Our Christmas in a Nutshell

Happy day after Christmas! We hope you had a wonderful holiday filled with the best of everything! I am so thankful for all of you who continue to read my blog & I truly mean it, it means the world to me & your comments you share always touch my heart! What started out as an "I'm not sure if I'll make it to next tuesday with this" kinda thing turned out to be an amazing journey that I will always cherish and be able to read over and over, years & years from now. I cannot believe we are already approaching bringing in a new year! So again, Thank you from the bottom of my heart, I can't wait to see what 2014 has in store for us!

This year for Christmas we did a bunch of house hopping, and Luca's first Christmas turned out to be just how I had imagined it, magical. Here is our Christmas in a few snapshots:

xx

Happy December and Cyber Monday!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I know we did. And we ate wayyy too much, but that's a yearly tradition. I definitely didn't go out for black Friday, which has never has made any sense to me--we spend all day Thanksgiving reflecting on how thankful we are for what we already have and then come Friday trample people trying to get ten dollars off an iPod. I did indulge on some cyber Monday deals though. A few of my favorites are H&M for 40% off entire purchase & free shipping, Anthropologie for free shipping on your entire purchase, INK 361 for 35% off everything or spend $100 get $45 dollars off, and Crate&Barrel for 15% off everything & free shipping. I managed to scratch a couple of Christmas gifts off the list and then Luca and I took a nap, and that right there my friends was the real success. 

Yesterday we took family pictures for our Christmas cards. All of the photos came out SO cute, I wish we could send them all out! Luca is usually all smiles, but once you put a camera in front of him he gets completely camera shy. We did manage to get a couple half-smiles and that was good enough for me! Wishing you all a very happy first week of December, and an even more joyful holiday season! Bring on the mistle toe & eggnog! Oh, and yes, I cut all my hair off, it was time for a change :)

Movin' on Up!

Well, here it is, our very first "Home!" Sorry the picture quality is so horrible, I grabbed it off zillow because I don't have any photos of my own yet [the tenants are still occupying the place.]  Miles and I drove by and stalked the property recently, but then someone looked out the blinds and totally caught us lurking! So we bounced in a hurry and didn't get any good pictures. I will say it definitely needs some work, and lots and lots of paint, but Miles and I are up for the project! We wanted a place we could really customize to be our own. And low and behold, here she is! I can't wait to share with you all the ideas I have in store! I get giddy every time I think about it!

I always joke with Miles about the Drake song "Started at the bottom" and say Luca's version is going to go something like "Started at the top, now I'm here, started ocean front, now my whole fam moved me here" haha. Poor baby started his life on some ocean front property, and now he must move inland. But there are tons of perks to our move, so I know he'll be just fine.

Well I'm off to put the little one down for a nap, and possibly take one of my own. By the way, Luca slept entirely through the night last night! Keeping my fingers crossed that he's back on track with his schedule. 

Thank you so much for all your kind words the other day, they made me feel so much better. The best thing about motherhood is that I'm in great company with all of you! So really, thank you for all the advice and comforting notes, they reminded me why I'm so thankful for the family and friends I've been given. It takes a village to raise a child, and it comforts me to know that we're all in this together! I can't believe it's already Thursday... This daylight savings thing has got me all thrown around and in a daze, but if tomorrow is friday, who cares, right?!

Fall Bucket List

Fall is in the air! My sister dubbed it so perfectly, she exclaimed..."Falleluja!" Autumn is by far my favorite season. I love everything about it from the chunky knit sweaters to the cool crisp air to the pumpkin spice lattes or pumpkin spice anything for that matter, oh how I could go on and on. I even ordered Luca a texture book called "I Love Fall"--that is how much of a fall-fanatic I am. I cannot wait to experience the greatest time of year and all of its glorious wonders with my family. Here is my fall bucket list:

What are some of your favorite fall activities? Hope everyone has a wonderful fall-filled weekend! xo

Wood Family Montage Part Two

Once again our video clips began to compile and so I set aside a day to create chapter two of our journey as a family and this is what I came up with:

And if you didn't get enough of us already, here is a repost of part one:

Life Lately.

What has life been like lately? Simply put: Crazy. I can't believe we are at 38+ weeks and are down to counting days rather than weeks until our due date. One thing I can say for certain, I am so DONE with being pregnant! They say the last two weeks are the hardest, but I'm glad they don't give you all the gritty details or I probably would have had a mental breakdown by this point. All uncomfortableness aside, once I start having contractions, I'll probably say "Wait, I'm not ready!" But whether I'm really ready or not, very very soon this will all be over and I'll have my sweet baby boy in my arms :) 

On a side note, it has been so hot here lately! I know what you're thinking, "You live in San Diego for crying out loud! 85 degrees does not constitute heat!" I know, we San Diegans are spoiled, but in all fairness I did live in Riverside for my whole life where it was actually hot in the summers, so I've paid my dues, annnd being as extremely pregnant as I am gives me some sort of freebie to complain about the weather. What I won't complain about is the fact that the Bachelorette is on tonight! How is it that every time I write a blog it's Monday? I'm not sure, but what a happy coincidence! Since not all of you watch the Bachelorette, I'll keep my vent short and sweet. So here we go: Michael has got to go next, he's way too 'prosecutor' and annoying, and that dumb sweatband he's always wearing is lame. James is a fake, and based on how much he sweat through his dress shirt last week he should snag Michael's sweatband and they should both be voted off tonight. As for the rest, Brooks is still my fave, but Drew is growing on me. The Bachelorette is a ridiculous show and I love it. Vent over. Thank you for letting me get that out, now maybe you could offer me some tips as to how to get this kid out?

Miles and I have been homebodies lately since I can't do much going out. And I must say, as much as I am excited to feel better soon and have the ability to roam freely, I can't say I haven't truly enjoyed the time we've been spending in our home. We spent so much time turning our house into a home and it feels good to truly enjoy it. Our lease ends very soon and we will be forced to move due to space restrictions, so I want to relish in it as much as possible before we must part ways. I love our little cottage by the sea, and I will be so sad to leave it behind, but I'll be forever grateful that it was the place we first brought our baby home to because it is definitely deserving of that. Before I get too gushy over it and cry my eyes out, what I was originally trying to say was, in spending more time at home we've been productive and constructive. We saw this amazing looking drink the other day so we tried to replicate it and it was a total success. If it's hot where you live, or you just like good tasting things you should definitely give it a go. It was very simple to make, and required few ingredients. Here's the recipe:

Watermelon Agua Fresca

2 cups cold water

2 cups diced watermelon (rind and seeds removed)

2 tablespoons cane sugar

Juice of 1/2 a lime

In the blender, mix water, watermelon, sugar, and lime juice until consistency is smooth. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the mixture and allow to chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Serve over ice and enjoy!

I hope you all have a great week and hopefully I'll have some big news next time I sign on here! xoxo

It all runs together.

I was rummaging through a ton of video clips Miles and I have compiled between our two phones over the past couple of years and I came up with the idea to create a little video montage to re-cap some of what we've been doing up until now.  I was so happy with how cute it came out, this will definitely turn into an annual thing.

The past few years have been filled with moments of love, change, travel, hardships and prosperities, but most importantly they were overflowing with life and watching this makes me so grateful for the one I have.  Hope you enjoy!