Sunday Funday At Peacock Gap Park

Swinging, sliding, laying in the grass.

We've had great weather this month (except for all this rain and cooler temperatures this past week), so we thought we'd get out as a family a few Sundays ago and try a new park. There isn't a park within walking distance from our house, so Ellie hasn't had a lot of park experiences just yet.

But Peacock Gap Park was a score!

Quilt Photo Shoot

Most of you know that we are celebrating Grandma's 90th birthday on March 8th. I'm putting a book together of all the quilts she's made for our family, including my cousins, aunts and uncles. Everyone has been sending me pictures, and Ellie and I had a mini photo shoot a few weeks ago. Here's a sneak peak.

Crawling & Pulling to Standing

I'm so behind on my posts.

Our little girl started crawling the first week in February. And pulling to standing.

This is what most of our days and sleep time look like. E crawling around and standing in her crib instead of sleeping! We love that she's growing and developing, but it's definitely thrown a wrench into our naps and nighttime as our good little sleeper is no more. We started sleep training again last week and seem to be making some progress. Slowly but surely...

My Posse

This is what most of our mornings look like. For reals. No posing was involved. Ellie in her highchair eating breakfast, and Cole in position waiting for food to drop.

Little buddies.

I'm busy Mom.

Stop taking my picture and let me play!

Hungry Monkey

We finally figured out how to get more food in Ellie's mouth than on her clothes since she insists on feeding herself these days. Two Spoons. And no shirt. Duh.

Three Day Weekend

We made the best of John's three day weekend despite Ellie being sick and John's ailing shoulder and hiked at Roys Redwoods Open Space Preserve. It was pretty muddy and would've been better had we not had the Bob Stroller, but it was still fun.

We also signed our loan documents (Ellie wanted to help) which will allow us to replace our 40 year old furnace and install AC (yes, AC!), as well as replace the joists and get a new deck on the front of our house. Phase Two Construction Project starts now!

One week away...

from turning eight months. It's been a big month. More baby food. Solids like Cheerios, chicken and bread. Sleeping through the night. Standing up in her crib. New toys and a new playmat. Mama. Dada. 18 lbs, 11 oz. Lots of new clothes.

I have a feeling the next few weeks are going to be exciting and crawling just might be in our near future...

Wednesday Play Day

We hit Free Day the Discovery Museum with Sophie, Aimee, Donalyn and Mason. Ellie rolled around the Tod Spot for the first time! And then we went over to see Alicia and Charlotte in the afternoon while we used their washing machine. It's neat to see the girls starting to interact with one another.

Mom and Dad's West Coast Holiday Tour

Whenever dad and mom come to town we find ourselves out and about more, and this trip was no different. Even though they had just spent five days with the Millay kids in San Diego, they were up for some NoCal fun! We put a lot of miles on John's new car going to Sonoma, Mt Tam and Stinson Beach in two days. We took some nice walks around the neighborhood and to the fire road, and settled some Cataan at night after Ellie went to bed. On Thursday night before they left they watched Ellie so John and I could grab some sushi and see True Grit.

And yes, I realize these aren't REALLY pictures of mom and dad, necessarily. I promise, I'll upload more when I get them off of dad's camera. :-)

Ellie's First Christmas

We had a quiet Christmas just the three of us. It was our first Christmas in our house and our first with Ellie. Despite all the rain and our leaking roof we made the best of it.

Christmas Eve Day started with a nice walk in the neighborhood where we got to meet some new neighbors that live up by the waterfall, then John made steak (Omaha steaks. Thanks mom and dad!) and lobster. We went to the family church service at five, and then dessert and games at our friend Alicia's mom's house.

Christmas morning we got up and opened presents then went to the Ritz in the city for a late brunch and then spent the night there. The spread at the Ritz was amazing. Everything from sushi, french toast stuffing, prime rib and lobster risotto. We had a nice table in the corner of the ballroom, so Ellie could make all the noise she wanted while enjoying her bottle and jar of peas.

And to steal from our pastor's sermon the Sunday after church, while we enjoyed some lovely gifts of toys, boots, a money clip, Omaha Steaks and so on, this was definitely our year to get "books for Christmas," and while we are still "reading" them, we are thankful for all that God has blessed us with and the gift of salvation we've been given through his son, Jesus Christ.

PS - Is that some good food photography, or what?!!

Holiday House Decorations

Underneath our tree looks like it could be an ad for Amazon.com gift wrapping. :-)

The most wonderful time of the year...

We went to visit Santa at his *house* at the West End Nursery two Saturdays ago and then had dinner at the Seafood Peddler to watch the San Rafael boat parade down the canal. We decided that we are going to make the boat parade a yearly tradition. This year I didn't make the reservation in time to get a table by the window, so that's going to be our goal for next year. Someday, wouldn't it be great if we were actually on our own boat in the parade?

Eating in style

I finally got Ellie a high chair. It took me forever to decide on one. I've bought a lot of smart baby gear and some not so smart baby gear, so I took my time, asked around, read a ton of reviews and weighed my options before I sprung for the Chicco Polly. It's height adjustable, folds up well, has wheels and doesn't look too shabby, I have to say. Also, it has a vinyl seat cover which is good for rinsing off, as we all know our little Miss Ellie is quite the spitter, so a cloth seat wasn't going to work for us.

It was super easy to install. I'm quite proud to say that I did it myself.

And, so far, Ellie is as happy as a clam hanging out in it.

Ellie's First Christmas Tree

We got a HUGE one. A "special" one. And we got another one for outside. It's taking us two days and counting to decorate it. Here's us at the tree lot.

Santa with the Cousins

We tried!

Swinging

This was a first for Ellie and she loved it! We don't have a park within walking distance of our house, so it was nice when we were out in San Diego to be able to pop her in the swing at the many parks in Christy's neighborhood and the swing set in her backyard.

Little Pumpkin

Thanks Grandma Arleen for the costume.

We decorated our garage and sat in folding chairs while passing out candy. Ellie's outfit must have been really warm and cozy as she fell asleep in my arms around 6!

Celebrating 14,600 Days of David Estoye

David and Jeanette came all the way from New Jersey to celebrate David's 40th birthday. Our friends the Solivens drove in from LA and the Galls from Seattle came to. We had a blast. Alcatraz on Saturday, dinner at Beretta Saturday night and football and Scrabble at Castle Reidskull on Sunday.

Why I am grateful for my dad

1. His curiosity gets me out sight-seeing (note: see us on the top of Mount Tam overlooking the bay)
2. He came to my rescue this week, so I could finally get a much needed root canal.
3. He keeps our house supplied with flashlights.
4. He always makes sure the doors are locked and that we have plenty of extra keys.
5. His patience and kindness to others is admirable.
6. And he makes Ellie laugh from way down in her belly.

Love you, Dad. Thanks for a great visit. We miss you.