A little update

Its been a while since I wrote anything on here, so heres an update.
With work things are as always crazy busy, the cases are now going to be manufactured at two different companies and thats a split that makes a lot of sense, and we also see a huge drop in time wasted sitting around waiting for the manufacturer to get their asses in gear. The main issue now is just how to adjust the case to that the band can fit snuggly and precisely and I have found a plan that is being implemented now.  The first cases will go to our wonderful supporters on Kickstarter and to sellers in Europe that hopefully will kick off more sales over there.

The trip to Norway was very nice, it was lengthy compared to my previous trips but it had been two years since my last trip and I think it is important to stay a little when traveling so far, it took us 2 weeks to wake up from the jet-lag.. Norway is rainy, cold, and not much daylight to speak of so there was not much to do besides sleep anyway. We did have some awesome days though and lots of good food.
One of the big events this time was celebrating my grandmothers 90th birthday, which happens to fall on the same day as Christmas. With a new internet connection I hope to see her on Skype and stay updated email, who knows, maybe even Facebook?

One of our best days was visiting my family in Voss. (see images below) We took the train and had a nice journey through winter Norway. Most of my mom's family lives in Voss because my great grand father moved there due to the war in 1940s and this is where he started Sølvsmidja, a silversmith company. We got a tour the new factory and see how they make the jewelry, it was pretty awesome. This was also the first time Heather got to meet my mom's extended family and I think she really enjoyed her time with them. It was pretty clear Heather now is in love with Voss and its safe to say we will be back for more.

Another noteworthy occasion was when the clouds cleared one morning and we decided to go to Ulriken, the 2100ft mountain in Bergen.

We also got to see some of my friends, one of my best friends, Frode, managed to invite 30 people to his house for a big party, just like in the old days, except everyone seemed a bit older/more tired than last time we were all gathered.

Heather flew home one week before Lucia and I so for one full week while Heather slept in her own bed at home Lucia heard nothing but Norwegian. Obviously it was during this week she started picking up a lot of norwegian words, and she still use them randomly. Now she may say a full sentence in english but then one word will be substituted with a norwegian.

On the way home we stopped in London due to a flight mismatch and we got a chance to spend time with our good friend Kelly who now lives in London. We all took a little tour of London and saw the London Eye, closed for maintenance :( and walked down along The Thames. Lucia was super excited to see the London Bridge which she keeps singing about from a TV show called Barney. We had dinner at a pub and it was awesome.

The flight home next morning was OK, but the sleep I planned to have was torpedoed by the ridiculous short childrens shows on the inflight TV, being woken up every 20 minutes makes no one any less tired.

 Overall a great trip, and it is great to be back too!

I will post pictures as they are ready

Lucias is 3!

We celebrated her birthday yesterday, in the rain. Yes. We were completely surprised and unprepared for such an extreme anomaly. We are so thankful for all our friends who showed up anyway despite the weather and hard to find location. 

Pictures from April 9

Click on the image to enlarge it.

The Trip In Pictures

These are horribly out of order. Forgive me. 

Fells Point after meeting up with my friend Stephan and his kids.

Can't imagine why the fire department was called to check on our bonfire. Yikes!

Sledding with cousins Will and Grayson

Christmas Morning Cinnabons (yum!)

Helping Big Papa with his gifts

Lucia opening her gifts from Santa

Longwood Gardens

Longwood Gardens

On our way home

Playing with amazing vintage Fisher Price toys

Seeing Anna and Bruce in Baltimore was really special; we hadn't seen each other for 5 years and it was like no time had passed at all. I love them so much. We met through our dogs; Max tried to eat Baylee back in the day. The two were basically inseperable, and so we got to know each other and became great friends. I'm so thankful for them. Pete really loved meeting them too, and Bruce was charmed by Lucia. We walked around Federal Hill park and thought of Baylee. It was a bittersweet moment, caught above. 

Christmas eve

New tea set, new hats, so many new toys.

4th of July weekend

We had a pretty sweet fourth of July weekend with lots of activities. Things started off well with dinner with friends in Oakland, then on Saturday we explored a new beach in Santa Cruz with Mattias, Cindy and Maya. Sunday was parade day in Redwood City and we met my former instructor at the academy who had his classic car on display. Later that day we went to see our friends up in the city, but it turned into an enormous a struggle to drive around and park the car because there was way too much traffic, many streets were closed off and we had to park far away and walk. The party was on a house boat at Fisherman's Wharf and there must have been 40 people there, just crammed on the boat. I think both Baylee and Lucia enjoyed themselves more than Heather once they got fed. We left just after the fireworks started to get a head start on the traffic out of town. Monday we had a BBQ in San Jose at some friends house and it was a birthday party too. We really enjoyed the super tasty steak and chicken!
Overall I think it was a great weekend, and we are now looking forward to see my parents arriving soon!

Camp Hansen

My parents came to town June 11, and since then it's been a whirlwind of activity. So much fun. We:

• Debated a zillion different ways we could makeover the deck into a play area for Lucia, tried several things, then scrapped it all and decided to leave it as a porch. 
• Had mixed results from using yelp to find restaurants.  We were disappointed twice. Ouch. 
• Sweated our butts off at the zoo, and Lucia had humongous blisters to the point where there were (are) gashes on her heels. Parents of the year, we are.
• Went to our favorite pizza place.
• Bought Lucia new shoes after discovering the blisters.
• Drove to Sausalito, where the weather was so unbelievably gorgeous and lunch was mind-blowing.
• Got Lucia clothes that are actually weather-appropriate and fit her. 
• Installed and enjoyed our new air conditioning unit. 
• Got manicures and pedicures.
• Drove to Gilroy for a 5-hour outlet shopping bonanza.
• Stayed up way too late every night. 
• Ate way too much chocolate.

I'm positive I forgot a few things. Notably, Pete and I got to go out to dinner with our good friends Chris and Mandy to our favorite Italian restaurant nearby. Deliciousness. Lucia (who now officially calls herself Cia) was entertaining and in love with them. She couldn't quite figure out the name Big Papa; Dick is "Papa" for the grandkids but since Pappa = Daddy in Norwegian, we renamed him Big Papa. She called him Josh a few times, which was pretty hilarious. But she loved snuggling with him. She was obsessed with Mimi and actually let her put her to bed a few nights (that's a big deal in her world), complete with teeth-brushing. 

The whole week was great fun. Thanks Mimi and Big Papa for coming to visit!

Pictures

Check out our pictures here.

Making Our Lists and Well, You know...

We're plotting the last-minute details for our trip to Norway. We're taking the train, then taking the subway to the airport, since parking is now $15 a day. OOF.

Our to-do lists are insane, and they start with getting us feeling better. Lucia and I both shared the distinguished honor of having chest x-rays today (hers was clear, mine we're waiting to hear back from).

Hers

This cold has snowballed into bronchitis for me and then snowballed further into asthma problems. Yikes. We've pulled out the big guns and hope to have me turned around and feeling like my old self again by Thursday, understanding that the trip will be tiring. I plan on sleeping a lot when we get there. Like, a LOT.

We celebrated Christmas with my parents tonight; well really we just opened the gifts from them. They were super lovely, and we can't wait to use some of them. :) Hooray.

Pete and I celebrated (har har) a very long day spanning three hospitals with make-your-own pizza night, complete with delicious prosciutto and fresh basil. We were low on mozzarella, but our friend parmesan stepped up and we were impressed.

More to come as we are counting down...

Thanks!

It's Thanksgiving! I'm so thankful for a lot of things this year:

• our health, which isn't a small feat given the flu season and you-know-who being in daycare.
• my job and financial security.
• our new apartment, and the loveliness that comes with living in a real neighborhood and feeling a sense of community.
• our friends and family. You know who you are, peeps.
  
• healthcare. Nuff said.
• A precious dog that continues to provide unconditional love despite playing second fiddle to you-know-who.
  
• a great marriage to my best friend. The man is my rock.
  
• You-know-who, who astounds me everyday with more and more love and wonder.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Spoiled!

Fun with Mimi and (Big) Papa! My parents are in town, and OF COURSE we have an insane schedule planned. I tried really really hard to dial it back to manageable, and it's getting crazy anyway.

Yesterday, our first task was to fix my sewing machine. It keeps jamming, which turns a basic 30-minute job into a six-hour event which usually ends with me cussing a lot. Right. So we adjusted the tension on the bobbin, then took it to a store to have it fixed. He adjusted the tension even more, and VOILA, we think it's working again. Finally, we can hem our bedroom curtains, and I can get crackin on my Christmas presents.

THEN, mom and I set out yesterday to find musical toys that 1. weren't babyish and 2. had multiple components to be interesting, since Lucia lights up and continues to dance at the mere hint of music. Pete and I are also trying to limit the amount of plastic China crap we buy, so there was that consideration too. We settled on three toys that had songs, one includes a table (pictures to come). Now she dances and wiggles even more, if that was possible.

THEN we went to have manicures and pedicures. And then Pete and I went out for an outstanding birthday dinner for me. It was so fun and delicious.

Tonight we're having a nice dinner with Josh, tomorrow night Mom and I are going to my sewing class, Thursday night they're having dinner with Josh and his boss, Friday day I'm off work and Mom and I are going shoe shopping (!), Friday night we're going to see our awesome friends Chris and Mandy, Saturday we're tentatively planning a picnic, and Sunday they go home.

In between all that, we're trying to enjoy Little Miss as much as we can. She's just such a ball of love and grins.

Babble Babble Babble

Lucia is very very into a few things lately:

• Babbling. It goes like this: Babble Babble Babble. Pause. Babble Babble Babble. Pause. She likes to say some things (uninteligable) with lots of emphasis and volume, like SHE REALLY MEANS IT.
• Reading books. She wakes up and likes to finish her *milk, then heads to her bookshelf to select a book. We read that one. Then another. Then another. Then another. Then repeat the first one. Then we go in and wake up Daddy and she wants him to read her more. She holds out a book and says: BEEEE BEEEEEEED. We're interpeting that as READ! *milk = formula
  
• Combing her hair. I taught her how to do this a few weeks ago; now she gets a certain proud look on her face when she does it. It's hilarious, since most of the time she's just moving the handle across her head.
  

In other news:

• Lucia has a cold, which means she's super stuffy and unfortunately for Pete, super cranky all day. OOOF. We're hoping she's on the mend soon, and we're REALLY hoping, we don't get it.
  
• Related: she'll be starting daycare 2 days a week next week. Pete is basically over the moon at this news. It's great; she's adjusting to Stacey and now doesn't have a problem being dropped off. Hooray!
  
• I turn 36 Friday, and I can tell you 100% certainty this has been the longest year of my life. Really.
  
• My parents arrive Sunday! FUN! We're really excited to hang with them and for them to babysit see Lucia. ;)
  

We will miss you!

My parents just left after having spent 13 days with us, and we are so sad to see them leave. There were enormously helpful with so many things.
We had made a very long ToDo list of more than 40 items to do around the house and we managed to knock off most of them in very little time. We made a few trips to Ikea, Home Depot, Bad Breath & Behind and finally feel like we are no longer living in boxes.
We also managed to have some fun, like a picnic, trips to local restaurants, a SF Giants game, the baptism at the Norwegian Seamens Church, and a little trip on Skyline in the Miata.

Visiting The San Francisco Ferry Building

The San Francisco Ferry Building is an amazing place for anyone interested in gourmet foods, on warm sunny weekends it is also a place you will find enormous crowds. Taylors for instance has great hamburgers, but are they really worth standing in a 40-person deep line to get?
Note to self; Go to the SF ferry building on cold foggy weekdays, not weekends.

Bless Her

We had a wonderful baptism; the meticulous planning by Nina and I was well worth it, the day went off without a hitch. More pictures to come...

Fun with Bestemor and Bestefar!

Nina and Leif arrived Monday and we're having a BLAST! It's been really fun, and we've had to restrain ourselves from doing a million fun things everyday. Tonight we're headed to the SF Giants game. Stay tuned for pictures!

Welcome Bestemor og Bestefar

Pete's parents and brother arrived and we immediately handed over the baby. See the suitcases in the background? We didn't even let them get in the door!

To My Momma

"Can your mom come back?" the nurse who dressed my wound asked today. Since my incision isn't healing properly, I'm having to drive to the hospital's wound care clinic to have it properly changed three times a week. "I wish," I answered. "I'd love to have her back. She was a god-send."

And she was. My mom arrived when Lucia was just 10 days old and a scrawny little 6 lbs. We picked her up from the airport and one of the first things she said was "She's so tiny!" The next few days we spent trying to get Lucia on a schedule (something ahem, Mom I could still use help with!). I couldn't drive because of the pain medication I was taking, so Mom had to drive me around -- a small feat given that she hates driving and had never driven a Prius. She drove me everywhere; to the store, to the doctor, to the lactation consultant. She made me take naps. She got up with me at 3 a.m. to feed Lucia while I pumped breastmilk. She helped us coordinate medication timings. She helped us figure out dinner. She did bucketloads of laundry. In essence, she helped on all the things I couldn't do. 

People told me that after I had the baby my relationship with my mom would change. And it did. I remember calling her right after Lucia was born and saying, I had no idea you loved me like this. My mom and I have always been close, and while neither of us are perfect, I think having Lucia has indeed changed my perspective of my mom. Thank you for all that you do. 

PS My stepdad, who came for a week, was also tremendously helpful. Grilling up chicken to perfection, taking my car for an oil change and for the estimate for the oopsy fender bashing, etc. Thanks to him too! 

Four weeks old!

Lucia is four weeks old today! How quickly it's gone! We're doing well; experimenting with taking things out of my diet that upset her belly. The latest offender is citrus -- even very small amounts upset her stomach. And chocolate (sadly). Otherwise, she's very happy and content.

We watched The Happiest Baby on the Block DVD this week and both agreed it was life-saving. Literally. It teaches you how to soothe a crying baby, and man does it work! The shushing especially -- apparently it mimics the sound of blood rushing through the placenta. She goes from melting down to instant calm in seconds. Seriously. It's pretty amazing.

Today I'm going to the park with Josh to take the dogs for a walk (and the baby, oh and us too). I'm feeling better every day, though still prone to overdoing it, so I'm headed down for a nap now.

We'll post more pictures on Sunday, her official one-month birthday. Until then...

Thank YOU Kate!

This is a long overdue post to thank Kate, my stepsister, for flying out to spend the weekend with us and basically keep us glued together. She arrived Oct. 3, when Lucia was still in the NICU, I was still out of commission and in need of assistance to do basic things like oh I dunno, take out the trash and make breakfast.

She arrived and stepped right in to help out; taking care of Lucia and helping us shuttle over to the NICU to see Lucia, running errands to get more baby supplies, and helping us assemble a kickass thank-you platter of muffins, scones and goodies for the NICU staff.

On Lucia's first night home, as you might remember, both Pete and I had to go to the ER for separate ailments. (HUGE thanks to Josh for taking Pete to the ER and then coming back over to hang out with Kate). Kate not only took care of Lucia, but was three steps ahead in terms of troubleshooting. She was generally a lifesaver. We really couldn't have made it without her. Thank you so much Kate!