Last day at the Palo Alto house

 

 

 

 

 

A few pictures of play time on our last day at the Palo Alto house.  So we can remember what is was like!

-a

We moved!

Last week we moved to a new house!  The new house is in Santa Clara, has four bedrooms, a laundry room, a dining room, an extra dining area (aka the playroom), a great back yard, a garage, and is just absolutely perfect for us!  Brett and I are so happy to have room to spread out and are thrilled to no longer be cramped in our tiny house in Palo Alto.  Moving and leaving our home and neighborhood in Palo Alto has been very bittersweet.  Although it was a real pain in the you-know-what to have all of us living on top of each other, that teeny two bedroom house was our HOME.  We lived there five years!  It is where we made so many memories.  Our three babies came home from the hospital to that house.  Our babies have grown up in that house.  Brett and I both felt like our hearts were broken in the days leading up to our move.  But I am happy to report that it took about one hour of being in our new house for the sadness to be over.  We have so much space here and it really makes a difference in our home life.  Brett and I tell each other every day that we love this house and are so happy here.

It has been fun exploring our new neighborhood.  On Monday I took the kids to the library which is less than a mile away.  It has a great kids area and Hank enjoyed reading books while we were there and he even checked a few out all on his own.  Today we are going over to the swim club a couple of blocks away from our house to meet a friend and her kids who are members there.  A very exciting thing for Brett about our new neighborhood is that we are really close to his favorite coffee shop - Barefoot Coffee  We used to drive down here from Palo Alto just to get it - it's that good!

These photos are from the first time we brought the kids to the house before we moved in.  I forced us to take a family photo on the front porch.  Hank was not happy and was trying to wiggle away.  (Hank has lately taken to refusing to participate in photos that really matter to me.  We had a family photo shoot with a real photographer two weeks ago and most photos are of Brett, me and the girls because Hank wanted to run around the entire time.  I think we did get one or two nice ones with all five of us.  More on that later.)

We had been talking up the "new house" to Hank a lot in the days leading up to him actually getting to see it.  We were worried about what a move would do to him and how he'd respond to new living arrangements so we wanted to try to get him used to the idea.  For days Hank was asking "when are we going to the new house?".  It was pretty cute and also hard to explain to him how we had to wait.  

To help ease him into the new house we brought a big bag of toys and let him play in the yard.  We also told him he could pick out his new bedroom.  Brett strongly steered Hank to choose the room we wanted for him.  :)

Hank was so excited about all the closets.  He kept going in them and closing the doors on himself so he could hide.  He would then laugh and pop back out.  He did this over and over.  Since we have moved in, he has made me get in the closets with him several times with the doors shut just so he could open them and peek out.

 

 

The girls liked the house too!  Ruby was chill and Charlotte was having a great time.   Since we have moved in, the girls have taken their crawling to the next level!  They are all over the house and really enjoying all the space too.

  

 

It was hard work doing all that exploring so he needed a refreshment when we got back to the van.  Oh, and he needed to "drive" too before he would get in his car seat.

Hank has really loved the new house.  When we get in the car and go somewhere he asks "can we go back to the new house?".  

We feel so blessed to have this house to call home!  It is going to be a great place for more memories to be made!

-a

Stacking It

Hank only has a few toys so I figured it was time to get him something new and interesting. If not for him, then for me. I am pretty sure he doesn't get bored at all with any of the things he has but I needed a change of pace. The other day, I got him this wooden stacking cone set from a great toy store in down town Palo Alto.

He loves to pull all of the parts off and play with them and eat them. Some day he'll be able to actually use the toy for stacking. Until then, it provides endless entertainment for him and that is good for both of us! I stack the pieces up and he knocks it over. It's as if he can't stand it when the toy is stacked. He has to knock it over or break it apart. I love this toy already.

-a

Over already?

The past several days have just flown by. I can't believe Pearce's great California vacation is over already. We all had an absolute blast.

On Friday, we went out to Half Moon Bay so Pearce could see the Pacific Ocean for the first time. He was only able to wade in the water so we promised he could swim another day.

Saturday had us going up to San Francisco so we could accomplish some more things on his wish list. Cable car...check. Eat crab...check. Swim in ocean...check. See crookedest street...check. It was enjoyable to watch him explore the city and experience all of these things that I take for granted about San Francisco.

On Sunday, we hung out in Palo Alto. The highlight of the day was when we took him over to Stanford campus so he could play in the water fountains since it was so hot outside. That was a ton of fun for him to do and afterwards we went to this Willy Wonka-esque fro yo shop so he could get all hopped up on sugar.

On Monday, we went to the SF Zoo. Now I will admit that this was a dreaded event for me, but I guess because I am a mom now I actually had fun. I enjoyed seeing how much fun Pearce had and I look forward to taking Henry back again in a few months when he's a little bit older and can enjoy it as well. Brett took Pearce to the neighborhood park Monday evening and early this morning so they could get more play time in before having to return to Texas.

Today we had the perfect day. The weather was perfect. The pancake breakfast was perfect. And the return visit to the fro yo shop right before dropping them off at the airport was perfect as well. It was a perfect trip for Pearce's first visit to California. I'm sad their gone!

-a

February already?

I can't believe it's already February. The past month has flown by so fast. I've spent a lot of time on Junior League - but at least it's been fun. I am one of the co-chairs for JLSJ's 2010 Fashion Show (FS) and we've been working on selecting our venue and getting our dates finalized. The event is a year away but it's similar to planning a wedding and about 1,100 people attend it. Once these first big decisions are out of the way, I'll be very relieved.

In January, it seemed like Brett and I had one party/birthday/dinner/happy hour/meeting after another. Oh yeah, and I've been working at my real job too. It was a ton of fun - but I am hoping February is a little less busy. After all, I am naturally inclined to be a hermit and I really haven't been able to do enough of that lately. I haven't even had time to post to my blog!

By the way, Phil saw his shadow today and that means 6 more weeks of winter. Well, someone should tell Palo Alto that because it's 70 degrees outside now. This is my kind of winter.

-a

Back in Cali

No...only I am back in Cali, not Brett. The photo is misleading. :) This was taken on his birthday in Mexico.

I returned home yesterday after spending a week and a half visiting Texas. I had a great time staying at my sister Courtney's and I was able to visit my Mom and sister Lisa a couple of times while I was there.

I was sad to leave Brett in Dallas and return back to Palo Alto but I take solace in the fact that I'm going back there for a few days at the end of next week!!

It's week 5 of his internship...only 5 more to go.

-a

Summer-itis

I have summer-itis in a real bad way.

I am obsessed with summer mornings and nights. I love to be outside during this time because I think it is one of the best things in life. All summer long I have been getting up early to go work out and then I come back and walk Ellie. (It has taken a while to get to this point, but I actually go outside in shortsleeves and shorts in the morning in Palo Alto now. Even though I have goosebumps, I am learning that this is as warm as it's going to get and I need to get used to it.) After being outside in the early morning it is so hard to force myself to go back inside the house and get ready for work. I think I get mildy depressed, I am not kidding, it feels like I get a broken heart. After I get off work, all is right in the world again and Ellie and I go out for a longer walk and get to enjoy summer again.

I landed in Dallas late Thursday night and when I stepped out of the airport I was so happy to be in Texas, mainly to see Brett and family, but also because of the weather. Of course it is hot, hot, hot during the day, but the mornings and evenings make it worth it - no goosebumps here.

Brett and I had been apart for a few weeks so the long holiday weekend was a nice treat and we were able to spend three relaxing days together. We've been enjoying the mornings by getting up early to work out, walk Ellie, and just hang out outside. We've been able to have a few meals outside over the past few days, too. It's been a lot of fun spending summer time with Brett and getting to do it in Texas is an added bonus.

-a