egypt

I have been riveted by the coverage of Egypt in the last several days. This video of a young protester sums up well what the people of Egypt are trying to obtain in their country. Watching all the masses of people protest to gain basic freedoms {that we tend to take for granted in America} is inspiring. The government has shut down their internet and doing everything they can to make them miserable but nothing is deterring them. They will not stop protesting until their leader Mubarak leaves the country and they are allowed to vote in the next election for their own leader, not a fake election where Mubarak always wins. Christopher Hitchens {one of favorite writers} wrote a great article in Slate today on why people are driven to rise up against dictators as the Egyptian people are doing now. This is my favorite passage from it....

"People do not like to be treated like fools, or backward infants, or extras in some parade. There is a natural and inborn resistance to such tutelage, for the simple-enough reasons that young people want to be regarded as adults, and parents can't bear to be humiliated in front of their children. One of Francis Fukuyama's better observations, drawing on his study of Hegel and Nietzsche, was that history shows people just as prepared to fight for honor and recognition as they are for less abstract concepts like food or territory."

gender neutral nurseries

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Love all these rooms and I'm enjoying seeing so many great design ideas for gender neutral nurseries. It seems more and more that everyone is getting away form blue and pink. Just in time for Brittany to have lots of inspiration to decorate her baby to be's nursery.

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aware

From here

valentine tags

I bought these valentine gift tags at Paper Source a few weeks ago. I used their Christmas ones on my presents this year and I loved them. I put a hole punch in the corner and then strung ribbon through them. They have 28 tags in a pack and come in 13 different languages, with sweet little sayings on each of them. You could also use them in lunch boxes, on pillows or for scrapbooking.

Here is how I used their Christmas tags on my presents this year. We are lucky to have a Paper Source near us as I love being able to visit the store and see everything in person.

cottage rules

Would love this for my house via etsy.

boys rooms

Brittany is in the process of getting Noah in a big boy bed and redecorating his room before the baby comes. Thought she would like some inspiration from these cute rooms via Restoration Hardware.

brittany 5 months

Starting to show a little tummy there, with 4 more months to go. This next month is where things start picking up and the baby really starts growing. Brittany finally broke down and bought a few maternity pants. She likes to put that off as long as possible, but it was time as she was getting really uncomfortable. Now that she is feeling better the days are going a lot faster for us. The best thing is we can hang out and have fun together now. It was weird going almost 4 months with her not even being able to hardly talk, let alone do things together. So glad that time is over and behind us. Really makes you appreciate a normal pregnancy, which is what we seem to be enjoying right now! I asked her today if she had decided on any names yet. Since she is not finding out the sex until the baby is born, she needs a boy and girl name. She has a few ideas but nothing certain yet. She said she might not even know until she sees the baby. So I guess we will have to wait until that sweet little baby pops out!
Noah wasn't going to be left out of the action this month either. After I took Brittany's picture he stood next to the wall and lifted up his shirt. At 31 months he has a pretty sweet little tummy too!

boy + truck

So much cuteness via vol25.

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fiddle leaf fig tree

What a beautiful houseplant via fromtherightbank. The latest winner of Design Star Emily Henderson put one in her winning design {above with the green sofa}. Love to have one in my own house. I have a perfect spot for it. They are saying you can get them at Home Depot. I will have to check that out.

hair crush

Love the models hair on the cover of Harpers Bazaar. How cute this would be for a wedding.

christmas rewind

Finally getting Christmas photos up. We had a whirlwind holiday with a new baby, a wedding and all the regular Christmas happenings. As you can see Noah got into the spirit of things. Every present he opened came with a huge dose of excitement. He lights up the room as he comes in making our Christmas extra special!

We took Noah to Santa's mailbox so he could mail his Christmas wishes. We had been talking to him about Santa all week so he wouldn't think Santa was scary like last year. We were on our way next to see Santa and we were hoping it would get him excited.
Well that didn't work out so well. We waited in line for our turn with Santa and when I carried him up he took one look at Santa and let out a blood curdling scream! This is as close as he ever wanted to be. Maybe next year when his new little baby brother or sister sits on Santa's lap he will want to too. Here's hoping!
The next day Brittany and I thought we would do something we were sure he would like......making is own Gingerbread Man. That was a big hit and he really worked hard to get his decorations just right!
Christmas time fun with the family.
I love my little home dressed up for the Holidays. Hope your Christmas was magical!
Photos-me

gabrielle giffords

A sad day when an admired moderate member of congress is shot in the head and fighting for her life along with 6 other people that were killed. One of those that died was a 9 year old girl born on Sept. 11, 2001. What a tragedy. Which makes me wonder where all this hate comes from. The man that shot them hated our government. In the last few years there has been so much angry political rhetoric. Is that really necessary? Can't we disagree without all the hate. There are mentally crazy and unstable people out there and when we dial up the hate it is bound to influence them. I hope this tragedy today makes people step back and rethink some of the angry things that are being said. What is really disturbing to me is supposedly religious people I see are involved in a lot of this hateful rhetoric. What is that all about?
image: new york times

reagan brooke

Reagan Brooke is here! She was born Jan. 2, 2011 at 10:01 a.m. Just to make it even sweeter she came into the world on her parents 1st anniversary!
Laci in the beginning of her labor, she was feeling no pain as you can see!
The happy family, Laci, Danny and Reagan and below she's sleeping peacefully on Daddy.
What an exciting weekend with Laci going into labor and having her baby. The best part was, I was actually able to watch her being born! Reagan as I have mentioned before was a miracle baby as the doctors did not think Laci could get pregnant because of having two cancers {leukemia and a brain tumor}. We even had the OBGYN come in when Laci was in labor just to meet her {she was leaving her shift soon and wouldn't be delivering Laci} because when she read her history could not believe she was actually pregnant so had to come in and see it for herself! She told us she worked in oncology before she switched to obstetrics and she had never heard or read about someone like Laci having a baby. Laci has always had an amazing amount of faith through all of her illnesses and so after she got married she had the same faith that she would have a baby and she did! Laci did great during labor. They gave her pitocin and for quite awhile she was stuck at 1 centimeter. Early in the morning on Sunday things started picking up and she moved along pretty quickly until about 9:00 when she was ready to push. Then at 10:01 little Reagan was born and we were all completely overwhelmed watching this beautiful baby come into the world. I was in charge of taking video's and couldn't stop watching them when I got home just to relive it over and over again. To see Reagan placed on Laci's heart after she was born was a magical, magical moment I will never forget! Now in just a few months I get to do it again with my own daughter. I can't wait!

highlights of 2010

Starting out in Jan. making the move back near the beach where I grew up.
Noah discovers a fascination for choo-choo's that never lets up.
Fresh food every week at the Farmers Market overlooking the water.
Decorating my new little home.
Brittany, Andrew and Noah moving to a bigger house for their growing family.
Washington DC with Danielle, Tom, Dawn's family, Aubrey and Joe
One of my favorite pictures of Noah taken by his mommy.
Taking Noah to Disneyland for his first time.
Noah turns 2!
Noah loves our new home......close to the beach!
My nieces Kenna and Laci healthy and happy!
Mom entertaining in style.
Danielle and Tom in Malibu
Brittany announcing a new little one is on it's way!
Danielle in Africa on one of her many work trips this year.
Boy crazy........love em.
Wishing you a thumbs up for the New Year from my favorite little boy!