October

Here’s a little bit of what I hope to remember from the first half of October, 2017:

Lots and lots of time in the backyard. Daylight Savings Time is looms ahead and I’m trying to soak up as many evenings outside as possible. On work from home days, I love picking Diego up from daycare and going straight to the backyard to hangout. It’s such a calming transition and helps me focus on Diego, rather than launching in to chores, dinner, phone distractions, etc. Also, Diego loves being outside.

We are forever grateful to our friends, Verena and Matt, who introduced us to our daycare. A few weeks ago, they had us over for dinner and we got to watch the babies play. I always hear about them playing, but seeing it in person was so sweet! Verena is also a super talented photographer and took these photos:

Last Friday, David had a conference in SF, and rather than get home even later than usual, Diego and I drove up in the evening. We all enjoyed a little mini-trip in SF. Saturday morning, we took a long walk along the Embarcadero and introduced Diego to the sea lions.

Annnnnnd, on Friday night, Janou was amazing, and babysat Diego at the hotel = David and I got to go out!! We met up with Molly and John in North Beach and had so much fun. And spent only 85% of the time talking about our babies.

Janou and Max made an incredible lunch on Saturday afternoon. Their new home is beautiful, with a bright and sunny deck, perfect for watching the Blue Angels. Watching the two of them in the kitchen, I loved knowing that they were home together, and that after lots of travel and moves, that Janou was home.

More hanging out in the evenings during the week:

Last weekend, our awesone friends drove in from all over the Bay Area for an early birthday BBQ for David.

Babies in Halloween costumes! 

A few weeks ago, we received a package from Shaiya with this darling baby shark costume. It’s like she read David’s mind! Baby Shark Diego is pretty, pretty adorable.

On Sunday morning, we checked out the pumpkin patch at Michael and David winery before lunch at Lodi Brewing Company. Silvia snapped this photo and I love that she captured Diego’s smile :)

And now, it’s almost the weekend! Sending good thoughts for a restful and restorative weekend.

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7 months :)

On Thursday, Diego Antonio turned 7 months old! 

He’s officially tipped the scale-he’s closer to a one-year old than a newborn. This little army-crawling, sitting up, giggling child feels very different from the newborn, puppy-faced, bitty baby we brought home this spring.

But…he’s still very much a baby. I’m relishing learning more and more about him. He loves being outside: walks in his stroller and laying on the blanket in the yard, or even just hanging on the couch on the deck make him a happy camper. He’s not too into solid food, but we (finally) put together the high-chair and he seems to enjoy eating with us. We’ve entered a movement stage: he army crawls, rolls all over, wiggles and pulls himself up in the crib-and we constantly have to watch his active antics. (His favorite pastime? Crawling under the sofa and ripping the fabric off the bottom).

He’s still super serious; furrowing his brow and staring deep (he’s got quite the Resting Baby Face). But, David can ignite a fit of giggles and I love watching his face light up with his dad.

Some firsts from the month:

First wedding: Janou + Max! 

First trip to the desert: Palm Springs for Janou’s wedding. I hope to bring him back soon-love it there.

First overnight away from his mom: Twice! Two trips to D.C. The first one, I felt like the car could not go fast enough home from the airport, I was so anxious to scoop him up. The second one, I was much calmer. Baby steps. Literally.

I think that’s it? Or all I can think of. It was a busy month of travel and getting used to new routines, and Diego was patient and easy-going with it all. Very grateful for that.

Happy and thankful for this sweet baby time :)

Janou + Max got married!

It’s Sunday night, Diego is (currently) asleep, and tomorrow is a holiday. Finally have a moment to jot down some happy memories from Janou and Max’s incredible wedding!

Because of schedule, commutes, etc., Diego and I flew down from Sacramento and David flew in from SFO. I was a bit anxious about managing daycare pickup, parking at the airport, the luggage, picking up the rental car and driving the 70 miles to Palm Springs, solo. And, also the flight! Thankfully, once we got to the airport, Diego handled the flight like a total regular.

Add “letting my baby roll around on the airport floor” to the growing list of things I said I would never do as a parent-and now TOTALLY do

One lesson from the trip-and something I never thought of-car rental companies don’t  always install car seats. It makes sense, it’s a liability, and thankfully, I figured out how to install, but just another new parenting lesson for me!

We arrived at Colony 29-the hotel and wedding venue-at the same time as David and we all quickly settled into a magical weekend. Colony 29 is absolutely incredible. It’s a former artist’s colony of gorgeous vacation rentals, on the side of a hill, smack in the middle of Palm Springs. It’s naturally stunning, impeccably maintained, and close to everything in Palm Springs.

There were many, many highlights from the weekend, but one particularly special moment: seeing Abu and Diego meet. Abu traveled all the way from Argentina for the wedding-she’s amazing. On Friday, we walked over to my parent’s place and Diego met Abu. Look at Diego’s little grin seeing Abu for the first time! My family watched Diego for the afternoon (hooray!) so David and I got to lounge in the pool.

It was incredibly relaxing (I mean, that pool! That view!). Katie flew in from London for the weekend, and it basically felt like we were back on Dewberry, at the McGuffy pool (although a much fancier version), laughing, catching up and totally relaxing. Delightful :)

The afternoon at the pool put me was total vacation mode. Soon it was rehearsal dinner time!

Another stroke of magic? The weather. We anticipated brutal heat, but it was warm and breezy, and comfortable for all.

The next morning, after a quick walk to Starbucks, it was wedding prep time. Janou was serene and calm-I was in awe of her perfect balance of excitement and composure all weekend.

While we got ready, David and Diego enjoyed the pool…

THIS photo of Diego! And his expression!

My second favorite moment from the wedding (favorite being the ceremony) occurred while we were getting ready. We gatherered around Janou while she practiced her vows. Her writing is exceptional and it took everything in me not to cry as she read her beautiful words (had to try to keep that makeup on :)). It felt particularly fitting to gather in the bathroom-I’m in the tub-and listen to Janou, as Janou and I have shared thousands of conversations, standing in front of the bathroom mirror on Dewberry, rushing to get ready for something (or nothing at all), and in that quiet place we would talk about everything.

After some very happy tears, we pulled ourselves together and got ready for the ceremony.

Janou was absolutely stunning-a radiant, glowing bride. She also just seemed so comfortable and at ease, just happy and excited to marry Max.

My parents and Janou walked down the aisle to Leon Bridges’ River :)

Janou and Max’s friend Kevin officiated the ceremony. He led the two of them to their vows with a beautiful story about their relationship. I loved watching the two of them, with the gorgeous mountain backdrop, listening to their sweet story.

And then, they were married!! Time for dancing under the stars :)

The next morning, after some pool time and lunch at my favorite deli, the three of us made our way back home.

I don’t have the words to adequately explain how grateful I am that our family was all together for the weekend, and that Janou and Max have started their life together. This weekend we got to visit them in their new home (hope to write about it soon) and seeing the two of them starting this beautiful chapter filled me with great joy. Watching them in the kitchen, preparing lunch, I pictured the two of them preparing for many more happy moments and family gatherings, and I’m so excited for their love and their future.

Cheers to Janou and Max!

Diego Fridays

Whoops-wrote this last week and never posted. Hoping to have a moment to write about the most exciting recent event-Janou and Max’s wedding! Until then, some thoughts on hanging out with Diego :)

Writing this on my phone, with a napping Diego on my chest, aka, my happy place. When planning out my parental leave, I received some excellent advice: take a little time ramping up to a 100% return to work.

Thankfully, my organization is very family friendly, and they were open to my request to work four days a week during my first three months back. Since returning, I’ve spent Fridays at home with this sweet face:

Today is my last Diego Friday, and I’ll be back to 100% next week. I’m so grateful for these Fridays off. I’ve absolutely treasured the time and look forward to my Diego day all week. I also learned that working 80% is actually really hard, and it will be good to have more dedicated hours (and daycare time) to get stuff done.

That said, I’m definitely going to miss these special days! The past few months have been…chaotic…and I haven’t handled everything as well as I had hoped. Having these days helped keep me relatively sane and I’m thankful for the extra hours of snuggling and giggling that we had each week. 

Some Fridays we would be getting ready for a trip, so those days were usually a blur of packing, house cleaning, cramming the weekend errands, and hitting the road.

But on the Fridays where we didn’t have to be anywhere, we just chilled. They tended to look something like this:

Sleeping a little later than usual and snuggling in the morning.

Daily Diego Photo Shoots!

Checking in on e-mail together

Mid-day walks and naps through the neighborhood and UOP…usually followed by a trip to Gian’s for my favorite turkey sandwich. 

Floor time! In the living room and the yard.

More naps and snuggles…

And, until recently, with David’s new long days and commute, prepping for happy hour and dinner on the deck :)

Oh Diego, I hope I soaked up each moment of these special Fridays together. I can’t believe you’ll be seven months soon and it boggles my mind how much you’ve grown. Grateful for every moment that we spend together, and so thankful for these simple, happy days together :)