Here we are at the end of March and I have so many photos to post! We’ve been so busy enjoying the beautiful weather, hosting family and friends, having play dates, and going to parties, we’ve been neglecting the blog a bit lately. Hope this monster photo post makes up for it. ENJOY!

Finally, the birthday post you have all been waiting for. It’s only taken me two months to post it. Hopefully we won’t disappoint you: we kept it simple!

First up: check out our beautiful party decorations!

Do you recognize them?! Our friend Brenda, who you may know better as  a Stealth Secret Agent, lent us streamers of birthday flags from her daughter’s party the week before. Aren’t they cheerful and creative?! They changed the whole atmosphere of our house — they went up and suddenly it was party time! We are so thankful. Thank you Brenda and Bug! xoxo

And party we did!

On the day of Miss Leyba’s birthday we did a joint dinner party for her and I with our closest friends in town. (Yep, our bithdays are less than a week apart!) You recognize these boys. They are practically Miss Leyba’s big brothers and wow does she love them. We ate delicious food and sang songs and played games and hung out. It was low key and perfect. They supplied party hats, stickers and matching napkins — check out the dog theme (perfect for our girl!). (The hats were such a hit, Miss Leyba still wears them around the house!) And the grownups partook of a bottle of Fumé Blanc from Chateau St. Jean that we had been saving for a special occasion. Yep, a glass of wine made the evening extra special for mama. YUM!

The next day we had planned a birthday play date for Miss Leyba with some of her closer friends. Unfortunately, two of the mommies came down with bad colds, another two mams had to go into work at the last minute, so it ended up just being super small: just one friend! Luckily it was one of her favorite kiddos and she was in heaven that he came over to play! (Thank you, Eveline, for saving the day!) Miss Leyba kept hugging and touching him too. She was so thrilled to have him over. It was ADORABLE!

Next year, when she’ll really understand what’s going on, we’ll go all out. In fact, I am already planning it. So get excited and start making your travel arrangements. ;P

Edited to add: I am just kidding! (My mom thought I was serious.) We won’t have room for you! But I promise to post lots and lots of pictures.

That was an unexpected break.

I can make excuses.

We’ve had two sets of house guests: one of David’s good friends from college and my aunt who was in town for a retreat.

I’m working on a freelance website design job for a friend from college.

Miss Leyba is teething. She now has four teeth about to break through, poor girl.

We’re possibly buying a second car… a very impractical but super cheap and cute red convertible that belongs to a family friend. David gets to drive it to work.

And I saved the best for last. In three weeks we’re saying goodbye to suburban sprawl and heading to a little town in wine country. We’re renting an itty bitty house three blocks from dear friends, we’ll be able to walk to town (restaurants, bar, post office, bike trail) and be just 5 minutes from our yoga classes (instead of 20!). We’ve been wanting to move there for about two years, so saying we’re excited is a bit of an understatement.

Yeah, we got a little bit going on.

But all you really want is a photo of Miss Leyba, right?!

Well, I’ll give you three.

Check out Miss Serious. This is her concentration face.

I now need to rig some sort of locking mechanism on my purse. Unloading it is the new, every day activity. I suppose I should just be pleased it occupies her for 30 15 minutes, instead of dwelling on the fact that she strews the contents across the house (currently in three rooms). Excuse we while I go locate my wallet. And my checkbook.

Check out this video of a typical father daughter morning moment (in pajamas):

Sharing cards from Carrie on Vimeo.

Who knew that sharing cards could be so darn funny?

Why do you think she’s laughing? We can’t pinpoint it exactly for the life of us.

My favorite part of this movie is when she starts to give David a card, then pulls away out of his reach. Only then does she lean in to share, giggling hysterically.

They are constantly cracking each other up. Leyba laughter is so infectious.

We’re a bit more organized — for now!

Have a happy weekend!

Tomorrow we have a faux Thanksgiving Dinner to attend. We’re celebrating the anniversary of an operation six years ago that saved our young friends life (you know who we’re talking about!). We have some partying to do.

Go kiss someone you love. Life is precious.

This is what happens when all three of us are sick and no one picks up the house for a week:

Actually, this is what our house look likes at the end of every day prior to the massive pick up right before David walks in the door. He calls from work on his way to car and I know I have about 12 minutes to clear the floor.

This morning I cleaned up for the first time since Sunday and, yep, it took quite a bit longer. In fact, in the time it has taken me to write this post I’ve noticed Miss Leyba has started messing things up again.

Excuse me, I’ve got books to pick up. We have house guests arriving tonight!

Today I was thinking about how learning new bits of information has shaped my eating habits. After reading that aspartame breaks down into formaldehyde in low pH environments, I broke my diet coke habit (formed in college; oh, how things have changed!).  A few weeks ago I read about how BPA is present in canned goods (except for Eden Foods — that’s why their products are so much more expensive) and we’ve now cut all BPA out of our diet.

Granted these choices seem small in comparison to one my grandparents made in 1964. The day the Surgeon General spoke out against smoking, declaring its possible link to cancer, my paternal grandpa and grandma quit smoking. They quit that day.

It blows me away and so inspires me.

Little changes can have big effects.

In politics, in communities, in family life, in terms of my health.

On March 15th I am cutting all gluten and processed sugar out of my diet. I know I feel better when I avoid both of these things, but I am addicted to them. I know they make me feel tired and grouchy, that they aren’t great for my health, but I crave them and want more, more, more. I am not good about moderation. If it’s in the house, I eat it.

So in less than a week I am saying goodbye to them for good.

It may even help me lose weight. (I HOPE it helps me lose weight!)

In the past I’ve avoided them for around two years… We’ll see how this time goes. I’ll keep you posted.

Wish me luck!