Weddings 2012

In Cora's short 8 months of life, she's been to four weddings. Both of our brothers got married this year, and two of Stu's high school buddies got hitched this year as well. I would have ideally liked to do a post for every wedding, but with the way life is going, that's not going to happen. And barring any late surprise weddings, our wedding season for 2012 is officially over. Whew!

Life with a baby is, well, different, and that permeates every aspect of life, weddings included. I have to say that of all the parts of my daughter and parenting that I love, parenting at weddings is way more difficult than I imagined. I know it will get better as she gets older, but for this year? Weddings were exhausting, out of our normal daily routines, away from our home, and not carefree like the days of yesteryear. And while we're adjusting well to parenthood, weddings were the thing this year that made me miss pre-baby life the most.

But weddings are wonderful, so they are worth it. I love seeing two different personalities come together in one big celebration. I love ceremonies and seeing how they reflect the couple and their love for each other. I love watching family dynamics. I love being there to support the beginning of life together.

And so, here were the weddings of 2012.

Keith and Lindsey's wedding was in January in Ann Arbor. Cora was a mere 7 weeks old, and she slept most of the time, which made it fairly easy. It snowed on their wedding day, and their reception was in a cool barn complete with a caller for square dancing. Their day was so them in every tiny detail. And I was so overwhelmed with all things babycare while Stu was busy being a groomsman, I barely took any pictures.

First flight!


Brothers
Ties knitted by Wendy





Baby Mohawk!

Inflight entertainment
Ryan and Katy got married in July in Southern CA. We drove down for a long weekend and stayed in Anaheim. Stu had a lot of groomsmanly duties to attend to, so I spent a lot of my time with Dayna and her daughter Piper. The location reminded us a lot of our wedding venue, and it was cool to see all of the creative details that went into the planning. Though, it was such a long, nomadic day, by the end of it I looked totally wrecked. Cora was a champion though, she fell asleep in the ergo till the bitter end and slept for 12 hours that night.

First dance

Piper, Pat, and Dayna
Arya and Saman, next in line!
Frowny faces
Piper and Arya

Dancing with Daddy
Sleeping in the Ergo
Arya and Saman got married at the Biltmore in Los Angeles and it was by far the fanciest wedding I have ever been to in my life. Arya told me to wear a floor length gown (like it was no big deal, because I totally have 5 of those hanging in my closet), and so I took the opportunity to rent something that I would never wear otherwise. It was like Halloween in August, and I'm pretty sure that judging from the stares from the gaggle of tourists checking into the Biltmore didn't really know what to make of Stu and I as we walked through the lobby for a picture. The wedding was over the top though! It was my first Persian wedding, and they go all out for sure! Cora slept through the ceremony, hung out during the cocktail hour, and slept through the dinner that was served at 10pm. We left after dinner though, and we were sad to miss out on all the dancing.

Beautiful Biltmore

Baby at the Biltmore!
Daddies and their baby girls
Pat, Piper, and Dayna



First dance
My brother, Scott, married Coco a week after Arya's wedding, and it couldn't have been more different. We flew to Portland and got to spend time with family before the wedding on Saturday and meet Coco's family as well. It was a small, 40 person wedding with a low-key reception in their backyard. It was super fun to be so relaxed, and I had the honor of standing next to my brother as they exchanged vows.




Happy couple

Uncle Scott and Cora
Four generations of ladies

As much as I love weddings and marriage and all that the institution stands for, I'm excited that we get a break from them...until next year.

On Moving...

So, it's been quiet around the blog these days, however our lives are anything but quiet. We're moving so our lives are full of boxes, packing paper, packing tape, family to help, and slightly less than controlled chaos.

Moving is probably my least favorite thing ever; I get attached to places and we've been in this beautiful apartment for one month shy of 3 years. I love this neighborhood and how I can walk to everything. I love our view of the lake and the city skyline from our window. I love our old Wedgewood stove. I love our little closet that we turned into a nursery. I love that we brought our baby girl home to this place.

We knew our time here was limited. I knew I would want more space for Cora as she became more mobile. But I also knew leaving here, and the memories that this apartment holds would be so difficult. I wondered with Stu a couple of months ago about what would need to happen for me to feel just okay with leaving this apartment. I couldn't come up with an answer.

Turns out all I needed to face the inevitable was a fat threat of eviction from our landlord. Very funny, God. Hilarious, really.

We were on vacation when our washer/dryer that we installed sprung a little leak and damaged the apartment below. I can't imagine coming home to a leaky ceiling, so I totally feel for our neighbors, but the landlord decided that we broke our lease and that we would need to get out or be forced to get out. We decided to determine the legality of the eviction notice and to find a different home. Turns out, he had no legal right to evict us because we didn't break our lease, but by then we had found and committed to a new place.

And so, we move.

It's not far, and I'm thankful for that. It's much much bigger, and I'm thankful for that. Cora will have a small room that's big enough for a full size crib, which I'm really thankful for because she's outgrown her mini-crib with neck-breaking speed. It has room to roam for an increasingly mobile baby, and it has room to entertain which we haven't been able to do in several months. It has a shared yard and a veggie patch. A wonderfully large kitchen with lots of counter space. An office to work in or work from. I am so thankful that we have a place to go.

And so, I'm trying to focus on those things. But honestly? Being evicted, even if it's unfounded and illegal, and scrambling to find a place is stressful. So is moving.  The new place will be perfect for making new memories, but it doesn't mean that I'm not going to miss where we grew our little family.

8 Months Old!

Dear Baby Bear,

You are 8 months old already and you are growing into quite the little personality. I love every moment that I get to spend with you, but I also love it when you sleep. This month has been full of firsts and travel for you and you have been quite the trooper through it all.


This month, we went camping at Camp Richardson for five days with Nana and Pops and Grandma and Grandpa. A lot of people thought we were crazy for taking a baby camping, but you absolutely loved it. You slept so well and you loved being surrounded by family, checking out the trees, and playing in the water. You weren't a huge fan of the sand or the super cold lake water, so you played in your special pool that Nana bought for you. Water is most definitely your happy place and you love being up on shoulders as well.









This month, you started to warm up to the idea of solid foods a bit more, but it's still a struggle to get you to eat sometimes. You began drinking out of a sippy cup, and you have mastered picking things up with your pointer finger and thumb. You clap when you are happy, and you just started waving hello and goodbye consistently right before your 8 month birthday.



This month, you turned into quite the social butterfly. You love being around people, and they love interacting with you. Going to the store takes longer than expected now because  people want to stop and talk to you after you've waved at them, or clapped out of pure excitement. Daddy loves going to the store with you because he gets to see that sociable side of you.





This month, we've fallen into a nice kind of rhythm with sleep, though I wish you would sleep more without waking at night. Daytime sleep has been so easy this month, your sleepy signs are clear as day and you rarely fight me as I rock you to sleep. You take two naps, one about an hour after you wake up for the day for about an hour and a half, and another around 1:30pm-3:00ish. You go down for the night around 7:30pm, and you're up consistently to nurse at 10:30, 12:30, and 4:00 and up again for the day around 7:30am. Once life settles down a bit next month, we're going to work on that night time sleep stuff, especially sleeping the whole night in your crib, you've been so spoiled to sleep with mom and dad while we travel.




This month, you have started to get too big for your mini-crib. You sleep totally stretched out and it seems you have no intention of curling up to sleep anytime soon. You wear 6-12 month clothes, with some 12-18 month rompers thrown in there for good measure. You are so long! Your 6-12 month pants are getting too short, but your waist is so skinny that the 12-18 month pants are so loose! Once we get you back into cloth diapers, you'll fill out those 12-18 month pants perfectly. You graduated into size 4 diapers, and you may need to go up a snap on your cloth diapers once we get you back in them.





This month, your hair got so thick and is beginning to get a wave to it! It's this beautiful auburn color, and I can't get enough of it.


This month, you started lunging forward to reach for things while sitting, and you can spin around on your bottom on our wood floors. You can definitely get to what you want, but you aren't crawling yet, which I am so thankful for! Crawling means no more yoga with mommy and while crawling is exciting, I'm sure, let's wait until we've moved at least.




Yes, this month, mom and dad had to find a new place for us to live. We've been incredibly stressed out with everything, and your giggles, snuggles, and kisses have made life bearable this last month. I am so thankful that you are completely oblivious to our circumstances right now. We've had to rely on each other and God this month, and we're so thankful that we have family that will support us when times are rough.





Next month, we're heading to southern CA for another wedding, this time at the Biltmore in LA, super fancy! And then the next week we're off to Portland to see Uncle Scott marry Aunt Coco. And then, we'll be packing up and moving, hopefully to a bigger place across town.





 Cordelia, we love watching you grow and develop into such a joyful little lady. Strangers always ask me if you're always so happy, and I shake my head in amazement, because you are so very happy. I look at you in wonder and amazement everyday and I am indescribably thankful that I get to watch you develop and grow.


We love you baby girl.