September - A month of celebrations!
Wow – what a month! I decided to take the first week of the month off of work to “rest”. But if everyone knows me, resting was something that never happened. Labor Day weekend my mom and I cleaned our carpets (both houses). This is something we like to do a couple of times a year, and it usually involves a holiday weekend with warm weather. Check! We decided to treat ourselves to a pedicure on Wednesday after all of that hard work – which was very much deserved.
That same afternoon I received a phone call from Bronwyn letting me know she scheduled her induction. She was STILL pregnant with no changes AND a week overdue! I planned to get a good night sleep Wednesday night in order to be at the hospital nice and fresh the next day. I scheduled a little breakfast date with Jodi for Thursday morning and planned to leave around noon with plenty of time to be there to support Bronwyn and her labor & delivery. Well, around 1:30am my phone rang and who was it?! Yes, Bronwyn letting me know she was on her way to the hospital in labor. So, up I jumped out of bed and I was shortly on my way to Sacramento’s Sutter Memorial Hospital. After a few hours of waiting, some magazine reading, chatting and a very large coffee – Bayliss Joseph Brunacini was born!! And he was well worth the wait and the lost sleep. J Congrats Brunacini’s!
The next day my mom, Tristan and I were off to Ripon to help cousin Tiffany set-up for her wedding. It was very nice to see everything come together beautifully and (hopefully) exactly the way she wanted it. The next day was the wedding and after a little unexpected thunder and lightning storm in the morning hours, the day could not have been nicer. Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Russell!
The following weekend we met Grandma and Grandpa Ware at Villa Toscano Winery for lunch, some wine tasting and to celebrate Grandpa Ware’s 60th Birthday! While we were getting ready to leave I was walking around taking some photo’s (Matt said I was “snooping”) when one of the men who worked there asked if I wanted to go inside their production room. Of course! Why would I turn down an offer like that? So, I got my own little private tour of the production room and a nice, simple explanation of how the grapes go from the vine to the bottle. I guess my “snooping” paid off! I posted the photo’s from my little tour for you to see.
During the week Uncle Bryan was down visiting from Oregon and Matt was on business travel for 3 whole days. He got to visit rainy (again) Louisville, KY and comfortable Jackson Hole, WY. While he was traveling, I rescheduled my breakfast date with Jodi to a dinner date with her and baby Ella! I made dinner, she brought dessert and we had a great time drinking wine and looking at some old photo’s from when we were kids. We had planned on having a proper send-off to Patrick Swayze by watching our all-time favorite movie “Dirty Dancing”. After sitting and chatting for a bit, we decided it would be too sad, so we put the movie off for another day. Just kidding, we just ran out of time that night and the babies were in need of their cribs.
The last weekend of the month was busy! Grandma and Grandpa Ware arrived on Friday afternoon to spend the weekend. On Saturday morning I woke up early and drove to Sacramento to see the Brunacini’s (and finally got to hold little Bayliss), Sam, Lauren and Emily! We all met at the JBF Consignment sale in Roseville – which was a first for Lauren and Sam! Afterwards we went to lunch at Mikuni’s which is a sushi restaurant in Roseville. We all had sushi and Emily enjoyed her delicious tofu! Sunday we enjoyed Skippolini’s while celebrating Olivia’s 1st Birthday! I can’t believe a year has already gone by. Time sure does fly!
Oh, did I mention we finally got some new living room furniture? The 12 year old black leather couches put in their time and our new, soft, comfortable brown leather couches arrived after waiting for about 10 weeks! Ahhh…..we are really enjoying them!
Well, Fall has officially arrived here in Brentwood. It’s been chilly in the morning and a little breezy. I had my first pumpkin spice latte of the season yesterday and I’m looking forward to more!
Tristan is growing and changing every day – check his page for all of his highlights! Take care everyone!
August - Summer, where did you go?!
Where do I begin?! We usually have busy, fun-filled months, but that’s putting it lightly for August! My 10 year high school reunion was on August 1st right here in good ‘ol Brentwood (home of the Liberty Lions, of course!). Really, I could have ridden my bike there. I decided to meet up with a couple of old friends beforehand so we could all go together. They also left the husbands at home with the kids. ;) We all ended up having a better time than originally planned and caught up with each other on the last 10 years of life. It was nice to see how we all got older and wiser – well, most of us anyway. The next day we found an AWESOME park down the street from our house. We do have to drive there, but it’s WELL worth the little trip. There are a ton of swings, which none of our community parks have, and several play structures. Best part about it, it’s all covered by these canvas canopies! As you’ve probably seen, Tristan loves the swings. The slides, well, he’s not so interested in those yet. Basically got no reaction out of him, whatsoever. I’m sure when he doesn’t have to go down with mom or dad they will be much more enjoyable and we'll have to pry him off.
The following weekend was the party to send Laurene off to college in Montana. Although we were all sad to see her leave we are excited for her to experience college life! I know you are reading this Laurene: hope you are having fun and we’ll see you soon!! Grandma and Grandpa Ware came for a visit and watched Tristan for the day while Matt and I went to the A’s game with one of his co-workers. It was nice to get out for a day in the sun and it was very relaxing not having to chase a little crawler around – although, we decided we kind of missed it!
Tristan and I had coffee a couple times this month with friends. One morning we drove out to Walnut Creek to see “Auntie” Cindy. Tristan was such a good visitor! He sat and ate his wheat toast while Cindy and I had our coffee and pastry and caught up. There was also a man there with a large St. Bernard dog. Tristan had his eye on it (her) the whole time! Oh, and he enjoyed watching all the little birds hop around and eat the crumbs off the ground. We also had coffee with my childhood friend Jodi (on a different weekend). It was nice getting together with her and meeting Ella, who’s 2 months old!! She’s very cute and well behaved. I think Jodi and I could have sat and talked all day, but the little one’s wouldn’t allow that, naturally. I’m sure there will be more visits with them in the near future!
On the 22nd we all took a little day trip up to Murphys. We haven’t been back there since our wedding 4 years ago, so it was a long overdue visit. Our first stop was Ironstone Vineyards, of course, for some wine tasting and a purchase to go along with our picnic lunch. We hung around there, took some pictures and talked about our wedding day. It was a lot of fun! Afterwards, we got back in the car and drove down to the picnic area. There were a lot of families down there and kids playing in the little creek by the park. Someday I’m sure Tristan will be doing the same thing! We were also able to walk around and see all the new shops and tasting rooms that have opened up over the last few years. We will definitely be planning a trip back there – we didn’t have enough time to see everything. Surprising since it’s just one little street!
The last weekend was spent celebrating! It was my birthday on Friday and Matt and I took the day off. In the morning we took Tristan to his 9 month checkup. He’s a growing boy! You can see all his new stats on his “Tristan” page. The doctor checked him out and was happy with his growth and development. I guess we are doing a good job as parents so far! After his appointment we got a bagel and smoothie and headed out to Walnut Creek for some window shopping and lunch. That evening Tristan and Matt hung out together (went to bed) while Grammie and I drove to Manteca for my cousin Tiffany's bachelorette get together. It was fun seeing all of her friends and family sitting around, telling stories about Tiffany and playing games. The following night some of the girls went to Tahoe, which I wasn't able to make, but I heard it was a lot of fun!
Saturday I went up to Sacramento to visit with 9 month pregnant Bronwyn. We went to one of our favorite places lately, the Just Between Friends consignment sale. This one was in Sacramento, but we've also gone to one in Roseville. It's where other mom's sell all of their very gently used baby items. It's always a lot of fun and you get so much for your money!! I also brought home a bunch of clothes that Tristan can wear this winter, compliments of some of Bronwyn's friends that have boys. Needless to say, Tristan's closet is packed full of clothes now! We are ready for winter....kind of! After the sale we grabbed In-n-Out for lunch and visited for the remainder of the afternoon. As I type, I'm still waiting for her to call me with the news she's in labor! Everyone is hoping it's soon - especially her!
Sunday I spent the day doing things around the house since I hadn't had much time the beginning of the weekend. Then we headed to Skippolini's for our annual birthday celebration - mine and Wendy's birthday are both at the end of August, so this is a tradition we've started in recent years. Who can pass up a reason for pizza?!
I supposed that's the end of this month's update. We are definitely keeping busy and September will be no exception! We hope this message finds you all well.
Please Rate My Photo!!
Hi Everyone,
I have decided to enter a photo taken of Tristan into a contest sponsored by Aaron Brothers. Please go to the site listed below and rate my photo! The more ratings and votes I get, the better my chances are of being chosen for the top 10. Feel free to share and thanks for your votes!!
-----------------
Your entry for Show Us Your America has been approved! Click the link below
to go to the gallery. Be sure to add your rating and share the link with
friends. Those with the highest ratings have the best chance at being
selected to the final 10 photographers and final 10 artists to win the
grand prize.
http://showusyouramerica.com/uploads/694
Thanks!
Aaron Brothers
July's over already?! Time flies when you're having fun!
Wow, it’s really hard to believe that I am sending the “July Update”……where is the time going!?
Well, at the start of the month we celebrated the 4th with Grammie and Poppa. We did a little swimming, a lot of eating (naturally) and then went home to listen to the not-so-quiet neighborhood fireworks! Considering they are illegal in our county, you would think there would just be few here and there. Nope! They were all over the place and they went on late into the night. Which was fine, because it gave Hank and me some fireworks to watch in the comfort of our living room while the other boys were sound asleep. The following day we packed a picnic lunch and headed for the hills to pick up our wine at Montevina. When we got there, we did a little tasting and found a table to sit and eat our lunch.
Matt took the following week off, which consisted of hanging out with Tristan for 3 straight days while I went to work. Tristan has become, well, curious to say the least. It’s getting a little more difficult to entertain him and keep him out of trouble! Needless to say, Matt was exhausted by time Thursday rolled around…….which, was our 4 year wedding anniversary! We decided this was the perfect occasion to use a Christmas gift from our good friends that we’d been holding onto for a while. It was a one-night stay at the Les Mars Hotel in Healdsburg, CA (wine country!) as well as dinner at Cyrus Restaurant, which is adjacent to the hotel. This trip was really two-fold; an anniversary celebration and our first overnight stay without Tristan! It ended up being a nice reprieve and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We had lunch at a nice little seafood tapas place, Willi’s, where I had my first BBQ oyster. It was tasty! We also did some wine tasting on the square, stopped by a fun old-fashioned candy shop named Powell’s (reminded me of Willy Wonka) for some fudge and truffles and conveniently bypassed the little boutique, Clutch, which as you may have guessed, was an expensive handbag store. Matt said we needed to hurry back for our dinner reservation – or something….meanwhile, back at home, Grammie and Tristan had a great time together! I was a little worried that Tristan wouldn’t sleep through the night, but he did! Although, Grammie didn’t get much sleep since she got up to check on him several times. I told her that’s what the video monitor is for!! All-in-all, it was wonderful and we enjoyed our time as a couple. Although, we spent a majority of it talking about how much we missed our little guy. I guess that’s only natural when you are used to spending so much time with him.
The next couple of weekends were nice and relaxing and we really spent a lot of time at the house cleaning, working on the yards, running errands, etc. Something that is kind of exciting – our Plumeria plant bloomed! I know – we get really excited about these things, only because we have some plants that are YEARS old and have never had a flower on them. Until now! If you aren’t familiar, Plumeria flowers are what you see all over Hawaii. We actually bought a plant in Maui on our honeymoon - it didn’t survive. But, the one we got at the Brentwood Home Depot has flowers on it! We can just pretend like it’s the one from our honeymoon. ;)
At the end of the month we had a couple friends over to visit; the Conti’s, Brunacini’s and Falk’s. We hadn’t seen Ariel and Eileen Conti in at least a year and they had never met Tristan in person! It was really fun to visit with everyone and see all the little kids play together. Not to mention Bronwyn’s growing belly with BBB on the way! One more month – I’m so excited!
Tristan is growing and learning new things every day. You can read more about his developments on his own ‘special’ page!
Hope everyone is well! Until next month……
Summer's here.....and it's HOT!!
The month started off with some catch up time for errands, chores around the house and a little bit of relaxing. There’s not many of these weekends, so we took full advantage of it!
The weekend of the 12th we took our first overnight trip up to Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Graeagle for Matt’s birthday and to see Uncle Bryan from Oregon. We enjoyed some pleasant outdoor lunches, a hike and a tasty birthday dinner in a small town named Johnsville. Really, this is a small town, with a population count of 21 (yes, 21) in the year 2000. The restaurant was great though! The people were friendly and the food was delicious! It was so relaxing, Tristan decided it was a nice time to take a nap and let the adults have a peaceful dinner. Getting back to the hike – it was a nice, semi-strenuous 2 mile (or so) hike to a lake. There was still some snow we had to make our way around and the lake was so cold that even Hank was shivering! Didn’t keep him from fetching pinecones and sticks, though. After the hike we went back to the house, showered and Matt and Jen enjoyed some time downtown perusing the shops, getting a cup of coffee and a soft serve cone – while dodging the rain! Overall it was a great trip with odd weather – shorts one minute and thunder and lightning storms the next! I guess that’s typical “mountain” weather!
That next Friday Matt and Jen had a night out without the little guy. They attended Sam’s “surprise” 30th birthday party in San Francisco at Momo’s. I say “surprise” because she found out just after all the invitations were mailed. Sneaky!! It was still a lot of fun with good friends, food and drinks! I think we got home around 11:30 that night, which is quite late for us! Grammie and Poppa watched Tristan while we had our fun. They took him to the Stockton Ports game with Auntie Selena, Uncle Mark and cousin Laurene. All was well until the first loud cheer from the crowd…..but he quickly recovered and enjoyed people watching and taking his picture with Sammie the Seal (Ports Mascot).
Saturday we paid our first visit to the Brentwood Water Park with Auntie Bronwyn and Isabella. It was a nice day, but during the 2 hours we were “swimming” it was overcast. Seems as though this is a usual occurrence when we try to plan some fun in the sun. Somehow, the sun doesn’t quite cooperate – but it was nice and warm, so we still enjoyed our time together with our picnic lunches and beach towels! After swimming, we went back to the house, played a little and then BB and IB were on their way back home to Sacramento. We always enjoy our time with them and wish we could do it more often! PS – 2 more months until BBB (Baby Boy Brunacini) makes his entrance!!
Sunday was Matt’s very first Father’s Day! Jen got up early with Tristan (normally this is Matt’s weekend routine), made coffee and breakfast. We hung out around the house until it was time to go to Grammie and Poppa’s for a BBQ with the family. Tristan got to show off his newest crawling skills and I’m sure everyone was thoroughly impressed how he could quickly make his way from the sitting position to the screen door to laugh at Jack (Grammie’s dog) in an instant!
The following weekend we had breakfast in Lafayette with “Auntie” Cindy and her mom, Barbara. It was nice to catch up since we haven’t seen her in several months. We also got to celebrate another 30th birthday, Anthony’s! Now, there was no question that summer was definitely here in full force. The temperatures reached the low 100’s and this is when we are thankful for good air conditioning (since we don’t have a swimming pool). We got to meet Logan Armstrong for the first time and got to visit with Olivia Falk. The three were all born months apart – Logan in early September, Olivia in late September and Tristan in late November. As you might be able to tell by looking at the pictures, Tristan is bigger than the other two, even though he is at least 2 months younger. Clear indication that Tristan is keeping true to his nickname, ‘Moose’. Maddie and Delaney are definitely the big sisters of the group and are SO cute!
The last Sunday of the month Jen attended Tiffany’s bridal shower in Escalon at a Lavender Farm. The heat was still reaching into the low 100’s and the party was outside. Luckily there was plenty of shade and refreshments. Tristan got to stay home with dad in the nice, cool house. They did the grocery shopping AND made dinner!
Well, if you are still reading, we had a very fun month, as usual. We are thankful to be able to spend time with friends and family, even if it does make for busy times and a really long update! J
Keeping busy and having fun in May!
The month started off with Tristan’s regular check-up with Dr. Tracy. He said everything is looking great and Tristan is definitely a healthy growing boy!! He had grown exactly 2 inches longer and weighed in a little over 2 pounds heavier than his last checkup! He is learning and changing so fast – we don’t know where the time is going!!
Tristan attended his first MLB game; the SF Giants v. Colorado Rockies. The day started off rainy, but we ventured out to SF anyway and were glad we did! The rain subsided and the sun even came out! Tristan even got a certificate showing that it was his first baseball game - added to the scrapbook for sure! Oh, and don't ask us who won.....we only went for the hot dogs, drinks and to watch Tristan take it all in. :)
For Mother’s Day weekend we took Grammie and Poppa to the de Young Museum in S.F. It was a really nice day and we were excited to see the Andy Warhol Exhibit they had during that time. We had a really nice time seeing all of the “old” stuff and trying to figure out how some of the “new” stuff made it into the museum. J The following weekend we went to a BBQ at the Greaves’ house. Tristan had a lot of fun watching all of the older kids swim…..so much fun he wouldn’t fall asleep. He ended up staying awake the entire time, until about 10:30pm when we finally headed for home. What a late night it was for him! And, to think he would have slept through the night after that – nope!
Tristan went on his first camping trip to Stonyford for Memorial Weekend. We weren’t quite sure how we were going to get ALL of the Ware’s there (including Hank), but we managed to pile everyone into the Civic, as well as all of our stuff! The weather was very nice. Not hot, but not cold….and not rainy, like last year! We were able to get some swimming in (well, Hank got to swim) and Tristan got to put his toes in the water, which he wasn’t too excited about. I guess snow runoff water isn’t his thing. Tristan loved watching the little kids ride their motorcycles around and around the campsite. Overall, it was a successful trip!!
The month ended with LOTS of parties! First, cousin Jordan’s 10th birthday party, then mom’s friend Tish’s housewarming party, and to round off the weekend, cousin Laurene’s 18 th birthday/HS Graduation party where Tristan got to splash his feet in the swimming pool! This was much more enjoyable than the camping “swimming hole”. Oh, and Jen was able to get her Mother’s Day pedicure with Grammie and Auntie Wendy in during the last weekend, too (courtesy of Uncle Rob).
Tristan is still going to Laurie’s for daycare during the week and loving it! There are little kids there for him to watch and play with. I can definitely see he’s taken more of an interest in other kids since he’s been going there, which is great.
Jen got her early birthday present (yes, very early) – a new Nikon camera. As if there weren’t hundreds of pictures being taken already, there will be many, many more being taken now!! Look for a link to high resolution pictures saved on an external site, if you are interested in perusing.
Well, that’s the update for May! No slowing down in June……stay tuned!
Side Note: Happy Birthday to Uncle Bryan who lives up in Oregon, “Auntie” Cindy in S.F., and “Auntie” Shan in L.A.!! Sorry we couldn’t be there to celebrate in person, but we hope it was wonderful!
Spring Has Sprung!
As you can see, it’s been a while since I have updated all of you on the “Ware Happenings”……it’s been a busy couple of months, so here it goes:
March was kicked off with a candle party at Rachelle’s house. This was the first (and probably last) candle party for Tristan. He had a great time smelling all of the candles (while he slept)! The middle of the month was full of celebrations. Birthday’s included: Grandma Luis (91!), Curt, Maddie and Grammie! We had a fun day of breakfast and shopping with Grammie to “celebrate” and also had the family over for tasty “build your own” sundae night. Let’s not forget about St. Patrick’s Day – Tristan wore his green! The end of the month was bittersweet as I returned to work on March 31st. Lucky for us, Tristan is going to a wonderful babysitter by the name of Laurie. She takes excellent care of him and I can tell he loves it there – he comes home exhausted from playing all day with the other little ones. Grammie is also helping out a lot in the afternoon’s and will be watching him all day on Monday’s and Friday’s next month!
April was definitely a fun-filled month. We had 2 weekends in a row of birthday parties. First with Jessica turning 14 and then Caleb’s 2nd birthday. Tristan got to see his first petting zoo at Caleb’s party. There were a lot of fun animals there; rabbits, ducks, goats (Will & Grace), a pot bellied pig, little chicks and a few other animals. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of them, but was definitely interested! Another first for Tristan was the annual Easter Egg Hunt and Grammie’s house. We found our 8 “assigned eggs” and 5 bonus eggs!! Thanks to cousin Jordan for sharing a couple of his with Tristan….he found the most. J The following weekend we drove out to Modesto to look for Bridesmaid dresses with cousin Tiffany. Tristan had a lot of fun watching the girls get dressed up, and looking at himself in the big mirrors. The month ended with two fun “boys only” days. Dad took the day off on Friday to hang out and they also spent Saturday together while I went to visit Auntie Bronwyn up in Sacramento. By the way, Auntie Bronwyn is having a boy in September……another new friend to play with!
Let me not forget to mention – Spring officially arrived in April. While we had a few days of rain, we also had a nice stretch of warm (90-degree) weather. Currently, it’s true California weather: nice one day, cold the next. I’m sure the system will work out all of the kinks soon in preparation for Summer.
Tristan’s Accomplishments:
Rolling over (and over, and over….)
Started giggling and now has some full on laughing moments
Sitting up with some help – like in his POD chair
Screaming! (discovering his voice)
Chatting a lot – especially first thing after he wakes up
He is working REALLY hard to crawl. I anticipate that will happen over the next couple of weeks.
Has discovered his furry friend Hank and loves to watch him run back and forth. Soon they will be chasing each other!
Whew!! That was quite an update. Hope all is well with you and don’t forget to check out the new pictures and videos!
Jen, Matt, Tristan & Hank!
Feeling the love in February!
I can't believe February has already come and gone!! It was another busy month with lots of visiting with friends and family.
It all started with our annual Super Bowl party at a friend’s house. Always a good time with old friends, food and, of course, football! Then we had a couple of lunch dates. We got together with family friend John Rebstock at the beginning of the month and Auntie Bronwyn and Isabella a couple of times during the month. We also got to visit with Aunt Jean, Chrissy and Grammie in the middle of the month. We got to see Auntie Bronwyn's new house in Sacramento and meet Auntie Elisa's new little girl, Taylor! Another little friend to play with! And we capped off the month at a birthday celebration for Uncle Rob and lunch with Auntie Cindy.
For Valentine's Day the three of us headed to Walnut Creek for lunch at Il Fornaio. Tristan slept the whole time.....waking up just in time for some window shopping. :) Lunch was enjoyable and hanging out together for the day was nice.
Matt officially finished classes and received his Bachelor’s Degree from Cal State Hayward. Better late than never, they say. Yay, Matt!
We had a not-so-fun thing happen at the house. What we thought was just a small leak in our living room window turned out to be a big leak in the upstairs bedroom window (dripping all the way down). So, the bedroom is torn apart, there's a hole in the outside of the house and everything is getting fixed! Luckily, all under warranty. Whew!
This is my last month at home with the little man. I will be going back to work March 31st. Looking forward to some mental stimulation again, but not looking forward to missing Tristan during the day.
Hope all is well with all of you! Be sure to check out Tristan's page. I learned how to add video clips. Trying to catch all of his little milestones to save and share. And there are plenty of new pictures to see, naturally!
Take care!
Fun start to the New Year!
Aside from several routine follow-up visits to the doctor and Tristan's first set of immunization shots, January was a fun-filled month!
We took our first trip to the Sacramento Zoo with Auntie Bronwyn and Isabella. The weather couldn't have been better - in the high 60's and sunny! Although Tristan didn't really know what was going on, he was able to experience the noise that was the monkeys (see video on his page).
Later on in that same week Matt took a couple days off of work and we took a trip out to San Francisco. We packed a lunch and headed to the Golden Gate Bridge where we walked the span and back then drove to the Palace of Fine Arts for lunch on the grass. Yet another beautiful day weather wise and we were happy to take advantage of it.
We also attended two birthday parties and had lunch in Walnut Creek with Auntie Cindy and visited with Grandma and Grandpa the last week of the month.
Tristan is growing and changing each day and it's been so fun and exciting to watch!!
Happy Birthday Hank!
I forgot to mention in my December update that Hank had a birthday! He turned 2 years old on December 20th.......we celebrated by giving him a bath in the warm master bathroom tub. :)
Minor Change to Website...
I have created a new page for all of the photos - labeled "Lots o' Pictures"
All of the pictures will be on that page for now on! Enjoy!
Hope Your Holidays Were Happy!!
December was a very busy month for us! It seemed like it flew by with the addition to the family and preparing for Christmas. It was difficult getting out to finish up the holiday shopping, but somehow we got it done!
We had several days of "Christmas", which started on Sunday the 22nd. We went to Grammie and Poppa's for Christmas with aunts, uncles and cousins. That is the night we took all of those great photos in the album "Christmas 2008". Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Bryan arrived early in the week and then we were all back at Grammie and Poppa's for Christmas Eve. We had a delicious Mecca dinner (for those of you who aren't familiar - The Mecca is the best Mexican food ever) for a change of pace and visited with Uncle Rick, Aunt Penny and Cousin Michael. Christmas Day was fun with presents in the morning, visiting with Cousin Holly, then TWO dinners! We had our first dinner at Auntie Selena's (the best ravioli's) and then back home for dinner with the Ware's.
New Year's Eve was a lot of fun! We had Auntie Bronwyn, Gino and Isabella over for a sleepover! The Falk's also came over to play for a bit before the little one's had to go to bed for the night. We had lots of finger food and Auntie B made baked mac & cheese, which was delish!! The four of us - Bronwyn, Gino, Matt & Myself made it to midnight after keeping ourselves occupied with food and the movie Hancock. Then all turned in for the night around 12:15am after ringing in the New Year (barely).
The holidays were great for us and we hope you all enjoyed yours as well!! Next year should be even MORE fun when Tristan is up and running - literally!
Tristan Robert Ware Has Arrived!
Tristan decided to make his entry into the world on November 25, 2008 (my exact due date)! I had a morning appointment on Monday where the doctor told us that “Nothing was happening”, that same night around 7:00pm, something was definitely “happening”. After having contractions for weeks, I knew that these were much different. With Matt being at school giving a presentation, I called my parents to have them come over. After two hours of timing contractions, I let Matt know that he needed to come home.
We got to the hospital around 10:00pm and when the nurse checked me I was already at 8cm dilated. It was all downhill from there! I delivered him at 5:34am. Did I mention that Robert and Yvonne made the normal 4 ½ hour drive in only 3 ½ hours?! They made it to the hospital by 1:00am.
8 lbs. 9 oz.
20 inches long
We spent one night in the hospital and came home on Wednesday afternoon. Just in time for Turkey Day!! Bryan flew in Wednesday evening and we all had dinner at our house thanks to the grandmothers, they did all of the cooking.
Matt and I are very excited and enjoying every moment with our new little guy!
Happy Holidays to all of you!
Love,
Matt, Jen, Tristan & Hank
October - the rain has arrived!
Well, October shaped up to be a busier month than we were originally planning. Which is not a bad thing at all!! It started with TIffany and Zach's engagement party in Stockton where I was officially asked to be a bridesmaid in the wedding. I guess that means I have to be skinny by September 2009!! No getting around that!
I also had a couple lunch dates with friends Elisa and Bronwyn, which is always nice. Can't imagine I will have much time in the coming months to be out and about enjoying a nice lunch with friends. :)
In the middle of the month we took a drive to Lockeford where I met Aaron Morris. He took some maternity photos of me that turned out really nice (I think). You can see them in the album on the right. I just happened to pick this random winery in the small town of Lockeford to meet at and it ended up being a great spot with several points of interest to make for some nice photos.
We ended the month on Halloween, of course, at Curt and Rachelle's house. I spent most of the evening as a "princess" holding Olivia, who is one month old now. I did a bit of handing out candy at the Falk house and ate some tasty food, too.
Matt's newest creation is a cabinet that houses our wine refrigerator. Of course, it is gorgeous! You can check it out in the "October" album on the right.
Now we are all playing the waiting game! I only have 3 weeks until my due date, but the doc says Tristan could arrive any day now!! By the time I post the next journal entry, we will have a new little person in our family! Can't wait to introduce him to all of you!
Take care,
Jen & Matt
September - Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall!
Hi Everyone,
September was quite a month to remember! It started off with Curt and Matt going on their "last" golf outing of the season in Rio Vista while I celebrated the upcoming arrival of baby Olivia with Rachelle.
My baby shower took place the following weekend at our house. The day began with me and Cindy getting a much needed pedicure in the morning and arriving back at the house just in time for the party to start. Guests started arriving and before I knew it the house was packed with family and friends chatting and eating. It's safe to say that we are pretty set and are ready for Tristan to arrive! Thank you to everyone who came. It was really nice to see some faces that I haven't seen in so long and we feel so fortunate to have family and friends that care about us so much.
The following Monday, which also happened to be the first day of fall, Matt and I took a drive up to Napa to attend a Wine Appreciation class at Joseph Phelps Winery. We learned the importance of the 4 S's - swirl, sniff, sip & spit! Yes, you read correctly - spit. The woman actually condoned spitting the wine out after you swirled it around in your mouth to get the full effect of the wine. Which was good for me, since I couldn't really drink all 6 tastings. After our class we had a picnic lunch overlooking the vineyard. The weather was perfect and it made for a great day!
All in all, September was a great month and we are looking forward to the excitement that October will bring!
Hope all is well with all of you!
P.S. I'm now 32 weeks pregnant....new pictures are posted to the right.
August 28th = 27 Years Old & 28 Weeks Pregnant
Hi Everyone,
Well, August was a very busy and fun month. The beginning started with baby registry and Robert & Yvonne's move to Graeagle. The middle included a trip to the Sacramento Zoo and lunch with Bronwyn and Isabella. We had a lot of fun seeing the animals and spending time together. Although, I think Isabella was more entertained by the other children at the zoo than the animals themselves. But she seemed happy and didn't complain at all!
The weekend of the 22nd we took a trip up to Graeagle with friends Curt and Rachelle. After a few minor "road blocks" along the way, Matt, Hank and I made it - and in record time, I might add. First stop was the new house so I could get the official tour. We had some lunch, went and unpacked at our "overnight" house and came back to meet Curt and Rachelle for a night of pizza. We ended the night with some home-made cheese fondue - delish. The following morning the boys left the house for their day of golf as Rachelle and I went on our way to the spa for pedicures. Needless to say, after a lot of driving around to find the place, we arrived and the lights were out and the doors locked. Not really what we expected since we made an appointment WELL in advance AND we were the only people scheduled. So, we did some shopping and had a nice lunch instead.
For my birthday Matt sent me flowers, got me some really nice and thoughtful gifts and took me to dinner at Va De Vi - which never dissapoints! It was a great day and I couldn't have asked for more.
The month ended with a birthday celebration with friends and family at good old Skippolini's (the tasty, local pizza joint)! Since mine and my sister-in-law Wendy's birthday's are just a couple of days apart, this has become kind of our new tradition (2 years in a row). And today, the last day of the month, I had "girls day" with Bronwyn. We saw a chick-flick, had lunch, much needed frozen yogurt and some walking around.
Matt spent a lot of time working on my vision of a changing table/bookshelf for the baby's room. He is bringing it in the house and up the stairs as I type. It looks incredible and is probably more well built than anything you could buy at the store. I will post some pictures for you all to see. Now that it's done, I think we have all of the furniture we need for the baby! Other things he made by hand for the room are the letters hanging above the crib and the basket holder. All very nice!!
Well, that's about it for August updates! All I can say is - bring on September and trimester #3!
Hope all is well with everyone!
6 Months - and growing....
So, I have reached another milestone - month 6 of pregnancy. As you can see by the "belly pics", I continue to grow! As expected, of course. I can definitely tell he's a happy little guy by all of his kicks and right hooks (or maybe they are "left" hooks?)! Wonder if he will grow up to be a boxer, or a soccer player.....
Last weekend we kept busy cleaning out the garage and making way for more storage. This weekend is the "official" move for Robert and Yvonne up to the new house in Graeagle. Maybe I can get a couple of pictures from them to share with you all. The house is gorgeous and ready to be lived in now. So, with their move comes the need for more storage at our house. So Matt built a shelving unit to get things off the garage floor, which is going to help out a lot!
That's about all for now! Next weekend I am headed to Fairfield to visit with Bronwyn and Isabella. We are going to take a trip to the Sacramento Zoo!! Very excited, since the last time I was at the zoo was when I was a small child. Marine World animals just aren't quite the same.
Take care everyone!!
Keeping Busy with Baby Stuff...
Last weekend we made our first BIG purchase - the baby crib. Matt spent the rest of the day assembling it (it really only took him a couple hours) and we are really happy with it! He is in the process of building me a shelving unit that holds baskets and will start on a changing table next! You can see pictures on the "Baby Ware" tab.
That's all for now.....hope all is well with all of you!
Baby News!
See the "Baby Ware" page for an important update!!
Happy 4th of July!
4th of July weekend was a blast! It all started on Friday with the annual BBQ at Mark & Selena's. Good food and drinks (7-up) and great company. The weather was perfect, in the high 80's, just comfortable enough for enjoying the outdoors.
Saturday we were off to S.F. for dinner at Luna Park in SOMA with friends Shannyn, Cindy and Lindsey (Matt being the only male figure present). The food was awesome! I had risotto with shrimp and Matt had some other fish which he really enjoyed. Not to mention the excellent drinks - beer for Matt, Shirley Temple for Jen. You can most likely read more about our dining experience and the food at Shan's blog on the side bar.....she does excellent dining reviews!
Today is Sunday and we plan on relaxing a little. Tomorrow is the BIG DAY! Time to find out the gender of the little monster! Check back soon for more details on that!
New "Belly Pics" are posted - be sure to check them out!
Hope you all enjoyed your holiday weekend!