a whole year of nj

our baby turned one! and bawled when we tried to throw her a party too late at night. 

we happened to be in seattle a few days before nora's birthday, so we threw together a little family party (not quite like her sister's bash). 

on her actual birthday, we hopped on a plane and flew 16 hours to turkey. what one year-old doesn't want a europe trip for her birthday?! maybe when she's 20 she'll appreciate the gesture. 

nora is the yin to sage's yang. she's almost always grinning, and will still lay her head on my shoulder. it hurts more to watch them grow up the second time around because you know how fast it goes.
wishing i could freeze time with this little girl...

how did she go from this:

to this:

to this:

to this:

(insert darling one year-old photoshoot that i never did...so we'll call it good with a christmas photo)

 

so quickly?

 we are head over heels for this baby. 

san francisco surprise

14 friends (and family) flew in from 7 states to surprise kylee for a baby shower girls' weekend. and it was phenomenal! k showed up to a magic show downtown with all of us sitting in the audience to surprise her. we can't wait to meet this very loved baby. 

we went to my very favorite place in the city for a morning farmer's market brunch--the ferry building. nora had all kinds of firsts on this trip...margherita pizza, herbed parmesan french fries, nectarine muffin, and tastes of all that fresh fruit at the market. i've never tried a better pluot than at the ferry building. 

carol found the coolest cooking class run out of a woman's loft apartment in soma. it felt good to be in our old neighborhood! we learned to make braised beef short ribs with polenta, sweet potato biscuits, brussel sprouts with shallots and bacon, and the real deal gingerbread...all while relaxing and chatting with a city view.

we had the actual shower part of the weekend on blankets in golden gate park with twirl and dip cones in hand. it got dark so quickly that we ended up with a cell phone flashlight "campfire" so we could see what k was unwrapping. we took the cable car to baonecci in north beach (shaved pear curls on pizza? i have to replicate this!). nora was...not super easy this trip. thankfully, she slept like a champ at the cooking class and while we were out to dinner. those cross country flights, though, almost did me in. but i'd take a fussy nora and sleep deprivation any day to spend time with so many people that i love celebrating the world's best trip planner and friend.

halloweeeeen

nate and i would prefer to skip right to christmas decorations, but i will admit that halloween with kids is so. fun. sage has been talking about being tinkerbell for the whole month. i was prepared to make mediocre fairy tutus for the girls when my mom generously offered to make the costumes herself. my girls are so lucky! multiple people asked me where we bought the dresses--pretty cool that they are handmade, and with a lot of love.

aunt madison sent a darling halloween package, complete with matching leggings

sage's preschool class had a little costume parade and presentation. she's such a sensitive soul and burst into tears when the little boy behind her put on his darth vader mask.

we invited some other mba friends over for soup and trick and treating on halloween night. it was hilarious and fun to walk around with this pack of little kids. they suddenly started walking faster to each house when they caught on to the candy. 

nora would rather crawl than sit for pictures

at the end of the night, tink had a little meltdown about which pajamas to wear, and her pixie sidekick happily went in for the goods. we thought nora was just playing with the candy, but later found a rolo in her mouth...so, hope you liked sugar, kid! i was way more neurotic with your sister. sage has declared she wants to reprise her tinkerbell role next year. maybe we'll dress up as something different than tired parents next year too...