Ellie-Funt

Meet Ellie-Funt. Isn't she cute? I figured I had at least one more year to make her dress up in a costume of my choice, with a hat she absolutely hated. Maybe next year some sort of pink fairy is in store. Or maybe she'll always want to go as an animal from the zoo? One never knows. By the end of the night she discovered a love for M&M's and Michael Jackson's "Thriller." I would consider it a successful Halloween by all accounts.

Her Ride

Trick-or-Treat

Knute's newest masterpiece. I would consider it a step up from last year's.

We hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween. xoxo

Couch Potato

We have been enjoying the comfort of our couch (or lack thereof) for the past several days. I took Ellie in to get her 15-month vaccinations last week and now she is sick. Figures. That didn't stop us from taking her to the Clayton Pumpkin Patch on Saturday (not smart), but since then there has been a whole lot of this:and this...*Mom, thank you so much for the cute Halloween book. Ellie especially likes all the paper pop-outs.

Here are all the cute pictures of Ellie at the Pumpkin Patch. She was so thrilled to be there.

Enjoying the train ride with Dad.

The Year of Leather

A traditional third year anniversary gift is something leather, but we chose to forgo traditional this year and celebrate our anniversary with a wonderful weekend getaway to Half Moon Bay. It's always been our favorite spot. Knute won a trip to the Ritz Carlton from playing BINGO of all things. It would sound a lot cooler if it was from a game of Poker, but who could complain about that kind of BINGO prize? I was thrilled to say the least. The trip was beautiful, luxurious, and romantic all wrapped into one. Am I making you sick to your stomach yet? As much joy as raising a 15-month-old brings us, our "coupleness" can sometime fall to the wayside. This trip was just what we needed.

Wow...I really can't believe it's been 3 years. We were married a week after my 26th birthday. It didn't matter that we had lived together for over a year (gasp!). I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I mean that in the best of ways. I had no idea what it would be like to buy and sell a house together, to become dog owners, and then to become parents. I had no idea of the joys and stresses married life would bring. Sometimes I feel like it was just yesterday we were sipping Lava Flows on the beach of St. Kitts during our Honeymoon, but we've come a long way since then. We are much richer in our life experiences together. For me, marriage has been a huge blessing. I hope we will continue to be blessed with many happy and healthy years together.

A few pictures of the weekend:

*Disclaimer-Whenever it is just the two of us, we tend to have mostly pictures of just one of us by ourselves because we feel too ackward to ask people to take pictures of us. I hope to get past this ackwardness one day.My husband of 3 YearsUsMy idea of warming up by the fireKnute's idea of warming up by the fireThe view from our roomA perfect sunset

A Farewell to Summer

Despite the triple digit temperatures here in the East Bay, today marks the last day of summer. I think it's about time to say farewell. We had many wonderful memories, but now we're ready to move onto a new, crisper season. I am in need of cooler weather, yellow and orange hues, the smell of firewood, and a warm bowl of tomato soup. I want to bundle my Tot up in cozy little sweaters, feed her sweet apple cider, and toss her in a big pile of leaves! Doesn't this all sound so wonderful and nostalgic? In all honesty, I am so SICK of wearing tank tops and faded Capri pants. Yes, I never fail to disappoint with my true reasons that involve vanity. Unfortunately, I think it may be a few more weeks of heat. I'm just getting a bit restless...

We spent this last weekend attending an A's game (I don't think I watched a single inning, but the fireworks were pretty remarkable). On Saturday, we surprised Claudia with a 60th Birthday Party. As if we didn't get enough in, we then headed to the Lafayette Art & Wine Festival on Sunday. I've come to the realization that we are kind of Festival junkies.

Here are a few pictures of the BIG surprise:

The very lovely and surprised Birthday Girl. An important job....collecting rocks with Uncle Buck.Ellie is saying "Happy Birthday Nana!"The Bucklew Family, Take OneThe Bucklew Family, Take 6

30-Something

Yes, it's true. My husband is 31 and I'm still 28 (for three weeks anyway). He's a total cradle robber. I think I will have to rub it in frequently.

We started the celebration on Friday when we left to meet my cousins for a day of wine tasting in Sonoma. We finished the celebration on Sunday night with a delicious dinner of yummy Mexican food with my mom, Ellie, and the whole Bucklew family.

Happy 31st Knute! You are well loved.

My cousins, Travis and ValerieA pretty scene at Viansa WineryMy 30-something husband.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

The Fam (missing a few important members, of course)

The Sibs

A Big Birthday Smile

My co-host

Remember this guy? He needs to get a little more face time with the camera.

Ellie Update

I never think that there's enough Ellie updates, although I'm sure anyone who reads my blog feels quite differently. My baby girl (I guess she's considered a toddler now) is fourteen months old today. Fourteen months! Sometimes I still feel like she's the youngest person in the world.

I remember riding the elevator at Macy's when she was about three weeks old when an older woman looked at me and said, "don't worry, it gets much easier." This was a relief to hear in my sleep-deprived, emotionally fragile state. I was so grateful and appreciative of her very honest statement. It's true, every stage gets easier in so many aspects. Of course, there are new challenges as well. Those dog leashes people put on their toddlers (you know the kind?) that I always used to make fun of suddenly have their appeal.

A few things I love about 14 months:

*A new word seems to pop into Ellie's vocabulary every day. She is suddenly like a sponge in all the new knowledge she soaks up.
*She loves to dance. This offers us hours of endless entertainment. We are still hoping she hasn't inherited my sense of rhythm (although I still don't see anything wrong with it).
*She is a very happy and easily entertained child. Dirt and random items found around the house are an endless source of entertainment.
*You can give her most anything to eat. Her favorites are mac&cheese, corn, tomatoes, scrambled eggs, and anything sweet. I'm pretty sure she eats half of all my frozen yogurt and ice cream, therefore I should probably start giving myself bigger servings. Don't you agree?
*She is obsessed with animals, especially dogs.
*She loves books and sits patiently on my lap while I read to her and she turns all the pages.
*Although she sometimes goes back and forth, lately she has been a total Mommy's girl. I find this flattering.

A few challenges (the nice way of putting it) at 14 months:

*Ellie is not good at running errands. I run a lot of errands, so this is sometimes a problem. She doesn't like to be restrained in a stroller or cart.
*She runs away and tends to tune me out when I ask her to come back. I think I say it in my most stern and serious voice, but I'm pretty sure she thinks it's some sort of game. She only runs away faster. This may not seem like a huge deal, but unfortunately the world can be a scary and dangerous place. When will she understand that I am only trying to protect her? Come to think of it, this is probably a dilemma for parents with children of any age.
*Having a toddler is very messy. There is currently a lot of smashed up foods, dirt, and disarray in my life right now. Every time I clean something up, I turn around to another mess. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother.

There you have it: a very brief, compact description of life with my little fourteen month old. We have our moments, but it's really quite wonderful.

Little Miss Sunshine

We had good intentions of taking Ellie to Santa Cruz on Saturday for a day at the beach, but some nasty fires had other plans in store for us. That's OK. Instead, we headed about 15 miles west on highway 24 to a lovely little place in the Tilden Regional Park of Berkeley called Lake Anza. I think it's a true hidden gem. It was to me anyway, and Ellie was equally as satisfied as she would have been enjoying any blue ocean. As long as she's outside (which seems to be her element), our little Earth Muffin is a happy camper.

Little Miss Sunshine

A rare photo of two friends sans kiddos...

It just doesn't get any better than a soft serve on a hot August afternoon.

Precious moments.

Daddy's Girl

Ellie and Teddy 'sittin in a tree...

Must all good things come to an end? I am pretty content with freezing my 13-month old forever in time.

The Joy of Camping

I have a Love/Hate relationship with camping.

A few things I LOVE:
*Eating guilt-free s'mores (it's not a true camping trip without them, right?)
*Lay's Potato Chips and French Onion Dip
*Being out on the boat. It was Ellie's first time. We were pleasantly surprised that she loved it (after a 10-minute rough patch when she wasn't so thrilled about wearing a life vest.)*Playing cards, Catch Phrase, etc.
*Not wearing a stitch of make-up or drying my hair. No one cares.
*Drinking coffee early in the morning and relaxing. Sort of relaxing. There's only so much of that when you have a 13-month-old.
*Feeling like you have warped back in time. It's a simple life.A few things I DON'T love:
*The flies. This is a huge one for me. I hate flies more then spiders, snakes, or any other kind of pest. Yuck.
*The heat. It was the end of July. Everything was kind of hot and sticky.
*The bathroom facilities. Enough said.
*It's not necessarily the best night of sleep.
*The set-up/clean-up. There's kind of a lot of dirt, laundry, preparation, etc.

Overall, we had a great time. Angel's Camp made for a perfect July weekend. Thanks Mark and Claudia for letting us use the RV (no, we weren't in a tent, otherwise I would have a lot more to add to my DON'T love list). I hope we can go again soon, but I probably need a couple months.

Catching Up

I feel like I used to blog about more random thoughts, events, etc. and that lately my blog has become more about catching up on past events. Because catching up takes a lot longer to do, I've started blogging less. Maybe these things just go in waves depending on my mood. Anyway...it has been a fun month and summer has been in full swing. We have been staying pretty close to home and enjoying all that the East Bay has to offer (there's a lot).

Poor Knute sort of got the short end of the stick when I never made a Father's Day Post. He is a wonderful, involved, and loving father. Ellie is a lucky girl to have him as a dad. The Saturday of Father's Day weekend we went to Tilden Park in Berkley. Knute wanted to take Ellie on the carousel and didn't realize that other parents stand NEXT to their children when on the ride. He decided that he wanted to ride the giraffe with Ellie.

We had a nice picnic lunch with Kaden.

We visited the petting zoo and saw cows, pigs, chickens, etc., but everything was still "doggy."

We dragged Ellie's first birthday out for almost a week. There were presents, friends, family, cake, cake, and more cake. Who could ask for anything more?Doesn't everyone look like they're having fun?

4th of July came around again. It felt like we had just celebrated this holiday. It was Ellie's first year to be in the parade. She had fun "driving" her pink love bug.1st Fourth of July @ 10 days old We ended the parade at Mark and Claudia's house for a BBQ with friends and family complete with watermelon enjoyed by Ellie.