Friday Happy Hour

Wohoo!  We made it to the weekend.  To celebrate we all cut out of work (and daycare) early to hit the beach for an evening happy hour.  It's been a busy week for Steve and I, between hectic projects at work, and bit by bit trying to finish up the dining room in the evenings after Elliott goes to bed.  A quick get away to the beach was just what we needed.

Elliott enjoyed both his plastic cup of goldfish crackers,

Our Little Helper

I had a whole blog post planned for you tonight, complete with the recap of our time in Livermore I promised a few weeks ago.  Here's my recurring blog dilemna - we download and save the pictures to our desktop computer in Elliott's room.  The time that I have for blogging coincides with the time that Elliott is sleeping.  And as I have learned, when there is a conflict of interest, the sleeping baby always wins (it's much better than a not sleeping baby).  

So until I can get into the computer to grab more pics, you will just have to settle for today's cute Elliott moments captured on my iPhone, like this...

Weekend Shenanigans

It was another beautiful weekend in Santa Barbara.  Elliott and I threw in the towel early on Friday, and took the afternoon off to drive to Santa Clarita to visit my sister Janine.  I'm embarassed to say how long it has been since I've been down to visit her, so let's just say it was a bit before my little guy came into the world.

We had a lovely afternoon hanging out with Janine.  I enjoyed the girly bonding time (we both got haircuts with her awesome stylist who specializes in fine hair), but Elliott definitely enjoyed playing with her kitty Hannah the most.  He pets her like he does Reese - with an open hand and light smack.

A Much Needed Break

 Let me start by saying that Steve and I love our life together - an awesome kid, a beautiful (albeit work in progress) home in a great neighborhood, good jobs.  Of course, Santa Barbara isn't too shabby either.  So please don't judge me when I share that over the past few weeks we have been feeling increasingly burnt out.  The daily demands of housework, improvement projects, and full time jobs, combined with not enough sleep, had worn us down to the point where managing the basic daily tasks was a chore.  There was no energy left for the things we enjoy (you may have noticed I was suddenly absent from the blog world).   We realized we needed to get away from it all, even if only for a night, and our 4 year anniversary was the perfect excuse.  Our requirements were pretty low - all we wanted was a comfortable bed and a full night's sleep so we could start enjoying the small silly moments in our lives again - like this one this morning. (Yes, that is Elliott playing ON TOP of his toy basket.  He got there himself!)

Elliott takes another road trip

It's been over a week since I last posted, and I'm missing my blog already!! We had a great mini vacation in Livermore with my parents and Steve's family last week, and I am anxious to share all of Elliott's adventures and stories with you. But, since it is late and I am very protective of my sleep these days, I will just give you a teaser to get you through until tomorrow, when I hope to give a detailed account of the last week.