top chef is back...woo-hoo!

Top Chef is my guilty pleasure. All Stars...oh, mmmmmmm-yea-aaahhh! The only way it could be better is if I could actually taste the food during the quickfires and elimination challenges, and get recipes emailed to me after every show. Well, actually, the only thing better than that would be to be a judge. Then you get to taste all the food, get a fabulous free meal, have the recipes at your disposal (not like you'd ever have to/get to cook), AND get paid oodles of money. Now I just have to decide who to root for: Richard, Fabio, Jen, Antonia, Carla, Jamie or Mike. That's a few too many choices for a Pisces! Especially without a taste test!!

time to do Christmas

I started Christmas shopping today. (Yes, I know lots of people are done already, thanks for rubbing it in. I'm actually pretty proud of myself - to start shopping while December is still in single digits may be some kind of record.) My inspiration was the Angel Tree that they're doing at my work...you pick a child's name off the tree and get them the gifts they've asked for. I picked a 2-year-old boy named Luis, same sizes as Tagg and same interests (well, actually the card said he wanted "dolls" which I was cool with but after some investigation, he had actually requested "balls." That could have gone way, way wrong.)

The original Cars book set. He reads them 10 times
a day, sleeps with them, has not lost (permanently) 
one of them...loves them. See the duct tape?
That is true love, toddler style.

I feel like Tagg has so much, the least I can do is make sure that this little boy has a great Christmas too. I almost felt guilty picking out things for Luis. I mean, what we got for him is just a drop in the bucket compared to all of the toys, clothes, books and shoes that Tagg already has. It really puts things in perspective. How much do most kids (or any of us) really need? We could do so much more.

Should have gone with the flames.

Anyway, we got Luis a nice winter coat, a cute little outfit complete with black Converse sneakers (very cool...I almost got the ones with the flames but chickened out and got him the same ones Tagg has), a set of the Cars books in a box that Tagg loves so much he actually sleeps with them, and a Whacky Ball set from B. Toys that he loves to play with when he's at Nana's house.


I love B. Toys. Of all the toys he has, he probably finds these the most consistently entertaining (after cars and his books of course). Not only are they environmentally friendly, donate proceeds to Free the Children, and have a killer website and brand design, but they actually seem to care about making toys that kids will like. Here's a snippet of their philosophy, something we should all take to heart:

...it’s okay to be curious, to be pensive, to be loud, to be happy and sad all at the same time, to be generous, to be afraid, to be quiet, to be wild, to be fun, to be open, to be scientific, to be poetic, to be giddy, to be serious, to be smart, to be free, to be you. 

Of course, while I was at the store I had to do a little shopping of my own. After I got over my charitable guilt shopping spree, I still managed to find a few things for the kids. (no spoiler alerts here, please move on) I got lost in the book store as usual. We love Jamie Lee Curtis' book "Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born" which is a lovely tale about adoption. (Her books always make me want to write childrens' books instead of trashy romance novels.) I wish they would make a customizable "photobook" type thing where you could write in your own story and have it end up looking like this book, but with your kid's story. Maybe one day, I'll get all artsy and try to make one for each of my kids. The book I ended up buying as a Christmas gift - My Mommy Hung the Moon - just seemed like a necessary add to the collection! It's not going to come close to the tent fort, but hey! that's what you get when mommy does the shopping. It's not always fair.

thanksgiving wishes

Email from Tagg’s birth family after Thanksgiving…

“Thought about you all throughout the day also. Thanks for the pic
you sent on my phone that was so special. (it was of all of us on Sloane’s adoption day)

We definitely have lots to be thankful for. Tagg having a lovely, stable family to grow up with and love him is truly a blessing for all of us here. Peace of mind is worth a million, and along with everything else, you and Scott have given us that.

Tagg painted this frame. It's my favorite
and the photo of them is priceless.
He made frames for his birth parents and grandparents too.

Congrats on the adoption becoming final. I have to admit it made me a little nervous, kept thinking about everything and hoped and prayed everything worked out for all of you, and thank heavens it did.” Thank heavens, indeed. For everything.

abstract family

Tagg's art project for the day...our family as represented in the PlayDough medium. Excellent use of color and dimension. Very expressive. I think he's ready for his first exhibit.

The artist.

That's Sloane on the left, mommy, daddy, and Tagg is the green one. Sloane is a little flat because Tagg stepped on her, and my eyeballs and mouth kept falling off. It might be time for some new PlayDough.

i put on my underwear

The potty training is in full swing. We're not all hardcore about it but Tagg has been interested since his 2nd birthday and has been kind of on and off ever since. For instance, in Mexico we were talking to my parents about the fact that he refuses to poop in the potty, or give us any "I'm pooping" signs, or even admit that he's poopy - even when the smell is undeniable! About 3 minutes after that conversation, he says, "Mommy, I need to go poopy in the potty." And he did. Every day for about 3 days while we were there and then...boom, back to nothing. So now that we know he's fully capable, we are bribing him with Lightning McQueen underwear, Toy Story (aka "cowboy") pull-ups and M&Ms. Nothing high-pressure, but more focus on what he can do.

So this morning we open his door and he's sitting on the floor with his Lightning McQueen jammies on and both feet in the right leg-hole of his Lightning McQueen unders (I should have stock in Disney Pixar). He looks up with his little bed-head and says, "I put on underwear!" So proud. A few minutes later, Scott pops his head in the bathroom and says, "You gotta see this. Tagg's showing Sloane how he can put on his underwear." Sure enough, the kid's on the floor by Sloane, both feet in the right leg-hole of said Lightning McQueen underwear, showing off. Once we got them on, he sat and read her all of his favorite books. One of those "aaawww" moments. And where was my camera!


When Tiff came over tonight, he made a point of showing her his underwear skills and then ran laps around the house and did a nice little yoga "down dog" pose for her. Classic. Potty training is pretty fun so far!

tent city

I walked in the door tonight with take-out sushi in hand and Tiff right behind me. We had grand plans to watch the America's Next Top Model finale, eat sushi and commiserate over her dramatic week.

When we opened the door, the house was all dark and quiet and a little disconcerting, but then I heard Tagg's sweet little voice say, "Mommy, wanna come in my tent? I have flashlight." as this light spot blinds me. Yep, daddy made a big ol' tent city in the living room and he, Tagg and Sloane were all in there reading books, making flashlight animals, and hanging out. Pretty damn cute.

run, SL,UT, run!

The original Run SL,UT Run team

Oh don't be offended! That's the name of our Napa-to-Sonoma half marathon team (get it? Run, Salt Lake, Utah abbreviated, Run) and I just signed up for year 2 tonight. We thought about naming the team "Sister Wives" or "Big Love" because the team consisted of 6 girls and Brad, but we still have some hope that other of our guys will join us on a run someday.

Today I also signed up for the Salt Lake half, reserved my spot as Runner #1 on the Wasatch Back Ragnar team (I hope), and started training for Surf City. I guess that's my Christmas gift to myself. Although I hear Santa may be bringing me some boots too. Yay, Santa! Yay, boots!