Family time is the best. I love the weekends when I have adult companionship and there is a second set of hands to hug, serve, tickle, help and love our girl. I love watching Gia interact with Dave. She's with me all day, after two years of it I'm sure daddy is a nice change. On the weekends my load is lightened and my loves are near. We always have a good time. Yesterday after he got home from work, Dave Gia and I went to Ponto beach so that Dave could surf and G and I could play. G looks so chubby in these pictures!

Rambling..

The Santa Ana's are here this weekend. It's like summer again. The temperature is in the 80's, the sky is clear blue and the wind is warm. Everything is dry, dry, dry. It is a lazy weekend for us which is a nice change. Last weekend was our birthday extravaganza here at the Manriquez house. Both Gia and her daddy celebrated birthdays. I have a two year old!...and a husband who is getting closer to forty than comfort will allow. It's a funny thing, getting older. Anyway, Gia's birthday party was a smashing success. With three of her friends we, ate cake and ice cream, opened presents and pushed a pinata around (I finally took scissors and bludgeoned the thing until it opened). Gia wanted cake the instant her guests arrived...she's a true Manriquez. The next day we celebrated Dave's birthday by having brunch with friends.
I think the birthday extravaganza weekend will become a tradition in the Manriquez home. It has to be fine tuned, but it will be an annual weekend nothin' but fun and celebration. With Halloween, Gia's birthday and Dave's birthday all within a week of each other I've come the realization that I need to start planning for this time of year in, like, September. Being that I'm into the handmade and want to make all Halloween costumes, birthday presents, banners and goody bags, I can save none of it for the last minute.
After our birthday festivities of the weekend, I was feeling truly motivated to start blogging, finish some of my projects and once again hit the gym. The plan was to stay at home on Monday so that I could figure out a way to be both super productive and take care of the two year old...a challenge that still perplexes me. One of my favorite blogs is at soulemama.com. I love her site, her store, her flicka page, her non profit that she opened last week, but I have no idea how she does it! She has three kids with one more on the way (due this month), she home schools, hand makes everything, and takes amazing photographs daily. Did I mention she wrote a book and her second book will be out soon? How? But I digress...Monday. Motivated. Viscously attacked by a giant bee. Well, I didn't actually see the stinging beast, but I just know it was hideous. My right hand was stung as I was climbing on a playset at the park (so much for staying home), and within hours it was the size of Connecticut. Okay, maybe not Connecticut, but you could probably see it from an airplane, it was that swollen. My hand is apparently famous at my doctors office where I went the next day. I couldn't put my fingers together, much less make a fist, as for crafting anything, forget about it. Do you know how hard it is to change a poopy diaper with one left hand? I am happy to report that today I can actually type with both hands. And so I'll try again, this week, to learn to be productive and a mother to a toddler. Dave just got home from an afternoon surf and has lunch for us. Gia's running around in her diaper, excited about the chips Dave brought home, and all is well. It's time to go.

Shout Out

Here's a shout out to my dear friend Kathy Conch and her beautiful husband Mike "da plummah guy" Losby. It was so great to see them and celebrate their marriage with so many loved ones. For two months now I've been wanting to blog about their ultra cool wedding in Hawaii and the fun reception Kathy's mom threw for them in her Pasadena home.
Kathy has been one of my best friends since the 8th grade. I've seen her boyfriends go from bad to worse, reaching a pinnical of chodness soon after she moved to Hawaii 9 years ago. After that they progressivly got better and better and now she's with a wonderful man who is so good to her and loves her in the manner she deserves. If you know Kathy Conch, you know that she really truly deserves a great love, a life partner worthy of her beautiful spirit. Kathy, the girl who could light up a room with personality and magnatism. Kathy, who swims with the dolphins off the shore of Kona Hi. We love you Kathy Conch and are so happy for you and Mike. May aloha and blessings rain down on you continuously.

What's cooking?

Gia's kitchen has become somewhat of a treasure trove. She's at an age where her imagination is blossoming and so at times she is quite the good chef. She likes to prepare her little wooden egg, put it on a plate, shake salt and pepper over it, then serve it to Dave or me. She might throw a fake pizza in the oven, or serve up some wooden bread. What I've discovered though is that she is baking more than fake bread in that oven of hers. It has become a storehouse for a variety of things. I've begun checking it each night after she goes to bed. One evening after Gia spit out a grape that I had not given her I looked in her oven suspecting that she had gotten it from there. I found two more two day old grapes (no wonder she spit it out!) a pair of tennis shoes and a bit of cheese. Last night I found a "big girl cup" with the tiniest amount of water in it and a graham cracker. There is always a variety of toys in there, sometimes a dvd or a picture, outlet covers. I'm glad she has a little cubby of her own although I may need to set a few guidelines. It's kinda fun to guess what will be in there next, almost like a bit of Christmas at the end of every day.

Another Mommy Blog

I know. It's been way too long since we've posted anything. You see, ideally I'd get one night a week off of baby duty to go to a coffee shop and write. But the weeks go by and it never really seems to happen. I don't really mind, because I love our family time together. Dave works so hard for us, that I enjoy taking care of things at night and either letting him rest, do more work, or just hang out with Gia. There just always seems to be something going on, and evenings away from home are few and far between. I hope to be coming to a place where I could either focus on writing while Gia is around, or become involved in a writing group, even a class (!).

Enough about that. Since the last post we have had many adventures with the G-note. We took her to Mammoth a few weeks ago. My stud husband made an incentive at work and won us a trip to the Mammoth Lodge right at the base of the ski resort. Our room, though old, had an amazing view of the mountain. Each morning we enjoyed watching the sun rise and eventually hit the face of the mountain with a brilliant orange glow. It was beautiful. And although we didn't brave the half pipes we could watch kids a lot more brave and talented than us do jumps and tricks, all from the comfort of our room. Dave and I each did a half day of boarding which was just about perfect for us old timers who hadn't hit the slopes in several seasons, six I think. Gia had an okay time, but really, there wasn't much for her to do. We were disappointed because we couldn't find a sled and we really wanted to take her sledding. It was just too late in the season. We endured a flat tire on the way home, which was an adventure in itself. Dave handled it though and everything was fine.

We like to go on little hikes with Gia. We'd like to do some more serious hiking with her, but our weekends fly by so quickly, that it never seems to happen. I've included, in this batch, some pictures of a little trek we did around the lagoon, in Solana beach, just last weekend. Gia enjoyed being in dad's pack and when we'd let her out, she just wanted to draw in the sand. The pictures are pretty cute.

Also included in this batch of pictures are a few from the zoo. G and I went on Monday. I didn't snap man pictures that day, but had to get a few of Gia kissing the gorillas. At the San Diego zoo, they have bronze statues of gorillas that kids can interact with. Gia kissed every one of them. I'm pretty sure that she has an affection for gorillas because Goodnight Gorilla has been a favorite book of hers for about a year now. If you've ever tried to get a kiss from Gia, you know that they don't come easily. Lucky gorillas.

Gia gets barreled

This started out as a picture of Gia sitting on chest in front of a window that Dave had printed out and put on the wall by his computer. Soon, he drew a flower next to Gia. A month or so later the sun appeared followed not too much later with the wave and board. All of this was drawn onto the paper then scanned into the computer by my husband. He must have been on a roll that night because soon this image in full color appeared on his desktop. The flower has been swallowed up by the wave, but our little Gia isn't getting swallowed up...nope, she's getting barreled like the little surfing stud that she is. That's my baby and my baby for you.

Random Gia Pictures

Here are a few recent pictures. This first one was probably taken on my birthday because Gia was rooting for our home team that day by wearing her cheer leading outfit. Sadly, we lost to the Patriots (those cheaters) and were out of contention for the Superbowl. The three of her in red were taken last Sunday. She enjoyed sitting by the window watching the rain fall. Most of you have not seen our little toddler in action and every picture that we have of her in motion is blurry. Here is one of her standing still, something that she also does very well.

My Birthday

These were taken at Moonlight Beach. We were celebrating my birthday a day early. It was a lot of fun. First we played on the playground and then we joined a drum circle for a little while. Afterward Dave and Gia took me to dinner. Gia loved being in the drum circle and cried when we had to leave. She has a lot of rhythm and loves to dance as well as play the air piano. She wants to play on every piano that we see (no,we don't

happen across pianos everyday...but we do on occasion), I hope that someday she will want to take lessons and follow in her uncle's footsteps to become a pianist. She also loves to play the bongos when they are available at worship on Tuesday mornings. She has even had the chance to play the guitar and loved it.

Nothin' but Love

"When books attack" is what I like to call the minor trauma that Gia goes through when she falls victim to one of her cardboard paged books. Occasionally, Gia will close her finger into a book and as she's crying out in pain, trying to pull it out, she is simultaneously squeezing the book closed with her free hand. When she does this I have to shake my head lovingly and smile a little at how cute she is. A friend of mine said recently that this is how she imagines God is with us. When we mess up or slip into our old nature, God just looks at us, shakes his head lovingly, smiles, and maybe giggles just a little at how cute we are. Even when Gia is kicking when I'm trying to change her, or when she spits out her broccoli, it's endearing. It's fun to watch a child grow and to see the big picture, God thinks so too.
I grew up in the church. Some of my earliest memories are on the church playground and in Discovery day camp. So the knowledge that Jesus loves me has never been astounding, actually, it has been quite taken for granted. Sure, Jesus loves me and my parents love me and the sky is blue. It almost smacks of indoctrination; Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so. I've known how rad that is, and have appreciated it. Really. The creator of the universe loves me personally, that's big. Recently though, the beauty of this perfect love was made clear to me, the absoluteness of this wonderful truth made an impact. God's love is perfect! It's absolute, it's without fault, it's complete. It's hard to understand the completeness of this love because we are so imperfect in the way we love each other. We have conditions, our own agendas, we see faults, but the Lord does not. His love will knock your socks off!
I am blessed to be associated with this totally awesome prayer ministry. These people are so gifted and hear and see the Lord clearly while praying. I had never been prophesied over or been given words so directly from the Lord until I was prayed for by them. There I stood, taking God's love for granted, abusing the very grace by which I live and He completely showered me in love; "My beloved", "my love", "dear one", "I am well pleased", "I am so pleased with you", "you are so beautiful", "well done", "I always have time just for you", "my beloved daughter". I'd half expected to hear, "I love you but you're (insert sin) and you shouldn't" or "You're good, but spend more time in the Word and then we'll really talk". All those times I've stood squeezing my own finger into my own book, the Lord has truly looked at me lovingly, shaking his head and smiling a bit at how cute I am. He sees us as he created us, wholly completely and perfectly.
In my first prayer session with this team the Lord had a message for me about my identity. He told me that I was more than just a mother. He said that I am his daughter and that he made me a mother so that I'd more fully understand his love for me. I've always known that my identity is in Him. I am a daughter of the King. I've always known this, but at some point began listening to the lies that were spoken over me and traded in my identity as princess for a myriad of different identities that while fun, were never quite as perfect as the one Christ has given me. So now, I've once again stepped into my identity in Christ, this time with humbling awe at the perfect and complete love in which he enfolds me, and this time as a mother. Maybe that is why the name "mommy blog" grosses me out, I still squirm thinking about it. I really think that if everyone, even Christians, fully understood how perfect and whole the love that the Lord has for us is, they wouldn't search elsewhere for completion. Abide in that love, swim in it, soak it up, let every cell in your body feel loved because it is, completely.

Sunday morning Quarterback

Dave here.
Today is January 13, 2008 and the San Diego Chargers are playing the Indianapolis Colts in Indianapolis at 10am this morning. Of course pre-game is on and playing in the background as I write, Gia plays and Anne does the breakfast dishes. BTW- Breakfast was delicious, scrambled eggs, little smokies and grapes. I ask Gia "where's the football?" and she points to the ball. We often play toss in the living room, actually rolling the ball back and forth. And she loves it when I spin the ball on its nose like I just scored a touchdown. Kobe our girl dog will even get into the act and grab her stuffed toy and sit next to us as she chews and makes the toy squeak. Gia has a Charger cheerleading outfit that she will wear most Sundays. Every Sunday she's worn her outfit the Chargers have won. The times she hasn't they've lost. Chargers record is 11-5. Gia doesn't really pay too much attention during the games but does recognize the football on TV and the football in our living room are the same. She also knows when something good happens because Daddy erupts in loud obnoxious cheering which almost scares her. She's has actually gotten very use to it and knows that it's good. Usually she'll fall asleep during the game and I have to let her know what happened when she wakes up.
As for the Chargers, this has been a trying season for SD fans like every season. I've recently dedicated myself to the Chargers because I am finally feeling like a San Diego native. Being a Charger fan is tough deal. Last year they went 14-2 and then lost in the first game of the playoffs. They have been labeled as the most talented team in the league but have not been able to get past the first round of the playoffs. This year finally for the first time since 1994 the Chargers have won a playoff game. In 1994 they went to the Superbowl but of course in famous Charger style got blown out by the Steve Young, San Francisco 49ers. In 1994, I didn't mind so much because I still was a devout 49er fan because as most of you know I grew up in the Bay Area. Now because I've been living in the SD for almost 17 years........
Sorry to leave you hanging but the game just started. More later.
Love,
Dave.

Ready for bed

I was talking to a friend, who just moved across the country, a few nights ago (yeah, you know who you are!). When I told her that I was starting a blog, she asked me if it was a "mommy blog". My knee jerk reaction was an emphatic no. A "mommy blog"?...eeew. The words themselves make my skin crawl. Don't get me wrong, I love being a mom, but something about the label really grosses me out. I guess it's just the fact that it is a label that bothers me. I've always resisted labels or anything else that would pin me down. I wouldn't join The Girl Scouts, no way; and I've always sought out my independence, freedom from what is expected. Those are the key words right there, freedom from what is expected.
Her question did give me something to think about though. What is my blog going to be about? There will certainly be a lot of mommy in my blogging because it is what I do, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. I've been cruising through various blogs today and find that I am already quite addicted to this little blogging community. Why didn't I do this sooner? I'm excited about reading blogs by people who have the same interests that I do, learning things, following stories, and corresponding. My blog has been taking shape in my mind all day, we'll just see if this tired mommy can keep up.
That said, it has been a crazy day of sleep deprivation here in the Manriquez house. Gia woke up at 1:00 last night, which is standard and then she woke up at 3:30 which is pretty standard too ( it's usually 4:00, but whose keeping count?). Only, last night (or early morning I should say) I couldn't get her back to sleep. By 5:00 I went and woke up Dave because I thought a different set of hands would do the trick. Boy, was I wrong. She just became more awake. I'm too dang tired to go into all the details of our little myriad of wakefulness, but let's just say it wasn't pretty. We finally stopped trying as the 6 o'clock hour approached and just let her play. I thought I could get some breakfast into her and then nurse her back down by about 7, but I was wrong there too. Finally, around 8 I put her in the car and drove. She was out before we even left the neighborhood. It was just one really bad, botched up mess of an early morning. Then tonight, she actually resisted going down to bed. And here I am tweaking out on the computer! Don't I know how tired I am...don't I realize!
Thanks for reading this rambling, disjointed, mommy of a blog. Goodnight.

G-bean

Gia-bean is having quite a day. She's teething again and nothing is quite right for her this morning. Graham crackers make her happy as do her books. You can't go wrong reading a book to this little one, she might just read along with you. Another thing that is working for us today is singing Old Mac Donald. She has always calmed down when being sung to but one of her newly acquired tricks is actually participating in the song. She does hand motions now to The Wheels On The Bus and The Itsy-Bitsy Spider. Her newest one however is to sing "ee-iii, ee-iii", she doesn't do the "ooo" part yet, but we'll get there. She also does "baa" whenever there is a sheep on Old Mac Donald's farm. Beyond the graham crackers, books and songs, little else is giving this mama a break. I can't complain though, she is a wonderful baby with an adorable and blossoming personality. We all have our cranky face days if only we were all soothed by crackers and books.