7 wonderful years

Yesterday, December 4th 2010 was a special day for me. Eric and I celebrated not only our 7 year anniversary, but our 14 straight years of being together. We never took a break and well we have always been true to each other and to our relationship. 14 years sounds like such a long time but in all honesty, they have been easy, they have been full of adventure, we have visited many states, a few different countries, we have seen lots of concerts together, we have done some backpacking, camping, lots of fun surf sessions, hikes, we have seen some magnificent sunsets & sunrises, we have wonderful wonderful friends and have meet so many wonderful people. Over the course of all these years we have taken amazing photos of all the great things that we have experienced together.

Yesterday started out like many typical Saturdays. I went to the farmers market and 2 other super markets. Eric stayed home with the kids while I did the shopping. Jessica came over at nap time to watch the kids while Eric and I enjoyed a few hours together. We decided to do some local wine tastings, so we got on our bikes and rode downtown. Our first stop was to the Wine Cask. Second and final stop was at East Beach Winery. We had a nice time together, we tasted some nice wines, shared some good laughs and then rode home to return to our evening duties as parents. Thank you Jess for giving us that time, something that I always cherish.

Earlier in the week I came up with a fun thing for Eric and I to do that would allow us to reminisce over the past 14 fun & exciting years. We both had to write down 14 different memories. After reading the memory we lite a candle and continued to talk more about that specific moment. It was fun to see what Eric had remembered and cherished. There were some great memories that were brought up last night, I shed some tears, I laughed, I smiled. We have had so many wonderful times and I am looking forward to all the additional Anniversaries that we will get to celebrate.

I love you Eric, and I remember that day on the beach in Mexico very very clearly. I love all those who attended and witnessed our wedding, the songs that were sung, the dancing that took place, there was lots of love in the air.

Bountiful Harvest

I am at my dad's house in Hemet this week, Eric is working in Korea so I took this opportunity to pay a visit to Papa D and my friends and their kids. As much as I dread the drive, which it only took little over 3 hours, most of those hours were spent trying to coax Ruby into sleeping. She finally conked out in the last 15 minutes. Milo found a second wind once we got arrived, he saw all the familiar toys and just couldn't wait to start playing with them. By the time we were all peacefully sleeping it was around midnight

Sleeping with Milo is never easy, he isn't one to cuddle and doesn't want you in his bed, the problem with this is that he and I are sharing a bed and Ruby is in a pack n play in Donnell's room. All in all Milo did ok, he allowed me to sleep in the bed with him but he did wake up a few times. Tonight I have him sleeping in his sleeping bag on the floor, what kid doesn't like camping out right? I will let you know how it goes. I thought that maybe just maybe that we would all sleep in just a little due to such a late evening. No luck, Milo pops up at 7, not bad I know but early considering the late night drive and play session. Oh well. I feed them breakfast and put them into the stroller for a long walk in hopes that they would both catch a little snooze. They didn't sleep but they barely made a peep. Thanks to the pretty scenery and crazy dogs running all around.

The walk was wonderful, very crisp, cool and clear out. The sky was beautifully blue and I walked along the aqueduct and groves so that the dogs could run free and I didn't have to worry about any cars. Along this walk there is a small stretch of pomegranate trees that have been there since Donnell and I were wee little girls. I just could resist taking a few home. There were so many just hanging there on the trees that looked so neglected. I didn't think anyone was even taking care of these trees so I kind of helped myself. Once I got home and saw the quantity in which I picked I asked myself what in the heck am I going to do with all these beautiful pomegranates? I cracked one open and sampled it, yummy and tart just the way I remember them. Guess who else liked them? RUBY, she thoroughly enjoyed these little tart seeds. I had no idea a 1 year old would enjoy them as much as she did. Now to research some recipes so that these beautiful fruits wont go to waste.

This or That?

Last night was an interesting evening. I put Ruby down at her usual bed time, she went down easy like she typically does. I did however say to myself she better sleep all night.
The night before was an awful night. Ruby's top tooth is cutting in and nothing I did could help ease the pain. I tried cuddling, holding her, sleeping with her, singing, orajel. Like I said, nothing worked. We just had to endure the pain together. My pain was watching my little girl cry and scream which hurts my heart more than anything, but also I was in pain from still being sick and majorly sleep deprived. I was tense, angry, frustrated, confused, I felt that I was lacking a valuable tool to help my daughter escape the pain and to help her get some sleep.
Like I said above, as I put her down I hoped with all my might that it wasn't going to be a repeat evening. As Eric and I put our heads on our pillows, closed our heavy eyes and took a deep breath I heard her squawk. It wasn't the same kind of painful shriek like the night before. So we laid there asking the same ol questions. What should we do? Do we go in there and risk her getting more worked up or do we see if she will drift back into sleep? This is the most asked question in our house. WHAT DO WE DO? SHOULD WE DO THIS OR DO THAT? I decided that I needed to go in and hold her, love her, and make sure she knows that I am there when she is in discomfort, that's what I would want if I was in her shoes. I picked her up, she immediately put her head down and wanted to go to sleep, so we laid down in bed and we tried to go to sleep together. WE are both not use to sleeping together, she rolls and thrashes and I am just the target for her whipping limbs. She sat up and started crying & crawling around. It was obvious she didn't want to be in bed with me. I decided to go out into the living room and kitchen and just walk around singing to her. Her eyes were open and she was some what calm. Then all of a sudden she was awake and wanted to play like it was 10 in the morning. Instead of trying to control what she should be doing (sleeping) I went ahead and followed her lead. We hung out with Bodhi, she was talking saying Da Da Da. She crawled all around the house, she was totally content and having a good time. I didn't think this could go on for too long..........Right? It was 11pm. She's tired right???
NOPE, she wasn't tired, she was playful and happy. Instead of getting frustrated with the fact that I wasn't acquiring my much needed sleep, I changed my mind frame and went along with her playfulness. I liked how I didn't get upset or frustrated or angry, I was smiling with her, talking with her and just being a supportive mommy during this hour of quiet exploration. Eric came out to see what was going on. We rolled out my thai massage/rumpus pad brought out the pillows and blankets and thought a good old fashioned slumber party would be fun. We laid down thinking that she would curl up like a little pup with her parents to go to sleep. NOPE, she wanted nothing to do with us, she was still on the go. So where is this all going you ask????????
Fast forward, I noticed she started rubbing her eyes and slowing down, I picked her up, sang her a song, told her how much fun I had with her and that I will always be here for her but now it is time to go to sleep. I put her in her crib and walked out of the room. NO CRYS! NO TEARS!, SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP Baby Ruby. She didn't make a peep till 7:20 this morning. Still no tooth but a much smoother and calmer evening for all of us.
I learned a very valuable lesson last night and I have Ruby to thank for it. Thank you for teaching me to let go, to go with the flow and to find acceptance in the moment. As much as I feel that I decide what we eat, when we sleep where we go, sometimes the little people of the house have just as much if not more say than I do and I appreciate my 1 year old teaching me about this. Thank you Ruby for this valuable lesson.

Sickies

When it rains it pours as the saying goes. First it was Milo, he wasn't really feeling himself on Monday. He had a pretty restless sleep on Monday night. As I watched his body language through the day I saw a very sluggish, unresponsive, rosy cheeked, glossy red eyed boy. All that Milo wanted to do is cuddle on the couch with his friends, not his mommy but his friends. As i checked on him through the day his body temp began to rise and rise. I picked him up and he basically went limp in my arms and his body was so hot that I knew that his body was fighting off some sort of nasty invader.

I consulted my Doctor Mom's Natural Healthcare for Children book and it confirmed to keep his body warm. If he sweats it's a good sign of his body properly cooling itself down while at the same time it's cooking the bug and getting rid of it. I knew it was time for bed when I looked over at him on the couch and he was nodding off and on. Mind you it was only 7:15pm when I put him down without a peep. Usually Milo goes to bed b/w 7:30-8:30. So our night was pretty bad. Milo was up crying almost every hour. Sometimes he was up as many as 4 times in an hour. Needing to go pee pee, or thirsty, or he lost puppy. Sometimes it was nothing at all other than feeling icky and sick. I felt horrible for him, he didn't want to come cuddle in my bed, he didn't want me to come into his bed, I was at a loss of what to do for him. I wish he liked cuddling with me.

Milo and I had our deepest rest from 5:30-7:30am. Then he woke with his typical cries. Here we go again. He was still sluggish and hot with a slight temperature but I was able to see that the worst was behind. YAHOO!!!!!!!! Not so fast Mom.

Ruby didn't escape the bug that got hold of Milo. Ruby woke up this morning around 8:30. Ruby is always standing up with a beautiful smile and very content and quiet. Today was a different story. She wasn't even standing up, she was lying down making cute talking noises. I felt the back of her neck and sure enough she was warmer than usual.

So as Milo was feeling better than he did yesterday it was Ruby's turn to fight off her intruder. A few very unnerving sights that I experienced today. There were a handful of times that I would turn a corner and see Ruby lying on her belly with her head resting on the cold wood floor. Wow, so tired and icky that she was just taking a little rest on the floor, witnessing her just lying in her crib after her 3 hour nap burning up with rosy cheeks, pooping in the bath at the very end was the topper of my evening. I swept her up as quick as I could, plopped her on the potty and she had a fit, as she was crying more squirts, at least we were ready this time. Poor lil babies.

Ruby is 1 years old now and this is her first fever. Milo is almost 3 years old and this might have been his first big fever. I feel so fortunate that this type of thing doesn't happen very often. I am ekping my fingers crossed that my body escapes this bug, the last thing I need is to get sick especially while Eric is away on business.

Feel better little sickies, I miss my happy smiling kids.
XO
Mom

Big Boy

I know it's been a long time since my last post and I have been trying to think of something to write about. It dawned on me last night as Milo made a huge speech improvement. Milo can now say Airplane. He use to pronounce it Airmachine. As the 4 of us were playing in the backyard last night Milo looks up at the beautiful pink sky and says, "look airplane." I look at Eric with this expression of amazement and asked Milo to say it again, "airplane" Milo says. I will ask him this morning to see if it is official.


Not only am I seeing big developments in Milo's speech, I have also noticed that Milo has the ability to push his undies down and take them off. He can also take his shorts or pants off too. After his undies and pants come off he carries the step stool over to the potty, he climbs onto the stool turns himself around and sits on the big boy potty all by himself. When milo has to go pee pee he can now stand like a big boy at the potty all by himself. Most of the time he is high onto his tippy toes but none the less he is doing it all by himself. Congratulations Milo, you no longer need your small training potty or the small cushy seat that sits on top of the big potty. You can do it all by yourself. Although I am close behind so that I can clean up any messes that most likely will occur.

One last item to report on Big Boy Milo, he can open all the doors in the house. His hands have grown just enough so that he can get his little palm around the knob, turn it and then push the door open. I now need to remind myself to lock the front door. Although Milo reminds me of Bodhi, he doesn't stray to far off. He likes being right by us so I don't have a fear of Milo leaving out the front door which is nice but I like being safe. As we tell our kids, Safety First!!!!!!!!

Strider

Milo has grown a great deal of interest in his bike. He received the bike from Poppi & Papa (Dena & Matt) & the Coulehans for his 2nd birthday. I am happy to see that he is having a lot of fun on it. A neighbors driveway is short but steep and last night on our bike ride Milo rode up the driveway and around to a side walkway that has a slight downward angle in which he would zoom down with great enthusiasm & excellent caution.

I remember learning how to ride a bike, it must've been when I was around 5 or 6, it was white with a yellow banana seat. Milo is learning far earlier than me, I don't think he will even remember this bike, who know's it'll be interesting. His bike is a no pedals bikes. You use your legs to peddle you forward, stop, coast. The concept is that children are learning the balance and coordination it takes to ride a bike so they transition quickly onto a regular kids bike. Pretty cool, I loved love loved riding bikes. I still love riding bikes. Who doesn't like to ride bikes?

Field Trip - Sunday Funday

For the past couple weekends Eric, Milo and I have been working hard in our garden. We have been researching what to plant, where to plant it, will it fit in with Eric's legume - leaf - fruit - root crop rotation theory which I honestly support honey. So on Sunday we went on a self guided tour of Fairview Gardens. As we walked around we saw chickens & goats. Milo is very brave around these animals, he seems to have a good gardening/farm gene in him. There were 3 different seed fields, many fruit orchards, all that grew something in between the rows, and the green house. We all enjoyed the field trip to the farm.

When we got home it was nap time for the kids and that is when Eric and I got a lot accomplished in the backyard. The garlic & onion are in, 3 different beets, 2 carrot varieties, spinach, and herbs.

Let-us eat

The kale was turned into Kale chips. Milo didn't go for it but Eric and I sure enjoyed them. Olive oil, sea salt, fresh thyme, rosemary & sage. Bake 30 min @ 300. So easy.




Yellow Pear Tomatoes, grown by front door, a head of lettuce in a raised bed in backyard, heirloom tomato grown in backyard. Extra toppings included; onion sprouts, pepetas, feta chesse & a basil vinaigrette dressing.

Shout Out

A few important items I would like to share.

Congrats to Dena & Matt for 12 years of marriage.


Congratulations to Jan & Reggie for moving to Manhattan Beach 4th street home together.
We are all very excited for you two to be living in the same town together.
(I didn't have a photo of you guys.) Something I need to work on.

Congratulations to the Degner family. I know it's a bit early but I couldn't resist a shout out to you guys. The Degners have bought their 1st house. An adorable quaint home on the Westside. There is so much potential and I know they are going to make it a beautiful home. The pumpkin photo is a little out dated but with you guys moving in just before Halloween I thought it was appropriate. Congratulations on this new chapter of home ownership.



One last congratulations is in order. My dear friend Genevieve Fisher is now engaged with her wonderful fiance Darren. A very romantic proposal on top of the Eiffel Tower. Congrats to the both of you.

Long Lost Tablespoon

Kangaroo towel.......

One of my favorite places in town. The Santa Barbara Mission.

Our day off from parenting. Beach day thanks to Jammie & Reggie.

2.5 years old, getting big.

10.5 months old.


I have a droid cell phone and I just found an awesome Polaroid application, although the application can do far more than a Polaroid can do. I love the antique style photos, makes everything look so vintage. I love it and I hope you do as well.


Shovel & Bucket, evidence of fun at the beach.

Ruby crawling to me.

Milo loves to watch the surfers.

Ruby is also enjoying the surfers.

Good Ol Bodhi, 7 years old, still acts like he is 2.

Our Summer veggie garden has finally set some deep roots and is thriving, Below are some photos that show our lettuce, basil, kale & broccoli.




So this tablespoon was part of a set that Jessica gave to me for christmas. A couple months ago I realized that I was missing the tablespoon. This mystery was driving me crazy until.............
Yesterday, Eric took our compost that has been cooking in the tumbler and spread it over our blueberry bed. He came to me with a big smile and a very tarnished TABLESPOON!!!!!!! He found it, I knew it couldn't have gone too far, funny that it was in the compost. I guess I need to be more careful. Now I am back to a full set of measuring spoons.



I am so proud of our chickens. 2 of them (Peggy-O and Jenny Jenkins) have been laying eggs for a couple weeks now. This is a photo of a 6-pack that will be given to someone.


A little synopsis of what has been occurring at the Lyman ranch.
Ruby has cut her 2nd tooth. 2.5 weeks after her 1st tooth. The right lower tooth came in on Saturday, I don't think it bothered her at all, she didn't loose sleep over it. She makes up for all the sleepless nights that Milo experienced with his teething. Ruby is also on the move. She knows how to crawl, we see her doing it when she is on the grass or at the beach but her preferred method is an army crawl/worm maneuver. It's pretty cute, I will post a video of it soon.

On Saturday evening I was playing on the computer and I stumbled upon a great gardening group here in Santa Barbara. It is called, Food Not Lawns. I love it. This is exactly where we are going with our yard. There are little chapters all across Santa Barbara, there is a Westside Chapter, Eastside Chapter, Mesa Chapter etc etc. Yesterday the Westside Chapter was holding their gathering so I went with a beautiful bouquet of basil and a big head of lettuce. This is where you talk with other gardeners about their gardens, learn some tricks and get some tips. You can take as much as you want and leave as much as you want. I came home with some grapefruit, lettuce, pineapple guavas, lots of peppers and some tomatoes. I also took some snap pea seeds. I hope to host an Eastside gathering soon. Now that Eric and I have finally learned what to plant and where, I think we will be ready for a nice fall garden.


Last week was a fun week for us adults. Eric and I and friends went to 2 concerts. On Monday night it was the Further, they consist of Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, they are from the Grateful Dead. On Thursday night we went to Willie Nelson. He really did put on a great show. Willie played one song after the next, he was the only guitar player and he was shredding it up. Very impressed. The highlight of last week was enjoying some one on one time with Eric. Eric's mom Jan & her fabulous husband Reggie came up on Thursday to watch the kids so that we could go to Willie Nelson. After the show I surprised Eric with a night at a local cheap hotel. We were able to sleep in, grab a breakfast burrito, hop back in bed till 11 and after that little mid-morning siesta we went to Summerland beach. We rested some more, took a very long walk along the water, returned to our blanket rested some more and then went home to hang out with Jammie, Reggie & the kids. Thank you Jan for making that possible. We greatly appreciated your willingness to watch the kids. I do believe this brings you all up to speed with what we've been up to. Till next time.

Purge

For a couple of weeks now I have had this big desire to clean up the house. I don't mean your typical clean up like vacuuming, mopping, & scrubbing bathrooms what I am talking about is getting rid of the baby stuff that I will no longer need. I feel so bad that my interests are to move it out of the house, some of it will be going into Tupperware boxes for the kids later on in life & into the shed for storage (eric's going to love this),some of it needs to go to good will and some of it will hopefully go into a Christmas gift exchange that a friend has been hosting for a couple of years now. It makes me sad to see the rocking chair that my mom lovingly covered in fabric to match the crib bedding go out into the shed, the breast-friend nursing pillow has been handed down to the next momma, receiving blankets that wrapped Milo when he was first born, burp cloths which have been separated into 3 piles, rags, pass on to friend, & xmas exchange bag. There are also some toys that Milo hardly blinked at so I am not even going to wait to see Ruby's response, there are so many other toys around that she can play with.

I love having an orderly home, having a small orderly home makes me feel happy. For a while now as I cruised around the house doing things I kept on seeing things that really had no home, toys that weren't being used (ever), small plastic things that Ruby doesn't need to play with, clothes that were never worn or hardly worn. So I have been slowly sorting through things and today is the day I feel like things are organized, the stuff that we have are well used items, favorite toys, clothes that get worn toys that get played with etc etc.

I am thrilled that this little task is almost complete, at least for this point in time, give it another 6 months and I will have to do another purge. What I am not thrilled about, actually I am prettty sad about is that the realization of what all this means. No more babies for the Lymans. Ruby is my last baby and when I hold her these days she really isn't a baby baby any more. She wiggles out of my arms when she is done nursing, she is ready to cruise around the house, she doesn't fall asleep in my arms like she once did. Her clothes are all getting bigger, can you believe she wears 12 month clothes? I can't. Every time I put on an old shirt it seems too short or too tight around the arms. I know she has a lovely Buddha Belly and pudgy arms but I would just love it if time could stop for just a little bit.......................

Firsts

This post is both exciting and sad. Exciting b/c Ruby & Milo have experienced some signs of growth & development. Sad b/c Eric unfortunately missed seeing it happen due to all of his travels this month. Don't worry Eric I documented the moments as best as I could.

Ruby cut her first tooth on Tuesday. The lower right tooth. I knew it was coming, she became very tender and wanted mom to hold her all day long. At almost 10 months old I figured it was going to happen sometime soon. I have a strong feeling that the next tooth is not far behind.

Ruby now travels around the house. Those days of sitting for long long periods of time in the living room are over. She has learned a way to slide across the house. She uses her forearms to pull herself forward as she uses her toes to propel her forward. It's very similar to an army crawl. I think she has figured out her method of transportation. Will she ever crawl per say? I don't know. She enjoys doors, closing them is her specialty, she also likes going to the bathroom, I think she wants to take a bath. I hope to post a video soon, I experienced some problems this morning.

I pulled out Milo's adorable wooden walker that Poppi & Papa got for him as he was learning how to walk. It is now Ruby's turn to utilize this tool. Ruby does pretty well behind it, if she bends her elbows too much then she falls to her bottom and just might tumble over backwards with the walker. The balance reminds me of water skiing, don't bend the elbows too much or you chance falling back, don't keep them rigidly straight either. She is learning this balance very well. Although she does need to jockey for time with the walker seeing as Milo & Wyatt love it even more now than they did a year ago.

Yesterday I took the kids to a new neighborhood farmers market. I needed to get some cilantro and sprouts for this weekends camping trip. I couldn't resist a small baskets of strawberries, they are so vibrantly red and sweet this year. I didn't think I would need more than one baskets b/c Ruby and I are the only ones who are eating them. So I thought, I looked down at Milo and he has a huge strawberry in his mouth. I gasped with enthusiasm, "are you really eating a strawberry" I asked? "Yepa" Milo responds. As the summer winds down and the fruit will be changing seasons he finally realized how great strawberries are. I guess it's never too late to try new things.


The last of firsts. Jenny Jenkins laid an egg. Eric is going to be very bummed about this one. This will be day 3 of 1 morning egg. Now to teach her how to lay the egg in the nesting boxes.

Annie

Donnell and I spent many hours in front of the TV watching and singing along to Annie. We just loved it. Little did I know that decades later my own kids would be enjoying Annie. Milo sitting on the couch mesmerized by the songs & dancing and of course all the little cute orphan girls and Ruby sitting on the floor listening to the music. Let me also mention that Eric is sitting with the kids enjoying it as much if not more than them. Not sure if he watched this much as a child, it's all new to him. He's liking it.
Now to get back to making Milo some waffles.

Evidence of good times

Milo, Ruby & I hit the road 2 weeks ago. We started off in San Diego to pay Poppi & Papa a much needed visit. My timing couldn't have been any better. The new Ashtanga Shala, Jois, opened it's doors in Encintas the week that I decided to visit with my mom & Matt. I reserved a spot to practice a lead-Mysore class with Sharath Jois, son of Sri.K Pattahbii Jois. I was so thrilled to practice in Encinitas with a packed room of Ashtangis'.


The weekend was hot and sunny so we did some backyard swimming, we went to a wonderful small aquarium in La Jolla, went to a near by park and watched bikers do crazy things on big ramps, Milo could have stayed there all day long. He was enamored by all the crazy stunts. We all had a great time in San Diego, it is always difficult saying good bye. From SD we traveled a quick hour north to GG's beach house in Laguna. This is where things get a little crazy.

The beach house was packed to the gills, there were 5 babies, 2 toddlers, 6 tired mothers, baskets of books, toys strewn about, eating contraptions, and so much more. Grandma Doris kindly opened up the beach house to a reunion of friends and their babies. Cathi & Annabelle were visiting from New York, her sister Adrienne came for a couple of days, Jen & Waylon, Jess & Wyatt, Donnell & babies, Eric for a couple days, me & kids and Papa D came for the last evening. We all had such a wonderful time with everybody. I had a hard time picking from all the wonderful photos that were taken of our trip away. I hope you enjoy the ones that I am posting. After looking at my pictures I realized that I didn't have any of the mom's. So sad,sorry friends.