the happens of life last week

he has recently demonstrated the ability to pick up cheerios!

he uses great concentration and eats one at a time:)

while up in chico, we all ran the superhero 5k.
it was awesome!  everyone was in some kind of costume!
the night prior it was pouring rain, cleared up in the morning and then started raining when the race wrapped up.
wills first experience with rain, i'd say he loved it!

10 years was celebrated....

it was a fun day, my team was pretty excited about it; my customers were incredibly kind and i recieved a lot of "congratulations" as well as a few "did you start working here when you were 12!?"
haha

One of my peers (previous ASM) stopped by with 10 cupcakes to celebrate 10 years!
so sweet!















this little guy is working on 4 new teeth!  three on top, one of bottom; soon he'll have a total of 6!
4 coming in at one time, sounds like torture to me; and he if could speak, he'd tell you,  it is torture!
poor kid.

all photos from my iphone; which is my predominate method of documenting this kid's daily life!






























we celebrated mom's 8th club championship!
(check out where will's red hair came from!)

our city walk

this is our 3rd annual city walk; DB and .  we take a weekend day in August and just explore our city.
this year...WB was invited to join, and it also changed up our mode of transportation....
stairs?!  not so easy! 

spur of the moment change of plans!? 
not so easy when someone relies heavily on a schedule.

but the day was awesome!
just us walking around and ending up at chachacha for dinner:)

im still alive...

yes, I am still alive.

i have sat down to write, update, post a photo or two; but have this overwhelming question of "where do i start?!  there is so much to catch up on"...and then i move on to something else instead as i don't know where to start or what to say.

but tonight.  im doing it.

i'll start with today.

i went running after i got home from work, and it was kickstart i needed!
i stopped by the market on the way home because post run i really wanted broccoli.
 (why!?  i don't know)
but i am sure DB is going to love me more, because i came home and wanted to cook dinner!
(i can't remember the last time i have cooked a full-on, real dinner for just me; which means left overs for him...which truly just makes his day)

 ~~~~
earlier today,  i went to work.
i have just completed my 9th week back at work since my 6 month ML; its been definitely been CRAZY to say the least.  i am just now starting to feel like my head is above water, and im able to swim in this tsunami i've found myself in.
its getting better, but its been crazy!
the first month was filled with working 55+ hours a week... (i hope no one from my leadership team finds this::as we are only supposed to work 40)

but good thing, I love my job.   i truly do.
i enjoy what i do, i enjoy going to my store, i enjoy my people and the people we serve.

i didn't know how i would respond to going back to work after being on ML, i didn't know if i would want to be home instead.  but truly; i love both these roles i have:  mom and manager.  and before i went back to work i didn't know how those two could exist at the same time.
but they can and they do exist and they both bring incredible joy and fulfillment. 

there definitely are days when i miss my little Willy like crazy, and wish i was home with him; but my times with him are ever so sweet cause i savor every stinkin moment i get before i have to put him to bed.

 looking ahead...i am celebrating 10 years with this company next week!
and im thrilled!
who would have thought i'd be with this outstanding company for a DECADE of my life; and i can't even quantify/fathom all that this company has done for me; i suppose when i write that check for my house, i should send HS a thank you card for our stock program!

10 years!  i am excited to celebrate that next week (one week from today actually)!

~~~~
a few weeks ago we celebrated out 5 year wedding anniversary!
it was a beautiful evening, we hosted dinner for our bridal party and their spouses!
the best night ever...it went by way too fast, and we took way too few photos...but we are planning on doing it again for our 10 year...maybe in italy?!  that'd be so awesome!

~~~~
Will.  Our little guy is 7 months old now!
yes, old.  yes it goes by so fast....yet so slow at the same time.

we are so blessed by this addition.
he is doing so well; eating and sleeping so well.
he is crazy active; he started crawling right before his 6 month birthday.
and this month, he is pulling himself up onto everything: the couch, the cabinets, the chairs, the doors; anything really.
he is preparing to take off running, i know it!
he loves to stand, and he'll walk if you hold onto his hands.

he is sleeping super well.  he goes to sleep around 7/715pm, we still dream feed him at 10...and usually he'll sleep until 630/7am.   except for the past few nights he has been up at 430 hungry, but then goes back down till 630am; so we really can not complain.

he is pretty happy, but who wouldn't be!?  all his needs are met before he even has to ask for anything.

truly, priviledged.  the fact we live in the US, we live in the bay area of CA.
we have it pretty good compared to many....and we know that, and we are thankful for it.
we don't take it for granted.  

Will loves the water....his middle name should be Fish.

He is a lot of fun, this little one:)!

has instagram killed my blog?

a friend over at goodbuthard.com posed the question: has instagram killed my blog?
and i couldn't help but answer for myself, yes...and having a kid and working and just wanting to sleep;  blogging falls way down off the top of my priority list.
if you happen to read this (hi mom!) and you happen to follow me on instagram (hi mom!)
then you get to see just a little bit of the life i live.
going forward, i am going to attempt to keeping my blog alive, separate from the instant, easy way of sharing glimpses of life through my instagram feed.

since i last posted...our little mister turned 5 months old!

in that time he
has increased his total volume of ounces eaten up per day to almost 40!
has learned how to roll over from back to front, not too consistently, but yes more than once
can sit up unassisted for 5-10 seconds before toppling over
has a high chair in the kitchen, which he now sits in every day when we have a meal at the table
has been introduced to a huge raw carrot, which he loves to chew on (the best teething toy ever!)
has been introduced to pureed peas and carrots, not entirely sure what to do with food quite yet
still sleeps from 10-4 on good night...i just can't wait until that 4 am turns to 6am turns to 8am.
(please?!!?)
has two bottom teeth, fully popped through and chilling in his gummy smile

wills first trip to the beach

if you live in the bay area, we probably saw you at the beach; as everyone went to the water over this "hot" weekend.
temperatures are all relative, as the easy bay and way up north it was triple digits; but we here in the bay had beautiful "hot" summer weather rocking in the 80's.  and it was lovely.
with this wonderful sunny weather, we decided to join the masses, and go to the beach.
it truly felt like summer, and what people do when they have weekends to spend enjoying life (aka, not working!)
[oh i am back at work, but took this weekend off; to celebrate my daddio's 65th...which the celebration has been postponed till the 4th...so i had a weekend off, and DB did too:)]
at the beach...

will didn't mind the freezing cold water on his feet,
i thought for sure there would be some kind of reaction, but nope; he just kept staring at the water.


























 family shot of our feet in the sand; shadow of my trust iphone...how else would i take one million photos a day?!

our family shot...some nice guy on the beach was commenting on how cute Will is and then offered to take our photo!
i really appreciate it when we get all three of us in the same shot!
i often stop when i see people taking photos of each other and offer to take a photo of them together; and so very much appreciated it when this guy did that for us!:)

this should be my next fathers day card!
in true "father" fashion, here is DB carrying almost all our beach gear (i was carrying stuff too!) but to top it off, Will was asleep in the carrier!
worlds best dad ever...pictured here:)

moment of truth (followed by a lot of photos)

catching up this blog with all that has happened in the past four months:: just not going to happen!
too many pictures, too many events; and simply not enough time with both my hands free to sit down and get it all captured into the numerous blog posts it would take to get "caught up".
with that, i'll just start with where i am at today.

three days away from going back to work.
this beautiful maternity leave is about to come to an end.

the time i've had at home has been incredibly sweet; and time i'll never get back.
if we choose baby number two; my maternity leave at that time will look so incredibly different as it won't just be me and baby; it'll be me, baby and big boy will.
with that, its a bittersweet week heading back to work, and concluding this time of maternity leave.

i work for one amazing company, who generously gave me almost 6 months off to be with my babe, and my job waiting for me upon my return.  if i needed more time, they'd be accommodating; but the timing couldn't be more perfect; as to the date of my return is the date DB wraps up at his schools, and is able to take his leave to stay home with will.  the timing;  it truly couldn't be more perfect.

this guy, he is just fantastic

and i have really enjoyed my time at home with him.
at times it went by incredibly fast, yet incredibly slow.
i didn't know "being at home" would feel so lonely, isolating, enjoyable, quiet, busy, challenging, hard, and good.
i am not sure how this transition back to work will be; but i am excited to enter back into the professional world, to do what i am good at, to see if i can balance working and being a mom; which might be the hardest part of this parenting gig yet.  

to add a little recap of our busy month of june:
we celebrated fathers day, DB's first:)


we celebrated DB's brothers wedding



we celebrated my birthday



i ran my first after-having-a-baby half marathon (on will's 4 month birthday)


(how fun would it be if will and i ran a half marathon together, in approx 16 years?!!)
we celebrated life with an afternoon of wine tasting

we took will to his first giants game


we celebrated will's 4th month of life (weighing in at 15 lbs 1 oz)

will first tooth has broken the gum line...causing him to want to chew on anything/everything

a little bit of bocce

two weekends ago, we truly played it up like it was summer
sunny weather, picnic, sangria, bocce...oh it was a great afternoon

we even had our own little captain, we was a little fussy at times, maybe we weren't playing up to his expectations, or maybe he was annoyed cause we didn't let him play...verdict is still out on that one

it was a great summer afternoon, and we better do it again soon

on the eve of my birthday

Today is the last day of my 30th year and what a year it has been.
My 29th year was a huge year accompanied with a lot of goals I wanted to accomplish before entering into the next decade.
I prepared and I counted down to my 30th birthday for 12 months.
And in the blink of an eye, I am now sitting on my couch, just got Will into his crib for the night; thinking, holy moly today is my last day of being 30!
Wow.
I didn't have the ability, time or mental capacity to count down for 12 months to my 31st year, in addition turning 31 versus 30 definitely doesn't have the same "entering into a new decade/life change" associated with it!

Today was such a good one, two friends drive 4 hours here and 4 hours back to have lunch and cupcakes with me (don't worry they were meeting up with other awesome friends too!  Maximizing their trip to the bay)
Tomorrow, I just might try to get a pedicure with my little Will.
My friend Betsy said its doable.
She's a pro, with two kids of her own.
I've just been too nervous to take him with me to get a pedicure not knowing if he'd be ok!
But I just might try it...cause tomorrow is my birthday.
I really like birthdays.
I really like celebrating them a lot; and not just mine, everyone's!
It a specific day to ensure you show others how much they mean to you...and I like doing that!
Back to my 30th year! 
Wow it went fast, its incredible how much my life changed this year! 
I'm forever grateful I didn't die while giving/attempting to birth my baby, saved by a c-section.
I'm forever grateful for my little Will who made me a mother this year!  A role I am just starting to learn how to embrace and do well::a lifetime ahead of me to keep working on being the best mother I can be. 
I'm forever proud of DB and all he has professionally accomplished during my 30th year.
I'm forever thankful for DB who is the best husband and father to our son I could ever ask for.

I had high hopes, and still have high hopes for this decade called the 30's and if it's anything like the first year, I'm in good shape.
I've had a great 30th year and am very much looking forward to my 31st! 

and some photos...cause whats a post without photos?!
this past weekend....ran a half marathon!
on Will's 4 month birthday

DB surprised me with a new onesie on Will
("run mommy run")

wine tasting with DB, sister and bro-in-law after my race

and these two...what's not to love?!

4 months old

our little Will turned 4 months old a few days back!
this month he really has turned up the expressions, interactions and sleeping longer!
we are enjoying all three of those things a LOT!
he is officially out of wearing 0-3 clothing and now into the 3-6 phase
he is still taking the pacifier, which i continue to be incredibly thankful for!
(my heart might change when we are facing the time to wean him from it...
but we will cross that bridge when we get there!)
we have turned a corner in the sleep department, Will has dropped the 130a and 330a feedings, and now typically wakes up for the 5a or 6a feeding.
we are still dream feeding/final feeding him between 10-1030p, which i think has really helped us keep him "scheduled"...which is more like us being "consistent"....with one feeding a day!
 this past month Will has discovered more of his vocal cords...laughing, giggling and making a variety of noises, moreso than he has so far.
i like his laugh most of all.
he truly is really happy and funny and i like that about him!
for his 4 month doctors appointment; which included another round of shots; he did amazing!
we had a late afternoon appointment, which we didn't know would be good or bad; due to not knowing if he would react poorly to the shots.
but honestly it worked out really well; his evening rountine remained the same, and he went down to bed like normal; and slept off any discomforts or side effects of the shots.  he only woke up once for his typical feeding time.   so proud of him.  he did a great job.