Eleven months old

It's so strange to think that a year ago I was very pregnant, taking Lamaze, and thinking I still had at least another six weeks of pregnancy ahead of me. Now, here I sit with a precious little daughter who has completely changed our lives just like everyone said she would.

Sara had a big month! First of all, she's now a crawling machine. She can easily cross a room much faster than I ever imagined, provided she doesn't get distracted by something along the way. She's also obsessed with standing right now. She loves to pull herself up at every opportunity and then let go with one hand. She doesn't "cruise" much yet; she just likes to stand there. She also loves to empty things: her toybox, her bookcase, the old diskettes in the office bookcase... The world is her oyster right now as she explores!

She is also starting to communicate more and more. She's nowhere near consistent about it yet, but depending on what else is going on she just might point, wave, or sign for "more." She babbles up a storm, but I can't make out any words for certain just yet. She likes to say "mama," "dada," and "baba." She will also repeat sounds. If I tell her to say "mama," she'll say it. Whether she understands that I am "Mama" is still unclear. If someone says "Yaaaaay!" she'll most likely smile and clap her hands, which is just about the cutest thing we've ever seen.

As our baby becomes less and less of a "baby," we try even harder to savor every moment. I thank God for her every day!

Really? You don't see it?

Most people think Sara looks like me. Most people, that is, EXCEPT MY PARENTS. What the heck? So here, just for my good ol' mama and papa, is some proof. How can you look at these pictures of ME and not see Sara Jo?





Postscript: After looking at this blog entry, my mom tells me that she can see a little resemblance in the last picture, but that's it. Sigh...

Oma, Opa, and grandbaby #5

Yesterday I caught this sweet moment between Sara and her oma and opa.

Turn the volume way up.



Is this girl loved or what?

Our weekend in Santa Cruz

Last weekend Larry, Sara, and I headed up to Santa Cruz for Matt and Alysia Bell's wedding. This also gave us the opportunity to visit friends who live up in the Bay Area!

First, we visited with our friends April and Joe and their new daughter Nia. Some of you might recall that April is my pen pal. We started writing over twenty years ago! (Our letters these days are few and far between, but between emails and blogs, we stay in contact.)




On Saturday we went for a walk near the lighthouse and watched the surfers at Steamers, a crazy surf spot!


Then April and Joe watched Sara for us so we could enjoy Matt and Alysia's wedding. Also in attendance were some of our friends from USC and Larry's work.

The happy couple:


Geoff and Edith:


Larry and Anthony:


My sweetie and I:


On Sunday we stopped in for breakfast with the Gouldens. It was wonderful to see Jason, Shauna, and the kids for the first time in about two years!

Jason and Tanner:


Tanner and Sara in their neighboring high chairs:


Look at those chompers!


Charlie, Jason's mini-me:


We gave Anthony a ride back to LA, and he spent the first half of the trip in the backseat. Both he and Sara did some of this:


You can't really see, but they're both sleeping here:


Sara did a pretty good job with all the driving--except for the last couple of hours on Sunday. There was a lot of whining as she got sick and tired of spending HOURS immobile.

All in all, it was a good trip!

A bittersweet day

After a wonderful loooooong visit, Susi and the kids headed back to Germany on Sunday. :( What a great time we all had! They were here for weeks, and the trip really hearkened back to the summers we spent in Germany growing up. In fact, much like us (or me, at least) before her, Isabella started the trip more or less monolingual and ended it bilingual!

On their last morning, we went to breakfast at Mike's and then to regional park. Here are a few pics.

Sara and Bella on the swings:



Oma and Opa with grandbaby #5:




Part of our big family:



We all miss the Wiants already and are hoping they will come back next summer! We love you!

Baby's first tailgate (outside the womb)

Last year Sara accompanied us to a few USC games while still in my belly, but on Saturday she went to her first tailgate (no game) since entering the world. Wow! The highly-anticipated game against Ohio State combined with it being the first home game of the year really brought out the crowds. The campus was a zoo! Baby Girl was a trooper, though! We're already teaching her how to fight on! ;)

Busy days!

Today the three sisters (Tanja, Susi and I) took the five kids to Chuck E. Cheese. The kids went absolutely wild, except for Sara. She bumped her head on a ride (my fault) in the first few minutes and had NO INTEREST after that.

Yesterday I went to visit one of my former students, Sophia, and her new daughter Payten. She's so small, and I just can't believe Sara was ever that tiny. :(




In the afternoon I took the Wiant kids to SweetLife, the yummy company where Carla works. We got to take the factory tour and everyone had some sweet treats. Good times!





Susi and the kids go home Sunday. :( We have had a wonderful extended visit. The kids are crazy about their cousins and it has been such a treat to spend lots of time with them!