What I've Been Up To

On November 5th after a very short labor Lucy Violet Goldstein joined us and now we are a family of four. We are over the moon excited to have this lovely girl in our lives. xo

Fall Boots

Fall has finally arrived today in Los Angeles. It's a chilly 68 degrees and rainy! I can't remember the last time I saw the rain. These early hints of fall make me excited for scarves, jackets and most of all fall boots! Truth be told my feet are starting to get a little swollen in the last weeks of pregnancy - think Frodo Baggins in the "Lord of the Rings."

I won't let a little extra fluid deter me from dreaming of boots. Here are some of my favorites:

Isabel Marant 

Madewell 

Madewell

Rag & Bone

Rag & Bone

Bookshelves

Long before we ever purchased our first home I had been dreaming of bookshelves. Yes the kind the are built-in and span from floor to ceiling filled with books and a carefully curated collection of objects and photos. I remember one of my best friends in college built amazing floor to ceiling shelves in her first New York apartment (her mother was an architect and she owned her own place!) and it even had a ladder a la Rex Harrison's home in "My Fair Lady." Those shelves were amazing and I still think of them now.

For some reason I can't find a photo with the ladder but you get the idea 

Well it's been two years since we bought our first home and we have done little to realize my shelves dream. Frankly they seemed pretty low on the totem poll when it came to the list of things we want to do to our house down the line. Once we learned we were having a second baby all that changed of course, and what started as a small project to prepare our guestroom/office/junk room for the baby has morphed into my dream come true. We are building shelves in our family room, our dining room, and just for good luck we are building a window seat too. I am beyond excited. I am imagining how organized and clutter-free our lives will soon be. Sure the projects are scheduled to be completed around the same time as our baby is due but that's not a big deal right? We are still formulating exactly what we want but here are a few more of my inspiration photos for shelves and reading nooks. 

You can see more of my home dreams and inspirations here

HANK IS THREE

Hank in Frontierland

This weekend we celebrated Hank's third birthday! I can't believe he is already three. Hank and I recently got haircuts so he is really looking older. It's as if in the blink of an eye he lost the last of his babyish qualities. We weren't quite sure how to celebrate this milestone but in the end we decided not to have a party. Birthday parties still feel more like events for the parents then the kids, and Hank isn't someone who necessarily thrives in large groups. We did want to mark the occasion and one of the perks of my jobs is free tickets to Disneyland so we decided to go down for a whole night and make a trip of it. We had a blast. We visited the park, enjoyed the waterslides and swimming pools at the Disneyland Hotel and we even had breakfast with the characters. Just because we spent the day away doesn't mean Hank didn't get a cake. I spent most of Friday night slaving over this baby:

Monkey Birthday Cake

I found the recipe here months ago and had been wanting to make it for Hank since he is in a real Monkey/Gorilla/Primate/Ape phase. Overall it was a great weekend. xo

Hank the night of his birthday

Oh baby.....

Hard to believe that we will soon have ANOTHER baby. I keep meaning to blog more but between work and preparing for said little girl blogging slips through the cracks.

I watched this video I made of Hank's first year. It's incredible how much we forget in just two short years. I keep wondering how does your heart open again as much as it did the first time but everyone assures me it will. I think I know that it will. I am definitely savoring every moment with this little guy before our lives forever change.

Family Photos

It feels like practically a lifetime ago but a few months back we piled Hank into the car and headed off to San Francisco to catch up with friends and enjoy this incredible city that's just a few hours North of Los Angeles. I was shocked to discover that a five-hour drive is incredibly easy with a toddler. I think all weekend long we kept saying we have to do this more and of course we haven't been back but seriously it's so worth it. Since we had Hank we headed straight to this museum when we arrived. I wish we had a lot more time to spend but it was great to give Hank a chance to burn off some energy after a long car ride. 

One of the biggest highlights of the weekend was getting to take some family portraits with Mike's talented friend Kena. It's something we've wanted to do for ages. I am so happy with the results and so thrilled that we finally did it. It is a testament to Kena's talent that the photos turned out so great. We took them in Golden Gate Park and I have to be honest that while she was shooting us running after Hank (me with my pregnant belly) I wasn't sure if any of them were going to be worth much. If you or a friend you know lives in the S.F. area and is looking for family portraits I can't recommend Kena more. She is warm and lovely and great with kids. 

Here are a few more of our favorites from the Golden Gate Park shoot: 

Life Lately or Why I've Been MIA

Bump Selfie from a month or two ago (much bigger now)

I am in the home stretch of pregnancy number two. We are expecting a little girl November 5th. It's funny how different the second pregnancy is from the first. This time around I haven't even picked up a pregnancy book, taken any prenatal yoga classes, or basically done just about anything that you do the first time around. To be honest it's easy to forget I am pregnant, well less so lately because I am waddling around and slowing down considerably. I am a bit scared to see how we transition to a family of three to a family of four. It's all very different this time around. In the meantime I am trying to savor every moment with Hank and our little family. I am sure that once this girl arrives it will be hard to imagine life without her but I am still clinging to every precious moment we have right now as if I am holding on for dear life.

We shall see. I hope that once I have some time off from work and have settled into our new family life I will have more time to blog a bit.

Here are some pictures from a recent family trip to Chicago and my Dad's lake house in Wisconsin. It was a great trip. The best part was watching Hank bond with his cousin Dexter. The two of them had running jokes which was amazing to see. They definitely enjoy slapstick humor and would crack each other up. We had a great time.

Checking Out the Corn 

Hank and Dexter

Visiting the Horses

Hank's Beloved Sheep Meet Some Sheep on the Farm 

Cousin Bath Time