I Wish They All Could Be California Blogs

We did it! We traveled by plane. And, not a single tear was shed and Josie was t-e-s-t-e-d (really, she tested herself but keep reading).

Things started out pretty easy breezy. Josie was really into the agent next to us
and was a little bummed we didn't have him checking us in. She is such a flirt!

Security was fairly painless and I even smuggled in a bottle of water "for the baby". I now know I can also smuggle in a variety of things"for the baby" such as my favorite grapefruit beer apple juice.

When we boarded the plane, the guy sitting next to us took one look at Josie (without realizing she is a perfect angel who never cries) and literally upgraded to first class on his iPhone in the span of thirty seconds. I didn't even know that was a thing. It happened so quickly, it makes me wonder if there's a secret photo of a screaming baby one presses on the American Airlines home screen that automatically grants you a seat as far away as possible.

It probably looks like this and is invisible to parents.

Anyhow, he tried to be less of a jerk polite and said, "Hey, win-win!" Totally, dude. Totally.

Haha! I didn't plan for this but as I was reviewing our pics
from this trip, our plane selfie caught the guy in action!! Busted, baby hater!

As we were taking off, Josie became enthralled with the safety presentation. Really, Josie? I can tell she is going to be one of those people who ALWAYS flosses. Her dentist is going to be pumped. Mine hates me!

"So wait, like, I make the mask levitate and then what?"

Josie snuggled with me for most of the flight but every once and a while, she'd wake and Jonathan would fly her over the seats so she could check out the other passengers. That's right: we played airplane on an airplane. How meta.

This is Josie before one of her take-offs

Alright, 8 readers I have, I know what you're thinking and it's one of two things:
A) "Wow, Jaimie. You are a paparazzi and need to chill out on capturing every single moment of Josie's life."
B) "Wow, Jaimie. You are a such a dedicated mom and I applaud you for capturing every single moment of Josie's life."
C) Some combination of A and B

Well, guess what? You are incorrect. There is one moment I did not photograph and it rhymes with scoop. If you read past blogs, you know Josie has this delightful habit of disregarding her diaper when she's gotta go. Well, friends, it happened on the plane. Boy did it happen.

Have you ever felt claustrophobic on an airplane bathroom? Take that feeling and multiply it by infinity. I had to not only change Josie's diaper, but give her a birdbath and an outfit change while she was sideways. AND SHE DID NOT MAKE A PEEP! Mom merit badge acquired!

WE LANDED!

We were so excited to introduce Josie to her west coast Grandma Anne and Grandpa Bob! Anne doesn't know this, but I saw her earlier and hid behind something until we had our cameras ready.

This was a pretty surreal moment for all of us. 

I have the best mother in law!

Jonathan's dad, Bob, was also on the scene. Here's a sweet pic of Anne and Bob at home with a sleepy Jojo.

Cuddles with Grandma

Josie also met her Uncle Paul and Aunt Crystal! As you can see, she was snuggled for a solid 7 days. Josie does not like to be put down in general so she was quite content with this. I'm not saying it's totally our faults that our child is spoiled rotten with affection, but I'm not relinquishing blame either. 

Did I mention we were in town for Grandma Deane's 90th birthday party? As a result, Josie got to meet so many family members!! Pictured below are Karin (left) and Susan (right). I swear Jonathan's entire family is made of organic sugar and maybe a little organic wine <insert wink>. They are the nicest people and staying with them felt like we were nestled in a small village. It was awesome. We had 300 babysitters!

Grandma Deane had a weekend full of events to celebrate being 90! We knew we needed a special dress for Josiebear, who has now acquired about 70 nicknames. 

On a scale from 1-ridiculously cute, this dress is off the charts adorable.
The child inside of it is also pretty delicious.

Here's Grandma Deane with her great granddaughter! These moments are so, so special! There's a balloon for every generation pictured below! Okay, I am a nerd. I know. Moving on...

Way back when we were only two months pregnant last December, we made another CA trip. We visited lots of family, including Tessie and Bim. During dinner everyone ordered wine. I did not. Since I had lots of wine a few months before at Paul's wedding (like, a lot), Tessie and Bim did the math. They were sworn to secrecy, as we had a plan to reveal the pregnancy to Anne and Bob (see my first blog ever!).

Being a new parent takes a lot out of you -
sleepless nights, cluster feedings, 25 diaper changes a day...
Jonathan is wearing a name tag so he doesn't forget his own name at the family gathering.
Did I mention I am LOVING Josie's little dress? Oh, like twice already?
Well, let's discuss another feature of it, because that bow on her tulle butt is almost too much for me.

Speaking of things that happened last year, I had an astonishing realization whilst in CA. These two photographs were taken on the very same day, one year apart. WHAT?!

October 10, 2014 and 2015. It's amazing what can change in a year.
That's right: I got highlights. Crazy! :D

Since she is so small, many group photos of much bigger humans means you can't really see her.
Here's a closeup of her sweet little mug.

The aforementioned ballerina dress dinner was for close family (of which Jonathan has hundreds compared to my ~11), and it was followed by an afternoon gathering in his grandmother's beautiful backyard. I don't often photograph people's backyards/homes, but just look at this:

It looks like elves live here who happen to whistle while they work,
but tall ones who surf in their spare time.

Back to people, a subject more in line with this blog's theme. Here's a really sweet group photo of the family! Josie looks particularly smashing.

Growing up, I had a friend who had her photograph taken with her two cousins once a year in the same poses until they were 18 so I proposed we do the same with Josiebear, her cousins Theo and Finn, and their sweet mamas. It actually came out really well!

Here's the moment Josie and Theo met. Both are newer additions to the giant clan of west coast fam. The babes were super into it.

Jojo also met friends who are family. First up: Uncle Arya, Jonathan's best friend since he was six. It must be surreal to see your childhood best friend become a parent - Jonathan's friends are some of the sweetest people I know and truly treat Josie as if she was their own, as evidenced in this photo. It's such a precious moment. I forgot to bring it out when he was around, but Arya made Josie the coolest rattle. M-A-D-E it for her. He also helped assemble Josie's bassinet. Did I mention he's an MD/PhD? Annnd a cat dad? Annnd his mom knitted Josie a blanket? I'm just sayin'.

We also got to watch the Dodgers' game with the Sullivan family! Here's Josie meeting Auntie Lyttle and Rhyle and Sadie. The Sullivan family visits Disneyland quite a bit since they're so close and Josie is wearing the outfit Stephen delivered to us in NYC - cutest Minnie around!

Pardon the blurry photo. I had to post it!

Rhyle and Sadie were so sweet and gentle with her. Josie was only mostly oblivious.

Finally, I've been loving our little family outings. We took the Real Housebabe of Santa Monica to the Santa Monica Pier and has so much fun!

Who wore her better?

We'll miss you, California! I will leave you with this gorgeous sunset, which is just a whatever Tuesday in the Sullivan neighborhood. Gasp!

One last thing! Anne flew back with us, which is a really big deal and we were so happy to have her! Stay tuned for her visit next post. :)