Trip to NoCal

on the big girl swing with papa pushing

Amelia and I took a trip to Northern California two weeks ago. It was a long week, but well worth the effort! We stayed for two nights with Grammy and Papa Carney, then to Auntie Lara's house (amazing views to be had there), and finally, in Sonoma at the Westerbeke ranch. Each stop was fun for us, though I was really worn out by the end and needed a few days to recover.

The trip to Sonoma was the impetus for the trip because for cousin Jeremy's wedding. It was so beautiful and I think Amelia had a nice time at the ranch.

Our first two days were spent hanging with grammy and papa, going to grammy's office, and to the park. The park near her new office had a carousel as well as a little train we could ride on. Amelia loved the carousel and riding the horses. We each took a turn riding it with her.

Next, our stay with Lara had us first visiting friends in Novato, Violet, Yvonne and Kristen then in Petaluma, Summer, Tyler, Ava and Annika. Amelia loved hanging with the kids, especially the Tyler! I'm in for a world of hurt come 12-13 years... Our last night with Lara, an old friend from college and her family came over. Her son, Liam, who is 6, was a true sport playing with Amelia and humoring her when she would say, "boy, sit down here!" Again, cute now, now so cute in 13 years.

Amelia and Tyler looking suspiciously at the camera woman...

kids playing with stuff

Summer and Amelia are only 2 weeks apart!

and what is this an ad for?

playing with chalk

Our final stop in this whirlwind trip was Sonoma. Westerbeke Ranch was so magical--I loved walking the grounds and discovering new things each day. Friday morning I met my parents at the ranch and dropped Amelia off while my BFF, John, and I along with 20 or so of Jeremy's friends, went on 2 winery tours. It was awesome. I had been waiting and dreaming of the day for months!

Eric flew in to Oakland Friday night, though he didn't get in until late so missed wine tasting and dinner. Saturday morning, after breakfast, we explored the property and found fruit trees, a fun fountain for Amelia to play in, and yummy blackberry bushes. We all ate handfuls of berries and had stained smiles by the end.

Saturday evening was the wedding. Amelia was supposed to be one of the flower girls, but ended up being carried, by me, down the isle. She hadn't been sleeping well (shocker!) and wanted boobie (in a totally inopportune time!) I didn't even got to see the ceremony. However, my parents helped out and I got to eat dinner and have a glass of wine.

the wedding party

a fine family picture.. too bad Amelia wasn't smiling!

riding the wooden horsies

Wheels on the bus

I kind of gave up on the blog. Will try to revive.

In the car, while singing wheels on the bus, Amelia took her doll and
started doing the hand gestures for the song. It was soooo adorable!

Everday there is at least one amazing new thing that happens, most of
which I'll never remember!

Posted by Allyson from my iLifesaver.

Changing of the guards

What a big weekend! Amelia's Grammy and Papa (Eric's parents) were in
town for the holiday. It was great for her and for us! My parents
often come on Sunday to spend the afternoon with her so this was an
added bonus--both sets of grandparents at our disposal!!!

Swimventure and the popscicle

First day of swimming class was a total bust! We only stayed a short
time in the pool. These pictures were before on the car ride. We again on Saturday only this time Eric went with her into the pool--a little more success, but still a scary experience for her. I think it's just going to take some time.

Later in the day, we went to Hannah's house for some playtime. It was there Amelia had her first fudgcicle. It was white chocolate which made cleanup of Rachel's furniture and rugs much, much easier!

Amelia did great and was eating from both sides. I had to take at away at the very end because it had turned into a sloppy mess!!! But she loved it.

Time flies

I feel like I'm writing to my diary. Dear Diary, it's been 5 weeks since my last entry...

So Amelia is now 19 months. She is talking like crazy. The other morning she put three words together--something like, more book daddy, or all done daddy--I was a little sleepy and can't remember what she said!

Little things are harder and harder to remember. It seems like she's doing so many fun new tricks all the time! One day while playing in the apartment, tiny particles of dust floated in beams of sunlight; she said, "bubbles!" with delight. It was such a sweet little moment I wish could have been captured on film. The wonder of everyday events; the joy of seeing water trickle out of a broken sprinkler; being able to say a new word (over and over and over again); those are the moments I don't want to forget!

One of her favorite things is to come home and put on "daddy's shoes" out on the landing. Amelia also loves to sit in the front seat of the car and honk the horn. And if we have the infant car seat in (just in case we have a visiting kid who fits) she loves to get in and out and in and out and in and out! then do the buckle a million times.

Summer is approaching and we have signed up for several activities. Next week we start a music class on Monday and a swimming class at the Y on Thursdays. On Saturdays will be gym and swim. This is 1/2 hour gym class and 1/2 hour swim. This way Eric and I can both get in a little bit of a workout while Amelia spends time with each.

We have no summer plans yet. Hoping to get away for a mini vacation. Disappointed that we're not moving to England, but happy that we could spend the summer her. Now we've decided to look for a bigger place to live. Hopefully it won't take all summer because Sundays are exhausting! We did 13 open houses last weekend!!! Thank goodness my parents can hang with Amelia while Eric and I drive around LA. It's much easier and we can see many more places on our own.

Pictures should be coming soon. I just got a new hard drive and need to switch everything over. It's going to be a pain in the neck, but all of our photos from the last year and a half are scattered across various hard drives and it's not easy to keep track of. I'm hoping with one drive, it will be easier to start "working" on all the pictures again.

We have a talker!

It's now May 9th. Amelia turned 1 1/2 today and she has quite a vocabulary going. She can *almost* repeat everything you say to her, but not quite.

Her newest words are: hat, shoes, socks, head, teeth, push, arf, moo, baa and meow! It seems like she is just on the verge of complete sentences!! Actually, she's putting two words together more and more. For instance:
Daddy teeth
Daddy push
Daddy pee

You get the idea. Everything is daddy. And if it's not daddy, then it's poppy--that's grandpa to you and I. She loves her some poppy!

Easter Egg Hunt

Santa Monica Mom's Club hosted an "Easter egg hunt" on the lawn at a local park last week. It was so cute to watch all the kids go after the eggs. Amelia picked up two and then got distracted by the dogs.

The gals

Amelia loves get friend Hannah and Hannah's mom Rachel. It's so cute!








Posted by Allyson from my iLifesaver.

New shoes

It looks like Amelia is taking after me... she already has my big feet!

After a trip to the shoe store it turns out she's grown out of the baby shoes which go up to 5.5 or 18-24 months. Granda Glenda bought her two pairs in size 6!






Posted by Allyson from my iLifesaver.

Too cute for words!

So many cute things have happened in the last few weeks. I wish I could remember them all! The other day, my friend Rachel was blowing bubbles outside with her daughter when I drove by. I saw this, stopped and Amelia saw her daughter Hannah and got sooooo excited! Amelia and Hannah ran up to each other and gave a little hug, or as "Nannah" says it, huggieee!

Other cute things recently also involve Hannah. One morning we ran into Hannah and Rachel at Peet's. While I was inside to get coffee, the girls were tooling around in Hannah's cool car. Amelia sat on Nannah's lap and Rachel pushed. This worked out quite well because A could then honk the horn, which she loves to do and H could point to A and say "Me, Me" her name for Amelia.

This afternoon we came upon another cute event. Grandma Glenda was here and, after a long day of being out and about, drank her bottled water and let out a big, refreshing, "AH!" Of course, Amelia, with her little bottle of water, took a swing and gave out her own cry of refreshment! After that, after every sip came and "Ah!" I wish I had the video camera on that one!