A few more pictures from the past 6 months...

Kids say the sweetest things...

Tonight we (Jonah, Jackie, and I (Jess)) were driving home from Jon's work. We had a nice evening meeting Daddy for a dinner break and then driving by his work because he had a surprise for me ( I love surprises-and Jon is so good at them). Anyways, I was talking to Jonah about his Uncle Stevie and how happy I am for him because he just found out he was accepted to medical school. Jonah proceeds to ask me about medical school and then chimes in that sometimes he wants to be a doctor but sometimes he wants to be a garbage man. "Mommy, what kind of school do I need to go to to become a garbage man?" I am really not sure, but I told him we could figure it out.... :)

I am sorry it has been so long between postings. I have been playing with the idea of starting a new blog but it isn't ready yet so I figured I had better update the current blog. Jon has been working a lot, so we have really been trying our best to enjoy our times together when he isn't working. We spent a day at Live Earth Farm picking apples and strawberries, eating fresh homemade ice cream and pressing apple cider. We've been to the city for a fun concert (one for us and one for the kids), we spent a restoring weekend in Big Sur where we saw two beautiful beaches, Uncle Stevie has moved into our house, and that is all that comes to mind right now... but hopefully these pictures will give a glimpse of the past few months.

Jackie is all better!  Thank you everyone for your prayers and support.  She has taken off to make up for lost time.  She is pulling to stand after only being out of the brace for a week and today she was trying to cruise along the coffee table.  She is definitely a mover that loves to chase "da-nah" (I think that is Jonah) which she says all the time!

I love life as a mom.  Sure, I have to say no when they do something dangerous, I have to keep the house clean ( I try :)), I have to pay the bills, and I have to buy groceries, but I get to do all of these things in the company of two wonderful little people (and be supported by a wonderful husband).  Their smiles and laughter bring so much joy to my life.  Lately we have been enjoying the wonderful weather, actually we've been enjoying the rainy weather too, riding bikes, taking walks, and cooking with lots of fresh veggies.  I take joy in our adventures and daily rituals, like breakfast where Jonah gets syrup (he calls it dip it) all over his face and hands and Jackie pants until I let HER feed ME.  (On a side note, I think almost all of our breakfast foods use syrup: french toast, pancakes, waffles, oatmeal....hmmmm).  Or our bike rides together to pick up our vegetable box or to Jonah's school.  It is so cute to see Jonah and Jackie interact inside the stroller/bike trailer.  Being a mom has been about experiencing these years with my children along with teaching them.  I look forward to each day, even when I am deliriously tired from my baby that likes to nurse throughout the night! (I just want to note that so that I don't forget what a little nurser Jackie was).  Here are some recent pictures:

Grandma and two of her GRAND babies!
Jonah is wearing his train outfit at his school.  Jackie is crawling quickly towards mama (which she now can say).  


Sometimes the best days are unplanned!  Jon, Stephen, and I snuck away for a mountain bike ride while my mom was visiting a few weeks ago.

 

A Day in the East Bay

We had a really nice morning in the East Bay.  We started out with a hike near Walnut Creek with our good friends Rob, Lucy, and Scout (their redhead Vizsla, who Jonah adores).  We have known Rob and Lucy since the first year of law school in Virginia and they live in SF now.  We don't see them enough considering how close we live.

After a great hike, we went to the Berkeley Thai Brunch at the Buddhist Temple.  It is a Berkeley tradition, with plenty of good vegetarian food.

Happy Easter!

This is the first Easter that Jonah actually understood what was going on.  He probably had 5 Easter egg hunts and ate way too much candy (which left him with a tummy ache by the end of the weekend).  Jonathan worked most of the weekend, but he was able to make it to one Easter egg hunt and to church on Sunday.  See below for a pic of the kids in our backyard (with our garden project in the background).

Blooming Palo Alto

The weather here has been beautiful.  This is a picture from Jonathan's office window overlooking a small duck pond.  These trees bring back good memories of the cherry blossoms in DC. . .

Santa Cruz

It was a beautiful day in Santa Cruz with family.  The girls (Jessi, Aunt S, Jackie) took a walk on the beach and Jackie loved crawling in the sand.  The boys (Jonathan, Jonah, Stephen, GP) took a ride at Wilder ranch and got a little lost and a little in over their head.  We finished the day off with some good burritos in downtown Santa Cruz.  If only we could have more Saturdays in Santa Cruz. . .

(Aspen and Devon are going to love it here.)

We love Caltrain

Earlier this week, Jess took the kids on the Caltrain.  Below are a few pics, and Jonah's narration as I post this blog:

I love donuts.  I have trains.  I ride on top on Caltrain. Yeah. Yeah.  I love my car carrier.  I love going on train rides.  You are making lots of words dad.  Yeah.  Well, that's it.  Yeah, that's it. That's it dad.  I say that's it.  

I say I love my cars dad.  I say I love my cars.  Cars.  My cars.

That's it.