Since over two years have passed since I was blogging regularly, I think we're due for a little recap of all the goings on over those few years. As it happens, they were the busiest, most exciting years so far. I will do my best to keep this a reasonable length, but there is a lot to catch up on!
Shortly after my blogging hiatus started, we found out we were pregnant on a trip to Chicago for our friends wedding. Even though it was planned, it was still very surreal and overwhelming. I think because of the group setting on that trip, it was even more overwhelming. We obviously didn't want to mention anything yet being so early on, so I was stressing out trying to pretend I was drinking and that it was business as usual. While inside I was processing the major life change that was about to happen.
Since we were still living in SF, my family was in the foothills and Andrew's in San Diego, we told everyone separately after the end of the first trimester. For my parents, we bought a children's book and wrote a little note telling them the newest grand baby was looking forward to all the adventures to come with Mimi and Papa. We told my sister and family at Thanksgiving, we gave my nephew an ultrasound picture and had him bring it to my sister. Then for Andrew's Mom, we FaceTimed her and said we wanted to show her our Christmas tree, when we flipped around the camera we had the ultrasound picture sitting in the branches of the tree. And we told Nina when she came over for one of our regular Sunday family dinners.
We waited to announce more broadly for quite a while because we had to wait for some test results. We found out I was a carrier for a genetic disorder, so we were waiting to get Andrew's results back before we felt ready to share the news. If he had also been a carrier, there would have been more tests to make sure the baby was okay. Thankfully we learned that Andrew was not a carrier and everything with Baby M looked great, so were excited to share our news. We had taken photos to use on our 2017 holiday card so we sent those out to close family and friends. Then, on NYE I shared on social media that 2018 would be our best year yet!
We decided that we wanted to wait and be surprised to find out if we were having a boy or girl. It's so funny how strongly people react to that, they either LOVE it or HATE it. It was fun to think about what life would be like with a boy or a girl, I think deep down I knew we were having a boy. But Andrew was sure we were having a girl! We finally narrowed it down to Graham Thomas for a boy, but deciding on a name for a girl was hard. We had gotten it down to two names by the time I went into labor.
We wanted to take one last vacation as a family of two and decided a relaxing week in Maui was the perfect place. Plus it seemed special since we spent our honeymoon there. The weather was a bit rainy during our visit, but were able to totally relax and enjoy the week together.
My Mother in Law hosted a small shower for me in San Diego for Andrew's family as well as Lee Ann's friends who were excited to celebrate her first grand baby. My Mom and sister both flew down and it was such a special way to celebrate baby M. It worked well because a few of my closest friends live nearby and were able to attend as well. It felt like this shower was the kick off for celebrating, and made it all start to feel real and exciting!
While we were in San Diego, we decided to have a maternity photo session at Scripps Pier in La Jolla. I thought it would be fun to have the photos taken where Andrew grew up and on the beach, they turned out so beautifully. I love them!
My sister (and Mom) threw my main baby shower over Mother's Day weekend back home in the foothills. It was the most special day, the shower could not have been more perfect! My sister should really have a party planning business because every detail was so adorable. It was woodland theme and seriously so perfect. I loved being surrounded by all my closest friends and family, everyone there to celebrate sweet Baby M. I wish I had hired a photographer to capture all the details for the day. I'm not much for baby shower games but my sister did the best one. She had Andrew answer various questions about the baby or our life once baby came, and then I had to guess his answers. It was so fun! I should do a post of the shower just so I can share all the photos, it was the best!
I'll do a longer post on Pregnancy overall, but I was so lucky to have a very smooth and easy pregnancy. Besides being huge (I think I gained about 40-45lbs), I felt great. I was tired of course, and slow moving towards the end, but overall I didn't have any unbearable symptoms so I felt really fortunate. I really loved being pregnant especially once the baby started moving a lot. He would be so active in the evenings around 9pm and Andrew would lay down and feel him moving all over the place and talk to him. Although at that point he thought it was a girl and kept saying "Mila" because he was so certain!
Little baby M was in no hurry to meet us! Our due date was July 1, 2018 and I was sure he was going to come in June. I started my maternity leave halfway through June and enjoyed a few weeks of nesting. But then July 1st came and went and I was still waiting with no sign of baby. Our doctor wouldn't let me go past 42 weeks, and I didn't want to be induced so I decided to try acupuncture. The night after my 2nd session, I went into labor, which happened to be the date my induction was scheduled.
Graham Thomas Magliozzi arrived on Friday, July 13th 2018. He was born at the CPMC California Campus in San Francisco, the same hospital my Dad was born in (also on a Friday). The 13th is a special date in our family so I love his birth date! He was born via c-section and a big, healthy boy at 9lbs 90z and 20" long.
After 5 days in the hospital we brought Graham home to our beloved apartment in San Francisco. Thankfully my mom stayed with us for a week to help us survive the adjustment. She helped us cook, shop, tidy up, wash my pumping parts, and do all the amazing things Mimi's do. I will be forever grateful. The first few months were great at home with Graham. He was such a great baby, ate pretty well and slept like a champion. I had a lot of anxiety but Andrew was a saint and helped me gain confidence that first month we were both home from work. When Andrew started back at work, I enjoyed the city as much as I could because I knew we would be leaving soon. I would go on walks all over with Graham and meet friends for lunch, it was simultaneously the best and hardest months of my life.
We knew that we didn't want to raise Graham in the city, mostly because of the cost of childcare and not having family close by to help. Somehow we managed to keep our jobs and start working remotely so that we could move to the foothills and plant some roots. I will do a full post on this eventually, but this transition was extremely hard for me, something I didn't expect at all.
I was so happy to be close to home for Graham's first Christmas. We spent so much time with family and created new memories and traditions as a family of 3!
We also did our annual Christmas trip to San Diego to visit with Andrew's family, and so everyone could meet baby Graham.
Our first big trip as a family of three was to Jackson Hole WY for our dear friends wedding. We had such a great time and learned that while it is hard to travel with kids, it's also so fun and rewarding.
We kept busy all year (2019) with Graham. One of our goals becoming parents was to continue traveling and doing the things we loved. Although travel is definitely a lot of work these days (SO much stuff! And planning) it's so worth it. I already look back at our photos and smile thinking of these memories we're making as a family. Here is a glimpse into our travels this year! We went camping in Yosemite Valley and borrowed Mimi and Papa's VW camper, an ode to my childhood! And I'm so glad we got to take this trip because they ended up selling the van last year. We also went to Mammoth for the 4th of July with friends, to San Diego to see family and friends, camping in Tuolumne Meadows with Mimi and Papa. Our annual trip, and really special for Andrew and I taking Graham to one of our favorite places. As well as his first trip up Lembert Dome! We also went to San Francisco to stay with Auntie Nina for Fleet Week, spent some time at Ocean Beach and walking around our old stomping grounds. Our last trip of 2019 was to San Diego for the holidays with Andrew's family. We fit a lot into 5 days with our annual brewery tour, the San Diego Zoo, Aquarium, and seeing old friends.
We celebrated Graham's 1st birthday at our house with a Jungle Theme party! It couldn't have been more perfect because our little guy is a Wild One for sure. Full of energy and personality, always keeping us on our toes. Our friends and family came to celebrate with us and it was such a great day! One of the highlights was the gift from Mimi and Papa. They refinished my childhood rocking horse for Graham, I cried when they brought it in. So very special.
Whew! If you're still reading, I salute you! This was way longer than I anticipated, but are we really surprised?
Now that we're all caught up on the last few years, we can move forward! So happy to be back and have you all here with me. We're a few months in and I can already see, 2020 is truly going to be the best year yet!
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