Two Years

Two years ago today (at about the time that I am posting this) I was getting ready with my friends and family at Annandale. We were sipping champagne, getting our hair and makeup done, chatting and talking about the night ahead. What a wonderful night it was. It was perfect. Everything was exactly as I dreamed it would be. I wouldn't change one thing about the night.

I married the man of my dreams and was surrounded by everyone that I loved. I remember looking at you and thinking wow...fairy tales do come true.

Happy 2nd Anniversary Colin. We sure have accomplished a lot and there wouldn't be anyone else that I would want to take this journey with. We have had our struggles but the love and laughter has out weighed them all. Thank you for being my best friend, my confidant, my partner and the most amazing father to my daughter. Thank you for always holding my hand and supporting me.

Happy Anniversary Cols! 2NOUIS2LUVU

Father's Day Weekend

We had such a wonderful weekend. It was filled with friends, music, beautiful weather, and celebrating Father's Day.

On Friday Catie and I ran around trying to get everything ready for Hawaii. Catie is a trooper and is terrific at sleeping on the go.

Friday night we went to Jazz on the Bay in Sausalito with a bunch of our friends. The weather was amazing and it was a perfect night to sit on the law, drink some wine, catch up with friends and listen to some music. As usual Catie was the hit of the show. She is a big ham and would laugh and wave at whoever would look at her. When we finally left at 9 pm she was still laughing, smiling and babbling. She didn't want the party to end! However, the moment we put her in her car seat she was out and she slept until 8:30 on Saturday morning!

On Saturday Colin went to play golf and Catie and I went to the Meadow Club in Marin with my friends Lizzie, Susie, Marni, Katie and Zoe. Catie loves the water (I have no idea where she gets that from since I am terrified of it). She would splash herself (and me), laugh and shriek with excitement and she didn't want to get out of the pool. I can't wait for her to go to Hawaii! Thank you so much Lizzie for having us. We had a blast!

Yesterday was Colin's first Father's Day and we had a wonderful day. We started the morning having breakfast with Colin's parents. We went to Sam's which is a wonderful restaurant right on the water in Sausalito. The weather was beautiful and we ate on the deck over looking the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. Catie sat in a high chair eating Puffs, bananas and toast and feeding the birds. She would drop food and then look down at the Pigeons under her high chair. I am sure that the birds were sad to see her leave.

After breakfast we all went to the Discovery Museum in Sausalito. I have heard great things about the museum so we decided to check it out. They have a "Tots" area where kids 3 and under can explore. Catie crawled around on the water mats and played in the stream. They have a wonderful stream that has play fish, frogs, etc. in it. Catie loved playing in the water. She splashed herself and whoever was around her. The museum was wonderful and I am sure that we will be spending A LOT of time there as she grows up.

Catie started the day with shoes on but she refused to keep them on. She HATES shoes and socks but it's ok because her feet are just so little and cute!

Thank you O'Connell's for a wonderful day.

Catie finished out the night with some mac and cheese and pears.

We had such a great weekend and Happy 1st Father's Day Colin. Catie is very lucky to have a dad like you.

We leave for Hawaii on Friday morning and I promise to post lots of pictures and share lots funny stories when we get back. Aloha!

Done

Every Sunday afternoon we have to be out of our house so that our real estate agent can hold an open house. This past Sunday Colin, Catie, and I decided to take a hike in San Rafael. It was a nice day so we started hiking along the water and then went further up into the hills. I love walking behind her because when she is in the backpack she normally leans to one side so she can see where she is going. Here is a picture of us taking off on the hike....

And her is a picture when we were done with the hike. What a great way to get a baby to take a nap!

This weekend we are going to get ready for Hawaii. We leave next Friday and we are so excited. This weekend is also Colin's 1st Father's Day. I can't wait for Catie and I to celebrate the day with him. He is an amazing dad and a wonderful husband. We are both so lucky.

Hungry?

This past weekend Catie, Auntie Susie and I went to Pasadena for the weekend. Susie and I both really wanted to spend sometime with our grandmother Nonnie (now know as Little Nonnie). When we were younger my grandparents (Nonnie and Bampa) lived in Palm Springs during the winter and we would go down and visit them a lot. I have so many wonderful memories of spending time with them. One of the funniest memories that I have is every time we drove into their complex in the desert we would take bets on how long it would take my grandmother to ask if we were hungry and wanted something to eat. Normally the person that guessed 5 minutes or less would win. I always thought that it was just Nonnie's way of taking care of us but now I realize that it must be in the grandmother rule book. As soon as we walked in the door on Thursday night my mom had Catie in the high chair and she was eating turkey, cheese, and watermelon. I laughed because my mom has officially become Catie's Nonnie.

Another great memory of the desert is us sitting at the kitchen table in the mornings having breakfast and planning our day. Everyone would be in their robes, my grandmother would ask who wanted oj or grapefruit, the milk would be a pitcher (never in the container), the table was set, and my dad would be cooking breakfast for all of us. My dad loves to cook breakfast. Growing up we had mickey mouse pancakes with Trix cereal as the eyes and smiles, waffles, eggs (the best ever), etc. My dad has always said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and he proved it again this weekend. On Saturday morning my dad made waffles and as you can tell, Catie loved them!

We had a wonderful weekend hanging out with the family and we got some great Little Nonnie time in. My 95 year old grandmother is truly amazing. She is the most generous, caring, loving person that I know. I am so glad that Catie has been able to spend time with her Little Nonnie. I forgot my camera so when my dad sends me the pictures of this past weekend I will post them. Catie is Little Nonnie's 18th great grandchild and I am her 11th grandchild...we are both so lucky.

Jail bird

Catie has started to crawl!! She has taken a few crawls forward but mostly she goes backwards. To get somewhere quickly she will roll and man, she sure is fast. We finally had to buy a baby gate (we have been holding off as long as possible since the house is for sale) but she was just getting to fast and the stairs terrify me. We bought a baby gate last night and Colin put it up before Catie went to bed. You would think that she would have hated it but in typical Catie fashion she laughed and wanted to play with it.

Ps- the only pressure gate that was available was an extra tall one (it might even just keep Colin and I out)!!

10 months old...how is that possible!

Catie is 10 months old today. Where has the time gone?

Here is what Catie is doing now:

She can sit up on her own and stand up on her knees


She can hold herself up when standing


And she loves hiking in her new backpack.


Happy 10 month birthday Catie. I love you!

PS- she can also crawl backwards, we are working on forwards. I'll keep you posted on when that happens.

Friends and birthday celebrations

I am sorry that it has been awhile since I have posted anything. I have been really behind in everything but I am going to try and catch up. May is always a busy month. It consists of Mother's Day, my birthday, my sister's birthday. So many celebrations...so little time.

On May 8th I spent my first whole weekend away from Catie. It was hard to leave her since she was just getting over being sick but I knew that her daddy would take good care of her (and he was also spending the weekend with his parents which made me even more comfortable). I went up to Sea Ranch with 7 of my friends to celebrate my birthday, my sister's birthday and the fact that my friends rock! We stayed at my friends Hillary's house which over looks the Ocean.. GORGEOUS. It was amazing weather and we sat on the deck and drank wine, ate good food, went wine tasting, walked on the water, drank more wine..you get the idea! It was a perfect weekend and I truly am so blessed to have such amazing women in my life. Love you all!

When I got home on Sunday it was Mother's Day and Catie gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a really sweet card. I am so lucky to have such a special daughter (and her helper a.ka. her daddy is pretty incredible too).

On May 14th my parents came up for the weekend to celebrate my birthday, my sister's birthday and also so my dad could play in a golf tournament with my cousin Matt (perfect timing). We had a bbq on Thursday and on Friday we went to Matt and Kirstin's for a bbq and to celebrate the fact that I am now 31. Colin loves to rub in the fact that he is still 30 and I have now entered my early 30's.

It was great to see how Catie reacted to my parents. Whenever she saw them she would stretch her arms out for them to take her and she smiled at them the whole time. It was wonderful to see her reaction to them since she doesn't get to them everyday. She obviously knows who her Nonnie and Bampa are!

It was a great weekend hanging out with my family and as usual everyone was too generous with their gifts. Colin got me an amazing gift...Wii and Wii fitness. Just what I wanted. I am really so blessed to have such an incredible family. I love you all so much and thank you for helping me officially enter my early 30's.

All in all May has been a pretty incredible month. I will post more pictures tonight after I download them from my camera.