Thursday, January 17, 2013

Not Just A Pretty Face

Being a toddler is hard work. You fall (a lot) as you learn to walk, then run, then maneuver stairs, then tackle the play structure at school, and on and on.

Little LRG is tough, and has handled this uneasy phase really well. He hasn't had many big falls, and no major injuries to report to date. Today, we did get a call from school saying he tripped coming out of the sandbox on the playground and bit his lip. It bled, and hurt, so he cried. His teacher, Missy, text us this picture so we could have a look ourselves:


Within minutes, little man was calm, eating his lunch like a champ, then took his full nap, no problem. I was very happy that he recovered well, and had an uneventful rest of his day. When I got home, I was surprised to see this little face:



He is fine, and currently sleeping like a baby in his crib. Just felt compelled to share a bit of the 'not so pretty' side of being the parents to a toddler...bruises, swollen lips, and all!

Sunday, January 6, 2013

The Wedding Wall


If you visited us sometime in the last 6 years, you know about "the wedding wall". It started back in 2006 with a few framed black & white photos of my sister & best friend's weddings in our hallway on Homer Avenue in Palo Alto, and grew into a collection of 20+ weddings that took over our entire first stairway in our townhome. I love this collection of photos, as they represent our family and closest friends on their happiest days. It was a beautiful reminder of the love they share, and the great memories we all made on their wedding days!

Now that we've moved into our new home, and started a family of our own, I am excited to fill our walls new with new photos & memories, so I will be wrapping and hand-delivering (or shipping) everyone their "wedding wall" photo & frame. Be on the lookout for yours!

And, to all of our friends & family who aren't married yet: don't worry, I'll bring my camera to your wedding...and I always share my best shots! 



Friday, January 4, 2013

Four Christmases

No, I'm not talking about the Reese Witherspoon & Vince Vaughn movie, I'm talking about Team Greenwood's Christmas 2012 travel extravaganza! We were lucky enough to celebrate Christmas with all of our families over the course of a one-week span! Here's the recap, the run-down, and of course the photo play-by-play. Warning: I usually don't leave home without my Canon 5D MKII, a few lenses, back-up battery, and flash! This trip, however, I gave myself a break. I used by point-and-shoot and my phone to capture some of the fun, and tried to do a better job of JOINING the fun, instead of being the one responsible for documenting it! So, enjoy the grainy, somewhat out of focus, lower quality photos -- I did!

Christmas #1: Weekend on the Central Coast with the Chappells
We get to do our annual kids Secret Santa gift exchange with Sean's brothers & sister, we skipped slaving over a big meal by ordering mexican take-out (delicious & awesome), and got to help our nephew Dylan celebrate his SIXTH birthday! Little man is in kindergarten now, and such a stud!






Christmas #2: Our Family Christmas with Landon on Nelson Way
Already blogged about this one...check it out here if you want to see Lando is some adorable Christmas footie pajamas.

Christmas #3: Christmas Eve & Christmas Day in San Clemente with the Greenwoods
Grandma Annie & Grandpa Bob outdid themselves once again, hosting us all for Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas day festivities. Landon loved getting to see his "GG", Great-Grandpa, "Pops", Uncle John, Aunt Laura, Daniel, and getting to spend more time with Aunt Nicole & Uncle Matthew! We had beautiful weather the 2 days we were there, allowing Landon to play outside with his first golf clubs set! For now, he's the only baby at this annual celebration, so our little man is getting pretty spoiled!






Christmas #4: Hartman Family Christmas traditions in Chilly Philly
Last but not least, we left Orange County the day after Christmas to head back east to see my family. This Christmas was different because for the first time in our family history (33 years or so) we (Jerry, Becky, Haley, Stacy, Sarah) were not together on Christmas Eve & Christmas Day. Somehow, we've managed to always be together, until this year. I was worried I would be sad, as it is sort of like the end of an era, but, surprisingly, our time together was like every year prior: we made the same food, wore matching pajamas (yep, that tradition is strong and not going anywhere anytime soon), made cinnamon rolls the morning we opened gifts, and more! It was wonderful because it was a reminder that it is the time we spend together that matters, not the day of the month! This trip was packed with great food, a trip to the Aquarium, Landon's first experience with snow, and a parents night out (thanks, Sarah & Josh)! Big thanks to Tom & Haley for hosting us all!