Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Nathan is 3!

How is time going by so fast? I ask myself this so often as I watch Nathan grow. Maybe it's because he's my last baby that I cling to his babyhood and mourn a little as it slips away from me. His skin is still so soft and smells so sweet. He still wants his mama and I eat up every instant of that. I know it's impermanent, as is everything. The goodness that comes from knowing that is the immense appreciation I feel in the moments I get when his little arms wrap around my neck, or when he giggles until he [practically can't breathe when I tickle him. I couldn't even attempt to describe who he is growing into. You have to hang out with him to know his charm and absolute adorableness. There's nothing like it. I know, I'm his mom, and I'm biased, but I really do think his little personality is something special, unique and he is SO LOVED by all he has in his life who get to know him well. The things he says! His language is soaring right now and he cracks me up! I need to write more down. He's trying to have power as the littlest in the family and his efforts are valiant. His big sis, as wonderful as she is, can also be sure to put him in his place. What she doesn't realize is how things will shift as he grows and becomes bigger that she is! He's devoted to her. Those moments when they tell each other 'i love you' are the gold in my day. There's nothing more gratifying to a parent. yes!

He's BOY all the way. Loves his trains, cars, helicopters, baseball glove, bats and balls, he loves to read books and watch shows, his mimi goes everywhere with him and comforts him to no end, he loves to wrestle with daddy and have dance parties with mommy, he eats a ton of food, poops 4 times a day (it's a big job- potty training can't come soon enough!), makes up silly words like "mucka bucka" and "ouchie bingo", His smart as a whip and picked up on memorizing knock knock jokes he over heard from Ava. His favorite which he told one night out of the blue at the dinner table was this:

nathan: knock, knock.
us: who's there?
nathan: Ice cream soda
us: Ice cream soda who?

Nathan: Ice cream so the whole neighborhood can hear me!! 

He got the family dinner table in hysterics that night. Got every word totally right!

We try and be firm and these's 3's have hit us hard with temper tantrums, so I do hold the line, but sometimes he's too charming and we melt. Brad told him to "sit down!" in his high chair one night, which he replied by saying "You're rockin' the boat!". So now every time we say "nathan please sit down. it's not safe" He's says "sit down! you're rockin the boat! Say dat to me mama!" It's become a joke for all. 

I'm so thankful for photographs. This first one is a film photograph and it captures his spirit. captures who he is to me. Something about film does that. I'm so glad for what I do.

He's potty training and we're slow going, but getting there. He just walked over to the potty and pooped the other day, didn't tell anyone! Impressive, but loves to talk poo-poo talk now too. Not so impressive. So boy. 
I could write for days about him. He's easy going, but not a push over, like his mama can be and I love that about him. He recovers quickly from injury, emotional or physical and is quick to forgive. He just wants to smile and laugh and play. What a great little master we have living with us, teaching us how to get back to what's important every day. 

I love you Nathany-buddy. You have my heart.
xo


caught, trying to catch a squirrel--only nathan would think he could! 

That smile kills me every time. I smile so much more with him in my life.

wake up from nappy takes a while. He needs lots of cuddle time.

remote control anything, yes please! Tools, real tools. This kid wants what's most dangerous. knives, saws, hammers, lightbulbs, etc. Of course we say no and he has to settle for his toy version. boo hoo. worst parents ever! 

For his birthday we had a glow is the dark dance party. Nathan gets so excited when he sees things that glow. He'll say "it blows!!" So mama stocked up on some glow sticks, a disco ball and made a Nathan themed dance party mix, invited grandparents and Auntie Laura and Amalia and we partied. HARD. It was awesome. If he's in the right mood, all you have to say is "shake your booty, Nathan" and he'll boogie down right there, music or not. 

We got him a banana cake with chocolate frosting from icing on the cake. My mouth is watering just thinking about how good it was. And this series of him blowing out the candles cracks me up. Everything done with such gusto! My mom used to describe me that way. ha!



This is sweet Amalia. Born just 4 months before Nathan. So fun to have kids close in age with friends that you love. And Amalia is such a doll. She made the party extra fun with her energy. She was so into it. 

Ava all decked out in glow gear!

Amalia all decked out too!

Nana decked out and instagramming for our east coast family, which we missed so much.
Poppi put a new spin on wearing glow sticks altogether, had them around his ears and head. SO MUCH FUN. Everyone danced for the whole duration of the CD, even the grandparens. And we're talking dancing to anything from Raffi to Katy Perry. We had a BLAST! 

Happy Birthday little Bud. You make life so fun! 



Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Happy New Year! Hello 2015!







Holidays 2014

Christmas came back!! We had such an awesome holiday this year. Ava was so into it and Nathan fed off of her excitement, so we felt a lot of joy and anticipation of family coming and, of course, the jolly old St. Nick. He was so good to us! We did a lot: decorated Gingerbread Houses at Nathan's school and Ava's, Sang Carols at both schools, made Great Grandma Koch's Christmas cookies with Grandma and Grandpa in Pleasanton, went to the LG holiday parade, went to see Santa, picked out our own tree and decorated it together....And we made Great Grandma Green's Pignoli cookies. 
Oh. my. deliciousness. 
There are more photos and some darling video's of Nathan acting as Santa Claus on my personal instagram account, which you can view here:


My mom and Dad completed their cross-country trip just in time to arrive in LG and spend Christmas Eve and morning with us. We made traditional Cioppino and alio olio, and antipasto, but the very best part....Auntie Mina and Uncle Sash were here for a week!! yes!
Below are some images of our fun decorating the tree and house.



Kiddies in their xmas jammies...




so proud of themselves!

making cookies at G & G's. #sugarhigh

Xmas morning!!!! matching Auntie glasses and a ribbon wand from Auntie!

Nathan got his own Nutcracker and Ava her own dog that really walks, as requested. Good Job, Santa.

Nathan loved his trains and Cranky to lift them up


G & G got Nathan a balance bike!

And he loved some movie time with Uncle Sash when the whole morning got too overwhelming.

We barely found time to have a family breakfast. Totally forgot to squeeze fresh juice from our oranges this year! Having way too much fun! But we ate some panetonne and had a nice dinner in Pleasanton that evening. 
We missed seeing Auntie Coley, Uncle Dave and Sarah and Grandpa Great, but they were in our hearts and on face time on our phones ;)
'Twas a Merry Christmas, indeed!
xo

Friday, May 9, 2014

6 years of Ava. #inlove

"I wish I had two moms. And the best one would be you, but the other one would take me to the toy store and I would get to have whatever I want" -Ava 5.5yrs

my heart. my heart is so full. It's the biggest gift from the universe. to love. there is nothing that makes me feel like I could burst like a balloon than the love I have for the my children and it's always growing. I'm overpaid. Now we're celebrating another year of Ava. She is 6. She lights me up. She's almost finished with her first year in public school. Kindergarten. And she thrived. She blew me out of the water with how she adapted and learned and developed friendships and with how bright she is. Now that I'm fully on board with who she is-I get it now-it's so much easier to be her mom.  Her teacher calls her an "old soul". She's connected and she knows what she needs. She knows who she likes, she knows when she needs to be alone. She knows and now I trust her. Letting go of how I thought she should act and who I thought she should be has made our relationship fuse and bond. I feel so close to her.  I'm head over heals in love with her and she's in love with me too and I feel it. It feels so good.  Her innocence is still so intact, which melts me. She wants ice powers to be real. She asked me if she could study how to get ice powers in college. She spends her time playing school, acting out Elsa from Frozen and asking Nathan to be Anna. Nathan happily fills her request. We finally suggested that he might also play a good Kristoff too ;). She's an awesome big sister, who of course has her breaking points when she'll tell me "it's too hard to be a big sister. I don't want a little brother anymore". I can't really blame her. Nathan watches her like a hawk and follows her around, imitating almost everything she does. He goes to her for comfort sometimes and she is always open arms. I think in those moments she really likes being a big sister.
She still has her little giraffe blankie, which is now called "mimi" b/c that's what Nathan calls his. When I walk into her room at night to stare at her while she sleeps and admire her before I go to bed I notice that she still moves her mouth like she sucking a paci to soothe herself.
She's interested in Daddy's "stories" and asks him to tell her stories about mountain lions. She's fascinated by dinosaurs and watches documentaries on them. She said to me "Mommy, when I'm 20, if you're still alive, which would be lucky, can we go dig for bones together?" Geesh, I hope I'm still around when she's 20. I guess it would be "lucky". She's a deep little thinker and she's emotional. It's a lot to handle at times, but I adore that she can speak how she feels, that she's in touch with it at 6 years old. That's a gift that can help us to live a life awake. We say her metta prayers every night and it's all I hope for her:
May she be peaceful
May she be happy
May she be filled with love and kindness
May she love herself just as she is
May she accept others just as they are
May she forgive herself when she makes mistakes
May she forgive others when they make mistakes.

Thank you God for the love that you put in our hearts everyday to share with each other.

Thank you God for Ava. (then she never fails to say "and thank you God for mama").

I feel like the luckiest mom. This is the image to capture her crssoing over from 5 to 6.
Happy Birthday Ava Pava. You have our hearts.



 a quick series of film images I took of her about a month ago....






And this is the Frozen Party she requested.


wearing the Elsa gloves Nathany gave her while watching Elsa sing Let it go | The snow we made

Olaf Cake Pops (the hit of the party)




My helpers | Frozen Scavenger hunt

Ava, Emily, Mariko, Greta and their magical ribbon wands!

singing let it go!




Nathan's treasure (a life size Olaf balloon)

opening gifts from friends.

We love her spirit so much. This party was so fun to put together for her and she was my biggest helper. She noticed right away that it's a little easier to go to someone else's party because you don't have to do any of the work! Right she is! It was a big deal for her to commit to saying she wanted to have a party with friends at all. She chose 3, which was the perfect amount. After all the structured activities were over she went inside of herself and I could see her feeling a little stressed. She slipped and fell and couldn't hold in her emotion anymore. She burst into tears and cried her little eyes out. She said she wanted her bday to be over and all her friends to go home now. Of course that's right when family arrived to take her out to dinner. After a little mommy time and a lot of holding and soothing she was able to go the the restaurant and enjoy her family. Our little introvert. 

Last thing about being 5 that I loved. 
She still says "aminals" instead of Animals. I'm not going to try and fix that yet. 



Monday, January 20, 2014

Nathany Turns Two!

how did this face...
Turn into this face?
This photograph sums up Nathan. That is a classic Nathan smile. 
It's the best smile in the world, if you ask me. The way those eyes look right into yours with that spark in them and those little teeth showing. I could just EAT him. And I practically do some days.

We celebrated Nathan this year with a simple Pancakes & Pajamas Party. 
Mama made her gluten free pancakes, a fresh fruit bowl, and fresh squeezed oj from our very own tree. Plus some chocolate muffins for a special treat!
We invited 2 of our specialist friends. Laura and Hsiaolei to come with their families and celebrate with us. It was mellow and super easy. We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends. 



And we felt the love from the east  coast too. Auntie Coley sent him an astronaut suit and Nana and Poppi sent him his first glove and baseball, which he wouldn't let go of for DAYS.
He even slept with them, as you can see below.


His Hair grew so much this year that he had to have his first haircut, which he was really good for. By now he's had his haircut 3 more times. It grows SO fast! And I broke down and cut his mullet off the back. Now he looks so much like a little boy.

He's such a lucky little guy to have the sister he does. She really loves him. He goes to her for comfort and looks to her to figure everything out. If she's doing it, he's going to try and do it too. 
Ava has a super protective big sister nature about her. It shows in this little video of her keeping him feeling safe on his first amusment ride at Happy Hollow Park and Zoo.