Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

2012 Christmas Card- First family portrait and my favorite card of the bunch

Merry Christmas blog buddies (and cheers to all of us surviving the apocalypse)!  Here is a virtual Christmas card from me to you. I do not post here as much as I would like but I still see that you are reading and for that I am grateful. I hope you create wonderful memories with your loved ones this Christmas and the year to come! And because I'm a bit of a narcissist, here are my past Christmas cards for you too:) Happy Holidays! xo

2011-Expecting our first child (though to keep it real I was not pregnant in this picture)

2010- Our first couple card the year we married

Farewell to Amanda Woodward and My Corporate Life

This is from the Melrose Place reboot but good ole Mandy is still up to her old antics        

When I was a young teen (or tween as they are now called) I really wanted to be a "corporate woman". I would watch Melrose Place and dreamed of the day I too could wear completely business appropriate mini skirts to the office. I wanted to be Amanda Woodward, not the psycho b*tch part (she was that right?), but the sexy “business” part. I wanted to live in a big city and climb that corporate ladder! Examining this now, I do not remember at all what Amanda’s actual job was, or anything much about her character beyond her work wardrobe, so it is clear to me that her clothes were the reason I was inspired by her.

Fast forward 10 or so years and I got my very own corporate job! Thankfully I learned before I started that a short skirt and sky high heels aren’t actually office appropriate, but none the less, I was  happy to be in the corporate setting. At the start I LOVED my job. I worked for a home furnishings company as a planning coordinator who was responsible for entering orders and being the liaison between our vendors and planners. Everyone on our team was under 30 and my boss was the best ever. Seriously I could go on and on about how cool my first boss was…though he hasn’t been my boss for years we have remained close. So close that I now have his last name and we even share a child. Yes, my husband is my old boss (but that’s another story for another day). Examining this now, I think I loved seeing my crush (which was all he was to start with) and friends (over half that team was at our wedding) every day more than the actual job.

Time passed and beyond one promotion, I wasn’t really climbing that ladder. My second and last position with the company was the assistant buyer for the outlet division. The job function that took up the majority of my time was to decide what damaged or discontinued furniture was going to go to which stores based on distribution center on hands and store needs. Sounds fun right? I mean that was probably Amanda Woodward’s job too, or at least some other tv show’s main character’s job because the job description just oozes sex appeal.  While I never wanted the business to do badly, I didn’t get personally excited if it was doing well. Banged up or discontinued furniture… I was not losing sleep or having joy over that.  Our business was thriving, and that furniture that I was in charge of made up for more than half the revenue, yet I got zero personal gratification from it. But there was a recession, the job paid me well enough, I had friends in the office who made me laugh (though hubs moved to another company years ago) and I got to leave around 5 o'clock every day so I stayed in my boring job.

Fast forward a few years to my maternity leave.  This is probably the only time that I will be grateful for not getting a promotion or raise. Combine the high price of child care in San Francisco, my not amazing salary, lack of passion for my job, and great passion for being a mother and you get the perfect recipe for a stay at home mom.

There are some women who always dreamed of being a stay at home mom. That was never my dream. I always intended to be Amanda Woodward but once I got to the actual corporate world, I realized it was simply not a good fit for me. I have no filter and more importantly no business will ever be a priority or passion to me when I have an infant at home to think about, and thank god my family is in the financial place where I don’t need to work. My life took a different path than I thought it would. I wasn’t meant to be Amanda Woodward, I was meant to be a mom, and I truly could not be happier.  

Month 6

Baby O at 6 Months

And so we are at the half way point of my baby's first year! Every month really does get better because every month lil' Ofilito is able to do more, and we see more of his personality. It is clear to us that we got very, very lucky with this little guy. He has slept through the night since month 3, will be quiet in restaurants, and only really cries if he is hungry or tired (or if we leave him for a date night-those aren't that frequent anymore). He is usually a happy, relaxed, easy to please baby...thank God he took after his father personality wise instead of me! He's a big boy- 95th percentile in height and 75th in weight. At his last check up he was a few ounces away from 20 pounds and 28.5 inches tall. He has 2 teeth about to make their way through, sits up without assistance and has even started CRAWLING! It amazes me every day how much he has changed and grown since even 1 month ago. Happy Half Birthday Muffin! You have my whole heart <3.

4 and 5

Month 4

Month 5

Time is literally flying by! Month 4 and 5 were awesome. Little O clearly knows and loves us which is the best feeling in the world. He sleeps through the night (he is amazing what can I say) and when I come to his crib in the morning I am always greeted with the widest, happiest smile. Nobody has ever been happier to see me and I have never been happier to see anyone ever. He laughs, sits up (with assistance) , rolls over both ways...everyday he gets bigger and stronger and I am so lucky to be his mama and see all of it. Little pumpkin we love you to the moon and back! xoxo

Since I simply could not pick just one picture, here are 2 more of my angel:)

While he looks bigger in month 4, it's just the angle; if you look at where he is hitting the pattern on the chair you can tell he has grown a few inches.

3 Months of Little Man

My Baby & Me

My little muffin is 15 weeks old today. These past 3 plus months have been some of the best and most rewarding of my life. I have never seen anything more fascinating, beautiful or more adorable than my sweet son.  Every new thing he does brings more happiness to me than anything prior...for reals. I never would have thought that I would find farts cute or that a baby's ability to hold his head up would make me cry tears of joy but that's what has been going on around here. I may look like a hot mess most days but it's totally worth it to have this guy as my constant companion. Below you will find Baby Ofilio on each of his monthly "birthdays" (which all get celebrated;). As you can see he gets more alert and attentive every month, can't wait to see all that will come between now and month 4!

Month 1

Month 2

Month 3

Sweet Child of Mine

His Birth Announcement via Tiny Prints

Introducing my baby boy, Ofilio Clay Arguello! Our little man was born two months ago and has been making us oh so happy everyday since. He got his first name from his father (and grandfather, and great grandfather), and his middle name (chosen by me) from the street we live on (but if you ask I may just say that it's because my husband is a huge Clay Aiken fan;). Last night was his first sleeping through so today I have enough energy to write a post. Hoping to get back into the swing of things and share with you more of life with my little muffin. Welcome to the world Baby O! We love you  more than words can say!

The Nursery

Our Baby Boy's Room

Without further ado I present to you my son's nursery! Honestly, not to brag, but we could not be happier with how it turned out. This room is about 5x7 feet for the main area and the alcove with the dresser is around 4x2 feet. While not roomy by any means it is enough to create a cozy, happy environment for our little guy. 

Changing Table/Dresser

This little moose is also a bottle opener, ha! 

A portion of his book collection

Crib Bedding by Dwell and Pottery Barn

All Furniture from Restoration Hardware Baby and Child

Don't forget this is what it looked like before! 

I hope he loves it as much as we do! 

Nursery Progress Report

And progress we have made! Here are the final stages of getting our nursery prepped and ready for it's new owner. Our contractor got the shelves torn down and the paint and crown molding up in a few weeks. Once the furniture was in we were ready to get moving. Pictures of the final product will be up soon (it's 95% there), until then enjoy this little sneak peek! 

Mini Bedroom Makeover

We bought our bedroom furniture way back in 2008 (and wouldn't select the same set if we were buying in 2012), and for the last 4 years I have wanted to get new hardware for it. The silver knobs this dresser came with were quite boring and masculine and I wanted something to femme up the bulky piece. These ring drawer pulls were the perfect change. They gave new life to a piece I was previously over for less than $40, win! 

Before...Blah

After...ta DAH! 

 And now for my second act...When we first moved in the walls were painted a beige color, with that in mind we picked these silver sage lamp shades. Since then though we have painted the walls a dark grey and the shades were no longer cutting it. The new white shades were again an easy quick change and they look much better with our all white bedding (which I love because you can bleach it and keep it looking brand spanking new, even after spilling Chinese food all over it!)

Before- Shades Blending into the Wall

After- Shades pop and the nightstand magically are clean! 

Next we will add a pack and play...it should be a real fancy finishing touch for the room;)

I've Got You Under My Skin

Today I am 35 weeks pregnant! And while I haven't been busy blogging I have been more than busy getting everything in our home ready for the little man. 5 more weeks and my baby boy will be here to use all his new clothes, toys and supplies! Here is an update on what each week has looked like for me. It seems every time I step into my closet there is something else that no longer fits... so these pictures are probably going to stop showing up here going forward because I'm getting to the point of just huge. I can't wait to meet my tenant getting me there;)

28 Weeks- Dinner date at 5:30 on a Friday night- CrAzY

29 Weeks on my 29th Birthday! Babymoon in Calistoga

31 Weeks at my Baby Shower- At this point he was the size of a pineapple

34 Weeks- Stretching this dress to the limits

See Yah Second Trimester!

Home stretch here I come! Today I am 28 weeks pregnant which means I am officially in my third and final trimester! Little man is kicking like crazy (which keeps me company during boring meetings and sleepless nights), my doctors visits continue to be non-eventful and I have no side effect that hasn't been documented 100 times over on message boards- I am crossing my fingers that things stay this physically boring for the remaining 12 weeks.  Below is what my left side has been looking like recently... Here's to the next 10 pounds!

23 Weeks 

25 Weeks

27 Weeks

And in case you were curious (I know you are) here is how pregnancy weeks, months, and trimesters break out

This Ish Works- St. Ives Naturally Soothing Body Lotion

I have never been one of those people with naturally baby soft skin. In order to not feel like the desert floor I need to liberally apply lotion daily. Typically I'm way too lazy to do that but with the pregnancy symptoms of stretch marks and itchy skin threatening to make themselves known at any moment, I had to add lotion to my daily routine. In past attempts to try to be one of those people with skin as "soft as a kitten", I have spent my fair share of dough on the fancy stuff at Sephora, well let me tell you- that is so not necessary. St. Ives Naturally Soothing Body Lotion in Oatmeal and Shea Butter is seriously the best I have ever tried. With one application I became one of the soft people I pet all creepy like when I come across them. It costs less than 5 bucks and doesn't contain parabens, which I hear are bad for you so that's another plus. And while it doesn't smell all pretty and girly, you have perfume to do that job for you. Anywhoo if you want to get all silky get this! That is all. 

Nursery-Before

Height of messiness...too bad I never took pictures of the room when it was nice and organized

While our love for our little man is already as big as can be, his room is unfortunately quite small. Historically this space was probably a closet, we were using it as an office and in a few weeks it will be transformed again into a nursery. I had the daunting task of somehow making everything that was in this room pretty much disappear. To achieve this, we relocated some things, dumped about 3 garbage bags, donated over 5 boxes full and stored 4 in the garage. Now we are pretty much ready to have our contractor come and tear down the shelving and repaint. Furniture will be delivered shortly and soon we will be ready for the baby's arrival (well as ready as having a finished room can make us)! Until then, here is how far we have come.

Soooooo Close

Where we are today- Most of the stuff on the shelves is for him so we're in good shape

Love is in the Air

Teeny Tiny Love Banner

It's almost here! Valentine's day!!! I have never been one of those people that gets mad at the Hallmark holiday. Single or coupled, it's a day to celebrate love and have an excuse to have pink, girly, decorations all over. Sometimes I think I get more excited when I see Valentine's day decorations over Christmas ones because they are just so pretty. This year the hubs and I are going to go out to dinner the Saturday before (avoiding the pre-fixe menus which I feel the opposite of love for) and then the actual day, I'll make us dinner which we will eat on a fabulously adorned table. Until I get to do that, I will pacify myself with the following festiveness in my home. 

The official candy of Valentine's Day...I swear they taste better this year (or maybe it's my hormones)

Pink Roses in the bedroom

More pink in the dining room 

Love tray with the mail 

Garland in the entry... oh and my poinsettia which seems to be the only plant I haven't killed

Date Night -The San Francisco Opera

 Our days without the need for a sitter are numbered, and our nights of living in the city could possible be dwindling as well so we're trying to do as much as we can before everything goes in a new direction. One of these things I thought I should be doing while living in the city is attend the Opera. So on a random Tuesday night, spurred by a Travelzoo half price deal, I got us tickets to see Carmen. Judging by the age of the crowd, this was an activity we could have held off on until we had grown grandchildren but the venue was beautiful and I was entertained through the first intermission. After that... I'm not going to lie... the pregnancy and the fact that really I don't like seeing or hearing people sing live (I'm a freak I know) got the best of me;  I fell asleep and made the mister take me home half way through the show. Even if I have no clue how it ended it was a good experience and something I can cross off the ole bucket list.

The venue...how many blue hairs do you spy?

The most flattering picture we took all night