We're Still Here

As you may have noticed, our blogging has become a lot less frequent. Lots of stuff to do, plus must watch our Tivo'd episodes of The Bachelorette and Top Chef Masters! (We were just cheering on Rick Bayless, who we saw at Frontera Grill in Chicago). One update is that we have put an offer on a house in Tustin Ranch, but we're still waiting to hear back. Part of the problem is that the sale of our place is still "contingent". We just need to be patient, I guess. We haven't started packing yet, and probably won't, until the contingencies are released. Not really looking forward to that part.

3 Months Old

Today is n's 3 month birthday. He weighs about 16 pounds. He still does not sleep well at night, but I love that he greets me with a smile every morning!


k took this picture of us! (He is wearing gloves because he has been scratching his scalp like crazy.)

House Hunting

The title of our last post was a little misleading, because we've been doing much more than just "hanging around" lately. This past week was my first week back to work (from home). PLUS, we are in escrow on our place! Yes, we have outgrown our 1,026 square foot condo. So now, we are on the hunt for another home. We have done a lot of research online, but we're going with a real estate agent tomorrow to take a look inside some of the possibilities.

Hanging Around

This is my last week before I go back to work (at home). Of course, the time went by too quickly. Sometimes I look at k and wonder how she got so big all of a sudden. n is growing quickly, too, although we haven't made too much progress in the sleeping at night. He is in a cute stage, cooing and smiling (when he is content).


I'm a tough guy!


I found my hands!


I can lift up my head!


Forget fried rice, I want more ramen! (This was at Shin Sen Gumi in Fountain Valley. It is a tiny place. We arrived at 4:45 on Sat. and were seated right away, but by 5 p.m. there were people waiting outside. I liked how you can customize your ramen--I prefer my noodles on the firmer side while D likes his softer, and they delivered! We both put down that we wanted light oil and normal strength broth.)

Santa Barbara Zoo

On Tues. morning we took full advantage of the free continental breakfast at the hotel. After checking out we drove to the Santa Barbara Zoo. k seemed much more interested in seeing the animals compared to our previous visits to other zoos/aquariums.


How come zoos seem to always put the flamingos near the entrance?


k got a kick out of seeing the elephant do its "business".


Giraffes are my favorite animal at the zoo. These giraffes have a view of the Pacific!




D thought this display was funny because it looks so much like a domestic cat. (Here, kitty, kitty!) We didn't see the actual cat, though.


Thankfully, n slept most of the time in his stroller. When he woke up, D had to hold him again while pushing n's stroller. He slept most of the way home, though, so that was nice.

Stearns Wharf

After settling into our hotel, we walked to Stearns Wharf for an early dinner.


It was overcast during our entire trip.

There were huge pelicans swooping down on the pier, and a lot of people fishing.


We ate at Santa Barbara Shellfish Co.. I ordered the shrimp scampi because I thought k would like the rice, but there was waay too much butter sauce. The garlicky shrimp were good, though. D had the local Santa Barbara crab, which took a long time to eat since there was so much cracking to do. D was able to get a good amount of meat, and I had my share too.


The table next to us ordered the spider crab, and the waiter brought out a live one for show and tell.


The big mess that I referred to in an earlier post happened while we were waiting for our food. I was holding n when he had a MAJOR spit-up incident. It went all over my shirt and onto my pants...it was definitely one of the worst, if not the worst he has had. Unfortunately, it occurred on the one and only long sleeve shirt that I had packed. D generously offered me his fleece the rest of the weekend while he had to wear t-shirts in the cold. I learned my lesson to pack extra clothes for myself as well as for the kids!

You can tell I'm the photographer of the family because there are no pictures of me. D only took one the whole trip of me, and my eyes are half closed. We need to work on that.

State Street

After lunch we tried to check into our hotel, Hotel Oceana. We booked this place through Priceline.


The location was nice, basically a block from where Cabrillo hits State Street, Santa Barbara's main drag. Since it was still early, our room wasn't ready, so we decided to take a walk up State Street. Unfortunately, n wasn't up for the stroller ride. He cried and cried, and we got a lot of looks from passers-by. I felt like they were all thinking, "I'm glad I don't have two kids two and under" or "Why would you take such a young baby on vacation?" D ended up carrying n while pushing his stroller while I pushed k in her stroller. I think it might be time to invest in a double stroller! Anyway, we needed a bathroom break so I steered us toward Nordstrom, which has the nicest restrooms, plus a nursing lounge. This was basically the only store we went into.

k put on a mini-fashion show @ Nordstrom.


It was quite a walk back, so we took the shuttle, which is only 25 cents a person. Getting on and off the shuttle was a task in itself, since we had two kids and two strollers, but it was well worth it. On our way back, we got the call that our room was ready--perfect timing!


We booked a room with 1 king bed, so k slept in the hotel's pack and play. She liked the novelty of it.