Moving Time!!

It's official - the Arendtsz fortress has been sold. We will be officially homeless on July 2, though we will be taking a sublet (and putting all of our stuff in storage) in the area through the end of August. We're crossing our fingers we find a house to buy by then!

Roan's Fourth Birthday!!!

Roan turned 4 on May 14! We celebrated all day long, beginning with chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, pizza and a cookie out for lunch, and a burrito out for dinner followed by frozen yogurt (all of his favorite activities). He had a celebration that weekend with a few of his friends in our back yard, complete with a train jump house. His big gift was a bike and he is speeding around the neighborhood way to fast for Mommy's taste already. Here are a few pics from the celebrations.

Grandma & Granddad's - April 2009

There's been a big break in posting due to putting our house on the market!

These pictures are from our trip to Houston to visit Grandma and Granddad (and to escape being here when the house went on the market!). The kids had a bunch of fun celebrating Easter, visiting a close friend of Mandy's from college (Kinsey) and her two little ones, going to the zoo, visiting the Children's Museum, and enjoying the wonderful weather outside and Mom got a little break.

February 2009

Mali's communication has just exploded this month. She's combining two and three words together to make complete thoughts (like "Ro-ro Dada car?" (Roan's in Dada's car?); ). She's also started using her name ("May-me"). She recently told us that her ear was hurting and when I took her to see the pediatrician, the doctor first wanted to listen to her chest...Mali said "No", then pointed to her ear to tell her that's where it hurt - it was too funny. Her favorite color is blue and she's obsessed with it (she MUST have the blue cup, the blue plate, the blue sweater...you get the idea). Roan's world is just amazing and he's so full of stories. He's so outgoing (once you get him out of the house) and loves to jump into games with other kids (mostly involving chasing and monsters) at the park. He's wonderfully joyous and full of energy.

Where's baby?

Mali is learning to take a picture of her baby doll in this video (sorry, it's a little dark as it was 6am in the morning)...

January 2009

Mali's been very busy this month asserting her independence and one of her favorite new words is "mine". She also mastered "baby" and likes to direct her babies all day long (e.g., "sit there, baby"; "wa-wa, baby?" (do you want water, baby)).

Miscellaneous December 2008

Some of the highlights of the month (other than Christmas!) included visits from Uncle Pankaj and Aunty Ruby from Houston and Sherilyn (one of Roan's favorite former babysitters) from Seattle. There are also some shots here of decorating the Christmas tree, Mali tending to her babies, and of Roan with Grandma and Granddad on the day they left (Mali was in a bad mood and wanted no part of it).

Christmas Morning 2008

We very much enjoyed having Grandma and Granddad here again for Christmas this year. Roan was soooo into Santa this year, which was a lot of fun. Mali, of course, didn't understand much, except that her brother got cooler gifts than she did. Roan's big gifts were the "Grand Central Station" for his GeoTrax train set and a big Tonka front loader truck from Grandma and Granddad. Mali got some Tinkertoys from Santa, a front carrier for her babies from Grandma and Granddad, and an outfit for her baby doll.

Christmas Eve 2008

We went to see the amazing lights on Eucalyptus in San Carlos again this year. Roan was not feeling well and did not particularly enjoy himself, unfortunately, and spent nearly the entire time in Daddy's backpack, but Mali had the time of her life - so much to see and touch ("No, no, Mali!!")!!

Santa Train December 2008

We did our yearly pilgrimage to see the Holiday Caltrain come through town. It was a hit as always.

Playgroup Holiday Party 2008

Thank you, Audrey, for hosting a wonderful holiday party as always!

November 2008

Here are a few other shots from the highlights of the month, including a visit from Roan's former (favorite) babysitter, Sherilyn.

Niles Canyon Railroad Holiday Train, November 2008

Roan and Jan joined Jake and family for a trip on the Niles Canyon Railroad Holiday Train, complete with a visit from Santa which, as always, was not received well by Roan.

Thanksgiving 2008

We spent Thanksgiving with friends Chris, Amelia, Jake, and Helen. Jake and Roan are the same age and great buddies. Here are a few photos from the evening...

A trip to the city, November 2008

We spent a morning in San Francisco - Jan and Roan took the train as always and spent some "boy" time watching trains and buses - Mali and I joined for lunch and some leaf gathering with Uncle Arjun later on.

What a smile!

Mali has one BIG smile.

Budding Artists...

Roan drew his first railroad track recently...















And here is Mali's first drawing. She drew the circle and then said "ball-ball". The line she drew later.

Portraits (October 2008)

These portraits were taken at Mali's school - Little Wonders.

More of Halloween 2008

Here are some pictures from the Halloween party at Little Wonders...












Jan and Roan did some pumpkin carving...









Here are a few shots from trick-or-treating. Unfortunately Mali had a bad day and was going to bed when Roan headed out...

Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico (October 2008)

We spent a fun-filled 8 days in the sun in Mexico (just north of Puerto Vallarta) with Mandy's parents. It was a beautiful location right on the beach, complete with multiple kids' pools. Mali and Roan were in heaven.

Note: there are a LOT of pictures here, but given we took over 800, it's a small sampling :).

Trip to the Pumpkin Farm

Here are some pictures from our first trip to the pumpkin farm for the Halloween season.

September 2008

There are three albums this month. Roan started preschool this month at First Presbyterian Church in Burlingame and goes two days a week by himself!











Mali started Little Wonders as well and attends once a week with one of us.









Here are some miscellaneous shots from the month. As you can see Mali's very into doing everything we do - flossing, dressing, using the potty...

August 2008

Mali is doing her best to keep up with big brother and has been turning out new words nearly every day. At 14 months, she's up to 20 or so now including mama, dada, roan (which is nearly always yelled...hmm, wonder where she gets that from?), up, go, kkk-kkk (kitty-cat), shoe-shoes, banana, Dyl-dyl (her best friend, Dylan), cheese, hi, bye-bye, ball-ball (ball), and ga-ga (garbage). She loves to give kisses and hugs and loves to eat (she got all of her teeth by 14 months!). She's also very in to trying on our clothes and shoes!

Davis McLean Wilson has arrived!!!

Mandy's brother and sister-in-law had their first baby today. He arrived more than 6 weeks early, but still managed to weigh in at 4 lb 12 oz and was 17 1/4 inches long. Congrats Ryan and Sheryl!!!

July 2008

Here are a few shots from July.