Hood River Surprise!

On Friday morning my sister Jenny surprised me by telling me that they were making a last minute flight and coming down for the weekend. YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She also had us set up to stay in a hotel in Hood River. YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As always, Hood River was pure bliss and the kids were inseparable. Maggie was very excited to show her cousins her mad walking skills. Henry had his first official root beer and loved it...so much so, he wanted to take the bottle home. Alrighty then.  All in all, it was pretty amazing to spend Mother's Day with one of the best mothers I know -- my sister.

Turks and Caicos + College Friends = Heaven

Last May (2011)when I was BIG and waddling pregnant my college girlfriends had the BRILLIANT idea of getting together....in Turks and Caicos...in May 2012. I said yes before I even knew where T and C was located. 


When I told Mark., he said " you are going to leave me with three kids?". I forgot that me being pregnant meant that indeed, in a year, we would have three kids. Oops.  As the trip neared I feared leaving Maggie given that I am still nursing....and then my INCREDIBLE mom offered to come and take care of Maggie. Problem solved.


This last week we finally made the voyage to the Caribbean.  Holy moly beautiful. 


Five days with thirteen women in an idyllic setting.  When people have asked me how it went the best way for me to describe it is that every single night when I went to bed, my cheeks hurt from laughing so much. I knew I had an incredible college experience at the time, but in reuniting with my friends, I am astounded by the incredible people that I had fortune to meet and that will be in my life forever.  They are smart, funny, thoughtful, kind, HILARIOUS, outgoing, unique and so much more.  Per the girl rules for the trip, I am only posting a couple of group-approved pics from our dinner night out.  What happens in Turks stays in Turks......


Maggie was a SUPER trooper and amazing traveler. She loved the Caribbean and is my first child to like sand and water at young age. She also LOVED the Caribbean men...like I wanted to take one of them home with us to be our babysitter. 


I am so thankful to my mom for supporting me through coming and to Mark for holding down the fort and taking the kids on many special adventures during my absence.


I am feeling pretty grateful for my life. Bring on the next trip in 2014!!!

Our Sweet Seven Year Old

Our sweet soul Henry turned seven. Seven lucky years for us that he has been in our lives.  For his birthday, we gave the older brother of two siblings control of the agenda for the ENTIRE day. So, woke to present opening, pancakes with fruit, golfing, and then we ended the night with me taking him to the Timbers Game. It was pretty glorious. For his presents, he wanted a trampoline so that he could do "awesome dunks" and plans to display his talents in the talent show next year -- he plans to jump over his friend Jack and dunk. Stay tuned. I think his favorite present though was the coaches dry erase board we got him for basketball. He drew plays all day long. The next day we had his birthday party at the our club. The lowered the rims and it was full court basketball extravaganza (note the EXTREMELY sweat boy). He also had a blow up dinosaur that was extremely cool and kept Francie entertained. All in all, it was wonderful party for a wonderful boy.

She is in the double digits!!

Miss Maggie is 10 months old!!!!!!  The word that I think perfectly describes Maggie is  EXUBERANT! She has one of those mischievousness smiles that literally explodes with joy. Maggie is very close to walking. She likes to stand on her own and has taken a couple of steps....but mostly in the drunken sailor kind of way. She claps for herself every time she stands. She is VERY verbal and has already started to stand up for herself with her siblings if they get in her way. She will literally try and push them aside. Girl power. She uses her pointer finger to explore everything....but then when she wants to point, she uses her whole hand. So cute.  I have to say, we think Maggie is Magnificent!


Henry at 10 Months:

Frances at 10 Months (the signs made by Henry)

Easter 2012

Easter 2012 was lovely. The weather was incredible, mass was beautiful, and we continued with our newer tradition of brunch at Waverly.  Henry got to pet a rabbit, Frances chose not to (but not because she is shy, she explained) and Maggie watched with awe...and fear. Henry was particularly happy because after we ate, he got to golf. Bring it.

Party Girl

This weekend was Frances's best friend's birthday. It was her first birthday party that she was invited to  - on her own - without Henry. Needless to say, she was REALLY excited.  Pretty cute.

Bunny Hop at the Zoo

We went to the annual Bunny Hop at the zoo. Thankfully the weather was INCREDIBLE. It was fun to see the kids run and strategize for the candy! Yee haw.

Play Days

Just some fun pictures of the kids...

Do Not Move Me

The other night Mark and I put the kids to bed. Then, we did the usual....made lunches, worked a little, watched a TV show. At around 11:00 we went upstairs to find Henry in our bed...asleep....with this this sign on his chest "DO NOT MOVE ME". 

Henry and Twinkle - Oldie But Goodie

I was going through pictures and found this one..... Henry was 3.5 (Francie's age). Still cracks me up. The kid has loved irony from a very young age.