anoka arrives

today, i'm a new auntie, christopher an uncle, and the boys got a new cousin!
heidi and her husband greg welcomed anoka jay to the world.

she came as a surprise.... one whole month early,
and though she's a peanut {just 5 lbs 1 ounce},
she's as healthy as can be.

what an adventure for these first time parents. 
it's a happy happy day.

i can hardly wait to meet her.  i'm not sure if we'll be able
to get back to az anytime soon, so we'll just have to be patient
until october when we all fly to minnesota for a wedding.

~ heidi had a DREAM birth! after just 3 hours of labor
anoka arrived - a completely natural birth.  she credits all that
yoga she does for such an easy birth and delivery.

summer fun with the utah gerbers

 

we had such a wonderful time with the utah gerbers

last weekend. as usual, we packed a lot into our days.

the highlights: a day at the uss midway museum,
an all-day beach day, a random summer rainstorm
and boogie boarding down the gutters. it didn't last
but 2 hours but that was enough for the boys to have fun.
the cousins zip-lined, swam and launched rockets and
i took some photos of miss maya.

i didn't have my camera in hand for all of the activities,

but here's a sampling of our time together:

utah gerbers, july 2014
 





cousins isaac {8} and finn {10}



 

 

mr. mraz and my favorite utah family

i'm so so far behind but i wanted to take a minute to post to say i am
SO excited for a couple of things. 

first, i just bought jason mraz' latest album YES and am anxious to listen to it!
he teamed up with the all female band raining jane, which is different,so we'll see. 
i am hoping it won't disappoint.

second, while i was on on-line, i meandered over to jason's blog to see what was
new and from there i wandered over to his apparel site and fell in love with the
summer scout tee. i just ordered it and can't wait to get it.  there was no size chart
so i'm not sure it will fit but i'm crossing my fingers.

last, we've got the utah gerbers visiting for a long weekend!
they decided to drive 8 hours to escape the heat of st. george and to come play in san diego
and we are thrilled. i wish i was with them this very minute. they are all spending the day at
the midway museum {where finn had his 9th birthday} and i'm well, stuck at work in my cube.

i'll be meeting up with them tonight at the club for dinner and to watch an exhibition match.
it should be a fun and i'm looking forward to the weekend with them.  i've missed this family
so much and am almost in disbelief at how big maya and isaac have gotten.  in another year,
maya will be as tall as her aunt angie.  *sigh*.  she agreed to a little photo shoot this weekend
so visit next week and you'll see photos of my sweet 10 year old niece. i adore her!

have a wonderful weekend folks!!

xo

~ the utah gerbers have been SUCH troopers since they arrived in san diego. 
our home is a TOTAL jobsite!  as our luck would have it, the window installation
started the day before they arrived.  instead of traditional replacement windows,
where the old are popped out and new windows dropped in, c insisted on doing
'new construction' windows.  this means about a foot of stucco has to be removed around
every window opening and the new windows nailed in.  it requires a lot more work and
time and it's messy messy.  i have to remind myself to be patient and that in the end,
we have beautiful windows that are dual-pane and will open easily. whew.  

heidi's shower: mexican fiesta

the boys and I returned from a wonderful and very quick trip
to the desert. we left with lots of fun memories and not a hint of sunburn
{a tricky thing as temps were 103 degrees and the sun was shining brightly}.

we hit the road just after c's tennis match on saturday morning and arrived in
sunny phoenix about 5 hours later.  the boys love this hotel and wasted no time
getting to the pool so they could enjoy the water slide and lazy river. afterwards,
we met up with everyone at our favorite mexican eatery, aunt chiladas. 

it was fun seeing everyone and catching up.  I especially enjoyed learning the
meaning of the name heidi and her hubby greg chose for their baby girl.
her name will be Anoka.  this is not only the name of the small city in minnesota were
heidi was born, but it also means 'from both sides'.  greg described how two indian tribes,
the dakota and ojibwa, met at a river long ago to resolve conflicts. such a beautiful name....
with a beautiful meaning.

on sunday, barby offered to pick me up at the hotel so the boys could enjoy the pool without
having to shuttle me to the shower.  heidi's high school friend hosted and wow - it was fabulous!
it was not a traditional baby shower at all. it was mexican themed which was perfect for a gal
who lives in the southwest desert and loves mexican food!  the home was full of fun and bright
décorations, and the party food was amazing!  even the venue was perfect - the hosts home was a
small mexican casita in phoenix's historic willow district {so charming and so perfect}. 

everything about the day just made me happy and heidi was truly glowing as they say.
anoka should make her arrival sometime around september 1st.
the boys and i can hardly wait to meet her!

i didn't pull out my big monster of a camera the entire time so these phone photos
are the best i have.  {i'm kicking myself for it....next time}.

 
 
 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ heidi's girlfriends were all darling.  i met some yogis from her bikram studio,

and her boss, nicole, whom i've heard about for years.  and the party décor,
i SO loved it!  i told my sis i am going to steal ideas for a future fiesta. *wink*
 



scout: in training

i still haven't downloaded scout's birthday photos yet or
posted highlights of the boys' florida trip, but I am hoping
to this weekend.

in the meantime, it seemed appropriate to post this note i found
in scout's bedroom while putting away laundry the other night.
when i said he was taking his 'bootcamp birthday party' seriously,
i wasn't kidding.  this is quite a regimen.

whew - it makes me exhausted {and dizzy} just reading it!  
my child - i love that he enjoys testing himself physically.
he is definitely a gerber in this way.

i've been doing my own bootcamp training too
so i can fit into my bathing suit a little better this summer.
my regime thought isn't quite as rigorous as scouts.  

since taking a little hiatus from running,
i was starting to get "squishy"... meaning my muscle tone was going bye bye. 
as a b-day gift to me, c got our family a membership at the SDTRC...a place we've
been considering joining for over a year because their tennis program there is so strong.
while the boys are getting their fill of tennis,
i've been taking body pump and pilates classes!

these classes have been around for years, but i'd never taken either.
i'm officially hooked now that i am feeling muscles i haven't used in years. 
maybe in a few months i'll be strong enough to do scout's workout. *grin*

~ the boys and i are off to phoenix tomorrow morning right after c's tennis match.
our bags are {almost} fully packed, my phone and kindle are loaded up with books
and audiobooks, and we are all SUPER excited to spend time with heidi and family!
 

maddy's home from college

my niece came home from college weeks ago and while the boys were in
florida, we met up for coffee to catch up on life.  we also had a little photo shoot.
maddy's girlfriend bella joined us at paradise point and the two were my models
until the sun went down. the location has it all - a wooden footbridge, a little pond,
tropical plants and even ducks which the girls had fun chasing around the grounds. 
it was easy and as always with their youth and beauty,  i didn't have to edit a single photo.
it's been so fun watching these girls grow from pretty young girls into beautiful young women.

maddy is back in oregon now and moved into her new house for her junior year.
i'm missing her smile already!

madison rae, 2014, age 20 



beautiful bella, 2014, age 20

hello sweet summer

summer is in full swing and oh how i love this time of year!
summer to me means fresh cherries, sand between my toes,
sitting on the grassy knoll at law street eating burritos from taco surf,
and lots and lots of beach days with the boys.
i snapped these two weekends ago on a lazy sunday afternoon.



summer 2014

~ i have so much more i want to journal....the boys' trip to florida,
scout's recent birthday celebration, and upcoming summer plans!
we've heading to arizona this weekend to see my little sister heidi.
i'll be attending her baby shower and can hardly wait to see her bump! 
in august, the boys and are heading up the california coast for some family time
and to visit my sister leslie and her family. i'm finally going to meet baby aria!

in the meantime, the days are full and christopher is playing mr. mom.
with the ability to work from home and flexibility, we decided against a nanny
this summer and instead are setting up lots of play dates and putting them in more camps.
this week, finn is in astronaut camp at the san diego science center, and
scout is at survivor camp in balboa park. they are loving these camps!!
they were talking over each other last night trying to tell us all about their days.
these camps seem to be perfect fits for their varying interests.

scout's 7th birthday: military themed

scout had been anticipating this birthday party for so long,
but because he was off to florida, c and i were able to coordinate
everything while he was away. 

we tried to keep this 'military' party simple.
it was held at our home in the backyard. take-homes were olive drab
tees for all the soldiers {guests}, and the birthday boy got something
different - a camo tee which he LOVED!

i had a tank piñata made at a local shoppe and filled it with candy,
dog tags and army men.  as always, c made a tank cake the night before the party.
it wasn't fancy, but most most important, it was 'cool' and made by their dad.

scout had a dozen kids over ranging from our neighbor's 5 year daughter,
to the saucedo family with four boys ranging from 6 to 13,
to keep all these soldiers busy, c put them through basic training,
leading them through a myriad of exercises.

they marched, did push-ups, jumping jacks, sit-ups,
and swimming drills as christopher lovingly barked orders at them.
scout took the exercises VERY serious.

the celebration was lots of fun and i think it's safe to say,
we all slept like rocks that night.

some photos of scout's big day:

 

scout's lucky 7

                                   via

 

today you turned 7 scout benjamin gerber!
lucky 7 is what they call it. 
for some reason, 7 seems to be the world’s favorite number.

there are 7 days of the week, 7colors of the rainbow,
7 notes on a musical scale, 7 seas, 7 continents.  
even your favorite spy, james bond's code name is 007. 

you, our adventurous bright blue-eyed, olive skin boy joined our family

7 years ago today,  july 6^th, and completed our family of four. 

 

from early on, it seems you went full speed. you were crawling at 7 months and

walking by 11.  you almost gave your dad and I {and christi} a heart attack when you
climbed the loft ladder at 15 months. you dropped your training wheels at age 3
{despite my quiet inwards hopes you would ride on 4 wheels for another year}.later, at 4, you surprised us all by braving a 'real' zip-line in mexico, and recently
you took a 2 week cross country vacation without your dad and me, to visit family in florida. 
scout, you are a bit of a daredevil and though it keeps me on my toes and even makes me

slightly nervous at times, you remind me that is how life is supposed to be lived.

in keeping with tradition, here are 7 things I want to remember about you at this very age:

 

1.     You love breakfast, especially BACON. 
when you go to taco surf with your dad,
you order a breakfast burrito or scrambled eggs
with bacon on the side almost every time. 

 

2.     You are physical. you are a natural athlete and a bit competitive in sports.
{you don’t get this at all from your mother or father}  *wink*
your favorite sports are soccer and swimming,
but you enjoy throwing a football, surfing and playing tennis too.
 
 3.     Reading is your passion
you aren’t just a good reader, you are an incredible reader!
you tested at a 5^th grade level last year in 1^st grade and have read more books than I've read
in probably 5 years - seriously.  this love affair with books started when you learned to
read at the age of 4. it just clicked for you, and a whole new world opened up before your
eyes and you jumped right in. 

your dad and i think 'devour' is the best way to describe your reading. 
you devour huge chapter books in days and it’s so difficult for us to keep enough
books on hand for you. i used to buy boxed book sets like crazy, but it was getting way too
costly so we visit the library a lot now…especially now that it's summer and you have even
more time to read.  

 

4.     Writing is another love of yours. 
your teachers believe that all the reading you do has had a profound influence
on your spelling and writing.  we’ve watched you be transformed and inspired by words
and then you branched out to writing on your own.  you have several notebooks that you
use to write stories or journal in.  when finn received this journal for christmas,
you begged for one as I knew you would.  you opened it this morning,
on your actual birthday and immediately took it to your room to write.
though you may change your mind next year, next month, or even next week,
for now you have declared you are going to be a writer someday. 
you aren’t quite sure what kind though – perhaps a journalist or a novelist.   

 

5.     You are a sensitive boy.
you remind us all to use kind words and a soft voice when we speak not only to you,
but to each other. your deep love for your brother causes you to be hurt most deeply
by him and sometimes causes you to lash out at him physically.  you've been working
hard to express your frustration by using your words rather than your brawn.
you’ve come a long way in the last 2 years.  your favorite time of the day and when
you are most sensitive is the evening.  we use this magic hour to connect. 
you call me to your bedside every night and ask for a back rub{and sometimes a drink of water}, and i'm happy to do it,
knowing someday you will stop asking.
 

6.     You are 47” tall and weigh 45 lbs.
you and your buddy spencer are the smallest boys in your classroom,
but as your big brother reminded you when you when you mentioned your size,
brains are and being kind are far more important than brawn.  
 

7.     You are a good friend
though you get along well with all the children in your class,
you seem to prefer a single close friend.  this year in the 1st grade,
you found a bosom buddy. his name is spencer and you two share so many interests.
after just one conversation with him and i knew why you gravitated to him.  he plays the piano, loves to read, play soccer and has an older brother!
your father and i look forward to watching your friendship(s) develop and grow over
your elementary school years, and will encourage you always to seek out and be a good friend.  
 

I must add one more thing I don’t want to forget about your last year:

 ~  you performed in your first piano recital this year.
you've watched finn for the last few years and were so excited when you got to perform.
you played beautifully, not missing a single note. though you were a “little nervous”
you pushed through it.  you were so proud of yourself.  i'll never forget that cute grin on
your face.  as you took your bow, I don't think I could have had a bigger smile,
and i'm sure i was clapping the loudest for you. you really enjoy playing, and my hope is
you continue to play and enjoy music throughout life.
 

happy birthday sweet 7 year old! 
our family is so blessed to have you as our youngest member.

love, mom 

 

 

birthday planning: military style

scout has a birthday just around the corner and
this one isn't cutesy or adorable like the frog and monster themed
parties of the past.  he's growing up which means his parties are
more grown up too.

months back he asked me if he could have a 'military' birthday!
YES, military.  *sigh*  he went on to say that c or i need to be the
drill sergeant and make up things for him and his friends to do.
{since i'm the official photographer, i'm leaving this job to c}

he is rather competitive and loves physical activities,
and with his love of camo and war related things right now,
i wasn't surprised at all by his request.
it suits him.

i needed easy so i jumped onto etsy and found lots of military themed
party printables.  i narrowed them down to three and let scout select
what he wanted.  i placed an order and the customizable printables
were sent to my email. easy peasy! 

the invites have gone out to about a dozen kiddos, and i will be wrapping
water bottles this week and punching cupcake toppers to help tie the theme
throughout his party.  i'm hoping the tank piñata that is being created by
casa de las piñatas will be ready by next weekend.




 

















scout is SUPER excited about his special day!
i caught him doing pushups a few times this weekend
and when i asked what he was doing, he said he's "training for
his bootcamp". *wink*

oh, how i love this almost 7 year old!!

~ tomorrow is the 4th and i'm thrilled we don't have to go anywhere!
with a pool, it's easy to stay home and invite friends to come to us.
we'll be having 4 neighborhood families over and looking forward
to pool time, bbqing and kids ziplining!

the boys are back

our two sweet boys are home from florida!

i wasn't able to be at the gate to greet them
but their father was and he shared this sweet photo
of them. 

 

 

finn {age 10} + scout {age 6}

 

the flight went without a hitch,
which wasn't a concern. the boys are seasoned travelers these days.

they only thing i thought about was whether they would
both have enough reading material for their 5 hour flight home.
thanks to a new book finn picked up at kennedy space center,
and a star wars book uncle randy gave him, finn was set.
scout packed a couple 300 page books and i reminded him before
and during his trip home to save one!  fortunately, he remembered,
so he was set too.

i literally sped home from work and as i walked in the door they
screamed "Mom" and almost knocked me to the ground with their
hugs.  scout literally jumped in my arms and stayed there for probably
5 minutes.  finn's threw his arms around me and his hugged me like we
hadn't seen each other in a year. they had a wonderful time but they were
glad to be home.

it felt great to have them home.

i'm not sure what i missed the most while they were away -
our bedtime chats about our days, lively discussions with finn,
seeing scout's little head poking up from behind a book or hearing
him playing the piano.  i don't think i could pick one thing.
i missed it all. 

they excitedly told me all about their trip - the sleepovers, new movies
and treats, special outings, etc. the highlight for them was kennedy space center
with the shappard boys {grandpa, uncles randy and todd and their cousin jayden}.
i can hardly wait to see the photos...gma says they are in the mail.

finn said they were spoiled rotten and that gma and gpa aren't
strict at all. *grin*.  i told him that's the beauty of being a grandparent.
the parents get the tough part.

scout confessed the last two nights he was really missing me and almost
cried but didn't.  my brave little scoutie.  it was painful to hear it, but i felt better
when he said he felt better when we talked on the phone.  he made me promise
the next trip to florida would only be for 8-9 days...no more than 10 days.
i promised.

while the boys got their fill of fun and family time,
c and i took full advantage of the extra time we had -
both to do our own things and to spend more time together.
{c surprised me with a short getaway to mexico's wine country}

we're back in the real world again - the world of noise, dirty shoes,
play dates, wet towels, swim shorts and legos strewn around the house

still

i am grateful for it all because behind all the noise and mess are two beautiful boys
that are home and calling me mom.  hearing that simple word is well, worth everything.