William has been fortunate to get lots of great toys so far from many different sources. Some toys have been simple, others complex. I’ve had lots of fun seeing how he responds and plays with them. One that I was especially delighted to get for him was this Merry Mover from Katki, a toy safe enough even for a newborn baby.
A year ago I had more free time, and was not pumping or breastfeeding every three hours, so I was able to volunteer with and at my church. An On This Day App reminded me that a little over a year ago I was volunteering with to help with the shower service, Dignity on Wheels, which was at our church several days a week. The program is a mobile shower and laundry provider that allows members of the homeless population to take a hot shower with provided materials and to do a small load of laundry. I was proud to wear my feminist shirt, referencing Senator Elizabeth Warren and pink shoes to make a statement.
Continue reading “Volunteering with Dignity on Wheels – Throw Back Thursday “
The theme for William’s Four Month Photo Shoot was animated characters. The first outfit I used for him was that of Mike Wazowski of Monsters, Inc. Matt and I found this adorable costume / sleeper just a few days before his shoot, so when I decided to use it for his shoot, it shaped the theme. At first William didn’t want to even look at the camera at all.
As a member of Amazon Prime, I get my choice of one free Kindle book a month from a few options. While I don’t always choose one, due to time, presented selections of both, I did find the summary of the book Neighborly, interesting enough to choose and read this month. The description of the book was one in which a couple, Kat and Doug, and their infant daughter, move to a new neighborhood for a fresh start. Kat has a huge secret that no one, even her husband knows, and she starts getting threatening messages soon after she moves in. The neighbors also have a secret they will learn. This seemed like a fun book to read from that, so I had high hopes for it.
It cracks me up how accurate some of the descriptions of what babies will be like at a certain stage is true for William. He is definitely a very vocal baby,
one whom you can tell if he’s happy with his smiles, giggles, screams in delight or sad with is crying, and angry screaming. It definitely does seem like we have more smiles and excited sounds from him then we have before.
I was excited to start receiving the email to be a Shepherd in church again. I’d greatly enjoyed the opportunity to help with the children’s ministry while pregnant. I had told Peggy Joy that if William was in a happy mood (or was sleeping) he’d been joining us, however, if he was in a fussy mood I would put him in the church’s nursery. She had said he was OK to stay either way, however, I told her if he was fussy it would be distracting for the children. The first test was the music played, as depending on the song played and instruments used, this may or may not have effected his mood. So I was delighted to see it was one of our church’s rare times to use the beautiful and soft sounding bell choir.
Since we were unable to see them for Valentine’s Day, Matt and I were thrilled to be able to schedule and see William’s Godmother, Kristi, and Tyler, one of his Godbrothers for a visit in their beautiful home.
One product type that Matt and I have tried many of is teethers. We know William is definitely teething and try all we can to help him with the associated pain relief. Still, despite trying a Teething Egg and Organic Teething Toys, we hadn’t found one that was perfect for him. So, I was definitely skeptical of the Little Teether toy that was part of William’s Bluum boy this month. I was intrigued that it came in a soft, reusable pouch, perfect for keeping the toy clean when transporting in a bag.
Two years ago Valentine’s Day fell on a Sunday, and Matt and I went out to celebrate at a location that was to be a surprise for me. This was somewhat of a tradition for us, with Matt picking our anniversary and Valentine’s Day locations and surprising me with them on the day of. I put on my heart shaped glasses and was excited to find out where we were going.
It turns out our destination was Sociale, an upscale restaurant in San Francisco that Matt’s family had once owned a part of. I was thrilled to be going as I’d heard so much about it before our visit.
This was the view from outside the charming restaurant.
Inside the decor was simple and elegant. The pink candles were a beautiful centerpiece on the tables.
Sociale had a special tasting menu. We made sure to order all different items so we could try many things that had to offer. Both the taste and the presentation was exquisite.
Afterwards Matt wanted to try one more place, though he wasn’t certain if they were open. He made a call and soon we were off to our second surprise destination, The Tonga Room in the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.
At first we were told that it was pretty much standing room only. We put our names on a table list just in case, and somehow they came to get us in less than 20 minutes to tell us a table had been found for us.
Inside the decor is one big Tiki Lounge. They have artificial rain come down randomly. In the center, a little boat comes out with musicians who entertain the crowd.
We tried several drinks including Mai Tais, Hurricanes and more.
We would have loved to have stayed even later than we did, but we both had to work the next day. So we took one last photo in the hotel lobby.
I really love that even though we had to work the next day, we had a great and long evening. With us now getting up earlier for work then we did then and having William, we probably wouldn’t do such a long date night if the next day was a work day. Still, in 2019 Valentine’s Day is a Friday, so perhaps we will do a long date that night as well.
~ Danielle
Valentine’s Day was one of firsts for us. It was, of course, William’s first Valentine’s Day. He proudly wore a onesie proclaiming it his first Valentine’s Day that Candy had bought him.
Over 40 First Time Mom 