Lists, Lists, Lists

I love a good list. My desk at work is scattered with lists of all kinds. Something about making a list makes me feel better about having a lot of things I have to get done. Even if that's as far as I get.

With this bebe on the way it seems like I've got even more lists to make with way more things on them. I've got a baby prep list that is ever growing and a to do list at work that makes my head spin. Getting ready to go out on leave has been a little stressful. Although, I am SO looking forward to that time away.

Baby prepping so far has been a little weird for us. We are usually quick to make plans {like, we had our wedding venue booked only weeks after getting engaged kind of quick} but this time around has been a little more difficult. I think I can blame it on having to wait  until 20 weeks to find out the sex of the baby. Now that we've got that taken care of we can finally start turning my Pinterest boards into actual nursery plans.

Here's a little peek at what I've got goin' on in my planner this month.

1. Finish baby registry - this is pretty much handled and checked off the list. I've been making a few adjustments but I'm pretty happy with it.
2. Paint nursery - done! We sweated all weekend getting the room done. We went through 4 different colors before settling on the perfect one. Nick, bless his heart, is the best husband and daddy to be ever and humored my pregnant/insane self and painted the ceiling "whiter" for me.
3. Get nursery furniture - no solid movement on this one yet. Although I know exactly which dressers I want. The nursery is the smallest room in the house so I'm striving for efficiency and maximum cuteness for everything we need.
4. Find G's Pediatrician - this, believe it or not, is a daunting task. I want to find a really good doctor that we can get to know and love. Someone who I trust with my baby and someone he can grow with until it's embarrassing to go to a pediatrician anymore. Suggestions from any fellow Bay Area mamas are very welcome!
5. Start daycare tours - I hate this.
6. Replace all outlets in nursery and install new light - Our house was built in the 80's and all of our light switches and outlets are a yucky, yellowy, used to be white color. I don't like how they look on all of our freshly painted walls and would like to have all brand new, stark white outlets and switches asap please :)
7. Clean, paint and organize nursery closet - The closet interior is currently painted the same, not white enough white that the ceiling was painted and that needs to be fixed right away. Also, it's currently stuffed full with camping gear, left over wedding stuff, and bins of crafts, ribbon and other crap. All of this stuff needs to find a permanent home so I can fill the closet with adorable baby boy clothes.
8. Read vaccine book - Knowing that there is likely to be lots of pokes to be had in the hospital I want to know exactly what they plan on putting in our baby so I can be prepared. We do plan to vaccinate but not necessarily on the standard schedule.
9. Schedule bedroom carpet & baseboards replacement - Our house was a rental when we bought it and we had roommates living with us for the first two years. Our carpets have taken quite a beating, especially after bringing Teddy home. I'm ready for some brand new fluffy carpets. Also, the baseboards the builder installed are just silly small.
10. Find/schedule birthing classes - We are currently scheduled for a birthing class through the hospital that I don't really have any intention of taking. I need to find a class that is focused more on a natural birth.
11. Schedule prenatal appointment with the Doula - We met and hired our Doula last weekend and we love her. I'm so glad we decided to go this route. We will see her at least one more time before the baby comes.
12. Schedule maternity photos - We found a local photographer but haven't scheduled anything yet.
13. Get my FREE Breast Pump - I can't even tell you how excited I was to hear that my insurance company will send me the exact breast pump that I have on my registry fo' free! Thank you insurance!

Sleeping Through the Storm

Over the last few months, as a means of getting in touch with, and making sense of my faith, I have been making my way through each of Mitch Albom’s books. I bought the first one that I read The Five People You Meet in Heaven on a whim from a suggestion from the Amazon store on my Kindle. I instantly fell in love with the way that his stories are told and made it a mission to read each of his books. I read The Time Keeper next which is his most recent book to be published. Each book is so different, some are true stories, some are loosely based around fables and stories from the Bible and each are so rich in lessons.

I’m on my third right now called Have a Little Faith. I was sitting in the airport on Saturday morning waiting for a flight to San Diego with a vanilla latte and my kindle in hand, when something he wrote struck me and made me stop.

 

The book is about a writer who is called by his childhood Rabbi to write his eulogy several years before his passing. He spends the time sitting and speaking with the aging Rabbi. During one of their sessions the Rabbi tells a story that goes something like this.

A poor man with no work experience asks a farmer for a job. The farmer is distrusting of the man and asks for a reference letter. The man returns to the farmer with a letter that only says "The man sleeps through a storm" and nothing else. Doubtful, but in need of help the farmer hires the man. Soon after, the farmer is awoken during the night by the sounds of a strong storm. He jumps out of bed and runs to the man he hired only to find him sleeping soundly. He goes to the barn to find that his animals have all been put away and fed plenty of food. He finds that his grain bins have been sealed tight to be kept dry from the rain. His crops have been harvested and stored away securely. The farmer realizes that his worker was not woken by the storm because he knew that he had taken care of everything that needed his attention and did not sleep with the anxieties of unfinished tasks.

This was where I stopped. I could feel what I had just read in my stomach. This story spoke to me. I am a procrastinator, an ostrich, and I do not sleep through a storm. I wake up in the night sometimes feeling sick with worry over things that I haven’t taken care of. I find myself lying awake thinking about phone calls I didn’t have time to return the day before, about projects that I need to finish, and so many other things that I need to take care of that I continuously put off until tomorrow, or the day after that. In my line of work the task lists never end, clients are never satisfied, and the emails keep coming regardless of the others that are sitting unread. I get it. I signed up for it. I have no plans of changing careers but sometimes? It’s just gets to be too much. But it isn't all only about work. My anxieties come from my real life too.

Maybe for me this is one of those moments that you hear people talk about. A moment that feels like God is speaking directly to you. Saying Hey! Yes, you! This is for you. Are you paying attention? 

So? Here I am, listening. I started reading these books hoping, praying, to learn something about myself and to grow. Here is my first lesson, and I'm going to learn it.

 

Life Lately - A photo dump

Our schedule is packed. Want to hang out? We're booked until mid June.

Our weekends are full of all kinds of wonderful fun but sometimes it feels like we are ever at home.
Waking up in my own bed on a Saturday morning? Heaven.
 As per usual we were nonstop busy and this month. Here's a photo dump and a recap to wrap up April.

 

We started the month with my sister-in-love's birthday celebration. She missed the photo op.

 

Each April our group of friends celebrates the opening of baseball season with a season home opener tail gate at the coliseum. I look forward to this day allllllll winter.

My husband is the cutest barbequer there is.  

 

We spent the first real warm weekend with the family in Napa. We spent Saturday tasting at 3 wineries. One of them an old favorite and two we had never been to before.
 Mr. Hubs and I joined our first two wine clubs and are now impatiently awaiting our first shipments in the fall.

We started last weekend with Rodney Atkins & Lady Antebellum at Shoreline. We toasted to George Jones and I got a lump in my throat with Lady A sang to a fellow pregnant mama in the front row.

One of my long time friends from home and her son came down to visit this last weekend. We spent Saturday in San Francisco. He's 5 and had never seen the city before. He was mesmerized and called all of the buildings "hotels". Cute.

It's so much fun to see things you've seen a thousand times for the first time through the eyes of someone else. Especially a child.

 

 

 

We took him to see the seals on the floating docks and to the aquarium at Fisherman's Wharf, and to the Rainforest Cafe. Amazing. He was on total sensory overload and couldn't even handle the idea of eating food with a giant moving elephant wagging it's huge head around right behind him. Although, when the waitress came to take our order he confidently said "oh and I'll have the fish please". I almost spit my Arnold Palmer all over his cute little face. There is no "the fish" on the kids menu.

 

He wasn't a fan of the guys on the street that paint themselves silver and stand still like statues and then all of a sudden bust out with robot moves. Because, silver robot men are scary. He hid behind Auntie when we passed by those guys.

 

 

Sunday Uncle Nick drove us all to the park in his sweet Camero. I've never seen a little boy so stoked about anything. Anything. He wasn't so big on the park and I'm pretty sure Uncle Nick had way more fun on the playground than he did.

He's just a big kid himself.

 

 

May is about to be a whirlwind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



A Day In The Life

I am all about routines, schedules, planning.

　

I’m Camille and I’m a calendarholic.

　

I enjoy my own routine so much, and I enjoy learning about other people’s routines too. I always love reading "day in the life" posts. For now we are kid-less and our routine is simple and focused around us. Some day I’m going to re-read this post and laugh at {and envy} myself.

　

My husband is a Project Engineer which means he is on construction time and has to be out of the house before the sun comes up. He is so disciplined. It’s a quality that I really admire and wish I had more of.

　

My schedule allows for a little more flexibility than his. I work in community management which means that I don’t necessarily work a 9-5 job. It means that I sometimes work a 9-11 job. 11pm that is. Part of my job entails traveling to various cities across the greater Bay Area to attend Board meetings at my properties. I love what I do. I don’t love coming home to a dark house.

　

Are you ready for this? Let’s go.

　

5:50am - Nick's alarm goes off and he's up and in the shower {he literally flies out of bed. I don't know how he does it}. He lets the puppy out of the crate and takes both dogs out to potty. I wake up to two wet noses in my face and a kiss from the husband as he walks out the door.

　

7:00am - I'm still lounging in bed, maybe still sleeping & definitely snuggling with my two fluffy boys. I pull myself out of bed, turn on the news and jump in the shower while the dogs eat breakfast.

　

8:30am - I pour my coffee, choke down a vitamin and I'm out the door. My commute is about 40 minutes in the morning and most times I'll call my parents or friends to catch up. Other days I'll listen to an audio book {I'm a huge nerd. I love listening to books}.

　

9:15am - I make it to the office and commence the work day. Emails, phone calls from homeowners, emails, coordinating various vendors and contractors on projects at my properties, & EMAILS. Usually around this time I get a sweet text from my husband that makes me smile like a goon and want to squeeze him.

　

12:30pm – When we brought the puppy home we agreed that I would be going home for lunch to let him out to potty and play outside of his pen. We're trying to wean him from these midday breaks, so as of now I'm only going home every other day. If I don’t go home sometimes I'll work through lunch and eat at my desk, or go out with some of the ladies in my office. Sometimes I skip lunch all together. It's a bad habit.
 

5:00pm - I'm out of the office as quickly as possible. I head to my Bar Method class or work out at the gym in my office building. The evening commute around here is no joke. {Neither is the Bar Method. Holy ouch.}

　

7:00 pm – One of us will cook dinner and we’ll sit down at the bar in the kitchen to have a glass of wine and talk about our day. That usually involves filling Nick in on some kind of office nonsense and hearing funny stories about his crews. While we eat we'll watch an A’s game or one of our favorite shows. {We’re loving the Americans, Nashville, & Grimm right now, and impatiently waiting for Son’s of Anarchy to return.} I’ll usually throw in a load of laundry or re-run a load in the dryer. I love the sound of clothes tumbling in the dryer.

　

9:00 pm – Snuggle time. I love this time of night with all 3 of my boys. Since Nick has to wake up so early he’s usually out long before I fall asleep. Laying in bed next to my sleeping husband and two snoring dogs, I try to take time to give thanks for this life of ours.

　

We’re not too exciting, and our schedule can become monotonous. But we are blessed.

　

Saturdays? Saturdays are for sleeping in and French press coffee.

 

 

 

How We Became the M's - Our Story

The Mr. and I met sometime during my Freshman {his Junior} year of college through some mutual friends. He had a pierced eyebrow and stood about a head shorter than me when I had heels on {still does actually}. I’m pretty sure I fell in love with this guy the first time I laid eyes on him. He’ll say the same thing if you ask him but I'm pretty sure he’s just being nice. We never actually spoke and it wasn’t until a year or so later that we ended up at mutual friend’s birthday party. He, being the polite gentleman that he is, came up to introduce himself and I, being the sassy curmudgeon that I am, said something like "um… yea we’ve met like 3 times.." a lie. But I was nervous, so what. Needless to say he didn't talk to me anymore that night.

Some time passed and later we found ourselves on a houseboat on Lake Don Pedro and that is where our story really {sort of} begins. He liked my frizzy lake hair and solid ability to down a beer bong {don't judge me}, and I liked his ridiculously cute smile and his half Chinese tan . We unsuccessfully attempted to date that summer and ended up going our separate ways. But, that was it, he had my heart. I wasn't going to settle for anything less.

More time passed and for the first time in a long time we were both single at the same time. Nick had left Chico and moved home to the Bay Area and started his career and we hadn't spoken in over a year. Thanks to the wonderful tool that is Facebook, I started harassing him and told him that "if he knew what was good for him, he’d make a trip to Chico for the weekend". He finally gave in and made the trip up to visit me. We've been inseparable since.
 

I met his family for the first time that Thanksgiving and we made it official on New Years Eve. A bit backwards if you ask me, but hey, it worked. We took our first vacation together that summer with his parents to Maui.
 

I finished up school the following December and made the move to the Bay Area. A five hour drive from my hometown and my parents.

For 4^th of July 2011 our families joined and rented a chalet in my hometown of Mount Shasta to celebrate one of my favorite holidays of the year. Little did I know that the entire family and my best friends had been conspiring behind my back for the last 6 months, and helping the soon to be Mr. to plan my proposal.

That night, right before the fireworks went off, he pulled me away and took me to the front porch of our cottage. He had covered the entire deck in pink rose petals and candles and in the middle of it all, sat the most beautiful diamond ring I have ever laid eyes on. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I didn’t answer but crumpled to the ground next to him and cried. He had to double check and make sure that that meant yes. Which, DUH!. That night we opened a bottle of champagne with the family and roasted s’mores. We couldn’t wait to start planning and I set the wedding date that night!

Pre-proposal mimosas with our parents

We got married on September 22, 2012 in Yountville, in the middle of the beautiful, world famous, Napa Valley surrounded by 150 of our closest friends and family. It was the best, most beautiful day of my life, and everything that I had ever dreamed that my wedding would be.

We honeymooned in Bora Bora, French Polynesia for 8 amazing days where we lounged, tanned, swam with stingrays and sharks, and drank a lot of fruity tropical cocktails. We are already counting down the days until our 25^th anniversary when we’ll get to go back.







Lunch at Bloody Mary's

5 short months later, and here we are! A couple of lucky ducks, living in love.