nesting in....

a glimpse into life with a newborn:

we made a nest in the living room; this is where we live lately.

em made this banner to greet us when we got home from the hospital. it's still hanging, so cheery:

addie stayed with us until saturday night. it was a dream to have her here. she kept everything tidy and pretty and helped with the baby and picked things up at the store that we might need. i cried when she left. i can't wait to return the favor for her come january!

pretty flowers everywhere you look:

our friends arranged a "meal train" for us. we have never eaten so well for so many days in a row!

first night, rebecca made us corn risotto, watermelon-tomato-basil salad, and a green salad, YUM.

monday night, chelsea brought us walnut taco wraps with all the fixins. apparently walnuts are good for breastfeeding women, and dang were they tasty! i need the recipe.

every day we are the recipients of flowers, treats, baby stuff; the bounty is unbelievable and our little nest fills up with goodies.

our friend scott brought a beautiful bottle of champagne, flowers and pastries:

scott and darin show off their daughters :)

another local gal, juniper, gets to meet lucy.

sylvan has quickly become a devoted new friend:

the mingles came bearing freshly homemade calzones on our first day home:

 

elsie, justin and zillion (and a tiny unborn one too!) brought veggie enchiladas sunday eve and met our girl:

and yay! this little family came all the way from utah to meet lucinda (okay they had lots of other california adventures as well, but meeting lucy was one of the highlights i think ;)

cousins!

in fact my brothers and nick had gone on a backpacking trip on the john muir trail for five days...they arrived home in all their stinky and exhilarated glory. our nest was very exciting that day!

more cozy visits, amber and lucinda:

nana and lucinda:

the most exciting gift! when we arrived home from the hospital there was a big box waiting for us with a sacramento address i recognized. my heart soared! a package from nicole! 

i knew it would contain vintage delights, but never expected such unbelievable treasures!

check out the adorable card made by nicole's 12 year old daughter. i hope she's marketing these...

(it makes me cry it is so sweet)

we had soooo much fun going through each item, pulling it out with a gasp and a sigh of utter cuteness overload.

a peek-a-boo at the amazing girly vintage heaven.

prettiest little-50s-girl dress ever. in the world, period.

 one night there was a crazy thunderstorm with lightning. a cool wind blew the curtains billowing in and the windchimes sang in the dark. lucinda and i stayed awake to listen to the storm and watch the sky light up  pale violet with each crash. billy and the other cats sat in the window in the strange light. darin played his guitar and the rare summer rain washed our garden and our dry hills clean. we were cool and peaceful in our nest all night long.

 our cats are getting used to the new presence. no one can help liking her :)

most of all, we are just utterly smitten. no one could have really prepared me for these first few days and weeks with our newborn. it is the most unique and special time of our lives and i am cherishing every moment. now....back to soak up that sweet baby girl of mine!