weekend report

friday night featured a seester-cousin-baby slumber party! it was wild and included a ravioli dinner, a little box of hair color, a sundae bar and lots of play time. we even got crazy and stayed up until 1:30!

i spent saturday with these two little darlings and i have but one measly picture to show for it. i put all my energy into just soaking up the moment with these wee little babes. and their mother. and their father. and their big brother. while finn spent the afternoon with oma and grandma great, my day included lots of cuddling and staring and admiring, with a starbucks run with ever capped off with a snail hunt. i could have stayed all week.

we hit up casa de awesome for a lovely saturday night. mom said it was nothing special but i begged to differ. a little grass time, a walk, and then bbq'd tri tip with artichokes, portabellas, brussel sprouts, salad and spuds. it really felt like a spring festival.

sunday funday was back in sacramento and found us celebrating with the trampetti's. finn was in heaven: a buddy to play with and a room full of new and exciting toys - it was like disneyland!

we set off for an adventure and walked to selland's for an early supper. we made a mess, clinked glasses, shushed squawking boys and loved every minute.

we ended the day with a little park visit. could these little profiles be any sweeter?

quite obviously, a full and happy weekend.

twins

would you believe that this beauty was pregnant with twins?!


well, its true....at least it was...


we got the call at 5:00 a.m. on sunday, april 1 - erika's water had broken and it was no joke!


i passed through that door to find two of the sweetest little babes i have ever laid eyes on.


and it all came flooding back to me... how that hospital room came to feel like home. how i felt like the world should stop because my baby was born. how miraculous it all seemed. i suppose newborn babies and hospital rooms will never be the same now that i have been through it. so i marveled just a bit more...


what a proud papa. watching serf hold both the babies was so tender. he equally alternated his gaze between each baby so as to make sure they knew they were equally loved.



and this mama. i love the way she mothers. she is what you call "a natural". and i am so in awe and am so proud of her... it's hard to believe that we used to be eighth graders who stuffed pillows in our shirts, pretending we were pregnant. we poured over baby name books and talked about babies and motherhood incessantly. it drove poor trevor mad. and now its real. wow.


friends, please meet willow jane...




and her brother, solomon paul...






sigh...it was so heavenly to meet these two little ones so fresh and new. i can remember meeting their big brother, ever, for the first time and melting at the sight of his little furrowed brow and his skinny little legs, and i know i will never forget this day and willow and solomon's tiny little everythings. i already love them so.

happy, happy newbornhood erika and serf and ever! we share every little, baby bit of your joy...

erika's baby shower

oh i love these pictures. that belly, that hair, that shy smile. i love it ALL. and i love this girl. and i love those babies. i still can't believe a baby boy and a baby girl will soon join our club.

so last weekend, we finally got to celebrate erika and these precious babies who are due to arrive in april. it was such a lovely, colorful, fun party... and the baked goods were...just.oh.my.goodness.good.

cecilia won the first two games we played (she said she goes to a lot of baby showers!), so i conned her in to being my partner for the diaper game, where we had to team up to diaper the teddy, while each holding a phone to our ear and a glass of wine in one hand. and we won! i never win anything so i was pretty tickled.

all the little onesies, little diapers, little everything brought me back to finn's first days. and i feel so lucky that i will get to hold and love on these babies soon enough. having my own growing babe has made me so much more appreciative of those early, wrinkly baby days.

i just can't wait.

i just can't get enough...

of this little baby boy.

baby dylan

i was so happy to meet this wee little babe over the weekend. isn't he just a goregous newborn?! he is so relaxed and already so alert and engaged. i nearly cried as our eyes locked and he seemed to take me in. i don't know exactly what he saw - surely just a blur, but he made me feel like we were really getting to know one another already.

this baby is so very special to me, not just because he is christy's baby, but also because i watched him grow from the beginning, alongside my own baby. as i held dylan, i felt baby berry stir inside me and i mused, "how funny...they are playing together already". i hope these two will be fast, long friends...much like their mothers.

congratulations christy and charlie! dylan is so lucky to have you two.

and to the little one, welcome to the world. only ten days old and you have already made it a better place.

xoxo

baby dylan

over the weekend, one of my besties went from this:

to this:

baby dylan made his big grand entrance into the world early monday morning! although i haven't met him yet, i think its pretty safe to say that he is just too sweet for words. i mean, just look at that hair and those deep-in-thought eyes!

it just blows my mind that they went to bed one night a couple and the very next morning, they were a family. i also keep asking ryan, "can you believe that we just saw them on monday and baby dylan was tucked inside and now he is out and about?!" i am just so happy for this little family and can't wait hold that little darling.

i also am eager for all the honest details (i.e. how bad did it really hurt? got any tricks or tips for me? and most importantly, is the love just overwhelming?)

p.s. the first picture is a bit old - i took it in march but to be honest, christy really didn't change all that much...pregnancy was a good look for her. the second picture i stole from charlie's facebook page. it accompanied the caption, "good morning world!" so cute.

slumber party

you know your saturday night will pretty much be a blast from the past when these two faces greet you on the porch, promising you a slumber party like the old days.



after some play time in the sun, it was agreed that supper time it was.

behold, the magic of oxbow...

first stop: gott's.



hello heaven.

and the face of a boy who is told cupcakes are for dessert:


kara's cupcakes to be exact.



there is something so lovely about a long, pink box, erika and i concurred.


especially a pink box hiding such treats.


ever agreed to give just the frosting a whirl...


just a tiny bite...


and then he jumped, feet first, into a cupcake cloud...


for the grown ups, a ritual latte could not be resisted...





it truly is the best latte i have ever sampled...the foam is like butter. and is quite pretty too.


a full moon accompanied our drive home.


and our night ended with the following fun:

bathtime (always a good time)

book time (strega nona is one of my faves)

magazine time (searching for a hair cut - found it - thanks katie holmes)

bravo time (oh bethenny and real housewives of nyc - i have missed you)

reading time (erika's doula and childbirth literature was very informative)

thanks for the fun, e. you really know how to keep the old fashioned slumber party in style. promise we will still do this when we are white-haired old birds?

three is glee

this little boy turned three and his mom and dad arranged a celebration with his friends at a bouce house wonderland!

he certainly knew that it was his birthday and that everyone was there to party because it was his day. so cute.

the cupcakes were made by his mama...and they were good. real good.

one of my favorite parts was watching ever play with all his little friends and hearing their little voices call out each other's names.

erika's brand new, adorable niece was there for us all to gaze at. i even got to hold her. i couldn't believe how tiny and sweet she was.

and these two silly billies doing their, "let's pretend we are a family" picture.

i just can't believe ever is three! it seems like just last tuesday that he looked like this. i remember waiting and waiting for him to come and then getting the text message that he had arrived. it took my breath away. and now he is here, speaking in sentences, understanding that there is a baby in my tummy, and using the big boy potty. he is one of the most fun people i know. and i hope this year is especially magical for him...

happy birthday, sweet boy.