Baby in tummy

Playing a little tune with my instruments with a baby in my tummy. Looks like she might be ready to be "born."

A Fun Evening

Our home on a summer evening. We had a great time walking down to the village to eat dinner at the pub. Along the way we ran into several friends and had a nice chat. Afterwards we got ice cream, which was delicious!! We ended the evening by hanging out in the front yard playing in the dirt (Evelyn) and hanging on the grass with Mom and Dad (Charlotte).

Picture taking fool

Don't tell me what I CAN'T do!

Pretty sweet, isn't it?

Yeah, that's right. I got a tattoo. Do you have a problem with it?

Why? and other toddler observations

This is a question I'm gearing up to hear over and over for quite awhile. It started today. Charlotte asked her first "why?" question and then proceeded to ask "why?" about everything all day long. It was naptime and she said, "Why do Mommy and Daddy get to stay up?" My favorite answer, "Why do you think Mommy and Daddy get to stay up?" She then says, "Me don't know...."

Another funny observation was made by Charlotte yesterday. She came up to me pointing at her arm and said, "Mommy, Me white. Some people are brown." So today she said "I'm Charlotte, I'm white." She is becoming very observant.

Last Day of Preschool

It was the last day of preschool for Charlotte today, I didn't expect to feel sad. Sniff...sniff.....I got a little teary-eyed.

Evelyn plays on the playground one last time.

What's in this water, anyway?????

Sweet Charlotte

Tonight Charlotte and I were talking about how I went on a trip and I came back. I said, "Mommy will always come back because you are my little girl and I love you." Charlotte said, "Good, because Me no like to be alone." Could she be any sweeter?

I LOVE my big sister because......

She shares her food with me!

New Baby Boy

Baby Gio was born today at 5:30 pm and he is so sweet and so teeny tiny. Makes me want another...........
The girls had a good time playing with Enzo today.
Ways to make 3 toddlers happy:
1. Let them eat pizza in front of "Monsters, Inc." in the family room. Sure it's messy, but it's cleanable.
2. Go up to the playroom and RUN. Don't stop until exhaustion sets in.
3. Play with all the pots, pans, and utensils in the kitchen. We had some excellent "Duck soup" and "Book soup" as well made by Charlotte and Enzo. (tip: pretend it's really hot when you take a pretend bite, they think that's hilarious!)
4. Chocolate milk and goldfish crackers

Loving My Life

I don't often stop to appreciate how wonderfully blessed I am. Being away with my Mom and sisters was really amazing. How lucky we are that we can laugh together like we do. We are all unique individuals and we can just be ourselves. All day I've been walking around with a goofy smile on my face remembering funny moments from the trip.
And my girls. They are truly THE BEST thing in my life. I just want to hug them and never stop. Every day, they make me smile, they make me laugh, they melt my heart.
We are interviewing contractors to start work on our basement and I can't wait! I am trying to find photos of the look I want in the basement. It's hard to find examples of what is in my head! Hopefully we are able to get exactly the look we want.
My good friend Lesly is going to be induced tomorrow and we get to watch her little boy, should be lots of fun for the girls. I am sooooo excited for her, I can't wait to meet the new little guy!

My Boots

I love my new boots and my fancy clothes! Thanks Mommy!

A Texas Getaway

Ready to hit the town

Me and Mom enjoying in evening in Gruene, TX

The 3 Sisters, Julie, Amy and Me at SeaWorld. Haning with Shamu

I had a great time on my trip to San Antonio. I was away from the girls from Wednesday afternoon and got back Sunday afteroon. This was the longest I've ever been away from them and they did great! They spent a lot of time at the park and really had fun with Daddy and Grandma.

We spent a day at SeaWorld and we loved the Shamu show, it was really amazing. Our hotel was located right on the Riverwalk and we enjoyed wandering around and checking out the sights (and sometimes smells) of it all. I don't think I've laughed so hard in my entire life. I don't think any of us came away from this trip without a sideache or sore feet. We must have walked 500 miles...............OK, I exaggerate, but there was a lot of walking involved.

I can see why people love Texas, it is a great place. San Antonio is a lovely vacation spot and I hope to spend more time there in the future.

All's Well With the World

Yippee!!!! Aside from a runny-nosed Evelyn, there isn't a trace of sickness to be found. I'll say it again, YIPPEE!!! I took the girls to U Village today to buy some frames at Pottery Barn and they were 30% off. Yippee again! I would have bought them regardless, so I was excited. I let the girls play in Pottery Barn Kids for awhile. They love to play with the play kitchen, the baby and strollers, and all the other fun things. Then we bought socks at Baby Gap. I swear, when I went to get the girls dressed today, there were no socks. Really. NONE. I bought 10 pairs of socks, so we should have socks-a-plenty from here on out.
I've been trying to get things organized because I leave Wednesday for a girl's trip to San Antonio and won't be back until Sunday. I need to make sure that everything is in order for Bridget, Grandma, and Dad. I am looking so forward to this much needed break and some time spent with my Mom and sisters. I haven't been able to spend time with my younger sister Amy in a long time so it should be really great.
I'm watching "Dancing With the Stars" and then I'm off to bed. DVR is such a great invention! FFing through commercials is genius. Did I mention I'm a slave to a few shows this season? American Idol, DWTS, and, as always, LOST. I'd drop the other to in a heartbeat for LOST though. Anyway, I digress. This blog is about my family, not my sad tv viewing habits........

Mother's Day Park Play

I am still sick and Monte is too, but I NEEDED to get this girls out of the house! So, I left him at home napping and took the girls to the park. It did me a world of good to spend the morning playing with my Pumpkin and Muffin. After playing, we walked to our favorite bakery and had peanut butter M&M cookies and milk. (Coffee for me) After that we came home for lunch and napped all afternoon. Praying this is the last day of illness in our house for awhile!
Charlotte in the sandbox.

Evelyn gets more sand on her legs than in the bucket!

Goals

I have a completely goal-crazy friend (sorry Cindy, you aren't crazy, you are just crazy about goal setting) who is always challenging our gang to have goal competitions. I have joined in a couple of times, but NEVER followed through. We are starting a new round and I hope to do better!
1. Excercise of some sort at least 4 times a week.
2. Complete (includes folding and putting away) one load a laundry a day (when necessary).
3. Scrapbooks for the girls, 2 pages each a week.

I think I can follow through with these, they are doable.

Blessings

This week has been a tough one and I feel the need to "count my blessings", as they say.

1. I am married to the most supportive, understanding man who happens to be probably the best Daddy I've ever seen. He can be serious, but I LOVE his goofy side. He works very hard to take care of us.
2. Our 2 girls are healthy and happy. They bring us such joy and we can't imagine life without them.
3. I have many wonderful and caring friends who are incredibly supportive here in Seattle and in Portland.
4. I have a close relationship with my family.
5. We live in a wonderful home in a beautiful neighborhood.
6. Financially, we are in great shape and live very comfortably.

I know there are many, many more but this is a start.

Serenity Now

I thought I'd try a new font today because I'm feeling very un-fancy. I thought a new font would help with that. Unfortunately, the font choices are very limited so this is what you get! The girls are getting better, but still not well. TMI warning* Charlotte hasn't pooped in about 5 days and her tummy hurts, BAD. We have been loading her up with MiraLax but it hasn't kicked in. If it doesn't happen soon, we have to resort to glycerin suppositories. Poor girl, I just feel so badly for her. She isn't herself and it's really hard to see her suffer. She had a major meltdown for about 45 minutes this morning because I took her pajama top off. I've never seen this sort of thing before. She was screaming and saying, "Ouch" and wouldn't let me touch her or even look at her. It was terrible. In the words of Frank Costanza, "SERENITY NOW!" I actually had Monte come home from work because I needed the help. As soon as he got home, she stopped and started acting fairly normal. Ugh. Well, lucky for me I have a very involved husband who tolerates this sort of thing.........
Normally things are pretty mellow and easy-going around here. One more quick little vent. The gardners decided to come and mow the lawn today (which is good), but they decided to come at2:45 in the afternoon. Smack dab in the middle of naptime. These sick girls definitely need their beauty sleep.

2 Sick Girls

I think last night might have been one of the toughest since becoming a parent. Every time I began to slip into some sort of sleep, I heard cries. Not just from one girl, they tag teamed us! I'd go pat one, get her back to sleep, lay back down and "Mommeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!" Normally I take care of the middle of the night wakings and let Monte sleep, but I needed the help. Neither of us slept much at all. Charlotte won't stop crying and is having severe tummy pain. I am taking her back to the Dr. this morning because I'm worried about her. Evelyn just has a bad cold, so I know it will pass. The crying and whining are becoming excruciating (that's a fancy word for terrible, as Fancy Nancy would say). I don't know how much more I can take. I know, this too, shall pass.................

The "David Cook Book"

Our whole family has been ill this week, but we are finally getting over it. Charlotte wanted to go to bed at 6:00. I put her down but she woke up at 7:15 and we let her get up and watch "American Idol" with us. Charlotte was reading a new book from the library and I asked her what she was reading and she said, "This is the David Cook Book." (Those of you who watch AI will get this, the rest of you, maybe not......) She is just the cutest thing.
We took her to the Dr. this morning because we'd been worried because it seems like a lot of her hair has been falling out and her skin color seems extremely pale. Her vegetarianism (or carbism, I should say) had us thinking that her diet might be the cause. They pricked her finger to test her iron levels and she just sat there, didn't even cry. What a brave girl. Turns out her iron levels are fine, Dr. said to go ahead and try to get her to take a multivitamin with iron, but not too worry about the hair loss and paleness.
Bridget (our nanny) was over today and I asked her to tell Bridget what happened to her finger at the Dr. She looked at me and replied, "I don't want to talk about it."
E had a sad day today too. She woke this morning crying and pretty much didn't stop until bedtime. This virus needs to run it's course already!!

A few pictures from our Disneyland trip!! Some water fun on a super hot day. The girls spent quite some time playing here.

Little Miss Evelyn enjoys cooling off with some water fun.

Evelyn and Daddy at California Adventure Park on the Ferris wheel.

Charlotte wasn't afraid of the characters this time! Woo-hoo!

My first blog entry

I am fascinated by reading other people's blogs. So why haven't I started one of my own until now? I am a master procrastinator, for those of you who don't already know that about me. However, when I actually do something, I do it well. So here we go.......
We spent 5 days in Disneyland last week. Exhausting, yes! Totally fun? Absolutely!!! We took a shuttle from the airport and Charlotte made up a little song that she sang (really) the entire time we were driving. It went something like this, "I want to go to to Disneyland, RIGHT NOW...." She kept the beat by hitting me in the leg with a water bottle. I'm sure the other people in the shuttle enjoyed this little bit of entertainment.
We've all been sick ever since we got back. Evelyn seems fine, but the rest of us have some sort of a bug. I think we are finally on the mend.