Author: Michael Pellegrini

The night before last, Jessica and I went to see a show by a fairly new English band called Band of Skulls. We’ve been listening to their first album in the car for several months now and were excited to see that they were coming to San Diego on their tour. They played at a place called The Griffin, which turned out to be a cool small venue that we hope to go back to. This was our first concert since seeing Eric Clapton last February, so we were overdue. Going out these days requires a little more planning than it used to, but luckily we were able to get our friends Evan and Natasha to babysit. This was our first time leaving Ava with someone not named Grandma, but it went really well and they said they would be happy to do it again. It looks like they will be sitting for us on May 5th when we go see Adam Carolla and Dennis Prager downtown at Spreckles theater.

Tomorrow my mom will be making her second visit in the last two weeks. She and Denny are driving out here in the company truck with a king sized bed, jogging stroller, book case, rocking chair, and various other things that wouldn’t fit in the car. They will be bringing our queen sized bed back with them the following day. It’s a good swap because it gives her more room in the guest bedroom and we get a huge comfy bed. Very excited about this. Unfortunately they’re only staying one night but it’s always good to see each other. Then next Saturday we’ve got Jessica’s birthday to celebrate. Unfortunately she has to work that day but we’ll still make it fun. If only we didn’t have all this work in between!

I recently designed and developed a new portfolio website as part of a class project. I already had a decent one that I could have used for the class requirements but I decided to do something new, and better. I’ve been meaning to launch it for a couple weeks now but have been busy with more important stuff. It may still need a few modifications but overall I’m very happy with it, and it got me a 4.0 for the class. You can check it out at: www.PellegriniPage.com/Portfolio or click on the screenshot image below.

We decided to enjoy our new house a bit this week by having our first dinner party on Thursday night. Our good friends Shawn and Rich came over, along with my buddy Jaime from work. It was originally supposed to be dinner with my friend Evan from work and his girlfriend Natasha, who is babysitting for us on Wednesday night when we go to see Band of Skulls. Unfortunately they couldn’t make it but we still had a great time. Jessica had the house looking amazing so I did my best to come through on the food.

The menu:

• Appetizer: Jumbo Prawn Cocktail with homemade cocktail sauce
• Salad: New York Steak Salad with spinach & arugula, goat cheese, pine nuts and a horseradish vinaigrette
• Entree: Jumbo Prawn Scampi with angel hair pasta, capers, garlic, shallots, red pepper flakes, and diced tomatoes in a white wine butter sauce
• Desert: Shawn’s homemade tiramisu

Everything turned out perfect and we had a really fun night. Unfortunately Ava wasn’t having as much fun as Mom and Dad were and did quite a bit of crying. We had to take turns holding her and getting her to settle down. I think she was a little overwhelmed with all the people in the house, but she still had fun in between her fits. That was the night that she first put her pacifier in her mouth without assistance. She ended up doing it about half a dozen times and it turned into a fun little game with everyone cheering her on. It’s so nice to have a proper home for entertaining. This is the best house Jessica and I have lived in and we can’t wait to have more friends and family over for dinner.

In baby news, Ava is growing and developing so much these days; it’s absolutely amazing! In addition to the pacifier, Ava rolled over for the fist time this week. These sound like simple things, and they are, but watching her do them for the first time is unforgettable. She’s literally growing up right before our eyes and it’s hard to believe. Part of me wishes she could stay little like this forever but watching her grow is an incredible treat. Enjoy the latest photos.

Click on the screenshot to visit my new portfolio website

Ava and Mommy before our dinner party

Big smiles for Nana

Wearing Dad’s cap

"Hanging" out with Dad

Always sporting a cute new expression

My mom made it out with the Honda on Friday evening and was able to spend all day Saturday with Ava and I. Unfortunately Jessica had to work a double on Saturday and Sunday, so she didn’t get to visit much with her, but it was great having her out for a quick visit. The car she brought us is running great and we’re so appreciative of it. There’s no question that it will last us throughout my time at school and beyond. We didn’t do anything for Easter this year but it was nice for me to have a relaxing day at home with Ava. We did some house chores, washed the Durango, and watched the final round of the Master’s. My new quarter at school also began yesterday and it looks like things are going to start getting a little harder. I’m taking Discrete Mathematics and Introduction to Programming Logic for the first half of the quarter, then Introduction to Computer Security and Programming 1 in the second half. The programming class is all review but it’s a topic I love so it should be fun. I haven’t taken a math class in about a decade so it will be challenging, but it should be interesting because this type of math directly relates to computer science. All else is going great, just staying super busy. Thanks again to my mom, our new Nana, for all she does.

Today we celebrate our second anniversary! It’s hard to believe that it’s already been two years until you think about all that’s happened since then. A year ago today Jessica gave me the news that she was pregnant, which was the greatest news/first anniversary present I ever could have hoped for. Today isn’t quite as exciting but has already been a nice day. I went into the office this morning for a couple hours and then surprised Jessica by coming home and doing the rest of my work with her and Ava at the house. It’s the nicest day of the year so we had a nice outdoor lunch on our back patio. I’m finishing up early so we can relax and hang out for the rest of the evening. We’re going to Costco later and will be getting some nice seafood for dinner tonight. Not going out to a fancy dinner tonight but having a great day/night at home with my girls.

My Mom has been going through some old pictures lately and sent me a few that I had to post. The first two are from 1955 when she was less than a year old, then you have the picture from her 25th class reunion, which one of my all–time favorites. Finally there is a picture of my parents in Las Vegas on July 9th, 1979. They were on vacation with friends and went to see the comedian Buddy Hackett that night. They sat in the front row and were picked on by Buddy for the entire show. He threw every old man young girl joke he could think of at them and they just had to sit there and take it. I had never seen this picture before today and I love it.

My Mom is getting ready to make a trip out here next week and deliver her Honda Accord to us. We’re going to borrow it for a few years while I’m in school. I haven’t had a car since we left Seattle so I’m really excited, and I have to thank my Mom for doing so much work on the car to get it in excellent shape before bringing it. I keep trying to get her to let us handle the repairs but she won’t budge. She is so good to us. I can’t describe how much I appreciate everything she does for us. Love you Mom!

My Mom at 3 months old. I definitely see some Ava in there.

Mom as a baby with Nana.

Mom at her 25th Class Reunion. Beautiful!

My parents in Vegas – July 9, 1979

I called in sick at work today for the first time in about 2.5 years. I’m not sick in the traditional sense but my back is absolutely killing me due to all the moving, painting and cleaning we’ve been doing for the past two weeks. Yesterday I made it to work and was in a lot of pain all day long, then had to meet Jessica and Ava at the Pacific Beach house to do more cleaning after work. It’s been like that every day for two weeks straight and it’s taking it’s toll on both of us. Riding the motorcycle with a bad back is not very safe because you can’t turn your head far enough to look over your shoulder when changing lanes. Yesterday I had to rely on my mirrors only and I don’t like riding that way. I’m bummed because I was supposed to play basketball at lunch today with friends from work but there’s no way I could have played; I’m having a hard enough time walking. Tonight I have to meet Steve, our PB landlord, to look over the house and see if anything else needs to be cleaned or fixed. We’ve worked really hard on the place and are returning it in better condition than we received it in, so we’re expecting a full refund on our security deposit. I’m meeting him today because if he sees anything he doesn’t like we have a couple more days to fix it before handing over the keys. I won’t have to ride the bike tonight to meet him so that’s a plus.

Jessica is spending the day at he PB house doing the final cleaning touches and babysitting Malena while Lauren gets her hair done, which means I get to spend the day at home with Ava. She had a really rough night last night, waking up three times. Jessica is exhausted today and I felt bad to see her go back for more cleaning but at least she only has one baby on her hands instead of two. Ideally I’ll show the house to Steve tonight and he will say that it looks perfect. Then I can give him the keys and be done moving. Keep your fingers crossed!

We get to celebrate Ava’s fourth month of life today by spending our first full day in our new home. Most of the day was spent unpacking boxes and getting things organized. Costco is dangerously close and I found myself there for the third day in a row. Jessica is working tonight and it’s raining outside so I’m relaxing at home with Ava and the dogs. I’ll be completing my final assignment for my web development class tonight, then I get almost two weeks off school. I start my first programming course next quarter so I’m excited for that. It’s going to be easy but it’s the kind of stuff that I enjoy studying these days so it should be fun. We’ve got the keys at the Pacific Beach house until the end of March so we’ve got all week to clean and paint. The place was awfully dirty when we moved in two years ago so there’s no question we’ll be returning it in better condition than we received it in. This has been a really long week so it feels great to be relaxing at home watching hoops with my baby.

Jessica and I have been moving into our new house all week and we’re nearing completion. Each day has gotten progressively longer and more exhausting, but after tomorrow we’ll be at least 90% finished. We met with Amelia on Tuesday afternoon to sign the lease and get the keys, then we made two trips that night after I got home from work. Wednesday evening we made three trips, and last night we made four trips. So far Ava hasn’t been very accommodating; she cries constantly while we’re loading and unloading the car and there’s really nothing we can do besides hurry.

Last night after our third trip we decided to stop at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Ava was perfectly content to sit there and look around, but as soon as our food arrives she starts crying. Jessica and I were exhausted and hungry so we had no choice but to eat in shifts while one of us tries to calm Ava down. By the time I got home from the fourth trip I was so tired I don’t even remember going to bed. I was probably asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Tonight Jessica is working so I’m going to be watching Ava and making trips to the house to unload more stuff. My fingers are crossed that she’ll be good and won’t cry but I’m not really expecting that to happen. Tomorrow morning we’ve got the Uhaul truck and the help of Jaime and Evan from my work for moving furniture. I’ve also got the Directv and Cox Internet guys coming out to set everything up. Should be another long day but after that all we need to do is clean the old house, and we’ve got a week to do it.

I should mention that the new house looks amazing! Everyday there’s people over there working on it and they’re doing an outstanding job. This is easily the nicest house we’ve lived in and I’m excited to spend the next few years there. I’ll be recording a video tour of the house and posting it here as soon as we get unpacked. Until then…

Ava’s new favorite activity is sucking her thumb. She can’t always make the thumb–mouth connection, so she gets pretty happy when she does, and we couldn’t help but notice that it’s always her left thumb that she’s working on. Jessica also pointed out that her grip in her left hand is stronger than her right, so we’ll see. We both think it would be cool for her to be a lefty since neither of us are. We’re signing the lease and getting the keys to our new place tomorrow so the moving fun begins. Can’t wait until it’s all over and we’re comfortably settled in our new home.

Last night Jessica and Ava arrived safe and sound from Colorado. Their flight was 20 minutes late, so they didn’t get in until 10:40pm, and I was at the wrong baggage claim (shocking), plus Jessica’s cell phone battery was almost dead, so finding each other was a bit challenging, but eventually we figured it out. She said Ava was perfect on the plane once again, which is great, but as soon as she left the airport she started screaming bloody murder and didn’t stop for a couple hours. We’ve never seen her this inconsolable before and it was heart breaking. She’s drooling a lot so we’re pretty sure she’s getting her first tooth. We researched it online and found that teeth can start arriving anywhere between 3 months and a year, so she’s on the early end… again. She has a checkup this coming week so we’ll be sure to talk to the doctor about it.

We’re meeting with Amelia, our new landlord, on Tuesday to sign the lease and get the keys to our new house. We’ve got twelve days to complete this move, which is going to be nice. The brunt of it will be a week from today when we have the moving truck and the help of my friends Jaimie and Evan from work, but we can get all the little stuff done in our SUV on the weekdays. I can’t believe we’re finally going to get some modern amenities back like a microwave, a dishwasher, and a garage! Beach living was fun, but we’re more than ready to move on. Jessica has the day off today so we can relax at home on a rainy St. Patty’s day and watch movies. So glad to have my girls home.