Oaklandish

October already?!  We are creeping closer and closer to the two year old mark, and I am frankly not ready.  Two years old means a lot of things.... no more free plane rides, potty training, big kid bed, more talking, terrible twos (which i think have already begun for us).

Did i mention that Madison is talking?  Not just talking actually, rambling.  I think she gets that from Patrick.... def not me :)   But seriously, she is talking a whole lot for a kid who isn't even two yet.  She can say full sentences.... like put words together on her own.  However, she cannot walk up the stairs, but she can ask me for things and tell me what she did in nursery, etc.  I suppose the downside is she is constantly talking and wanting me to understand what she is saying because if I don't then she will say it until I do. Sounds fun, right?!

As for potty training, we decided to jump in a few weeks ago.  WHAT WERE WE THINKING?!?!?  To call Madison strong-willed is an understatement.... lets just put it that way.  She is 2/3 of the way there... she knows when she has to go and she knows how to hold it, but she doesn't not like the feeling of peeing in the potty.  At this point (beginning of week 4) I feel like we have tried everything.  We started with no rewards (big mistake - at least for her).  She will not at least sit on the potty without screaming because she gets to watch Curious George and she gets chocolate chips.  We are also implementing rewards for staying dry - which doesn't seem to be hard for her.  Friday I started putting diapers on her again because she was holding it for the whole morning until I put a diaper on her at nap time and I was afraid of her getting a UTI.  This isn't really helping though because now she hates going in diapers and being messy.  Ugh, welcome to my life!  What a frustrating and hard few weeks this has been.  Secluded!  At least the diapers allow me the peace of mind when we go out (which we didn't do for the last three weeks).

Did I mention we adopted a 22 year old?  We didn't really adopt her, but she has been living with us and sleeping on the couch for the last 5-6 weeks.  We love her, especially Madison.  Did I mention she has a little dog?  Which truly is Madison's new BFF.  I do not know how we will all handle the change when she moves out on Wednesday.  Maddie is seriously going to miss the extra attention and playmate(s).  The poor dog might not miss Maddie as much.  I mean sure she will miss the extra treats and being chased around and hit and yelled at, right?  Prob not!  I bet she sleeps for a week to recover.

In other news, we love Oakland.  Mostly the food, but the culture is wonderful.  People are so real and surprisingly friendly.  But the food.... I cannot express how yummy it is... it is just so good.  I think in our (almost) 5 years of marriage we have never eaten out as much as we have in the last 4 months.  There are just too many tempting restaurants around us.  According to the Rockridge newspaper, "Oakland neighborhoods like Rockridge, Temescal Triangle and Uptown, have become ground zero for some of the hottest and hippest restaurants in California. " JUST SAYIN;!!!!

Things are going really well for us here.  We having joined a parish and a small group within that parish.  I am co-leading the moms bible study. And as a whole we are getting connected and making friends.

Have I mentioned that Patrick really likes his new job?!  Last week they closed early and took the company to see a movie.  The best part?!  Spouses got to go and the girl staying with us was available to watch Maddie.  Can you say DATE NIGHT?!!!  Even better, free date night.  Well mostly free... we got drinks and appetizers after, but I got the afternoon off to go to a movie with my hubby and didn't even have to put Maddie to bed.  Thank you new company!

We have our family costume idea.  So, get excited!

August already?!

A lot has changed since our last post....

WE MOVED!!!

In May, Patrick interviewed and accepted a job in Berkeley (across the Bay).  He commuted (1 hour) to this new job for a few weeks before we found a new apartment.  Therefore, in June we moved to Berkeley.  Are we crazy?!  Maybe.  BUT, so far it has been great - especially because we get more time with Patrick.  He is working for a true start up (Lightsail) - just celebrated 4 years.  Apparently he came at a really exciting time - they were in the process of completing and starting the testing on their second prototype.  He really enjoys it!  Being a start up the whole atmosphere of the office is very positive and exciting.  They of course have a ping pong table with office tournaments and lots of other perks (unlimited chocolate, free lunch thursdays, unlimited coffee and snacks, etc). 

We really like our new apartment and our location.  We live in Rockridge (Berkeley Oakland boarder).   We really miss our church and community in Menlo Park (MP), but the Lord has been good and we have connected in a new church and already started making some friends.  A lot of the kids at our new church are Maddie's age which has been nice because she is not use to having a lot of friends her age.  She is used to playing the middle child to our MP friends with a 3 y.o. and 6 month old.  So one minute she is getting toys taken and pushed around by the 3y.o and the next she is taking toys from the 6 month old and getting it taken away from the moms.  Poor kid, right?!  Anyways, she is really enjoying having other little girls her age to play with.  It is so cute to watch them run around together and hold hands.

What a roller coaster ride it has been, but the Lord is good!  I go to bed every night so thankful for the path he has clearly prepared for us. 

March Madness, again?!

Last march it was a different kind of madness....

We are doing well out here in sunny California.  It is crazy to me that some of our friends are stranded in snow and Patrick was in shorts this weekend.

HAPPY HOLY WEEK!

Trying to gather my thoughts on March and what we have been up to... my mom came for a week before her and dad went to Hawaii.  They are currently in Hawaii and then will be back for Easter weekend.  Other than that March has been a pretty relaxing month hanging out with our friends around here.  We are both busy with work and play.  I have started a work trade with a small local gym (I work a couple hours a week and get to workout for free).  So far it has been pretty good, but not as relaxing as I thought.  It is a 6 month commitment so we will see if I continue with that, but they do have childcare at least :)

Patrick's work is still busy.  He had about a week or two breather (thank goodness), but it has picked up again due to someone leaving the company and his projects being divided and added to everyone's work load.  He sadly has travel coming up, but should be a short trip this time.  Maddie and I were going to go, but we have a small group commitment.

Maddie is still growing in everyway!  She is starting to talk and say real words (or they at least sound like real words), and she continues to make lots of animal noises.  Trying to run to keep up with the older kids.  Getting more and more fearless.  Loves people.  She is just so much fun right now!  I have probably said that on every post, but we mean it every time.  Patrick is hilarious with her!  My favorite part of the day is watching them play when he gets home from work.  He teaches her things that I would have never thought she could understand... for example...  teaching her about magnets and the fact that certain ones you can make stick together, but also things like hopping.  They are the cutest together!

Well.... that is what is going on with us!  Miss everyone!

We live in the coolest place

TGIF!

Today Madison and I spent the morning at the beach with our friends Adelaide and Diana! It was beautiful! So nice that we can spend so much time outside in February (aka winter).  What a dream.

This was the first time Madison has really played at the beach. Adelaide is older and so she had really cool beach toys (shovels, buckets, etc). Madison took off walking last week and I was amazed at how well she was walking in the sand. She was really getting around while carrying her bucket with some seashells (and sand) inside. So proud!

On another note... Maddie is in love with her daddy. The past couple weeks she has been crying when he leaves in the morning and only wanting him at night. It is so cute! Great for everyone involved because he wants to play with her too and Iam happy to have some alone time (and she doesn't cry for him all day or anything).

Patrick and I have been on a date every week since we have been back from Christmas (and sometimes twice in a week). Woot! It has been so great! We have been trading with some friends (because babysitters are so expensive and our husbands have to work/study all the time).

Patrick has some work trips coming up, which stinks! Work is okay, but he is swamped.

Life as we know it

With the celebration of living in California for a year and Madison turning one year old we decided it was time for us to do some serious exploring this beautiful state in which we live.  So, we went to Napa last weekend and started the adventure of exploring the area.  Our first stop was in Calistoga at this cute little brunch place and then we headed to Sterling Vineyard.  Sterling was so cool!  You have to take a gondola up to the winery and vineyards to begin your tour, and then the tasting continues as you walk through the tour (a glass at the beginning, 2 in the middle and 2 at the end).  It was beautiful!  Then we headed to Silver Oaks to try 3 different kinds of Cabernet (my fav!).  On our way home we decided to stop in the city (since we were driving by) and eat dinner in the Italian District/ North Beach.  It was such a fun day and Madison held up like a champ!

One year old already

What a year!  I cannot believe that Madison is already a year old and we have lived in California for over a year.

We did have a birthday party for Madison and it was madness, but tons of fun.  She had a great time even though I am sure she had no idea what was going on, but she enjoyed crawling around with her friends.  She did a great job shoving the cupcake into her face as well!  The pictures below are from her actual birthday when we went to Susie Cakes with a couple friends and then her birthday party.  There is a picture of all the kids, but you can't even see everyone in the back of of the room.

 

 We made it back to the east coast for 2 weeks and it was a wild and crazy good time!  Patrick and I took advantage of all the family being around and got to spend a night away from Madison.  It was great!  We went up to Charlotte for a night and had a great time!  Sadly we didn't get to see as many friends this trip because we had so much family time for the holidays.  Madison loved playing with her cousins (especially Cameron - 13 y.o. boy) and  her Aunts, Uncles and grandparents of course.  She also got her first professional haircut - due to Patrick and I attempting to cut it ourselves....
 
  Lets see what else....

Patrick is really busy with work and just seems to keep getting more and more put on his (work) plate.  He is co-leading our community group now with another guy and he is doing an awesome job.

As for me, I am enjoying being home with Madison - especially the older she gets.  However, with age comes other things - for example temper tantrums - but as a whole we are having a blast.  I was thinking about going back to work part-time, but have decided against it.  I have been asked to co-lead a small group at Mother's Together (a moms bible study at the church across the street).  I am really excited about this because it is a group of first time moms with kids around Madison's age.  It has been a great community of people who are in the same stage with figuring out how to raise a kid.  Luckily, the kids all play really well together (so far).

And Madison - she took her first steps in the beginning of December and is going to take off running any day now.  She is still pretty timid, but she will walk just holding on to one hand now.  It is funny when she plays with the toddlers because you can tell she wants to walk like them, but instead will just crawl as fast as she can toward them.  She is the best!