Family History

I've always considered myself very lucky in the grandparent department. Until recently, all of my grandparents were still living. And the older I get, I consider that pretty amazing.

A few weeks ago, my grandfather passed away on my Dad's side. He lived in Maine, and we have visited there a handful of times over the years. During one of our recent trips, he recounted his family history to me, told childhood stories, and then later sent me a list of all of the relatives he had record of. He asked that I look into his family history some day when I have time.

I know he would have loved to see some of his genealogy work done, so I wish I had taken the time to work on it before he passed away. But more importantly, I am so glad he recorded those names and shared those stories. It reminded me to try to get that from each grandparent, before it is lost.

"Grandpa Skinny" as I grew up calling him, bonded with Anna both times she visited. I'm so glad we took those trips! I never had any living great-grandparents, but our kids have been lucky enough to have many.

To Schedule

I was looking for an old document and found this one. It is titled "To Do Before Babies" and was last saved on June 12th, 2006 - 2.5 weeks before Adam and Isabel were unexpectedly born early. Do you think all of this was done by the time they were born?

It is the last item that made me laugh the hardest.

To Do

Inside

1. Install closet
2. Paint bedroom
3. Move bedrooms
4. Tile in bathroom
5. Kitchen faucet
6. Fix garage door opener plug
7. Fix microwave
8. Organize baby clothes
9. Put baby dresser together
10. Baby proof dressers
11. Install more cabinet locks, buy door handle locks
12. Make quilts/get baby bedding
13. Clean windows, refrigerator, ceiling fan

Outside

1. Seed front grass
2. Sod back yard
3. Remove concrete blocks
4. Check gutter
5. Fix screen door
6. Fill in gaps with foam
7. Fix roof
8. Cut tree down
9. Fill in planters (till front planter)

To Buy

1. Nursing pillow
2. Crib
3. Pack n Play
4. Car seat
5. Diapers
6. Toys for Anna
7. Swing
8. Thank you cards
9. Announcements

To Schedule

1. Nanny

Mine Birthday

Last night before bed I wanted to start getting the kids excited about their birthdays coming up. So we talked about cake, asked what they wanted for their birthday, etc. All Isabel wants is cake. Adam wants cars. And Anna - you would think the four year old would have a request. But she doesn't. I've asked her lots of times what she wants and she hasn't thought of anything. She is pretty low maintenance, I could get her a bunch of papers and a few purses/bags and she would be so happy.

This morning, when I got Adam and Isabel from their room, they were talking very loudly to each other.

"Mine birthday."

"No, mine birthday!"

"Mine birthday cake!"

"No, mine birthday cake!"

I knew the day would come when the kids became bitter that they all have the same birthday. Apparently the time has already come.

Whoppin Twins

Local Twins Weighing 23 Pounds State's Heaviest Ever

Wow. My twins were a measly 12 pounds together and people were saying, "Those are pretty good sizes for twins." Only one of hers was 12 pounds. I can't imagine how huge this lady must have been carrying 23 pounds of baby.

Three Cheers for Dad

Happy Father's Day Ben! If you only knew how my heart leaps each night when I hear the garage door open. It is the best part of the day! The kids feel the same way.


We love you!

Longest Date in Two Years

As I mentioned, Ben and I snuck out to Newport last weekend for a few nights alone. We started the weekend with dinner at Fashion Island. We took our only self portrait of the weekend.

The next night we got BJs Pizza and ate on the beach. Perfect.


This was the view from our room at the Marriott Bayview.



And although we didn't ask anyone to take a picture of the two of us, this was the view from our perfect brunch spot on Sunday. We had brunch at Newport Landing in Balboa, it was excellent and our little table was right on the water.

Anna Banana

Anna: You're like a "banana mommy"
Me: A banana mommy? (confused)
Anna: Because I'm Anna banana


Nightly prayers by Anna: "And thank you that Grandma Horsie will come over again in one day for Mommy's birthday. And she'll be here in only one more day. And thank you that Grandma Horsie came over this weekend. And I won't cry next time that she has to leave...."

--------------------------------

I thought the kids would be happy to see us today, but when Anna woke up from her nap she immediately came out crying, "I don't want Grandma Horsie to leave." She must have heard us talking and realized we were home because she was saying this before she even came out of her room. It was a sad sight. Luckily she got past it a few minutes after my Mom left.

I guess she had fun!

Utah Shout Out

Mom and Dad Y. are on their way to Utah to visit baby Kaleb and Kevin and Sabrina. Of course they'll also get to see John and Steph and Matt and Alex and all of the kids.

So I'm admitting it - I'm jealous. I used to write posts about missing California, but right now I could use a trip to Utah. I think we'll be going sometime soon. Here's why:

1. Baby Kaleb, of course. We want to see our new nephew/cousin!
2. All of the other cousins, aunts and uncles.
3. Training Table cheese fries and fry sauce (this almost went first).
4. Our old house, I miss it and want to make sure it's okay.
   
5. Cafe Rio and Wingers - yes, a lot of what I miss is food related.

We're taking our own little weekend trip and staying down in Newport Beach for our first overnight away since the twins were born. Thanks Mom! We are going to enjoy our two mornings of sleeping in, eating nice leisurely breakfasts, watching movies, and laying out in the sun.

Happy Friday!

Two Peas in a Pod

PR and the Blogosphere

I don't usually write about work on the blog - but I'm thinking I have a few PR co-workers reading, so I'm going to toot my own horn.

Through PilmerPR, I work for a client that just announced a product that uses waste heat to generate electricity. It was a big announcement, and we have a press list of over 500 individuals.

But what was really exciting about this launch was the blog pick up. Although not all companies realize it - blogs are huge, and if you get on the top blogs you are reaching millions of readers. This announcement hit a homerun, and got on the number 3 and 4 most popular blogs in the world, and on the number 1 "green" blog, which really reaches their industry. Here are some clips:

Gizmodo

Engadget

Geek.com

CNET

TreeHugger


So can I call myself a Web 2.0 PR expert now? Nah, the story just had good news value, which makes it easy to pitch.