Helmet Check

Vivian had a helmet check this morning and I remembered to ask what our goal number is.  If you recall, she went from a severity 12 down to a 7/8 in only 3 weeks.  The number we want is 6 or lower.  Today, at week 5, she measured at a 6!!!!!!!!!  That said, her head is still growing so even though we were told we could cut back on wearing the helmet, we're going to stay the course to get that number as low as possible.  We've already started this trek so why not finish it the best we can?  At least we know the helmet's done it's job and we're in the clear now.  We have two more appointments - one in 2 weeks and then another 3 weeks after that - so I'd like to get us through these appointments and see where we're at.  It's nice to know that if it gets too hot out, we can take it off and give her a breather for a few hours and not have to worry.  Yay, Vivian!!!  I'm just so excited this thing worked and so quickly!

Day at Grandpa's

The girls and I went to visit my dad a few weeks ago and Vivian got to go on a swing for the first time.  She wasn't quite sure of it at first but was smiling by the end.

Investigating the neighborhood creek:

Audrey loves playing my dad's piano....looks like Vivian doesn't mind it either:

After a long, fun day, Viv crashed:

Firetruck Fun

Our next door neighbor, Eli, turned 3 a few weeks ago and had the best birthday party ever.  We started at a local firehouse where the kids got to check out a big firetruck and ambulance and then got a tour.  From there we went to one of our favorite ice cream shops for pizza and dessert.  It was nice that the parents got to have a little fun too.

Vivian holding her own at the big kids' table:

California Take 2 - AQ

The last night in California, we headed up to San Francisco for dinner with Bill's cousin Ay Ay and her husband Dane.  We went to AQ and it was phenomenal.  The restaurant itself was light and airy with a definite feeling of Spring.  While Bill and I sat and waited for Ay and Dane, we struck up a conversation with our server about scotch and wine.  He knew we were interested in eating and drinking well that night. 

Dane brought a bottle of Mumm Blanc de Blancs to start dinner.  It was the first time I had ever had Mumm and I am now a huge fan.  We went right to the store and bought a bottle of their Brut when we got home!  Anyway, by now we were good friends with Eric, our server, who we found out worked at one time for Tyler Florence.  Eric was awesome but also realized his money making potential in our table.  That said, he got us to buy amazing wine so it was really a win-win.  Throughout the night we had Dane's wine, a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc Sancerre and a bottle of a 1983 Catherine & Pierre Breton Chinon "Beaumont".  At 30 years old, it's the oldest wine I've ever had and it was fantastic!  We each had three wine glasses going on our table plus the decanter. 

Dinner was 9 courses of awesome deliciousness.
Course 1 - an asparagus "cloud" (it was almost like a firm custard) over crumbled pistachios
Course 2 - warm consomme of raw lamb and mint "snow"
Course 3 - strawberry gazpacho with raw halibut and dill oil
Course 4 - beef tongue
Course 5 - skate wing (fish) with pineapple and gnocchi (best gnocchi I've ever had)
Course 6 - veal with smoked foam (best veal I've ever had - they cut it so it resembled pork belly)
Course 7 - cheese plate of hard goat's milk
Course 8 - white chocolate and rhubarb
Course 9 - chocolate, lavender ice cream and honey

Here's how they describe the tasting menu in their menu and if you can believe it, it's only $68 per person (beverages not included).  An absolute steal if you ask me.

As we were paying the bill, Eric brought us macaroons, as if we needed more food!  But of course, they were delicious.  He then took us downstairs to their wine room to show off their extremely impressive collection.  They will soon have the largest collection of unique wine lables, as well as the largest collection of Loire Valley wines, in the entire world.

After dinner, Ay and Dane took us to the Bay Bridge where a local artist was putting on a light show.  The lights were constantly moving and it looked very cool.  It was so nice to stroll down the pier and relax.  It was really a perfect ending to our night.

All in all the night was amazing - amazing food, wine, family and conversation.  We can't wait to go back to see everyone and I'm hoping we can make it back to AQ.  I am seriously in love with this place and am so sad it's so far away.  It's definitely near the top of the best meals I've ever had.

11 Months and Birthdays

Today is Bill's birthday!  A few weeks ago I asked Audrey what kind of birthday cake she thought he'd want and almost instantly she said, "A Spiderman cake!"  And then she said he'd also want a Spiderman tent for a present.  When asked where I might find a Spiderman tent she said, "The Spiderman store."  At least I knew I could do the cake.  Here's the one I planned on "making" found on the internet.

I decided I would just be a decorator and bought the pre-frosted blue cake from the grocery store.  It did not turn out how I had hoped but at least it's not too terrible. 

Bill liked it and it actually tasted pretty good.  Our next door neighbors had invited a bunch of people over Friday night for grilled pizzas so I took it over there to share.  No one made fun of Spidey.

On Saturday, Vivian turned 11 months old.  I cannot believe that she'll be 1 in a month!  Crazy!  She's doing so, so well.  She has waving bye bye, giving high fives and blowing kisses down pat.  She's cruising around like crazy and will be walking any day now.  Her first tooth is in and a second one is about to pop through.  Her helmet progress is fantastic.  At her 3 week checkup, she had already gone from a severity of 12 down to a 7/8.  I think our goal is 0 but I keep forgetting to ask.  Hopefully this growth spurt will continue and she'll be out of this thing in no time.  The one thing that has really come out in her over the last couple months is that she is just such a sweetheart.  Truly a super sweet little girl.  She is so snuggly and always wants to cuddle.  It can actually be a little dangerous now with the helmet because she'll just collapse onto you with no warning and it kind of hurts.  She actually cracked into my face on Friday and left me with a blister on my lip.  The staff at daycare tell us that she even tries to snuggle with the non-mobile kids when she gets tired.  She'll just crawl over to them and try and lay in their laps!  I just love her to pieces and hope she stays so sweet.

Audrey's Big Girl Room

I started drafting this entry over a year ago and have just never found time to finish it!  Audrey was hastily moved into her Big Girl room in February 2012 because we were leaving for Naples in a week and needed her to be able to sleep in a Twin without any problems.  On her first night, she didn't do well and ended up back in her crib but with her new big girl pillow.  Night #2 was a success and she's been a great sleeper ever since. 

It took us until the following August to finish decorating (and another 8 months for me to finish writing this!), although I think we need one more lamp.  The room is cavernous - 13' x 20.5'.  Before we built our his and her's walk-in closets, our master was 18' x 20.5' so it's not much smaller!  It made decorating tricky so we gave Audrey a small little reading area.  Her bedroom set is the same furniture my parents bought for me when I was 3.  I don't have a "before" picture because the room was empty save some moving boxes, but here's what the room looked like from the previous owners:

And here's what it looks like now:

This chair is my favorite thing in this room:

This door leads to a second floor "deck" which we never use.  Every house in our neighborhood has one and I think they're totally pointless.

California Take 2 - Photo Booth

We took a lot of photo booth pics at Marie's wedding so here are some of the "best of"....

Noah pushed the "Take Picture" button and ran!

Lola!!