Happy New Year!

Lecturing her about alcohol at the ripe old age of four. Don't worry-it's just apple juice. But she did try caviar for the first time tonight. Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays!

The Dr and the Mrs finally returned from their third and (hopefully final) tour of the USA. All part of their quest to find a job and place to live next year. The children stayed with Grandma and had a great, if not rainy, visit. Mommy missed her babies terribly but met some delightful people on the trip. It's been a hectic few weeks and it feels very nice to sit and relax and drink some wine and listen to Dominick the Italian Christmas Donkey...

Nutcracker

Elise's dance of the sugar plum fairy

I took her to see the Nutcracker. Her maiden voyage. It was some quality mother/daughter time. This ballet has been my favorite since a very young age. It was always so special to see it near my birthday and of course, Christmas. One of my favorite memories is going to see the Boston Ballet's performance with my sisters and my mom. I was hoping to start a tradition with Elise. Judging from her reaction today, that won't be very difficult. She adored every minute of it from the March to the Grand pas de deux.

Thinking back...

Elise's first Christmas and her famous face:

Ice!

There is nothing quite like ice skating in 73 degree weather in Santa Monica...

Random pictures

Pop-pop and Noni came to visit and we had a great time! They took lots of pictures of the kids and it still confounds me as to how I ended up with these blonde kids(?)

We are squinting from the sun in this picture taken at the Getty Museum. If you are ever in LA please visit this beautiful museum-it's a gem on top of the mountain. Proof that there are actually four Froehlers in our family:

Max stills bears a resemblance to George W. but we are hoping this fades with time...

Halloween

2 pirates, an angel and a monarch butterfly...fun was had by all

Good mood gig!

We need your help to elect our beloved nanny Anna as the Good Mood Blogger...I know many of you do not know who she is but she is perfect for the job. Those of you who do know her would agree-I'm sure:-) She is the ultimate "glass is half full" person...

She needs your vote-you can add to her votes by going to this website:

http://www.sam-e.com/job/entries/96

Brace yourself!

good knee/bad knee

I have been wondering how long it would take to get some sort of knee injury and the answer is 33 years. "Somehow" I managed to hurt my knee (read: a precarious maneuver called "the mommy train" which involves Max in the front carrier, Elise on my back and some weird tribal dance) I have spent the better part of the weekend with my knee elevated and iced. It really sucks because I'm not exactly sure what's wrong with it but it HURTS and there is swelling that has gradually worsened especially since going to dinner with Mike in 4 inch heels. I am waiting it out to see if ibuprofen and ice do the trick, otherwise I need to see an orthopedist next week:-(

Culinary success

Well, the success wasn't wholly in the beautifully executed rice cereal + milk dish but the fact that Max ate it faster than we could shovel it into his mouth. Guess he was ready for solids. It's not too surprising as he has been growing like a weed. He was only 6.3 lbs when he was born and quite a bit on the small side until the last month or so when he had a huge growth spurt. He will be 5 months old in a few days and he is in the middle of the curve for everything except smarts (of course he's in the top % for that-at least according to his mom and dad;-)

Action!

The Hangover Baby

all he's missing is the hat...

happy face

This is the face I have when I wake mommy 10 times during the night. It's a good thing because she does not enjoy it! I'm devilish...

If I had a nickel for every hair..

that has fallen out of my head...I am one of those unfortunate souls who suffers postpartum hair loss in a "big" way. Always occurs around 3-4 months after the baby arrives and continues through about month 6. I have a pretty thick mane so it doesn't leave me with bald spots but it does create a funny texture only an 80's hairdresser could love. I naturally have very curly hair but it has recently become very fine and wispy creating more frizz. This leaves me looking less Christine from Phantom and more Grizabella from Cats...

Not much new here-we had a visit from Grandma, Elise has a few weeks off until school starts, Max is still cute as a button (and that's a good thing because he has a temper) and we have a family trip to Dallas and the SF Bay area planned to explore job possibilities for Mike next year.

Hope everyone is well!

Don't disturb my work

Elise's latest work

Accomplished without help and completely spontaneous...

In honor of daddy

Happy birthday Dad!

New England comes to town

Can you guess my family was here? Thanks, Auntie Donna:-)

off to camp!

Don't worry-it's just day camp for the month of August! No overnights til' she's older:-)

It's 5 o'clock somewhere!

This might bee my favorite thing ever...

my beehive 2003:

my madmen persona:

http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/madmenyourself/

I may have to bring back the beehive again.

Looking forward to family visiting next week!!

A picture worth 1,000 words

There is a lot going on in this picture but the funniest and perhaps saddest element is the dejected look on Elise's face...the dethroned princess.

Happy Fourth!

from our backyard to yours...

Happy 2 months!

Max is two months old today..he is a happy and sweet boy:-)

Giving mom the stink eye:
sleeping peacefully in mom's arms:

Mike took this picture as he was exiting the grocery store..hilarious:

we can't forget about Elise..lounging at Bed Bath & Beyond. She dressed herself. Clearly she doesn't take after me:

Happy Summer:-)

What is it...

about San Francisco that makes me equally intrigued and repelled? It's the only city I have ever spent a significant amount of time in where I can say I still feel divided. We will see where we end up next year;-)

Beach boy

Max's third trip to the beach...he absolutely loves it. Of course I have him sheltered in a portable bassinet but he loves the sound of the waves and feel of the breeze on his face.

How tired can someone be?

blackmail photo for when he's older:

baby acne + pink blanket

The are many levels of tired. I'm not sure which level hallucinating and speaking in tongues are on but I'm at that one. Mike is more seasoned in sleep deprivation and perhaps has better coping skills. I'm spoiled and need my rest. I'm not getting it.

Thankfully we have hired our regular babysitter as our part time nanny. Yes, I caved when I found out Mike would be traveling to Dallas to find out who shot JR talk about brain aneurysms for a few days. It has been wonderful having her help during the week with the kids so I can have one-on-one time with each of them and most importantly, nap.

Max had one blissful night where he slept 5 hours, woke to eat and then slept another 4. That got us through a few days but he has since returned to the usual waking every 1-2 hours and keeping us awake with his "baby noises" while he sleeps. He is gaining weight like a champ-birth weight was 6 lb, 3 oz and he is now about 10 and 1/2 lbs!

The music never stopped...

one of my favorite memories of our wedding was drinking champagne straight from the bottle and dancing to that Dead song. Maybe I'll do that tonight;-)

Happy Anniversary to my best guy over the age of 6 weeks!

Max

This is me the last 4 weeks. I like to eat, poop, sleep and cry. Most of all I like to sleep up against my mommy in the Baby Bjorn all day:-)

In case,,

anyone was ever wondering "is it harder with two kids?"

The answer is: exponentially. It really is twice as much work. This last week has completely kicked my @ss. There is a reason I forgot what a newborn baby crying sounds like. It's because it's a noise that should have stayed buried away deep in my distant memory. sigh.

When things settle down or become somewhat more tolerable in this household I will post updated pictures of Max. Until then, everyone who reads this should have a nice long sleep dedicated to Holly.

Baby Max

Our Maxwell was born April 28th 2010. He was 6.3 lbs. He is doing great! We just love him so much and can already see he is such a sweet little boy.

Elise is so excited to be a big sister and calls him "my baby Max"

Lots of Love from Mike, Holly, Elise & Max

and now we wait

Days preceding delivery can be very frustrating. For me, it's mostly because of how crumby I feel. I am excited to meet our new little person but I realize there will be twice as much work when he's here. I would love to enjoy these lasts days/weeks by relaxing and resting but it's difficult to do when you can't sleep and every contraction has me biting my lip. We thought we might be welcoming our new one a few days ago (a bit early for my typical timeline) but it was just a tease. I powered through the false labor contractions at home and did not have to experience "the walk of shame" as my sister calls it-getting to the hospital ready for show time only to be sent home, tail between your legs.

As I am just over 37 weeks, I am ok with getting it over with or waiting for a little bit-hopefully not too long. Like I have heard and said before: unlike a good steak, better the kid be well-done than medium-rare. I guess I'll go wash newborn clothes for the third time...

Almost there

I can't really breathe, eat or sleep anymore but I still manage to feel pretty good. I have definitely entered the nesting phase and have been scurrying around trying to get things in order. It has been particularly cleansing to purge items we can no longer use-such as girl clothing and bedding. It was a sentimental journey but I have found happy homes for all these things! I wish I could say "only a week or two left" as I think wistfully of my friends who have delivered their babies around the 37-38 week mark. If he's anything like Elise I'm looking at another month...

Cosmic Girl

Elise has been very interested in all things space for the last few months. We are dangerously close to using the word obsessed. She, along with mom and dad's help, finished this model solar system we gave her for her birthday. We were so proud of her as she really did do most of the work and was so patient and determined to make it look "fantastic" (the word she used). She frequently corrects mom when it comes to phases of the moon: "No mom. That's not a crescent, it's a waxing gibbous." Yes, we can thank her dad for that one...

She frequently talks about what she would like to be when she grows up. Currently she maintains she would like to be an astronaut or a superhero. When Mike was in the third grade he wrote a very thoughtful essay (which we are in possession of) on that same topic. He then aspired to be a doctor or a scientist. How about both? Amazing. That surely is following your dreams. Around the same age I said I wanted to be an actress or a model and move to France. (?) I'm still slightly embarrassed about that and hope our daughter follows in her dad's footsteps as far as that is concerned.

Who wouldn't want Elise the superhero saving our planet?

Elise's Dictionary

"It snapped me up!"

translation: it scared me; took me by surprise

New Rant

sorry, these rants are the result of a cranky pregnant lady. I can't promise I'll stop when the baby gets here, but I will try.

Ok, my problem today: If you are vegetarian and feel SO strongly about not eating meat (especially for moral reasons) then why are you eating a veggie hot dog? That seems silly to me that someone would deliberately try to eat something that so closely resembles meat. Doesn't that still gross you out? How about veggie chicken nuggets? Come on, just eat something else-you are not fooling anyone...

Grrr.

If you have never been pregnant (or if you have for that matter) and are not an obstetrician, please keep all your comments about what pregnant women should eat, drink, look like and behave like to yourself. We have a hard enough job as it is without being lectured about caffeine by a 20 year old guy who works behind the counter of a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. and it's decaf you idiot.

Happy Easter!

Elise was very eager to get her Easter loot. She came into our bedroom at 3am and said "Daddy, I know it's not light outside yet but my eyes are really bright so can I find my Easter basket in the dark?"

We made her wait until morning...she had fun dying eggs and going on an egg hunt in our backyard. We decided to skip the whole ham dinner and I made a very yummy brunch instead. This consisted of a quiche lorraine, roasted rosemary potatoes with asparagus and homemade bread with raspberry butter. Mimosas would have been ideal but I guess I can wait a few more weeks.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday!

and yes, we felt the earthquake today.