First Father's Day

This was Cody's first Father's Day
I think it's safe to say he had a GREAT day!

First, he and Savannah snuggled on the couch and
enjoyed some pre-breakfast Reese's Pieces

Then we headed to the Country Inn Cafe
in San Jose for a big, greasy breakfast

The wait was a bit long and someone looked depressed..

but a quick cheek tickle did the trick!

Much better!

Dad couldn't resist kissing that little face

Then we headed back to the house where
Cody played with his new helicopter

He really, really likes it but I may regret buying
it if he keeps flying it in the house

Savannah got a Father's Day present too

Then we had a family picture taken before we left
our little Birdy with Grandma Tweet and headed
up to San Francisco to see a show at Teatro Zinzanni

Pre-dinner cocktails. I had a Mojito in honor of the Latin themed party

Lovely paper flowers
Whee!

We weren't allowed to take pictures during the performance, but this lady
and her gazangas were nice enough to pose for a photo afterward.

I must admit it feels strange being here

Hello Flufflefritz! It's been a long, long time since I've visited you.

It's a very strange feeling to be writing again when I've had such a long absence. I'll be heading out in a few minutes for a girls' night out and am planning to take my friends Holly and Danielle on the world famous 'round the world tour originally invented with Kate. I got nostalgic and was looking through our old posts when the mood struck to write a bit. Kate and I each had our babies just a few months apart and I'm looking forward to lots of play dates and family camping trips. Savannah is growing fast and I miss her intensely during the day. She's a very happy baby and rarely fusses. She even giggles in her sleep - a sound that breaks my heart every time I hear it. I was warned that babies grow up too fast, but I never believed it. Now I find myself trying to cling to every second I spend with her because I already miss her littleness.

Smiling in her sleep

hello world

Baby Mabel Margaret.

Born Thursday 26 May at 11:21pm. Weighed 3.5 kg (7 pounds, 12 ounces), and 53cms (20.5 inches) long.

we're still trying to figure out who she looks most like, but we love her more than words can say.

3 days to go

our due date is May 28, so only 3 days to go till we'll be parents...

I've been having contractions since Friday night, and Saturday we really thought we were headed to the hospital. but no. still waiting. and that's ok with me.

on Sunday I made Bryce (and Coop and McKenzie) pose with me for some last belly shots. they're mostly silly, but it was fun. we took them in the baby's new room which now has baseboards, trim and paint! today it's getting the last coat of paint and the wallpaper, then comes the fun part - decorating!

my Dad's an artist

yep, it's true - he paints. and he's really good.I have finally set up his Etsy Store and blog to show off his work, since he's too humble to promote it himself :)

check out more of his work here

38 weeks...

well it's slowly starting to sink in and I am happy to report that I think I can feel a niggling nesting instinct coming on...

I took some photos yesterday. I woke up at 4am thinking this baby could seriously come at any time now. I had been pinning maternity photo inspiration here and intended to hire someone to take some real photos, out in a field or something equally as charming. but, time is running out. and fast. so I snapped some of my own. it was fun. I'll make Bryce take some with me this weekend too - stay tuned :)

we have another renovation filled weekend ahead of us. last weekend we got drywall in the bedrooms, but the electricians are STILL working on the lighting... they blew up our microwave the other day, and none of the lights in the kitchen currently work (nope, we're not renovating the kitchen, yet) and they can't figure out why?

we got our internal doors, and are just about ready for paint. Yay! and wallpaper double yay! I'm hoping by this time next week, we'll be putting together baby furniture :)

hope you have a wonderful weekend!

kisses

Test Baby

Last week Bryce and I had a loan of Savannah while her mum and dad had a night out. we survived. as did she. thank goodness :)

we spent most of the night snuggling her - she's a real sweetie.

patio made-over

remember Sergio? the guy who did such a fantastic job on our garage, well once he had finished the garage, the idea was for him to move inside the house and help us finish the bedrooms. but he was faster than the guys doing the electrical, so we asked him about our sad looking patio.

when we first moved in, it looked like a jungle of poorly cared for plants, so we cleaned it up to make it look more tidy, with the intention to renovate it at some point.
we weren't sure if we should tear it down or just spruce it up, so we did nothing more on it. the aged green plastic on the roof leaked and really blocked so much light from coming into the house, so we knew that had to go, but weren't sure what to replace it with.

I came home from work the first day to a house flooded with light - you could actually see the sky now.

these two agreed it was an improvement as they lay in the sunshine from the comfort of the back of the couch...I didn't realise how quickly it would transform, and kicked myself for not taking a before shot that morning
the next evening it looked like thisand then it was all done!

we decided to go with Suntuf polycarbonate roofing in grey, to give it a little shade but still let in the light. It even blocks UV rays :) but I love how you can still see the sky.from this angle it looks like we have a new house... amazing the difference some small changes make!eventually that window on the right will be replaced with a 9 foot long bi-fold door that will open up onto a deck at the same height as the interior floor. This will then be where we put our dining table as we currently don't have a dining room, only an eat in kitchen.

Then you'll step down onto another level of deck at ground level to give it the illusion that it is an extension of the house into the garden. (we do live in California, so figure we should make the most of our outdoor spaces!)

but that's a few projects away from happening yet. in the mean time, we'll make do with our new entertaining area as is - just in time for summer!

recycle this wallpaper?

the renovations are coming along, and today I spent the morning removing the wallpaper in the hallway. it was a bittersweet feeling. it couldn't stay - McKenzie saw to that in her early days with us, and we'd always intended to take it down. but it had just grown on us, as most of the wallpaper in this place has.

everyone told us it would be a b*tch to take down (since it has probably been there for 40 plus years) but it peeled off so easily and in perfect sheets for the most part.I was left with these great whole sturdy pieces and thought what a great craft project it would make.
imagine the right little cabinet lined with this bright and sunny pattern.so I got online to come up with a few ideas to justify hanging onto this stuff. and was instantly inspired...

here

here

herehere

and here.

now I just have to find a place to hide it that Bryce won't throw it out on me :P

PS - if you'd like some let me know and I can send you some, there is a bunch of it.

baby girl or baby boy?

I am officially on maternity leave. I have been since Monday, but worked most of Monday and Tuesday... not that I had to, I just hate leaving things unfinished. not working is hard. it's hard to just turn off. does anyone else have this issue?

or maybe I'm in denial? that in 3 weeks I will be a mum... most mums-to-be at this point, have everything all set and they are in the cooking mode. stocking up the freezer with meals for once baby is here. the baby room is fully decorated, and they are just waiting for the day to come as quickly as possible... that. is. not. me.

the baby room is missing drywall, baseboards, window trim etc - let alone ready for setting up the crib. I'm not freaking out about it either. although most people I tell about it (my Dr included) are. I figure the baby won't know where s/he is sleeping for a while now - and will be sleeping in our room anyway.

my girlfriends threw me a baby shower on the weekend (Thank you Hannah!) after much resistance from me... am I the only one not into baby showers? I came home with a great stash of goodies from a baby bath, a diaper genie, toys, bottles and other essentials and when I brought them in the house I thought - where am I going to put all this? as if I should put it away for when baby comes - but then it hit me, I need to get this all in a place where I can use them. and soon.

with that, I went online and bought the baby car seat, which is pretty much the only thing you must have to be able to leave the hospital. it arrived yesterday. I tried it on for size, carried it in front of a mirror. to see if I looked like a real mum. I just look like someone posing as a mum (with a basketball up my shirt)...

so, this week I have been online window shopping for baby goodness to get me in the mood. since we are opting for surprise baby, I can't really buy too much (plus I have nowhere to store it at this point) so I created myself some pinterest boards to keep track of where I can find everything that I love.

here are a few of my favourite things :) and you can find them all either here, here or here