Meet the Martins

We're having a wonderful nap day, so I'm taking advantage of it to catch up on some recent events. This past weekend we celebrated Amy's cousin Rianna's college graduation at Bill and Kathy's house. This was Sofia's first meeting with the Martin side of the family and she was a trooper in her Hawaiian dress - waiting until the end of the party to spit up all over it. She also met her second cousin once removed (or whatever you call my cousin Bryan's son), Lucas Rhys, who was born on March 30th and weighs in at a solid 17 lbs! He's such a cutie and I can't believe that Sofia will someday be that big. Maybe by the time she's one?

Amy's cousin Bryan, his wife Miranda and their new little guy, Lucas (3 months).

Sofia and Lucas - very excited to meet each other.

Sofia (post costume change) with the guest of honor, Rianna.

Visitors from Near and Far

Sofia has found herself surrounded by lots of visitors over the past two weeks since we've been home. It's been wonderful to see everyone...they come to see Sofia but they usually bring me food or flowers. I find it a fair trade.

Grandma (Amy's mom) comes by as often as she can.

Gillian (above) and Dalane (below) ventured to the 408 from San Francisco for their first Sofia encounter.

Emma Seagrim (20 months) came by to gently rock and point to the "BABY!"

Meghan made us yummy enchiladas and held the baby while we ate. Best gift!

My co-worker Whitney gives in to her self-proclaimed "baby fever"

Co-workers Mary Jane and Sarah brought my favorite Margherita al Fresco sandwich from Le Bou, in exchange for some baby time. MJ had a dream when I was first pregnant that it would be a girl. I don't think she saw so much hair in her dream!

LMU Friends Gina and Jen stop by for bagels and mimosas and bragging rights to being the first LMUers to meet Sofia.

Proof that Mike Braun was here, even though Sofia was not down with being held!

Arlene got shafted at the hospital, I totally forgot to take a picture when she visited, so here's the make-up!

Daddies on parade...Steve with Sofia (2.5 weeks and 7.8lbs) and Paul with Dominic (2 months and 12lbs)

You're a Grand Ole Flag...

This year's 4th of July took us to a small BBQ around the corner at Grammy and Nono's where Sofia was the star of the show. She behaved wonderfully and basked in the attention of her admirers.

Noni and Auntie Val allowing mommy some wine time.

Didn't have anything red, white AND blue in the wardrobe (that was small enough) so we settled for this cute red and white number.

Ready for a Stanford tailgate? Noni, Auntie Kathryn, Granny and Auntie Eva enjoy their hot dogs.

A new favorite, Steve made this avocado, tomato, black bean, bell pepper salad on Father's Day. It was such a hit, Marcia made it for the 4th.

Always the rabble-rouser, Auntie Eva is making bird calls to try to get Sofia to wake up.
"I want to see her eyes open!"

Zucchini Patch Kid

This is what happens when squash are left to grow while you are away at the hospital picking up a baby.

Sneak Peek

We had the pleasure of working with photographer Andrea Heyfron this past weekend for our first of many of Sofia's photo sessions with her. Andrea and I worked together ages ago during my Cisco days. She still works for Cisco, but has also turned her passion for photography into a sucessful side business. Please keep her mind for your photography needs!

Check out Andrea's blog for a sneak peek at some of the beautiful photos she took this weekend. I'm just a little biased, but I think she had an adorable subject!

Baby in the City

Before I can post any more blogs about our Sofia, I have to do some catching up on the past couple of months, pre-baby.

Claire threw me a super fun and cleverly themed shower on May 30th. I think I'd been pregnant all of 5 minutes when Claire threw out this idea and I LOVED it. Come to think of it, she may have mentioned it even before I got pregnant!

All the girls came over in their "little black dresses" and we had a fun cocktail (and mocktail) party complete with yummy apps, cosmos, delectable desserts, games and gifts. It was more than I could have hoped for - to have all my best gals there to celebrate with AND cosmos. Thank you so much Claire for putting this together while you were very pregnant and then juggling two little ones!

The hostess with the mostess

The amazing spread

Friends old and new...Lori (far left) and Carissa (far right) I've known since we were all Quimby Oak Lobos (7th grade). Carissa came all the way from Merced for the shower! And Pamy (aka Amy Pizarro) and I were roomies 2002-2004. Pamy is also pregnant, due in October!

THE movie playing on repeat

My own personal stash of mock-cosmos (that I shared with Pamy)

Gillian displays one of the lesser known breastfeeding positions "the upsidedown football hold"

My Book Club buddies: Stacey and Arlene - happy to leave 2 kids each at home for a night out!

A McEnery Sandwich - Erin and Molly

Yes, well it's been awhile...

The San Francisco crew - Dalane, Gill and Amy L.

As all good parties do, this one ended with a Gill/Amy self-portrait

Sofia with an "f"

We kept many of you guessing by not sharing our choice in names. This was frustrating to quite a few, which made our decision even more fun. We figured since we already knew the sex, we'd wait to decide her name until we saw her. We had two names going into the birth. The idea was that one name would fit if she looked more like me, the other if she looked more like Steve. Of course, she threw us a loop by looking a whole lot like a Giachetti, but with my light hair. We waited an hour or so in recovery just ogling her and trying to make our final decision. It really wasn't much of a decision, she definitely looked to both of us to be a Sofia. The other name was Addison, which we both really liked, but I think we were both leaning towards a more "classic" name. And nearly everyone that we have shared the alternate name with has said that they prefer Sofia. Who knows if they are telling the truth or not, we really don't care!

What's with the spelling?
To keep the name a little more "Italian" Steve had said from the beginning that if we went with Sofia, he'd like to spell it with an "f" rather than the more common "ph" because in the Italian language, the combination of "ph" does not exist. So, "f" it is! So far we've received many cards and well wishes addressed to "Sophia." Oh well, she'll likely have to endure this her entire life. Steve is used to it, as he is Stephen, not Steven.

What will we call her?
It's been a little hard to not call her Piccolina and that will certainly remain a nickname. Steve is planning to call her Sofia, while I really like Sofie. Please feel free to use either!