A Happy Day

On Monday, Liv helped make cupcakes!

She's quite the little baker.

After nap, she helped decorate.

We called the sprinkles "colors" as in "put the colors on the cake, Livvy!"
She called them all "yellow!"

Some "yellow" made it on the cakes. :)

And to make the day even better... We got a copy of the contract for the house, signed by the seller! Hooray!

Sailing on the Bay

Our dear friends, Skip & Jody, invited us out for a sail on their new boat this weekend!

What a treat! Jody was practicing with another sailing team, while we were out on the water, but we all spent the later afternoon & evening together after sailing.

Liv had a great time charging around the dock looking at all the "big. boats." and the "kids. boats. water." (the junior sailing team was out in their dingies, too!)

After a lovely sail (sorry no pictures... I had my hands full), Liv was lulled into a nap.

(Angel Island, background)

In the lee of the island we motored for a bit and had some sandwich and juice.
(and a chance to take some video)

It was a great time! And I am so grateful to Skip's generocity and capability. He and Jeff handled the boat so very well, while Liv and I sat back and enjoyed the ride! We had such lovely weather! When was the last time we had such nice breeze and could wear shorts & tshirts on the bay?!?!

18 months

Liv is now 18 months old.

So far - so good!

We went in for a check-up earlier this week.

Her stats:

weight: 23 pounds

height: 32 inches

all her vaccines are up-to-date (except for the flu shots... not yet available for under-3 babies)

she's on track for physical & cognitive development (as far as we can tell)

and everyone's happy to see a healthy baby!

She's talking more and more... which is such fun.
Stringing words together, and just naming things!

Mommy is about 23 weeks along in the pregnancy.

And likewise... all is well.

(Tho' her arms aren't quite long enough to get the whole belly in the camera-phone shot. LOL)

Jeff is home for two weeks!

Except for the "emergencies" that pop up and call him out to the various facilities.

It remains a challenge for him to get productive work done (not to mention conference calls) with an active & talkative toddler underfoot.

Which makes us all the more excited to be progressing on our home purchase.

That's news for now... thanks for stopping by!

Mom & Apple Pie

Liv's first pie!

Yes... we do actually cook on the floor.
It's as clean as the counters, I promise. (for whatever that's worth... LOL)

In other news... On the home front...

We received some very exciting news this morning.

Our offer on the house we want has been accepted!!!

We've applied for the mortgage with 2 brokers and 2 banks... will hopefully be able to lock in the rate/ loan; and sign the sale contract by the end of the week, and get this show on the road!!!

YAY!

There's some (potentially expensive) stuff left to do before we can call it home... (landscaping, furnishing, moving in, etc.); but, we are so pleased!!




It's beyond perfect: master + 2 small bedrooms at the far end,
A home workstation and an Office,
plus a Guest Suite with your name on it!!

It's up in the hills, outside a small town (sound familiar?) in Central CA;
in a development of other custom homes, golf courses, and vinyards.
(the video is from one of our early visits last January.)

Li'l Pirate... AAARG

... AAARG....

Making Music

Daddy sent Liv a present in the mail...



what fun!

Zerberts make a Come Back

Diaper Dance

Another song from Baby Signing Time

ps/ does anyone remember that show, "Ally McBeal," and her dancing baby hallucinations?

Here's a really disturbing reminder:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAKmAqyiJq8

"I'm a Bug"

Liv got a lady bug costume at the consignment shop.

(Mom is "singing" the Bug song from our signing videos)

Saturday Afternoon at the Beach

We all went out to Alameda beach for a few hours this afternoon.

We did some exploring...

And some running and playing.

And Jeff got to do some sailing.

Liv and I watched happily from the beach.

Dad took a break to bask in the sun with us.

a lovely day for everyone!

Wild Goose Chase

today at the park.

and yesterday at the mall.

Baby On Board!! *NEWS*

Guess What!?!?


Liv's gonna be a big sister!!


warning: creepy ultra-sound pictures below... :)

so, obviously, judging by the size of my belly... we've known for a while;
just haven't made the big global announcement.

Here it is:

Jeff, Emily & Olivia are expecting a new baby January 24th (-ish)
which means we're about 1/2 way through the pregnancy.

I went for the standard 20-week ultrasound this morning.
Everything looks pretty normal according to the tech & the dr.

The technology is amazing. The detail and the clarity are impressive.
However, amazing as it is; it's also a little creepy and bizarre.

We got to watch & listen to the heart. We got to see close-ups of each ventricle.
It's a beautiful, symmetrical, rhythmic little heart.

We saw the pretty string-of-pearls spine; long and even, with graceful little curves.

Big round abdomen, big round head.
All the limbs and fingers and toes in the right numbers and in the right places.

And what appear to be sweet little girl-parts between two strong leg bones!

Here are a couple of profile pictures of our "reclining" baby
Head (right/center) chest & belly (left)

If you're grossed out - I don't want to hear it!!

:)

I warned you!!!



BTW: I tried to send out a mass email with our new email addresses & current mailing address/phone number. I think it got marked as spam in some inboxes... if you didn't get the email and would like our current contact info... let me know!! XOXO