February

February. . .You have come and gone so quickly. How can I sum you up? Remodeling. . .Remodeling. . .Remodeling.

Yes. . . we are new home owners. No. . .we do not live in our new home. We are still hotel living. The home was ours on January 28th. Construction began February 2nd and it's still going. It will be going for quite a while. But we are going to be brave soles and move in once the upstairs is complete. Target date for this is the weekend of March 13th. Keep your fingers crossed it will happen.

Everything people say about a remodel is true. I'm experiencing every last little detail of it. And I've learned I have expensive taste and need to tone it down. I blew my budget on the master bathroom by about 500%, oops. :) But I love it! And that's what counts. Who cares if it would be one full year of Maren's college tuition at a private institution. We'll make it up. We've got a few years. But from here on out, I must put on my frugalista hat; otherwise, we may be in trouble.

I'm not going to bore you with all the crazy details, but know they are crazy. Derek is fully consumed by it; and I have officially turned into an accountant.

Outside of the remodel, February was also full of birthdays.
- Derek's mother Kathy, February 10th
- a belated birthday Party for Serena, President's weekend.
- Carley's, my friend Ann's daughter, second birthday on the 19th
- Hanna, our niece, 13th birthday, on the 18th

Needless to say, there have been a few birthday celebrations. And Maren was able to experience a birthday party prior to her birthday. So, she was able to have some people show her the ropes. Of course, I forgot the camera for Serena's birthday party. Laura and Tom had a big bash for her. And the weather was amazing. Maren had to be outside crawling all over the ground, digging in the dirt, eating rocks, getting filthy. Meanwhile, Serena was like a little princess in her beautiful little Korean ceremony dress and being passed around from one welcoming arm to the next. Everyone had a great time. A few days later, Maren and I headed to Stockton for Carley's birthday party. Carley's party was at a place full of bounce houses for kids. And there was even a little section for toddlers. Maren had a ton of fun and swallowed a lot of germs. :)






And the final thing for February is another job change for me. I am now running Performance Management for Google globally. What does this mean? I don't know. :) That's what I'm trying to figure out. So, work has gotten a lot crazier. That's good though. I'm happier at work when it's crazy. And I feel more accomplished, which makes me feel alive again.

Good bye February. . .hello March.

Shana

Maren is 1

I am very behind with getting this post up. On February 16th, Maren turned 1 year old. We had a bit of a week long birthday celebration for her.

On her birthday, I took the day off and we spent the day together. We went to visit Jen Molander for a little photo shoot. She does a great job in front of a camera. I'm super happy with the shots. If you would like to take a peek, go to:
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That night we had a little birthday celebration with Derek's family: Kathy, Kerri, Hanna and Sara. We went to our favorite little mexican restaurant and had a little birthday cake. It was a plan white cake with whipped cream for frosting. Maren loved the whipped cream.







From there, we continued the celebration in Tahoe the following weekend. This was technically Maren's second visit to the snow, but this is the first visit where she actually touched it. My mom, dad, brother, mom's boyfriend Ron, Jason, Sara, Jon, Leyna and Hanna joined us for the trip.

We arrived on Friday after a five hour journey from the Bay Area to Tahoe with a few pit stops along the way. Maren experienced In N Out, although I think she was there once before with the nanny. She loved my dad's vanilla milk shake.





Saturday, Maren spent the day with her nanna; and the rest of us hit the slopes. It has been a while since I'd been on skis and man I missed it. We had a great day skiing, but there were quite a few of us out there and it was hard to keep track of all of us. My friend Cindy, her husband Rick and her parents drove from Sacramento to join us and I think we ended up only skiing one run together.

That evening we had a little birthday party for Maren.



And I will have to get the rest of the pictures from my mom or brother because from there Derek had the video camera and I was helping her with gifts and cake.

Later that evening she decided to be brave and walk from the coffee table to an end table on her own. It took about two steps. She was after a cell phone. Unfortunately, her mama didn't see it. :(

Here are some fun things about Maren at 1 years old.
- She took steps that her mama saw on Tuesday the 22nd. Serena, her nanny share partner, was walking to the nanny; and Maren decided she had better do it too.
- She is still on her path of being a bit picky with food. But she has discovered oranges and she loves them!
- She is still in love with Griffin. For some reason she calls him Coco, which is my friend Christine's dog.
- Her vocabulary is really expanding. She is saying words in both english and spanish.
- She is 30" long and 23 lbs.
- She loves music and dances when she hears it.
- She also loves any toy that allows her to make her own music.
- I think she is trying to transition from one nap to two, although she is still taking two naps quite well for the nanny.
- She has 6 teeth.
- She needs a hair cut. :)