Wednesday night I attended the long-awaited concert at the Warfield in San Francisco. Unfortunately, Tim could not join Micaela and I in enjoying the beautiful music! He had to work really late on a phone issue, and couldn’t make it.

I started listening to Iron and Wine after I saw the movie ‘In Good Company’; the song “The Trapeze Swinger” plays during the end credits, when Topher Grace is running on the beach. After almost 10 years of enjoying Sam Beam’s music, I finally got to see him live! It was a very exciting event for me.

I couldn’t take my camera with me, but I do have a few iPhone pictures to share:

He changed up some of the songs, so that a slower tempo song became upbeat, more jazzy… Sam told us audience members that he didn’t want to just give us the songs we could listen to at home. I agreed and disagreed; I fell in love with the sounds on the album, but I did enjoy his new versions of some of my favorites! His voice was AMAZING! All appreciation I had for his recordings became heightened by the knowledge that he sounds just as good, if not better, live.

The last picture is of Mr. Beam singing “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” without accompaniment (other than a few spare notes on his guitar). I gotta tell you: I felt shivers in my spine. It was so freakin’ awesome. Thanks to Adrienne for keeping an eye on my boy while I attended the concert!

Marco’s birthday AND birthday party were a beautiful success. I cried, we all laughed, and I smooched Marco about 100000 times. I have a 1 year old child! Wow.

He looks so much like a big kid now!

Carrot cake cupcakes with low-sugar cream cheese frosting! I made these for Marco’s classmates and teachers. The recipe for the frosting called for cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and 1 whole box of powdered sugar! Ewww! I put in half the sugar, and the flavor was perfect for the carrot cake. I may share with you my super-secret-but-not-very-complicated carrot cake recipe. But I might not. We’ll see… LOL

Marco’s party was a lot of fun! We had about 28 people at our house, and they all wanted to talk to, cuddle with, and kiss the birthday boy, and Marco was a total champ! He even took a few steps for his family and friends. I’ll post more pictures of his party later.

Roux also celebrated her first birthday (May 26th), and she was happy with her very own tuna cake!

ALSO!! Our garden is doing very well, and we’re finally getting lawn in our backyard! It’s so exciting to see the green shoots. Proof of my gardening skills:

My very own strawberries! Small, but delicious. I feel like a real farmer! LOL, not exactly…but it is fun to grow my own food.

Speaking of food, I almost forgot to mention my big decision: I decided to become a full-fledged vegetarian! After 3 1/2 years of a mainly meat-free diet (chicken only – no fish, fowl, beef, or pork products), I finally took the plunge. I’ve been ENTIRELY meat-free for 2 weeks now. It’s a little difficult, but I managed! I didn’t give up dairy products, though! More power to the vegans out there, but I love cheese too much.

Phew! That’s what I get for slackin’ on the posts!

What have you been up to?? I hope you have wonderful weekends!

Dear Marco,

First, I have to tell you: you are the most beautiful boy in the entire world; not to mention the smartest and sweetest. I love absolutely every detail about you, from your perfect toes to the funny wisps of hair on top of your head.

born May 27th 2010 9:27pm

You have your own odd sense of humor, and I love to watch you come up with your own private jokes.

You’ve recently discovered the Count on Sesame Street, and you give yourself giggle fits trying to imitate his halting, Transylvanian laugh: “AHA HA HA”.

I love that when you see me coming through the door of your classroom to pick you up, your face bursts into a joyous smile.  You bounce up and down, or race across the room to get to me.

I love that you think I’m hilarious when I dance my routine to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (the one choreographed especially for you during your colicky days; a modern mix of ballet, air guitar, kabuki theatre, and some full on hair swishing/head banging), and that you smile big when I sing to you.

You’re super-ticklish under your armpits, and your Daddy and I take full advantage of your tickle spots!

I hope that I don’t come across too harshly when I have to tell you ‘No’. I’m sorry that sometimes I get frustrated with your inability to fully express what you need, and I hope you forgive me; I’ve never claimed patience as a virtue, but just know that your mother loves you and tries her best. I know you are learning words in your own pace. Already, you say ‘Mama’, ‘Dada’, ‘agin!’ (again) and ‘Moarrr’ (more)

You blew a kiss to me today; I caught it and put it away for a cold night. I might have wept a little.

You’re officially considered a toddler now, because you’re 1 year old, and have taken your first steps. Today, on your birthday, you stood, and took 4 steps towards your daddy, and 2 steps towards me. ALL BY YOURSELF.

I love you.  I kind of worship at your feet, you little angel, so take care not to throw graham crumbs into my hair.

Happy birthday, my Marco Amadeus.

The remainder of my wonderful Mother’s Day…

First – my outfit!

Dress: Derek Heart
Belt: vintage
Sandals: Preview, purchased 2009
Scarf, worn as headwrap: vintage

After a stop at Whole Foods for supplies, the three of us headed to Downtown Sonoma for a picnic. There is a pretty park right smack in the middle of the main square, and lots of sweet little boutiques to peruse. A few restaurants that I want to try, too!

Marco loves avocado and mango

After the picnic, we wandered around the shops, and checked out some local sights.

We headed back home so Marco could take a cozy nap. After a rest and an episode of ‘Poirot’, we went to Firewood Cafe for dinner, and YoBelle for frozen yogurt!

I filled my cup with Plain and Fresh Strawberry yogurts, and added kiwi, strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Tim ordered Yellow Cake Batter, Cinnamon Bun, and Plain, mixing in peanut butter cups, cheesecake bites, and brownie bites.

Tim made funny faces, and I let Marco press the shutter button on my camera. He is a good photographer

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Today is also a milestone; May 9th 2011 marks the 8th year since Tim and I had our first date.

(not from our first date, but this was taken the day he first kissed me)

I am ridiculous. Somehow, Tim puts up with me. I love him in ways I never imagined, and can’t think of anything about him that I would change. Okay….maybe he could pick up his dirty socks, and rinse out his cereal bowls after use. But aside from those minor details, he’s just what I need in my partner. He’s been an amazing father to Marco, and I hope that Marco inherits all of Tim’s beautiful qualities, his intelligence, his kindness, and his wonderful natural scent (seriously, I could smell Tim’s neck all day).

I love you, Tim!! <3

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P.S. Did you enter my giveaway? Ends Friday, May 13th!!

This week was extremely busy, but there were a few bright spots that made it rock!

1. This morning we scored tickets to see Iron and Wine at the Warfield on June 1st!! I found out yesterday that Mr Sam Beam would finally be making a stop in Northern California during his current tour, and I forced (at water-gun point) Tim to log onto ticketmaster at exactly 10am this morning to snag 3 tickets during the fan pre-sale. Micaela is going to be coming with us, and we’re all soooooo excited! I’ve heard he’s AMAZING live.

Here’s one of my favorite songs by this ridiculously talented, extremely bearded man:

2.  Marco officially started crawling, and is getting around very well. My big boy! He also understands the word ‘No’, and will shake his head back and forth when you say it. His teachers are so excited to tell me his accomplishments every day; it’s nice that they are proud of him.

Tomorrow we’re going to Belle’s 2nd birthday party. I can’t believe she’s two already!

OMG and the Oscars are Sunday!! I love watching the Academy Awards.  Colin Firth is going to win the Best Actor award. I can feel it in my bones…

Marco turned 6 months old last weekend.

He’s started to say ‘Mama’ when he’s really upset; he’s also wrapping his arms around my neck to hug me. It’s going to be hard to leave him next week, when I start my new job!

I have a feeling that Marco is going to love playing with other babies. He smiles at every little kid he sees!

Here are pictures of my beautiful son for you to enjoy (you know you do):

More pics HERE.

Have a good Tuesday!!

This week was…interesting? I guess.

Spent my first night alone with Marco, because of a dumb work schedule that Tim had to abide by (luckily, only once!).  I am glad he never has to do that again, but it was actually a good night – Marco slept 11 hours! He’s now on a pretty consistent 9 hours per night, with occasional leaps into the 11 hour range. :)

I know he’s only 3 months, but the other day I was eating a peach, and he looked interested, so I held a piece out and let him kind of taste it. He really liked it! He licked his lips and smiled! Don’t worry, I didn’t let him actually get a piece in his mouth (I don’t want him to choke, duh!) but he liked the flavor. I’ve also let him have a suck on some watermelon, which he liked. So, maybe it’s a sign of things to come? In a few weeks we get to add rice cereal into his diet, and after a month of that he gets to try real food…I can’t wait to start using my Beaba baby cooker to make Marco’s meals.

Another ‘first’: I left Marco for the first time with someone other than Tim.  Adrienne and Justin were kind enough to watch him on Sunday night, while I drove to San Francisco and laughed my butt off with Micaela at the Patton Oswalt show. It was a little difficult to leave at first, and I was totally one of those moms at the club, showing off pictures of Marco. But, I had a lot of fun and it was good to have a night to myself.

Went back to work this week. I worked Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at the Inn, and this afternoon at the insurance office. It was good to get back into the swing of things, but I have had to rearrange my days in order to get everything done!

Anyway, I am looking forward to tomorrow…a whole day with Tim and Marco, all to myself.

Grabbed this from Adrienne:

My day in ‘great detail’

6:30-7am – Marco wakes up. Tim feeds Marco, and plays with him before getting ready for work. Marco usually goes down for a nap around 8am.

8:30am – I wake up, eat some whole-wheat toast or a bowl of cereal, check emails, and read.

10am – Marco eats his 2nd breakfast, and then we cuddle and play. I take many pictures of him, either with my camera or my iPhone – whatever is handy.

12pm – Marco usually gets tired around this time, so he’ll go down for a nap. Most days it’s an hour or hour and a half, but occasionally it’s only 45 minutes.

1:30pm – Marco has lunch, and we play. Sometimes we’ll run errands (today, we went to get my car washed, and then to Starbucks for a non-fat caramel macchiato).

3 – 3:30pm – Marco gets sleepy again, so he goes down for a nap. I’ll read, blog, clean… whatever needs to be done. He’ll sleep until his next feeding.

5pm - Marco’s dinner, and then more playtime with me. Tim comes home around 6:30, and he plays with Marco while I relax.

Sometimes Marco goes down for a nap between this feeding and the 8:30 feeding, but usually he will be awake until then. Tim and I will eat dinner, read, and watch movies or television. Lately, it’s been lots of ‘Dexter’.

8:30pm – Marco has his last feeding of the day, and we get him in his pajamas, feed him, and put him directly to bed. He falls asleep around 9pm, and sleeps until the next morning; at least, he has for the past 4 days!

Tim and I continue to relax together, and head to bed around 10:30pm. I read until 11.

My days are definitely planned around Marco, but with the parenting strategy we’ve chosen to adopt, there’s plenty of wiggle-room.

I don’t always have time to relax, but it generally works out. I certainly have more time than I thought I would!

We had quite an eventful weekend!  Went to Dad’s house on Saturday, to visit and swim. I decided to brave the water and took a dip with my boy. It was so much fun! Marco is a natural in the water. 

Saturday pictures:

More matching outfits for Marco and Tim :) Too cute!

Marco playing on his favorite blankie – A gift from the Dempseys!

My silly boy looks like he’s throwing gang signs

Sunday has a soundtrack – ‘Forever’ by Chris Brown. I have Belle to thank for this, LOL! Apparently it is her favorite song, and while we visited them Sunday, she had insisted it be played on repeat. I think I heard it 10 times in a row. I don’t like the song, and now it’s completely stuck in my head! 

We’d headed to the Gomers for the first of our ’Mad Men Sundays’. We had 2 new episodes of ’Mad Men’to watch!  Before the viewing, however, Adrienne and I wanted to catch a yoga class, so the guys stayed with the little ones while we attended a Hatha Yoga class at 7th Heaven Yoga Center. The class was run by an instructor named Katie, and I really enjoyed it! I was definitely not as flexible as I used to be when I took yoga, so it was quite a humbling experience. Having a baby did not help my center of balance, so some of the poses were a little difficult. I left feeling good, though; today I’m sore but in a good way. They had a special for new students, so I signed up for 3 more classes.

Justin made dinner for us, and we relaxed with some wine and Don Draper. This season of ‘Mad Men’ is going along very nicely. I’m looking forward to the next episodes!

Pics from Sunday:

Marco likes to cuddle with Justin

Belle and her mommy

Three takes and she still wouldn’t smile until AFTER the shutter closed!

This weekend was filled with good food, sneezing, interesting conversation, coughing, stuffy noses, swimming… you get the idea. My allergies came to visit last week, and decided this weekend was a good time to move in for an extended stay.

Friday night, we had an awesome time with Marco, watching Disney’s ‘Chicken Little’. Marco seemed to love watching the colors on the screen.  Tim and I ordered pizza from one of our favorite local joints, New York Pizza Kitchen. Mmm pizza.

Our good friend Adan visited us on Saturday, bringing with him a few bottles of his beer. Adan and his friend Tony decided to start making their own brews, and their first batch was actually quite tasty! I am not a beer drinker by any means, but even I liked this cream ale (named ‘Genesis’). They are making an amber next, and that is Tim’s favorite type. 

Sunday, my allergies reached critical mass, but Tim’s twin sister, Kate, and her husband, Josh were in town from Virginia to visit with family, so I took a Claritin, 2 ibuprofen and 1 Chlor-Trimeton and we made our way to Dad’s house. They have two children, 19 month old twins: Elizabeth and Joshua Jr.

Tim and Marco ended up going for a dip in the pool, and our gorgeous boy LOVED it! I was so excited that he liked it so much. He mostly stayed in the hot tub, which was heated to 90 degrees. So adorable!

More pictures available on Marco’s website.