Let her eat cake!

This leads to....

This....

Which ultimately ends in a happy baby!

Reflection

Catie has discovered her reflection and I think that she likes her new friend.

The Little Traveler

Where has the summer gone? I can't believe that we are mid-way through August. The past couple of weeks Catie have consisted of parties, wedding, and traveling. After Catie's first birthday we headed to Lake Tahoe for a couple of days.

Colin grew up spending two weeks in Lake Tahoe with his family.He has so many memories of his summers there and it was fun for Catie to be there creating memories with her daddy. The O'Connell's rented a place in Chamberlands for two weeks and Erin and her boyfriend Ken also flew down. We arrived late Wednesday night and Catie slept the whole way. We spent the

week and weekend enjoying the lake and pool at Chambers, the guys rode their bikes in the am while we walked, we had great meals, jet skied in the Lake, and laughed...a lot. Thank you so much O'Connell's for a wonderful time. We are already looking forward to next year!

We got back from Tahoe on late Sunday night and on Thursday morning Catie and I flew to Pasadena for the weekend.



My friend Christi from college was getting married in Orange County so Catie and I decided to come home a little early to spend time with the folks. On Thursday night my grandmother "Little Nonnie' came over for dinner. She couldn't believe how much Catie had changed in just a couple of months. Catie sat next to her as she had her bottle (my mom took pictures so I will post them when I get them) and Catie showed Little Nonnie how she can walk around holding onto the furniture. It is always so special for me to see Little Nonnie and Catie together.





Now that Catie is 1 she can have real milk and eggs so on Friday morning she ate her first scrambled egg (which my dad is famous for...at least in our house he is). She loved them!



Colin came down that afternoon and we headed to Annandale for the summer bbq (his favorite).
On Saturday Colin and I headed to Orange County while my parents took care of Catie. They took her in the pool, ran errands around town, and even took her to one of their friends parties. As usual she was the hit of Pasadena. Meanwhile Colin and I hung out in Newport with our friends Lesley, Lissa, Dana and CJ. We had some drinks, sat in the sun, and got ready for the wedding that night. It was a beautiful wedding and Christi looked gorgeous. Congrats Christi and Scott!

On Sunday morning we headed back to Pasadena and my mom and I took Catie to Huntington Gardens. It was beautiful day but was very hot. It was great because they have a new children's garden which has several water areas. Catie loved the fountains. She would splash her self and then crawl over to the next one and splash herself again. She had a great time and I am so glad that we brought a change of clothes for her. She was soaked!


















After a wonderful Sunday we headed back to Nor Cal. It was a great weekend filled with family and friends. This weekend we are headed back up to Lake Tahoe with our friends and Catie!! We are looking forward to another great weekend and I promise to get some videos of Catie. XOXO

Aloha!

Here is a video clip of Catie's first experience at the beach!

Happy 1st Birthday!

Here is a picture of a Catie when she was 364 days old (wearing the same dress that I wore when I was little).

.....and here is a picture of a 1 year old!!

Happy 1st Birthday Catie! I can't believe how old you are. We are so very blessed to have you as a daughter. You are smart, super funny, happy, beautiful and simply perfect!

Two Big Milestones

This was a big weekend for Catie O. She got her first haircut and also celebrated her first birthday with a BBQ in the park.

For the past week my mom has been up in Northern California Catie sitting during the day. Normally Colin's parents watch Catie Monday-Wednesday while I am at work, but they are currently in Tahoe for a much needed and VERY well deserved vacation. We can't wait to join them on Wednesday! It's been great to spend time with my mom and Catie has loved seeing her Nonnie. On Thursday my dad also made the trip up to celebrate Catie's first birthday.

Every girl needs a new do for their first big party and Catie is no exception. She was born with a lot of hair and never really lost all of it. As a result, it was getting pretty long and was growing at different lengths. I figured that it was time for her first trip to the salon.

As you can see her hair is getting pretty long.

On Friday morning my parents, Catie and I went to Locks and Lollipops for her first haircut and stopped and took this picture before we went in. On the car ride over my mom was telling that during my first haircut I held cookies in both of my hands and just screamed the whole time. I came prepared with cookies (which I knew Catie would love) but I wasn't sure how she would react. Catie sat in my lap, they placed a smock on her, I handed her a cookie, the hair dresser wet Catie's hair, and she began to cut. Guess what, in typical Catie fashion she just smiled, ate her cookie and never made a peep. She was perfect and her hair do turned out wonderful. She is adorable!

On Friday night we went to Jazz on the Bay in Sausalito and had some wine and apps while we listened to the music. I really only mention this so I can add the adorable picture of Catie.

On Saturday night Colin and I headed to Healdsburg a for wedding and my parents stayed with Catie for the night. Thank you! They were a huge help getting everything prepared for Catie's birthday party, especially since we were gone the day before. The wedding was at Geyser Peak Vineyard and was beautiful. We had a wonderful time and thank you Barbara and Tom for our hotel room. What a perfect anniversary gift! On Sunday morning we woke up at 6 am and headed back home to get ready for the birthday bbq.

We celebrated Catie's first birthday at Freeman Park in Mill Valley. It was a great party (cupcake themed and pink and green of course) and Catie was fantastic. She loved every minute of it and so did we. We had sliders and hotdogs (thanks for grilling dad), salad, chips and beverages (both for kids and adults). Catie loved her cake. She looked at me first as if to say "is this ok mom" and then dug right in. She loved the frosting and loved squshing it between her fingers. She was so funny and I will post pictures of her eating her cake later today.

It was wonderful to have family and friends (new and old) help Catie celebrate her big day. It meant so much to us that people came (especially the night after 3 different weddings). I really do believe the saying "it takes a village to raise a child" is true. Each one of you mean so much to us and Catie is so lucky to have you in her life.

It is hard to believe that a year ago today, at 8:30 pm Colin and I had just finished eating dinner and watching the movie the Bucket List, when I thought that I peed my pants sneezing (if you are pregnant, were ever pregnant, or will ever be pregnant, you will understand that this isn't hard to believe towards to the end of your pregnancy). It turns out that my water broke 1 month early and Catie was ready to join us. As look back on the past year I can only say that I am so incredible blessed and I am so honored to be Catie's mom.

-PS...I will post pictures of her birthday party later tonight. They are on my camera at home.

-PPS, sorry that it has been so long since I have posted anything. We were in Hawaii for a couple of weeks and things have just been crazy. I will post all about Hawaii next week..after the birthday activities are done. I promise to start posting again!

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