Life Letters (November): Wine

Ah life letters you came through big time for me this month! When I opened up the letter to myself and realized that wine was my focus and priority, I knew it was going to be enjoyable and a happy 30 days!

The letter to myself was simple...get your wine on! And fitting since November is our anniversary month and we were married at a winery :) So I began by reliving our wedding weekend. I watched our wedding video and day dreamt about being back in Solvang at Lincourt. I thumbed through our wedding scrapbooks, reliving the wine & wishes wedding we planned together. I looked at our wedding album to remember how young and innocent we were only four years ago. It was a nice way to kick-off both wedding anniversary and wine month :)

Next I drank wine. A lot of it. And champagne. Out of my comfort zone I went. Trying new wines. Not sticking to simply Kendall Jackson Chardonnay. I drank reds. I indulged in Moet champagne.

We went wine tasting at Robibero winery where I tried Galway and Rabbit's Foot. I ordered Argentinian & Italian wine at dinners. We ate a late lunch at Harvest Wine Bar & Restaurant in Greenwich where champs was toasted. I went with my girlfriends for a little wine & "friendsgiving" at Pour Wine Bar in Mount Kisco.

 

I scoured the Lincourt & BR Cohn websites for their latest wine & events. We love Lincourt as it is essentially where our story began, where I told Ryan I loved him for the first time, where we were engaged, and where we were married. We feel right at home there. BR Cohn was our favorite in Sonoma where we would escape from the city life of San Francisco.

The girls and I enjoyed wine flights & bites at Pour Wine Bar in Mount Kisco...so much that we came home "past curfew" according to my husband!

Oh wine, how I love so very much! I am not sure how December's love letter is going to top this!

Brighton Kevin: 2 Months

Dearest Brighton,

You are adjusting to the world and life in this crazy family swimmingly. You are making your presence known with sweet coos and loud cries! You are so alert to things around you...starring at bright lights, smiling at mommy and sissy, and turning your head left & right when you hear various sounds. 

You have had several firsts this past month. You enjoyed your first Halloween dressing up as a penguin and trick-or-treating in the baby Bjorn. You liked facing out to see the lights. 

You had your first cough and cold courtesy of mommy. You took it like a champ though. 

 

You are eating 6 ounces every 4 to 4 1/2 hours during the daytime. That is helping you grow like a weed! At almost 7 weeks, you weighed 10lbs and are on the fast track to catching your big brother :)

You are sleeping well...about 6 hours at night which is great. You still sleep in the pack n- play cuddle cove piece and I am next to you on the couch. Remember that loud crying I mentioned?! Yeah well I don't want that waking your siblings in the middle of the night!

You have the most beautiful big blue eyes, cutest button nose, and the sweetest little lips (especially when they quiver in sadness as you are about to cry/pout). 

Each day we are getting in a better rhythm and routine. Figuring each other out and getting your more settled into the world. I cannot wait to see what the future and life holds for you my precious.

I love you!

Love,

Mommy

Aspen Michael: 18 Months

Dearest Aspen,

 So much has happened in the last 6 months of your life sweet boy. For starters, you became a big brother! It is hard to believe since you are still my baby in many ways. But you love your "bubba" Brighton as you call him. You like to touch his head gently and give him his paci when he cries. You get so excited every time you see him or hear him. You did accidentally throw your cup which nailed him in the head while he was sleeping in the cuddle cove. He screamed and cried. You cried because you felt bad. This was all on daddy's watch I might note ;) I can't wait to see Brighton grow up and the two of you become the best of friends!

You have had your fair share of little pains...your first black eye when you fell and hit our nightstand base. You got your 4 molars at the same time just after your first birthday and it was hell on Earth. Throwing up, high fever, fussy, and lifeless. I took you to the Urgent Care where they told us you had bi-lateral pneumonia. Turns out they were wrong and it was just horrific teething! Fast forward to a few weeks ago with a combo of 18 month sleep regression, getting your canine teeth on the bottom, and a full moon and mommy almost lost her mind ;) In fact you spent one whole evening awake...you thought it was play time!!!

You have the cutest little personality, running and dancing. Laughing and talking. You can say "Beau Beau", ball, car, more, Mimi, book, Papa, "Bubba", no, and girl. You love to sit and read books. Sometimes you are so quiet and when I finally find you it is in a corner somewhere just flipping through pages of books.

You are so intuitive. You lift your arms when putting a shirt on. You step out of your pants. You put your toys away. You walk to the fridge when you want something to drink. You love to brush your teeth and you are very routine oriented! You watch and mimic everyone. You are a quick little learner.

You love balls and cars. You love swimming and jumping off the side of the pool into mommy's arms. You do a gym class each week and you love hanging from the bars, jumping on the trampoline, climbing in the ball pit, and catching bubbles.

You went on your first international trip to the Bahamas this summer and had an absolute blast. You swam and played with your cousins. You took naps poolside and enjoyed the sunshine. You also went to Michigan for Aunt Amanda's baby shower. You were a big hit there and everyone commented on how sweet and happy you are!

You love hanging out with your big cousin Bishop. Playing catch with him and just chasing him around Mimi & Papa's house. He loves to play with you too!

You give the sweetest kisses with your little mouth wide open. Then you make a smacking sound when you want to "blow a kiss."

My sweet boy, you are pure joy and each day with you gets better and better!

I love you!

Love,

Mommy

Celebrating Our Fourth Year

To celebrate year four, we did a little throw back to our dating days. It is something Ryan consistently likes to do so it makes for a fun time. It usually includes the outdoors followed by wine tasting. Not a bad way to spend the day :)

This year we had dinner at Ocean House on our actual annivesary. It is BYOB so we brought a bottle of wine from Lincourt, the winery where we were married. We treated ourselves to oysters, crab cakes, and stuffed shrimp. Followed by dessert from Magnolia Bakery in the city topped off with Moet champagne.

Then over the weekend, we drove up to Dutchess County to hike around Minnewaska State Park. With the wind, it was nearly 20 degrees...not something either of us had interest being in for very long! But we enjoyed the views from the top lookout over the gorgeous lake and mountainous background. So not what you think of when you think New York.

 

Next we decided to partake in some tastings...wine & whiskey! Exercising our roots all around. The little town of Tuthilltown was literally a whiskey shrine. They have a tasting room, restaurant, factory, bottling area, and art gallery. It was packed and nice to see that not only Kentuckians like whiskey ;)

 

Robibero Winery is one of our favorite places here. We discovered on our first wedding anniversary and have gone back for tastings each year since. It reminds us so much of our dating days and our wedding weekend that its hard not to love!

 

Cheers to year number four the growing pains that it brought! Bring on year number five of marriage and all the joy that is sure to come with it!

Whitney & Ryan: Wedding Anniversary #4

Last week Ryan & I celebrate our 4th year of marriage. It has definitely been an challenging year to say the least. We weathered through several difficult situations this year that tested our faith and had us doubting the good in the world. But somehow, we were able to come together through the rough patch(es) and overcome what the year handed us.

You might recall when we celebrated our first anniversary and the gift that kept on giving all year long. We had a great time on our monthly dates and continued to enjoy our passion for exploring. For year two, I combined cotton & china into a beautiful Thanksgiving week getaway up in Mont Tremblant, Canada. In year three, a traditional leather gift came in the form of a TUMI travel wallet while the modern crystal gift included a Thanksgiving dinner at The Crystal Hotel in Portland, OR.


This year I wanted to *again* stick with tradition and put a spin on the modern gift. Traditionally fruit & flowers is the gift of choice for year #4. Fruit is thought to represent the blossoming of a couple while flowers are an appropriate sign of love. Appliances are the modern gift due to their ability to stand the test of time.

 

With the stress our year brought, I couldn't think of a better way to incorporate fruit & flowers than planning a tropical vacation for our Thanksgiving week! We are heading to Bermuda for a little R&R where the whole family will enjoy tropical fruits to eat & drink as well as the beauty of tropical flowers all around! We cannot wait to get away and recharge our batteries plus practice our gratitude for the life and blessings that God has given us.

For appliances, we were long overdue for a TV in our bedroom.  We don't watch TV prior to bed so it was never a necessity...until Adelaide started thinking 6am was an acceptable wake up time. So in hopes that we all get a little more sleep, we are setting up a TV in the bedroom for morning snuggles, cartoons, and *hopefully* a little more shut eye for mom and dad!

The Thompson Fall Bucket List: Trick-or-Treat in Costumes

We spent Halloween in our costumes all day! Partaking in the Pleasantville parade followed by pumpkin decorating, bouncey house jumping, and ride ridin' during the day.

At night time, we walked the neighborhood trick-or-treating and getting candy galore! Mary Poppins, Bert, and the Penguin were about as cute as can be. Bert and his pal, the Beast, rode in the wagon while Mary Poppins and Belle walked/ran from house to house scoring as much candy as their little hands could grab. The adults enjoyed beer & wine ;)

It was so fun to see Adelaide get really excited about the whole process. Aspen was a bit skeptical of the graveyards and hanging skeletons! But I think next year he will be running from house to house too! And Brighton loved facing out to see the bright lights!

Hope you all had a great night of trick-or-treating and a Happy Halloween!