We had the pleasure of celebrating my dear friend Rosalyn's birthday as well as her return home from the hospital as a new mama and meeting their new addition, Alileo. At first, Charlie & I were a little nervous. What if we were crowding them and being too pushy by asking to have a visit so soon? Would they want to hang out with us and our kids (way past their bedtimes)? But it was her birthday, I thought. And and...well..both her and her husband, Andres were very welcoming and happy to have some visitors (and to have food other than hospital food). We ordered a lot of yummy vegetarian food (except that I didn't know that her mother, who was in town, was allergic to soy!) brought a bottle of sparkling apple cider and a couple of cakes. One for the mama, and one for the baby. Roz's friend, Maria, also came over and brought them a bag full of groceries (great presents for new parents!) and made a GF red velvet cake (which happens to be my favorite. Red velvet, not so much the GF - but her cake was actually delicious enough that I asked for the recipe!).

We hung out, talked, shared, smelled the baby, held the baby, laughed...it was great. I am so glad it worked out - especially since we got parking right on their block - which if you know SF at all - you know parking is very hard to come by!

Oh sweet babies...I had forgotten how small the cry sounds were of a newborn. I'm sure to me they were small, just in comparison to the loudness both my kids can be at times, but to the new parents eh, not so much.

So many babies being born and or about to be born, that I'm starting to question my 2 kids rule (HA, no not really) and I sort of imagine having another baby (no, really this is just a day dream) but then I think they would outnumber us and sometimes I already feel outnumbered.

It was beautiful to watch Roz and her new family. There were three generations in that house. And we got to be there to witness another remarkable year. You know, Roz was there when Raima was born. I wanted her to be there because of how much of a positive person she is. The always half full kind of person. The one who wears the rosy glasses. She seemed so at ease and so relaxed. I don't know if I was ever like that, but I remember being told how calm I was as a new mother, but I just don't remember that. Perhaps because inside - I was a mess, but on the outside I was trying to keep it together. I don't think I ever wanted to leave the house or even see people, which is probably why I was nervous that we would be imposing...but Roz isn't like that. And I think she would have been honest enough to say it wasn't the right time. I can't wait to share more memories with her new family.

If you are a new parent or a seasoned parent, what was one of the better advice you've received? And what was the worst or strangest? I'm sure you all have something to share. What's your perspective?

I think as parents and especially as a mom, we forget that we also need to take time to care for ourselves. I know I have a difficult time doing this. I found this nice list from here. The ones listed below I want to try this weekend:

1. Take a five-minute break, wherever you are, close the door, close your eyes, breathe deeply and relax. You deserve this.

2. Make a mug of tea, treat yourself to your favorite latte or smoothie. Delight your senses with taste and flavors.

3. Move your body – dance, go for a walk or run, do yoga or some deep stretching, heck even skip around your house. Twirl, hula hoop, do the running (wo)man, jump up and down like a human pogo stick – whatever feels good to your body in this moment.

16. Write a letter to your younger self and celebrate how much you’ve done and how far you’ve come.
18. Put on your favorite cozy pants and top and spend an evening in watching your fave guilty pleasure TV show. 

Oh and go read this from a new follower's blog (thank you!).

Sorry,  I know that was really terrible of me to try and be clever like that with the title and be so corny. So anyhoo...Currently, I am working on designing an e-commerce website that sells handbags. I even got to pick out a handbag to take home AND was taken out to lunch (and ate al fresco!) where I enjoyed an adult conversation instead of my normal work day behind a desk in an office office! This is for my boss’ wife, so it was all during my regular working hours. Technically, they are getting me for cheap since normally, my design services are at a much higher rate (who am I kidding, whenever I have done it for friends – it has been either for dinner, trade or free. It’s hard to charge your friends because you want to help them succeed. How do you charge for that? Obviously if this was my bread and butter – I probably wouldn’t have issues about charging!).