Oh, HOT damn ...

The forcast for the news 10-days here in Northern California calls for sun, sun, and more sun. The highs range from 99-104 degrees. 104?! Our Washingtonian bodies are taking their sweet time acclimating to this new, dry, ever increasing California heat. To think, we complained when the thermometer hit the 90's in August. Now I'm thankful for the littlest bit of cloud overhead, or when the weather app on my phone is wrong and it only gets up to 88, or when the pool in empty and Eleanor and I can have it all to ourselves. Its the little things in life really. I've never gone through so much sunscreen.

But we've figured out ways to keep ourselves cool. As I mentioned the pool is always a good one. We're lucky enough to have two provided by our apartment complex, one of which is right by our building. when there aren't too many other kids in the pool we spend an hour or so relaxing and floating to our hearts content. A poolside lunch is always a plus too.

Elenaor's other favorite way to beat the heat is by having Nakie Days. She gets to run around in her diaper or little shorts. Wish this was socially acceptable for me, but alas I dug out all my shorts and tank tops instead. We did enjoy a few movie days in front of a big box fan. Eleanor is becoming a fan of Disney -I think it's all the animals.

We had a nice suprise yesterday actually when Gavin came home a few hours early form work to spend some time with his girls. We enjoyed a family dinner at Smash Burger -a burger joint that I'm hoping will expand to Washington one day. Gavin and I are doing our best to eat healthier, and bun-less burgers are one of our favorite ways to cut a few calories. I didn't think Gavin would like it at first, but there's no bread to soak up all the delicious burger juices so there's a lot more flavor to enjoy. Then we did a little shopping where Gavin and Eleanor had a few good father daughter bonding moments.

Eleanor and Gavin in the cigar room at Total wine. (Above: Gavin found an Eleanor sized wine cup and she loved it.)

We also had a nice visit with Grandpa Pete and Grandma Karen last weekend. They were on a road trip and realized they would be about 20 minutes form us, so they swung by and hung out with me and Eleanor for a few hours in the afternoon. Of course no visitor can leave without breakfast at Mary's Gold Miner Cafe, so the kiddo and I joined them for breakfast the next morning as well. (Unfortunately, Gavin wasn't able to see them due to his work schedule.)

We had an otherwise chill 10 days since the last post. It rained a little yesterday, which felt so good. When it rains here we get these little sidewalk visitors all over. I took a picture as I was walking the dog this morning. Just a little something to enjoy until our next post.

Weekly Update: The rest of the Fam Bam

Eleanor's milestone aside, it was an eventful week for the rest of the family too. We celebrated Gavin's 25th birthday and Mother's Day. And because Gavin and I are both horrible at waiting for the special day to give presents, it was more of a Birthday/Mother's Day-week in our house.

Family photo on Gavin's 25th Birthday!

I made it myself ... kinda.

We celebrated Gavin's birthday a day early due to his work schedule. We spent Thursday morning being lazy and hanging out. Gavin actually surprised me with breakfast and Starbucks and we had some good family time. Birthday lunch was at BJ's Brewery before we dropped Eleanor off to Sarah for some bonding while we went to see Avengers: Age of Ultron -which was A-mazing! We followed that up with a nice homemade dinner and an intense conversation about the Marvel Universe, Joss Whedon not being involved with the next Avengers movie, the overall awesomeness of both Joss and Marvel, and the correct order of the Marvel films (for which I found an awesome infographic that displays the timeline and cleared up any disagreements). Since Gavin isn't a huge fan of cake, we had Birthday Brownies and I sang happy birthday.

Friday was Gavin's actual birthday and we celebrated with a birthday Breakfast at Mary's Gold Miner Cafe, which is our favorite spot in Folsom so far. Eleanor and I gave Gavin his presents over a few days, because I'm really bad at keeping them to myself. He may have picked out the KC sweats I bought him, but I think he was happily surprised with the latest Vikings and SOA seasons, and the new wire BBQ skewers I found -which look really cool and I can't wait for him to use!

Zoodle/squoodle combo with shrimp

 Our Mother's Day celebration started earlier in the week when Gavin gave me the spiral slicer I've been saying I wanted. If you don't know what that it, its a neato contraption that turns unsuspecting veggies into noodles -among other things. so far I've made zoodles (zucchini noodles) and squoodles (summer squash noodles). Just spiralize, saute, then toss with some sauce and you're good to go! I'm pretty excited about all the possibilities; I'm making sweet potato "nests" tonight.

Mother's Day gifts <3

Moving on, Gavin was a good spoiler all week, surprising me with Starbucks and breakfast most mornings, and spreading the gifts out over a couple of days -seriously, waiting until Christmas morning is sometimes brutal for us. Haha! My loot contained Marvel movies because we're nerdy like that, a new cookbook, and a beautiful bougainvillea plant. I also got to go shopping by myself! Ive wanted an herb garden for a while, so I picked up some thyme, basil, and rosemary to start, and a nice big pot to plant them in. Oh, and a hummingbird feeder that I'm very excited about too. Christina surprised me with a Starbucks gift card in my inbox. She understands my need for afternoon pick-me-ups.

We hope all the mothers, step-mothers, almost-mothers, and mothers-to-be were celebrated last Sunday (and every other day)! I never really understood what being a mother encompassed until I was one, and I discover new things about myself as a mother every day. I'm honored to have two amazing mothers in my life who helped mold me into the mother I am, just as I'm fortunate to have a fiance and daughter who love me as much as they do.

Happy (belated) Mother's Day and Happy (belated) Birthday Gavin!   

Me and my kids on Mother's Day.

Daddy's Girl For Sure

It's seems a bit stereotypical, but Miss Eleanor is definitely a Daddy's girl (except for the hours of 11-3 when she likes to fuss for him. Haha!) Gavin and Eleanor are so cute together and it took about .04 seconds after she was born before she had him wrapped around her little finger. He dances with her, sings to her, and would hold her forever if possible. Their father-daughter bond makes for some super adorable photo ops and I hope you find it as cute as I do (though I'm a bit bias).

On a quick side note, Eleanor had a doctor appointment not too long ago. She  now weighs 9lbs 14.5 oz., which is exactly 3 lbs more than the day she was born. As for Eleanor's reflux, the doctor decided that since she is gaining weight and very healthy, she is not going to put her on medication for the problem. Otherwise, our baby girl is perfect. :)

Just a few hours after Eleanor was born.

Asleep in the hospital.

Sleep on the couch (for the millionth time).

Hanging with Dad at dinner.

Asleep just a few nights ago.

First Daddy feeding time.

Oh, how parenthood changes you.

Pre-Eleanor I was not a baby person -I'm still not really a baby person, so I'm pretty sure this only applies to my kid- but now I find the littlest things super adorable and get really excited about the weirdest things. Gavin on the other hand has always been a baby person, so it came as no surprise that he is all baby talk and tickles with Eleanor.

Then last night I heard the funniest thing. I had asked Gavin to use the snot sucker to get a boogey out of Eleanor's nose. Then the following happened:

Gavin: "Oh! That was a big one! We got a big booger! We got a really big booger! We ... I hate myself ...".
Me: "What do you hate?" (I had just walked into the room)
Gavin: "I just got excited about a booger ... I'm that guy *large sigh*"

Hahaha! The look on his face was hilarious, caught somewhere between defeat and amusement. Poor guy. Then I reminded him that I had the same problem. I get excited about sneezes and dirty diapers and smiles that aren't really directed at me, though I pretend they are.

Morning snuggles with Daddy.

Picture post! Eleanor's first 10 days.

I've been slacking a little on my blog posts -having a baby takes up a bit of time. Lol. So to kick start the blogging again, I though you might enjoy seeing a few pictures of Eleanor's first few days in our world. Enjoy!