Weekend with Lauren

Matt and I took a trip to LA last weekend to meet our little niece Lauren - and celebrate Betsy's birthday. We had a great time cuddling with her while also enjoying the local take-out fare (mmm, Snax), walking along the Strand and catching the last few innings of Evan's baseball game.

These photos are all from Sunday when I realized I hadn't taken any pics yet and the big adventure of the day was a trip to Target.

Here are Evan and Lauren in a common scene. Lauren looks adorable as always in Fall Outfit #1: Candy Corn

Evan went out to mow the lawn and Matt took over snuggle time, learning how to use the sling in the process. This was key, as I plan to use this sling and plan on Matt using it as well.

Lauren had some tummy time, now in Fall Outfit #2: Pumpkins. More important, however, is what Lauren did just after this photo! She raised herself up a little higher, let her head fall ever so slightly to the side and she rolled onto her back! I called Betsy over, placed Lauren on her tummy again and Lauren performed an encore rollover performance for Betsy's enjoyment. Triumph!

Family photo with matching pumpkins.



Finally, Lauren (and Betsy) changed into one more Fall Outfit after Candy Corn and Pumpkins found themselves retiring early to the laundry basket.

Roller Derby!

Rather than see a movie, go to a bar or other typical outing, Matt and I joined a BGI friend and her husband for the Roller Derby Championships at Cow Palace one Saturday night. The night featured matches with the San Francisco Bay Bombers, Brooklyn Red Devils and LA Firebirds. Big surprise, hometown Bombers left as the champions.

None of us had any idea what we were in for, so we arrived, got some beers and popcorn and settled into our seats. We promptly whipped out an iPhone to look up the "rules" of Roller Derby and never quite figured out what was going on. I think that's the point? The people watching, however, was superb.

The gals were pretty entertained but the boys, I think, would have preferred an alternate plan for the night. An experience, all the same.

Welcome Lauren!

Betsy has shared a few shots of their newborn daughter.

Lauren Elizabeth Fujinaga
09.08.09
4:51 am
6lbs. 10oz.
18 in.

Button Nose and Furrowed Brow

Baby Woodard and I are hanging in there at 19 weeks and counting. We had the second trimester ultrasound yesterday to check out his/her anatomy and make sure the organs are all there and in the right places. We will have to trust the technician for those determinations, but we did see the stomach, brain and all 4 chambers of the heart.

The little guy or gal, apparently about the size of a large heirloom tomato, was moving around a bit and had some expressions of frustration by the prodding going on. I love the furrowed brow in the second photo below.


It has come a long way since week 11:

LBI: Let's Go Fly a Kite

Late in the afternoon on our last day there, the weather was perfect for kite flying.




Where's the kite, Jack?


Jack took one last chance to frolic in the waves.

LBI: Beach Days

Toby & Steve treated the family to a week long vacation on Long Beach Island this summer. It was a great chance to spend a week relaxing on the beach and having some quality time with everyone, particularly the Monahans! While Matt took the opportunity to get in some golf, the rest of us spent most sunny hours (and some not so sunny hours) playing (and reading and napping) on the beach.

I loved watching Aileen and Jack run around and play in the water, dig holes and build witch castles.

One overcast day while the boys golfed, the girls (and Jack) hit the bay beach, where the water was calm and the kids could swim.



Later that afternoon, back at the ocean side, I got a good close up of Aileen.

Matt even enjoyed the fun.

Backyard Project

Our backyard was extremely ugly and rather unpleasant, despite our downstairs neighbors' valiant efforts in gardening the border. Most of the small space was covered with concrete which had been painted ever so long ago in red and green. This paint, which I assume is lead based, has been chipping so much that the color scheme was really red, green and gray. The added bonus to this patio was it sloped nicely towards the building so all rain water funneled directly into the foundation and under the door into the garage/storage/laundry space. Charming and functional.

So we decided we could fix this for a pretty small budget. Step one: remove concrete.


Step two: build deck

Step three, landscape the rest.

I have not yet taken any photos of the finished product with the landscaping. Our neighbors, Chris and Heather, did a great job with the flower beds. I'll get some "after" pics up soon!

Master Bathroom Project

In May we began a big project to add a second bathroom to the place. We had been wondering if such a thing would be possible and had ruled it out several times. Then we had a designer come in to suggest the best way to maximize the existing bathroom when we renovated it. He ended up convincing us that we could definitely add a bathroom where the master bedroom closet sat. He drew up some plans and we were sold. Let the demo begin:

To maintain a relatively clean living room and kitchen, the contractor's first order of business was to set up a plastic wall in the hallway - this also helped cordon off the (alien) cats.
Occasionally this aided in their efforts to keep away from Sunapee.The bedroom became a plastic walled storage area while we bunked on the pull out couch in the spare bedroom.

After about 3 weeks of demo, framing, extensive plumbing and electrical work, the tile started to go in.

And the shower pan, which of course the cats felt required inspection.

We found a great tile shop in the city where they really had some great suggestions, like this waterfall effect in the shower:
Toto! The Cadillac of toilets (ok, we went for a low cost model, but it has what we wanted and we are installing the same one in the other bathoom).

With shower door (duct tape was temporary)

The cats are huge fans of the heated tile floor. Marin spends half her day there.
Now it's finished, complete with a large skylight where the old roof hatch used to be in the closet. Having two bathrooms is great... except when we returned from our East Coast vacation, we demo-ed the other one. So, I imagine it will be nice to have two new bathrooms!

Aileen the Butterfly

In June, Matt and I flew to New Jersey to celebrate Toby's retirement from Shore Regional High School. While there, we spent the day with Aileen, who'd had her face painted at a nearby shopping center. As it rained all day Saturday (I understand this was common for the East Coast this summer?), we improvised. Some coloring on the front porch and cocktails and mac & cheese in the garage.

Relaxing the Rules

Matt captured this charming dog/cat moment the other day. Franklin was a little startled when Sunapee first joined him on his chair, but quickly settled back in to continue his nap.