Going Home

At the end of July, I went home to Southern California for the first time in almost two years. I cannot believe it had been that long. But, with buying and remodeling a house and then a very restricted pregnancy, there was just never time to make the trip down. My parents come up north almost once a month, but thanks to my brother's fiance's bridal shower in her hometown, I finally had a reason and the opportunity to visit!

Originally, it was just going to be E and I, but at the last minute B was able to get the time off. We had a complete blast!

We ate our way through town. There were so many places I've been missing! Most importantly, I introduced E to some real Mexican food. I love living in  Norcal, but the Mexican food up here does NOT compare!

We also enjoyed a lunch on the beach and E got her first "walk" in the sand and her first up close glimpse at the ocean. I was pleasantly surprised that she reacted so enthusiastically. She got really excited as soon as we made our way on to the beach and was just mesmerized by it all. 

 Two very long time friends just had their first babies and I was chomping at the bit to hold those beautiful girls! Baby Q and baby T did not disappoint. It was just a dream to see my childhood friends as mommies.

E mostly seemed oblivious to baby Q, that is until I lifted her up to see and she tried to grab Q's eyeball!

 So fun to see the brand new baby and the brand new Mommy! 

Baby Q at just 11 days old! She is the teeniest little angel baby. I could have held her all day long. I was also so excited to see Auntie K's new house. Absolutely gorgeous! I also could have just stayed there all day!

 The next day we traveled to Auntie A's new house in Los Angeles. It was so fun to see. Baby T is on the right. My naked baby felt right at home and both girls made themselves quite comfortable there. We made a whole day of it and I really enjoyed catching up with my girlfriends. We are hoping Auntie A gives them a cousin soon!

Of course the reason for our trip was to attend Auntie S's bridal shower. She is from such a beautiful little town in the Santa Barbara wine country. It was a gorgeous day and a lovely shower. It was a little warm, and definitely wore E out. She took a good nap while we had a little after-shower wine tasting at the wedding venue!

We reconnected with some old neighbors whose kids used to babysit me and my brother. They now have big kids of their own. E met several of them, and had fun playing with the baby of the family, K. He let her borrow his push car and we laughed until we cried watching E convulse with excitement when we pushed her in this thing. It was just precious. 

E's schedule was nowhere to be found all week and she did great. Slept like a champ and just absolutely loved being out and about. There were several late dinners, long drives and days where she was in and out of the car seat twenty times. This girl loves to socialize and I'm so glad because we had a blast. It was a great, much needed trip!