A Belated Easter Post

I figure if I'm too slack to blog regularly that the least I can do is acknowledge major holidays.

With that said, we're not religious. I grew up with my super thoughtful Mama dyeing eggs with me and filling an antique Easter basket with goodies for me to find, but I've never partaken in Lent, Good Friday, Passover or any of the other religious celebration associated with this time of year.

Neither has Hubs, so he looked at me like I had two heads when I bought an Easter basket with a bespoke lining for The Boy and announced that we were having my mom and step-dad over for Easter lunch.

"It's not for us heathens," I told him, "it's so that The Boy can have Easter memories like I did." Hubs rolled his eyes, I ordered a Honeybaked Ham.

So two weeks ago I picked up our ham, the following day I deviled some eggs(a gigantic failure) and made some Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes with Peter Rabbit(Peta Bunny) cups and toppers(marginal success) and fixed some Asparagus with Morels and Tarragon on Easter Sunday(enormous success), and The Boy's 3rd Easter was a success.

Here are some pictures.

The Boy after finding his Easter basket for the first time

My credenza looking as fancy and domestic as I can make anything look which, let's face it, isn't very fancy and domestic.

The completed cupcakes with their supercute cups and toppers

The Boy enjoying a cupcake

My family - including bump but missing Cat

Cat napping instead with my step-dad.

And The Boy being cool with his feminine side as we play outside after dinner.

We're Still Here!

A job change, a move(only 2 blocks from our old place, but still a pain) and half a pregnancy, well, I'm more than half now, have left me less inclined to blog than I have been the last few months - which isn't really all that inclined.

So in lieu of writing a long post about our new house, new room for The Boy and New Baby, here are some pics of us getting out and acting like humans this past weekend. We went into Santa Monica to have lunch with some friends and The Boy loved it!

Here he is walking with my friends, being super cute.

And here he is trying to climb the ancient concrete fence guarding pedestrians in the park from a gigantic fall down the cliffs.

Farewell, Vancouver!

Almost 7 years ago, Hubs and I left our life in London behind when we hopped on a plane to Vancouver. We had no friends and no job prospects, only a few suitcases and a bit of optimism.

A month later Hubs was offered a job. He took it, and has kept it until now. He attempted to resign 3 years ago, when we moved back to my native California to have The Boy, but they convinced Hubs to stick with them and work from home. So, with the exception of occasional trips back up to Vancouver, Hubs has worked just a matter of feet from The Boy and I.

It's been awesome! At the first sight pearly buds in The Boy's gums I was able to yell up to Hubs, "I think I see teeth!" and Hubs could come down to see for himself, instead of trudging through a commute then being too tired to care when he got home. Same with The Boy's first tentative steps and words. We've been so incredibly lucky to have Hubs working from home.

But back to Vancouver. I ever totally took to it. I made friends, but not good ones. I worked but never found anything I could see myself making a career out of. I studied and wrote, but didn't manage to produce much or substantially further my education.

Still, it was a gorgeous place. I happily traded the pubs of London for the coffee shops of Vancouver. I loved the weather and looking north to see the mountains. I loved that it was so much smaller and more manageable than London and LA.

So here is a brief photo recap of our time in Vancouver.

We lived there with my beloved Cat before Cat. She came with me to college then lived with Hubs and I in San Francisco then, after spending our London years at my dad's house, she joined Hubs and I in Vancouver.

I took a Russian class at UBC and this was the view on my way home

And speaking of home, here was the view from our little apartment

I went to work in the snow - here's a self portrait of me waiting for the bus

When not working I spent most of my time at my local coffee shop

Vancouver was the place where Hubs proposed, The Boy was conceived and where we first acknowledged adulthood. Sort of. In our mid-30's.

Now we're in our late 30's and beginning a new chapter in our lives as Hubs works his last day for his Canadian company today. Who knew that when, almost exactly 3 years ago, we packed up our little Kitsilano apartment and drove through snowy Vancouver for the last time as we began the long drive down the 5(99 in Canada), that I would get so worked up about leaving? Again.

So I'm kind of teary and eternally grateful for what Vancouver has given our little family, but on to bigger and better things, and farewell, Vancouver!

Two and a half!

The Boy is two and a half years old today.

He loves trucks and his Thomas train set but still gives his stuffed buddies hugs and kisses. He's not so good at the soccer but rocks his Gymboree activities. His vocabulary is gigantic and he wields it in remarkable ways - "I love (stuffed)Kitty and I love Cat, but Kitty is mine and Cat is your so you love Cat." "Can you read this book(for the 500th time in a row)? Oh yes you can read it, yes, yes, yes, mmhmmmm." "I need some cookies because I want them and I need them, okay?" He is 37 inches tall and getting skinnier everyday. He says "please" every once in a while and "thank you" all the time.

I am so incredibly proud of you my love and cannot believe you're already two and a half.

A Legoland Photobomb

On Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, we went to Legoland before heading home. The Boy went on his first ride but refused his first face painting. He loved Duplo Village but was kind of afraid of the Lego Man. He loved the airplane ride but was still too little for the littlest of the car rides. Next time.

Requisite shot of The Boy stuffing his face with a croissant.

Christmas in California

My dad stated several months ago that he didn't want to spend Christmas at home. The boys and I were spending this Christmas with him, my best friend/brother was coming home from India and Dad just wanted to devote the day to spending time with us rather than running around in the kitchen.

His first thought was to go to Tahoe but then he decided on the beach. Carlsbad it was!

We arrived at our hotel and waited for our rooms to be ready in lounge whose fireplace belied the sunny and warm California day outside. Here is The Boy waiting with his uncle.

Once we checked in we discovered a playground which was literally right outside our window. The Boy had to investigate.

After the playground we wandered out to watch the sunset.

After dinner with Grandpa, Uncle and step-Grandma we went for a walk through town before returning to our room and opening a single present before going to bed - a tradition from my childhood. The Boy was ecstatic to unwrap some Thomas trains and some track.

Christmas morning we found a bung of Duplo blocks, raisins and a little soccer player in The Boy's stocking, a Razor scooter(also from Santa) and some more Thomas stuff - Including Percy. Percy is The Boy's favorite.

After breakfast(strawberry and cream cheese stuffed French toast, TYVM) we went back to the hotel, where Dad claimed the public fireplace as our own... and we sat to open presents.Here's my 3rd favorite person in the world opening a photo album I made for him of pics from a trip we took... 18 years ago.

And all of us in front of the fire.

Then we went for a walk on the beach. Here's my crippled self stuck up on the boardwalk.

And The Boy in his Santa hat(thanks Dad) on the beach with Hubs and his uncle

Then we took the requisite family shots up on the cliff.

Christmas dinner whilst watching the sunset was the perfect ending to a pretty perfect Christmas.

In case I don't say it enough, and I don't think I've ever said it on here, I absolutely love my state.

Happy New Year!

Or belated Happy New Year. As tradition dictates, we spent January 31st at home, cuddling and giving The Boy a bath before bedtime. Born out of necessity/timing The Boy's first NYE, we bathed him last NYE(and took pictures) because it was what we had done the previous year. We did the same this year, but this year was tinged with a palpable bittersweetness - there's only another year or 2 left of this funny little tradition, and that breaks my heart.

Anyways, here's what this year's NYE bath time looked like: