Wine weekend :)

Last weekend, Molly was kind enough to invite us to her family’s house in St. Helena. I’ve been looking forward to this weekend for weeks and it was a wonderful treat.

Friday afternoon, we loaded up the car, and asked ourselves, what critical item will we forget this time? (Baby wipes. Last time it was Diego’s travel bassinet, it’s always something…) Two hours later, we were in PARADISE:

There was so much to love about the weekend, but the best part was being with close friends, reveling and kvetching about this awesome, sometimes chaotic, life chapter. As someone noted, each conversation was about 30% incomplete, stories were told, and re-told, as one of us was always distracted by the next naptime, feeding, or drink refresher. It was definitely good to be in such good company.

Diego has ridiculous fomo and didn’t want to sleep. So, he joined us for dinner on the porch :)

We spent most of Saturday playing in the pool…



And it was gorgeous!

Saturday afternoon, we ventured to Trinchero  enjoyed some white wine on the patio.

The parent paparazzi:

These babies!!!!!

Sunday came wayyyy too soon and it was time to go back to reality. We stopped at Gott’s for burgers and shakes and made our way back home.

Thankful for this wonderful weekend with great friends! Thank you, Molly and Jon!!


Recently…

Whoa! We’re halfway through July. Summer is flying…before too much more time passes, a few memories from the first half of summer:

I spent the last week-ish of leave in Irvine with Diego at my parent’s house. He got to try out the piano and actually seemed pretty into it! (Not pictured: baby concentration drool).

Also during leave, for the last month, I tried to challenge myself to do something new everyday. A lot of it was baby firsts, but I ended up discovering some fun drink recipes. This is a blackberry-basil lemonade.

And, with all the heat, ended up making a lot of Campari spritz.

Hanging at the beach :)

It was so nice to relax with family before heading back to work.

And Diego was great on his second flight to Sacramento!

Back in Stockton, it’s been HOT. We keep talking about “the heat wave,” but like…when is it a wave and when is it just a brutal July? David’s been working hard to put sod in the backyard and get the deck useable-here’s a “during” photo. Grateful for all his effort-the weather has been less than ideal.

Diego has been pretty chill through all the heat :)

Diego and his grandma! So, so grateful for allll of my mom’s help and time this month.

Also, big moment this summer: getting this HAT! I mean, I know every parent is smitten with their kid, but this hat on this little head!

Last weekend, we escaped the heat and spent the day at Half Moon Bay. A cloudy morning at the beach, with a thermos of hot coffee, and two grandmas to hold your baby so you can enjoy it = just wonderful.

We celebrated our anniversary on Wednesday with dinner at Mile Wine. Wednesday is a commuting day for me, so I was reluctant to make plans, assuming I would be too tired. We ended up rallying and having a great time at dinner. AND-the Mile Wine wine tasting flight is so fun. We ended the evening re-watching our wedding video :)

Molly graciously invited us to her family’s house in St. Helena this weekend. It was AMAZING. Incredibly relaxing and so restorative to be in the company of wonderful friends. Can’t wait to write more about it-but this is one of my favorite photos. The parent paparazzi, snapping photos of the babies at the winery. Ha!

Sending good thoughts for the week :)

4 months!

On Wednesday, Diego Antonio turned 4 months old!

He’s becoming ever more aware of the world around him. Watching him tune in and interact is such a thrill. Sometimes he still looks like such a baby-when he’s drooling, curled up in his sleep sack, napping on me-and sometimes, like here, he looks like a little boy! 

A few (mostly summery) firsts this month:

First time in a lake: At Pinecrest, but the water was entirely too cold to even dip his toes.

First time in a pool: On Father’s Day, at David’s dad’s house. He’s been in a pool a few times since (including his first swim class last week!) and each time he’s pretty…neutral. Doesn’t love it, doesn’t hate it. We’ll see if his inner Pisces flourishes with time.

First ferry ride! After the beach one afternoon, while we were in Irvine. He slept through the entire ride to Balboa Island.

First trip to In-n-Out and Ruby’s: California’s two greatest contributions to cheeseburger and French fry lovers. Someday he’ll be able to enjoy both.

First drive down south on the 5: Really not a lot to say about that. Its a loooong drive.

First time attending a birthday party: Mira’s 1st birthday! Babies in the ball pit = beyond adorable.

First week and a half with his mom at work: Diego and I took the first steps in getting used to me returning to work. Thankfully, we’re slowly ramping up into that new reality as my awesome mom is staying with us and watching Diego for this first month. So grateful!

Thankful for this month of growth and discovery with Diego :)

Anniversary!

Three years ago today, we were waking up, nice and hungover (oops), and getting ready to get MARRIED!

Like birthdays, anniversaries are really only special to the people celebrating, but they’re kind of more fun because you get to celebrate together. And this year, we get to celebrate with our little Diego-bear!

Looking at the photo above reminds me of something I haven’t thought about in a while. One of our more agonizing wedding decisions was something that should have been so simple-picking a first dance song. We couldn’t think of anything. The songs I associated with our relationship were either wayyy too emotional (hello, John Hiatt) or not really danceable (hello, Coldplay). Also, we’re terrrrrrrrible dancers and needed something we could basically just sway to in front of 150 of our  closest friends.

Anyway, one morning, David e-mailed me this link: http://youtu.be/ZxJDy9vxyqo. I’d never heard the song before, but after listening I was like, YUP! That’s it! (Also, I cried. Of course).

During our wedding, I remember LOVING our first entrance songs (SO FUN) and our last dance. But, at the time, the first dance felt kind of awkward. The sound in the big room felt different than it had on my phone, when I listened to it with just David. I loved the sentiment of the song, but it didn’t perform well.

Listening to it this morning, I starting tearing up. Three years later, its the perfect song for our marriage. A wedding is funny-an incredible moment, but also a very public display. A marriage is so intimate and personal, and a wedding, while clearly personal, can at times feel like a show. 

Three years later, I remember all the beautiful, personal, moments of the wedding and I treasure how we’ve grown in our marriage. I probably wouldn’t recommend that song, Better, as a song to get a wedding crowd going. But as a song to remember and listen to throughout a marriage? It’s just right. 

Cheers to three years, David. Thankful for you, and all the happy moments, past, present and future. Especially the ones with this guy-you both make everything better :)

Family photos :)

David’s colleague Erik is an amazing photographer. He took photos of us for the holidays and after Diego was born, he kindly offered to come over and take some family photos.

I’m pretty impressed by the quality of iPhone pics, but I realize they just don’t compare to a good camera and a skilled photographer. Some of my favorites:

These are from a few weeks ago…those sweet baby cheeks are even bigger and rounder now!