Ponder this

Gather yourself up, as the exercises of recollection have taught you to do. Then - with attention no longer frittered amongst the petty accidents and interest of your personal life, but poised, tense, ready for the work you shall demand of it- stretch out by a distinct act of loving will towards one of the myriad manifestations of life that surround you: and which, in an ordinary way, you hardly notice unless you happen to need them. Pour yourself our towards it, do not draw its image towards you. Deliberate- more, impassioned - attentiveness, an attentiveness which soon transcends all consciousness of yourself, as separate from and attending to the thing seen; this is the condition of success. As to the object of contemplation, it matters little. From Alp to insect, anything will do, provided that your attitude be right: for all things in this world towards which you are stretching out are linked together, and one truly apprehended will be the gateway to the rest.

-Evelyn Underhill

Etsy

I just started my Etsy store. I've been wanting to do this for sometime. I only have three items posted, but as I make more stuff I'll get it up on the site. Please check it out : http://www.etsy.com/shop/pearlgrl.

So...

I haven't felt like blogging lately.

Camping at La Jolla Indian Reservation

These city babies adapted surprisingly well to the natural environment

Jay cooking up some chicken for dinner, and Mark adding a little Purel hand sanitizer...you can never be too clean while camping...

This was our 14th attempt at a decent picture of the two of us. Mark says the flash hurts his eyes. He must have weak eyes.
Mom and babe, fireside.


Thanks for the Purel chicken Mark and Jay!

Jay and his women.

Family photo.

Alayna and Sloane takin' it easy.

The next morning Mark scramble up some eggs and bacon.

Ella and Daddy at the riverbed. Too bad the water was only 6 inches deep on this 95 degree day.
Oh well, next time we will go rafting and tubing.


Mark and I dared to join our friends for a camping adventure last weekend. Some thought we were crazy for bringing Ella camping at just 2 1/2 months old. But we knew our little nature lover would do just great.

Here is a video of the girls first camping experience. Sorry for the black eye Sloane, I promise it was an accident.

Ella - 2 months old

Video of Ella "Dancing"

Bathing Beauty

Ella and Sloane

We don't care what they say...they are destined to be best baby friends.

Their first meeting. Sloane is 2 weeks old and Ella is 3 days old.




Now look at them... Ella is 9 weeks old and Sloane is 11 weeks old...

Mom came to visit

My mom is truly the best! I don't know if I could do anything half as good without her. She has taught me so much about how to be a good mother and she continually amazes me with her unconditional love and servants heart. It's been so hard having her so far away, but I know that she will always be such a big part of Ella's life. This is already her second visit in Ella's short 2 month life. If I can be a fraction of the mother she was to me, then I will count motherhood a success.

Some "me" time

So, as I mentioned previously, having a baby has proven to be much more time consuming than I thought. Time for doing extra things like sewing, reading or yoga are out of the question, heck, I'm lucky to get a shower in or make dinner.

Over the last couple of weeks I have felt a dire need for some "me" time. It has been extremely challenging to leave the baby for more then a couple of hours because she has not been a big fan of the bottle. Alas, last night gave me hope. After nursing the baby, I asked Mark to try and give her some more milk in a bottle. And...it worked! I think that feeding her from the bottle when she isn't extremely hungry and tired is the key. Hopefully last night wasn't a fluke. We have decided to try and repeat this process each evening.

In the mean time, Mark has been quite the trooper. This week I have been waking up before he heads to work for a morning jog. I have also been spending some of Ella's nap time reading something besides baby developmental books, and I have been doing a little sewing at night. It's amazing how the few minutes of solitude really give me the gumption I need to keep going.

Hungry?

How 'bout a Jacquie sandwich?

She's a party animal

Happy Engagement Jess and Peter. We are so excited for your big day!


This was taken last weekend at the Engagement Party we held for Jess and Peter. It was beautiful. Twinkle lights, wonderful food and friends. Click here for more pictures of the party.

Dinner with the girls.

Ella likes to keep up her appearances. She tries to make it out to all the events in her social calendar.

Welcome to the World, Ella Pearl!

With the arrival of our precious pearl nearly 7 weeks ago and our recent move to Long Beach, this year has kept Mark and I quite busy. Maybe that explains why my last post was nearly a year ago. Although one would think that not working I would have plenty of time on my hands, or at least I thought so, but taking care of miss Ella has required much more time and energy than I ever could have imagined.

Since little Ella is already growing so quickly, I am hoping to keep this blog updated once a week or so, we'll see how that goes. Please save our blog in your favorites if you wish to follow.

August 8
Ella's first road trip. Everyone thought that we were crazy when we drove 5 hours north for Christina and David's wedding. But sweet Ella did such a great job. See for yourself...

Exhausted from the drive




With the girls

New York

Mark and I spent the weekend in New York. Here are some pictures from our trip...

At the Met
Mark calls this one "Chaotic order"

Central Park

Jess playing one of her last shows with Beck at the United Palace...

In the East village

Our only picture with the statue of liberty in the background (very small, to the right of Mark's head)...I'm glad our photographer got in the picture too...

Mark looking out at Ground Zero

Lunch at a yummy falafel place with Peter and Jess...

We had such a wonderful time. Being able to see Jess on the last leg of the tour, seeing Des at her new home in NYU dorms. It was hard to leave. New York is so beautiful in the Fall. Luckily the weather was beautiful. Hopefully we can go and visit again soon.