Sienna's milestone and other great moments in Notteland

In July Laura, Marcus and Nico came to visit. We had fun road trips everyday to Santa Cruz, Gilroy Gardens and Coyote Point. We even turned the backyard into a camping site and roasted marshmallows after making a huge rocketship. Sienna watched on happily, not being able to crawl yet, but taking it all in.  It was awesome to spend time with my childhood bestie! Sienna, thankfully already has a bestie to confide to, her name is Lucy.

The next weekend Sienna and I did our very first girls trip. We flew to Colorado to help throw Paige and Kyle's baby shower. Sienna was the perfect party companion-she slept in the ergo and upon waking dazzled all my Colorado friends with her huge blue eyes. Everyone in Colorado looked amazing and it was so awesome to introduce my little darlin' to them and spend time catching up.

In August she was getting mobile, but not yet crawling. After months of visitors, she finally got back into her room and easily slept through the night after just two very short night segments of Ferbering. Although she loved eating everything I gave her, there were no teeth in site. Cody was a pro at being the big bro. It would be months later that he took a little fall from grace, but now he's back on track being safe and gentle to his lil sis.

In the beginning of August we went on our first family plane vacation all together to Kaui'i and Oahu. Sienna loved the water in her floatie and even took a small wave to the face and stayed upright. She was a trooper getting sunscreened up every five minutes. We got to spend a lot of great family time together, especially since the kids were on CA time and woke starting at 4:30 am. Thankfully, Aunt Rita and Uncle Tom joined the fun and Greg and I got to enjoy a great Napali Coast hike, some beach time and dinner with an old friend. Mahalo!

The fun kept coming this summer, that's why I didn't get to post. It was non stop action. On August 20th, Sienna and Cody welcome their newest cousin Keegan to their world. We can't wait to meet him in person and I've so lucky to be his godmother!!!

September was a BIG month. Besides going camping for the first time with Cody's friends Devin and Seanie and their cool parents at nearby Memorial Park, Sienna started crawling...fast! She did her first crawl moves with Nanny Marilyn who nannyshared for us and Lucy, Sienna's best friend, while Shirley's Daycare was closed. The two girls had a ball hanging out here, strolling in my friend's loaner double stroller and listening to music. These girls got moves, wild hair, bright eyes, hearty appetites and enjoy each other's company everyday!

What's fall in California without some a Napa wine harvest weekend? And fun we had that September 20th weekend! For Barb's 60th birthday surprise we met up with Jon, Trish, Jen, Jim, Rita and Tom at V. Sattui Winery. John and Barb showed up there a little later in their RV they had been enjoying and needless to say, the surprise was a big success. Sienna and Cody shared in the fun by wearing their Barb's Bash T-shirts and together we went to wineries down low (V. Sattui, Sequoia Grove, and Lava Vine) and way up high (Sterling and the adult only bash at Castillo de Amarosa.)

 A couple of weekends ago (October 7th) we used Cody's school field trip to Lemo's Pumpkin Farm in Half Moon Bay as a reason to keep traveling along Highway 1 to Monterey for an extended weekend. As you can see Sienna now at 9 months easily pulled herself up to standing. She was still enjoying everything we gave her sans teeth. Some favorite foods include mangos, puffs, cheerios, pears, peeled grapes, oatmeal with bananas and yogurt. She's pictured here standing up in a tunnel exploring the fish at the Monterey Aquarium. Below we're all hanging out at McWay Falls near Big Sur.

Prices at Lemos were not going to cut it. So on the way home from Monterey we stopped at a real farm near Salinas and, as you can see above, they had BIG pumpkins. We brought home several, including an 80 pounder. Cody and Sienna loved hanging in the wagon and enjoying the sunshine as always.

 So now we're back up to speed. It's Monday October 21st, my dad's/Poppa's birthday and Sienna was close to perfect. After all of us being sick last week, she was back to sleeping through the night. She had nailed the wave and people melted near and far (grandparents especially via FaceTime) as she eagerly waved, clapped hands and blocks together. She loves making and listening to music. I didn't mention earlier, but she is a talker (like mama) and singer. Though dada and maaaaaaaaa are two favorite words, she also has a deep belly laugh that we've all been able to pretty easily get out of her.

Back to her one imperfection...her hair was CRAZY! I tried each day to barrette it, bow it, wet it, but it didn't take this Cali blondie long to lose all accessories and have to see through her wisps. So last night our friend Christie gave Sienna her first haircut focusing only where she needed it-bangs. Now she looks awesome and eerily similar to her Aunt Mandy's look several years ago when she cut short bangs too. Just to top it off, since she knew I was finally getting around to updating the blog with her many milestones, she decided to stand on her own for a moment or two with Greg while he was playing forts and T-Rex with Cody. This was the 2nd time she's done that (first was with me at a beach south of Monterey.) Now she's a FAST crawler, following each of us around the house and pulling up to standing to get a better view, unless we're near the table, then it's a crawl underneath to look for fallen Cheerios.

Sizzlin' Summer Bday & Back East Trip

 Cody's birthday party was intense...ly successful! We had what seemed like a billion children in our backyard playing with playdough, running around and enjoying a live animal show. We now joke that it was a party to remember for years to come...seriously he'll have to remember this one for years because we'll never plan such a big event again :) That morning he got his big boy bike and is cruising on it super well.

 The next weekend we took the redeye back east and arrived in Utica. It was fun to play outside and we always enjoy about 3000 more calories per day of great Utica food. We also got to see the Gaetanos at Kate's house. One of my favorite moments of that night was Tim and I catching Ben and Cody reading a story together on his trampoline. Priceless!

Then my rents drove us to Greg's rents in Pottstown. We had a great Turkish dinner made by John that night. Then we visited with Oma on Tuesday and went to Strasburg Railroad on Wednesday. Wednesday night Greg and I went out for a great anniversary dinner at Birchrunville Store Cafe- so yummy! Throughout this whole time it rained and like Pep used to say-Cody got to hear "the angels bowling" during cool summer thunderstorms. Then on the 4th of July no rain! And the Nottes threw a big family BBQ. It was great to catch up and watch all the kids play T-ball and slip n slide.
 

 Friday we had a great time- so great I didn't take even a moment away to take a pic unfortunately! We drove to Jersey and our friends Mike and Cindy and their cute baby Landon hosted us and the now east coast Goldfarbs at their neighborhood lake. We had a blast swimming, BBQing and catching up. Saturday we went to Cody's favorite-Please Touch Museum then Greg flew home. Sunday we met up with Jon and Trish back in the city again and had fun pretending we lived amongst dinosaurs at the Natural Sciences Museum. Again, I'm bummed I didn't take many pictures! Monday, me and the kids flew to Nashville.

 It actually was an okay flight even though Sienna had pooped on me before take off. But my friend Michael Moy told me to always pack extra clothes for both kids and adults so once airborne we both got changed and it was all good...well that is until the Ipad crashed on Cody-but he napped and all was well. Noah and Asa picked us up. And that evening we hit the town square's water fountains to cool off. This whole trip it was around 95 with 100 humidity! Sizzlin'!! I'm so glad we got to see the Ashley's home in Bowling Green. I even saw Mandy's almost complete new practice! It's going to be great! On Wednesday Mandy, Sienna and I did a two mile historical tour of Mammouth Caves while Noah watched Asa and Cody become Junior Rangers. Sabi was a perfect princess in her dresses and Wyatt loved Sienna right from the start.

Asa was very proud of himself for helping Sienna to sit up all by herself. Now she can do that without falling down. She also started eating rice cereal with bananas. She's growing up so fast! The kids did great on the two flights back and we even got to see Paige briefly (that's another story) during our delayed layover in Denver. She looks amazing with only one month left before baby Schmidt joins her/his five other cousins. Hopefully we'll all get together next year around this time. I'm trying to promote a Montana trip. Next up Laura and her kids are coming in on Wednesday. Man, summer is non stop action packed fun. With all this action it felt pretty great to be still at yoga this morning for just an hour then it's back to it-this time it was a dino theme Cody friend party. Ahh namaste and goodnight.

Sienna's Milestones

So I went back to work May 1st with a lot of assistance from our parents, a nanny friend, and Gilead nannies. We were able to achieve our goal of keeping Sienna out of daycare for those short 6 weeks until summer vacation. My parents came out on my mom's birthday. (Cody had quite the difficult but funny (kindof :) time trying to keep her birthday cake a surprise!) It was the first time Poppa met Sienna in person. They enjoyed many walks together. We went to Greg's softball tourney and the classic Santa Cruz Boardwalk. The last weekend they were here was the first the Greg's rents were here too. So it seemed fitting to have Sienna's naming ceremony when both grandparents could attend. Barb organized the program and John put it all together in a sweet booklet and we spent a great afternoon at the beach in Half Moon Bay. We finally bought one of those cool beach tents that's opened on one side. It proved quite handy since it was sunny and windy at the beach. We came home and had a nice big Italian dinner then Nana and Poppa took the red eye home. Grammie and Pops took the next week and had fun with the kids all over town. The following weekend we all rented a mini van and drove up to our friend's wedding in Redding. This couple met at our wedding! It was at a beautiful ranch in Northern California. During the day we got to walk to a waterfall, Greg jumped in of course. Then we kayaked at Whiskeytown Lake. Summer had begun!

Both sets of grandparents said that Sienna was so close to rolling over on her tummy while they were here, but the very day after Grammie and Pops left (on Memorial Day) she did in front of Greg! She also moved into her own room and now the co sleeper is all packed up for Paige's baby. My friend Jillian and her daughter watched Sienna for the next three weeks. The girls got along quite well-both love talking, taking walks, listening to music, and playing outside. So going back to work was a pretty smooth transition and we're so thankful for all the love, care, and support from our family and friends.

Another Sienna milestone was back in early May she started laughing. She has a funny, deep belly laugh. She loves her baths and has been swimming a couple of times at our friend's pool in the most fabulously cute swimsuits.She recently started to really love her Johnny jump up swing which is so fabulous during dinner time! We fondly remembered Cody jumping his way through months of Greg and I enjoying our dinner. (Side note-Cody is king of saying Grace- he must take after Grammie, Paige and Kyle. It's a nice tradition he's started for our family dinners, if only the peace would continue after he's finished eating and Greg and I are talking about our days ;) Speaking of food, Sienna's very close to cutting through her two bottom teeth and in the last two weeks-very interested in food. So with her doc's approval I got the rice cereal and here we go again.
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Ahhh it's 2 and after some struggle with Cody I got both napping! Sienna's a total predictable napper. She does her morning at 9 then afternoon around 1-2 in her crib or on the road. Cody still needs a nap, especially after his swim lesson this morning, but tries to be the master manipulator to stall it almost every time. It's funny he just finally fell asleep in the hallway on the ground. (Which is also his m o at bedtime too recently.) At daycare they sleep on the ground on mats so I guess that's most familiar to him. Whatever it takes I say! Now I have time for this and I've been in full on birthday party mode for his Sunday festivities. I finally got a Costco membership in preparation and have to say I left there with a shopping buzz-it was extraordinary!

Yes it's summer! It's nice not to have grad class or anything but hanging out with the kids, working out, and enjoying family fun days. We've been lucky to have many family friend fun days with the Goldfarbs and this weekend will be their last on the left coast. Cody is happily taking take of their fish in his new fish tank, but definitely will miss Josh, Susan, Abby (now I'm confused-I think they may be the wrong spelling again-man!) and Jake. Our good friend Cherie is moving too. Both are moving to places, Jersey and Colorado, that we visit often so although we won't see each other at Josh's regular weekend BBQs, we'll meet up on our yearly trips. Well back to party planning. It's going to be wild!!!

Colorado dreamin'

Just uploaded my pictures of great times in Colorado and thankfully Paige already helped me out with more photos of family and friends. We had a great time hanging with the old gang-it's been seven years since we moved!!! Paige and Kyle were outstanding hosts in their beautiful house, Brooke, Mike and Mavis shared their birthday celebration while we were there and catching up with Ellen and Jarrod about their travels was awesome. It always feels like home in Colorado. We showed Cody and Sienna where we got married in Boulder. Then went to the Hill (where CU students are) and I realized how much older I am compared to the girls in their super short skirts. We had fun at the Denver Zoo and got in the ol favorite Thai Basil for dinner on Friday. Both kids did great on the flight out. The flight back both Sienna and I were a little off-she a little fussy, me super head cold, but all in all it was fine and a great trip. I'm already looking forward to coming back in July. One of Mike's friends said we should stay longer and of course we'd love to- we were talking about how it would be great to spend a week there and be able to go to the mountains, spend time with the gang and also meet up with other old friends and see Greg's professor. So much fun to had and so many more trips to be planned.

Sienna will be three months old tomorrow! She's a great girl- loves to talk and grab things. She's a good sleeper and she loves looking at people's silly faces-especially her big bro's. Sienna and I have been busy evolving the back room to become her room/guest room. We got a new desk, curtains and rearranged furniture and pictures. We also have been doing yoga and baby boot camp together. You gotta love the one picture of Sienna where she has total Greg face, otherwise I think she might have a little me in her. There's also a picture of her at her doc visit. She did great and is a total Gaynor girl baby- aka huge in the weight department. I'm so happy to have this time to hang and bond with her. She's fell into an awesome routine. We wake and help get Cody off to school. Cody often gives her the Poly Vitamin drops. Then I give her massage and do yoga while I pump. Then nap in her crib. Then outside walk to Whole Foods or we've been meeting up with a new friend and her baby daughter at the reservoir. Hopefully bestie baby Lucy will attend Shirley's with her in the fall. Then in the afternoons we've tried to prep some yummy dinners (I cooked fish myself for the first time with rave reviews!) and inbetween we've been looking at houses-though the market here is absolutely, positively crazy! Thankfully we really still like the house we're renting now.

Cody ripped it skiing in Tahoe like a champ. The snow was the best ever. With a little nanny help, Greg and I got in two awesome days and took Cody out both mornings then a third day of fun skiing and sledding too. The Tahoe Seasons Resort was a great family place to stay slopeside. We'll be back. Easter was fun too. We had a little brunch with our neighbors and the kids did a hunt. We also realized there is a capacity for Cody and chocolate and we pushed it a little bit too far-whoops! Lesson learned :)  The whole family has joined the Y and together we can swim (not Sienna yet-there's free child watch.)  It feels good to get back into shape. I've been working with a trainer there and this summer there's lots of fun activities for Cody. He'll start back with swim lessons in May too. Cody has been super cute parroting me as a mommy to Sienna. He does everything I do with his baby Diego. It's pretty sweet. He's totally in the why phase and is curious about everything. We've had lots of fun on our mommy field trip weekly dates when I've pulled him out of daycare. This month it's Thursdays and this Thursday we'll meet up with some friends at Curiodyssey. Hopefully they'll still be selling the cool mobiles for Sienna's room.

Well taxes are almost done. The new desk is almost complete. Grad school is almost over for this semester. Sadly so is maternity leave, but we've finalized great care for Sienna when I go back to work. With a combination or Greg, grandparents, Gilead's nanny service and my co op friend Sienna will be loved and cared for during the day until school's out of summer. Then the real fun starts! We'll be visiting everyone and camping and going to Hawaii. And sometime in all of this I'll know what I'm doing in the fall. Hopefully it's the same gig, but we're waiting on funding to be finalized.