Fall Fun....

I am counting down the minutes until our departure for Florida. Tomorrow, my mom, Haley and I are taking the train up to SF and flying out on Thursday, early morning, to finally visit Lane. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Busy week at the Comstock home! Wednesday, Chris and I went to see Hairspray at Roger Rockas and it was so good! Chris was a little surprised I think. What a fun weeknight date...

Friday night I met friends from high school, Jill and Brooke, out at Cafe Rousseau for drinks. I always try and support "local" establishments, so I suggested we meet here. Unfortunately, the bartender had not a clue what she was doing and wasn't overly concerned with customer service, so I doubt it will be come a place to go for Brooke and Jill. Visiting with Brooke and Jill was so much fun. We ended up planning a trip to ambush Natalie, who has all but disappeared off the face of the earth since she met the man of her dreams, and do a girls night in the City. I hope it comes to fruition.
So, about a month before Haley was born, Hillary Bell asked me to join the Catholic Charities Guild. I did, of course, and the preceded to be the worst guild member in history because I was so busy with Miss Haley. I decided to try and make up for that this Saturday by helping with the set up of our annual fundraiser, Harvest of Hope. I really do love setting up for parties and I had such fun getting to know some of the other members. We attended the event that night and had such a fantastic time. The Catholic community in Fresno is just wonderful and I am so looking forward to being more involved this year in the Guild. I didn't remember to take a picture of the event, which is unfortunate, because everything looked so good!

Early Sunday our little family made the drive up to the Bay for my monthly hair appointment. It always gives us a good excuse to see Christopher's family. This time Brian and Sarah drove out from SF and we had a fantastic birthday celebration (Sarah, Brian & myself are all September birthdays) at Il Fornaio. We sat on the patio, drank champagne and visited. What a fun way to spend an afternoon!

The Comstock Clan

Miss Haley and Godfather Brian

Brian, Haley and Sarah

Kevin and Haley

The girls decided to do a bit of shopping while the boys headed back to the bar to watch football. Kathleen and Mike bought Haley the most adorable fabric book from one of the street vendors. She hasn't let go of it since she received it! We headed home a happy, full and sleepy bunch!

Sarah, Haley and Kathleen at the street fair

You can see the adorable fabric books behind us...

My cousin Brooke is expecting her second little boy any day now. My mom and I made a quick stop off yesterday evening to pick up some burp cloths and visit. I just know Vincent is going to arrive while we're in FL and I'm depressed about it. I told her to try to push really hard today to get things going!
I hope everyone had a great weekend and I can't wait to update on FL and Brooke upon our return!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

I am celebrating our sorting out our nanny situation! As many of you know, we have had quite the struggle in finding capable, reliable people to care for our most precious gift, Miss Haley. Fingers crossed, this is the week we have it all resolved. First, I must thank my amazing mother who has given up significant Huntington time to help us while Chris and I were figuring everything out. She has been fantastic and is just the best GramGram to Haley! She loves her so much and I don't know what we would have done without her.

Haley and GramGram

I should also add a quick thanks to my fantastic, talented and all around wonderful Godmother, Aunt Jean, who has also taken time to fill in for us! She is expecting her 3rd grandchild in December and credited babysitting Haley to "brushing up" on her baby watching skills! We'll let her practice anytime!

My Godmother/Aunt Jean, Haley & my mom on our 1st trip out of the house 5 days after she was born

Haley & Great Aunt Jean on 4th of July weekend

Next, the fantastic Julie Davies!!!! What amazingly lucky people Chris and I are to have sudo-married into the Davies family. Julie is Lane's mother-in-law and when we had our first nanny crisis, she volunteered to take a day! An entire day once a week and Haley isn't even her grandchild. I quickly accepted her offer, of course! Miss Haley receives grades for each day Auntie Julie watches her and so far, we've had nothing but A+ after A+!

Julie(A Team) Davies and Hales

The adorable and highly capable Dawn Davies relieves Julie at noon on Wednesdays. The Davies girls are lifesavers! They love Haley as if she were one of their own! They get A++ in my book.

Dawn & Haley

After our 2nd nanny quit to work at Tmobile with no notice (after she'd been "sick" with mono for several weeks), Chris and I were nearly at wits end. We had Wednesdays covered, thanks to the Davies girls, but had no one to watch Haley for my other 2 work days. We interviewed a few college girls, but they didn't seem up to the commitment we were looking for. On a whim and a prayer, I asked my next door neighbor, Sharon, to consider taking those days. She readily accepted and wanted to do it just to be a good neighbor. Chris and I insisted on making donations to Lexie's (their adorable daughter) college fund. This Monday, before the 1st day I was to leave Haley with her, I took over some essentials. Sharon showed me the room Lexie had set up for Haley. She had brought out all her old baby toys and books, spread blankets on the floor and set up a diaper station! I couldn't believe it! I was nervous Haley wouldn't be on her best behavior (we'd had a few hysterical crying situations with a fill-in nanny). I shouldn't have been concerned. I went home for lunch and stopped in at Sharon's to take Haley for an hour. Our little angel was curled up asleep on Sharon's chest, as happy as could be.

Our fantastic neighbor Sharon and Haley

We are so blessed to have such wonderful women in Haley's life. I'm thrilled to be back at work, part-time. It seems like the perfect balance for me. So, thank you, thank you, thank you to all of our lovely ladies that care for Haley. You have made all the difference in our lives!

Our weekend....

Just a quick update...Chris, Haley and I had a pretty relaxed weekend. My mom and I went to see Julie & Julia on Friday and loved it! Saturday we ran errands as a family. We ate at this yummy Mediterranean place we'd never been to - Phoenician Gardens. The service was a bit slow, but the spicy chicken was so fantastic. I may have dreams about it...

Chris and Haley at Phoenician Garden

Sunday we met my parents for mass and then headed off to Peyton Patricio's baptism. It was a hectic ceremony with 10 babies being baptized! The gathering afterwards was so lovely. Yummy food and great people. Thank you, Patricios, for making us a part of the big day. A disclaimer.... I stole these pictures from Christina Patricio's blog. Mine did not turn out nearly as well.

My dear friend Amy Palma, her husband Nick and their son Griffin welcomed Miss Kenley Grace to their family on the 17th of September at 3:35a.m. 6 Lbs 2 oz 20 1/4 inches. We are so excited for them!

Keep an eye out...Chris mentioned he may actually post to our family blog! Has a picture picked out and everything!

I'll end with some pictures of bedtime fun...

Birthday, Bowling and More Baby Pics

Gosh, where to start....I had a FANTASTIC birthday weekend! I kept forgetting it was going to be my 31st birthday because my focus was on everything else in my life. All of my lovely family and friends didn't forget, however, and I had tons of birthday well wishers calling, sending cards and gifts and even facebooking me (who knew)! Friday night was fairly quiet as Chris and I were preparing for Gourmet Club on Saturday. We prepped most of the day Saturday and were ready for a cocktail when our babysitter arrived at 6pm. All of our amazing gourmet groupies (less Kevin and Kelly Patterson) arrived around 7. Instead of replacing Cody and Amber who are off in the bush in Africa, we have a new, fun tradition we are starting with gourmet where the host can invite a couple to join the dinner. I got to invite 2 couples because the Pattersons couldn't make it. Natalie and Jeremy (my cousins) and Lucia and Ben Nicholson (friends from high school). We started off with a few cocktails and then our limo arrived. We ushered everyone out the door with a boxed lunch in hand (shrimp salad, roasted veggie & mozzarella focaccia, potato chips, cans of pink champagne for the girls and beers for the boys), and headed to our destination. We handed out our "clue" - bags of his and her socks. Our smartie group guessed right away we were bowling. We had such a ball, not even the bad tempered, feathered hair, 80s bartender could dampen the evening. I hadn't suspected there were ringers in our group (Ashley and Brooke)! My team was one of the loosing teams and had to partake in a HUGE purple hooter. We ended the night with shortbread thumbprint cookies and a short ride back. Chris and I are so blessed to have such a fantastic group of friends!

Our Huntington Cabin

Sunday morning came far too early, we aren't used to late nights anymore! Chris had to pack quickly and head out to San Diego for a conference and Haley and I headed up the hill to crash my mom's "sisters weekend" and celebrate the remainder of my birthday at our cabin in Huntington. Even though we were greeted by a stern group of aunts and a mom with hands on their hips (I was a few hours late and hadn't called), it was so much fun to visit with all my aunts (Margo, Jane & Jean). My little card shark

My fantastic 70+ point hand - a double pinochle, run, round of aces and a marriage!

We played a ton of cards and board games, took Haley for walks and ate and drank way too much! I have such smart, interesting and loving aunts. They all LOVED seeing Miss Haley. We are hoping to get an invite next year!

Not fog...clouds!

So, I have been going a tad crazy with taking pictures with my new birthday camera. Here are some of my faves...