What You May Have Missed (April-September 2015)

Last April, Derek and I made a sudden decision to move to the Bay Area in pursuit of our millions (aka, doing summer sales). The sales didn't go all that great...but California was pretty awesome! Here follows a hundred pictures (approximately) illustrating our adventures on the coast.


We started with a stop in St. George to celebrate the anniversary and hang with the fam. Oh, and to celebrate National Grilled Cheese day. Which is a real thing. We Monnetts know how to party.

We made every kind of grilled cheese we could think of and then voted on our favorite. The winner? Cream cheese, sharp white cheddar, fresh tomatoes, and Tony's. 

Derek and I spent the morning in Zion and Palmer spent the morning at Nana's :)

We got to go to my nephew's baseball game while we were in town, and Palmer loved it!

This is while Palmer was learning to sit up--we surrounded him with a little buffer to minimize the head banging :)

And then we were off to San Ramon! Dalton was such a sport and drove our van for us so that Derek and Palmer and I could all ride together. That way we made WAY less stops because I was able to get Palmer bottles and snacks on the road. When we got to our apartment we were stunned! San Ramon is such a gorgeous (and wealthy) area. We were so lucky to live there. The view from our balcony was amazing!

One of our first Saturdays in town we hit up Muir Woods for a little hike. I was a little disappointed by the size of the redwoods (they get MUCH bigger the further north you go, and that's what I'm accustomed to), but it was absolutely beautiful!

After a few weeks we finally made it to the beach with some new friends from our ward! The plan was to head to Santa Cruz for a day, which turned into an afternoon, which turned into an hour in Capitola and then some ice cream and cookies at a popular place in Santa Cruz. Palmer loved the sand!...a little too much.

Poor kiddo was sooo tired! This is also when we learned that if you go to the beach in Northern California, you don't wear (or probably even bring) a swimsuit. You wear capris and sandals (so that you can walk in sand and water) and a sweatshirt. Or two. 

We were lucky enough to have a few friends join us in California--the Borens! Unfortunately they lived an hour away in Modesto, but Aubrey and Hayes came out to see us! We tried to alternate weeks and have me go out to Modesto just as often, but I think Aubrey ended up doing a lot more driving than her fair share! Either way our visits were such a blessing! Making friends in California was really hard, so it was great to know I had someone not too far away. And Palmer and Hayes always loved seeing each other! Palmer was a little too touchy-feely for Hayes's liking, but they worked it out :)

Mother's Day :)

At the beginning of May I was able to fly to Salt Lake and then drive up to Rexburg to visit Spencer and Destinee and brand-spanking-new Samantha! I was so disappointed when I realized we'd be moving away before Destinee had her baby, largely because when I had Palmer she was one of my greatest supports! She was always good for an hour or two of chatting or taking the baby so I could nap and I had so looked forward to returning the favor when the time came. I'm afraid I wasn't much help on my short trip...but I did clip Samantha's nails when Destinee was too nervous to do it. Because by this time, I was of course, a total pro at motherhood ;)

Palmer was a little nervous about our first flight :)

One of my favorite parts about our return trip was the group of fifty Asian tourists who couldn't get enough of Palmer. I'm sure his picture is everywhere in China by now. They were just in love with him! The few who could speak a little English begged to hold him. I let them, but he wasn't a fan. 

My OTHER favorite part of our return trip was the guy waiting on the other side!! Derek picked us up at the airport and we spent the day doing a little San Francisco exploring. We went to the Pier, and that ended up being all we had time for, but it was a blast!

One of our weekend trips was to the Samuel P. Taylor State Park. We went on an awesome park, then headed to Stinton Beach. It was so nice and private! Probably because it was cold and full of sandcrabs, but Derek actually liked that part.

See look, I learned how to dress for the beach!

(Sand crabs. He never got tired of digging them up!)

Another weekend at Stinton. I will never get over Palmer's sailor outfit :)

He looks just like my nephew Ezra in this picture!

Aubrey and I took a little trip to Ghirardelli Square together one week. My memories of that day include a lot of figuring out where we were supposed to nurse these boys, how they would get naps, and other basic baby needs. But we had a ton of fun (and a ton of food!)

Another plus to California apartment living: pool time!

These boys!

You'll notice that about half the pictures in this post are of fun, California-specific adventures, and half are just pictures of Palmer. I mostly chose ones that I felt were milestones--or just really really cute. This one though, when I saw it in my photos, really squeezed my heart. It seems to capture a lot of what that summer was. Derek worked a lot--usually from 9 in the morning until at least 9 at night. I had a car most of the time, but not always gas money, so a lot of times it was just Palmer and me at home all day. There were good times and bad. And a bittersweet moment of every day was when I nursed Palmer to sleep at night. He would fall asleep in my arms and I would feel so relieved to be done with the work portion of my day--but also so sad to put my baby down and be alone for however many hours it took till Derek got home. A lot of times I would hold him for much longer than I needed to and just...not be alone. I hope that doesn't come across as too depressing. It was a hard time for me, but I just loved to feel this little boy of mine with his heavy breathing and deep sighs and know that I had a purpose.

Father's Day baked pineapple :)

Palmer's first time teething! Poor kiddo.

At the end of June I got to take a trip to St. George to see my little brother Taylor off on his mission. Palmer and I started to get really good at flying! It was so good to have the whole family together one last time before Taylor left for two years. But it was really sad to not have Derek there! Everyone missed him so much. 

Mom fail: Palmer got sunscreen in his eyes. I promise I took this picture AFTER spending at least ten minutes trying to clean his eye out. Poor baby :(

Last picture with Uncle Taylor!

And I always have to share the picture of me returning from my trip because I was always SO ready to get home to my hubby!

4th of July

Sleeping at church

 And then we were off again! But this time Derek got to come with :) We left for Salt Lake just before the 24th of July for the Allen family reunion. Our flight had crazy delays because something was wrong with the airplane. You can see the drop in our enthusiasm as time went on. Palmer was smart and escaped into a nap :) Our reunion, which Derek and I planned, was in Yellowstone. We had an amazing cabin in Island Park, and everything was just beautiful! It was fun to see how quickly Palmer warmed up to all the family. He was especially interested in anyone who shared food or read books to him :)

   

Samantha and Sam!

It was awfully windy, but the view was worth it!

And apparently on this trip, Palmer decided to grow up! Look at that boy!

The day we got back to California we headed straight for Santa Cruz for a little beach time. I have hardly any pictures of this day because I was so busy taking videos of the pod of dolphins, the sea lion, and the fifteen foot waves! It was such a crazy cool sight! 

I had to post this picture because a.) Palmer's face and b.) this was the day I met a dear friend of mine! I'd often go out to the little grassy area with Palmer on nice days (pretty much every day in San Ramon is a nice day. It's either nice enough to swim or nice enough to hang out on a blanket eating muffins). This particular day there was another mom walking around carrying a baby. She smiled at me and I made a bold decision--I said hi! Doesn't sound too bold...but I am the most socially awkward person ever, so saying hi was a big deal. I gestured for her to come sit with us and we got talking. Garima is from India, and we got to talk a lot about our different religions and experiences. I love her so much an am so grateful I met her that day! When the company Derek worked for decided they'd need us to move to a city about forty minutes away I was so disappointed because I had finally made a friend at my apartment complex. But Garima and I have stayed in contact ever since and I'm so glad we have.

This was taken on our final day with Aubrey and Hayes in California! We sure missed them after they left!

The company treated us to some tickets to an Oakland A's game. I was surprised at how stinking fun it was!! And what made it even better is that we beat the Dodgers! I may have only lived in the bay for a few months, but I basically consider myself a local now, so Oakland's my team ;)

Wait, what do you mean I'm wearing this shirt in almost every picture from last summer? You're crazy...

Palmer helping us move ;)

The new digs in Antioch!

Palmer Turned One! (a while ago)

Well hello, dear readers! I'm sure all four of you have been dying for me to tell you about the haps these days. You're probably thinking, "Remember how you wrote three posts in a row at the end of last summer and then completely stopped?" Yeah, I remember. That's what I do!

So I thought I should finally post about Palmer's birthday, since it was over half a year ago. We were at the end of a long (and unsuccessful) summer of sales and Palmer's birthday was just three days before we moved back to Utah. Money was short, time was short, and my creativity was sorely lacking. I figured I'd go all out for my baby's first birthday, but when it got down to it, living in California meant there was no one around to celebrate with! I was a little bummed, but when it turned out that my sister would be visiting I found my inspiration! As a theme I chose...San Francisco!

Gifts for a one-year-old are easy. In fact...all we gave him was this little walker/scooter. Obviously he was thrilled :)

As per our theme I planned a party at Golden Gate Park. We ended up doing the cake smash at Crissy Field though, because that view--incomparable. I made Palmer a chocolate banana cake with whipped cream frosting and a candy Golden Gate Bridge. For the rest of us there were cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, sprinkles, and candy trolly toppers :) I'll pretend like it was no big deal now...but I'm dang proud of those cake toppers. Aren't I creative??

 (The blue at the bottom of the cake is supposed to be the ocean. Go with it.)

 Palmer was SO excited...

And, a picture of me, because this is after all, my masterpiece. The cake and the kid :)

Ok, so in reality, Palmer had absolutely no idea what to do with the cake sitting in front of him. Now, dried spaghetti on the floor, bugs, lint, all these things he eagerly shoves into his little mouth. But my cake...he was clearly dubious about. The bridge caught his attention and we got him to take a few bites, but he really hated the feeling of frosting on his fingers :)

And obviously, the cake plate was far more interesting than the cake itself.

I don't have photographical evidence of the rest of the evening because both our phones died and we had no charger, but we had so much fun! We went to Golden Gate Park and played at the playground for a few hours while we waited for our pizza to be delivered (aside: the pizza came way late, was the wrong kind, and was cold! Poor Tana and Jaron were so bummed because they'd heard raves about this place...but hey, Palmer still liked it! ;). Palmer and Desmond took turns pushing his new scooter around until dark, and then we all headed back to the hotel for the night.

And that was it! The day passed so quickly. But it was a perfect way to say farewell to our city by the bay and to capture what that summer meant to us. I love that we'll always have these memories that so epitomized that time in our lives! Yay for Palmer and yay for San Francisco :)

Read to Me

Lately Palmer and I have had a lot of reading time, thanks in large part to Nana (my mom) giving him a bunch of new books for his birthday!

I love sitting down with him on my lap and reading him a story or two. He points to the pictures and turns the page when it's time.

This past week he's also loved taking his turn reading to me. After I finish a book, he flips it back open and starts jabbering while he strokes the pages. I ate it up the first few times, but then my mind wandered to all the things I could be getting done instead of sitting there. I knew if I left him there to read on his own he would happily entertain himself for a few more minutes, and those moments of un-interrupted cleaning are rare.

But then I thought about how beautiful a thing it is to sit and listen to my son. I want him to talk to me his whole life long, knowing that I will always listen. I've often pondered how I can make sure Palmer knows I love him and am there for him, and the answer is to be there now.

Yes, he's just a baby. And I doubt that he'll remember me holding him while he reads to me. But I felt the spirit whisper to me that he will remember the feeling of being listened to if I continue to do this. And how wonderful will it be for him to one day say to himself that he cannot remember a time when I wasn't there for him.

After all, that's what this is all about. That's why I'm a stay-at-home mom. Because I am going to be there for him, from the beginning to the end. What a gift in both our lives that is.