Hoppy Easter

Inspired by how cute this post was on Chickenbone Jones, I decided to finally post something. I promise something meatier to be published soon...but for now you'll have to deal with painfully cute.

April 2010 - 9 months old

April 2011 - 22 months old

Turkey Weekend

Thanksgiving weekend brought some great times and proof that Sofia is now officially a toddler (i.e. occasionally a pain in the ass).

We kicked off the weekend with a small gathering of the usual suspects. The days of meeting at the bar on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving has long gone to the wayside and now we attempt more family friendly events that still include beer & wine. Chaos ensued - mainly in the form of 7 boys ranging in age from 5 to 10. WOW.

The hostess with the mostess.

The boys take a break from trying to find something fun to play with amongst the little girl baby toys.

Thanksgiving Day started with the usual TV tug-o-war between football and the Macy's Parade. String just can't get enough of Al Roker's bad jokes and Broadway performances. The day was going smoothly until Sofia took a face plant on the driveway mid-afternoon. The bump on her upper lip must have bothered her immensely because her performance at Thanksgiving dinner was definitely sub-par. Grumpy and pissed. I think the only food she ate all evening was a piece of cheese and a biscotti. Thankfully, carrying around other people's purses and wearing Grammy's jewelry seemed to brighten her mood.

This pretty much sums it up.

Anti-social, but content with her umbrella.

A girl's best friend...

The day after Thanksgiving was the annual sausage making party at the Bisceglia's. The grown-ups are quickly becoming outnumbered! Great fun, food, friends, Beaujolais Nouveau and a rocking horse. What more do you need?

Meeting of the minds.

Alone for 5 minutes in the playroom with the older kids = covered in stickers.

Noni, Sofia & Mommy enjoying lunch.

Jesse & Caitlin sans Jack who surely is being snuggled by Grandma Debbie.
You can see more of Jack here!

I heart rocking horses.

Don't Hurry Down the Chimney

Despite visiting Santa (from the stroller) earlier in the week to try to "warm up" to him,
this is exactly what I was expecting. Needless to say, she forgot to tell him what she wanted for Christmas.

Compare to last year when she was blissfully unaware of the dude behind her.
Didn't realize until now (comparing to cool mall Santa above) how fake his beard looks.
The lawn chair doesn't help!

Pumpkin Cutie Pie

Back before Halloween Sofia and I made the trek down to Morgan Hill and Uesugi Farm to check out their HUGE pumpkin patch extravaganza. It's only a few blocks from Grandma Peg's work, so she met us on her lunch hour. Just a handful of pics from the outing...

Pumpkin carving contest winners. WOW.

The queens of the patch.

Our new favorite thing: Kissing stuff. Anything. Pumpkins, pictures in books, daddy's slippers.

Perspective.

Ready to roll.

"Hey you, horse. Where are you taking me?"

The Cupcake Wears Converse

Keeping with the food Halloween costume tradition (if you can call two years in a row tradition), we decided to go a little sweeter this year. Last year the chili pepper sleeping bag was the costume of choice, but this year I looked for something a little more "girly." I think I succeeded. Next year I may not have a say in the costume, so I'm exerting my authority for as long as possible. Luckily she had many occasions to wear it.

The Halloween season was kicked off with my mom's group (Las Madres Willow Glen '09) party on October 24th. We rented out a space at Emma Prusch Farm Park which is an oasis of preserved farmland at the intersection of highways 280/680/101. I've lived here nearly my entire life and never knew it existed until this year! It was so fun to see all the kids in their costumes and watch them chase after chickens.

Cupcake and Kitty harass the chickens.

Las Madres Halloween chaos.

Another "Mom's Group" that I'm a part of is known to Steve as the "Yoga Girls" because we all met while taking pre-natal yoga. The difference with this group is that our kids rarely see each other, instead we meet every couple months for mom's nights out. It's such a treat to see the little ones, especially all dressed up in their adorable costumes. Thanks to Sara, Manny & Payton for hosting!

Dads and the menagerie.

Dominic and Sofia practicing for adolescence by texting each other while 2 feet apart.

Sofia missed the "animal" memo.

Game 4 of the World Series fell on Halloween, so Auntie Jen and Uncle Nick came over to watch the game and help pass out candy. Jen and I took Sofia for a quick loop of trick or treating, which consisted of dragging Sofia around in the wagon and gently pushing her up to front doors so we could ask the score of the game.

Cutest Cupcake.

Auntie Jen with roadie and cupcake.

While Nono tries to explain the albino pumpkin, Sofia decides that she can get everything she needs at this house. No need to travel further.

VERY skeptical of the whiskers on Mom.

Mother's Day Redux

My first Mother's Day was thankfully must less dramatic than my last Mother's Day. Once again, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Evvia but I was feeling just fine on the drive home and the evening was uneventful. The star of the show was most definitely Miss Sofia. She had a spot by the door so she could greet and wave bye-bye to all of the patrons. When not acting as the only blond hostess, she was busy making Marissa pick up her toys from the floor. This would have been OK, except that poor Marissa had suffered a curling injury just a couple days prior. Yes, you read that correctly. A perk of working for Google is that Marissa gets to go on cool outings like the one to the Sharks Ice Arena where her group received a curling lesson. The most important thing she learned was not to fall on her wrist when slipping on the ice.

Buddies.

Uncle Michael, Sofia on phone, Andrea, Sofia in person & Auntie Val.

We're still working on her manners.

Easter

Sofia's first Easter started with her first trip to mass at St. Christopher's where she was a model parishioner. She greeted everyone, sang during the hymns and kept quiet during the homily. Best of all, she looked adorable in her Easter best. All that was missing was a bonnet.

Easter dinner was at Grammy and Nono's house. Good times (and chocolate) had by all!

Luckily Grammy has a love seat that matched her outfit.

Godparents Auntie Jen and Uncle Nick. Auntie Jen sporting her new short 'do that we love.

Adorable gift box that wrapped up Sofia's first GAP jean jacket!

Aforementioned jean jacket.

Ohh! Cellophane!

The elusive mommy.

Sitting like a big girl at the table in the high chair that Daddy used to use!

Sofia Go Braugh

St. Patrick's Day is a very important day in our house. Since college it has been one of my favorite "holidays." Since heading to San Francisco to celebrate with Irish Coffee and Guinness was out of the question this year, I compensated by dressing up Sofia. Luckily she indulged me and didn't fuss too much during her three costume changes.

The perfect day to wear the Fighting Irish hoodie - a gift from the Righettis who live near South Bend.

Daddy's Lady Luck

As has become tradition, we headed over to Marcia & Ernie's for corned beef and cabbage. Sofia tried some, but preferred the potatoes. Thanks to Gillian for the great outfit #3!

The Green Team

Auntie Jen & Cousin Marissa

Auntie Eva, Elizabeth & Uncle Sweet Nick

Buddies: Noni & Sofia

Hoppy Easter

Who is this child? I mean, even I wanted to cry when I saw this creepy Westfield Easter Bunny. Thankfully, Sofia saves the picture with her class and grace under pressure.

A December to Remember

I must begin by saying that this December was leaps and bounds better than last December, also known as the Long December. Last year at this time I was in the throws of awful morning/all day sickness that lasted until...I don't even remember. Until I started taking Zofran and was able to make it through the day without heaving. But I digress, we're talking about THIS December which was filled with fun, good food, good drink, good friends and a great baby. Here are some highlights:

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On December 4th, we had a fun night out for the 10th annual Uncle Dave's Eggnog party that our friend Jim Foley throws. In exchange for bringing a toy, we get some tasty eggnog and a date night.

The oodles of toys collected for donation to Toys for Tots.

Enjoying a night out while Grandma Peg babysat.

The aftermath of dinner Kamakura.

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Every holiday season a group of my former Cisco co-workers get together to catch up. This year was especially fun because three of us had babies within two weeks of each other. Judy had Kai and Angela had twin girls. I didn't bring Sofia because mommy needed a night out.

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Another much anticipated annual event is the Horgan's Soup Supper. As the name implies, we feasted on tasty soups. But, of course, there were tasty libations and yummy dessert.

Sofia's presence at dinner.

We finally got to meet Dorothy Kearney (10 months), Sofia's well-traveled friend from Manhattan.
She's been to Europe. Twice.

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Rosemary, Erik, Devan and baby Myles Baker escaped the chill of Chicago for a pre-Christmas visit. Unfortunately, I didn't get many pics, but did get this cute one of Myles (2 months). He's already nearly as big as Sofia.

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I decided that Sofia had to experience Downtown San Jose's Christmas in the Park, even if she had no idea what was going on. Mostly because she couldn't see much from her stroller. Oh well, she's too small to run through the fountains anyhow. We lunched at Peggy Sue's with Dalane who was on her way to Christmas in Lodi.

We stopped by Santa's house, but he must have been in the Fairmont bar having a drink.
Or at the Star Trek exhibit at the Tech.

Lounging by the fire in the gingerbread house in the Fairmont lobby.