the g says guh, the g says guh, every letter makes a sound the g says guh - like GaGa

gaga came to save me. for an entire week. it was the greatest week ever because when you are nesting without central air it's less like "why isn't my linen closet straight, i have to clean it right now!" and more like "man, i want my linen closet to be clean! why isn't it clean?! i'm so hot! wah!" but gaga swooped in and took over my kitchen and the babies and ordered me to bed and it was magnificent. i actually had a cup of coffee and watched regis and kelly. in peace. and truthfully they were kind of annoying but boy does kelly have some biceps! i digress. i wish i could say i am rested but i think it's kind of impossible to be rested at 38 weeks, but i feel mentally restored and ready to get this baby out! (everything is going great by the way, the good doctor thinks he's 8lbs give or TAKE a 1/2 pound). i blame the potential 8 pounder on all the amazingly delicious food we ate last week. i even got a thanksgiving dinner one night! i felt like the luckiest girl in the world.


fun in the laundry basket


what a ham hilina is. no matter where we are, what she's doing, anything, you pull out a camera these days and she's all "hey there! cheese!"

i have a bone to pick with you internets! no one warned me of this molar thing - that they could cut molars at one year and that the time it took for one tooth to break through would seem like an eternity. gaga told me that if an adult had to cut a molar we'd be like rolling on the ground banging our head on the floor. and i was pretty close to doing that just watching (hearing) saida go through it. bless her heart she was just miserable. thankfully, i was on vacation and so gaga was her distraction during the day, i just had to work nights! but gaga had to do overtime with a teething baby.
gaga had to give zerberts.

gaga had to hug her lots

and when that didn't work gaga had to hang up her upside down till the giggles escaped

we all want gaga to come back :(

too tired, can't write. very happy days. pictures here.

breakfast at wimbledon

what can i say? ben loves tennis. so watching the williams' final was of course a family event. and what a match! it started with homemade blueberry pancakes.
YU UM.




hilina found them tasty, too.


ben, not so secretly, cannot wait for the day when he can take the girls to the tennis court. he particularly thinks saida will be a tennis star. i wonder what she thinks about that?


serena opened the match with a beating.
come on venus!


and come on she did. all the way to the trophy. hilina was proud.


all that textbook tennis got saida in the teaching mood. so she decided to help our doula point out what birthing a baby is really like.

diagram 1: "the finer points of labor"


all those pancakes, excellent tennis, and rhythmic birth breathing, left me feelin' the spirit.

h is for happy (birthday)!

we went to tom's restaurant to celebrate hilina's birthday because what do you feed pancakes on their birthday? pancakes of course! ben's birthday was today, and i think gus over at tom's gave ben the best present he never knew he wanted - he told him our children were so well behaved and well disciplined - it was music to his ears, i think he might have even blushed a little with pride.
here i am teaching hilina how to make my coffee since now that she's one she's going to have some responsibilities around here.

now tomorrow it's your turn!

we went to the park to swing because it's hilina's favorite.

roshi, themba, and little kusha flew in all the way from malawi - i wish they had been able to stay longer, but it was the best 15 hour visit ever since the kids were instantly best friends playing/stealing everything from each other. saida met her match in kusha, and i think it's really interesting how much she backed down to him - even when he stole her bottle right out of her mouth.


hilina opened her presents!

and she tried to grab the flame while we were singing her happy birthday. btw the birthday cake ben went out for on sunday? he got her a tofu cheesecake. can you see me rolling my eyes here? don't worry, i covered it in ice-cream. made with milk. and sugar.

and then it was time to get all the tofu off in the tub. these pictures will be held against them in high school for the purpose of embarrassing the heck out of them. why? because we can. kusha sat on saida just like she sits on hilina and you know, she didn't even notice. hilina's new bath toys were a hit!


3 peas in a pod/tub

saida vs. the hanger

first off, i just want to say that this is the first time i've been alone in my house since jan. 10 (the day we got back from Africa). second, they've all been gone about 15 mintues and it's too quiet and want them back right now. they've gone to get hilina's birthday cake since tomorrow she is one! i just can't believe it.

this video is from this morning. saida, brilliant child that she is, got a coat hanger stuck on her shirt. and then she couldn't get it off - you can imagine the drama that ensued.

i've had my first real burst of nesting take over when i woke up this morning and i am happy to report that my house is much cleaner than it was when i woke up. i have a second box of baby clothes ready to mail my sister that i promptly stacked on top of the first box that i've had ready to mail for about, oh 4 months. some day i will get to the post office, some day... we had the best day yesterday meeting with our doula for the first time and just a great day with the girls, will write about it later tonight or tomorrow morning.

blue skies

i love this picture.