Working 9 to 5...

Thank you to everyone who has called to check on me after my first week of working. I received several calls and emails some with concern in their voice others with excitement. In a nutshell I couldn't be happier! After almost 6 months at home full time with the sweetest boy in the world I ventured back to the working world in a new and wonderful job as the manager of a high school after school program. As I suspected, working allows me the chance to really engage my brain in a professional sort of way (which I need), and allows me to even more fully appreciate my time with Reed. So far, after one week, it seems clear to me that working part-time at an great job is the perfect balance and I feel so lucky to have this opportunity.

Some of the many pros about this job....
- fantastic co-workers and a great boss
- challenging in a way that I get to use a lot of the skills and strategies from grad school
- team that I work with have built a very solid foundation already and have gained much respect from the students, teachers, and administrators - so important when starting a new program at a school
- bike to work commute
- part-time schedule
- family friendly (3 of the 4 co-workers have kids too)
- amazing and inspiring Principal of the school who fully supports the after school program (this can sometimes be rare in this field)
- a beautiful brand new school building, which is nice for two reasons: the building itself is very nice, and we are all getting to know the space at the same time which makes me feel more a part of this team.
- easy and private places to pump (every 3 hours so far)
- free membership to the YMCA

So from now on, I will be home 2 days a week with Reed, Billy will be home one day, and we have a nanny for the other two that we share with Molly and John. On the days that I am home, I love being home! I feel like I will be able to make more of my time with him now that it is slightly more limited i.e. go on more fun outings beyond our neighborhood and running errands, take time to really play with him and watch his MANY new developments. - Kris

One great year!

It has been quite a year for us, full of transitions, growth and family time. Here is a list of all the wonderful, amazing and challenging events that impacted our lives throughout this past year (not in any sort of order except the order that it comes to my mind)....

the birth of Reed Wilder Witort;
four generations of both families in our living room;
our best friends moving in down the block and starting a family at the same time;
Billy home for 6 weeks after birth;
Kris home for 6 months;
Kris completing grad school;
Kauai beaches;
camping in Yosemite;
new friends and babies (you know who you are);
5 babies under the age of 4 months in our home;
morning time with Reed;
coffee with frothed milk in the mornings;
music jams;
visiting family in Portland;
fresh tomatoes from our garden;
long naps;
total exhaustion;
nursing;
seeing the world through Reed's eyes; game nights;
laughing every day;
OBAMA!;
not needing foot surgery after all;
biking;
biking with Reed;
climbing buckeyes;
Kris getting a great job (starting Jan 6);
bath time after Billy gets home from work;
first rice cereal, avocado and frozen banana to chew on;
Christmas and Thanksgiving in Berkeley;
Baby brigade at the Parkway;
kite surfing;
playing with Samba;
swining in our backyard hammocks;
planter boxes and gardening;
nana visits;
making Christmas stockings for our family;
potluck diners with friends;
backyard fires;
naked time;
tummy time;
Billy and Jon riding the Grizley Peak century ride (Kris promising to ride in 2009);
our wonderful midwife and fast labor;
getting in touch with old friends via facebook;
fresh dungenous crab;
lemon meringue pie and backyard birthday parties;
Berkeley hikes;
finishing bathroom remodel;
life getting better and better!

There is so much to look forward to in 2009! Keep posted on our adventures, accomplishments and learnings here....Happy New Year!!

Bear on bike

We took our first of many family bike rides yesterday. Billy cleverly and safely attached another car seat base to our bike trailer and the three of us headed off to the Berkeley Marina. While there, we realized that we did not bring our camera for this maiden voyage so we asked a nice tourist to take our picture and email it to us (see the group shot below). Being able to bike with Reed has been a goal of ours for a long time now so yesterday was really special and the perfect way to greet 2009! The next step is to figure out how to tow the boy and the dog...we'll keep you posted.

Christmas in Berkeley

We decided to stay local this year for Reed's first Christmas and celebrate with friends and family who are here. It was bittersweet to celebrate this way. On one hand we had a wonderful time setting up our own home for Christmas and enjoying a mellow Christmas morning together. We also loved going to the many parties we had been invited to on Christmas Eve and Christmas day sharing traditions and stories with people from all over the world (Australia and England included).

It was a little strange to be the parents this time around which made us realize that we can now decide what traditions we will bring into our family from our childhoods and what new traditions we would like to include. We appreciated how lucky we have been to have the parents that we do and to never (until this year) have had to think about what Christmas will be, it just was. Without a doubt, we missed being with our loved ones in Minnesota, Oregon and this year New Jersey and sharing our happy boy with everyone for this holiday. That said, here are some of the highlights from this year. Click here for many more pictures of our holidays

[Reed on Christmas Eve with our dear friend Liz]

[Riding my new bike on Christmas morning]

[Elliott Witort playing drums for a captivated audience (aunt Helen and Reed) on Christmas morning]

[Christmas morning music jam]

[Happy on the house Santa's lap for Christmas brunch]

[Games on Christmas night at Doug and Rachael's house (this is a picture of the women's team in a battle of the sexes]

In other exciting news...Reed is enjoying his first solid foods. We started with rice cereal and today we introduced a little avocado into the mix. He seemed a little confused but then seemed to like it. We pulled down the high chair (given to us by Jenny and Eric) from the attic and began organizing his little bowls, spoons etc in easily accessible places int he kitchen...times are changing fast. I still nurse him most of the time, but in addition to occasional solid foods we also are trying to give him a bottle of formula mixed with breast milk at night before bed. It is sweet to see the boys bond on this night time feeding and it is a nice break for me.

[Eating his second rice cereal (but the first time he got any in his mouth]

Nana's visit

My mom just left yesterday after a wonderful week here with us. The joy she felt being with Reed radiated off of both of them and everyone around them. As per usual, we stayed pretty busy and she hung on for the ride quite well. Some of the week's events consisted of cooking diners together, hosting a very fun make-your-own Christmas stocking party with tons of friends and babies (see more pictures here), giving me sewing lessons, Christmas shopping, witnessing Reed taste his first rice cereal, celebrating his 5 month birthday, and TONS of face and cuddle time with Reed. Nana made it very clear she wanted to leave an imprint on him that he would not soon forget so she made an effort to hold him and talk to him as often as he was awake. She even babysat for a few hours when I had a work thing to do. All in all it was a wonderful trip and we miss her already!

[Becoming reacquainted with Nana on her first day here]

[Reed helping with our sewing projects]

[Making Christmas stockings together after putting the boy down to sleep]

Reed (4.5 months) goes to Portland!

[Cousin Sonia holding her baby cousin and loving it!]

Reed had a fun-filled trip to Portland to visit all sorts of family and friends. This being the first visit after Kris's sister Jenny and her family moved there, it was a whirlwind to see everyone, but really wonderful. The weekend consisted of lots of laughs both from and with Reed, lots of cousins holding "the baby", Christmas tree chopping and decorating, birthday celebrating (for Jenny), great eating and drinking, seeing old and dear friends, and getting to know a new area of Portland.

Once again, the airplane trips were pretty easy and bouncing from house to house didn't seem to bother our little jet-setter. Here are a more pictures of our wonderful pre-Christmas trip to Portland.

[Could he look any happier amongst all these ladies?]

[This was taken at our house before the Portland trip. Reed and his first Christmas tree.]

The other day I discovered that he thinks it's hysterical when I sneeze. I received a ton of belling jiggling laughs so by the time I got the video camera he was almost out, but here are a few to give you the idea. Just imagine this times 10!


In other news...
Today is Reed's 4th full moon (almost his 5 month actual birthday). He is getting so much more active and needs much more stimulation. Gone are the days of laying on his back under a hanging object for more than 3-5 minutes. He wants to bounce, swing, and see new things constantly. He watches me like a hawk and wants to be part of every activity I do. Vacuuming is one of his favorites, but he also loves swinging in the hammock, and going to the park. That's right, Carmen (our nanny who starts in Jan) taught me that he is a big enough kid to enjoy a toddler park. He LOVED swinging in a double swing with Maya and sliding down the slide with me. I never would have thought that he would be ready for a park like this yet, but as they say he changes every day.


He is incredibly affectionate and shows his love by eating our faces. Anytime he gets close to a chin or cheek he clamps on and loves us up. He grabs everything he can and puts it directly in his mouth. I am considering giving him a taste of some real food in the next few weeks. Sleeping is not so great. He gets up every 2-3 hours in the night, a regression back to his earliest weeks. We are weighing our different options and will report back on this.

Fall beach day

Yesterday we spent part of the day at a local beach on the bay. It was warm and sunny and a gorgeous day in November. We met Jon, Helen and Elliott there and played in the sand and water in between snacking on a beach blanket. We were reminded how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place.

That same day we walked two blocks away and picked out our first Christmas tree as a family from Delancy Street Trees. I meant to take a picture of me in my tank top and B in his sun hat picking out a tree, but forgot the camera. It certainly was a change from my Minnesota days of tramping through the snow and chopping down our own tree. Reed loves to look at the lights on the tree and stares at it whenever he gets the chance. We are in the process of decorating it and I will post pictures soon...