First Few Weeks

We've successfully made it through 3+ weeks as a family of four. I'm not going to talk about sleep because I don't want to jinx it ;) The little one is a trooper, as most second babies have to be. I've been trying to post daily photos on our Flickr site. Some of our construction is done - we've moved back into our room (see first photo!) and it's lovely!! We made the pom-pom mobile before he was born as one of the advent calendar activities! I'm very happy with how it turned out! And the green "bed" is a total IKEA hack that I made!! It's from an under-bed storage container that I added padding and bedding too!! Woohoo :)

Here are a few recent favorites. 

Happy Anniversary!

It's been a wonderful 4 years since I said "I do" in the parking lot of Little Kings. I love you, Chris!

Photo by ZoomWorks Photography in Athens, GA. If you want to see a few more wedding photos, go here & here

It's a Boy!

We're thrilled to share some photos of our new sweet son, who was born 4 days past due, on Sunday, March 24, 2013. He clocked in at 8 pounds, 1 ounce and 21 inches in length. 

Labor and delivery was painful, but smooth, kind of quick, and drug-free. My great husband and my mom were both there. Oh, and let's give a special HOORAY for midwives everywhere! Lin Lee at Bay Area Maternity & Women's Health was so helpful during labor. With her guidance I was able to deliver our son without tearing which is just about the best thing ever. 

We came home on Tuesday and are adjusting to life with a 4 year old, a newborn, dog, cat, relatives, and major renovations inside and outside our house. We live in a glass house without a fence and a lot of workers- it's the opposite of private, but there's nothing I can do- so I'm just going with the flow. Would you believe our bed broke the night we brought our lovebug home from the hospital? And I have a stress fracture on my foot and can barely walk :) Life here is hectic, but we're taking it in stride and trying to enjoy every minute of it! I know things will settle down soon. 

(We've decided to not share his name on the blog, as we've done with our older son.)

Baby Advent Calendar: Welcome Sign

Yesterday's advent calendar activity was to make a little welcome sign for our new baby. We picked up some cute scalloped cards from Paper Source and little sticker dots. My son wrote out all of the letters and did the stickers- I love how they're all little clusters!! Here are a few photos & a video describing our welcome sign! 

Calligraphy with Maybelle

Woohoo- I loved last night's calligraphy class with Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls! I've been wanting to learn calligraphy for as long as I can remember! I've loved Maybelle's work since I saw it in Martha Stewart Weddings 10 years ago. Maybelle has taught a few workshops in San Francisco, but I was super thrilled that last night's class was at Twin Soul Art Studio in downtown Los Gatos, which is just a short drive away! 

In a previous life, I did a lot of envelope addressing for my invitation clients (you can check out my handwriting here). I've always loved mail, handwriting, and vintage stamps, so calligraphy was always a natural next step. I have to admit I have never liked my cursive handwriting, so I was a bit reluctant to try calligraphy. I included "Take a calligraphy class" on my Life List (#8!!) as well as this year's Goals and Ideas list! Maybelle is one of my very favorite calligraphers so I feel super lucky that she's out-and-about teaching workshops! Using nibs under Maybelle's guidance was really fun and my handwriting wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! She even made us a personalized ink and pen holder! We got lots of practice paper, extra ink, and a sweet practice notebook. Here are a few photos from last night's class. 

Baby Advent Calendar :: Safari West

Yesterday's Baby Advent Calendar adventure was the big one: Safari West in Sonoma County! We had such a great time riding on the bumpy Jeep and trying to stay warm! It was great to see all the animals on the preserve and we both learned a lot about so many different animals! We hit the tour jackpot and saw so many amazing animals up close! A baby dama gazelle was born yesterday morning and we got to see the baby walking around and nursing. There were giraffes, Watusi Cattle, cheetahs, Cape Buffalo, rhinocerous, Red River Hog, wildebeast and a few kinds of antelope ("Daddy, I saw a baby cantaloupe!!") But none got closer than those curious ostriches. They followed us around all afternoon and loved pecking at the truck. Here are a few photos from our adventure. 

Fire Station Birthday Party

While we were visiting Athens, GA, our sweet pal celebrated his 5th birthday! In honor of the occasion, his super rad mom arranged to have the birthday party at Fire Station #1. It was probably the best $10 she's ever spent because her son had an amazing time! We got the full tour of the station and a truck. The firefighter host even put on all of his gear piece-by-piece for all of the kids. After the tour, we ate cake and opened presents (the Super Hero Car was a big hit- see below!) in their kitchen. Double Dutch Press printed blank notebooks for one of the party favors using one of the birthday boy's fire truck drawings and how cute are the matchstick pretzels?!!

Baby Advent Calendar :: Dioramas

Day 3 of our Baby Advent Calendar was to finish the dioramas that I started in January (check out the Instragram I posted from step 1)! I used old wooden wine & whiskey boxes, painted them grey, added fabric*, and screwed them into the wall. Toss in some animals and trees and we're good to go! I'm sure there will be add-ons as time goes... I'd love to make little ladders & hooks from the bottom, but this is a good start and our son loves them!

*I glued fabric to cardboard (Elmer's) and then screwed the boxes to the wall. When I placed the fabric in the boxes you couldn't see the screws :)

Baby Advent Calendar

I'm mere weeks away from having another baby and can't believe how unprepared I'm feeling. Our master bedroom and bath are under construction and our bed is in the "baby's room." Our complete landscape demo has just begun and our lives are about to be turned upside down. 

In hopes of preparing for baby #2, I made an "advent calendar" full of activities with my 4 year old. Some are fun adventures while others are practical things that he can help with to get ready for the new baby. I hope it'll be fun for him and productive for me! We had so much fun with our Christmas advent calendar & I'm sure he'll love this one, too. Our son describes the advent calendar in this video. 

We started today, on the first of the month, as any good advent calendar does, and we'll see how far we get. A new surprise each day, leading up to the birth of our new baby! We don't know when he or she will make their debut, so I stopped a few days before my due date. Here are some of the things we have on the advent calendar:

Appointment with midwives & lunch with dad (today!!)
Trip to the San Francisco Zoo
Trip to Monterey Bay Aquarium
Trip to Safari West (this is the big surprise and it's going to blow his animal-loving mind!) DID IT!!
Pick up "big brother" type of books from the library
Make a mobile for above the baby's crib
Take the train to meet a friend for lunch & frozen yogurt
Help make sheets for the crib & makeshift bed
Choose a new book from the bookstore to give to the baby
Pick up tiny plant and plant it on the day the baby's born
Help make a care plan (instructions for grandparents with his routine, etc)

Whew- I feel better already. 

Easy Lemon Crepes

LEMON CREPES yields a lot because I doubled the recipe. This batch fed 2 grown men, 1 pregnant mama, and a hungry 4 year old boy (and we have two leftover!)

I love this recipe! It was so easy (and if I think it's easy...). I have always been intimidated by making crepes (I usually ask my pal Amanda to make them- she's a pro), but these turned out great and I didn't need any special crepe tools to do it (no fancy crepe pan or fancy spatula). Here's what I did:

• 2 cups almond milk (made my own based on the My New Roots recipe)
• 6 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups flour (we used organic all purpose)
• 4 tablespoons coconut palm sugar (low glycemic and not as sweet)
• 1/2 teaspon salt
• liberal sprinkles of cinnamon
• butter for pan
• a few lemons for squeezing (got ours from our tree)

Preparation

• Blend the milk, eggs, and vanilla together. Add the flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon on top of the liquid ingredients. Blend until all smooth. 
• I just used our 2 skillets (no fancy crepe pan or fancy spatula). Medium heat. Add a bit of butter once heated. Pour about 1/3 cup of the batter in the hot skillet. Cook for 2 or until bottom is lightly browned. 
• Fold the crepe in half, then fold in half again; transfer to a plate. Squeeze a bit of lemon and enjoy!!
• Our son preferred his with plain yogurt (full fat, goat's milk yogurt) instead of lemon. He was a member of the Clean Plate Club (see photo below)