Foto Friday {Instagrammed}

1st parade...awe struck


Learning boundaries


Cleaning in the buff


Sightseeing


Redwoods


Cousin Jen


Snuggles


Foster the People & The Greek Theatre


Making music


Happy weekend!

- Sarah

Dear Finn {12 months}

Last week we celebrated your first birthday. People told me it would go by fast and boy were they right. It feels like a blink ago we were bringing you home, nursing at all hours of the night, and changing diapers 24/7. I've loved every minute of this last year. Even the midnight, 2, 4, and 6am feedings you were rocking at 5 months.

At 12 months you are such a happy baby. You have transformed from a blob to a human, as your dad would say. You love to give wide open mouth kisses and snuggle in bed with us in the morning and after naps. You love to wave, and ham it up. Especially with the ladies.

You love your daddy and get so excited to see him when he comes home or gets you out of your crib. You love mama's hair. It's your comfort. You love to play with it, eat it, and nuzzle it.

You are a great eater and we haven't found a food that you don't like. Some of your favorites are strawberries, blueberries, avacado, turkey, salmon, black beans and rice, sweet potato, and eggs. You also love bath time. We sing your bath song and you go racing towards the tub. Your least favorite things are diaper changes and being told no. Although, you do listen when told "no touch" by shaking your head no and giving me a sly grin.

We have been taking you all over the place lately. You love the pool, ocean, and the sand. You love going for walks to the playground, and aren't afraid of the big slide or the swing. You and I have been riding bikes and you really seem to enjoy it, especially when you get down and can play with the wheels.

You love to help mama in the kitchen, and do a great job of keeping my drawers organized. Pots, pans, tupperware, and the ziplock drawer get dumped out on a daily basis.

I love to watch you play, and squeal with enthusiasm and delight when you see another baby or kid. You do very well so far with sharing. I hope you continue to be a kind and sweet friend.

Lately you have taken an interest in books. Some of your favorites are the Sandra Boynton books and the Dr. Suess nursery set. You also love music and clap and bounce whenever you hear a catchy tune. Your giggle is infectious when we tickle you or say "I'm gonna getcha!".

You are babbling like crazy and can communicate "more" and "all done" in sign language. You also can say "mama", "da", "ba" (ball), and "na" (nurse).

It's so much fun to watch you explore your world and learn so much everyday, I can hardly keep up. You took your first steps at 11 months and over the last week have been walking all over the place. Soon, you will be cruising.

Run wild, my child.

Love,

Mama

Photos by Nicole Simon Photography

Foto Friday {birthday edition}

Somebody turned the B I G 1 this week! We had so much fun celebrating Finns first birthday. We started the day with some snuggles and books.


We ate breakfast with our thinking cap & opened our card from Ukki.


And after nap we hit the California Academy of Sciences. Finn got to see his first aquarium. He loved the fish. Definitely one of the highlights of the day.
Then it was time for cake. Finn loved the blueberries but wasn't sure what to make of the cake. He decided it was more fun to play with than eat. Just like his daddy.

I can hardly believe its been a year since he's been with us. I love watching him grow into his own little person. He is such a delight to be around. And I thank God everyday for letting me be his mama.

Looking forward to the next 12 months and seeing him grow into a terrible terrific two!
- Sarah

Hip hip hooray {it's my birthday!}

Happy birthday, baby boy!  I love you to the moon and back.

12 months with Finn from Sarah Hakkarainen on Vimeo.

A {great} day at the beach

Today was one of those days that was just perfect.

We drove up to Bodega Bay yesterday for a little family getaway. The drive was gorgeous. Farm land, gold fields, and sun for miles.

Thanks to Finn, we got an early start so we decided to have breakfast then walk to the beach. Finn is a water baby, for sure. We sat him as far away from the ocean as possible, and each time he took off, full speed ahead towards the water. No fear, just awe.

Then we headed to a crab shack for a picnic lunch. We found a spot high above the waves and had a great lunch of crab sandwiches, cokes, and orzo salad. We even got to see a whale.

Finn fell asleep in the car and Markus did me a solid by driving around so I could get some alone time. I found a nice spot by the water and napped. Heaven!

We got some pool time in and then headed to a relaxing dinner by the water. A nice stranger even offered to take a picture of all of us.

This is one of those days I'll always remember. The kind of day you imagine when daydreaming of having kids. My heart is happy.

- Sarah

Happy {1st} Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the most amazing, fun, loving, silly, caring guy I know. Finn is so blessed to have you as his dad & I am so lucky to have you as my husband and my son's father.

Watching you become a dad has been one of the most gratifying experiences I have had. Every day you amaze me with your patience and ability to have fun with Finn, no matter the challenge.

I have the best husband in the world. You are the fun to my serious, the comfort to my anxious, the shelter to my storm. I look forward to every day we spend together. And when you are not here, I count the days until we are all accounted for.

It's been a mind blowing experience becoming a parent and I'm so happy I get to do it with you!

I love you to the moon and back! Happy Father's Day, my love.

b.b.

{Instagrammed} Foto Friday

Pool time

Not happy about getting out

Bike ride with daddy

New blooms

First fort

Not a fan of manual labor

Hop on Pop

Date {at home} night

U.S. Open @ The Olympic Club






Happy weekend!
- Sarah

Un-blog worthy

Yesterday was an un-blog worthy day. I woke up earlier than I would have liked. Finn wakes up at random times, sometimes he sleeps until 7:40 and sometimes he's ready to go at 6. I pull him into bed with us to nurse in the hopes he will fall back asleep or cuddle. But lately, as soon as he finishes nursing, he is babbling a mile a minute and wanting to play. I love these mornings. I know one day there will be places to be and people to see. So I try to soak in as much of the quiet snuggles as I can.

This morning started at 6:40. Too early, in my opinion. I couldn't get the coffee machine to work, Finn was clingy and fussy and not a good eater. He screamed through his diaper change. After nap, I thought it would be fun to take a bide ride to get coffee. Except when we got there I couldn't get the bike lock to work. There wasn't a place to put the bike in front of the store and after fiddling with the lock for 10 minutes, Finn was getting fussy so we biked back home, sans coffee. Repeated the fussy, clingy, throwing food, tantrum diaper change. Played in the pool and screamed when it was time to get out. After nap we walked to the bike shop to get a new lock and headed to the playground. Ate rocks, kept trying to play with other kids toys, screamed when it was time to leave. Screamed when it was time to get out of bath. But then calmed down when it was time for books, milk, and nite nite snuggles.

These screaming fits are new. They just started yesterday. Out of the blue he is aware of his wants and expressing them through fits. I don't know what the best reaction is so I'm just ignoring them for now. It's funny how quickly they change.

But, as I lay typing this, looking at him on the baby monitor tiny and sleeping, I reflect back on our day and realize it was also a pretty blog worthy day. We had a lot of fun being silly and playing in the floor. He played in the baby pool on the deck for the first time and it was so much fun watching him splash around, naked. We shared an ice cream cone on the way to the park, him saying "mo" when he wanted more. I love watching him play at the playground. He gets so excited, he starts kicking his feet and flicking his hands.

These are the things I want to capture on this blog because I know one day he will be grown and these are the moments I will want to remember. The good, the average, and the un-blog worthy.

- Sarah

6/11/11

A year ago, today, was my due date. I forgot until I was reading a blog and the title was "6/11". When I saw the date, all of the emotions I felt on this day last year came flooding down. I woke up, still pregnant, and realized I would not see my baby on the day that was promised. My rational brain knew this, after all only about 5% of babies are born on their edd. But my irrational, I've been pregnant for 40! weeks, I want to hold my baby, brain whined "this isn't fair!". Little did I know it would be ELEVEN more days before Finn would come. Those 11 days were hard. You start to think you're going to be pregnant forever. Your mind starts to play tricks on you. Your husband starts to think that there isn't really a baby, this has all been a rouse for foot rubs and cupcakes.

Before we were three, we were four

One of our last days as a twosome, picnicking in the park

This is one of my favorite pregnancy pics because the look on my face says it all. "I'm hot, tired, and huge!". I can't believe Finn was in there!

I also can't believe it's been an entire year that he's been here! Time has flown & so much in our life has changed. And yet, not really. Having a baby is an everyday occurrence all around the world. But it's a mind blowing, life altering occurrence for the people becoming parents. Your life gets turned upside down and inside out. But the world outside of your bubble keeps on going. Life goes on, C'est la vie. And then you slowly re-enter as a family of three.

That's what this next year feels like, like we have been on planet Finn and are slowly coming back down to Earth.

- Sarah

Riding with Finn

Finn had his first bike ride today and he couldn't have been more proud. He has seen mama and daddy riding and has a great curiosity about the bikes, spinning wheels and rubbing his hands over the handlebars. So today we drove into the city and visited Public Bikes to get him a child seat. It is so much fun having him on the back. I can't wait for our next ride!

Here are a few pictures we snapped to remember the occasion.

Here is a link to Public Bikes. They have the coolest city bikes, and our nutcase helmets are also from there.

- Sarah

{Instagrammed} Foto Friday

Tiny toes

Early morning snuggles

Learning to walk

Riding bikes

Playing in bed

Falling in love

Watching the sprinklers

Date night on the patio