Anniversary Trip

Hey ya'll!

Just stopping in after an extended break. An amazing, relaxing, and memorable break.

To start our vaction off, my husband graduated with his second Master's degree (this time an MBA), so I just had to share this family photo because we are SO proud of him!

Then, about 15 hours later, we hopped on a plane and headed to the West Coast!  We flew into San Francisco, and the very first thing I wanted to do was go to In-and-Out Burger. I've heard so many good things about this place, and my growling tummy needed to know if it lived up to the hype.

It did. $2.35 for a cheeseburger (by far the cheapest meal we had on this trip - oy) and it was supberb. Understated, simple, delicious. I will never go to Sonic again.

From there, the other extremely important thing to do whilst in San Francisco was to take a picture of what I affectionately referred to as "THAT DAMN BRIDGE" because, as I found out, it took quite the effort to find the perfect spot to take a picture. But we found it! If you're going to San Francisco, bear sure to wear some flowers in your hair and also go to Presidio Park.

Could this sky BE any bluer? (Make sure you read that with a Chandler Bing inflection)

There's Alcatraz! We didn't go there because they said Sean Connery was busy so I felt like it wasn't worth it.

 With just a few hours before I would turn into a pumpkin (aka I was on east coast time and gotten up up 3:30am, so I was exhausted) we decided to be tourists and go down to Pier 39.

We had dinner at Neptune's because they didn't have a wait, had great views, and the menu looked delish. Unfortunately, it was probably my least favorite meal of our entire trip, and the service was piss poor. However, this was our only bad dining experience throughout the week, so NBD.

The sun was just setting as we made our way back to the car, so I snapped one last shot (of the over 800 I took on this trip). This town is pretty damn beautiful. And that ended Day 1, but don't worry, the wine, I mean, the rest of our trip will be recapped in the next few days :-)

Ummmm....

So in less than 48 hours, I will be sitting in a steel terror-box (also known as an airplane), on my way to see the following things (and more):

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where My Hormones At?

Sunday, May 11th was a milestone of sorts. In addition to being Mother's Day and Anna's birthday party, that day saw the end of the era.

It was the day that I nursed Anna for the last time. I knew the time was coming, and I'm glad I knew it would be the last time, but I couldn't help making a sad face.

I officially nursed Anna for the first year of her life. She had formula only two times in her whole life- once in the hospital after her surgery (they thought breastmilk would be too much for her belly) and once about a month ago when I had completely gone through my freezer stash and had no milk to send to daycare.

I'm nowhere near the camp of "Breastfeeding is the one and only way and moms who don't breastfeed are the worst." Nah. I'm in the camp of "Do what works best for your baby and for you." I'm impressed when I hear that any woman even tries to breastfeed, because it is so hard at times, and I wouldn't fault anyone for not trying it or sticking with it if it didn't work out.

However, I'm pretty damn proud of myself for making it this long. When Anna was sick, there was this big part of me that felt like it was my own way of healing her. Not because I think it's some magic formula, but because nursing always seemed to calm and comfort Anna better than anything else could. I felt so helpless, and there were so many smart doctors around us that made me feel useless at times, so in a small way I felt that nursing was something that no one else could do for her, and it kept me going.

I also realized that for the last 4 years, I've had an insane amount of hormones going through my body. Beginning in May 2010, I've either been pregnant, post-partum, or breastfeeding. I once heard that when a woman is pregnant, she has more hormones running through her body than any other time in her life. I totally believe this. Much the same can be said about breastfeeding. Think about all the hormones that have to be swirling around in there to produce milk. Like, when I actually sit and think about it, I can't think about it. It's mind boggling. I don't get how it works. Biology, man.

Anyway, I am very happy that I made it to the goal of one year. Nursing and pumping certainly was not easy. I could never be away from her for long because I had such a small freezer stash built up. Lugging my pump and pump parts to work every day wasn't fun, especially on those few days when I forgot the parts and had to make the 1-hour round trip back home to get them so I didn't get mastitis or clogged ducts.

So today, for the first time in a very long time, my body is not responsible for sustaining another human life. Kinda weird. I thought I would feel different, but it's about the same. No crazy mood swings. No tears. No sudden drop in appetite (I really hope that part gets itself figured out, because I sure do miss burning those extra 500 calories a day!)

I was ready. She was ready. The part that I will miss the most is how snuggly she always was after she nursed, but, mercifully, she is still super cuddly and snuggly, so I know I still have a least a few more days of that left.

And conveniently, I'm off to Napa Valley in 3 days, so if I want to drink more than 1 glass of wine, I officially can.

 

You Are My Sunshine

This weekend, we celebrated Anna's 1st birthday with our family. Because I love themed parties, I chose a "You Are My A Sunshine" theme, because it's the song I sing to her every night before bed. It's also a very easy theme, since it pretty much only entails yellow and orange decorations and food. Easy peasy. Just the way this mom likes it.

The happy birthday girl!

My super adorable nephew Leo

 

The best cupcakes in all the land

Leo's beautiful mama, my sister-in-law Lindsay

 Why do my children hate sweets??!?!?!?! I don't get it. I'm 2/2 on them hating birthday cake.

She did try to eat Jon's finger, so there's that.

Those eyes.

My other beautiful sis-in-law

Moments later, she threw it on the ground. I give up.

 

 

Anna and Grandma Bev!

Birthday girl just wanted graham crackers, so we granted her this birthday wish. 

Pure bliss.