Nor Cal Fam Time

Last weekend we packed everyone into the car for our first road trip as a family of four. We were definitely due for some time with our Nor Cal family! Plus, many had yet to meet Lear.

Having cruised that route numerous times as a married couple sans kiddos (and not loving it then), I was so nervous about an 8 hour drive with a 3 year and 3 month old. There are so many scenarios where that goes horribly sideways. But, thankfully, we had the smoothest trip I've ever taken up the coast. No traffic to speak of (even in LA!), Lear slept like a champ, and Avery was entirely entertained by her DVDs and snacks.

Matt always drives with his hand like this... mine would totally cramp up in that position after 8 hours! So grateful I'm married to a road warrior who handled the wheel the whole trip.  :)

Daddy's seat sits pretty far back into Avery's leg space, but she improvised.

Ahh yes... the desolate stretch of mid-state I-5. At least my sparkly purple pedicure was fun to look at.

Our first stop was Foster City. Cari took the red-eye from Boston to spend the weekend with us.

And to hang with "her babies." Yes, Cari is actually starting to like kids. Miracles do happen.

Lear thought Great Uncle Tim was a hoot.


"Mom... I know I'm new and meeting family for the first time, but seriously, do I have to do a photo-op with everyone?"
Yes. You do.

Next stop was lunch with the McGahey gals. We weren't able to stay long enough to see Zack (insert sad face here), but very much enjoyed an afternoon of catching up. I am always so blessed by time spent with Rebecca. Moving every 3-5 years as a kid was great in many ways, but never afforded me long-term friendships. Being casual friends in high school and then roommates our first year in college, our active friendship of 13 years is a record! Although Facebook has reconnected me with many "friends" from my past, no one currently in my life (other than family) has known me longer. So amazing to have celebrated all our adult milestones together and that we both make the time and effort to reconnect at least once a year, regardless of distance. Others might take "old" friends for granted, but I know Rebecca is a genuine treasure.

Friday night we drove to Sacramento where Lear met his Aunt Jenn.

And his Grandma Mel and Grandpa Mark.

We spent Saturday at John's Incredible Pizza. Nothing like an all-you-can-eat pizza bar and games!
Avery and Jaylene rocked the b-ball hoop, Daddy at the whack-a-mole, and the girls on the hopper.

At this point I should mention that Kama, Keni, and their 3 boys met us at the Pizza joint, but I realized only after the fact that I neglected to get any photos with them. So now I feel like a turd, but we did enjoy seeing them if only for a short while.

The 3 Amigas (Kayla, Jaylene & Avery). These cousins had an absolute blast playing together.

Sunday we cruised over to Grandma & Grandpa Gaines' house. Laurie put on a huge feast for the whole extended family. We don't get to spend large amounts of time with each family, but we do try and make it quality time.

Grandma Laurie spoiled the kids (as usual) with HUGE Easter baskets full of goodies.

One last pit stop for lunch in Lincoln with the Streits and Aunt Lori before we headed home on Tuesday. The road trip back was a bit less smooth, but all-in-all no complaints. We are fortunate to have so much awesome family and to be able to see them all in a whirlwind weekend trip up north.

Avery's Antics 3.3

"Lear and I are best buds, aren't we Mom?"

"How long do I have to stay in my room for quiet time?"
"One Hour"
"That's too looooong!!!"
"Ok then, you only have to stay up there 60 minutes."
"Yes, that's better."

"Mommy, who's your best friend?"
"Daddy is."
**Pause while she thinks...**
"No, who's your best friend that doesn't live with us?"

Putting Avery to bed...
"Mommy, your breath smells like dead flies."

Me, to Matt, while flipping thru Netflix (very sarcastic) -
"YES! They've got Justin Bieber's documentary!"
Avery: "I don't really like jumpin' beavers."

March Madness

If you came to this post thinking it'd be about NCAA basketball, well, sorry. It's merely a smattering of things going on in the McNeil house this month. I probably could have done 5 separate blog posts about these very unrelated things, but it appears that these days I just don't have that kind of time to spare. Let's just credit my effort and call it a day, shall we?

While at my parents house we did a mini "Oma/Opa with Grandkiddos" photoshoot. With floor to ceiling windows, my folks' condo has the most ridiculously awesome photo lighting. This one is my fav...

Poor Lear had had enough... what a face!

 

Has your weather been as totally nutty as ours? We came home from Ohio to 80 degrees and sunny - warm enough for some swim time with Daddy in the community pool. (But now, 2 weeks later, we're looking at highs in the 50s for San Diego. Brrr. Crazy.) After a 3 month holiday/little-brother-being-born hiatus, Avery has returned to swim lessons and is back to being our resident mermaid.

Cousin Katie (or "katiekelly" as Avery calls her) came down from the OC for a visit. She spoiled us with her love of cuisine and played personal chef for the evening. What a treat to have someone cook us dinner in our own kitchen while I relaxed!

I've been taking photos of Lear each month in the same spot next to the same stuffed animal, so we can see how much he grows. This month that giraffe got a little feisty...

Oops from The McNeils on Vimeo.



What do you do in San Diego when it's a "record rainfall" kind of weekend? Bowling, of course! Our gang met up with our good friends, Cheyenne, Josie and Stefani (plus, Stef's mom and stepdad). The girls LOVED it. And all the adults bowled at least one strike each. Not too shabby.

When I'm the one always snapping the photos, I have to make a conscious effort to get in front of the lens sometimes. Um, hello... I am a part of this family too, thank. you. very. much.

Avery helps Lear out every day with his "tummy time." She's especially fond of holding his attention with some My Little Pony action. (If you're thinking to yourself, "Haven't I seen Avery in that dress many, many, many times before?" The answer would be "yes." She wears it every single day. Clearly not a battle I'm choosing to fight.)

He likes them too.

Lately, Avery has become a whiz at puzzles. This is a clip I shot of her doing a 24 piece puzzle that she had never seen before. We did not do it with her prior to this filming (which was at 7:30am, by the way. Excuse my bathrobe!) Elapsed time is 13 minutes and it cracks me up how she sounds like a mouse during the FF part. :)
Puzzler from The McNeils on Vimeo.


Today Gigi and Jimster stopped in on their way home from visiting Arizona to meet Lear and hang with Princess Avery for awhile (there's that dress again!). 

Despite the incredible wind, we caught a break in the storms and got outside for a stroll. Lear clearly enjoyed being strapped to Momma for a bit.

But what he really liked best was snuggling with Gigi all afternoon and giving her plenty of his signature grins and telling her all sorts of "stories." :)

2 Much Cuteness

Our little Lear is 2 months old! 

He has quickly cemented his place in our family as the easygoing, sweetly dispositioned snugglebug. A tummy time champ, lover of the swaddle, and an eager eater, Daddy has aptly nicknamed him "chunk." He's averaging a weight gain of a 1/2 lb a week - a lot when you're less than 2 feet tall!!! Those chubby cheekers are so soft and smoochable. His hair color has lightened since birth, now sporting more of a medium-brown 'do, but those deep baby blues are for keeps. Latest advancements include focused eye contact, BIG smiles in reaction to attention, better noggin control, and a few nights with a 4-5 hour sleep stretch (yay!).

Official 2 month stats:  12.5 lbs (68%), 23 in (50%), 16 in head circumference (63%).

Sixty Years of Memories

For my Dad's 60th birthday last Thursday, I wanted to do something really special - a thoughtful gift different than the usual dress socks or restaurant gift card. What's left to buy for a guy who's lived 6 decades, anyways?!

After scouring the internet for ideas, I decided upon a gift of memories (if you're on Pinterest, you may recognize this!). Not to be morbid or anything, but I got to thinking about how people at a funeral always stand around telling stories about the deceased. How much better is it to share those fond memories with someone before they leave the Earth, rather than wait until it's too late? A 60th birthday is just as good an excuse as any!

My mom did the detective work and rustled up more than 100 email and snail mail addresses of people from my Dad's past. Stalking Dad's facebook friends list also provided a few additional leads.  My goal was to fill 60 envelopes with stories of my Dad for him to open on his special day.

So I sent out an email:

Hello Everyone!

If you are receiving this email, you probably know that my dad, Alan Coe, is turning 60 this February (much as he would hate us to be reminding everyone, I'm sure). To celebrate his birthday, we'd like to put together a little surprise to let him know that his nearest and dearest are thinking of him. We're going to try and create "60 Years of Memories" by filling 60 envelopes each with a memory his friends and family have of him.

And this is where you come in!

If you have a spare moment in the next couple weeks, we would be so grateful if you would jot down a favorite memory you have of Alan and put it in the mail. It doesn't have to be anything fancy - you can just write it down on a piece of paper and sign your name. Mention anything you'd like - although the more nostalgic, funny, crazy the better! Please feel free to send more than one memory (we do have 60 envelopes to fill, after all...), but make sure you write them on different pieces of paper and sign each.

A heartfelt thanks in advance for taking the time to participate! We know everyone is busy with their own lives and we really appreciate you taking a few minutes to do this; it will be so special when he reads all your memories. Feel free to also forward this email to anyone you know that may want to participate. Don't forget to keep it a surprise!

Cheers,

Hayley

I included my mailing address and waited...

Over the next 2 months, letters and emails poured in from all over the country. What a delight it was to get handwritten notes in my mailbox each week! The memories came from all different decades, from before my Dad was born to now. In addition to his immediate family - wife, kids, even Avery "wrote" one - they came from my Dad's 4 siblings, his cousins, his aunts (both in their 80s), college fraternity brothers, work colleagues, sailing friends living the Virgin Islands, old church buddies, high school bandmates, longtime family friends, and even his best friend from grade school who he had entirely lost track of 30 years ago (thanks to a little creative Googling on my part).

I found these amazingly detailed and delicate airmail envelopes at this etsy shop. Including shipping from Thailand, 65 envelopes were only $9! It did take four weeks to get them, but fortunately I had planned ahead. After printing the numbers 1 - 60 on them with my computer, we stuffed each with a memory. I trimmed a regular paper grocery bag to letter size, ran it through the printer, cut out the label shape and added a hole re-enforcement sticker to create the tag. A little rustic twine and a gorgeous basket my Mom found on sale at Hobby Lobby completed the ensemble.

During his party, we first had him open a new silver monogrammed letter opener. A little confused, we then presented him with the basket and said "You'll need that to open these..."

The next day when it was just our family he sat down on the couch and began to open them. The first letter was from my Mom, talking about the first time she laid eyes on that "exotic" young man at Purdue and how glad she was that he married her. Tears flowed and I even lost it when he said he "didn't need to open any more letters" because that note was enough.

Fortunately, he did open more. For the next 5 hours (no exaggeration) we sat and listened to him read through each memory. More tears, uncontrollable laughter, and sincere astonishment at just how many people had taken the time to contribute. Often times he would know exactly what the person was going to share before reading it. And each letter sparked a more thorough explanation or telling of the story.

In a strange way, this was not only a gift to my Dad, but unexpectedly to myself as well. Hearing him talk about all these events (many from before I was born), has given me a bigger picture of my Dad - one woven together by people from his past who, in one way or another, have contributed to my family history. My Dad has touched so many lives...

Turns out you can make a lot of memories in sixty years. And then, if you're lucky, you can relive them all over again.

Little Baker Girl

Gummy Grins

Matt turns 32!

Yesterday Matt celebrated his 32nd birthday. Avery "dressed up" in her princess outfit for the special occasion and reminded us we HAD to have cake. My mom is in town and she graciously took on both kids so we could enjoy an evening out. Caught the movie "Contraband"... very good! It's not often that my geeky knowledge of art history helps me figure out a key part of the movie plot waaay before it was revealed. 

After the movie, we intended to go to dinner, but Matt wasn't all that hungry (thanks to a hearty lunch of two In-N-Out Double Cheeseburgers/fries/chocolate shake - his fave). I felt desperate to take advantage of the free babysitting, suggesting bowling, dessert, cocktails - anything! 
But I could't resist the absolute sweetness of Matt saying, "Honestly, I'd rather go get a little cake and go home before Avery has to be in bed. Seeing her smile will make my night." Cue the heart melt.