It’s been a year! (or two!)
To recap, we got married on the first of the year in 2016. A few months later, we took an amazing honeymoon touring around Japan for three weeks. It was the trip of a lifetime. Late 2016, we bought a house, in San Francisco, which we planned to renovate. Audrey busily worked on creating permit drawings for the house renovation, and got those submitted to the city with a week to spare before having our baby!
Crazy enough, that was 2 years ago. Leona will turn 2 in January, and she could not be prouder of her accomplishments thus far (same as us). She’s curious, wild, hilarious, and clever.
Leona had quite a year. She started out with Mom at home with her, and Grandma helping out frequently, taking the train in to go on adventures. As Audrey’s work grew, so did the need for full time care. We started with a nanny, then friends of ours needed a nanny, and Leona ended up doing a nanny share with her friend Finn, who lives just one block away. Lots of adventures, learning and mischief, ensued. In the fall, Finn got into his dream school, and she was on her own again. Leona and her Turkish nanny developed quite the bond, but Selinay had to get a full time job (we still use a few key Turkish words around the house- aşkım (love), gel (come), and gigi (gentle)). After a few weeks of traveling in the fall, we started with a new nanny, new language to learn, and a fresh start. We’ve been with our current nanny for a few months now, and Leona is already picking up some Portugese from our amazing caretaker. Luana & Leona go on tons of adventures, getting out of the house every day, rain or shine.
We have had a very busy traveling schedule these past two years. As Patrick’s father aged, he was unable to travel, and as his health declined, we felt a strong need to get Leona out to visit him as much as possible. While she may not have her own seat on planes yet, she has more miles than most people. Through it all, she developed a love for planes, and Grandma and Grandpa Barry got to develop a relationship with Leona through her first 2 years of life, despite living 2,786 miles away. In June, Grandpa Barry (John) passed away- living almost a year longer than the doctors expected! We were all very sad to say goodbye, but we are thankful he’s no longer in pain. A small, but joyful, silver lining is that we get to host a very special guest at the holidays this year - Grandma Barry.
This will be Leona’s first Christmas where she will know how to open a present or play with a toy, so she’s pretty lucky to have Grandma Barry, Aunt Liz, and Grandma & Grandpa Bauer around to dote on her. We all know how that’s going to go… :)
Audrey’s business continues to grow, taking on new clients, new renovations, houses, and additions. Her team has expanded to include Grandpa Bauer, as a Drafter; Audrey’s longtime friend Sarah managing many (read: most) of the business side of things; and our new hire, Sophie, tackling a good bit of the drafting, materials, and coordination. Audrey is thrilled for what the new year has to bring, having just signed a contract for Studio Maven’s largest project yet.
Patrick’s work at Nuna continues to keep him busy and challenged in new ways. Nuna is trying to change the incentives of the healthcare industry to prioritize quality over quantity, and every year they're making bigger deals towards that (almost 200 employees now!). After a few years of managing engineers, Patrick's finally feeling like he has the hang of it, especially enjoying the focus on fostering great culture and coaching people's careers.
As Leona spent her first year learning to sleep through the night, it was "good" timing that the San Francisco planning department took even longer to approve our plans for our new house. We finally broke ground in March 2018 and hope to move in by mid 2019. Audrey is amused at Patrick's bewilderment with the amount of time and effort that building a house takes. We're feeling incredibly lucky to be able to afford to build a whole house in San Francisco, but it'll be worth the money if we're able to host out-of-town friends and family - so consider yourselves invited!
Wishing you and your loved ones, a very happy new year!