4 Years

Four years ago today I married my best friend.

 

 

Taking Communion together.

I totally lucked out.

  

 

It was a beautiful day and it was so wonderful to be married in the presence of our friends and families. And it was a party I will never forget. So much fun.

Prayer huddle

Family!

Broken down Vespa

I'm thankful that we continue to have friends and family that support and lift us up when we are weak. To laugh with us. To encourage us to be the best we can for each other. A marriage may exist between two people, but the community surrounding it exists to strengthen, encourage, and support.
 

Married!

So, to our community: Thank you. Thanks for standing with us as we strive to love one another in the best way we know how.

Surrounded by love

Adventures in Eating

We bit the bullet and gave Cora her first solid food last week. I wanted to wait until she was 6 months old because let's be honest, solid food is messy, way more complicated than nursing, and I'm slightly lazy. But Cora was ready, and so I had to get on board and give up my exclusive claim to her nutrition.

I readied myself by reading up on first food recipes, research, etc. I bought a couple of cookbooks that will take us into her toddler years. My hope is that she will grow into a fabulous eater and eventually eat what we eat, so I chose books and recipes that are not only nutritious, but that are appealing to us as well. I'm a big fan of Wholesome Baby Food's website, and I got both The Petit Appetit and The Baby & Toddler Cookbook for recipe inspiration. The Petit Appetit cookbook is by a local Bay Area author and has a forward by Alice Waters, so how could we really go wrong?

I don't want food to be a battle. Afterall, we live in the Bay Area! People in southern CA golf to schmooze their clients, but in northern CA? We eat and we eat well. I'm looking forward to growing a little foodie, and I know that feeding Cora will challenge both Stu and I to take a look at what we put in our bodies as well.

It was a toss up between the sweet potato and an avocado for her first food. The sweet potato won.

Cordelia watched as I cooked.

 

So, I peeled it. Cubed it. Tossed in in the Babycook. Pureed it. And mixed in a little breast milk.

 
She loved it.

Four days later, we introduced avocado, which is by far our favorite fruit in this house.

 

Way more interested in the bib

She was indifferent. We'll have to work on that. Because I'm pretty sure she's not allowed to be in our family if she doesn't love avocado. And we love her too much to disown her.

Rwar!

Who couldn't love this?!

InstaFriday 5.25.12

InstaFriday is a way to remember all of the little moments that make up our week through pictures taken on my phone.

It's all about the little moments, right?

Last weekend we got to spend time with my Grandma Wilber. It's so wonderful that Cora gets to have time with her and my Grandma absolutely adores her. The more love the better!

 

We spent a lot of time with the grandparents just hanging out. 

It was a pretty relaxing weekend, full of firsts for Cora, she got her first haircut and her first tooth in the same day. She began sitting for really long periods of time on her own, and she totally hates being on her back most of the time now.  

 

 

Cora got cozy with the animals in her life. Lucy, the Gregson's dog, was super interested in licking her toes and being as close to Cora as possible. Olive, our cat, snuggled herself up right next to Cora during her morning nap in our bed. Either the cat has a death wish or she's super starved for attention, because she was willing to settle for some not-so-gentle pets from Cora when she woke up. Olive did surprisingly well though. I'm excited to see how they interact when she gets older and more mobile.

And look at these baby legs. They're so squeezable, and oh, do they get squeezed!

There will likely be a picture of my child sleeping every week. Sometimes it's such a triumph that it needs to be documented. 

I made Oatmeal Raisin cookies this week. This is only the second time I've baked since Cora was born. Tragic! The cookies were delicious though. Although only half of the dough made it to the oven. I explained to Cora the dangers of eating raw cookie dough while shoveling some into my mouth. What's a little salmonella between friends?  Cora made for some great baking company though.

 

 

Teething means lots of drool, and gnawing on everything. We're still working on that biting while nursing portion of the show. Ouch. 

And Cora started solid foods this week! I had been wanting to wait until she was at least 6 months and we were around for a weekend, but the readiness signs were undeniable. The babycook is fabulous, and we mixed up some sweet potatoes with my breast milk. She was a huge fan. Next food? Avocado.

We're heading to Santa Cruz today to go our church's All Church Conference. We've been at First Pres for 10 years now and this will be our first time at Mt. Hermon for ACC. I'm pretty excited!

And that's our week in pictures! Happy Friday!

Cora's First Haircut

Miss Cordelia was born with a head full of hair, much to her father's chagrin. He was really gunning for a bald baby, and I thought we had a pretty good shot at it seeing as how I was essentially bald until 18 months. At our last growth ultrasound (you know, the one where they told me that my belly wasn't even on the charts for a singleton?), they told me that not only was my daughter head down and large, but she had a very full head of hair. And hair there was!

4 weeks old

We love her little head of hair, but over the past few months it's transformed from a dark, full head of hair to a mullet with a rat tail and a bald spot. The new growth is coming in a beautiful auburn color, and a bald spot is slowly growing hair as a result of her new sitting skills, but the rat tail just kept on growing.

2 Months and a lot of hair!

Almost 3 months and the bald spot grows!

4 months and super thin

4.5 months and the new growth starts coming in

I fought it for weeks, but it was time. We were heading to southern CA in any case, and I was going to see my stylist who has been cutting my hair since I was 13. He did my hair for my wedding (Thanks Brian!), so I figured it was only appropriate that he be the first one to touch my daughter's precious mullet. Honestly, it was the only way I could bring myself to take her in. I'm so happy it worked out.

 

 

Nana and Pops came along for the show and took pictures (Thanks Gregsons!). And I held my drooling 5 month old for her first haircut. She had a little audience in the salon.

 

 

I may or may not have held back tears.

She did so well though, and honestly, it looks so much better.

She's all grown up now and stuff. Sitting on her own, getting her first haircut, and her first tooth later that afternoon. Excuse me while I go search for my baby, she seems to have left the building.