One small tragedy of this first year is that I'm too exhausted to be the mom I want to be most of the time. I think back to my nanny years when I showed up to work rested and refreshed, cared for my charges with patience and grace, and then went home to the kitties and my limitless free time and hours of uninterrupted sleep. And I wish I could be that girl, or at least have her energy. But that girl had a hole in her heart and my heart is filled to the brim.
Read MoreThree years ago we were all in Tahoe together, and three babies later, we're back.
Read MoreI want to remember this time, when you were almost walking. When your absolute favorite thing to do was help daddy water the apple trees. When your great grandma and I took you to lunch at the Lao restaurant and you made us laugh the entire time. When you ate everything we offered you like a little bird. When you started dancing every time music played. When you explored the contents of my purse for over an hour. When you brought our family unmeasurable joy.
Read MoreAll of a sudden you seam so grown up. You are saying "mamamama" and "dadadada" and waving goodbye. Sometimes we can get you to clap your hands, but it takes some prompting.
Read MoreI only got my camera out twice, and I'm so glad I did. Ella hung out with grandma and grandpa for a week while I edited July wedding #1 before flying home to shoot July wedding #2. I worked my tail off, got it done, and even made it to the beach a couple times.
Read MoreMoments captured the first week of July, before Ella and I left for Hawaii. The garden looked amazing, our girl just started standing on her own, and I wanted to remember this sweet time with my family before saying goodbye to Jeffery for 8 days. Sure enough, here it is the first week of August, the garden is past its prime and it's too hot and smokey to spend much time outside. But we're enjoying the bounty: pesto, tomatoes, squash, eggplant, peppers, salsa. July sure tastes like summer.
Read MoreTaking these photos has become a challenge—you move so damn fast!
This last month was a whirlwind. Your grandparents were here for almost two weeks, which you loved. You had two more teeth pop through and you had a fever of 103.4 during a heat wave, which you didn't love. We swam a bunch, played on the playground a few times, visited friends in Willits, we watched some World Cup games, ate our first tomatoes of the season—not from our garden, yet! You continue to impress me and your dad with what an awesome kid you are. You are curious about the world, but move carefully through it. You are generally a happy baby and are good at communicating. You can recognize the signs for "milk", and "all done" (and get excited when we do them) and we are working on "more," "eat/hungry" and "drink/thirsty." You are still taking 2-3 naps a day and usually wake up once at night, but most nights we get a 7-9 hour stretch before the first wakeup. You are incredibly social, love watching other kids and babies do their thing, love attention, and crawl up to every animal you see. You continue to love food and will typically eat everything we put in front of you.
Read MoreQuick day trip to the Sierra Buttes with my folks last week, where we explored Salmon Lake, picnicked at Lower Sardine and hiked to Upper Sardine. We packed a lunch of homemade sourdough, cheese, avocado, veggies, hummus, apricots, and potato chips. The girl had a blast, and it was fun showing my mom and dad a part of California they had never seen.
Read MoreYou woke around 4:30, just before first light, the stars shining in our eyes without the rain shell. You were too excited to go back to sleep—how cool to wake up in a tent with mom and dad and a bed for a floor and all of our things within reach!— so I strapped you to my back and we went for a walk in our pjs. It was still and calm and we had the world to ourselves. Just the birds in their trees, the light moving over water, your wide eyes. So pretty that I took mental notes and went back for the camera and we retraced our steps (or my steps, rather). After all, we had hours before anyone else would be awake.
Read MoreLast week was hot enough to fill up the steel tub for this water baby, and the joy was palpable. Jeffery has worked tirelessly growing our garden from seed, prepping the soil, laying drip, and almost everything is in, so I wanted to be sure to document it while the babies are still small. Everyone looks forward to evenings in the garden together—kitties included! We're going to be doing a lot more of this all summer long.
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