Behold:
Christmas festivities.

Sawyer & Tru through my aunt’s front window.

Hudson & Sawyer at Nonnie’s on Christmas Eve.

Cake sent to the fam. You know- from NEIL YOUNG.

New easel. Art time!

Worth the 4:45 wake up.

First time she was standing up in her crib in the AM on Christmas Eve. SO PROUD OF HERSELF!

Lt to rt: My baby brother, Andrew, my cousin John & Scott, my too hot for words husband!

My Mom & Truman.

Hudson in his new H&M Flannel from Uncle Andrew & Xiomara

Really cute pic of everyone but me. I have 3 kids & have no time to ever get ready/look appropriate for the holidays. Krust, Laura, Xiomara & I.

Andrew, Xiomara & Sawyer

Great Aunt Joji & Tru

Hudson LOVES watching Andrew & my dad play guitar.

Truman is a fucking TANK. Like, he’s GIANT!

All the babies & their new couch!


Mommy & twinstars on Christmas

New piano.

Behold:
Emily’s Christmas 2010 Most Wanted
or
Emily is high on crack because she’s not getting ANY of this shit.
or
Scott I hope you are reading and secretly won the lottery.

Christmas 2010 by Emmiebee featuring sabre sunglasses

And lastly,
These two items since I couldn’t get them to fit on my set:
Mossimo Afternoon Tea Coat
Old Navy Ruffled Dress, in Black.
Tiffany Metro Ring

So here is kids list #1. I’m sure there will be 47 subsequent lists & at least a handful that are just things *I* want. Scott?! Scott are you reading?

OK- take notes!

The Anka by Svan Table & Chairs set. It matches the kids high chair & my furniture. An Amazing set. (via Fawn & Forest)

PUZZLES!! (All via Fawn & Forest) by Kid O & Dwellstudio. Hudson is so OBSESSED with wooden puzzles right now & I just love indulging his love of figuring things out. He is on a learning quest, this kid.

His other favorite obsession: Squirrels. And Since we made the decision to NOT move him out of his crib & instead buy another crib & wait a while before converting THAT to a toddler bed, we are revamping with a custom handmade comforter & matching pillow covers courtesy of Anti-Krust. And this squirrel pillow rules.

Counting Disks. So rad.

Zen Bent Plywood Wagon by Kaiku Designs. A local company that I found because they use the same diaper service as me. I think this is what the kids are getting from Santa. Of course we will have to add the seat belts & the seagrass basket.

Art Easel. Perfect for the whole gang! Love this one by P’kolino.

This beautiful Kata Golda Mouse Doll. Which can be PERSONALIZED so her dress says “Sawyer” or whatever your own kids name is. I love it.

& I apparently love all things Kata because I have been DROOLING over this adorable handmade porcelain tea set:

& I of course have a SERIOUS wishlist going over at My Registry. It gets added to DAILY.

I wish I had $1000.00 just for gifts for my kids!!
Stay tuned for Brandt Wishlists Mama Edition & Clothes Edition. And most likely ANOTHER toys post. Because, well- I want everything.

Hey Guys! I’m so glad you made it to my place for the Twitter House Party! I got a question on my formspring asking for a tour & I somehow wrangled some other great bloggers to join in the fun. After my tour- be sure to check out the other homes featured! AND feel free to join in and add your home tour link at the bottom!
Oh, Hi there! I was just doing dishes & I noticed you coming up the stairs!

Love this WONDERFUL California weather, right? Geeze- it’s been hell outside. And inside? Yeah, I’m locked up with 3 babies so I’m glad you’ve stopped by! (All pictures are clickable to enlarge!)

In our entry hall you’ll find this:

Right next to the front door. I’ve done a whole post on this framed poster- but we love to share our love for each other by writing done reasons on this board.

This is my kitchen. It’s a little galley style & sucks because it has very little cabinet space & I have more kitchen gear & gadgets then a French restaurant. I worked at a culinary supply store for a few years and because we could charge “on account” I never got a paycheck. I basically spent all of my 40 hour a week paycheck on all the nicest kitchenwares I could find. My chinois has no where to live. And my cast iron fondue pot? Yeah, it’s in the attic- with my baking dishes. I have a rack set up with all my kitchen stuff in the ATTIC PEOPLE. I really do go upstairs to get kitchen items. Anyways- so yeah. That’s the kitchen. That ugly scenic tile? Yeah, one of the main #1 things I freaking HATE about my house. The scenic tiles make me want to puke every time I see them. Too bad after 3 years we haven’t done shit to fix them. GOD! They are ugly.

More kitchen stuff. That’s about a forth of my crazy knife collection. I am OBSESSED with culinary knives. It’s a serious problem. Those are the ones that aren’t too nice to use. & just because it was cute- my husband’s favorite organic wine & a box of Sprinkles cupcakes. YUM!!

On to our dining room:

I love our Modern Asian feel throughout the main living area. It makes me feel super calm & I love not having clutter. We have very little on our walls.

A few things I LOVE in our dining room? My giant (as in taller than me) money tree that I’ve had since before I got married. It THRIVES in our house because of all the light. It just keeps growing!! And that picture? Yeah, that’s my Horsie in a Jar. I got that print at Indie Mart SF last year on my first ever outing without Hudson. Scott spent the day with him while I went out with my girlfriends. That print makes me smile all the time!

Here’s a shot of the room from another angle:

As you can see we have a very open modern floorplan. I love it because it is the suburban version of a city loft. If I could live anywhere it would be in an industrial space or an Eichler. Plus, this way I can still see water, have a target nearby & have plenty of parking.

Ok- what’s next?!

Well, I guess here is the few of the living room from the dining room. And my china cabinet.

And here? It’s my coffee table that now serves as a HUGE side table because we thought it would be beter to give the coffee table’s home up in exchange for more playroom for Hudson.

If you look out that window, you get to see one of the main selling points of my little house:

Two words: WATER. VIEW.

This is one of the only cluttered spots in my house. I decided that rather than having frames spread all over the house, I’d use this nook as the family wall. We have our favorite pictures framed and all crammed together in a mosaic of memories. I love this wall. I only wish I could fit more frames!!

Here is an aerial view of my living area from the loft:

Here’s a sneak peek at one of my gardens. This is our side patio. It’s very zen, with a waterfall & 99% of the plants being green & without flowers. Budda figurines abound.

I’m gonna save you the ugliness of our very basic 1/2 bath & laundry room. But, I do have these posters from a more punk rock era of my life hanging in the 1/2 bath:

We also have this little wooden art piece I got at the MAKE fair last year. LOVE IT! The girl & her little gas mask are awesome.

OK- onto the last room in this tour- our bedroom. Right now, it also houses the twins in a pack n’ play. I’m crossing my fingers that they will be upstairs with their brother in the next month or so.

And through this window we have a HUGE patio area that is about as big as our living room. It’s great- but of course you’ll have to see that during the garden party in May.

And now? The BANE OF MY HOUSING EXISTENCE. I said I hated the tile in my kitchen. That’s #2 on my most hated list. This bathroom? Holy crap. I HATE IT WITH SUCH PASSION. I cannot even express. SO. NOT. MY. STYLE.

So, I think that’s it for this post. If you missed my nursery tour- go ahead and follow me up the stairs to see.

NURSERY TOUR

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

We went for my cousin Laura’s 28th birthday. It was so much fun to spend her birthday with her & not only did she get a special shout out on the jumbotron in print- they showed all 25 of us on the jumbotron as well!! What a great birthday!!! I even smuggled in some Sprinkles cupcakes for her.

It was fan appreciation night, since it was the last game of the season. And if you follow hockey, like in our family, you’d know the Sharks are either gonna place #1 or #2 for the season going into the play-offs depending on Chicago’s game tonight.

We had an amazing time with our family & friends and I have a million & one pics to share! But seriously, $8.25 for a beer or cocktail? Yeah, good thing only I was drinking because 5 drinks later we spent wayyyy more than we should have.

Me & hubs!! Love these pics. Gosh, looking at these pictures makes me SO EXCITED to have another night out soon!!

Here’s a super cute pic (yay! I took it!) of our friends Stephanie & Favio.

This is (lt to rt) My husband, the birthday girl Laura, and my sister-in-laws Krust & Sarah.

Ummm, would you guys look at my hair?! When did this happen? Why is it so effing LONG!?! And how cute is my husband looking at me while I talk to everyone. Just love him.

Foam Finger parrrrrtayyyyyy. Mario & I.

Ok- so moral of the story is this:

1. Happy Happy Happy Birthday to my beautiful cousin Laura. We had so much fun. Thank you for inviting us! We love you! <3

2. I think I had the most adult fun I’ve had in A LONGGGGGG TIMMMMEEE.

3. You guys will probably be subjected to even more pics of our child-free date night when I see other peoples pictures. So far, I have only seen my own & Steph’s.

Sorry- I know it’s an overwhelming amount of pictures, but it was actually hard to narrow it down. I am so in love with this space I cannot even tell you. The rest of the house be damned. I will be hanging out HERE. Now, with Hudson at my Mom’s until tomorrow night I will work downstairs tomorrow & Tuesday morning I have the cleaning ladies coming to deep clean and make stuff all purrrty.

I dunno what I can tell you about the nursery- but most of it was pretty DIY, so if you have questions about furniture, features or even toys- let me know! I’d love to share.

It’s been a long time coming & I definitely need to thank John Bo, the hubster, my sister-in-laws, Aunt Sharon & Uncle Mike, my friends- everyone who came over and helped my handicap ass get this DONE. Not a moment too soon. I love you guys copious amounts.

PS: All of the pics can be enlarged twice to see detail!

So, that’s like 26 days. AWESOME. Except: HELLOOOOO BEDROOM WILL NOT BE DONE. I mean, it might- but I am not keeping my fingers crossed or anything. This is gonna be a clusterfuck for a few weeks.

So stuff doesn’t HAVE to be done. Like, I don’t need to get all my furniture purchased and upstairs. But, I do need to get the dressers at minimum. And a changing table. Radical.

This changing table matches our cribs: Sparrow from Oeuf.

and this is the changing table- saving hella room- but it’s like 200 something dollars which seems ridiculous.

and of course my IKEA Dressers. I think my plan will be to just go to IKEA when I’ve healed up. Otherwise I will be relying on my family & friends to go get the stuff and build it which is a lot to ask, I think.

Also on the to-do list:
*Have my rocking chair painted.
*Get shelves hung and stuff up on them.
*Get the stuff I need at Lullaby Lane.
*Get expedite shelving units from IKEA and create the cubicle shown on The818.
I dunno. I feel like there is soooo much to accomplish.

We got a stroller though.

We got it in Navy, because the Techno was $380.00 & this one was $265.00 but if we bought the floor model, it was $199.99. So, even though it’s not the stroller I wanted or a color I like: I was able to pay for the entire thing in gift cards. That was a win! Plus, it fits in our car. The one we really want:

The Bumbleride twin indie stroller does NOT fit in the PT w/ the Stokke. Sadness. We will have to wait till we upgrade in a year or so.

At least that part is taken care of.

I swear I didn’t go crazy this past week. I had a credit at Janie & Jack. This coat was on sale from $79.00 to $54.00. it seems insane- but I only came out of pocket like 5 bucks. it makes me sick it’s so adorable.

We got there around 2 and visited with all the family. There are about 35 of us. No joke. My mom is one of 7. 6 of the 7 were there. And then their spouses, my cousins, grandparents, great grandparents- my mom’s aunt- then Hudson and my cousin’s son, Ryan, my brother even brought his girlfriend! They are the youngest generation at the party. As in their Great-GREAT grandma was there.

In our family we do things earlyish usually. So, we usually do presents in the early afternoon and then eat around 3 or 4. But, one of my aunts worked on Saturday so by the time she, my uncle and cousin arrived it was already 4 or 5. So, we ate a TON and then did presents.

It was reallllly overwhelming for me because at this point Hudson was tired and 35 people worth of gifts is A LOT so he was getting buried. He also loves wrapping paper but is totally uninterested in removing it from gifts. So, I was unwrapping his stuff while Scott tried to simulateously wrangle Hudson AND write down what he got and whom it came from. It was a clusterfuck to say the least. I was starting to kinda freak out. lol. But Hudson (and Scott & I-even Truman and Sawyer!) received such awesome gifts!! We were so spoiled and there is still like 3 more days of this unwrapping!! I am gonna have to throw out half of everything we own to fit in all the new stuff!

After dinner we all hung around and then stayed overnight. In the morning my grandma made a HUGE breakfast and we all got to visit some more. It was fantastic. We headed home around 1130 yesterday morning.

After we got home and I did my best to put away all the gifts, we headed out to Target and the grocery store. Good times. Target was OUT. OF. CONTROL.

Anyways, I suppose that’s the report. I wanted to wait and post when my cousin sent me her pictures- but I suppose the picture blog will have to be separate. So, stay tuned.

Today I got a ton for Hudson for Christmas. Like, I had wanted to purchase one thing for him just as something to open on Christmas morning. I know that sounds cheap or mean or whatever but his birthday is next month and it’s his first Christmas and I have no doubt the grandparents will spoil him silly. Plus- he has NO IDEA what is going on and would rather play with the wrapping paper anyhow. Sooooo- I fail. He has at least 5 things under that tree so far.

I also broke down and spent $30.00 for two quick snapshots of Hudson with Santa. That’s all $30.00 will buy you with Santa in the SF Bay Area. It hurts my heart! Plus, they aren’t even like on the computer so I have to go upstairs and SCAN THEM later just to share them with you guys!

But, the good news I am down to just a couple little things left to buy and then I am 110% DONE with my Christmas shopping. I shouldn’t spend any more than $100.00 more, which makes me happy since I did Christmas this year in CASH no credit cards were harmed in the making of Christmas 2009!! For this, I am very very proud!

Tonight after my feet stop throbbing I will head out again to get everything that remains. Then, I will officially be on STRIKE. I won’t so much as head to the grocery store until after Christmas. I like less than 20 blocks from the mall and it took 30 minutes to get there. I do not love holiday traffic.