“for you are fearfully and wonderfully made…”

dear ellie,

today you are three years old and a full-fledged “big girl.” gone is the squishy baby with the roly-poly arms and wispy fine hair, the diaper-toting toddler who once slept in a crib. you are three, big girl! you hold up three fingers and tell me so, which is how i know it’s true.

your hair is still blonde, but its gotten longer and darker. we decided to give you bangs this year, a style choice i will never regret, not even when you’re older and want to grow them out and have to go through that awkward not-so-cute stage. your deep blue eyes continue to sparkle and your smile is as beautiful as ever.

the older you get, the more inquisitive you are, and the level of your intelligence continues to astound us. your memory is vast — sometimes you recall things that happened more than six months ago and i have to rack my brain before i realize for myself exactly what is it you’re talking about.

even in our new house and your new bed, you have continued to sleep well. you take one nap during the day and sleep between 10 and 12 hours a night. as well as you sleep, though, you are the personification of a morning person. every day you wake up bright-eyed, so eager to start your day. you are the most wonderful thing about every morning.

we spend our days together running errands, taking art classes and having playdates with friends. we go to the zoo and the mall and the park, feed ducks and have picnic lunches together. you will start preschool later this year, and although it’s only a few times a week, i will miss you more than i can explain.

milestones this year included your first haircut, your first art and swim classes, your first time in the snow, your first time on a boat, and the ever-daunting (but really not so bad) potty training. it took about two weeks and you were a potty pro. i am so, so proud of you.

it’s hard to believe it’s been three years since the first time i laid eyes on you, heard your first cries, held you, fell in love with you. there is no higher honor, no greater privilege, nothing in the world that makes me happier than being your mommy.

happy 3rd birthday, my sweet girl.

love,
mommy

it’s a mild autumn afternoon and i just put ellie down for her nap. ryan is trimming the hedges, bruiser is crouched down in the grass stalking sparrows, and i’m sitting here on our backyard patio enjoying a very welcome fall breeze. my feet are up, computer on my lap, and other than the wind in the trees and the occasional airplane flying overhead, all is quiet. in a few hours my dad and i are leaving for sonora, a sleepy old town in tolumne county where my family took many weekend trips when i was little. it will be the first time i’ve left ellie and ryan for more than a day, and i’m looking forward to spending some quality time with my dad.

this summer has been good to our family. our house-hunting roller coaster finally came to a stop on a street we love in a house we adore. we’ve made small changes that have had a big impact and it’s slowly but surely becoming the home we used to only dream about. one of the best things about this place is knowing we’ll never have to move again if we don’t want to. it’s neat to be able to drive by ellie’s future elementary school and think “yes, that will do just fine.”

it’s also nice to have family and friends over to a place we are so, so proud to call our own. we’ve had countless swim play dates and backyard barbecues. i can’t think of another place i’d rather have a birthday party or a family gathering.

and now we witness our first change of season in this new place. the leaves on the trees that line our street are already changing color. halloween is on the horizon, then thanksgiving and, before we know it, another christmas will come and go. ellie will turn 3 and with any luck, 2012 will be as incredible a year as this one has been.

much love from the lacks!

well, we finally did it. after years of saving and months of searching, ryan and i are officially homeowners :)

it all started back in january. we hired a realtor and a mortgage broker and within a few weeks we had made two offers, one on a townhouse in pleasanton and another on a single family home in livermore. the townhouse had multiple offers higher than ours, so we lost out on that one, but the sellers of the house in livermore accepted quickly and we were thrilled. we were pretty sure that house was going to be “the one.” unfortunately for them, they left us without a real update for nearly six months, so we grew restless and started looking at other properties.

it took awhile before we found anything else we liked as much as the short sale, but it finally happened on may 23rd when we saw a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house in another part of livermore. this one was located closer to downtown in an older (but nicer) neighborhood assigned to better schools. it had a bigger kitchen, hardwood floors, prettier landscaping and a pool! so of course we made an offer. by the following week the sellers had accepted without a counter. we couldn’t believe it! we knew it would move faster because it was a regular sale, so we were really excited.

from that day forward, the home-buying process was an emotional roller coaster. inspections cost us hundreds of dollars, negotiations regarding who would pay to fix what were stressful and frustrating and had us feeling on edge much of the time. our realtor stretched the truth on several occasions and we had a hard time putting our faith in her to represent us the way we felt we should be represented. we often felt misguided and manipulated, even up until the very last day.

in the end, the important thing is that we made it through the past two months and came out with the perfect little house for our family. we plan to stay for a long, long time <3

more pictures to come after a new kitchen floor, some fresh paint and a few personal touches :)

well, we did it. we took the plunge and left ellie home with grandma and grandpa for a weekend getaway to gorgeous yosemite for our fourth wedding anniversary (and our eleventh anniversary of being a couple). we were nervous, excited, anxious and thrilled all at once. we told ellie grandma would be putting her to sleep “TWO TIMES” and then we’d be home. she didn’t seem to mind that idea, so off we went on our grand adventure.

we arrived at hotel charlotte in groveland in the late afternoon of the 23rd, checked in, kicked around our room for awhile and then walked across the street to the iron door saloon where we had a few drinks before we ordered dinner.

everything was great – the food, the drinks and the time we spent together. it was a wonderfully relaxing start to our weekend away. the next day we awoke bright and early, had breakfast downstairs and headed east toward the valley. we stopped several times at little turnouts along the way to simply admire the views and snap a few pictures. one of our favorite roadside attractions was cascade creek. i like how it’s super wide with tons of loud, crashing waterfalls, but it’s still only a creek. soo pretty.

the first place we stopped when we reached the valley floor was bridalveil fall. it’s not a very long walk from where you can park to the base of the waterfall, and the closer you get, the wetter you get. needless to say, i only wore my tennis shoes until we got back to the car and headed toward our next destination. luckily i brought my flip flops, too :)

after bridalveil we went to a bridge that i can’t remember the name of (boo) over the merced river. the river was suuuuper full because of all the late season snow, so part of the trail was flooded and we couldn’t cross over. i stepped in it just to see how it felt and OMG, despite the 75-degree weather, i could have gotten frostbite right there. it was like freshly melted snow. BRR!

after the river (and the amazing view of yosemite falls) we stopped at yosemite village and bought sandwiches for our picnic lunch. we sat and ate on the bank of the merced river with a nice view of bridalveil. how amazing are waterfalls??? i mean, really, and yosemite is full of them!

after lunch we headed upward and out of the valley to take in the view from glacier point. neither of us had ever been up there, so we were really looking forward to it, and it was totally worth the hour-long drive.

after we took about 100 pictures and stared, breathless, at the view for awhile, we got ice cream bars, took a bathroom break and started the long drive back down.

since we arrived back on the valley floor with plenty of daylight left, we thought we’d attempt to find a parking place and walk to the base of lower yosemite fall. luckily we did, but it was quite a walk. we never would have done it had ellie been with us, so of course we took advantage of the alone time and said LET’S DO THIS.

it was amazing! so loud and windy and, once again, we got soaked. it was the perfect final stop before saying goodbye to yosemite and heading back to groveland, where we repeated the first night’s activities with dinner and drinks at the iron door saloon, only this time with live music :)

we headed home saturday morning and were greeted with open arms by little girl who was just as happy to see us as we were to see her. as much as we missed her, it was so nice to “get away from it all,” as they say, and just spend time together as a couple. and as lovely of a time as we had, it was also good to hear how well-behaved ellie was for grandma and grandpa while we were gone. a successful trip all around.

happy anniversary to us <3