Let the dreaming begin.

One and a half weeks to go until Spring Break. Dreaming of many things, like reading by the pool. First on my list: This book!
My inspiration: this article on code-switching a mysterious bilingual habit... good or bad? Perhaps not so bad after all...

Cozy cuteness.

Ok, before the warm weather comes around, (any day now... fine by me!) I've got to post these cute pictures of Hannah, all miserably bundled up in the snow, and then gleefully dressed for a cool weather romp in the park! This girl loves her winter duds!

This last one on the way out to the park just melts my heart! One of my favorite parts of the day, by the way!

big girl bed.

Hannah sleeps in a big girl bed. At least at night time. Mostly. And we're still working on nap times. She's pretty sneaky. Our bed is still her favorite. She loves to cuddle.

library goodness.

i love to read.
i love how-to articles in magazines, i love getting lost in pictures of gardens and lists of recipes for dinner parties, and ideas for new projects.
when the day gets long, i love curling up in bed with a good book and getting lost in another place and time.
but books cost money, and even worse, at the rate i read, we can end up with piles of them!
the library is my favorite solution to the problem.
the books are free, they are countless, and, if we time our visits right, there are friendly ladies to read oodles of them to Hannah and other friendly tots before some fun activities!
we go to the library every week now. even if the books aren't due. and not just because i like it, but because Hannah loves it, too.
currently, she loves curling up on the mini couch at the El Toro library with a pile of Madeline books.
the aliso viejo library is a favorite of mine, partly because we can make it to storytime right after gymboree, and they have a great coffee shop attached. i love having a little lunch or sweet snack with Hannah there. it's kind of our thing.
one of my favorite books that i keep checking out over and over again is called "Lola en la biblioteca". That's right. Lola in the library. It's all about how little Lola loves to go to the library with her mom for storytime and to check out new books each week. Then they go for a little coffee/snack afterwards. Sound familiar? Oh yes. I just might BUY a copy of this book, because I love it, and how it preserves that little mommy memory for me. God, the little things are sweet sometimes!

Monday nights. Hands down best night of the week.

I know. That sounds strange. Here's why I LOVE Monday nights:
Monday night is Mommy's night: Piyo with my besty Ambie. Our weekly run to Target. Sometimes I settle in with Micah once I get home and we watch How I Met Your Mother.
Not tonight. Muscles still burning from piyo, I've got a hot mug of Egyptian Licorice Tea, and I'm going to settle into bed with a good book.
Aaaahhh... Monday, I love you. I wouldn't start the week any other way!

Nutella, where have you been all of my life?

I love peanut butter. Up until now, there was no reason to try anything else on my toast. sandwich. with a banana. or on a spoon. since hazelnut kind of started my coffee craze, i thought i'd try this nutella i hear so much about. it's bliss in a jar.
i think about breakfast all day every day now.

Embrace the camera. Pita pizza fun!

Last year, for New Year's, I resolved to take a picture for each day. I of course, ended up taking far more than 365 pictures... and now, it's most definitely a great part of my day.
Here's ours for today: not super-fancy pictures, but I love this moment. We had a great day together: some Gymboree, thai food for lunch, a good nap and we made some pizzas together for Hannah's dinner. She loves pizza, but she's definitely lactose intolerant, so we have to make special foods for her, for almost everything! She's also not much of a veggie eater, so we put them into the foods she actually likes. Like this pizza, obviously has tomato sauce, but we also put some spinach puree on there. She totally loved spreading the sauces and sprinkling cheese! In the end, she ate more pepperonis than pizza, but she had lots of fun!


I am thrilled to submit my first "Embrace the Camera" entry today, though I have been working on getting in the shot for months now. It's linked up to one of my favorite blogs to follow: I started following The Anderson Crew blog, via Buggie and Jellybean, via LuBirdBaby. (I LOVE to read blogs, and shop on Etsy, I was most definitely sure to cross paths with these ladies!) Check out the links, and Happy Reading!