Getting Out

So, even though I'm back to work,
(and getting sweet lunch visits from my baby 
thanks to his Grammy & Grampy) . . .

Travis and I have had some fun times
 getting out and about in between
 our normal day-in-day-out to-dos.

We've had fun pool days...

Park days...

Baby's first time to the El Dorado Nature Center! 


Picnic days...

Visiting Daddy on his lunch break! 

Double date nights...

My brother Brian and our babes at Simmzy's on 2nd! 

Our little family.

Brian's little family. 


Not to mention we've attended weddings galore!
Well, two anyway.

My brother Sean and his lady Sierra got married!

Photo cred to Oliver Barth! 

Haha. I love this pic so much!

Here's the whole fam bam post-nuptials.
The venue was gorgeous! 

Kieran wore this:

It' s hard to see it here, but he was wearing his 
blue converse high tops! :) 

Here's some awesome photobooth shots from the night:

The bride and groom!

Me & the hubs (and little Sean!)

 My sister, MB, & her hubby, Mike, with our little guy!

My Mom and her sister having a blast! 

When these two get together, giggles ensue. 

And here's us at Trav's cousin Krissi's wedding...


I love an occassion to get the babe dressed up!
Check out his adorable Tiny TOMS! 


More photobooth fun!
Baby K is looking oh so cool in those shades! Ha!

In addition to wedding celebrations,
we took baby to his first Dodger game!

Which is kind of a big deal in this household.
I mean, he had been to a couple when he was in my belly.
Like here:

But this time he was actually able to SEE the game!

& he had so much fun! Even caught a ball!

Well, kinda. Daddy helped! 

It was an exciting moment,
 I think especially for his Daddy.
There is something so special about 
a man taking his son to a baseball game.
Especially since it has been such an important
part of Travis' life, being a baseball player himself,
and having that connection with his own father.

Travis, 7 years old-ish.

I also celebrated my birthday last month!

It seems like just yesterday that

 I was turning 30 & was writing this post. 

 I blinked & now I'm 32! Oh man! Time flies! 

I had multiple celebrations with family, work folks,
and a nice night out with my best girlfriends.

Ali, Belia and I drinking Moscow Mules 

at James Republic in Downtown Long Beach.

Kim & Amber were into it too. 

There is never any shortage of laughter
 when I am with these girls.
I am so lucky to have them as my steadfast buddies.
My birthday was just an excuse to get together
and have some good food, tasty drinks and a lot of fun. 

And whao!

Look at this huge birthday burger! 

It's not really called a birthday burger,

I just ate it on my birthday. :)

OH! Travis got me this lovely oval onyx ring I 
was eyeing from my favorite store on 2nd Street.

If you know me, you know
 I love me some accessories! 
As you can see, I was stoked!

It was fun celebrating with my lil' family. . .

. . . and big family too!
(Sorry, I didn't get a good group shot!) :( 

Travis and I also celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary.
5 years already?!

Sept. 25th, 2008.

And because September is jam packed 
with reasons to celebrate, we decided to commemorate 
it all with our very first family vacation! 

I know what you are thinking.

I just got back to work and I'm already taking a vacation??

Yes, I am.

WE are. 

Correction: WE did. :)

And it was awesome.

We went to Cambria. 
DUH! 

(We are so predictable.)

As this was Kieran's first road trip, 
we wondered how he would handle a long car ride.
Turns out, like a champ!
We road the whole 4.5 hour ride up without 
as much as a peep from him in the backseat.
(Angel baby!)

We had tons of fun wine tasting in Paso Robles.

We loved Michella Winery's down-home feel.

They even had a sack toss & swing out among the grapevines.

Daou Winery has by far the best views of all of Paso.

Baby wearing and wine tasting pro at Eberly Winery! 

Kieran is looking so mature in this picture, 

but I can't pinpoint why! ;-)

This is one of my favorite pics from the trip.

This 5 month old puppy, Ginger, was nibbling on my 5 month

 old baby's fingers. Kieran thought it was hilarious.

Love that giggle. AND that smile! 

Aside from wine tasting, 
we also enjoyed the coastal scenery.

We took some nice runs in the crisp morning air,

and took sunset strolls along the bluffs of Moonstone Beach.

This pic makes me feel so in love 
with this man all over again.
We're so happy here.

This trip was particularly sweet for us. 
We had so much fun taking Kieran 

to places we have enjoyed as a couple, 

that it made it that much sweeter to share it with baby.

It was such a blast, and we are really looking 
forward to so many more trips with our little family.

We decided to purchase a little something

 for Kieran to commemorate his first trip.

He has this fascination for plates lately, so when 
we saw this small plate in one of our favorite shops
on Main Street, we knew it was the perfect keepsake.

It's kinda hard to see here, 

but it has a little whale on it

and says, "You are so loved."

And, well, he is!!

 

I think he likes it! 
He's putting everything in his mouth these days. :) 

Cheers to settling in AND getting out friends!


XOXO
Aimee

Catch Up Sesh 2013: Part One

I admit,

I've been a bad blogger.

We've been so busy prepping for baby

that days turn into weeks,

then months, and before I know it

 I have about half a dozen posts

just sitting in my queue waiting to be finished.

So I thought it proper to catch us all up to speed on this year's events.

Shall we? We shall.

Part One:

The start of the new year began with a lovely trip up North.

Travis and I decided to take what they call, a "Babymoon."

Definition: A honeymoon of sorts, pre-baby.

You know, one of those vacations where

you look all googly-eyed at each other and can't stop smiling?

Yes, one of those.

I was 27 weeks pregnant,

and it was the perfect time for a getaway.

We went to Travis' uncle's beach house in Cambria,

a fav spot of ours,

 and enjoyed a cozy, quiet weekend together.

It rained at night while we slept in a big comfy bed,

and the sun shone bright in the day

 while we hopped from winery to winery in Paso Robles.

We ate cheese and crackers and Travis drank wine

while we looked out at the gorgeous rolling hills.

And, of course, being prego and all,

I was the ever-reliable DD.

We spent time eating out.

And eating in.

Me mid-snack.

I know you are all really diggin' my maternity fashion here.

We warmed our toes by the fireside,

and watched the sun dip into the ocean's edge many times over.

As I said, it was perfect.

And we were very thankful for that time together,
just the three of us. 
Hehe.

In addition to our Babymoon weekend,

we got a chance to visit with one of my dearest friends,

Jessica, while she was in town from Israel.

It had been 6 months since her last visit,

and even though she was on a very tight schedule,

she made an extra special effort to make time for me,

as it was going to be the first and last chance

for us to hang out while this baby was still in my belly.

And well, she is the kind of friend who wouldn't miss that for anything.

We stayed in a cabin in Paso Robles and Travis and I had

a great time visiting with her family and our friend Naoma.

Jessica's mom, Tracey, and her hubby, Patrick, in their fancy masks.
Hehe. We had fun with these.

Patrick made us delicious breakfasts.
And Tracey made us tasty dinners,
all while cracking jokes and making us laugh in between. 

We played silly games.

(Games that made me laugh so hard I cried).

We took hikes all over the huge, awesome property.

Naoma, Jess and I on a hike.

Travis, Naoma and I.

I really like Naoma's stance here.

I think she was trying to avoid poison ivy,

but she also could have been showing off her killer dance moves.

We also came across this natural wonder:

Lady bugs in the masses! It was so cool.
Apparently, they like to snuggle to keep warm.
And who can blame them? It was freezing outside! 

We met and fell in love with Tracey's new puppy, Duke.

AWWW!

And Duke even volunteered to help us practice
using the Moby baby carrier that Tracey got us.
 

And we obviously were having wayyy too much fun with it.

I think I held Duke in there for a good hour.

What? He liked it!

Oh, and we ate a lot of my homemade cookies.

Jess was especially excited about this ice cream cookie sandwich. :)

Isn't she the cutest?

We got lots of time to talk and catch up

and be silly and it was so much fun!

I'm REALLY looking forward to Jessica being

 back in the States for good come June.

She'll get to meet our lil' man, and I can't wait for that.

Overall, it was a great start to 2013,

and was well deserved after a jam packed end of 2012

filled with lots of baby/house prep on top

of the holiday hustle and bustle.

It's always nice to take some time to relax,

reconnect, and just be.

And with so much on our plate this coming year,

we were glad to savor it while we could.

Cheers to that!

Xoxo

Aimee