This pacific island girl has moved to the California coast!

And my life looks wildly different than it did last year.

Heck, it’s a stark contrast from my life just a few months ago.

Some big milestones and life goals were met — wowowee — and there are even bigger dreams I want to make reality in my not so distant future.

Here’s a little photo diary of my first week as a Californian (??) … ew, can I say that? Whatever, I said it, so there.

We got a new car! And not just any car — a brand spanking NEW 👏🏽 ELECTRIC 👏🏽 UTILITY VEHICLE!! This is by far the biggest purchase I’ve made in my life. It was a splurge for sure, but we’ll also be able to save money from paying for awful fuel and fuel prices.

A snap from our second morning in Santa Cruz. I woke up early to the sound of the rain pattering against the window in our loft. We were supremely cozy, and I was stressed out over a lot of things but this view and the love I have for these two, becalmed me.

Alava’s grandparents are here too!

They’ve been so wonderful — they made the road trip with us up the coast and are here for our first month to help us adjust to our new life in Santa Cruz. Plus, they get to get quality grandbebé time!

I am so in love with this cutie pie. She’s growing so fast, and she’s changing every single day! I’m in awe at how much she’s learned and grown in just two months. She’s already a world traveler with something like 20,000+ miles under her belt.

Alava was born with something called “talipes equinovarus” commonly known as clubfoot, where the foot curves upward and inward due to a short achilles tendon. Even though it’s apparently quite common (about 1 in every 1,000 babies is born with it), there isn’t a known cause for it. Thankfully, it can be completely treated with the Ponseti method, which includes a series of weekly castings to straighten the foot, a tenotomy in the event the tendon needs to be stretched and lengthened, and then a boots and bar (BnB) brace to keep it in place until it’s set permanently. By the time the treatment is complete, babies are able to walk and run at the normal developmental pace.

We wanted to start her treatment sooner, but with traveling and moving, we planned to do it as soon as we got to Santa Cruz. Ian was able to set up the appointment with the best orthopedist doctor specializing in club foot on the west coast. We were nervous at first because we thought it might be painful for Alava, but we were pleasantly surprised to find the whole process easy peasy, and it took less than half an hour for the whole thing. She’s got her first cast on now, and we’re so proud of her for being a champ throughout!

As for me, I’m working on finding balance again. In the last five months, I’ve had moments of complete overwhelm, and now that I’m in this new place with this new baby, and everything feels new… I feel like I’m reprogramming myself for this next level in life. Parts of me are still sad about leaving our comfort zone, but there’s a big part of me that’s thrilled (and scared) for what’s yet to come.

I’m proud of myself and Ian for being so on top of it — with our big move to California, finding a sweet landing pad, setting up all the appointments, figuring out our work schedules, and still making time to chase sunsets (and sleep and shower and eat food too lol) with our honey baby 💛

Cheers to us for still making time for chasing sunsets 🥂

xo,

Nerelle