Dear Emily,

I am jealous of your Fall! We had triple digit temperatures this weekend, the coast hotter than the desert, which is strange. We endured most of Friday and Saturday in our 87 degree house and then finally gave in and travelled over to a friend's house to enjoy her air conditioning. It was fabulous! I have a much happier baby in the cool air.

Sunday was not so bad. We woke up to a 70 degree house! What a temperature drop! We went to church and grabbed lunch, stopped in World Market and came home to watch football. Such a wonderful day.  We felt like a normal couple, able to spend time together doing things that we used to do, pre-baby and pre-squadron days.

Things are getting more natural with the babe. We are so smitten with her smiles! They make some of the crankiness bearable. She really is a happy baby, but she can get downright mad sometimes! I am falling in love with her so much, my little blessing. I am starting to realize why people have more than one. Can  you believe it?!  A second one kind of excites me... on certain days.

Well, I best go and make a grocery list for my trip to the grocery store.  I need serious help eating healthier around here.  I know I would have more energy if we ate more fruits and vegetables.  Any tricks?
   Love, Jen

Dear Emily,
  I can not begin to tell you what a refreshing weekend this was!  Travis was home for three full days in a row  and it gave us so much time to reconnect.  I'll be the first to admit that having a baby changes the dynamic in your home more than I could have ever imagined.  I realized that my marriage was going to take more work than it used to and it was going to take us getting intentional about loving on each other and being there for one another. In the end, I know this will grow and deepen our relationship and give our marriage that much more substance.
  On Friday, we celebrated the day we met four years ago and we had so much fun reminiscing on that first meeting and the events of that day.  It was a fabulous way to reconnect and remember our marriage pre-baby.  We just enjoyed ourselves for the rest of the weekend.  We grilled out, watched shows on Netflix and a little football, took a walk on Coronado island with Jackson and the little lady, out to breakfast downtown, worshipped at church, and snuggled a little.  It was just what we needed after a lot of time apart and it was just what I needed to refresh my soul and get me back on top of things.
  Things are looking better this week.  I have curry that I am making for dinner.  I have freshly potted plants, a little ivy that I grew from some outside, and a mum to usher in the beginning of Fall. I saw a leaf fall from a tree.  I am lighting a cinnamon chai candle and my house is not nearly as dirty as it could be.  To top it all of, it's a four day work week! Hooray! Does it feel like Fall in New York yet? It certainly does not here in San Diego, but hopefully soon.

Love, Jen
 

Dear Jen,

Did i tell you I've been overdosing on homemade bread for the past week? I bought a dutch oven on clearance,  and have been using this fun no knead recipe, with a  few variations in the form of rosemary, garlic and parmesan. I don't really have patience for kneading, punching, kneading, rising.  It was mostly a huge success; not so much for my waistline.

I spent a nice girls evening with my close friend at the end of the week. She was quizzing me on my daily diet. It's pretty hard to give good nutrition advice when you've been surviving on bread, cheese, butter and salt for half a week.

So I recommitted to a starch free diet on Sunday. I had to give away a few loaves of bread and still only made it 1.75 days before I ate pizza.  Let's focus on the good; I could see almost instantly I was retaining less water. I'm not giving up either...even though we have the fourth of July coming up. 

You should see the patriotic outfit I have for Clara, it's perfect. We have family plans, and parties we are hopping around to.  We will definitely finish the day with a drink on the deck. This midweek holiday is so strange, but we'll take it.

I know you are ready for your little girl to come. I hope it's soon enough for you, an late enough for her. 

Love,

Emily

Dear Emily,
It's Monday... Mondays are not my friends and I am feeling especially off this morning. There are getting to be fewer and fewer things that I need to do to get ready for my little and I am feeling more and more ready for her to come... Now! We have nearly finished her nursery. I have a few wall hangings to make and some curtain tie-backs and to find that perfect rocker and then we'll be done... oh and a bookshelf. Only 16 more days till my due date.
     The weekend was especially good to us. On Saturday, we made a leisurely breakfast of blueberry pancakes and bacon. We drank in our time with one another, being extra grateful for it, since we no longer see each other much during the week. We got coffee at a great little place in Golden Hill, South of Balboa Park, called Krakatoa... then when Jackson decided to start being bad, we took him to Nate's Point dog park, where he ran until he was too exhausted to even walk to the car, literally. We made runs to Home Depot and Target and out for tacos in Pacific Beach. The more time I spend in Pacific Beach, the more that I have to say about it. I will tell you about that later. We worked on the nursery and patio late into the night and it could not have been more perfect. Sunday was church and then more of the same. I am so grateful for that man and I love the weekends, so here I am trying to figure out where to start this morning. We'll see, but I think that I'll spend some time waking up slow, me and my little love, still growing inside of me.

                                                     Love, Jen

PS. That picture is of my new hummingbird feeder in the backyard. I have had my eye on it for a couple of years now and Travis bought it for me this weekend. We have already had hummingbirds at it and I love them! I'll send more pictures of the porch and nursery as we get them finished up.