanity's sake- so bear with me (ha!); I really need some help from the fashionable women in my life!

so the vibe I'm going for is casual but chic.. also feminine (reading this to myself, I'm thinking Sie might do some eye rolling if he ever reads this blog post!) I know it will be hot and we'll be walking around a TON so clothing needs to be practical- but I'd like to look back at pictures and at least feel like I look alright against our beautiful surroundings! I look back at our honeymoon pics and I lived in shorts (plaid ones!) and tank tops the ENTIRE time - cute at the time, but I'm not so sure I can pull off that look anymore. does that come with age - SCARY?

so I've gotten a few cotton halter dresses so far. I think they will be comfortable & cool during the day and can transition to night if needed. I gravitate toward halter anything because they require no bra (TMI?) and they're flattering on my body type (see: short waisted & busty!)

I got this halter dress with beaded ties from Victoria's Secret in black. I am my mother's child - about 75% of my clothes are black. the other 25%, largely coral & turquoise :)

I'd highly recommend this one for cut & fit. I actually ordered 3 halter dresses from VS, and the two didn't quite work but it was so easy to return and the prices were great.

The 2 that didnt work were the Rope Halter which was cute but didn't have a defined waist, so just didnt flatter as well, and the V-neck halter with knots which was entirely too low cut and had pockets that didnt do much in the way of flattery either (might have been cute on other people, but on me it was INappropriate!)

Now that I know which style works, I might snag a few more if i do it quickly - the price is certainly right!! (on clearance for 19.99!)

also my mom got me this cute new dress from Nordstrom (yes its from the Juniors department! haha but since I am short waisted- it actually fit really well!)

on a side note- is that one of the young Kardashians? Amanda pointed it out and I think she's spot on!

I also bought a couple of cute halter tops from Anthropologie one from this season, one from last....what I'm really struggling to find are flattering SHORTS! If anyone has any recommendations for flattering shorts - please let me know. my black ones are borderline grey now I've worn them so much. and the cute white ones I bought last season - are too big for me now (yay!) but now I need to search for another option!

I'm thinking some of these longer skinny capris could be cute & versatile.

Even basic tees seem to be difficult to find - they are all very long right now - I want a go to solid fitted tee!

I'm also looking for an inexpensive but functional tan bag to carry around. I tend to have LOUD purses- i'm looking for something a little less conspicuous!

we're making a last trip to target for all those last minute items (snacks/electrical converter/sunscreen/etc!) and I'm going to see if either of these are cute:

bueno washed hobo or this merona tote

don't get me wrong i'd LOVE to get this beautiful anthropologie carry all but it's not practical since I know we'll be at the beach and traveling around & it will probably get dirty!

to be continued....

For the record...

2010-06-15T10:43:00.000-07:00

just gotta say - i called it! In my Oscar Best & Worst blog, I just knew the beautiful ruffly fuscia Marchesa dress Vera Farmiga (lady from "Up in the Air") wore to the Oscars would be stunning in a cocktail variety.

Here's Jada Pinkett Smith sporting it at the Tony's (love it!) You've gotta be seriously petite to pull off ruffles of this volume.

Spring Forward

2010-04-25T12:51:00.000-07:00

Cannot believe we're 2 months into spring already! With the crazy weather plus busy schedules and lots of change - I don't know that Spring has gotten its fair share of attention this year.

Even though I love the beautiful colors of DC's fall and even enjoyed the Snowpocalypse that was this years winter; Spring is my very favorite season in DC. The weather and flowers (cherry blossoms!) are incredible (though much cooler than at home), but what I like most is the people, who are out in full force on every sunny day. Patios are full to the brim, jackets are off, sunglasses are on - and people just seem vibrant. Like they've been waiting eagerly for the sun to come out and want to enjoy every minute of it. I don't know how long we'll stay in DC (though, sorry Mom, no plans to leave for now!) but something about not knowing does make me appreciate it a little more; I want to remember it all and soak it in while we're here!

Since my last blog - we've had a lot of change around the Soheili household. :) Sie was promoted to Communications Manager with Capital One and is excited about his new role (he works hard & I couldn't be more proud of him). And I... (drum roll) decided to leave Accenture after five and a half years! I am starting my new role as Program Finance Manager with Dyncorp International this Monday and am pretty pumped about the opportunity to do something new. Accenture was a great company to work for; I'll never forget the friends I made and the experience gained from my time there. But change is good- and since that was my first and only job out of college - change is also semi-terrifying! ;) haha! Luckily the excitement trumps the fear (for now!)

We also had some travel and awesome visitors:

End of March/early April, our friend Chad (checkout his awesome blog about his time traveling Japan & Australia) & his girlfriend Rei came to check out the Cherry Blossoms and while they were here, we also enjoyed a fantastic rooftop birthday party for our good friend Ellen. When I told our friend Katie we had friends coming in town, she said "you guys and your visitors!" I guess we've gotten alot of visits from friends and family but it never gets old. We love it - and each time we realize visitors make us get out and see the city (sometimes we get set in our routine!), so it's been a real blessing, not to mention lots of fun. (and yes this is an invitation- come visit, there's an air mattress with your name on it)

enjoying Ellen's rooftop birthday, with fireworks courtesy of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. What a beautiful night!

cherry blossoms and bomb pops. how very all american.

Then we took the most amazing trip to New York with Dean and Becky!! I think I pretty well documented it via facebook but I have to say, we had a total blast. Sie & I had never traveled with just my parents before- they make a really good travel couple. They're flexible and always down for a good time!

Since Dad had never been to NYC before, we knocked out all the must-sees: top of the Empire State Building - I had actually never done this before and absolutely loved it. Night time is the way to go; Chrysler Building (not because we thought it was the Empire State building or anything- that would be absurd...BAH), Grand Central Station, Central Park, Bryant Park, Times Square, Highline Park & of course a small glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. Aside from all that (90% of which we somehow packed into day 1!!), we looooved Soho, little Italy, a beautiful place called "the Park" in the Meatpacking District and really enjoyed seeing Billy Elliot on Broadway. It was SO good (even Sie, who lets say was musical-hesitant, really enjoyed the show!) ;)

We also had a lot of fun doing our own little version of a pub crawl (and by pub I mean we ended up in Aidan & Steve's bar from Sex in the City drinking cosmos- mom & I were in heaven!!) and let's not forget the pharmacy crawl (we somehow hit up every CVS in the city). We ate a lot of delicious food... I'm trying to think of which meal I loved the best. I think I'd have to say China Grill. Even though it was so much food, we left in borderline pain; it was: TO.DIE.FOR. I think my favorite bar was Randolph's at Broome in Soho, a chic little hipster place where our bartender mixed custom cocktails based on whatever we liked.

A few pics of our trip (between I-phones, blackberry and several cameras, its safe to say the trip was WELL documented!) I'm cracking up remembering one awesome fact we learned regarding Becky's very unique photography approach. An approach that may or may not involve getting your entire head in the picture. Can't wait to see some of those gems.

Mom & Dad in Central Park

about to experience the everlasting sandwiches and what would become "reuben brickette" that we enjoyed at Carnegie Deli.

these 2 being goobs at Calle Ocho

did someone say 8 different types of bottomless sangria? don't mind if we do!

I have to thank our amazing friends Andrea, Jerome, Skye & my Aunt Debbie for all their awesome NY knowledge- we were all over their suggestion lists! (Andrea- should I post the NY suggestion list as a blog, that thing was priceless!) I'll get the ok from her first- she may have bigger plans for the list than my nerdy blog. ;)

Then my beautiful cuzzie Whitney came to visit for an Art Education conference in Baltimore (while Sie was in New Orleans for Matt Gantt's Bachelor party!!) We had so much fun together- she's such a fun, positive, inspiring person to be around. Whit also became an expert commuter, getting to & from Baltimore on the MARC train & was so city-sophisticated! She raved about the American Visionary Art Museum which she visited as part of her convention experience, so I've got to go to now :) While she wasn't convention-ing, we enjoyed Eastern Market & Dupont Farmer's Market together, and walked all around the Capitol Area. We even did a short trip to a few art galleries (which had always intimidated me, but Whit was not afraid!) and the Freer-Sackler art gallery which I had never been to before.

Whitney inspired me to check out the Phillips Collection (right around the block from us!) on my week off, so after she left and I had a week of free time, I finally went and really fell in love. They're currently showing a Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit which was so beautiful. Can't wait to have you back, Whitney- love you!

Oscars Best & Worst

2010-03-08T12:43:00.000-08:00

after every awards show- i send my mom an email of my "best & worst" dresses according to moi :)

i thought it might be funny to share with the rest of my family, so i've copied & pasted this year's "Oscar's Best & Worst" email to Becky below;

Drumroll please...

You can debate these (because there were quite a few where I disagree with everyone!), but all-in-all I wasn't dazzled by this years Oscar dresses.... people were playing it safe!

My very favorite- and I know it's not for everyone, Best Dressed goes to...

Nicole Richie! She looks so elegant with a nod to the 60's, and I love the smoky grey color on her. & in the pictures with her soon-to-be-hubby, they look so happy!

Other best dressed ladies...

I think I have a tendency to like Kate Winslet no matter what, because I imagine she has the same problems finding dresses that i do, specifically in the BUST area :) I love this dress on her; she looks like a Hollywood movie star from any decade, truly timeless and iconic. Oh & not to mention she's rocking a $2.5M necklace- that's some serious bling!

As usual, I don't want to love Demi, but the fit is too impeccable to deny. And the fleshy, peach color- perfect with her skin tone/hair. I saw a side view that was even more flattering, if that's possible.

Zoe Saldano: love it because it's interesting and bold, yet so gorgeous. I think it's one you either love or hate, but she looks like a STAR!

I don't even know this lady, Vera something :) BUT I thought her dress fit perfectly and looked to die for. The average person would have been swallowed in all the ruffles, but that bit along the curve without ruffles, just really makes it work for me. And the color... the color was beautiful. I think I would even like it in a cocktail version; I bet it inspires alot of dresses this season.

Cameron: I think it was a safe choice for her, and I so missed her usual unique/funky, fashion-forward dresses, BUT she undeniably looks like a modern day Veronica Lake. Totally stunning. And not an easy feat for someone who has a kind of boyish figure.

She's just being Miley! I was shocked by how pretty she looked. I probably would have taken the bust up one more inch and preferred it in a brighter color, BUT I think she looked beautiful either way. And I loved her hair! Kind of rocker girl glam :) one note** - She needs Papa in her life to teach her some lessons on posture. Every picture was super slouchy. I think girls that age must think it makes you look thin/modelish to hunch over - but it looks bad in pictures!

I'm including Penelope for you :) It's not my total favorite, but she's so gorgeous and sophisticated, it's hard to find wrong in just about anything she wears.

Mariska Hartigay: even though the dress is a bit bridesmaidy - she looks so friggin pretty I had to include her. and she's 46 damnit!

WORST:

I know everyone loved it - and I love Sandra as much as the next girl, but I don't get what the fuss is all about. It's just not my favorite for some reason... so I'm going to put it in the "meh" category; in some pictures I think it belongs in the worst, in others, I think its ok.

I will admit I do like it better close up where you can see all the details (2nd pic)

I don't want to do it... everyone will hate this choice (and I LOVE SJP), but I'm not loving it from the head on angle!! It looks like a sheet masking what we all know to be a fabulous figure. Now I do like the side view much better, gives her a little curve- and I think her hair was spot on (she usually botches the hair part)... and I know, I know its Chanel Couture, everyone loves it- but I just don't like it from the front at all (kind of a big deal).

I'll give it to her for rocking it though - she owns whatever she has on! :)

So over this twilight chick - she is dressing too old and looks blah! Everyone loved this dress, and I actually do think it's pretty, just not on her.

My friend thought she was stunning and obviously she looks gorgeous, but it's too overdone for me. :) and the side poof/drama, kinda unnecessary on someone who's overtly sexy and curvy. J-lo's been off her game lately!

Charlize: I'd LOVE to meet the stylist that thought this wouldnt land her on the worst dressed lists. She's arguably the most beautiful girl there, but there are some unfortunately placed purple cinnamon buns on her BEEPS. If you take those away, maybe throw some beading on the bodice, the color probably would have been really beautiful on her (and not quite so distracting).

I love Diane Kruger, and I wanted to like this dress because it's so unique and couture - but then I saw this 2nd picture of her . It manages to make a tiny waif of a girl look like she has an A$@ that won't quit. That's enough to throw it into "Worst" territory.

Rachel McAdams, ICK. the color is pretty & yes, she's totally cute and loveable. But this dress makes her look boobless and potentially pregnant. Not for me.

Oh Faith... you look overworked and quite frankly a little desperate for attention. This dress = God awful.

bare with me...

2010-02-02T21:29:00.000-08:00

I'm workin on my blog layout. I thought it'd be fairly simple; all my friends have really cute layouts, but mine is always messing up & lookin all funky, so I thought new year, new commitment to blog, new look... Then the realization hit me --> i'm shockingly (and embarassingly) terrible at this! I'm slowly trying to figure out html(or holding out for plan B: convincing my brother-in-law to change it up for me!), either way - hopefully we'll be stylin in no time.

in the mean time, bare with me. at one point today- my blog looked like it was in Japanese- so trust me, this current look has to be better than that!!

p.s. its snowing again!

here's a pic from this weekend's very snowy tour of DC

omg moment

2010-01-27T11:11:00.001-08:00

Just a little quickie blog, but I just discovered a new favorite website & felt the urge to share: Polyvore!!

(am i really late on this one? b/c i really didnt know this existed!)

I stumbled upon the site as I was trying to get "Audrey-Hepburn-circa-Breakfast-at-Tiffany's" inspiration. A friend of mine is having a Breakfast at Tiffany's themed bridal luncheon (really cute idea!) and we're all supposed to dress "in-theme"!

Polyvore's motto is: "Express your style. Mix & match products from your favorite stores. Shop looks created by the web's largest fashion community."

So it's literally a place where people pull together fashion "looks", then link to where you can actually purchase the products. I am still figuring it all out- but to me, it feels alot like I'm gaining a personal shopper for FREE. :)

check out some of the Audrey Hepburn inspired looks:

audrey

Audrey Hepburn by Minnie Me featuring Prada shoes

Items in this set:
beige chiffon sunday dress, $40
Amber Road Coat-Mod Retro Indie Clothing & Vintage Clothes, $85
PATENT LEATHER BELT TOP BALLERINAS, 165 GBP
Chanel Vintage Maxi Caviar Quilted Bag
Rose Stud Earrings by Betsey Johnson at Zappos.com, $31

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Nikitaaa featuring Giuseppe Zanotti shoes

Items in this set:
Oasis Int vintage shift dress With Next Day Delivery - Womens Fashion..., 70 GBP
giuseppe zanotti, 120 GBP
Tiffany & Co. | Browse Earrings | United States, $5,000
claire's accessories flower tiara, $17
Monsoon Accessorize - 14 Quilted Sunglasses, 15 GBP

these last 2 blogs make it sound like I'm an inspiring fashionista! I'm totally not (way too cheap, ahem, I mean frugal for that) but I do have a serious love of fashion and appreciate the "art" of it all.

I like trying out new trends, while still searching for my own defined style. I love seeing fabulous clothes, on me of course, but also on anyone. and i appreciate people's individual styles and tastes, it's cool to see how much clothes can reflect personality.

hope you like the site as much as I do! :)

its a new year after all

2010-01-09T23:36:00.000-08:00

It's the new year and I've decided to wash my hands of this blog anxiety and start back up again! :) I kept feeling like I'd need to catch up and post pics, so I put it off- which is crazy because blogging's supposed to be cathartic!

So my new years resolutions include: getting in the best shape of my life (always?) and blogging more. I get potential ideas all the time when I'm out and about, so in an effort to help make the latter resolution a reality, I've started keeping a list of blog ideas in my i-phone (oh that handy i-phone). I've got some potentials a-brewing already (winter fashion best of: DC edition!)!

but for my first blog in 2010, I'm going totally random!

The object of my affection this month is hands down = the new anthropologie catalog (and everything inside it). It arrived this week like a gift from the fashion gods and I am now coveting all things anthropologie. Their clothes (this month especially) are feminine and timeless with a parisian feel...

Some of my favorite items:

Snow-Covered Fields Dress

so cute with this lil blazer :)

Schoolboy Blazer

The entire "50's collection" is to die for... of course, i favor all the outfits with fabulous "JACKETS!" I don't know if i've mentioned via blog, but most of my friends and family know of my severe jacket addiction. I blame it on the bust- a good jacket's not just a nice-to-have, but a necessity when you're busty.

So my good friend Amanda has taken to comparing me to Suze Orman (who has a similar love of "JACKETS" ---> gotta see the SNL skit!!)

There are too many things to list--> i love all the accessories, flirty dresses, cute jackets, and luxurious purses.

one trend i HAVE to mention- owls. for the love of gaudy gold tchotchkes (& i mean that in a loving way), its never been more in fashion to be a chi-omega ;) My Johnston cousins are all pi-phis (and super fashionable) and there is ALWAYS so much cute angel & wing jewelry out there (for the pi-phi girls!)... but we all got to talking at Thanksgiving and agreed: all of a sudden- the market is flooded with tons of OWL stuff. go chi-o :)

enjoy it now b/c it's a trend that surely won't last long. I have a vintage jewelry box Sie bought me (his first present to me!) that is very 60's black enamel with an owl on top... I'm thinking that may be about the last time owls were "In".

owls:

ring @ anthro

Cute owl knob (also at anthro)

cute lil 80's owl tee (forever 21- which by the way has more OWL paraphernalia than i could have imagined- some HIDEOUS, hah)

tooooons of stuff at urban, including this cute owl bank- I'm thinking my god-daughters need this one! (chi-o's in training thanks to Court!!)

lastly - wanted to Thank Santa. She CLEARLY did her homework regarding my love of anthropologie :) what can i say- she knows her stuff. :)

july in a nutshell.

2009-08-04T21:16:00.000-07:00

New York at the High Line Park

Our hosts, Jerome & Andrea - takin us to the MoMa (who keeps a great blog as well: http://lostinharlem.blogspot.com/). **and yes, we were staying in Harlem with these 2 the weekend Michael Jackson died, though somehow managed to avoid any craziness**

after the kiddos first night in DC- COMPLETELY tuckered out and asleep on our bed. sweet babies!! (i think they may have been a LITTLE excited!)

Family paddleboating in the Tidal Basin

Isabella cracking me up (with her sponge curled hair!!)

Mr. Samuel at the 4th of July parade (which he loved!)

About as all American as they get. :)

great one of Sie and the kiddos.

After playing all day at the National Mall, Samuel was officially a wild man! (this is prob. my fav. pic from the weekend)

how can you resist this sweet boy. :) Posing with his glow-in-the-dark necklaces from Uncle Sie-Sie.

The most amazing fireworks show I've ever seen.

Sie & all of his best buds went to Wisconsin for a week of fishing, beer and general manliness ;)

"they're on a boat"

Mike with one of the bigger catches of the week :)

down the mouth

the whole gang - they took this pic for my mom to thank her for the cigars! :)

After Wisconsin, I met Sie in Chicago, where we were staying with our good friend Brandon for Pitchfork Music festival. :)We loved his new neighborhood - Wicker Park/Bucktown- so great!

Sie & I went on a date to Trump's new tower in Chicago. Me, enjoying a lemon twist at "Sixteen." and that giant thing inside the drink = was a stalk of lemon grass, which i proceeded to use as a straw. sophisticated ;)

Rog & Brandon enjoying the show.

the boys, day 1 of Pitchfork

Roger & I (i think i was into the music!) :)

Last but not least, my trip to Houston.

Amy Sikes, her mom Barbara Sikes, Cheryl Johanning & Abby Jones and I threw a baby shower for Kim Carson. She was the cutest mommy to be- so petite with what looked like a little volleyball under her dress!

(side note: How do I set Sie's expectations that I will so NOT look like this when pregnant? haha.)

the shower was beautiful- Amy is a great hostess (and her home was beautiful) & she had put a lot of thought into theme and decor. We all helped with the menu which also was a big hit. Amy made a neat collage with details of the shower on her blog as well: http://amyandbrettkummer.blogspot.com/2009/07/kims-baby-shower.html

** P.s. many of these are from facebook already too **

Rebecca & I couldn't get enough of Kim's baby bump. Later on, Crew kicked while we were all hovering around feeling- AMAZING!

Champagne bar- the frame includes 3 champagne cocktail recipes. Loved this idea b/c you could have your choice of alcoholic (with champagne) or non-alcoholic (just juice). Great option for showers.

The beautiful dining room - "Celebrate" sign courtesy of Amy.

the spread

The candy bar, complete with chocolate babies made by Barbara and edible pacifiers (made by yours truly) ;)

The dining table (the german chocolate cake looking item on a pedestal is actually my Cha-Cha Chicken Salad from Southern Living- it turned out really well & was very tasy!)

The hostesses with the mostest and mommy Kim

The girls- coordinating until i blew the color scheme. :)

Lindy and her cute son Cade, giving some mom to mom advice. (also a good one of Kim's little baby bump!)

the sign-in book, complete with pics of Kim & her husband Brett as babies. (such a cute idea)

Kim opening gifts- she cleaned up!

wow- that was a LOT of pics.

that's all she wrote. :)

a year in DC???

2009-08-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

First I can't even believe its August. July flew by with a trip to New York, Chicago, Sie's fishing trip in Wisconsin, my trip home for Kim's baby shower, and the Soheili's visit for the 4th! We've stayed BUSY this month, but it's been so much fun.

I'm going to post some pictures from the various trips tonight (esp. Kim's baby shower which was a big hit!)

Second, as Sie and I just renewed our lease for our house on Decatur- it struck me that its been a year since we moved here! About this time last year, we were preparing for Brad & Lori's wedding and 2 days later, our long drive to DC. On one hand it feels like the time has flown by and everything still feels very new, but on the other we've started to feel like DC is really home (especially when we come back from trips). Don't get fired up, mom- Texas will always be HOME home. ;)

Recently, we've started looking for homes in DC. We're still VERY early on the process- wish us luck, it may turn out to be a pipe dream! I can say so far that buying a home in a city like DC is truly a different ball game then it was in Texas. competition, quick sales, and most noticeably- so much less house for so much more $$! haha. or I guess that's how it feels so far ;)

so naturally my mind has already progressed about 20 steps (maybe 100?) past where we actually are and has moved on to thinking about decorating a row house. :)

The layouts are usually long and narrow, with kitchens in the far back of the house so it can be challenging to furnish. i've been trying to find decorating websites/etc. for inspiration (hey, its something to distract me at work at least!) :)

On a different topic, while I was in Houston for Kim's shower, my mom and I (because yes, it takes 2 women to take care of these boys!!) sat down, figured out a date that would work for both of them and finally booked a trip: my brothers are coming in NINE days!! I'm SO excited- my brothers have never been to this part of the country (corbin once to philly though) so I think it's all going to be so new and different for them. Cant wait to show them everything :) One of my friends little sister just so happens will be in town as well that weekend.. haha. Do I dare introduce her to Corbin & Grant? She wont stand a chance!

lots of love- more to come!

Fireflies

2009-06-24T12:56:00.000-07:00

We've been having quite the busy summer so far- its been so much fun, & now that it's finally stopped raining (it rained every day almost for the past month), its absolutely beautiful out!

We're heading up to New York to see some friends this weekend & going on a "Booze cruise" which I expect will be ridiculous & fun. They live in Harlem and love it and I'm really excited to check out the neighborhood with its rich cultural history.

Next week, our niece and nephew (Samuel & Isabella), Sie's mom, dad and grandma are all coming to see us. We've both been feeling so excited to see them; we do the I-chat with them whenever we can (video) but it's just not the same as getting to be with them in person.

So in preparing for their trip here, we've thought alot about both kids. What will they like, what should we have for them to eat, things they will love (e.g. we bought a Popsicle maker to make fresh pops with them!). I have to say we treasure those little boogers! :) They are such fantastic kids.

So lately when we're walking around our neighborhood, it's been a lot of "oh, we have to take the kids there for ice cream" and "oh, they would love this place".

One really special part of the trip will be July 4th in our Nation's capitol. To celebrate the 4th, there is an enormous parade and festival down on the Mall/Monument/Capitol area. Tons of people come out to celebrate. And the night ends with the marine band performs as well as famous musicians, rounded out by an AMAZING fireworks display.

I'm so pumped! I know the kids are going to love it- we're probably going to hang around the area for most of the day and bring a picnic and ball/frisbee. Sie actually went to the celebration on the mall when he was about 5 (and saw the Beach Boys!) so it will be neat to continue the tradition. Hopefully the infamous fit he threw (with pouty pictures in front of the Monument to boot) will NOT be a celebration we continue. HAHA, we love to give him a hard time about that one :)!

If anyone has any other suggestions for great things to do with kids in DC, I'd love advice.

The title of this blog is inspired by a recent discovery on our evening walks with the dogs - DC is absolutely bursting with fireflies. They're everywhere and so bright. I remembered how when i was little, we used to always have jars with holes at the top on hand to collect fireflies/worms/etc. I immediately made a mental note- save the salsa jar for next week with the kids.

Fireflies also got me thinking about my Dad (Dean) and how at Lake Limestone he would always say we could catch the fireflies and make them into earrings! ;) this sounded like a great idea to me and the mental image of walking around with lit bugs on my ears has definitely stuck with me. (Love you Dad!) and don't you know I'm going to copy that line with Isabella! haha!

needless to say, even though we are truly loving it here- there are times I really miss my family and friends and get so excited when they are able to visit! Just wanted to give you guys a shout out :) (I'm getting all vaclempt, talk amongst yourselves!)

;)

I have tons of things to post- but i'm trying to tone down the picture posts b/c I think I was turning this into a photo album blog ;)

here's a pic i love with the kiddos & Helen (Sie's grandmother). love ya - kate

Selmans visit DC!

2009-05-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

My parents came to visit for 5 days. It was my dad's first time to DC and i must say - we had a complete BLAST! It was so nice- Sie & I both took time off so we could really enjoy their time here.

We did so much in the short time they were here- but there's still so much to see & do, so they've got to come back soon. Highlights of the trip were the Lincoln memorial/all the downtown Monuments, "the simulator", Dupont Circle, Mount Vernon & of course... the Cherry Blossoms!

We loved having them- I always feel lucky that my parents are so much fun! By far the best part was just getting to catch up, laugh (which we did a LOT of), eat good food, relax & enjoy eachother's company. :) One night we ate at Rays the Classics in Silver Spring- some of the best steak i've ever had! (and thats saying something being from Texas!) Rays the Classics

We've already started making a list for all the fun places we want to go NEXT time they come. High on the list for next time is Rays Hellburger- an AMAZING hamburger joint (honestly, maybe the best I've ever had).

Even the President recently tried it out! (which of course caused quite a stir in DC- everyone loved it!) He's done a really good job of getting out to small locally-owned businesses, which I think is great for the area. Here's the video of the President & Vice President getting some burgers. :)
Obama, Biden Go Out for Burgers

** my favorite part of the video is that Biden is suddenly no where to be found when the check comes! HAHA!** (jk!)

Here's a link to our entire trip's pics: Selmans Visit DC in case you're really bored at work!

& i included some of my favs below.

classic Washington Monument pic! maybe our family Christmas Card (sorry Grant & Corbin!) haha.

mom & I at the Smithsonian Star Spangled Banner exhibit

us DYING laughing in the similator at the Smithsonian (literally there were tears & screaming!) i'm pretty sure we scared off anyone wanting to ride this one.

manly men :) at Austin Grill for lunch. (b/c they never get Mexican food?!) haha

great one of Mom & Dad in front of the reflecting pool

Classic - pushing down the monument.

At the cherry Blossoms

Of course MORE cherry blossoms (we took prob. 200 pics!) haha

Just another day in DC ;)

Mom & I holding hands with the Washingtons :)

Mom & Dad overlooking the Potomac at Mount Vernon

this week i'm going to try to upload our Tour of the EU embassies which took place in our neighborhood. It turned out to be quite a day- we even got to meet 2 ambassadors from Luxembourg & Portugal!

Snow day in DC

2009-03-20T22:29:00.000-07:00

we were starting to get used to DC spring time- 60s and sunny and so beautiful... when, we woke up one morning to SNOW DAY.

i ACTUALLY woke up to a text from one of my team members "hey boss, do we have to work through blizzards?" i went to the dining room and saw just a blanket of snow- and it was still coming down in big beautiful flakes!!

one more snow day for our first year in DC.

i loved it- sie & i worked from home together & it was like an extra weekend day!! bonus! :)

But i think my favorite part of snow... is the reaction from our dogs. They are both such wierdos- constantly entertaining us. And when it comes to snow - they are on absolute ends of the spectrum!!

Tinkerbell... as you might expect; well, lets face it she's a weenie. terrified of most things - and definitely not ok with walking in snow thats almost as deep as she is tall. with each step, she acts like she's stepping on molten lava!

Tink making her way down the stairs... not happy!!

Trying to be cool at the park (this wont last long!)

her brother Buddy, on the other hand.. is a SNOW lover. he absolutely goes nuts! he's a big mess as most of you know, and SUCH a goof. here's Bud running, rolling and generally covering himself with snow. Somehow he managed to have a GIANT clump of snow on his nose, no matter what he was doing.

he had a BLAST! :)

making a new friend:

frolicking in the snow (he was running at full speed with 2 legs off the ground at a time- MANIAC!)

he found a ball and ends up laying down/rolling in the snow!

while Buddy lived his snow day to the fullest, tink was being quite the baby:

Inauguration Day

2009-02-28T20:27:00.000-08:00

finally I'll finish up our Inaugural week posting with INAUGURATION DAY!! JANUARY 20th 2009!!

we started the morning bright & early b/c we were fully expecting the craziness and hysteria that would be Inauguration 09. we all met at our place, ready to get to the action - here's a pic of all of us leaving the house that morning (still dark outside)!

All of our friends had tickets except for Sie & I who were definitely planning to fend for ourselves in the non-ticket holding masses!! we walked through enormous crowds of people, down to the capitol and through a tunnel (which made me slightly nervous- what if we got trapped?!) at the end of which we had to split up into ticket holders and non-ticket holders - and Sie & I were on our own.

Here we are waiting in one massive line going WAAAY out of the way (literally the opposite direction of the capitol).

So we waited, and waited annnnnd waited. winding lines, people saying to go every which way, no one angry- but still testing the limits of human patience...when finally it was starting to get close to 11 am and it was all supposed to start kicking off. We were still waiting in an enormous line that was NOT moving. (lets not forget its also about 20 degrees out!)

We started to get antsy. Suddenly we realized people next to us were jumping over the concrete barricades...The cops were sitting right there letting it happen but saying "that street doesnt go anywhere, come over if you want"... So we decided to go for it! It had to be better than not moving in a line seemingly going AWAY from where we wanted to be.

We hop the barricade, walk about 100 feet and end up RIGHT on the National Mall- with a great view of the jumbo-trons, surrounded by people. IT WAS AMAZING. We could NOT believe our luck (or that we could have just jumped over the whole time!)

here are some pics to help you get a feel for the size of this crowd:

a beautiful one of the nation's capital

here we are enjoying our new spot on the mall - ready to watch history happen!

this one looking the other direction- towards the Washington Monument- truly shows the crowd- it encompassed the ENTIRE national mall - from the capitol- all the way to the Lincoln Memorial. I can honestly say - i've never seen that many people in one place in all my life. (and will we ever again?)

a few other favs...

recognize these 2? old bill and hill :)

probably the best pic we have- Sie captured it at the perfect moment during Obama's swearing in!

all the american flags waving high- even if you're not his biggest fan- you could not feel anything but proud and tingly during this moment!!

and to end- we walked home (2 of our friends were staying with us since we were in walking distance- so our home was the meeting spot!) There was no way we were finding eachother in those crowds.

So we finally get to our street (about a 3-4 mile walk with all of the detours from the capitol, normally less than 2!) and discover there was security set up at every block! I guess with all the embassies- they decided to put the street on lockdown. Kinda crazy to think... we live here!!

Making History!!

2009-01-25T18:18:00.000-08:00

Part 1 - Inaugural Concert & Red Goes Blue party!

So, we've been quite slow on the blogging lately... but we have a great excuse: we've been busy MAKING HISTORY!!!!! :) HA!

The last few weeks were inauguration-mania here in DC and we decided to jump in and embrace every minute of it!

During the weeks prior to January 20th, inauguration was all we heard about - TV, friends, internet- the build-up was SO exciting we could hardly wait for it to finally happen. We knew there would be MASSIVE crowds, road closures and enormous metro delays- but were so excited, we knew it would all be worth it (& we're lucky to be within walking distance to everything downtown!)

On Sunday, we started the week off right with the Inaugural Concert. A group of our friends came by before hand and we drank mimosas, champagne, and possibly a few tequila shots!! ;) We headed out on foot to the National Mall & Lincoln Memorial area where the concert was being held.

The crowds were UNbelievable- but we managed to get a good spot on the mall in front of the Washington Monument, right in front of one of the jumbo-trons. The star-power was insane- U2, Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, BONO, John Cougar Mellencamp, Tom Hanks, Samuel L. Jackson, Shaquira, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Wonder, but I honestly think Garth Brooks was the best performer. He had the entire crowd singing SHOUT & American Pie! It was all so incredible- you could feel excitement & unity in the crowd, all of us singing together.

We had a great time, took in Obama's speech, some of us cried (haha, ME!), and then decided to start navigating our way through the crowds to head home. It was crazy to see huge crowds of people just walking in the middle of the streets, all blocked from cars.

Here are some pics from the Sunday concert (& before):

with just a few of the MANY service men at EVERY block downtown!

Sie & I :)

Our friends Joe & Katie

the whole group when we arrived at the Washington Monument

Just a LITTLE excited!!

Views of the massive crowd!!!

Sie & I amidst the crowd!

Amanda sportin her Obama gear :)

we have tooons of pics of all the stars on the jumbo tron, even some good ones of Barack's AMAZING concert speech (which had me in tears), but I have to post who I think was the best performer that day: GARTH BROOKS!
who would have thought- but I have to give it up to anyone who can get the entire crowd singing for 3 songs in a row - "American Pie", "You make me wanna SHOUT", and "We Shall be Free!" He really rocked!

We ended up all back at our house (after a semi-hellish attempt at grabbing food at a restaurant) with me making a variety of dips and ham sandwiches - hahaha! We all laid low, recovering from the excitement & trying to pull together energy for the "Red goes Blue" event that night at the Old Ebbitt grill. Our friend Andy's cousin was throwing the event (he's a lobbyist for FedEx), we were really excited.

The Red Goes Blue event was a total hit- the food was fantastic (hors dourves like fried oysters & crab cakes), there were almost no lines for the bar (a miracle, right?) and the music was awesome! we danced it up with our friends & ended our first inaugural day with a bang!

The whole gang!

Andy gettin his groove on!

More group pics:

That's all for now... inauguration day is next- I'm hoping to post tomorrow night :)

DC Drag Queen High Heel Race

2008-12-07T17:17:00.000-08:00

So we heard about this crazy event, called the DC Drag Queen race & decided- we gotta see this! The race takes place each year in Dupont (our neighborhood), about 4 blocks from where we live so we decided to have a pre-party at our house. :)

We served:
- meatballs in chipotle
- weenies in bbq
- trio of dips
- rainbow skittles

and... our cocktail? why of course, FUZZY NAVELS! haha. notice a theme? a little tribute to the ahem, "ladies"!

We headed over to the event and had an ABSOLUTE BLAST!

I have never seen so many people packed into the street- somehow we SQUEEZED through & got tons of pictures with the ladies themselves. Here are some of our favs:

heading over to the race!

the MASSIVE crowd!!! (I'm propped up on Sie's shoulders)

We thought we were NEEEEEEEEVER going to see a Drag Queen when finally, the crowds parted and - yes, this first gal was sporting a moustache and terribly misplaced false eyelashes :) (men dont have years of drill team and halloween parties to practice putting on falsies i guess!) I'm way too excited to see her/him!

FINNALLLLY Amanda wedges her way to CHANEL!! (At this point we were screaming, "CHAAAANEELLLLL, CHAAAANELLLLLL"! We loved her)

All the girls & CHANEL!

The guys and Katie find the Avon Lady herself! :)

And of course, Elizabeth Arden and her red door... I loved how themed these ladies were!

and by far my favorite- with her skin tight leggings & long cigarette who said before we took this picture, "Make sure you get the TIFFANYS bag!"

what a great night!

Playing Catch-up

2008-12-07T15:15:00.000-08:00

So we've become total blog slackers- and now have SO much to post I don't know where to begin! :)

first things first... during our blogging sabbatical, Sie & I celebrated our 2 year anniversary! We went to Rosa Mexicana and had a fabulous time. We both felt really lucky to be happy, healthy & in the nations capital to celebrate 2 years together. Our gift to each other was sponsoring a boy from Ghana through Compassion International. His name is Albert, he's 6 years old & we're so excited to hopefully make a difference in his life.

Enjoying our Mexican ice cream- yum!

we also had some random nights out with friends- including a verrrrry rowdy Arkansas football game!

pose off!

we had SUUUCH a fun time, and ended the night of course- with ridiculousness on the way home! I wonder if any neighbors saw this fashion shoot as we walked down our street! hahaha

spearing me with a giant flower!!

pretending to destroy someone's flowers- LOVELY!

Next blog... the long awaited, DC Drag Queen Race!!!!!!!! WOOHOO!

Pat's Birthday- Mom, Sheri & Pat come to DC!

2008-11-09T17:49:00.001-08:00

For Pat's Birthday (October 6th), my mom, Sheri & Pat all came to visit Sie & I.

It was SUCH a fun 3 days- it flew by way to quickly and I wished we had more time. There was so much Sie & I wanted to show them but at the same time we wanted to relax and spend time together too.

We hope you guys come back soon - we really did have such a blast together!

Becky & Sie Re-united!

Mom & I posing in front of Ghandi on our way home :) (Cool peace signs!)

Modeling our colorful scarves- we are sooo HIP! haha. :)

Fashion shoot on our front stoop.

runway walk of course! off to a shopping exursion in Georgetown!

Having a wonderful lunch in Georgetown after we got make-overs & new makeup! :)

3 Peas in a pod! on the Georgetown waterfront.

Sheri's lookin good! looking out over the Potomac- it was so beautiful!

On Saturday, we made our way to Tony & Joe's in Georgetown for Pat's birthday brunch! it was soo fun & DELICIOUS!! :)

The whole gang (finally Mr. Photographer gets in one!)

The Birthday girl & I!

Sie & Mom

SURPRISE!! we surprised Pat with cake & the band played Happy Birthday. Got Ya!

Are we related or what?

Pat & I - lookin good!

uh-oh- Becky & Sheri get FABULOUS!

who, us?!

After Brunch, Sheri, Mom & I went for a LONG walk/run all the way to the Capitol, the Mall & the Lincoln Memorial.

Here are Mom & Sheri at the World War II Memorial:

These 2 were work-out machines!

Looking fabulous :)

Uh-oh- Becky decides to JOG up all the stairs at the Lincoln Memorial!

Feeling GREAT once we made it to the top!!

just another beautiful day in DC.

The girls last day here in front of the Capitol on our way to the Newseum (the Museum of News).

At the Newseum, they display one newspaper from each state every day- so we found Texas!

Part of the Berlin wall- I wish we would have had more time at the Newseum- it was a really neat place.

Mom, Sheri & Pat- it was SUCH an amazing trip & we had a blast with you guys. Hope you can come back soon!

Election Day 2008!

2008-11-09T17:09:00.000-08:00

So we have some serious catching up to do (as usual)- haha! I'm resolving myself to be more consistent with the blogging but we've had a lot of big weekends lately. ;)

First, I wanted to take a moment to re-cap our election day. We woke up early- walked to our polling location- just a few blocks away at pretty church on Connecticut.

We were both excited (this was my first time to vote!) & of course anxious to see how the results would fall. We brought coffee, prepared for a very long line, but it really wasnt too bad. The line was long but it moved quickly, the poll workers were very friendly. All in all- it was a great experience and we wore our "I voted" stickers proudly.

I walked to the store & brought home ingredients for home-made Egg Mcmuffins and we took a moment to feel excited, proud, and anxious about just having exercised one of our greatest rights as American citizens in a historic election (and in our nation's capitol!)

In terms of candidates, I realize alot of our friends and family were on the other side of the aisle on this one- but none the less I'm excited for the future & I hope and pray our new President will unite our country and move us forward!

hopefully not to cheesy- but it was a great feeling & a great day! :)

Virginia Wine Festival

2008-10-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

yay for new friends!!

So a while back... we had dinner/drinks with our friend Amanda , who is my good friend from junior high/high school. Her boyfriend (chasen) was in town from Houston, who went to Washington Lee College, so he brought some of his friends from school who live in the area.

We were pumped to meet some new friends- and actually really hit it off with them.

A few weeks later- Andy (one of Chasen's friends) & his girlfriend invited us to the Virginia Wine Festival! we had the best time!

not to sound nerdy... but to meet some new people & start making friends has been the greatest feeling! it's really making DC that much more fun.

Anyway- we had a blast. We drank lots of wine, purchased a few bottles, ate great Greek Food, enjoyed some beat boxing & N'snyc style music (HAHAHAHA) & even took shots of CHILI WINE after licking cheese whiz off our hands (The Chili Cheese Dog!). And oh yes- there was JALEPENO wine!! (Oh the burn!)

about to lick cheese whiz off our hands! (CLASSY!)

Revelations & Lessons Learned.... so FAR!

2008-09-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

10.7.08

I know, I know- we took a brief hiatus from the blog! (OK, like a month!!) I hope we havent completely run off our reader-base. :) I started back to work at the busiest time of our client's year. To make up for it though- we're promising THREE new blogs this week!! haha.

First things first, I need a vote: do people prefer the email reminders when we do a new posting, or would you prefer not to receive those and just read at your own pace? Let me know. My mom likes the email reminders... but something tells me she's biased!

This is going to be a quick post (i think, we'll see after I get going!). BUT we've got Virginia Wine Festival & my mom, Aunt Sheri & Pat visited so we've got lots more to post!

So I wanted to take a minute to re-cap on some lessons learned since we've been here. I was riding the metro & started thinking about how every day here is so completely different than how we lived in Dallas, so i started immediately jotting down ideas for all the funny/not-so-funny things we've learned or grown accustomed to since moving here.

#1 goes with out saying... : Movers SUCK.

It's a fact of life (apparently)- but in Texas, to be honest, Sie & I never used anything but a U-Haul, and our own bulging biceps. HAHA, ok i'm lying- but we did always do it the old fashioned way- usually with the help of our family or friends.

This time, we were going to do it different. We were going to let them do it all: just sit back, relax and let the movers do all the work. WOW, we were SO off-base!

First, it seems to be a generally accepted rule, all movers are over-priced & your stuff never arrives on time. We learned that the VERY hard way after our stuff didnt show up for 12 days after they said and turned out to cost almost double.

We had asked for 48 hours notice- b/c in D.C. you have to pick up signs to block off the street so trucks can park (and let's not forget our street is one way with cars parked on both sides of the street!) Our driver called when he was 10 miles away. Not only were we not home, but the signs we had gotten were for a different day/time entirely. Sie was still at work, so I immediately raced across town (via BUS) to get home. Right as I get home, they call to say they've had truck trouble, and wont be at our house for a couple of hours. (glad i rushed!) ;)

Then, I get the call. They're here (WOOHOOO)- but to save time, they havent moved our stuff to a smaller truck- they've brought the full semi and are now attempting to wedge their way down our street. I've posted some pictures below- but they dont convey what a spectacle this really was!

I literally had to help cars REVERSE back down our street each time they'd drive down and see a SEMI had it completely blocked. The movers got 2 tickets while they were parked out front and proceeded to get in a shouting match with the local enforcement. Meanwhile, they unloaded all our stuff onto the street corner and the street so they could move the thing out of the way as quickly as they could. The neighbors were just thrilled I'm sure.

It all worked out- we did have more than a FEW items break and I think we've DEFINITELY re-considered our moving philosophy! :)

Over the past month, we've often questioned our packing choices (i.e. "why on EARTH did we bring this?"), even though I swear we had bags of clothing/etc to donate before leaving Dallas. One night while unpacking, I heard Sie say, "well, I'm so glad we brought this." I came into the hallway to find:

You know, just in case we ever NEED a giant sombrero, we're good to go!

#2 DC doorways and halls.... ARE TINY.

The doorway to our living room is both an odd width AND height, not to mention randomly arched. Even though the movers tried furiously to get our couch in the living room to no avail, Sie and I were convinced WE could make it happen.

After hours of trying to wedge our leather couch into our living room, we accepted defeat. The doorway won, but had gotten beat up in the process:

#3 Metro doors are NOT like elevator doors....

This announcement comes over the loud speaker on the metro daily, and I never gave it much thought.

One day, on a very busy stop, a woman got on & the doors CLOSED on her HAIR! Since the doors alternate, opposite side opens at each stop- we couldnt get her hair out until 2 stops later! she was surprisingly calm- but for my first week at work, I definitely had an awesome story to tell.

Then, one day getting on at Dupont (a very crowded stop), the person in front of me steps onto the train, and then stands there. (metro rules of ediquette- let others unload first, and when you get on, get as far on as you can) I said, "excuse me" loudly and... nothing. She just stands there oblivious, blocking the entire doorway. And then the doors close. ON MY BACKPACK. so i'm standing stuck in the doorway, terrified. I started to take off my backpack, because there was no way I was going to stand there stuck inside the doorway like a freak, when a nice man, takes the top of my bag and gives one big tug to pull me all the way inside.

I spent the remainder of the ride legs shaking, giving my best evil glare to the idiot she-man who had just stood there while all this happened! If I ever see her again, she will RUE the DAY!

#4 Sex and the city- lies, all lies

I'm the biggest SATC fan- but I have to say when it comes shoe-wear, the girls are just lying to us. I tried heels ONE day to work- and my return home was like a death march.

let's face facts: real women where flip flops or tennis shoes to & from the metro and put their heels on at work ONLY! haha. If not for your feet, for your shoes! They get so beat up. just had to set the story straight!!

#5 Always have an umbrella. Especially when you rely on public transportation and WALK home!

#6 never try to identify the smells in the metro.

and that's all we've got so far!!

We are enjoying DC so much. Of course, there's so much more to see and do, and clearly lots more lessons to learn (i'm SURE!). So far we've had SUCH a great time & really do love it here.

We've even met some great people & have started making some good friends. We were lucky enough to meet up with an old friend of mine (Amanda Cleghorn) from junior high/high school, who also recently moved here, and it's been so awesome to hang out with her again.

Here are some pics of a fun night out in Adams Morgan with Amanda, her b.f. Chasen & some of his friends (Andy & Joe). The night ended of course with GINORMOUS pizza by the slice at 4:00 am! :)

Andy attempting to eat his ALL IN ONE BITE!

One of the best changes we've experienced is how much more time we seem to spend outside. On the weekends, we'll walk to Dupont and check out the local farmers market or take the metro to Eastern Market- a huge flea & farmers market. Here are some pics from recent trips to the markets.

at Dupont Farmer's market:

Enjoying the MOST incredible crepes at Eastern Market:

Road Trip Part 3: Bringing it home

2008-09-03T10:27:00.000-07:00

8.13.2008

We hit the road early- excited to actually GET THERE!!!

oh, I have to show a pic of our morning view on Day 3. Our HOJO was sitting atop a hill in Lexington, we hadn't noticed because we got in so late the night before.

It was beautiful:
We hit the road again- this time with only about 2 hours to go and we were anxious & ready to be there. Buddy on the other hand, was particularly grumpy: The next 2 hours flew by, I felt butterflies in my stomach- I couldnt believe we were actually doing it! We started seeing signs for Washington, and got pretty excited- We were close! To add to the excitement, Sie hit 40 miles per gallon. To quote Sie, BOO YA. :) way to go camry.

Here's video as we got really close.

We headed into DC (I wanna say via 495?) & came in through Georgetown, one of my very favorite parts of town.

Thanks to Judith (the lady who gives navigation in our car), who by the way has been a GOD send despite her love for roundabouts, we made it to our house with ease.

WE WERE FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is our street as you enter from Massachussetts:

Here's our house from the car:

and, drumroll- finally the pics of our house! Sans furniture which is appropriate since it stayed that way for the next 10 days. :) I apologize for taking a while to post, but I'm working on getting caught up. Sie plans to cameo occasionally too, and I have a feeling he would be a hilarious blogger (he DOES write for a living, unfair advantage!)

The front of our house, I'm in love with the grey one nextdoor with the red door. Its one of my favorites on our street.

Entry Way:

Front door:

Our Living room:

Den:

Hallway (with a very confused Buddy):

Our Bedroom:

Dining room with a view to the back patio (which i forgot to get a picture of!):
*Interesting fact- the embassy in our backyard is Albania* :)

Kitchen, I dont know why I didnt get a better picture. The kitchen is actually really nice b/c they just renovated it, so we're the first to use it. All new appliances, cabinets and granite counters.

Our bathroom on the other hand, needed some love. We have since bleached the grout on the floors and SCRUBBED the tiles & bath but it still needs work.

Us on our back patio- Let the adventure begin!

Just kidding, there's more. So the owner's realtor meets us at our house & tells us she's sending a locksmith over to fix the top lock but the bottom is working fine. Until then, we get our stuff in and decide to take the dogs for a walk around the neighborhood.

When we get back- we realized we had locked ourselves out (lets just say MIScommunication!). So within 2 hours of arrival, we were locked out of our new home in a new city- knowing no one, sitting on the front steps with bags of groceries. AWESOME! at that point, we honestly just had to laugh at ourselves as people walked by wondering what the hell these people were doing sitting on their steps with 2 dogs and 10 bags of groceries.

how ironic/crazy is it that a locksmith HAPPENED to be on his way!! after a little wait, he got there, let us back in & fixed our lock. Needless to say, now we're both SUPER aware of bringing our keys WITH us.

So far we're loving it here, even though we do miss our friends and family. We're continuing to try to branch out & get out of our comfort zone as far as trying new things and meeting new people.

On our first walk, we discovered the most beautiful park. It was like winning the lottery because we honestly had no CLUE what to do with our bathroom-impaired dog. (some of you know... Buddy's how you say, SHY about going on a leash in front of others!) Even though since then, we've been making him go on the leash and he HAS gotten the hang of it- the park is amazing, because he has lots more room (and PRIVACY) than he would have otherwise.

It is a very dog-oriented park so we've actually met a lot of people through just being dog-owners which has been so nice. Lots of people have offered up tips on where to go, happenings in the neighborhood, even the best routes for Sie's work. So 2-3 times per day, we visit the park with the dogs (and they're in heaven!)

I'm going to wrap up with some posts of the neighborhood. The area we live in is called "Embassy Row" and is filled with dozens of foreign embassies and ambassador's homes. Apparently, in the 1920's, embassies began purchasing old mansion homes in this area and gradually they dominated the area. It really is incredible the real estate some of these countries have!

So far, we both love the area and even though its right off dupont circle, which has tons of restaurants/shopping/nightlife, our immediate area has a safe, secluded feel.

not sure which one this is...

Chilean Embassy (which I only know because their flag may as well be the Texas flag- Sie had to point out the difference, but it is VERY subtle!)

Neat art installment (refurbished emergency phone) in front of the Thai Embassy

Describes a history of the area

Ireland embassy

we noticed this car on our street, it had stormed the week prior- OUCH.

Road Trip Part 2: Over the Hump

2008-08-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

8.12.2008

**LOTs of pictures this time**

We started out Tuesday VERY tired (it was early!). The weekend & frenzy of activity was catching up with us, and we had our biggest driving day ahead of us- 600+ miles, over 10 hours.

Our goal was to get across Tennesee, head as far as we could in Virginia and see where we landed.

We decided not to drug Buddy- he looked too wierd. His eyes sagged down & he lost depth perception- it was pretty funny, but also sad! We felt too sorry for him (big suckers). Lucky for us, the dogs turned out not to need any help sleeping - they were zonked the entire time. At one point, Sie double checked if I had given Tink anything because she literally didnt move for the entire 600 miles!

chillin in their "dog hammock", a real lifesaver for people with shedding dogs!

During the LONG drive, we encountered what Sie & I (ok, mostly me) referred to as "Tree People." I made sure to call out "TREE PEOPLE!" really loudly to ensure Sie didn't miss them. HA! Here were some interesting ones:

We also encountered some great signage too, although Sie had to stay pretty focused on the road. One thing neither of us realized was that our route to DC was LITERALLY trucker madness. We have never in our lives seen so many semis, truck stops, shops for truck sales, truck parts, truck cleaning, etc etc.

It must be that Tennesee is central to many large cities, but regardless we were often the only "car" on the road in the middle of lines of enormous trucks. Once again, I was SOO grateful Sie drove! Here are some signs we liked; Mom, the squirrel is for you:

Both Tennesee & Virginia were beautiful; so green- very rural "Americana" with farms and churches everywhere.

Throughout the trip we were mostly thankful for one thing: Howard Stern! Sie remembered to bring along his Sirius, and about an hour before we arrived in DC, we realized we had not listened to music ONCE, which is very unlike us. As trashy it may be- it made the time FLY & was extremely entertaining! (thanks to the release of Pineapple Express, Seth Rogen was on one day & might have been one of the best guests ever- it was HILARIOUS)

As an added bonus, whenever boredom set in for me in the passenger seat, I took it upon myself to mess with Buddy. He enjoys any and all attention- so we both win.

Here is what happens when mom gets bored.

"oh, no- what does she want"

"chicklet teeth"

"this is humiliating"

"if I can eat these, maybe she'll let me be"

"giving up"

Meanwhile in the driver's seat, Sie was focused elsewhere. He kept mumbling things like "damnit" or "almost got it"; finally, I realized he was making a game for himself out of keeping up our miles per gallon. He was determined to make 40 mpg but couldn't quite get there- it was VERY hilly. Gotta love him.

We made it through Tennesee, and headed into Virginia, not really knowing where we'd end up.

I have to disclose: We had to do a huge loop around to get this picture because I missed it the first time!! We (Sie!) discovered that I am almost incapable of taking a good picture from the passenger seat. Any that actually came out well were based on sheer luck, not skill.

Without fail, every time i snapped, there would be an enormous sign in the shot, a big truck would drive by, or I would miss the target entirely. Sie of course loved this & made HILARIOUS (not!) jokes regarding my keen abilities! haha. :)I could make an entire blog posting my crooked/obscurred/blurry masterpieces, but there's just not enough time. ;)

After over 650 miles on the road, we passed what we thought would be our stopping point (Roanoke) because we were on a roll & really not minding the drive too much. We went all the way to Lexington, VA- home of Washington & Lee and frankly... not much else!

We stayed at a HOJO (haha, the ridiculous nickname for Howard Johnson) for 29 bucks a night thanks to the "coupon" the nice lady at the front desk offered me.

It wasn't terrible, had free breakfast and frankly after such a long drive we were so grateful to relax and FINALLY get to enjoy some Olympics!

Next up- OUR NEW HOME!